Article,Category
"MADISON, Wis. -- A judge sentenced a former Wisconsin prosecutor to 18 months in prison Monday for secretly recording sexual encounters with two women, including one he was prosecuting in a restraining order case.
A jury found former Burnett County District Attorney Daniel Steffen guilty in April of three counts of capturing an intimate representation depicting nudity. St. Croix County Circuit Judge Scott Nordstrand handed down the sentence.
A state Department of Justice agent began investigating Steffen in early 2020, according to the criminal complaint in the case. A witness told the agent that a woman the witness knew had openly talked about having sex with Steffen in exchange for leniency on her pending criminal cases.
The woman told the agent she had only met Steffen a couple times in court and denied having a relationship with him. She said she had several cases pending and ended up paying a fine. A few months, later she acknowledged a relationship with Steffen, saying she was facing charges for violating a restraining order and he was prosecuting her.
Investigators searched Steffen's home in October 2020 and found an iPad in his dresser, according to the criminal complaint. On the iPad were videos of Steffen having sex with the woman in August and September of 2018. The woman told investigators she wasn't aware he was filming them.
Also on the iPad was another video of Steffen having sex with another woman earlier in 2018. They could be heard talking about how she could avoid charges for hitting a mailbox. She told investigators she wasn't aware he was filming them.
Nordstrand, the judge, also ordered Steffen to serve two years of extended supervision and four years on probation after he gets out of prison.
Steffen's attorney, listed in online court records as Minneapolis-based Eric Nelson, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment late Monday afternoon.",Explicit
"Quick-thinking bystandders in southern California helped rescue an out-of-state kidnapping victim who had been holding up a sign that said ""help me"" inside a car, authorties said Thursday.
The victim, a 13-year-old girl, was allegedly taken from a bus stop in San Antonio, Texas, the Long Beach Police Department said in a news release. The girl had allegedly been ordered into a vehicle at gunpoint on July 6.
On July 9, officers in Long Beach responded to a 911 call, where they found the teen ""visibly emotional and distressed."" Investigating officers found that Good Samaritans were in a parking lot when they saw the victim in a parked vehicle holding a sheet of paper with ""help me"" written on it. They ""immediately"" called 911, police said.
Officers located and arrested the man suspected of kidnapping the teen. He was identified as 61-year-old Steven Robert Sablan. He had been inside a nearby laundromat washing clothes when the teen wrote the sign, officials said. Police said they found the firearm used to kidnap the girl was a black BB gun ""which resembled a semi-automatic pistol."" They also found a pair of handcuffs inside the car.
Sablan was transported to the Long Beach City Jail, where he was booked for kidnapping, lewd and lascivious acts with a child, and fugitive from justice. He was booked on a $100,000 bail and was released to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on July 11, according to the jail's website.
Sablan was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this week and has been charged with one count of kidnapping and one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, the Central District of California U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release. His arraignment is scheduled for July 31 in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
According to the office, Sablan allegedly asked the victim how old she was. When she mentioned having a friend overseas, Sablan allegedly told the victim he could take her to a cruise ship to visit the friend, but she had to do something for him first. The girl was allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulted during the three days she was held by Sablan, according to the office.
If convicted of both charges filed by the federal grand jury, Sablan may face life in prison.
The teen, who was a reported runaway missing person, was placed in the custody of the San Antonio Department of Children and Family Services.
The Long Beach chief of police, Wally Hebeish, praised the Good Samaritans who had called 911.
""I want to commend our community members for their vigilance and willingness to get involved by calling 9-1-1. This incident highlights the critical role community members play in keeping people safe,"" said Hebeish. ""I would also like to acknowledge our officers for their swift response and actions which led to getting this victim to safety.""
A similar incident unfolded in South Carolina last month. An alleged kidnapping victim was rescued after aduring a traffic stop in North Myrtle Beach.
for more features.",Explicit
"Tulsi Gabbard pushes back against Jack White’s anti-Trump comment
Former Republican presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard blasted musician Jack White’s criticism of former President Trump on Twitter Saturday.
Gabbard, who served as U.S. representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021, called out what she sees as a double standard of normalization.
“Jack White recently expressed his disdain for anyone who ‘normalizes’ Trump,” she wrote about the White Stripes frontman. “In the meantime, what he wants us to do is normalize those in power abusing that power to go after political opponents, using the strong arm of the law as their goon squad.”
“Anybody who ‘normalizes’ or treats this disgusting fascist, racist, con man, disgusting piece of s— Trump with any level of respect is ALSO disgusting in my book,” White wrote on Instagram.
“That’s you Joe Rogan, you Mel Gibson, you Mark Walhberg, you Guy Fieri,” he added. This is a statement from me, not a discussion/debate.”
ITK previously reached out to Rogan, Gibson, Fieri and Wahlberg for comment.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till, the Black teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and killed in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi, and his mother, a White House official said Saturday.
Biden will sign a proclamation on Tuesday to create the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument across three sites in Illinois and Mississippi, according to the official. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity because the White House had not formally announced the president's plans.
Tuesday is the anniversary of Emmett Till's birth in 1941.
The monument will protect places that are central to the story of Till's life and death at age 14, the acquittal of his white killers and his mother's activism. Till's mother's insistence on an open casket to show the world how her son had been brutalized and Jet's magazine's decision to publish photos of his mutilated body helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement.
Biden's decision also comes at a fraught time in the United States over matters concerning race. Conservative leaders are pushing back against the teaching of slavery and Black history in public schools, as well as the incorporation of diversity, equity and inclusion programs from college classrooms to corporate boardrooms.
On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris criticized a revised Black history curriculum in Florida that includes teaching that enslaved people benefited from the skills they learned at the hands of the people who denied them freedom. The Florida Board of Education approved the curriculum to satisfy legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate who has accused public schools of liberal indoctrination.
""How is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities that there was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanization?"" Harris asked in a speech delivered from Jacksonville, Florida.
DeSantis said he had no role in devising his state's new education standards but defended the components on how enslaved people benefited.
""All of that is rooted in whatever is factual,"" he said in response.
The monument to Till and his mother will include three sites in the two states.
The Illinois site is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Bronzeville, a historically Black neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. Thousands of people gathered at the church to mourn Emmett Till in September 1955.
The Mississippi locations are Graball Landing, believed to be where Till's mutilated body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Till's killers were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury.
Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi when Carolyn Bryant Donham said the 14-year-old Till whistled and made sexual advances at her while she worked in a store in the small community of Money.
Till was later abducted and his body eventually pulled from the Tallahatchie River, where he had been tossed after he was shot and weighted down with a cotton gin fan.
Two white men, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam, were tried on murder charges about a month after Till was killed, but an all-white Mississippi jury acquitted them. Months later, they confessed to killing Till in a paid interview with Look magazine. Bryant was married to Donham in 1955. She died earlier this year.
The monument will be the fourth Biden has created since taking office in 2021, and just his latest tribute to the younger Till.
For Black History Month this year, Biden hosted a screening of the movie Till, a drama about his lynching.
In March 2022, Biden signed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law. Congress had first considered such legislation more than 120 years ago.
The Justice Department announced in December 2021 that it was closing its investigation into Till's killing.",Explicit
"Ecuador’s president, Guillermo Lasso, has declared a 60-day state of emergency throughout the country’s prisons and authorized the armed forces to retake control of jails, following violence in the country’s most notorious prison that left 18 dead and a string of protests in which inmates took nearly 100 guards hostage.
The measure – the second state of emergency that Lasso has ordered in less than 24 hours – will be in effect for 60 days and orders the immediate mobilization of the military and police in an effort to regain control of the prisons.
Clashes – including gunfire and explosions – between organized criminal gangs have raged since Saturday at the Penitenciaría del Litoral prison in the city of Guayaquil.
“So far the death of 18 prisoners has been confirmed after the clashes registered since Saturday,” the prosecutor’s office tweeted on Tuesday, adding that more than 10 people, including one police officer, were injured during the incidents.
The Penitenciaría del Litoral has a capacity for about 9,500 inmates, but in the first quarter of this year exceeded that number by almost 3,000.
It is considered one of the most dangerous prisons in Ecuador. A gang battle in 2021 killed 119 inmates. In April, 12 inmates were killed and three injured during a riot.
Meanwhile, prisoners in 13 other prisons declared a hunger strike on Monday and are holding 96 prison guards hostage to demand better sanitary conditions and food, among other issues.
Ecuador has long been plagued by prison violence, with this latest surge taking place amid campaigning for elections scheduled for 20 August, pushing some presidential candidates to pledge prison reforms, including electronic surveillance systems and more prison officers.
The SNAI prison authority has worked to regain control of the prison since early Tuesday, it said in a posting on the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, which was accompanied by images of heavily equipped police and military entering the Penitenciaría del Litoral.
Military intervention in Ecuador’s prisons will continue until control has been retaken and there is no threat to prisoners or officials, the government said on Tuesday.
Lasso also declared a state of emergency in the provinces of Manabí and Los Ríos, as well as in the city of Durán on Monday, after the mayor of the city of Manta, Agustín Intriago, was shot dead on Sunday.
Lasso has regularly declared states of emergency in the country’s prisons as he tries to tackle violence which has surged since 2021, claiming the lives of hundreds of prisoners.
The prison system has faced structural problems for decades, prompting concern from the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.",Explicit
"MEXICO CITY, July 25 (Reuters) - Mexican security forces at local, state and federal level knew about the 2014 abduction of 43 student teachers and were complicit in their disappearances, a report prepared by an independent investigatory panel said on Tuesday.
The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) - a panel appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights who were tasked with investigating the case - said in the report on one of Mexico's most notorious human rights scandals that the Army, Navy, police and intelligence agencies knew, minute by minute, where the student teachers were.
""They all collaborated to make them disappear,"" GIEI panel member Carlos Beristain told a press conference ahead of the presentation of the group's final fact-finding report.
The Army said it had no comment. The Navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mexico's armed forces have long denied having information about the disappearances.
The 43 missing youths were part of a larger group of students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College that came under attack in the city of Iguala, Guerrero, the night of Sept. 26, 2014. Some of that group died at the scene or escaped.
In its initial findings, the previous government concluded the 43 had been kidnapped by corrupt police in cahoots with a local drug gang who believed the students had been infiltrated by members of a rival outfit. The gang then killed the students and burned their bodies, their report said.
The GIEI and the current government says that account was riddled with errors and that officials hid information, using torture to obtain false testimonies, and that members of the armed forces were complicit in the disappearances.
After President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a trenchant critic of the previous administration, took office in 2018, he created a ""truth commission"" to look into the case and renewed the mandate of the GIEI, which had been formed in 2014.
The investigation found that members of the Navy and the Army had carried out secret, unreported joint operations and manipulated information relevant to the case, according to the report published on Tuesday.
In the crucial hours after the students went missing, at least 500 calls about the incident were recorded at a government security surveillance center, the report said.
Meanwhile, soldiers who had initially testified they were in their barracks that night were linked to locations where the students are believed to have been taken, it also found.
The Army and Navy also secretly arrested five suspects in the case who were believed to have been missing until now, the report argued, using documents, photographs and testimonies.
Experts also found discrepancies over the Army's reporting of the discovery of the body of Julio Cesar Mondragon, one of the Ayotzinapa students who died that night. The institution told the GIEI the differences were an ""involuntary error.""
The remains of only three of the 43 have been formally identified.
The GIEI said the motive behind the disappearances remains unclear.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"The Tomohon Extreme Market has become the first such market in Indonesia to go dog and cat meat-free.
The market's six remaining dog and cat meat traders signed an agreement to stop their sales on Friday, and the mayor of Tomohon issued a statute to ban the trade.
""We believe the way to reduce people's interest in consuming dog and cat meat in Tomohon is to stop selling it in markets."" the regional secretary of the city of Tomohon, Edwin Roring, said.
He urged people to opt for clean, rabies-free animal-based foods such as pork, beef, and chicken.
'Brutally cruel' animal trade
The move followed months of campaigning and lobbying by Humane Society International (HSI) and the local Animal Friends Manado Indonesia (AFMI) groups.
The animal welfare groups called the treatment of the animals at the markets ""brutally cruel"" and like ""walking through hell.""
They hope to see the ban extended to the rest of Indonesia where an estimated one million dogs and cats are killed for human consumption every year.
Campaigners said the trade causes immense animal suffering and poses serious threats to human health by spreading diseases such as rabies, anthrax, and leptospirosis.
The footage captured by the activists at two markets in North Sulawesi province shows workers pulling howling animals out and bludgeoning their heads with wooden batons.
The animals were hanged, and their fur was blowtorched off while they were still alive.
Traditional attitudes slowly changing
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country, and Islam considers and views dog products as haram, or forbidden, in the same way as pork.
Still, as much as 7% of Indonesians eat dog and cat meat, according to Dog Meat Free Indonesia. This is practiced mainly in North Sulawesi, North Sumatra, and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, where most of the population identify as Christian.
The decisson by dog and cat meat traders in Tomohon to stop selling means the supply would now be cut off at the source.
Elvianus Pongoh, one of the sellers at Tomohon for 25 years, said the time was right to end the trade.
""I have probably slaughtered thousands of dogs. Every now and then I would see the fear in their eyes... as I came for them, and it made me feel bad,"" he said. ""I know this ban is best for the animals and also best to protect the public.""
lo/dj (AFP, AP, dpa)",Explicit
"
In this Aug. 12, 2017 file photo, white nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va.
Steve Helber/AP
In late May, a group of young, male neo-Nazis converged outside a bookstore in Bozeman, Mt., to protest a drag queen story hour. Later that day, they hit another similar event in Livingston, Mt. The second weekend in June, the groups targeted the Lewis County Pride Festival in Centralia, Wash. A week after that, it was the Wind River Pride event in Lander, Wyo. And the following weekend, they were at Oregon City Pride, not far from Portland, Ore.
These men, dressed in tactical gear and masks, were members of so-called ""active clubs"" — a term that may be relatively new to American audiences. They are a strand of the white nationalist movement that has grown quickly during the last three years and that has recently taken their message of hate into more public view. These decentralized cells emphasize mixed martial arts training to ready their members for violence against their perceived enemies.
Stephen Piggott, a researcher with the Western States Center, a national civil rights organization, has closely tracked their evolution in the Pacific Northwest.
""They are really focused on a couple of things,"" said Piggott. ""One is centering, organizing and trying to recruit people through combat sports ... but also, preparing for political and racially motivated violence.""
Those that protested those LGBTQ gatherings in the Pacific Northwest states call themselves the Northwest Nationalist Network; they have been among the most emboldened to bring their activities into the streets. But groups in Arizona, California, Pennsylvania and Tennessee have also been notably active. And recently, two new networks have been announced: The Dixie Alliance, for groups in Southern states, and the Midwest Network.
""These clubs are decentralized and they're forming on their own,"" said Morgan Moon, an investigative researcher at the Anti-Defamation League, which estimates that there are active clubs now in at least 30 states. ""We're starting to see [the active club model] pop up in Europe as well as Canada now.""
European 'hooliganism' for American neo-Nazis
Those who have closely tracked the active club scene in the U.S. largely attribute its establishment and growth to a single individual: Robert Rundo. Rundo, a self-professed fascist and white nationalist who frequently traffics in anti-Semitic tropes, has spent much of the last five years on the run from law enforcement. In the spring, he was arrested in Romania, and a court recently ordered that he be extradited to face charges in California for rioting and conspiring to riot at political rallies.
""What Rundo did was take a model of European far-right extremism: decentralized, [and] quite honestly, borrowing — if not stealing from — far-right football hooligan subcultures, right down to aesthetics and plopping that down into an American context as something new and innovative,"" said Michael Colborne, a researcher, investigator and journalist at the investigative journalism website Bellingcat. Colborne's investigations helped to uncover Rundo's whereabouts in Serbia in 2020 and 2021, and then in Bulgaria in 2022.
Rundo's alleged criminal activity in the U.S. dates back chiefly to 2017 and 2018, when he ran an active club in Southern California called the Rise Above Movement. Despite that crew's dissolution and his absence from the U.S. during the last several years, Colborne said Rundo has retained a central role in the growth of the active club scene. Rundo sells merchandising online and uses podcasts to instruct others on starting their own crews. Colborne said Rundo's advice to adherents centers on what he calls the ""three F's"" — fashion, fitness and fighting.
""He really saw the power of that aesthetic, that power of bringing young men together into these hyper masculine subcultures where they could train up for physical combat against their their perceived ideological foes,"" said Colborne.
Rundo has also spent his time deepening trans-Atlantic ties with similar-minded hate groups. Colborne said he spotted Rundo at events hosted by ultranationalists in Budapest, Hungary and Sofia, Bulgaria in early 2020. These gatherings and connections have reinforced a common goal, said Colborne.
""It's not explicitly politically focused,"" he said. ""It's about building ... what they perceive as a far-right countercultural movement to try to mainstream their ideas, their ideologies, their symbols, to make them more ... acceptable in society over time.""
The neo-Nazi question
Active clubs are not the first instance where a decentralized model of crews for young men committed to becoming ""white warriors"" has been exported from Europe to the U.S. Almost four decades ago, the same happened with the neo-Nazi skinhead scene. In fact, Colborne said in some places, like Canada, active clubs have been established by former Hammerskin members.
""They are trying to cloak the very same neo-Nazi ideas that their [neo-Nazi skinhead] forbearers had with their jackboots and swastika t-shirts, you know, 10, 20, 30 years ago.""
Colborne said Rundo's obsession with the aesthetics of active clubs has steered away from that imagery because ultimately, it didn't play well with American audiences. Plus, it could immediately attract law enforcement scrutiny — particularly in Europe.
""In countries where there are some pretty open far-right scenes, like Serbia, you cannot display swastikas. You cannot be that obvious. You literally cannot do it in Germany or Austria because it's a crime,"" said Colborne. ""[Rundo] was very familiar with how far-right extremists across Europe had to be more clever and coy with the way that they were try to communicate their ideas, and the way that they would try to spread their ideology.""
Despite that, groups that have formed in the U.S. have taken their own approach on whether or not to openly embrace neo-Nazism.
""Their praise of National Socialist tenets and of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime is very apparent,"" said Piggott. ""If you if you look at their social media, it's full of pro-Nazi, pro-Hitler rhetoric and and iconography.""
Jim Urquhart for NPR
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Law enforcement detains and arrest 31 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front on suspicion of conspiracy to riot after they were removed from a U-Haul truck near the LGBTQ community's Pride in the Park event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, last June.
Jim Urquhart for NPR
At anti-LGBTQ gatherings during the last two months, active clubs in the U.S. have allied with other white nationalist organizations. Among those are Patriot Front, which saw 31 members arrested and charged with conspiring to riot at a Pride event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, last summer. Also, White Lives Matter groups have reportedly attended ""fight nights"" hosted by active clubs in San Diego and in Washington state.
But not all far-right groups have welcomed the increased public activity of these crews. A viral video taken near the Oregon City Pride event last month showed Proud Boys, a violent neo-fascist group, beating members of an active club on a sidewalk. In the video, Proud Boys are heard calling the active club members ""racists"" and Nazis. The fight, which has been attributed to an interpersonal conflict between the groups, has opened up hostilities between the two extremist factions, mostly online.
Extremism experts caution that there is little comfort to take from seeing two far-right groups in conflict with each other. In this case, both had shown up in furtherance of the same cause: to intimidate members of the LGBTQ community at a Pride event. And the fact that both were there may signal a common perception that this moment in America, when anti-LGBTQ hostility is heightened, maybe be an opportunity to spread their extreme ideologies.",Explicit
"Kateryna Malofieieva/NPR
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Olha Kornych, 58, stands in front of her newly rebuilt home on Vokzalna Street in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv. Her home was among the many that were badly damaged or destroyed in Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Kateryna Malofieieva/NPR
Olha Kornych, 58, stands in front of her newly rebuilt home on Vokzalna Street in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv. Her home was among the many that were badly damaged or destroyed in Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Kateryna Malofieieva/NPR
BUCHA, Ukraine — To understand how much the Kyiv suburb of Bucha has recovered in the past year, take a look at the photos above and below.
Above is Olha Kornych, 58, who was cleaning up at her newly rebuilt, tan, two-story stucco home.
""The rebuilding started in March this year, and they finished it recently. They're still planting trees,"" said Kornych. The inside is still a bit messy, but she hopes to move back in soon.
Below is the photo of her street, Vokzalna Street, from early April of last year, just after the Russian forces had been driven out of Bucha, which is a few miles northwest of Kyiv.
Felipe Dana/AP
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A Ukrainian serviceman stands amid destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha, on April 6, 2022, just days after the Russian forces were driven out.
Felipe Dana/AP
A Ukrainian serviceman stands amid destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha, on April 6, 2022, just days after the Russian forces were driven out.
Felipe Dana/AP
Kornych recalled the terrifying day in February last year when Russian tanks came rumbling down her narrow street.
""Around 7:30 in the morning, the convoy of tanks passed by. We drank tea and coffee and watched TV. We didn't panic at first,"" she said. ""Then we heard the machine guns. We barely managed to make it to the basement.""
She was one of nine family members and neighbors who took refuge in her basement as a Russian tank took up a position in her yard, and many others filled the street.
""We were stuck in the cellar until the end of the battle. It was horrible,"" said Kornych. She said they were able to escape at the end of the day, but the tanks remained for weeks.
New homes, a concert and a memorial
The rebuilt homes in Bucha are just one example of how the town is coming back to life.
On a recent Saturday evening, residents packed into an open-air theater in Bucha's main park for an energetic concert.
Kateryna Malofieieva/NPR
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Bucha recently staged a packed concert at an open-air theater in the city's main park.
Kateryna Malofieieva/NPR
Bucha recently staged a packed concert at an open-air theater in the city's main park.
Kateryna Malofieieva/NPR
Families strolled the lush, manicured grounds on a gentle summer night that looked like it could be almost any small town in Europe.
""Rebuilding at the fastest pace possible is very important. This provides the psychological support our citizens need, so they can see the city being renewed,"" Bucha's mayor, Anatolii Fedoruk, told NPR.
He said more than 3,000 homes and structures were damaged or destroyed during the Russian occupation that lasted for nearly the entire month of March 2022. About half are now in some stage of reconstruction, and the mayor hoped that figure will reach 70% by the end of the year.
Yet even this day was filled with somber moments.
Kateryna Malofieieva/NPR
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Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk spoke with residents at the unveiling of a Wall of Honor that featured the names of 501 civilians killed when Russia invaded last year. Some of the plaques are blank because around 80 bodies have still not been positively identified.
Kateryna Malofieieva/NPR
Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk spoke with residents at the unveiling of a Wall of Honor that featured the names of 501 civilians killed when Russia invaded last year. Some of the plaques are blank because around 80 bodies have still not been positively identified.
Kateryna Malofieieva/NPR
The mayor dedicated a newly built Wall of Honor, with silver plaques featuring the names of 501 civilians killed during Russia's occupation in March of last year.
Dozens of additional plaques are blank, reflecting the 80 bodies still not positively identified.
""We demand justice. We demand that even after we achieve victory, the Russians must be punished for what they did here,"" Fedoruk said.
Reminders of destruction left by the Russians
A short distance away, the scars of the Russian invasion remain. Mangled, rusting vehicles. Homes and shops pierced by bullets and shrapnel.
Much of the money to rebuild homes in Bucha came from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, based in Decatur, Ill. The foundation operates mostly in poor countries in Africa and Latin America. Buffett said he came to Ukraine because the need is so great.
""These people did nothing wrong. They did not deserve this. They did not ask for this. It should not have happened to them. And they've lost everything,"" he said.
Buffett has made eight trips to Ukraine since last year and his foundation has committed $450 million to multiple projects around the country.
He spoke to NPR via Zoom from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. He was wearing a flak jacket because Kherson was yet again under a shelling attack.
""It's a war on civilians. It's a war on global food security. It's a war on freedom. It's a war on democracy. And it's a war on sovereignty,"" he said. ""This is a war that everybody should care about.""
A roundabout in Bucha has been renamed Buffett Square, marked with a large sign. This is a place he's more famous than his father, billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Greg Myre/NPR
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One of the main traffic roundabouts in Bucha has been renamed Buffett Square in honor of American philanthropist Howard Buffett, whose foundation has committed $450 million to reconstruction projects throughout Ukraine.
Greg Myre/NPR
One of the main traffic roundabouts in Bucha has been renamed Buffett Square in honor of American philanthropist Howard Buffett, whose foundation has committed $450 million to reconstruction projects throughout Ukraine.
Greg Myre/NPR
Howard Buffett gives credit to the local groups that have done so much to rebuild Bucha, and recalled a recent visit to the rapidly renovating town.
""It's just amazing to see it. I mean, it's just it's an incredible change. It has to give people hope,"" Buffett said.
Bucha's revival is happening more rapidly than in other ravaged places. The war still rages in the south and east. Even in relatively stable areas, Ukraine lacks the resources to rebuild.
The cost will be astronomical. Estimates put the nationwide reconstruction figure at somewhere between $400 billion to more than $1 trillion.
There's talk of seizing frozen Russian assets abroad — around $350 billion — and giving that money to Ukraine, though so far it's just one idea under discussion.
Meanwhile, back at the concert, as the music comes to a close, the audience rises to a standing ovation to express its appreciation — and to imagine better days ahead.
Greg Myre is an NPR national security correspondent. Follow him @gregmyre1.",Explicit
"Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey left the four men who made allegations against him in a sexual assault trial feeling small, diminished and worthless, prosecutors have said.
Summing up, Christine Agnew KC told Southwark Crown Court the case involved an ""enormous imbalance of power"".
Kevin Spacey denies nine counts of sexual assault between 2001 and 2013.
Earlier, the jury was told four counts against him had been removed because of legal technicalities.
The four indecent assault charges, which were alternative, lesser counts, were struck off by the judge due to a ""legal technicality"" - not because the prosecution had abandoned any allegation.
In her closing speech, prosecutor Ms Agnew told jurors the case was ""about power and taking advantage of that power"".
She questioned Mr Spacey's claim that his accusers were motivated by money and suggested the trial was a result of his ""aggressive, oppressive and intimidatory behaviour"".
There was no doubt he was ""a very famous and lauded actor"" who was ""used to getting his own way"", she said - and his behaviour made his accusers ""feel small, it made them feel diminished, it made them feel worthless"".
""He is undoubtedly someone who is kind to those he chooses to be kind to,"" she said, referring to character witnesses for Mr Spacey.
But she added: ""History is littered with those who are benevolent to some and cruel to others.""
She went on to say it was ""not simply a strength-in-numbers case"" against Mr Spacey but that of four separate men who told friends and family, the police and then the court their stories in search of justice.
These men were entitled to the same protection in law as a woman, she told the jury at Southwark Crown Court.
""Why on earth should these men put up with what they say has happened to them?"" she asked.
She added they were not motivated by ""money, money, money"" but instead had come forward because they no longer wanted to be the ""secret keeper"" for someone who had abused them.
Mr Spacey, 63, denies using his celebrity to get people into bed, and has rejected claims he is a sexual bully.
He previously called the case against him ""weak"".
His defence lawyers are expected to sum up their case on Thursday.",Explicit
"An Ohio K9 officer has been put on administrative leave, and his dog placed in a kennel after a confrontation captured on bodycam earlier this month shows the animal attacking Jadarrius Rose, a Black truck driver who was surrendering to authorities at the time.
Circleville K9 Officer Ryan Speakman was placed on leave as the city’s five-member Use of Force Review Board continues an investigation, Mayor Donald McIlroy confirmed.
“It’s an unfortunate situation and we look to get it resolved very, very soon,” he told ABC News on Monday.
The confrontation unfolded on July 4 along state highway 35, when officers tried to stop a commercial semitruck that was missing a mudflap and failed to halt for an inspection, according to a Ohio State Highway Patrol incident report.
“Right now I’m being chased by like 20 police officers and they all got their guns pointed directly to my truck,” a man police believed to be Rose told a Pickaway County dispatcher during a 2-minute call obtained by NBC News. “So now I’m trying to figure out why they got their guns all pointed to me and they’re all white people.”
In separate 911 call released by Ross County, Rose says he doesn’t feel safe stopping and speculates the officers are “trying to kill” him.
Following a lengthy pursuit, Rose finally exited his vehicle with his hands raised as Speakman ordered his dog to attack.
In bodycam footage of the incident, one officer can be heard yelling: “Do not release the dog with his hands up!” His order is almost immediately followed by screams from Rose, who is already trying to fend off the police K9.
“Get the dog off of him!” the trooper shouts “Get it off! Please! Please!”
Rose was later charged with failure to comply.
With News Wire Services",Explicit
"Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into the Placebo frontman Brian Molko for publicly calling the Italian prime minister “racist” and “fascist”, according to local media reports.
The band were performing last week at the Sonic Park festival in Stupinigi outside Turin when Molko hurled insults from the stage about Giorgia Meloni.
“Giorgia Meloni, piece of shit, fascist, racist,” Molko shouted in Italian, as seen in fan videos from the concert posted on social media.
Prosecutors in Turin did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
Meloni, 46, heads Italy’s most rightwing government since the second world war. Italy’s criminal code punishes with a fine ranging from €1,000 to €5,000 (£858 to £4,290) anyone who “publicly defames the republic”, which includes the government, parliament, the courts and the army.",Explicit
"PHILADELPHIA -- A retired minister in Georgia has been charged with murder in the slaying of an 8-year-old girl whose remains were found in southeastern Pennsylvania almost a half-century ago.
David Zandstra, 83, of the Atlanta suburb of Marietta is charged with criminal homicide, first--, second- and third-degree murder, kidnapping of a minor and a related count in the 1975 death of Gretchen Harrington in Delaware County.
District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer told reporters Monday in the Delaware County seat of Media that the defendant was “a monster"" and ""every parent's worst nightmare.""
“This is a man who is a remorseless child predator who acted as if he was a friend, a neighbor and a man of God, and he killed this poor little girl,” Stollsteimer said.
Having killed a child who knew and trusted him, he then “acted as if he was their family friend, not only during her burial and the period after that but for years,” the district attorney said.
Harrington, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister and his wife, disappeared in mid-August 1975 while walking from her Marple Township home to Bible camp at Trinity Church Chapel, where Zandstra was pastor. Her body was found two months later by a jogger in Ridley Creek State Park in Media.
Harrington, usually accompanied by her sisters but alone this day because of a recent birth in her family, was offered a ride by Zandstra, who was also the father of one of her best friends, Stollsteimer alleged.
“So when he offered her a ride in his car, of course she got in the car,” he said.
Zandstra took her to a wooded location and eventually struck her in the head, and believing her to be dead tried to cover her body, authorities said. Returning to his church, he “tried to act like nothing had happened,” and when her father, pastor of the nearby Reformed Presbyterian Church, called seeking to find her, Zandstra was the one to call police, Stollsteimer alleged.
Over ensuing days, hundreds of people searched nearby wooded areas, and authorities distributed more than 2,000 leaflets and set up a 24-hour hotline that took hundreds of calls, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. When the girl’s body was found in mid-October 1975, her clothing was “folded and in a neat pile” near her body with her underwear hanging from a tree branch “like a flag ... as if to call attention to the place,” the Inquirer reported at the time.
Stollsteimer said new information from an unnamed friend of the victim led state police to travel to Georgia and interview Zandstra, who authorities allege then confessed to the crime.
Trooper Eugene Tray said the defendant's demeanor was “relieved"" as if it was “a weight off his shoulders.” Stollsteimer said Zandstra, however, was fighting extradition from Georgia though the prosecutor vowed that he would be returned to face justice in Pennsylvania.
DNA from the defendant will be compared to material from open cases in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, authorities said. Zandstra lived in Texas and Georgia after leaving the commonwealth, they said. The Christian Reformed Church lists him as having ministered in New Jersey, California and Texas before retiring in 2005. Authorities said they were concerned that there may have been more victims and urged anyone with information to contact investigators.
Zandstra remained in custody in Georgia; a message was left Monday for a Pennsylvania attorney listed as representing him.
Gretchen Harrington's family asked for privacy but said in a statement that they were “extremely hopeful” that the person responsible would be held accountable for taking her away from them, which they said “forever altered our family and we miss her every single day.”
“If you met Gretchen, you were instantly her friend. She exuded kindness to all and was sweet and gentle,” the family said. “Even now, when people share their memories of her, the first thing they talk about is how amazing she was and still is ... at just 8 years old, she had a lifelong impact on those around her.”",Explicit
"TOKYO -- Renowned Japanese mystery writer Seiichi Morimura, whose nonfiction trilogy “The Devil’s Gluttony” exposed human medical experiments conducted by a secret Japanese army unit during World War II, died Monday. He was 90.
His official website and publisher, Kadokawa, said Morimura died of pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital.
“Akuma no Hoshoku,” or “The Devil’s Gluttony,” which began as a newspaper series in 1981, became a bestseller and created a sensation across the country over atrocities committed by Japanese Imperial Army Unit 731 in China.
From its base in Japanese-controlled Harbin in China, Unit 731 and related units injected war prisoners with typhus, cholera and other diseases as research into germ warfare, according to historians and former unit members. Unit 731 is also believed to have performed vivisections and frozen prisoners to death in tests of endurance.
Morimura began contributing articles to magazines while working in hotels. He won the prestigious Edogawa Rampo Prize for his mystery fiction in 1969 and the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1973.
Born in 1933 in Saitama, just north of Tokyo, Morimura survived harsh U.S. bombings of the Tokyo region toward the end of World War II and developed pacifist principles. He wrote a book about his commitment to defending Japan's postwar pacifist Constitution and opposing nuclear weapons. He joined protests against a 2015 reinterpretation of the constitution by then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe allowing greater military activity.
His 1976 novel “Ningen no Shomei” (""Proof of the Man""), a mystery about a young Black man who is murdered, revealed the dark side of postwar Japan and was made into a movie.
Another popular novel, “Yasei no Shomei” (""Proof of the Wild""), published a year later depicts a conspiracy over genocide in a remote village.",Explicit
"JERUSALEM, July 25 (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed three Palestinian militants who opened fire on them from a car near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, Israel's defence minister and army said.
The Islamist militant group Hamas claimed the three as its members and said in a statement they had died in a clash.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Twitter the incident took place at Mount Gerizim, a Samaritan community overlooking Nablus.
Violence in the West Bank has surged for over a year, with increased Israeli raids, Palestinian street attacks and settler rampages in Palestinian villages. Nablus and the nearby northern West Bank city of Jenin have seen especially intense clashes.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams offered a bizarre response after a woman appeared to curse him out over his treatment of homeless people on Monday.
After a woman, who appeared to be protesting, screamed obscenities at Adams, the New York City mayor responded that ""one should be happy"" if another person wants to ""make love to them."" The eyebrow-raising exchange came during a press conference Adams hosted to unveil his efforts to remove scaffolding from city streets and kickstart a recovery of the city's business district.
""F--- you, a--hole!"" the protester appeared to say during the press conference Monday.
""She said I'm messing with homeless people,"" Adams responded, chuckling. ""One should be happy if someone wants to make love to them. You know?""
Adams didn't explain what he meant, instead taking a question from a reporter on an unrelated topic. His office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
New York City continues to experience rising homelessness that is at its highest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s, according to the Coalition for the Homeless. As of December 2022, there were 68,884 homeless people, including 21,805 children, housed in New York City’s main shelter system.
The press conference Monday comes less than a month after Adams was criticized over his similarly-bizarre response to a woman concerned about high rent prices. That woman interrupted Adams during a town hall event in June to accuse the mayor of raising New York City rent and supporting increases
""If you are going to ask a question, don't point at me and don't be disrespectful to me,"" Adams told the woman. ""I'm the mayor of the city. Treat me with the respect I deserve to be treated. I'm speaking to you as an adult. Don't stand in front like you treating someone that's on the plantation that you own. Give me the respect I deserve and engage in the conversation up here in Washington Heights.""
""Treat me with the same level of respect I treat you,"" Adams continued. ""So, don't be pointing at me, don't be disrespectful to me. Speak with me as an adult because I'm a grown man. I walked into this room as a grown man, and I'll walk out of this room as a grown man. I answered your question.""
On June 21, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board announced recommendations paving the way for landlords to increase rents by 3% this year. Adams endorsed the board's decision, saying it found the ""right balance.""
It was later revealed the woman Adams compared to a plantation owner was housing activist Jeanie Dubnau whose family fled to New York City from Nazi Germany in the mid-1900s.",Explicit
"Ernie Els did not hold back on Thursday afternoon at Royal Liverpool.
Els, after his opening-round 75 at the British Open on Thursday, ripped PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan for striking a deal with LIV Golf and Saudi Arabia.
“Talk to us, tell us what you’re going to do, plan on negotiating. Don’t just go rogue as a member of the board and come back with a deal and think we’re all going to say yes. You’re affecting people’s lives. You’re affecting the professional game. It’s just so bad.”
regarding their “framework agreement” with the Tour, the DP World Tour and LIV Golf. Since then, into the proposed partnership — which still has a long way to go before anything is finalized. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which invested more than $2 billion trying to get LIV Golf running, reportedly plans to invest more than $1 billion into the new entity.
Monahan received plenty of criticism for striking a deal with LIV Golf and Saudi Arabia, who have been . Monahan even once invoked the 9/11 terrorist attacks when advocating for the Tour over LIV Golf.
The announcement caught just about everyone in the golf world by surprise, too. PGA Tour board members Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne helped Monahan negotiate the deal in near-total secrecy.
Plenty of details still need to be figured out before the new entity can launch. Under the current framework agreement, Monahan would become CEO of the new entity and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan would be chairman of the board.
Els said he knows Al-Rumayyan and other top Saudi Arabian officials from his time playing in the country and throughout the Middle East in his career. While he’s not doubting their sincerity when it comes to golf, but Els isn’t here for LIV Golf and its team system — which he described as “circus golf.”
“That’s not where I stand,” Els said. ""Team golf doesn’t work. It works maybe in a two-month, three-month happy season. Get these guys together, get teams together and play around the world. But [then] play real golf.
""That’s what this thing is all about. That’s what I prided myself on. Like Tiger [Woods] and some of these guys. Playing that type of golf. Getting yourself into majors. And grinding.
""And for [the PGA Tour leadership] to go out there and do what they did, just off the cuff, as a board member, do a deal, nobody knows. The commissioner is supposed to be the guy running our Tour. These board members make a deal or a so-called deal and with no input from the players. It's absolute shambles. I’m worried.""
Els won 19 times on Tour in his career, including twice at the British Open. The 53-year-old has 42 international wins to his name, too, and he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. He's 4-over after Thursday at Royal Liverpool, nine shots back from the leaders.
“I spent almost 30 years on Tour, playing against Tiger … People don’t mention me, but I was there,” Els said. “He needed somebody to beat. There’s a lot of guys who did a lot for the Tour. They helped the Tour and helped build the game. Are you kidding me? And then this bulls**t.”
Els isn’t opposed to Saudi Arabia being involved in golf. He’s seen what the country has done elsewhere in the sports world, and he knows there’s not much to be done to stop it. The to work with, if not more.
But in his eyes, Al-Rumayyan is coming for full control golf. Monahan and the board are “going to be answering to him” no matter how the new venture is structured, and that’s a problem.
""Do we play ball with him? Does he come in at a different rate, maybe a smaller investment, see if they are the right partner? Not just come in and take over world golf. That's just ridiculous,” Els said.
“[We] need to slow things down … I think they need to cut a deal. And Saudi comes in and invests in the Tour. They can bring a lot of money to the Tour. Hopefully all of that money flows down to people who got burned by this.""",Explicit
"The man accused of attacking former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband last year will stand trial in San Francisco, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
David DePape’s federal public defenders, Jodi Linker and Angela Chuang, had requested that the federal trial be moved to the city of Eureka in neighboring Oregon. They argued that their client wouldn’t get a fair trial because the media attention has tainted the pool of jurors and because Pelosi, who has represented the City since 1987, remains a popular figure in the Bay Area.
DePape’s lawyers said a survey they commissioned shows many potential jurors already believe he is guilty of the crimes and would be unable to change their minds.
Per the San Francisco Standard, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said DePape’s lawyers had failed to show evidence that media coverage in the Bay Area was more negative than anywhere else.
Prosecutors say DePape broke into the Pelosis' San Francisco home on Oct. 28 seeking to kidnap the former speaker — who was out of town — and instead beat her 83-year-old husband with a hammer. Footage of the attack was released to the public in January after a California judge denied prosecutors' request to keep it secret.
DePape, 43, pleaded not guilty to federal charges of attempting to kidnap a federal official and assaulting a federal official's family member. He also pleaded not guilty to state charges, including attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse. He remains jailed without bail.
DePape’s federal trial is set to start November 13. His state trial hasn't been scheduled.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.",Explicit
"Texas Governor Greg Abbott's escalating measures to stop migrants along the U.S. border with Mexico came under a burst of new criticism Tuesday after a state trooper said migrants were left bloodied from razor-wire barriers and that orders were given to deny people water in sweltering heat.
In one account, Texas Trooper Nicholas Wingate told a supervisor that upon encountering a group of 120 migrants on June 25 — including young children and mothers nursing babies — in Maverick County, a rural Texas border county, he and another trooper were ordered to ""push the people back into the water to go to Mexico.""
The trooper described the actions in an email dated July 3 as inhumane.
Travis Considine, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Safety, said the accounts provided by the trooper were under internal investigation. He said the department has no directive or policy that instructs troopers to withhold water from migrants or push them back into the river.
The emails, first obtained by Hearst Newspapers, thrust Texas' sprawling border security mission back under scrutiny at a time when Abbott is expanding the mission by putting a new floating barrier on the Rio Grande. The Republican has authorized more than $4 billion in spending on the mission, known as Operation Lone Star, which has also included busing thousands of migrants to Democratic-led cities and arresting migrants on trespassing charges.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday that the trooper's account, if true, was ""abhorrent"" and ""dangerous."" Democrats in the Texas Capitol said they planned to investigate.
""We are talking about the bedrock values of who we are as a country and the human indecency that we are seeing,"" Jean-Pierre said. ""If this is true, it is just completely, completely wrong.""
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security condemned the reported actions in a statement but did not say whether the agency was planning to investigate the allegations.
Republican Representative Tony Gonzales, whose sprawling south Texas congressional district includes the border, tweeted, ""Border security should not equal a lack of humanity.""
In one instance, according to Wingate, a 4-year-old girl attempting to cross through razor wire was ""pressed back"" by Texas National Guard soldiers in accordance with orders and that the child later fainted from the heat. Temperatures in Maverick County this summer have soared into the triple-digits.
Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber, who has supported the state deploying workers to the border, said he was taken aback by the trooper's account.
""I don't agree with whatever they were told to do,"" Schmerber said. ""That's not something that's part of our mission. You know, I know that we're here to protect and serve no matter who it is, you know, either immigrants or U.S. citizens. But we're not going to do any harm to anybody.""
Wingate did not immediately return an email message seeking comment Tuesday. The Texas Military Department also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As concern and outrage over the trooper's account mounted Tuesday, Abbott's office issued a statement that said no orders have been given ""that would compromise the lives of those attempting to cross the border illegally."" The statement did not address Wingate's specific accounts and defended the border mission overall.
The statement said the razor wire ""snags clothing"" but did not address the accounts of migrants being cut and bloodied by the barrier.
""The absence of these tools and strategies — including concertina wire that snags clothing — encourages migrants to make potentially life-threatening and illegal crossings. Through Operation Lone Star, Texas continues stepping up to respond to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis at our southern border,"" the statement read.
The email chain with the trooper included a log showing 38 encounters between June 25 and July 1 with migrants in need of medical assistance, ranging from weakness to lacerations, broken limbs and drownings in which life-saving measures were required. A dozen were under a year old.
Other accounts included a 19-year-old woman who was found cut by the wire and having a miscarriage. The others had cuts or broken bones as a result of where the wires were placed, according to the email.
""We need to operate it correctly in the eyes of God,"" Wingate wrote.
In response to Wingate's accounts, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw sent an email saying ""the priority of life requires that we rescue migrants from harm and we will continue to do so.""
A separate email exchange obtained by The Associated Press dated July 14 shows McCraw receiving pictures, originally sent by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, of injuries caused by the sharp wire placed by Texas officials.
The pictures showed some injuries that required stitches as well as bloodied hands and legs.",Explicit
"Donald Trump on Thursday reposted a video on his Truth Social platform in which he is heard saying: “If you f**k around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you that have never been done before.”
The former president’s threatening words play over a black-and-white image of his face and his 2024 campaign logo.
The clip was initially shared by the user @AmericanAF, which in its bio says is the “OFFICIAL MAGA headquarters” that is “run by veterans.”
The audio is actually from a 2020 conversation the Republican 2024 frontrunner had about Iran.
Trump shared the video, without the Iran context, as he reportedly faces another indictment, this time in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the U.S. Capitol riot.
The twice-impeached Trump has frequently raged at the legal scrutiny he has faced since leaving office, earlier this week claiming Smith had sent him a target letter in the probe. He called it “HORRIFYING NEWS.”",Explicit
"A man who was kicked out of a bar in Mexico returned and set it ablaze, killing 11 people and injuring six others over the weekend, police said.
Authorities arrested a suspect Saturday afternoon in the attack at Beer House in San Luis Rio Colorado, less than 300 feet from the U.S. border. He has not been publicly identified.
The attacker visited the bar early Saturday morning and within an hour became very drunk, according to the local prosecutor’s office in the state of Sonora. He was removed from the establishment for harassing women, investigators said.
The suspect got in his pickup truck, backed up to the front of the bar and began pouring gasoline on the door, state attorney general Gustavo Romulo Salas Chavez told reporters.
“He then used some instrument, perhaps a blowtorch, he used it as an igniting agent,” Salas Chavez said in Spanish. “That’s when the fire began.”
Seven men and four women were killed in the fire. Ten of the 11 victims were adults, and the 11th was 17 years old, according to police. At least one of the victims was a U.S. citizen.
The six injured people were taken to hospitals on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, the Washington Post reported.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security told the paper it was “looking into” the arson attack. Mexican authorities did not suggest the suspected killer had any ties to drug cartels.
San Luis Rio Colorado is a border city of about 200,000 people. It shares a metropolitan area with San Luis, Ariz., which sits in the far southwestern corner of the state, about 15 miles south of Yuma.",Explicit
"VERDEGRIS, Okla. -- A woman and her three children were found dead in an Oklahoma home on Thursday evening in what may be a murder-suicide following an hours-long standoff, authorities said.
The names of the victims weren't immediately released.
The standoff began in the small town of Verdigris, a suburb east of Tulsa, after a woman told a patrolling police officer at around 4 p.m. that another woman with a gun held her hostage in a garage, Police Chief Jack Shackleford said, KOKI-TV reported.
The woman also said there were children in the home and the officer called for reinforcements, Shackleford said.
Several agencies surrounded the house, including a SWAT team from the Cherokee Nation.
Authorities entered the home around 7:30 p.m. and found the bodies of the woman and three children, believed to range in age from several months to around 11 years old.
A handgun was found at the scene and the killings are being investigated as a murder-suicide, authorities said.
Shackleford said officers went to the home several times in the past on domestic and mental health calls, KOKI-TV reported.",Explicit
"As the chair of Alliance for a Pro-Life Alabama in 2018, Cole Wagner helped muscle into the Alabama Constitution a new amendment declaring the state recognized “the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children.” On Friday, the Alabama Political Reporter broke the news that Wagner had been arrested for the sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12.
A copy of the indictment was not immediately available, and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to inquiries about Wagner’s arrest.
Wagner told the Montgomery Advertiser in 2018 that passing Amendment 2 would send the “powerful message” that Alabama voters “are willing to stand in defense of our citizens who can’t yet defend themselves.” Amendment 2 did pass — in a big win for the anti-abortion movement — setting the stage for Alabama’s total ban on abortion, which went into effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned last year.
After that victory, Wagner snagged a plum job in Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth’s office. For three and half years, according to Wagner’s LinkedIn, he was employed as Ainsworth’s Senate liaison working to advance Ainsworth’s agenda and support his role as president of the Senate. During his time with Ainsworth’s office, Wagner attended events with the lieutenant governor, who called Wagner “a whiz-kid” and a “bright, young guy.”
On Twitter, Ainsworth — who was also a prominent supporter of Amendment 2 and opponent of abortion rights — has shared photos of himself with Wagner. He’s also used Twitter to wish Wagner happy birthday: “Happy 30 birthday @MDeColeW . For those of you that don’t know this is his face when he loses in sports. Fortunately he is better at policy and solving problems than winning at sports.” (Ainsworth’s tweet was deleted shortly after this story published, but an archived copy remains available online.)
On his own since-deactivated Twitter account, Cole has joked about Joe Biden’s “inappropriate hugs.”
Ainsworth’s office did not respond to multiple inquiries about Wanger’s tenure working with the lieutenant governor, including a question about whether his office was taking steps to investigate whether Wagner may have engaged in criminal behavior while working for the lieutenant governor.
Trending
Wagner left the lieutenant governor’s office in February for the Alabama Department of Education, where according to his LinkedIn profile, he worked in government relations. The ALSDE called the allegations against Wagner “serious, tragic and shocking” in a statement, and said last week that he had been terminated from his job “effective immediately.”
According to the Alabama Political Reporter, Wagner was released last week after posting $60,000 bail. He faces up to 20 years in prison.",Explicit
"A man who attacked worshippers at a mosque in Canada with bear spray and an axe last year was sentenced to eight years in prison on Tuesday.
Mohammad Moiz Omar, 24 at the time, stormed into the Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, during morning prayers on March 19, 2022 and started spraying. Worshippers took him down and held him until police arrived.
Police investigated the incident as a possible hate crime. Omar pleaded guilty last Wednesday to three charges: administering a noxious substance with intent to endanger life or cause bodily harm, assault with a weapon, and mischief to religious property with motivation of bias, prejudice or hate based on religion, CBC News reported.
Omar’s act, according to a statement of facts agreed to by all parties involved, was “intended to perpetrate a mass casualty event,” and his plea included an admission that his offenses met the Criminal Code definition of terrorism.
The hatchet man also admitted being motivated by intense hatred for Muslims and said he wanted to intimidate them because he believed that Islam is “an intolerant and violent religion,” CBC News reported.
Muslim advocates had not commented late Tuesday afternoon about the sentence, but Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre Imam Ibrahim Hindy told CBC News before the sentencing that eight years would not be enough given that Omar, a former Muslim who referred to himself as an atheist, had admitted planning a much broader attack and wanted to see people die.
“This was not someone having a bad day or having a mental health episode,” Hindy said. “This was someone who planned out clearly what he wanted to do and how he wanted to kill Muslims.
“I’m only grateful that our congregation was able to stop him before he was able to ultimately harm someone.”",Explicit
"26-year-old man who posed as Lincoln high school student accused of sex crimes
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A man who posed as a student at two different Lincoln high schools has been arrested, police say.
Assistant Police Chief Brian Jackson said 26-year-old Zachary Scheich attended 54 days of class at Northwest and Southeast high schools last semester.
He used the pseudonym Zak Hess.
During an investigation that began on June 1, police discovered his true identity.
Scheich, who is 5-foot-4 and 120 pounds, graduated from Lincoln Public Schools in 2015. Jackson said he “blended in with other students.”
Scheich was arrested earlier Thursday at a library. He has been charged with two counts of sexual assault using an electronic device and sex trafficking a minor.
Jackson said the parents at both schools have been notified.
An investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to call Lincoln Police at 402-441-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 402-475-3600.
Lincoln Public Schools provided a timeline of the events in a letter to parents:
- Late in the afternoon on May 31, LPS received a report that an adult male may be attending one of our high schools pretending to be a junior. LPS Student Services and Security immediately contacted Lincoln Police to investigate.
- LPS Student Services and Security continued to assist the investigation, turning over information as it was discovered.
- In mid-July, LPD confirmed that 26-year-old Zachary Scheich did enroll and attend two LPS high schools during the 2022-23 school year under the name Zak Hess.
- Scheich began attending Northwest High School on October 20, 2022.
- Scheich then transferred to Southeast High School on January 12, 2023.
- Scheich was registered to attend summer school, but did not attend.
- On July 20, Lincoln Police arrested Zachary Scheich.
“In light of this incident, LPS is reviewing our enrollment procedures,” the district said.",Explicit
"Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday reacted to the May 4 video of two women being “paraded naked"" on a road allegedly by a group of men and assured capital punishment for those involved.
Speaking to CNN-News18, he said, “It is a crime against humanity and if found true, the state government will leave no stone unturned to nab the culprits and give them capital punishment. It is a heinous crime and I condemn it strongly.""
According to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), the incident took place on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, a day after ethnic clashes broke out in the state between the Meitei and Kuki Communities.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani also condemned the incident and termed it “downright inhuman"". “The horrific video of the sexual assault of 2 women emanating from Manipur is condemnable and downright inhuman. Spoke to CM N BirenSingh ji who has informed me that investigation is currently underway and assured that no effort will be spared to bring perpetrators to justice,"" she tweeted.
Biren Singh and Irani’s reactions came after tension mounted in the hills of Manipur over a May 4 video that surfaced on Wednesday purportedly showing two women from one of the warring communities being “paraded naked"" by a few men from the other side.
Officials said in Imphal that the video was doing the rounds on the eve of a planned protest march announced by ITLF on Thursday to highlight their plight.
News agency PTI quoted police as saying that a case of abduction, gang rape, and murder has been registered at Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district against unknown armed miscreants.
In a statement, they said an all-out effort is on to arrest the culprits at the earliest.
Manipur state has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May 3 between the majority the Meiteis, concentrated in Imphal valley, and the Kukis, occupying the hills. Over 160 people have been killed in the violence so far.
(with inputs from PTI)",Explicit
"Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., caused a stir when she held up several graphic photos from Hunter Biden’s laptop during a committee hearing Wednesday with IRS whistleblowers alleging misconduct in investigations into the Biden family.
The House Oversight Committee interviewed two IRS whistleblowers alleging political misconduct throughout the Hunter Biden investigation — Special Agent Joseph Ziegler, whose identity was revealed during the hearing, and his IRS supervisor Gary Shapley.
Shapley previously blew the whistle on alleged political influence surrounding prosecutorial decisions throughout the years-long federal probe into the president's son.
Ziegler testified Wednesday that Hunter Biden itemized a $10,000 deduction on his 2018 tax return for a supposed golf club membership that was really a sex club membership and that he wrote off payments to prostitutes as business expenses.
""So, I can tell you that there were deductions for what we believe to be escorts. And then that $10,000 golf club membership. Yes, that was not a golf club membership, that was for a sex club payment,"" Ziegler told Greene.
Greene held up censored nude photos taken from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop and addressed Ziegler.
""So, when Hunter Biden paid for this woman to do this with him, to travel across state lines from California to Washington, D.C., on June 15, this is a violation of the Mann Act. This was prostitution,"" Greene said.
""This is evidence of Hunter Biden making sex — excuse me, this is my time – making pornography,"" she said holding up another photo, as Democrats objected.
One member interjected that showing the pictures was ""unbecoming of this hearing,"" and another asked, ""Should we be displaying this … in the committee?""
Greene’s time ran out after she was interrupted.
Ziegler, who identified himself as a gay Democrat with more than a dozen years serving within the IRS' criminal investigative division, appeared for the first time publicly Wednesday, while Shapley testified to the House Ways and Means Committee last month.
The whistleblowers allege that officials at the Justice Department, FBI and IRS interfered in the investigation into Hunter Biden and that decisions in the case were influenced by politics.",Explicit
"ATMORE, Ala. -- Alabama plans to execute an inmate Friday morning for the 2001 beating death of a woman, in what would be the first lethal injection since the state paused executions following a string of problems with inserting the IVs.
James Barber, 64, is scheduled to be put to death at a south Alabama prison. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Barber's request for a stay shortly after midnight and cleared the way for the execution to begin.
It is the first execution scheduled in the state since Gov. Kay Ivey paused executions in November to conduct an internal review after two lethal injections were called off because of difficulties inserting IVs into the condemned men’s veins.
Barber was convicted in the 2001 beating death of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps in Harvest, Alabama. Prosecutors said Barber, a handyman who knew Epps’ daughter, confessed to killing Epps with a claw hammer and fleeing with her purse. Jurors voted 11-1 to recommend a death sentence, which a judge imposed.
Barber’s scheduled execution comes hours after Oklahoma executed Jemaine Cannon for stabbing a Tulsa woman to death with a butcher knife in 1995 after his escape from a prison work center.
Barber's attorney's asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution, citing Alabama's recent problems.
Attorneys for inmate Alan Miller said prison staff poked him with needles for over an hour as they unsuccessfully tried to connect an IV line to him and at one point left him hanging vertically on a gurney during his aborted execution in September. State officials called off the November execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith after they were unsuccessful in connecting the second of two required lines.
Advocacy groups claimed a third execution, carried out in July after a delay because of IV problems, was botched because of multiple attempts to connect the line, a claim the state has disputed.
Ivey announced in February that the state was resuming executions. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said prison system had added to its pool of medical professionals, ordered new equipment and conducted additional rehearsals.
Attorneys for Barber argued his execution “will likely be botched in the same manner as the prior three.""
The Supreme Court denied Barber's request for a stay without comment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the decision in a writing joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“The Eighth Amendment demands more than the State’s word that this time will be different. The Court should not allow Alabama to test the efficacy of its internal review by using Barber as its ‘guinea pig,’"" Sotomayor wrote.
The Alabama attorney general's office had urged the Supreme Court to let the execution proceed.
The state wrote that the previous executions were called off because of a “confluence of events—including health issues specific to the individual inmates and last-minute litigation brought by the inmates that dramatically shortened the window for ADOC officials to conduct the executions.""
“Dorothy Epps, Smith’s victim, has survivors who have already waited overlong to see justice done,” the office added.
In the hours leading up to the scheduled execution, Barber had 22 visitors and two phone calls, a prison spokesperson said. Barber ate a final meal of loaded hashbrowns, western omelet, spicy sausage and toast.
One of the changes Alabama made following the internal review was to give the state more time to carry out executions. The Alabama Supreme Court did away with its customary midnight deadline to get an execution underway in order to give the state more time to establish an IV line and battle last-minute legal appeals. The state will have until 6 a.m. Friday to start Barber’s execution.",Explicit
"Former Detroit police commissioner admitted to paying $10 for sexual favors, officers said
Former Detroit Police Commissioner Bryan Ferguson admitted to officers that he had paid a prostitute $10 in exchange for sexual favors in Detroit on July 12, according to a citation obtained by the Detroit Free Press.
""Yes, I gave her $10 dollars for it,"" the citation says Ferguson told undercover narcotics officers from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office that caught him parked in his car in Detroit that morning engaging in a sex act with the prostitute.
""I'm sorry, I know I was wrong.""
That's not what Ferguson said to the public. He previously denied the allegations, characterized them as a ""big misunderstanding,"" and said the woman was unknown to him and that she had attempted to enter his vehicle.
""Can you help me out? Can I throw something out there please?"" Ferguson continued, according to the citation. ""I'm a Detroit Police Commissioner.""
Ferguson was issued a misdemeanor citation for indecent or obscene conduct involving a sex act with a prostitute. He resigned from his position as a Detroit Police Commissioner for District 1.
Prior to his resignation, Ferguson sent out a news release denying the allegations and informed the public he was stepping away from the police oversight board's weekly meetings. The news release was signed ""in the spirit of transparency and accountability.""
Ferguson could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
An officer wrote in the citation that he and other undercover officers had been conducting surveillance in Detroit when they saw a woman known to them as a sex worker standing on the corner of Cheyenne and Schoolcraft, making eye contact and waving at men as they drove by, according to the citation.
Then officers observed Ferguson's vehicle drive past the sex worker and circle around the block several times before stopping in the middle of the street next to the woman, according to the citation. She entered the vehicle, and Ferguson drove to a side street and parked in front of a vacant house on Sorrento, the officer wrote.
When officers approached Ferguson, his pants were unzipped and unbuckled.
""This is going to really mess things up for me,"" Ferguson told officers, according to the citation.
'How many more?'Southfield teen shot, killed weeks before heading off to college
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan will appoint a new commissioner to represent District 1. His office has begun the process of identifying potential candidates who might be eligible, qualified, and interested, according to John Roach, city spokesperson. The appointment will then go to city council for a vote.",Explicit
"ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland prosecutors have filed hate crime charges against a man accused of killing three people and wounding three more in a dispute over parking.
The three people shot to death were Latino; the man accused of shooting them is white. Their families have lived on the same street for years and have had a history of disputes, including allegations of racial slurs against one of the victims.
Charles Robert Smith, 43, had been charged with second-degree murder. Now he faces first-degree murder and hate-crime charges in the killings of Mario Mireles, his father Nicholas Mireles, and Christian Segovia, under an indictment returned by an Anne Arundel County grand jury on Friday, according to online court records.
The 42-count indictment also includes six charges of attempted first-degree murder. Smith's initial court appearance was scheduled for next Monday. His initial lawyer is no longer representing him, and another attorney did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.
Maryland's hate crime law applies to crimes that are motivated either in whole or in substantial part to another person's race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability or national origin. It enables prosecutors to add years to a sentence, and financial penalties. Smith faces up to life in prison without possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder.
According to the police charging documents, the six people who were shot were attending a large party when a dispute broke out over a parking issue. Mireles went to Smith's home to talk about it and was arguing with Shirley Smith when her son Charles Smith returned home and confronted him. The verbal argument became physical.
Smith pulled out a gun and Mireles tried to grab it before Smith shot Mireles and Segovia. Smith “then stood over Mario Mireles and shot him several more times,” the document says. Smith then went into his house, got a rifle and began firing through a window at people who had come trying to help the mortally wounded men. Smith fatally shot Nicolas Mireles, and wounded Rosalina Segovia, Paul Johnnson and Enner Canales-Hernandez, police said.
Smith surrendered when the police arrived, telling officers he shot the victims because they shot at his house. However, none of the witnesses interviewed saw any of the victims with a firearm, according to the charging documents.
The Smith and Mireles families have had disputes for years, even going to court for help at one point. Mario Mireles sought a peace order petition in September 2016, accusing Shirley Smith of harassing him and their neighbors since he was a child. He accused her of directing racial slurs at him and his family, as well as other neighbors who are Black.
He wrote that he was washing his car in front of his house when Shirley Smith drove fast by him about an “arm length away,” saying he believed she was “targeting” him with her car.
Shirley Smith also sought a peace order at the same time, accusing Mireles of hitting her car with a large wet towel or blanket. She also accused him of throwing rocks at street signs and hitting vehicles.
Peace orders are civil orders asking a person to refrain from committing certain acts. The judge denied both their petitions.",Explicit
"The front doors of a Plano church were damaged in a firebomb attack early Sunday, according to police and church officials.
Sometime between midnight and 12:30 a.m., an incendiary device with a chemical accelerant was either thrown or placed at the doors of the Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Plano’s main building, a post on the church’s Facebook page said.
Plano firefighters extinguished the blaze and the damage was limited to the front doors and objects directly outside of it as well as the entrance foyer, the post said. No one was injured.
“Plano police and fire department personnel did a thorough collection of evidence of the crime scene,” the post said. “They also interviewed multiple church personnel who arrived on-site to assess the incident.”
Plano police confirmed arson investigators are handling the case. A department spokesperson said they are investigating who threw an accelerant at the church and whether more than one suspect was involved.
The church continued to have Sunday morning services with extra security provided by Plano officers.
“The church community asks for your support and prayers at this time as we deal with the impact of this incident,” the post said.
According to the church, a hate group has been targeting it since at least June 25. The post said church officials have been reviewing building security and working with law enforcement “since the intrusion of a hate group” in the church building during a service that day.",Explicit
"Police arrested an 85-year-old man on Tuesday, decades after he allegedly stabbed a woman to death in Texas, according to police.
Barbara Villarreal was found dead on Nov. 7, 1986 in Garland, about 20 miles from Dallas. She had been repeatedly stabbed and a large kitchen knife was found nearby.
At the time, police interviewed and cleared her husband, officials said. Police also recovered DNA evidence at the scene and entered it into CODIS, the United States' national DNA database.
Officers worked with the FBI on the investigation over the years and tracked leads in both Mexico and the U.S. They identified Liborio Canales, now 85, as a suspect, and determined that he sometimes stayed at a home in Lovington, New Mexico.
Canales was in Mexico for most of the year, but he crossed the border to enter New Mexico on Monday so he could celebrate his birthday with family, authorities said. He was arrested by officers from Lovingfton and Garland on Tuesday and was booked into the Lea County Detention Center on a federal warrant for the charge of murder.
Bond was set at $1 million. Canales is expected to be extradited to Texas in the coming days.
Officials have not released any other details connecting Canales with Villarreal or with the city of Garland. Police in Lovington referred CBS News to the Garland Police Department for additional information. Officials in Garland have not yet responded to a request for additional information.
for more features.",Explicit
"A shooting has left two people dead in the centre of Auckland, New Zealand, hours before the city is due to open the Fifa Women's World Cup.
Six other people, including police officers, were injured and the gunman is also dead after the incident at 07:22 (19:22 GMT) on a construction site in the central business district.
PM Chris Hipkins said the attack was not being seen as an act of terrorism.
The tournament would go ahead as planned, he said.
The public, he added, could be assured police had neutralised the threat and there was no ongoing risk after the incident on Queen Street.
No political or ideological motive for the attack had been identified, the prime minister said.
The gunman, he said, had been armed with a pump-action shotgun.
Mr Hipkins thanked ""the brave men and women of the New Zealand police who ran into the gunfire, straight into harm's way, in order to save the lives of others"".
""These kinds of situations move fast and the actions of those who risk their lives to save others are nothing short of heroic,"" he added.
According to Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, all Fifa personnel and football teams are safe and have been accounted for.
""I can't remember anything like this ever happening in our beautiful city. This morning's events have been tragic and distressing for all Aucklanders, as this is not something that we are used to,"" Mr Brown said on Twitter.
Fifa expressed its ""deepest condolences"" to the victims' families and said it was in communication with New Zealand authorities.
""The participating teams in close proximity to this incident are being supported in relation to any impact that may have taken place,"" it said.
The opening match is to be held between New Zealand and Norway in the city's Eden Park.
Sport Minister Grant Robertson said there would be extra police in the area to provide reassurance.
The ninth Women's World Cup is being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
Earlier, the mayor warned people should stay home and avoid travelling into the city. Mr Brown said it was a ""dreadful thing to happen"" in his city.
Police say they heard reports of a person discharging a firearm inside the construction site, and the gunman moved through the building and continued to fire.
The man then went into a lift shaft and police attempted to engage with him.
Further shots were fired by the man and he was found dead a short time later, police say.
Following the shooting there was a large armed police presence in the central business district not far from the waterfront and the fan park.
Tatjana Haenni, chief sporting director for National Women's Soccer league USA, is staying close to where the shooting happened.
She told BBC News she had woken up to sounds of police cars arriving and was told to stay inside. ""So far we feel safe,"" she said.",Explicit
"Addis Abeba – An armed militia attack on Nuer village in the city of Gambella, the capital of Gambella regional state has resulted in at least 31 fatalities and 20 injuries, according to a source who spoke with Addis Standard. The informant, wishing to remain unidentified for their safety, indicated that the attack began on 18 July around 4:50 pm.
The source, who is close to the matter, said 19 people from the village and 12 from the attackers, who are alleged to be ethnic Angwa militias from Abol district, were killed during the attack, adding that among the dead is Kwang Nial Poh, a respected member of the psychology department at Gambella University.
Another anonymous source provided further details about the assailants, stating that they donned the city’s police uniforms to carry out their assault surreptitiously, thereby evading identification. This informant went on to suggest that these attackers were also responsible for a previous assault on a bus traveling from Wentawo to Gambella city.
On 13 July, Addis Standard reported that three people were killed, and 23 others were injured during a violent assault on two public buses on the outskirts of Gambella city, at a location known as Ochom.
According to the sources, following the latest attack, the city is currently under the control of the national defense forces, with public services and offices remain closed for the time being.
In response to this escalating crisis, the Gambella regional cabinet, in an emergency meeting on 19 July, has enacted an indefinite curfew, prohibiting all movement between 1:00AM and 12:00PM, except for designated security personnel. Furthermore, it has been mandated that carrying weapons, with the exception of the aforementioned security forces, is strictly forbidden, according to the regional government’s communication bureau.
In an attempt to restore some normalcy, the cabinet has decreed that all government employees and service providers will recommence regular work schedules from the following day.
Ugato Ading, head of the regional communication bureau, said in a presser, human lives were lost and properties have been damaged in the wake of recent violence in the region. He added, the efforts are underway to ensure security in the region with the help of federal government forces. He said “ethno-nationalism and tribalism are threatening the region”, admitting that the violence is ethnic based. He vowed any individuals or parties including government officials contributing to the disruption of peace in the region will be held accountable.
In May, the Gambella region president, Umod Ujulu, dismissed the violence which killed nine people and injured 23 in Itang special woreda and the capital Gambella city as a dispute between individuals which later escalated into communal violence.
He also said back then that the violence has been brought under control by the coordinated efforts of the regional and federal security forces, and that the plot by what he called “elements” existing in the public who try to separate the people who have lived in solidarity and brotherhood for centuries was foiled. AS",Explicit
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NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Parliament was disrupted for a third day Monday by opposition protests over ethnic clashes in a remote northeastern state in which more than 130 people have been killed since May.
Opposition lawmakers carried placards and chanted slogans outside the Parliament building as they demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the violence in Manipur state before a debate on the issue.
Last week, Modi broke more than two months of public silence over the ethnic clashes, telling reporters that mob assaults on two women who were paraded naked were unforgivable, but he did not refer directly to the larger violence.
His comments came after a video showing the assaults sparked widespread outrage on social media despite the internet being largely blocked and journalists being locked out in the state. It shows two naked women surrounded by scores of young men who grope their genitals and drag them to a field.
The video was emblematic of the near-civil war in Manipur, where mobs have rampaged through villages and torched houses. The conflict was sparked by an affirmative action controversy in which Christian Kukis protested a demand by mostly Hindu Meiteis for a special status that would let them buy land in the hills populated by Kukis and other tribal groups and get a share of government jobs.
READ MORE: Yellen visits India again to deepen ties and tackle global economic issues
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the government is ready to discuss the situation in Manipur. “I request the opposition to let a discussion take place on this issue. It is important that the country gets to know the truth on this sensitive matter,” he said in the lower house of Parliament.
Both houses of Parliament were adjourned various times as the opposition stopped proceedings with their demand for a statement from Modi. Sessions were also disrupted on Thursday and Friday.
The main opposition Congress party’s president, Mallikarjun Kharge, tweeted it was Modi’s “duty to make a comprehensive statement inside the Parliament on Manipur violence.”
Violence in Manipur and the harrowing video have triggered protests across the country. On Monday, scores of people gathered in Indian-controlled Kashmir and protesters carrying placards took to the streets of the eastern city of Kolkata.
Over the weekend, nearly 15,000 people held a sit-in protest in Manipur to press for the immediate arrest of anyone involved in the assault, which occurred in May. They also called for the firing of Biren Singh, the top elected official in the state who also belongs to Modi’s party.
The state government said last week that four suspects had been arrested and that police were carrying out raids to arrest other suspects.
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Jun 22",Explicit
"July 22, 2023 - 9:00 pm
The Biden first family seems determined to confirm every stereotype of their antisocial behavior — to the point of dysfunctionality.
During the 2020 campaign at least eight women alleged that Joe Biden in the past had serially and improperly touched, kissed or grabbed them. One, Tara Reade, alleged she was sexually assaulted by Biden, who denied the charge.
Yet Biden himself finally was forced to apologize for some of his behavior. Or as he said at the time, “I get it.” He claimed that he would no longer improperly invade the “private space” of women and had meant no harm.
But Biden’s obnoxious conduct extended well beyond the eight accusers.
Women as diverse as former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Biden’s own daughter-in-law Kathleen Buhle have both alleged in their memoirs that Biden made them feel uncomfortable through his intrusive touching and embraces.
On several occasions, Biden developed a strange tic of becoming too physical with young girls. He habitually attempted to hug them while blowing in their hair.
His daughter Ashley wrote in her diary that she feared her past adolescent showers with her father had been inappropriate. Even as president, Biden has weirdly called out young girls in his audiences to note their attractiveness.
On one occasion, the president interrupted his speech to address a female acquaintance — enlightening the crowd that, “We go back a long way. She was 12 and I was 30, but anyway …”
As a result, Biden has likely been warned repeatedly to forgo intimate references to young women. He has no doubt also been advised by his handlers to stop all close, supposedly innocent contact with young girls and children — if for no other reason than to prevent his political opponents from charging that Joe is “creepy,” “perverse” or “sick.”
And yet like some addict, Biden cannot stop — regardless of the eerie image he projects around the world. This month, the president jumped the proverbial shark by embracing a young child in a crowd while on the tarmac of the Helsinki airport.
In his strangest act yet, Biden kept moving his mouth near the face of the young girl. He was apparently trying to nibble the youngster, almost in turkey-gobbling fashion. She recoiled.
No matter — Biden continued at her shoulder. Again, she flinched.
Biden then reverted to form and sought with a second try to smell her hair and nestle closer.
Had any other major politician in the age of #MeToo committed such an unnerving stunt, he would probably have been ostracized by colleagues and mercilessly hammered by the media. Not in Biden’s case.
The apparent media subtext was that it was either just “Old Joe” trying to be too friendly, or a symptom of his cognitive decline and thus not attributable to any sinister urge.
Senescence now provides paradoxical cover for Biden’s creepiness — newfound exemption for his old boorish behavior.
Also, during the president’s latest antics, cocaine was found in the West Wing of the White House. All the White House spokespeople had to do was to reassure the public that the drugs most certainly did not belong to first son Hunter Biden — despite being a frequent guest resident of the White House and a former crack-cocaine addict.
Instead, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed reporters for requesting such clarification.
Then the official narrative went through several contortions, as to where and how the bag of cocaine was found.
The disinformation only added suspicion that the White House either would not or could not be transparent about the discovery of illicit drugs abandoned at the very nexus of American governance.
Requests for clarity were understandable not just because Hunter has had a long history of drug addiction. He also has a troubling habit of leaving a public trail of evidence of his drug use.
Hunter forgot his crack pipe in a rental car. He abandoned his laptop that contained evidence of his own felonious behavior. And his unlawfully registered handgun turned up in a dumpster near a school.
In sum, the president and his son both have quite disturbing and all-too public bad habits.
Americans in response assume both would be careful not to offer the tiniest shred of evidence that their pathologies continue.
White House handlers should keep the president from even getting near small children and young women. And they should be just as unambiguous that Hunter Biden has never, and would never, even get too close to illicit drugs while inside the White House.
Sadly they can do neither.
These suspicions are force multipliers of the mounting evidence of Biden family corruption. They feed narratives of heartlessness about disowning a granddaughter born out of wedlock. And they add to worries of presidential senility.
The result is the caricature of a first family: one that is utterly dysfunctional — and increasingly detrimental to the country at large.
Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness and a classicist and historian at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. Contact him at authorvdh@gmail.com.",Explicit
"There’s a lot to digest in the three-hour runtime of Oppenheimer, which blew up the weekend box office alongside Barbie, grossing about $80.5 million domestic and $93.7 million internationally. The film includes a poison apple, the recurring presence of Albert Einstein, and the first sex scene ever lensed by filmmaker Christopher Nolan.
While the intimate encounter between Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer and his real life love Jean Tatlock, played by Florence Pugh ,has generated plenty of buzz, it’s causing outrage among some in India—not so much for the sex scene itself, but due to the memorable quote uttered during the act: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
During Oppenheimer and Tatlock’s tryst in the film, Jean stops their romp to pick up a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, which she makes Oppenheimer read aloud during sex. While there’s no evidence to support that this actually happened, the physicist did have an affinity for Sanskrit. Murphy even read the sacred text to prepare for his role.
But despite its rooting in (semi) reality, a character reading a sacred text during sexual activity has sparked controversy among India’s Hindu nationalists and politicians within its right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Over the weekend, India’s Information Commissioner, Uday Mahurkar, shared a statement on Twitter that called the sex scene “a scathing attack on Hinduism.” Mahurkar took offense that Pugh’s character “is holding Bhagwad Geeta in one hand, and the other hand seems to be adjusting the position of their reproductive organs” in the scene, which he also labeled “ a direct assault on religious beliefs” and a way of “waging a war on the Hindu community.”
As noted by CNN, Oppenheimer currently holds a U/A rating in India, which deems it appropriate to be watched by children under 12 with parental guidance. Not only has the film not been banned, but it grossed more than $3 million in its opening weekend in the country—beating out Barbie, which has also sparked controversy overseas.
Mahurkar concluded his message with a call for the filmmakers to erase the sex scene from Oppenheimer. “We believe that if you remove this scene and do the needful to win hearts of Hindus, it will go a long way to establish your credentials as a sensitized human being and gift you friendship of billions of nice people,” he wrote, adding, “Should you choose to ignore this appeal it would be deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilisation.” (Vanity Fair has reached out to Universal for comment.)",Explicit
"Two people were killed after a gunman opened fire at a construction site in Auckland, New Zealand, police said.
The suspected shooter was also found dead, New Zealand Police said.
Shots were initially reported inside the building around 7:22 a.m. local time Thursday, and the male suspect continued to shoot as he moved throughout the site, police said.
""Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft and our staff have attempted to engage with him,"" New Zealand Police said in a statement. ""Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later.""
Police added that details on what happened ""are still emerging.""
Multiple injuries were reported in the shooting, police said. No details were immediately provided on the victims killed in the incident.
There is no national security risk, police said.
""This is a scary situation for Aucklanders on their Thursday morning commute to work,"" Mayor Wayne Brown tweeted. ""Please stay at home, avoid travel into the city centre.""
The incident occurred as the FIFA Women's World Cup is set to kick off in New Zealand and Australia.
Following the shooting, the United States Soccer Federation said that all U.S. women's national soccer team players and staff ""are accounted for and safe.""
ABC News' Will Gretsky contributed to this report.",Explicit
"British pop singer Matty Healy's protest stunt at a concert in Malaysia has sparked fury from LGBT activists and allies in the country.
Many have described the 1975 singer's sweary rant at the Malaysian government - and kiss with a male bandmate - as an act of ""performative activism"" that would make their lives even harder.
Homosexuality remains a crime in Malaysia, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Conservative Islam remains the dominant political and cultural force in the country, restricting sexuality, alcohol and other perceived threats to traditional values and ""public decency"" standards.
In a statement after Friday's show, a source close to the band said Healy had wanted to stand up for the LGBT community.
But while many locals appreciated the intent, they say he crashed a precarious political environment for LGBT Malaysians and caused greater damage.
""Unfortunately, local activists are now having to deal with the fall-out and the potential policies and restrictions that might come from it,"" said Dhia Rezki, an activist with Kuala Lumpur-based support group JEKAKA.
What did Healy do?
Last Friday, indie-pop band The 1975 was headlining a music festival in the capital Kuala Lumpur when Healy - who has a history of derogatory comments about women and minorities - launched into a tirade against Malaysia's anti-LGBT laws and kissed his bandmate in protest.
He had already been drinking on stage and destroyed a drone belonging to concert organisers. Attendees reported him spitting on fans.
Swaggering around the stage, the 34-year-old insulted the Malaysian government and said he was ""furious"" he'd made ""a mistake when we were booking shows"".
""I don't see the [expletive] point, right, I do not see the point of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,"" he said.
""I'll take your money, you can ban me, but I've done this before and it doesn't feel good,"" he said. He then grabbed his bandmate's face and kissed him.
The band's set was shut down soon after. ""Alright, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, see you later,"" he yelled to the audience.
The next day authorities ordered the closure of the entire Good Vibes festival which still had two days to go and other international acts due to perform like The Kid Laroi, The Strokes and Ty Dolla $ign. Festival goers had paid hundreds of dollars to attend, many travelling from other parts of Southeast Asia.
Healy and his band flew out a few hours later. They cancelled the rest of their Asia tour dates - they'd also been due to play in devoutly Muslim Indonesia and Taiwan.
What's the response?
While Healy was ranting to the crowd in Kuala Lumpur, he said: ""I'm sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool"" - comments which drew scattered cheers.
But videos from the night also show the audience's silence and fans' growing unease. TikToks show people's faces falling and locals grimacing.
""Just sing the damn song,"" mutters one girl in a pink headscarf and glittery eye make-up. ""I mean you come here and then insult our country..."" she says, swapping glances with her friend in the clip viewed millions of times. She captioned the video ""Iykyk"".
That was reflective of the broader reaction across Malaysian social media on the weekend.
The TikTok commentary was overwhelmingly critical, and in many of the most popular videos, young LGBT Malaysians are furious.
""I'm seeing a lot of like 'Oh Matt Healy stood up for the rights of the Malaysian queer community' - No, Matt Healy, you're an idiot. Do you have any idea of repercussions⦠do you have any idea how hard it is for queer people to just exist now?"" one user said in another TikTok that's been viewed more than 2m times since Saturday.
""I hate this white saviour complex of people coming to regions like Southeast Asia - with no prior research whatsoever to what the culture is, or the repercussions of doing acts like this - and ruining it not for them but for the people who actually live here.""
Young Malaysians told the BBC they felt the act reflected a patronising Western attitude to Asia.
""It is very reminiscent of the whole white saviour complex, this narrative again and again of how 'uncivilised or un-progressive' the people in the East are and how the white person has to come into a country to save or better the people,"" said Dee May Tan, an arts creative in Kuala Lumpur.
""The way he went about it was just purely culturally insensitive. Like it's very self-righteous, entitled, ignorant and doesn't gel with what he's trying to promote.""
The criticism is in part also fuelled by Healy's reputation. There's a long-running internet joke that his bandmates cut him off on stage before he says something problematic. British-Japanese singer Rina Sawayama at Glastonbury last month called him out for his racist comments about Asian people.
Earlier this year in a podcast, he mocked American rapper Ice Spice, mimicked Asian and Hawaiian accents and asked the show's hosts to do impressions of Japanese people labouring in concentration camps. He has apologised for some of the comments, saying people misinterpreted his sense of humour.
LGBT community fears reprisals
Healy had tried to do the right thing, but in the wrong way, suggested artist Jerome Kugan, who recently organised an exhibition in Kuala Lumpur allowing local LGBT artists to showcase their works.
""I understand and commend him for wanting to express his opinions about the regressive laws against LGBTQ+ folks in Malaysia and other parts of the world,"" he said. ""But I think he could've chosen a more conducive platform to do it.""
Malaysian activist Dhia Rezki also felt Healy's protest message was genuine but feared his high profile stunt could reinforce LGBT repression.
Conservative groups have described the incident as a violation of ""family values"" and could point to it as evidence of the LGBT community ""taking things too far, crossing the line"", he said.
""They'll use it to target anything done by LGBT people, be it holding hands, kissing or even posting about relationships online.""
Malaysia has seen a noticeable shift to more conservative parties advocating harsher laws. There is outright state hostility.
Former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, in office 2020-2021, described LGBT people as a threat to Islam, backed by ""foreign influences"". He said they had a ""disorder"" that requires counselling.
Malaysia is ranked the second-worst place for transgender people in the world, and one study by local advocates Pelangi Campaign found nearly half of those who identify as LGBT have faced harassment and threats.
And while there are more open-minded views in cities like Kuala Lumpur, it's different in other parts of the country.
""We're still seeing people fired due to their sexual orientation, young people are outed, bullied or evicted,"" said Mr Rezki.
""We agree that visibility is important, and at some point, we would like to have more public displays of our activism, but we have always planned carefully around how we intend to do it so that members of our community are not jeopardised.""",Explicit
"He said on Sunday, July 23, that his government will ""protect the Christian roots"" of Hungary from sexual minorities, Ukrinform reports with reference to Euractiv.
“The EU rejects Christian heritage, carries out a replacement of its population via migration … and conducts an LGBTQ offensive,” he said on Saturday.
According to the politician, Hungarians ""even at home, we must fight"" to defend what he and his supporters regard as ""traditional Christian values"".
At the same time, the publication notes that Orban upped his anti-LGBT rhetoric as Hungary’s economic troubles have escalated.
Annual inflation topped 25% in the first quarter, the report stresses.",Explicit
"Unilever has said it will let Russian employees be conscripted to be sent to Ukraine if they are called up.
The consumer goods giant, which has about 3,000 employees in Russia, has policies that cover the well-being and safety of its workers.
However, in a letter to campaign group B4Ukraine, it said it would comply with Russian conscription law.
Unilever has been under pressure to pull out of Russia, but says the situation is ""not straightforward"".
In a letter to B4Ukraine, which campaigns for companies to cease operating in Russia to hurt its economy, Unilever said it ""absolutely condemns the war in Ukraine as a brutal, senseless act by the Russian state"".
It also said it had responsibility for its 3,000 workers, adding that it had ""global principles including the safety and well-being of our employees"".
Nevertheless, the British firm, which makes products including Marmite and Cornetto ice creams, said it was ""aware of the law requiring any company operating in Russia to permit the conscription of employees should they be called"".
""We always comply with all the laws of the countries we operate in,"" wrote Reginaldo Ecclissato, Unilever's chief business operations and supply chain officer.
A spokesperson for the firm declined to say whether any Russian employees had been called up.
Any who are will not continue to be paid by the firm, the spokesperson added.
In its letter, it said it had paid 3.8bn roubles (£33m; $36m) in tax to the Russian state in 2022, which was a similar amount to the previous year.
The majority of its business in Russia is personal care and hygiene products, but it continues to supply ice cream.
At least 25,000 Russians have been killed in the war, according to research by the BBC's Russian service and Russian website Mediazona, but other sources put the figure much higher.
In February, UK intelligence services estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 Russian troops had died.
Russian soldiers have also been accused by the UN of war crimes, including rapes, ""widespread"" torture and killings.
Unilever and other Western firms have been under pressure to pull out of Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
However, Unilever has said this is ""not straightforward"". If it abandoned operations, they would be ""appropriated and then operated"" by the Russian state.
It has not managed to find a way to sell the business that ""avoids the Russian state potentially gaining further benefit, and which safeguards our people"".
It said there were no ""desirable"" ways forward, but continuing to run the business with ""strict constraints"" was the best option at present.
However, the Ukraine Solidarity Project, which is part of B4Ukraine, said Unilever's response was ""jaw-dropping"".
""One day you're manufacturing ice cream, the next you're gearing up for the front line. You can't say Unilever isn't offering its employees varied work experience,"" said campaigner Valeriia Voshchevska.
""If this is protecting your workers, I'd hate to see what putting them in harm's way looks like.""",Explicit
"Russian missiles, drones strike Odessa port just as grain export deal set to expire
Russian missile and drone strikes destroyed grain facilities and critical port infrastructure in Odessa overnight Wednesday morning, injuring at least 6 people.
Odessa, a major city in Ukraine’s south on the Black Sea, is the country’s largest and most important port. The attack threatens Ukrainian grain exports, which bolster the country’s economy and supply the global market.
The strikes on Odessa follow Russia’s announcement that it will suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a United Nations-negotiated deal to allow grain exports from Odessa that is set to expire Sunday. The strikes suggest a connection to that deal’s failure, and an effort by Moscow to hurt Ukraine’s major export even if doing so contributes to global grain shortages.
“Russian terrorists have absolutely consciously kissed the infrastructure of the grain deal, and every Russian missile is a strike not only on Ukraine, but also for everyone in the world who seeks a normal and safe life,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.
Zelensky pledged to increase the defenses at port facilities around the country.
Wheat prices have risen about 3 percent since Monday amid market pressures and the Russian moves.
“Putin hasn’t just blown up the Black Sea Grain Initiative; now he has hit the port city of Odessa with a hail of bombs for the second consecutive night,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.
“In doing that, he is robbing the world of any hope of Ukrainian grain. Every one of his bombs also hits the world’s poorest,” she added.
Odessa Gov. Oleh Kiper said that 14 regions were targeted by Russian missile strikes overnight Wednesday, injuring at least 19 people. Kyiv was a target of explosive drones, but all were shot down, the city’s defense minister said.
The flurry of strikes came after explosives damaged the Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea to Russia from the east. That bridge is considered critical infrastructure for both military and civilian supplies.
Ukrainian authorities did not directly claim responsibility for the attack, which was similar to another attack on the bridge in October 2022.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"The facade of gender identity is failing our students
According to the National Education Association, each American school child has “a multitude of identities that shape how they feel entering school each day.” The organization goes on to ask, “How can we, as educators, ensure our schools support each of those identities so that each of our students can learn and flourish?”
This focus on students’ “identities” is both misplaced and misleading — misplaced because the only relevant identity of any school-age child as far as a public educational institution is concerned should be “young person learning to read, write, reason, and do arithmetic,” and misleading because it’s really the multitudinous identities of adults, not those of children, that are the driving force behind today’s troubling educational trends.
Public schools are failing in their basic mission to educate young Americans; as a result, we are in the midst of a full-blown disaster of illiteracy and innumeracy. Eighth graders’ average math test scores have dropped to their lowest levels in 35 years and their reading scores to the lowest levels in two decades. Meanwhile, two-thirds of American fourth graders are functionally illiterate, yet many parents are ignorant of just how dire our educational crisis has become.
The notion that public schools are understood as support centers for students’ identities is nothing more than a semantic papering over of their increasing failure as public schools — that is, institutions that impart skills and knowledge to American children without regard to race, class or creed.
Despite what are likely the best of intentions on the part of many who favor the neo-identitarian rhetoric, socio-economically disadvantaged students of color are disproportionately harmed by this dereliction of duty. These are the students who most need cost-free, institutionalized opportunities to attain literacy and numeracy. But such opportunities are effectively stymied — often, patronizingly, in the name of those same students — by a system in which educated elites counterproductively prioritize partisan virtue-signaling over academic achievement.
At bottom, many leaders in public education today prioritize neither children’s alleged “multitude of identities” nor children more generally. Instead, they replace what is good for all kids with what feels good to some adults.
Why, for example, was phonics instruction mostly abandoned in public schools over the past 30 years, so that it now has to make a “comeback?” Did we think there was a better way to actually teach children to read? Nope. But we decided that we cared more to posture about a “love of reading” than to inculcate literacy in children. After all, the former is warm and fuzzy, if ineffective; the latter is boring and tedious, so we abandoned it despite its efficacy.
How about the sexualized content, particularly as relates to transgender rhetoric, being foisted upon America’s kindergarteners at the behest of the National Education Association and its allies? Teaching kindergartners about gender identities and choices of pronouns has zero to do with children’s needs. Honest people, progressives included, know this deep down — even if they are afraid to so much as entertain the thought. On the contrary, “choose your pronouns” inflected sexual content in schools simply creates a captive class of potential victims so that a cadre of so-called “gender-nonconforming” adults and their “allies” can perpetuate a notion of “gender identity” that is patently false.
But, alas, public schools mostly defer to the desire of a small minority of disproportionately influential teacher-activists to share their “holistic” selves — sexuality included — with minor children. This activist fringe has been able to shape the conversation about LGBTQ issues in public schools to seem as though their focus is on the developmental needs of children when in fact it is on the solipsistic self-promotion of adults.
Ironically enough, we are delimiting students’ capacity to form exactly the sort of multifaceted identity to which our public schools pretend to be responsive. Because we waste so much time peddling a false and oversimplified notion of identity for the benefit of adults, we deprive children of the knowledge and skills to understand themselves, their society and the broader world.
Elizabeth Grace Matthew is a visiting fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum and a Young Voices Contributor. She writes about culture, education, and politics; her work has appeared in various outlets, including USA Today, Deseret News, America Magazine, Law and Liberty, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities have arrested 12 people including a policeman and an immigration officer accused of trafficking 122 people to Cambodia to sell their kidneys, officials said on Thursday (Jul 19).
The suspects were charged with violating Indonesia's human trafficking law and face a maximum 15 years in prison and a fine of up to 600 million rupiah (US$40,040) if convicted.
They were accused of recruiting people from across Indonesia through social media and sending them to Cambodia for kidney transplant surgery, said Hengki Haryadi, director of the criminal investigation unit at Jakarta Police.
The victims were promised 135 million rupiah (US$9,009) each.
""The victims agreed to sell their organs because they needed money. Most of them lost their jobs during the pandemic,"" Hengki told reporters.
Indonesia is no stranger to human trafficking, mainly for labour and often through debt-based coercion.
In 2019, authorities arrested eight people over what was the country's biggest-ever human trafficking bust, with about 1,200 victims taken abroad as domestic workers.",Explicit
"- Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer for ex-President Donald Trump, has settled his lawsuit against the Trump Organization seeking $1.3 million in legal fees, NBC News reported Friday.
- The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
- Cohen is a leading antagonist of Trump and is expected to testify next year at Trump's criminal trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
""This matter has been resolved in a manner satisfactory to all parties,"" Cohen told NBC News.
The Trump Organization had no comment. But a source at the company confirmed the settlement to NBC.
A trial in the case was expected to begin Monday in New York state court in Manhattan.
Cohen sued Trump's company in 2019 for failing to pay agreed-upon legal bills related to his testimony to various congressional committees in 2017 and 2018, when Trump was president.
In one appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2017, Cohen lied about a proposed Trump building in Moscow, Russia.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal crimes related to that lie, and to various financial crimes and campaign finance violations. Among other things, Cohen admitted to facilitating hush money payments to two women to keep them quiet about alleged sexual encounters with Trump.
Trump denies having sex with either woman, porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Trump was indicted earlier this year by a Manhattan state court grand jury on criminal charges of falsifying business records related to Cohen's payment to Daniels. He has pleaded not guilty in that case, in which
Cohen is expected to testify at trial next year.",Explicit
"A 12-day scouring of Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann’s cluttered Long Island home found a “massive amount” of potential evidence, with investigators still probing whether the killings were committed inside, the chief Suffolk County prosecutor said Tuesday.
“We’ve haven’t ruled out anything in regard to that,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney outside the defendant’s Massapequa Park home, adding the areas searched included a creepy walk-in basement vault at the suspect’s suburban residence.
“It’s not like TV,” he added of the ongoing probe. “It’s going to be a while for the analysts to do their job ... And if appropriate, the DNA section. That’s a process.”
Tierney acknowledged a number of items of potential evidence were found while declining to offer any sort of details.
“I’m not going to say specifically,” he said. “I think everyone wanted that singular piece of evidence. But we’re going to wait until we see all the evidence.”
Heuermann, 59, was busted July 13 on Fifth Ave. in Manhattan as the real estate executive left his Manhattan offices, with the suspect pleading innocent one day later to murder charges in the cold-case killings of three sex workers on Long Island in 2009 and 2010.
“What we’ve done is acquired a lot of information,” said Tierney. “So what we’re going to do now is what we’re doing all along, which is work with our partners ... and we’re going to see what if in any way fits into the case.”
The Daily News Flash
The hulking defendant was also identified as the prime suspect in the suburban murder of a fourth victim last seen alive on July 9, 2007. The lifelong Long Islander was the father of two, with his wife filing for divorce after Heuermann’s arrest.
The prosecutor, without offering details, confirmed investigators had also searched a number of other locations during the investigation.
Authorities said Heuermann remains a suspect in the slayings of six other victims found in Gilgo Beach: Four women, an Asian man dressed as a woman and a child, even as investigators dug up the defendant’s suburban backyard looking for evidence.
A tip from a Long Island pimp last year, along with DNA lifted from a pizza crust recovered from the suspect’s trash and Heuermann’s chilling web searches, steered investigators to the defendant and his green Chevrolet Avalanche, authorities said.
The arrest of the 6-foot-6, 270-pound suburban dad followed Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison’s decision last year to ramp up the investigation into the killings where the victims were found about 15 miles from the suspect’s Massapequa Park home.
The victims were identified as Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, with the open investigation probing the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes — identified as the first victim in the killing spree.
Authorities in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and South Carolina were also reviewing cold case files where the defendant has emerged as a possible suspect.",Explicit
"AP
toggle caption
Emmett Till, from Chicago, had traveled to Mississippi to visit his relatives when he was killed.
AP
Emmett Till, from Chicago, had traveled to Mississippi to visit his relatives when he was killed.
AP
President Biden will designate a national monument at three sites in honor of Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley — both of whom served as catalysts for the civil rights movement.
Biden is expected to sign a proclamation on Tuesday, which will be the 82nd anniversary of Till's birth.
The new monument will be established across three locations in Illinois and Mississippi in an effort to protect places that tell Till's story, as well as reflect the activism of his mother, who was instrumental in keeping the story of Till's murder alive.
In August 1955, two white men abducted, tortured and killed Till, a 14-year-old Black boy, after he whistled at a white shopkeeper's wife in a grocery store in Mississippi. Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were acquitted but later confessed to the killing in a magazine. Fifty years after the crime, the shopkeeper's wife, Carolyn Bryant Donham, also admitted to lying about Till touching her.
Among the sites that will be honored is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till's funeral service was held in September 1955.
About 1,700 people filled the church to its capacity, while 10,000 more stood outside and listened to the service over loudspeakers. The ceremony was also remembered for Till-Mobley's brave decision to keep the casket open, showing Till's mutilated body.
In Mississippi, Graball Landing will become a monument. Locals believe it is the spot where Till's body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River. In 2008, a memorial sign dedicated to Till was installed near the site.
But over the years, the sign was routinely stolen, vandalized or shot at and forced to be replaced. A fourth edition now stands at the site — this time bulletproof and details the history of vandalism.
The third monument location will be the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse, also in Mississippi, where Till's killers were acquitted by an all-white jury. In October 2007, Till's family visited the courthouse to receive an apology from the town's leaders.
At the time, Till's cousin, Simeon Wright, who was there the night Till was kidnapped, said he appreciated the efforts — though it came decades after his cousin's death.
""You are doing what you could. If you could do more, you would,"" Wright said.",Explicit
"The full horrors of the only Nazi concentration camps to exist on British soil will finally be investigated in an official government inquiry, the Observer can reveal.
Eighty years on from one of the darkest episodes in British history, the government is to carry out a review into the numbers of prisoners murdered by the Nazis on Alderney, the tiny Channel Island and British crown dependency.
It has now been established that the SS ran two of the camps on Alderney during the second world war, and new evidence of the scale of Nazi barbarity on the island has emerged over recent years. The number of victims has been contested, with some claiming thousands were killed with many buried in mass graves on the island.
Dame Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP whose father fled Nazi persecution in Germany, welcomed the review: “It is time for the British government and Alderney authorities to finally face up to the horror of what happened on British soil. There can be no more lies and no more cover-up.”
The expert review will be announced later this summer by the UK’s Holocaust envoy, Lord Pickles, and the government hopes the investigation will finally end the controversy over the scale of the Holocaust on Alderney. Lord Pickles told the Observer: “The difference between the estimates is so large, I thought it sensible for everyone to put the facts on the table, for it all to be transparent and for the deliberations to be in the open. It seemed pointless people shouting across at each other. It would be better to have a proper discussion and to bring together a panel of international experts.”
The announcement comes as the UK prepares to take over the chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), a network of experts and government officials from 35 countries around the world. Dr Kathrin Meyer, secretary general of the IHRA, said: “This inquiry is a significant step toward telling this important history. Dealing openly and accurately with the Holocaust and the history of the Nazi persecution of other groups in all its dimensions is crucial and we expect the results to go a long way in protecting the facts, no matter how uncomfortable they may be.”
The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by the German army after Winston Churchill’s war cabinet decided in the summer of 1940 they could not be defended. The British population of Alderney, 10 miles from the French coast, was evacuated, which allowed Nazi high command to turn the island into a giant prison for slave labour.
Though the majority of prisoners were Russians and Ukrainians, brought from the occupied parts of the Soviet Union to build the giant defences of Hitler’s so-called Atlantic Wall, it is known that many Jews, north Africans and Spanish republicans were also taken to Alderney.
According to testimony from the time, many prisoners were killed through a policy of systematic murder known as “Vernichtung durch Arbeit” – extermination through labour. Others were tortured, shot, given fatal injections and those sick, or unable to work, were sent to extermination camps in Occupied Europe.
It has been established that at least one transit of hundreds of French Jews was housed in one camp on the island having been transported there from the Drancy transit camp in Paris, where Jews were rounded up and sent on to Auschwitz during the German occupation of France.
The numbers who died on Alderney has long been disputed but even the most cautious academics put the figure at between 700 and 1,000 people. Professor Anthony Glees, security and intelligence expert and formerly adviser to the war crimes inquiry in the Home Office, told the Observer that the Pickles investigation is vital. “I would be surprised if the numbers killed by the Nazis either in Alderney or transported from Alderney on to extermination camps in Europe did not run into thousands,” he said.
Only eight Jews are officially recorded as dying on the island, but the new inquiry will examine claims from researchers that as many as 1,000 could be buried in mass graves. Some campaigners believe thousands could have perished on the island.
Jewish researcher Marcus Roberts, who has campaigned for many years for the full scale of the horrors on Alderney to be revealed, said: “There are still many questions about what really went on in Alderney and who knew what. For too long, some have been too willing to look the other way in the hope it all goes away. I hope this review will finally provide answers and some justice for the victims.”
Dr Caroline Sturdy Colls, professor of conflict archaeology at Staffordshire University, has used imaging technology to identify the sites of two mass graves on the island. She is cautious about the numbers of victims but told free-expression magazine Index on Censorship: “It is evident from the wide range of testimonies available and from the surveys we did of the camps in which Jews were housed that they were treated appallingly, and more Jews likely died than we know of.”
She added: “The conditions in which Jews were housed were an extension of those that they were kept in elsewhere in Europe. The camps on Alderney were part of a network of sites that housed Jews and harsh punishments, terrible working and living conditions, and torture characterised their lives on Alderney.”
After the war, an investigation by the Judge Advocate General’s office concluded: “The position here is somewhat similar to Belsen, stronger perhaps because the offences were committed on British soil.” However, none of those responsible for the war crimes committed on Alderney were ever brought to justice.
The inquiry is likely to vindicate the journalist who first sought to reveal these atrocities in the Observer four decades ago. Solomon Steckoll’s groundbreaking research was serialised in 1982 and made the sensational claim that Carl Hoffman, the commandant of Alderney, was not handed over to the Soviet authorities and executed in Kyiv as the UK government claimed. He had, in fact, been in British custody until 1948, when he was allowed to return to Germany. He died peacefully in his bed in West Germany in 1974. At first, the British government dismissed Steckoll’s claims but, in 1983, were forced to admit he was right.",Explicit
"SILVER SPRING, Md. -- A police officer in a Washington, D.C., suburb shot and killed a man after reports he had, without provocation, stabbed four people at random on Saturday, officials said.
The victims included three women — two were stabbed in the neck — and a man, all of whom are expected to survive, Montgomery County Police Assistant Chief Darren Francke told reporters during a Saturday afternoon news conference at the scene. Three were hospitalized with injuries.
The suspect’s identity has not been released.
Francke said the man used a 12-inch butcher knife in the stabbings, which started at a popular thrift store in Silver Spring, Maryland, and then continued in the surrounding neighborhood. While the investigation is ongoing, Francke said, detectives don’t believe the suspect knew any of the victims. He said the attacks appear “completely random.”
“We have witnesses. We are continuing our interviews, but at this point it was an unprovoked attack,” he said.
Police received reports around 10:35 a.m. of a stabbing at the thrift store. Almost simultaneously, another caller reported a second stabbing on a nearby street, according to police.
The suspect ran into a wooded area while police started setting up a perimeter. Francke said the man then came out of the woods and “confronted a police cruiser.” He said another officer soon arrived on scene, saw the man armed with a knife, gave commands and ultimately opened fire, killing the suspect.
“The officer fired multiple rounds and the subject was stopped from attacking further people,” Francke said.
The suspect died at the scene.
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office is investigating the police shooting, which is standard procedure under state law. That office will turn over the results of its investigation to local prosecutors, who will decide whether the officer could face criminal charges.
Officials said the shooting was captured on body camera and the footage will likely be released in the coming weeks, as well as the names of the officer and suspect.
Francke said the incident was out of character for the otherwise quiet suburban area.
“Montgomery County is a very safe community,” he said. “On a Saturday afternoon where folks are having a yard sale and just shopping at a very popular thrift store, we don’t expect this. We certainly don’t accept it.”",Explicit
"BBC presenter Evan Davis has revealed how he learned on the day of his wedding that his seriously-ill father had taken his own life.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, he said 92-year-old Quintin had left a note saying his ""system is closing down"" and he had ""no alternative"".
Davis's brother had texted to break the news while the Radio 4 host was at his wedding reception in July 2022.
The presenter made an impromptu speech telling the guests his father had died.
He said the occasion turned into ""a very warm-hearted, supportive, reflective day"" - he did not tell the guests it was suicide until later.
Davis, known for hosting TV's Dragon's Den and BBC Radio 4's PM programme, married Guillaume Baltz in a follow-up event to their civil partnership ceremony in 2012.
Quintin was very supportive of his son's relationship, making a ""proud and loving"" speech on that occasion.
But his wedding in London only included a small number of guests not invited to the first event, including two dozen friends and neighbours.
During the ceremony, Davis said he received a message from his brother Roland telling him to ""call ASAP"".
When he told him their father had died, Davis hung up and gave his husband the news. Davis called back five minutes later, and learned Quintin had taken his own life.
But messages from Roland and his other brother, Beric, encouraged Davis to continue the day.
Davis told his guests: ""We've just had some news. My father died. But I don't want you to be alarmed. He was very elderly and it was definitely time.
""There's actually nothing we can do. So I'm going to propose that we carry on.""
It was at work the next day when his colleagues asked how his wedding was, Davis said he ""burst into tears"".
Davis said Quintin had emailed his three sons the previous year informing them of his intention to kill himself.
But speaking to Sunday Times journalist Decca Aitkenhead with his family's consent, he said he would never know why his father chose his wedding day to do it.
He said: ""We've all speculated on what the hell was going on in his head... there's no good day, is there? And I know he didn't do it to spoil our day.""
Several notes were discovered alongside Quintin's body.
He wrote a note for his wife, Davis's mother Hazel, who was in a care home, telling her how much he loved her, and three identical notes for his sons.
Another handwritten note read: ""To all my family, I am so sorry - so, so sorry - to spring this on you. But it is the best outcome.
""My system is closing down and I am on the verge of a mental breakdown - ie, I am going mad and physically falling apart. I really have no alternative. Thank you all for being such a wonderful family.""
Quintin separately left a note pointing out he had ""at no time been helped in any way in deciding to take my own life"", and that he ""perform(ed) this action because I wish to maintain my autonomy"".
He left a bag of fresh clothes for his wife, ""so she could be topped up at the care home"", and cash for the gardener's weekly wages.
Davis's father and his mother, originally from South Africa, came to the UK after meeting at university, and had been together for 65 years.
When his mother was admitted to a care home during the Covid-19 pandemic after she started to show signs of dementia, Davis said he noticed his dad had also started to deteriorate.
Quintin was diagnosed with bowel cancer, and his heart was failing.
Davis said his dad had ""felt very bad"" that he could not look after his wife.
He said: ""Having being together for 65 years, suddenly being on his own at home was a big deal... I think he felt guilt at not being able to look after her.""
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can visit the BBC Action Line for help.",Explicit
"A 23-year-old Black man who was mauled by a police dog in Ohio after surrendering with his hands up appeared to tell 911 dispatchers in at least two calls that he didn't know why he was being pulled over or why troopers had their guns drawn.
“Right now I’m being chased by like 20 police officers and they all got their guns pointed directly to my truck,” a man police believed to be Jadarrius Rose told a Pickaway County dispatcher during a 2-minute call released Monday. “So now I’m trying to figure out why they got their guns all pointed to me and they’re all white people.”
Rose was pulled over July 4 in Circleville, Ohio, because the semi-truck he was driving “was missing a left rear mud flap,” according to an incident report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Following a pursuit, Rose stood outside his vehicle with his hands raised when a Circleville police officer instructed his dog to attack. A trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol could be heard in a body camera video advising against releasing the dog because Rose had surrendered.
The 911 caller, who didn't identify himself but is believed to be Rose, also says that the troopers ""exploded"" the tires on his truck, which he was driving to a delivery point. (He was referring to tire-deflating devices called ""stop sticks"" that troopers deployed in an attempt to stop Rose's truck.)
""And it's not even my truck, I'm just driving to my delivery point,"" he said. ""All of them got their guns pointed directly to me.""
When asked for a second 911 call Rose made to Ross County, a spokesperson provided audio in which the caller says: ""I don’t know why they’re trying to kill me.""
""I do not feel safe with stopping, I don’t know why they’re throwing stuff on the ground trying to get me in an accident,"" the caller said.
On the 911 call with Pickaway County, the dispatcher advised: ""Listen to what the officers are telling you.""
""They ain't told me nothing, they ain't told me nothing,"" the caller said. ""I don't know why they're pulling me over.""
The dispatcher tells the caller to roll down his window.
""I did that the last time and all of them had their guns pointed at me. You think I feel safe?"" the caller said.
The caller is then instructed to put both hands out the window, then open his door with his left hand showing. The call ends shortly after.
A 'lengthy pursuit' ends in a mauling
Rose was traveling westbound on U.S. Route 35 when a Motor Carrier Enforcement inspector and troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol tried to pull him over. When Rose failed to stop, troopers deployed the stop sticks on his vehicle twice before it came to a stop on U.S. Route 23.
After he was ordered several times to get out of the vehicle, Rose can be seen on the body camera video standing in front of troopers with his hands in the air.
That's when a Circleville police officer, identified as “R. Speakman,” deploys his K9 and instructs the dog to attack Rose.
“Do not release the dog with his hands up!” a trooper can be heard yelling multiple times before Speakman releases the dog.
The bodycam video then appears to show the dog biting and pulling Rose by his arm as he screams loudly.
Although Circleville police vehicles have dashboard cameras and officers are meant to wear body cameras, Circleville Mayor McIlroy said he does not know if Speakman had one on during the incident.
Speakman was placed on paid administrative leave around five days ago, McIlroy told NBC News.
When asked why Speakman wasn’t immediately placed on leave following the incident, McIlroy said, “I cannot answer that question.”
“Nothing like this should ever happen to anybody. ... It’s just a very unfortunate situation,” he said.
This isn't the first time Speakman's conduct has been under review, according to McIlroy. The officer was investigated in connection with another incident approximately within the past two years.
A use of force review board is reviewing the incident, according to the Circleville Police Department. The board’s findings will be released next week.
McIlroy said he understood how people could be concerned about race factoring into the officer’s actions but adds “… we do not have any racial problems here in the city of Circleville.”
He called the community “all inclusive"" and ""a great place to live, a great place to raise your family, a great place to send your kids to school.”",Explicit
"AUSTIN, Texas — Former El Paso Rep. Beto O'Rourke is calling on President Joe Biden to take aggressive action against Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) following a trooper’s alarming report that state-driven border security efforts have harmed immigrants.
O'Rourke, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and governor in 2022, urged the White House to unleash the full power of the federal government against Abbott. Abbott has sent more than 10,000 soldiers and police to the border since 2021 to respond to a record-high number of illegal crossings from Mexico, which he said Biden has not done enough to stop.
""If @potus does not stop Abbott now, he will find new ways to hurt and kill people at the border,"" O'Rourke tweeted.
Earlier this week, the Washington Examiner obtained a July 3 email that a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper-medic deployed to Eagle Pass, Texas, had sent to his superior. The DPS employee raised human rights concerns about how the state's Operation Lone Star.
The complaint alleged that immigrants had been hurt and even killed as a direct result of the state's barbed wire and water buoy barriers at the border. The trooper's name is being withheld for privacy reasons.
“I truly believe in the mission of Operation Lone Star; I believe we ... have stepped over a line into the in humane [sic]. We need to operate it correctly in the eyes of God,” the trooper wrote. “We need to recognize that these are people who are made in the image of God and need to be treated as such.”
O'Rourke's plea Wednesday was a follow-up to his initial call on Monday for Washington to take action.
""There is one person who has the power to stop Abbott. Stop him from deploying razor wire & medieval drowning devices designed to ensnare & mutilate,"" O'Rourke wrote in a tweet Monday. ""Stop every illegal thing he’s doing on the border that ends up killing human beings. Mr. President, we need you to act.""
Internal communications from DPS showed that the trooper's email was forwarded throughout the department for two weeks as officials debated how to handle the concerns.
DPS spokesman Travis Considine on Tuesday defended the state's actions.
“There is not a directive or policy that instructs Troopers to withhold water from migrants or push them back into the river,"" Considine wrote in an email.
DPS Director Steve McCraw responded multiple times, including calling for an audit of the department's policies. The DPS inspector general has formally launched an investigation into a trooper’s claims.
The trooper's email stated that he had been working on June 25 when he encountered “120 people camped out along the fence line,” including small children and nursing babies. The trooper said he was twice given orders to ""push people back into the water to go to Mexico.""
On June 30, a 4-year-old girl who tried to cross the wire was “pressed back” by Texas National Guard soldiers “due to the orders given to them.” The girl fainted shortly after and was then extricated and transferred to the trooper for emergency care, according to the account.
That same day, the trooper treated an adult man who had a large laceration on his leg from trying to free a child on top of a “trap” in the river and, in doing so, cut his leg open. DHS provided various pictures of the wounded immigrants.
The trooper's email listed a boy who broke his leg and a 19-year-old pregnant woman ""doubled over"" in the wire and in “obvious pain” as she had a miscarriage.
The following day, Border Patrol informed the trooper of a separate incident in which a mother and two children drowned trying to cross the river, which the trooper stated was because the casualty wire “forces people to cross in other areas that are deeper.”
The injuries have not stopped since then. In the first two weeks of July, Border Patrol’s Del Rio, Texas, regional office listed six incidents in which immigrants who crossed the border illegally were injured and received elevated medical care as a result of trying to pass through circular concertina wire along the U.S. shoreline.
House Democrats have also called this week on the Department of Homeland Security and State Department to intervene and stop Abbott's border security operation.
Abbott issued a statement Tuesday afternoon, doubling down on the mission.
""Operation Lone Star agency partners use verbal warnings and signage to direct migrants attempting to illegally cross from Mexico into Texas to use ports of entry to protect the lives of migrants, DPS troopers, and Texas National Guard soldiers,"" Abbott said in a statement. ""Until President Biden reverses his open border policies and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue protecting Texans and Americans from the chaos along the border.""
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.",Explicit
"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A lawsuit accuses West Virginia State Police troopers of using excessive force in tackling and handcuffing a man who was walking along an interstate highway.
Edmond Exline, 45, of Hagerstown, Maryland, died at a hospital after the Feb. 12 incident along I-81 near Martinsburg.
A State Police statement cited by news outlets at the time said Exline was walking along the interstate when he got into a “struggle” with troopers and became unresponsive. State Police Capt. Eric Burnett in Charles Town said a Taser was used on him.
“He ran into traffic and wouldn’t listen to any commands from the trooper,” Burnett told The Associated Press in March.
The lawsuit says Exline was unarmed and was doing nothing wrong when three troopers tackled and handcuffed him. The troopers' actions “were not taken in good faith and were in violation of clearly established law,” it says, adding that “no objectively reasonable police officer could have perceived the force as necessary.”
The cause of death and the reason why Exline was on the interstate haven’t been disclosed. It’s unclear whether he was having a medical or other type of episode. The lawsuit says troopers administered the overdose-reversing drug Narcan several times even though Exline had not overdosed on any narcotics.
The lawsuit also names the State Police and was filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court last week on behalf of Edmond Exline II, the executor of his father's estate. The suit, which was first reported by the Charleston Gazette-Mail, does not list the troopers by name and seeks unspecified damages and to force the defendants to undergo additional training.
Capt. Robert Maddy, a state police spokesman, said the I-81 incident is the subject of federal and state criminal investigations as well an an internal investigation. He declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday.
During a briefing in March, Gov. Jim Justice said he had watched police video involving Exline and called it “very very concerning.” State Police previously denied a request by the AP to review the video.
Justice announced at the time that Exline's death would be part of a sweeping investigation of the State Police due to several alarming incidents, including allegations that a now-dead employee hid a video camera in the women’s locker room at a facility in Kanawha County. The governor also appointed a new State Police superintendent.",Explicit
"President Joe Biden is set to designate a new national monument on Tuesday memorializing the brutal 1950s lynching of Emmett Till, with the White House framing the symbolic act as part of a fight against resurgent racism.
The monument, sited in several locations, will remember the 14-year-old Black boy tortured and murdered by white men in 1955 after he allegedly whistled at a white shopkeeper's wife in Mississippi.
His mother Mamie Till-Mobley, also honored in the memorial, became an activist, and is widely viewed as having helped to spark the U.S. civil rights movement.
""The new monument will protect places that tell the story of Emmett Till's too-short life and racially-motivated murder, the unjust acquittal of his murderers, and the activism of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who courageously brought the world's attention to the brutal injustices and racism of the time, catalyzing the civil rights movement,"" the White House said.
The memorial signing by Biden — on the 82nd anniversary of Till's birth — will designate three historic sites in Illinois and Mississippi.
One of them will be the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till's mother insisted at her son's funeral that the casket remain open, allowing a huge crowd to see the boy's disfigured body.
Another will be the Tallahatchie, Mississippi courthouse where an all-white jury found the men accused of murdering Till not guilty. They would later admit to the crime.
The third location will be the spot on the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi where Till's battered body was eventually discovered. Signs commemorating the brutal event there and in other locations around Tallahatchie County have repeatedly been defaced and vandalized over the years.
Biden's high-profile treatment for a painful piece of 20th century U.S. history is playing out against a backdrop of accusations that a leading Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential race is openly stirring racist sentiment.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has led a charge to minimize the history of past racism in his state's school curriculum, making this part of a broader campaign against what he describes as the ""virus"" of ""woke"" left-wing values.
Responding to an outcry over what has been described as an attempt to rewrite history, DeSantis last week doubled down, saying that slavery even had benefits.
""They're probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,"" DeSantis said Friday.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described DeSantis's comment as ""inaccurate"" and ""insulting.""
""It's hurtful and prevents an honest account, an honest account of our nation's history,"" she said.
Jean-Pierre, who is Black, said the Emmett Till monument was part of ""the broader story of American Black oppression, their survival.""
""It's an important moment. You're going to hear directly from the president tomorrow,"" she said.",Explicit
"- Summary
- Two people and armed shooter killed, at least 6 injured
- World Cup to proceed as planned, says PM Hipkins
- Hipkins says no political or ideological motivation identified
AUCKLAND, July 20 (Reuters) - At least two people and an armed attacker were killed and six others wounded in a shooting in New Zealand's largest city of Auckland on Thursday, hours ahead of the opening match of the Women's soccer World Cup in the city.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the soccer tournament would proceed as planned, adding the shooting appeared to be the actions of an individual and that police were not seeking anyone else in relation to the incident.
""There was no identified political or ideological motivation for the shooting and therefore no national security risk,"" Hipkins said during a televised media briefing.
There would be no change to New Zealand's security threat level although there would be an increased police presence in the city, he said.
Police said the shooter in Auckland was armed with a pump-action shot gun, moved through the building site and, after reaching the upper levels, ""contained himself within the elevator shaft.""
""Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later,"" police said.
Auckland welcomed thousands of international players and tourists for the ninth Women's World Cup which is being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
In the two opening matches on Thursday, Norway plays New Zealand in Auckland while Australia faces Ireland in Sydney.
The shooting took place near the Norwegian team hotel in downtown Auckland, and several players took to social media to report they were safe.
""All seems calm, and we are preparing as normal for the match tonight,"" Norway captain Maren Mjelde told Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang during the police operation.
Italy team's training has been delayed as players cannot get out of their hotel, while the U.S. team said all its players and staff were accounted for and safe.
Douglas Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris who is leading the presidential delegation to New Zealand for the opening ceremony of the World Cup, is safe, the U.S. embassy said.
Several streets in Auckland were cordoned off, all ferry services into the city were cancelled, and buses were asked to detour some areas of the city.
A FIFA Fan Festival event just a few blocks from the shooting was also delayed.
""This appears to be the act of one individual. This was not a threat to national security, nor was it in any way related to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Event,"" Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said in a statement.
Gun violence is rare in New Zealand, which tightened its gun laws after a gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch in 2019 in the country's worst peace-time mass shooting.
The government has banned all military style semi-automatics and other deadly guns.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"Delaware County District Attorney's Office
toggle caption
Gretchen Harrington (left) disappeared on Aug. 15, 1975, as she was walking to summer bible camp in a Philadelphia suburb. Former pastor David Zandstra (right), 83, has been charged with her murder.
Delaware County District Attorney's Office
Gretchen Harrington (left) disappeared on Aug. 15, 1975, as she was walking to summer bible camp in a Philadelphia suburb. Former pastor David Zandstra (right), 83, has been charged with her murder.
Delaware County District Attorney's Office
On the morning of Aug. 15, 1975, Gretchen Harrington, 8, left her home in Marple Township, Penn., to walk to summer bible camp and disappeared.
About two months later, her skeletal remains were found in nearby Ridley Creek State Park, but her killer was never apprehended — until this month.
The Delaware County District Attorney's Office announced on Monday that it had arrested former pastor David Zandstra, 83, for Harrington's murder.
Zandstra admitted to killing Harrington and is currently being held in jail in Cobb County, Ga., according to authorities.
""We are gonna bring him here to Delaware County. We're gonna try him. We're gonna convict him. And he's gonna die in jail,"" District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said at a press conference on Monday.
""Then he's gonna have to find out what the God he professes to believe in holds for those who are this evil to our children,"" Stollsteimer added.
Zandstra has been charged with criminal homicide, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, third-degree murder, kidnapping of a minor and possession of an instrument of crime.
Delaware County District Attorney's Office
toggle caption
A newspaper clipping from 1975 describes the search for Gretchen Harrington.
Delaware County District Attorney's Office
The killing nearly 48 years ago stumped investigators for decades and cast a pall over the small-town community in suburban Philadelphia.
In a statement, the Harrington family thanked law enforcement officials for their continued work on the case and said they were hopeful that the person responsible for Gretchen's murder would be held accountable.
""If you met Gretchen, you were instantly her friend. She exuded kindness to all and was sweet and gentle. Even now, when people share their memories of her, the first thing they talk about is how amazing she was and still is...at just 8 years old, she had a lifelong impact on those around her,"" the family said.
""The abduction and murder of Gretchen has forever altered our family and we miss her every single day.""
A breakthrough in the case came from a witness
In January of this year, investigators said they interviewed a source who was best friends with Zandstra's daughter and who would often sleep over at the family's home.
She told investigators that, during a sleepover when she was 10, she woke up to Zandstra groping her groin area. The source said she told Zandstra's daughter, who replied that her father sometimes did that.
The source also said she remembered that a girl in her class was nearly kidnapped twice and wrote in her diary in 1975 that she suspected Zandstra was the likely kidnapper.
The summer bible camp Harrington was attending took place on the grounds of two nearby churches. Harrington's father was the pastor of one church, and Zandstra was the pastor of the other.
Delaware County District Attorney's Office
toggle caption
Investigators say Zandstra was the pastor of Trinity Church Chapel Christian Reform Church, where some of the summer bible camp took place.
Delaware County District Attorney's Office
In July of this year, investigators traveled to Marietta, Ga. — where Zandstra now lives with his wife — to interview him.
At first Zandstra denied knowing what happened to Harrington, but investigators say he later admitted to offering her a ride and taking her to a nearby wooded area.
Zandstra said he asked Harrington to take off her clothes and she refused, and then he punched her in the head, causing her to bleed. He left her body in the woods and fled the scene.
Police also interviewed Zandstra in 1975, but the then-pastor denied seeing Harrington on the day she was abducted.
""Justice does not have an expiration date,"" Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Jonathan Sunderlin said in a statement. ""Whether a crime happened fifty years ago or five minutes ago, the residents of the Commonwealth can have confidence that law enforcement will not rest until justice is served.""
The investigation enters a new phase
Zandstra apparently refused to waive extradition to Pennsylvania, so prosecutors must send a petition for requisition to Gov. Josh Shapiro, who will then forward it to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
If approved, authorities can transport Zandstra from Georgia to Pennsylvania, where he is expected to stand trial.
Stollsteimer also said authorities are concerned Zandstra may have sexually assaulted other victims. After Harrington's death, Zandstra moved to Plano, Texas, and later to Marietta, Ga.
Investigators took a DNA sample from Zandstra and will compare it to open cases in Pennsylvania and across the country, and they are asking anyone with additional information about Zandstra's activities to contact the Pennsylvania State Police.",Explicit
"More say violence could be necessary to restore Trump to White House: survey
A recent survey shows increasing support for the use of violence to restore former President Trump to the White House.
The report, titled “Dangers to Democracy” and released by the Chicago Project on Security Threats (CPST) earlier this month, found that 7 percent of Americans from April 6 to June 26 agree that “the use of force is justified to restore Donald Trump to the presidency.”
That number is an increase from 4.5 percent, or “the equivalent of an estimated shift from 12 million to 18 million American adults,” according to the survey, which was conducted by CPST and NORC.
It’s the first bump in the number of Americans who agree with that statement since April of last year.
The rise “likely reflects the response of more intense commitment to Trump following the announcement of the federal indictment against him for mishandling classified documents on June 9, 2023 — about two and a half weeks before our June 26, 2023 survey,” the poll said.
Trump was charged by the Justice Department with 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of making false statements and four additional offenses pertaining to different forms of concealment. The obstruction charge alone carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. The former president pleaded not guilty on June 13.
It was Trump’s second indictment, and his first federal one, following his decision to run for president in 2024. He had previously been hit with charges in April by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels; he has also pleaded not guilty in that case.
The former president predicted earlier this month that he would be hit with his second federal indictment, this one over his involvement in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, in which a violent mob stormed the Capitol in an effort to overturns the results of the election.
Trump has frequently been accused of being responsible for the attack, having rallied his supporters that day and urged them to march to the Capitol following his loss to President Biden. The events of Jan. 6 and Trump’s continued refusal to acknowledge that the 2020 election was free and fair have fueled concerns that the 2024 one will also be marked by violence.
Other findings in the survey included “about 40 percent of Americans” sharing “at least one attitude reflecting deep distrust of American democratic institutions” and “20 percent of Americans” believing in “anti-democratic political conspiracy theories about how the country is run.”
The survey used a random sample of 3,543 people with a margin of error of 2.30 percent and was conducted between June 22-26.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till, the Black teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and killed in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi, and his mother, a White House official said Saturday.
Biden will sign a proclamation on Tuesday to create the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument across three sites in Illinois and Mississippi, according to the official. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity because the White House had not formally announced the president's plans.
Tuesday is the anniversary of Emmett Till's birth in 1941.
The monument will protect places that are central to the story of Till's life and death at age 14, the acquittal of his white killers and his mother's activism. Till's mother's insistence on an open casket to show the world how her son had been brutalized and Jet's magazine's decision to publish photos of his mutilated body helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement.
Biden's decision also comes at a fraught time in the United States over matters concerning race. Conservative leaders are pushing back against the teaching of slavery and Black history in public schools, as well as the incorporation of diversity, equity and inclusion programs from college classrooms to corporate boardrooms.
On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris criticized a revised Black history curriculum in Florida that includes teaching that enslaved people benefited from the skills they learned at the hands of the people who denied them freedom. The Florida Board of Education approved the curriculum to satisfy legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate who has accused public schools of liberal indoctrination.
“How is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities that there was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanization?” Harris asked in a speech delivered from Jacksonville, Florida.
DeSantis said he had no role in devising his state’s new education standards but defended the components on how enslaved people benefited.
“All of that is rooted in whatever is factual,” he said in response.
The monument to Till and his mother will include three sites in the two states.
The Illinois site is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Bronzeville, a historically Black neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Thousands of people gathered at the church to mourn Emmett Till in September 1955.
The Mississippi locations are Graball Landing, believed to be where Till’s mutilated body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Till’s killers were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury.
Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi when Carolyn Bryant Donham said the 14-year-old Till whistled and made sexual advances at her while she worked in a store in the small community of Money.
Till was later abducted and his body eventually pulled from the Tallahatchie River, where he had been tossed after he was shot and weighted down with a cotton gin fan.
Two white men, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam, were tried on murder charges about a month after Till was killed, but an all-white Mississippi jury acquitted them. Months later, they confessed to killing Till in a paid interview with Look magazine. Bryant was married to Donham in 1955. She died earlier this year.
The monument will be the fourth Biden has created since taking office in 2021, and just his latest tribute to the younger Till.
For Black History Month this year, Biden hosted a screening of the movie “Till,” a drama about his lynching.
In March 2022, Biden signed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law. Congress had first considered such legislation more than 120 years ago.
The Justice Department announced in December 2021 that it was closing its investigation into Till’s killing.",Explicit
"KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia's government Saturday cut short a music festival after the lead singer of British band The 1975 slammed the country's anti-gay laws and kissed a male bandmate during their performance.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil slammed Matty Healy's conduct late Friday at the start of the Good Vibes Festival as “very rude.”
Healey used profanity in his speech criticizing the government's stance against homosexuality, before kissing bass player Ross MacDonald. Footage of the fiasco was posted on social media and sparked a backlash in the predominantly Muslim nation.
After meeting the festival organizers Saturday, Fahmi said the festival, which was scheduled to go on this weekend, will be canceled.
“There will be no compromise with any party that challenges, belittles or violates Malaysian laws,"" he said in a statement on Facebook. Homosexuality is a crime in the country that is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and caning.
The agency in charge of approving performances by foreign artists said it was disappointed with the band's conduct, calling it “an insult and disrespecting the laws of the country.” It said the group will be blacklisted from performing in Malaysia.
It wasn't the first time that Healy used the stage to defend lesbian and gay rights. In 2019, he kissed a male fan during a concert in the United Arab Emirates, which also outlaws homosexual acts, according to media reports.",Explicit
"WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) - The United States said on Sunday it was deeply concerned by reports of viral videos showing two women paraded naked in India's northeastern state of Manipur, a sexual assault case that enraged the country.
The assault, in which a mob allegedly raped and paraded the naked women, took place over two months ago, but it captured national and global attention as the video went viral on social media in the past week. Police have made some arrests.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson called the incident ""brutal"" and ""terrible"" and said the United States conveyed its sympathies to the victims.
The assault was reported by the victims aged 21 and 19 in May during intense ethnic clashes between the tribal Kuki people and majority ethnic Meitei over potential changes to economic benefits given to the Kuki.
The trouble was quelled after New Delhi rushed thousands of paramilitary and army troops to the state of 3.2 million people. But sporadic violence and killings resumed soon afterwards and the state has remained tense since.
At least 125 people have been killed and more than 40,000 have fled their homes since the violence erupted in Manipur.
The United States encouraged a peaceful and inclusive resolution to the Manipur violence and urged authorities to respond to humanitarian needs while protecting all groups, homes and places of worship, the State Department spokesperson said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday condemned the assault as ""shameful"" and promised tough action.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"A distressing video of two Manipur women being paraded naked has gone viral, drawing condemnation from the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum as evidence of heinous atrocities. The incident occurred in Kangpokpi district amidst mob violence following the burning of a village. A relative filed a zero FIR, leading to the case being registered at Nongpok Sekmai police station. The mob killed two men, forcibly stripped and gang-raped three women, with the victim's brother also losing his life while trying to protect her. Fortunately, the three women managed to escape with the help of locals. Authorities are currently investigating to bring the perpetrators to justice.",Explicit
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Juveniles held in a former death row building at a Louisiana prison for adults are suffering through dangerous heat and psychologically damaging isolation in their cells with little or no mental health care, inadequate schooling and foul water, advocates say in a federal court filing asking a judge to order that the youths be moved.
The document, filed in Baton Rouge and dated Monday, says state officials have broken promises to provide constitutionally acceptable facilities for young people housed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola — a remote prison farm with a notorious history of violence. With a spring target date for moving the youths to other facilities having passed, advocates for the juveniles are asking for an order ending the housing of juveniles at the Angola facility.
The state Office of Juvenile Justice did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and other inmate advocates accompanied the filing with affidavits from three youths who are or have been housed at the facility. All talked of foul water from unsanitary faucets in their cells and inedible food. One said he was slammed against a wall by a guard and, another time, was overcome by a chemical irritant that had drifted from another cell when it was used on another detainee.
WATCH: Prison inmates struggle to survive unrelenting heat without air conditioning
The document cited weather data indicating outside heat-index values at the prison in a remote part of southeast Louisiana regularly surpassed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) and sometimes 130 degrees F (54 degrees C).
There was also an affidavit from a medical expert who said the prolonged solitary confinement the youths are exposed to causes “significant risk of serious psychological harm.” Another expert discussed the physical and psychological dangers of keeping the youths in un-airconditioned cells, with fans that are unreliable.
“The youth at OJJ Angola Unit are at substantial risk of serious physical and psychological harm due to their extensive and continued exposure to high temperatures and heat index during the summer months in Louisiana,” Dr. Susi Vassallo wrote.
Gov. John Bel Edwards announced last July that juveniles would be housed at the temporary facility at Angola, with an aim of ending the practice the following spring, once renovations were complete at a northeast Louisiana juvenile facility. As many as 70 or more have moved through the facility, the ACLU said in a news release. The population earlier this month was put at 15. The target date for ending youth incarceration at Angola was recently pushed to late November of this year.
When Edwards announced the plan, state officials were under growing pressure to do something after a series of escapes from the violence-plagued Bridge City Center for Youth in suburban New Orleans. One inmate is suspected in a carjacking and shooting that happened before he was recaptured. Establishing a detention center at Angola was described as a last-ditch but necessary measure amid capacity and safety concerns at juvenile detention facilities.
READ MORE: ‘I thought I was going to die there.’ What it’s like to live with rising temperatures in prison
At Angola, state officials say, the youths are segregated from the adult prison population, held at a building that once held convicts awaiting execution.
From the start, juvenile justice advocates assailed the plan to house the youths at Angola — an adult prison farm with a notorious history of violence.
A lawsuit was filed in August, questioning the state’s ability to protect the juveniles and provide them with needed services at the prison. “Given the fact that 83% of youth in OJJ’s secure care system are Black, it is statistically likely that Black youth will disproportionately suffer the brunt of the Governor’s transfer plan,” attorneys wrote then.
U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick declined last September to remove the youths. Acknowledging the possible harm, Dick said state officials had shown they could provide shelter and treatment that would comply with the constitution.
“While locking children in cells at night at Angola is untenable, the threat of harm these youngsters present to themselves, and others, is intolerable,” Dick wrote at the time. “The untenable must yield to the intolerable.”
In their latest filing, advocates again asked Dick to end the practice, saying the state failed to keep its promises.
“Defendants promised safe and sanitary conditions. Defendants broke that promise, locking children in barred cells with only a metal bed and metal toilet/sink, unclean faucets and no drinkable water source, and allowing excessive heat in the housing areas to go unremediated during this hot summer in Louisiana,” the juvenile advocates say.
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Jul 15",Explicit
"A Michigan man accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and then kidnapping and killing her 2-year-old daughter was hit with nearly two dozen charges in connection with the “horrific and brutal crime spree,” officials announced.
Rashad Trice was taken into custody on July 3 in the St. Clair Shores area of Michigan. He’s now facing charges including one count of first-degree premeditated murder and one count of felony murder, the Michigan Attorney General’s office announced on Friday.
Both felonies carry a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole if convicted.
On July 2, Trice allegedly had a violent altercation over money with his ex-girlfriend inside her apartment, according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News. Police said he sexually assaulted and stabbed the victim, who then raced to a neighboring apartment to call the police. She left her daughter, Wynter Cole-Smith, and her 1-year-old son behind. When she returned, only the little boy remained.
Trice allegedly fled the scene in a stolen car with Wynter, but the child was not with him when he was arrested the following day, prompting police to issue an Amber Alert.
Wynter’s body was found in a Detroit alley following a three-day search. Police said Trice strangled the child with a pink cellphone charging cord. Part of the cord was found with the child’s body, while the rest was in the vehicle that Trice was in when he was arrested, according to the complaint.
“We have alleged today, and our many charges reflect, a horrific and brutal crime spree from Lansing to Detroit to St. Clair Shores,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement.
She also praised the county prosecutors “for their commitment to a singular, victim-centered prosecution that prioritizes and respects the tragic experiences of the surviving victims and the family of Wynter Cole-Smith.”
Trice initially faced charges across three different counties in connection with the deadly attack, though the Michigan Department of Attorney General said it will prosecute all state charges in one trial, consolidating the case.
The previously announced local charges brought against Trice have since been dropped.
Trice is being held at the Newaygo County Jail.",Explicit
"PM accuses Labour of backing ‘deceptive’ asylum claim lawyers
Rishi Sunak has accused the Labour party of siding with lawyers found to have falsely submitted asylum claims in exchange for thousands of pounds.
An investigation by the Daily Mail revealed that multiple solicitors had agreed to help an undercover reporter posing as an economic migrant submit a fake application in exchange for £10,000.
One of the firms the newspaper targeted was Duncan Ellis Solicitors in Colliers Wood, south London, where a legal adviser named VP Lingajothy agreed to invent a back story to use in an asylum application. The story included claims of sexual torture, beatings, slave labour, false imprisonment and death threats that had led to suicidal thoughts and had compelled the applicant to flee to the UK.
Lawyers are forbidden from misleading",Explicit
"Rapist David Goodwillie's new team have said they will not walk away from the player despite council criticism.
Goodwillie, who was ruled to be a rapist in a civil case, recently played for Glasgow United FC in a friendly.
Glasgow City Council threatened to bar the club from its training facility, however the club said there had been a ""witch hunt"" against the player.
Rape Crisis Scotland said the club had sent a ""clear message of disregard"" to survivors of rape and sexual violence.
Glasgow United FC has not confirmed if Goodwillie has been signed.
Council leader Susan Aitken said the ex-Dundee United, Aberdeen and Blackburn player had not shown ""any kind of contrition or remorse"" for his actions and warned any club that signed him would send ""a very clear statement about its attitude to the safety of women and girls"".
However a spokesperson for Glasgow United FC, which is based in Shettleston, told BBC Scotland the club would not walk away from him ""like every other club"".
They said: ""David Goodwillie has never been charged for this offence. He has no criminal record and has never appeared on any offenders register.
""How can he show contrite or remorse for something he staunchly claims he did not do?""
They added: ""We do a lot of work in our community helping those in need and this is only an extension of that work.
""We are supporting David with his mental health and will continue to do so. This witch hunt has gone on for far to long and the use of any person's life as a political football is unacceptable.""
Ninth-tier Glasgow United train twice a week at council-owned Greenfield Football Centre but play their home games at the nearby Greenfield Park stadium.
In a statement released on Sunday, Ms Aitken she had asked city official to ""look at"" the local authority's agreement with the club over Greenfield Football Centre.
Rape Crisis Scotland said it was ""deeply disappointed"" by the club's decision to play Goodwillie.
A spokeswoman said: ""David Goodwillie has been found by a senior judge to be a rapist. Footballers are role models - particularly for young people - and it's not okay to have someone in this position who has been found to be a rapist.""
Glasgow United, who play in the West of Scotland third division, selected Goodwillie to play in a match against West of Scotland Premier Division side Pollok on July 12 but lost 7-0.
A few days later, Goodwillie spoke out for the first time since the 2017 ruling on the Anything Goes podcast by Scottish actor James English.
The footballer said he did not feel like he has had justice and that both parties had been left in limbo.
Civil court case
In 2017, Goodwillie and former Dundee United teammate David Robertson were ordered to pay £100,000 in damages after a judge ruled they raped a woman at a flat in Armadale, West Lothian, in 2011.
Neither faced a criminal trial over the rape accusation after prosecutors said there was not enough evidence.
Robertson retired from football aged 30 in the days after the ruling, while Goodwillie left English side Plymouth Argyle by ""mutual agreement"".
However, the forward soon signed with Scottish League One side Clyde, who he played for more than 100 times and captained before leaving in 2022.
Raith Rovers sparked outrage by signing Goodwillie in January 2022 and a loan move back to Clyde also collapsed.
Rape Crisis Scotland described the Raith Rovers move as another ""clear message of disregard"" to survivors of rape and sexual violence.
The forward was released without playing a game in September 2022, with Raith Rovers admitting it ""got it wrong"" by signing him.
In February this year, Northern Premier League side Radcliffe FC, based in Bury, Greater Manchester, released the striker after one game following a public outcry.
Four months later, Goodwillie's contract with Australian semi-professional club Sorrento FC was rescinded. The club apologised to anyone ""that may have been caused offence by his signing"".",Explicit
"Legally speaking, it’s been a rough few months for Donald Trump. In April, he was indicted by the Manhattan district attorney’s office in connection to a hush money payment made prior to the 2016 election. In May, a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll, ordering him to pay the writer $5 million. In June, he was charged with a cornucopia of crimes related to his handling of classified documents. On Monday, he lost his bid to have Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis removed from the investigation into his attempt to overturn the election in Georgia, clearing the way for her to potentially charge him in a matter of weeks. On Tuesday, we learned that he was officially a target of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his attempt to overturn the election—the scope of which reportedly took his lawyers by surprise—and would likely be indicted in that case. One day after that, a judge denied his request for a new trial against Carroll, as well as his request to reduce the damages owed from $5 million to less than $1 million. And if he thought he might get a brief reprieve from this cosmic assault from the legal gods, he unfortunately thought very wrong.
NBC News reports that William Russell, a former Trump administration aide who currently works for Trump’s presidential campaign, is expected to testify Thursday to the grand jury investigating Trump’s attempt to overturn the election. That’s significant because Russell was reportedly “with Trump for much of the day on January 6, 2021,” meaning he could theoretically speak to the fact that Trump:
- Demanded supporters with guns be let through for his speech on the Ellipse, allegedly saying: “I don’t fucking care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me.... They can march to the Capitol from here.”
- Flew into a rage when he was told he couldn’t go to the Capitol, allegedly tried to grab the steering wheel of the vehicle driving him back to the White House, and lunged for the neck of the Secret Service agent who told him he couldn’t join his supporters
- “Gleefully” watched the insurrection unfold on TV and allegedly said, “Look at all of the people fighting for me”
- Refused to act to stop the violence “until after it was clear that the riot had failed to disrupt Congress’s session to confirm his election defeat”
- Declined to concede the election or suggest that the attack on the Capitol was a crime, even while finally recording a video in which he directed his supporters to “go home” (and told them “you’re very special” and “we love you”)
In his letter to Trump, Smith reportedly laid out three possible statutes Trump could be charged with violating in his attempt to overturn the election: conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States; tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant; and deprivation of rights under color of law. Should a jury decide to convict, all of these charges could result in prison time.
Meanwhile, in other Trump legal news:
Trump’s legal team had wanted to move the trial to federal court in order to claim additional defenses, and had argued that Trump would not have hired Michael Cohen, whom he reimbursed for the Stormy Daniels hush money payment while in office, had he not become president. Because of that, Trump’s attorney’s claimed, his actions concerning Cohen were “connected or associated” with his official duties as POTUS. And if that sounds like a completely ridiculous argument to you, you’re not alone. “The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was purely a personal item of the President — a cover-up of an embarrassing event. Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a President’s official acts,” Hellerstein wrote in his ruling. “Falsifying business records to hide such reimbursement, and to transform the reimbursement into a business expense for Trump and income to Cohen, likewise does not relate to a presidential duty.” Trump is scheduled to go to trial in March.",Explicit
"A 63-year-old moviegoer was brutally beaten by a man who was sitting in the victim’s reserved VIP seat, according to southeast Florida police.
Security video from inside the AMC Pompano Beach 18 cinema last week shows an older man and his wife approach a younger man and his female companion inside a largely empty theater shortly before 10 p.m.
“According to the preliminary investigation, the victim politely asked the subject to move from their seats,” which the victim had reserved, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. “Witnesses said that’s when the subject became hostile, standing up and aggressively getting in the victim’s face.”
The victim moved backwards as the suspect seemingly became more aggressive, causing the older man to fall into an aisle stairway. The man accused of planting himself in the victim’s reserved seats then let loose on the fallen man, pounding him with a barrage of blows that prompted witnesses to rush toward the violence and break up the drubbing.
“The victim suffered several injuries to his head and face,” police said. “He was transported to a local hospital to receive treatment.”
Law enforcement is now hoping someone who sees video of the alleged assailant and his associate leaving the theaters on July 10 will recognize the suspect and phone in a tip.",Explicit
"Atmore, Alabama — Alabama executed a man on Friday for the 2001 beating death of a woman as the state resumed lethal injections following a pause to review procedures., 64, was pronounced dead at 1:56 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison.
Barber was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 beating death of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps. Prosecutors said Barber, a handyman, confessed to killing Epps with a claw hammer and fleeing with her purse. Jurors voted 11-1 to recommend a death sentence, which a judge imposed.
It was the first execution carried out in Alabama this year after the state halted executions last fall. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced a pause on executions in November to conduct an internal review of procedures.
The move came after the state halted two lethal injections because of difficulties inserting IVs into the condemned men's veins. Advocacy groups claimed a third execution, carried out after a delay because of IV problems, was botched, a claim the state has disputed.
Barber's attorneys unsuccessfully asked the courts to block the execution, saying the state has a pattern of failing ""to carry out a lethal injection execution in a constitutional manner.""
The state asked the courts to let the execution proceed.
""Mrs. Epps and her family have waited for justice for twenty-two years,"" the Alabama attorney general's office wrote in a court filing.
Attorneys for inmate Alan Miller said prison staff poked him with needles for over an hour as they unsuccessfully tried to connect an IV line to him and at one point left him hanging vertically on a gurney during his. State officials called off the November after they were unsuccessful in connecting the second of two required lines.
Ivey announced in February that the state was resuming executions. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said prison system had added to its pool of medical professionals, ordered new equipment and conducted additional rehearsals.
Attorneys for Barber had argued that his execution ""will likely be botched in the same manner as the prior three.""
The Supreme Court denied Barber's request for a stay without comment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the decision in a writing joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
""The Eighth Amendment demands more than the State's word that this time will be different. The Court should not allow Alabama to test the efficacy of its internal review by using Barber as its 'guinea pig,'"" Sotomayor wrote.
State officials wrote that the previous executions were called off because of a ""confluence of events-including health issues specific to the individual inmates and last-minute litigation brought by the inmates that dramatically shortened the window for ADOC officials to conduct the executions.""
In the hours leading up to the scheduled execution, Barber had 22 visitors and two phone calls, a prison spokesperson said. Barber ate a final meal of loaded hashbrowns, western omelet, spicy sausage and toast.
One of the changes Alabama made following the internal review was to give the state more time to carry out executions. The Alabama Supreme Court did away with its customary midnight deadline to get an execution underway in order to give the state more time to establish an IV line and battle last-minute legal appeals.
for more features.",Explicit
"WASHINGTON – An Arkansas truck driver who beat a police officer with a flagpole attached to an American flag during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Monday to more than four years in prison.
Peter Francis Stager struck the Metropolitan Police Department officer with his flagpole at least three times as other rioters pulled the officer, head first, into the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The bruised officer was among more than 100 police officers injured during the riot.
Stager also stood over and screamed profanities at another officer, who was seriously injured when several other rioters dragged him into the mob and beat him, according to federal prosecutors.
After the beatings, Stager was captured on video saying, “Every single one of those Capitol law enforcement officers, death is the remedy. That is the only remedy they get.”
U.S. Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Stager to four years and four months in prison, according to a spokesperson for the prosecutors' office.
Stager, 44, of Conway, Arkansas, pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon.
Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six years and six months.
Stager assaulted the officer during one of the most violent episodes of Jan. 6 — a battle between rioters and police guarding an entrance to the Capitol building in a tunnel on the Lower West Terrace.
Stager's actions at the Capitol “were the epitome of disrespect for the law,” prosecutors said in a court filing.
“Stager joined a prolonged, multi-assailant attack on police officers, which resulted in injuries to the officers,"" they wrote. ""Stager himself wielded a flagpole and used it to strike at a vulnerable officer, who, lying face down in a mob of rioters had no means of defending himself.”
Stager's truck driving job took him to Washington, D.C., on the day before then-President Donald Trump's “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. Stager stayed overnight to attend Trump's rally after delivering a load of produce, a decision that he will regret for the rest of his life, his lawyers said in a court filing.
Stager's attorneys say he tried to help others in the crowd who were injured after the riot erupted. Shocked by what he saw, Stager had “reached his breaking point” and was “seeing red” when he picked up a flag on the ground, they said.
“Once the adrenaline wore off, Mr. Stager immediately called his wife to tell her he was horrified by his actions and that he was going to turn himself in upon returning to Arkansas,” his lawyers wrote.
More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 620 of them have pleaded guilty. Approximately 100 others have been convicted by juries or judges after trials. Nearly 600 have been sentenced, with over half receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from three days to 18 years.
Stager was indicted with eight other defendants on charges related to the tunnel battle. Four of his co-defendants also have pleaded guilty to assault charges.
Florida resident Mason Courson was sentenced in June to four years and nine months in prison. Michigan resident Justin Jersey was sentenced in February to four years and three months in prison. Michigan construction worker Logan Barnhart was sentenced in April to three years in prison. Georgia business owner Jack Wade Whitton is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 16.",Explicit
"Body camera footage shows a police officer in Ohio releasing a K-9 dog on a truck driver despite commands to stop the dog from at least one state trooper. The dog was released as the man, who is Black, appeared to be surrendering after a chase earlier this month.
The incident, captured on the morning of July 4, is now being investigated by U.S., state and local police in Ohio.
State troopers say they were attempting to inspect a semi-truck on I-35 in Ohio, noticing a missing rear mud flap. The truck's driver, 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose, didn't pull over, leading to a pursuit with multiple police cruisers.
Eventually, Rose did stop, but when officers exited their vehicles with guns drawn, he pulled away, tearing his left tire by speeding through a spike strip, effectively ending the chase.
Body cam footage shows Rose then exiting the vehicle and seemingly complying with officers' instructions, with his hands up. A state trooper can be heard telling the local Circleville police not to release their K-9 onto Rose, saying, ""Do not release the dog with his hands up! Do not release the dog with his hands up!""
Despite at least one warning, an officer released the dog and it bit Rose, holding its grip for over 30 seconds while Rose screamed for officers to intervene.
An officer can be heard yelling, ""Get the dog off of him!"" The dog was eventually pulled away from Rose, who was then handcuffed before officers called for first aid. He was bleeding heavily and taken to a local hospital.
Rose was later jailed for three days before being released.
Brian Higgins, a professor at the John Jay School of Criminal Justice, said part of the problem appeared to be miscommunication between state and local police.
""When you have other agencies ... that then descend on the incident, they have to be in some sort of agreement as to what the use of force practices will be,"" said Higgins.
Both the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Circleville Police Department say an investigation is underway into what happened.
The Circleville police would not respond to questions about whether the officer who released the dog onto Rose has been placed on leave.
for more features.",Explicit
"A video showing two women being paraded naked by a mob in the violence-hit northeastern state of Manipur has sparked outrage in India.
The police say they have opened a case of gang rape and have arrested a man, adding that others will be held soon.
This is also likely to dominate discussions in the parliament's monsoon session, which begins on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said the incident had ""shamed India"" and that ""no guilty will be spared"".
""I assure the nation, the law will take its course with all its might. What happened with the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,"" he said, finally breaking his silence on Manipur more than two months after violence began.
The Supreme Court also expressed its concern over the assault. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said the court was ""really disturbed over the video"" and asked the government to take action.
Police say the assault on the women took place on 4 May but it made national headlines on Thursday after the video started going viral on social media. The federal government has asked all social media companies to delete the video from their platforms.
At least 130 have died and tens of thousands have been displaced since ethnic clashes started in May in Manipur.
Clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities after the Meiteis - the state's main ethnic group - demanded tribal status which gives access to benefits such as forest land and government job and education quotas.
Some 60,000 have become refugees in their own land. Opposition politicians have criticised PM Modi for not visiting the state or speaking about the violence in Manipur so far.
The horrific video of the two women was widely shared on social media on Wednesday. It shows them being dragged and groped by a mob of men who then push them into a field.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) said in a statement that the atrocities had been committed in a village in Kangpokpi district against women from the Kuki-Zo tribal community. It also alleged that the women had been gang raped.
'This shouldn't be happening in modern India': By Geeta Pandey, BBC News, Delhi
It's well known that women's bodies often become a battleground during riots and conflicts, and rape and sexual assault are used as instruments of violence to punish them.
The sexual assault of a Kuki mother and daughter duo, who were stripped naked and paraded while being groped and molested by a mob of men in Manipur, is the latest example of that.
The video footage showing the women weeping, wincing in pain and begging their attackers to show some mercy is disturbing to watch.
The fact that the first arrest has been made only after the outrage in the case that happened 78 days ago and was reported to the police more than two months back doesn't inspire much confidence in the administration - more so since many of the men are clearly identifiable in the footage.
But the massive outrage that has followed the video's emergence in India has put the spotlight on the horrific crime. It has also raised questions about the failure of the state in comforting the survivors - and finally forced Mr Modi to make a statement on the ethnic violence.
To restore some sort of confidence in the people of violence-torn Manipur, especially the minority Kuki community, the authorities must now act swiftly against the perpetrators of the horrific assault and bring justice to the women. This should not be happening in modern India.
""The gang rape of the women happened after the village was burnt down and two men - one middle-aged and another a teenager - were beaten to death by the mob,"" the ITLF said.
Police said that the incident took place on 4 May and that a case of abduction and gang rape and murder had been registered against ""unknown armed miscreants"" at Thoubal district.
The police added that they were making an ""all out effort to arrest the culprits at the earliest"".
The incident has sparked strong reactions from politicians across the spectrum.
Federal minister Smriti Irani, called the incident ""condemnable and downright inhuman"". She also said that she had spoken to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who informed her that investigations were underway and that ""no effort will be spared to bring perpetrators to justice"".
Several opposition leaders also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government for not doing enough to quell the violence in the state.
Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadhra said that the ""images of sexual violence against women from Manipur are heart wrenching"", adding that women and children face the maximum brunt of violence in society.
She asked why the federal government and the prime minister ""were sitting blindly on the violent actions in Manipur"".
""Do such images and violent incidents not disturb them?"" she tweeted.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also condemned the incident. ""This kind of heinous act cannot be tolerated in the Indian society,"" he said.
""The situation in Manipur is becoming very worrying. I appeal to the prime minister to pay attention to the situation in Manipur. Please take strict action against the culprits seen in the video of this incident. There should be no place for people of such criminal nature in India,"" he tweeted.
BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.",Explicit
"AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Security will be heightened ahead of Thursday night's opening Women's World Cup game after a gunman killed two people at a downtown construction site in Auckland, roughly 12 hours ahead of co-host New Zealand's match against Norway.
Norway's team hotel was located within a short distance of the shooting, which occurred in the tourist area of the city near the harbor ferry terminal. Norway captain Maren Mjelde said teammates were awakened by a helicopter hovering outside the hotel.
“We felt safe the whole time,” Mjelde said in a statement. “FIFA has a good security system at the hotel, and we have our own security officer in the squad. Everyone seems calm and we are preparing as normal for the game tonight.”
Officials from Eden Park, where the game was scheduled to be played following an opening ceremony for the tournament, encouraged ticket holders to arrive to the stadium early.
“There will be an increased security presence within the precinct and across the venue. Additional traffic management measures are in place,” Eden Park said.
The shooting happened early Thursday morning at the start of rush hour in New Zealand's largest city. The gunman was armed with a pump-action shotgun, said New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. He added police arrived 1 minute after the first emergency call and had run straight into harm’s way to save the lives of others.
The gunman was found dead in an elevator, said Acting Police Superintendent Sunny Patel.
In addition to the three dead, at least six others were injured, officials said.
“New Zealand Football are shocked by the incident in Auckland CBD this morning,” the team said in a statement. “We can confirm that all of the Football Ferns team and staff are safe.”
Although Hipkins said his attendance of the opening match was now “under review” he said the tournament would go on as planned.
“Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,” Hipkins said. “The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned. I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.”
Tourism New Zealand canceled a welcome party, which was scheduled to be held Thursday afternoon at a location within the cordoned off area that included many hotels in which participating teams are being housed.
The United States women's team hotel is also located in the vicinity of the shooting and the team said in a statement it was ""saddened by the inexcusable loss of life to gun violence, and our thoughts are with the people of Auckland/Tamaki Makaurau and Aotearoa New Zealand.”
The month-long, 32-team tournament is being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, where the final will be staged on Aug. 20. There are strict gun laws in both countries, and fatal shootings are rare.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families in these difficult times. As a peace-loving nation, we stand with New Zealand in solidarity,"" Football Australia's head of marketing and communications Peter Filopoulos said. ""The situation seems to be contained now, thanks to NZ authorities. This incident is unrelated to the Women’s World Cup. Stay safe everyone.”
__
AP Sports Writer Steve McMorran contributed from Wellington, New Zealand.
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Explicit
"More than two months after three women were stripped and paraded by a mob in violence-hit Manipur, police said they have registered a case of gang-rape and abduction, and would soon make arrests. It is among the first cases of sexual violence to be reported and which is being followed up with police action after the clashes in the State started on May 3.
A video clip of the incident surfaced on social media on Wednesday. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) said in a statement that the ordeal suffered by the women is amplified by the perpetrators’ decision to share the video on social media revealing the identity of the victims. Two of the women are seen in the clip.
The incident is alleged to have taken place on May 4 at Nongpok Sekmai in Thoubal district when the three women were trying to escape a violent mob that had attacked their village in Kangpokpi district. A police source said that on May 18, a zero First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Kangpokpi police station, which has now been transferred to Thoubal, the place of incident. A zero FIR is registered irrespective of the jurisdiction or area power of the police.
One of the women was raped, the FIR said. The father and brother of the rape survivor were killed by the mob, according to a complaint filed by the village head. The complaint said the brother, aged 19, was killed while trying to protect his sister from the mob. Charges of murder have also been added.
The FIR stated that five villagers, including the three women, fearing for their lives had fled towards a forest and had been rescued by the police. However, the mob of around 900-1,000 men, some of them carrying sophisticated weapons, blocked the police team and snatched the five from the custody of the police, the FIR said.
The zero FIR was transferred to Thoubal police on June 21. It has been more than a month that a regular FIR was registered, but no arrests have been made.
A statement by the Manipur police said, “In regard to the viral videos of two women paraded naked by unknown armed miscreants on May 4, a case of abduction, gang-rape and murder etc. was registered against unknown armed miscreants and the investigation has been started. The State Police is making all-out effort to arrest the culprits at the earliest.”
The State government imposed an indefinite curfew in the five valley districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Kakching, and Thoubal districts on Wednesday after a protest march was planned by women’s group.
Hoihnu Hauzel, a Manipuri journalist, said on Twitter, “The women were paraded naked, fondled and beaten in full public glare. A disturbing video taken by a perpetrator leaked and got viral today. This breaks all level of humanity.”
Two more tactical headquarters
Meanwhile the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has deployed two senior officers from Nagaland and Assam to oversee the existing and additional companies deployed in Manipur in “view of present security situation.” It created two tactical headquarters in Kangpokpi and Jiribam districts, other than the one in Imphal.
The order said, “In view of the present security scenario in the State of Manipur and increased level of CRPF deployment, supervision of senior officers of the level of Deputy Inspector General across strategic places of the State has been felt essential and crucial. Accordingly, to have effective control and supervision over the existing and additional companies deployed in Manipur, DIG Ops (Operations) Kohima and DIG Silchar are temporarily placed in Manipur with immediate effect.”
Other than the State police, 124 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and 184 columns of the Army has been deployed in the State.
Internet has been suspended in Manipur since May 3, when ethnic violence between the Kuki and Meitei communities erupted in the State. More than 140 people have been killed and over 54,000 people displaced in the ongoing violence.",Explicit
"The Women’s World Cup soccer tournament kicked off in New Zealand Thursday evening with amped-up security after a deadly shooting about 12 hours earlier.
Two people plus the suspect died in the shooting at a construction site in downtown Auckland, near a touristed area, the harbor ferry terminal, and close to team Norway’s hotel.
All players were safe and accounted for, and the shooting was an isolated incident, New Zealand authorities said.
Nonetheless, spectators for the first match, between Norway and New Zealand, were encouraged to arrive early. Officials closed most of the roads around the stadium in Eden Park hours ahead of the game.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Secretary-General Fatma Samoura were coordinating closely with local authorities and participating teams in the vicinity, the soccer organization said in a statement.
A welcome party that was to be hosted by Tourism New Zealand on Thursday afternoon was canceled, since the venue fell within the area that was cordoned off after the tragic incident, near the hotels housing several teams.
The Pinstripe Express
The gunman had began blasting away with a shotgun just before 7:30 a.m. local time, according to emergency calls that flooded in. Police arrived minutes later, running toward the gunfire, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement.
Six people were wounded, including a police officer, before the suspect barricaded himself in an elevator, where he was later found dead after a shootout with police, Acting Police Superintendent Sunny Patel said. It was not clear whether the gunman died by his own hand or by a police bullet.
Anofficer was hospitalized in critical condition and had since been upgraded to stable, New Zealand police said on Twitter.
Before match, which saw New Zealand win over Norway 1-0, the players held a moment of silence.
U.S. women’s national team players were among the many expressing condolences, saying the incident had brought them together in mutual focus on life.
“There wasn’t really a conversation had. Unfortunately, I feel like in the U.S. we’ve dealt with this far too many times,” USWNT forward Lynn Williams said at a news conference, according to ESPN. “But there was definitely a sense of, like, ‘let’s come together, we still have a job to do,’ but also recognizing that there were lives lost, and that is very real and very devastating.”
With News Wire Services",Explicit
"Biden to establish national monument honoring Emmett Till
President Biden will reportedly sign a proclamation on Tuesday to establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black teenager whose lynching in 1955 galvanized the Civil Rights Movement.
The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument will span three sites in Illinois and Mississippi, marking locations that are central to Till’s story, according to The Associated Press.
“The new monument will protect places that tell the story of Emmett Till’s too-short life and racially-motivated murder, the unjust acquittal of his murderers, and the activism of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who courageously brought the world’s attention to the brutal injustices and racism of the time, catalyzing the civil rights movement,” a White House official told CNN.
It will include the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till’s mother held an open-casket funeral to display her son’s brutalized body.
Graball Landing in Tallahatchie County, Miss., where Till’s body is believed to have been pulled from the Tallahatchie River, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Miss., where Till’s murderers were acquitted, will also be part of the monument.
Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi in August 1955, when he was kidnapped, beaten and shot for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
Two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were found not guilty of Till’s murder by an all-white jury in September 1955. However, they later admitted to the killing in an interview with Look Magazine, notes the AP.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"Article content
BRUSSELS (AP) — A jury on Tuesday found six people guilty of terrorist murder for extremist attacks in Brussels in 2016 that killed 32 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group, in Belgium’s deadliest peacetime violence, according to Belgian media.
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tap here to see other videos from our team.
Among those convicted for their role in the suicide bombings at Brussels’ airport and a subway station was Salah Abdeslam, who already is serving a life sentence without parole in France over his role in attacks that hit Paris cafes, the Bataclan theatre and France’s national stadium in 2015.
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The verdict was reported by public broadcaster RTBF, newspaper Le Soir and news websites HLN and Nieuwsblad.
The chief judge read out the verdict and explanations by the 12-person jury, who made a clear connection to IS and its extremist ideology. The reading of the verdict was expected to take a few hours. Sentencing will be decided in a separate process, not before September.
In addition to the six people convicted of terrorist murder, four others on trial were acquitted or facing other charges.
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The biggest trial in Belgium’s judicial history unfolded over seven months in a special court to address the exceptional case. Survivors and families of victims hoped the trial and verdict would help them work through what happened and find closure.
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The morning rush hour attacks on March 22, 2016, at Zavantem Airport and on the Brussels subway’s central commuter line deeply shook the city, which is home to the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, and put the country on edge. In addition to the 32 people killed, nearly 900 others were wounded or suffered serious mental trauma.
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Jamila Adda, president of the Life4Bruxelles victims’ association, gathered a group of survivors at the special courthouse to hear Tuesday’s verdict. Among them was a man named Frederic, who said the ”atrocious crimes” of March 22 still haunt him.
“We have been waiting for this for seven years, seven years that weighed heavily on the victims. … We are waiting with impatience, and with some anguish” for the verdict, he told The Associated Press. Frederic, among the commuters who survived the attack at the Maelbeek metro station, spoke on condition that his last name not be published to protect his identity as a victim of trauma.
Survivors have supported each other through the proceedings, some coming every day. “It is important to be together, to hear the decision of justice,” Frederic said. And then, they hope “to be able to turn the page.”
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The 12 jurors had been deliberating since early July over some 300 questions the court asked them to consider before reaching a verdict. Tuesday’s expected decision will address whether or not each of the suspects is guilty of various charges. and may take several hours to be read out.
Eventual sentencing will be decided in a separate process. If convicted, some could face up to 30 years in prison.
Abdeslam was the only survivor among the Islamic State extremists who struck Paris in November 2015 and were part of a Franco-Belgian network that went on to target Brussels four months later. After months on the run following the Paris attacks, Abdeslam was captured in Brussels on March 18, 2016, and his arrest may have prompted other members of the IS cell to rush ahead with attack plans on the Belgian capital.
Also convicted of terrorist murder at the trial in Brussels was Mohamed Abrini, childhood friend of Abdeslam and a Brussels native who walked away from Zaventem airport after his explosives failed to detonate.
Oussama Atar, who has been identified as a possible organizer of the deadly attacks on both Paris and Brussels, was convicted of terrorist murder in absentia. He is believed to have died in the Islamic State group’s final months of fighting in Iraq and Syria.",Explicit
"By Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es Est. 5min 21-07-2023 Content-Type: News News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. “We cannot call everything a marriage (because if we do so) tomorrow we could also call marriage a union of a person with a cat”, Latorre told the local website Enciende Cuenca in an interview, quoted by EURACTIV’s partner EFE. [Shutterstock/Alexandre Rotenberg] EURACTIV is part of the Trust Project >>> Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram One cannot call marriage a union of two people of the same sex, it would be more appropriate to define it as a union between a person and an animal, Mariano Latorre, candidate of the far-right VOX – party in the province of Cuenca (centre-south) said on Thursday, two days ahead of Spain’s general elections. The issue of LGBTQ+ rights has been at the centre of the political parties’ attention during the campaign for the general elections and has also been one of the most controversial issues in the three election debates that have been held on the Iberian country’s television, the last of them on Wednesday evening. “We cannot call everything a marriage (because if we do so) tomorrow we could also call marriage a union of a person with a cat”, Latorre told the local website Enciende Cuenca in an interview, quoted by EURACTIV’s partner EFE. Following the offensive comments by VOX’s candidate for the province of Cuenca, the president of the socialist party (PSOE/S&D) in the region, Sergio Gutiérrez, has called for the urgent resignation of the “ultra” politician. Without your ‘own’ children there can be no ‘marriage’ “Marriage, as its own name indicates, is a union of a man and a woman that is supposed to bring with it an offspring”, explained the VOX politician in the interview, in which he also touched upon other controversial issues like immigration – echoing other ideologically related parties, like Meloni’s Fratelli D’Italia. “When in Spain, in the 1940s, there was very strong immigration to other European countries, like Germany, France. The Spaniards who entered did not arrive, throwing acid in the face of the policemen to enter through the border. They didn’t arrive stealing, raping women, occupying houses”, Latorre stated. These Spanish immigrants adapted to the customs of the countries where they settled to live, “they worked, paid their taxes and were welcome,” he added. “We do the same, anyone who comes here legally, who knocks on our door and who adapts to our way of life or, at least, who is compatible with it, is welcome, particularly if they work and contribute” to Spanish society, Latorre added. According to the local branch of PSOE, the VOX candidate should not be allowed to participate in Sunday’s elections. His insulting and degrading words disqualify him from taking part in democratic elections, the socialist party claims. Meanwhile, Gutiérrez pointed out that responsibility does not only lie with VOX but “also with the PP (centre-right Partido Popular)” as it is (PP/EPP) “an ally of the far-right-wing party”. In Gutiérrez’s words, this is a clear example “of what the next four years could mean for the Spanish people” if Partido Popular, currently the main opposition force, and Vox forge a coalition to govern at the national level. A VOX deputy PM? In addition, he called it “intolerable” that a person who thinks this way and makes these statements should be allowed to be a candidate for a political party in Spain. If both the PP and Vox have “a minimum of democratic conscience or ethical convictions”, they should request the immediate resignation of VOX’s head of the list in Cuenca. “It is humiliating that there are candidates (…) aspiring to (become) deputies (at the national level) who think that there are homosexuals who can be dogs”, the socialist politician added. Spain’s general elections on Sunday could radically change the country’s political map. The polls point to a victory for the PP, which, if it does not obtain an absolute hierarchy of 176 seat majority (176 seats out of 350), would have to make a pact with VOX, as it has already done at the regional and municipal levels after the local elections held on 28 May. If the PP, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo and VOX, led by Abascal, manage to govern, it would be an unprecedented and historic event as it would be the first time in more than 40 years that far-right ministers – or even an “ultra” deputy prime minister- would enter a national government in Spain. The question remains whether the progressive bloc forged by Sánchez and Diaz’s Sumar platform will win more seats than the right-wing and far-right bloc combined. If they succeed, they could re-edit a new left-wing alliance to govern the country for another four years. (Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es) Read more with EURACTIV Estonia blocks EU Parliament seat allocation deal Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Topics Politics The Capitals",Explicit
"A fight between two groups inside a Walmart in a Miami suburb erupted in gunfire Wednesday afternoon, leaving one man dead, Miami-Dade police said. A suspect has been taken into custody.
The shooting, which sent panicked shoppers running for safety, occurred at a Walmart in Florida City shortly before 3 p.m. local time. A police spokesperson said a fight broke out between two groups of about three people, during which someone took out a gun and opened fire.
Investigators said one man, who had been involved in the altercation, died from his gunshot wounds after being flown to a local hospital. He was not immediately identified.
""As soon as you hear those four bangs, screaming, it was like a stampede of people running,"" one woman told CBS Miami.
Another man who sustained a gunshot wound to the foot during the ordeal was believed to be an innocent bystander and a woman suffered a head injury while trying to run from the scene, police said.
Officials said five other people were treated at the scene and released.
It's unclear what initially prompted the altercation. Police did not immediately identify the suspect who was taken in custody.
Police said they were also searching for four other people who were involved in the fight but had fled the area. Miami-Dade police and Florida City police are investigating.
In a written statement provided to CBS News Miami, Walmart said that it was ""deeply saddened by what took place in our Florida City store, and our thoughts are with the victim's loved ones. The store is closed at this time. We will work closely with local law enforcement through the course of their investigation and will refer further questions to police.""
for more features.",Explicit
"As the threat of a third indictment looms, Donald Trump reposted a threatening video message on Truth Social from a verified MAGA account on Thursday—the same day a federal grand jury convened to determine whether to charge the ex-president over Jan. 6. “If you fuck around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you that have never been done before,” Trump is heard saying in the 9-second-long clip. Dramatic music plays in the background as a black-and-white photo of Trump zooms out and his 2024 campaign logo appears. While the audio itself is from a 2020 conversation about Iran, the message seems to target special counsel Jack Smith, one of Trump’s current biggest foes. Earlier this week, Trump lost his mind after prosecutors warned him that he is the target of another criminal investigation. On Truth Social, Trump declared it was “HORRIFYING NEWS for our Country” and labeled Smith as “deranged.
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"Rapist David Goodwillie's new team have said they will not walk away from the player despite council criticism.
Goodwillie, who was ruled to be a rapist in a civil case, recently played for Glasgow United FC in a friendly.
Glasgow City Council threatened to bar the club from its training facility, however the club said there had been a ""witch hunt"" against the player.
Rape Crisis Scotland said the club had sent a ""clear message of disregard"" to survivors of rape and sexual violence.
Glasgow United FC has not confirmed if Goodwillie has been signed.
Council leader Susan Aitken said the ex-Dundee United, Aberdeen and Blackburn player had not shown ""any kind of contrition or remorse"" for his actions and warned any club that signed him would send ""a very clear statement about its attitude to the safety of women and girls"".
However a spokesperson for Glasgow United FC, which is based in Shettleston, told BBC Scotland the club would not walk away from him ""like every other club"".
They said: ""David Goodwillie has never been charged for this offence. He has no criminal record and has never appeared on any offenders register.
""How can he show contrite or remorse for something he staunchly claims he did not do?""
They added: ""We do a lot of work in our community helping those in need and this is only an extension of that work.
""We are supporting David with his mental health and will continue to do so. This witch hunt has gone on for far to long and the use of any person's life as a political football is unacceptable.""
Ninth-tier Glasgow United train twice a week at council-owned Greenfield Football Centre but play their home games at the nearby Greenfield Park stadium.
In a statement released on Sunday, Ms Aitken she had asked city official to ""look at"" the local authority's agreement over access to Greenfield Football Centre.
Glasgow United is part of Shettleston Community Sports Trust, which runs the centre on a rolling licence from Glasgow Life - a charity that runs libraries, museums and sports facilities for the council.
Rape Crisis Scotland said it was ""deeply disappointed"" by the club's decision to play Goodwillie.
A spokeswoman said: ""David Goodwillie has been found by a senior judge to be a rapist. Footballers are role models - particularly for young people - and it's not okay to have someone in this position who has been found to be a rapist.""
Glasgow United, who play in the West of Scotland third division, selected Goodwillie to play in a match against West of Scotland Premier Division side Pollok on July 12 but lost 7-0.
A few days later, Goodwillie spoke out for the first time since the 2017 ruling on the Anything Goes podcast by Scottish actor James English.
The footballer said he did not feel like he has had justice and that both parties had been left in limbo.
In 2017, Goodwillie and former Dundee United teammate David Robertson were ordered to pay £100,000 in damages after a judge ruled they raped a woman at a flat in Armadale, West Lothian, in 2011.
Neither faced a criminal trial over the rape accusation after prosecutors said there was not enough evidence.
Robertson retired from football aged 30 in the days after the ruling, while Goodwillie left English side Plymouth Argyle by ""mutual agreement"".
However, the forward soon signed with Scottish League One side Clyde, who he played for more than 100 times and captained before leaving in 2022.
Raith Rovers sparked outrage by signing Goodwillie in January 2022 and a loan move back to Clyde also collapsed.
Rape Crisis Scotland described the Raith Rovers move as another ""clear message of disregard"" to survivors of rape and sexual violence.
The forward was released without playing a game in September 2022, with Raith Rovers admitting it ""got it wrong"" by signing him.
In February this year, Northern Premier League side Radcliffe FC, based in Bury, Greater Manchester, released the striker after one game following a public outcry.
Four months later, Goodwillie's contract with Australian semi-professional club Sorrento FC was rescinded. The club apologised to anyone ""that may have been caused offence by his signing"".",Explicit
"SHREVEPORT, La. -- State prosecutors have added a second felony charge against a former Louisiana police officer accused of fatally shooting an unarmed Black man earlier this year.
The second criminal charge of felony malfeasance was added Monday as former Shreveport officer Alexander Tyler, who is white, was arraigned on charges of shooting Alonzo Bagley at an apartment complex in February. Tyler and another officer were responding to a report by Bagley's wife of a domestic disturbance.
Tyler pleaded not guilty to first-degree negligent homicide and felony malfeasance.
Body camera footage shows officers knocking on Bagley’s door, Bagley retreating into his apartment, and then jumping off a second-floor balcony. The video shows Tyler catching Bagley and shooting him once in the chest, and then officers begging him to stay alive while trying to administer first aid.
Tyler was charged with negligent homicide on Feb. 16 by the Louisiana State Police, about two weeks after the shooting. State police typically investigate shootings involving police officers in Louisiana.
“These charges are extremely disappointing,"" Dhu Thompson, Tyler's defense lawyer, said Monday. ""However, we have been prepared since day one to bring the case and facts therein to an impartial jury. We look forward to our day in court.”
Both negligent homicide and malfeasance in office carry sentences of up to 5 years in prison.
Relatives of Bagley have filed a $10 million lawsuit against Tyler, who had been an officer for about two years before he resigned in March.
Family members hired Louisiana attorney Ronald Haley, who has represented other high-profile clients, including the family of Ronald Greene, a Black motorist whose 2019 death in state police custody in north Louisiana prompted lawsuits and criminal charges against law enforcement officers.",Explicit
"Country music star Jason Aldean 's latest music video for “Try That In A Small Town,"" lasted just one weekend on Country Music Television before the network pulled it in response to an outcry over historically charged references.
In the video, Aldean — who has been awarded county music artist of the decade by the Academy of Country Music — performs in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee. This is the site of the 1946 Columbia race riot and the 1927 mob lynching of an 18-year-old Black teenager named Henry Choate.
Aldean's video, which was released Friday, July 14, has received fervent criticism online, with some claiming the visual is a “dog whistle” and others labeling it “pro-lynching.”
Interspersed between performance footage of Aldean are news clips of violent riots and flag burning. A Fox News chyron reads: “State of emergency declared in Georgia.""
“Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light it up / Yeah, ya think you’re tough,” Aldean, who is from the city of Macon, Georgia, sings. ""Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round up / Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck / Try that in a small town.""
Aldean has long identified as conservative, and has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump.
The video and its subsequent removal from CMT quickly blew up into one of the periodic culture war clashes, with several conservative figures speaking out in favor of Aldean — including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Colorado Republican firebrand, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert.
This isn't the first time Aldean has been at the center of controversy. In 2015, he made headlines for dressing as rapper Lil Wayne as a Halloween costume, wearing blackface makeup and a wig with dreadlocks.
And in 2017, the country singer was on stage at the Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Over the years, Aldean has given conflicting statements about his stance on U.S. gun laws, though his music celebrates gun ownership.
“It’s too easy to get guns, first and foremost,” he told The Associated Press after the Las Vegas shooting. “When you can walk in somewhere and you can get one in 5 minutes, do a background check that takes 5 minutes, like how in-depth is that background check? Those are the issues I have. It’s not necessarily the guns themselves or that I don’t think people should have guns. I have a lot of them.”
“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,"" Aldean said on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon. ""These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.""
“My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from” and that the song is about a desire to “get back to a sense of normalcy,” he wrote on Twitter.
A CMT spokesperson did not immediately respond to AP's request for comment.",Explicit
"Kevin Spacey has been cleared of sexual assault in one of the UK’s most high-profile #MeToo trials.
The 64-year-old Oscar-winning actor wept as he was found not guilty on Wednesday of sexually assaulting four men after a four-week trial at Southwark crown court.
Wearing a dark suit, pink shirt and burgundy pocket square and tie, Spacey looked to his legal team as jurors cleared him of all nine sex offences against four men over nine years.
The Hollywood star had denied the charges – claiming the allegations against him were “madness”, “absolute bollocks” and a “stab in the back”. He claimed the men were financially motivated and that one victim was after “money, money, and then money”.
The judge, Mr Justice Mark Wall, praised the lawyers in the case and said: “The defendant may be discharged.”
Spacey appeared emotional and hugged his legal team after he was discharged on his birthday.
The actor, who stood trial under his full name, Kevin Spacey Fowler, was found not guilty of nine sexual offences against four men in their 20s and 30s, between 2004 and 2013.
The prosecutor, Christine Agnew KC, accused Spacey of being a “sexual bully” who exploited his fame and power to abuse the complainants.
Jurors rejected the prosecution’s claims that Spacey had “aggressively” grabbed three men by the crotch and had performed a sex act on an aspiring actor while he was asleep in his flat.
Spacey told the court that he had consensual sexual encounters with a driver and the aspiring actor, and that he may have made “a clumsy pass” at a man at a party in the Cotswolds. But he rejected claims that he had grabbed a man’s crotch “like a cobra” at a West End theatre in the mid-2000s, telling jurors: “It never happened.”
In his evidence, Spacey gave jurors an insight into his relationship with famous faces and name-dropped fellow actors including Jack Lemmon, Val Kilmer, Richard Harris and Joan Collins.
He also recounted showbiz anecdotes including buying Dame Judi Dench a ping-pong table and purchasing “the most expensive Mini Cooper ever” at a charity auction hosted by Elton John. John and his husband David Furnish were called as defence witnesses in the trial.
Spacey had previously denied 12 charges – seven sexual assaults, three indecent assaults, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
A further charge of indecent assault was added mid-trial, taking to 13 the total number of alleged offences listed on the indictment.
Last Wednesday, the four indecent assault charges were struck off by the judge due to a “legal technicality”.
The court heard that two of the complainants in the case were pursuing Spacey in the civil courts.",Explicit
"SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — A police officer in a Washington, D.C., suburb shot and killed a man after reports he had, without provocation, stabbed four people at random on Saturday, officials said.
The victims included three women — two were stabbed in the neck — and a man, all of whom are expected to survive, Montgomery County Police Assistant Chief Darren Francke told reporters during a Saturday afternoon news conference at the scene. Three were hospitalized with injuries.
The suspect’s identity has not been released.
Francke said the man used a 12-inch butcher knife in the stabbings, which started at a popular thrift store in Silver Spring, Maryland, and then continued in the surrounding neighborhood. While the investigation is ongoing, Francke said, detectives don’t believe the suspect knew any of the victims. He said the attacks appear “completely random.”
“We have witnesses. We are continuing our interviews, but at this point it was an unprovoked attack,” he said.
Police received reports around 10:35 a.m. of a stabbing at the thrift store. Almost simultaneously, another caller reported a second stabbing on a nearby street, according to police.
The suspect ran into a wooded area while police started setting up a perimeter. Francke said the man then came out of the woods and “confronted a police cruiser.” He said another officer soon arrived on scene, saw the man armed with a knife, gave commands and ultimately opened fire, killing the suspect.
“The officer fired multiple rounds and the subject was stopped from attacking further people,” Francke said.
The suspect died at the scene.
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office is investigating the police shooting, which is standard procedure under state law. That office will turn over the results of its investigation to local prosecutors, who will decide whether the officer could face criminal charges.
Officials said the shooting was captured on body camera and the footage will likely be released in the coming weeks, as well as the names of the officer and suspect.
Francke said the incident was out of character for the otherwise quiet suburban area.
“Montgomery County is a very safe community,” he said. “On a Saturday afternoon where folks are having a yard sale and just shopping at a very popular thrift store, we don’t expect this. We certainly don’t accept it.”",Explicit
"British indie band The 1975 have cut short a gig in Malaysia, claiming officials ordered them off stage for breaching the country's anti-LGBT laws.
The band were headlining the Good Vibes Festival in the capital Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
During the set, singer Matty Healy attacked the country's anti-LGBT laws before kissing bass player Ross MacDonald.
Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and punishable by 20 years in prison.
In footage shared online, Healy could be seen telling the crowd, in a profanity laden speech, that the band's decision to appear in Malaysia had been a ""mistake"".
""When we were booking shows, I wasn't looking into it,"" Healy said. ""I don't see the [expletive] point, right, I do not see the point of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.
""Unfortunately you don't get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I'm [expletive] furious,"" the frontman continued. ""And that's not fair on you, because you're not representative of your government. Because you're young people, and I'm sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool.""
Healy and MacDonald then kissed as the band played the song I Like America & America Likes Me.
Soon after - just 30 minutes into the set - Healy and the band walked off stage, with the singer telling the audience: ""Alright, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, see you later.""
A source close to the 1975 confirmed the incident to the BBC.
""Matty has a long-time record of advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and the band wanted to stand up for their LGBTQ+ fans and community,"" the source said on Friday night.
In a short statement to local media, festival organisers said the band's set was stopped due to ""non-compliance with local performance guidelines"".
""Good Vibes Festival has always been dedicated to providing enjoyable music experiences, and we sincerely appreciate your continued support,"" the statement added. ""Good Vibes Festival 2023 will proceed as scheduled, and we eagerly anticipate your presence on Saturday and Sunday.""
Malaysia's Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil hit out at the band's performance on Twitter, calling it ""very disrespectful"". He added that he had contacted festival organisers and asked them to provide a full report.
Healy has previously used appearances on stage to highlight anti-LGBT laws.
In 2019 he invited a male fan on stage during a gig in Dubai to hug him, before sharing a quick kiss. The incident attracted criticism in the country, where homosexuality is punishable by 10 years imprisonment.
Posting on Twitter after the show, Healy said: ""Thank you Dubai you were so amazing. I don't think we'll be allowed back due to my 'behaviour' but know that I love you and I wouldn't have done anything differently given the chance again.""
Other performers at the Good Vibes Festival include the Strokes, Dermot Kennedy and Ty Dollar $ign.",Explicit
"A rare multiple shooting in the center of Auckland just hours before the opening of the Women’s World Cup rattled the city as tens of thousands gathered to watch New Zealand play Norway in the first game of the tournament.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins outlined details of the attack in a hastily called news conference, confirming that three people had died – including the gunman – and several others were injured.
Emergency services rushed to the city’s central business district just after 7 a.m. local time Thursday, after reports that a man armed with a pump action shotgun had opened fire on a construction site, he said.
“He moved through the building site discharging the firearm as he went,” Hipkins said. “Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the man contained himself in an elevator. Shots were fired, and he was located a short time later.”
News footage showed heavily armed police dressed in body armour and carrying rifles flocking to the scene and cordoning off swathes of the business district.
Hipkins said the actions of the police officers who “ran into the gunfire, straight into harm’s way in order to save the lives of others” were “nothing short of heroic.”
New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said one officer was shot as he attempted to engage the gunman, and four civilians had “moderate to critical injuries.”
Coster said the suspect was under home detention orders but had an exemption to work at the construction site where the shooting took place, and the incident was believed to be related to his work there.
The man had a “family violence history” but there was “nothing to suggest that he has presented a high level risk,” Coster said. He did not have a firearms license, Coster added.
New Zealand Police said the shooting did not pose a national security risk, as officials confirmed the Women’s World Cup opening ceremony and first game would go ahead as planned.
In a statement, FIFA said it extended “its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims”.
“FIFA has been informed that this was an isolated incident that was not related to football operations and the opening match tonight at Eden Park will proceed as planned,” the statement added.
However plans to show the match on a big screen at a fanzone in downtown Auckland were scrapped “out of deep respect to those who lost their lives,” the mayor’s office and Auckland Council said in a statement. The fan festival will open from midday Friday, the statement added.
Tourism New Zealand also canceled a welcome event scheduled for the opening match because the location is within the area cordoned off by police as they investigate the shooting.
The central business district in Auckland is the commercial heart of the city, a base for blue chip international firms and the gateway to the famous harborside, which is lined with restaurants and bars and home to the main ferry terminal.
Shootings are relatively rare in New Zealand, especially following the introduction of strict gun laws in 2019 after a mass shooting in Christchurch left 50 people dead and led to strict new laws curbing firearms being passed in a matter of days.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown told New Zealand public radio RNZ the shooting was a “dreadful thing to happen in our city at a time when the rest of the world’s watching us over the football.”
New Zealand will face Norway at Eden Park in the opening match on Thursday in one of the world’s biggest sporting events, co-hosted by New Zealand and neighbor Australia.
Players from the United States women’s national soccer team (USWNT) also addressed the shooting at their inaugural press conference.
“Unfortunately in the US I feel like we’ve dealt with this far too many times,” forward Lynn Williams told reporters.
Looking over the cordon, Nisha, an American tourist who had traveled to Auckland to watch the World Cup, described the shooting to CNN as “incredibly tragic… especially at the start of the World Cup, there’s so many people coming in, there’s so much excitement.”
Nisha, who declined having her surname published, said news of the shooting surprised her.
“In places like New Zealand, you just assume a level of sort of safety, right?” she said.
Standing at the edge of the cordon on Quay Street a block away from the ferry pier, 21 year-old Seth Kruger, who is originally from South Africa, expressed shock at the shooting.
“I reckon it’s a pretty rare occurrence for New Zealand, he said. “Moving here, you move here for safety reasons. So pretty weird for this to be happening just down the road from home as well.”
Kruger and his friend David Aguillon were scheduled to work at The Cloud, a multipurpose event space at the Queen’s Wharf along the Auckland waterfront, which is hosting the FIFA Fan Festival throughout the World Cup.
However, with the police continuing to cordon off several key streets, Aguillon said they hadn’t been able to get on site, and it was unclear whether the Fan Festival would be open in time for Monday’s first game.
In a statement, US Soccer said that it “extends its deepest condolences to the families of the victims who were killed in downtown Auckland today.”
In a statement, New Zealand Football said it was “shocked” by the incident. “We can confirm that all of the Football Ferns team and staff are safe but we will not be able to comment further while details are still emerging,” a statement said. “Preparations for the game tonight at Eden Park will continue as planned.”
CNN’s Tara John, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Hira Humayun contributed reporting.",Explicit
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ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — Russia struck the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa on Sunday, keeping up a barrage of attacks that has damaged critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine in the past week. At least one person was killed and 22 others wounded in the early morning attack, officials said.
Four children were among those wounded in the blasts, which severely damaged 25 landmarks across the city, including the historic Transfiguration Cathedral.
Russia has been launching repeated attacks on Odesa, a key hub for exporting grain, since Moscow canceled a landmark grain deal on Monday amid Kyiv’s grinding efforts to retake its occupied territories.
After the fires were put out at the Orthodox cathedral, volunteers donned hard hats, shovels and brooms to begin removing rubble and try to salvage any artifacts — under the watchful gaze of the saints whose paintings remained intact. Local officials said the icon of the patroness of the city was retrieved from under the rubble.
“The destruction is enormous, half of the cathedral is now roofless,” said Archdeacon Andrii Palchuk, as workers brought documents and valuables out of the building, its floor inundated with water used by firefighters to extinguish the blaze.
Palchuk said the damage was caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile that penetrated the building down to the basement. Two people inside were wounded.
“But with God’s help, we will restore it,” he said, bursting into tears.
A woman who came to help with the cleanup said she loved the cathedral “for its tranquility and grace.”
“When you enter this church, you feel like you’re beyond the world,” said Liudmyla, who gave only her first name. “I have a feeling that God, to protect apartments, took this pain, this explosion upon himself.”
Anna Fetchenko, who came to Odesa for a volunteer meeting, also pitched in to clear the debris. “I wanted to go to the seaside, but last night was so frightening that I cried for the first time in 2023,” she said.
“This is our Ukrainian heritage, and now it’s taken away from us.”
Later Sunday, Palchuk urged people to gather in front of the destroyed part of the cathedral for an outdoor service and to pray in front of a sacred icon that “miraculously survived.”
“We will pray that it protects us from the Russians,” he said.
The cathedral belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been accused of links to Russia. The church has insisted that it is loyal to Ukraine, has denounced the Russian invasion from the start and even declared its independence from Moscow.
WATCH: Russia’s war in Ukraine leads to historic split in the Orthodox Church
But Ukrainian security agencies have claimed that some in the Ukrainian church maintain close ties with Moscow. They’ve raided numerous church holy sites and posted photos of rubles, Russian passports and leaflets with messages from the Moscow patriarch as proof some church officials are loyal to Russia.
UNESCO strongly condemned the attack on the cathedral and other heritage sites and said it will send a mission in coming days to assess damage. Odesa’s historic center was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site earlier this year, and the agency said the Russian attacks contradict Moscow’s pledge to take precautious to spare World Heritage sites in Ukraine.
“This outrageous destruction marks an escalation of violence against the cultural heritage of Ukraine. I strongly condemn this attack against culture, and I urge the Russian Federation to take meaningful action to comply with its obligations under international law,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.
Regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said that six residential buildings were destroyed by the strikes.
Some people were trapped in their apartments following the attack, which left rubble strewn in the street and partly blocking the road.
Svitlana Molcharova, 85, was rescued by emergency workers. But after she received first aid, she refused to leave her destroyed apartment. “I will stay here,” she said.
“I woke up when the ceiling started to fall on me. I rushed into the corridor,” said Ivan Kovalenko, a 19-year-old resident of the building. “That’s how I lost my home in Mykolaiv, and here, I lost my rented apartment.”
His unit revealed a partially collapsed ceiling and a balcony that came off the side of the building. All the windows were blown out.
Ukraine’s air force reported on the Telegram messaging app that Russia had launched 19 missiles in the Odesa region, including five high-precision winged Onyx missiles and four sea-to-shore Kalibr cruise missiles. It said that Ukrainian air defenses shot down nine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday its forces attacked sites in Odesa “where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared.”
In a later statement, the ministry denied that its attacks struck the Transfiguration Cathedral, claiming the destruction of the cathedral was likely due to “the fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft guided missile.”
The attacks come days after President Vladimir Putin pulled Russia out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that enabled Ukraine’s exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger.
WATCH: Russia ends grain export deal with Ukraine, raising fears about global food security
Earlier Russian attacks have crippled significant parts of export facilities in Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk, and destroyed 60,000 tons of grain, according to Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry.
Putin vowed to retaliate against Kyiv for an attack Monday on the crucial Kerch Bridge linking Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin illegally annexed in 2014.
— Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko were meeting Sunday in St. Petersburg, two days after Moscow warned Poland that any aggression against its neighbor and ally would be considered an attack on Russia. Putin said talks would also take place Monday, and declared that Kyiv’s counteroffensive had failed.
Lukashenko said Wagner troops, who launched joint drills with the Belarusian military on Thursday, almost a month after their short-lived rebellion against Moscow, wanted to go west “on an excursion to Warsaw, to Rzeszow” in Poland, but that Belarus would not allow the mercenary force to relocate.
“I am keeping them in central Belarus, like we agreed. … We are controlling what is happening” with Wagner, he said.
— Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov reported Sunday that two people were killed in Russian strikes on the northeastern province Saturday, when Russia attacked populated areas of the Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Kupiansk and Izium districts.
Donetsk regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said four residents were also killed and 11 wounded in attacks Saturday.
Morton reported from London.
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"‘Oppenheimer’ sees pushback in India over sex scene that quotes Bhagavad Gita
A sex scene from Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster “Oppenheimer” has come under fierce criticism in India after a clip from the movie went viral and sparked the ire of Hindu nationalists.
In the scene, Cillian Murphy’s character reads from a sacred Hindu text — the Bhagavad Gita — alongside Florence Pugh, who plays psychiatrist and physician Jean Tatlock.
According to Variety, Pugh stops during intercourse, gets up and goes over to the bookshelf, picks out a copy of the “Bhagavad Gita” and asks Murphy to read from it.
Murphy then reads out the quote “I am become Death, destroyer of worlds” — a now famous phrase that Oppenheimer later said popped into his consciousness after the first atom bomb was detonated.
India’s Information Minister Uday Mahurkar took to Twitter to express his outrage about the creative license Nolan took with the scene.
In an open letter to Nolan, Mahurkar called the scene “a direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus,” referring to the sacred text using the spelling Bhagwad Geeta.
“It has come to our notice that the movie ‘Oppenheimer’ contains a scene [which makes] a scathing attack on Hinduism. As per social media reports, a scene in the movie shows a woman making a man read Bhagwad Geeta aloud while getting over him and doing sexual intercourse. She is holding Bhagwad Geeta in one hand, and the other hand seems to be adjusting the position of their reproductive organs,” the letter added.
“We do not know the motivation and logic behind this unnecessary scene [in the life] of a scientist. But this is a direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus, rather it amounts to waging a war on the Hindu community and almost appears to be part of a larger conspiracy by anti-Hindu forces.”
Oppenheimer was drawn to the Hindu text in real life.
In a 1965 NBC News documentary called “The Decision to Drop the Bomb,” he said that “a few people laughed; a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”
India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has also come under fire for allowing the scene past its censor board.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"A three-day music festival in Kuala Lumpur was cancelled on Saturday after British band The 1975 failed to comply with local performance guidelines.
The band’s performance was cut short on Friday, the first day of the three-day Good Vibes Festival, after frontman Matty Healy gave a speech criticising the Malaysian government for criminalising same-sex relationships.
“I made a mistake when we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking into it. I don’t see the ****ing point, right? I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and telling us who we can have sex with,” Healy told the crowd.
“And I’m sorry if that offends you and you’re religious... If you push, I’m gonna push back.”
Homosexuality is forbidden in Malaysia, and laws criminalising sodomy can result in imprisonment or corporal punishment.
Healy, who was holding a bottle of wine, told the crowd that the group would not be performing “uplifting songs” as he was furious.
“And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government. You are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive,” he said.
After Healy’s speech, the band’s bassist Ross MacDonald walked over to him, and the two men kissed during their rendition of I Like America & America Likes Me.
After performing at least one more song, Healy said: “All right, we gotta go. We just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, I’ll see you later.”
The band performed seven songs in its headlining set. Other songs on the set list that it did not perform on Friday included Robbers, Somebody Else and I’m In Love With You.
Malaysia’s Communications and Digital Ministry announced through one of its committees that The 1975 had been blacklisted from performing in Malaysia.
The ministry’s central committee for the application for filming and performance by foreign artistes (Puspal) said the decision was made after the group was found to have “challenged, belittled and disparaged local laws and violated the morals of Malaysians” during its show.
“The Communications and Digital Ministry will not tolerate any party that provokes and engages in disrespectful behaviour while performing in Malaysia,” Puspal said in a statement on Saturday.
The ministry has also filed a police report against the band and the festival’s organisers for failing to comply with Puspal’s conditions for performing in the country, adding that the organisers had previously made assurances that they would be responsible for the band’s performance.
Selangor police chief, Datuk Hussein Omar Khan, said the police would be contacting the organisers as part of their investigations.
As the concert took place at the Sepang International Circuit, Commissioner Hussein said the inquiries will be conducted by Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) police. Sepang International Circuit is a 10-minute drive from KLIA.
The organisers issued a statement late on Friday night saying: “We regret that The 1975 performance had to be cut short due to non-compliance with local performance guidelines.”
On Saturday afternoon, the organisers said in an Instagram post that the festival, which was supposed to end on Sunday, had been cancelled following the incident.
In a series of tweets on Saturday afternoon, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said he had ordered the immediate cancellation of the rest of the festival, with organisers asked to compensate those who had bought tickets.
“I want to stress, the position of the Unity Government is very clear. There is no compromise against any party that challenges, disparages and violates Malaysian laws,” he tweeted.
The festival had been expected to feature other international and local music acts, including American band The Strokes and Australian rapper The Kid Laroi.
Malaysians have left disparaging comments on The 1975’s social media pages, voicing their disappointment at the band and lead vocalist Healy for being disrespectful towards the country’s customs, and their “surface-level activism”.
One fan, Ms Yasmin Devan, blamed the band for being “the reason the festival got cancelled after just one day” and possibly for the wider repercussions.
“You don’t know how to navigate this country and its issues. Countless people lost their jobs and the (organising) company might even go bankrupt because of this, can’t even recoup their cost,” she said.
Another Malaysian fan wrote on Instagram: “What you did may cost us to miss out on a lot of concerts in future.”
Puspal had earlier in 2023 tightened guidelines for concerts in the country, including blackout dates close to religious holidays such as Hari Raya Puasa, and banning performers from actions such as cross-dressing or removing articles of clothing during shows.
Popular American YouTube musician David Choi also weighed in, saying it was a shame that The 1975’s “extremely selfish, unprofessional, and most of all, privileged actions... probably made things worse for the progressives in a mostly Islamic country”.
While the band has yet to comment since walking off the stage on Friday, those close to the members have shown support for their antics in Malaysia.
A source close to the band told American magazine Variety: “Matty has a long-time record of advocating for the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community, and the band wanted to stand up for their LGBTQ+ fans.”
Healy’s mother, actress Denise Welch, shared a tweet of a video of the onstage kiss, writing: “He’s my son.”
In 2019, Healy kissed a male fan while performing in Dubai, which criminalises same-sex couples and sexual acts.
After the incident in Dubai, Healy tweeted: “I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again.”
The band will perform in Jakarta on Sunday. Same-sex marriage is not officially recognised in Indonesia.
The band performed in Singapore at two sold-out concerts earlier this week.",Explicit
"FARGO, N.D. -- The man who shot Fargo police officers — one fatally — last week had 1,800 rounds, multiple guns and a homemade hand grenade in his vehicle, officials said Wednesday.
Mohamad Barakat, 37, opened fire on officers responding to a traffic wreck Friday before being fatally shot by Officer Zach Robinson. Officer Jake Wallin was killed, and Officers Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes were hospitalized with critical injuries.
“When you look at the amount of ammunition this shooter had in his car, he was planning on more mayhem in our community,” Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney said at a news conference Wednesday.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley described Barakat's attack as “completely unprovoked.”
Police and fire officials were responding to a routine traffic accident on a busy street that afternoon when the gunman began firing multiple rounds at them, according to Zibolski.
“It’s clear to us that our police officers were ambushed in this attack,” the mayor said.
Firefighters on the scene and a nearby ambulance were essential in preventing additional fatalities, he said. As soon as the firing stopped, “firefighters bounced out and they were applying first aid immediately to our officers,” Fargo police Chief David Zibolski said, which “probably had a very significant impact on their survival.”
A 25-year-old Fargo woman was also shot, but authorities have not said who shot her.
Wrigley said Robinson’s use of deadly force “was reasonable. It was justified and lawful in every possible way.”
Shortly after the shooting, authorities, including the FBI, converged on a residential area about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away and evacuated residents of an apartment building to gather what they said was related evidence.
Zibolski said he believed police previously had some sort of contact with Barakat “but not anything significant.”
Zibolski said it does not appear that Barakat was involved in the car crash that brought officers to the scene. But he indicated investigators are determining whether this was a planned ambush of officers.
The state Bureau of Criminal Investigation and FBI are investigating the attack. Robinson was placed on paid administrative leave while state authorities completed an investigation into his use of force, per Fargo police procedure.
The funeral service for Wallin, 23, is set for Saturday morning in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, according to an obituary. A private service will follow graveside at a cemetery in Nisswa, Minnesota. Dotus was a six-year veteran responsible for training officers.
Wallin served in the Minnesota Army National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq from November 2020 to July 2021. He and Hawes were sworn in less than three months ago and were still in training when they responded to the scene Friday.
Governors of Minnesota and North Dakota have directed U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of Wallin through sunset on Saturday, and encouraged residents and businesses to do the same.",Explicit
"A federal judge has dismissed Donald Trump's request for a new trial in a civil case in which a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming columnist E Jean Carroll.
Mr Trump was ordered to pay $5m (£3.9m) in damages, which he argued was excessive based on the jury's verdict.
The judge ruled that the jury's 9 May verdict was not a ""miscarriage of justice"".
The former president has called the case ""part of a political witch hunt"".
Ms Carroll, 79, had accused Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, and then branding the incident a hoax in an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform. The jury found Mr Trump guilty of battering the columnist, but stopped short of finding the former president guilty of rape.
Mr Trump's attorneys had argued in their bid for a new trial that ""the Court should order a new trial on damages or grant remittitur because contrary to Plaintiff's claim of rape, the Jury found that she was not raped but was sexually abused by defendant during the 1995/1996 Bergdorf Goodman incident.""
In a 59-page decision on Wednesday, US District judge Lewis Kaplan ruled the jury did not reach ""a seriously erroneous result"", in calculating the amount of damages, as argued by Mr Trump's lawyers, and dismissed his request for a new trial.
Judge Kaplan, who presided over the original trial, wrote that the trial evidence demonstrated Mr Trump ""raped"" Ms Carroll in the plain sense of the word.
""The finding that Ms Carroll failed to prove that she was 'raped' within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr Trump 'raped' her as many people commonly understand the word 'rape',"" Judge Kaplan wrote. ""Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr Trump in fact did exactly that.""
Roberta Kaplan, the lawyer representing E Jean Carroll, celebrated Judge Kaplan's ruling in a statement shared with the BBC.
""E Jean Carroll looks forward to receiving the $5 million in damages that the jury awarded her,"" Ms Kaplan said.
She added her client also looks forward to ""continuing to hold Trump accountable"" in a further defamation trial scheduled to begin early next year.
Ms Carroll has sued Mr Trump for $10m (£7.7m) for statements he made in 2019 that she claims are defamatory.
The US Justice Department initially ruled Mr Trump was legally immune from the lawsuit because he was president when he made the remarks.
But earlier this month, government attorneys said they no longer had ""sufficient basis"" to conclude Mr Trump was acting within the scope of his duties as president.
The BBC has contacted Mr Trump's lawyers for comment.
Judge Kaplan's decision comes as former president Trump is facing a series of legal challenges, including a potential indictment over his alleged role in January 6 insurrection as well as criminal charges in New York related to a hush-money payment to a porn actress.
In the hush-money case, a New York judge delivered another loss for Mr Trump's legal team on Wednesday rejecting the former president's request to move an upcoming trial to federal court.
Mr Trump is facing felony charges in New York for falsifying business records over a reimbursement he made to his lawyer for paying porn star Stormy Daniels.
He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and a trial is scheduled for March 2024.
Mr Trump had argued the trial should be moved to federal court because the alleged crimes took place while he was president. But District Judge Alvin Hellerstein wrote in a filing that Mr Trump had failed to show his conduct was related to ""any act performed by or for the President"".",Explicit
"Salvatore Mancuso is one of the most notorious figures in Colombia’s six decades of conflict, responsible for some of the most heinous of crimes during the darkest chapters in the country’s history.
As a senior commander of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) – the country’s largest rightwing death squad – he ordered forced disappearances, sexual violence and massacres of civilians.
“There was not a single campesino who did not live in fear of that man,” said Angelica Salsero, representative of the Association of Victims in Cordoba, the northern Colombian region where the AUC sprang up. Like many others there, Salsero lost a family member to the paramilitaries.
So when president Gustavo Petro recently appointed Mancuso as a “peace manager” for negotiations with armed groups, Salsero – like many others – reacted with outrage, saying the decision makes a mockery of all those who lost loved ones or were forced from their homes.
“How can someone be named a Peace Manager when they committed so much war and death? It’s an insult to all of his victims,” she said.
Mancuso demobilised during a much-criticized peace process in 2003 and was extradited to the USA in 2008 for drug trafficking. He finished his sentence in prison in 2020 but remains in detention in Atlanta, Georgia, as he is yet to pay for his war crimes in Colombia.
Mancuso has accepted responsibility for more than 300 killings and is accused of committing about 75,000 crimes.
In the hopes of receiving lenient punishment the former paramilitary leader has testified virtually to Colombia’s special peace tribunal (JEP), giving details of how the country’s military, as well as its business and political elites, worked hand-in-glove with the paramilitaries to stamp out leftwing guerrillas.
Mancuso’s testimony is helping the JEP to untangle the truth of Colombia’s conflict and that knowledge could eventually help the government negotiate with other rightwing groups who remain active today, experts say.
His appointment as a peace envoy by Colombia’s first ever leftwing president, came as a shock to many.
But his inclusion in negotiations is part of Petro’s bold strategy to include figures across the political spectrum – even where their ideological ties or criminal past would usually exclude them from any official role.
In November Petro appointed José Félix Lafaurie, head of Fedegan – a traditionally conservative association of cattle ranchers – to lead talks with leftist ELN rebels.
Mancuso could be a useful bridge between the government and the Gulf Clan (ACG) – an armed drug faction which has become the largest criminal organisation in Colombia, say analysts. Negotiations with the ACG stalled and Petro broke off a ceasefire in March.
“Appointing Mancuso can only be positive in attempts to establish a channel with the ACG. He has managed to create some confidence with that group and his appointment has the potential to reinvigorate the channel between the government and the organisation,” said Elizabth Dickinson, senior analyst for Colombia at Crisis Group.
Mancuso’s testimonies helped authorities discover mass graves near the Venezuelan border in June, and the former AUC commander is encouraging other paramilitary leaders to join him in the peace process.
But victims argue that Mancuso’s dire human rights record means he should have no role in the country’s future.
Eliécer Arias, who belongs to the Indigenous Kankuamo people, lost his elder brother to Mancuso’s death squads who tortured their victims before burning them or throwing them into rivers.
“For 22 years as victims, we have waited for an act of reparation and to be recognised by the Colombian state. Then on Sunday I heard this news. It’s a huge blow to us families who have lost people to the paramilitaries. It’s not just sad and enraging. It’s humiliating.
“We’re always told that the victims are at the centre of these peace processes but in reality nobody is listening to us. This guy walks free and we, the victims, are left adrift once again,” Arias said.
It remains unclear when and if Mancuso will return to Colombia. He remains subject to an arrest warrant, and the country’s courts have confirmed that his appointment as peace manager would not exempt him from trial.
“The question is how this decision can be anything more than symbolic. What kind of peace processes can Mancuso promote from a detention site in the US? With whom?,” said Juan Pappier, deputy director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch.
Mancuso’s victims argue that wherever he ends up he should be given no honours.
“The appointment of Mancuso is an affront to all of us,” says Luz Marina Hache Contreras who was displaced by the Colombian military and paramilitary forces. “Recognition must be given to those who have suffered Mancuso’s crimes, not to the criminal himself. It is his responsibility to contribute to the truth without anything in return.”",Explicit
"Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey was ""tried by social media"" after he was accused of sexual assaults, a court has heard.
He is charged with nine sexual offences relating to four men allegedly committed between 2001 and 2013.
The 63-year-old American sat in the dock on Thursday at Southwark Crown Court in London as defence barrister Patrick Gibbs KC gave a closing speech.
Mr Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner, denies all of the charges against him.
""What the defence suggests is that three people have lied and they have lied in ways and for reasons which, ultimately, will only ever be known to themselves,"" said Mr Gibbs, who suggested the fourth complainant was intoxicated.
He told jurors: ""It's not a crime to like sex, even if you're famous and it's not a crime to have sex, even if you're famous, and it's not a crime to have casual sex.
""And it's not a crime to have sex with someone of the same sex because it's 2023 not 1823.""
He challenged the Crown's claim that there was a ""pattern of similarity"" between the accusers because three claim Mr Spacey ""grabbed"" them by the crotch, a term Mr Spacey previously told the court he ""objected"" to.
He told the jury it was ""easy"" to lie convincingly, especially when it is about someone such as Kevin Spacey who he described as a man ""who is promiscuous, not publicly out, although everyone in the businesses knows he's gay who wants to be just a normal guy to drink beer and laugh and smoke weed and sit in the front and spend time with younger people who he's attracted to"".
He said perhaps Mr Spacey had led ""a bit of an odd life"", but that it was ""a life that makes you an easy target when the internet turns against you and you're tried by social media"".
""That's when these claims were taken to the police, when it was, I suggest, only too easy to do and the prospects of a pay-off from the bandwagon were at their most irresistible.""
Mr Gibbs praised Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish for risking the ""wrath of the internet"" to be called as defence witnesses after they gave evidence via video link from Monaco on Monday.
Mr Spacey pleaded not guilty in January to three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
He also previously denied four further charges of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
A further charge of indecent assault, an alternative count, was added mid-trial - taking the total number of alleged offences listed on the indictment to 13.
On Wednesday, the four indecent assault charges, which were all alternative counts, were struck off by the judge, due to a ""legal technicality"" and not as a result of the prosecution abandoning any allegation.
The trial continues.",Explicit
"NEW DELHI, July 21 (Reuters) - Women in India's northeastern state of Manipur attacked the house of the main suspect in a sexual assault case that has enraged the nation, police said on Friday.
The person allegedly dragged two tribal women onto the streets in May and later incited a mob to rape and parade them naked, police said on Friday, as ethnic clashes engulfed the state.
The sexual assault took place over two months ago but it captured national attention after a short video went viral on social media earlier this week.
The main suspect, a resident of violence-hit Manipur state, was arrested on Thursday hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the alleged sexual assault as ""shameful"" and promised tough action.
Three others also were arrested and a police official said were tracing at least 30 others involved in the crime.
""Local women pelted stones and burnt some parts of the house belonging to the prime accused in a village,"" said Hemant Pandey, a senior police official in capital city Imphal.
""We request women to protest peacefully as there is intense unease. We understand their rage,"" he said.
Protests were planned in several parts of India by rights groups demanding justice and swift investigations into the latest incident to raise questions about the safety of women in the country.
The sexual assault was reported by the victims in May after ethnic clashes began in Manipur. The fighting was triggered by a court order that the government should consider extending special benefits enjoyed by the tribal Kuki people to the majority Meitei population as well.
At least 125 people have been killed and more than 40,000 have fled their homes since the violence erupted.
""We want to know why police failed to take swift action when they knew that women were raped and paraded naked in Manipur,"" said Radhika Burman, a student in eastern city of Kolkata who is set to lead a public demonstration on Thursday.
Modi, who had not made any public remarks about the trouble in a state ruled by his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), spoke a day after the videos showing women being molested went viral.
Opposition MPs who have submitted notices in both houses of the parliament to discuss the violence in Manipur stalled the proceedings on Friday.
""Manipur needs complete attention and we demand the prime minister make an elaborate statement in the parliament,"" said Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of opposition Congress party.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"NEW DELHI, July 21 (Reuters) - Women in India's northeastern state of Manipur attacked the house of the main suspect in a sexual assault case that has enraged the nation, police said on Friday.
The person allegedly dragged two tribal women onto the streets in May and later incited a mob to rape and parade them naked, police said on Friday, as ethnic clashes engulfed the state.
The sexual assault took place over two months ago but it captured national attention after a short video went viral on social media earlier this week.
The main suspect, a resident of violence-hit Manipur state, was arrested on Thursday hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the alleged sexual assault as ""shameful"" and promised tough action.
Three others also were arrested and a police official said were tracing at least 30 others involved in the crime.
""Local women pelted stones and burnt some parts of the house belonging to the prime accused in a village,"" said Hemant Pandey, a senior police official in capital city Imphal.
""We request women to protest peacefully as there is intense unease. We understand their rage,"" he said.
Protests were planned in several parts of India by rights groups demanding justice and swift investigations into the latest incident to raise questions about the safety of women in the country.
The sexual assault was reported by the victims in May after ethnic clashes began in Manipur. The fighting was triggered by a court order that the government should consider extending special benefits enjoyed by the tribal Kuki people to the majority Meitei population as well.
At least 125 people have been killed and more than 40,000 have fled their homes since the violence erupted.
""We want to know why police failed to take swift action when they knew that women were raped and paraded naked in Manipur,"" said Radhika Burman, a student in eastern city of Kolkata who is set to lead a public demonstration on Thursday.
Modi, who had not made any public remarks about the trouble in a state ruled by his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), spoke a day after the videos showing women being molested went viral.
Opposition MPs who have submitted notices in both houses of the parliament to discuss the violence in Manipur stalled the proceedings on Friday.
""Manipur needs complete attention and we demand the prime minister make an elaborate statement in the parliament,"" said Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of opposition Congress party.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"Reactor block at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant transitioned to 'hot shutdown', IAEA Responds
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has initiated the planned transition of its fourth reactor block from ""cold shutdown"" to ""hot shutdown"".
According to the IAEA, the plant has begun the scheduled process of moving the fourth reactor block from ""cold shutdown"" to ""hot shutdown,"" with corresponding tests completed, and the block currently being heated up.
The agency expects the reactor block to achieve ""hot shutdown"" on July 25. Following this, the fifth block, currently in ""hot shutdown"" mode, will be reverted to ""cold shutdown"" for maintenance work, while the other blocks will remain in ""cold shutdown.""
Statement by Energoatom
Energoatom has reported that on July 24, Russian occupiers transitioned the fourth reactor block of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to ""hot shutdown."" The department emphasized that such actions represent a gross violation of the license requirements for operating the nuclear facility, since the reactor block should be in a ""cold shutdown"" state.
Threat of sabotage at Zaporizhzhia NPP
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, warned about the possibility of a Russian sabotage operation at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which could lead to severe consequences such as a radiation release.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the invaders might have placed explosive devices on the roofs of several reactors, intensifying the risk of potential sabotage. The IAEA announced the discovery of anti-personnel mines on the territory of Zaporizhzhia NPP.",Explicit
"Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images
toggle caption
Country music singer Jason Aldean, pictured here performing at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas in May, is facing a mixed bag of backlash and praise for a new music video that openly alludes to vigilante justice.
Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images
Country music singer Jason Aldean, pictured here performing at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas in May, is facing a mixed bag of backlash and praise for a new music video that openly alludes to vigilante justice.
Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images
Country Music Television (CMT) says it will no longer air the music video ""Try That In a Small Town"" by Jason Aldean after critics of the video said it contained lyrics that glorified gun violence and conveyed traditionally racist ideas.
A CMT spokesperson confirmed the move to NPR on Thursday, but offered no comment on the reasoning.
Since the video's release on Friday, it's emerged as a familiar kind of political litmus test, with interpretations of its message often falling along voting divides.
Here's an overview of the situation:
What is ""Try That in a Small Town"" about?
Aldean, a 46-year-old country singer from Macon, Ga., first released the song in May, but it wasn't until the release of the video on July 14 — as promotion for his 11th upcoming album — that the discourse ratcheted up.
In a statement released alongside the video, Aldean said the song represents an ""unspoken rule"" for those raised in small towns: ""We all have each other's backs and we look out for each other."" The singer is not credited as a writer for the song, as has been the case for most of his 27 hit singles.
Threats to outsiders (and the implication those outsiders are from cities) are present throughout the song's lyrics, which begin with a list of crimes that might happen in urban settings (""Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk / carjack an old lady at a red light"") then crescendo into the titular chorus:
""Well, try that in a small town / See how far you make it down the road / Around here we take care of our own / You cross that line, it won't take long / For you to find out, I recommend you don't.""
Aldean ups the vigilante ante by bridging the second chorus with a reference to gun rights, singing:
""I've got a gun that my granddad gave me / they say one day they're gonna round up. / Well that shit might fly in the city / good luck / Try that in a small town"".
Why is the video so divisive?
Interspersed between shots of Aldean singing are clips of vandalizing, riots and police encounters, much of which is evocative of racial injustice protests.
Some of the scenes bear a Fox News chyron, but others, as some TikTok sleuths have pointed out, appear to be stock footage, in some cases of gatherings from other countries.
But much of the criticism around the video has less to do with these clips then its setting: The Maury County Courthouse building in Columbia, Tenn., which serves as an American-flag-draped backdrop for Aldean and his band.
The landmark was the site of race riots in 1946 as well as a 1927 lynching in which a white mob pulled an 18-year-old black man, Henry Choate, from jail and drug him through the city by car, according to several media reports, including one detailed account from The Washington Post.
Choate had confessed to attacking a 16-year-old white girl ""to protect his life,"" even though the girl ""could not positively identify him as the assailant,"" the Post reported.
What is Aldean saying?
On Tuesday, Aldean pushed back hard against accusations he was ""pro-lynching,"" saying such an interpretation ""goes too far"" and is ""dangerous.""
""There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it,"" he wrote on Twitter. ""Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief.""
""NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart,"" he wrote.
The production company behind the videos, TackleBox, also defended the video's location as a popular filming spot, telling Entertainment Tonight that any ""alternative narrative"" about the reasons it was chosen were false.
Aldean has received five Grammy Award nominations (including two for Best Country Album) for his two decades of music depicting rural, blue-collar life. And throughout that success, he's rarely shied away from sharing his right-leaning political views.
His wife, Brittany Aldean, and his sister, Kasi Rosa Wicks, launched a conservative clothing line dedicated to trolling liberals. Aldean defended dressing his children in anti-Joe-Biden attire and himself for wearing blackface as part of a 2015 Halloween costume. He was spotted golfing alongside Donald Trump and delivered an impromptu performance at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort.
But, at other times, the singer has tried to walk a more nuanced line toward politics, perhaps most memorably after surviving the 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival.
Aldean was performing on stage as the night's closing act when the shooting began. Six months later, he tiptoed through the refreshed gun control debate, saying in an interview that tragedies shouldn't be used as fodder for political arguments, but ultimately agreed that it was ""too easy to get guns"" in the U.S..
How are other people reacting?
Gun control advocates are among the song's loudest critics, saying ""Try That in a Small Town"" glorifies a dangerous eye-for-an eye ethos.
Shannon Watts, founder of the group Moms Demand Action, called it an ""ode to a sundown town"" that suggested ""people be beaten or shot for expressing free speech.""
Others said the song's hints at violence were clearly racial dog whistles, zeroing in on the song's portrayal of protests like flag-burning. Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, a Democrat, summed it as a ""heinous song calling for racist violence.""
Sheryl Crow and Margo Price are among the musicians who've spoke out against the song. But others, like Travis Tritt and Blanco Brown described the reaction as unfair social commentary.
Political commentators on the right have have held up the country music cannon, and Aldean in particular, as a loudspeaker for under-appreciated conservative values.
2024 GOP primary contenders like Trump, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis all defended the artist, with DeSantis saying: ""When the media attacks you, you're doing something right.""
If attention was his goal, then Aldean might agree: As of midday Thursday, ""Try That in a Small Town"" was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. on iTunes and was holding the No. 2 spot on YouTube's trending music videos.",Explicit
"A motorist got out of her car naked and started fired a gun into the air Tuesday at a major Bay Area span, the California Highway Patrol said.
According to the CHP, there was a report of a reckless driver on eastbound Interstate 80 around at 4:40 p.m. The caller told 911 dispatchers the driver appeared to have a gun.
The CHP said the driver stopped on the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge and part of I-80, got out of her car while wielding a knife and yelled at other drivers. She got back into the car but soon stopped near the toll plaza.
This time, she allegedly exited the car naked and carrying a gun and began firing shots into the air and at other vehicles, according to the CHP.
Law enforcement arrested her. She was taken from the bridge in an ambulance.
Several lanes of traffic were temporarily shut down so officers could look for shell casings. That caused major delays.
No injuries were reported.
Her identity wasn't released.
There was no word on what prompted her to do what she was seen on video doing.
for more features.",Explicit
"PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Authorities are on high alert in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, following a shooting incident that left five people dead.
Around 8 p.m. Wednesday, local time, officers responded to ""a report of a mass shooting"" in Kingstown, the capital of the Caribbean nation, according to a statement from the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force.
Police told ABC News a group of people were in the Harbour Club area, when a vehicle pulled up and occupants of the vehicle began shooting.
Five people were fatally shot in the incident, including a 13-year-old boy, investigators said.
""Based on the crime scene, an assault weapon appears to have been used,"" Police Commissioner Colin John said at a news conference on Thursday. ""We also received intel about possible reprisals and that is something that we are taking very seriously.""
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who is abroad on an official visit to Morocco, offered condolences to the families of the victims in a video statement.
""We will get to the bottom of this, and we will bring the perpetrators to justice, those who carried out the killings and those who are the authors,"" Dr. Gonsalves said.
The United States has been working with Caribbean countries to battle crime and violence in the region.
On July 5, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Caribbean heads of government in Trinidad. The leaders addressed the issue of guns being trafficked from the U.S. to the Caribbean.
Blinken announced that U.S. prosecutor Michael BenAry has been appointed as the first U.S. coordinator for Caribbean firearms prosecutions.
U.S. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who led a bipartisan Congressional delegation to Trinidad and Tobago on July 5 for talks with regional leaders, said BenAry's appointment shows ""that the United States of America, that Congress, that the Biden administration, has heard the concerns related to gun trafficking and gun violence here in Trinidad and Tobago, and throughout the Caribbean, and we are prepared to respond decisively to address it.""",Explicit
"KYIV, July 20 (Reuters) - A building at the Chinese consulate in Odesa was damaged in a Russian missile and drone attack on the southern Ukrainian port city, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Thursday.
The damage appeared to be minor. Kiper posted a photograph online showing the building with broken windows.
Russia, which is an ally of China, attacked the port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv overnight for the third successive night.
""The aggressor is deliberately hitting the port infrastructure - administrative and residential buildings nearby were damaged, also the consulate of the People's Republic of China. It shows the enemy does not pay attention to anything,"" Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his daily late-night video address on Wednesday that 60,000 tons of agricultural products destroyed in a Russian air strike on Odesa port had been intended for shipment to China.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"Russia pounded Ukrainian food export facilities for a fourth day in a row on Friday and practiced seizing ships in the Black Sea in an escalation of what Western leaders say is an attempt to wriggle out of sanctions by threatening a global food crisis.
The direct attacks on Ukraine’s grain, a key part of the global food chain, followed a vow by Kyiv to defy Russia’s naval blockade on its grain export ports following Moscow’s withdrawal this week from a UN-brokered safe sea corridor agreement.
“Unfortunately, the grain terminals of an agricultural enterprise in Odesa region were hit. The enemy destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley,” regional governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app.
Two people had been injured, he said. Photographs released by the emergencies ministry showed a fire burning among crumpled metal buildings that appeared to be storehouses, and a badly damaged fire-fighting vehicle.
Moscow has described the attacks as revenge for a Ukrainian strike on a Russian-built bridge to Crimea – the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Russia said on it would deem all ships heading for Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons from Thursday, in what Washington called a signal it might attack civilian shipping. Kyiv later responded by issuing a similar warning about ships headed to Russia.
Russia’s defense ministry on Friday said its Black Sea fleet had practiced firing rockets at “floating targets” and apprehending ships. Moscow’s ambassador to Washington denied any plan to attack ships.
The attacks on grain export infrastructure and perceived threat to shipping drove up prices of benchmark Chicago wheat futures on Friday towards their biggest weekly gain since the February 2022 invasion, as traders worried about supply.
The UN Security Council was due to meet later over the “humanitarian consequences” of Russia’s withdrawal from the safe corridor deal, which aid groups say is vital to stem growing hunger in a string of poorer countries.
Moscow says it will not participate in the year-old grain deal without better terms for its own food and fertilizer sales.
Western leaders have accused Russia of seeking to loosen sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, which already exempt exports of Russian food. Russian grain has moved freely through the Black Sea to market throughout the conflict and traders say Russia is pouring wheat onto the market.
WAGNER NEAR POLAND BORDER
A Polish broadcaster reported on Friday that a military reconnaissance drone of unspecified origins had crashed near a base in southwestern Poland earlier this week.
NATO-member Poland has been reinforcing its border with Belarus, where Russia’s Wagner mercenary force has taken up residency after a failed mutiny last month.
The mercenary chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was shown on video Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, and Belarus has said Wagner fighters are now training its troops near the Polish border. People in Poland near the border said on Thursday they could hear shooting and helicopters.
Inside Ukraine, Yuriy Malashko, the governor of the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, reported 80 Russian attacks on settlements in the region in the previous 24 hours, and said that four people had been killed.
A married couple in their fifties had also been killed early on Friday in Russian shelling of the city of Kostiantynivka in the eastern region of Donetsk, the general prosecutor’s office said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy summarized the earlier attacks in his nightly video address, saying he was working to secure better air defenses.
“Since Monday, Russian terrorists have already used almost 70 missiles of various types, almost 90 Shaheds (Iranian-made loitering munition), against our state,” he said, adding that most were focused on Odesa and other southern regions.
MORE SANCTIONS
The United States on Thursday imposed Russia-related sanctions against nearly 120 people and entities aimed at blocking Moscow’s access to electronics and other goods that aid its war against Ukraine.
“Today’s actions represent another step in our efforts to constrain Russia’s military capabilities, its access to battlefield supplies, and its economic bottom line,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
Russia’s embassy in Washington called the latest sanctions part of the “endless attacks” by U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration “in the context of the hybrid war unleashed by the West against our country.”
Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine last year and claims to have annexed nearly a fifth of its territory. Moscow says it is responding to threats posed by its neighbor; Kyiv and the West call it an unprovoked war of conquest.
Zelenskyy urged his government on Thursday to keep a tight rein on spending in wartime, prompting his culture minister, a proponent of several high-profile and costly projects, to offer his resignation.
“Cobblestones, city decorations, fountains will have to wait. Victory first,” Zelenskyy said.
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"Joe Biden will establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till, the Black teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and killed in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi, and his mother, a White House official said Saturday.
The president will sign a proclamation on Tuesday to create the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley national monument across three sites in Illinois and Mississippi, according to the official. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity because the White House had not formally announced the president’s plans.
Tuesday is the anniversary of Emmett Till’s birth in 1941.
The monument will protect places that are central to the story of Till’s life and death at age 14, the acquittal of his white killers and his mother’s activism. Till’s mother’s insistence on an open casket to show the world how her son had been brutalized and Jet’s magazine’s decision to publish photos of his mutilated body helped galvanize the civil rights movement.
Biden’s decision also comes at a fraught time in the United States over matters concerning race. Conservative leaders are pushing back against the teaching of slavery and Black history in public schools, as well as the incorporation of diversity, equity and inclusion programs from college classrooms to corporate boardrooms.
On Friday, Vice-President Kamala Harris criticized a revised Black history curriculum in Florida that includes teaching that enslaved people benefited from the skills they learned at the hands of the people who denied them freedom.
The Florida board of education approved the curriculum to satisfy legislation signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate who has accused public schools of liberal indoctrination.
The monument to Till and his mother will include three sites in the two states.
The Illinois site is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Bronzeville, a historically Black neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Thousands of people gathered at the church to mourn Emmett Till in September 1955.
The Mississippi locations are Graball Landing, believed to be where Till’s mutilated body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, and the Tallahatchie county second district courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Till’s killers were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury.
Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi when Carolyn Bryant Donham said the 14-year-old Till whistled and made sexual advances at her while she worked in a store in the small community of Money.
Till was later abducted and his body eventually pulled from the Tallahatchie River, where he had been tossed after he was shot and weighted down with a cotton gin fan.
Two white men, Roy Bryant and his half-brother JW Milam, were tried on murder charges about a month after Till was killed, but an all-white Mississippi jury acquitted them. Months later, they confessed to killing Till in a paid interview with Look magazine. Bryant was married to Donham in 1955. She died earlier this year.
The monument will be the fourth Biden has created since taking office in 2021, and just his latest tribute to the younger Till.
For Black History Month this year, Biden hosted a screening of the movie Till, a drama about his lynching.
In March 2022, Biden signed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law. Congress had first considered such legislation more than 120 years ago.
The justice department announced in December 2021 that it was closing its investigation into Till’s killing.",Explicit
"An adolescent mental health unit where the treatment of vulnerable young people was described as ""worse than animals"" has shut down after a Sky News investigation.

Former patients at Taplow Manor in Maidenhead, Berkshire, claimed there was overuse of restraint, and former workers said inadequate staffing and training put people at risk.

Police are also investigating the death of a patient at the unit and an allegation of child rape involving staff.

Active Care Group, which ran the unit until its closure, said on Thursday it had taken ""the difficult decision"" to close the facility ""due to a change in strategic direction"".

The group said in a statement: ""We wish to thank our dedicated staff for the care and support they have provided to patients at Taplow Manor over the years.

""Active Care Group has now entered a period of consultation with staff and will take every step to ensure that those impacted are retained within the business where possible.

The group's statement added it is working with ""patients' families and their relevant multidisciplinary teams to assist in the safe transfer or discharge of all Taplow Manor patients"".

The Huntercombe Group, which previously ran the unit and is now part of Active Care Group, received £190m since 2015 from NHS England to operate Taplow Manor and other hospitals.

In a joint investigation with The Independent, more than 50 former patients told Sky News they were failed by the care they received at units run by the Huntercombe Group, one of several independent providers the NHS uses to provide specialist in-patient care for children and teenagers.

Read more:

Decade of mistreatment revealed in care of more than 20 teenagers

30 new patients of Huntercombe Group tell their stories of mental health units

Taplow Manor had been threatened with closure by the health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, in March if it failed to make improvements.

The Department of Health and Social Care also launched a national investigation into the safety of all mental health inpatient services in England after the investigation was released.",Explicit
"Hunter Biden has hit back at Marjorie Taylor Greene for showing everyone his nude photos, as his lawyer filed an ethics complaint against the Georgia Republican on Friday.
The House Oversight Committee heard testimony on Wednesday from two IRS agents who say the Department of Justice dragged its feet on investigating the younger Biden for tax fraud. The hearing produced zero actual evidence, so instead, Greene tried to claim that Biden engaged in sex trafficking and listed payments to sex workers as a tax write-off. To support her argument, she held up poster-size prints of Biden’s nude photos, which she later also shared on her email newsletter.
Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell sent a letter to the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics asking that Greene be investigated and penalized for her “outrageous, undignified conduct.”
“None of her actions or statements could possibly be deemed to be part of any legitimate legislative activity, as is clear from both the content of her statements and her conduct and the forums she uses to spew her unhinged rhetoric,” Lowell wrote.
“Rather than evaluate the credibility of the IRS agents’ testimony or review our tax laws, Ms. Greene sought to use the power of her office to generate some clicks online, fundraise, and provide sensationalist clips for Fox News at the expense of harassing and embarrassing Mr. Biden.”
Lowell previously urged the OCE to take action on Greene in April, accusing her of defaming Biden, spreading false allegations and conspiracy theories about him, and publishing his private photos and data. “If the OCE takes its responsibilities seriously, it will promptly and decisively condemn and discipline Ms. Greene for her latest actions,” he said in Friday’s letter.
The OCE is an independent agency that reviews allegations of misconduct against lawmakers and their staff. If necessary, the OCE will refer matters to the Ethics Committee—which is where Greene’s case could end up (and where investigations into George Santos still continue, nearly two months after he was federally indicted).
This isn’t the first time Republicans have shared Hunter’s nudes, but blowing them up on a poster for a congressional hearing is a new low. Not only was Greene’s decision to wave Biden’s nudes around wildly inappropriate—Oversight Chair James Comer did not reprimand her, though—but she may also have violated D.C. revenge porn law. City law prohibits knowingly disclosing one or more sexual images of an identified or identifiable person when the person in the photo did not consent to the image being shared.
What’s more, Greene may have sent the nudes to minors when she included them in her email newsletter. There is no screening for age when signing up for her newsletter, so any minors who subscribe have now received nudes from their congresswoman. If that is the case, then Greene could have broken federal laws banning the distribution of obscene material to minors.",Explicit
"A driver who filmed himself speeding at 123mph before hitting and killing a pregnant mother-of-two has been jailed for 12 years.
Adil Iqbal admitted causing the death of Frankie Jules-Hough, 38, by dangerous driving on the M66 in Bury, Greater Manchester, on 13 May.
The 22-year-old also admitted causing serious injury to her son, aged nine, and nephew, aged four.
The family's solicitor described the sentence as ""insulting"".
Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Iqbal, from Accrington, Lancashire, was driving his father's BMW with one hand and holding his phone with the other to film himself, possibly to upload to Facebook, as he tailgated and undertook other vehicles and swerved across lanes.
Ms Jules-Hough had pulled over on the hard shoulder with a tyre puncture, with her two sons and nephew in the car.
She was making a call to say she would be late when she let out a ""blood-curdling scream"", the court heard.
The BMW 140i undertook a motorbike then swerved, over-compensated and hit a crash barrier before spinning around and ploughing into Ms Jules-Hough's Skoda Fabia at an estimated 92mph.
She was 17 weeks pregnant with her first daughter, Neeve, and suffered unsurvivable brain injuries.
They both died two days later in hospital surrounded by family, with Ms Jules-Hough having never regained consciousness.
Her son and nephew were left in a coma suffering serious brain injuries with their long-term outcomes remaining uncertain, the court heard.
Both spent weeks in intensive care in hospital. Her youngest son, who was also in the car, was relatively unscathed.
Dashcam footage and film from Iqbal's phone was shown to the court, watched by relatives of Ms Jules-Hough, some of whom gave emotional victim impact statements before the defendant was jailed.
The court heard from drivers who had seen Iqbal on the motorway, including Johnathan Hoyle who saw him six minutes before the crash and thought he was ""an accident waiting to happen"".
Another driver, Sophie Dodswell, was said to ""scream out"" as he came within inches of her car at about 120mph.
Frank Hough, Ms Jules-Hough's father, said his family had been devastated ""all because a young man wanted to show off, wanted to show his friends on social media how daring and cool he thought he was"".
He added: ""Our worlds have been torn apart and for what? So this boy could try to make himself feel like a big man.""
Calvin Buckley, Ms Jules-Hough's partner, said in a victim impact statement: ""What I witnessed that day, that weekend, those hours of desperation, those minutes praying for a miracle or those seconds watching my partner take her last breaths, will stay with me for a lifetime.""
Tom Spencer, her nine-year-old son's father, described arriving at the scene. ""Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw,"" he said.
The court was told Iqbal had been convicted of driving without insurance in 2019 and in December 2021 posted a video to Facebook after filming himself speeding in a Lamborghini Huracan in Dubai.
Two months before the M66 crash, he was given a warning by police after being stopped while racing an Audi on public roads.
Passing sentence, Judge Maurice Greene told him: ""She was killed as a result of the most indescribable reckless driving by you Adil Iqbal, leading to the devastation of a family.""
He was also banned from driving for 14 years.
Solicitor Rose Gibson-Harper, who represents the victim's family, said the sentence was ""insulting and an injustice"" due to ""an act of sheer stupidity"".
""Last year, judges were given the power to hand down greater sentences to those convicted of death by dangerous driving,"" she said.
""Previously, the maximum tariff was 14 years but it was increased to life imprisonment.
""This case stands as one of the worst examples of dangerous driving I have witnessed in my 27-year career as a catastrophic injury lawyer, and we expected the justice system to fulfil its duty and utilise its new-found powers.""
Following Ms Jules-Hough's death, a GoFundMe appeal was set up by a friend and has raised more than £50,000 for her family.",Explicit
"John Minchillo/AP
toggle caption
E. Jean Carroll walks out of federal court in Manhattan, May 9, 2023, in New York. A federal judge has denied former President Donald Trump's request for a new trial in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.
John Minchillo/AP
E. Jean Carroll walks out of federal court in Manhattan, May 9, 2023, in New York. A federal judge has denied former President Donald Trump's request for a new trial in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.
John Minchillo/AP
A federal judge has rejected former President Donald Trump's motion for a new trial in the civil case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll.
A jury had previously found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her, and awarded her $5 million in damages.
Senior district Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York wrote in an order issued Wednesday that the jury in the case did not reach ""a seriously erroneous result"" and its verdict is not ""a miscarriage of justice,"" as Trump had alleged.
The ruling came a week after the U.S. Justice Department declined to shield Trump from the defamation claim, reversing course on one of its most controversial decisions during the early stretch of the Biden administration.
Carroll filed the defamation lawsuit three years ago. At that time, then-Attorney General Bill Barr sided with Trump and said the former president had been acting within the bounds of his office as president. But Judge Kaplan had rejected that position — only to watch as the new Biden attorney general, Merrick Garland, also extended a legal shield to Trump.
The change in course added yet another legal burden for Trump, who is fighting criminal charges over accounting for alleged hush money payments in Manhattan, separate federal charges for alleged obstruction and willful retention of highly classified documents at his Florida resort, and a grand jury investigation in Georgia over his attempts to overturn the results of that 2020 presidential election in that state.
Separately, on Tuesday, Trump said that he had received word from the Justice Department that he's a target of the grand jury probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. An indictment could be imminent.
Rewind to the start of the Carroll legal case
In 2019, Carroll first publicly came forward saying Trump had raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s when the future president was just a businessman. Trump responded, denying the accusation and saying that the writer had ulterior motives.
Carroll sued Trump — twice (in 2019 and later in 2022) — for his public rebuke of her accusation.
In May, jurors sided with her, though didn't find Trump raped Carroll. The jury awarded her $5 million in total damages agreeing that he ""sexually abused"" her and that he defamed her when he denied her story.
But this civil case, much like Trump's criminal cases, is far from over.
Following her victory in May, Carroll and her lawyers have since asked a court to expand the scope of a separate lawsuit against Trump, seeking at least an additional $10 million in damages.",Explicit
"The wife of alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann has filed for divorce nearly a week after the Manhattan architect was arrested in the case, according to a new court filing.
The filing in Suffolk County Supreme Court is dated Wednesday and indicates the divorce will be ""uncontested."" The case caption is Asa Ellerup v. Rex Heuermann.
The development comes in the wake of Heuermann's arrest on July 13 in connection with three of the 10 victims linked to the Gilgo Beach, New York, murders.
In a statement shortly after the arrest, defense attorney Michael Brown referred to Heuermann as a ""loving husband"" and said he and Ellerup had been married more than 25 years.
Ellerup has no comment at this time, her attorney told ABC News on Wednesday.
Heuermann, 59, a father of two, was charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose bodies were found covered in burlap along Ocean Parkway on Long Island's South Shore in December 2010, according to court records unsealed last week in Suffolk County Criminal Court.
Barthelemy disappeared in July 2009, Waterman disappeared in June 2010 and Costello was last seen in September 2010. The three women were between 22 and 27 years old and all worked as sex workers, court records said.
A fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who vanished in July 2007, was also tied to the three women. While Heuermann is not charged in the death of Brainard-Barnes, the court documents said he is the ""prime suspect in her death."" The investigation into Brainard-Barnes' death is ongoing, officials said last week.
""Each of the four victims were found similarly positioned, bound in a similar fashion by either belts or tape,"" court documents stated.
A female hair was discovered on a belt used to tie Brainard-Barnes' legs together, while two female hairs were discovered on Waterman -- one on the tape used to bind her body -- and one female hair was found on a piece of tape used to bind Costello's body, according to court documents.
By using mitochondrial DNA testing not available in 2010, all of the hairs were determined to be from the same woman -- with more than a 99% match for Heuermann's wife, according to court documents. Police don't believe she was involved, as she was out of the country when the killings occurred, according to cellphone records noted in the court records, but that Heuermann had the hairs on his body.
Mitochondrial DNA testing was also done on a single male hair found on the burlap used to wrap Waterman's body, which was found to be a match to leftover pizza crust Heuermann threw into a Manhattan garbage can in January, according to court documents.
Heuermann is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder.
Defense attorney Michael Brown entered a not guilty plea on Heuermann's behalf at his arraignment on Friday.
The investigation into the suspect includes interviews with incarcerated sex workers, according to the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department. Investigators have been talking to the sex workers about possible interactions with Heuermann, as authorities work to develop a more complete picture of his movements and methods, officials said. For the moment, these interviews are limited to sex workers jailed in Suffolk County but could expand to neighboring counties and beyond.
Investigations into Heuermann have also expanded beyond New York state since his arrest.
Authorities in Nevada said Tuesday they are investigating a connection between the accused serial killer and Las Vegas, where Heuermann had a timeshare.
""We are currently reviewing our unsolved cases to see if he has any involvement,"" the Las Vegas Metro Police Department said in a statement Tuesday.
Authorities also said they are looking at possible ties to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where past investigations involving sex workers have led.
A first-generation green Chevrolet Avalanche linked to the suspect was seized this week in Chester, South Carolina, where Heuermann owns four vacant lots, police said. The vehicle arrived Wednesday at the Suffolk County crime lab for processing.
A second, black Avalanche was previously seized at Heuermann's home in Massapequa Park, police said.
Suffolk County police said Heuermann is believed to have had the green Avalanche at the time of the Gilgo Beach murders before giving it to a family member in 2014 or 2015.
The vehicle became a key piece of evidence after a person who knew Costello told police he had seen a Chevrolet Avalanche at her home prior to her disappearance, according to court records.
ABC News' Victor Ordonez and Mark Osborne contributed to this report.",Explicit
"A man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering his 16-year-old sister in a park in Hamilton.
Amber Gibson's body was found in Cadzow Glen on 28 November 2021, two days after she was last seen.
Connor Gibson, 20, strangled Amber then got rid of clothes he had been wearing and called the children's home Amber was staying at to pretend she was still alive.
Another man has been found guilty of interfering with Amber's body.
Stephen Corrigan - who was unknown to both Amber and Connor Gibson - found her body, but rather than alert police, he inappropriately touched her and then concealed her remains.
Amber's body was found in Cadzow Glen on Sunday 28 November, hidden in bushes and branches. Her body was covered in mud, and her clothes were found nearby.
During the trial at the High Court in Glasgow, the jury heard that Gibson had removed Amber's clothes and assaulted her, repeatedly inflicting blunt force trauma to her head and body as well as compressing her neck with his hands.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.",Explicit
"NEW DELHI (AP) - Thousands of people, mostly women, held a massive sit-in in India's violence-wracked northeastern state of Manipur on Saturday to demand the immediate arrest of anyone who took part in the harrowing May assault of two women who were paraded around naked and molested by a mob in an attack that was caught on video.
The leaders of religious and women's groups addressed the nearly 15,000 protesters, who also called for the firing of Biren Singh, the top elected official in the state where more than 130 people have been killed since violence between two dominant ethnic groups erupted in early May. The protest was held in Churachandpur, a town 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Imphal, the state capital.
Manipur has been the scene of a near-civil war that was sparked by Christian Kukis protesting against a demand by the mostly Hindu Meiteis for a special status that would let them buy land in the hills populated by Kukis and other tribal groups, as well as a guaranteed share of government jobs.
A video showing the women being assaulted triggered widespread outrage and was widely shared on social media late Wednesday despite the government largely blocking the internet and keeping journalists out of the remote state. The footage shows the two naked women surrounded by scores of young men who grope their genitals and drag them to a field.
The women are from the Kuki-Zo community, according to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum, a tribal organization in Manipur. One of them told The Associated Press that the men who assaulted them were part of a Meitei mob that had earlier torched their village.
“They forced us to remove our clothes and said we will be killed if we don't do as told. Then they made us walk naked. They abused us. They touched us everywhere … on our breasts, our genitals,” she said by phone from Manipur.
The woman said the duo was then led into a field where they were both sexually assaulted. The two women are now safe in a refugee camp.
Police said the assault occurred May 4, a day after the violence between the Kukis and Meiteis started. According to a police complaint filed on May 18, the mob attacked the family of the two women and killed its two male members. The complaint alleges rape and murder by “unknown miscreants.”
The emergence and widespread sharing of the video led India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, to break his more than two months of public silence over the ethnic clashes in Manipur, saying Thursday that the attack on the women was unforgivable.
The Manipur state government on Saturday announced a fifth arrest in the attack. Rajiv Singh, the state's director-general of police, said officers were carrying out raids to arrest other suspects.
The deadly clashes have persisted despite the army's presence in Manipur, a state of 3.2 million people tucked in the mountains on India's border with Myanmar that is now divided into two ethnic zones. More than 60,000 people have fled to packed relief camps.
Nearly 400 men and women also held a protest in the Indian capital with similar demands. They carried placards reading “We demand action against the perpetrators” and ”Resign, Biren Singh.”
In Manipur state, the protesters assembled at a “Wall of Remembrance” site in an open ground in Churachandpur, a stronghold of the Kuki tribe, where they kept dummy coffins of people from their minority community who have been killed in the violence.
Ngaineikim, the chairperson of the Kuki Women's Organization for Human Rights, accused Singh, who belongs to the majority Meiti community, of orchestrating atrocities and then expressing sympathy for the victims.
Singh did not immediately comment on the calls to resign, but on Thursday, he said an investigation was underway to ensure “strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including considering the possibility of capital punishment. Let it be known, there is absolutely no place for such heinous acts in our society.”",Explicit
"An Arkansas truck driver who beat a police officer with a flagpole holding an American flag during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was sentenced Monday to over four years in prison.
Peter Francis Stager struck the Metropolitan Police Department officer with his flagpole at least three times as other rioters pulled the officer, head first, into the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The bruised officer was among more than 100 police officers injured during the riot.
Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Stager to four years and four months in prison, according to a spokesperson for the prosecutors' office.
Stager, 44, of Conway, Arkansas, pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon.
Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six years and six months.
The Justice Department's statement of facts says that the uniformed officer, who was trying to prevent the mob from breaching the Capitol, was dragged by a group of individuals, including Stager, and ""dragged him down the stairs of the Capitol building."" The statement also said they ""forced [the officer] into a prone position on the stairs and proceeded to forcibly and repeatedly strike [him] in the head and body with various objects.""
Stager also stood over and screamed profanities at another officer, who was seriously injured when several other rioters dragged him into the mob and beat him, according to federal prosecutors.
After the beatings, Stager was captured on video saying, ""Every single one of those Capitol law enforcement officers, death is the remedy. That is the only remedy they get.""
A confidential source quoted by prosecutors in the statement of facts said that Stager told him that he didn't know the man he was hitting with the flagpole was a cop, and he thought the man was ANTIFA. But the source showed investigators a Twitter thread with a photo of the officer lying on the steps of the Capitol, surrounded by the individuals. ""Clearly present on B.M.'s uniform, across his back, are the words 'METROPOLITAN POLICE,' the statement noted.
Stager assaulted the officer during one of the most violent episodes of Jan. 6 — a battle between rioters and police guarding an entrance to the Capitol building in a tunnel on the Lower West Terrace. His actions at the Capitol ""were the epitome of disrespect for the law,"" prosecutors said in a court filing.
""Stager joined a prolonged, multi-assailant attack on police officers, which resulted in injuries to the officers,"" they wrote. ""Stager himself wielded a flagpole and used it to strike at a vulnerable officer, who, lying face down in a mob of rioters had no means of defending himself.""
Stager's truck driving job had taken him to Washington, D.C., on the eve of then-President Donald Trump's ""Stop the Steal"" rally on Jan. 6. Stager stayed overnight to attend Trump's rally after delivering a load of produce, a decision that he will regret for the rest of his life, his lawyers said in a court filing.
His attorneys argued that Stager tried to help others in the crowd who were injured after the riot erupted. Shocked by what he saw, Stager had ""reached his breaking point"" and was ""seeing red"" when he picked up a flag on the ground, they said.
""Once the adrenaline wore off, Mr. Stager immediately called his wife to tell her he was horrified by his actions and that he was going to turn himself in upon returning to Arkansas,"" his lawyers wrote.
More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 620 of them have pleaded guilty. Approximately 100 others have been convicted by juries or judges after trials. Nearly 600 have been sentenced, with over half receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from three days to 18 years.
Stager was indicted with eight other defendants on charges related to the tunnel battle. Four of his co-defendants also have pleaded guilty to assault charges.
Florida resident Mason Courson was sentenced in June to four years and nine months in prison. Michigan resident Justin Jersey was sentenced in February to four years and three months in prison. Michigan construction worker Logan Barnhart was sentenced in April to three years in prison. Georgia business owner Jack Wade Whitton is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 16.
for more features.",Explicit
"DENVER -- A Colorado deputy who deployed a Taser on a man who was then hit and killed by an SUV on Interstate 25 won’t face criminal charges, prosecutors said Friday.
While Larimer County Deputy Lorenzo Lujan's decision to use the Taser on Brent Thompson after he ran away as the deputy tried to arrest him showed “poor judgment” and possibly the need for more training, 8th District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin said it was not likely a jury would find Lujan criminally negligent and convict him.
According to McLaughlin's letter summarizing the investigation into Thompson's death, Thompson pulled off at an I-25 exit after Lujan turned on his patrol car's lights at night on Feb. 18. But as Lujan tried to arrest Thompson, who allegedly gave a false name and did not have a driver's license, he ran down an embankment toward the highway.
Body camera footage showed Thompson was getting onto the interstate from the shoulder when Lujan deployed the Taser, and another officer said he saw Thompson fall in the northbound side of the roadway, the summarizing letter said. The second officer then saw approaching headlights and waved his flashlight to warn that vehicle to stop.
The man driving the Ford Explorer, with his wife and three children inside, said he saw something in the road and two people standing along the highway. He said he tried to steer away from the people and hit something in the road.
Lujan, who was working overtime, told investigators he wanted to detain Thompson so he did not pose a threat to himself or drivers on the interstate.
However, the letter noted that he looked for approaching vehicles about 20 seconds before deploying the Taser, but not right before using it about 15 seconds later, calling that “a clear lapse in judgement.”
A law firm representing Thompson's family, Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, called the decision not to pursue charges a “travesty of justice"" and called for Lujan to be fired.
Lujan has been working in a non-enforcement capacity since early July and will remain in that role until the conclusion of the department's own investigation into what happened, sheriff's office spokesperson Kate Kimble said. It is expected to wrap up in the next few days, she said.
Such internal investigations typically look at whether department policies were followed.
The statement from the law firm referenced another case where officers in another Colorado county were prosecuted after a woman under arrest was put in a patrol car parked on railroad tracks. A train then hit the car, injuring the woman.
“As unconscionable as it is locking a person in a police car on railroad tracks, it is even more unconscionable to tase someone on the interstate at night. Tasing a person on the interstate is a death sentence,” it said.
One of the lawyers representing Thompson’s family, Siddhartha Rathod, who has seen the body camera footage, said Thompson was in the middle of the northbound lanes when he was hit with the Taser. Lujan was a few feet away and had to get back to avoid being hit himself, he said.",Explicit
"Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster movie “Oppenheimer” has sparked controversy among the Hindu-right in India, with some calling for a boycott and demanding the removal of a sex scene in which the titular character utters a famous line from the religion’s holy scripture.
The film tells the story of the atomic bomb through the lens of its creator, Robert Oppenheimer, and the scene in question depicts actor Cillian Murphy, who plays the lead role, having sex with Florence Pugh, who plays his lover Jean Tatlock.
Pugh stops during intercourse and picks up a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s holiest scriptures, and asks Murphy to read from it.
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” Oppenheimer’s character says, as they resume intercourse.
The scene has caused outrage among some right-wing groups, with a politician from India’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calling the film a “disturbing attack on Hinduism” and accusing it of being “part of a larger conspiracy by anti-Hindu forces.”
In a statement Saturday, India’s Information Commissioner, Uday Mahurkar, said the scene was “a direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus,” likening it to “waging a war on the Hindu community.”
He added: “We believe that if you remove this scene and do the needful to win hearts of Hindus, it will go a long way to establish your credentials as a sensitized human being and gift you friendship of billions of nice people.”
The film has been received well in most quarters in India, which conducted its first nuclear test in 1974, with critics giving it rave reviews and people flocking to cinemas to watch it.
“Oppenheimer” grossed more than $3 million in its opening weekend in the country, according to local reports, higher than filmmaker Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated “Barbie,” which released on the same day and grossed just over $1 million.
India’s film board gave “Oppenheimer” a U/A rating, which is reserved for movies that contain moderate adult themes and can be watched by children under 12 with parental guidance. There are so far no bans on the film in any of the country’s states and union territories.
‘A shift in tone’
This isn’t the first time that the Hindu-right has taken offense to films, television shows or commercials for its portrayal of Hinduism. Some have been boycotted or even forced off air following outcry from conservative and radical groups.
In 2020, Netflix (NFLX) received significant backlash in India for a scene in the series “A Suitable Boy” that depicted a Hindu woman and Muslim man kissing at a Hindu temple. That same year, Indian jewelry brand Tanishq withdrew an advert featuring an interfaith couple following online criticism.
Meanwhile, analysts and film critics say there has been a shift in the tone of some Indian films, with nationalist and Islamophobic narratives gaining support from many within India, as well as the BJP.
Last year, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s box office smash “The Kashmir Files,” based on the mass exodus of Kashmiri Hindus as they fled violent Islamic militants in the 1990s, polarized India, with some hailing the film as “gut-wrenching” and “truthful,” while others criticized it for being Islamophobic and inaccurate.
Similarly, the release this year of “The Kerala Story,” about a Hindu girl who is lured into joining ISIS, angered critics who called it a propaganda film that demonized Muslims.
Ahead of the release of “Oppenheimer,” Murphy said he read the Bhagvad Gita in preparation.
“I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text, very inspiring,” he told Indian film critic Sucharita Tyagi in an interview. “I think it was a consolation to him [Oppenheimer], he kind of needed it and it provided him a lot of consolation, all his life.”
Oppenheimer, who is known as the “father” of the atomic bomb, was drawn to Hinduism and its teachings. A polyglot and polymath, he taught himself multiple languages, including Sanskrit.
Speaking to interviewers two decades after the Trinity test bomb, the world’s first nuclear explosion, took place on July 16, 1945, Oppenheimer said: “We know the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent.”
He said he remembered a line from the Bhagavad Gita: “Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
That line is used in the film multiple times, including during the sex scene.",Explicit
"Death row inmate Jemaine Cannon was executed in Oklahoma on Thursday for fatally stabbing a woman with a butcher knife after his escape from a prison work center in 1995.
Cannon received the lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester just after 10 a.m. He was pronounced dead 12 minutes later, marking the state’s second execution this year and the ninth since it resumed lethal injections in 2021.
In his final moments, Cannon expressed his belief in God and the power of his forgiveness: “Yes, I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. Therefore I am saved. Thank you.”
A Tulsa grand jury previously convicted Cannon and sentenced him to death for the brutal slaying of 20-year-old mother, Sharonda Clark, with whom he’d been sharing an apartment in Tulsa.
Her body was discovered Feb. 5, 1995. She was reported missing after she failed to pick her children up from a daycare center.
Just weeks before Clark’s death, Cannon escaped from a prison work center in southwest Oklahoma. He’d been serving a 15-year sentence for the violent assault of another woman. The victim was left with permanent injuries after Clark raped and then brutally beat her with items including a claw hammer, iron and kitchen toaster.
Cannon’s execution came after a federal appeals court late Wednesday denied a last-minute appeal seeking a stay of execution. It contended Cannon, as a Native American, in not subject to Oklahoma jurisdiction. In June, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 against recommending clemency for Cannon.
There, he argued that he killed Clark in self-defense after they got into a disagreement.
“Justice was finally served this morning for Sharonda Clark with the execution of her murderer,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement. “My hope is that today’s action can bring some measure of peace for Sharonda’s two daughters, as well as her other family members and friends who loved her.”
With News Wire Services",Explicit
"AP
toggle caption
In this aerial image made from video, a dingo walks on beach on K'gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, Australia, on Monday, July 17, 2023.
AP
In this aerial image made from video, a dingo walks on beach on K'gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, Australia, on Monday, July 17, 2023.
AP
CANBERRA, Australia — Wildlife authorities have killed the leader of a pack of dingoes that mauled a jogger on a popular Australian tourist island in a ferocious attack that a rescuer said could have been fatal.
Sarah Peet, 23, was attacked by three or four Australian native dogs on Monday as she jogged along a beach at Queensland state's K'gari, the world's largest sand island formerly known as Fraser Island.
The Brisbane resident was flown by helicopter to a mainland hospital in a stable condition. The health department refused to provide an update on her condition Thursday, citing patient confidentiality.
Wildlife rangers captured and humanely euthanized the leader of the pack on Wednesday, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service said.
""Euthanizing a high-risk dingo is always a last resort and the tough decision by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service was supported by the island's traditional owners, the Butchulla people,"" a service statement said.
The dingo was the second on the island in recent weeks to be killed for biting and threatening behavior. Authorities blame dingoes' increasing fearlessness on tourists who ignore rules by feeding them or encouraging them to approach in order to post social media images.
Wary young dingoes avoided humans when pandemic travel restrictions were first eased in late 2021. But their dangerous human interactions are increasing with tourists' encouragement as visitor numbers rise.
Peet did not deliberately encourage dingoes to approach her. But visitors to the World Heritage-listed Great Sandy National Park are warned against running or jogging outside fenced areas because of the risk that dingoes will chase them.
The dingoes forced Peet into the surf, deploying the same hunting strategy that rangers say they use against large prey such as kangaroos and wallabies.
Tourists Shane and Sarah Moffat were driving along the beach in their SUV when they saw Peet being attacked.
""We've seen two dingoes hanging off the side of her,"" Shane Moffat told Nine News television.
""She was walking towards me with a hand up yelling out, 'Help, help,'"" Moffat said. ""I could see fear in her face, that she wasn't in a good way.""
Moffat said he ran to Peet, forcing himself between her and the pack leader. Moffat bloodied his fingers on the dingo's fangs as he punched it.
Moffat said Peet's injuries included a chunk of flesh missing from her right upper-arm and bite marks to her legs.
He doubted she would have survived if he had arrived at the scene any later.
The pack leader was one of three dingoes on the island fitted with tracking collars because of their high-risk behavior.
When he was collared in April, he was around 2-year-old and weighed 17 kilograms (37 pounds) which was heavy for a dingo and indicated he had been fed by humans, authorities said.
The dingo killed by authorities in June after separate attacks on a 7-year-old boy a 42-year-old French woman was the first to be destroyed on the island since 2019.
Rangers said that dingo was the offspring of a collared mother that had taught her pups their dangerous ways.
K'gari is home to some of Australia's purest dingoes because domestic dogs have long been banned. Dingoes are a protected species and authorities are considering how they can more safely coexist with humans on the island.",Explicit
"A former Democrat New Hampshire state representative who identifies as transgender was charged by a federal Massachusetts court Tuesday with child exploitation.
According to a press release from the office of the U.S. District Attorney for Massachusetts, Stacie-Marie Laughton, 39, a biological male who identifies as female, was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children, as well as aiding and abetting.
The release stated Laughton has been charged alongside former ""intimate partner"" Lindsay Groves, a daycare worker in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, who a preliminary forensic review showed had more than 10,000 text messages between the two ""that included discussion about, and transfer of, explicit photographs that Groves had taken of children while employed at Creative Minds daycare.""
Those messages included sexually explicit images of children who appeared to be approximately three to five years old, and ""explicit descriptions"" of sexual contact with each other, as well as children, the release said.
The investigation is ongoing.
Laughton was initially arrested in June for allegedly distributing ""sexually explicit images of children,"" the latest in a string of run-ins with the law that includes making bomb threats and stalking.
After being elected to the New Hampshire legislature in 2012, Laughton was unable to serve due to still being on probation for a 2008 felony conviction of credit card fraud.
Laughton was also arrested for making a bomb threat against the Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in 2015 and was arrested again in 2021 on charges related to the misuse of the state’s 911 texting system.
Despite Laughton's criminal past, the candidate was elected for a second term to represent Nashua, New Hampshire, in the 2022 elections, but was never seated after being jailed again for multiple stalking-related charges.
According to the press release, Laughton will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
Fox News' Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.",Explicit
"WASHINGTON -- Days after Russia suspended participation in a wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries around the world, the White House on Wednesday warned that the Russian military is preparing for possible attacks on civilian shipping vessels in the Black Sea.
Since leaving the Black Sea Grain Deal this week, Russia has already struck Ukraine’s grain export ports in Odesa with missile and drone attacks. Some 60,000 tons of grain were destroyed in the attacks.
“Our information indicates that Russia laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports,” White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement. “We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks.”
The Russian Defense Ministry has declared international waters in northwestern and southeastern parts of the Black Sea “temporarily dangerous” for shipping. That followed Ukraine’s pledge to continue grain shipments despite the Russian pullout from the deal.
The ministry warned it will see any incoming vessel as laden with military cargo.",Explicit
"A music festival in Malaysia has been canceled after the lead singer of British band The 1975 Matty Healy slammed the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws and kissed a bandmate on stage.
The on-stage incident at the Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur on Friday night prompted the country’s Ministry of Communications to cancel the rest of the three-day event.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Malaysia and punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison.
In an expletive-laden speech during the band’s headline performance on Friday, captured in a video shared widely on social media, Healy said, “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m f***ing furious. And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government. You are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive,” he said addressing the audience. Healy added that the band considered canceling the show but decided against it to not disappoint the fans.
“If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f*** off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good,” Healy says in the video before bassist Ross MacDonald walks up to him and kisses him on stage.
‘Performative’
The Good Vibes Festival said in a statement following the incident, “We deeply regret to announce that the remaining schedule of the Good Vibes Festival 2023, planned for today and tomorrow has been canceled following the controversial conduct and remarks made by UK artist Matty Healy from the band The 1975.”
“This decision adheres to the immediate cancellation directive issued at 1:20 pm [local time], 22 July 2023, by the Ministry of Communications and Digital. The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule, or contravene Malaysian laws,” the festival’s statement added. “We sincerely apologize to all of our ticket holders, vendors, sponsors, and partners.”
Communications Minister Fahmi said Malaysia was committed to supporting the development of creative industries and freedom of expression, Reuters reported.
“However, never touch on the sensitivities of the community, especially those that are against the traditions and values of the local culture,” he said, according to the agency.
CNN has reached out to the Malaysian Home Affairs Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office for comment.
Healy’s actions sparked controversy online, with some fans complaining that the band’s actions will result in a further crackdown on artistic expression and make it more difficult for music artists to perform in Malaysia in the future.
Members of Malaysa’s LGBTQ community have also criticized Healy’s actions, with some calling it “performative” and warning that it could lead to further discrimination.
It’s not the first time The 1975 frontman has sparked controversy – Healy drew criticism earlier this year for appearing to do a Nazi salute on stage during a song called “Love it If We Made It”, as he sang lyrics that are critical of Kanye West.
In 2019, Healy kissed a male fan during a concert in Dubai, in defiance of the region’s anti-LGBT laws.
Healy later posted on Twitter: “Thank you Dubai you were so amazing. I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again.”",Explicit
"First son Hunter Biden was put on full (frontal) display during Wednesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) caused a stir when she pulled out photos of the now-53-year-old in compromising positions with a series of women while she peppered newly unmasked IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler with questions.
To kick off her questioning session, Greene warned viewers that “parental discretion is advised” and cautioned that “the following images are disturbing.”
Greene then asked Ziegler whether Hunter Biden had violated the federal Mann Act of 1910, which prohibits the transportation of women across state lines “for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.”
The lawmaker then showed an image of a receipt for a United Airlines plane ticket, booking a woman on a flight from Los Angeles to Dulles Airport in northern Virginia in June 2018.
The receipt for the ticket was found on Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop.
At that point, proceedings got X-rated, as Greene whipped out images including a (mercifully) censored picture of a woman caressing the first son’s, well, first son.
“So when Hunter Biden paid for this woman to do this with him to travel across state lines from California to Washington, DC, on June 15 — this is a violation of the Mann Act. This was prostitution,” she said.
Then she homed in on allegations that Hunter Biden took money from his law firm Owasco PC to pay prostitutes.
“Most people write off … things for their taxes through their businesses, like a meal or some office supplies,” she said. “Can you confirm for me that Hunter Biden had written off payments to prostitutes through his law firm?”
Ziegler noted that he was limited in what he could say in response.
Greene raised the explicit image again when discussing a bank-created suspicious activity report claiming that a “victim” was paid through Hunter Biden’s law firm for prostitution.
Ziegler again declined to confirm whether the first son wrote off payments to prostitutes from Owasco’s accounts, again citing the parameters of his testimony.
“I can tell you that there were deductions for what we believe to be escorts and then that $10,000 golf club membership, yes,” he finally said. “That was not a golf club membership. That was for a sex club payment.”
Finally, Greene turned to the other IRS whistleblower, Gary Shapley, with a new collage of lewd Hunter Biden images indicating the first son cut multiple sex tapes with prostitutes he paid.
“Should we be displaying this, Mr. Chairman?” ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) was overheard grumbling as Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) struggled to keep a straight face.
Greene’s time ran out before she could get a response.
Wednesday’s hearing featured testimony from Shapley and Ziegler about their allegations that the federal probe of Hunter Biden was rife with favoritism.
In earlier testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, they had alleged that Delaware US Attorney David Weiss, who helmed the probe, was stymied from pursuing additional charges against Hunter Biden in both Southern California and Washington, DC.
Weiss has since come forward and publicly maintained that he had “ultimate authority” in his inquiry, though he did caution in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee that “my charging authority is geographically limited to my home district.”
Weiss ultimately struck a deal in which Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay his federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018, per court documents.
Hunter Biden will also enter a pretrial diversion agreement for a felony charge of possession of a firearm while addicted to illicit drugs.
The 53-year-old is slated to attend a federal court hearing in Wilmington, Del., on July 26 to enter his plea.",Explicit
"Editor’s note: If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health there are a number of ways to get help, including by calling Talk Suicide Canada at 1-833-456-4566. A list of local crisis centres is also available here. The arrest of a Mississauga man has sent shockwaves through some of the darkest corners of the internet.
Kenneth Law, 57, is accused of selling over 1,200 kits to vulnerable people contemplating suicide around the world. Law’s alleged offerings, displayed on now-defunct websites with names like “Imtime Cuisine” and “Escape Mode,” ranged from sodium nitrite, a lethal substance which can kill humans in small doses, to flow regulators and gas masks.
An April investigation by the Times of London shoved Law into the international spotlight, leading to his eventual arrest by Peel police. The Times investigation caught Law on tape advising how to use his products, as well as assuring the reporter that “many, many people” had died taking sodium nitrite. Law later confirmed those details in-person when the Times spoke with him outside a post office in Mississauga.
Law was arrested by Peel police on May 2 and charged with two counts of counselling or aiding suicide. It’s possible more charges could follow from additional police jurisdictions – a Dutch man by the name of “Alex S.” was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison last week for similar charges in the Netherlands.
Over 40 countries and 11 Ontario police forces are now involved in the investigation against Law, who briefly appeared in court on Friday.
The prosecution of Kenneth Law is proving to be a flashpoint in two major online movements: the “pro-choice” suicide advocates, who run forums with detailed guides on how to take one’s own life, and the parents of children who lost their lives in part due to information gleaned from those sites, often with the help of people selling suicide devices online. CP24.com has studied these sites extensively, and Law’s alleged businesses were frequently recommended to at-risk users before his arrest in May.
It is still not clear when Law’s trial will begin, though whenever it does the proceedings are sure to garner interest well outside of the GTA’s borders. Here is why the world will be watching:
‘ONE OF THE WORST THINGS YOU COULD POSSIBLY DO’: ADVOCATES IN U.S., U.K.
Kelli Wilson and Catherine Adenekan, located in the U.S. and U.K. respectively, are both mothers of children who lost their lives after accessing pro-suicide forums.
They will be watching Law’s trial with a hope for justice – for their own sons and for the other children who have died due in no small part to businesses like the one Law is alleged to have operated.
“This trial is monumental in so many ways,” said Wilson. “These sites sell to vulnerable people. It’s aiding and abetting suicide, which is akin to murder.Law weaponized mentally ill people against themselves, and that can’t be allowed to continue. It’s a no-brainer. He needs to be held accountable for what he’s (allegedly) done. And the lawmakers, as well – they’ve facilitated these havens for crime.”
“What he’s (allegedly) done is one of the worst things you could possibly do,” added Adenekan. “The root cause of the problem, though, is [pro-suicide forums], which is how sellers like Law get their customers.
“We’re hoping that each and every person he has (allegedly) assisted will get justice for what he’s done,” she continued.
The charges against Law have not yet been tested in court. His lawyer did not return calls for comment about the case.
‘WE ARE TRYING EVERY DAY’: SODIUM NITRITE VICTIMS IN ITALY, NETHERLANDS, U.S.
Families of sodium nitrite victims around the world are looking to Law’s trial in the hopes it will mean justice for their own children. While others are believed to be selling the substance, the scope of Law’s alleged operation has poised the verdict in his trial to be significant for similar cases internationally.
“We are trying every day,” said a father in Italy. “The pain is so strong. It’s hard to forget about your son or daughter.”
The man, who asked not to be named, lost his son to sodium nitrite, and says an acquaintance lost their child to the same substance, allegedly purchased from Law, in May.
“Law’s case could be a legal precedent in the United States, and Europe,” he said. “That could help us continue to battle against the pro-suicide sites, and the free sale of poison.”
A bereaved mother in the Netherlands shared similar hopes for Law’s trial, saying “there are very bad things on the internet,” and that the verdict in the legal proceedings against Law could lead to the erasure of pro-suicide forums and chat rooms.
A mother in Illinois also lost her daughter to sodium nitrite late last year, and says she will be watching the trial with interest.
“This is a serious battle,” she said. “(Selling sodium nitrite to at-risk individuals) is one of the worst things you could do. This is disgusting, these sites where they tell people to take their own lives.”
‘THE ELON MUSK OF ASSISTED SUICIDE’
Philip Nitschke is an Australian advocate for assisted suicide, as well as a former physician. Dubbed by Newsweek “the Elon Musk of assisted suicide,” he is also the founder of a pro-euthanasia group for seniors, as well as the author of a lengthy guide on how to take one’s own life.
“It’s a fundamental human right,” he told CP24.
Nitschke says he first published details about sodium nitrite as a means of suicide in 2018, when the substance was freely available on sites like Amazon. American lawsuits against the retail giant briefly resulted in the substance being taken off the site, but a U.S. judge dismissed those suits late last month, rejecting the claim that Amazon had acted negligently in offering sodium nitrite on their site.
“In that context, [members of Nitschke’s pro-euthanasia group] became aware of this new source, Kenneth Law,” he alleged. “And many, many of our members bought from him.”
Nitschke added that many of his group’s members do not necessarily intend to take their own lives immediately, but instead prefer to keep substances like sodium nitrite on hand “just in case.”
“Our members are watching with great apprehension,” he said. “And our members are finding themselves the hapless subjects of wellness checks in the middle of the night by local police…which is very intimidating.”
While Nitschke advocates for seniors hoping to end their own lives, he says Law acted short-sightedly by allegedly selling sodium nitrite to younger individuals.
“Kenneth was being a little unrestrictive,” he said. “Elderly people have this idea that they should have a right to access the substances, but they’re not terribly sympathetic to the idea of teenagers going out there and buying a substance.”
Several of Law’s alleged customers were teenagers, and died after taking the sodium nitrite sent to them.
Despite that misgiving, Nitschke concedes the “real help” Law has done for members of his group.
“He’s helped them achieve their goals. We’re watching this trial with great interest.”
Law will next appear in court on Aug. 25.",Explicit
"DC man charged in attack on Rand Paul staffer unable to understand proceedings, judge announces
The man accused of stabbing a senate staffer at random in the H Street Corridor in Washington in March has been deemed incompetent to stand trial, a D.C. judge determined Tuesday.
Glynn Neal allegedly stabbed one of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) staffers as they and a friend were leaving a restaurant.
The staffer was stabbed multiple times in the head and chest, suffering life-threatening injuries, but survived. Neal was charged with assault with intent to kill.
Last week, Judge Anthony Epstein ordered a psychological evaluation. According to police reports, Neal said he “heard voices” encouraging him to commit the attack.
He was released from prison the day before the attack after serving about 12 years for threats to kidnap a person and forcing a person into prostitution.
In last week’s hearing, Neal’s sister told detectives that he “acted different” since being released from prison, including talking to himself.
Neal will undergo further psychological testing and will be evaluated again before his next court appearance on Sept. 8. He will remain in jail in D.C.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"Policing minister Chris Philp is to contact the police watchdog following a Sky News investigating in which a woman claims she was sexually assaulted in police custody.

Mr Philp congratulated home editor Jason Farell for his reporting of Zayna Iman's experience with Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

After being arrested and held in custody for 40 hours, Zayna believes she was assaulted by officers - and when she asked for CCTV footage of her detention, several hours of tape were missing.

Politics latest: Farage says 10 banks have rejected him

A former GMP superintendent, Martin Harding, examined the evidence from GMP and told Sky he believes the 38-year old was ""was raped by an officer and I believe the organisation is covering it up"".

Mr Philp told Sky he was going to speak to the Independent Office of Police Conduct and make them sure they are aware of the case.

""I can't direct them to do a particular thing, but I'm going to draw this case to their attention today,"" he said.

""If they're not investigating it already - which they might be - I want to put it on their radar screens.""

The minister said he would also be speaking to GMP about the matter.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, who is shadow trade secretary, called for all the footage to be handed over.

The Labour frontbencher added that an ""appropriate criminal investigation"" should take place into the force if it is necessary.

A spokesperson for GMP said: ""Greater Manchester Police is committed to delivering outstanding service to all those the force comes in to contact with. If service is proven to have fallen below an acceptable level, the force apologises and takes the necessary action.

""GMP is aware that these three individuals are unhappy with the service they received when they were arrested and detained - their complaints have or are being investigated by the force. Though one investigation is ongoing, there is currently no evidence to suggest any GMP employees have misconducted themselves or committed a criminal offence.

""Under the definition within the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, two of these individuals were not strip searched. Due to concerns for their welfare, their clothing was removed and replaced with anti-rip garments - this process is subject to different legislation and guidance.""",Explicit
"In separate incidents in Florida and Texas, officials in those locations discovered suitcases containing human remains over the last week.
Officers from Florida's Delray Beach Police Department said they got a 911 call on Friday afternoon for a suspicious item in the water along the intracoastal waterway. Responding officers said found a suitcase with human remains inside. Two other suitcases containing human remains were found at nearby locations along the intracoastal.
The remains appear to belong to one, unidentified woman. Her remains were taken to the medical examiner's office.
Police from the city on Florida's southeast coast have not yet released additional information.
A day earlier, deputies from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office in Texas also got a 911 call for a suspicious package. People were outside feeding animals on Thursday morning when they saw a duffel bag of some sort with what appeared to be human remains inside, Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a press conference.
""The first inclination, of course, is to assume that it's a homicide scene,"" Salazar said. ""At this point, all we really know is that we've got partial human remains out here.""
There was no discernible effort made to hide the body outside of putting it into a suitcase, Salazar said. There were some signs around the property that someone had been trying to burn something, but it's common in the area for people to burn trash.
The property owners, who were out of town at the time of the discovery, are cooperating with the investigation, Salazar said.
Deputies do not yet know the gender or identify of the victim, officials said. It's not clear how long the body was there
""We're getting a search warrant to finish processing the scene and at that point we may know a little bit more,"" Salazar said. ""But at this point, it's just too early to tell if the person was killed here, or if they were brought here in that piece of luggage and then dumped here.""
for more features.",Explicit
"Former Scotland striker David Goodwillie has said ""I am an innocent man"" in his first interview since a civil court ruled he had raped a woman in 2011.

The footballer has never faced any criminal charges and said he wanted to ""finally speak my truth"" after the court decision in 2017.

At a civil case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh that year, Goodwillie and his former Dundee United teammate, David Robertson, were judged to have raped a woman.

The two men were ordered to pay £100,000 damages to her, but no criminal charges were brought against either of them.

Goodwillie has been hit by repeated backlashes when trying to return to football, with Australian second-tier side FC Sorrento the latest to cancel his contract.

Speaking on the podcast Anything Goes with James English, Goodwillie said he wants to move on with his life.

He said: ""I'm an innocent man. I still say to this day, I'm walking about free, I'm not on the sex offenders' register, I've not got any charges for this, I don't even have a criminal record any more.""

The former Dundee United, Blackburn, Aberdeen and Plymouth player added: ""I've cleaned up my act and I've tried to be a better person.""

Goodwillie said that he could not fully remember the night of the incident as he was drunk, but said: ""This case wasn't violent, this was three people drunk, having consensual sex, what was happening in front of me was normal, she was talking, laughing, joking, joining in.

""So for her to say she can't remember that, it's hard for me to live with because I'm thinking if I could only show you the way you were acting, we had no idea that you were going to wake up in the morning and not remember this.""

Read more:

Raith Rovers apologise for signing striker

Rape Crisis Scotland 'disappointed' as Glasgow United FC says rapist footballer 'deserves a chance'

Goodwillie was playing for English club Plymouth at the time of the civil court judgment and left ""by mutual consent"" just days after the ruling.

Two months later, in March 2017, he signed for Clyde despite fierce criticism of the club's decision to give him a deal.

He played for the Cumbernauld-based club for almost five years, becoming club captain, before Raith Rovers moved to sign him in February last year.

Following widespread opposition to the move, including from crime writer Val McDermid, a fan of the club, Goodwillie was released from his contract without playing a match.

A year later, there was a similar situation when Northern Premier League side Radcliffe responded to criticism by cancelling Goodwillie's contract a day after he scored a hat-trick on his debut against Belper Town.

And Australian second-tier side FC Sorrento also followed suit, announcing last month they had cancelled his contract after the news of Goodwillie's impending arrival was met with a social media backlash.

In the podcast, Goodwillie, who is married with two children, said he has suicidal thoughts quite regularly and is speaking to a counsellor.

Asked how he is feeling now, he said: ""Positive, I'm thinking this is the chance for me to say what I want to say.""

The footballer reportedly played for Glasgow United FC last Wednesday in a friendly match.

The club told BBC Scotland that he ""deserves a chance"", adding: ""All he wants is to be left in peace and be allowed to play the game he loves.""

In response, Rape Crisis Scotland told Sky News it was ""deeply disappointed"" that the club decided to field Goodwillie, adding: ""This was a bad decision that sends entirely the wrong message.""

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK",Explicit
"A video showing two women being paraded naked by a mob in the violence-hit northeastern state of Manipur has sparked outrage in India.
The police say they have opened a case of gang rape and arrested a man, adding that others will be held soon.
On Thursday, the monsoon session of parliament was disrupted as lawmakers demanded a discussion on the issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said the incident had ""shamed India"" and that ""no guilty will be spared"".
""I assure the nation, the law will take its course with all its might. What happened with the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,"" he said, finally breaking his silence on Manipur more than two months after violence began.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also expressed concern over the assault, saying it was ""unacceptable"" and the court was ""deeply disturbed over the video"". Telling the government to inform the court about the steps being taken against the accused, the chief justice said ""we will take action if you don't"".
Warning: This article contains details some readers may find distressing.
Police say the assault on the women took place on 4 May but it made national headlines on Thursday after the video started going viral on social media. The federal government has asked all social media companies to delete the video from their platforms.
At least 130 have died and 60,000 have been displaced since ethnic clashes started between the Meitei and Kuki communities in May in Manipur.
The horrific video of the two women was widely shared on social media on Wednesday. It shows them being dragged and groped by a mob of men who then push them into a field.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) said in a statement that the atrocities had been committed in a village in Kangpokpi district against women from the Kuki-Zo tribal community. It also alleged that the women had been gang raped.
'This shouldn't be happening in modern India': By Geeta Pandey, BBC News, Delhi
It's well known that women's bodies often become a battleground during riots and conflicts, and rape and sexual assault are used as instruments of violence to punish them.
The sexual assault of a Kuki mother and daughter duo, who were stripped naked and paraded while being groped and molested by a mob of men in Manipur, is the latest example of that.
The video footage showing the women weeping, wincing in pain and begging their attackers to show some mercy is disturbing to watch.
The fact that the first arrest has been made only after the outrage in the case that happened 78 days ago and was reported to the police more than two months back doesn't inspire much confidence in the administration - more so since many of the men are clearly identifiable in the footage.
But the massive outrage that has followed the video's emergence in India has put the spotlight on the horrific crime. It has also raised questions about the failure of the state in comforting the survivors - and finally forced Mr Modi to make a statement on the ethnic violence.
To restore some sort of confidence in the people of violence-torn Manipur, especially the minority Kuki community, the authorities must now act swiftly against the perpetrators of the horrific assault and bring justice to the women. This should not be happening in modern India.
""The gang rape of the women happened after the village was burnt down and two men - one middle-aged and another a teenager - were beaten to death by the mob,"" the ITLF said.
Police said that the incident took place on 4 May and that a case of abduction and gang rape and murder had been registered in Thoubal district.
The incident has sparked strong reactions from politicians across the spectrum.
Federal minister Smriti Irani, called the incident ""condemnable and downright inhuman"".
Several opposition leaders also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government for not doing enough to quell the violence in the state.
Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadhra said that the ""images of sexual violence against women from Manipur are heart wrenching"".
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also condemned the incident. ""This kind of heinous act cannot be tolerated in the Indian society,"" he said.
BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.",Explicit
"July 18 (Reuters) - The movement of cargo vessels through the Kerch Strait has been suspended by Russian authorities since July 16 following drone attacks on the Crimean port of Sevastopol, two industry sources told Reuters.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces had prevented Ukraine from attacking Sevastopol on Sunday, destroying seven aerial and two maritime drones.
""Navigation is already idle for the third day. They stopped it on July 16, around 5 p.m. local time, when there was a (drone) attack on Sevastopol,"" said one source, who declined to be named.
Security in the area also worsened on Monday following an overnight attack on the Crimean Bridge spanning the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"A music festival in Malaysia has been canceled after the lead singer of British band The 1975 Matty Healy slammed the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws and kissed a bandmate on stage.
The on-stage incident at the Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur on Friday night prompted the country’s Ministry of Communications to cancel the rest of the three-day event.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Malaysia and punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison.
In an expletive-laden speech during the band’s headline performance on Friday, captured in a video shared widely on social media, Healy said, “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m f***ing furious. And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government. You are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive,” he said addressing the audience. Healy added that the band considered canceling the show but decided against it to not disappoint the fans.
“If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f*** off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good,” Healy says in the video before bassist Ross MacDonald walks up to him and kisses him on stage.
‘Performative’
The Good Vibes Festival said in a statement following the incident, “We deeply regret to announce that the remaining schedule of the Good Vibes Festival 2023, planned for today and tomorrow has been canceled following the controversial conduct and remarks made by UK artist Matty Healy from the band The 1975.”
“This decision adheres to the immediate cancellation directive issued at 1:20 pm [local time], 22 July 2023, by the Ministry of Communications and Digital. The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule, or contravene Malaysian laws,” the festival’s statement added. “We sincerely apologize to all of our ticket holders, vendors, sponsors, and partners.”
Communications Minister Fahmi said Malaysia was committed to supporting the development of creative industries and freedom of expression, Reuters reported.
“However, never touch on the sensitivities of the community, especially those that are against the traditions and values of the local culture,” he said, according to the agency.
CNN has reached out to the Malaysian Home Affairs Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office for comment.
Healy’s actions sparked controversy online, with some fans complaining that the band’s actions will result in a further crackdown on artistic expression and make it more difficult for music artists to perform in Malaysia in the future.
Members of Malaysa’s LGBTQ community have also criticized Healy’s actions, with some calling it “performative” and warning that it could lead to further discrimination.
It’s not the first time The 1975 frontman has sparked controversy – Healy drew criticism earlier this year for appearing to do a Nazi salute on stage during a song called “Love it If We Made It”, as he sang lyrics that are critical of Kanye West.
In 2019, Healy kissed a male fan during a concert in Dubai, in defiance of the region’s anti-LGBT laws.
Healy later posted on Twitter: “Thank you Dubai you were so amazing. I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again.”",Explicit
"Every week we wrap up the must-reads from our coverage of the war in Ukraine, from news and features to analysis, visual guides and opinion.
Russia and Ukraine warn conflict could spill over into the Black Sea
Russia and Ukraine issued tit-for-tat warnings that they could target all vessels sailing to and from each other’s Black Sea ports, Julian Borger reported, after a week in which Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal that had allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported via that route.
“The fate of the cruiser Moskva proves that the defence forces of Ukraine have the necessary means to repel Russian aggression at sea,” the defence ministry in Kyiv said on Thursday, in a reference to the sinking of a flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet last year.
A day earlier, Russia had said it would consider all ships sailing to Ukrainian ports as potential military targets, a move which prompted the US to warn that Russia may attack civilian ships on the Black Sea and then put the blame on Ukrainian forces.
On Monday Russia pulled out of the year-old deal brokered by the UN and Turkey which had allowed Ukrainian grain to be shipped out of Black Sea ports, much of it to developing countries, as reported by Shaun Walker and Patrick Wintour. The withdrawal caused a spike in grain prices, Joanna Partridge wrote, reigniting fears of the impact on poorer, grain-importing countries.
Moscow’s pullout was internationally condemned. The head of USAid, Samantha Powell, said Russian president Vladimir Putin’s justification for the withdrawal was full of “falsehood and lies”, as Shaun, Patrick, Nick Hopkins and Jamie Wilson reported separately.
Moscow also launched a wave of deadly strikes on the port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv, which Ukraine said targeted grain facilities and port infrastructure, Shaun reported. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, described the attacks on Odesa, which bore the burnt of the strikes, as part of a concerted Russian effort to prevent Ukrainian grain reaching world markets.
Wagner chief appears in video in first footage to emerge since mutiny
A video purporting to show the Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared this week, in which he addressed his fighters in Belarus and called the Russian war effort in Ukraine a “disgrace”, Andrew Roth reported.
The video, the first footage of the Russian warlord to emerge since his mutiny last month, was published by two Telegram channels affiliated with Wagner and showed a man who resembled and sounded like Prigozhin.
Wagner troops would not fight in Ukraine for now, Prigozhin said. “What is happening at the front now is a disgrace in which we do not need to participate,” he said. “[We will] wait for the moment when we can prove ourselves in full.” Instead they would be “going on a new path to Africa”.
The Wagner Orchestra Telegram channel said Prigozhin addressed several thousand fighters, although that was unclear from the video. Earlier this week, a Ukrainian official said only a “few hundred” Wagner fighters had so far relocated to Belarus, as reported by Shaun Walker.
However the opposition Belarusian Hajun project, which monitors troop movements in Belarus, says an estimated 2,000-2,500 Wagner fighters are now in the country.
Militia units involved in human rights abuses in Izium identified
An investigation has identified the military units under Russia’s command that carried out human rights abuses – including the torture and killing of civilians – during the occupation of the Ukrainian city of Izium last year, Nick Hopkins, Jamie Wilson and Luke Harding reported exclusively.
Russian forces seized Izium in April 2022, after a month-long battle. Six months later Ukrainian troops liberated the city in the north-east of the country, during a counteroffensive. They discovered a mass grave, containing 447 bodies including the remains of 22 Ukrainian soldiers, as well as several torture chambers.
The report by the Centre for Information Resilience named four militia units that allegedly abused civilians and prisoners of war. All were from the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics, pro-Moscow puppet administrations established in 2014 after Russia’s covert military takeover of some of the eastern Donbas region.
The soldiers were poorly trained, badly equipped and stole “everything” local people said, forcing homeowners to kneel at gunpoint, and even removing double glazing from windows. “They drank a lot and swapped humanitarian aid for homemade vodka,” one survivor recounted. Drunken LPR fighters shot dead two children – aged 12 and 13 – as they ran to a basement, just before a 6pm curfew.
Two dead after explosions on Kerch Bridge linking Crimea and Russia
Twin explosions rocked the Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia, killing two people and temporarily closing the main conduit for Russian road traffic to the annexed peninsula, Emma Graham-Harrison, Shaun Walker and Andrew Roth reported.
The apparent attack was the second time that the bridge, a much-hated symbol of Russia’s occupation of Crimea and a high-prestige infrastructure project for the Kremlin, has been targeted since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Reports suggested the attack was carried out using several unmanned, explosive-carrying amphibious vehicles, or sea drones, that were directed to the bridge and then detonated from beneath the roadway, Andrew reported in an explainer on the importance of the bridge.
Ukraine has a policy of disavowing attacks in Crimea and raids into mainland Russia and did not claim responsibility for this attack.
Russia called it an act of Ukrainian “terrorism”, a charge that was dismissed by Ukrainian officials including the mayor of Kharkiv. In an interview with Luke Harding, Nick Hopkins and Jamie Wilson, Ihor Terekhov said: “How can they speak about terrorism after unleashing war on Ukraine? They are shooting and killing our people.”
The underground Tatars sabotaging Russia in Crimea
A Crimean Tatar-led underground movement is already active behind Russian lines and hundreds of young Tatar men are ready to take up arms to liberate the occupied peninsula, a veteran community leader told Julian Borger.
Mustafa Dzemilev, widely seen as the godfather of the Crimean Tatar rights movement, pointed to operations by the Atesh guerrilla group, comprising Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians and Russians, in Crimea and other occupied Ukrainian regions.
Atesh, which means “fire” in Crimean Tatar, was created in September last year, primarily to carry out acts of sabotage from within the ranks of the Russian army. It claims more than 4,000 Russian soldiers have already enrolled in an online course on how to “survive the war” by wrecking their own equipment.
There is no evidence linking the group to the latest attack on the Kerch Bridge but the group has claimed a string of smaller-scale attacks, blowing up Russian checkpoints, assassinating Russian officers, setting fire to barracks and feeding sensitive information to Ukrainian intelligence.
‘Every single morning I curse him’
Every morning, when Vira Chernukha wakes up amid the rubble of the Ukrainian village of Dementiivka, the first thing she does is curse Vladimir Putin.
Once a peaceful settlement of dozens of small houses, after seven months of Russian occupation the village now has only one remaining resident, Chernukha, 76, along with two stray puppies and a cat. The others either died in the shelling or moved to Russia, about 5 miles away.
“We had such a beautiful village you can’t even imagine,” she told Lorenzo Tondo in tears. “You could hear children’s voices everywhere. Beautiful! And now it’s a dead zone. No one’s here.”
Chernukha says she was taken to a hospital in Russia after being hit by Russian shrapnel. But determined to return home to the house she built with her husband, she embarked on a journey that took her across Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, arriving back in May, exactly a year after she was forced to leave.
Ukraine’s National Opera celebrates year of live shows
Much of the troupe is still abroad, performances are interrupted by air raid sirens and the number of tickets sold for each performance is limited to the number of people who can fit in the theatre’s basement shelter.
But as the curtain comes down on Sunday afternoon at the National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv – the end of the storied theatre’s 155th season – the artists can reflect on a remarkably full year of performances for a theatre operating in the heart of a country at war, Shaun Walker reported.
The atmosphere in Ukraine’s capital city these days can feel jarring, with busy parks and packed restaurant terraces bringing back something of the pleasant summer vibe of prewar Kyiv, despite the frequent night-time drone attacks.
Inside the grand opera house, too, on the surface much has returned to normal. Last week, many of the audience were dressed in their finest outfits to watch a ballet double bill, waiters filled flutes with local sparkling wine at the interval and audience members posed for photographs in front of gilded mirrors and ornate chandeliers.
Go a bit deeper, though, and the majority of both the audience and artists are harbouring painful memories from the past 18 months.",Explicit
"LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A 13-year-old girl kidnapped in Texas was rescued in Southern California when passersby saw her hold up a “help me” sign in a parked car, police said.
The rescue occurred July 9 in Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, when officers responded to a trouble call and found the “visibly emotional and distressed girl,” police said in a press release Thursday.
“Through their investigation, officers learned the Good Samaritans were in a parking lot when they saw the victim in a parked vehicle holding up a piece of paper with “help me” written on it. They acknowledged the note and immediately called 9-1-1,” police said.
Steven Robert Sabalan, 61, of Cleburne, Texas, was located and detained.
Police said the victim had been near a bus stop in San Antonio, Texas, on July 6 when the suspect approached in a vehicle, pointed a gun at her and demanded that she get in.
Detectives determined that the girl was sexually assaulted while being brought to California, and they found a replica firearm in the vehicle, the press release said.
The girl was placed in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.
Sabalan was booked into jail on suspicion of kidnapping, lewd and lascivious acts with a child, and being a fugitive from justice. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.
Police said the FBI will lead the continuing investigation.",Explicit
"NEW YORK -- An intense police search of the Long Island home of Rex Heuermann is now complete, authorities said Tuesday as they ended a 12-day hunt for evidence that involved ripping up the yard and the discovery of a basement vault containing hundreds of weapons kept by the man accused of killing at least three women more than a decade ago.
At a press conference outside the Massapequa Park home where Heuermann lived with his wife and two kids, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said police had found a “tremendous amount of information” during their search.
He declined to describe the bulk of the material, but said there was not a “singular piece of evidence” that jumped out to him.
The search turned up at least 279 weapons kept inside a thick basement vault large enough for a person to walk into, Tierney said. Police took boxes of additional evidence from the house, which he described as a “very cluttered environment.”
An effort in recent days to dig up the backyard in search of possible clues about where the murders were committed did not yield any “large items of evidence,” he added.
A coalition of law enforcement agencies have been pouring over the property since July 14th, when Heuermann was arrested and charged with killing three women – Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, and Megan Waterman – and dumping their bodies along a remote stretch of coastal highway near Long Island's Gilgo Beach more than a decade ago. Prosecutors identified him as the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Heuermann, who worked as an architect in Manhattan, has denied the charges through his lawyer.
The killings, all of which involved women engaged in sex work, happened while Heuermann’s family members were out of town, according to court papers. There is no indication his wife or children had knowledge of the crimes, Tierney said.
During the search, police used a scanning technology to identify “disturbances” in the ground outside Heuermann’s property, Tierney said. An excavator dug up the yard, and investigators with shovels could be seen scraping through freshly upturned earth.
“There was nothing of note taken from the back yard,” he said. “As far as remains, there is a whole entire trace analysis we have to go through with the house with regard to hair fibers, DNA, blood, which we’ll have to await the results of.”
Police were also seen pulling a large doll encased in glass and a portrait of a woman with a bruise on her face from the house. Tierney said it would be “quite some time” before all of the evidence could be tested for forensics.
The end of the search comes as police in Las Vegas and South Carolina are beginning their own investigations into whether the suspect may have been connected to any unresolved cases. Heuermann owns a timeshare in Las Vegas and planned to retire in a remote area of South Carolina, where his brother currently lives.
Tierney declined to discuss specifics in the other cases on Tuesday, but noted the investigation “is not limited to New York state.”
Heuermann is due back in court on August 1st.",Explicit
"But an Instagram influencer from Houston, Texas, who moved to Ukraine as the war raged, is the only one describing herself as an “emotional support stripper.”
Volunteering alongside Ukraine’s heroes has led to a bout of intimate relationships—mostly with Ukrainian soldiers—and Fan-Pei Koung, 33, now refers to herself as a “sex tourist.”
Koung has used her social media presence to create an OnlyFans account that is free for Ukrainian soldiers, volunteers, and the occasional local civilian who she thinks could use some cheering up.
On the site, she refers to herself as a “globe-trotting girlfriend, now volunteering in Kharkiv.” She added that she makes content about “everything from free emotional breastfeeding to soldiers and volunteers,” to collecting donations to distribute to volunteers.
The OnlyFans model had her hair pulled back in a messy bun and glasses when she met with The Daily Beast in late July at her apartment in Kharkhiv. “I’m the sexy girl in Ukraine who wants to volunteer, and will probably put out,” she said.
When Koung visited Ukraine for the first time in November 2022, romantic relationships were not at the center of her mind. She had decided to volunteer in women’s shelters and orphanages in Lviv, the western city in Ukraine that has been deemed a “haven” throughout the war.
Far away from the eastern front, the city has been spared some of the most brutal attacks of the war. Koung had recently moved to Europe, where she believed she could make a new start in her life, far away from all her problems in America. She met a family of Ukrainians in Croatia, who spoke with her about Russia’s invasion and encouraged her to volunteer inside the country.
“Everyone was telling me, ‘Don’t go, don’t go.’ When you’re a foreigner here, everyone who cares about you at all will say anything to change your mind,” she said.
Back in America, Koung said she had lived “multiple lives,” which include winning the first prize at a NASA Space Health Challenge in 2014, being deferred from an Ivy League school, and competing in the Miss Taiwanese American pageant in 2015. For the last five years in Oakland, CA, Koung worked in children’s events.
When she began volunteering with children in Ukraine, the work seemed like a natural progression. “The orphans flooded me. They were running, screaming, and hugging me, and I rehearsed some Ukrainian to tell them. We were dancing together,” she told The Daily Beast.
But the child care role was not enough for Koung. “It didn’t feel like anything unique to what I had back in the States. I wanted more. I wanted to be with the military,” she said.
One month after arriving in Ukraine, Koung left, but outside of the country, she still thought of Ukraine non-stop.
“I had flights to Tulum [Mexico] because I was going to live with this other fabulous, sexy, Asian influencer, and we were going to do a sexy, fabulous, Asian influencer dream team,” she burst into a series of laughs before she carried on, “But as soon as I left, I desperately wanted to come back to Ukraine. I was losing my mind trying to get back.”
Koung has an Instagram following of more than 50,000 people and has built a platform as an influencer, posting anything from lingerie modeling photos to video memes of her day-to-day life.
Since visiting Ukraine for the first time in November 2022, Koung has also begun to post content related to the war. “I’ve lost about 5,000 followers since this whole Ukraine thing. Because I went from being a sexy influencer to a sexy influencer who won’t stop talking about Ukraine.”
‘Non-Stop Shitshow’
In February 2023, one year into the war, Koung moved to Ukraine full-time, where she volunteered and lived among Ukrainians in Kyiv, the capital city. The longer Koung spent in Ukraine, the more she began to enjoy the company of Ukrainians.
On a romantic level, Koung said in America, “My standards are too high because I only want men who can care for themselves and think about people other than themselves. None of them [Americans] met my standards. And then I came to Ukraine, and everybody here thinks about people other than themselves”
“Ukrainian men, they treat me like an infant. They need to know what I want even before I know what I want. I’ve never been treated like that in my life,” Koung said.
In Kyiv, Koung met her then-personal trainer, the first man in Ukraine with whom she had an intimate relationship. “He carried my 50-pound luggage up 13 stories during a blackout,” Koung said.
Since then, Koung’s volunteering has taken her to the eastern Donbas region, where she has delivered water to people who remained in the destroyed towns and worked as what she describes as “an emotional support person for English-speaking soldiers.”
And—where there is a mutual attraction—Koung might begin a romantic relationship with some of the men she meets. Currently, the OnlyFans model is dating a Ukrainian drone operator, a power plant worker, and two information technology workers.
Koung has been learning Ukrainian and said she could speak at the level of a 2-year-old. Still, artificial intelligence comes in handy when she cannot communicate efficiently with Ukrainians.
One man, for example, named Sasha, “Just speaks Ukrainian and Russian, so we just keep our phones next to each other, and we just translate into it, and anything he doesn’t get, I’ll explain it to him. Ideal communication with him is two phones and one laptop. We can get anything we need that way,” she said.
At times, Koung has also dated international soldiers who have come to Ukraine from other countries to fight. After a group of soldiers suffered casualties in Donbas, Koung went to their unit to comfort them. There she met a soldier from the United Kingdom who had previously fought in Syria before moving to Ukraine.
“I’m there talking with him for six hours about how he’s coping, his relationship issues. I feel so safe with this guy. At some point, I was holding him and stroking his hair, and he said, ‘I feel precious like a kitten. I haven’t been touched in two years,’” said Koung.
But despite the sometimes light-heartedness of Koung’s time in Ukraine, she told The Daily Beast she had experienced judgment from other Western volunteers about her activities.
After being added to a volunteer group chat with fellow Westerners, Koung claimed to have written a message reading, “Hi, I’m Fan-Pei thanks for having me on this humanitarian group chat. If any of you want to go east, please take me with you, I’m very good company,” before adding a quick joke that she wanted to have intimate relationships with some notable Ukrainians.
“These guys just tore me for three days straight! I think there’s a couple hundred people in this group, and they said, ‘You want to make porn off of mass graves? People were writing reports about how they were ready to discipline me. I just wanted to prove myself, but this has been haunting me. I feel like every volunteer in the humanitarian group has an opinion of me,” said Koung.
“If I were a man going to Ukraine to volunteer, no one would question me about anything. But since I’m a girl, it’s been a non-stop shit show. It’s a trip. It really does make a difference if you’re a man or a woman,” she added.",Explicit
"The 1978 animated film Watership Down has been re-classified to a PG due to its ""mild violence, threat, brief bloody images and bad language"".
The movie is among the classic titles to have had their age ratings raised, along with the original Star Trek, according to the British Board of Film Classification's (BBFC) annual report.
After being resubmitted, the ratings were raised by the organisation, it said, in order to ensure they ""remain in step with societal standards"".
Watership Down, which is based on the novel by Richard Adams, tells the tale of a group of rabbits who leave their burrow in search of a new home.
Their quest brings them into contact with a battle-scarred rabbit called ""General"" Woundwort, as well as a gull called Kehaar who tells another character to go away using an expletive.
The film - which features the voices of Sir John Hurt and the late Richard Briers - received a U [Universal] rating on its initial release for its ""very mild language, mild violence and threat"".
Star Trek: The Motion Picture - the sci-fi hit first released in 1979, starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy - was also originally deemed ""suitable for all"".
But it too now requires a PG [parental guidance] sticker for containing ""brief mild horror and sex references"".
'Expectations evolving'
The BBFC report noted: ""Whenever a distributor resubmits a film with an existing BBFC rating to us, we review it under our current guidelines.
""This sometimes means we may reclassify the film at either a higher rating or a lower rating than it was under previous guidelines.""
It referenced a ""distressing sequence"" in Watership Down, explaining: ""In their exile, the rabbits meet various challenges, some of which result in bloody bite and claw injuries caused by animals fighting.
""In one scene, a bird tells one of the rabbits to '[pee] off'"".
""When we viewed the film under the current guidelines we reclassified it PG in line with our current policies for violence, threat, injury detail and language,"" it added.
BBFC director David Austin told BBC Radio 5 live in 2016 the film's violence and language was ""arguably too strong"" for it to be rated U today.
His comments followed complaints over the film's content after it was aired on Channel 5 on Easter Sunday earlier that year.
The movie returned to the small screen with a BBC adaption in 2018, featuring a voice cast including James McAvoy, John Boyega and, Olivia Colman.
The BBFC updates guidelines every four to five years in order to ""continue to meet the expectations and values of people across the UK"".
The next consultation is scheduled for this year, with any required changes coming into effect by 2024.
Natasha Kaplinksy, president of the board, said it was currently consulting with over 10,000 people across the UK ""to explore how audience expectations are evolving"".
""We will then reflect these changes in our classification guidelines, which set the foundation for all of our age rating decisions, including when older films are resubmitted and receive a new classification.""",Explicit
"CLAYTON, Mo. -- A second police officer from a suburban St. Louis department is now facing charges after a man was allegedly driven to a secluded spot and beaten until his jaw broke.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell on Wednesday announced that his office charged Northwoods, Missouri, Police Officer Michael Hill, 51, with second-degree kidnapping. Hill is jailed on $100,000 cash-only bond and doesn't yet have a listed attorney.
On Monday, Northwoods Officer Samuel Davis, 26, was charged with assault and kidnapping, stemming from an arrest on July 4. St. Louis County police said Davis handcuffed a man, then turned off his own body camera before driving him to a secluded spot, where the man was allegedly pepper-sprayed, beaten with a baton and told not to return to Northwoods.
A witness called 911 after finding the bloodied man. Police said the victim’s jaw was broken, among other serious injuries.
The probable cause statement in Hill's arrest said he was Davis' supervising officer and was with Davis when the man was taken into custody at a Walgreens store. The statement said Hill told a store employee “what would happen to the victim.”
Like Davis, Hill never activated his body camera, never informed the dispatcher that a suspect was in custody, and didn't write a report, the probable cause statement said.
“There is no excuse for this criminal conduct, and my office will prosecute these officers to the fullest extent of the law,"" Bell said in a statement.
Northwoods police Chief Dennis Shireff told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Davis has been suspended as the investigation plays out.",Explicit
"Glasgow United FC has vowed to stand by rapist footballer David Goodwillie and has said ""this witch hunt has gone on for far too long"".

It comes after Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken threatened to bar the club from its training facility after the ex-Scotland international was spotted playing for the Shettleston-based team during a friendly match earlier this month.

Glasgow United FC, which is yet to confirm the signing of Goodwillie, said: ""David Goodwillie has never been charged for this offence.

""He has no criminal record and has never appeared on any offenders' register.

""How can he show contrite or remorse for something he staunchly claims he did not do.""

Goodwillie, 34, and fellow footballer David Robertson were ruled to be rapists in a 2017 civil case.

The pair, who have never faced a criminal trial over the allegations, were ordered to pay £100,000 in damages after a judge ruled they raped a woman at a property in West Lothian following a night out in January 2011.

Goodwillie has seen several football club contracts collapse due to public outrage over the case.

In light of his recent performance for Glasgow United FC, the city council released a statement from leader Ms Aitken on Sunday which said: ""David Goodwillie has been found, in court, to be a rapist. However, in more than 12 years, he has never once shown any kind of contrition or remorse.

""Any club that signs him is making a very clear statement about its attitude to the safety of women and girls - both in sport and in its community.

""It would be an outrageous decision, wholly at odds with how community facilities like Greenfield should be run.

""I've asked officers to look at the council's agreement with Glasgow United and made it clear that I'm ready for the city to walk away.""

Glasgow United FC, which plays in the West of Scotland Third Division, does not run or manage Greenfield Football Centre and instead pays to use the council facilities for training purposes only.

'This witch hunt has gone on for far too long'

The club spokesperson added: ""We play home matches at our own ground nearby like we have for the last 120 years.

""We do a lot of work in our community helping those in need and this is only an extension of that work.

""We could easily walk away from this like every other club before us but we won't.

""We are supporting David with his mental health and will continue to do so.

""This witch hunt has gone on for far too long and the use of any person's life as a political football is unacceptable.""

Read more:

Raith Rovers apologise for signing striker

Rape Crisis Scotland 'disappointed' as club says rapist footballer 'deserves a chance'

Goodwillie, who has played for Dundee United, Aberdeen and Blackburn Rovers, was playing for English club Plymouth at the time of the civil court judgement and left ""by mutual consent"" just days after the ruling.

Two months later, in March 2017, he signed for Clyde and played for the club for five years, even becoming team captain, before Raith moved to sign him in February last year.

Following widespread opposition to the move, Goodwillie was released from his contract without playing a match.

He subsequently has seen deals with Northern Premier League side Radcliffe and Australian second-tier side FC Sorrento collapse following public outcry.

Speaking on James English's Anything Goes podcast last week, Goodwillie said he was ""an innocent man"" and continued to claim it was consensual sex.

He said: ""This case wasn't violent, this was three people drunk, having consensual sex, what was happening in front of me was normal, she was talking, laughing, joking, joining in.

""So, for her to say she can't remember that, it's hard for me to live with because I'm thinking if I could only show you the way you were acting we had no idea that you were going to wake up in the morning and not remember this.""

Rape Crisis Scotland previously said it was ""deeply disappointed"" Glasgow United FC fielded Goodwillie in the friendly match.

A spokesperson from the charity branded it a ""bad decision that sends entirely the wrong message"".

They added: ""Footballers are role models - particularly for young people - and it's not okay to have someone in this position who has been found by a senior judge to be a rapist.""",Explicit
"Among the first rules of PR is learning from your mistakes. If, for instance, you are a member of Congress caught on camera actively and coldly ignoring mass shooting survivors who are visiting the Capitol—you might not want a repeat incident.
But Lauren Boebert doesn’t care what you think about her, okay? She’s gonna stick to her guns.
On Tuesday, organizers with Moms Demand Action and Lives Robbed—a group speaking out about the impacts of gun violence after the Robb Elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas—were handing out pamphlets dedicated to one victim, Maite Rodriguez. Along with the pamphlet, which included a letter from her mother, the organizers attached a pin of Rodriguez’s green Converse shoes. The pin even had the heart over her right toes that she drew on with a marker.
After an organizer explained the pamphlet to Boebert, thanking her and wishing her a nice day, the Colorado Republican visibly walked faster to the trash can so she could throw it away.
“We hope you take action on gun violence prevention,” an organizer is heard saying as Boebert dashed to the trash.
Last month, organizers simply invited Boebert to say hello to gun violence survivors visiting the Capitol.
“Hey, there’s a lot of survivors over there if you want to …,” one young visitor started to Boebert.
“Survivors of gun violence if you want to talk to them,” another finished. “Survivors from Uvalde, Parkland.… You don’t really care?”
Indeed, she didn’t seem to care. “It’s alright. My son died for you to just go do that,” said Brett Cross, whose son was shot and killed at the Uvalde shooting, as Boebert walked by without even looking at him.
That day, while Boebert and other Republicans gave survivors of gun violence nothing, others, like Representatives Summer Lee, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar, and Senators Bernie Sanders and Jon Ossoff, made sure to share their time with Washington’s guests.
“She does not give a damn,” Cross said in a video Tuesday, with a poster of his son in the background. “And what she seems to forget is that her son is 17, still in school. That could’ve been his pin. She about to have a grandbaby, and in a few years, that could be their pin, and she don’t give a rat’s ass,” he continued.
“All she had to do was just take it, and then say look: we might not agree with one another on Second Amendment or assault weapons … but to do that is just so cold and callous. And she is supposed to be a representative of the people.”
“If y’all voted her in—if you actually went to the ballot, and voted for Lauren Boebert—then that just goes to show where your morals are at, too. Fuck her.”",Explicit
"LSU grad student will no longer teach at university after alleged profanity-laced voicemail to state lawmaker
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - An LSU graduate student will no longer be allowed to teach at the university, after allegedly leaving a profanity laced voicemail to a Louisiana State Senator for his vote to override the governor’s veto on House Bill 648.
The university has identified the graduate student to WAFB as Marcus Venable.
The voicemail was left on Republican State Senator Mike Fesi’s voicemail, after he voted yes on a bill Tuesday, July 18, which prohibits certain procedures to alter the sex of a minor child.
“You know who the real experts are, it’s the ones that had this procedure done and are now in their mid-twenties, and late twenties, and trying to say that they hate their parents for letting this happen to them,” said Senator Fesi (R), District 20, on Tuesday at the Capitol.
The voicemail said:
“I just wanted to say ‘Congratulations, to our State Senator, Big Mike Fesi. And that f***ing moron voted to make things worse for people who are already suffering. You fat f***ing piece of sh**. You did not produce any g**d*** evidence to support the claims you made about people being harmed by transgender care, yet we’ve had tons of empirical evidence telling us there’s an increased suicide risk for people who don’t get this care. So you, you big fat headed mother f***er, I can’t wait to read your name in the f***ing obituary. I will make a goddamn martini made from the tears of your butthurt conservatives when we put your f***ing a** in the ground, you fat f***ing useless piece of sh*t. F*** you. I hope you have a terrible day. Go f*** yourself.”
“You know, it goes too far. We just got to understand that everybody’s got their opinion, we still live in a great country for freedom of speech. But we just got to hold it to a condition that everybody understands each other, and we don’t always have to agree,” said Sen. Fesi.
Senator Fesi first contacted the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office, which then sent the case over to Louisiana State Police.
“LSP is aware of the voicemail and we are currently investigating the complaint. It is active and ongoing,” said a spokesperson with State Police to WAFB.
“I just want them to do their investigation, and them do what they think’s right. I don’t want to see no harm come to anybody,” said Senator Fesi.
In a statement to WAFB, LSU officials said, “As a university, we foster open and respectful dialogue. Like everyone, graduate students with teaching assignments have the right to express their opinions, but this profanity-filled, threatening call crossed the line. This does not exhibit the character we expect of someone given the privilege of teaching as part of their graduate assistantship. The student will be allowed to continue their studies but will not be extended the opportunity to teach in the future.”
Legal analyst Franz Borghardt weighed in on whether or not LSU violated the First Amendment rights of the grad student, by not allowing him to teach for them in the future.
“First and foremost, your constitutional rights to free speech are not absolute, if your words or your expression are threatening, if they are harmful, they are not necessarily absolutely protected. So, can LSU respond to a faculty member, albeit an LSU grad student making a profane, potentially threatening voicemail to a member of the legislature, yes I think they can. Because candidly at the end of the day, the call borderlines on a criminal act, whether it be assault, whether it be terrorizing. So, I think LSU can act, but furthermore, LSU didn’t expel the grad student who is also a teacher. It simply said, we can’t have you teaching especially while the case is under investigation,” said Borghardt.
“This particular piece of legislation has probably gained more intensity of emotion, than any other bill in a generation,” said political analyst Jim Engster.
Engster believes calls like this towards lawmakers go too far. And as for the future of this controversial bill, a lawsuit could be next.
“But, it looks like this is going all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, and it will be up to those 9 justices to determine whether this becomes the law of the land,” said Engster.
WAFB did reach out to the grad student for a comment, and he finally gave us one on Sunday, July 23.
“The duty of the strong is to protect the weak.” - Joseph Venable (1918-1980). More later,” Venable wrote to WAFB.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a letter to Louisiana State University urging LSU not to pursue further investigation and asking them to reinstate any future opportunities for Venable to act in his assistant teaching duties.
The organization is asking LSU for a response by July 28.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2023 WAFB. All rights reserved.",Explicit
"CAIRO, July 24 (Reuters) - A top Sudanese general violently rejected a Kenyan-led proposal that East African peacekeepers help end a more than 100-day civil war in Sudan, suggesting in a video released on Monday that any such troops would not make it home alive.
The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces it is fighting have received multiple international mediation offers, but none have succeeded in ending or even significantly pausing the fighting that broke out on April 15.
Earlier this month, IGAD, an East African regional bloc of which Kenya is a member, proposed an initiative that would include the deployment of peacekeepers in the capital Khartoum.
The Sudanese army has repeatedly rejected the Kenyan-led initiative, accusing the regional power of supporting the RSF.
It has said it would consider any foreign peacekeepers as enemy forces.
""Leave the East African forces where they are. Bring the Kenyan army ... I swear to god, not one of them would make it back,"" said Sudanese General Yassir al-Atta in comments to troops.
He also accused Kenya of being bought off by an unnamed third country.
""This statement is unworthy of our comment,"" Kenya's foreign affairs principal secretary Korir Sing’Oei told Reuters, adding that the accusations were unfounded and that his country was neutral.
""By insisting that durable peace will only be realised through the inclusion of civilian actors in any mediation process and calling on accountability for atrocities, some in Sudan may find these principles difficult to accept,"" he added.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis has spent millions of dollars this year to support Texas in deterring migrants from entering the country through its border security initiative. Now, some of Texas’ efforts are coming under scrutiny amid reports that officers were ordered to push small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande.
On July 3, a state trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety reported actions taken as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star had veered into the “in humane (sic),” according to emails reviewed by the Times/Herald and first reported by the Houston Chronicle.
The state trooper, identified as Nicholas Wingate, a medic for the Texas Department of Public Safety, reported seeing a 19-year-old pregnant woman having a miscarriage after being caught in razor wire in Eagle Pass; a 4-year-old girl trying to cross the razor wire being pressed back by Texas National Guard soldiers “due to the orders given to them”; and a 15-year-old boy who broke his right leg after the wire forced him into a part of the river that was unsafe to travel.
The wire was installed along the Rio Grande by the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to “deter smuggling between the ports of entry and not to injure migrants,” Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said in an email. In a separate email, McCraw acknowledged the wire has resulted in migrants needing “elevated medical attention.”
Travis Considine, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the agency is investigating the allegations made by the state trooper and that Texas does not have “a directive or policy that instructs Troopers to withhold water for migrants or push them back into the river.”
The incidents outlined by the state trooper occurred while he was stationed in Eagle Pass from June 24 to July 1 as part of Operation Lone Star.
Florida’s role in Texas
DeSantis supported Abbott’s Operation Lone Star by sending hundreds of state personnel and state resources to the southern border in Texas in June — and his office has noted that state law enforcement officers have continued to aid Texas officers at the border as recently as this week.
However, it remains unclear whether Florida personnel engaged in any of the Texas directives that are under investigation.
DeSantis administration officials did not respond when asked to comment on the concerns raised by the Texas state trooper, and did not say whether Florida officers had followed such directives when they were in Texas.
Instead, Jeremy Redfern, DeSantis’ press secretary, responded by issuing a statement criticizing President Joe Biden’s border policies.
“President Biden’s abdication continues to undercut the rule of law, leading to dangerous actions by human smugglers and cartels. This week, FHP [Florida Highway Patrol] assisted in arresting a criminal alien that threw a 1-year-old baby into the Rio Grande River,” Redfern said. “Governor DeSantis will continue to do everything within his authority to fight against Biden’s Border Crisis.”
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As a presidential candidate, DeSantis has centered his political messaging on the idea that states should take action in whatever ways they can in response to “failed” federal immigration policies.
In late June, he held a campaign event in Eagle Pass to unveil a sweeping plan to overhaul the nation’s immigration system.
At that event, DeSantis vowed to use deadly force against suspected drug traffickers at the border.
“We’re going to create adequate rules of engagement, if somebody were breaking into your house to do something bad you would respond with force,” DeSantis said. “Yet why don’t we do that at the southern border?”
He said suspected drug traffickers would end up “stone-cold dead” and that if he were elected president, his administration would “fully deputize” state and local law enforcement offices in states like Texas to arrest and deport migrants back to Mexico.
A day before the campaign trip, in Eagle Pass, the Texas state trooper reported that officers “were given orders to push” migrants, including several small children and babies who were nursing, back into the water to go back to Mexico.
“With the very real potential of exhausted people drowning. We made contact with command again and expressed our concern and we were given the order to tell them to go to Mexico and get in our vehicle and leave,” the Texas trooper wrote in the email, which added that state troopers then coordinated with Border Patrol agents and “got the people processed and taken care of.”
Florida spends millions in Texas
In May, Florida was asked to help Texas officers “deter, detect and interdict criminal activity” along its 1,250-mile southern border, under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a mutual-aid partnership among all states.
During the effort, Texas gave Florida state law enforcement officers and guardsmen “the same arrest and law enforcement powers, rights, and privileges while operating within the state limits of Texas as are ordinarily afforded law enforcement forces of the State of Texas,” records show. And they were to operate in locations that included the Rio Grande Valley sector, records show.
In June, the governor spent $3.3 million to send up to 650 state personnel to support those efforts through June 10, records show.
Under the direction of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which is part of the DeSantis administration, the Florida National Guard began to support Texas’ Operation Lone Star in May, Amelia Johnson, a spokesperson for the state agency, said last week.
The $3.3 million is associated with operational costs of Florida National Guard support to Texas, Johnson said.
Generally, the state that sends help is reimbursed by the state that is asking for help. At least that is the case outlined in the Emergency Management Assistance Compact’s website. But Abbott made clear in his request that Texas was requesting assisting states to “absorb associated costs with this mission in support of the entire country,” records show.
Overall this year, DeSantis has spent at least $15.2 million in the first half of the year to address “illegal migration” at the Texas border and in South Florida. Records show the money spent was part of a $500 million Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund that the Florida Legislature approved last year to give the governor direct access to cash when he declares emergencies.",Explicit
"The jury in the trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering his 16-year-old sister has been sent out to begin its deliberations.

Connor Gibson, 20, is accused of attacking Amber Gibson in woodland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, on 26 November 2021.

He is charged with removing her clothing, sexually assaulting her with the intention of raping her, inflicting blunt-force trauma to her head and body, and strangling her.

Gibson denies the charges against him and is on the 13th day of trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday 26 November and her body was discovered in Cadzow Glen at about 10.10am on 28 November.

The forensic pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination on Amber's body told the court she was found covered in mud and the cause of death was ""compression of the neck"".

Jurors also heard other forensic evidence that ""widespread blood staining"" on Gibson's jacket was compatible with Amber and his DNA was also found on her shorts, worn as underwear, which had been ""forcibly torn"" off.

Giving evidence, Gibson's former foster father Craig Niven had said he would not leave the siblings in each other's company because they were ""not a good mix"".

Mr Niven and his wife had fostered the siblings since Amber was three and her brother was five. The couple were granted permanent care of the siblings a few years later.

Mr Niven told the court he had not heard from his former foster son during Amber's disappearance but, in a call on the day her body was discovered, Gibson told him the pair had ""fallen out"" when they saw each other two days previously.

Read more:

Connor Gibson on trial accused of sexually assaulting and murdering sister

Amber Gibson 'had injuries consistent with being strangled'

Blood on brother Connor Gibson's clothes 'could indicate assault'

Also on trial is Stephen Corrigan, 45, who is accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by inappropriately touching and concealing Amber's body instead of contacting the emergency services.

Corrigan, said in court not to be known to Gibson, also denies the charge and has lodged a special defence of alibi.

His father, William Corrigan, 79, told the court his son was at his home in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, that weekend after a fall on ice left his arm in a sling, and denied lying to protect him.

The court heard Corrigan told police he was at a ""complete loss"" to explain why his DNA was found on 39 areas of Amber's body, including her breasts, buttocks and thighs.

Giving evidence, forensic biologist Alana Gunn said she believed this was from direct contact but could not rule out secondary transfer, and could not say whether or not it was present before or after Amber's death.

Judge Lord Mulholland sent jurors out to consider their verdicts on Tuesday morning.",Explicit
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Elise Morton, Associated Press
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ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — Russia struck the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa on Sunday, keeping up a barrage of attacks that has damaged critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine in the past week. At least one person was killed and 22 others wounded in the early morning attack, officials said.
Four children were among those wounded in the blasts, which severely damaged 25 landmarks across the city, including the historic Transfiguration Cathedral.
Russia has been launching repeated attacks on Odesa, a key hub for exporting grain, since Moscow canceled a landmark grain deal on Monday amid Kyiv’s grinding efforts to retake its occupied territories.
After the fires were put out at the Orthodox cathedral, volunteers donned hard hats, shovels and brooms to begin removing rubble and try to salvage any artifacts — under the watchful gaze of the saints whose paintings remained intact. Local officials said the icon of the patroness of the city was retrieved from under the rubble.
“The destruction is enormous, half of the cathedral is now roofless,” said Archdeacon Andrii Palchuk, as workers brought documents and valuables out of the building, its floor inundated with water used by firefighters to extinguish the blaze.
Palchuk said the damage was caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile that penetrated the building down to the basement. Two people inside were wounded.
“But with God’s help, we will restore it,” he said, bursting into tears.
A woman who came to help with the cleanup said she loved the cathedral “for its tranquility and grace.”
“When you enter this church, you feel like you’re beyond the world,” said Liudmyla, who gave only her first name. “I have a feeling that God, to protect apartments, took this pain, this explosion upon himself.”
Anna Fetchenko, who came to Odesa for a volunteer meeting, also pitched in to clear the debris. “I wanted to go to the seaside, but last night was so frightening that I cried for the first time in 2023,” she said.
“This is our Ukrainian heritage, and now it’s taken away from us.”
Later Sunday, Palchuk urged people to gather in front of the destroyed part of the cathedral for an outdoor service and to pray in front of a sacred icon that “miraculously survived.”
“We will pray that it protects us from the Russians,” he said.
The cathedral belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been accused of links to Russia. The church has insisted that it is loyal to Ukraine, has denounced the Russian invasion from the start and even declared its independence from Moscow.
WATCH: Russia’s war in Ukraine leads to historic split in the Orthodox Church
But Ukrainian security agencies have claimed that some in the Ukrainian church maintain close ties with Moscow. They’ve raided numerous church holy sites and posted photos of rubles, Russian passports and leaflets with messages from the Moscow patriarch as proof some church officials are loyal to Russia.
UNESCO strongly condemned the attack on the cathedral and other heritage sites and said it will send a mission in coming days to assess damage. Odesa’s historic center was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site earlier this year, and the agency said the Russian attacks contradict Moscow’s pledge to take precautious to spare World Heritage sites in Ukraine.
“This outrageous destruction marks an escalation of violence against the cultural heritage of Ukraine. I strongly condemn this attack against culture, and I urge the Russian Federation to take meaningful action to comply with its obligations under international law,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.
Regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said that six residential buildings were destroyed by the strikes.
Some people were trapped in their apartments following the attack, which left rubble strewn in the street and partly blocking the road.
Svitlana Molcharova, 85, was rescued by emergency workers. But after she received first aid, she refused to leave her destroyed apartment. “I will stay here,” she said.
“I woke up when the ceiling started to fall on me. I rushed into the corridor,” said Ivan Kovalenko, a 19-year-old resident of the building. “That’s how I lost my home in Mykolaiv, and here, I lost my rented apartment.”
His unit revealed a partially collapsed ceiling and a balcony that came off the side of the building. All the windows were blown out.
Ukraine’s air force reported on the Telegram messaging app that Russia had launched 19 missiles in the Odesa region, including five high-precision winged Onyx missiles and four sea-to-shore Kalibr cruise missiles. It said that Ukrainian air defenses shot down nine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday its forces attacked sites in Odesa “where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared.”
In a later statement, the ministry denied that its attacks struck the Transfiguration Cathedral, claiming the destruction of the cathedral was likely due to “the fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft guided missile.”
The attacks come days after President Vladimir Putin pulled Russia out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that enabled Ukraine’s exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger.
WATCH: Russia ends grain export deal with Ukraine, raising fears about global food security
Earlier Russian attacks have crippled significant parts of export facilities in Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk, and destroyed 60,000 tons of grain, according to Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry.
Putin vowed to retaliate against Kyiv for an attack Monday on the crucial Kerch Bridge linking Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin illegally annexed in 2014.
— Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko were meeting Sunday in St. Petersburg, two days after Moscow warned Poland that any aggression against its neighbor and ally would be considered an attack on Russia. Putin said talks would also take place Monday, and declared that Kyiv’s counteroffensive had failed.
Lukashenko said Wagner troops, who launched joint drills with the Belarusian military on Thursday, almost a month after their short-lived rebellion against Moscow, wanted to go west “on an excursion to Warsaw, to Rzeszow” in Poland, but that Belarus would not allow the mercenary force to relocate.
“I am keeping them in central Belarus, like we agreed. … We are controlling what is happening” with Wagner, he said.
— Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov reported Sunday that two people were killed in Russian strikes on the northeastern province Saturday, when Russia attacked populated areas of the Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Kupiansk and Izium districts.
Donetsk regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said four residents were also killed and 11 wounded in attacks Saturday.
Morton reported from London.
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"Robert Kennedy Jr, a long-shot Democratic candidate for US president, has a long history of racism, antisemitism and xenophobia, and should be denied a national platform, according to a damning report seen by the Guardian.
Kennedy, who provoked anger last week when he was filmed falsely suggesting that the coronavirus could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, is due to testify at the US Capitol in Washington on Thursday.
The Congressional Integrity Project, a political watchdog, called for Republicans to disinvite Kennedy after releasing a report that details his meetings with and promotion of racists, antisemites and extremist conspiracy theorists.
“Kennedy embraces virtually every conspiracy theory in existence,” the report states. “His horrific antisemitic and xenophobic views are simply beyond the pale, and he has frequently met with and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theorists. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine conspiracies go back decades and have had deadly real world consequences.”
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, is running against Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary and has drawn big and enthusiastic crowds and polled as high as 20%. But the Project’s document argues that Kennedy’s recent comments about Jewish and Chinese people, which were quickly hailed by neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers as “100% correct”, were not an aberration but fitted a long pattern.
Earlier this summer Kennedy touted a meeting with Ice Cube, a rapper who issued bizarre antisemitic tweets, and publicly defended musician Roger Waters, who was embroiled in controversy after donning a costume intended to evoke Nazi attire at a concert in Germany.
The report says Kennedy has also repeatedly promoted and praised fringe online broadcaster James Corbett, a Sandy Hook and 9/11 conspiracy theorist who has claimed that “Hitler and the Nazis were 100% completely and utterly set up”.
Kennedy has often allied himself with the National of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, who regularly unleashed tirades about alleged Jewish control of media and government. Kennedy met Farrakhan at his Chicago home in 2015, with Farrakhan later tweeting that they discussed “a vaccine that is designed to affect Black males”.
The Project details how Kennedy himself has frequently invoked Nazi Germany when pushing debunked theories about vaccines. He put out a video that showed the infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci with a moustache reminiscent of Adolf Hitler and used the word “holocaust” to describe children he believes were hurt by vaccines in 2015.
Last year, at a Washington rally organized by his group Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy complained that people’s rights were being violated by public health measures that had been taken to reduce the number of people sickened and killed by Covid-19. He said: “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did.” He later apologised.
For years, the document says, Kennedy has targeted a particularly dangerous form of vaccine denial at Black people. In 2021 at the height of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign, he released Medical Racism, a film that promoted disproven claims about the dangers of vaccines and explicitly warned communities of color to be suspicious of “sinister” vaccination campaigns.
Several doctors and experts who participated in the film later denounced it and said they felt used and misled about the message of the documentary. Richard Allen Williams, founder of the Association of Black Cardiologists, called Children’s Health Defense “absolutely a racist operation” particularly dangerous to the Black community.
In 2017, as a measles outbreak devastated Minnesota’s Somali-American community due to low vaccination rates, Kennedy continued to push his false claims that “science and anecdotal evidence suggest that Africans and African Americans may be particularly vulnerable to vaccine injuries including autism”.
In a 2020 interview, Kennedy asserted without evidence that “People with African blood react differently to vaccines than people with Caucasian blood. They’re much more sensitive.”
The following year, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Kennedy recorded a webinar encouraging Black people to be skeptical of vaccines, claiming: “There has been abundant evidence … beyond any dispute that Blacks are disproportionately harmed by vaccine injury,” adding: “Blacks react completely differently to vaccines … we now know it’s just one huge experiment on Black Americans, and they know what is happening and they are doing nothing.”
The report also argues that, from the earliest days of Operation Warp Speed, Kennedy has built “an anti-vaccine juggernaut” around opposition to Covid-19 vaccinations, which he has called “the deadliest vaccine ever made”.
He has sought to frame Covid vaccines as an elaborate conspiracy to enrich the medical establishment and big pharmaceutical companies. In a YouTube video, Kennedy accused Bill Gates of developing an “injectable chip” to enable the tracking of human movements and attempting to “genetically modify” humanity to “the flow of global information”.
Kennedy has even accused his former anti-vaccine ally, Donald Trump, of selling out to Pfizer by developing vaccines.
Such anti-scientific views go way back. Kennedy has claimed that fluoridated water is “drugging” children, HIV does not cause Aids and chemicals in the water are making people gay or transgender as well as pushing nonsensical conspiracy theories about wifi and 5G cellular networks.
As the son of former attorney general Robert Kennedy, and nephew of former president John F Kennedy, Kennedy has caused anguish to one of America’s most storied political dynasties with his toxic views.
In 2019 three relatives wrote an opinion column for the Politico website condemning his anti-vaccine advocacy, which they held partially responsible for a measles outbreak.
The Congressional Integrity Project contends that Kennedy is a “Republican stooge” who is being embraced by the far right in an attempt to damage Biden. He has become a regular guest on Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News and other rightwing outlets. Far-right provocateurs Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Alex Jones and Michael Flynn have praised him.
Now Republicans have invited Kennedy to Congress. On Thursday he is due to address the House of Representatives’ select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government during a hearing to examine “the federal government’s role in censoring Americans”. The panel is chaired by the Trump loyalist Jim Jordan, who has been criticised for launching bogus investigations into Biden.
Kyle Herrig, executive director of Congressional Integrity Project, said: “Giving RFK Jr a platform to spread dangerous conspiracy theories and xenophobic and antisemitic rhetoric is a new low for Jim Jordan – and that says something.
“Jim Jordan should stop the charade and disinvite RFK Jr immediately. Allowing this hearing to go forward is shameless and beyond the pale. Maga Republicans’ desperation is on full display this week, proving once again that they have no credibility to conduct legitimate investigations.”",Explicit
"PORTLAND, Ore. -- A man being investigated in the deaths of four women in Oregon had previously attacked and choked one of them, her father said. But the man was not arrested until months later — only after the women's bodies were discovered scattered across northwest Oregon.
The bodies had raised fears a serial killer was targeting young women in the area. The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office announced Monday that investigators and prosecutors from nine law enforcement agencies have found links between the four deaths, with at least one person of interest identified.
The statement did not name the person, but a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation said Tuesday it is Jesse Lee Calhoun. The official requested anonymity because they are not authorized to comment publicly on the case. Calhoun was arrested on June 6 by members of two sheriff's departments with U.S. Marshals Service assisting, the official said.
The bodies of Kristin Smith, 22; Charity Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; and Ashley Real, 22, were found over a three-month period in wooded areas, under a bridge and in a culvert in a roughly 100-mile (160-kilometer) radius, spanning from rural Polk County southwest of Portland to the Columbia River Gorge, east of the city.
Real’s body was the latest one found, on May 7. Her father, Jose Real, told the Oregonian/OregonLive that he called police on Nov. 11 after she showed up, crying, at his Portland home, saying she had been attacked and choked by Calhoun.
A Portland police officer took an initial report from him and his daughter, Real said, and she gave the officer Calhoun’s name. Police wanted her to help find him but she was scared, Real told the newspaper.
“They took a report,” he said, “but after that, they did nothing.”
Because the location of the alleged assault was outside Portland police jurisdiction, the department referred the case to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Jose Real said he and his daughter never heard back from police.
“The police didn’t do their work,” he said. “And now my daughter is dead.”
Portland Police Sgt. Kevin Allen said in an email Friday that the department cannot comment on any reports or information related to Calhoun because of “an active ongoing criminal investigation.” Sheriff's Deputy John Plock also said he could not comment because of an active investigation.
Calhoun was one of 41 prison inmates whose prison sentence was lowered by one year in 2021 by then-Gov. Kate Brown after they helped battle devastating 2020 wildfires in Oregon.
Calhoun was released from the Columbia River Correctional Institution on July 22, 2021, almost one year before his projected release date, the Oregon Department of Corrections said Friday. He had been serving a 50-month sentence for assaulting a police officer, trying to strangle a police dog, burglary and felony unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Sen. Tim Knopp, leader of the minority Oregon Senate Republicans, on Tuesday blamed Brown for letting “violent offenders” out early. But even if Brown hadn't commuted Calhoun's sentence, he would have been released months before the deaths occurred.
Still, a relative of another woman who died blamed police for being slow to react. Melissa Smith, Kristin Smith's mother, said in a video on Facebook that she reported her daughter missing in December to police in a Portland suburb, but, she said, “I was not given the help that I needed.”
Family members posted flyers about the missing woman and searched parts of Portland. Kristin Smith's body was the first of the four to be discovered, in a wooded area of a Portland neighborhood, on Feb. 19. Melissa Smith praised a detective with the Portland Police Bureau for more aggressively pursuing the case.
The district attorney's announcement Monday said no charges have been filed in connection with any of the deaths. But Calhoun is back behind bars. Gov. Tina Kotek revoked his commutation on July 3.
Calhoun is now back in prison to serve the remainder of his sentence, with his new projected release date June 9, 2024, Oregon Department of Corrections spokesperson Amber Campbell said Friday.
___
Selsky reported from Salem, Oregon. Rhonda Shafner in New York and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this story.",Explicit
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Maria Sherman, Associated Press
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Country music star Jason Aldean’s latest music video for “Try That In A Small Town,” lasted just one weekend on Country Music Television before the network pulled it in response to an outcry over its setting and lyrics.
In the video, Aldean — who has been awarded country music artist of the decade by the Academy of Country Music — performs in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee. This is the site of the 1946 Columbia race riot and the 1927 mob lynching of an 18-year-old Black teenager named Henry Choate.
Aldean’s video, which was released last Friday, has received fervent criticism online, with some claiming the visual is a “dog whistle” and others labeling it “pro-lynching.”
Interspersed between performance footage of Aldean are news clips of violent riots and flag burning. A Fox News chyron reads: “State of emergency declared in Georgia.”
“Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light it up / Yeah, ya think you’re tough,” Aldean, who is from Macon, Georgia, sings. “Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round up / Well, that s*** might fly in the city, good luck / Try that in a small town.”
“There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it – and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage – and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music — this one goes too far,” Aldean wrote in a tweet posted Tuesday.
The production company behind the video, Tacklebox, said in a statement Wednesday that it picked a “popular filming location outside of Nashville” that had been used on numerous productions, including holiday films starring Tanya Tucker and one starring Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer.
“Any alternative narrative suggesting the music video’s location decision is false,” the company said, adding that Aldean did not choose the location.
Aldean has long identified as conservative, and has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump. “My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from,” he tweeted Tuesday.
The video and its subsequent removal from CMT quickly blew up into one of the periodic culture war clashes, with several conservative figures speaking out in favor of Aldean — including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert.
This isn’t the first time Aldean has been at the center of controversy. In 2015, he made headlines for dressing as rapper Lil Wayne as a Halloween costume, wearing blackface makeup and a wig with dreadlocks.
In 2017, the country singer was on stage at the Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Over the years, Aldean has given conflicting statements about his stance on U.S. gun laws, though his music celebrates gun ownership.
WATCH: Biden signs law making lynching a federal hate crime
“It’s too easy to get guns, first and foremost,” he told The Associated Press after the Las Vegas shooting. “When you can walk in somewhere and you can get one in 5 minutes, do a background check that takes 5 minutes, like how in-depth is that background check? Those are the issues I have. It’s not necessarily the guns themselves or that I don’t think people should have guns. I have a lot of them.”
“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” Aldean said on Twitter Tuesday. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”
A CMT spokesperson did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.
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"CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — A video shows a police officer allow his K9 to attack a Black suspect who was surrendering with his hands in the air following a traffic pursuit, despite repeated orders from State Highway Patrol troopers to hold the dog back, reports say.
The incident on the Fourth of July in Circleville has led to an investigation as to why the officer allowed the K9 to attack Jadarrius Rose, 23, following a “lengthy” pursuit involving a tractor-trailer, Reuters reports.
According to NBC News, the chase started Ohio 35 when Rose refused to stop his tractor-trailer for a Motor Carrier Enforcement inspector. The tractor-trailer rose was driving was missing a mudflap, reports say.
State Highway Patrol troopers were called in to help and stop-sticks were used twice on Ohio 23 to end the chase, NBC News reports. Authorities say Rose initially refused to get out of the truck. He eventually got out of the driver’s side door, but then ignore orders to get on the ground, reports say.
Video from a body camera shows an officer with the Circleville Police Department holding back the K9 as troopers yell for Rose to get on the ground with his hands up. Rose eventually does get on his knees with his hands in the air.
A trooper then can be heard repeatedly yelling at the Circleville officer “Do not release the dog with his hands up!” However, the officer lets the dog go and it can be seen in the video attacking Rose. The trooper can be heard yelling repeatedly, “Get the dog off of him!” Rose also can be heard screaming in pain and yelling “Get it off of me!”
ABC News reports Rose was taken to a hospital for dog bites before being charged with failure to comply. Authorities say it remains unclear why he refused to stop for the inspector and troopers.
Meanwhile, NBC News reports that it’s unknown why the Circleville officer let the dog attack Rose and whether the officer has been disciplined by the department. A representative with the police union tells WSYX Channel 6 that “everyone reserve judgement until that time” during the investigation into the incident.
But Nana Watson, president of the NAACP Columbus chapter, says the video was disturbing.
“I was traumatized because it brought back memories from the 1960s,” Watson tells WSYX. “I was afraid for him. I was fearful for him. I was taken aback when he had his hands up and they unleashed the dog on him.”",Explicit
"Armed police have swarmed on Auckland’s CBD after reports of a gunman at a building under construction near Britomart and fears there are multiple people injured.
There are unconfirmed reports of a person with a gun at a building site. Gun shots were heard at the scene at 8.08am.
A distressed construction worker told the Herald he encountered the gunman on the stairs of a property under development.
Multiple officers are currently in Quay St near Britomart. The public is being told to stay indoors and avoid lower Queen St.
Several workers at a building site can be seen crouching behind piles of building materials near where police are gathering.
At least one construction worker has been injured and was escorted from the scene by police. This person is receiving first aid from several officers.
A man with blood on his face could be seen being rushed into an ambulance.
St John ambulance says so far two people are confirmed hurt - one person has serious injuries and one has moderate injuries.
It is understood the drama is centred at 1 Queen St, a Precinct Properties building which L.T. McGuinness is working on. Matt McGuinness confirmed to the Herald it was his site the suspected gunman was on.
“I’m from South Africa … we left there not to have this,” one construction worker said.
Several roads are closed in the CBD including sections of Lower Hobson St, Quay St, Queen St, and Lower Albert St.
Members of the public are being told to seek shelter at the HSBC Tower.
Fullers says all ferry services suspended until further notice.
Police are asking the public to “move on” and stop crowding around the scene.
A woman watching the scene said she was evacuated from Commercial Bay.
Police are telling people to go home, “you won’t be going back in there.”
Train services are still running and customers can still exit Britomart via the Takutai exit located towards the tunnel end of each platform.
Commuters are told to expect major delays to all public transport.",Explicit
"A Texas man has been arrested and charged with kidnapping a San Antonio girl at gunpoint and repeatedly assaulting her on a trip to California, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California news release. Federal authorities said the girl escaped by writing ""help me"" on a piece of paper to alert someone she was unsafe.
Steven Robert Sablan, 61, of Celburne in North Texas, allegedly drove the girl to Long Beach, California and sexually assaulted her multiple times before his arrest. The release stated Sablan is being charged with one count of kidnapping and one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Authorities said the 13-year-old girl was walking down the street in San Antonio on July 6 when Sablan approached her in a gray Nissan Sentra. The 61-year-old man allegedly raised a black handgun to his side and said to the girl, ""if you don't get in the car with me, I am going to hurt you."" The released stated the girl got in the car and Sablan began driving her to California.
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On July 9, Sablan stopped at a laundromat, where he left the girl in the car, according to the release. She proceeded to write ""Help me!"" on a piece of paper to try and alert someone she was in danger. Authorities said a witness then called the police, who arrived and found the girl mouthing ""help"" as Sablan stood outside the vehicle.
Sablan is scheduled to be arraigned on July 31 in a U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles, according to the release. If Seblan is convicted of both charges, he could face up to life in prison.",Explicit
"Rudy Giuliani admits he spewed lies about two Georgia election workers he infamously accused of trying to rig the 2020 election for President Biden.
The ex-New York City mayor and current lawyer for former President Donald Trump conceded in a late night court filing that he does not contest the allegations against him made in a defamation lawsuit filed by Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss.
“(Giuliani) does not contest that … such actionable factual statements are false,” his lawyers wrote in the signed filing.
Despite the admission, Giuliani, 79, insisted that he should not be found liable because the statements “did not carry meaning that is defamatory, per se” and that they are “constitutionally protected statements or opinions.”
Giuliani is facing possible sanctions from Federal District Court Judge Beryl Howell for repeatedly failing to hand over information demanded by the election workers.
It remains to be seen if his latest legal strategy will satisfy the judge.
Giuliani was one of Trump’s primary mouthpieces in the weeks after the 2020 election and repeatedly spread lies about supposed fraud that could have helped Biden win.
He claimed without evidence that Freeman and Moss were caught on video surveillance passing USB drives to help Biden cheat. The pair testified under oath that it was actually a ginger mint. Last month, Freeman and Moss were cleared of any wrongdoing by Georgia investigators.
Giuliani faces a slew of legal worries related to his efforts to help Trump overturn the election.
He has been questioned by the Atlanta grand jury that might indict Trump and others next month for election interference in the Peach State.
The former mayor has also cooperated with special counsel Jack Smith in the Jan. 6 probe of Trump.
He was also hit with an unrelated lurid sexual harassment lawsuit in which a business consultant claims he forced her to have sex with him and regularly performed oral sex on him while he spoke to Trump, which “made him feel like Bill Clinton.”
Giuliani says the woman wasn’t an employee and they were dating.",Explicit
"Kenya police are told not to report deaths during protests. A watchdog says they killed 6 this week
Police in Kenya say they have been ordered not to report deaths amid demonstrations against the rising cost of living, but an independent watchdog says at least six people were shot dead by police on Wednesday and 27 were shot dead in such protests earlier this year.
A police official told The Associated Press they were told this week not to report any deaths in the demonstrations that the political opposition has called through Friday. It wasn't immediately clear who issued the order. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly. Police in the previous demonstration last week confirmed officers killed at least six.
While police in Kenya have long been accused by rights groups of using excessive force, there is growing concern about tactics used under the government of President William Ruto, elected last year. One police officer also was seen posing as a journalist in Wednesday's protest, which the Media Council of Kenya called dangerous.
""One thing we're very concerned with, there's increasing interference with police, where police are receiving orders outside the police command and beginning to act in the interests of the executive and not the public interest,"" the executive director of the Independent Medico-Legal Unit watchdog, Peter Kiama, told the AP on Thursday.
The failure to report deaths or injuries from police action within 24 hours to the government-created Independent Policing Oversight Authority is illegal, Kiama said. A commissioner with the IPOA, John Waiganjo, confirmed to local broadcaster NTV on Thursday that the organization had ""not received notifications as we should, and I think it's important to point that out.""
Data from Kiama's organization, shared with the AP, shows 27 people confirmed shot dead by police in three previous opposition-called demonstrations this year. In addition, the watchdog has confirmed six shot dead by police on Wednesday, four of them in the capital, Nairobi, Kiama said. They were trying to confirm four more in various parts of the country. The AP on Wednesday confirmed two deaths in the western city of Kisumu and witnessed at least three people shot and wounded in Nairobi.
""It seems the police are out to completely disregard the public interest, and that's dangerous for us,"" Kiama said. ""We've been there in the '90s and saw what happened, the issue of plainclothes officers abducting people without identifying themselves. That's what we're seeing unfolding."" That has intensified in recent weeks, he said.
The Kenya Medical Association in a statement before Wednesday's protests said that its members had attended to ""hundreds of injured Kenyans and witnessed tens of fatalities"" as a result of the demonstrations in recent months. The statement didn't say who caused the deaths and injuries.
A spokesman for the interior ministry, Francis Gachuri, on Thursday referred questions to the police, asserting that they have operational independence. A police spokeswoman didn't pick up calls.
The interior ministry has said more than 300 people were arrested during Wednesday's protests and will be charged with crimes that include looting, destroying property and assaulting police.
Authorities didn't comment on the dead and wounded or respond to witness allegations that police officers at times fired into homes and posed as journalists.
An AP journalist on Wednesday watched as a man who had been filming video among journalists broke away and tackled a man who stood in a Nairobi neighbourhood and shouted that tear gas had been thrown into his house and his child had fainted. Images of the arrest show the tackling man being joined by uniformed officers and putting the civilian into a waiting truck.
Police have accused him of abusing officers and throwing stones, his wife, Wilmer Atieno, told the AP after visiting him in custody.
""But as you can see in the video, he was just shouting,"" she said.
He hadn't been taking part in the protests, she added. Their 2-year-old daughter was recovering from the tear gas and asking about her father.
""I don't know how to tell her,"" Atieno said.
Amnesty International Kenya said in a statement on Thursday said that ""we are concerned about the increasing use of nonuniformed officers to effect arbitrary arrests of peaceful protesters contrary to criminal procedure code.""
In comments to diplomats on Thursday, the Cabinet secretary for foreign affairs, Alfred Mutua, largely blamed the opposition protesters.
""These violent demonstrators have seen innocent members of the public attacked, private property looted and destroyed, police officers on duty to ensure law and order injured,"" he said. ""Most regrettably a number of Kenyans have lost their lives.""
Reporting on killings and torture by police can be sensitive in Kenya, where watchdogs have long warned about a culture of impunity. In the 1990s, police were accused of suppressing critics of repressive President Daniel arap Moi.
The current president, Ruto, faces rising frustration from even some of the Kenyans who voted him into office after he vowed to reduce the cost of living. The demonstrations were sparked by the recent passage of a finance bill imposing new taxes. Kenya's religious leaders have urged the president to repeal it, warning that Kenyans face a level of hopelessness that ""can easily inspire insurrection.""
The International Monetary Fund this week called the law's approval a ""crucial"" step toward reducing Kenya's debt vulnerabilities.
As part of efforts to reassure partners about Kenya's economic opportunities, Ruto on Wednesday met with visiting U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai even as the latest wave of protests emptied Nairobi's streets.
------
Evelyne Musambi and Brian Inganga contributed to this report.
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"One frustrated parent got out of her car on Westway in Acton, west London, claiming her baby needed to go to hospital.
She shouted to one of the eco-activists: ‘I’ve got a baby in my car and we have to get to hospital.’
Despite her pleas, the protestors refused to let her through.
A second mum helped join the criticism, saying: ‘Who are you to decide who gets to go? You’re not f***ing God.
‘People pay to be on these roads. Don’t tell me you’ve never got in a f***ing car.’
Just Stop Oil claims they have 160 protestors out on roads today.
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A group of counter-protestors tried to stop rush hour traffic from being halted yesterday.
Social media stars Josh Pieters and Archie Manners joined in a group surrounding the eco-protestors.
They were seen holding hands around the protestors, forcing them to stay sitting on the road in Elephant and Castle, south London.
The counter-protest group’s shirts read: ‘Just Sop P***ing Everyone Off.’
Witnesses said the eco-protestors were driven off the road after the group circled them and linked arms around their slow march, which aims to bring traffic to a halt.
Around a dozen people helped to stop the protest, before police had even arrived on the scene.
Some members of Just Stop Oil tried to start a debate, but Archie, 30, replied: ‘There’s an election this time next year. If you don’t like this government why don’t you stand for election.
‘You are very welcome to leave at any point.
‘We just want to stop you p*ssing people off.’
It comes as public frustration with the group, which has vowed to ‘paralyse London’ with slow-marching columns in a bid to force the government to scrap new domestic oil and gas licences, has started to boil over into violence.
Climate campaigner Daniel Knorr, 21, was punched to the ground by one furious motorist who blamed one of the slow protests for crashing his car with his pregnant partner inside.
And earlier this week another car user got out to remonstrate with JSO activists holding up traffic in Westminster.
He was filmed pushing them off the street and dragging one away by his high-vis jacket.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.",Explicit
"At a glance
The chief executive of McDonald's UK and Ireland has commended a former employee for speaking out about her ""horrific experience""
Ciara Mangan waived her right to anonymity and told the public how her McDonald's colleague, who has been sentenced to seven years in prison, raped her at a party
She said she was then subjected to workplace taunts including ""rape songs""
It comes as the fast-food chain launched a new investigation-handling unit after the BBC reported on dozens of abuse allegations
- Published
McDonald's will investigate allegations that a former employee in Ireland faced taunts at work after she was raped by a colleague at a house party 10 years ago.
Ciara Mangan, 28, from County Mayo, waived her right to anonymity this week and spoke publicly for the first time.
Shane Noonan, 28, of Castlehill Park, Turlough Road in Castlebar pleaded guilty to the attack and was sentenced on Monday.
Ms Mangan said her colleagues subjected her to ""rape songs"" and ""rape comments"" in the aftermath.
It comes as more than 100 claims of sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying at McDonald's emerged in a BBC investigation earlier this week.
In a statement, the fast-food company's UK and Ireland chief executive Alistair Macrow said: ""I commend Ciara's bravery in speaking about her horrific experience.
""I am deeply appalled by these new allegations and commit to investigating them to our fullest extent through our investigation-handling unit.""
'Source of entertainment'
Noonan was jailed for seven years for what the judge described as a ""cold, predatory and premeditated"" rape of Ms Mangan.
Irish broadcaster RTÃ reported, external that she told the court the attack happened in May 2013 when she went to a party with work colleagues and became unwell after being handed an open can of cider.
She said Noonan guided her upstairs and then raped her in the bathroom as she drifted in an out of consciousness.
Following the attack, Ms Mangan told the court she was taunted by work colleagues who ""found it funny and a source of entertainment"".
This, she said, was ""absolute hell on earth"" and made her doubt herself.
""I felt confused, embarrassed, disregarded, bullied, stressed, overwhelmed and that I wouldn't be believed,"" she said.
In an interview with The Irish Times on Friday, Ms Mangan spoke of some of the alleged workplace harassment., external
""Everybody in work knew I was raped and it was the joke of the day. Then the tormenting started, and for the next 10 months,"" she said.
It was not until her younger sister was about to start work at the same restaurant with Noonan that Ms Mangan told her parents what had happened.
'Fallen short'
On Friday, Alistair Macrow issued an ""unreserved apology"", external to those affected by allegations made public through a BBC investigation this week.
Announcing the establishment of an investigations unit, Mr Macrow admitted the business has ""fallen short in some critical areas"".
""It is crucial that people feel safe and able to speak up,"" he said. ""Clearly this has not been the case in some parts of our business.""
He said the chain is also appointing external experts to independently examine how workers' claims are ""escalated"".
""I am determined to root out any behaviour or conduct that falls below the high standards of respect, safety and inclusion we demand of everyone at McDonald's,"" Mr Macrow added.
What to do if you have been harassed at work
Report it: Charity Victim Support, external says you can report it to your manager, HR representative or trade union who will take action.
Keep a record: Including dates, times and details of what happened, as well as any relevant emails. These could be helpful if you decide to report it.
Get help: Victim Support operates a free and confidential 24/7 helpline and live chat service. Call 0808 16 89 111 or use the live chat at: victimsupport.org.uk/live-chat., external
Call the police: If harassment escalates into violence, threats or sexual assault, you should report this to the police by calling 101. If you are in danger, call 999.
If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, information and support is available via the BBC Action Line.",Explicit
"BOSTON — A former New Hampshire state lawmaker and the one-time partner of a woman charged with taking sexually explicit photos of children at the Massachusetts day care center where she worked has also been charged in the case, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
No defense attorney was listed for Laughton in court records. She will appear in court at a later date.
Lindsay Groves, 38, of Hudson, New Hampshire, was charged last month with sexual exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography for allegedly taking nude photos of children at Creative Minds Early Learning Center in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, and texting them to another person.
Prosecutors said Tuesday that a preliminary forensic review of Groves’ cellphone allegedly revealed more than 10,000 text messages between Laughton and Groves. The texts allegedly included discussion about, and transfer of, explicit photographs that Groves had taken of children who appear to be about 3 to 5 years old.
Groves remains in state custody in New Hampshire. An email seeking comment was left with her federal public defender.
Laughton, a Democrat, resigned from the New Hampshire House in December after being charged with stalking Groves.
Laughton in 2012 was believed to be the first transgender person elected to a state legislature. But she resigned before taking her seat after reports surfaced about her 2008 convictions for identity fraud and falsifying evidence. She successfully ran again in 2020 and was re-elected in 2022. She resigned in December after being jailed on the charges related to Groves.
The charge of sexual exploitation of children can lead to a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
A voicemail seeking comment was left with the day care center.
Copyright © 2023 The Washington Times, LLC.
Click to Read More and View Comments
Click to Hide",Explicit
"Hunter Biden’s attorney files ethics complaint against Marjorie Taylor Greene for showing sexual images
Hunter Biden’s lawyer filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) Friday, requesting that an ethics watchdog “immediately” initiate a review of Greene’s conduct after she showed sexually explicit photos of Biden at a congressional hearing this week.
In a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), Biden attorney Abbe David Lowell slammed Greene’s actions as “abhorrent behavior that blatantly violates House Ethics rules and standards of official conduct.”
“Now more than ever, the House has a duty to make loud and clear that it does not endorse, condone, or agree with her outrageous, undignified conduct and brazen violations of the standards of official conduct that do not reflect creditably on the House of Representatives,” Lowell wrote.
The OCE is a non-partisan, independent entity previously established by the House that reviews allegations of misconduct involving lawmakers, officers and House staffers and, if warranted, refers matters to the Ethics Committee.
Greene and the OCE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The episode in question took place Wednesday during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing that featured testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who allege that prosecutors slow-walked the investigation into Hunter Biden.
During her time to question the witnesses, Greene held up posters that showed graphic sexual photos from the laptop hard drive that allegedly belonged to Hunter Biden. The faces of other individuals involved in the sex acts were censored with black boxes, but Biden’s face was visible in the photos.
Emily Brooks contributed.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"NAIROBI, Kenya — The number of people who died in connection with Kenya’s doomsday cult has crossed the 400 mark as detectives exhumed 12 more bodies on Monday believed to be followers of a pastor who ordered them to fast to death in order to meet Jesus.
Pastor Paul Mackenzie, who is linked to the cult based in a forested area in Malindi, coastal Kenya, is in police custody, along with 36 other suspects. All have yet to be charged.
Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha on Monday said the number of those who died has risen to 403, with 95 people rescued.
Last month, some suspects and people rescued started a hunger strike in prison and at the rescue center, prompting the prosecutor to take them to court for attempting to kill themselves. Most of them agreed to resume eating, but one suspect died in custody.
Some 613 people have so far been reported missing to Kenya Red Cross officers stationed in Malindi town. Detectives are still finding mass graves.
Onyancha said 253 of the 403 bodies had undergone DNA matching. Pathologists had earlier said most of the bodies were decomposed.
Mackenzie moved to the forested area in 2019 after his church was closed over his preaching, which included asking children not to go to school.
He was previously arrested and released on bond over the disappearance of children.
A judicial commission of inquiry formed by President William Ruto to establish what happened and who was liable was quashed by a court order after opposition leader Raila Odinga filed a petition against it.
The president had said what transpired in Malindi was “akin to terrorism” and vowed to crack down on “those using religion to advance their heinous acts.”",Explicit
"Women’s World Cup opener to proceed as scheduled after shooting in New Zealand
A gunman killed two people at a construction site in New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland on Thursday, as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer tournament, authorities said.
Police said there were also multiple injuries during the incident, which took place near the hotel where Team Norway has been staying.
All World Cup teams are confirmed to be safe, and New Zealand Prime Minster Chris Hipkins said the tournament would go ahead as planned.
""Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,"" Hipkins said. ""The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned. I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.""
Acting Police Superintendent Sunny Patel said the man began shooting at the site on lower Queen Street at about 7:20 a.m. Police swarmed the area and closed off streets.
The man moved through the building, firing at people there, Patel said.
""Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft and our staff have attempted to engage with him,"" Patel said in a statement. ""Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later.""
It wasn’t immediately clear if police had shot the gunman or he had killed himself.
Patel said that while alarming, the incident was isolated and didn’t pose a national security risk.
The incident comes as soccer teams gathered in New Zealand for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The opening match is scheduled for Thursday between New Zealand and Norway. Matches will continue as planned in the wake of the tragedy.
Team Norway captain Maren Mjelde said people woke up quickly when a helicopter began hovering outside the hotel window.
""We felt safe the whole time,"" she said in a statement. ""FIFA has a good security system at the hotel, and we have our own security officer in the squad. Everyone seems calm and we are preparing as normal for the game tonight.""
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Lionel Messi takes field with Inter Miami teammates for first time since signing
Sophia Smith pays tribute to her late friend ahead of World Cup opener",Explicit
"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is set to face a no-confidence vote in parliament amid a deadlock with the opposition over violence in the state of Manipur.
A lawmaker from the opposition Congress party moved a no-confidence motion on Wednesday.
Opposition leaders have said this is to force Mr Modi to speak on Manipur.
They have been demanding that he address parliament on the ethnic clashes in the state.
Federal home minister Amit Shah told the Lok Sabha – the lower house of parliament – earlier this week that the government was ready to discuss the violence in Manipur and accused the opposition of preventing this.
At least 130 people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in Manipur since May after violence broke out between the majority Meitei group and the tribal Kuki minority.
On Wednesday, two motions were moved by MPs from the Congress party and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi – the first was accepted.",Explicit
"A Tory rising star who has rubbed shoulders with Rishi Sunak has been filmed offering “fun flour” to a guest on a signed framed photograph of a grinning David Cameron.
Philip Stephenson-Oliver – chair of the powerful Westminster North Conservative Association – then watches as a pal appears to use a banknote to snort what is claimed to be cocaine in his bedroom at a house party on July 14.
Moments later he was seen doing the same thing himself.
Now Stephenson-Oliver, 29 has been suspended by furious Conservative Party bosses, leaving his dream of becoming an MP in tatters.
Only hours before the video was shot he had been with London Mayor candidate Susan Hall at an event organised by his Tory Association.
He proudly posed for a picture with her to add to his album of snaps with the likes of Mr Sunak, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden and former Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
Stephenson-Oliver’s hopes of moving up the Party ladder were boosted last year when was selected as a Conservative candidate for Westminster Council, only narrowly missing out on a seat.
But now those hopes have been dashed by the impromptu party with pals at his home in one of most upmarket areas of West London.
A witness claims he produced “cocaine” from a bedside drawer and asked pub quiz questions to decide whose turn it was to snort.
One question is said to have referred to a scandalous claim in a biography of his PM hero, supposedly asking: “What animal did David Cameron f***?” A friend is said to have shouted in reply: “A f****** pig, come on Phil I thought you’d make it difficult this time.”
Footage shows Stephenson-Oliver hunched over, gripping the Cameron picture. Then he lowers it before getting to his feet having apparently laid a line of the substance.
A photograph of the framed Cameron picture also shows remnants of white powder, a rolled up note and a bank card clearly displaying Stephenson-Oliver’s full name. The witness said: “Philip was sitting on the bed with his signed picture of David Cameron, a 10 dollar bill, and his card. He pulled out a small black zip lock bag from his nightstand and emptied out powder onto it. He began cutting it with his card when someone else came in and said, ‘God is that David Cameron?’”
Our witness said that shortly afterwards they declined a line, prompting Stephenson-Oliver to quip: “God, alright then, more fun flour for me’, before snorting again.
Stephenson-Oliver is now not only in hot water with his party, but also with military chiefs. His post as a reservist in the Army’s Honourable Artillery Company seems certain to be axed. In September, he proudly posted a Facebook snap of himself in uniform at his passing out parade.
On October 24, the day before Mr Sunak became PM, Stephenson-Oliver uploaded a picture to Facebook of him posing with the politician, adding: “This photo has aged well.” Two months earlier, Stephenson-Oliver was pictured close to Mr Sunak at a Westminster North Association event. Away from politics, he runs a wine company.
Last year the Government released a drugs policy paper in which the then prime minister Boris Johnson wrote: “We cannot allow the impression to be given that occasional drug use is acceptable. It isn’t.
“So there will be new penalties for drug users. Because drugs cause crime and crime ruins innocent lives.” The maximum penalty for cocaine possession is seven years. Supplying the drug – even with no money changing hands – risks an even heftier sentence.
The British Army’s website says “substance misuse is incompatible with Army life, and it will never be tolerated”. The Ministry of Defence declined to comment.
A Conservative Party spokesperson confirmed: “Mr Stephenson-Oliver has been suspended pending investigation.” Stephenson-Oliver said: “This was a private gathering in my home. A few seconds of video footage filmed illicitly by someone I thought was a friend is both disappointing and potentially an invasion of my privacy and the privacy of others. I certainly challenge the very questionable testimony and actions that night from the person that the newspaper relies on for this story.
“However, I do apologise for any embarrassment that these covert and out of context images might bring to others.”",Explicit
"The director overseeing Miami-Dade Police Department, the largest police department in the Southeast, was involved in a domestic dispute Sunday night after which he shot himself on the side of the highway near Tampa, according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesperson.
MDPD Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III is undergoing a second surgery to treat injuries, according to a MDPD spokesperson.
Tampa Police said they responded to a report of a male with a gun outside the Marriott Waterside hotel shortly after 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Initial interviews indicated that the man had been pointing the gun at himself, but police could not find witnesses or security footage to corroborate the story.
Police found the man reported, later confirmed as Ramirez, inside the hotel with an unidentified woman, according to the police statement. Ramirez admitted to having an argument with the woman but denied showing a firearm or having any intention to harm himself or others.
The woman said she did not fear for her safety, according to police, at which point Ramirez was released.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol are investigating the incident that led to Ramirez's injuries, which occurred South of Tampa on I-75, said the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. No one else was injured, officials said.
As reported by the Miami Herald, Ramirez was in Tampa to attend the Florida Sheriff’s Association summer conference with his wife.
MDPD released a brief statement Tuesday afternoon stating that Ramirez is in his second surgery for his injuries. ""The entire Miami-Dade Police Department stands together behind Freddy and asks that our community continue to keep him in their prayers.""
If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call or text the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 any time day or night, or chat online at 988lifeline.org.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Miami-Dade Police Director 'Freddy' Ramirez shot himself, in surgery",Explicit
"A video showing two women being paraded naked by a mob in the north-eastern state of Manipur, hit by violent ethnic clashes, has sparked outrage in India.
The police say they have opened a case of gang rape and arrested a man, adding that others will be held soon.
On Thursday, parliament's session in Delhi was disrupted as lawmakers demanded a debate on the issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said the incident had ""shamed India"" and that ""no guilty will be spared"".
""I assure the nation, the law will take its course with all its might. What happened with the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,"" he said, finally breaking his silence on Manipur more than two months after violence erupted.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also expressed concern over the assault, saying the Supreme Court was ""deeply disturbed over the video"". Telling the government to inform the court about the steps being taken against the accused, the chief justice said ""we will take action if you don't"".
Deadly violence has plunged Manipur, a scenic Indian state bordering Myanmar, into turmoil for more than two months.
Clashes between members of the majority Meitei and the Kuki tribal communities have resulted in their complete segregation. At least 130 people have died and 60,000 have been displaced.
The two women, who are Kukis, were assaulted by men of the Meitei group.
Warning: This article contains details some readers may find distressing.
Police say the assault on the women took place on 4 May but it made national headlines on Thursday after the video started going viral on social media. The federal government has asked all social media companies to delete the video from their platforms.
The horrific video of the two women was widely shared on social media on Wednesday. It shows them being dragged and groped by a mob of men who then push them into a field.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) said in a statement that the atrocities had been committed in a village in Kangpokpi district against women from the Kuki-Zo tribal community. It also alleged that the women had been gang raped.
Women's bodies have become a battleground
By Geeta Pandey, BBC News, Delhi
It's well known that women's bodies often become a battleground during riots and conflicts, and rape and sexual assault are used as instruments of violence to punish them.
The sexual assault of the Kuki women in Manipur is the latest example. The footage showing the women weeping, wincing in pain and begging their attackers to show some mercy is disturbing to watch.
The fact that the first arrest has been made only now, more than two months after the attack was reported to police, does not inspire confidence in the authorities - all the more so since many of the men are clearly identifiable in the footage.
But the outrage that followed the video's emergence in India has put the spotlight on the horrific crime. It has also raised questions about the failure of the state in comforting the survivors - and finally forced Mr Modi to make a statement on the ethnic violence that is tearing Manipur apart.
To restore some sort of confidence in Manipur, especially among the minority Kuki community, the authorities are now under pressure to act swiftly against the perpetrators and bring justice to the women. People across the country feel this should not be happening in modern India.
""The gang rape of the women happened after the village was burnt down and two men - one middle-aged and another a teenager - were beaten to death by the mob,"" the ITLF said.
But the police complaint filed by a relative of one of the women said only one of them was gang raped. It added that a third woman had been forced to strip but she is not seen in the video.
Police said that the incident took place on 4 May and that a case of abduction and gang rape and murder had been registered in Thoubal district.
The assault has been condemned by politicians across the spectrum.
Federal minister Smriti Irani, called it ""downright inhuman"".
Several opposition leaders also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government for not doing enough to quell the violence in the state.
Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadhra said that the ""images of sexual violence against women from Manipur are heart wrenching"".
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal weighed in too. ""This kind of heinous act cannot be tolerated in the Indian society,"" he said.
BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.",Explicit
"Some of the corpses were buried so recently that bits of skin with tattoos remained, and that has allowed relatives to identify four of the bodies, searchers said. But many were hacked into a half-dozen pieces.
Edith González, leader of the search group “For the Love of the Disappeared,” said clandestine burial site was located relatively close to the center of Reynosa. The spot is only about 4 miles (7 kms) from the border.
González said some of the 16 burial pits contained two or three bodies, and that the clandestine burial site may have been used by gangs as recently as a month or two ago. Some were covered by only 1 1/2 feet of earth.
The prosecutor’s office in the border state of Tamaulipas confirmed the find.
Drug and kidnapping gangs use such sites to dispose of the bodies of their victims.
The search group said an anonymous tip led searchers to the burials at a lot near an irrigation canal late last week.
“People are starting to shake off their fear and have begun reporting” the body dumping grounds, González said. She acknowledged that some tips may come from “people who worked there (for the gangs) and are no longer in that line of work.”
Such tips have proved a double-edged sword for search groups, which are usually made up of mothers or relatives of Mexico’s over 110,000 missing people.
Earlier this month, authorities said a drug cartel bomb attack used a fake report of a mass grave to lure police into a trap that killed four police officers and two civilians in Jalisco state, to the south. Authorities there temporarily suspended police involvement in searches based on anonymous tips as a safety measure.
The anonymous caller had given a volunteer searcher a tip about a supposed clandestine burial site near a roadway in Tlajomulco, Jalisco. The cartel buried improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, on the road and then detonated them as a police convoy passed. The IEDS were so powerful they destroyed four vehicles, injured 14 people and lefts craters in the road.",Explicit
"Ron DeSantis shocked everyone earlier this month when his campaign shared a deeply bigoted ad attacking LGBTQ people.
The video appeared to come from a conservative group made in support of the Florida governor. But it turns out that the video was actually made in-house and planted in the fan account.
The video (since taken down due to copyright issues) was originally posted on a pro-DeSantis Twitter account, which was then shared by DeSantis’s campaign. But in reality, a campaign aide made the video, The New York Times reported Sunday, and then sent it to an outside supporter to post first in order to make it look like the ad was made independently.
The ad features DeSantis shooting lasers out of his eyes, as well as clips from films and television shows such as American Psycho, Troy, and Peaky Blinders—all of which one would think are more of a lesson against the oppressive, militaristic approach to governance that DeSantis has been touting.
The poorly thought-out ad was part of a larger attempt to reinvigorate DeSantis’s struggling campaign. His bid for president has yet to take off, concerning both his team and his donors. In most polls, he is second to Trump, but the gap between them is large. DeSantis’s campaign has also been bleeding cash, to the tune of more than $212,000 per day on average, according to the Times.
Analysts say that there is still time for DeSantis to turn things around, but if the disastrous ad has shown anything, it’s that the Florida governor is struggling to find a message. DeSantis has focused on promising to fight “wokeness” but has failed to produce any actual policy ideas or a clear reason why people should vote for him over Trump. Attempts to portray himself as tougher or more ideologically right of Trump have backfired spectacularly.",Explicit
"Despite ongoing strikes in Hollywood that led to the exodus of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers from its opening slot last week, the Venice Film Festival will proceed—but not without a wave of early backlash.
When the prestigious festival unveiled its lineup on Tuesday, alongside films from Sofia Coppola, David Fincher, Ava DuVernay, and Bradley Cooper were works from a trio of men accused of sexual misconduct. Woody Allen’s Coup de Chance and Roman Polanski’s The Palace each scored out-of-competition slots, while Luc Besson will debut his new feature, DogMan, in competition at the fest.
“Luc Besson has been recently fully cleared of any accusations. Woody Allen went under legal scrutiny twice at the end of the ’90s and was absolved. With them, I don’t see where the issue is,” Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera told Variety in defense of their inclusion in the lineup.
Allen, whose next film is his first entirely in French, has been accused of sexual abuse against his adopted daughter in 1992, allegations for which he was never charged and which he has denied. Since 2018, multiple women have alleged sexual misconduct against Besson, who denies any wrongdoing and was cleared of rape accusations by a French court last month.
Polanski is the lone filmmaker in this group to be criminally charged for a sex crime. In 1977, he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He’s been living mostly in France since 1978, when he fled the United States on the eve of receiving his sentence because he believed the judge was going to send him to prison. He has since been accused of sexual abuse in 2010, 2017, and 2019, totaling six allegations altogether. Polanski denies all the claims and even reportedly threatened to sue his most recent accuser.
“In Polanski’s case, it’s paradoxical,” Barbera argued. “It’s been 60 years. Polanski has admitted his responsibility. He’s asked to be forgiven. He’s been forgiven by the victim. The victim has asked for the issue to be put to rest. I think that to keep beating on Polanski means seeking a scapegoat for other situations that would deserve more attention,” he continued, adding, “I am on the side of those who say you have to distinguish between the responsibilities of the individual and that of the artist.”
Polanski will not be attending the festival, which runs from August 30 to September 9. Barbera is “not sure” that Allen “will be doing press,” but “he is coming to the film’s premiere for sure.”",Explicit
"- President Joe Biden will create a national monument in honor of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley.
- Till's murder in Mississippi helped spark the civil-rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
- The monument locations will consist of a site in Chicago and two sites in rural Mississippi.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday will create a national monument in honor of Emmett Till, the Black teenager from Chicago whose 1955 kidnapping and murder in Mississippi was a defining spark in the emerging civil-rights movement, a White House official said on Saturday.
Biden is set to make the announcement on July 25, which would have been Till's 82nd birthday.
The president will sign a proclamation forming the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, which is also reflective of the decadeslong civil rights work of Till's mother, who fought valiantly for equality for Black Americans after her son's murder. The monument will consist of a site in Chicago, the city where Emmett Till was born, and two sites in Mississippi, where he traveled during that fateful 1955 summer to spend time with his cousins.
""The new monument will protect places that tell the story of Emmett Till's too-short life and racially-motivated murder, the unjust acquittal of his murderers, and the activism of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who courageously brought the world's attention to the brutal injustices and racism of the time, catalyzing the civil-rights movement,"" a White House official said in a statement.
In August 1955, Emmett Till was accused by Carolyn Bryant Donham of making improper advances toward her while he was inside the Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market in Money, Miss., which at the time was run by Donham and her then-husband, Roy Bryant.
The accusation prompted Bryant and his half-brother, J. W. Milam, to abduct Till at gunpoint from the home of his great-uncle, Moses Wright. Bryant and Milam then tortured and lynched the teenager before throwing his body into the Tallahatchie River.
Till's battered body was weighed down by a cotton-gin fan and was found several days later.
His face was left unrecognizable. But, at his funeral service in Chicago, Mamie Till-Mobley insisted that her son would have an open casket funeral so the world could see the brutality and horror of what her son endured in the segregated South.
The Illinois monument site will be the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, on the city's South Side, where Emmett Till's funeral was held in 1955. The Mississippi sites include Graball Landing, where it is believed that Till's body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, where Bryant and Milam were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury.
In a 1956 article in Look magazine, Bryant and Milam confessed to the murder. Both men have since died.
Donham died in April. She was 88 years old.
Last December, Congress voted to award the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to Till and his mother.
In March 2022, Biden signed into law the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, which made lynching a federal hate crime for the first time in US history.
The president's push to elevate civil rights leaders and acknowledge the full scope of Black history comes as Republicans in recent years have sought to limit how race can be taught in classrooms, with conservatives also targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and hailing the Supreme Court's recent decision to end affirmative action in college admissions.
Biden's original student debt relief plan, which was invalidated by the Supreme Court, was also intended to be one that had a significant racial equity element, as the administration sought to narrow the racial wealth gap by forgiving $10,000 in loans for individuals and $20,000 in loans for individuals who were Pell Grant recipients.",Explicit
"FORT WORTH, Texas -- A jury on Monday began deliberating the sentence for a 19-year-old who was found guilty of attempted capital murder in a 2021 shooting at a Dallas-area high school that wounded two other students and a teacher.
Timothy Simpkins faces up to life in prison following his conviction last week by the Tarrant County jury. Simpson was 18 when he opened fire on Oct. 6, 2021, inside Timberview High School in Arlington during a fight with Zaccheaus Selby, who was 15 at the time and was among those wounded.
Taking the witness stand during the trial's punishment phase, he said that he understood what he did was wrong. Simpkins repeatedly told jurors that he carried the gun to defend himself.
""I’m truly sorry. I’m just asking for another chance,” Simpkins said. “I wish every day I could take it back. But I can’t.”
According to testimony, Selby went straight to Simpkins when he entered the classroom late that morning and began beating Simpkins. After the two were separated, Simpkins fired at Selby, striking him three times.
Another student was grazed by a bullet while running to safety, and a teacher was shot in the shoulder.",Explicit
"Biden plans to sign a proclamation Tuesday, on the anniversary of Till's birthday, according to a White House official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity as the president has not formally indicated his plans. Till was a 14-year-old black boy who was shot and killed by a group of white men in Mississippi for allegedly flirting with a white woman, Carol Bryant, in 1955. His killers would tie his body to a cotton gin wheel with barbed wire to weigh his body down in the Tallahatchie River.
There are three proposed sites for the monuments, the first of which is Graball Landing, Mississippi, where Till's body was discovered. Another site will include the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Bryant's husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother J.W. Milam were acquitted of Till's murder. The third site will be Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Bronzeville, Illinois, Till's home state, where his funeral was held. At the time, his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, opted to hold an open-casket funeral to bring attention to her son's death.
During Black History Month this year, Biden hosted a showing of Till, a film based on his mother. The showing was held in the White House East Room and preceded by remarks from the president on the importance of teaching civil rights history. This came a year after the Emmett Till Antilynching Act was unanimously passed by the Senate and also passed by the House in a 422-3 vote, suggesting a monument would be accepted well in Congress.
The legislation was the culmination of Biden's campaign speaking out against racially-motivated crimes. Ahead of the 2020 election, the then-presidential candidate spoke out against the shooting murder of Ahmaud Arbery of Georgia, who, in Biden's words, was ""shot down in cold blood, essentially lynched before our very eyes, 2020 style.""
In 2019, Biden would have to apologize for a comment he made during then-President Clinton's impeachment hearings, claiming they could be viewed as a “partisan lynching.” Biden admitted the word lynching ""wasn't the right word to use.""",Explicit
"A photographer who raped a woman at his central London studio may have attacked others, police have said.

Sritharan Sayanthan, 42, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of two counts of rape and one of attempted rape at Hendon Crown Court.

The victim, a woman in her 30s, went to Sayanthan's studio on Brompton Road in May 2022 and paid for pictures to be taken.

She met him again on 8 July 2022 for a drink, believing it to be part of a networking process after he contacted her online, Scotland Yard said.

They met at a pub in Warren Street where Sayanthan ""encouraged her to drink alcohol which made her intoxicated very quickly"", police said.

The Met added: ""He then led the victim to his studio. Here she blacked out on the studio floor. When partially awake she was aware of Sayanthan sexually assaulting her. She was unable to respond verbally or physically.""

The victim, a Chinese national, went to police on 31 July 2022.

She did not go earlier because she was unfamiliar with how rape is investigated in the UK, officers said.

CCTV was discovered showing her ""noticeably unsteady on her feet"".

Scotland Yard said: ""Statements were gathered from studio staff and further research uncovered several other photography businesses owned by the suspect.""

Read more UK news:

Men in balaclavas drive hearse onto football pitch

Detective Constable Sophie Baker said officers ""believe there could be other victims of Sayanthan"" and are encouraging ""anyone who wants to speak to us to come forward"".

She added: ""No piece of information is too small and you will be listened to and supported.""

DC Baker praised the victim, too, describing her as ""fantastic from start to finish"".

She sent on: ""She was extremely nervous at the prospect of giving evidence but, with the support of an interpreter, she told the court in fine detail what happened.

""For victims, describing the incident in court can be daunting but she did amazingly and I am personally very proud of her bravery and thankful to her for coming forward.""",Explicit
"'Guilty Won't Be Spared': PM Modi Says On Manipur Incident
""My heart is full of pain and anger,"" Modi told reporters in his remarks ahead of Parliament's Monsoon Session.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the alleged incident of women being paraded naked in Manipur has shamed 140 crore Indians, asserting that law will act with its full might and no guilty will be spared.
""My heart is full of pain and anger,"" he told reporters in his remarks ahead of Parliament's Monsoon Session, amid his criticism by opposition parties for not speaking on the ethnic violence in the north east state.
The prime minister requested all chief ministers to further strengthen law and order mechanism in their respective states, especially to protect women and to take most stringent action.
He also mentioned states like Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while calling for boosting law and order, and protecting women.
""I want to assure the countrymen that no guilty will be spared. What has happened to these daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,"" he said.
Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after a May 4 video surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a few men from the other side.
Modi also asked parliamentarians to make full use of the session for extensive discussion on a host of bills which, he added, are in people's interest.",Explicit
"The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has broken his months-long silence on the deadly ethnic conflict raging in the state of Manipur after a video emerged of women being stripped naked, paraded and assaulted before it is alleged they were gang raped.
Outrage erupted across India after footage was circulated from Manipur of two women from the minority Kuki tribe being forcibly stripped naked by a mob of the majority Meitei tribal group who can be heard shouting: “If you don’t take off your clothes, we’ll kill you.” The women are then publicly groped and dragged to a field, where it is alleged they were gang raped.
The incident took place in early May and although it was registered with the police soon afterwards, it was not until Thursday that an arrest was made, a day after the video went viral. One of the victims has alleged the police left the women in the hands of the mob.
Speaking at the opening session of parliament on Thursday morning, Modi made his first comments about the conflict being fought between the Meitei and the Kuki tribes, and stated that “the entire country has been shamed” by the attack on the women.
“I want to assure the nation, no guilty [people] will be spared,” he said. “Action will be taken according to the law. What happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven. As I stand next to this temple of democracy, my heart is filled with pain and anger.”
Modi has been criticised for remaining publicly silent on the conflict, which broke out between the tribal communities in early May and has since killed more than 140 people, mostly those from the minority Kuki community.
The state of Manipur is now essentially partitioned down ethnic lines, with the Meitei community in the valley and the Kuki community controlling the hills. Both sides have assembled civilian forces that continue to clash violently with thousands of stolen weapons, while villages have been burned to the ground and more than 60,000 people displaced. Thousands of Indian armed forces have been deployed to the state to maintain calm but the Kuki minority now say they are fighting for an independent state.
One of the victims in the video said she had been traumatised by the events that took place. She described how she and four others had been running away from their village, which had been looted and set alight by a Meitei mob, when they were set upon by another Meitei gang, who then murdered two members of their group.
“Me and another girl were taken away,” she said. “They encircled us and told us to remove all our clothes. I tried to plead with them to leave us alone but they warned us that we would get killed like our neighbours if we don’t obey them. I did what they told me to do, they were ready to kill us otherwise. They then paraded us. Men were touching my breasts and all over my body.”
She added: “We were taken to a nearby field. I do not want to get into the details but after that I was let go.”
The video also attracted fierce criticism from the supreme court, which called it “deeply disturbing” and a “gross constitutional failure”.
The chief justice of India, Dhananjaya Chandrachud, appeared to criticise the government for failing to bring the situation in Manipur under control. “I think it’s time that the government really steps in and takes action because this is simply unacceptable,” he said, adding that if the government did not act, the supreme court would step in.
Other ministers from Modi’s government also condemned the incident. Smriti Irani, the minister for women, called it “downright inhuman” and said the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
But activists from Manipur were critical of the fact that it had taken such an extreme video to be released to get the government and the public to pay attention to what had been happening in the state for months.
“It is shameful that it takes a searing video of two Kuki women being paraded naked and raped to shake the conscience of the world and make people believe what we have been saying for the past 70 days,” said Golan Nulak, a Kuki activist.",Explicit
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LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologized Wednesday for the treatment of gay veterans, saying that a previous ban on LGBTQ+ people serving in the U.K. military was “an appalling failure of the British state.”
The apology came after an independent review published Wednesday estimated that hundreds, if not thousands, of veterans were dismissed or suffered under an official ban on homosexuality in the U.K. armed forces that was enforced until 2000.
“As today’s report makes clear, in that period many endured the most horrific sexual abuse and violence, homophobic bullying and harassment, all while bravely serving this country,” Sunak told Parliament. “Today, on behalf of the British state, I apologize.”
READ MORE: Couple weds in Northern Ireland’s first same-sex marriage
The report, which was carried out by retired senior judge Terence Etherton, compiled evidence from more than 1,100 veterans. It documented the effects of what it called “an incomprehensible policy of homophobic bigotry in our armed forces.” Some of the victims have taken their own lives, while others have attempted suicide, the report said.
Veterans’ testimonies “give shocking evidence of a culture of homophobia, and of bullying, blackmail and sexual assaults, abusive investigations into sexual orientation and sexual preference, disgraceful medical examinations, including conversion therapy,” the report said.
READ MORE: London marks 50 years of Pride
Some victims said they were stripped of or denied medals they were entitled to, or that they lost their pension rights following their dismissal or discharge.
“The survivors have waited for at least 23 years for acknowledgment of what they have suffered, and for justice and restitution,” it added.
The report also recommended that financial compensation should be made to victims, even if litigation time limits have expired.
READ MORE: United Methodists lose one-fifth of U.S. churches in schism over LGBTQ rights
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that the government agreed that there should be a financial award for those affected. But he added that authorities needed time to work through the recommendation, and didn’t provide details.
Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes, who had served in the British army and who came out as gay last year, said it meant “a huge amount” to hear the government apology.
“From a personal point of view, the ban affected me in terms of who I was and what I couldn’t be for 34 years,” Holmes said.
The ban on homosexuality was abandoned in 2000, when the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of four service personnel who were investigated and then discharged because of their sexuality.
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"A Lake Forest city councilman charged with domestic violence said Friday he was innocent of the allegations.
Benjamin Yu, 40, was charged July 7 with corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and false imprisonment, both misdemeanors, according to court records. He is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 23 in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.
The criminal complaint alleges he committed corporal injury on June 27 and false imprisonment on July 1.
Yu told City News Service the accuser was not his wife and was someone he knows through mutual friends. He said he is unable to offer further details.
""Let the legal system run its course,"" Yu said. ""I strongly believe I am innocent in this case.""
Irvine police arrested Yu for driving under the influence of alcohol on Oct. 11, 2021, and he was charged with two DUI misdemeanor counts in that case.
Yu was granted diversion for military veterans on May 23 and has a court date Aug. 3 to show proof of enrollment in the military diversion program, according to court records.
Yu said he was working on Wall Street when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred which inspired him to enlist in the Army, where he suffered a disability. He said that the DUI stemmed from his mixing of his medication with alcohol and that he is now sober.
Yu said it is ""polite"" to accept toasts in his culture, so he would go along with drinking occasionally at public events, but for the past few months he said he declines any alcohol because it conflicts with his medication and instead drinks cranberry juice.
""I'm a good person,"" Yu said. ""I've never ran into legal trouble in my life before.""
for more features.",Explicit
"A Sunday newsletter from the office of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Az.) featured a link to an antisemitic website known for promoting conspiracies ranging from QAnon to Holocaust denial, according to a report from the progressive nonprofit Media Matters For America.
The newsletter included a link to USSA News, which boasts the tagline “do not let this happen to our country ☭.” Despite Gosar condemning antisemitism in the bulletin, USSA is rampant with antisemitic language, conspiracy theories about Jewish people, and reposted or re-promoted content from Neo-Nazi blogs.
Rep. Gosar’s office did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
According to MMFA’s review of USSA’s recent articles, posts include the promotion of a “documentary” claiming that the Nazi death camp Auschwitz was not actually an extermination camp. “This Documentary exposes lies. I am up for that. Any Lie must be exposed,” the author (writing under the pseudonym “Constitutional Nobody”) wrote. Another article, published Friday by Constitutional Nobody, advised the reader to “watch out for so-called ‘pro-White’ online activists who are trashing [Adolf] Hitler’s legacy, or just giving Hitler lip service.”
“Stand up for Hitler,” the writer added.
Earlier this month, USSA published a piece lauding the Nazi dictator for doing “everything in his power” to prevent the destruction of the white race.
Several pieces published on USSA feature links to known white supremacist and Neo-Nazi websites, including the Renegade Tribune. One article was little more than a reposted article from the antisemitic blog Unz Review.
Throughout his career in Congress, Gosar has repeatedly found himself in hot water over associations with extremist movements, antisemites, and conspiracy theorists.
In November 2021, Gosar was censured by the House after posting a doctored anime video depicting himself killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Coretz (D-N.Y.) on social media.
Earlier this year, Gosar promoted a link to an article from Veterans Today, another website that promotes antisemitic viewpoints. The article, which discusses statements made by Gosar regarding the war in Ukraine, is titled “Congressman: Jewish warmongers Nuland & Blinken ‘Are Dangers Fools Who Can Get Us All Killed.’”
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Last year, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that there was “no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism,” after Gosar and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene participated in the America First Political Actions Conference. The event is organized and hosted by white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.
But Gosar’s repeated engagement with extremist ideology has not motivated Republicans to take any sort of punitive action against him. In fact, when the GOP took control of the House in 2022, they rewarded Gosar by restoring the committee assignments he’d been stripped of following his censure.",Explicit
"The heavily armed man wholast week likely had a bigger and bloodier attack in mind, with at least two fairs taking place at the time in and around North Dakota's largest city, authorities said Friday.
Mohamad Barakat killed one officer and wounded two others and a bystander before a fourth officer shot and killed him, ending the July 14 attack.
Over the past five years, Barakat, 37, searched the internet for terms including ""kill fast,"" ""explosive ammo,"" ""incendiary rounds,"" and ""mass shooting events,"" state Attorney General Drew Wrigley said Friday during a news conference in Fargo, a city of about 125,000 people. But perhaps the most chilling search was for ""area events where there are crowds,"" which on July 13 brought up a news article with the headline, ""Thousands enjoy first day of Downtown Fargo Street Fair.""
Had Officer Zach Robinson not killed Barakat, authorities said they shudder to think how much worse the attack might have been. All evidence suggests that Barakat came upon the traffic crash by ""happenstance"" and that his ensuing ambush was a diversion from his much bigger intended target, Wrigley said.
""The horrible winds of fate sometimes,"" he said. ""Those events fell into place and fell into his path.""
On the day of the attack, the downtown fair was in its second day and was less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the crash scene. It's unclear if it was the intended target, though, as Barakat also searched for information on the Red River Valley Fair, which was just a 6-mile (10-kilometer) drive from the scene, the attorney general said.
After driving by the fender bender, Barakat pulled into an adjacent parking lot to watch from his parked car, Wrigley said. He said Barakat's car was loaded with guns, a homemade grenade,, three ""largish"" containers full of gasoline, plus two propane tanks, one completely filled and the other half-filled not with propane, but with ""explosive materials concocted at home, purchased lawfully.""
With police and firefighters busy helping, Barakat watched for several minutes until the officers walked by him, when he lifted a .223-caliber rifle out of his car window and began firing, Wrigley said.
The riflethat allowed it to fire so rapidly that it sounded like an automatic weapon, he said. A binary trigger is a modification that allows a weapon to fire one round when the trigger is pulled and another when it is released — in essence doubling a gun's firing capacity. The three officers who were shot had no time to react and fell in rapid succession. He also shot and wounded a fleeing woman, Karlee Koswick, who had been involved in the fender bender, he said.
Robinson, who was badly outgunned but was the only officer at the scene who hadn't been shot, engaged Barakat in a two-minute shootout. It ended with Robinson shooting and killing Barakat as bystanders crouched nearby.
Wrigley described Robinson as ""the last man standing in that blue line at that moment.""
""What he was standing between was not just the horrible events that were unfolding there, but between the horrible events that Mohamad Barakat had envisioned, planned and intended and armed himself for — beyond fully — that day,"" he said.
Barakat killed, 23, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard, and wounded Officers Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes. Wallin and Hawes were so new that they were still undergoing field training.
Barakat was a Syrian national who came to the U.S. on an asylum request in 2012 and became a U.S. citizen in 2019, Wrigley said, adding that he didn't appear to have any ties to the Muslim community in Fargo. He said Barakat had some family in the U.S., but not in the Fargo area, and that investigators are still looking into his history before he arrived in the country.
In recent years, Barakat amassed his arsenal. And his internet searches about causing mayhem date back to 2018, with periods in which they abated before picking back up, the attorney general said. Nothing from online, Barakat's phones, the community or his family suggested he had a hatred of the police, he said.
At this stage in the investigation, it seems all of his weapons were purchased legally, and he had many of them in his car on the day of the shooting, Wrigley said. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is looking into whether he got any of the gun components illegally.
Wrigley said Barakat was wearing a vest that was ""absolutely stuffed"" with magazines and that he ""was putting the finishing touches on his shooting skills in the last hours before this assault.""
As for the propane tanks, Wrigley said it was ""quite dramatic"" when the bomb squad detonated them. He suggested the tanks contained something similar to Tannerite, a commercial explosive that can be easily detonated with a shot from a high-powered rifle.
""Obvious motive to kill,"" Wrigley said. ""I mean, driven by hate. Driven by wanting to kill. Not particularized to some group that we can discern at this moment, not particularized to one individual that we can see.""
Barakat had worked odd jobs, and briefly trained as an emergency responder at a nearby community college. He had no criminal record or social media presence and had so little contact with other people that the only photo law enforcement could provide was a blurry image of him lifted from a video.
He had, however, been reported to something called the Guardian Threat Tracking System. The FBI routinely opens what it refers to internally as assessments -- the lowest level, least intrusive and most elementary stage of a terrorism-related inquiry -- when it receives unconfirmed information about potentially suspicious behavior.
That information is catalogued in the Guardian system. During the assessment stage of an investigation, FBI agents are permitted to take certain basic investigative steps such as conducting online research or visual surveillance, but more sophisticated tools such as wiretaps cannot be undertaken without additional evidence of wrongdoing.
Mac Schneider, the U.S. attorney for North Dakota, said the Guardian system is a way for members of the public to engage with local law enforcement about ""things of concern."" But he provided no additional details.
Whether Barakat had intended to survive the attack was unclear. He wore no body armor but did have a way to monitor what was happening at his apartment from afar, perhaps suggesting he had a plan, Wrigley said.
He added that there was no immediate indication that anyone had helped Barakat.
""There are lone wolves,"" Wrigley said. ""That's a real concept.""
Wrigley said Koswick was badly injured and will have a difficult recovery. Zibolski said the wounded officers were briefly able to stand up out of their hospital beds on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a funeral service is planned for Saturday for Wallin, whose body was cremated in his police uniform.
for more features.",Explicit
"The National Commission for Women had been informed over a month ago about the sexual assault of three Kuki women in Manipur that took place on May 4, Newslaundry reported on Thursday.
The complaint was sent on June 12 by two Manipuri women and an association of Manipuri tribal communities based abroad. However, the complainants did not receive a response or acknowledgement, according to the report.
Rekha Sharma, the chairperson of the commission, said that she wrote to authorities in Manipur thrice about violence against women in the state, but received no response, according to PTI. She said that she wrote to the Manipur government on May 23, May 29 and on June 19.
Sharma, however, denied having received any report of the sexual assault of the women on May 4.
“There were many complaints, not one specific complaint – that too, from people outside India and outside Manipur” she said, according to ANI. “They [Manipur government] had to clarify whether whatever was written was true or not.”
On Thursday, the National Commission for Women claimed that it had taken “suo motu” cognisance of the crime and directed the Manipur director general of police to promptly take appropriate action.
The three women were forced to strip naked and paraded in B Phainom village of Kangpokpi district on May 4, a day after ethnic clashes broke out between Kukis and Meitis. One of the women was gangraped, according to a police complaint.
A first information report was registered in the case on May 18, but the first arrest was made on Thursday after the video of the incident was shared widely on social media, sparking nationwide outrage. Three more men have been arrested since then.
In their email on June 12, the complainants said that they had spoken to the three women before writing to National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma, according to Newslaundry.
The complainants had also informed the women’s body of other instances of rape, sexual harassment and abuse of women from tribal communities.
“Witness accounts reveal the most harrowing and distressing details, including the incrimination of Meitei women vigilantes as enablers and perpetrators of gender-based violence,” the complainants alleged. “Victims and survivors allege that Meitei women vigilantes have actively participated in the attacks and assaults on Kuki-Zomi women and children.”",Explicit
"The remainder of Kuala Lumpur’s Good Vibes music festival was canceled Saturday by the Malaysian government following comments made onstage by the 1975’s Matty Healy slamming the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
Organizers said in a statement Saturday that following Healy’s “controversial conduct and remarks,” Malaysia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital issued an “immediate cancellation directive” that forced the three-day festival to shut down.
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“The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule or contravene Malaysian laws,” organizers added.
— Good Vibes Festival (@GoodVibesFest) July 22, 2023
“Prior to the festival, the 1975 management team reassured us that Healy and the band would adhere to local performance guidelines. Regrettably, Healy did not honor these assurances, despite our trust in their commitment. Healy’s actions took us by complete surprise, and we halted the show as promptly as feasible following the incident,” organizers added in a separate statement.
“Healy’s unprofessional behavior and overt defiance of Malaysian laws and regulations are disturbing. Healy chose to utilize his performance as a platform to express his personal views, rather than delivering the quality show that his Malaysian fans were eagerly anticipating. This act is deeply unfair to his fans who were looking forward to enjoying a memorable music experience.”
On Friday, Healy apologized to fans for accepting Good Vibes’ invitation to play, saying he was unaware of Malaysia’s hardline stance toward the LGBTQ community; same-sex relationships are outlawed in the country and punishable by prison time and caning.
“I made a mistake. When we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking into it,” Healy said. “I don’t see the fucking point, right, I do not see the point of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.”
Healy continued, “I am sorry if that offends you and you’re religious and it’s part of your fucking government, but your government are a bunch of fucking retards and I don’t care anymore. If you push, I am going to push back. I am not in the fucking mood.”
Healy then told the crowd that the band had previously played a gig in an LGBTQ-unfriendly country — “I don’t know what the fuck it is,” Healy said; it was Dubai in 2019, where Healy kissed a male fan onstage to protest the laws — and, upon concluding his speech, kissed the 1975 bassist Ross McDonald.
Following the show’s seventh song, “I Couldn’t Be More in Love,” the gig was abruptly cut short, with Healy telling the crowd they “just got banned from Kuala Lumpur.”
Good Vibes had headlining sets by the Kid Laroi and the Strokes scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, with Ty Dolla $ign, Elderbrook, Porter Robinson and more also on the lineup.
“Touched down & found out the festival is canceled,” the Kid Laroi wrote in an Instagram story from the airport. “I love you Malaysia, I’m sorry.”
Good Vibes organizers added, “We sincerely apologize to all of our ticket holders, vendors, sponsors and partners. We are aware of the time, energy and efforts you have put into making this festival a success, and we value your steadfast support. We will update you on the refund mechanics as soon as possible. We appreciate your understanding and continued support during this challenging time.”
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"McALESTER, Okla. -- Oklahoma is preparing to execute a man Thursday for stabbing a Tulsa woman to death with a butcher knife in 1995 after his escape from a prison work center.
Jemaine Cannon, 51, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 10 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. It will be the second execution in Oklahoma this year and the ninth since the state resumed lethal injections in 2021.
Cannon was convicted of killing 20-year-old Sharonda Clark, a mother of two with whom Cannon had been living at an apartment in Tulsa after his escape weeks earlier from a prison work center in southwest Oklahoma. At the time, Cannon was serving a 15-year sentence for the violent assault of another woman who suffered permanent injuries after prosecutors say Cannon raped her and beat her viciously with a claw hammer, iron and kitchen toaster.
A last-minute appeal seeking a stay of execution in which Cannon claims, among other things, that he is Native American and not subject to Oklahoma jurisdiction was pending late Wednesday in a federal appeals court, records show.
Cannon claimed at a clemency hearing before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board last month that he killed Clark in self-defense.
“I am deeply disheartened that the act of defending my life and the acts that she initiated against me ever happened,” Cannon told the board via a video feed from the state penitentiary. “The ending of human life was never desired, planned or premeditated.”
Cannon's attorney, Mark Henricksen, also told the panel that Cannon's trial and appellate attorneys were ineffective for not presenting evidence that supported his self-defense claim. His trial attorneys presented no witnesses or exhibits and rested after prosecutors presented their case, Henricksen said.
In a statement sent to The Associated Press this week, Henricksen said the state's decision to proceed with Cannon's execution amounts to “historic barbarism.”
“Mr. Cannon has endured abuse and neglect for fifty years by those charged with his care,” Henricksen said. “He sits in his cell a model prisoner. He is nearly deaf, blind, and nearing death by natural causes. The decision to proceed with this particular execution is obscene.”
But prosecutors from the attorney general's office and Clark's adult daughters have urged the state to execute Cannon.
Clark's eldest daughter, Yeh-Sehn White, told the Pardon and Parole Board last month that Cannon had never in 28 years expressed any remorse for his actions and urged the board to reject clemency, which it did on a 3-2 vote.
“Mercy was never given my mother,” she said. “Even still today he points the blame at my mother for his actions.”
Oklahoma currently uses a three-drug lethal injection protocol beginning with the sedative midazolam, followed by the paralytic vecuronium bromide and finally potassium chloride, which stops the heart. The state had one of the nation’s busiest death chambers until problems in 2014 and 2015 led to a de facto moratorium.
Richard Glossip was just hours from being executed in September 2015 when prison officials realized they received the wrong lethal drug. It was later learned that the same wrong drug had been used to execute an inmate in January 2015.
The drug mix-ups followed a botched execution in April 2014 in which inmate Clayton Lockett struggled on a gurney before dying 43 minutes into his lethal injection — and after the state’s prisons chief ordered executioners to stop.",Explicit
"A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s request for a new trial in a civil case brought by E Jean Carroll, in which a jury found the former US president liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer and awarded her $5m in damages.
In a 59-page decision, US district judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said the jury did not reach a “seriously erroneous result,” and the 9 May verdict was not a “miscarriage of justice”.
Carroll had accused Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, and then branding the incident a hoax in an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump had argued that awarding Carroll $2m in compensatory damages for sexual assault was “excessive” because the jury found he had not raped her, while the award for defamation was based on “pure speculation”.
Lawyers for Trump and Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment.",Explicit
"A man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering his 16-year-old sister in a park in Hamilton.
Amber Gibson's body was found in Cadzow Glen on 28 November 2021, two days after she was last seen.
Connor Gibson, 20, strangled Amber then got rid of clothes he had been wearing and called the children's home Amber was staying at to pretend she was still alive.
Another man has been found guilty of interfering with Amber's body.
Stephen Corrigan - who was unknown to both Amber and Connor Gibson - found her body, but rather than alert police, he inappropriately touched her and then concealed her remains.
Amber's body was discovered in Cadzow Glen on Sunday 28 November, hidden in bushes and branches. Her body was covered in mud, and her clothes were found nearby.
Gibson was arrested three days later on 1 December. The day before his arrest, he posted a tribute on Facebook to the sister he murdered.
During the trial at the High Court in Glasgow, the jury heard that Gibson had removed Amber's clothes and assaulted her, repeatedly inflicting blunt force trauma to her head and body as well as compressing her neck with his hands.
In his closing statement, prosecutor Richard Goddard KC told the jury Amber Gibson was ""appallingly"" murdered by the brother she must have trusted. He named 21 different circumstances which linked Gibson to the murder and sexual assault.
Connor Gibson had denied all the charges against him.
The 13-day trial heard that the siblings were fostered from the age of three and five by Craig Niven and his wife Carol. The couple were granted permanent care of the siblings a few years later.
Amber left their care in 2019. Mr Gibson left after he turned 18 in 2020.
Mr Niven had told the court the siblings could not be left in each others' company as they were ""not a good mix"".
He said that he spoke to Connor Gibson on the phone in the days after Amber's body was found.
According to Mr Niven, Gibson said he argued with his sister before seeing her later that Friday night.
At the time of Amber's murder, she was living at the town's Hillhouse children's home.
Connor was living at the Blue Triangle homeless hostel in Hamilton. A police officer told the court that items of stained clothing had been found in a bin there.
Jurors also heard other forensic evidence that ""widespread blood staining"" on Gibson's jacket was compatible with Amber and his DNA was also found on her shorts, worn as underwear, which had been ""forcibly"" torn off.
It emerged during Amber's murder trial that she had suffered another assault earlier in 2021.
In an entirely separate case it was revealed that in the June before her murder, Amber was raped by a man called Jamie Starrs.
Court documents also show that Amber and Connor Gibson's biological father, Peter Gibson, sexually assaulted two young boys and assaulted and raped a woman.
These crimes were committed between 2001 and 2008. He was convicted in January this year.
Police Scotland called the inquiry ""traumatic and harrowing"" for the officers involved, as well as for Amber's friends and family.
Det Ch Supt Paul Livingstone said: ""It is hard to imagine how difficult this has been for Amber's family and friends and our thoughts very much remain with them.
""I hope this conviction brings them some degree of comfort. The actions of both Gibson and Corrigan leaves them beneath contempt.""
He said the investigation was ""complex and challenging"" and had relied heavily on the expertise of forensic officers.
The siblings' foster parents issued a statement following the verdict.
It said: ""When they arrived at our home, Amber was three and Connor aged five. Connor stated: 'We are safe' - they were until he took the safety away.""
They described Amber as the ""most giving, caring, loving, supportive and admirable person"" who had a love of art and singing and an ""amazing outlook on life"" despite the suffering she had experienced.
The couple commented on ""how much Amber and Connor have been let down throughout their lives by the system"".
""We now have one daughter buried in Larkhall Cemetery and another child in prison,"" they said. ""Life will never be the same.""
Judge Lord Mulholland sent jurors out to consider their verdicts on Tuesday morning. They returned just before 15:00.
Lord Mulholland told Connor Gibson he would receive a life sentence.
He said that the last thing Amber would have seen was her brother strangling her, and told him: ""You will pay a heavy price for that.""
He told Stephen Corrigan he had committed ""horrific crimes"" and that his DNA ""told the story"".
The two men will be sentenced on 4 September at the High Court in Livingston.",Explicit
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Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual violence.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke more than two months of public silence over deadly ethnic clashes in India’s northeast, saying Thursday that the assaults of two women as they were being paraded naked by a mob in Manipur state were unforgivable.
A video showing the assaults triggered massive outrage and was widely shared on social media late Wednesday despite the internet being largely blocked and journalists being locked out in the remote state. It shows two naked women surrounded by scores of young men who grope their genitals and drag them to a field.
WATCH: Biden welcomes Modi for state visit amid concerns over India’s human rights record
“The guilty will not be spared. What has happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” Modi told reporters ahead of a parliamentary session in his first public comments related to the Manipur conflict.
Without making any direct references to the violence in Manipur, Modi urged heads of state governments to ensure the safety of women and said the incident is “shameful for any civilized nation.”
“My heart is filled with pain and anger,” he said.
The violence depicted in the video was emblematic of the near-civil war in Manipur that has left more than 130 people dead since May, as mobs rampage through villages killing people and torching houses. The ethnic violence was sparked by an affirmative action controversy in which Christian Kukis protested a demand from the mostly Hindu Meiteis for a special status that would let them buy land in the hills populated by Kukis and other tribal groups and get a share of government jobs.
The clashes have persisted despite the army’s presence in Manipur, a state of 3.7 million people tucked in the mountains on India’s border with Myanmar that is now divided in two ethnic zones. The two warring factions have also formed armed militias, and isolated villages are still raked with gunfire. More than 60,000 people have fled to packed relief camps.
Police said the assault on the two women happened May 4, a day after the violence started in the state. According to a police complaint filed May 18, the two women were part of a family attacked by a mob that killed its two male members. The complaint alleges rape and murder by “unknown miscreants.”
READ MORE: Deaths climb to around 100 as heat wave scorches India’s northeastern states
The state police have made the first arrest in the case, Manipur’s Chief Minister Biren Singh said on Twitter, without specifying the number of people who were apprehended.
“A thorough investigation is currently underway and we will ensure strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including considering the possibility of capital punishment. Let it be known, there is absolutely no place for such heinous acts in our society,” Singh said.
India’s Supreme Court, meanwhile, expressed its concern over the assault and asked the government to inform the court about the steps it has taken to apprehend the accused.
“In a constitutional democracy it is unacceptable. If the government does not act, we will,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said.
The two women are now safe in a refugee camp.
They are from the Kuki-Zo community, according to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a tribal organization in Manipur.
India’s Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani called the incident “condemnable and downright inhuman.” She said Thursday that investigations were underway and that “no effort will be spared to bring perpetrators to justice.”
India’s main opposition Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge, however, accused the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of “turning democracy and the rule of law into mobocracy.”
Kharge said Modi should speak about Manipur in Parliament, a demand that has been made by other opposition parties and rights activists.
“India will never forgive your silence,” he wrote on Twitter.
Last week the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on Indian authorities to take action to stop the violence in Manipur and protect religious minorities, especially Christians. India’s foreign ministry condemned the resolution, describing it as “interference” in its internal affairs.
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"Prominent gun-control activist Shannon Watts is trying to get country music star Jason Aldean canceled over a song she claims is ""racist and violent.""
Aldean denies that his song, ""Try That In A Small Town,"" has racial undertones following its music video release last week, in which he touts how small towns wouldn't put up with the kind of lawlessness found in big cities.
Country Music Television (CMT) yanked the video without comment on Monday, prompting Aldean to lash out on Twitter, writing, ""There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it – and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage – and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music – this one goes too far.""
Watts first called attention to the song’s lyrics in a late-night tweet Sunday, saying it’s about ""how he and his friends will shoot you if you try to take their guns.""
Watts later took credit for CMT’s decision in scrubbing the video.
""Proud to have had a hand in getting CMT to reject this racist and violent song,"" she tweeted Tuesday evening.
Watts then set her sights on trying to get Aldean canceled from the Grand Ole Opry.
""The @opry is hosting Jason Aldean at a fundraiser for the Covenant School in Nashville,"" she wrote. ""One would think there are many other country music artists they could invite instead?""
Aldean, who was onstage during the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, is joining a star-studded lineup at the Opry on Aug. 7 to benefit the Covenant School Community Fund after the Nashville private school was targeted by a mass shooter earlier this year.
Aldean defended his song in a lengthy Twitter post Tuesday afternoon, saying it ""refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief.""
""My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to – that’s what this song is about,"" he added.
The lyrics of the song juxtapose big-city crime with small-town values: ""Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light it up / Yeah, ya think you're tough,"" Aldean sings in the song. ""Well, try that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road / Around here, we take care of our own / You cross that line, it won't take long.""",Explicit
"GOP senators hold back on defending Trump as he faces new indictment
The revelation that former President Trump faces a possible grand jury indictment connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and his efforts to hold on to power has landed like a bombshell on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers saw firsthand the violence unleashed that day.
Some GOP lawmakers rushed to Trump’s defense, but many Republicans in the Senate held back from defending the former president, who has been accused of stoking the Jan. 6 mob and who waited before calling on protesters to disperse.
The expected indictment separately poses a tough political problem for many Republicans critical of Trump, who remains wildly popular with the party’s base.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who hasn’t spoken to Trump since December 2020, stayed quiet about the news of yet another indictment against his onetime ally, who is now leading the Republican presidential primary field by 30 points in national polls.
His top deputies, Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), reacted with caution.
Asked whether it would be “legitimate” for special counsel Jack Smith to charge Trump for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Thune said it would depend on the facts and evidence presented.
“That’s going to depend on whether or not laws were broken,” he said. “So clearly, I don’t know what they’re looking at. But I’m sure we’ll know in due time.”
Cornyn dodged the politically charged topic altogether, arguing the Justice Department has the authority to investigate whether Trump broke the laws in trying to stop the certification of the 2020 election.
“I think that’s entirely within the purview of the Department of Justice and has nothing to do with the United States Senate,” he said.
Asked if Smith is a “credible prosecutor,” he said, “I have no knowledge of anything approaching that.”
Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who called the indictment of Trump last month for violating the Espionage Act “political” and “rotten,” was the only senior member of the Republican leadership to accuse the Justice Department of acting on political motives.
“It looks like the president is targeting his most popular opponent. Isn’t that interesting? Sounds political to me,” he said.
Asked if he saw any qualitative difference between the 37 felony counts federal prosecutors brought against Trump last month for refusing to turn over classified documents he kept improperly at Mar-a-Lago and new charges related to Jan. 6, Barrasso saw both indictments as political attacks.
“The administration is siccing its dogs on the former president of the United States and their most formidable opponent,” he said.
Senate Republican Conference Vice Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) only said, “It’s a never-ending story, that’s my comment.”
The generally muted response from Senate Republican leaders posed a stark contrast with House Republican leaders, who rushed to Trump’s defense.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) suggested the Justice Department is bringing new charges against Trump because he is leading the Republican presidential field by double digits and pulled ahead of President Biden in a recent poll.
“Recently, President Trump went up in the polls and was actually surpassing President Biden for reelection. So what do they do now? Weaponize government to go after their No. 1 opponent,” McCarthy said Tuesday.
“This is not equal justice. They treat people differently and they go after their adversaries,” he said.
McCarthy’s comments reveal how his views of Trump’s culpability for the attack on the Capitol have evolved since January 2021, when he told GOP colleagues that Trump “bears responsibility for his words and actions — no if, ands or buts.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) accused the Justice Department of waging a politically motivated prosecution to distract from a whistleblower’s claims that senior administration officials interfered with an Internal Revenue Service investigation of Hunter Biden.
“Now you see the Biden administration going after President Trump once again, and it begs that question, ‘Is there a double standard? Is justice being administered equally?’” Scalise asked at a press conference.
Other Trump allies in the House joined the attack against the administration.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) claimed Biden’s Justice Department did little to prosecute Black Lives Matter protesters who breached a federal courthouse in 2020 or to prosecute threats against conservative Supreme Court justices.
“But if you’re President Trump and do nothing wrong? PROSECUTE. Americans are tired of the double standard!” he tweeted.
Another Trump ally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), attacked Smith on Twitter as a “lousy attorney” and pointed to the Supreme Court overturning his conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R).
“He only targets Republicans because he’s a weak little bitch for the Democrats,” she tweeted.
Senate Republicans, many of whom have made clear they don’t want to see Trump as the party’s nominee for president in 2024, however, broke with their House GOP colleagues over the claim that the Justice Department is operating a “two-tier” system and holding Trump to a special standard.
“I think you’ve got to go where the facts lead you and determine whether or not laws are broken. But there shouldn’t be two systems of justice; everybody should be held accountable and there ought to be equal justice under the law,” Thune told reporters.
“Clearly in these circumstances, it’s a politically charged environment. I think it puts an even higher burden of proof on the Justice Department given the perceptions that people have about that but this has got to be driven by the law and the facts,” he said.
McConnell excoriated Trump on the Senate floor at the end of his 2021 impeachment trial for inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol hallways and ransacked the Senate parliamentarian’s office.
“There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” he declared, referring to the violence and chaos that resulted in injuries to more than 100 Capitol police officers.
One officer, Brian Sicknick, died of natural causes while defending the Capitol.
Thune said just because the Senate Republicans’ top leader called Trump “practically and morally” responsible, that did not necessarily warrant criminal charges.
“Practically and morally is something very different than legally, and I think that’s what the Justice Department has to look at. They’ve got to look at the law, the facts as they’ve interviewed people, and then make a determination about whether laws were broken,” he said.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who voted twice to convict Trump on impeachment charges — including on the charge of inciting the Jan. 6 riot — warned his House GOP colleagues about relentlessly attacking the Justice Department.
He voiced concern about “the diminution of institutions in which we rely as a society.”
“A democracy works when we have confidence in the justice system, in the legal system, in our prosecutors and so forth. If we constantly attack and diminish them, that weakens the democracy,” he said.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"LONDON -- Kenya was bracing for days of anti-government protests led by the government's political opposition over a contentious new finance bill and the rising cost of living
At least six people were shot and killed and at least a dozen others were injured on Wednesday, the first day of a planned three-day protest against higher taxes, Mathias Kinyoda, of Amnesty International Kenya, told ABC News. At least 87 demonstrators were arrested nationwide, he said.
The protests were called by opposition leader Raila Odinga. The unrest was set to take place despite Kenya's President William Ruto vowing no protests would take place in the East African Nation.
""We are here, first and foremost, to confirm that the peaceful protests planned for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week are on as earlier declared by our leadership,"" read a statement by Odinga's party, Azimio La Umoja, sent to ABC News.
At least five protesters were injured on Wednesday as demonstrators clashed with police. Amnesty International Kenya said, said that ""para-military police officers and armored water cannon trucks [are] already patrolling and engaging protestors across several towns and neighborhoods.""
In Kibera -- a stronghold of the opposition -- protests turned violent, with demonstrators setting fire to tires and furniture, stones being pelted, and tear gas being deployed by police. In the most recent round of anti-government protests at least 23 people are reported to have been killed according to the U.N., with over 300 arrested.
Protests have also been reported in Kenya's Kisumu, Kisii and Migori counties.
Kenya's Ministry of Education also announced that all primary and secondary schools in Nairobi and the coastal city Mombasa are to close on Wednesday as a ""precautionary measure"" following ""credible security intelligence."" Several businesses also remain closed.
The protests come after Ruto last month signed into law a contentious finance bill at Nairobi's State House that proposed doubling the tax levied on fuel from 8% to 16%.
The bill aimed to aid in offsetting Kenya's external debt, officials said. However, the bill will have a ripple effect on the price of basic commodities, compounding on the economic strain of Kenyans already struggling with the rising cost of living.
Implementation of the Bill -- which was due to come into effect on July 1 -- was halted by Kenya's High Court following a case brought by opposition Sen. Okiya Omatah, who argued it was unconstitutional.
In a joint statement with Heads of Missions from 13 countries in Kenya, the U.S. Embassy Nairobi said it was ""saddened"" by the loss of life from anti-government protests and ""concerned by the levels of violence"" exhibited during recent demonstrations.
""We recognise the daily hardship faced by many Kenyans and urge all parties to table their concerns through a meaningful dialogue and resolve their differences peacefully,"" the statement said.
Speaking at a Geneva press briefing, U.N. Human Rights Office Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence appealed for calm, saying, ""We call on the authorities to ensure the right to peaceful assembly as guaranteed by the Kenyan Constitution and international human rights law.""",Explicit
"BISMARCK, N.D. -- It was a routine collision on a busy Fargo street. But after Mohamad Barakat drove past, armed with 1,800 rounds of ammunition, numerous firearms and a grenade, tragedy ensued.
After the shooting ended on July 14, one police officer was dead, and two other officers as well as a woman in the crash were wounded, leaving authorities wondering what further carnage Barakat might have been planning.
Officer Zach Robinson, the only officer in the melee who was not wounded, fatally shot Barakat with bystanders crouched nearby. More details are expected at a briefing Friday.
Barakat, a 37-year-old who briefly trained as an emergency responder at a nearby community college, had no criminal record. No social media presence.
But then he saw the collision. With police and firefighters tied up helping, Barakat began “stalking his way in and sizing up his opportunity,"" North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley told reporters Wednesday in the most detailed update yet.
Barakat parked, watching for minutes until the officers walked away, about 15 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) from him. Then he lifted a .223-caliber rifle out of his car window and began firing in what Wrigley called “an absolute ambush"" and “a murderous barrage of fire.”
The officers “had no time” to reach for their holstered guns with Barakat's fusillade “so rapid,” Wrigley said.
Barakat, who lived in an apartment 2 miles (3 kilometers) away, was using a double-stacked magazine. He killed Officer Jake Wallin, 23, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard. The barrage also left Officers Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes critically wounded.
Wallin and Hawes were so new that they were still undergoing field training.
Barakat also hit Karlee Koswick, who was involved in the traffic collision, with two rounds as she ran away.
Robinson, who was in the street about 75 feet (23 meters) away from Barakat, “was the last man standing between what was coming next and what you can see this assailant was armed for,” Wrigley said.
Robinson moved from behind a vehicle involved in the crash and fired at Barakat. One of his shots disabled Barakat's rifle, leaving 20 rounds unused after the killer fired 40.
“We have three officers down; send everybody,"" Robinson said over the radio, after moving closer and noticing the fallen officers.
A wounded Barakat lay on the ground protected by his car, waving a 9 mm handgun. Robinson moved closer, calling out 16 times for Barakat to surrender.
Robinson came around the vehicle and gave one last command to Barakat to put down the gun before shooting him, said Wrigley, who called Robinson’s use of deadly force “justified.""
Lasting about two minutes, the gunfight was still longer than most, Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski said. Wrigley noted Robinson fired approximately 30 rounds and had to stop to reload.
Zibolski said it might have been worse had there not been emergency crews already there, including an ambulance. As soon as the firing stopped, “firefighters bounced out and they were applying first aid immediately to our officers,” Zibolski said.
Before taking the drive, Barakat had rolled a weapons-filled suitcase from his apartment, Wrigley said. Inside his vehicle, investigators found the homemade hand grenade, as well as a vest with loaded magazines, more firearms and canisters of gasoline. There were more weapons back at his apartment.
“When you look at the amount of ammunition this shooter had in his car, he was planning on more mayhem in our community,” Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney said.
The attorney general said he believes the violence could have been the beginning of a mass shooting as the Downtown Fargo Street Fair and the Red River Valley Fair were underway.
The police chief said Barakat “was obviously dead-set on some pretty horrific acts, targets unknown at this time.” Authorities have said a motive is unknown.
As the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the FBI work on the case, the wounded are recovering, their conditions good or stable. Meanwhile, a funeral service is planned for Saturday for Wallin, whose body was cremated in his police uniform.",Explicit
"QUITO, July 24 (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso on Monday declared a state of emergency and night curfews in three coastal provinces, amid a wave of violence over the weekend in the Andean country that left at least eight people dead.
Lasso declared the state of emergency in the provinces of Manabi and Los Rios and in the city of Duran, near Guayaquil, after Agustin Intriago, the mayor of coastal city Manta, was shot dead on Sunday.
It also comes on the back of riots over the weekend in the prison Penitenciaria del Litoral, in Guayaquil, involving clashes between gangs inside the prison.
Lasso has frequently resorted to declaring states of emergency as Ecuador struggles with prison riots and waves of violence throughout the country.
""We cannot deny that organized crime has permeated the state, political organizations and society itself, it is a problem that has been brewing for more than a decade,"" Lasso said after a security cabinet meeting.
The state of emergency will last for 60 days in the provinces, while the curfew will vary during that period, the government said.
The murder of Manta's mayor is under investigation, Lasso said.
Sunday's riots left at least six inmates dead and 11 injured, according to the SNAI prison authority.
Prisoners also took 96 guards as hostages in jails in Cotopaxi, Azuay, Cañar, El Oro and Napo, and are continuing a hunger strike that began on Sunday in 13 Ecuadorean prisons, without disclosing reasons for the strikes.
The prison system in the South American country has faced structural problems for decades, but jail violence has soared since 2021, killing at least 400 people in frequent confrontations, which have drawn the concern of the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"A mother and her boyfriend were arrested for allegedly imprisoning their children inside their Wisconsin home after neighbors spotted both boys wandering the streets completely naked, covered in blood, bruises, and feces.
Katie Koch is facing a slew of felony charges, including chronic neglect of a child, false imprisonment and neglecting a child. Her boyfriend, Joel Manke, 38, was meanwhile hit with felony charges of chronic neglect of a child and false imprisonment in connection with the case.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Koch kept her children, ages 7 and 9, locked for years in a dingy bedroom with boarded-up windows. Neither of the boys has been toilet trained or enrolled in school, and neither is able to read or write. Police say one of the boys was unable to form complete sentences.
On Thursday, one of their neighbors spotted the children peering through a shattered window and then climbing onto the air conditioning unit. From there, they jumped into the yard and started “running from home to home,” according to the criminal complaint. Another witness said the older boy was “walking on the sidewalk like a ‘caveman.’”
When authorities responded to the residence, they discovered the boys’ living space was covered in excrement and urine, which Koch initially tried to pass off as “clay, paint, and chocolate.” The rest of the house was also cluttered with trash and covered in filth, according to authorities.
Milwaukee County assistant district attorney Mallory Davis during an intake hearing Monday said she reviewed photos and videos of the inside of the house, and called it a hoarding situation, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“It was something out of a horror movie,” Davis said. “These children were essentially confined to their room for much of their lives.”
Both children are currently in protective custody.",Explicit
"An Alabama Department of Education employee who once headed up an anti-abortion committee in the state was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexual abuse of a child under age 12.
Marty Decole “Cole” Wagner, who was employed by ALSDE in government relations until his arrest on Wednesday, was indicted by a Montgomery grand jury on June 30, according to court records, for subjecting a child under 12 to “sexual contact.” A source familiar with the specifics of Wagner’s arrest told APR that the alleged victim in the case is under 10.
“The allegations against Mr. Wagner are serious, tragic and shocking,” a statement from ALSDE said Thursday. “While he was employed by our department for only a few months, Mr. Wagner has been terminated effective immediately. No further information is available at this time as the investigation is ongoing.”
APR reported in 2018 that Wagner had been tapped to head up the anti-abortion committee Alliance for a Pro-Life Alabama, which was formed primarily to push a constitutional amendment saying there was no right to an abortion in Alabama. The amendment, which ultimately passed, had no effect on actual abortion laws.
As chair of the committee, Wagner worked with a variety of Republican lawmakers and rightwing organizations to raise money and garner sponsorship.
“The Alliance for a Pro-Life Alabama is tasked with educating voters about the constitutional amendment and providing them with accurate and truthful information while, at the same time, refuting falsehoods and misinformation that may be disseminated by pro-abortion forces within the state,” Wagner said at the time.
Wagner was released on $60,000 bond. Sexual abuse of a child under 12 is a Class B felony in Alabama, and carries a potential prison sentence of 2 to 20 years.",Explicit
"Azerbaijan Detains Well-Known Opposition Leader
Azerbaijani authorities placed an opposition leader into pre-trial detention on Monday for counterfeiting and for being allied with the exiled Turkish cleric Fetullah Gullen, whom Ankara has blamed for plotting the 2016 coup.
Economist and politician Gubad Ibadoghlu, however, believes that the regime in Baku is trying to remove him from the local political scene.
“I have been detained on the orders of [Azerbaijani president] Ilham Aliyev,” Ibadoghlu told a crowd of reporters as he was placed in the back of a police car.
He will spend four months in detention after he, his wife, and several other people were detained during raids on Sunday.
Ibadoghlu and his wife were subjected to physical violence, according to their daughter, Jala Bayramova. She said her father has not been allowed to receive medications vital for his health. The wife has been released.
Ibadoghlu lives in the U.K., where he is a Senior Visiting Fellow in the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics. He returned to Azerbaijan in early July because of his mother’s health issues.
Azerbaijani and Turkish pro-government media reported that at least five people had been arrested in an operation carried out by Azerbaijani authorities against the alleged terror organization FETÖ.
Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs later confirmed that Ibadoghlu was indeed arrested for his alleged involvement with FETÖ, adding that the ministry was acting on information supplied by its Turkish counterpart.
FETÖ is the name given by Turkish officials to the supporters of Fethullah Gülen, a religious leader based in the U.S., whom the Turkish government accuses of masterminding the attempted coup in July 2016. Turkish authorities have carried out numerous operations against FETÖ in the last seven years, resulting in the arrest and imprisonment of thousands of people.
Azerbaijan and Turkey are close allies, especially when it comes to security issues.
Ibadoghlu’s office was searched by police who, according to his lawyer, Zibeyda Sadigova, seized dozens of documents and US$40,000.
“The money will be investigated to determine whether it is fake or not,” Sadigova said.
Initially, Ibadoghlu was slapped with counterfeiting charges carrying a sentence of five to seven years in prison. Sadigova confirmed to local media, however, that the day following his detention, authorities brought other more serious counterfeiting charges carrying an increased sentence of eight to 12 years.
Officially, the charges against Ibadoghlu are based on the testimony of another man also detained as an alleged FETÖ supporter. According to Sadigova, the detainee, Anar Aliyev, claimed that Ibadoghlu had given him a certain amount of counterfeit American dollars. Ibadoghlu’s lawyer stated that her client does not even know Aliyev.
Apart from his academic career, Ibadoghlu is the chairman of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Prosperity Party, which authorities have refused to register. A new law that came into effect in January 2023 has raised new barriers to establishing political parties, receiving criticism from rights defenders both at home and abroad.
In June, Ibadoghlu established a foundation in the U.K. called the Azerbaijani Youth Education Foundation with fellow Azerbaijani opposition politicians Jamil Hasanli and Arif Mammadov. The professor announced on Facebook that the foundation will be funded by donations and also by money confiscated from corrupt Azerbaijani elites.
“One of the goals is to use the foundation to create a cadre of specialists for Azerbaijan’s future,” wrote Ibadoghlu. “The foundation’s source of funding will be donations. In addition, there are plans to fund it through the confiscation of money stolen from the people and economy of Azerbaijan and looted from the state.”
Ibadoghlu posted on Facebook that the foundation would appeal to the relevant authorities to request the confiscated funds. In recent years, the U.K. has seized from politically well-connected Azerbaijanis millions of dollars believed to have been obtained through money laundering.
In a subsequent post, Ibadoghlu wrote that a smear campaign had been launched against him because of the foundation.
In early July, another Azerbaijani public figure, former lawmaker Nazim Baydamirli, was arrested and sent to pre-trial detention for four months.
Baydemirli had criticized the government for failing to address the public health and environmental concerns of villagers in Gadabay in the western region of Azerbaijan. The villagers held protests against the construction undertaken by a British company of an artificial lake to collect waste from the company’s nearby mining operation.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that the allegations against the former legislator were based on an anonymous complaint. ""A citizen appealed to the police and claimed that N. Baydamirli threatened them and demanded 50,000 manats (nearly $30,000) from them,"" the Ministry’s official statement said.",Explicit
"Just Stop Oil (JSO) activists trying to block roads in London were surrounded by a group of what appeared to be counter-protesters wearing T-shirts with the slogan “Just Stop P---ing Everyone off”.
Footage shows the environmental protesters sitting on the floor, encircled by a group of 15 to 20 people standing around them while they try to explain why they are slow marching in the capital.
The video was shot in Elephant and Castle, south London, by JSO. The organisation later said the counter-protesters dispersed at 9.40am, after a debate of about 30 minutes.
A JSO spokesman said the encounter ended cordially, and that while the counter-protesters “didn’t understand the necessity in the mechanics of society for social disruption’, the two sides “were broadly in agreement”.
The footage shows a woman in the middle of the eco-activists saying through a megaphone: “We do agree about the same things but we have that sense of urgency. We do this out of love and out of desperation because this government does not have our best interest at heart – quite the opposite.”
One of the JSO protesters then attempts to get past the counter-demonstrators encircling the group, prompting one person to say: “Let them through, we’re not keeping them hostage. You are very welcome to leave at any point.”
The JSO protesters then ask the group how long they are going to keep them there for, adding: “What’s your plan, because when you leave we’re going to go on the road again.”
“Yeah but rush hour will be over”, a counter-protester replies. Another says: “There’s an election this time next year. If you don’t like this government, why don’t you stand for election?”
A JSO protester then asks the counter-demonstrator if they think standing for election is the best way to get their views across. “Democracy? It’s served Western civilisation pretty well.”, the anti-JSO protester says.
The JSO protesters said they were happy the group had come to disrupt their demonstration because it gave them a chance to debate.
There was speculation that the counter-protest may have been a stunt carried out by JSO to allow it to explain to the public why it is carrying out the slow marches, but the organisation insisted they were “nothing to do with us”.
The counter-protest group has no online presence but amassed considerable support on social media from those critical of JSO. Many users shared a link to purchase the “Just Stop P---ing Everyone Off” T-shirt online. It imitates the style and orange colour of JSO T-shirts.
A separate group of protesters were filmed being “pushed” on Cromwell Road by a bus that sounded its horn continuously while driving slowly into the activists despite the march blocking the road.
It comes a day after a JSO protester was assaulted by a motorist who was involved in a car crash with a pregnant woman next to a slow march on the same stretch of road.
Daniel Knorr, 21, was punched and kicked by a man who claimed he was being recorded at the scene of the protest. Speaking after the assault, Mr Knorr said: “I haven’t said anything to the police and I don’t plan to, but I’m afraid that the police might go after this man.”
Last month, Mr Knorr was carried off the pitch at Lord’s by the England cricketer Jonny Bairstow after activists momentarily disrupted play in a Test match against Australia.
Mr Knorr was charged with trespass along with Judith Murray, 69, and Jacob Bourne, 26. They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 31.",Explicit
"Donald Trump continues to wallow in antisemitism and other white supremacist filth. In the most recent example, Trump's 2024 campaign recently sent out a fundraising email that featured an image of President Joe Biden being controlled like a puppet by billionaire Democratic Party booster George Soros, a Holocaust survivor. The Chinese flag is in the background of the graphic.
Trump's fundraising email reads:
The worst-kept secret in Washington is that Crooked Joe Biden is not truly in charge.
Even Joe himself keeps letting that slip…
""Biden says he's 'not the essential man' during 2024 campaign fundraiser with Wall Street execs""
[SOURCE: Fox Business]
Did you ever think you'd hear the President of the United States – the COMMANDER in Chief – supposedly, the most powerful man in the world – say that he's not essential?
Biden has also said that he thought that by becoming president, he'd have the power to give orders. But instead, he said he's taking more orders than ever before.
Our Republic cannot and will not survive with a secret shadow president behind the curtain pulling the strings…
…Whether that's China, George Soros, unelected bureaucrats within the Deep State, or God only knows who else.
The 2024 election will decide whether America still is a country of, by, and for the PEOPLE – or whether our once Free Republic has been permanently hijacked by a cabal of nameless, faceless puppet masters secretly controlling our country in the shadows.
It is important to note that Trump's fundraising email is part of a much larger pattern of antisemitism by the global right-wing that has accelerated during the Age of Trump. On the right, there exists an obsessive focus on George Soros and the lie that he is the leader of a powerful cabal that secretly controls the world. The image used in the Trump campaign email is a near copy of the types of images used by the Nazis to dehumanize the Jewish people.
The inclusion of the Chinese flag is also part of the white supremacist antisemitic trope that Jewish people are somehow doing the work of anti-American foreign elements such as communists and socialists to infiltrate and undermine American society through their influence over Hollywood, the media, and banking.
""There is no fascism without racism.""
Trump's most recent antisemitic filth also channels much older lies and conspiracy theories such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zio and the idea of ""blood libel"".
I asked John Roth who, along with Leonard Grob, co-authored the book, ""Warnings: The Holocaust, Ukraine, and Endangered American Democracy,"" for his insights about the larger historical context for Trump's most recent antisemitic attacks:
Antisemitism has been called ""the longest hatred"". These images are part of that dismal history. Rooted in lies, their antisemitic tropes and canards are scarcely original. Antisemites recycle them because they successfully incite hostility toward Jews and animosity toward Jewish communities.
One of the most persistent and insidious falsehoods is that Jewish wealth controls politicians—of the ""wrong"" kind—and aims to dominate the world. Nazi antisemitism tarred Churchill and Stalin with a brush repurposed today by Trumpist antisemitism to smear Joe Biden as a puppet of corrupt Jewish power.
I also asked Federico Finchelstein, the author of ""A Brief History of Fascist Lies,"" for his thoughts about Trump's most recent antisemitic attacks against Biden and Soros.
This ad shows how racism & antisemitic conspiracy theories remain at the center of the current right-wing extremisms. There is no fascism without racism. Racism was at the center of the fascist worldview. It was central to fascists like Hitler and Mussolini because racism allowed them to lie about enemies of the nation. Racism and propaganda relied on each other. Sadly, we see the same pattern in Trumpism.
This ad is one more symptom of their fascist way of propagandizing.
In terms of speech, there is not much difference between Hitler's paranoia and propaganda about Jewish financiers and the current attempts to turn one Jewish investor (G. Soros) into the source of all evils. The goal is to confuse people. These lies have the aim of shattering reality and replacing it with myth. If we are to learn from the history of fascism we should be worried about those like Trump, Bolsonaro, Modi, etc that want to manipulate these racist lies and beliefs into political weapons. In the past, the results of this propaganda were horrible, especially for the victims.
It is sad that after Holocaust and all the destruction and misery that fascism created, we still see these fascist lies and propaganda at the center of politics.
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Donald Trump's continued antisemitic escalations should not be ""surprising"" or ""shocking"". In many ways, this is all utterly predictable, transparent, and the function of a type of path dependency.
In an essay here at Salon last week I explained how, ""As detailed in historian George Fredrickson's landmark book ""Racism: A Short History,"" there is a complex and overlapping relationship between the ""religious"" antisemitism of the European Middle Ages, the racist and white supremacist project of white-on-black chattel slavery, colonialism, imperialism, and then the Nazism and racial antisemitism of the 20th century. This translates into a type of path dependency, if not inevitable outcome: As the ""conservative"" movement becomes increasingly racist and white supremacist, it then becomes increasingly antisemitic. …
As Donald Trump finally faces serious consequences for his decades-long crime spree, he has become more antisemitic. This is true more generally for the MAGA movement, the Republican Party, and the larger right wing during the Trumpocene – but especially since the coup attempt on Jan. 6, and now the indictments of Donald Trump and his cabal for his and their crimes against democracy and society. Trump will only become more bold and gross as the 2024 presidential election approaches and the walls of justice close in.""
Donald Trump's, the Republican fascists and larger white right's antisemitic attacks over the last seven or so years (and examples of white supremacy and racism more generally) are almost too numerous to comprehensively list.
During the 2016 campaign Trump sent out or otherwise recirculated antisemitic images as part of their attacks Hillary Clinton; the Trump campaign has previously suggested that Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, secretly controls Joe Biden; Trump infamously said in 2017 that the neo-Nazis and other white supremacists who participated in a lethal rampage in Charlottesville are ""very fine people""; Trump's senior adviser Stephen Miller has many documented connections with white supremacists and other hatemongers — and shaped the Trump regime's policies to that end.
The Trump administration refused to properly honor International Holocaust Remembrance Day by deciding to omit the specific crimes against humanity suffered by the Jewish People.
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
A majority of Republicans and Trump voters and followers believe in the white supremacist ""great replacement"" conspiracy theory lie which claims that there is a secret plot being orchestrated by ""the deep state"" and ""globalists"" (code for ""the Jews"") to replace ""white people"" in America and Europe with non-whites and Muslims. Public opinion polls also show that, contrary to the abundant evidence, Republican and right-wing voters do not believe that antisemitism is a serious problem in the United States.
The QAnon conspiracy-lie, which is believed in by a majority of Republicans and Trump voters, is a 21st-century version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, blood libel and the lie that Jewish people kidnap children and drink their blood as a way of obtaining superpowers.
Contrary to how too many in the mainstream news media, the political class, and general public would like to believe, one cannot ""flirt with"" or ""play footsy"" with antisemitism and other forms of white supremacy and racism. Such language and beliefs do the work of minimizing and distorting – and therefore empowering and enabling — such beliefs and behavior in their various forms.
As seen with the Tree of Life massacre, the Buffalo massacre, and the El Paso massacre (and a large increase in hate crimes and other such violence during the Age of Trump and beyond) where white supremacists targeted Jewish people, black Americans, and Hispanics and Latinos for mass murder, antisemitism, racism(s), and white supremacy are lethal.
Ultimately, such values are an existential threat to America's multiracial pluralistic democracy and the overall safety and security of the country. On this, Lenny Grob, who is co-author of ""Warnings: The Holocaust, Ukraine, and Endangered American Democracy"", offered the following warning and call to action via email:
In the United States today much political grievance is inseparable from White nationalism, racism, and sexism. They breed and feed each other. As those divisive ""isms"" infect American life, another—antisemitism, hatred toward Jews and their communities—resurges in the United States. MAGA Republicanism harbors it.
The health of American democracy depends on rejecting antisemitism and embracing inclusive pluralism instead. Commitment to freedom of speech means that antisemitism cannot be silenced in the United States, but wise Americans will neither trust nor vote for any political party that harbors it.
John K. Roth agrees:
Democracy's existence invites its demise. That's partly because democracy encourages freedom of speech. Without that freedom, democracy would scarcely exist. But the quality of words matters. When they spew antisemitism and condone anti-Jewish attitudes and actions—sometimes by saying nothing—threats against democracy multiply. Democracy is vulnerable to antidemocratic power. To the extent that antisemitism exists, democracy does not. Whenever antisemitism is curbed and thwarted, democracy's chances get better.
Donald Trump and the other Republican fascists are continuing to wallow in antisemitism because they have made a calculation that there is a large and receptive audience for such appeals among their voters and the ""conservative"" public at large. In short, Trump and the other neofascists would not be trafficking in antisemitism and other forms of racism and white supremacy if they did not have good reason to believe it works. Based on Trump's fundraising numbers, his enduring popularity among MAGA and other Republican voters, and how he is tied with (or in many polls defeating) President Biden in a hypothetical 2024 rematch, there is a larger and hungry audience for such hateful and evil appeals to the worst and not the best of the American people and their collective character.",Explicit
"Salvatore Mancuso is one of the most notorious figures in Colombia’s six decades of conflict, responsible for some of the most heinous of crimes during the darkest chapters in the country’s history.
As a senior commander of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) – the country’s largest rightwing death squad – he ordered forced disappearances, sexual violence and massacres of civilians.
“There was not a single campesino who did not live in fear of that man,” said Angelica Salsero, representative of the Association of Victims in Cordoba, the northern Colombian region where the AUC sprang up. Like many others there, Salsero lost a family member to the paramilitaries.
So when president Gustavo Petro recently appointed Mancuso as a “peace manager” for negotiations with armed groups, Salsero – like many others – reacted with outrage, saying the decision makes a mockery of all those who lost loved ones or were forced from their homes.
“How can someone be named a Peace Manager when they committed so much war and death? It’s an insult to all of his victims,” she said.
Mancuso demobilised during a much-criticized peace process in 2003 and was extradited to the USA in 2008 for drug trafficking. He finished his sentence in prison in 2020 but remains in detention in Atlanta, Georgia, as he is yet to pay for his war crimes in Colombia.
Mancuso has accepted responsibility for more than 300 killings and is accused of committing about 75,000 crimes.
In the hopes of receiving lenient punishment the former paramilitary leader has testified virtually to Colombia’s special peace tribunal (JEP), giving details of how the country’s military, as well as its business and political elites, worked hand-in-glove with the paramilitaries to stamp out leftwing guerrillas.
Mancuso’s testimony is helping the JEP to untangle the truth of Colombia’s conflict and that knowledge could eventually help the government negotiate with other rightwing groups who remain active today, experts say.
His appointment as a peace envoy by Colombia’s first ever leftwing president, came as a shock to many.
But his inclusion in negotiations is part of Petro’s bold strategy to include figures across the political spectrum – even where their ideological ties or criminal past would usually exclude them from any official role.
In November Petro appointed José Félix Lafaurie, head of Fedegan – a traditionally conservative association of cattle ranchers – to lead talks with leftist ELN rebels.
Mancuso could be a useful bridge between the government and the Gulf Clan (ACG) – an armed drug faction which has become the largest criminal organisation in Colombia, say analysts. Negotiations with the ACG stalled and Petro broke off a ceasefire in March.
“Appointing Mancuso can only be positive in attempts to establish a channel with the ACG. He has managed to create some confidence with that group and his appointment has the potential to reinvigorate the channel between the government and the organisation,” said Elizabth Dickinson, senior analyst for Colombia at Crisis Group.
Mancuso’s testimonies helped authorities discover mass graves near the Venezuelan border in June, and the former AUC commander is encouraging other paramilitary leaders to join him in the peace process.
But victims argue that Mancuso’s dire human rights record means he should have no role in the country’s future.
Eliécer Arias, who belongs to the Indigenous Kankuamo people, lost his elder brother to Mancuso’s death squads who tortured their victims before burning them or throwing them into rivers.
“For 22 years as victims, we have waited for an act of reparation and to be recognised by the Colombian state. Then on Sunday I heard this news. It’s a huge blow to us families who have lost people to the paramilitaries. It’s not just sad and enraging. It’s humiliating.
“We’re always told that the victims are at the centre of these peace processes but in reality nobody is listening to us. This guy walks free and we, the victims, are left adrift once again,” Arias said.
It remains unclear when and if Mancuso will return to Colombia. He remains subject to an arrest warrant, and the country’s courts have confirmed that his appointment as peace manager would not exempt him from trial.
“The question is how this decision can be anything more than symbolic. What kind of peace processes can Mancuso promote from a detention site in the US? With whom?,” said Juan Pappier, deputy director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch.
Mancuso’s victims argue that wherever he ends up he should be given no honours.
“The appointment of Mancuso is an affront to all of us,” says Luz Marina Hache Contreras who was displaced by the Colombian military and paramilitary forces. “Recognition must be given to those who have suffered Mancuso’s crimes, not to the criminal himself. It is his responsibility to contribute to the truth without anything in return.”",Explicit
"A Sunday newsletter from the office of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Az.) featured a link to an antisemitic website known for promoting conspiracies ranging from QAnon to Holocaust denial, according to a report from the progressive nonprofit Media Matters For America.
The newsletter included a link to USSA News, which boasts the tagline “do not let this happen to our country ☭.” Despite Gosar condemning antisemitism in the bulletin, USSA is rampant with antisemitic language, conspiracy theories about Jewish people, and reposted or re-promoted content from Neo-Nazi blogs.
Rep. Gosar’s office did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
According to MMFA’s review of USSA’s recent articles, posts include the promotion of a “documentary” claiming that the Nazi death camp Auschwitz was not actually an extermination camp. “This Documentary exposes lies. I am up for that. Any Lie must be exposed,” the author (writing under the pseudonym “Constitutional Nobody”) wrote. Another article, published Friday by Constitutional Nobody, advised the reader to “watch out for so-called ‘pro-White’ online activists who are trashing [Adolf] Hitler’s legacy, or just giving Hitler lip service.”
“Stand up for Hitler,” the writer added.
Earlier this month, USSA published a piece lauding the Nazi dictator for doing “everything in his power” to prevent the destruction of the white race.
Several pieces published on USSA feature links to known white supremacist and Neo-Nazi websites, including the Renegade Tribune. One article was little more than a reposted article from the antisemitic blog Unz Review.
Throughout his career in Congress, Gosar has repeatedly found himself in hot water over associations with extremist movements, antisemites, and conspiracy theorists.
In November 2021, Gosar was censured by the House after posting a doctored anime video depicting himself killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Coretz (D-N.Y.) on social media.
Earlier this year, Gosar promoted a link to an article from Veterans Today, another website that promotes antisemitic viewpoints. The article, which discusses statements made by Gosar regarding the war in Ukraine, is titled “Congressman: Jewish warmongers Nuland & Blinken ‘Are Dangers Fools Who Can Get Us All Killed.’”
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Last year, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that there was “no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism,” after Gosar and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene participated in the America First Political Actions Conference. The event is organized and hosted by white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.
But Gosar’s repeated engagement with extremist ideology has not motivated Republicans to take any sort of punitive action against him. In fact, when the GOP took control of the House in 2022, they rewarded Gosar by restoring the committee assignments he’d been stripped of following his censure.",Explicit
"A shooting has left two people dead in the centre of Auckland, New Zealand, hours before the city is due to open the Fifa Women's World Cup.
Six other people, including police officers, were injured and the gunman is also dead after the incident at 07:22 (19:22 GMT) on a construction site in the central business district.
PM Chris Hipkins said the attack was not being seen as an act of terrorism.
The tournament would go ahead as planned, he said.
The public, he added, could be assured police had neutralised the threat and there was no ongoing risk after the incident on Queen Street.
No political or ideological motive for the attack had been identified, the prime minister said.
The gunman, he said, had been armed with a pump-action shotgun.
Mr Hipkins thanked ""the brave men and women of the New Zealand police who ran into the gunfire, straight into harm's way, in order to save the lives of others"".
""These kinds of situations move fast and the actions of those who risk their lives to save others are nothing short of heroic,"" he added.
According to Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, all Fifa personnel and football teams are safe and have been accounted for.
""I can't remember anything like this ever happening in our beautiful city. This morning's events have been tragic and distressing for all Aucklanders, as this is not something that we are used to,"" Mr Brown said on Twitter.
Fifa expressed its ""deepest condolences"" to the victims' families and said it was in communication with New Zealand authorities.
""The participating teams in close proximity to this incident are being supported in relation to any impact that may have taken place,"" it said.
The opening match is to be held between New Zealand and Norway in the city's Eden Park.
Sport Minister Grant Robertson said there would be extra police in the area to provide reassurance.
The ninth Women's World Cup is being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
Earlier, the mayor warned people should stay home and avoid travelling into the city. Mr Brown said it was a ""dreadful thing to happen"" in his city.
Police say they heard reports of a person discharging a firearm inside the construction site, and the gunman moved through the building and continued to fire.
The man then went into a lift shaft and police attempted to engage with him.
Further shots were fired by the man and he was found dead a short time later, police say.
Following the shooting there was a large armed police presence in the central business district not far from the waterfront and the fan park.
Tatjana Haenni, chief sporting director for National Women's Soccer league USA, is staying close to where the shooting happened.
She told BBC News she had woken up to sounds of police cars arriving and was told to stay inside. ""So far we feel safe,"" she said.",Explicit
"ROME -- Prosecutors in Turin have reportedly opened an investigation after the lead singer of British band Placebo insulted Premier Giorgia Meloni during a July 11 concert, calling her a fascist and racist.
The LaPresse and ANSA news agencies said the investigation into alleged “vilification” stemmed from a report by carabinieri police about the comments by Brian Molko during a performance at the Sonic Park Festival in Stupinigi, near Turin. LaPresse reported that as of Monday, Molko hadn’t been placed under investigation.
According to a cellphone video circulating on social media, Moko said in Italian: “Giorgia Meloni: piece of (expletive); fascist, racist (expletive).”
Emails and calls to Turin prosecutors seeking confirmation weren’t immediately returned. Facebook and Instagram messages left on Placebo’s official accounts went unanswered Wednesday.
Members of Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party, which has its roots in Italy's neo-fascist movement, denounced the insults and demanded an apology.
“We cannot let an international event that attracts so many people (to Italy) be ruined by filthy words which, amidst a general silence, aim to attack the institutions of the republic,” LaPresse quoted Brothers of Italy lawmaker Augusta Montaruli as saying.",Explicit
"Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) briefly sent Wednesday’s House Oversight hearing into chaos when she displayed nude photos of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter engaging in sexual activities, prompting committee Democrats to deem her latest attention-grabbing stunt inappropriate.
Wednesday’s hearing was centered on the testimony of two IRS whistleblowers who allege that the criminal probe into Hunter Biden, which resulted in a plea deal on tax charges, was mishandled by the Justice Department, who they claim gave preferential treatment to the younger Biden.
For the first few hours, the hearing largely went as expected. Republicans touted the whistleblowers’ testimony as extremely credible while using it as a launching point for further speculation about the “Biden crime family” and allegations of foreign bribery schemes. Democrats, meanwhile, labeled the entire investigation into the Bidens as an “exercise in futility and embarrassment,” noting that House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) has yet to provide any evidence of the president’s wrongdoing.
It wasn’t until Greene got her chance to ask questions, however, that the hearing really turned into a circus of the absurd.
Armed with a series of posterboards emblazoned with X-rated images from the younger Biden’s infamous laptop, the MAGA congresswoman asked the two witnesses if they believed the president’s son’s involvement with prostitutes violated any federal laws.
“So when Hunter Biden paid for this woman to do this with him, to travel across state lines from California to Washington, D.C., on June 15, this is a violation of the Mann Act. This was prostitution,” she said, holding up censored photos of a nude Hunter Biden.
Joseph Ziegler, an IRS Special Agent with the Criminal Investigation Division, eventually told the Georgia lawmaker that he would need to refer her questions about Hunter Biden allegedly writing off payments to prostitutes to the House Ways and Means Committee. However, she persisted.
Even after Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) pointed out that Greene was nearly two minutes over her time, the congresswoman kept asking Ziegler about a potential IRS investigation into “Hunter Biden making sex tapes” and “online pornography.” She then waved around yet another large nude photo of the presidential scion, prompting gasps from the crowd and an objection from Raskin.
“Should we be displaying this, Mr. Chairman?!” Raskin exclaimed while another Democrat said this was “unbecoming” of the chamber.
Asking for a point of order, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) complained about Greene publicizing images that “are not actually even allegations much less evidence of anything.” Conceding that it was a “good point,” Comer went on to say that the material had been “on the internet long before I became chairman of this committee” and therefore was already publicized.
Following Greene’s antics, some Democrats took her to task.
“Today’s hearing is like most of the majority’s investigations and hearings: A lot of allegations, zero proof, no receipts—but apparently, some dick pics,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said later in the hearing.
Lacking a certain amount of decorum in his response, however, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) tweeted that the photos revealed that “perhaps we should call Hunter Biden the ‘Big Guy,’” referencing an alleged nickname for the president in Hunter’s emails.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Greene’s behavior was appropriate and if he planned any disciplinary action against her.
In a Newsmax interview later Wednesday, Greene admitted the sexually explicit images made her “uncomfortable,” but maintained that they amounted to evidence that “the American people deserve to see.”
“This is a weaponized Department of Justice. They are protecting Hunter Biden,” she argued on Rob Schmitt Tonight.",Explicit
"Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's attorney, filed an ethics complaint Friday against Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green after she displayed censured nude photos of the president's son at a committee hearing Wednesday.
Lowell demanded the Office of Congressional Ethics ""immediately"" examine Greene's actions, which he called ""abhorrent behavior that blatantly violates House Ethics rules and standards of official conduct"" in his message to the watchdog.
""Now more than ever, the House has a duty to make loud and clear that it does not endorse, condone, or agree with her outrageous, undignified conduct and brazen violations of the standards of official conduct that do not reflect creditably on the House of Representatives,"" Lowell wrote in a letter, which The Hill first reported.
Lowell's request stems from Greene holding up several graphic photos from Hunter Biden's laptop during a committee hearing Wednesday where IRS whistleblowers alleged misconduct in investigations into the Biden family.
The House Oversight Committee interviewed two IRS whistleblowers — Special Agent Joseph Ziegler, whose identity was revealed during the hearing, and his IRS supervisor Gary Shapley — who alleged political misconduct throughout the Hunter Biden investigation
Shapley previously blew the whistle on alleged political influence surrounding prosecutorial decisions throughout the years-long federal probe into President Biden's son.
Ziegler testified Wednesday that Hunter Biden itemized a $10,000 deduction on his 2018 tax return for a supposed golf club membership that was actually a sex club membership and that Hunter Biden wrote off payments to prostitutes as business expenses.
Greene held up censored nude photos from Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop and addressed Ziegler.
""So, when Hunter Biden paid for this woman to do this with him, to travel across state lines from California to Washington, D.C., on June 15, this is a violation of the Mann Act. This was prostitution,"" Greene said.
""This is evidence of Hunter Biden making sex — excuse me, this is my time – making pornography,"" she said, holding up another photo as Democrats objected.
One member interjected that showing the pictures was ""unbecoming of this hearing,"" and another asked, ""Should we be displaying this … in the committee?""
Ziegler, who identified himself as a gay Democrat with more than a dozen years serving within the IRS' criminal investigative division, appeared for the first time publicly Wednesday, and Shapley testified to the House Ways and Means Committee last month.
The whistleblowers allege that officials at the Justice Department, FBI and IRS interfered in the investigation into Hunter Biden and that politics influenced decisions in the case.
Greene's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ethics complaint.",Explicit
"MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. -- A police sergeant in a New York City suburb has been indicted on federal civil rights charges, accused of using his stun gun multiple times on a handcuffed man in mental crisis who was being involuntarily taken for medical treatment, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Sgt. Mario Stewart, a commander on the force in Mount Vernon, fired his Taser at the man seven times in two minutes, according to the indictment. He is charged with violating the person’s constitutional rights by using excessive force.
“Stewart’s alleged conduct not only betrayed his duty as an officer to protect those under his charge but also violated the law,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.
Kevin Conway, Stewart’s attorney, said his client was doing his duty and did not violate anyone's rights or commit a crime.
“He merely was discharging his duty in responding to a mental health call for an individual who was in an agitated mental and physical state,” Conway said.
The sergeant and other officers were dispatched to a parking lot in March of 2019 to assist a man who was partially naked and appeared to be in distress.
Stewart, who was the supervisor at the scene, gave an order for the man to be handcuffed and taken down to the ground. Officers then tried to put him in a “restraint bag” for transportation. But they were only able to get it partially in place, according to the indictment, because the man was clinging to a strap on the side of the sack.
Stewart told the man to let go, and when he didn't, fired his stun gun repeatedly, prosecutors said.
At the time, the man was on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back and his legs secured in the bag.
Conway said emergency medical personnel had unsuccessfully tried to get the man to agree to be transported for care, and Stewart had no choice but to use nonlethal means.
Stewart, of Brooklyn, pleaded not guilty at an appearance before a federal judge in White Plains on Thursday and was released on a personal bond, the lawyer said.
In a statement, the administration of Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, who took office several months after the incident, said “the alleged conduct predicating the Department of Justice’s charges is abhorrent and erodes the public’s trust in the hard-working men and women of the Mount Vernon Police Department.”
Mount Vernon is about 15 miles (20 kilometers) north of midtown Manhattan.
Emails seeking comment were sent to the police department and the police union.",Explicit
"A music festival in Malaysia has been canceled after the lead singer of British band The 1975 Matty Healy slammed the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws and kissed a bandmate on stage.
The on-stage incident at the Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur on Friday night prompted the country’s Ministry of Communications to cancel the rest of the three-day event.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Malaysia and punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison.
In an expletive-laden speech during the band’s headline performance on Friday, captured in a video shared widely on social media, Healy said, “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m f***ing furious. And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government. You are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive,” he said addressing the audience. Healy added that the band considered canceling the show but decided against it to not disappoint the fans.
“If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f*** off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good,” Healy says in the video before bassist Ross MacDonald walks up to him and kisses him on stage.
‘Performative’
The Good Vibes Festival said in a statement following the incident, “We deeply regret to announce that the remaining schedule of the Good Vibes Festival 2023, planned for today and tomorrow has been canceled following the controversial conduct and remarks made by UK artist Matty Healy from the band The 1975.”
“This decision adheres to the immediate cancellation directive issued at 1:20 pm [local time], 22 July 2023, by the Ministry of Communications and Digital. The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule, or contravene Malaysian laws,” the festival’s statement added. “We sincerely apologize to all of our ticket holders, vendors, sponsors, and partners.”
Communications Minister Fahmi said Malaysia was committed to supporting the development of creative industries and freedom of expression, Reuters reported.
“However, never touch on the sensitivities of the community, especially those that are against the traditions and values of the local culture,” he said, according to the agency.
CNN has reached out to the Malaysian Home Affairs Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office for comment.
Healy’s actions sparked controversy online, with some fans complaining that the band’s actions will result in a further crackdown on artistic expression and make it more difficult for music artists to perform in Malaysia in the future.
Members of Malaysa’s LGBTQ community have also criticized Healy’s actions, with some calling it “performative” and warning that it could lead to further discrimination.
It’s not the first time The 1975 frontman has sparked controversy – Healy drew criticism earlier this year for appearing to do a Nazi salute on stage during a song called “Love it If We Made It”, as he sang lyrics that are critical of Kanye West.
In 2019, Healy kissed a male fan during a concert in Dubai, in defiance of the region’s anti-LGBT laws.
Healy later posted on Twitter: “Thank you Dubai you were so amazing. I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again.”",Explicit
"In her desperation to prove wrongdoing by Hunter Biden, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene may have sent his nude photos to minors.
The House Oversight Committee heard testimony on Wednesday from two IRS agents who say the Department of Justice dragged its feet on investigating the younger Biden for tax fraud. The hearing produced zero actual evidence, so instead, Greene tried to claim that Biden engaged in sex trafficking and listed payments to sex workers as a tax write-off.
And now, Greene may have emailed the nudes to minors. The Georgia representative emailed her constituents Wednesday evening claiming she had confirmed Biden was guilty of sex trafficking and tax fraud (she had not). The email included a video that showed his nudes.
There is no screening for age when signing up for Greene’s email newsletter, so any minors who subscribe—such as for a social studies project or simply to stay up to date—have now received nudes from their congresswoman. If that is the case, then Greene would not only have violated her state’s revenge porn law, but she could also have broken federal laws banning the distribution of obscene material to minors.
House Republicans, led by Comer, have for months accused the Bidens of corruption and other forms of wrongdoing, although they have yet to produce any actual evidence. The hearing on Wednesday was meant to focus on Hunter Biden’s plea deal over his taxes, which will allow him to avoid jail time.
IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler testified before the Oversight Committee about Hunter Biden’s alleged wrongdoing. Jamie Raskin, the Oversight ranking member, had warned earlier Wednesday, however, that Shapley and Ziegler have already “undermined this Republican narrative” in their previous depositions.",Explicit
"A court in Brussels has found six men guilty of terrorist murder, more than seven years after suicide bomb attacks killed 32 people at the city's airport and a metro station in March 2016.
After a long trial and 19 days of jury deliberations, the court in Brussels returned their verdicts.
Several of those on trial had already been convicted of taking part in the Paris terror attacks months earlier.
Salah Abdeslam was arrested days before the Brussels bombings.
He was found guilty in France last year of the 2015 Paris bomb and gun attacks in which 130 died. The Belgian trial, which began last December, has now convicted him of murder and attempted murder in Brussels too.
Another of those now found guilty of both bombings, Mohamed Abrini, was identified on CCTV fleeing Zaventem airport when his explosives did not go off.
He became known as the ""man in the hat"" and was among a number of suspects arrested in Brussels a few weeks later.
The attacks in Brussels took place within an hour of each other on 22 March 2016.
Two bombs went off shortly before 08:00 at opposite ends of the departures hall at Zaventem airport, leaving 16 people dead.
Then, little more than an hour later, a further blast happened on a train at Maelbeek metro station in Brussels' European quarter, close to EU institutions. Another 16 people died in that bombing.
Hundreds more were wounded.",Explicit
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ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — Russia struck the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa on Sunday, keeping up a barrage of attacks that has damaged critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine in the past week. At least one person was killed and 22 others wounded in the early morning attack, officials said.
Four children were among those wounded in the blasts, which severely damaged 25 landmarks across the city, including the historic Transfiguration Cathedral.
Russia has been launching repeated attacks on Odesa, a key hub for exporting grain, since Moscow canceled a landmark grain deal on Monday amid Kyiv’s grinding efforts to retake its occupied territories.
After the fires were put out at the Orthodox cathedral, volunteers donned hard hats, shovels and brooms to begin removing rubble and try to salvage any artifacts — under the watchful gaze of the saints whose paintings remained intact. Local officials said the icon of the patroness of the city was retrieved from under the rubble.
“The destruction is enormous, half of the cathedral is now roofless,” said Archdeacon Andrii Palchuk, as workers brought documents and valuables out of the building, its floor inundated with water used by firefighters to extinguish the blaze.
Palchuk said the damage was caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile that penetrated the building down to the basement. Two people inside were wounded.
“But with God’s help, we will restore it,” he said, bursting into tears.
A woman who came to help with the cleanup said she loved the cathedral “for its tranquility and grace.”
“When you enter this church, you feel like you’re beyond the world,” said Liudmyla, who gave only her first name. “I have a feeling that God, to protect apartments, took this pain, this explosion upon himself.”
Anna Fetchenko, who came to Odesa for a volunteer meeting, also pitched in to clear the debris. “I wanted to go to the seaside, but last night was so frightening that I cried for the first time in 2023,” she said.
“This is our Ukrainian heritage, and now it’s taken away from us.”
Later Sunday, Palchuk urged people to gather in front of the destroyed part of the cathedral for an outdoor service and to pray in front of a sacred icon that “miraculously survived.”
“We will pray that it protects us from the Russians,” he said.
The cathedral belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been accused of links to Russia. The church has insisted that it is loyal to Ukraine, has denounced the Russian invasion from the start and even declared its independence from Moscow.
WATCH: Russia’s war in Ukraine leads to historic split in the Orthodox Church
But Ukrainian security agencies have claimed that some in the Ukrainian church maintain close ties with Moscow. They’ve raided numerous church holy sites and posted photos of rubles, Russian passports and leaflets with messages from the Moscow patriarch as proof some church officials are loyal to Russia.
UNESCO strongly condemned the attack on the cathedral and other heritage sites and said it will send a mission in coming days to assess damage. Odesa’s historic center was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site earlier this year, and the agency said the Russian attacks contradict Moscow’s pledge to take precautious to spare World Heritage sites in Ukraine.
“This outrageous destruction marks an escalation of violence against the cultural heritage of Ukraine. I strongly condemn this attack against culture, and I urge the Russian Federation to take meaningful action to comply with its obligations under international law,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.
Regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said that six residential buildings were destroyed by the strikes.
Some people were trapped in their apartments following the attack, which left rubble strewn in the street and partly blocking the road.
Svitlana Molcharova, 85, was rescued by emergency workers. But after she received first aid, she refused to leave her destroyed apartment. “I will stay here,” she said.
“I woke up when the ceiling started to fall on me. I rushed into the corridor,” said Ivan Kovalenko, a 19-year-old resident of the building. “That’s how I lost my home in Mykolaiv, and here, I lost my rented apartment.”
His unit revealed a partially collapsed ceiling and a balcony that came off the side of the building. All the windows were blown out.
Ukraine’s air force reported on the Telegram messaging app that Russia had launched 19 missiles in the Odesa region, including five high-precision winged Onyx missiles and four sea-to-shore Kalibr cruise missiles. It said that Ukrainian air defenses shot down nine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday its forces attacked sites in Odesa “where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared.”
In a later statement, the ministry denied that its attacks struck the Transfiguration Cathedral, claiming the destruction of the cathedral was likely due to “the fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft guided missile.”
The attacks come days after President Vladimir Putin pulled Russia out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that enabled Ukraine’s exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger.
WATCH: Russia ends grain export deal with Ukraine, raising fears about global food security
Earlier Russian attacks have crippled significant parts of export facilities in Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk, and destroyed 60,000 tons of grain, according to Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry.
Putin vowed to retaliate against Kyiv for an attack Monday on the crucial Kerch Bridge linking Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin illegally annexed in 2014.
— Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko were meeting Sunday in St. Petersburg, two days after Moscow warned Poland that any aggression against its neighbor and ally would be considered an attack on Russia. Putin said talks would also take place Monday, and declared that Kyiv’s counteroffensive had failed.
Lukashenko said Wagner troops, who launched joint drills with the Belarusian military on Thursday, almost a month after their short-lived rebellion against Moscow, wanted to go west “on an excursion to Warsaw, to Rzeszow” in Poland, but that Belarus would not allow the mercenary force to relocate.
“I am keeping them in central Belarus, like we agreed. … We are controlling what is happening” with Wagner, he said.
— Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov reported Sunday that two people were killed in Russian strikes on the northeastern province Saturday, when Russia attacked populated areas of the Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Kupiansk and Izium districts.
Donetsk regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said four residents were also killed and 11 wounded in attacks Saturday.
Morton reported from London.
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"An 8-year-old girl was found dead after vanishing from a Pennsylvania church camp nearly 50 years ago, and now a former pastor faces charges in Georgia, officials said.
The case dates to August 1975, when Gretchen Harrington was attending a summer bible camp. The girl didn’t show up to one of the churches that was hosting the camp, causing her father to grow worried and report her missing, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania.
Gretchen’s remains were found about two months later in Ridley Creek State Park, officials said.
Now, almost 48 years later, a man who served as pastor of one of the churches that hosted the camp is charged in the girl’s death. Prosecutors didn’t list attorney information for the man, identified in a July 24 news release as 83-year-old David Zandstra of Marietta, Georgia.
This is a developing story and will be updated.",Explicit
"QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. - Assaults on students at a private residential school in the East Valley are of course raising concerns.
Specifically, cases of staff members accused of getting physical with juveniles – which is against protocol.
""They’re supposed to use de-escalation techniques, they’re supposed to talk to the kids, try and calm them down, but every time we’ve come out here, we come for the same thing,"" Sarah Shanno, an agent with the Department of Child Safety (DCS), was overheard on body camera footage saying to police.
It's where challenges of protocol, discipline and restraint collide.
""He grabbed me by my legs, threw me on my back. My head hit the floor,"" a victim was heard saying on body camera footage.
What's the Arizona Department of Child Safety really up against?
""We’ve been having a lot of issues with Canyon State, so they don’t really give us videos without you guys here,"" a DCS agent said to police.
They call on law enforcement to step in and advocate for delinquent youth and at-risk children.
Case by case
On April 8 of last year, a Queen Creek Police officer responds to Desert Lily Academy, the all-girls school located at Canyon State Academy (CSA).
Body camera footage is blurred due to the fact this is private property and minors are involved.
The campus is state-certified, licensed with the DCS and is owned by Rite of Passage.
Shanno is the DCS agent who called Queen Creek Police.
""One of the staff was trying to restrain one of the kiddos and in the process of taking her down, she has bruising and I’m gonna be frank, a big a--, like it looks like road rash down the side of her face,"" Shanno said to Queen Creek Police.
Security footage shows the student walking up a ramp to a building that is password restricted.
Robert Stapleton is the CSA staff member who follows her and forces her away from the door before grabbing her from behind. A struggle ensues and he takes her to the ground.
""A little context. She’s been all over the place all day. They’ve tried to keep their hands off of her, she’s been in this building before. My understanding is she’s gotten razor blades from the shavers and other kind of contraband things,"" Brian Heath, executive director of Rite of Passage said to police.
According to DCS, staff members are not supposed to put their hands on students and it took two days to notify the police about this incident.
""They are what we call a QRTP. So technically they’re not supposed to be putting their hands on these kids, but they do, and the kids have injuries 90% of the time,"" Shanno said to police. QRTP stands for Qualified Residential Treatment Program.
Police did submit charges of assault for Stapleton as well as the girl who allegedly tried hitting him. The county attorney’s office declined to prosecute Stapleton due to no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
‘He hit me so hard’
On April 28, 2022, Queen Creek Police Officer Christian Williams arrives at Canyon State because a student has been punched in the chest by an employee.
The alleged reason?
""'Excuse me, Mr. Clark, may I please pass gas?' And he hits me in my chest. Like, I was literally asking to pass gas. He hit me so hard. Have you seen the video?"" the victim was heard saying in blurred body cam footage.
""I haven’t yet,"" Officer Williams said.
""I literally had to go sit down for a second to catch my breath so that I could walk up here and report it,"" the student said.
Surveillance video shows the student walk to the front of the classroom, approaching staff member Anton Clark.
""My perspective, being 30, you’re a little less than half my age right? I couldn’t even fathom closed fist striking you with any real intent,"" Officer Williams said to the student.
CSA suspended Clark immediately. He later told police that the victim would not sit down and was disrupting the class.
Clark was charged with aggravated assault but completed the felony diversion program to have his case dismissed.
‘Now he has four burn marks on his face’
On May 19, 2022, officer Williams is back at CSA for another assault call.
""My kid tripped on the floor, got a bloody nose, and while he was on the floor, Peña knelt down in a kneeling position and put his elbow on the left side of my kid’s cheekbone, rubbing his face into the ground, so now he has four burn marks on his face,"" a DCS agent told Officer Williams.
The DCS agent is talking about Edwin Peña Lopez, a CSA staff member.
Classroom surveillance video shows Lopez tackling a student to the ground. He gets on top of the boy, holding him down.
""And then he came and put his elbow on me on this side of my face. That’s why this all got scraped up,"" the victim was heard explaining on body camera footage.
According to police, Lopez says the student was told to leave the class due to bad behavior. He explains the technique he used called a ""two-shoulder assist.""
""The hold that you were doing. Is that a hold that is taught here?"" Officer Williams asked Lopez.
He answers, ""Yes, I believe it’s called a shoulder assist. Kind of escort the student physically.""
Officer Williams asks another staff member about the type of restraint used.
""Is any of that trained?""
The answer: ""No,"" the staff member said.
Lopez is charged with aggravated assault and enrolled in the felony diversion program.
Student tackled to the concrete
On July 18, 2022, Queen Creek Police return to campus.
""He kept grabbing me, telling me to go inside, he shoved me so I shoved him back and then he tried to restrain me and then he grabbed me by my legs and my head hit the floor,"" a student said to police.
The 16-year-old student says staff member Phillip Miller tackled him onto concrete.
He tells the officer he was upset about something and needed a minute to calm down before being taken to the ground and placed in a ""seated restraint.""
""They stretch your legs out and someone sits on your leg and someone pulls your arms back,"" the victim said.
This happened nearly a month prior to the report.
CSA's program director Timothy Gloston tells police the force was unnecessary.
""He should have definitely gave him some space – the kid is not listening to him. He should allow another staff to take over,"" Gloston said to police.
Miller was fired. Prosecutors declined the aggravated assault charge due to the ""victim being reluctant.""
More reports of assault at Canyon State
In four of the six assault cases we reviewed, DCS contacted the police first, not CSA.
FOX 10 spoke to the chief of Queen Creek PD, Randy Brice.
""What we’re seeing the majority of is sometime during their review or report or internal workflow process, DCS is determining ‘Hey, we need to call the police on this because we think this meets a certain level of a criminal act,’"" Chief Brice said.
Police reports reveal on July 20, 2022, a DCS caseworker told officers that a CSA staff member assaulted a kid two days prior, allegedly throwing the boy into a wall and causing him to black out.
On August 6 of last year, the same DCS agent notifies police about a CSA staff member, Larry Dailey, allegedly squeezing an eight-year-old boy’s shoulder so hard, it left bruising.
There’s no video of these two incidents and the county attorney's office declined to prosecute both cases, citing no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
Chief Brice says GCPD has offered CSA training on de-escalation and restraint tactics.
""But DCS really is the governing agency when it comes to what they do in those situations, but any time juveniles involved, we’re very careful. We look at this stuff very seriously and we’re committed to making sure we follow through on those,"" Chief Brice said.
Police reports show commonalities brought up by the staff members investigated.
Some say Canyon State is understaffed, leaving employees outnumbered by students, the restraints performed are not effective, and techniques taught by CSA do not work for ""real situations.""
CSA & DCS statements
CSA officials did not want to speak on camera, but a statement reads:
""The safety of our youth is paramount. Canyon State Academy has a zero tolerance for abuse, properly reports any allegations of misconduct, and terminates or retrains staff based on investigation findings.
The isolated incidents occurred a year ago, and since that time, we have worked in partnership with the Department of Child Safety and Queen Creek Police Department and have substantially reduced the number of incidents and calls to law enforcement. The actions of a few terminated staff should not define the hard work of the hundreds of dedicated employees working every day to deliver quality services to Arizona youth.""
The Department of Child Safety says CSA has been transparent in reporting to DCS through a hotline.
The agency's statement reads:
""The safety and well-being of children in our care is our first priority. The Department has been working with Canyon State Academy to address both contractual and licensing matters as it relates to this issue and how to better manage youth who have experienced trauma. In all cases, Canyon State was transparent in reporting what they knew at the time to DCS. In cases where CSA was aware of an allegation, it was reported to the Hotline per mandated reporter law. The Department has partnered with Canyon State leadership and their risk management team to provide better training and resources for staff. There has been a reduction of events and improved outcomes for youth as a result.""
By the numbers
Below are the statuses of each case.
- Robert Stapleton: MCAO declined prosecution. No reasonable likelihood of conviction.
- Anton Clark: MCAO did prosecute for aggravated assault on a minor. He completed the felony diversion program for the charge to be dismissed.
- Edwin Peña Lopez: MCAO did prosecute for aggravated assault on a minor and is enrolled in the felony diversion program.
- Phillip Miller: MCAO declined prosecution due to the victim being ""reluctant.""
- James Parks: MCAO declined prosecution citing no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
- Larry Dailey: MCAO declined prosecution citing no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
Since the inception of the Queen Creek Police Department in January 2022, there have been 19 cases stemming from CSA as of June 26 of this year.
Four of them led to the suspects being charged, five of them were declined to be prosecuted by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, six were found not to have probable cause and four remain either under investigation or are still being reviewed by the county attorney's office.
UPDATE: Since the inception of the Queen Creek Police Department in January 2022, there have been 19 cases stemming from CSA as of July 19 of this year. Four of them led to five suspects being charged with assault or some sort of assault type charge, five of them were declined to be prosecuted by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, eight were found not to have probable cause and two remain either under investigation or are still being reviewed by the county attorney's office.",Explicit
"A bloody machete fight in a Boston suburb led to the arrest of three illegal immigrants, who are now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, the agency said this week.
Officers from the Waltham Police Dept. responded on July 14 to a report of a fight involving a machete. The Department said officers discovered a victim with a deep head laceration from the weapon, who was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
It said one person was hit with the weapon and two others were assaulted trying to stop the attack. Two men were arrested that evening and another was arrested two days later.
Police said the assault was a result of a neighbor dispute over a ""motor vehicle incident."" The incident was first reported by the Boston Herald.
Police arrested Osman Aguilar-Borrayo for armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery on a pregnant woman, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and mayhem.
ICE told Fox News Digital that he had initially entered the U.S. in 2014, but was removed under expedited removal that year. He re-entered illegally in July 2021 and was released into the U.S. under prosecutorial discretion by Border Patrol.
Police also arrested Bryan Aguilar-Borrayo for mayhem. He entered illegally in Texas in 2019, was arrested by Border Patrol, and was released into the U.S. with a Notice to Appear in court.
Kevin Aguilar-Borrayo was also arrested for Mayhem on July 16. He also entered the U.S. in July 2019, and was processed with a Notice to Appear and released on an order of recognizance, ICE said.
The agency said that all three men, from Guatemala, are now in ICE custody awaiting immigration hearings.
""U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers make enforcement decisions on a case-by-case basis in a professional and responsible manner, informed by their experience as law enforcement officials and in a way that best protects against the greatest threats to the homeland,"" a spokesperson said.
The arrests come as the U.S. remains in a border crisis now in its third year. Republicans have criticized the administration for reducing ICE enforcement priorities while expanding ""catch-and-release."" The administration won a major case challenging the ICE priorities before the Supreme Court last month.
The administration has pointed to recent border numbers, which showed a sharp drop in June in numbers to a level not seen since February 2021. However, those numbers, 144,000 migrant encounters, remain high compared to pre-2021 numbers.",Explicit
"NAIROBI, Kenya — The number of people who died in connection with Kenya’s doomsday cult has crossed the 400 mark as detectives exhumed 12 more bodies on Monday believed to be followers of a pastor who ordered them to fast to death in order to meet Jesus.
Pastor Paul Mackenzie, who is linked to the cult based in a forested area in Malindi, coastal Kenya, is in police custody, along with 36 other suspects. All have yet to be charged.
Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha on Monday said the number of those who died has risen to 403, with 95 people rescued.
Last month, some suspects and people rescued started a hunger strike in prison and at the rescue center, prompting the prosecutor to take them to court for attempting to kill themselves. Most of them agreed to resume eating, but one suspect died in custody.
Some 613 people have so far been reported missing to Kenya Red Cross officers stationed in Malindi town. Detectives are still finding mass graves.
Onyancha said 253 of the 403 bodies had undergone DNA matching. Pathologists had earlier said most of the bodies were decomposed.
Mackenzie moved to the forested area in 2019 after his church was closed over his preaching, which included asking children not to go to school.
He was previously arrested and released on bond over the disappearance of children.
A judicial commission of inquiry formed by President William Ruto to establish what happened and who was liable was quashed by a court order after opposition leader Raila Odinga filed a petition against it.
The president had said what transpired in Malindi was “akin to terrorism” and vowed to crack down on “those using religion to advance their heinous acts.”",Explicit
"The Washington Examiner went to Minnesota following news that the state's Democrats, known formally as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, had fast-tracked one of the most progressive agendas in the country. What we found was a struggling Republican Party, angry small business owners, and a complete stonewall from Democrats. In this series, the Washington Examiner takes a look at broken promises lawmakers made, how Republicans are trying to control the carnage, and the unintended consequences of some of the bills passed, including one that could wipe out small business owners.
MINNEAPOLIS — Every Wednesday for the past eight years, Jerrilynn Sweeney has either made or bought lunch for her employees at Innovated Building Concepts, a commercial siding business in Burnsville, Minnesota. She did it to build camaraderie between the office workers and those in the shop or working in the field.
""We all sit in one room and eat,"" Sweeney told the Washington Examiner. ""Everybody knows everybody's kids. We can laugh, we can joke, but when it comes down to 'We're in a load of [trouble], we've got to get this done,' they all stand up and help one another.""
But these days, there's not much laughing going on.
Like thousands of other small business owners in the state, Sweeney is bracing for new laws passed this year by the Democratic-controlled legislature that has targeted companies like hers and saddled them with huge expenses and a maze of regulations, forcing some to consider closing up shop for good.
Minnesota was part of a midterm wave where voters rejected Republican candidates. The state's Democrats, known as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, control four of the state's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, both chambers of the state legislature, and all other statewide offices, including the governor's mansion. They have pushed through one of the most progressive agendas in the country this year at a breakneck pace, often shutting out the concerns of the people their regulations will affect.
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) signed off on the creation of a state-run program that will allow full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal workers to take months off work with partial pay after having a child or when the worker or family member has a serious medical issue. Time off will also be allowed for adoptions, the military deployment of a family member, or in some cases, domestic abuse or stalking. Lawmakers capped the time off at 20 weeks with a 12-week limit on the type of leave. Earlier versions of the bill had allowed for workers to take up to 12 weeks for their own health issues and 12 weeks for a family member in the same calendar year.
""The vast majority of nations have this because they know it's the right thing to do,"" Walz said. ""They also know it's the right thing to do to build your economy, to make it resilient and strong and healthy.""
The new law doesn't go into effect until 2026, but any tweaks are likely to be minimal. Even if Republicans win a majority in next year's House elections, there is little chance any meaningful change will take place.
""You start thinking about this stuff, and you think, 'Holy s***, they're going to put us all out of business,"" Sweeney said. ""I've worked my ass off for this company.""
Innovated Building Concepts, which has less than 20 employees, opened its doors in 1987. Sweeney and her husband Pat bought the place in 2011, and the company's portfolio includes a Crayola installation, the US Bank Stadium parking ramp, LL Bean at the Mall of America, Dave & Buster's, and the Killebrew pedestrian bridge.
""When we first started, we didn't take paychecks. It was 2016 before we actually took a full salary,"" she said, adding that she once worked 50 days in a row. Despite the blood, sweat, and tears the couple has poured into the business, their future remains uncertain.
The same can be said for Mike Flynn, a small business owner in southeastern Minnesota, who owns a small ranch, has an interest in the Whitewater Travel Plaza and Restaurant off Highway 190, and is a dentist.
The day the Washington Examiner caught up with him, he was wearing his dentist hat.
""They don't know the storm that they created,"" he said. ""To be a legislator, you don't have to be a business person, and you don't have to major in mathematics or balance a checkbook. You have advisers who tell you how sweet and perfect this is going to be, but the devil is in the detail. What is the unintended consequence of this passage?""
Flynn said a comparison between Minnesota's law and those in other states points to some troubling signs.
""The Minnesota one is the most aggressive, loose one in the country, second to nobody as far as how extensive they want this to be,"" he said, adding that the state is already facing a labor shortage and small businesses are struggling to hire everyone from ""dental hygienists to clerks, cooks, and servers"" that are not only ""hard to find but hard to replace on a temporary basis.""
Flynn said there are too many questions that still need answering, such as who pays for medical insurance if an employee works two jobs and whether employers will be required to match 401(k) contributions when employees are on leave.
John Reynolds, state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, which represents more than 10,000 small business owners in the state, told the Washington Examiner that they feel ""betrayed"" by their elected officials.
""The idea that they turned their backs on us really captures how most small business owners feel here,"" he said, adding that they had to navigate the pandemic and well as inflation and supply chain shortage headwinds. ""We had the biggest surplus by far the state has ever had, and [small business owners] feel like that's the product of their hard work. Being the economic backbone of a lot of parts of the state, I think they thought, 'Hey, this is going to be a time when we get some relief.'""
For their part, Democratic lawmakers have touted their accomplishments this session and have rebranded themselves as friends of small business.
""It's a really puzzling conclusion from the session,"" Reynolds said. ""The taxes are just part of the story. Minnesota is a really expensive place to live and an expensive place to do business... You name it, we tax it.""
Minnesota was ranked the most expensive state for new entrepreneurs, according to a July state-by-state comparison from online small business adviser SimplifyLLC. The state also has the country's highest corporate income tax rate at 9.8% and has high labor costs.
“I am not surprised,” state GOP Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar told the Duluth News Tribune about the No. 1 ranking, adding that the legislation passed in this year's session was akin to a ""war on small business.""
For Sweeney, it's heartbreaking to imagine what the next few years could hold for her company.
""We're small. We can't absorb that kind of money,"" she said. ""Almost everything they passed is going to hurt small businesses. You shouldn't be allowed to run for legislator unless you've run a small business yourself so you know what a real budget is and what it takes. What you take away from us, you take away from the next person and the next.""
The Washington Examiner reached out to Democratic leadership in the state and Walz's office multiple times for comment but did not receive a response.
Catch Part Two of the Washington Examiner's Minnesota series tomorrow where we take a look at the state of the Republican Party as it tries to claw back power.",Explicit
"McALESTER, Okla. -- Oklahoma is preparing to execute a man Thursday for stabbing a Tulsa woman to death with a butcher knife in 1995 after his escape from a prison work center.
Jemaine Cannon, 51, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 10 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. It will be the second execution in Oklahoma this year and the ninth since the state resumed lethal injections in 2021.
Cannon was convicted of killing 20-year-old Sharonda Clark, a mother of two with whom Cannon had been living at an apartment in Tulsa after his escape weeks earlier from a prison work center in southwest Oklahoma. At the time, Cannon was serving a 15-year sentence for the violent assault of another woman who suffered permanent injuries after prosecutors say Cannon raped her and beat her viciously with a claw hammer, iron and kitchen toaster.
A last-minute appeal seeking a stay of execution in which Cannon claims, among other things, that he is Native American and not subject to Oklahoma jurisdiction was pending late Wednesday in a federal appeals court, records show.
Cannon claimed at a clemency hearing before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board last month that he killed Clark in self-defense.
“I am deeply disheartened that the act of defending my life and the acts that she initiated against me ever happened,” Cannon told the board via a video feed from the state penitentiary. “The ending of human life was never desired, planned or premeditated.”
Cannon's attorney, Mark Henricksen, also told the panel that Cannon's trial and appellate attorneys were ineffective for not presenting evidence that supported his self-defense claim. His trial attorneys presented no witnesses or exhibits and rested after prosecutors presented their case, Henricksen said.
In a statement sent to The Associated Press this week, Henricksen said the state's decision to proceed with Cannon's execution amounts to “historic barbarism.”
“Mr. Cannon has endured abuse and neglect for fifty years by those charged with his care,” Henricksen said. “He sits in his cell a model prisoner. He is nearly deaf, blind, and nearing death by natural causes. The decision to proceed with this particular execution is obscene.”
But prosecutors from the attorney general's office and Clark's adult daughters have urged the state to execute Cannon.
Clark's eldest daughter, Yeh-Sehn White, told the Pardon and Parole Board last month that Cannon had never in 28 years expressed any remorse for his actions and urged the board to reject clemency, which it did on a 3-2 vote.
“Mercy was never given my mother,” she said. “Even still today he points the blame at my mother for his actions.”
Oklahoma currently uses a three-drug lethal injection protocol beginning with the sedative midazolam, followed by the paralytic vecuronium bromide and finally potassium chloride, which stops the heart. The state had one of the nation’s busiest death chambers until problems in 2014 and 2015 led to a de facto moratorium.
Richard Glossip was just hours from being executed in September 2015 when prison officials realized they received the wrong lethal drug. It was later learned that the same wrong drug had been used to execute an inmate in January 2015.
The drug mix-ups followed a botched execution in April 2014 in which inmate Clayton Lockett struggled on a gurney before dying 43 minutes into his lethal injection — and after the state’s prisons chief ordered executioners to stop.",Explicit
"A gunman killed two people at a downtown construction site in New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland on Thursday, as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament.
Authorities said the attacker was also dead and that six other people, including at least one police officer, were injured during the shooting. The violence took place near hotels where Team Norway and other football teams have been staying.
New Zealand Prime Minster Chris Hipkins said the tournament would go ahead as planned.
“Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,” Hipkins said. “The government has spoken to FIFA organisers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned.”
“I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.”
Hipkins said the attacker was armed with a pump-action shotgun. Police arrived one minute after the first emergency call and had run into harm’s way to save lives, he said.
“These kinds of situations move fast and the actions of those who risk their lives to save others are nothing short of heroic,” Hipkins said.
Acting Police Superintendent Sunny Patel said the man began shooting at the site on Lower Queen Street at about 7:20am local time (19:20 GMT).
He moved through the building, firing at people there, Patel explained. Police swarmed the area.
“Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the [lift] shaft, and our staff have attempted to engage with him,” Patel said in a statement. “Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if the police shot the gunman or if he killed himself.
Outside, armed police officers had the commercial business district on heavy lockdown with streets cordoned off surrounding the tourist harbour ferry terminal area. Police demanded bystanders disperse and ordered people inside their office buildings to shelter in place.
The incident comes as football teams and fans gathered in New Zealand for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The opening match is scheduled for Thursday between New Zealand and Norway.
Team Norway captain Maren Mjelde said team players woke up quickly when a helicopter began hovering outside the hotel window.
“We felt safe the whole time,” she said in a statement. “FIFA has a good security system at the hotel, and we have our own security officer in the squad. Everyone seems calm, and we are preparing as normal for the game tonight.”
The United States team also said all its players and staff were accounted for and safe. It said the team was in communication with local authorities and proceeding with its daily schedule.
A subsequent buyback scheme saw gun owners hand over more than 50,000 AR-15-style rifles and other assault weapons to police.
The ban does not include all semi-automatic weapons. Hipkins said it wasn’t immediately clear if the weapon the gunman used would have been covered by the ban.
Officials at Eden Park, where the opening match is taking place, said they were encouraging ticket holders to arrive early and there would be an increased security presence at the venue.
Tourism New Zealand cancelled a media welcome party, which was scheduled to be held Thursday afternoon at a location within the cordoned-off area.",Explicit
"Man jailed in Turkey for 20 days just because he ‘looked gay’
A gay Portuguese man claims he was arrested in Istanbul, Turkey and jailed for 20 days, just because he “looked gay”.
On 25 June, Miguel Alvaro’s holiday took an unexpected turn when he was arrested by police in Istanbul after asking for directions.
The arrest coincided with a nearby LGBTQ+ parade which was unsanctioned by authorities, and Alvaro believes that the officers had orders to arrest a certain number of people in connection with the event.
Alvaro told PinkNews he was “shocked, appalled and very angry” about the arrest.
“They grabbed my arms and I tried to free myself. One of them hit me in the ribs, they pushed me against a van, they hit me on the shoulder, which started to bleed,” he told LBC.
Following the arrest, Alvaro claims he spent five hours in the police van, where he alleges he was told he was detained “because of my appearance”.
“They thought I would participate in an unauthorised LGBTI+ march that was going to take place nearby because I looked gay,” he said. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
In total Alvaro said he spent 13 hours in the police van before being taken to the police station to be processed.
He was then moved to an immigration centre, which he said had maggots crawling on the sheets, while he claims inmates threatened him because of his sexuality.
During his time at the immigration centre he said “they [inmates] were barely given any water” and he “hardly slept for fear of being attacked” during his stay in prison.
Finally, in early July, Alvaro was allowed to make his first phone call. He chose to ring his dad, who asked the Portuguese embassy to help get him freed.
‘Disappointed, shattered and mentally drained’
It was 20 days later, on 12 July, that he was finally freed. Alvaro told PinkNews he felt “disappointed, shattered and mentally drained, but relieved to be going somewhere safe”.
Following the ordeal, he said he has been left “in a horrible psychological state”, adding: “I’m very afraid of the consequences in the future.
“I can’t believe this happened to me. I pray for justice to be done.”
The experience has left him warning others, especially the LGBTQ+ community, not to visit Turkey.
It isn’t illegal to be gay in Turkey, but the country has become an increasingly hostile place for queer people with senior politicians, religious leaders and retailers launching attacks on the LGBTQ+ community. Pride events have been systematically banned in Turkey since 2015.
Despite the ban, the LGBTQ+ community and allies came together to celebrate in Istanbul and Izmir, but their courageous move saw more than 200 people detained by police.
MyPinkNews members are invited to comment on articles to discuss the content we publish, or debate issues more generally. Please familiarise yourself with our community guidelines to ensure that our community remains a safe and inclusive space for all.",Explicit
"AUSTIN, Texas — Former El Paso Rep. Beto O'Rourke is calling on President Joe Biden to take aggressive action against Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) following a trooper’s alarming report that state-driven border security efforts have harmed immigrants.
O'Rourke, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and governor in 2022, urged the White House to unleash the full power of the federal government against Abbott. Abbott has sent more than 10,000 soldiers and police to the border since 2021 to respond to a record-high number of illegal crossings from Mexico, which he said Biden has not done enough to stop.
""If @potus does not stop Abbott now, he will find new ways to hurt and kill people at the border,"" O'Rourke tweeted.
Earlier this week, the Washington Examiner obtained a July 3 email that a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper-medic deployed to Eagle Pass, Texas, had sent to his superior. The DPS employee raised human rights concerns about how the state's Operation Lone Star.
The complaint alleged that immigrants had been hurt and even killed as a direct result of the state's barbed wire and water buoy barriers at the border. The trooper's name is being withheld for privacy reasons.
“I truly believe in the mission of Operation Lone Star; I believe we ... have stepped over a line into the in humane [sic]. We need to operate it correctly in the eyes of God,” the trooper wrote. “We need to recognize that these are people who are made in the image of God and need to be treated as such.”
O'Rourke's plea Wednesday was a follow-up to his initial call on Monday for Washington to take action.
""There is one person who has the power to stop Abbott. Stop him from deploying razor wire & medieval drowning devices designed to ensnare & mutilate,"" O'Rourke wrote in a tweet Monday. ""Stop every illegal thing he’s doing on the border that ends up killing human beings. Mr. President, we need you to act.""
Internal communications from DPS showed that the trooper's email was forwarded throughout the department for two weeks as officials debated how to handle the concerns.
DPS spokesman Travis Considine on Tuesday defended the state's actions.
“There is not a directive or policy that instructs Troopers to withhold water from migrants or push them back into the river,"" Considine wrote in an email.
DPS Director Steve McCraw responded multiple times, including calling for an audit of the department's policies. The DPS inspector general has formally launched an investigation into a trooper’s claims.
The trooper's email stated that he had been working on June 25 when he encountered “120 people camped out along the fence line,” including small children and nursing babies. The trooper said he was twice given orders to ""push people back into the water to go to Mexico.""
On June 30, a 4-year-old girl who tried to cross the wire was “pressed back” by Texas National Guard soldiers “due to the orders given to them.” The girl fainted shortly after and was then extricated and transferred to the trooper for emergency care, according to the account.
That same day, the trooper treated an adult man who had a large laceration on his leg from trying to free a child on top of a “trap” in the river and, in doing so, cut his leg open. DHS provided various pictures of the wounded immigrants.
The trooper's email listed a boy who broke his leg and a 19-year-old pregnant woman ""doubled over"" in the wire and in “obvious pain” as she had a miscarriage.
The following day, Border Patrol informed the trooper of a separate incident in which a mother and two children drowned trying to cross the river, which the trooper stated was because the casualty wire “forces people to cross in other areas that are deeper.”
The injuries have not stopped since then. In the first two weeks of July, Border Patrol’s Del Rio, Texas, regional office listed six incidents in which immigrants who crossed the border illegally were injured and received elevated medical care as a result of trying to pass through circular concertina wire along the U.S. shoreline.
House Democrats have also called this week on the Department of Homeland Security and State Department to intervene and stop Abbott's border security operation.
Abbott issued a statement Tuesday afternoon, doubling down on the mission.
""Operation Lone Star agency partners use verbal warnings and signage to direct migrants attempting to illegally cross from Mexico into Texas to use ports of entry to protect the lives of migrants, DPS troopers, and Texas National Guard soldiers,"" Abbott said in a statement. ""Until President Biden reverses his open border policies and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue protecting Texans and Americans from the chaos along the border.""
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.",Explicit
"An author was murdered in a Buckinghamshire village in 2015 by a churchwarden who went on to defraud the victim's elderly neighbour. The shocking case is now being re-told in the BBC TV drama The Sixth Commandment. How was the killer caught?
Ben Field appeared to be a charming and religious young man who gave sermons in his father's Baptist church.
But under the surface lurked a sinister plot to dupe the vulnerable by manipulating them into fake relationships and then getting them to change their wills.
Field is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Peter Farquhar in Maids Moreton. He was found not guilty of plotting to kill Mr Farquhar's neighbour Ann Moore-Martin but admitted defrauding her.
Who were the victims?
Both Peter Farquar and Ann Moore-Martin were religious, single and without children.
Peter Farquar retired as Stowe School's head of English in 2004 and was invited to be a guest lecturer at the University of Buckingham, where he met student Field.
During the court case, the jury heard how Mr Farquar had a wide circle of friends but he was lonely and, as a gay man, he struggled with his sexuality, regarding it as incompatible with his Anglican faith.
In Field, he thought he had found someone to love and grow old with and the pair had undergone a ""betrothal"" ceremony in 2014.
Retired head teacher, Ann Moore-Martin, lived a few doors away from him.
A regular churchgoer, she was Catholic and also had friends aplenty but was very private. She was close to her niece, so much so, they regarded each other as mother and daughter.
Miss Moore-Martin's sister-in-law said she seemed hypnotised by Field, like ""a love-struck teenager"".
What happened to them?
Field seduced both Mr Farquar and Miss Moore-Martin.
They were besotted with him and he used their devotion to get them to change their wills.
At Field's trial in 2019, it was revealed that he had carried out a sustained ""gaslighting"" plot aimed at making Mr Farquhar question his sanity.
He moved things around the house making his victim irritated and confused and also drugged his drinks and food.
Mr Farquhar was tormented by this ""mystery illness"" and saw a number of doctors, but Field told health workers the retired lecturer was ""a frequent faller"" who probably had dementia.
Mr Farquhar changed his will, naming Field as the main beneficiary and giving him a life interest in his house.
Mr Farquhar died in 2015. He was discovered in his living room by his cleaner, a half empty bottle of whisky beside him.
His friends thought he had drunk himself to death - as did the coroner, who certified the cause of death as acute alcohol intoxication.
Field, who had been introduced to Miss Moore-Martin by Mr Farquhar, then took advantage of her loneliness and they developed a sexual relationship.
He gave her a number of items so she would feel closer to him, including a framed picture of him with the words ""I am always with you"" written in capitals beneath his image.
She gave him £4,400 when he lied to her about needing a new car and handed over £27,000 for a dialysis machine when he told her his younger brother was seriously ill with a kidney condition.
Field also wrote messages on her mirror, some of which told her to leave her house to him, in the hope she would believe they were messages from God.
It worked.
In February 2017, Miss Moore-Martin became ill and suffered a seizure. She died in May 2017 of natural causes.
When did police get involved?
In February 2017, Miss Moore-Martin became ill and suffered a seizure.
It was during her hospital stay she confided in her niece about her relationship with Field and the writing on the mirrors. The police became involved and an investigation started.
She reversed her will and changed it back to benefit her family before she died in a care home.
The police established the link between Field, Miss Moore-Martin and Mr Farquhar and 19 months after the latter's death a decision was taken to exhume his body.
A second post-mortem examination established he had consumed less alcohol than had been thought and there were sedatives in his system.
Field was arrested and admitted duping both Mr Farquhar and Miss Moore-Martin into fake relationships as part of a plot to get them to change their wills. But Field denied any involvement in their deaths.
It has been reported that as Field sat in the back of a police van after his arrest, he said: ""I think I will get away with most of it.""
What came out in court?
Oxford Crown Court jurors heard how Mr Farquhar's drinks were spiked with bioethanol and poteen, a high strength Irish alcohol, while his food was laced with drugs.
He recorded in his journal how he was suffering night terrors and hallucinations.
Field admitted drugging Mr Farquhar for no other reason than to ""torment"" him.
Prosecutors said that after Mr Farquhar changed his will three times in two years to benefit Field, he ""had to die"".
The court heard Field ""suffocated him"" when he was too weak to resist and left the half-empty bottle of whisky in Mr Farquhar's room to make it seem he had drunk himself to death.
Jurors also heard that during Miss Moore-Martin's stay in hospital, Field tried to visit her but he was denied access and complained to the police. He admitted he had made the calls to see how much the police knew about him and whether he was in trouble.
What happened to Ben Field?
Field was convicted of Mr Farguhar's murder on August 2019 after a 10-week trial.
He had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud relating to the fake relationships and defrauding Miss Moore-Martin. He also admitted two counts of burglary.
Field was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 36 years.
Sentencing him, Mr Justice Sweeney said Field was a ""well-practiced and able liar"" and a ""dangerous offender"".
Mark Glover, who led the Thames Valley Police investigation into his crimes, summed him up: ""Ben Field is all about Ben Field and nobody else.""
He said Field was ""unlike any other criminal"" he had encountered.
""The extent of his planning, deception and cruelty towards his victims is frankly staggering, and I do not believe he has ever shown an ounce of remorse or contrition,"" he said.
""If he is sorry for anything it is that he got caught.""
Failed appeals
In June 2020, a proceeds of crime hearing ordered Field to pay more than £146,000 to his victims' families - £123,111.26 to Mr Farquhar's family and £23,449.76 to the family of Miss Moore-Martin.
He then attempted to have his murder conviction overturned in January 2021.
His barrister, David Jeremy QC, told the Court of Appeal the conviction was ""unsafe"" as the trial judge misdirected the jury.
The appeal was dismissed with a written ruling saying that ""the approach of the judge was correct"".
""The judge's directions captured the essence of the issue in a clear and admirably succinct manner,"" the ruling said.
In January 2022, Field began a second bid to have his conviction overturned. He challenged the appeal court's earlier decision, with his lawyers arguing that the judgment was flawed.
And now a BBC TV drama...
The four-part drama written by Sarah Phelps features Timothy Spall as Peter Farquhar and Anne Reid as Ann Moore-Martin.
Ms Phelps told the BBC she had to leave out some of the most ""distressing details"" for the sake of the victims' relatives.
She added that she ""didn't want Ben Field to be the main character"" and instead focussed on telling ""Peter and Ann's story"".
""I wanted to make it clear that their lives really mattered before Ben Field came along,"" she said, and that it was ""important that we understand how these really intelligent people were deceived"".
The four-part drama started on BBC One at 21:00 BST on 17 July and is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.",Explicit
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Warsaw has summoned the Russian Ambassador to Poland after President Vladimir Putin threatened Poland and claimed it was eyeing territory in Ukraine and Belarus.
After the arrival of 5,000 Wagner fighters into Belarus following their short-lived mutiny, Poland said it would move troops to the border.
Putin reacted aggressively, saying Poland was about to occupy western parts of Ukraine and was ""dreaming of Belarusian lands,"" threatening to respond with force.
“The western territories of present-day Poland are a gift from (Soviet tyrant Joseph) Stalin to the Poles, have our friends in Warsaw forgotten about this?” he added. “We will remind you.”
""Stalin was a war criminal responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Poles,"" Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on July 21.
""The historical truth is not subject to discussion,"" he added.
Russia has regularly threatened Poland and the Baltic states with military force. Putin has also been sabre-rattling using nuclear weapons on multiple occasions.
Poland has been one of the key backers of Ukraine in its defensive war agaisnt Russia.
Morawiecki said in an interview published by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on June 4 that Ukraine deserves a quick path to NATO membership given that it ""fights in the interests of NATO.""
According to Morawiecki, Ukraine fights on behalf of the military alliance ""in the sense that they are defending against this brutal Russian force which would jeopardize many other NATO countries,"" even though it is not yet a NATO member.
For this reason ""they deserve to be presented with a very quick path to NATO,"" the Polish Prime Minister said.",Explicit
"Police investigators in Hoover, Alabama, have put together a timeline of the roughly 50 hours during which Carlethia ""Carlee"" Nichole Russell, a 25-year-old nursing student, wasafter she called 911 last week from the side of a highway.
""We pretty much know exactly what took place from the time she left work until the 911 call,"" Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said at a news conference Wednesday.
Russell briefly recounted her ordeal to investigatorson the night of Saturday, July 15, two days after being reported missing.
Here's what we know so far.
The days before Russell disappeared
Police on Wednesday listed some ""very strange"" online searches that Russell made in the days leading up to her disappearance. The search queries included:
July 11, 7:30 a.m. — ""Do you have to pay for an Amber alert""
July 13, 1:03 a.m. — ""How to take money from a register without being caught""
July 13, 2:13 a.m. — ""Birmingham bus station""
July 13, 2:35 a.m. — ""One way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville"" with a departure date of July 13
July 13, 12:10 p.m. — ""The movie 'Taken'""
Before her 911 call
Thursday, July 13, 8:20 p.m. — Russell left her workplace in Birmingham, about 10 miles from Hoover, at around 8:20 p.m. local time, Hoover police said.
Russell then ordered food from a nearby business at The Colonnade shopping mall and picked it up, police said. She stopped at a Target on Highway 280 to buy some granola bars and Cheez-Its. She stayed in the parking lot until 9:21 p.m., according to police.
Russell calls 911
Thursday, July 13, 9:34 p.m. — Just after 9:30 p.m., Russell called 911 to report a toddler on the highway, saying she had stopped to check on the boy, police said. While she was on the phone with a dispatcher about the toddler, Russell traveled in her car about 600 yards, the distance of about six football fields, Derzis said.
Russell disappears and is reported missing
Thursday, July 13, 9:36 p.m. — After her 911 call, which lasted less than two minutes, Russell called a family member, police said.
""She went missing during that conversation sometime after 9:36 PM,"" police wrote on Facebook.
The family member on the phone with Russell ""lost contact with"" her during the call, ""but the line remained open,"" Hoover police Lt. Daniel Lowe said. Talitha Russell, Carlee's mother, told reporters that her daughter was on the phone with her sister-in-law at the time that her voice dropped out.
Russell's mother then called the police and said Russell had been on the phone with a relative, and that relative had heard Russell scream.
Hoover officers arrived on scene within five minutes of being dispatched, police said. Russell was gone, but officers found her car, cellphone, wig and purse. Her Apple Watch was in the bag. The snacks she had purchased at Target were not in the car or at the scene, police disclosed.
The 49 hours during which Russell was missing
After returning home, Russell gave investigators her account of what happened on the night of July 13. She said a man came out of the woods and mumbled that he was checking on the child, she said, according to police. Russell told officers the man then forced her over a fence and into a car.
Russell said the next thing she remembers is being in the trailer of a truck with the man, who Russell said had orange hair, and was accompanied by a woman. She also said she could hear a baby crying.
Russell told police she escaped, but was recaptured and put into a car and blindfolded. Russell said she was then taken to a house, where she was undressed.
The next day, she said, the woman fed her cheese crackers and played with her hair.
Russell said at some point she was put back into a vehicle. She claims she was able to escape while it was in the West Hoover area, and ran through the woods to get home.
A massive search was launched after Russell was reported missing. The search involved local, state and federal agencies, police said. A large group of volunteers organized by Russell's parents also assisted in the search effort.
On Saturday, Hoover police released a new photo of Russell in an effort drum up more leads, and a reward totaling at least $50,000 was offered for her safe return, which included $20,000 from an anonymous source, $5,000 raised by CrimeStoppers of Metro Alabama, and $25,000 from real estate company Keller Williams, according to CBS Birmingham affiliate WIAT.
Russell is found alive
Saturday, July 15, 10:45 p.m. — Russell returned home on foot, about 49 hours after she went missing. Police received a call at around 10:45 p.m. notifying them of her return. Officers and medics responded and Russell was taken to a hospital for evaluation, Hoover police Capt. Keith Czeskleba said.
""This investigation is not over,"" Derzis said. ""We're still working this case and we're working this case until we uncover every piece of evidence that helps us account for the 49 hours that Carlee Russell was missing.""
— Aliza Chasan, Camille C. Knox and Faris Tanyos contributed to reporting.
for more features.",Explicit
"WASHINGTON (AP) — An Arkansas truck driver who beat a police officer with a flagpole attached to an American flag during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Monday to more than four years in prison.
Peter Francis Stager struck the Metropolitan Police Department officer with his flagpole at least three times as other rioters pulled the officer, head first, into the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The bruised officer was among more than 100 police officers injured during the riot.
Stager also stood over and screamed profanities at another officer, who was seriously injured when several other rioters dragged him into the mob and beat him, according to federal prosecutors.
After the beatings, Stager was captured on video saying, “Every single one of those Capitol law enforcement officers, death is the remedy. That is the only remedy they get.”
U.S. Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Stager to four years and four months in prison, according to a spokesperson for the prosecutors' office.
Stager, 44, of Conway, Arkansas, pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon.
Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six years and six months.
Stager assaulted the officer during one of the most violent episodes of Jan. 6 — a battle between rioters and police guarding an entrance to the Capitol building in a tunnel on the Lower West Terrace.
Stager's actions at the Capitol “were the epitome of disrespect for the law,” prosecutors said in a court filing.
“Stager joined a prolonged, multi-assailant attack on police officers, which resulted in injuries to the officers,"" they wrote. ""Stager himself wielded a flagpole and used it to strike at a vulnerable officer, who, lying face down in a mob of rioters had no means of defending himself.”
Stager's truck driving job took him to Washington, D.C., on the day before then-President Donald Trump's “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. Stager stayed overnight to attend Trump's rally after delivering a load of produce, a decision that he will regret for the rest of his life, his lawyers said in a court filing.
Stager's attorneys say he tried to help others in the crowd who were injured after the riot erupted. Shocked by what he saw, Stager had “reached his breaking point” and was “seeing red” when he picked up a flag on the ground, they said.
“Once the adrenaline wore off, Mr. Stager immediately called his wife to tell her he was horrified by his actions and that he was going to turn himself in upon returning to Arkansas,” his lawyers wrote.
More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 620 of them have pleaded guilty. Approximately 100 others have been convicted by juries or judges after trials. Nearly 600 have been sentenced, with over half receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from three days to 18 years.
Stager was indicted with eight other defendants on charges related to the tunnel battle. Four of his co-defendants also have pleaded guilty to assault charges.
Florida resident Mason Courson was sentenced in June to four years and nine months in prison. Michigan resident Justin Jersey was sentenced in February to four years and three months in prison. Michigan construction worker Logan Barnhart was sentenced in April to three years in prison. Georgia business owner Jack Wade Whitton is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 16.",Explicit
"A 23-year-old Black man who was mauled by a police dog in Ohio after surrendering with his hands up appeared to tell 911 dispatchers in at least two calls that he didn't know why he was being pulled over or why troopers had their guns drawn.
“Right now I’m being chased by like 20 police officers and they all got their guns pointed directly to my truck,” a man police believed to be Jadarrius Rose told a Pickaway County dispatcher during a 2-minute call released Monday. “So now I’m trying to figure out why they got their guns all pointed to me and they’re all white people.”
Rose was pulled over July 4 in Circleville, Ohio, because the semi-truck he was driving “was missing a left rear mud flap,” according to an incident report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Following a pursuit, Rose stood outside his vehicle with his hands raised when a Circleville police officer instructed his dog to attack. A trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol could be heard in a body camera video advising against releasing the dog because Rose had surrendered.
The 911 caller, who didn't identify himself but is believed to be Rose, also says that the troopers ""exploded"" the tires on his truck, which he was driving to a delivery point. (He was referring to tire-deflating devices called ""stop sticks"" that troopers deployed in an attempt to stop Rose's truck.)
""And it's not even my truck, I'm just driving to my delivery point,"" he said. ""All of them got their guns pointed directly to me.""
When asked for a second 911 call Rose made to Ross County, a spokesperson provided audio in which the caller says: ""I don’t know why they’re trying to kill me.""
""I do not feel safe with stopping, I don’t know why they’re throwing stuff on the ground trying to get me in an accident,"" the caller said.
On the 911 call with Pickaway County, the dispatcher advised: ""Listen to what the officers are telling you.""
""They ain't told me nothing, they ain't told me nothing,"" the caller said. ""I don't know why they're pulling me over.""
The dispatcher tells the caller to roll down his window.
""I did that the last time and all of them had their guns pointed at me. You think I feel safe?"" the caller said.
The caller is then instructed to put both hands out the window, then open his door with his left hand showing. The call ends shortly after.
A 'lengthy pursuit' ends in a mauling
Rose was traveling westbound on U.S. Route 35 when a Motor Carrier Enforcement inspector and troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol tried to pull him over. When Rose failed to stop, troopers deployed the stop sticks on his vehicle twice before it came to a stop on U.S. Route 23.
After he was ordered several times to get out of the vehicle, Rose can be seen on the body camera video standing in front of troopers with his hands in the air.
That's when a Circleville police officer, identified as “R. Speakman,” deploys his K9 and instructs the dog to attack Rose.
“Do not release the dog with his hands up!” a trooper can be heard yelling multiple times before Speakman releases the dog.
The bodycam video then appears to show the dog biting and pulling Rose by his arm as he screams loudly.
Although Circleville police vehicles have dashboard cameras and officers are meant to wear body cameras, Circleville Mayor McIlroy said he does not know if Speakman had one on during the incident.
Speakman was placed on paid administrative leave around five days ago, McIlroy told NBC News.
When asked why Speakman wasn’t immediately placed on leave following the incident, McIlroy said, “I cannot answer that question.”
“Nothing like this should ever happen to anybody. ... It’s just a very unfortunate situation,” he said.
This isn't the first time Speakman's conduct has been under review, according to McIlroy. The officer was investigated in connection with another incident approximately within the past two years.
A use of force review board is reviewing the incident, according to the Circleville Police Department. The board’s findings will be released next week.
McIlroy said he understood how people could be concerned about race factoring into the officer’s actions but adds “… we do not have any racial problems here in the city of Circleville.”
He called the community “all inclusive"" and ""a great place to live, a great place to raise your family, a great place to send your kids to school.”",Explicit
"A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s request for a new trial in a civil case brought by E Jean Carroll, in which a jury found the former US president liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer and awarded her $5m in damages.
In a 59-page decision, US district judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said the jury did not reach a “seriously erroneous result,” and the 9 May verdict was not a “miscarriage of justice”.
Carroll had accused Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, and then branding the incident a hoax in an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump had argued that awarding Carroll $2m in compensatory damages for sexual assault was “excessive” because the jury found he had not raped her, while the award for defamation was based on “pure speculation”.
Lawyers for Trump and Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment.",Explicit
"Ernie Els did not hold back on Thursday afternoon at Royal Liverpool.
Els, after his opening-round 75 at the British Open on Thursday, ripped PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan for striking a deal with LIV Golf and Saudi Arabia.
“Talk to us, tell us what you’re going to do, plan on negotiating. Don’t just go rogue as a member of the board and come back with a deal and think we’re all going to say yes. You’re affecting people’s lives. You’re affecting the professional game. It’s just so bad.”
regarding their “framework agreement” with the Tour, the DP World Tour and LIV Golf. Since then, into the proposed partnership — which still has a long way to go before anything is finalized. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which invested more than $2 billion trying to get LIV Golf running, reportedly plans to invest more than $1 billion into the new entity.
Monahan received plenty of criticism for striking a deal with LIV Golf and Saudi Arabia, who have been . Monahan even once invoked the 9/11 terrorist attacks when advocating for the Tour over LIV Golf.
The announcement caught just about everyone in the golf world by surprise, too. PGA Tour board members Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne helped Monahan negotiate the deal in near-total secrecy.
Plenty of details still need to be figured out before the new entity can launch. Under the current framework agreement, Monahan would become CEO of the new entity and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan would be chairman of the board.
Els said he knows Al-Rumayyan and other top Saudi Arabian officials from his time playing in the country and throughout the Middle East in his career. While he’s not doubting their sincerity when it comes to golf, but Els isn’t here for LIV Golf and its team system — which he described as “circus golf.”
“That’s not where I stand,” Els said. ""Team golf doesn’t work. It works maybe in a two-month, three-month happy season. Get these guys together, get teams together and play around the world. But [then] play real golf.
""That’s what this thing is all about. That’s what I prided myself on. Like Tiger [Woods] and some of these guys. Playing that type of golf. Getting yourself into majors. And grinding.
""And for [the PGA Tour leadership] to go out there and do what they did, just off the cuff, as a board member, do a deal, nobody knows. The commissioner is supposed to be the guy running our Tour. These board members make a deal or a so-called deal and with no input from the players. It's absolute shambles. I’m worried.""
Els won 19 times on Tour in his career, including twice at the British Open. The 53-year-old has 42 international wins to his name, too, and he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. He's 4-over after Thursday at Royal Liverpool, nine shots back from the leaders.
“I spent almost 30 years on Tour, playing against Tiger … People don’t mention me, but I was there,” Els said. “He needed somebody to beat. There’s a lot of guys who did a lot for the Tour. They helped the Tour and helped build the game. Are you kidding me? And then this bulls**t.”
Els isn’t opposed to Saudi Arabia being involved in golf. He’s seen what the country has done elsewhere in the sports world, and he knows there’s not much to be done to stop it. The to work with, if not more.
But in his eyes, Al-Rumayyan is coming for full control golf. Monahan and the board are “going to be answering to him” no matter how the new venture is structured, and that’s a problem.
""Do we play ball with him? Does he come in at a different rate, maybe a smaller investment, see if they are the right partner? Not just come in and take over world golf. That's just ridiculous,” Els said.
“[We] need to slow things down … I think they need to cut a deal. And Saudi comes in and invests in the Tour. They can bring a lot of money to the Tour. Hopefully all of that money flows down to people who got burned by this.""",Explicit
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ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — Russia struck the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa on Sunday, keeping up a barrage of attacks that has damaged critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine in the past week. At least one person was killed and 22 others wounded in the early morning attack, officials said.
Four children were among those wounded in the blasts, which severely damaged 25 landmarks across the city, including the historic Transfiguration Cathedral.
Russia has been launching repeated attacks on Odesa, a key hub for exporting grain, since Moscow canceled a landmark grain deal on Monday amid Kyiv’s grinding efforts to retake its occupied territories.
After the fires were put out at the Orthodox cathedral, volunteers donned hard hats, shovels and brooms to begin removing rubble and try to salvage any artifacts — under the watchful gaze of the saints whose paintings remained intact. Local officials said the icon of the patroness of the city was retrieved from under the rubble.
“The destruction is enormous, half of the cathedral is now roofless,” said Archdeacon Andrii Palchuk, as workers brought documents and valuables out of the building, its floor inundated with water used by firefighters to extinguish the blaze.
Palchuk said the damage was caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile that penetrated the building down to the basement. Two people inside were wounded.
“But with God’s help, we will restore it,” he said, bursting into tears.
A woman who came to help with the cleanup said she loved the cathedral “for its tranquility and grace.”
“When you enter this church, you feel like you’re beyond the world,” said Liudmyla, who gave only her first name. “I have a feeling that God, to protect apartments, took this pain, this explosion upon himself.”
Anna Fetchenko, who came to Odesa for a volunteer meeting, also pitched in to clear the debris. “I wanted to go to the seaside, but last night was so frightening that I cried for the first time in 2023,” she said.
“This is our Ukrainian heritage, and now it’s taken away from us.”
Later Sunday, Palchuk urged people to gather in front of the destroyed part of the cathedral for an outdoor service and to pray in front of a sacred icon that “miraculously survived.”
“We will pray that it protects us from the Russians,” he said.
The cathedral belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been accused of links to Russia. The church has insisted that it is loyal to Ukraine, has denounced the Russian invasion from the start and even declared its independence from Moscow.
WATCH: Russia’s war in Ukraine leads to historic split in the Orthodox Church
But Ukrainian security agencies have claimed that some in the Ukrainian church maintain close ties with Moscow. They’ve raided numerous church holy sites and posted photos of rubles, Russian passports and leaflets with messages from the Moscow patriarch as proof some church officials are loyal to Russia.
UNESCO strongly condemned the attack on the cathedral and other heritage sites and said it will send a mission in coming days to assess damage. Odesa’s historic center was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site earlier this year, and the agency said the Russian attacks contradict Moscow’s pledge to take precautious to spare World Heritage sites in Ukraine.
“This outrageous destruction marks an escalation of violence against the cultural heritage of Ukraine. I strongly condemn this attack against culture, and I urge the Russian Federation to take meaningful action to comply with its obligations under international law,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.
Regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said that six residential buildings were destroyed by the strikes.
Some people were trapped in their apartments following the attack, which left rubble strewn in the street and partly blocking the road.
Svitlana Molcharova, 85, was rescued by emergency workers. But after she received first aid, she refused to leave her destroyed apartment. “I will stay here,” she said.
“I woke up when the ceiling started to fall on me. I rushed into the corridor,” said Ivan Kovalenko, a 19-year-old resident of the building. “That’s how I lost my home in Mykolaiv, and here, I lost my rented apartment.”
His unit revealed a partially collapsed ceiling and a balcony that came off the side of the building. All the windows were blown out.
Ukraine’s air force reported on the Telegram messaging app that Russia had launched 19 missiles in the Odesa region, including five high-precision winged Onyx missiles and four sea-to-shore Kalibr cruise missiles. It said that Ukrainian air defenses shot down nine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday its forces attacked sites in Odesa “where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared.”
In a later statement, the ministry denied that its attacks struck the Transfiguration Cathedral, claiming the destruction of the cathedral was likely due to “the fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft guided missile.”
The attacks come days after President Vladimir Putin pulled Russia out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that enabled Ukraine’s exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger.
WATCH: Russia ends grain export deal with Ukraine, raising fears about global food security
Earlier Russian attacks have crippled significant parts of export facilities in Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk, and destroyed 60,000 tons of grain, according to Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry.
Putin vowed to retaliate against Kyiv for an attack Monday on the crucial Kerch Bridge linking Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin illegally annexed in 2014.
— Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko were meeting Sunday in St. Petersburg, two days after Moscow warned Poland that any aggression against its neighbor and ally would be considered an attack on Russia. Putin said talks would also take place Monday, and declared that Kyiv’s counteroffensive had failed.
Lukashenko said Wagner troops, who launched joint drills with the Belarusian military on Thursday, almost a month after their short-lived rebellion against Moscow, wanted to go west “on an excursion to Warsaw, to Rzeszow” in Poland, but that Belarus would not allow the mercenary force to relocate.
“I am keeping them in central Belarus, like we agreed. … We are controlling what is happening” with Wagner, he said.
— Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov reported Sunday that two people were killed in Russian strikes on the northeastern province Saturday, when Russia attacked populated areas of the Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Kupiansk and Izium districts.
Donetsk regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said four residents were also killed and 11 wounded in attacks Saturday.
Morton reported from London.
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"A sexual assault support charity says it is ""deeply disappointed"" over a football club's decision to field rapist David Goodwillie.

Goodwillie was included in the Glasgow United FC team to play in a match against West of Scotland Premier Division side Pollok last week.



Rape Crisis Scotland criticised Glasgow United FC and branded the move a ""bad decision that sends entirely the wrong message"".

A spokesperson from the charity told Sky News: ""We are deeply disappointed that Glasgow United FC appear to be happy to send such a clear message of disregard to survivors of rape and sexual violence.

""Fundamentally - women's lives are more important than men's talent or careers.

""Footballers are role models - particularly for young people - and it's not okay to have someone in this position who has been found by a senior judge to be a rapist.""

Goodwillie and fellow footballer David Robertson were ruled to be rapists in a 2017 civil case.

The pair, who have never faced a criminal trial over the allegations, were ordered to pay £100,000 in damages after a judge ruled they raped a 30-year-old woman at a property in West Lothian following a night out in January 2011.

Goodwillie, 34, has seen several football club contracts collapse due to public outrage over the case, but was spotted playing for ninth-tier side Glasgow United FC in a friendly match last Wednesday.

A club spokesperson told BBC Scotland that Goodwillie ""deserves a chance"" and that he wants to be ""left in peace and be allowed to play the game he loves"".

The Rape Crisis Scotland spokesperson added: ""We wonder whether those who took this decision to select David Goodwillie for play last week considered how it may look or feel to survivors of sexual violence to have to watch somebody judged to have committed rape be celebrated and applauded.

""This was a bad decision that sends entirely the wrong message.""

Read more:

Raith Rovers apologise for signing striker

Sex offender given life sentence for attacking women and children

Goodwillie is due to appear on James English's Anything Goes podcast later on Wednesday.

It will be the first time he has spoken out since the 2017 ruling.

In a clip released online, Goodwillie said he has always been advised not to talk about the case and continued to claim it was consensual sex.

Highlighting there have been no criminal proceedings, he said: ""I'm the same as her. Like, you know, I don't feel like I've had justice.""

He added that due to the controversy, he has not been allowed to ""take care"" of his family.

Goodwillie, who has played for Dundee United, Aberdeen and Blackburn Rovers, was playing for English club Plymouth at the time of the civil court judgement and left ""by mutual consent"" just days after the ruling.

Two months later, in March 2017, he signed for Clyde despite fierce criticism of the club's decision to give him a deal.

He played for the Cumbernauld-based club for almost five years, becoming club captain, before Raith moved to sign him in February last year.

Following widespread opposition to the move, Goodwillie was released from his contract without playing a match.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

A year later Northern Premier League side Radcliffe responded to criticism by cancelling Goodwillie's contract a day after he scored a hat-trick on his debut against Belper Town.

And just last month, Australian second-tier side FC Sorrento was forced to rescind a contract.

The club apologised to anyone ""that may have been caused offence by his signing"".

Goodwillie subsequently opened a Twitter account after the FC Sorrento move was scrapped, vowing to ""finally speak my truth"".",Explicit
"Wheat prices have risen sharply on global markets after Russia said it would treat ships heading for Ukrainian ports as potential military targets.
Moscow pulled out of a deal this week that had guaranteed safe passage for grain shipments through the Black Sea.
A White House spokesperson accused Russia of planning to blame Ukraine for attacks on civilian ships.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin said he would return to the grain agreement immediately if his demands were met.
They include reconnecting Russia's agricultural bank to a global payment system.
A Russian air strike on the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv killed an unknown number of people on Wednesday night, according to a local official. Other air strikes were reported on the port of Odesa.
Following previous air strikes around Odesa this week, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately targeting grain export infrastructure and putting vulnerable countries at risk.
Kyiv urged other countries in the Black Sea region to intervene to assure the safe passage of cargo ships.
""From 00:00 Moscow time on 20 July 2023 [21:00 GMT Wednesday], all vessels sailing on the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be regarded as potential carriers of military cargo,"" the Russian defence ministry said.
""Flag states of such vessels will be considered to be involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kyiv regime,"" it added.
Wheat prices on the European stock exchange soared by 8.2% on Wednesday from the previous day, to â¬253.75 (£219.78) per tonne, while corn prices were up 5.4%.
US wheat futures jumped 8.5% on Wednesday, their highest daily rise since just after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said strikes had destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain and damaged considerable parts of grain export infrastructure.
Russia began targeting Ukraine's ports in the early hours of Tuesday within hours of its withdrawal from the grain deal.
Marex Capital analyst Charlie Sernatinger said the threat of this kind of escalation could ""cut all of the waterborne grain shipments off from the Black Sea, both Russian, and Ukrainian"" which would cause a similar situation to that at the start of the war.
Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading, said: ""Things got heated back up over in Ukraine. There is some real shooting going on over there and nobody is going to get in the middle of that.
""That is the bread basket of Europe and shippers are pulling out.""
On Wednesday Mr Putin accused the West of using the grain deal as ""political blackmail"".
Moscow also accused Ukraine of using the Black Sea grain corridor for ""combat purposes"". It struck at Ukraine's Black Sea ports after a suspected seaborne drone attack damaged its sea bridge to Crimea on Monday.",Explicit
"Article content
BRUSSELS (AP) — A jury on Tuesday found six people guilty of terrorist murder for extremist attacks in Brussels in 2016 that killed 32 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group, in Belgium’s deadliest peacetime violence, according to Belgian media.
Article content
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Among those convicted for their role in the suicide bombings at Brussels’ airport and a subway station was Salah Abdeslam, who already is serving a life sentence without parole in France over his role in attacks that hit Paris cafes, the Bataclan theatre and France’s national stadium in 2015.
Article content
The verdict was reported by public broadcaster RTBF, newspaper Le Soir and news websites HLN and Nieuwsblad.
The chief judge read out the verdict and explanations by the 12-person jury, who made a clear connection to IS and its extremist ideology. The reading of the verdict was expected to take a few hours. Sentencing will be decided in a separate process, not before September.
In addition to the six people convicted of terrorist murder, four others on trial were acquitted or facing other charges.
Article content
The biggest trial in Belgium’s judicial history unfolded over seven months in a special court to address the exceptional case. Survivors and families of victims hoped the trial and verdict would help them work through what happened and find closure.
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The morning rush hour attacks on March 22, 2016, at Zavantem Airport and on the Brussels subway’s central commuter line deeply shook the city, which is home to the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, and put the country on edge. In addition to the 32 people killed, nearly 900 others were wounded or suffered serious mental trauma.
Article content
Jamila Adda, president of the Life4Bruxelles victims’ association, gathered a group of survivors at the special courthouse to hear Tuesday’s verdict. Among them was a man named Frederic, who said the ”atrocious crimes” of March 22 still haunt him.
“We have been waiting for this for seven years, seven years that weighed heavily on the victims. … We are waiting with impatience, and with some anguish” for the verdict, he told The Associated Press. Frederic, among the commuters who survived the attack at the Maelbeek metro station, spoke on condition that his last name not be published to protect his identity as a victim of trauma.
Survivors have supported each other through the proceedings, some coming every day. “It is important to be together, to hear the decision of justice,” Frederic said. And then, they hope “to be able to turn the page.”
Article content
The 12 jurors had been deliberating since early July over some 300 questions the court asked them to consider before reaching a verdict. Tuesday’s expected decision will address whether or not each of the suspects is guilty of various charges. and may take several hours to be read out.
Eventual sentencing will be decided in a separate process. If convicted, some could face up to 30 years in prison.
Abdeslam was the only survivor among the Islamic State extremists who struck Paris in November 2015 and were part of a Franco-Belgian network that went on to target Brussels four months later. After months on the run following the Paris attacks, Abdeslam was captured in Brussels on March 18, 2016, and his arrest may have prompted other members of the IS cell to rush ahead with attack plans on the Belgian capital.
Also convicted of terrorist murder at the trial in Brussels was Mohamed Abrini, childhood friend of Abdeslam and a Brussels native who walked away from Zaventem airport after his explosives failed to detonate.
Oussama Atar, who has been identified as a possible organizer of the deadly attacks on both Paris and Brussels, was convicted of terrorist murder in absentia. He is believed to have died in the Islamic State group’s final months of fighting in Iraq and Syria.",Explicit
"With a multi-million-pound property empire, a BMW with personalised number plates and a son who attended Eton, VP Lingajothy enjoys the trappings of a successful lawyer.

In a career spanning two decades, he has presented his lucrative work as a humanitarian mission and boasts how far he goes to help the desperate refugees he represents.

Just last year he addressed the UN Human Rights Council in Switzerland and he has previously described how the stories he has heard from clients left him with 'tears in my eyes'.

Mr Lingajothy, who came to the UK from Sri Lanka in 1983, lamented: 'Sometimes victims who have been through so much unfortunately get lumped together with those who give fake stories to immigration authorities.'

He said he 'couldn't live with himself' if he didn't try his best for clients he knew were telling the truth and once put his 'career on the line' by trying to get a judge impeached after he rejected an asylum application.

But – as undercover reporters discovered when they visited him at the offices of Duncan Ellis Solicitors in Colliers Wood, south London – Mr Lingajothy has a strange version of truth.

When asked what he could do to help an economic migrant to stay in the UK, he immediately outlined the extraordinary and entirely fictional story involving torture, beatings, slave labour, false imprisonment and death threats that he would use for an asylum and human rights claim – in return for a fee of £10,000.

He told the journalists, who were posing as a farmer from the Punjab newly arrived on a small boat and his UK-based uncle helping him, it would involve pretending to be a supporter of a Sikh separatist group in India.

'You can say that the Indian government accused you of being pro Khalistani, you were taken into custody, arrested and you were ill treated, tortured, sexually tortured,' he said. 'That's why you couldn't marry and you were frustrated, you wanted to commit suicide.'

After his parents bribed guards to spring him from jail, the migrant was forced to pay a people smuggler to help him escape persecution in his homeland and flee to France, the story went on.

But this turned out to be going from the 'frying pan to the fire' because the trafficker held him as a captive until the full fee was paid, according to the tale conjured up. It then gets more dramatic: 'They put him in modern slavery conditions. He can't go out.

'He has to work in hard labour [on a] building site. He can't escape. His passport and everything is taken away.'

Making a throat slashing gesture with his finger, he explained how the non-existent people smugglers had threatened to kill the reporter's family in the Punjab if they weren't paid.

He added: 'Also they kept him in a brothel. He was cleaning the toilets and looking after the prostitutes and all that kind of thing.

'The girls are from Eastern Europe. This guy is working more or less as a nanny for those women.'

Finally our reporter was to claim he met someone who managed to help him on to a small boat and cross the Channel, he continued. 'The story must go like that.'

And Mr Lingajothy stressed the reporter must claim to be pro-Khalistani for the asylum claim, as 'that way I will win your case' – it did not matter if he actually supported a different party.

Drawing a diagram of a target with asylum at the centre and human rights on a larger outer ring, the lawyer explained how he would expand the claim to have a greater chance of success.

'I need to use another law called trafficking law,' the legal adviser said. 'If you are going to simply claim asylum only it's very difficult. The second thing is called HR, human rights. That is relatively easy, right.' Clutching his head for emphasis, he added: 'And you've got some psychological problems.'

From the drawer of his desk covered in files from other cases, he produced a packet of anti-depressant pills for the reporter to hand to the Home Office as supposed evidence of his mental trauma.

'In your story I will also include this medication and when you were released [from jail in India] you went to see a doctor and the doctor prescribed all the medicines I have here,' he said.

'But I won't say I am giving it to you, say your doctor in India gave it.' Mr Lingajothy also promised he could obtain a psychiatric report to back up the claim that our journalist was suicidal, saying: 'I will prepare you what to tell the doctor.'

The outline he was giving at the first meeting was just the 'skeleton' of the story, he said, saying that he would flesh it out with more details to make it realistic: 'I have to give him the time, the month, the year... the story will be very carefully handled.'

He told our team they could take notes of the concocted story to help learn it, but nothing else or it risked compromising him.

'We don't allow to record because lawyers are not allowed to give stories. So we don't allow recording,' he stressed. Later, on learning the UK authorities had no record of the migrant's arrival, Mr Lingajothy advised him to change his story about how he came from France and say he came on a lorry not a boat, as it would help his claim.

'Say that in the lorry there were metals and building material, wires they were transporting. You were inside a box behind them,' he said as he went on to expand the story. Published court judgments show that Mr Lingajothy has been representing asylum seekers at immigration tribunals since at least 2004.

In January he successfully appealed and won a new hearing for an Indian woman's asylum claim, despite a judge in the lower tribunal ruling that her credibility was 'completely undermined' after she made false claims of being detained, tortured and sexual assaulted.

In July 2021, My Lingajothy successfully appealed over a rejected asylum claim for a Sri Lankan woman after her version of events was described by a judge as 'bizarre and extraordinary'.

In February 2019, a judge threw out an appeal he lodged on behalf of a client who claimed to have been 'held in captivity and tortured in Sri Lanka' after another judge described the story as 'entirely devoid of any truth'.

Mr Lingajothy told the Mail these cases had initially been handled by different caseworkers and solicitors and his firm took them on only at the appeal stage after the initial application had failed.

He said in all cases he was acting in the best interests of his clients.

Mr Lingathjothy and his wife share an eight-bedroom, £1.7million family home and have a property and business empire that includes a successful care home in Somerset and a building company, according to public records.

His children have attended top public schools, including Eton. Mr Lingajothy said his wife funded this part of their education.

Approached by the Mail, he denied making any false stories, and appeared to claim his actions were due to confusing our undercover reporter with another client. He was representing Duncan Ellis Solicitors, which is registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

He is not a solicitor, but said he was previously a government-registered immigration case worker and now an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives – allowing him to work under the supervision of a solicitor.

He said his position with Duncan Ellis was notified to the SRA and means he can give consultations and represent the firm at tribunals as long as the firm's principal solicitor checks his files randomly to ensure good practice and correct standards.

But Anbananden Sooben, from Duncan Ellis, said Mr Lingajothy was unsupervised when he met our reporters because a solicitor was not 'present nor informed about the consultation'. He added: 'The behaviours exhibited by Mr Lingajothy, as recorded in your investigation, are completely contrary to the principles and values of our firm and contrary to the law of the country and SRA rules.'

Mr Sooben said his firm upheld the 'highest ethical and professional standards', took the allegations 'extremely seriously', had sacked Mr Lingajothy and reported the matter to the SRA as well as 'conducting a thorough internal investigation'.

'We are actively cooperating with the relevant authorities and will support any investigation into this matter,' he said.

'Don't admit you came here to work – they will send you back'

On a quiet high street in Merton, south-west London, tucked in between corner shops, cafes and dry cleaners, scores of young men wait outside Rashid and Rashid Solicitors.

Some queue for as long as five hours for an appointment with Rashid Ahmad Khan, who operates on a strict first come first served basis, and one thing is clear: business is booming.

Inside his office, where a large bust of the black Albanian eagle sits proudly alongside stacks of legal files, Mr Khan asks detailed questions about why our covert reporter, posing as an illegal immigrant from India, came to Britain.

‘What was the problem you were facing back home? Political?’ probed the solicitor, who has been practising since 2009 and now has two branches for his firm.

‘No, not political. Just work. I needed a job,’ our reporter replied.

Mr Khan whispered his response. ‘You say that and they’re going to send you back.’

Over the following half hour, Mr Khan agreed to help file an asylum claim to the Home Office for a cost of £4,000.

He asked our reporters – one posing as the illegal migrant, the other as his UK-based uncle – to write down the reasons why he was no longer safe in India, only minutes after he was informed that there were none.

‘You write one page and bring it to me. I’ll turn it into four pages,’ Mr Khan said. At one point, he tells our reporter to ‘make up something’ for the immigration authorities. While Mr Khan appears to be cautious at times, on one occasion telling our covert reporter he can’t help him apply for asylum if he doesn’t say ‘his life is in danger back home’, the solicitor still tells him to lie to the Home Office.

Speaking discreetly in Punjabi, Mr Khan says: ‘Just write why he’s come here illegally. Like, he’s taken a loan from someone, who that party is. See, everyone who enters illegally has a reason. Some political reason. Some fight with someone. He’ll have to write these things to make up some story. If he doesn’t say anything, he will get nothing.’

Our reporter later tried to clarify what he should write down, asking: ‘A political problem?’ Mr Khan responded: ‘Political, yes. Anything, just take name of a party.’

The solicitor said he would appeal if the case was rejected and take the fight to court, adding: ‘I’ve dealt with many people like him.’

Approached by the Mail, Mr Khan denied that he or his firm offered to help an illegal immigrant submit fabricated asylum claim to the Home Office. He said: ‘We are always advising people according to their circumstances, under immigration rules and outside immigration rules (human rights). I always act with integrity, honesty – according to my code of conduct.’

He said the £4,000 cost he quoted the undercover reporters included extensive fees to the Home Office and other authorities, and his charge was only £1,000 of this amount.

£5,500 in cash for a pack of lies

Malik Nazar Hayat boasts his Lincoln Lawrence solicitors’ firm is ‘among the leading immigration lawyers in London.’

On his Linked In page, he says: ‘We are experts in UK immigration law and advise on all UK immigration-related matters.’

When the Mail visited his offices in Hounslow, west London, asking for his expertise, Mr Hayat quickly got down to business.

Decked out in a sharp suit and chunky silver watch, he relaxed into his chair as he fired a series of questions at our reporter posing as an economic migrant. Where is he from in India? Does he have any debts or enemies? Any political affiliations? Has he ever been arrested? ‘No, no, he’s a man of good character. Not political,’ our second reporter, posing as his uncle, responded.

‘But we don’t need a good character. For asylum, if he’s a good character, they’ll ask him to go back. They will not accept his claim,’ Mr Hayat said.

Later, he added: ‘Obviously, he’s a good person. If he wants to stay here, he must have fear of prosecution back home, fear of assassination, anything like that, and the Punjab. India is not a safe country for him. So I’m going on that way.’

The solicitor suggests telling Home Office officials he’s a sympathiser with a separatist movement in India and ‘the police are after him, the security agencies are after him’.

Unprompted, Mr Hayat added: ‘On top of that, he is a victim of human trafficking because he contacted some agent, gave him some money, the agent promised him a job and visa, and now the agent has disappeared. He is a victim of human trafficking, and secondly, he fears persecution and assassination.’

The whole process will cost £5,500 in cash, the lawyer says, a price he insists is a steal from his usual fees of £12,000 to £15,000 for similar cases. As the reporters prepared to leave, Mr Hayat told them Home Secretary Suella Braverman was ‘dumb’ and ‘doesn’t know anything’. Lincoln Lawrence said that it took the allegations very seriously and was investigating.

Mr Hayat was happy to falsely submit a photo of another man who looked like the undercover reporter at anti-government protests to support the asylum claim.",Explicit
"A photographer who raped a woman at his central London studio may have attacked others, police have said.

Sritharan Sayanthan, 42, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of two counts of rape and one of attempted rape at Hendon Crown Court.

The victim, a woman in her 30s, went to Sayanthan's studio on Brompton Road in May 2022 and paid for pictures to be taken.

She met him again on 8 July 2022 for a drink, believing it to be part of a networking process after he contacted her online, Scotland Yard said.

They met at a pub in Warren Street where Sayanthan ""encouraged her to drink alcohol which made her intoxicated very quickly"", police said.

The Met added: ""He then led the victim to his studio. Here she blacked out on the studio floor. When partially awake she was aware of Sayanthan sexually assaulting her. She was unable to respond verbally or physically.""

The victim, a Chinese national, went to police on 31 July 2022.

She did not go earlier because she was unfamiliar with how rape is investigated in the UK, officers said.

CCTV was discovered showing her ""noticeably unsteady on her feet"".

Scotland Yard said: ""Statements were gathered from studio staff and further research uncovered several other photography businesses owned by the suspect.""

Read more UK news:

Men in balaclavas drive hearse onto football pitch

Detective Constable Sophie Baker said officers ""believe there could be other victims of Sayanthan"" and are encouraging ""anyone who wants to speak to us to come forward"".

She added: ""No piece of information is too small and you will be listened to and supported.""

DC Baker praised the victim, too, describing her as ""fantastic from start to finish"".

She sent on: ""She was extremely nervous at the prospect of giving evidence but, with the support of an interpreter, she told the court in fine detail what happened.

""For victims, describing the incident in court can be daunting but she did amazingly and I am personally very proud of her bravery and thankful to her for coming forward.""",Explicit
"A federal judge denied former President Donald Trump's attempt to get a new trial after a federal jury found him liable for sexual abuse of the writer E. Jean Carroll and defamation.
Trump asked in June for a new trial in the civilor to reduce the $5 million in damages awarded to her by a jury — a verdict Trump's lawyers called ""grossly excessive.""
Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote that Trump's arguments in asking for a new trial were ""unpersuasive"" and that he did not prove that the jury's May 9 decision was a miscarriage of justice.
""The jury's unanimous verdict in [the case] was almost entirely in favor of Ms. Carroll,"" Kaplan wrote.
Carroll accused Trump of forcing himself on her in a department store changing room during a chance encounter in the mid-1990s, and then of defaming her after she went public with the story in 2019.
Trump's attorneys argued in the new filing that a $2 million portion of the damages award was excessive because the jury did not find him liable for rape.
But the judge disagreed, noting in his ruling that ""the definition of rape in the New York Penal Law is far narrower than the meaning of 'rape' in common modern parlance.""
Trump has denied assaulting Carroll and claimed her story was fabricated. She testified that they had been amiably walking through the store, joking during a light conversation, before Trump pushed her against a wall, her head slamming against it, and forcefully penetrated her with his hand and penis. The jury found him liable for sexual abuse, the allegation that he forcefully penetrated her with his hand, but did not conclude she proved liability for rape, having been penetrated by his penis.
""The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was 'raped' within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump 'raped' her as many people commonly understand the word ""rape,"" Kaplan wrote.
Trump's attorneys claimed $2.7 million the jury awarded in compensatory damages for defamation were based on ""speculation"" about how many people viewed a defamatory social media post by Trump in which he disparaged Carroll and denied the allegations. Trump's filing also claimed the remaining punitive damages related to the defamation were awarded ""without due process.""
Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll who is not related to the judge, said in a statement to CBS News that Carroll ""looks forward to receiving the $5 million in damages that the jury awarded her.""
An attorney for Trump did not reply to a request for comment.
Trump has also appealed the verdict and continues to vehemently deny the allegations. Carroll amended a separate, previously filed defamation lawsuit, seeking at least. She claimed comments Trump made at a — the day after the jury found him liable — were also disparaging.
for more features.",Explicit
"SEOUL - A debate over teachers’ rights in South Korea was raised on Thursday, after an elementary school teacher was found to have taken her own life in her classroom amid rumours of bullying by a student’s parents.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Wednesday confirmed that an early career teacher at an elementary school in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, was found dead in her classroom on Tuesday morning before school started. According to reports, the teacher was a 23-year-old woman who passed the teacher certification exam in 2022 and joined the school in March that year.
Local media reported that the teacher suffered from months of bullying and pressure at the hands of a parent, whose first-grade daughter is also allegedly a perpetrator of bullying at the school.
The school, however, denied that any bullying of the teacher had occurred via a statement on Thursday, adding that it would cooperate with the police investigation.
The case was reported a day after another female elementary school teacher in Seoul was allegedly assaulted by a sixth-grade male student in front of other students, resulting in her admission to hospital. The teacher was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because she claimed to have been held responsible for the matter by the student’s parents.
Both cases enraged teachers nationwide, who said they laid bare the dark reality of public schools where the authority of teachers is no longer respected in classrooms.
The country has seen a stark increase in the number of teachers being physically assaulted or attacked by students and parents, with a total of 1,133 teachers having been subject to such harassment between 2018 and 2022, according to data released by the Ministry of Education. Also, the annual number of reported cases of students breaching the rights of teachers in classrooms surpassed 2,000 last year.
While the weakening of teachers’ authority may be attributed to different factors, critics say banning corporal punishment is the root cause of teachers’ rights being trampled.
In the past, teachers could physically punish students for their misbehavior, but such punishment has been outlawed since 2010 over concerns that it violates students’ rights to physical integrity and human dignity.
As teachers were encouraged to adopt a gentler approach towards students, students and parents were given more of a say in school affairs, leading to a rise in cases of violence against teachers, according to teachers’ associations and observers.
Apart from dealing with problematic students, abusive behavior from parents has also contributed to a decline in teachers’ autonomy and decision-making power, as a growing number of parents are becoming more protective of their children, they added.
Parents sometimes file complaints or even sue teachers for scolding their children, claiming that they have inflicted “emotional abuse” by making “abusive” or “humiliating” comments. In most cases, teachers end up apologizing to parents and students and try to minimize their contact with the students as much as possible.
The occupation that has long been envied as a “respected job for life” has now become a nightmare for many.
According to data released by Representative Kwon Eun-hee of the ruling People Power Party and a member of the National Assembly’s Education Committee, 589 teachers with an experience of less than five years left the workforce from March 2022 to April 2023, a nearly two-fold increase from 303 in 2021, with false reports of child abuse claims and complaints made by parents being the top reasons.
Local education experts called for implementing an in-house school system to shield teachers from parents and students in and out of classrooms.
Dr Park Nam-gi, a professor at Gwangju National University of Education, advises that South Korea should take a cue from the US’ teacher support system, where teachers can reach out to principals and higher ups in school when they need help dealing with students and parents.
“‘Monster’ parents with a high drive and enthusiasm for education, especially those in Gangnam, sue teachers when they are unhappy with them. But if we implement (a US-style) system, schools, the ministry and the education office will be able to respond to parental complaints adequately,” he told The Korea Herald.
Dr Park also pointed out that at-risk students, including those with anger issues or perpetrators of bullying, should be required to take alternative approaches to education.
“It’s unfair for teachers to care for problematic students, who can (sometimes) cause severe mental distress (for teachers). The government should come up with measures to separate teachers from students with such issues,” he noted. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK",Explicit
"The 1978 animated film Watership Down has been re-classified to a PG due to its ""mild violence, threat, brief bloody images and bad language"".
The movie is among the classic titles to have had their age ratings raised, along with the original Star Trek, according to the British Board of Film Classification's (BBFC) annual report.
After being resubmitted, the ratings were raised by the organisation, it said, in order to ensure they ""remain in step with societal standards"".
Watership Down, which is based on the novel by Richard Adams, tells the tale of a group of rabbits who leave their burrow in search of a new home.
Their quest brings them into contact with a battle-scarred rabbit called ""General"" Woundwort, as well as a gull called Kehaar who tells another character to go away using an expletive.
The film - which features the voices of Sir John Hurt and the late Richard Briers - received a U [Universal] rating on its initial release for its ""very mild language, mild violence and threat"".
Star Trek: The Motion Picture - the sci-fi hit first released in 1979, starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy - was also originally deemed ""suitable for all"".
But it too now requires a PG [parental guidance] sticker for containing ""brief mild horror and sex references"".
'Expectations evolving'
The BBFC report noted: ""Whenever a distributor resubmits a film with an existing BBFC rating to us, we review it under our current guidelines.
""This sometimes means we may reclassify the film at either a higher rating or a lower rating than it was under previous guidelines.""
It referenced a ""distressing sequence"" in Watership Down, explaining: ""In their exile, the rabbits meet various challenges, some of which result in bloody bite and claw injuries caused by animals fighting.
""In one scene, a bird tells one of the rabbits to '[pee] off'"".
""When we viewed the film under the current guidelines we reclassified it PG in line with our current policies for violence, threat, injury detail and language,"" it added.
BBFC director David Austin told BBC Radio 5 live in 2016 the film's violence and language was ""arguably too strong"" for it to be rated U today.
His comments followed complaints over the film's content after it was aired on Channel 5 on Easter Sunday earlier that year.
The movie returned to the small screen with a BBC adaption in 2018, featuring a voice cast including James McAvoy, John Boyega and, Olivia Colman.
The BBFC updates guidelines every four to five years in order to ""continue to meet the expectations and values of people across the UK"".
The next consultation is scheduled for this year, with any required changes coming into effect by 2024.
Natasha Kaplinksy, president of the board, said it was currently consulting with over 10,000 people across the UK ""to explore how audience expectations are evolving"".
""We will then reflect these changes in our classification guidelines, which set the foundation for all of our age rating decisions, including when older films are resubmitted and receive a new classification.""",Explicit
"Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey was ""tried by social media"" after he was accused of sexual assaults, a court has heard.
He is charged with nine sexual offences relating to four men allegedly committed between 2001 and 2013.
The 63-year-old American sat in the dock on Thursday at Southwark Crown Court in London as defence barrister Patrick Gibbs KC gave a closing speech.
Mr Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner, denies all of the charges against him.
""What the defence suggests is that three people have lied and they have lied in ways and for reasons which, ultimately, will only ever be known to themselves,"" said Mr Gibbs, who suggested the fourth complainant was intoxicated.
He told jurors: ""It's not a crime to like sex, even if you're famous and it's not a crime to have sex, even if you're famous, and it's not a crime to have casual sex.
""And it's not a crime to have sex with someone of the same sex because it's 2023 not 1823.""
He challenged the Crown's claim that there was a ""pattern of similarity"" between the accusers because three claim Mr Spacey ""grabbed"" them by the crotch, a term Mr Spacey previously told the court he ""objected"" to.
He told the jury it was ""easy"" to lie convincingly, especially when it is about someone such as Kevin Spacey who he described as a man ""who is promiscuous, not publicly out, although everyone in the businesses knows he's gay who wants to be just a normal guy to drink beer and laugh and smoke weed and sit in the front and spend time with younger people who he's attracted to"".
He said perhaps Mr Spacey had led ""a bit of an odd life"", but that it was ""a life that makes you an easy target when the internet turns against you and you're tried by social media"".
""That's when these claims were taken to the police, when it was, I suggest, only too easy to do and the prospects of a pay-off from the bandwagon were at their most irresistible.""
Mr Gibbs praised Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish for risking the ""wrath of the internet"" to be called as defence witnesses after they gave evidence via video link from Monaco on Monday.
Mr Spacey pleaded not guilty in January to three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
He also previously denied four further charges of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
A further charge of indecent assault, an alternative count, was added mid-trial - taking the total number of alleged offences listed on the indictment to 13.
On Wednesday, the four indecent assault charges, which were all alternative counts, were struck off by the judge, due to a ""legal technicality"" and not as a result of the prosecution abandoning any allegation.
The trial continues.",Explicit
"A convicted rapist created a secret online dating username while on licence from prison.
Jay Humphries, 36, was jailed in 2018 under his previous name Jonathan Drakeford. He is the son of First Minister Mark Drakeford.
Caernarfon Magistrates' Court heard he used an unapproved profile name on the Fab Guys website and deleted internet browsing history from his phone.
Humphries admitted both offences and will be sentenced on 11 August.
Humphries was arrested in Bangor, Gwynedd in March after being released from prison on licence.
The hearing on Friday was told use of the Fab Guys account had been approved by police, but the name he used - naughty 5007387 - was not.
An agreed name was required to allow police to monitor his online activity.
The court was told he claimed deleting the internet history from his phone was an accident, but prosecutor Catherine Elvin said his guilty plea indicated it was a deliberate measure ""to conceal"" his actions.
While no individuals had been harmed by the breaches, Ms Elvin added: ""Sexual harm prevention orders are put in place for a reason.""
Defending Humphries, Gemma Morgan said he had been struggling to come to terms with his personal situation after being released from prison, and being forced to live in approved accommodation in north Wales away from his family.
The court was also told he was also dealing with the death of his mother Clare Drakeford in January.
""He was suffering emotionally,"" said Ms Morgan.
""He was speaking to other men on Fab Guys expressing his feelings.""
The court was told those feelings and his actions were compounded by learning difficulties and being autistic.
Magistrates were told Humphries had since been recalled to prison in May after other breaches of his release licence, including leaving an abusive phone message for a probation officer.
In 2018, Humphries was handed an eight year and eight month sentence at Cardiff Crown Court after being found guilty of rape and inflicting actual bodily harm. He also admitted to a child sexual offence after messaging a girl on Facebook who he thought was 15 years old.",Explicit
"VERDEGRIS, Okla. -- A woman and her three children were found dead in an Oklahoma home on Thursday evening in what may be a murder-suicide following an hours-long standoff, authorities said.
The names of the victims weren't immediately released.
The standoff began in the small town of Verdigris, a suburb east of Tulsa, after a woman told a patrolling police officer at around 4 p.m. that another woman with a gun held her hostage in a garage, Police Chief Jack Shackleford said, KOKI-TV reported.
The woman also said there were children in the home and the officer called for reinforcements, Shackleford said.
Several agencies surrounded the house, including a SWAT team from the Cherokee Nation.
Authorities entered the home around 7:30 p.m. and found the bodies of the woman and three children, believed to range in age from several months to around 11 years old.
A handgun was found at the scene and the killings are being investigated as a murder-suicide, authorities said.
Shackleford said officers went to the home several times in the past on domestic and mental health calls, KOKI-TV reported.",Explicit
"At least one person has been killed and 19 more injured in fresh Russian missile strikes on the port city of Odesa, officials have said.
Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said 14 people were hospitalised in the blasts, including four children.
The historical Transfiguration Cathedral was also damaged by the strikes, the city council said.
Moscow has been launching near constant attacks on Odesa since it withdrew from a landmark grain deal on Monday.
""Odesa: another night attack of the monsters,"" Mr Kiper wrote on Telegram. He added that six residential buildings - including several apartment buildings - were destroyed by the strikes.
Odesa's military administration said that the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was also severely damaged.
The building is Odesa's largest Orthodox church and was consecrated in 1809. It was demolished by the Soviet Union in 1939, before being re-built in 2003.
In a video posted to social media by the city council, Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov could be seen walking through rubble inside the church.
Other clips uploaded to social media showed a distressed man walking inside the cathedral repeating: ""The church is no longer .... Lord, have mercy.""
The BBC was unable to immediately independently verify reports of damage or the video.
The UN's cultural agency, Unesco, has repeatedly urged Russia to cease attacks on Odesa. The city's historic centre was designated an endangered World Heritage by the organisation earlier this year, despite Russian opposition.
But in an update posted to Facebook, Ukraine's southern command said Russia had targeted the Odesa region with at least five different types of missiles.
The head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andriy Yermak, repeated calls for more missiles and defence systems after the latest attack on Odesa.
""This is the undisguised terror of a peaceful city,"" Mr Yermak wrote on Telegram. ""The enemy must be deprived of the opportunity to attack civilians and infrastructure.""
Moscow has notably stepped up attacks on the port city since it withdrew from the UN backed grain deal on Monday and Ukraine has accused it of targeting grain supplies and infrastructure vital to the deal.
A strike earlier this week destroyed some 60,000 tonnes of grain, officials said.
Odesa is Ukraine's biggest port, and millions of tonnes of grain have been shipped from its docks under the terms of the deal.
The deal - brokered by Turkey and the UN - between Russia and Ukraine was struck in July 2022, allowing cargo ships to sail along a corridor in the Black Sea.",Explicit
"Facebook, YouTube and Twitter Remove Violent Video After India Order
The video, from an incident that took place on May 4, went viral on social media overnight in India.
(Bloomberg) -- US internet companies Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Twitter Inc. are complying with Indian federal orders to take down a video of two women being paraded naked by a group of men in a northeastern state, people familiar with the matter said.
The video, from an incident that took place on May 4, went viral on social media overnight in India, triggering the first public comments from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the violence in Manipur state, where ethic groups have clashed for nearly two months.
Some social media companies began removing photos and videos of the incident as it violated their rules even before New Delhi issued emergency blocking orders, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private.
India’s technology ministry, Google, Meta and Twitter didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Supreme Court of India has called the video “deeply disturbing” and asked the federal and state governments — both led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party — to report steps taken against the perpetrators at a hearing scheduled for July 28.
Journalist Barkha Dutt said the implementation of the blocking orders have been overly aggressive and that they’re obstructing news publishers’ ability to report on the event.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Explicit
"The White House will establish a national monument, CBS News has learned, honoring, the 14-year-old Chicago boy whose abduction, torture and lynching in 1955 while visiting family in Mississippi played a role in sparking the civil rights movement.
President Biden will sign a proclamation on Tuesday, the 82nd anniversary of Till's birth, establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument.
The monument will be located across three sites in Mississippi and Illinois, CBS News learned. One will be located in the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in the Chicago South Side neighborhood of Bronzeville, where Till's killing was mourned in September 1955.
The second site will be at Graball Landing, Mississippi, where Till's body was discovered in the Tallahatchie River.
The third will be at Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Till's suspected killers were acquitted by an all-White jury less than a month after his brutal murder.
In August of 1955,, a White woman working as a grocery clerk, accused Till of making improper advances towards her while she was working alone in a store in Money, Mississippi.
Three days later, Till was abducted from his relatives home. On Aug. 31, 1955, three days after his abduction, his mutilated body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River.
The following month, Donham's husband, Roy Bryant, along with Roy's half-brother J.W. Milam, were both acquitted of murder charges in Till's death.
In 2022, a grand jury in Mississippi announced that it was ending its investigation into the case.Carolyn Donham for her role in the events that led to Till's lynching. Prior to that, in 2021, the U.S. Justice Department
Carolyn Donhamin April at the age of 88.
At the time of her death, Till's cousin, the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., told CBS News in a statement that even though no one would be held to account for his cousin's death ""it is up to all of us to be accountable to the challenges we still face in overcoming racial injustice.""
— Cara Tabachnick contributed to this report.
for more features.",Explicit
"Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images
toggle caption
Country music singer Jason Aldean, pictured here performing at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas in May, is facing a mixed bag of backlash and praise for a new music video that openly alludes to vigilante justice.
Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images
Country music singer Jason Aldean, pictured here performing at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas in May, is facing a mixed bag of backlash and praise for a new music video that openly alludes to vigilante justice.
Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images
Country Music Television (CMT) says it will no longer air the music video ""Try That In a Small Town"" by Jason Aldean after critics of the video said it contained lyrics that glorified gun violence and conveyed traditionally racist ideas.
A CMT spokesperson confirmed the move to NPR on Thursday, but offered no comment on the reasoning.
Since the video's release on Friday, it's emerged as a familiar kind of political litmus test, with interpretations of its message often falling along voting divides.
Here's an overview of the situation:
What is ""Try That in a Small Town"" about?
Aldean, a 46-year-old country singer from Macon, Ga., first released the song in May, but it wasn't until the release of the video on July 14 — as promotion for his 11th upcoming album — that the discourse ratcheted up.
In a statement released alongside the video, Aldean said the song represents an ""unspoken rule"" for those raised in small towns: ""We all have each other's backs and we look out for each other."" The singer is not credited as a writer for the song, as has been the case for most of his 27 hit singles.
Threats to outsiders (and the implication those outsiders are from cities) are present throughout the song's lyrics, which begin with a list of crimes that might happen in urban settings (""Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk / carjack an old lady at a red light"") then crescendo into the titular chorus:
""Well, try that in a small town / See how far you make it down the road / Around here we take care of our own / You cross that line, it won't take long / For you to find out, I recommend you don't.""
Aldean ups the vigilante ante by bridging the second chorus with a reference to gun rights, singing:
""I've got a gun that my granddad gave me / they say one day they're gonna round up. / Well that shit might fly in the city / good luck / Try that in a small town"".
Why is the video so divisive?
Interspersed between shots of Aldean singing are clips of vandalizing, riots and police encounters, much of which is evocative of racial injustice protests.
Some of the scenes bear a Fox News chyron, but others, as some TikTok sleuths have pointed out, appear to be stock footage, in some cases of gatherings from other countries.
But much of the criticism around the video has less to do with these clips then its setting: The Maury County Courthouse building in Columbia, Tenn., which serves as an American-flag-draped backdrop for Aldean and his band.
The landmark was the site of race riots in 1946 as well as a 1927 lynching in which a white mob pulled an 18-year-old black man, Henry Choate, from jail and drug him through the city by car, according to several media reports, including one detailed account from The Washington Post.
Choate had confessed to attacking a 16-year-old white girl ""to protect his life,"" even though the girl ""could not positively identify him as the assailant,"" the Post reported.
What is Aldean saying?
On Tuesday, Aldean pushed back hard against accusations he was ""pro-lynching,"" saying such an interpretation ""goes too far"" and is ""dangerous.""
""There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it,"" he wrote on Twitter. ""Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief.""
""NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart,"" he wrote.
The production company behind the videos, TackleBox, also defended the video's location as a popular filming spot, telling Entertainment Tonight that any ""alternative narrative"" about the reasons it was chosen were false.
Aldean has received five Grammy Award nominations (including two for Best Country Album) for his two decades of music depicting rural, blue-collar life. And throughout that success, he's rarely shied away from sharing his right-leaning political views.
His wife, Brittany Aldean, and his sister, Kasi Rosa Wicks, launched a conservative clothing line dedicated to trolling liberals. Aldean defended dressing his children in anti-Joe-Biden attire and himself for wearing blackface as part of a 2015 Halloween costume. He was spotted golfing alongside Donald Trump and delivered an impromptu performance at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort.
But, at other times, the singer has tried to walk a more nuanced line toward politics, perhaps most memorably after surviving the 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival.
Aldean was performing on stage as the night's closing act when the shooting began. Six months later, he tiptoed through the refreshed gun control debate, saying in an interview that tragedies shouldn't be used as fodder for political arguments, but ultimately agreed that it was ""too easy to get guns"" in the U.S..
How are other people reacting?
Gun control advocates are among the song's loudest critics, saying ""Try That in a Small Town"" glorifies a dangerous eye-for-an eye ethos.
Shannon Watts, founder of the group Moms Demand Action, called it an ""ode to a sundown town"" that suggested ""people be beaten or shot for expressing free speech.""
Others said the song's hints at violence were clearly racial dog whistles, zeroing in on the song's portrayal of protests like flag-burning. Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, a Democrat, summed it as a ""heinous song calling for racist violence.""
Sheryl Crow and Margo Price are among the musicians who've spoke out against the song. But others, like Travis Tritt and Blanco Brown described the reaction as unfair social commentary.
Political commentators on the right have have held up the country music cannon, and Aldean in particular, as a loudspeaker for under-appreciated conservative values.
2024 GOP primary contenders like Trump, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis all defended the artist, with DeSantis saying: ""When the media attacks you, you're doing something right.""
If attention was his goal, then Aldean might agree: As of midday Thursday, ""Try That in a Small Town"" was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. on iTunes and was holding the No. 2 spot on YouTube's trending music videos.",Explicit
"On Thursday morning, Politico reported that Kevin McCarthy had promised Donald Trump that he’d hold a House vote to “expunge the two impeachments against the former president” before the August recess, in an attempt to get back on Trump’s good side after suggesting the ex-president might not be the best candidate for the 2024 GOP nomination. Hours later, McCarthy denied this.
At this time you might be wondering, as part of that denial, did McCarthy forcefully insist that expunging Trump’s pair of impeachments—the first for trying to extort Ukraine into digging up dirt on his political rival, the second for inciting an insurrection—would be some thoroughly repugnant Orwellian shit? Did he point out that it would be an insult to the brave law enforcement officers who protected his congressional colleagues on that dark day in January? Did he unequivocally deny he would ever be part of a movement to do the very thing Politico reported he’d promised to do? Uh, not exactly!
Instead, he merely denied that an official deal to expunge Trump’s impeachments had been struck while nevertheless noting that he would absolutely love to see it happen.
“There’s no deal, but I’ve been very clear from long before—when I voted against impeachments—that they put them in for purely political purposes,” McCarthy told reporters. “I support expungement, but there’s no deal out there.”
Of course, McCarthy’s claiming that there isn’t an actual deal does not mean that’s true. The reason we know that is because he’s been caught lying in the past, like when he forcefully denied a New York Times report saying he had told colleagues that Trump was at fault for “inciting people” to attack the Capitol building and that he was going to advise Trump to resign…only to be caught on tape saying the things the Times had reported.
Furthermore, there’s obviously no reason whatsoever to give McCarthy—who, again, publicly stated that he does, in fact, want Trump’s impeachments expunged!—the benefit of the doubt here, given that he voted to overturn the 2020 election in January 2021; refused to meaningfully hold Trump accountable for the insurrection during the impeachment proceedings; lied about the riot to get on Trump’s good side; and claimed this week that Trump is only facing an indictment for his attempt to overturn the election because he’s so very popular.
If you would like to receive the Levin Report in your inbox daily, click here to subscribe.
Surprise: A criminal Trump pardoned has been charged with committing fraud again
Weinstein has been accused of “falsely claiming” he and the individuals with whom he formed Optimus Investments had “lucrative deals” on N95 masks, “scarce baby formula,” and “first-aid kits bound for Ukraine.” According to the FBI, the group also schemed to hide Weinstein’s assets that were supposed to go toward restitution he owed the victims of his previous Ponzi scheme.
Weinstein was one more than six dozen criminals Trump pardoned on the way out the door in 2021. Others included Jared Kushner’s father, Steve Bannon, and Medicare fraudsters who collectively stole more than $1 billion.
Ron DeSantis’s Florida will teach kids that there were upsides to being a slave, and no, that’s not a joke
When the Florida State Board of Education announced earlier this year that it would ban the College Board’s AP American Studies course from its public schools, claiming it lacked “educational value,” the collective response from non-bigots was basically, “Wow, you can’t get much more f--ked up and racist than that.” To which Florida decided to respond, “Oh no, we can!”
Per The Washington Post:
If you can’t quite believe what you’re reading, we’ll repeat it again for emphasis: Florida schools are now required to teach students that there was a bright side to being forced into slavery. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the new rules also dictate that, per when teaching about mob violence against Black people—like, y’know, lynchings—teachers should also note “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”
Last year, The New York Times reported that as a teacher at a private school in Georgia, DeSantis stuck out to students thanks to his views on the Civil War and slavery:
Meanwhile, DeSantis’s point of view on slavery was apparently so well known that ”students made a satirical video about him” in which a student meant to be DeSantis is heard saying, according to the Times, “The Civil War was not about slavery! It was about two competing economic systems. One was in the North….”
On Wednesday, Florida Education commissioner Manny Diaz insisted that the new rules make the state’s Black history curriculum more “robust,” saying, “I think this is something that is going to set the norm for standards in other states.” State representative Anna Eskamani, stating what should be but apparently is not obvious, told the Times the notion of teaching students that enslaved people learned important life skills “is inaccurate and a scary standard for us to establish.”
US congressman suggests there are downsides to the polio vaccine
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s explicit visuals at Hunter Biden hearing draw rebuke
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Trump bets, again, on legal troubles yielding big donations
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Judge Skewers “QAnon Shaman” While Refusing to Vacate His Conviction
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Why Chrissy Teigen loved her first colonoscopy: “I wish it took longer”
NYP • Read More",Explicit
"A sex scene in box office smash hit Oppenheimer has sparked outrage in India with social media users threatening to boycott the nuclear arms biopic.

The scene, featuring US physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (portrayed by Irish actor Cillian Murphy) reciting a verse from the Bhagavad Gita - a sacred Hindu scripture - before having sex has been branded a ""scathing attack on Hinduism"".

Nationalist group Save Culture Save India (SCSI) Foundation said the scene should be ""investigated... on an urgent basis"" and called for those involved to be ""severely punished"".

Fury on social media erupted after SCSI founder, Uday Mahurkar, wrote an open letter complaining to the film's director, Christopher Nolan.

The letter, entitled ""Oppenheimer's disturbing attack on Hinduism"", said: ""We do not know the motivation and logic behind this unnecessary scene on [the] life of a scientist.

""But this is a direct assault on the religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus, rather it amounts to waging a war on the Hindu community and almost appears to be part of a larger conspiracy by anti-Hindu forces.""

Mr Mahurkar described the Bhagavad Gita as ""one of the most revered scriptures of Hinduism"" which has inspired thousands of people to ""live a life of self control and perform selfless noble deeds"".

He called on Nolan to axe the controversial scene, telling him: ""We urge, on behalf of billions of Hindus and timeless tradition of lives being transformed by revered Gita, to do all that is necessary to uphold dignity of their revered book and remove this scene from your film across [the] world.""

And he warned: ""Should you choose to ignore this appeal it would be deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilisation.""

However, some people responded to the letter by suggesting the film was ""just art"", with one person branding Mr Mahurkar's claims ""ridiculous"".

""These sorts of impotent accusations take away from the real issues happening to and within our community,"" one said.

Another responded: ""There is nothing morally wrong with the scene. Stop overreacting and treating sex as a taboo.""

Read more:

Christopher Nolan hits out at Warner Bros over shock streaming plans

How Oppenheimer's legacy still impacts us today

The film stars Murphy as Oppenheimer, who oversaw the creation of the atomic bomb during the Second World War, and English actress Florence Pugh, who plays his mistress Jean Tatlock, a psychiatrist, in the movie.

It has grossed around 600m rupees (almost £5.71m) since opening in India on Friday, according to Warner Bros Discovery.

In the UK, Vue said it had the biggest weekend for cinema ticket sales in four years following the release of Oppenheimer and the Barbie film.

The cinema chain said on Sunday that a fifth of its customers purchased tickets to see both films in a social media inspired double-bill dubbed ""Barbenheimer"".

Ahead of Oppenheimer's release, Nolan told Sky News the film was ""just a very, very dramatic story about how our world changed forever"" and warned - ""the danger never goes away"".",Explicit
"Last week, Donald Trump let loose with one of his tantrums disguised as a fundraising appeal on Truth Social, this time claiming that special prosecutor Jack Smith had sent him a letter indicating he's the target of a Justice Department investigation, this time related to Trump's attempted coup that resulted in the insurrection on January 6, 2021. Such letters are often preliminary to indictments. Most legal experts say it's a near-certainty in this case. Recent reporting suggests that Trump will likely face indictments for conspiracy to defraud the government and obstruction of an official proceeding. He may also be charged with conspiracy to deny people their civil rights, utilizing a law first passed to empower federal authorities to deal with the Klu Klux Klan.
Considering that his last round of indictments involved the Espionage Act, it's wild that these potential indictments are even more serious. Most experts believe Smith wouldn't do this if he didn't have the evidence for a conviction, and the possible charges are serious enough to put Trump away for the rest of his life. As the hearings of the House Select Committee on the January 6 attack showed, there's substantial evidence Trump knowingly led a conspiracy, and no doubt the grand jury investigation Smith is leading uncovered more. All of which suggests Trump's regular meltdowns on social media aren't just fundraising gambits, but sincere displays of panic from a man who has no doubt been long worried if all his criming would eventually catch up to him.
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Trump isn't just whining in his usual all-caps style, however. He's also escalating his violent threats, in an impotent bid to scare federal prosecutors into backing down. On Tuesday, Trump gave an interview on an Iowa-based talk show where, mob-style, he issued a ""warning"" that was actually a threat. When asked about the possibility of going to jail, the former president said, ""I think it's a very dangerous thing to even talk about, because we do have a tremendously passionate group of voters, much more passion than they had in 2020 and much more passion than they had in 2016.""
Then on Thursday, Trump posted a video on his Truth Social account that was even less subtle. In it, ominous music plays over a shot of Trump's eyes glaring, as his voiceover says, ""If you f**k around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you that have never been done before.""
On Sunday, he went hard on Truth Social, winding up his supporters with unsubtly violent language. ""IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. WE MUST STOP THESE ""MONSTERS"" FROM FURTHER DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY!"" he raved in one post. He also repeatedly reposted threatening memes sent by his often QAnon-drunk followers.
This is part of a larger pattern of Trump trying, with intermittent success, to replicate the events of January 6 by inciting his followers to violence. He posted photos suggesting he'd like to beat District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is prosecuting him for fraud in New York, with a baseball bat. He implicitly celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Branch Davidians' self-immolation in Waco, TX, with a rally that also valorized the January 6 riot. He posted former president Barack Obama's address, which led to a follower allegedly trying to assassinate Obama. He shared information about prosecutors' families, another obvious threat. He posted threatening rhetoric after the feds searched Mar-a-Lago for missing classified documents, which led to one follower dying in an attack on an FBI office.
Being bad at terrorism is no defense, especially for someone who keeps trying to instigate political violence.
Trump loves hiding behind his security guards while telling his idiot followers to commit acts of violence for him. He does it more often than most people eat breakfast. This is why legal experts so often pity Trump's defense lawyers, even though they are making a fortune off his campaign donors. This stuff isn't just dangerous and a bad look. It also nukes what was Trump's strongest defense in any January 6 case. No longer can he argue that he wasn't trying to kick off a riot when he told his followers to ""march"" on the Capitol, and they just did that on their own. Instead, Trump is handing prosecutors a pattern of behavior they can point to.
Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only.
Trump's repeated efforts to make another January 6 happen don't just make it harder to argue his innocence in a court of law. It also makes a lot harder for Republicans who, foolishly, are still trying to defend Trump in the court of public opinion. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., squealed that this is only happening because ""Trump went up in the polls."" This is the same McCarthy who, in the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, correctly stated that Trump ""bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters."" Other Republicans followed suit in pretending this is all ridiculous. House Minority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., for instance, complained about a ""double standard.""
These kinds of B.S. defenses depend on pretending that Trump didn't attempt a coup or incite an insurrection as if it was all just some weird coincidence. Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., offered a good example of how silly this gets, lamely saying on CNN that Trump ""should have come out more forcefully"" in telling rioters to go home on January 6. The clear implication is that the rioters were just acting on their own accord and Trump's only sin was in moving too slowly in response. In reality, Trump sent those rioters to the Capitol as part of a larger plot to block President Joe Biden's election certification so that a group of fake electors — some of whom are facing charges of their own — could come in and steal the election for him. The ""Trump didn't want that riot"" play is stupid on its face but becomes even more so every time Trump makes another threat.
Unsubtly begging his followers to use violence to block a legal proceeding is the standard operating procedure for Trump. Sure, it doesn't work most of the time. Mostly, his followers ignore his repeated entreaties that they go to prison in an ineffective bid to keep him out of it. Even when he can get his followers to act out violently, they've so far not achieved their goals, thankfully. Trump keeps returning to the well of violent threats because he's mean and not very bright, so can't accept that his favorite move just isn't working for him. But being bad at terrorism is no defense, especially for someone who keeps trying to instigate political violence.
""Stop saying I'm violent or I'll send people to murder your family"" is an unpersuasive argument, of course. That Trump keeps going there, however, is a sign he is as desperate as he is stupid. He knows that he can't win the case on the merits, so his efforts are focused on trying to stop any case from going forward. The good news is that Smith is not going to be intimidated. The man has prosecuted violent gang members and war criminals. A coward like Trump is not going to rattle the nerves of the special prosecutor who has taken him on so forcefully.
Read more
about Trump's reliance on violent rhetoric",Explicit
"New Delhi: A Dalit man in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district has alleged that another man from a different caste smeared human faeces on his face and head on Friday, July 21.
News agency PTI reported that the accused is named Ramkripal Patel and belongs to an Other Backward Class community.
The Dalit man, named Dashrath Ahirwar, filed a police complaint on Saturday, July 22 alleging that Patel smeared human faeces on his face and head after he accidentally touched Patel with grease.
Ahirwar told reporters that his local panchayat fined him Rs 600 when he tried to report the incident to its members at a meeting.
His police complaint says that the incident took place when he was doing construction work and Patel was bathing at a hand pump nearby.
“I had some grease on my hand and by mistake that grease got smeared on Patel. After that, Patel brought human faeces lying nearby in a mug he was using for bathing and smeared it on my body including head and face. I filed the FIR the next day since I was busy with work,” Ahirwar told local media according to the Indian Express.
He also alleges that Patel abused him on casteist lines, PTI reported. Patel was detained on Saturday following Ahirwar’s complaint.
This incident comes less than a month after a video was widely circulated showing a man allegedly urinating on someone from a Scheduled Tribe community in the same state’s Sidhi district.
The offending man has since been identified as Pravesh Shukla. Police arrested him on July 4 and registered a case against him under the National Security Act and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
A similar case was reported from Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district earlier this month, where a group of nine young men allegedly assaulted and then urinated on the face of a tribal man following a disagreement, The Hindu reported.
Three men and three minors have been arrested in that case as of Friday, July 20 and local police invoked the Prevention of Atrocities Act against the accused.
Police in Chhatarpur have also invoked the Prevention of Atrocities Act against Patel. The Act is meant to protect members of the Scheduled Castes (also known as Dalits) and Scheduled Tribes, which are historically marginalised communities, from discrimination.
“A case is being registered against Ramkripal Patel under sections 294 (punishment for obscene acts or words in public) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,” sub-divisional officer of police Manmohan Singh Baghel told PTI.
Baghel added that Ahirwar and others working to construct a drain in Bikaura village were “joking with Patel” and “hurling things at each other playfully” following which Patel threw faeces at Ahirwar.",Explicit
"TOKYO -- Renowned Japanese mystery writer Seiichi Morimura, whose nonfiction trilogy “The Devil’s Gluttony” exposed human medical experiments conducted by a secret Japanese army unit during World War II, died Monday. He was 90.
His official website and publisher, Kadokawa, said Morimura died of pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital.
“Akuma no Hoshoku,” or “The Devil’s Gluttony,” which began as a newspaper series in 1981, became a bestseller and created a sensation across the country over atrocities committed by Japanese Imperial Army Unit 731 in China.
From its base in Japanese-controlled Harbin in China, Unit 731 and related units injected war prisoners with typhus, cholera and other diseases as research into germ warfare, according to historians and former unit members. Unit 731 is also believed to have performed vivisections and frozen prisoners to death in tests of endurance.
Morimura began contributing articles to magazines while working in hotels. He won the prestigious Edogawa Rampo Prize for his mystery fiction in 1969 and the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1973.
Born in 1933 in Saitama, just north of Tokyo, Morimura survived harsh U.S. bombings of the Tokyo region toward the end of World War II and developed pacifist principles. He wrote a book about his commitment to defending Japan's postwar pacifist Constitution and opposing nuclear weapons. He joined protests against a 2015 reinterpretation of the constitution by then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe allowing greater military activity.
His 1976 novel “Ningen no Shomei” (""Proof of the Man""), a mystery about a young Black man who is murdered, revealed the dark side of postwar Japan and was made into a movie.
Another popular novel, “Yasei no Shomei” (""Proof of the Wild""), published a year later depicts a conspiracy over genocide in a remote village.",Explicit
"Every week we wrap up the must-reads from our coverage of the war in Ukraine, from news and features to analysis, visual guides and opinion.
Russia and Ukraine warn conflict could spill over into the Black Sea
Russia and Ukraine issued tit-for-tat warnings that they could target all vessels sailing to and from each other’s Black Sea ports, Julian Borger reported, after a week in which Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal that had allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported via that route.
“The fate of the cruiser Moskva proves that the defence forces of Ukraine have the necessary means to repel Russian aggression at sea,” the defence ministry in Kyiv said on Thursday, in a reference to the sinking of a flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet last year.
A day earlier, Russia had said it would consider all ships sailing to Ukrainian ports as potential military targets, a move which prompted the US to warn that Russia may attack civilian ships on the Black Sea and then put the blame on Ukrainian forces.
On Monday Russia pulled out of the year-old deal brokered by the UN and Turkey which had allowed Ukrainian grain to be shipped out of Black Sea ports, much of it to developing countries, as reported by Shaun Walker and Patrick Wintour. The withdrawal caused a spike in grain prices, Joanna Partridge wrote, reigniting fears of the impact on poorer, grain-importing countries.
Moscow’s pullout was internationally condemned. The head of USAid, Samantha Powell, said Russian president Vladimir Putin’s justification for the withdrawal was full of “falsehood and lies”, as Shaun, Patrick, Nick Hopkins and Jamie Wilson reported separately.
Moscow also launched a wave of deadly strikes on the port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv, which Ukraine said targeted grain facilities and port infrastructure, Shaun reported. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, described the attacks on Odesa, which bore the burnt of the strikes, as part of a concerted Russian effort to prevent Ukrainian grain reaching world markets.
Wagner chief appears in video in first footage to emerge since mutiny
A video purporting to show the Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared this week, in which he addressed his fighters in Belarus and called the Russian war effort in Ukraine a “disgrace”, Andrew Roth reported.
The video, the first footage of the Russian warlord to emerge since his mutiny last month, was published by two Telegram channels affiliated with Wagner and showed a man who resembled and sounded like Prigozhin.
Wagner troops would not fight in Ukraine for now, Prigozhin said. “What is happening at the front now is a disgrace in which we do not need to participate,” he said. “[We will] wait for the moment when we can prove ourselves in full.” Instead they would be “going on a new path to Africa”.
The Wagner Orchestra Telegram channel said Prigozhin addressed several thousand fighters, although that was unclear from the video. Earlier this week, a Ukrainian official said only a “few hundred” Wagner fighters had so far relocated to Belarus, as reported by Shaun Walker.
However the opposition Belarusian Hajun project, which monitors troop movements in Belarus, says an estimated 2,000-2,500 Wagner fighters are now in the country.
Militia units involved in human rights abuses in Izium identified
An investigation has identified the military units under Russia’s command that carried out human rights abuses – including the torture and killing of civilians – during the occupation of the Ukrainian city of Izium last year, Nick Hopkins, Jamie Wilson and Luke Harding reported exclusively.
Russian forces seized Izium in April 2022, after a month-long battle. Six months later Ukrainian troops liberated the city in the north-east of the country, during a counteroffensive. They discovered a mass grave, containing 447 bodies including the remains of 22 Ukrainian soldiers, as well as several torture chambers.
The report by the Centre for Information Resilience named four militia units that allegedly abused civilians and prisoners of war. All were from the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics, pro-Moscow puppet administrations established in 2014 after Russia’s covert military takeover of some of the eastern Donbas region.
The soldiers were poorly trained, badly equipped and stole “everything” local people said, forcing homeowners to kneel at gunpoint, and even removing double glazing from windows. “They drank a lot and swapped humanitarian aid for homemade vodka,” one survivor recounted. Drunken LPR fighters shot dead two children – aged 12 and 13 – as they ran to a basement, just before a 6pm curfew.
Two dead after explosions on Kerch Bridge linking Crimea and Russia
Twin explosions rocked the Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia, killing two people and temporarily closing the main conduit for Russian road traffic to the annexed peninsula, Emma Graham-Harrison, Shaun Walker and Andrew Roth reported.
The apparent attack was the second time that the bridge, a much-hated symbol of Russia’s occupation of Crimea and a high-prestige infrastructure project for the Kremlin, has been targeted since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Reports suggested the attack was carried out using several unmanned, explosive-carrying amphibious vehicles, or sea drones, that were directed to the bridge and then detonated from beneath the roadway, Andrew reported in an explainer on the importance of the bridge.
Ukraine has a policy of disavowing attacks in Crimea and raids into mainland Russia and did not claim responsibility for this attack.
Russia called it an act of Ukrainian “terrorism”, a charge that was dismissed by Ukrainian officials including the mayor of Kharkiv. In an interview with Luke Harding, Nick Hopkins and Jamie Wilson, Ihor Terekhov said: “How can they speak about terrorism after unleashing war on Ukraine? They are shooting and killing our people.”
The underground Tatars sabotaging Russia in Crimea
A Crimean Tatar-led underground movement is already active behind Russian lines and hundreds of young Tatar men are ready to take up arms to liberate the occupied peninsula, a veteran community leader told Julian Borger.
Mustafa Dzemilev, widely seen as the godfather of the Crimean Tatar rights movement, pointed to operations by the Atesh guerrilla group, comprising Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians and Russians, in Crimea and other occupied Ukrainian regions.
Atesh, which means “fire” in Crimean Tatar, was created in September last year, primarily to carry out acts of sabotage from within the ranks of the Russian army. It claims more than 4,000 Russian soldiers have already enrolled in an online course on how to “survive the war” by wrecking their own equipment.
There is no evidence linking the group to the latest attack on the Kerch Bridge but the group has claimed a string of smaller-scale attacks, blowing up Russian checkpoints, assassinating Russian officers, setting fire to barracks and feeding sensitive information to Ukrainian intelligence.
‘Every single morning I curse him’
Every morning, when Vira Chernukha wakes up amid the rubble of the Ukrainian village of Dementiivka, the first thing she does is curse Vladimir Putin.
Once a peaceful settlement of dozens of small houses, after seven months of Russian occupation the village now has only one remaining resident, Chernukha, 76, along with two stray puppies and a cat. The others either died in the shelling or moved to Russia, about 5 miles away.
“We had such a beautiful village you can’t even imagine,” she told Lorenzo Tondo in tears. “You could hear children’s voices everywhere. Beautiful! And now it’s a dead zone. No one’s here.”
Chernukha says she was taken to a hospital in Russia after being hit by Russian shrapnel. But determined to return home to the house she built with her husband, she embarked on a journey that took her across Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, arriving back in May, exactly a year after she was forced to leave.
Ukraine’s National Opera celebrates year of live shows
Much of the troupe is still abroad, performances are interrupted by air raid sirens and the number of tickets sold for each performance is limited to the number of people who can fit in the theatre’s basement shelter.
But as the curtain comes down on Sunday afternoon at the National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv – the end of the storied theatre’s 155th season – the artists can reflect on a remarkably full year of performances for a theatre operating in the heart of a country at war, Shaun Walker reported.
The atmosphere in Ukraine’s capital city these days can feel jarring, with busy parks and packed restaurant terraces bringing back something of the pleasant summer vibe of prewar Kyiv, despite the frequent night-time drone attacks.
Inside the grand opera house, too, on the surface much has returned to normal. Last week, many of the audience were dressed in their finest outfits to watch a ballet double bill, waiters filled flutes with local sparkling wine at the interval and audience members posed for photographs in front of gilded mirrors and ornate chandeliers.
Go a bit deeper, though, and the majority of both the audience and artists are harbouring painful memories from the past 18 months.",Explicit
"“What was your craziest first date?” a Twitter user asked her sizable following late last year.
Among the hundreds of romantic responses was a tweet from 35-year-old US citizen John Poulos, who often shared misogynistic content on social media.
“Invited a Colombian woman on vacation without meeting her first - now we’re getting married,” Mr Poulos wrote on 17 December along with a photo with Valentina Trespalacios posing in front of ancient ruins.
Just over a month later on 22 January, Mr Poulos allegedly strangled and beat Trespalacios to death in an apartment he had rented in the Colombian capital Bogota.
Prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia allege Mr Poulos stuffed the 21-year-old DJ’s body into a suitcase and left it in a dumpster before fleeing on a flight to Panama.
Mr Poulos was arrested on 24 January at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport while trying to board a flight to Turkey.
He was extradited to Colombia where he has been charged with aggravated femicide and concealment of evidence.
This week, Colombian prosecutors announced they would seek a prison term of more than 35 years in jail for the divorced father of three from Wisconsin.
Underneath Mr Poulos’s tweet announcing his engagement, a grim update has been added via the crowd-sourced Community Notes.
“The user who posted this tweet is now charged with murdering the woman in question,” the update reads.
A whirlwind romance
Valentina Trespalacios’ music career was about to take off.
The DJ, who specialised in the dance genre guaracha, had been recognised at the Colombia Dance Awards was working on her first album at the time of her death, music producer David Sarria told Billboard magazine.
She had performed with international stars such as Steve Aoki and Erik Morillo, and was one of the highest rated young DJs in Colombia, Mr Sarria said.
She was a fixture at clubs around the country, and was making enough money to support her family, brother Daniel Trespalacios told the Daily Beast.
Trespalacios met John Poulos on the dating app Tinder some time in April 2022, which is when he invited her to go on vacation before they had met.
He then made several trips to Colombia over the next ten months.
The couple were planning to buy a house and get married.
According to prosecutors, Mr Poulos, a financial adviser, showed signs of jealousy and controlling behaviour in the weeks leading up to his fiancée’s murder.
At a court hearing in February, it was alleged that Mr Poulos hired a private investigator to trail Trespalacios to Aruba.
Mr Poulos saw his fiancé as “his personal object” and controlled her actions and friendships, and monitored her social media use, Daniel Gómez Acuña told the court, according to Colombia.com.
Days before she was killed, Mr Poulos returned to Colombia allegedly infuriated by a report from the private investigator that Trespalacios had been seen with another man in Aruba.
The couple moved into a short-term Airbnb rental, and Trespalacios performed a DJ set at a Bogota nightclub on Friday 20 January, family said.
She spoke to her brother by video call on Saturday night, the last time she was seen alive.
“Poulos had sexual relations with Valentina Trespalacios and proceeded to violently beat (her) body with his own fists, after which he put pressure with his hands around her neck until she died,” Mr Gómez Acuña told the court hearing in February.
Surveillance footage obtained by prosecutors showed Mr Poulos leave the apartment the next with a large blue suitcase and lift it into the boot of his rented vehicle.
Trespalacios’ remains were found in a dumpster in the south of the city the next afternoon. Her killing has sparked widespread fury in Colombia.
An attempted escape
Mr Poulos flew from Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport to Panama the same day.
He was arrested by Panamanian immigration officials moments before he was about to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul. He was due to catch a connecting flight to Montenegro, which has no extradition arrangement with Colombia.
Mr Poulos also purchased a ticket from Panama City to São Paulo, Brazil, in an attempt to throw off Colombian authorities.
He initially told Panamanian authorities that the Medellin Cartel had been responsible for Trespalacios’ murder.
He was charged with femicide — which is defined as the killing of a woman or girl due to her gender.
Mr Poulos initially denied he was responsible for the horrific murder, according to RCN Noticias.
This week, as prosecutors sought a 35-year sentence, his team of lawyers were trying to seek a more lenient sentence in exchange for a guilty plea.
A trial had been due to begin in April, but was delayed after Mr Poulos claimed he had received inadequate access to translation services while in custody and during his first court appearances.
According to RCN Noticias, Mr Poulos was assaulted in his cell earlier this week.
Images showing cuts and bruises to his face were obtained by the news outlet, who described his injuries as not serious. He has claimed he is fearful for his life.
Mr Poulos’ ex-wife was granted a divorce by a judge in Wisconsin in 2021 after determining their marriage was irretrievably broken.
On social media, Mr Poulos often shared mysognistic “jokes” and regularly retweeted Andrew Tate, the social media influencer who has been charged with with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women in Romania.",Explicit
"A music festival in Malaysia has been canceled after the lead singer of British band The 1975 Matty Healy slammed the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws and kissed a bandmate on stage.
The on-stage incident at the Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur on Friday night prompted the country’s Ministry of Communications to cancel the rest of the three-day event.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Malaysia and punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison.
In an expletive-laden speech during the band’s headline performance on Friday, captured in a video shared widely on social media, Healy said, “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m f***ing furious. And that’s not fair on you, because you’re not representative of your government. You are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive,” he said addressing the audience. Healy added that the band considered canceling the show but decided against it to not disappoint the fans.
“If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f*** off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good,” Healy says in the video before bassist Ross MacDonald walks up to him and kisses him on stage.
‘Performative’
The Good Vibes Festival said in a statement following the incident, “We deeply regret to announce that the remaining schedule of the Good Vibes Festival 2023, planned for today and tomorrow has been canceled following the controversial conduct and remarks made by UK artist Matty Healy from the band The 1975.”
“This decision adheres to the immediate cancellation directive issued at 1:20 pm [local time], 22 July 2023, by the Ministry of Communications and Digital. The Ministry has underlined its unwavering stance against any parties that challenge, ridicule, or contravene Malaysian laws,” the festival’s statement added. “We sincerely apologize to all of our ticket holders, vendors, sponsors, and partners.”
Communications Minister Fahmi said Malaysia was committed to supporting the development of creative industries and freedom of expression, Reuters reported.
“However, never touch on the sensitivities of the community, especially those that are against the traditions and values of the local culture,” he said, according to the agency.
CNN has reached out to the Malaysian Home Affairs Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office for comment.
Healy’s actions sparked controversy online, with some fans complaining that the band’s actions will result in a further crackdown on artistic expression and make it more difficult for music artists to perform in Malaysia in the future.
Members of Malaysa’s LGBTQ community have also criticized Healy’s actions, with some calling it “performative” and warning that it could lead to further discrimination.
It’s not the first time The 1975 frontman has sparked controversy – Healy drew criticism earlier this year for appearing to do a Nazi salute on stage during a song called “Love it If We Made It”, as he sang lyrics that are critical of Kanye West.
In 2019, Healy kissed a male fan during a concert in Dubai, in defiance of the region’s anti-LGBT laws.
Healy later posted on Twitter: “Thank you Dubai you were so amazing. I don’t think we’ll be allowed back due to my ‘behaviour’ but know that I love you and I wouldn’t have done anything differently given the chance again.”",Explicit
"A shooting that erupted in a Houston park over the weekend that left a pregnant woman dead and four other people injured marked the 400th mass shooting in the United States in 2023, according to a national website that tracks firearm deaths and injuries.
The Houston incident was among six mass shootings that occurred on Saturday and early Sunday in cities across the nation, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as a single event with four or more victims either injured or killed.
With a little over six months still to go in the year, the number of mass shootings is up 9% from 365 mass shootings that occurred as of this time in 2022 -- a year in which a total of 647 mass shootings unfolded, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The Houston shooting happened just after 1 a.m. on Saturday at Margaret Jenkins Park in the southern part of the city as a birthday party was ending, police and witnesses said. Killed in the shooting was a 21-year-old woman, identified by her family as Autumn Vallian.
Vallian's mother, Ebony Vallian, told ABC station KTRK in Houston, the shooting occurred as she and her daughter were attempting to leave the party when at least two people engaged in an argument, pulled guns and started shooting.
""I looked back and my baby was down on the ground. Gone,"" Ebony Vallian said. ""I lost my baby. She was in school, trying to get a job, trying to become something, and she's gone now.""
ShotSpotter gunfire detection technology in the area recorded 36 gunshots fired in the incident, which left four other people wounded, according to the Houston Police Department.
Two suspects in the shooting were among those hospitalized with gunshot wounds, police said.
The Houston incident was among six shootings across the nation over the weekend in which four or more people were wounded or killed.
Early Sunday, four people were shot in Seattle at an illegal street racing event, according to police. The shooting, which according to the Gun Violence Archive is the 401st mass shooting this year, occurred in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood around 4 a.m., and left two women and two men hospitalized, including one with critical injuries, police said. No arrests were immediately announced.
At least five people were shot, one fatally, in the Parkway Village Section of southeast Memphis around 4 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Memphis Police Department. One of the victims critically injured in the shooting was a child, police said.
No arrests were announced in the Memphis shooting.
In Wade, North Carolina, about 12 miles northeast of Fayetteville, one person was killed and three others were shot around 1 p.m. on Saturday during what police described as a ""physical disturbance"" at a gas station. No arrests were announced.
Four people were shot and wounded outside a hotel in Glendale, Arizona, Saturday morning, according to police. The shooting erupted about 2:15 a.m. as officers responded to an unrelated call and heard gunshots coming from the parking lot of a Renaissance Hotel, authorities said. No arrests were announced.
In Chicago, a 40-year-old man was killed and three other men were wounded during a shooting that occurred at 12:13 a.m. on Saturday in the city's North Lawndale neighborhood, according to the Chicago Police Department. The victims were standing on a sidewalk when two men walked up and opened fire, police said. No arrests were announced.
Saturday's shooting was the third mass shooting in Chicago this month, according to the Gun Violence Archive. On July 5, a man was killed and five other people were wounded when gunfire broke out at a Fourth of July gathering outside a residence in the city's Englewood neighborhood, police said. On July 16, one person was killed and four others were wounded in a drive-by shooting in Chicago's Garfield Park neighborhood, according to police.
Eleven other cities have had two mass shootings in July, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Houston, Dallas, New York, Memphis, El Paso, Texas; Fort Worth, Texas; Lansing, Michigan and Shreveport, Louisiana, according to the Gun Violence Archive data.
July has been a particularly violent month in the United States with 65 mass shootings claiming the lives of 81 people and leaving 300 wounded, according to the website's data.
Twenty-two of the mass shootings in July occurred over the extended Independence Day weekend, leaving 22 people dead and 126 injured, according to the website.
One of the deadliest Fourth of July weekend shootings unfolded in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Philadelphia, where a man armed with an AR-15-style rifle, a pistol, extra magazines and wearing a bulletproof vest and a ski mask, allegedly went on a rampage, firing at least 50 shots randomly at victims, killing five, including a 15-year-old boy, and wounding two other children, according to police.
Kimbrady Carriker, 40, the suspect in the Philadelphia shooting, was arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder. He has yet to enter a plea to the charges.
On July 2, a Fourth of July weekend block party ended in a mass shooting that left 2 people dead and 28 injured in the Brooklyn Homes neighborhood in the southern district of Baltimore, according to police. A 17-year-old boy suspected of being one of multiple shooters in the incident was arrested on July 7 and charged with possession of a firearm by a minor, possession of an assault weapon, reckless endangerment and possession of a handgun in a vehicle.
The Baltimore mass shooting remains under investigation and more arrests are expected, police said.",Explicit
"A man and a woman have been found guilty of causing the death of a five-month-old girl who suffered fractures on her body and a severe head trauma.

The trial of Joshua Collard and Rebecca Grocott was told the baby died on 1 March 2020, three days after paramedics were called.

The paramedics, who reported to police that the child was in cardiac arrest, treated the child in an ambulance but she later died in hospital.

Staffordshire Police said the infant was found to have multiple rib, collarbone and femur fractures as well as severe trauma to the side of her head.

Collard, 30, and Grocott, 27, said they did not know how the injuries were sustained and later denied hurting her.

But the pair were convicted on Tuesday of causing the girl's death and several other offences, including causing or allowing serious physical harm to a child, and two counts of assaulting, ill-treating, neglecting or abandoning a child or young person to cause unnecessary suffering or injury.

After an investigation into her death and a post-mortem examination, the pair were arrested on 25 March 2020.

Detective Constable Emily Hanlon, of Staffordshire Police, said: ""This was a truly tragic case in which [a] five-month-old [girl] died as a result of the actions of two people.

""I would like to thank all of those involved in securing justice for [the girl].""

Collard, from Stafford, and Grocott, from Stone, were convicted following a five-week trial at Stafford Crown Court.

They will be sentenced at the same court on 27 July.",Explicit
"One woman was killed and four other people were injured in an early Saturday morning shooting in Houston, police said.
Officers with the Houston Police Department responded to Margaret Jenkins Park around 1:18 a.m. after receiving multiple reports of shots fired in the location from shot spotter technology, Assistant Chief Ernest Garcia said in a news briefing.
According to a preliminary report, there were multiple groups at the park when an altercation broke out and ""people started firing their firearms,"" Garcia said. The shot spotter technology recorded 36 shots had been fired.
A total of five people were injured in the shooting. A 21-year-old woman was pronounced dead on the scene, according to police.
Of the four remaining victims, three were taken to a local hospital and one ""had a graze wound to the body,"" Garcia said. All four victims are in stable condition.
Police have not identified any of the victims.
Officers detained two possible suspects in connection with the shooting and are investigating if there may be more.
The investigation remains ongoing.",Explicit
"LONDON -- Kenya was bracing for days of anti-government protests led by the government's political opposition over a contentious new finance bill and the rising cost of living
At least six people were shot and killed and at least a dozen others were injured on Wednesday, the first day of a planned three-day protest against higher taxes, Mathias Kinyoda, of Amnesty International Kenya, told ABC News. At least 87 demonstrators were arrested nationwide, he said.
The protests were called by opposition leader Raila Odinga. The unrest was set to take place despite Kenya's President William Ruto vowing no protests would take place in the East African Nation.
""We are here, first and foremost, to confirm that the peaceful protests planned for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week are on as earlier declared by our leadership,"" read a statement by Odinga's party, Azimio La Umoja, sent to ABC News.
At least five protesters were injured on Wednesday as demonstrators clashed with police. Amnesty International Kenya said, said that ""para-military police officers and armored water cannon trucks [are] already patrolling and engaging protestors across several towns and neighborhoods.""
In Kibera -- a stronghold of the opposition -- protests turned violent, with demonstrators setting fire to tires and furniture, stones being pelted, and tear gas being deployed by police. In the most recent round of anti-government protests at least 23 people are reported to have been killed according to the U.N., with over 300 arrested.
Protests have also been reported in Kenya's Kisumu, Kisii and Migori counties.
Kenya's Ministry of Education also announced that all primary and secondary schools in Nairobi and the coastal city Mombasa are to close on Wednesday as a ""precautionary measure"" following ""credible security intelligence."" Several businesses also remain closed.
The protests come after Ruto last month signed into law a contentious finance bill at Nairobi's State House that proposed doubling the tax levied on fuel from 8% to 16%.
The bill aimed to aid in offsetting Kenya's external debt, officials said. However, the bill will have a ripple effect on the price of basic commodities, compounding on the economic strain of Kenyans already struggling with the rising cost of living.
Implementation of the Bill -- which was due to come into effect on July 1 -- was halted by Kenya's High Court following a case brought by opposition Sen. Okiya Omatah, who argued it was unconstitutional.
In a joint statement with Heads of Missions from 13 countries in Kenya, the U.S. Embassy Nairobi said it was ""saddened"" by the loss of life from anti-government protests and ""concerned by the levels of violence"" exhibited during recent demonstrations.
""We recognise the daily hardship faced by many Kenyans and urge all parties to table their concerns through a meaningful dialogue and resolve their differences peacefully,"" the statement said.
Speaking at a Geneva press briefing, U.N. Human Rights Office Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence appealed for calm, saying, ""We call on the authorities to ensure the right to peaceful assembly as guaranteed by the Kenyan Constitution and international human rights law.""",Explicit
"July 18 (Reuters) - The movement of cargo vessels through the Kerch Strait has been suspended by Russian authorities since July 16 following drone attacks on the Crimean port of Sevastopol, two industry sources told Reuters.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces had prevented Ukraine from attacking Sevastopol on Sunday, destroying seven aerial and two maritime drones.
""Navigation is already idle for the third day. They stopped it on July 16, around 5 p.m. local time, when there was a (drone) attack on Sevastopol,"" said one source, who declined to be named.
Security in the area also worsened on Monday following an overnight attack on the Crimean Bridge spanning the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"A distressing video of two Manipur women being paraded naked has gone viral, drawing condemnation from the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum as evidence of heinous atrocities. The incident occurred in Kangpokpi district amidst mob violence following the burning of a village. A relative filed a zero FIR, leading to the case being registered at Nongpok Sekmai police station. The mob killed two men, forcibly stripped and gang-raped three women, with the victim's brother also losing his life while trying to protect her. Fortunately, the three women managed to escape with the help of locals. Authorities are currently investigating to bring the perpetrators to justice.",Explicit
"Italy and PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and his partner have been robbed and attacked at their home in Paris.
The couple were targeted by ""several people"" and tied up at their flat in the eighth district in the centre of of the capital, police sources have told French media.
They are then said to have to escaped to a nearby hotel.
The alarm was raised by hotel staff and the couple were taken to hospital.
""An investigation has been opened on charges of armed robbery in an organised gang and aggravated violence following the events that took place overnight at Mr Donnarumma's place,"" a spokesperson for Paris prosecutor's office told the BBC.
Unconfirmed reports on the news site Actu17 say the attackers made off with jewellery and other luxury goods worth as much as â¬500,000 (£430,000).
The footballer was lightly injured while his partner, model Alessia Elefante, was unharmed, sources told Agence France Presse.
The prosecutor's office said France's special BRB police unit targeting armed robbery and burglaries had begun an investigation.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, 24, moved to Paris two years ago and was due to join the Paris Saint-Germain squad later on Friday ahead of the club's first pre-season friendly match and a tour of Japan.
He is not the the first PSG footballer to have been targeted by gangs, but most previous attacks have taken place while the victim is not at home.
Last January, two men were given jail terms for a robbery in March 2021 at the home of Brazil footballer Marquinhos in Yvelines to the west of Paris.
Marquinhos was playing at the time of the incident but his father and two daughters were in the house.
The home of his team-mate Angel Di Maria was burgled on the same day.",Explicit
"24.07.2023
THEME: WORLD
The New Frontlines: Grain Deals, Drone Strikes, and Global Consequences
The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia has recently escalated, with Ukraine's retaliation to Russia's missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa. Early on Monday, Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow and annexed Crimea, hitting two buildings in Moscow and an ammunition depot in Crimea. Although Moscow's electronic warfare systems reportedly intercepted the drones, causing no serious damage or casualties, the strikes marked a significant escalation in the conflict. Russia’s Foreign Ministry denounced the drone strikes as an act of international terrorism, while Crimea saw the evacuation of residents and the suspension of transport services for safety reasons.
Simultaneously, the US imposed new sanctions on Russia, targeting the nation's access to crucial front-line electronics and logistics. Announced on Thursday, these sanctions aim to restrict Kremlin's war funding by limiting its income from the metals and mining sector. The sanctions extend to members of the Russian security service, a regional governor, six deputy ministers, and private military companies, including Gazprom-owned Okhrana. The Russian embassy in Washington has criticized these sanctions as destructive actions aimed at the Kremlin.
The conflict has also had severe implications for global food security, with Russia initially blockading supplies of Ukrainian wheat and cereals, causing a surge in food prices. Although a UN-Turkey brokered deal lifted the blockade last summer, Russia withdrew from the agreement this week. The situation has been further complicated by Ukraine's decision to declare ships traveling to Russia and occupied territories as military targets, in response to Moscow's similar warning.
Recent Russian attacks have damaged the Chinese consulate in Odesa and export facilities in Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk, resulting in the loss of 60,000 tons of grain. This happened following Ukraine's counteroffensive to recapture territory occupied by Russia, which has led to escalated fighting in the region.
In an unexpected development, the Kremlin seized the Russian assets of foreign firms Carlsberg and Danone, handing control of these subsidiaries to regime loyalists. This move has reignited debates about the future of Russia’s Central Bank assets, worth $300 billion, frozen by the G7 at the start of the conflict.
As the conflict intensifies, the world watches with apprehension. The implications of this war extend beyond Ukraine and Russia, impacting global food security, international relations, and the world economy's stability. The decisions made in the coming weeks will undoubtedly have lasting effects, shaping the course of history for years to come.
LINKS TO THE JOURNALS
WORLD PIONEER",Explicit
"Police have completed their search ofLong Island home, said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Tierney said police found ""approximately 279 weapons"" in the ""cluttered"" residence, including ""quite a few long guns"" and 92 handgun permits. In addition to the weapons, a ""massive amount of material"" was removed from the home, but Tierney declined to offer more details.
Many of the guns were found inside a walk-in vault in Heuermann's basement, police said Tuesday. Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrisonthat the vault had a large iron door, but said it was ""not a soundproof room.""
Heuermann, an architect who worked in New York City,the murders of three women and is the prime suspect in a fourth case. The bodies were found on Gilgo Beach within a quarter mile of each other in 2010, each wrapped in burlap. Heuermann has pled not guilty and will appear in court again on Aug. 1, 2023. He is being held without bail.
Investigators have also searched the Massapequa Park home's backyard, as well as a storage unit nearby. An excavator, sonar devices and cadaver dogs have been used in, and investigators searched around the home's foundation with shovels. Police have been investigating if any murders were committed at the home, which Heuermann , Asa Ellerup, and their two daughters. Ellerup has .
There were seven other sets of remains found on the same beach between 2010 and 2011, and CBS New York reported that Heuermann has not been ruled out as a suspect in those cases.
for more features.",Explicit
"Italy and PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and his partner have been robbed and attacked at their home in Paris.
The couple were targeted by ""several people"" and tied up at their flat in the eighth district in the centre of of the capital, police sources have told French media.
They are then said to have to escaped to a nearby hotel.
The alarm was raised by hotel staff and the couple were taken to hospital.
""An investigation has been opened on charges of armed robbery in an organised gang and aggravated violence following the events that took place overnight at Mr Donnarumma's place,"" a spokesperson for Paris prosecutor's office told the BBC.
Unconfirmed reports on the news site Actu17 say the attackers made off with jewellery and other luxury goods worth as much as â¬500,000 (£430,000).
The footballer was lightly injured while his partner, model Alessia Elefante, was unharmed, sources told Agence France Presse.
The prosecutor's office said France's special BRB police unit targeting armed robbery and burglaries had begun an investigation.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, 24, moved to Paris two years ago and was due to join the Paris Saint-Germain squad later on Friday ahead of the club's first pre-season friendly match and a tour of Japan.
He is not the the first PSG footballer to have been targeted by gangs, but most previous attacks have taken place while the victim is not at home.
Last January, two men were given jail terms for a robbery in March 2021 at the home of Brazil footballer Marquinhos in Yvelines to the west of Paris.
Marquinhos was playing at the time of the incident but his father and two daughters were in the house.
The home of his team-mate Angel Di Maria was burgled on the same day.",Explicit
"- Summary
- Companies
- Russian air strikes hit southern Ukrainian port cities
- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemns the attacks
- Russia says it carried out retaliatory strikes
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine, July 20 (Reuters) - At least three people were killed and a Chinese consular building was damaged on Thursday in a third successive night of air strikes on southern Ukrainian port cities, Ukrainian officials said.
Regional governor Oleh Kiper posted a photograph showing at least one broken window at the Chinese consulate in the Black Sea city of Odesa, but there was no sign of any other damage.
Beijing, a Russian ally, did not immediately comment on the incident, one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 60,000 tons of agricultural products destined for China had been destroyed in an attack on another Ukrainian port city.
Moscow said it had carried out ""retaliatory strikes"", days after it quit a deal allowing Ukrainian Black Sea grain shipments and accused Ukraine of being behind blasts on a bridge used to transport Russian military supplies.
Ukraine's military said Russian forces launched 19 missiles and 19 drones overnight, and that five of the missiles and 13 of the drones were shot down.
""Russian terrorists continue their attempts to destroy the life of our country,"" Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app. ""Together we will make it through this terrible time. And we will withstand the attacks of Russian evil.""
In Odesa, a security guard was killed and at least eight other people were hurt, including a child, Kiper said.
A married couple was killed in the city of Mykolaiv, mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said.
Regional governor Vitaliy Kim had said earlier on Thursday that 19 people were hurt in the city, and several residential buildings were damaged.
Fire fighters in Mykolaiv tackled a huge blaze that left a three-storey residential building without its top floor, and adjacent buildings were gutted by the fire.
A Russian attack on the port of Chornomorsk on Wednesday damaged grain export infrastructure as well as the agricultural products Zelenskiy said were meant for China.
Ukrainian officials see the air strikes as an attack on global food security because Kyiv is a major grain exporter. Mykhailo Podolayk, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy, urged the international community to do more in response.
""Will we see an emergency convocation of the UN Security Council to discuss global food security? The international community chooses... to stand aside,"" he wrote on Twitter.
Authorities in the northeastern region of Kharkiv said separately a 61-year-old man had been killed there by Russian shelling on Thursday.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"Police have completed their search ofLong Island home, said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Tierney said police found ""approximately 279 weapons"" in the ""cluttered"" residence, including ""quite a few long guns"" and 92 handgun permits. In addition to the weapons, a ""massive amount of material"" was removed from the home, but Tierney declined to offer more details.
Many of the guns were found inside a walk-in vault in Heuermann's basement, police said Tuesday. Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrisonthat the vault had a large iron door, but said it was ""not a soundproof room.""
Heuermann, an architect who worked in New York City,the murders of three women and is the prime suspect in a fourth case. The bodies were found on Gilgo Beach within a quarter mile of each other in 2010, each wrapped in burlap. Heuermann has pled not guilty and will appear in court again on Aug. 1, 2023. He is being held without bail.
Investigators have also searched the Massapequa Park home's backyard, as well as a storage unit nearby. An excavator, sonar devices and cadaver dogs have been used in, and investigators searched around the home's foundation with shovels. Police have been investigating if any murders were committed at the home, which Heuermann , Asa Ellerup, and their two daughters. Ellerup has .
There were seven other sets of remains found on the same beach between 2010 and 2011, and CBS New York reported that Heuermann has not been ruled out as a suspect in those cases.
for more features.",Explicit
"Two people have died and multiple people are injured after a shooting in Auckland city centre on the day that the Women’s World Cup is kicking off in the city.
Police confirmed the deaths and said a gunman was also dead.
A statement from police said the incident took place in a building site on Thursday morning.
“The offender has moved through the building site and continued to discharge his firearm. Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft and our staff have attempted to engage with him,” it said.
“Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later.”
The statement said it was not a national security incident and had been contained.
Newshub reported that a police officer was among the hurt.
A heavy police presence, including armed officers and helicopters, had responded to what police called a “significant incident with multiple emergency services responding.”
“The serious incident in Auckland CBD this morning is currently contained to a building in lower Queen Street, which is under construction,” a statement read.
“Police ask all members of the public to avoid the lower Queen Street area and for those in downtown inner-city buildings to remain inside their buildings at this time.”
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown said a police officer and members of the public were injured.
Locals reported hearing gunshots about 8am, with media broadcasting workers at the building site hiding behind packs of pre-mix cement under police supervision.
Ferry services, which use a nearby terminal to operate, have been cancelled.
The incident has taken place as Auckland prepares to host the opening game of the Women’s World Cup later on Thursday.
The Fifa Fan Festival is nearby, with former NZ international Maia Jackson telling the NZ Herald she was nearby.
“It’s pretty scary actually. So they pushed us to the back of the cloud where we are and we’re just trying to keep sane,” she said.
“There’s lots of security and lots of uncertainty.”
The New Zealand Herald quoted the US Women’s Football team spokesperson, who are staying at the SO near Britomart, as saying: “All of our players and staff are accounted for and safe. Our security team is in communication with local authorities and we are proceeding with our daily schedule.”",Explicit
"As the threat of a third indictment looms, Donald Trump reposted a threatening video message on Truth Social from a verified MAGA account on Thursday—the same day a federal grand jury convened to determine whether to charge the ex-president over Jan. 6. “If you fuck around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you that have never been done before,” Trump is heard saying in the 9-second-long clip. Dramatic music plays in the background as a black-and-white photo of Trump zooms out and his 2024 campaign logo appears. While the audio itself is from a 2020 conversation about Iran, the message seems to target special counsel Jack Smith, one of Trump’s current biggest foes. Earlier this week, Trump lost his mind after prosecutors warned him that he is the target of another criminal investigation. On Truth Social, Trump declared it was “HORRIFYING NEWS for our Country” and labeled Smith as “deranged.
CHEAT SHEET
TOP 10 RIGHT NOW
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"Addis Abeba – An armed militia attack on Nuer village in the city of Gambella, the capital of Gambella regional state has resulted in at least 31 fatalities and 20 injuries, according to a source who spoke with Addis Standard. The informant, wishing to remain unidentified for their safety, indicated that the attack began on 18 July around 4:50 pm.
The source, who is close to the matter, said 19 people from the village and 12 from the attackers, who are alleged to be ethnic Angwa militias from Abol district, were killed during the attack, adding that among the dead is Kwang Nial Poh, a respected member of the psychology department at Gambella University.
Another anonymous source provided further details about the assailants, stating that they donned the city’s police uniforms to carry out their assault surreptitiously, thereby evading identification. This informant went on to suggest that these attackers were also responsible for a previous assault on a bus traveling from Wentawo to Gambella city.
On 13 July, Addis Standard reported that three people were killed, and 23 others were injured during a violent assault on two public buses on the outskirts of Gambella city, at a location known as Ochom.
According to the sources, following the latest attack, the city is currently under the control of the national defense forces, with public services and offices remain closed for the time being.
In response to this escalating crisis, the Gambella regional cabinet, in an emergency meeting on 19 July, has enacted an indefinite curfew, prohibiting all movement between 1:00AM and 12:00PM, except for designated security personnel. Furthermore, it has been mandated that carrying weapons, with the exception of the aforementioned security forces, is strictly forbidden, according to the regional government’s communication bureau.
In an attempt to restore some normalcy, the cabinet has decreed that all government employees and service providers will recommence regular work schedules from the following day.
Ugato Ading, head of the regional communication bureau, said in a presser, human lives were lost and properties have been damaged in the wake of recent violence in the region. He added, the efforts are underway to ensure security in the region with the help of federal government forces. He said “ethno-nationalism and tribalism are threatening the region”, admitting that the violence is ethnic based. He vowed any individuals or parties including government officials contributing to the disruption of peace in the region will be held accountable.
In May, the Gambella region president, Umod Ujulu, dismissed the violence which killed nine people and injured 23 in Itang special woreda and the capital Gambella city as a dispute between individuals which later escalated into communal violence.
He also said back then that the violence has been brought under control by the coordinated efforts of the regional and federal security forces, and that the plot by what he called “elements” existing in the public who try to separate the people who have lived in solidarity and brotherhood for centuries was foiled. AS",Explicit
"NEW YORK, July 19 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump's request for a new trial in a civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll, where a jury found the former U.S. president liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer and awarded her $5 million in damages.
In a 59-page decision, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said the jury did not reach a ""seriously erroneous result,"" and the May 9 verdict was not a ""miscarriage of justice.""
Carroll had accused Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, and then branding the incident a hoax in an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump had argued that awarding Carroll $2 million in compensatory damages for sexual assault was ""excessive"" because the jury found he had not raped her, while the award for defamation was based on ""pure speculation.""
Lawyers for Trump and Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said it's investigating a transgender man's violent arrest after he and his lawyer released surveillance footage of the February encounter.
Emmett Brock, 23, told ABC News that he was beaten by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy after he gave the middle finger to the officer who Brock alleges was behaving harshly toward a woman on the side of the road. Surveillance footage of the arrest was obtained by Brock's attorney from a nearby store and released to ABC News.
""The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department takes all use of force incidents seriously,"" the department said in a statement Tuesday.
The statement added, ""The Department is investigating the information and allegations brought forward by Mr. Brock and his attorney. Unfortunately, we cannot comment any further at this time due to the pending litigation in this matter.""
Brock said the incident began when he was driving and observed the deputy ""just acting in a very domineering, abusive way towards this woman on the street.""
After making the gesture to the deputy, Brock said the same deputy hopped in his car and began following him. Brock said he proceeded to deviate from his route to see if the deputy would keep following him.
Brock said he called 911 and claims he was told ""If he doesn't have lights or sirens on, he's not pulling you over. If he hasn't pulled you over, he hasn't pulled you over. Continue to your destination.""
Brock pulled into a 7-Eleven parking lot when the deputy's car pulled in behind him and turned his lights on before Brock got out of the car, which can also be seen in the surveillance footage.
As Brock got out of his car, the deputy can be seen in the footage approaching Brock, grabbing him and throwing him to the ground.
""He's on top of me very quickly,"" Brock told ABC News. ""I took a step and then immediately was just grabbed, thrown on my head. He punched me, I think, about 10 times with a closed fist on both sides of my head -- just beating me and I was bleeding from my ears, and my face was hugely swollen.""
The deputy can be seen in the video hitting Brock while the two were on the ground.
He alleges that officers told him he was arrested for resisting but would not tell him why exactly he was approached by police in the first place.
The deputy has been identified in local news reports as Joseph Benza. Benza's attorney Tom Yu told ABC-owned station KABC that his client was trying to take control of the situation when Brock apparently tried to walk away from the traffic stop.
""A traffic stop is inherently dangerous,"" Yu told KABC. ""It evolves very fast, very rapidly. You don't know if a person is armed. So my client immediately took control of that situation in an attempt to stop Mr. Brock from walking away from that traffic stop.""
Brock says when he revealed in a local jail he is transgender deputies began asking ""invasive"" questions about his gender identity and genitalia and allegedly made him expose himself to a female officer inside a restroom, after which he says he was placed in a women's holding cell.
Brock has been charged with two misdemeanor charges, including battery against a police officer and resisting arrest. Brock has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He said he is pursuing legal action against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The sheriff's department did not release the arresting officer's name to ABC News.",Explicit
"Some of the corpses were buried so recently that bits of skin with tattoos remained, and that has allowed relatives to identify four of the bodies, searchers said. But many were hacked into a half-dozen pieces.
Edith González, leader of the search group “For the Love of the Disappeared,” said clandestine burial site was located relatively close to the center of Reynosa. The spot is only about 4 miles (7 kms) from the border.
González said some of the 16 burial pits contained two or three bodies, and that the clandestine burial site may have been used by gangs as recently as a month or two ago. Some were covered by only 1 1/2 feet of earth.
The prosecutor’s office in the border state of Tamaulipas confirmed the find.
Drug and kidnapping gangs use such sites to dispose of the bodies of their victims.
The search group said an anonymous tip led searchers to the burials at a lot near an irrigation canal late last week.
“People are starting to shake off their fear and have begun reporting” the body dumping grounds, González said. She acknowledged that some tips may come from “people who worked there (for the gangs) and are no longer in that line of work.”
Such tips have proved a double-edged sword for search groups, which are usually made up of mothers or relatives of Mexico’s over 110,000 missing people.
Earlier this month, authorities said a drug cartel bomb attack used a fake report of a mass grave to lure police into a trap that killed four police officers and two civilians in Jalisco state, to the south. Authorities there temporarily suspended police involvement in searches based on anonymous tips as a safety measure.
The anonymous caller had given a volunteer searcher a tip about a supposed clandestine burial site near a roadway in Tlajomulco, Jalisco. The cartel buried improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, on the road and then detonated them as a police convoy passed. The IEDS were so powerful they destroyed four vehicles, injured 14 people and lefts craters in the road.",Explicit
"Some of the corpses were buried so recently that bits of skin with tattoos remained, and that has allowed relatives to identify four of the bodies, searchers said. But many were hacked into a half-dozen pieces.
Edith González, leader of the search group “For the Love of the Disappeared,” said clandestine burial site was located relatively close to the center of Reynosa. The spot is only about 4 miles (7 kms) from the border.
González said some of the 16 burial pits contained two or three bodies, and that the clandestine burial site may have been used by gangs as recently as a month or two ago. Some were covered by only 1 1/2 feet of earth.
The prosecutor’s office in the border state of Tamaulipas confirmed the find.
Drug and kidnapping gangs use such sites to dispose of the bodies of their victims.
The search group said an anonymous tip led searchers to the burials at a lot near an irrigation canal late last week.
“People are starting to shake off their fear and have begun reporting” the body dumping grounds, González said. She acknowledged that some tips may come from “people who worked there (for the gangs) and are no longer in that line of work.”
Such tips have proved a double-edged sword for search groups, which are usually made up of mothers or relatives of Mexico’s over 110,000 missing people.
Earlier this month, authorities said a drug cartel bomb attack used a fake report of a mass grave to lure police into a trap that killed four police officers and two civilians in Jalisco state, to the south. Authorities there temporarily suspended police involvement in searches based on anonymous tips as a safety measure.
The anonymous caller had given a volunteer searcher a tip about a supposed clandestine burial site near a roadway in Tlajomulco, Jalisco. The cartel buried improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, on the road and then detonated them as a police convoy passed. The IEDS were so powerful they destroyed four vehicles, injured 14 people and lefts craters in the road.",Explicit
"KYIV, July 20 (Reuters) - A building at the Chinese consulate in Odesa was damaged in a Russian missile and drone attack on the southern Ukrainian port city, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Thursday.
The damage appeared to be minor. Kiper posted a photograph online showing the building with broken windows.
Russia, which is an ally of China, attacked the port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv overnight for the third successive night.
""The aggressor is deliberately hitting the port infrastructure - administrative and residential buildings nearby were damaged, also the consulate of the People's Republic of China. It shows the enemy does not pay attention to anything,"" Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his daily late-night video address on Wednesday that 60,000 tons of agricultural products destroyed in a Russian air strike on Odesa port had been intended for shipment to China.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"There’s a lot to digest in the three-hour runtime of Oppenheimer, which blew up the weekend box office alongside Barbie, grossing about $80.5 million domestic and $93.7 million internationally. The film includes a poison apple, the recurring presence of Albert Einstein, and the first sex scene ever lensed by filmmaker Christopher Nolan.
While the intimate encounter between Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer and his real life love Jean Tatlock, played by Florence Pugh ,has generated plenty of buzz, it’s causing outrage among some in India—not so much for the sex scene itself, but due to the memorable quote uttered during the act: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
During Oppenheimer and Tatlock’s tryst in the film, Jean stops their romp to pick up a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, which she makes Oppenheimer read aloud during sex. While there’s no evidence to support that this actually happened, the physicist did have an affinity for Sanskrit. Murphy even read the sacred text to prepare for his role.
But despite its rooting in (semi) reality, a character reading a sacred text during sexual activity has sparked controversy among India’s Hindu nationalists and politicians within its right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Over the weekend, India’s Information Commissioner, Uday Mahurkar, shared a statement on Twitter that called the sex scene “a scathing attack on Hinduism.” Mahurkar took offense that Pugh’s character “is holding Bhagwad Geeta in one hand, and the other hand seems to be adjusting the position of their reproductive organs” in the scene, which he also labeled “ a direct assault on religious beliefs” and a way of “waging a war on the Hindu community.”
As noted by CNN, Oppenheimer currently holds a U/A rating in India, which deems it appropriate to be watched by children under 12 with parental guidance. Not only has the film not been banned, but it grossed more than $3 million in its opening weekend in the country—beating out Barbie, which has also sparked controversy overseas.
Mahurkar concluded his message with a call for the filmmakers to erase the sex scene from Oppenheimer. “We believe that if you remove this scene and do the needful to win hearts of Hindus, it will go a long way to establish your credentials as a sensitized human being and gift you friendship of billions of nice people,” he wrote, adding, “Should you choose to ignore this appeal it would be deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilisation.” (Vanity Fair has reached out to Universal for comment.)",Explicit
"Former pastor arrested in 1975 murder case investigating death of young girl
A former pastor was arrested after he confessed to the kidnapping and murdering of an 8-year-old girl who attended a Bible camp hosted by the man’s church in Pennsylvania nearly 50 years ago, officials said Monday.
David Zandstra, 83, of Marietta, Georgia has been charged with criminal homicide, murder of the first, second and third degree, kidnapping of a minor and the possession of an instrument of crime.
The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office said the man admitted to his crimes after presented with allegations made in a January interview that the man groped a different young girl and may have attempted to kidnap another.
Gretchen Harrington, 8, disappeared the morning of August 15, 1975, in Marple, Pennsylvania, after she left for Bible camp, according to the statement.
The Trinity Church Chapel Christian Reform Church, where Zandstra was a pastor, was one of the host churches of the camp where the children began the day with opening exercises.
Zandstra was among the individuals responsible for transporting the children from Trinity to The Reformed Presbyterian Church, another host church of the camp where Harrington’s father was a pastor.
After Harrington did not appear at The Reformed Presbyterian Church that day, her father became concerned, and Zandstra reported the victim’s disappearance to the Marple Police Department.
Skeletal remains that were later identified as Harrington’s were found located within Ridley Creek State Park on October 14, 1975.
“The murder of Gretchen Harrington has haunted members of law enforcement since that terrible day in August 1975. The families of victims often say that their lives are forever altered into the ‘before’ time and the ‘after’ time. Gretchen’s murder created a ‘before’ time and an ‘after’ time for an entire community – and for an entire county,” District Attorney Stollsteimer said in the announcement.
An arrest warrant and criminal complaint were filed against Zandstra on July 17 following the emergence of the new evidence, and Zandstra is now in jail in Cobb County, Georgia, according to the District Attorney’s Office statement.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"CHICAGO -- The federal trial of a 50-year-old truck driver convicted of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history is in its third and final phase, in which jurors must decide whether to sentence him to death.
The jury convicted Robert Bowers in June after three weeks of testimony about how he stormed the Tree of Life synagogue in October 2018 and shot anyone he saw. He killed members of three congregations that were sharing the building, and wounded two worshippers and five police officers.
During the second phase of the trial, it took jurors only two hours to decide that Bowers was legally eligible for the death penalty. That led to the final phase, which is more emotionally taxing for jurors as they weigh whether sentence the man across the courtroom to die.
Here is a look at the final phase:
IS THERE ANY WAY TO PREDICT THE OUTCOME?
Given the overwhelming evidence, everyone including Bowers' lawyers knew a conviction was all but certain.
The outcome of sentencing phases are notoriously unpredictable, though, because it only takes one holdout juror to prevent the unanimity required for a death sentence. Without it, a defendant automatically gets life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jury selection is designed, among other things, to weed out those who say they could never sentence someone to die. But it's not uncommon in such cases for juries to deadlock.
It happened at a federal capital trial this year for Sayfullo Saipov, who was convicted of killing eight people in 2017 by running them down with truck along a New York City bike path. A split among jurors meant Saipov got a life term.
If Bowers gets a death sentence, it would be a first at a federal trial during the presidency of Joe Biden, the first U.S. president to have opposed capital punishment prior to taking office. It would also be years before he would be executed, given appeals and a current moratorium on federal executions.
The most recent federal executions — there were 13 in the final months of Donald Trump’s presidency — were carried out by lethal injections of pentobarbital at an Indiana prison where federal death row is located.
WHY THIS FINAL STAGE?
This stage is meant to let jurors closely scrutinize Bowers to determine if he is truly the worst of the worst and therefore deserving of the death penalty.
During the sentencing stage, prosecutors and the defense are given more leeway to discuss Bowers’ wider life, much of which would have been ruled inadmissible earlier.
Most federal capital trials combine the eligibility and sentencing decisions in a second, final stage. But courts have discretion over whether to divide up the process.
WHICH SIDE FACES THE HEAVIER BURDEN?
Higher courts have said the presumption is that defendants should get life in prison, according to guides for death penalty lawyers on the Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel website.
That puts the burden on the prosecution to prove Bowers' actions were so depraved and his character so irredeemable that a death sentence is warranted.
Prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that aggravating factors counting in favor of Bowers’ execution outweigh any mitigating factors that might call for a life sentence.
WHAT ARE SOME AGGRAVATING FACTORS IN THE SYNAGOGUE SHOOTING?
The prosecution told jurors at the outset of the sentencing phase that Bowers killed people who were uniquely vulnerable, including a woman in her 90s and three people in their 80s.
“These were not victims who could run away or fight back. They were easy prey,” prosecutor Nicole Vasquez Schmitt said Monday.
Prosecutors have also emphasized that Bowers carefully planned the massacre. And they have been highlighting his antisemitism throughout the trial.
“He hated Jews and wanted to kill as many as he could,” Vasquez Schmitt told jurors this week.
WHAT ABOUT MITIGATING FACTORS?
Bowers' lawyers have repeatedly argued that serious mental disorders and profound childhood traumas make him less culpable for the synagogue attack.
His attorney Elisa Long told jurors Monday that Bowers' father took his own life after being charged with rape and that when Bowers was a child, his mother told him she wished he'd never been born.
Proving a defendant showed remorse is usually a critical mitigating factor. But that will be difficult in this case, given statements prosecutors say Bowers made to mental health analysts while in jail, including that he repeated antisemitic stereotypes and said he regretted not killing more Jews.
WHAT ABOUT THE VERDICT FORMS?
Verdict forms usually list all of the potential aggravating and mitigating factors. They can be lengthy. The one in Saipov's case was 18 pages long.
The mitigating factors Saipov’s jurors accepted included that he wasn't a leader of the terrorist group he expressed allegiance to and that he had family who condemned his actions but still loved him.
Among the aggravating factors they accepted was that he sought to terrorize the community.
HOW DOES THE JURY BALANCE THE FACTORS?
Jurors must be unanimous in accepting any aggravating factor using the high reasonable-doubt standard. A mitigating factor can be considered even if only one juror accepts it.
The U.S. Supreme Court has said jurors must unanimously find at least one aggravating factor before they can impose the death penalty. But they can find no mitigating factors and still opt for a life sentence.
In weighing all factors in deliberations, courts have instructed jurors not to decide the sentence simply based on whether there are more aggravating or mitigating factors. Ultimately, the weight jurors give to different factors is subjective.
WHAT ABOUT SURVIVORS AND VICTIMS’ RELATIVES?
Jurors have been hearing from them about the trauma Bowers inflicted.
On Monday, survivor Carol Black testified about her brother, 65-year-old Richard Gottfried, a dentist Bowers killed.
“It’s just such a huge void in our family, for him not to be here,” she said.
There are restrictions on what victims and relatives can say. Judges usually bar them from telling jurors they want defendants to die for their crimes.
Defense lawyers often have their client's family members testify to try and persuade jurors that a defendant isn’t all bad, including by singling out some past act of kindness.
WHAT ARE SOME OTHER CONSIDERATIONS?
One could be the danger Bowers might pose if he goes to prison for life. Prosecutors often argue that even behind bars, a defendant could kill again, be it a fellow inmate or guard.
Defense attorneys sometimes seek to enter statistics that show those imprisoned for violent crimes aren’t necessarily prone to violence behind bars. Research on that point is inconclusive.
___ Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at @mtarm. Find more AP coverage of the synagogue attack at https://apnews.com/hub/pittsburgh-synagogue-massacre.",Explicit
"An adolescent mental health unit where the treatment of vulnerable young people was described as ""worse than animals"" has shut down after a Sky News investigation.

Former patients at Taplow Manor in Maidenhead, Berkshire, claimed there was overuse of restraint, and former workers said inadequate staffing and training put people at risk.

Police are also investigating the death of a patient at the unit and an allegation of child rape involving staff.

Active Care Group, which ran the unit until its closure, said on Thursday it had taken ""the difficult decision"" to close the facility ""due to a change in strategic direction"".

The group said in a statement: ""We wish to thank our dedicated staff for the care and support they have provided to patients at Taplow Manor over the years.

""Active Care Group has now entered a period of consultation with staff and will take every step to ensure that those impacted are retained within the business where possible.

The group's statement added it is working with ""patients' families and their relevant multidisciplinary teams to assist in the safe transfer or discharge of all Taplow Manor patients"".

The Huntercombe Group, which previously ran the unit and is now part of Active Care Group, received £190m since 2015 from NHS England to operate Taplow Manor and other hospitals.

In a joint investigation with The Independent, more than 50 former patients told Sky News they were failed by the care they received at units run by the Huntercombe Group, one of several independent providers the NHS uses to provide specialist in-patient care for children and teenagers.

Read more:

Decade of mistreatment revealed in care of more than 20 teenagers

30 new patients of Huntercombe Group tell their stories of mental health units

Taplow Manor had been threatened with closure by the health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, in March if it failed to make improvements.

The Department of Health and Social Care also launched a national investigation into the safety of all mental health inpatient services in England after the investigation was released.",Explicit
"Two people are dead and numerous wounded after a gunman opened fire at a New Zealand construction site Thursday, on the eve of the Women’s World Cup.
The shooter was also killed, New Zealand authorities said.
“Police have contained a serious incident that unfolded at a construction site in Auckland’s CBD this morning,” police said on Twitter. “Multiple injuries have been reported and at this stage we can confirm two peope have died. The male offender is also deceased.”
Reports came in at 7:22 a.m. local time of someone “discharging a firearm” inside a construction site, police said after cordoning off the building and surrounding streets. The man continued through the site, shooting as he went, before walling himself inside the elevator staff.
“Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later,” police said. “What has unfolded is understandably alarming and we are reassuring the public that this incident has been contained and is an isolated incident. We can also advise that this is not a national security risk.”
An investigation is ongoing, authorities said.
The shooting happened just as the Women’s World Cup soccer tournament is set to get under way, not far from Team Norway’s hotel.
New Zealand Prime Minster Chris Hipkins said the tournament would go ahead.
“Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,” Hipkins said. “The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned. I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.”
With News Wire Services",Explicit
"Two people were killed after a gunman opened fire at a construction site in Auckland, New Zealand, police said.
The suspected shooter was also found dead, New Zealand Police said.
Shots were initially reported inside the building around 7:22 a.m. local time Thursday, and the male suspect continued to shoot as he moved throughout the site, police said.
""Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft and our staff have attempted to engage with him,"" New Zealand Police said in a statement. ""Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later.""
Police added that details on what happened ""are still emerging.""
Multiple injuries were reported in the shooting, police said. No details were immediately provided on the victims killed in the incident.
There is no national security risk, police said.
""This is a scary situation for Aucklanders on their Thursday morning commute to work,"" Mayor Wayne Brown tweeted. ""Please stay at home, avoid travel into the city centre.""
The incident occurred as the FIFA Women's World Cup is set to kick off in New Zealand and Australia.
Following the shooting, the United States Soccer Federation said that all U.S. women's national soccer team players and staff ""are accounted for and safe.""
ABC News' Will Gretsky contributed to this report.",Explicit
"Content warning: This story discusses suicide.
CoCo Lee will soon be laid to rest.
""For those who wish to plan ahead, pls note CoCo's funeral services shall take place on 31st July & 1st August 2023 at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point,"" she wrote alongside photos of CoCo's fans. ""Public vigil will be held on 31st July btw 6-10pm only. Thank you for your kind attention.""
The update comes weeks after Nancy and sister Carol shared that CoCo, who voiced Fa Mulan in the Mandarin dubbed version of the 1998 Disney classic Mulan, had been hospitalized and in a coma following a suicide attempt. They also gave insight into CoCo's years-long battle with depression.
""Although, CoCo sought professional help and did her best to fight depression,"" Carol and Nancy said in a statement shared to Facebook, per NBC News, ""sadly that demon inside of her took the better of her.""
Prior to voicing Mulan, CoCo rose to fame during the 1990s and 2000s for her powerhouse vocals and live performances. She made a name for herself in Asia as a mandopop singer and released albums in Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
""Not only did she bring us joy with her songs and dances in the past 29 years,"" her sister's wrote on Facebook, ""she also worked hard to break new ground for Chinese singers in the international music scene and has been doing her utmost to shine for the Chinese.""
In a newly published obituary, CoCo's family said her spirit will continue to live on through her music.
""CoCo's passing has left a hole in the hearts of her fans and loved ones, but her legacy will live on through her music and the countless lives she touched during her time on this earth,"" the family said, per the South China Morning Post. ""She will be remembered as a true icon of the music industry, a shining star whose light will never fade.""",Explicit
"SHREVEPORT, La. -- State prosecutors have added a second felony charge against a former Louisiana police officer accused of fatally shooting an unarmed Black man earlier this year.
The second criminal charge of felony malfeasance was added Monday as former Shreveport officer Alexander Tyler, who is white, was arraigned on charges of shooting Alonzo Bagley at an apartment complex in February. Tyler and another officer were responding to a report by Bagley's wife of a domestic disturbance.
Tyler pleaded not guilty to first-degree negligent homicide and felony malfeasance.
Body camera footage shows officers knocking on Bagley’s door, Bagley retreating into his apartment, and then jumping off a second-floor balcony. The video shows Tyler catching Bagley and shooting him once in the chest, and then officers begging him to stay alive while trying to administer first aid.
Tyler was charged with negligent homicide on Feb. 16 by the Louisiana State Police, about two weeks after the shooting. State police typically investigate shootings involving police officers in Louisiana.
“These charges are extremely disappointing,"" Dhu Thompson, Tyler's defense lawyer, said Monday. ""However, we have been prepared since day one to bring the case and facts therein to an impartial jury. We look forward to our day in court.”
Both negligent homicide and malfeasance in office carry sentences of up to 5 years in prison.
Relatives of Bagley have filed a $10 million lawsuit against Tyler, who had been an officer for about two years before he resigned in March.
Family members hired Louisiana attorney Ronald Haley, who has represented other high-profile clients, including the family of Ronald Greene, a Black motorist whose 2019 death in state police custody in north Louisiana prompted lawsuits and criminal charges against law enforcement officers.",Explicit
"A video of two Kuki women being paraded naked by a mob has emerged from Manipur. Scores of young men can be seen walking alongside as other men drag the distressed-looking women into the fields.
Scroll has spoken to one of the survivors who said the assault took place near her village, B Phainom, in Kangpokpi district on May 4, a day after clashes erupted between the Meitei and Kuki communities.
After they heard Meitei mobs were “burning homes” in a nearby village, her family and others escaped through a dirt lane, but a mob found them, she said. Her neighbour and his son were taken a short distance away and killed, she alleged. The mob then began to assault the women, she said, asking them “to strip off our clothes”.
“When we resisted, they told me: ‘if you don’t take off your clothes, we will kill you,” said the woman, who is her forties. She said she took off “every item of clothing” only in order to “protect herself”. All the while, the men allegedly slapped and punched her. She said she was not aware of what was happening to her 21-year-old neighbour, because she was some distance away.
The woman alleged that she was then dragged to a paddy field near the road, and asked by the men to “lie down” there. “I did as they told me, and three men surrounded me… One of them told the other, ‘let’s rape her’, but ultimately they did not,” she said.
She added that she was “lucky” they did not go to that extent [of raping her]. “But they grabbed my breasts,” she said.
The police case
A police complaint filed by the relatives of the women states that one of the women was subsequently gangraped. Based on the complaint, the police said a zero FIR has been registered in the Saikul police station of Kangpokpi district on May 18.
While first information reports are usually lodged in the police station under whose jurisdiction the alleged crime has taken place, a zero FIR lets any police station accept and register a complaint and then forward it to the pertinent station.
An official at the Saikul police station said charges of rape and murder, among others, have been pressed against “unknown miscreants” numbering “800-1,000”.
The complaint states that the incident took place on the afternoon of May 4, a day after that violence broke out in the state.
“Some unknown miscreants…carrying sophisticated weapons like AK Rifles, SLR. INSAS and .303 Rifles, forcefully entered our village, Island Sub-Division Kangpokpi District, Manipur,” the complaint states.
The mob then went on to burn and vandalise the houses in the village, said the complaint.
The particular incident, according to the complaint, involves five residents of the village who were fleeing “towards the forest” to save themselves.
The group comprised two men and three women. Three of them belonged to the same family: a 56-year-old man, his 19-year-old son and 21-year-old daughter. Two other women, one 42 years old and the other aged 52, were also part of the group.
On the way to the forest, they were “rescued” by a team from the Nongpok Sekmai police station, the complaint adds. However, they were “blocked on the way by a mob and snatched from the custody of the police team by the violent mob near Toubu”, two km from Nongpok Sekmai police station, the complaint alleges.
The mob immediately killed the 56-year-old, the complaint states, following which “all the three women were physically forced to remove their clothes and were stripped naked in front of the mob”.
The 21-year-old woman was “brutally gang raped in broad daylight”, the complaint alleges even as the other two women “managed to escape from the spot with the help of some people of the area who were known to them”.
The 21-year-old’s “younger brother tried to defend his sister’s modesty and life but he was murdered by members of the mob on the spot,” it adds.
The complaint has been transferred to the Nongpok Sekmai police station, the site of the purported incident. Manoj Prabhakar M, the police superintendent of Kangpokpi, confirmed this: “We have registered zero FIR in Saikul [police station] and forwarded to Nongpok Sekmai [police station].”
The officer in charge of the Nongpok Sekmai station did not respond to calls and texts seeking comment on whether investigation into the complaint had commenced.
With inputs from Rokibuz Zaman and Tora Agarwala.",Explicit
"John Minchillo/AP
toggle caption
E. Jean Carroll walks out of federal court in Manhattan, May 9, 2023, in New York. A federal judge has denied former President Donald Trump's request for a new trial in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.
John Minchillo/AP
E. Jean Carroll walks out of federal court in Manhattan, May 9, 2023, in New York. A federal judge has denied former President Donald Trump's request for a new trial in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.
John Minchillo/AP
A federal judge has rejected former President Donald Trump's motion for a new trial in the civil case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll.
A jury had previously found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her, and awarded her $5 million in damages.
Senior district Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York wrote in an order issued Wednesday that the jury in the case did not reach ""a seriously erroneous result"" and its verdict is not ""a miscarriage of justice,"" as Trump had alleged.
The ruling came a week after the U.S. Justice Department declined to shield Trump from the defamation claim, reversing course on one of its most controversial decisions during the early stretch of the Biden administration.
Carroll filed the defamation lawsuit three years ago. At that time, then-Attorney General Bill Barr sided with Trump and said the former president had been acting within the bounds of his office as president. But Judge Kaplan had rejected that position — only to watch as the new Biden attorney general, Merrick Garland, also extended a legal shield to Trump.
The change in course added yet another legal burden for Trump, who is fighting criminal charges over accounting for alleged hush money payments in Manhattan, separate federal charges for alleged obstruction and willful retention of highly classified documents at his Florida resort, and a grand jury investigation in Georgia over his attempts to overturn the results of that 2020 presidential election in that state.
Separately, on Tuesday, Trump said that he had received word from the Justice Department that he's a target of the grand jury probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. An indictment could be imminent.
Rewind to the start of the Carroll legal case
In 2019, Carroll first publicly came forward saying Trump had raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s when the future president was just a businessman. Trump responded, denying the accusation and saying that the writer had ulterior motives.
Carroll sued Trump — twice (in 2019 and later in 2022) — for his public rebuke of her accusation.
In May, jurors sided with her, though didn't find Trump raped Carroll. The jury awarded her $5 million in total damages agreeing that he ""sexually abused"" her and that he defamed her when he denied her story.
But this civil case, much like Trump's criminal cases, is far from over.
Following her victory in May, Carroll and her lawyers have since asked a court to expand the scope of a separate lawsuit against Trump, seeking at least an additional $10 million in damages.",Explicit
"Singapore is due to execute a woman for the first time in almost 20 years on Friday, one of two killings planned for this week.
Singaporean national Saridewi Djamani was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty in 2018, after she was found guilty of possession of about 30g of heroin for the purposes of trafficking, according to the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), which tracks death row cases.
If it goes ahead, activists believe she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when Yen May Woen, a 36-year-old hairdresser, was hanged for drug trafficking.
Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, a 56-year-old Singaporean Malay man, has been told he will be executed on Wednesday, according to the TJC. He was sentenced to death in 2018 after being found guilty of trafficking approximately 50g of heroin, the group said.
Singapore has some of the world’s harshest drug laws and has drawn international criticism in recent years for its executions of prisoners convicted of drug offences.
Saridewi is one of two women on death row in Singapore, according to Kirsten Han, a journalist and activist who has spent a decade campaigning against the death penalty. “Once she exhausted her appeal options it was a matter of time that she would be given an execution notice,” said Han.
“The authorities are not moved by the fact that most of the people on death row come from marginalised and vulnerable groups. The people who are on death row are those deemed dispensable by both the drug kingpins and the Singapore state. This is not something Singaporeans should be proud of.”
The government maintains the death penalty is an effective deterrent against drug-related crime, that it keeps the city state safe and is widely supported by the public. It also says its judicial processes are fair.
Research by Amnesty International found Singapore was one of a handful of countries that executed people for drug-related crimes last year, along with China, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Vietnam is also likely to have done so, it said, though the numbers of killings are not known.
“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs,” said Chiara Sangiorgio a death penalty expert at Amnesty. “As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither.”
Activists in Singapore say it is the most vulnerable who end up on death row, and prisoners are increasingly representing themselves after their appeals because they cannot access lawyers.
According to TJC, Hussain had argued that most of his statements given to an investigating officer were not admissible because the officer had coerced him, promising him a reduced, non-capital punishment charge. The investigating officer disputed these claims, and the judge concluded that all the statements were given voluntarily.
TJC said Saridewi had argued that she had not been able to give accurate statements to the police because she had been suffering from drug withdrawal. The high court judge found Saridewi had “at most been suffering from mild to moderate methamphetamine withdrawal during the statement-taking period”, and that this had not impaired her ability to give statements, according to TJC.
At least 13 people have been hanged so far in Singapore since the government resumed executions after a two-year hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic.",Explicit
"British indie band The 1975 have cut short a gig in Malaysia, claiming officials ordered them off stage for breaching the country's anti-LGBT laws.
The band were headlining the Good Vibes Festival in the capital Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
During the set, singer Matty Healy attacked the country's anti-LGBT laws before kissing bass player Ross MacDonald.
Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and punishable by 20 years in prison.
In footage shared online, Healy could be seen telling the crowd, in a profanity laden speech, that the band's decision to appear in Malaysia had been a ""mistake"".
""When we were booking shows, I wasn't looking into it,"" Healy said. ""I don't see the [expletive] point, right, I do not see the point of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.
""Unfortunately you don't get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I'm [expletive] furious,"" the frontman continued. ""And that's not fair on you, because you're not representative of your government. Because you're young people, and I'm sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool.""
Healy and MacDonald then kissed as the band played the song I Like America & America Likes Me.
Soon after - just 30 minutes into the set - Healy and the band walked off stage, with the singer telling the audience: ""Alright, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, see you later.""
A source close to the 1975 confirmed the incident to the BBC.
""Matty has a long-time record of advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and the band wanted to stand up for their LGBTQ+ fans and community,"" the source said on Friday night.
In a short statement to local media, festival organisers said the band's set was stopped due to ""non-compliance with local performance guidelines"".
""Good Vibes Festival has always been dedicated to providing enjoyable music experiences, and we sincerely appreciate your continued support,"" the statement added. ""Good Vibes Festival 2023 will proceed as scheduled, and we eagerly anticipate your presence on Saturday and Sunday.""
Malaysia's Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil hit out at the band's performance on Twitter, calling it ""very disrespectful"". He added that he had contacted festival organisers and asked them to provide a full report.
Healy has previously used appearances on stage to highlight anti-LGBT laws.
In 2019 he invited a male fan on stage during a gig in Dubai to hug him, before sharing a quick kiss. The incident attracted criticism in the country, where homosexuality is punishable by 10 years imprisonment.
Posting on Twitter after the show, Healy said: ""Thank you Dubai you were so amazing. I don't think we'll be allowed back due to my 'behaviour' but know that I love you and I wouldn't have done anything differently given the chance again.""
Other performers at the Good Vibes Festival include the Strokes, Dermot Kennedy and Ty Dollar $ign.",Explicit
"Kevin Spacey's four-week sex offences trial at Southwark Crown Court continues.
Four charges of indecent assault have been dropped due to a “legal technicality”
Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish were giving evidence for the defence.
Spacey previously told Southwark Crown Court that incidents were consensual.
Read latest updates below:
Four charges against Kevin Spacey dropped
On Wednesday, the four indecent assault charges on the indictment, which were alternative counts, were struck off by the judge, due to a “legal technicality” and not as a result of the prosecution abandoning any allegation.
The jury was directed to concentrate on what happened and whether it was a crime, and not be concerned with precise dates when things happened.
- H
Furnish asked whether celebrities could ask not to be pictured at balls
Giving evidence via videolink, David furnish was asked if it was possible that a celebrity attending one of the couple's balls could not be pictured.
Furnish told the court: “It never happened. It was understood we were promoting a charity involving the eradication of stigma surrounding disease. For celebrities wanting to come to our event, it was always understood they needed to be photographed.”
He added: “To have a star of the magnitude of Kevin Spacey and to go to OK! and say he didn’t want to be photographed, that would be an impossible situation for the foundation to be in.”
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Spacey pictured arriving at court on Monday. (PA)
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Elton John says he doesn't remember Mini being stored at his home
Sir Elton John has told Kevin Spacey’s trial that the star went straight to a ball at his house after flying in on a private jet, then bought a Mini Cooper at the event and stayed the night, Lucas Cumiskey and Ken Brown reported for PA.
The singer, who gave evidence via video link from Monaco, was called as a defence witness in the Oscar-winning actor’s trial at Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday.
He denies 12 charges concerning four men, including sexual assault and indecent assault, which are alleged to have been committed between 2001 and 2013.
Prosecutor Christine Agnew KC asked Sir Elton and his husband David Furnish, who gave evidence just before him, about when the actor had attended a fundraising event at their home in Windsor.
Spacey is alleged to have made a man “almost come off the road” after an alleged “painful” crotch grab as he drove the actor to the lavish showbiz party.
Spacey previously told jurors how he stored “the most expensive” Mini Cooper “ever” in Sir Elton’s garage.
Sir Elton said the actor attended the event in the early 2000s and stayed the night but said he could not remember him visiting the property after that.
Ms Agnew asked Sir Elton if he had a recollection of Spacey at the event.
Sir Elton said: “Yes, because he arrived in white tie. He was on a flight, he came on a private jet and he came straight to the ball.”
On whether he came straight from the private jet, he added: “I assume so, yes.”
Ms Agnew added: “Do you remember that at that ball he bought a Mini?”
After Sir Elton confirmed his recollection, she added: “And do you remember that that Mini was kept at your home for quite some time?”
The Rocket Man star added: “That I don’t remember but it’s possible because it was his car and he was going somewhere else.
“I have no recollection of it.”
Asked if Spacey visited their home again after the ball, Sir Elton said: “At the night that he attended the ball, he stayed over night at our house.”
Pressed again on whether he had returned after the event, he added: “I can’t remember him coming after that, no.”
Sir Elton said he did not remember the arrangements for the Mini being moved from his house.
The trial continues.
- H
Singer Sir Elton John appeared by videolink in a London court on Monday to give evidence at Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey's sexual assault trial.
Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty at London's Southwark Crown Court to 12 charges of sexual offences allegedly committed against four men between 2001 and 2013.
The offences allegedly took place at a time when he was mainly living and working in Britain, including from 2003 as artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London.
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Music superstar Sir Elton John has appeared as a witness for the defence at Kevin Spacey's sex assault trial.
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Elton John and David Furnish have taken the stand as part of Kevin Spacey’s defence in the actor’s trial for sexual assault at Southwark Crown Court. Both men are giving evidence via videolink from Monaco.
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One witness described a culture that saw young men warned about Kevin Spacey's alleged behaviour.
- H
Sir Elton John is giving evidence for the defence in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial on Monday. John appeared remotely from Monaco to testify after his husband, David Furnish, said Spacey only once attended the annual gala the singer held at his Windsor home. One of the alleged victims accused Spacey of aggressively grabbing his crotch while he was driving with him to the ball in 2004 or 2005.
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Elton John gives evidence
Sir Elton John has been called on as a defence witness, giving evidence via video link from Monaco, in the trial of Kevin Spacey at Southwark Crown Court.
Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish have given evidence as defence witnesses in the sex assault trial of Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey.
Spacey, 63, standing trial under his full name Kevin Spacey Fowler, denies sex offences concerning four men, including sexual assault and indecent assault, which are alleged to have been committed between 2001 and 2013.
On Monday, Sir Elton told the trial that Spacey went straight to a ball at his house after flying in on a private jet, then bought a Mini Cooper at the event and stayed the night.
Spacey, who was labelled a “sexual bully” when proceedings began last month, broke down in court as he listened to 10 character references from family and friends from inside the theatre and film industry, including words from the son of late actor Jack Lemmon and House star Robert Sean Leonard.
Prosecutor Christine Agnew KC asked Sir Elton and his husband, David Furnish, who gave evidence just before him, about when the actor had attended a fundraising event at their home in Windsor.
Spacey is alleged to have made a man “almost come off the road” after an alleged “painful” crotch grab as he drove the actor to the lavish showbiz party.
The defendant previously told jurors how he stored “the most expensive” Mini Cooper “ever” in Sir Elton’s garage.
Sir Elton said the actor attended the event in the early 2000s and stayed the night but said he could not remember him visiting the property after that.
Ms Agnew asked Sir Elton if he had a recollection of Spacey at the event to which Sir Elton said: “Yes, because he arrived in white tie.
“He was on a flight, he came on a private jet and he came straight to the ball.”
On whether he came straight from the private jet, he added: “I assume so, yes.”
Ms Agnew added: “Do you remember that at that ball he bought a Mini?”
After Sir Elton confirmed his recollection, she added: “And do you remember that that Mini was kept at your home for quite some time?”
He added: “That I don’t remember but it’s possible because it was his car and he was going somewhere else. I have no recollection of it.”
Mr Furnish also told the court he remembered Spacey attending the event in question, adding: “He was an Oscar-winning actor, there was a lot of excitement he was at the ball.”
Questioning Mr Furnish, the prosecutor said: “We’ve heard that on the occasion when Mr Spacey Fowler attended the ball he bought a Mini?”
Mr Furnish said the car was sold at the ball and “Kevin was the highest bidder”.
On them subsequently storing the car for him, he added: “Yes because Kevin didn’t have a place of residence in the UK at that time and needed somewhere to store his car.”
Also on Monday, Lemmon’s son, Chris Lemmon, said in his character reference that Spacey was “like another son” to his father, adding: “So became like a brother to me.”
House and Dead Poet’s Society star Robert Sean Leonard’s words prompted an emotional response from the defendant.
Leonard said Spacey is “positive, supportive and respectful” and said he has never seen anyone lead a company better than the American Beauty actor.
Giving evidence last week, Spacey denied he is a sexual bully and labelled the prosecution’s case against him as “weak” – accusing one alleged victim of being after “money, money and then money”.
He told Southwark Crown Court he could have had sex “all the time” but found it hard to trust people because of his fame.
Over the course of the trial, each of Spacey’s accusers have given evidence – variously describing him as a “vile sexual predator”, “slippery” and “atrocious, despicable, disgusting”.
The trial continues.",Explicit
"DC man charged in attack on Rand Paul staffer unable to understand proceedings, judge announces
The man accused of stabbing a senate staffer at random in the H Street Corridor in Washington in March has been deemed incompetent to stand trial, a D.C. judge determined Tuesday.
Glynn Neal allegedly stabbed one of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) staffers as they and a friend were leaving a restaurant.
The staffer was stabbed multiple times in the head and chest, suffering life-threatening injuries, but survived. Neal was charged with assault with intent to kill.
Last week, Judge Anthony Epstein ordered a psychological evaluation. According to police reports, Neal said he “heard voices” encouraging him to commit the attack.
He was released from prison the day before the attack after serving about 12 years for threats to kidnap a person and forcing a person into prostitution.
In last week’s hearing, Neal’s sister told detectives that he “acted different” since being released from prison, including talking to himself.
Neal will undergo further psychological testing and will be evaluated again before his next court appearance on Sept. 8. He will remain in jail in D.C.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"The Tomohon Extreme Market has become the first such market in Indonesia to go dog and cat meat-free.
The market's six remaining dog and cat meat traders signed an agreement to stop their sales on Friday, and the mayor of Tomohon issued a statute to ban the trade.
""We believe the way to reduce people's interest in consuming dog and cat meat in Tomohon is to stop selling it in markets."" the regional secretary of the city of Tomohon, Edwin Roring, said.
He urged people to opt for clean, rabies-free animal-based foods such as pork, beef, and chicken.
'Brutally cruel' animal trade
The move followed months of campaigning and lobbying by Humane Society International (HSI) and the local Animal Friends Manado Indonesia (AFMI) groups.
The animal welfare groups called the treatment of the animals at the markets ""brutally cruel"" and like ""walking through hell.""
They hope to see the ban extended to the rest of Indonesia where an estimated one million dogs and cats are killed for human consumption every year.
Campaigners said the trade causes immense animal suffering and poses serious threats to human health by spreading diseases such as rabies, anthrax, and leptospirosis.
The footage captured by the activists at two markets in North Sulawesi province shows workers pulling howling animals out and bludgeoning their heads with wooden batons.
The animals were hanged, and their fur was blowtorched off while they were still alive.
Traditional attitudes slowly changing
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country, and Islam considers and views dog products as haram, or forbidden, in the same way as pork.
Still, as much as 7% of Indonesians eat dog and cat meat, according to Dog Meat Free Indonesia. This is practiced mainly in North Sulawesi, North Sumatra, and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, where most of the population identify as Christian.
The decisson by dog and cat meat traders in Tomohon to stop selling means the supply would now be cut off at the source.
Elvianus Pongoh, one of the sellers at Tomohon for 25 years, said the time was right to end the trade.
""I have probably slaughtered thousands of dogs. Every now and then I would see the fear in their eyes... as I came for them, and it made me feel bad,"" he said. ""I know this ban is best for the animals and also best to protect the public.""
lo/dj (AFP, AP, dpa)",Explicit
"A video showing two women being paraded naked by a mob in the violence-hit northeastern state of Manipur has sparked outrage in India.
The police say they have opened a case of gang rape and have arrested a man, adding that others will be held soon.
This is also likely to dominate discussions in the parliament's monsoon session, which begins on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said the incident had ""shamed India"" and that ""no guilty will be spared"".
""I assure the nation, the law will take its course with all its might. What happened with the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,"" he said, finally breaking his silence on Manipur more than two months after violence began.
The Supreme Court also expressed its concern over the assault. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said the court was ""really disturbed over the video"" and asked the government to take action.
Police say the assault on the women took place on 4 May but it made national headlines on Thursday after the video started going viral on social media. The federal government has asked all social media companies to delete the video from their platforms.
At least 130 have died and tens of thousands have been displaced since ethnic clashes started in May in Manipur.
Clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities after the Meiteis - the state's main ethnic group - demanded tribal status which gives access to benefits such as forest land and government job and education quotas.
Some 60,000 have become refugees in their own land. Opposition politicians have criticised PM Modi for not visiting the state or speaking about the violence in Manipur so far.
The horrific video of the two women was widely shared on social media on Wednesday. It shows them being dragged and groped by a mob of men who then push them into a field.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) said in a statement that the atrocities had been committed in a village in Kangpokpi district against women from the Kuki-Zo tribal community. It also alleged that the women had been gang raped.
'This shouldn't be happening in modern India': By Geeta Pandey, BBC News, Delhi
It's well known that women's bodies often become a battleground during riots and conflicts, and rape and sexual assault are used as instruments of violence to punish them.
The sexual assault of a Kuki mother and daughter duo, who were stripped naked and paraded while being groped and molested by a mob of men in Manipur, is the latest example of that.
The video footage showing the women weeping, wincing in pain and begging their attackers to show some mercy is disturbing to watch.
The fact that the first arrest has been made only after the outrage in the case that happened 78 days ago and was reported to the police more than two months back doesn't inspire much confidence in the administration - more so since many of the men are clearly identifiable in the footage.
But the massive outrage that has followed the video's emergence in India has put the spotlight on the horrific crime. It has also raised questions about the failure of the state in comforting the survivors - and finally forced Mr Modi to make a statement on the ethnic violence.
To restore some sort of confidence in the people of violence-torn Manipur, especially the minority Kuki community, the authorities must now act swiftly against the perpetrators of the horrific assault and bring justice to the women. This should not be happening in modern India.
""The gang rape of the women happened after the village was burnt down and two men - one middle-aged and another a teenager - were beaten to death by the mob,"" the ITLF said.
Police said that the incident took place on 4 May and that a case of abduction and gang rape and murder had been registered against ""unknown armed miscreants"" at Thoubal district.
The police added that they were making an ""all out effort to arrest the culprits at the earliest"".
The incident has sparked strong reactions from politicians across the spectrum.
Federal minister Smriti Irani, called the incident ""condemnable and downright inhuman"". She also said that she had spoken to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who informed her that investigations were underway and that ""no effort will be spared to bring perpetrators to justice"".
Several opposition leaders also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government for not doing enough to quell the violence in the state.
Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadhra said that the ""images of sexual violence against women from Manipur are heart wrenching"", adding that women and children face the maximum brunt of violence in society.
She asked why the federal government and the prime minister ""were sitting blindly on the violent actions in Manipur"".
""Do such images and violent incidents not disturb them?"" she tweeted.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also condemned the incident. ""This kind of heinous act cannot be tolerated in the Indian society,"" he said.
""The situation in Manipur is becoming very worrying. I appeal to the prime minister to pay attention to the situation in Manipur. Please take strict action against the culprits seen in the video of this incident. There should be no place for people of such criminal nature in India,"" he tweeted.
BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.",Explicit
"Unilever has said it will let Russian employees be conscripted to be sent to Ukraine if they are called up.
The consumer goods giant, which has about 3,000 employees in Russia, has policies that cover the well-being and safety of its workers.
However, in a letter to campaign group B4Ukraine, it said it would comply with Russian conscription law.
Unilever has been under pressure to pull out of Russia, but says the situation is ""not straightforward"".
In a letter to B4Ukraine, which campaigns for companies to cease operating in Russia to hurt its economy, Unilever said it ""absolutely condemns the war in Ukraine as a brutal, senseless act by the Russian state"".
It also said it had responsibility for its 3,000 workers, adding that it had ""global principles including the safety and well-being of our employees"".
Nevertheless, the British firm, which makes products including Marmite and Cornetto ice creams, said it was ""aware of the law requiring any company operating in Russia to permit the conscription of employees should they be called"".
""We always comply with all the laws of the countries we operate in,"" wrote Reginaldo Ecclissato, Unilever's chief business operations and supply chain officer.
A spokesperson for the firm declined to say whether any Russian employees had been called up.
Any who are will not continue to be paid by the firm, the spokesperson added.
In its letter, it said it had paid 3.8bn roubles (£33m; $36m) in tax to the Russian state in 2022, which was a similar amount to the previous year.
The majority of its business in Russia is personal care and hygiene products, but it continues to supply ice cream.
At least 25,000 Russians have been killed in the war, according to research by the BBC's Russian service and Russian website Mediazona, but other sources put the figure much higher.
In February, UK intelligence services estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 Russian troops had died.
Russian soldiers have also been accused by the UN of war crimes, including rapes, ""widespread"" torture and killings.
Unilever and other Western firms have been under pressure to pull out of Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
However, Unilever has said this is ""not straightforward"". If it abandoned operations, they would be ""appropriated and then operated"" by the Russian state.
It has not managed to find a way to sell the business that ""avoids the Russian state potentially gaining further benefit, and which safeguards our people"".
It said there were no ""desirable"" ways forward, but continuing to run the business with ""strict constraints"" was the best option at present.
However, the Ukraine Solidarity Project, which is part of B4Ukraine, said Unilever's response was ""jaw-dropping"".
""One day you're manufacturing ice cream, the next you're gearing up for the front line. You can't say Unilever isn't offering its employees varied work experience,"" said campaigner Valeriia Voshchevska.
""If this is protecting your workers, I'd hate to see what putting them in harm's way looks like.""",Explicit
"27 injured in latest Russian attack on southern Ukraine
At least 27 people were injured and two killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s southern cities, including the port city of Odesa.
The attacks mark the third straight day of strikes on the south, coming after Russia announced it would suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a diplomatic deal allowing Ukrainian grain exports from Odesa.
“Russian terrorists continue their efforts to destroy the life of our country,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram. “Unfortunately, there are wounded, there are dead. My condolences to my family and friends!”
“But there is no evil state of missiles that would be stronger than our will to save lives, support each other and win,” he added.
Odesa Gov. Oleg Kiper said that Russian strikes damaged both port and civilian infrastructure, including damaging the Chinese consulate in the city. At least two people were killed and eight others injured during the attack and rescue efforts, he noted.
“The aggressor deliberately beats port infrastructure — administrative and residential buildings around, as well as the consulate of the People’s Republic of China,” Kiper argued. “This suggests that the enemy does not pay attention to anything.”
The attack comes as Russia said it seeks “retribution” for a strike on the Kerch Bridge, connecting Crimea to Russia, on Monday. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for that attack, which shares similarities with a 2022 attack on the bridge that the Ukrainian government also did not claim responsibility for.
Russian missiles also destroyed an apartment building in Mykolaiv, another Black Sea city, injuring at least 19, according to officials.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"Florida cops on Sunday were working to identify a woman whose remains were found in three suitcases along the intracoastal waterway in Delray Beach.
The first gruesome discovery came at about 4 p.m. Friday, when someone phoned 911 to tell the Delray Beach police there was a “suspicious item” in the water.
“When officers arrived, they found a suitcase with human remains inside,” police said in a statement. “A short time later, two other suitcases were found also containing human remains at nearby locations along the intracoastal.”
The remains are with the medical examiner for autopsy and identification, police said, noting that they appeared to be of an adult female.
On Saturday, police said the person was a 5-foot-4, middle-aged white or Hispanic woman with brown hair and possibly tattooed eyebrows, the Palm Beach Post reported. She was clad in a floral tank top, black undershirt and mid-thigh-length black shorts.
Cops continued to search on Saturday, with a diver, two assistants and two Delray Beach Police boats near the George Bush Boulevard Bridge, the Palm Beach Post reported. They closed the bridge temporarily to conduct a search among the rocks and mangroves lining the waterway and appealed to the public for help and information.",Explicit
"WASHINGTON – An Arkansas truck driver who beat a police officer with a flagpole attached to an American flag during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Monday to more than four years in prison.
Peter Francis Stager struck the Metropolitan Police Department officer with his flagpole at least three times as other rioters pulled the officer, head first, into the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The bruised officer was among more than 100 police officers injured during the riot.
Stager also stood over and screamed profanities at another officer, who was seriously injured when several other rioters dragged him into the mob and beat him, according to federal prosecutors.
After the beatings, Stager was captured on video saying, “Every single one of those Capitol law enforcement officers, death is the remedy. That is the only remedy they get.”
U.S. Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Stager to four years and four months in prison, according to a spokesperson for the prosecutors' office.
Stager, 44, of Conway, Arkansas, pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon.
Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six years and six months.
Stager assaulted the officer during one of the most violent episodes of Jan. 6 — a battle between rioters and police guarding an entrance to the Capitol building in a tunnel on the Lower West Terrace.
Stager's actions at the Capitol “were the epitome of disrespect for the law,” prosecutors said in a court filing.
“Stager joined a prolonged, multi-assailant attack on police officers, which resulted in injuries to the officers,"" they wrote. ""Stager himself wielded a flagpole and used it to strike at a vulnerable officer, who, lying face down in a mob of rioters had no means of defending himself.”
Stager's truck driving job took him to Washington, D.C., on the day before then-President Donald Trump's “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. Stager stayed overnight to attend Trump's rally after delivering a load of produce, a decision that he will regret for the rest of his life, his lawyers said in a court filing.
Stager's attorneys say he tried to help others in the crowd who were injured after the riot erupted. Shocked by what he saw, Stager had “reached his breaking point” and was “seeing red” when he picked up a flag on the ground, they said.
“Once the adrenaline wore off, Mr. Stager immediately called his wife to tell her he was horrified by his actions and that he was going to turn himself in upon returning to Arkansas,” his lawyers wrote.
More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 620 of them have pleaded guilty. Approximately 100 others have been convicted by juries or judges after trials. Nearly 600 have been sentenced, with over half receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from three days to 18 years.
Stager was indicted with eight other defendants on charges related to the tunnel battle. Four of his co-defendants also have pleaded guilty to assault charges.
Florida resident Mason Courson was sentenced in June to four years and nine months in prison. Michigan resident Justin Jersey was sentenced in February to four years and three months in prison. Michigan construction worker Logan Barnhart was sentenced in April to three years in prison. Georgia business owner Jack Wade Whitton is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 16.",Explicit
"Palestinian gunmen attacked Jewish worshippers at Joseph's Tomb in Nablus late Wednesday night, according to a Thursday morning IDF statement.
The IDF acted to protect the worshippers, and several Palestinian gunmen were wounded in the exchange of fire.
The IDF reported that, in addition to shooting, Palestinians threw explosives, burned tires, and threw stones at Israeli security forces at Joseph's Tomb.
The expedition to pray at the tomb was organized by the family of teenager Moishe Kleinerman, who has been missing since early 2022.
Casualties and other IDF overnight activity
One Palestinian was killed in the clashes, according to Reuters citing the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Nablus battalion of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group, said its members were ""fighting the occupation forces and groups of settlers who had stormed the area of Joseph's Tomb,"" according to Reuters.
Also on Wednesday night, the IDF arrested a total of five wanted persons throughout the West Bank and confiscated a variety of weapons, weapon components, and ammunition.",Explicit
"A 26-year-old man accused of enrolling in two different Nebraska high schools and posing as a student has been arrested for sex crimes.
Zachary Scheich was taken into custody Thursday at Lincoln’s Walt Library, KOLN reported. He faces two counts of sexual assault with use of an electronic communication device, which includes any attempt to “knowingly solicit, coax, entice or lure” a child 16 years or younger to engage in sexual activity, according to the Lincoln Police Department.
Police said Scheich pretended to be a 17-year-old named Zak Hess when he went to classes at Northwest and Southeast high schools in Lincoln. He graduated from the same school district in 2015 — but at just 5′4″ and 120 pounds, he was able to easily blend in with his “classmates.” He also used a phony birth certificate, an out-of-district high school transcript and immunization records when he enrolled.
”He attended school as a student, he attended classes. That was the initial investigation,” Lincoln Assistant Police Chief Brian Jackson told reporters. “And as the investigation progressed, we learned of additional contacts he had with juvenile students.”
Scheich managed to keep up the ruse for 57 days. Authorities initially started investigating on June 1 “after being alerted to an individual impersonating a student,” Jackson added.
According to court documents obtained by KLKN, Scheich traded text messages with minors. In some exchanges, he would “discuss things like classwork and high school sports,” according to the affidavit. In others, Scheich allegedly asked for “pornographic material” from a classmate whom he had previously paid.
During an interview with authorities, Scheich allegedly admitted to pretending to be a student at the school and sending explicit messages to children but said he did not sexually assault any of them.
Jackson noted officers are still working to “identify the scope of his actions.” He did not specify how many alleged victims there are, citing the active investigation.
Scheich was being held Saturday at the Lancaster County jail.",Explicit
"More than 100 people who died in Nigeria's anti-police protests in 2020 will soon be buried, a state Health Ministry official said on Sunday.
The ministry said that the fatalities were from violence in several parts of the state, but not from the notorious protest site at the Lekki toll gate, where soldiers allegedly shot protesters.
At least 103 bodies were gathered from across the state after clashes during the protests, said Olusegun Ogboye, the permenant secretary of Lagos state's Health Ministry.
His statement came after the local media reported a leaked memo about the mass burial.
""The 103 casualties mentioned in the document were from these incidents and not from Lekki Toll-gate as being alleged,"" said Ogboye.
What happened in the 2020 protests
In October 2020, thousands of Nigerians marched across the country to protest the activities of the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The special unit was accused of police brutality.
The protests of the EndSARS movement were concentrated in Lagos, where security forces allegedly opened fire at the Lekki Toll Gate venue, killing dozens. The government has denied the incident.
Many activists on Monday questioned the Lagos government's decision not to announce the planned burial until after the media leak. But authorities denied any cover-up.
""Decongestion of our public morgues is a periodic and regular exercise approved by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to free up space in mortuaries that have a large number of unclaimed bodies,"" Ogboye said.
Amnesty demands new probes
Following the new information about the deaths, Amnesty International's Nigeria office accused the authorities of covering up the true death toll from the protests.
""Men associated with the government directly or indirectly and sponsored thugs attacked and injured, and in some cases killed protesters. You can see the government shifting the goal post every now and then, which shows a lack of honesty,"" the group's Nigeria director, Isa Sanusi, told the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
The number of victims of the 2020 protests is still disputed.
ara/fb (Reuters, AP)",Explicit
"A Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa has killed at least one person, wounded 19 and badly damaged an Orthodox cathedral, according to officials.
Oleg Kiper, the governor of Odesa, said on the Telegram messaging app that those wounded in Sunday’s air attack included several children.
“Odesa, another night attack of the monsters,” he said.
“Fourteen people were hospitalised in the city’s hospitals, three of them were children,” he said.
The assault also destroyed six houses and apartment buildings, he added.
Russia has been pounding Odesa and other Ukrainian food export facilities nearly daily over the past week after it withdrew from a United Nations-brokered sea corridor agreement that allowed for the safe shipment of Ukrainian grain.
Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram on Sunday that Russia launched high-precision Onyx missiles and sea-to-shore Kalibr cruise missiles on Odesa.
The city’s military administration said air defence systems destroyed a “significant part” of the missiles, which they said included Iskander ballistic missiles.
It added that the Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral of the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was severely damaged.
“The Kasperovska icon of the Mother of God, who is the patroness of Odesa, was retrieved from under the rubble,” the administration said on its Telegram channel.
The Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral, or the Transfiguration Cathedral, is Odesa’s largest Orthodox church building. It was consecrated in 1809.
Photos and videos published by Odesa officials and the police showed parts of the building destroyed and rubble inside, with several icons lined up on the ground.
In one video, a distressed man is seen walking inside the dark cathedral, repeating, “The church is no longer … Lord, have mercy.”
Al Jazeera could not immediately verify the videos or reports of the damage.
The UOC is Ukraine’s second-largest church, though most Ukrainian Orthodox believers belong to a separate branch of the faith formed four years ago by uniting branches independent of Russian authority.
Ukraine has accused the UOC of maintaining links to the pro-invasion Russian Orthodox Church, which used to be its parent church but with which the UOC says it broke ties in May last year.
There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Russia had described its recent attacks as revenge for a Ukrainian strike on a Russian-built bridge to Crimea – the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula that Russia seized in 2014.
It has accused Ukraine of using the sea corridor to launch “terrorist attacks”.",Explicit
"With a durable double-digit lead in the polls, Donald Trump continues to float the idea that he might boycott the first Republican presidential debate, scheduled to air next month on Fox News. “I haven’t really made up my mind,” Trump told Fox on July 16. “When you have a big lead, you don’t do it.”
The question, of course, is how a ratings-obsessed Trump would counterprogram a prime-time Fox debate that is sure to draw a significant cable news audience and feature such 2024 challengers as Ron DeSantis. One idea Trump is mulling is to sit for an interview with Tucker Carlson on his Twitter show at the same time as the debate, two sources briefed on the discussions said. According to one source, Trump recently reached out to Carlson and asked if Carlson would do the interview, but no decisions have been made.
The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Carlson declined to comment.
A Trump-Tucker Twitter show—say that three times fast!—could benefit both Trump and Carlson. For Trump, who is staring down a probable second federal indictment—courtesy of special counsel Jack Smith’s January 6 probe—Carlson would likely be a much friendlier interviewer than Fox’s chosen debate moderators, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. Last month Trump and Baier tangled over the host’s tough questions about Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. Afterward, Trump fumed to Newsmax about Baier’s confrontational tone: “I thought it was okay, but there was nothing friendly about it. You know, it was nasty.”
For Carlson, landing a Trump interview on the night of a Fox debate would demonstrate his growing conservative media power as he reportedly plans to launch his own streaming-based company. According to the source, investors have already told the ex-Fox anchor that they would contribute $100 million to his venture. Carlson and his business partner, Daily Caller cofounder Neil Patel, are currently reviewing trademarks to find an available name for the company, the source said. Carlson has joked to friends that he should name the company “Go Fuck Yourself Media.”
A potential Trump-Carlson show would also be a test for Fox News. Last month the network sent Carlson a cease and desist letter warning that his Twitter show was a violation of his Fox contract. But according to the source close to Carlson, Fox’s lawyers have had no further communication with Carlson. “Fox is still paying him! They thought they could control him by keeping him under contract,” a Carlson ally said.
Fox News did not respond to a request for comment.
By effectively ignoring Fox’s demand to sit on the sidelines until his contract expires at the end of 2024, Carlson is once again flexing the independence that rankled the Murdochs. According to a source, Rupert Murdoch recently told a friend that he fired Carlson because “Tucker got too big for his boots!”
A Murdoch spokesperson declined to comment.",Explicit
"Stanford Law School DEI administrator Tirien Steinbach resigned from her post on Thursday, months after a viral altercation when she accosted a conservative judge.
Dean Jenny Martinez announced Steinbach's departure in a Thursday message to the campus, saying Steinbach had found another opportunity to pursue. The letter went on to say that Steinbach had taken responsibility for her role in the March 9 dust-up.
""I write to share that Tirien Steinbach has decided that she will be leaving her role as Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Stanford Law School to pursue another opportunity,"" he wrote. ""Associate Dean Steinbach and I both hope that SLS can move forward as a community from the divisions caused by the March 9 event. The event presented significant challenges for the administration, the students, and the entire law school community.""
""As I have previously noted, tempers flared along multiple dimensions. Although Associate Dean Steinbach intended to de-escalate the tense situation when she spoke at the March 9 event, she recognizes that the impact of her statements was not as she hoped or intended,"" he continued.
""Both Dean Steinbach and Stanford recognize ways they could have done better in addressing the very challenging situation, including preparing for protests, ensuring university protocols are understood, and helping administrators navigate tensions when they arise. There are opportunities for growth and learning all around,"" the letter concluded.
The incident occurred when U.S. Circuit Court Judge Kyle Duncan delivered an address to students as an invited guest.
Duncan immediately met with angry protesters who held explicit posters that read ""FED SUCK"" and ""Trans Lives Matter"" and yelled insults like, ""We hope your daughters get raped.""
Steinbach wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on March 23, when she explained she planned to use deescalation techniques.
""I stepped up to the podium to deploy the de-escalation techniques in which I have been trained, which include getting the parties to look past conflict and see each other as people,"" she wrote. ""My intention wasn’t to confront Judge Duncan or the protesters but to give voice to the students so that they could stop shouting and engage in respectful dialogue.""
Posters also accused Duncan of crimes against trans people for denying a pedophile prisoner's request to change pronouns in 2020. He called the left-wing campus protesters ""juvenile idiots"" and said that ""prisoners are now running the asylum.""
Stanford ultimately apologized for the incident in a letter to Duncan.
Fox News' Kendall Tietz contributed to this report.",Explicit
"The man accused of attacking former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband last year will stand trial in San Francisco, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
David DePape’s federal public defenders, Jodi Linker and Angela Chuang, had requested that the federal trial be moved to the city of Eureka in neighboring Oregon. They argued that their client wouldn’t get a fair trial because the media attention has tainted the pool of jurors and because Pelosi, who has represented the City since 1987, remains a popular figure in the Bay Area.
DePape’s lawyers said a survey they commissioned shows many potential jurors already believe he is guilty of the crimes and would be unable to change their minds.
Per the San Francisco Standard, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said DePape’s lawyers had failed to show evidence that media coverage in the Bay Area was more negative than anywhere else.
Prosecutors say DePape broke into the Pelosis' San Francisco home on Oct. 28 seeking to kidnap the former speaker — who was out of town — and instead beat her 83-year-old husband with a hammer. Footage of the attack was released to the public in January after a California judge denied prosecutors' request to keep it secret.
DePape, 43, pleaded not guilty to federal charges of attempting to kidnap a federal official and assaulting a federal official's family member. He also pleaded not guilty to state charges, including attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse. He remains jailed without bail.
DePape’s federal trial is set to start November 13. His state trial hasn't been scheduled.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.",Explicit
"Abbie Parr/AP
toggle caption
An armed New Zealand police officer stands at a road block in the central business district following a shooting in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday, July 20, 2023. New Zealand police are responding to reports that a gunman has fired shots in a building in downtown Auckland.
Abbie Parr/AP
An armed New Zealand police officer stands at a road block in the central business district following a shooting in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday, July 20, 2023. New Zealand police are responding to reports that a gunman has fired shots in a building in downtown Auckland.
Abbie Parr/AP
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A gunman killed two people at a construction site in New Zealand's largest city of Auckland on Thursday, as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer tournament, authorities said.
Police said there were also multiple injuries during the incident, which took place near the hotel where Team Norway has been staying.
New Zealand Prime Minster Chris Hipkins said the tournament would go ahead as planned.
""Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,"" Hipkins said. ""The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned. I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.""
Acting Police Superintendent Sunny Patel said the man began shooting at the site on lower Queen Street at about 7:20 a.m. Police swarmed the area and closed off streets.
The man moved through the building, firing at people there, Patel said.
""Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft and our staff have attempted to engage with him,"" Patel said in a statement. ""Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later.""
It wasn't immediately clear if police had shot the gunman or he had killed himself.
Patel said that while alarming, the incident was isolated and didn't pose a national security risk.
The incident comes as soccer teams gathered in New Zealand for the FIFA Women's World Cup. The opening match is scheduled for Thursday between New Zealand and Norway.
Team Norway captain Maren Mjelde said people woke up quickly when a helicopter began hovering outside the hotel window.
""We felt safe the whole time,"" she said in a statement. ""FIFA has a good security system at the hotel, and we have our own security officer in the squad. Everyone seems calm and we are preparing as normal for the game tonight.""",Explicit
"A gunman in New Zealand has killed 2 people on eve of Women’s World Cup soccer tournament
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A gunman killed two people at a construction site in New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland on Thursday, as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer tournament, authorities said.
Police said there were also multiple injuries during the incident, which took place near the hotel where Team Norway has been staying.
New Zealand Prime Minster Chris Hipkins said the tournament would go ahead as planned.
“Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,” Hipkins said. “The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned. I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.”
Acting Police Superintendent Sunny Patel said the man began shooting at the site on lower Queen Street at about 7:20 a.m. Police swarmed the area and closed off streets.
The man moved through the building, firing at people there, Patel said.
“Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft and our staff have attempted to engage with him,” Patel said in a statement. “Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if police had shot the gunman or he had killed himself.
Patel said that while alarming, the incident was isolated and didn’t pose a national security risk.
The incident comes as soccer teams gathered in New Zealand for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The opening match is scheduled for Thursday between New Zealand and Norway.
Team Norway captain Maren Mjelde said people woke up quickly when a helicopter began hovering outside the hotel window.
“We felt safe the whole time,” she said in a statement. “FIFA has a good security system at the hotel, and we have our own security officer in the squad. Everyone seems calm and we are preparing as normal for the game tonight.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"During a stop on The 1975’s recent tour, the pop band brought one of their sets to an abrupt end after going against practices in Malaysia.
While performing at the Good Vibes Festival, frontman Matt Healy and Ross McDonald kissed midway through a rendition of ‘I Like America and America Likes Me’, after which their set was cut short by half an hour. The kiss opposed the Malaysian government, which is not accepting of LGBT rights.
Before the kiss, Healy made a speech about the country’s ordinances, telling the crowd: “I’m fucking furious. That’s not fair on you because you aren’t representative of your government. It’s fucking ridiculous to tell people what they can do”.
Healy explained how the band contemplated pulling out of the show altogether before changing their mind at the last minute: “I pulled the show yesterday, and we had a conversation, and we said, ‘We can’t let the kids down because they’re not the government”.
Further on in his speech, Healy addressed that he would gladly take the blame if the group were banned, explaining: “If you wanna bring me here, then fuck off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before, and it doesn’t feel good”.
Following the kiss, the band went through the next song, ‘I Couldn’t Be More In Love’, before leaving the stage, as Healy said: “We just got banned from Kuala Lumpur, goodbye”. Other songs on the setlist not performed that night included ‘Robbers’, ‘Somebody Else’ and ‘I’m In Love With You’.
Healy had done the same thing when the band previously played in Dubai, where he kissed a male fan against the country’s anti-gay laws. As of yet, there is no word on how long the band will be banned from the country.",Explicit
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.N. atomic watchdog says its monitors at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant reported seeing anti-personnel mines around the site as Ukraine’s military pursues a counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s entrenched forces after 17 months of war.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said its team observed the mines Sunday in a restricted area that is off-limits to the plant’s Ukrainian staff. The agency did not directly attribute the placement of the mines to the Russians but said its experts were told “it is a military decision, and in an area controlled by military.”
READ MORE: Plan to discharge water into Hudson River from closed Indian Point nuclear plant sparks uproar
“Having such explosives on the site is inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards and nuclear security guidance and creates additional psychological pressure on plant staff,” Rafael Mariano Grossi, the agency’s director general, said in a statement late Monday.
However, any detonation of the mines, which were facing away from the plant and located between its internal and external perimeter barriers, “should not affect the site’s nuclear safety and security systems,” the statement said.
The IAEA has repeatedly expressed concern that the war could cause a potential radiation leak from the facility, which is one of world’s 10 biggest nuclear power stations. The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.
Ukraine’s military intelligence said last month without providing evidence that Russia is planning a “large-scale provocation” at the nuclear power plant in the southeast of the country and had placed suspected explosives on the roof. Russia, in turn, has alleged without offering evidence that Ukraine was planning a false flag attack involving radioactive materials.
The IAEA statement said that the Russian occupiers still haven’t granted it access to the roofs of the reactors and their turbine halls.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday that air defenses intercepted Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia fired at Kyiv overnight, in what was the sixth drone attack on the capital this month. No casualties or damage were reported, according to Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv regional military administration head.
READ MORE: Deal for protection zone around Ukrainian nuclear plant is ‘close,’ IAEA leader says
The Russian Defense Ministry said a Russian patrol ship destroyed two Ukrainian sea drones that attacked it in the Black Sea early Tuesday. It said the crew of the Sergey Kotov patrol ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet wasn’t hurt in the attack 370 kilometers (200 nautical miles) southwest of the Crimean port of Sevastopol.
Ukrainian officials, in turn, said that Russians used cluster munitions in an attack on Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, late Monday.
Rockets hit a recreational pond, killing a 10-year-old boy and wounding four other children ranging in age from 5 to 12, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration.
Russia and Ukraine have both used cluster munitions throughout the war, and the U.S. has recently provided them to Ukraine.
Western analysts said Tuesday that Russia’s recent attacks on Odesa and other parts of southern Ukraine have employed missiles that were originally developed to destroy aircraft carriers.
Each missile weighs 5.5 metric tons, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in an assessment.
READ MORE: Ukraine strikes ammunition depot in Crimea as Russian attacks kill more civilians
In only a week, Russia has fired dozens of missiles and drones at the Odesa region, on Monday hitting a cathedral. The strikes have come since Moscow broke off from a landmark grain deal a week ago. Odesa is a key Ukrainian hub for exporting grain.
The attacks have damaged several grain silos at Chornomorsk Port, south of Odesa, and Russian drones have hit docks on the Danube River, approximately 200 meters (650 feet) from the Romanian border, according to the assessment.
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"AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Security will be heightened ahead of Thursday night's opening Women's World Cup game after a gunman killed two people at a downtown construction site in Auckland, roughly 12 hours ahead of co-host New Zealand's match against Norway.
Norway's team hotel was located within a short distance of the shooting, which occurred in the tourist area of the city near the harbor ferry terminal. Norway captain Maren Mjelde said teammates were awakened by a helicopter hovering outside the hotel.
“We felt safe the whole time,” Mjelde said in a statement. “FIFA has a good security system at the hotel, and we have our own security officer in the squad. Everyone seems calm and we are preparing as normal for the game tonight.”
Officials from Eden Park, where the game was scheduled to be played following an opening ceremony for the tournament, encouraged ticket holders to arrive to the stadium early.
“There will be an increased security presence within the precinct and across the venue. Additional traffic management measures are in place,” Eden Park said.
The shooting happened early Thursday morning at the start of rush hour in New Zealand's largest city. The gunman was armed with a pump-action shotgun, said New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. He added police arrived 1 minute after the first emergency call and had run straight into harm’s way to save the lives of others.
The gunman was found dead in an elevator, said Acting Police Superintendent Sunny Patel.
In addition to the three dead, at least six others were injured, officials said.
“New Zealand Football are shocked by the incident in Auckland CBD this morning,” the team said in a statement. “We can confirm that all of the Football Ferns team and staff are safe.”
Although Hipkins said his attendance of the opening match was now “under review” he said the tournament would go on as planned.
“Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,” Hipkins said. “The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned. I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.”
Tourism New Zealand canceled a welcome party, which was scheduled to be held Thursday afternoon at a location within the cordoned off area that included many hotels in which participating teams are being housed.
The United States women's team hotel is also located in the vicinity of the shooting and the team said in a statement it was ""saddened by the inexcusable loss of life to gun violence, and our thoughts are with the people of Auckland/Tamaki Makaurau and Aotearoa New Zealand.”
The month-long, 32-team tournament is being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, where the final will be staged on Aug. 20. There are strict gun laws in both countries, and fatal shootings are rare.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families in these difficult times. As a peace-loving nation, we stand with New Zealand in solidarity,"" Football Australia's head of marketing and communications Peter Filopoulos said. ""The situation seems to be contained now, thanks to NZ authorities. This incident is unrelated to the Women’s World Cup. Stay safe everyone.”
__
AP Sports Writer Steve McMorran contributed from Wellington, New Zealand.
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Explicit
"Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students last fall, was not at the off-campus home when the quadruple murder took place, his legal team said Tuesday.
Kohberger is facing four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 21-year-olds Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, 20-year-old Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, also 20. All four students were found fatally stabbed inside a residence in Moscow, not far from the University of Idaho campus, on Nov. 14.
“Evidence corroborating Mr. Kohberger being at a location other than the King Road address will be disclosed pursuant to discovery and evidentiary rules as well as statutory requirements,” his attorney Anne Taylor wrote in a court filing obtained by CNN. “It is anticipated this evidence may be offered by way of cross-examination of witnesses produced by the State as well as calling expert witnesses.”
Taylor did not provide additional details, including where exactly Kohberger allegedly was at the time of the killings.
Prior to the gruesome murders, Kohberger was a graduate student in the criminal justice and criminology department at Washington State University in Pullman, roughly 9 miles from the border of Idaho. He was arrested at his parents’ Pennsylvania home in December, shortly after making the cross-country drive to celebrate the holidays with his family.
Authorities have previously said they recovered Kohberger’s DNA from the crime scene, which his attorney argued could have been planted.
Kohberger has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges and his trial is slated to begin in October.
With News Wire Services",Explicit
"- Marjorie Taylor Greene held up large nude photos of Hunter Biden during a House Committee meeting.
- Democrats questioned the move and said they were ""completely irrelevant"" to the hearing.
- But Greene said they related to her claims about Biden and that ""the American people deserve to see"" them.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she was ""uncomfortable"" showing nude photos of President Joe Biden's son Hunter in Congress but that ""the American people deserve to see"" them.
Greene used a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday to hold up photos that purportedly showed Hunter Biden having sex with prostitutes.
The images clearly depict Biden nude and engaging in sex, but use black boxes to obscure his genitals and the faces of the people who aren't Biden.
The committee was hearing from two IRS staffers, Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley Jr., who have criticized the Department of Justice's investigation into Hunter Biden not paying his taxes.
Democrats questioned Greene showing the images, and some rebuked Greene's decision.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in her closing remarks that the images were ""pornographic"" and showed Republicans reaching a ""new low.""
Rep. Jamie Raskin told The Washington Post that showing the photos was ""completely irrelevant"" to the hearing and ""did not advance in any way the putative objective of the hearing."" He described it as ""an assault to the dignity of the committee.""
But Greene, a fervent Biden critic, spoke on Newsmax later on Wednesday, alleging that the DOJ was ""politically motivated"" and was ""protecting Joe Biden"" by not properly investigating his son.
She said the pictures would help Americans hold the government accountable, telling the show ""Rob Schmitt Tonight"": ""This is actually the evidence that I believe the American people deserve to see. Because when the American people can see this evidence, as uncomfortable as it was for me to show it on the Oversight Committee today, I believe that's how they can hold this government accountable.""
Hunter Biden reached an agreement to plead guilty in June to two criminal counts for failing to pay income tax, in a deal with the DOJ.
Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and the Department of Justice all deny that the investigation has been too lenient.
Hunter Biden has become a magnet for conspiracy theories, and Republicans, including Greene, have made unsubstantiated claims about Hunter Biden beyond what the DOJ has investigated.
Greene, in the committee hearing, alleged that Hunter Biden used his company to pay prostitutes and then wrote it off as a business expense. Ziegler, the IRS witness, did not confirm that, though he did say that there were deductions for what he believed to be escorts, according to The Hill.",Explicit
"PHILADELPHIA -- A retired minister in Georgia has been charged with murder in the slaying of an 8-year-old girl whose remains were found in southeastern Pennsylvania almost a half-century ago.
David Zandstra, 83, of the Atlanta suburb of Marietta is charged with criminal homicide, first--, second- and third-degree murder, kidnapping of a minor and a related count in the 1975 death of Gretchen Harrington in Delaware County.
District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer told reporters Monday in the Delaware County seat of Media that the defendant was “a monster"" and ""every parent's worst nightmare.""
“This is a man who is a remorseless child predator who acted as if he was a friend, a neighbor and a man of God, and he killed this poor little girl,” Stollsteimer said.
Having killed a child who knew and trusted him, he then “acted as if he was their family friend, not only during her burial and the period after that but for years,” the district attorney said.
Harrington, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister and his wife, disappeared in mid-August 1975 while walking from her Marple Township home to Bible camp at Trinity Church Chapel, where Zandstra was pastor. Her body was found two months later by a jogger in Ridley Creek State Park in Media.
Harrington, usually accompanied by her sisters but alone this day because of a recent birth in her family, was offered a ride by Zandstra, who was also the father of one of her best friends, Stollsteimer alleged.
“So when he offered her a ride in his car, of course she got in the car,” he said.
Zandstra took her to a wooded location and eventually struck her in the head, and believing her to be dead tried to cover her body, authorities said. Returning to his church, he “tried to act like nothing had happened,” and when her father, pastor of the nearby Reformed Presbyterian Church, called seeking to find her, Zandstra was the one to call police, Stollsteimer alleged.
Over ensuing days, hundreds of people searched nearby wooded areas, and authorities distributed more than 2,000 leaflets and set up a 24-hour hotline that took hundreds of calls, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. When the girl’s body was found in mid-October 1975, her clothing was “folded and in a neat pile” near her body with her underwear hanging from a tree branch “like a flag ... as if to call attention to the place,” the Inquirer reported at the time.
Stollsteimer said new information from an unnamed friend of the victim led state police to travel to Georgia and interview Zandstra, who authorities allege then confessed to the crime.
Trooper Eugene Tray said the defendant's demeanor was “relieved"" as if it was “a weight off his shoulders.” Stollsteimer said Zandstra, however, was fighting extradition from Georgia though the prosecutor vowed that he would be returned to face justice in Pennsylvania.
DNA from the defendant will be compared to material from open cases in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, authorities said. Zandstra lived in Texas and Georgia after leaving the commonwealth, they said. The Christian Reformed Church lists him as having ministered in New Jersey, California and Texas before retiring in 2005. Authorities said they were concerned that there may have been more victims and urged anyone with information to contact investigators.
Zandstra remained in custody in Georgia; a message was left Monday for a Pennsylvania attorney listed as representing him.
Gretchen Harrington's family asked for privacy but said in a statement that they were “extremely hopeful” that the person responsible would be held accountable for taking her away from them, which they said “forever altered our family and we miss her every single day.”
“If you met Gretchen, you were instantly her friend. She exuded kindness to all and was sweet and gentle,” the family said. “Even now, when people share their memories of her, the first thing they talk about is how amazing she was and still is ... at just 8 years old, she had a lifelong impact on those around her.”",Explicit
"An elementary school teacher in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, took her own life in a classroom Tuesday morning, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said late Wednesday.
The teacher, whose identity has been withheld, reportedly killed themselves before school started in the morning, according to reports. Local media has reported that the teacher was a 23-year-old woman who passed the teacher certification test earlier this year.
It added that students had not yet been informed of the teacher’s death, citing the potential of emotional damage. No students witnessed the scene, the education office added.
The office added that police are currently investigating the case to determine the time of death, and they had yet to determine the exact cause.
The office further added that no suicide note had been found at the scene, declining to comment more on the issue. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education also said it would offer support for students and teaching staff experiencing trauma.",Explicit
"MOGADISHU, Somalia -- A suicide bomber on Monday targeted a military training academy in Somalia, killing 25 soldiers in the capital of Mogadishu, a senior army officer said.
Al-Qaida’s affiliate in East Africa, the Somalia-based al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The officer said more than 40 others were wounded in the bombing at the Jalle Siyad military academy, said the officer. He only his first name, Abdullahi, because he was not authorized to speak publicly. There was no immediate statement from Somali authorities.
Al-Shabab controls parts of rural Somalia and often targets high-profile areas of the capital.
Somali authorities launched a new offensive against al-Shabab last year to try to recapture extremist-held territory and dismantle the taxation and broader financial network that funds the fighters.
Somalia’s military is under growing pressure to assume responsibility for the Horn of Africa country’s security as a multinational African Union force slowly draws down. Partners including the United States, the European Union and Turkey help to train Somali forces.",Explicit
"ISLAMABAD – An extremely distressing incident surfaced in Islamabad as the wife of a civil judge allegedly tortured a minor maid.
It has been learnt that a poverty-stricken family takes the help of a man named Mukhtar to get a domestic help job for her 14-year-old identified as Rizwana.
The parents of the victim alleged that wife of civil judge Asim Hafeez assaulted her badly, leaving the minor girl in a miserable condition.
Rizwana’s mother decried torture marks all over on her body including her head, and she was filmed in a really bad state, prompting action from the police and local authorities.
The parent of the girl alleged that the family of a civil judge lashed the girl by falsely accusing her of theft. The victim was first shifted to DHQ Teaching Hospital Sargodha but was later shifted to Lahore.
Amid the outrage, the civil judge, who is currently appointed in Judicial Academy, denied all accusations of violence, saying his wife’s gold was missing but ruled out any physical violence on the child.
He maintained that the child was not tortured, but was handed over to her mother, who herself beat her.",Explicit
"At least one person has been killed and 19 more injured in fresh Russian missile strikes on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, officials have said.
Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said 14 people were hospitalised in the blasts, including four children.
The historical Transfiguration Cathedral was badly damaged by the strikes, the city council said.
Moscow has been launching near constant attacks on Odesa since it withdrew from a landmark grain deal on Monday.
""Odesa: another night attack of the monsters,"" Mr Kiper wrote on Telegram. He added that six residential buildings - including several apartment buildings - were destroyed by the strikes.
Odesa's military administration said that the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was severely damaged.
The building is Odesa's largest Orthodox church and was consecrated in 1809. It was demolished by the Soviet Union in 1939, before being re-built in 2003.
In a video posted to social media by the city council, Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov could be seen walking through rubble inside the church.
Andriy Palchuk, the archdeacon of the Cathedral, said he was the first person to arrive at the scene.
""The destruction is enormous; half of the cathedral was left without a roof, and the central piles and foundation were destroyed,"" he said.
""All the windows and stucco moulding were blown out. There was a fragmentary fire, the part where icons and candles are sold in the church caught fire. It was all on fire, burning.""
The UN's cultural agency, Unesco, has repeatedly urged Russia to cease attacks on Odesa. The city's historic centre was designated an endangered World Heritage by the organisation earlier this year, despite Russian opposition.
But in an update posted to Facebook, Ukraine's southern command said Russia had targeted the Odesa region with at least five different types of missiles.
The head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andriy Yermak, repeated calls for more missiles and defence systems after the latest attack on Odesa.
""This is the undisguised terror of a peaceful city,"" Mr Yermak wrote on Telegram. ""The enemy must be deprived of the opportunity to attack civilians and infrastructure.""
Moscow has notably stepped up attacks on the port city since it withdrew from the UN backed grain deal on Monday and Ukraine has accused it of targeting grain supplies and infrastructure vital to the deal.
A strike earlier this week destroyed some 60,000 tonnes of grain, officials said.
Odesa is Ukraine's biggest port, and millions of tonnes of grain have been shipped from its docks under the terms of the deal.
The deal - brokered by Turkey and the UN - between Russia and Ukraine was struck in July 2022, allowing cargo ships to sail along a corridor in the Black Sea.",Explicit
"Atmore, Alabama — Alabama executed a man on Friday for the 2001 beating death of a woman as the state resumed lethal injections following a pause to review procedures., 64, was pronounced dead at 1:56 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison.
Barber was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 beating death of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps. Prosecutors said Barber, a handyman, confessed to killing Epps with a claw hammer and fleeing with her purse. Jurors voted 11-1 to recommend a death sentence, which a judge imposed.
It was the first execution carried out in Alabama this year after the state halted executions last fall. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced a pause on executions in November to conduct an internal review of procedures.
The move came after the state halted two lethal injections because of difficulties inserting IVs into the condemned men's veins. Advocacy groups claimed a third execution, carried out after a delay because of IV problems, was botched, a claim the state has disputed.
Barber's attorneys unsuccessfully asked the courts to block the execution, saying the state has a pattern of failing ""to carry out a lethal injection execution in a constitutional manner.""
The state asked the courts to let the execution proceed.
""Mrs. Epps and her family have waited for justice for twenty-two years,"" the Alabama attorney general's office wrote in a court filing.
Attorneys for inmate Alan Miller said prison staff poked him with needles for over an hour as they unsuccessfully tried to connect an IV line to him and at one point left him hanging vertically on a gurney during his. State officials called off the November after they were unsuccessful in connecting the second of two required lines.
Ivey announced in February that the state was resuming executions. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said prison system had added to its pool of medical professionals, ordered new equipment and conducted additional rehearsals.
Attorneys for Barber had argued that his execution ""will likely be botched in the same manner as the prior three.""
The Supreme Court denied Barber's request for a stay without comment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the decision in a writing joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
""The Eighth Amendment demands more than the State's word that this time will be different. The Court should not allow Alabama to test the efficacy of its internal review by using Barber as its 'guinea pig,'"" Sotomayor wrote.
State officials wrote that the previous executions were called off because of a ""confluence of events-including health issues specific to the individual inmates and last-minute litigation brought by the inmates that dramatically shortened the window for ADOC officials to conduct the executions.""
In the hours leading up to the scheduled execution, Barber had 22 visitors and two phone calls, a prison spokesperson said. Barber ate a final meal of loaded hashbrowns, western omelet, spicy sausage and toast.
One of the changes Alabama made following the internal review was to give the state more time to carry out executions. The Alabama Supreme Court did away with its customary midnight deadline to get an execution underway in order to give the state more time to establish an IV line and battle last-minute legal appeals.
for more features.",Explicit
"Alabama on Friday executed James Barber for the beating death of a woman in 2001, resuming executions in the state less than a year after a series of botched procedures led to outrage and an internal review of the procedures.
Barber was convicted and sentenced to death after confessing to killing 75-year-old Dorothy Epps in 2001. Jurors voted 11-1 to recommend the death penalty.
The 64-year-old was pronounced dead at 1:56 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison.
Barber was the first execution carried out by the state since Republican Gov. Kay Ivey announced in November she was pausing the procedures and ordering an internal “top-to-bottom review” of the state’s execution process following reports of problematic execution attempts.
Before he was put to death, Barber — who confessed to murdering Epps with a claw hammer before fleeing with her purse — told his family he loved them and apologized to the victim’s family.
“I want to tell the Epps’ family I love them. I’m sorry for what happened,” Barber said. “No words would fit how I feel.”
He also took the opportunity to tell Ivey “and the people in this room that I forgive you for what you are about to do.”
After the execution, Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement that “justice has been served.”
“This morning, James Barber was put to death for the terrible crime he committed over two decades ago: the especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel murder of Dorothy Epps,” he said.
Breaking News
Last year, Alabama was one of several states “with failed or bungled executions,” according to a report by Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington-based nonprofit focusing on capital punishment issues.
Seven of the 20 execution attempts in 2022 were “visibly problematic” as a result of “executioner incompetence, failures to follow protocols, or defects in the protocols themselves,” according to the report.
One such case was the execution of Joe James in Alabama, which took approximately three hours to get underway, sparking national outrage.
“After 40 years, the states have proven themselves unable to carry out lethal injections without the risk that it will be botched,” Robert Dunham, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement shared with the Daily News in December.
In February, Ivey announced the state was resuming executions.
Early on Friday, Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said the two intravenous lines were connected to Barber with “three sticks in six minutes.”
With News Wire Services",Explicit
"Ecuador’s president, Guillermo Lasso, has declared a 60-day state of emergency throughout the country’s prisons and authorized the armed forces to retake control of jails, following violence in the country’s most notorious prison that left 18 dead and a string of protests in which inmates took nearly 100 guards hostage.
The measure – the second state of emergency that Lasso has ordered in less than 24 hours – will be in effect for 60 days and orders the immediate mobilization of the military and police in an effort to regain control of the prisons.
Clashes – including gunfire and explosions – between organized criminal gangs have raged since Saturday at the Penitenciaría del Litoral prison in the city of Guayaquil.
“So far the death of 18 prisoners has been confirmed after the clashes registered since Saturday,” the prosecutor’s office tweeted on Tuesday, adding that more than 10 people, including one police officer, were injured during the incidents.
The Penitenciaría del Litoral has a capacity for about 9,500 inmates, but in the first quarter of this year exceeded that number by almost 3,000.
It is considered one of the most dangerous prisons in Ecuador. A gang battle in 2021 killed 119 inmates. In April, 12 inmates were killed and three injured during a riot.
Meanwhile, prisoners in 13 other prisons declared a hunger strike on Monday and are holding 96 prison guards hostage to demand better sanitary conditions and food, among other issues.
Ecuador has long been plagued by prison violence, with this latest surge taking place amid campaigning for elections scheduled for 20 August, pushing some presidential candidates to pledge prison reforms, including electronic surveillance systems and more prison officers.
The SNAI prison authority has worked to regain control of the prison since early Tuesday, it said in a posting on the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, which was accompanied by images of heavily equipped police and military entering the Penitenciaría del Litoral.
Military intervention in Ecuador’s prisons will continue until control has been retaken and there is no threat to prisoners or officials, the government said on Tuesday.
Lasso also declared a state of emergency in the provinces of Manabí and Los Ríos, as well as in the city of Durán on Monday, after the mayor of the city of Manta, Agustín Intriago, was shot dead on Sunday.
Lasso has regularly declared states of emergency in the country’s prisons as he tries to tackle violence which has surged since 2021, claiming the lives of hundreds of prisoners.
The prison system has faced structural problems for decades, prompting concern from the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.",Explicit
"More than two months after three women were stripped and paraded by a mob in violence-hit Manipur, police said they have registered a case of gang-rape and abduction, and would soon make arrests. It is among the first cases of sexual violence to be reported and which is being followed up with police action after the clashes in the State started on May 3.
A video clip of the incident surfaced on social media on Wednesday. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) said in a statement that the ordeal suffered by the women is amplified by the perpetrators’ decision to share the video on social media revealing the identity of the victims. Two of the women are seen in the clip.
The incident is alleged to have taken place on May 4 at Nongpok Sekmai in Thoubal district when the three women were trying to escape a violent mob that had attacked their village in Kangpokpi district. A police source said that on May 18, a zero First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Kangpokpi police station, which has now been transferred to Thoubal, the place of incident. A zero FIR is registered irrespective of the jurisdiction or area power of the police.
One of the women was raped, the FIR said. The father and brother of the rape survivor were killed by the mob, according to a complaint filed by the village head. The complaint said the brother, aged 19, was killed while trying to protect his sister from the mob. Charges of murder have also been added.
The FIR stated that five villagers, including the three women, fearing for their lives had fled towards a forest and had been rescued by the police. However, the mob of around 900-1,000 men, some of them carrying sophisticated weapons, blocked the police team and snatched the five from the custody of the police, the FIR said.
The zero FIR was transferred to Thoubal police on June 21. It has been more than a month that a regular FIR was registered, but no arrests have been made.
A statement by the Manipur police said, “In regard to the viral videos of two women paraded naked by unknown armed miscreants on May 4, a case of abduction, gang-rape and murder etc. was registered against unknown armed miscreants and the investigation has been started. The State Police is making all-out effort to arrest the culprits at the earliest.”
The State government imposed an indefinite curfew in the five valley districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Kakching, and Thoubal districts on Wednesday after a protest march was planned by women’s group.
Hoihnu Hauzel, a Manipuri journalist, said on Twitter, “The women were paraded naked, fondled and beaten in full public glare. A disturbing video taken by a perpetrator leaked and got viral today. This breaks all level of humanity.”
Two more tactical headquarters
Meanwhile the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has deployed two senior officers from Nagaland and Assam to oversee the existing and additional companies deployed in Manipur in “view of present security situation.” It created two tactical headquarters in Kangpokpi and Jiribam districts, other than the one in Imphal.
The order said, “In view of the present security scenario in the State of Manipur and increased level of CRPF deployment, supervision of senior officers of the level of Deputy Inspector General across strategic places of the State has been felt essential and crucial. Accordingly, to have effective control and supervision over the existing and additional companies deployed in Manipur, DIG Ops (Operations) Kohima and DIG Silchar are temporarily placed in Manipur with immediate effect.”
Other than the State police, 124 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and 184 columns of the Army has been deployed in the State.
Internet has been suspended in Manipur since May 3, when ethnic violence between the Kuki and Meitei communities erupted in the State. More than 140 people have been killed and over 54,000 people displaced in the ongoing violence.",Explicit
"Biden plans to sign a proclamation Tuesday, on the anniversary of Till's birthday, according to a White House official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity as the president has not formally indicated his plans. Till was a 14-year-old black boy who was shot and killed by a group of white men in Mississippi for allegedly flirting with a white woman, Carol Bryant, in 1955. His killers would tie his body to a cotton gin wheel with barbed wire to weigh his body down in the Tallahatchie River.
There are three proposed sites for the monuments, the first of which is Graball Landing, Mississippi, where Till's body was discovered. Another site will include the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Bryant's husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother J.W. Milam were acquitted of Till's murder. The third site will be Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Bronzeville, Illinois, Till's home state, where his funeral was held. At the time, his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, opted to hold an open-casket funeral to bring attention to her son's death.
During Black History Month this year, Biden hosted a showing of Till, a film based on his mother. The showing was held in the White House East Room and preceded by remarks from the president on the importance of teaching civil rights history. This came a year after the Emmett Till Antilynching Act was unanimously passed by the Senate and also passed by the House in a 422-3 vote, suggesting a monument would be accepted well in Congress.
The legislation was the culmination of Biden's campaign speaking out against racially-motivated crimes. Ahead of the 2020 election, the then-presidential candidate spoke out against the shooting murder of Ahmaud Arbery of Georgia, who, in Biden's words, was ""shot down in cold blood, essentially lynched before our very eyes, 2020 style.""
In 2019, Biden would have to apologize for a comment he made during then-President Clinton's impeachment hearings, claiming they could be viewed as a “partisan lynching.” Biden admitted the word lynching ""wasn't the right word to use.""",Explicit
"The convicted rapist son of Welsh Frist Minister Mark Drakeford is behind bars again after he created a secret online dating username while on licence from prison.

Jay Humphries, who was jailed in 2018 after being found guilty of rape and inflicting actual bodily harm under his previous name of Jonathan Drakeford, used an unapproved profile name on a dating site, according to the BBC.

Caernarfon Magistrates Court heard that the 36-year-old used the name on the Fab Guys website, and then deleted internet browsing history from his phone.

The hearing last week was told the use of the Fab Guys account had been approved by police. But the name he chose to use, naughty 5007387, was not.

A previously agreed upon name was required as part of his use of the site so that police could monitor his activity online.

Humphries admitted both offences and is set to be sentenced on August 11.

The court heard that he claimed to have deleted his internet history by accident.

But Catherine Elvin, prosecuting, said his guilty plea suggested it had been done deliberately in a bid to 'conceal' his activity.

'Sexual harm prevention orders are put in place for a reason,' Ms Elvin said.

Defending, Gemma Morgan told the court Humphries had found it difficult to come to terms with his personal situation upon his release from prison, and having to live in approved accommodation in north Wales, away from his family.

The court also heard that he had been dealing with the death of his mother, Clare Drakeford, who died in January.

'He was suffering emotionally,' Ms Morgan said. 'He was speaking to other men on Fab Guys expressing his feelings.'

The court also heard that his feelings were compounded by learning difficulties and Autism.

Humphries had since been recalled to prison after he was arrested in Bangor, Gwynedd, in March, the court heard, following other breaches of his release on licence, which included leaving an abusive phone message for a probation officer.

In 2018, Humphries was handed an eight year and eight month sentence at Cardiff Crown Court, having being found guilty of rape and inflicting actual bodily harm, under his former name.

He also admitted to a child sexual offence after messaging a girl on Facebook who he thought was 15 years old at the time.

After Humphries's 2018 conviction, Mark Drakeford said it had been a 'distressing period' for the family.

'Our thoughts are with all those caught up in it, especially the victim', he said.",Explicit
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NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Parliament was disrupted for a third day Monday by opposition protests over ethnic clashes in a remote northeastern state in which more than 130 people have been killed since May.
Opposition lawmakers carried placards and chanted slogans outside the Parliament building as they demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the violence in Manipur state before a debate on the issue.
Last week, Modi broke more than two months of public silence over the ethnic clashes, telling reporters that mob assaults on two women who were paraded naked were unforgivable, but he did not refer directly to the larger violence.
His comments came after a video showing the assaults sparked widespread outrage on social media despite the internet being largely blocked and journalists being locked out in the state. It shows two naked women surrounded by scores of young men who grope their genitals and drag them to a field.
The video was emblematic of the near-civil war in Manipur, where mobs have rampaged through villages and torched houses. The conflict was sparked by an affirmative action controversy in which Christian Kukis protested a demand by mostly Hindu Meiteis for a special status that would let them buy land in the hills populated by Kukis and other tribal groups and get a share of government jobs.
READ MORE: Yellen visits India again to deepen ties and tackle global economic issues
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the government is ready to discuss the situation in Manipur. “I request the opposition to let a discussion take place on this issue. It is important that the country gets to know the truth on this sensitive matter,” he said in the lower house of Parliament.
Both houses of Parliament were adjourned various times as the opposition stopped proceedings with their demand for a statement from Modi. Sessions were also disrupted on Thursday and Friday.
The main opposition Congress party’s president, Mallikarjun Kharge, tweeted it was Modi’s “duty to make a comprehensive statement inside the Parliament on Manipur violence.”
Violence in Manipur and the harrowing video have triggered protests across the country. On Monday, scores of people gathered in Indian-controlled Kashmir and protesters carrying placards took to the streets of the eastern city of Kolkata.
Over the weekend, nearly 15,000 people held a sit-in protest in Manipur to press for the immediate arrest of anyone involved in the assault, which occurred in May. They also called for the firing of Biren Singh, the top elected official in the state who also belongs to Modi’s party.
The state government said last week that four suspects had been arrested and that police were carrying out raids to arrest other suspects.
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Jun 22",Explicit
"UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday made a formal apology for the “horrific” historic treatment of LGBT people who served in the military when homosexuality was banned.
“The ban on LGBT people serving in our military until the year 2000 was an appalling failure of the British state, decades behind the law of this land,” Sunak told the House of Commons.
“In that period many endured the most horrific sexual abuse and violence, homophobic bullying and harassment, all while bravely serving this country,” he added.
“Today, on the behalf of the British state, I apologise.”
The prime minister said he hoped those affected would now “feel proud parts of the veteran community that has done so much to keep our country safe.”
The apology was prompted by the findings of a government-commissioned independent review of LGBT veterans who served between 1967 and 2000.
The report detailed “shocking evidence of a culture of homophobia, and of bullying, blackmail, and sexual assaults, abusive investigations into sexual orientation and sexual preference, disgraceful medical examinations, including conversion therapy.”
Report author Terence Etherton recommended that Sunak deliver an apology and that an “appropriate financial award” should be made to veterans affected by the pre-2000 ban.
Former British Army Officer Catherine Dixon, now vice-chair at LGBT charity Stonewall, called the apology “an important step to achieving justice for those LGBTQ+ people who served in HM Armed Forces and, like me, experienced shame, humiliation, and a ruined military career because of our sexuality.”
“Many were imprisoned, experienced corrective violence and lived with the stain of criminal convictions because of who they loved and which left some homeless and many unable to work,” she added.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told parliament that the report made for “miserable and distressing” reading and that the government had been working through the report’s recommendations.
“Today we want to say to all those ex-soldiers, sailors, and aviators, many now in retirement, you are one of us, you belong in our community and in choosing to put yourself in harm’s way for the good of your colleagues, your community and country, you have proven yourselves the best of us.”",Explicit
"The meeting comes after a specific request from UkrainianPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
""The parties will convene to consult on the latest developments and discuss the transportation of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea,"" she said.
It will be an ambassador-level meeting, said Lungescu.
The urgent call for the Ukraine-NATO Council meeting came in response to the situation in the Black Sea and the disruption of the crucial grain corridor, as President Zelenskyy emphasized in his July 22 video address.
Zelenskyy then held a telephone conversation with Stoltenberg.
The establishment of the Ukraine-NATO Council occurred during the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, marking a significant milestone in Ukraine-NATO relations.
Grain Agreement Suspension and Attack on Odesa: Key Details
The Kremlin announced the suspension of the ""grain agreement"" on July 17, previously brokered by the UN and Turkey last July. This agreement facilitated the unblocking of three Ukrainian ports for food exports.
Russia then withdrew its shipping safety guarantees under the framework of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Ukraine asked Turkey andthe UN to continue the ""grain corridor"" operations without the involvement of Russia. In retaliation, the Kremlin issuedthreats, hinting at the possibility of resuming the agreement's operation without Ukraine.
In the wake of these developments, Russia launched massive strikes on the port and grain infrastructure of Ukraine, targeting the port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv. These attacks resulted in the destruction of civil infrastructure and the loss of civilian lives.
Notably, on the night of July 23, Russian troops inflicted a devastating blow on the historic center of Odesa, resulting in at least one fatality, 22 injuries, and significant damage to the city.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has expressed conditional willingness to consider a return to the ""grain agreement,"" subject to meeting all its provisions.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine",Explicit
"AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Hannah Wilkinson scored to open the second half and New Zealand went on to beat Norway 1-0 on Thursday for its first-ever win at the Women's World Cup, just hours after a shooting in downtown Auckland shocked the host nation.
A gunman stormed a high-rise construction site near Norway's team hotel and opened fire, killing two people. The gunman was found dead after a police shootout.
There was increased security at Eden Park stadium, where 42,137 — a record crowd for a soccer match in New Zealand — were on hand to cheer on the home team, co-hosts of the tournament with Australia. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was among those at the game.
After an opening ceremony that honored New Zealand's Indigenous heritage, there was a moment of silence for the victims of the shooting. Four people were wounded in the attack, including an police officer.
New Zealand got the nod to stage the first game, although co-host Australia's match against Ireland in Sydney started about an hour later.
The Football Ferns had played in five previous World Cups, but hadn't won a match.
Norway couldn’t finish its chances in the first half while the Ferns defended well. Ada Hegerberg’s attempt in the 37th minute was deftly defended by Rebekah Stott and the match was scoreless after the first half.
The first woman to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or award, Hegerberg has 43 goals in 77 international appearances. Currently playing professionally for Lyon, she has scored a record 59 goals in the Champions League.
Wilkinson scored in the opening moments of the second half. Jaqui Hand came up the right side and placed a perfect cross at Wilkinson’s feet for the goal. While the home crowd wildly celebrated, Norway goalkeeper Aurora Mikalson stood with her hands on her hips.
Norway won the World Cup in 1995. At the last tournament in 2019, the team fell to England in the quarterfinals. At the Women’s Euro in 2022, England routed the Norwegians 8-0. In the run-up to this game, winger Caroline Graham Hansen called the World Cup a chance to “start fresh.”
Tuva Hansen nearly scored for Norway in the 83rd but her shot hit the crossbar and caromed over the net.
The Ferns nearly doubled their lead in the 89th after a video review awarded them a penalty, but Ria Percival’s attempt hit the post.
Stoppage time stretched for more than 10 minutes before the whistle blew and New Zealand’s bench rushed the field in celebration. Ferns captain Ali Riley pounded her chest, then buried her head in her hands in happy tears.
Considered the favorites in Group A, the Norwegians went into the game 5-1-1 all-time against New Zealand, with the only loss coming in a 2019 exhibition match.
New Zealand has struggled in the run-up to the tournament on home soil, with just one win in its last 11 matches.
The two teams had met just once before at the World Cup: Norway beat the Ferns 4-0 in 1991.
UP NEXT
Group A play continues Friday with Switzerland playing the Philippines in Dunedin. New Zealand’s next match is Tuesday against the Philippines in Wellington, while Norway plays Switzerland in Hamilton. The top two teams in the group will advance to the knockout stage.
___
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
___
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Explicit
"BOSTON — A former New Hampshire state lawmaker and the one-time partner of a woman charged with taking sexually explicit photos of children at the Massachusetts day care center where she worked has also been charged in the case, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
No defense attorney was listed for Laughton in court records. She will appear in court at a later date.
Lindsay Groves, 38, of Hudson, New Hampshire, was charged last month with sexual exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography for allegedly taking nude photos of children at Creative Minds Early Learning Center in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, and texting them to another person.
Prosecutors said Tuesday that a preliminary forensic review of Groves’ cellphone allegedly revealed more than 10,000 text messages between Laughton and Groves. The texts allegedly included discussion about, and transfer of, explicit photographs that Groves had taken of children who appear to be about 3 to 5 years old.
Groves remains in state custody in New Hampshire. An email seeking comment was left with her federal public defender.
Laughton, a Democrat, resigned from the New Hampshire House in December after being charged with stalking Groves.
Laughton in 2012 was believed to be the first transgender person elected to a state legislature. But she resigned before taking her seat after reports surfaced about her 2008 convictions for identity fraud and falsifying evidence. She successfully ran again in 2020 and was re-elected in 2022. She resigned in December after being jailed on the charges related to Groves.
The charge of sexual exploitation of children can lead to a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
A voicemail seeking comment was left with the day care center.
Copyright © 2023 The Washington Times, LLC.
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"Republicans have yet to produce any evidence of actual wrongdoing by Hunter Biden, so they let Marjorie Taylor Greene wave his nude photos around Wednesday during a House Oversight Committee hearing on his taxes.
House Republicans have for months accused the Bidens of corruption and other forms of wrongdoing, although they have yet to produce any actual evidence. They’ve recently seized on Hunter Biden’s plea deal on his taxes, which will allow him to avoid jail time. But again, during that House hearing, Republicans and their “whistleblower” witnesses failed to show any meaningful evidence of said corruption.
So instead, Greene tried to claim that Biden engaged in sex trafficking and listed payments to sex workers as a tax writeoff. As part of her argument, she held up poster-size prints of Biden’s nude photos, which were taken off his laptop.
Everyone else in the room grew visibly uncomfortable as Greene displayed photo after photo. At one point, Democrats interjected, pointing out that Greene had gone over her allotted time and warning that her actions were not appropriate. But House Oversight Chair James Comer, who has spearheaded the investigation into the Bidens, did not reprimand Greene.
Not only was Greene’s decision to wave Biden’s nudes around wildly inappropriate for a congressional hearing, but it may also have violated D.C. revenge porn law. City law prohibits knowingly disclosing one or more sexual images of an identified or identifiable person when the person in the photo did not consent to the image being shared.
This isn’t the first time Republicans have shared Hunter’s nudes, but blowing them up on a poster for a congressional hearing is a new low.
Oversight Ranking Member Jamie Raskin tore into Republicans at the beginning of the hearing, noting that the majority party had no evidence. Earlier in the day, he warned that the two witnesses had already “undermined this Republican narrative” in their own previous depositions.",Explicit
"- A recent study found that public support for using violence to ""coerce"" members of Congress nearly doubled from January to June.
- Support among self-identified Democrats for political violence grew by about 250%, according to the study.
- ""The more there's distrust in democracy, the more that's leading to radical support for the use of force,"" the study's author told Insider.
Public support for the use of force against members of Congress nearly doubled from January to June of this year, according to a recent study shared with Insider.
The study, published by the University of Chicago's Project on Security and Threats (CPOST), found that as of June 26, 17% of the American public — an estimated 44 million people — supported using violence to coerce lawmakers. That's up from 9% when the survey was conducted in January.
The spike was most pronounced among self-identified Democrats: in January, 7% of Democrats supported using political violence against lawmakers, and that number climbed to 16% in June.
By contrast, the support for political violence against Congress among self-identifying Republicans increased by 50%. Overall, a higher percentage of these Republicans — 18% of all respondents — endorse the use of force against lawmakers compared to Democrats.
""When we say violence or coercion, we're using 'use of force' specifically because we know the respondents interpret that as meaning, 'even if some people are injured and killed,'"" Robert Pape, a political science professor at the University of Chicago and the study's author, told Insider.
The report noted that while support for violence against members of Congress increased ""across the political spectrum, the rise was sharpest among Democrats, where it grew by about 2.5 times.""
It did not draw a specific causal link for the rise in support for extremism among Democrats, but noted that it coincides with ""growing anger over the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and hearings that they have held painting a disparaging picture of Democrats.""
Pape's report, which was published earlier this month, also clocked a significant jump over the last several months in public support for using violence to restore former President Donald Trump to power.
Specifically, the survey found roughly 4% of Americans — an estimated 12 million people — supported using violence to return Trump to office in April. By the end of June, that number spiked to an estimated 18 million Americans, about a 50% increase. The CPOST survey polled 3,543 adults between June 22 and June 26 had a 2.3% margin of error.
Pape also noted that rise in radical support for violence across the aisle is connected to ""perceived corruption in our democratic institutions.""
""We have credible evidence that the more there's distrust in democracy, the more that's leading to radical support for the use of force for both conservative, Republican causes and also for liberal causes,"" he told Insider.",Explicit
"Donald Trump on Thursday reposted a video on his Truth Social platform in which he is heard saying: “If you f**k around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you that have never been done before.”
The former president’s threatening words play over a black-and-white image of his face and his 2024 campaign logo.
The clip was initially shared by the user @AmericanAF, which in its bio says is the “OFFICIAL MAGA headquarters” that is “run by veterans.”
The audio is actually from a 2020 conversation the Republican 2024 frontrunner had about Iran.
Trump shared the video, without the Iran context, as he reportedly faces another indictment, this time in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the U.S. Capitol riot.
The twice-impeached Trump has frequently raged at the legal scrutiny he has faced since leaving office, earlier this week claiming Smith had sent him a target letter in the probe. He called it “HORRIFYING NEWS.”",Explicit
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Maria Sherman, Associated Press
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Country music star Jason Aldean’s latest music video for “Try That In A Small Town,” lasted just one weekend on Country Music Television before the network pulled it in response to an outcry over its setting and lyrics.
In the video, Aldean — who has been awarded country music artist of the decade by the Academy of Country Music — performs in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee. This is the site of the 1946 Columbia race riot and the 1927 mob lynching of an 18-year-old Black teenager named Henry Choate.
Aldean’s video, which was released last Friday, has received fervent criticism online, with some claiming the visual is a “dog whistle” and others labeling it “pro-lynching.”
Interspersed between performance footage of Aldean are news clips of violent riots and flag burning. A Fox News chyron reads: “State of emergency declared in Georgia.”
“Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light it up / Yeah, ya think you’re tough,” Aldean, who is from Macon, Georgia, sings. “Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round up / Well, that s*** might fly in the city, good luck / Try that in a small town.”
“There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it – and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage – and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music — this one goes too far,” Aldean wrote in a tweet posted Tuesday.
The production company behind the video, Tacklebox, said in a statement Wednesday that it picked a “popular filming location outside of Nashville” that had been used on numerous productions, including holiday films starring Tanya Tucker and one starring Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer.
“Any alternative narrative suggesting the music video’s location decision is false,” the company said, adding that Aldean did not choose the location.
Aldean has long identified as conservative, and has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump. “My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from,” he tweeted Tuesday.
The video and its subsequent removal from CMT quickly blew up into one of the periodic culture war clashes, with several conservative figures speaking out in favor of Aldean — including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert.
This isn’t the first time Aldean has been at the center of controversy. In 2015, he made headlines for dressing as rapper Lil Wayne as a Halloween costume, wearing blackface makeup and a wig with dreadlocks.
In 2017, the country singer was on stage at the Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Over the years, Aldean has given conflicting statements about his stance on U.S. gun laws, though his music celebrates gun ownership.
WATCH: Biden signs law making lynching a federal hate crime
“It’s too easy to get guns, first and foremost,” he told The Associated Press after the Las Vegas shooting. “When you can walk in somewhere and you can get one in 5 minutes, do a background check that takes 5 minutes, like how in-depth is that background check? Those are the issues I have. It’s not necessarily the guns themselves or that I don’t think people should have guns. I have a lot of them.”
“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” Aldean said on Twitter Tuesday. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”
A CMT spokesperson did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.
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"PM accuses Labour of backing ‘deceptive’ asylum claim lawyers
Rishi Sunak has accused the Labour party of siding with lawyers found to have falsely submitted asylum claims in exchange for thousands of pounds.
An investigation by the Daily Mail revealed that multiple solicitors had agreed to help an undercover reporter posing as an economic migrant submit a fake application in exchange for £10,000.
One of the firms the newspaper targeted was Duncan Ellis Solicitors in Colliers Wood, south London, where a legal adviser named VP Lingajothy agreed to invent a back story to use in an asylum application. The story included claims of sexual torture, beatings, slave labour, false imprisonment and death threats that had led to suicidal thoughts and had compelled the applicant to flee to the UK.
Lawyers are forbidden from misleading",Explicit
"At a glance
Declan Haughney and Gareth Coakley are sentenced for attempting to withdraw the pension of a dead man after dragging his body to a post office
Haughney is sentenced to two years, while Coakley faces 18 months in prison
The pair attempted to deceive a post office in County Carlow into handing over the pension of the late Peadar Doyle, 66
- Published
Two men have been sentenced for attempting to use a dead man's body to deceive a post office and claim his pension in the Irish Republic.
Declan Haughney, 41, was sentenced to two years and 37-year-old Gareth Coakley was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The incident occurred in Carlow town in January 2022.
On Friday the Circuit Criminal Court in Carlow was shown CCTV footage of both men dragging the lifeless body of 66-year-old Peadar Doyle, who had a hat on, from his home to the post office.
The footage also showed a member of the public, Claire Knight, stopping the two men to check on Mr Doyle after seeing him being dragged down the street from his home, Irish broadcaster RTÃ reports.
Ms Knight followed them to the post office while on her phone, calling an ambulance.
CCTV footage showed both men dragging the body into the post office and skipping the queue to the counter.
Mr Doyle is then seen lying on the floor and Haughney is seen attempting to speak to him while accusing staff of killing his uncle.
Garda (Irish police officer) Joe OâKeeffe, who was called to the post office, told the court that Haughney said to staff: ""Heâs dead now. If you paid me he wouldnât be here.""
Haughney attempted to withdraw the pension for a second time, the court saw in the footage.
Garda O'Keefe said Mr Doyle was declared dead by paramedics on the post office floor 40 minutes later after CPR was administered.
The court heard Haughney had attempted to withdraw the pension before the incident but was unable to as he was not a nominated agent of Mr Doyle.
Judge Eugene OâKelly said it was not possible to determine a precise time of death for Mr Doyle but both men were guilty of attempted deception.
The judge added that the two men abandoned Mr Doyle at the post office, which caused public interest in the case and caused hurt to his family, and blamed post office staff for his death rather than seeking help.",Explicit
"Conservative grifter and disgraced country musician Jason Aldean has been under the microscope for his maligned anti-protest track “Try That in a Small Town.” After a barrage of bad publicity accusing Aldean of promoting lynching and violence via the song’s lyrics and video, a TikTok user debunked Aldean’s claims that all footage in the video comes from the real American news cycle. Now, that TikToker is claiming she’s had her life threatened by Aldean’s fans in the process.
In “Try That in a Small Town,” Aldean—who is from Macon, Georgia, which boasts a population of nearly 160,000 (not much of a small town)—croaks that crimes that “might fly in the city” like carjacking, robbing a liquor store, and punching an unsuspecting pedestrian will not go unpunished in a small town. While the song was released in May, Aldean released its video just over a week ago to accusations of promoting lynching, violence against protesters, and racism. Aldean responded to the accusations on his social media platforms, claiming that every clip of news footage within the music footage is authentic. Enter: Destinee Stark.
Destinee Stark is a TikTok user and activist who smelled something fishy with Aldean’s statement and contested his claims of using real news clips. In her 8-minute video posted to TikTok last week, Stark says that she found two instances of footage within the first 30 seconds of the music video that can both be found on stock footage websites. One clip was taken at a festival in Germany while the other was produced by a Bulgaria-based stock footage studio, which further discounts Aldean’s efforts to paint his song and video as pro-Americana propaganda.
Stark also points out that Aldean filmed portions of his video at a courthouse in Tennessee, which was the site of the lynching of a black 18-year-old in 1927 and a race riot in 1946. Stark’s video and a follow-up have both accumulated over 1.5 million views each on the platform, but Stark now says that she’s been the subject of death threats, doxxing, and other negative speech.
“I’m receiving thousands of comments that quite honestly, I can’t possibly keep up with. The context of those comments go far beyond what is considered ‘reasonably harsh criticism,’ and into the dark realm of death threats, death wishes, threats of violence, and just the most degrading, vile comments I’ve ever seen, quite frankly,” Stark told Gizmodo in an email. “I would encourage everyone who is so angry about my commentary to spend some time reflecting on why it is that they are so angry about what I have to say.”
Aldean did not immediately return Gizmodo’s request for comment.
Aldean has since been mum on the video and its reaction since his initial statement, except for tweeting out a promo video for his ongoing tour. Despite the backlash and Country Music Television announcing that it would be pulling the video from circulation, The New York Times reports that “Try That in a Small Town” hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week.",Explicit
"Rudy Giuliani admits he spewed lies about two Georgia election workers he infamously accused of trying to rig the 2020 election for President Biden.
The ex-New York City mayor and current lawyer for former President Donald Trump conceded in a late night court filing that he does not contest the allegations against him made in a defamation lawsuit filed by Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss.
“(Giuliani) does not contest that … such actionable factual statements are false,” his lawyers wrote in the signed filing.
Despite the admission, Giuliani, 79, insisted that he should not be found liable because the statements “did not carry meaning that is defamatory, per se” and that they are “constitutionally protected statements or opinions.”
Giuliani is facing possible sanctions from Federal District Court Judge Beryl Howell for repeatedly failing to hand over information demanded by the election workers.
It remains to be seen if his latest legal strategy will satisfy the judge.
Giuliani was one of Trump’s primary mouthpieces in the weeks after the 2020 election and repeatedly spread lies about supposed fraud that could have helped Biden win.
He claimed without evidence that Freeman and Moss were caught on video surveillance passing USB drives to help Biden cheat. The pair testified under oath that it was actually a ginger mint. Last month, Freeman and Moss were cleared of any wrongdoing by Georgia investigators.
Giuliani faces a slew of legal worries related to his efforts to help Trump overturn the election.
He has been questioned by the Atlanta grand jury that might indict Trump and others next month for election interference in the Peach State.
The former mayor has also cooperated with special counsel Jack Smith in the Jan. 6 probe of Trump.
He was also hit with an unrelated lurid sexual harassment lawsuit in which a business consultant claims he forced her to have sex with him and regularly performed oral sex on him while he spoke to Trump, which “made him feel like Bill Clinton.”
Giuliani says the woman wasn’t an employee and they were dating.",Explicit
"ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland prosecutors have filed hate crime charges against a man accused of killing three people and wounding three more in a dispute over parking.
The three people shot to death were Latino; the man accused of shooting them is white. Their families have lived on the same street for years and have had a history of disputes, including allegations of racial slurs against one of the victims.
Charles Robert Smith, 43, had been charged with second-degree murder. Now he faces first-degree murder and hate-crime charges in the killings of Mario Mireles, his father Nicholas Mireles, and Christian Segovia, under an indictment returned by an Anne Arundel County grand jury on Friday, according to online court records.
The 42-count indictment also includes six charges of attempted first-degree murder. Smith’s initial court appearance was scheduled for next Monday. His initial lawyer is no longer representing him, and another attorney did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.
Maryland’s hate crime law applies to crimes that are motivated either in whole or in substantial part to another person’s race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability or national origin. It enables prosecutors to add years to a sentence, and financial penalties. Smith faces up to life in prison without possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder.
According to the police charging documents, the six people who were shot were attending a large party when a dispute broke out over a parking issue. Mireles went to Smith’s home to talk about it and was arguing with Shirley Smith when her son Charles Smith returned home and confronted him. The verbal argument became physical.
Smith pulled out a gun and Mireles tried to grab it before Smith shot Mireles and Segovia. Smith “then stood over Mario Mireles and shot him several more times,” the document says. Smith then went into his house, got a rifle and began firing through a window at people who had come trying to help the mortally wounded men. Smith fatally shot Nicolas Mireles, and wounded Rosalina Segovia, Paul Johnnson and Enner Canales-Hernandez, police said.
Smith surrendered when the police arrived, telling officers he shot the victims because they shot at his house. However, none of the witnesses interviewed saw any of the victims with a firearm, according to the charging documents.
The Smith and Mireles families have had disputes for years, even going to court for help at one point. Mario Mireles sought a peace order petition in September 2016, accusing Shirley Smith of harassing him and their neighbors since he was a child. He accused her of directing racial slurs at him and his family, as well as other neighbors who are Black.
He wrote that he was washing his car in front of his house when Shirley Smith drove fast by him about an “arm length away,” saying he believed she was “targeting” him with her car.
Shirley Smith also sought a peace order at the same time, accusing Mireles of hitting her car with a large wet towel or blanket. She also accused him of throwing rocks at street signs and hitting vehicles.
Peace orders are civil orders asking a person to refrain from committing certain acts. The judge denied both their petitions.",Explicit
"Harris is confronting the ‘war on woke’ head-on: And voters are listening
Over the past several months, Republicans have waged a so-called “war on woke.”
State legislatures have passed bans on the teaching of critical race theory and “don’t say gay” laws, prohibited healthcare treatment for transgendered minors, limited abortion to as few as six weeks and banned books from school libraries dealing with race, history, sexual orientation and gender identity.
This April in Tennessee, the Republican state legislature expelled two African American legislators, Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson, depriving 135,000 people in their districts of representation. A white female representative, Gloria Johnson, was saved from the same fate by just one vote. These actions came after yet another school shooting, this time in Nashville, when three nine-year-olds, the school’s principal and two teachers were gunned down.
The so-called “Tennessee three” protested the intransigence of Republican legislators from even debating the state’s gun laws just as the House Speaker turned off their microphones. Instantly, they were vaulted from obscurity to fame, and received an invitation to meet with President Biden who thanked them for “standing up.” Shortly after, Memphis City Council reinstated their positions and, in June, voters officially returned the two expelled legislators to their rightful places.
Now, in Florida, the State Board of Education — in compliance with the “Stop Woke Act” signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in 2022 — has instructed that middle schoolers should be taught that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” DeSantis hailed the mandate as setting “the most robust standards in African American History in the country” and denounced opponents as favoring “woke indoctrination.”
Into the breach has stepped Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls Republican leaders spearheading these efforts “extremists,” saying, “They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it.”
As the first woman, first African American and first South Asian to occupy the vice presidency, Harris is uniquely positioned to speak to these issues. On the one-year anniversary after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Harris condemned the Dobbs decision:
“The highest court in our land — the court of Thurgood [Marshall] — the court of RBG [Ruth Bader Ginsberg] — took a constitutional right, that had been recognized, from the people of America, from the women of America. A fundamental right. A basic freedom.” Harris then added, “How dare they!”
After the Tennessee legislature ousted the two Black legislators, Harris immediately traveled to the state and condemned those who told the “Tennessee three” to “sit down and be quiet.” She derided those who supported their ouster, saying: “You can’t walk around with your lapel pin, and you’re not representing the values we hold dear as Americans.” Summoning the memory of civil rights protests during the 1960s, Harris declared, “We march on.”
After the Florida board adopted its new curriculum standards, the vice president immediately instructed her staff to rearrange her schedule and plan a trip to the state. Speaking before an enthusiastic mixed-race audience, Harris denounced the newly enacted Florida mandate.
Citing the abuses inflicted on African Americans, Harris accurately noted that slavery “involved rape. It involved torture. It involved taking a baby from their mother. It involved some of the worst examples of depriving people of humanity in our world. It involved subjecting to people the requirement that they would think of themselves and be thought of as less than human.”
She concluded: “How is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities, that there was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanization? In the midst of these atrocities, that there was some benefit?”
Republican presidential candidate Will Hurd, himself an African American, joined Harris in denouncing the new standard, dryly observing that “slavery wasn’t a jobs program.” But in more ways than one, Hurd is a minority voice within today’s Trump-dominated Republican Party. In 2020, Donald Trump labeled critical race theory a “Marxist doctrine” whose teaching represents a form of “child abuse.”
While Republicans wage their war on woke, Kamala Harris is mobilizing key elements of the diverse coalition that elected her and Joe Biden in 2020. Unlike the first-time voters of the 1930s who supported Franklin D. Roosevelt, or the young Americans who voted for Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, today’s young voters are not wedded to either party but require both persuasion and motivation to bring them to the polls. This is especially true for young African Americans for whom the civil rights triumphs of the 1960s are historical artifacts.
Women are another key Democratic constituency whose support in large numbers is also crucial. In the post-Dobbs era, abortion has become a defining issue for these voters. A recent NBC News poll found that, on a scale of 1 to 10, 43 percent of women chose 10 in naming abortion as an “extremely important” issue.
Harris labels herself a “joyful warrior” in urging all these key constituencies to organize and vote.
Congressional Republicans like to mock Harris, with some stating that having her ensconced in the vice presidency gives them pause in exacting retribution against the double impeachments of Donald Trump by inflicting the same punishment on Joe Biden. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) derisively calls Harris “a shrewd insurance policy” against any potential Biden impeachment.
Boebert is right that Kamala Harris is an insurance policy — one that, in this case, is helping to ensure the reelection of the Biden-Harris ticket.
John Kenneth White is a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America. His latest book, co-authored with Matthew Kerbel, is titled, “American Political Parties: Why They Formed, How They Function, and Where They’re Headed.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"WASHINGTON -
Chinese authorities launched a 100-day ""strike hard"" campaign against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, cracking down on gatherings of more than 30 people, according to Chinese media.
The latest persecution of the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs who live in Xinjiang coincides with the sensitive anniversary of the 2009 ethnic violence in Urumqi, which triggered the Chinese government's efforts to repress Uyghur culture and religion with mass surveillance and internment campaigns. Uyghur rights groups see this as ongoing ethnic and cultural genocide. The U.S. government and Western parliaments have condemned the abuses, labeling them genocide or crimes against humanity. China denies any human rights abuses in the region.
According to an investigation by Radio Free Asia, approximately 90 Uyghur teenage girls in Xinjiang are forcibly working in a Chinese-run garment factory. The girls, aged 16-18, work 14 hours a day, seven days a week, and routinely face both verbal and physical abuse. The factory, Wanhe Garment Co. Ltd., has a clandestine agreement with a nearby vocational high school that forces female students to work against their will, according to the investigation. Local authorities pressure parents not to protest their children's employment, and the workers are kept under control by an abusive supervisor, RFA reported. These findings add to the growing evidence of Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang, prompting scrutiny of major companies like Zara and Uniqlo to ensure their supply chains are free from such practices.
Volkswagen reaffirmed its commitment to an independent audit of its Xinjiang plant amid concerns about human rights abuses against Uyghurs in the region. The company said in a statement that it remains convinced an independent auditor can “deliver important information about the human rights situation” at its Xinjiang plant. The statement came after some investors criticized the effectiveness of any audit in the tightly controlled region. Volkswagen emphasized its adherence to human rights principles but did not directly address censorship and anti-espionage law concerns in the region.
U.S. lawmakers have taken significant actions this week, proposing new bills and investigations to address Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang. Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, reintroduced the ""Sanctioning Supporters of Slave Labor Act"" with the aim of expanding sanctions against entities suspected of violating Uyghur human rights, while Congressman Jim Banks, an Indiana Republican, introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives. Additionally, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexler, a Virginia Democrat, plans to reintroduce the ""Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act,"" which would mandate supply chain audits for companies sourcing goods from Xinjiang.
Abdullah Turkistanli, an exiled Uyghur, is the owner of the Kutadgu Bilig Bookshop in Istanbul, which he opened to preserve Uyghur literature that is banned in China. To do so, he prints most of the books himself using PDFs of the originals, as Chinese publishers are prohibited from granting permission for reprinting. Despite his noble mission, Beijing's pressure led Turkish police to raid his shop twice and seize thousands of books, accusing him of copyright infringement. As a survivor of Chinese prisons, Turkistanli is dedicated to protecting Uyghur culture, but these legal challenges have posed significant obstacles. Uyghur activists are now urging the Turkish government to consider the harsh reality faced by the Uyghurs and help in preserving their literature, rather than bowing to China's pressure.
News in brief
In a recent article by the China Communist Party (CCP) committee, senior CCP officials expressed their active involvement in diplomacy to counter ""anti-China forces,"" especially the U.S., amid allegations of genocide and human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. The officials aim to promote positive narratives about Xinjiang globally and to strengthen the rule of law in response to international criticism. However, human rights activists have raised concerns about potential repression of rights defenders. They urge governments to take decisive action to protect Uyghur rights and end forced labor in global supply chains. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Chinese officials involved in alleged abuses, while China's Diplomatic Relations Law grants Beijing powers to counter actions it deems harmful to its interests.
Quote of note
“Further actions must be taken to hold accountable those individuals and entities benefiting from the forced labor of Uyghurs. Not only should China’s genocidal regime answer for the crimes they are committing but also the companies that profit from these atrocities.”",Explicit
"Laurence Fox stands in Boris Johnson’s former seat and loses his deposit … again
Laurence Fox has lost his deposit after his disastrous election bid in Uxbridge culminated with him winning just 714 votes.
In the end, Conservative Party candidate Steve Tuckwell narrowly won the seat – which was vacated by Boris Johnson – with 13,965 votes. Labour’s Danny Beales finished in second place with 13,470 votes.
It was a poor showing for some of the other candidates in the race, with the Green Party and Liberal Democrat candidates failing to garner more than 1,000 votes.
Minor party candidates and independents fared even worse, but for many, Laurence Fox’s continued electoral failure was the main talking point.
The actor-turned-politician won just 2.31 per cent of the vote, meaning he will now lose the deposit he paid to run in the first place. Candidates must win five per cent of the vote share to retain their deposits.
Fox previously lost his £10,000 deposit in the 2021 London mayoral election, where he pledged to “fight against extreme political correctness” and “end the Met’s obsession with diversity and inclusivity”. He was endorsed by Reform UK and Nigel Farage, but finished in sixth place, behind YouTuber Niko Omilana. Fox received only 1.9 per cent of the vote.
Since the by-election results were announced on Friday (21 July), Fox has used his social media platforms to hit out at the BBC and others for refusing to interview him.
Speaking from the count centre, Fox said: “The BBC have said under absolutely no circumstances they will speak to me. They didn’t give a reason.
“I feel sorry for the people that pay £157 a year for what is a so-called impartial media outlet, state funded media.”
He went on to accuse the broadcaster of being “about as reliable as North Korean state media”.
Later, as the count drew to a close, Fox said he was “very pleased” he had managed to get 2.31 per cent of the vote, adding: “Shows that promoting conservative values can win.”
Laurence Fox has said the Pride flag is ‘disgusting’
Before he turned to politics, Fox was best known as an actor – but in recent years he’s made a name for himself speaking out against COVID-19 restrictions and courting anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.
Perhaps his most controversial moment came in Pride Month when he shared a video on Twitter of himself setting rainbow-coloured bunting on fire.
“The most holy month of child mutilation,” Fox said. “This is what I think of your disgusting, vile, child sacrificial flag.”
He added: “Goodbye Pride, which isn’t Pride. It’s just a celebration of the mutilation of children. And you can shove it.”
The previous year, Fox was suspended from Twitter temporarily after he created a swastika from the Progress Pride flag.
In May 2022, Fox was ordered to pay £36,000 in legal fees to Crystal, a drag queen who is best known for her time on Drag Race UK, former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and Coronation Street actor Nicola Thorp in an ongoing legal battle.
The trio launched a defamation suit against Fox after he publicly called them “paedophiles”.
MyPinkNews members are invited to comment on articles to discuss the content we publish, or debate issues more generally. Please familiarise yourself with our community guidelines to ensure that our community remains a safe and inclusive space for all.",Explicit
"Women’s World Cup opener to proceed as scheduled after shooting in New Zealand
A gunman killed two people at a construction site in New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland on Thursday, as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer tournament, authorities said.
Police said there were also multiple injuries during the incident, which took place near the hotel where Team Norway has been staying.
All World Cup teams are confirmed to be safe, and New Zealand Prime Minster Chris Hipkins said the tournament would go ahead as planned.
""Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,"" Hipkins said. ""The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned. I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.""
Acting Police Superintendent Sunny Patel said the man began shooting at the site on lower Queen Street at about 7:20 a.m. Police swarmed the area and closed off streets.
The man moved through the building, firing at people there, Patel said.
""Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft and our staff have attempted to engage with him,"" Patel said in a statement. ""Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later.""
It wasn’t immediately clear if police had shot the gunman or he had killed himself.
Patel said that while alarming, the incident was isolated and didn’t pose a national security risk.
The incident comes as soccer teams gathered in New Zealand for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The opening match is scheduled for Thursday between New Zealand and Norway. Matches will continue as planned in the wake of the tragedy.
Team Norway captain Maren Mjelde said people woke up quickly when a helicopter began hovering outside the hotel window.
""We felt safe the whole time,"" she said in a statement. ""FIFA has a good security system at the hotel, and we have our own security officer in the squad. Everyone seems calm and we are preparing as normal for the game tonight.""
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
2023 Golden Boot odds: Women's World Cup top scorers favorites
2023 Women's World Cup odds: Four ways to bet on the USWNT Down Under
-
USWNT deserves more respect as an all-time dynasty
Japan beats USA in thrilling final: Women's World Cup Moment No. 3
Women's World Cup roundtable: Which team poses biggest threat to USWNT?
-
Women's World Cup 2023 odds: USA favored to win it all Down Under
Lionel Messi takes field with Inter Miami teammates for first time since signing
Sophia Smith pays tribute to her late friend ahead of World Cup opener
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
2023 Golden Boot odds: Women's World Cup top scorers favorites
2023 Women's World Cup odds: Four ways to bet on the USWNT Down Under
-
USWNT deserves more respect as an all-time dynasty
Japan beats USA in thrilling final: Women's World Cup Moment No. 3
Women's World Cup roundtable: Which team poses biggest threat to USWNT?
-
Women's World Cup 2023 odds: USA favored to win it all Down Under
Lionel Messi takes field with Inter Miami teammates for first time since signing
Sophia Smith pays tribute to her late friend ahead of World Cup opener",Explicit
"A Wisconsin woman accused of beheading her lover in his mother’s basement and who later attacked her defense attorney in court listened Monday as testimony began at her trial.
Taylor Schabusiness, 25, stands accused of murdering and dismembering Shad Thyrion, 24, on Feb. 23, 2022 at Thyrion’s mother’s home in Green Bay.
Thyrion’s mother, Tara Pakanich, testified about finding her son’s head in a bucket at the home, local Fox affiliate WLUK reported.
Pakanich said she woke up to the sound of a storm door closing and went to the basement to look for Thyrion, who had been staying there, according to WLUK.
She then described a horrifying scene, in which she spotted a 5-gallon bucket with a towel covering it, removed the towel and saw her son’s severed head inside.
Pakanich and her boyfriend dialed 911, and multiple police officers arrived at the scene and began the murder investigation. The cops quickly caught up with Schabusiness, who said she and Thyrion had been engaging in sexual foreplay that involved erotic asphyxiation.
Schabusiness told the officers she continued choking Thyrion until he died because she was enjoying the feeling, according to a criminal complaint. Investigating officers have not yet testified at the trial, which is expected to last one week.
After Thyrion’s head was found in the bucket, the rest of his upper body was discovered in a tote bag, and his legs were found in a van, police said. Schabusiness admitted to chopping up Thyrion’s body with his mother’s kitchen knives, according to investigators.
Schabusiness underwent several mental competency evaluations leading up to the trial. At one hearing discussing her mental fitness, she attacked her defense attorney, Quinn Jolly.
The court allowed Jolly to depart the case, and Christopher Froelich represented Schabusiness at trial.",Explicit
"Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey left the four men who made allegations against him in a sexual assault trial feeling small, diminished and worthless, prosecutors have said.
Summing up, Christine Agnew KC told Southwark Crown Court the case involved an ""enormous imbalance of power"".
Kevin Spacey denies nine counts of sexual assault between 2001 and 2013.
Earlier, the jury was told four counts against him had been removed because of legal technicalities.
The four indecent assault charges, which were alternative, lesser counts, were struck off by the judge due to a ""legal technicality"" - not because the prosecution had abandoned any allegation.
In her closing speech, prosecutor Ms Agnew told jurors the case was ""about power and taking advantage of that power"".
She questioned Mr Spacey's claim that his accusers were motivated by money and suggested the trial was a result of his ""aggressive, oppressive and intimidatory behaviour"".
There was no doubt he was ""a very famous and lauded actor"" who was ""used to getting his own way"", she said - and his behaviour made his accusers ""feel small, it made them feel diminished, it made them feel worthless"".
""He is undoubtedly someone who is kind to those he chooses to be kind to,"" she said, referring to character witnesses for Mr Spacey.
But she added: ""History is littered with those who are benevolent to some and cruel to others.""
She went on to say it was ""not simply a strength-in-numbers case"" against Mr Spacey but that of four separate men who told friends and family, the police and then the court their stories in search of justice.
These men were entitled to the same protection in law as a woman, she told the jury at Southwark Crown Court.
""Why on earth should these men put up with what they say has happened to them?"" she asked.
She added they were not motivated by ""money, money, money"" but instead had come forward because they no longer wanted to be the ""secret keeper"" for someone who had abused them.
Mr Spacey, 63, denies using his celebrity to get people into bed, and has rejected claims he is a sexual bully.
He previously called the case against him ""weak"".
His defence lawyers are expected to sum up their case on Thursday.",Explicit
"- President Joe Biden will create a national monument in honor of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley.
- Till's murder in Mississippi helped spark the civil-rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
- The monument locations will consist of a site in Chicago and two sites in rural Mississippi.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday will create a national monument in honor of Emmett Till, the Black teenager from Chicago whose 1955 kidnapping and murder in Mississippi was a defining spark in the emerging civil-rights movement, a White House official said on Saturday.
Biden is set to make the announcement on July 25, which would have been Till's 82nd birthday.
The president will sign a proclamation forming the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, which is also reflective of the decadeslong civil rights work of Till's mother, who fought valiantly for equality for Black Americans after her son's murder. The monument will consist of a site in Chicago, the city where Emmett Till was born, and two sites in Mississippi, where he traveled during that fateful 1955 summer to spend time with his cousins.
""The new monument will protect places that tell the story of Emmett Till's too-short life and racially-motivated murder, the unjust acquittal of his murderers, and the activism of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who courageously brought the world's attention to the brutal injustices and racism of the time, catalyzing the civil-rights movement,"" a White House official said in a statement.
In August 1955, Emmett Till was accused by Carolyn Bryant Donham of making improper advances toward her while he was inside the Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market in Money, Miss., which at the time was run by Donham and her then-husband, Roy Bryant.
The accusation prompted Bryant and his half-brother, J. W. Milam, to abduct Till at gunpoint from the home of his great-uncle, Moses Wright. Bryant and Milam then tortured and lynched the teenager before throwing his body into the Tallahatchie River.
Till's battered body was weighed down by a cotton-gin fan and was found several days later.
His face was left unrecognizable. But, at his funeral service in Chicago, Mamie Till-Mobley insisted that her son would have an open casket funeral so the world could see the brutality and horror of what her son endured in the segregated South.
The Illinois monument site will be the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, on the city's South Side, where Emmett Till's funeral was held in 1955. The Mississippi sites include Graball Landing, where it is believed that Till's body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, where Bryant and Milam were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury.
In a 1956 article in Look magazine, Bryant and Milam confessed to the murder. Both men have since died.
Donham died in April. She was 88 years old.
Last December, Congress voted to award the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to Till and his mother.
In March 2022, Biden signed into law the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, which made lynching a federal hate crime for the first time in US history.
The president's push to elevate civil rights leaders and acknowledge the full scope of Black history comes as Republicans in recent years have sought to limit how race can be taught in classrooms, with conservatives also targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and hailing the Supreme Court's recent decision to end affirmative action in college admissions.
Biden's original student debt relief plan, which was invalidated by the Supreme Court, was also intended to be one that had a significant racial equity element, as the administration sought to narrow the racial wealth gap by forgiving $10,000 in loans for individuals and $20,000 in loans for individuals who were Pell Grant recipients.",Explicit
"Indonesian animal market has ended its brutal dog and cat meat trade, campaigners say
Authorities on Friday announced the end of the “brutally cruel” dog and cat meat slaughter at a notorious animal market on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi following a years-long campaign by local activists and world celebrities.
The Tomohon Extreme Market will become the first such market in Indonesia to go dog and cat meat-free, according to the anti-animal cruelty group Humane Society International, or HSI. Images of dogs and cats being bludgeoned and blow-torched, sometimes while still alive, had sparked outrage.
The permanent end of the slaughter and trade was announced Friday by the regional secretary of the city of Tomohon, Edwin Roring. HSI said they will be rescuing the remaining live dogs and cats from the slaughterhouse suppliers and taking them to sanctuaries.
“We hope that Tomohon will be totally free from dog and cat meat trades,” Roring said in his remarks. “We believe the way to reduce people’s interest in consuming dog and cat meat in Tomohon is to stop selling it in markets.”
He urged people to consume animal food sources that are more hygienic and do not cause rabies, such as pork, beef and chicken. He vowed to deploy law enforcement officers in the markets to ensure there were no more dog and cat meat sellers in the city.
The Tomohon Extreme Market had previously been touted as a tourist attraction and listed on TripAdvisor as a destination that also sells cat meat and the carcasses of wild and protected species such as bats, snakes and other reptiles.
HSI and Indonesian groups operating under the banner of Dog Meat Free Indonesia are campaigning to end the trade in live dogs for human consumption as rabies could spread to humans during the slaughter or contact with infected meat.
Activist Marc Ching, whose work won support from Joaquin Phoenix, Matt Damon and other celebrities, denies paying butchers in Asia to harm dogs.
Videos shot by the campaigners at two markets in North Sulawesi province in 2018 showed dogs cowering in cages as workers pulled the howling animals out and bludgeoned their heads with wooden batons. Often still moving, the animals are then blasted with blowtorches to remove their hair in preparation for butchering and sale.
The welfare groups called the treatment of the animals at the markets “brutally cruel” and like “walking through hell,” generating sympathy among Indonesians and around the world.
International actors and celebrities in 2018 appealed to President Joko Widodo to close the markets, saying if Indonesia joined other Asian nations that have already banned the trade, it would be “celebrated globally” and end a stain on the country’s reputation.
Actress Cameron Diaz, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, talent spotter Simon Cowell, comedian Ricky Gervais, Indonesian pop singer Anggun and musician Moby are among the more than 90 celebrities listed in the letter.
“These animals, many of them stolen pets, are subjected to crude and brutal methods of capture, transport and slaughter, and the immense suffering and fear they must endure is heartbreaking and absolutely shocking,” the letter said, prompting Indonesia’s central government to issue a regulation saying that dog meat is not food and thus local administrations should act to ban the trade.
North Sulawesi province is home to more than 2.6 million people, who are mainly Christian in the mostly Muslim archipelago nation. Eating dog and cat meat with special spices is a hereditary tradition for most people in the province that has been very difficult to get rid of, said Frank Delano, a local animal welfare activist.
Supreme Court rules California’s restrictions on the confinement of farm animals do not violate the Constitution’s interstate commerce provisions.
Thousands of dogs and cats are slaughtered weekly in North Sulawesi, according to the anti-animal cruelty groups.
“I’m disappointed, but what else can I do? I have to comply with government regulations,” said Melki Pongo, the slaughterhouse owner who has supplied tons of dog and cat meat to the city’s markets for more than 30 years. He said that he will replace them with pork.
Karanganyar district in Central Java became the first to issue a formal ban in 2019, followed by other regions in 2020 and 2021. Most recently, authorities in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, announced in March they have banned the dog and cat meat trades. But the dog and cat markets were on Sulawesi.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, might not seem a likely hub of dog meat cuisine as nearly 90% of the country’s 270 million people are followers of Islam, which considers and view dog products as haram, or forbidden, in the same way as pork. Most Muslims won’t touch a dog, much less eat one.
But the archipelagic nation is also home to many other faiths, some of whom consider dog meat a traditional delicacy or believe it has health properties. As much as 7% of Indonesians eat dog, according to Dog Meat Free Indonesia, mostly in North Sulawesi, North Sumatra and East Nusa Tenggara provinces that have a majority of the population identifying as Christian.
About 30 million dogs were killed each year in China, South Korea and many other Asian countries, said Lola Webber, the HSI’s Director of Campaign to End Dog Meat.
Many countries and territories across Asia — such as the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia—have already banned the dog meat trade and consumption of dogs, according to the HSI.
Must-read stories from the L.A. Times
Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.",Explicit
"Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday reacted to the May 4 video of two women being “paraded naked"" on a road allegedly by a group of men and assured capital punishment for those involved.
Speaking to CNN-News18, he said, “It is a crime against humanity and if found true, the state government will leave no stone unturned to nab the culprits and give them capital punishment. It is a heinous crime and I condemn it strongly.""
According to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), the incident took place on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, a day after ethnic clashes broke out in the state between the Meitei and Kuki Communities.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani also condemned the incident and termed it “downright inhuman"". “The horrific video of the sexual assault of 2 women emanating from Manipur is condemnable and downright inhuman. Spoke to CM N BirenSingh ji who has informed me that investigation is currently underway and assured that no effort will be spared to bring perpetrators to justice,"" she tweeted.
Biren Singh and Irani’s reactions came after tension mounted in the hills of Manipur over a May 4 video that surfaced on Wednesday purportedly showing two women from one of the warring communities being “paraded naked"" by a few men from the other side.
Officials said in Imphal that the video was doing the rounds on the eve of a planned protest march announced by ITLF on Thursday to highlight their plight.
News agency PTI quoted police as saying that a case of abduction, gang rape, and murder has been registered at Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district against unknown armed miscreants.
In a statement, they said an all-out effort is on to arrest the culprits at the earliest.
Manipur state has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May 3 between the majority the Meiteis, concentrated in Imphal valley, and the Kukis, occupying the hills. Over 160 people have been killed in the violence so far.
(with inputs from PTI)",Explicit
"The Metropolitan Police was recently described as institutionally misogynist in a review by Baroness Casey, who found that a ""boys' club"" culture was rife and the force was failing to protect the public from officers who abuse women.
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has told the BBC that the force is undergoing its ""biggest doubling down on standards"" in 50 years, as it tries to address the issue of its internal culture.
To try to get a sense of what policing can be like in London, the BBC has spoken to a former special constable and a detective, both of whom have written books about their experiences.
They have shared their accounts of some of the things they witnessed, and given their thoughts on what the future might hold.
Jess McDonald joined the Met in 2018 as a trainee detective on a pilot scheme aimed at people wanting a career change by joining the police.
She said she witnessed chronic under-resourcing, ""overwhelming"" workloads and a ""broken"" justice system. In one place she was deployed, she said the facilities were so poor there was no space for staff to store their food, so people kept their lunches in a fridge-freezer that also contained evidence for rape cases.
Another officer who is no longer with the force is Matt Lloyd-Rose, who from 2012 to 2015 worked as a teacher alongside serving with the Met as a special constable - a volunteer role with full police powers including those of arrest.
Mr Lloyd-Rose, from Lambeth in south London, said some things he witnessed during his time with the force ""stunned"" him, including an occasion when his team had been out patrolling in a police van in Clapham.
""We'd been dealing with all sorts - stopping people for drugs, helping people who were drunk and confused, and chasing after illegal hotdog vendors,"" he said.
""One of the regular officers then said that we would we be going 'talent spotting'"", he added, and the team then drove ""back and forth along the high street"" while the regular officers were ""making comments about the women outside of the window, having some sort of group discussions about who is most attractive, about who they would be most interested in having sex with"".
On another occasion, he said a young woman approached the team after her bag had been snatched on the bus.
""She was really upset; she was sobbing and was visibly extremely distressed,"" Mr Lloyd-Rose explained. ""And then the regular who's been dealing with her rolled his window back up again, and immediately said 'she'd get [sexual expletive]'.""
Mr Lloyd-Rose said that while he didn't witness ""overt aggressive discrimination"" there was a consistent ""reinforcing of norms and boundaries, something insidious"" that frequently involved targeting female staff.
""There was a real expectation the people who objected would be cut out of things, or would be provoked to try and overcome that objection,"" he said.
'Strip poker'
Mr Lloyd-Rose added that this attitude wasn't only displayed by frontline officers but also by those leading training.
""One of the trainers was telling us about a female officer he had been on patrol with and he said: 'Before you ask, I have seen her naked when we were playing strip poker.'
""The culture was openly expressed in front of diverse groups of officers who that trainer didn't know at all, and he was kind of quite happy and confident that he could express that culture without anyone objecting.
""The institutional misogyny and sexism seemed ludicrously blatant, basically.
""That kind of culture both provides cover and and space for individuals with the most noxious views and others who have real intent to do harm, but it also provides a culture in which terrible things can become normalised.""
As a detective, Jess McDonald's experience was different from Mr Lloyd-Rose's - although perhaps no less worrying in terms of what it says about the Met Police and the criminal justice system more widely.
During her time with the force, she was posted to the Community Safeguarding Unit, which deals with among other crimes cases of domestic and sexual violence.
She said the department was ""internally known as the most difficult area of policing"" due to the ""trauma and the intensity of the role"".
""I would liken it before to kind of trying to fight a raging fire with a chocolate teapot.""
She said that a sense of ""hopelessness"" was evident, ""because you're investigating rapes day in day out and so few of them are actually being taken further"".
""It's the demoralisation of having to be the face or the person who turns round to someone who's going to have gone through the whole investigative process... and saying, 'you know I'm really sorry but it's not even being charged'.""
Ms McDonald said the feeling of ""futility"" among Met staff doing this work was so widespread that on several occasions female colleagues said they wouldn't bother reporting a sexual offence committed against them.
On one occasion, a training leader even admitted she felt this way to an entire room of trainees learning how to investigate rape, Ms McDonald said.
""Whilst we were learning about it all theoretically she says something along the lines of, 'look, I probably wouldn't report it if it happened to me'.""
Asked if she saw or heard of any women being treated poorly within the force, Ms McDonald recalled a time when a female colleague said she knew was filmed by a man ""about to join a ranking of sergeant"" on a rape team, while woman used the shower in police accommodation.
""Luckily, there was a third officer [a witness to what happened] and he was a superintendent of the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards,"" she said.
Ms McDonald said the offender had met her colleague the night before and ""knew exactly when she was going to be in the shower"".
""He films her using the shower through the glass window above the door. She was able to sort of see the phone in his hand when she passed out the shower and confronted him.""
Ms McDonald said the senior officer witnessed the confrontation and arrested his colleague for voyeurism.
The offender went on to be convicted of voyeurism, but Ms McDonald said: ""I can't help thinking if the other guy hadn't seen that and jumped into action and knew what to do, I don't think my friend would have taken it further.""
Within the Met, she believes there should be a focus on ""empowering people to speak up internally on the front line"" in cases where vetting fails to exclude those officers who joined the police to abuse their power.
""Internally, people know who the bad ones are... people who are doing frontline work get a feel for people; who's creepy, who makes a comment,"" she said.
""We're currently doing nothing proactive... there is just this culture of silence and no-one really rocks the boat, nothing is really done. If you do speak up it's huge.""
A spokesperson for the Met Police said: ""The commissioner has been unequivocal about his commitment to reform the standards of the Met - he set out his plans following the publication of the Casey Report.
""We recognise that we have let down Londoners and our own staff.""
The spokesperson also highlighted the work the force has been doing ""to improve standards and root out officers who do not meet these"", including a review of sexual and domestic abuse allegations against more than 800 officers and a project to utilise counter-terror tactics to catch predators who target women.
Matt Lloyd-Rose is the author of Into the Night: A Year with the Police, and Jess McDonald is the author of No Comment: What I Wish I'd Known about Becoming a Detective.",Explicit
"A man who stabbed his wife and left her to die on their kitchen floor before being found at London’s Euston station with multiple self-inflicted stab wounds has been jailed for life.
Phillip Dafter, a former member of the armed forces, stabbed Diana Dafter, 36, at their home in Lawrence Court, Northampton, on October 7 2022.
The court heard the couple’s marriage had experienced “difficulties”, in part because of mental health issues suffered by Dafter since the death of his mother in 2015, which he claimed his wife had “failed to empathise with”.
Mrs Dafter, a part-time carer who was studying nursing, had returned to the couple’s home on October 7 last year and an argument developed, with Dafter claiming his wife had made a comment about his vehicle.
Judge David Herbert KC said Dafter picked up a knife with “murderous intent” and stabbed Diana five times, with the fatal wound just below her armpit.
After killing his wife, Dafter went upstairs and tried to stab himself but the blade broke, so he drove to Asda to buy more knives.
He then drove to Northampton station and got on a train to London, reportedly planning to meet a family member to sort out his affairs, but he stayed on the train once it had arrived and told the conductor that he needed to speak to the police.
Police found him drunk and bleeding with 10 knife wounds to his abdomen at Euston station.
He told officers he had killed his wife and police were sent to their home address, where Diana’s body was found.
During his trial, Dafter denied murder but admitted to manslaughter, arguing loss of control and diminished responsibility.
Jurors rejected this and found him guilty of his wife’s murder.
At Northampton Crown Court on Tuesday, Dafter was jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years, taking into account time already spent in custody.
The judge said the last moments of Mrs Dafter’s life would have been “terrifying”.
He said: “You did nothing to help her or contact the emergency services.
“You must have watched her die in a pool of her own blood on the kitchen floor.
“You said you had a moment of madness.
“That is the closest you have ever come to telling the truth about what happened.”
Jailing Dafter, the judge said the couple’s marriage had become “resentful and argumentative” and Diana was “justified to believe you were considering leaving her”.
He said: “You violated the trust and security of your marriage.
“This was a sustained attack with a knife.
“Her last moments would have been terrifying as she did her best to protect herself.
“I accept you have remorse for what you did to your wife.
“You have accepted this killing from the outset.”
Paying tribute to Mrs Dafter, the judge said she was a “woman with many positive qualities”.
He added: “No sentence will reduce the grief and loss her family will continue to feel.”",Explicit
"A Romanian ship sustained minor damage during a Russian attack on the Ukrainian port of Reni on the River Danube on the night of 23-24 July.
Source: HotNews.ro, a Romanian news website, citing the Romanian Foreign Ministry
Details: The Ministry said that representatives of the Consulate General in Odesa, which is temporarily operating in the Ministry’s central office, had investigated the incident with the Romanian ship in the port of Reni.
Early reports received by representatives of the Romanian Consulate from the Ukrainian authorities, the vessel sustained minor damage and continued its voyage.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry also said that no Romanian citizens were injured in the attacks against Ukrainian ports on the Danube.
Background:
Russian forces carried out an attack on Odesa Oblast on the night of 23-24 July. The Ukrainian military said the attack targeted the Danube port infrastructure. The Ukrainian military said that the Russian attack targeted Danube port infrastructure.
The Russian attack destroyed a grain depot and damaged several other storage facilities. A fire broke out in a production facility.
Oleh Kiper, Head of the Odesa Oblast Military Administration, said that six port workers had been injured during the attack. Four of them were hospitalised.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that Russia’s attacks posed a serious threat to security in the Black Sea.",Explicit
"U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert immediately discarded a pin honoring one of the victims of the Uvalde mass shooting after activists handed the memento to her in the halls of the Capitol on Tuesday.
The green Converse worn by fourth-grader Maite Rodriguez are portrayed on the pin, which was attached to a handout advocating for an assault weapons ban. The handout described who Maite was and how she was murdered, alongside a photo of her mother holding her shoes.
Activists approached Boebert and offered remarks about the shoes and Maite's death before asking Boebert to ""take action on gun violence prevention,"" per the Houston Chronicle's Cayla Harris. Boebert, one of the most outspoken and inflammatory representatives in the House and a staunch opponent of restricting gun access, tossed the pin in the trash just a few paces after it was handed to her.
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Families of Uvalde victims denounced the video, which quickly racked up nearly 3 million views and close to 10,000 likes as of Wednesday.
“Whether or not you agree with what we are fighting for or not, throwing away a pamphlet of a mother fighting to honor her child who was gunned down and murdered in her classroom is beyond (expletive) disgusting,” Jazmin Cazares, whose sister Jackie was also killed in the shooting, tweeted Tuesday. ""You are a disgrace to mothers everywhere and I pray you and your children are never disrespected the way you just disrespected Maite and her mother,"" Cazares added.
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Officials used Maite's green Converse to identify her after the May 2022 shooting. They became a symbol of the gruesome power of assault rifles among supporters of banning them.
Danger | Houston plans to relocate residents near UP cancer-cluster site
Accident | Brazoria County fire from pipeline explosion is contained
Lawsuit | Families sue Texas for transgender youth healthcare ban
Arrest | Houston fugitives accused in Heights murders caught in Vietnam
For the latest and best from Chron, sign up for our daily newsletter here.",Explicit
"A man has admitted killing a cyclist and burying his body on a country estate with help from his twin brother.

His remains were discovered in January 2021 within a remote area of ground by the A82 near to a farm in Bridge of Orchy, Argyll and Bute.

Twin brothers Alexander and Robert McKellar, 31, were initially accused of murdering Mr Parsons and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

The siblings denied murder and were due to stand trial this week at the High Court in Glasgow.

On Wednesday, advocate depute Alex Prentice KC announced the charges against the brothers had been amended with Alexander then pleading guilty to the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

He admitted hitting Mr Parsons, from Tillicoultry in Clackmannanshire, with a vehicle while driving at excess speed and unfit through alcohol on 29 September 2017.

Robert, who was a passenger in the motor, was acquitted of killing Mr Parsons after his not guilty plea was accepted by the Crown.

Read more:

Man jailed for 'vicious, feral and wholly murderous' knife attack

Man who raped woman and burned her alive given lighter sentence

Both brothers pleaded guilty to attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

The pair admitted leaving the scene of the collision and returning in another vehicle.

The brothers then took Mr Parsons' body, bike and belongings to Auch Estate, where they buried the ex-navy petty officer within the grounds at a location used to dispose of dead animals.

The brothers also arranged for repairs to be carried out on the vehicle that struck Mr Parsons, pretending that the damage was caused by a collision with a deer.",Explicit
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A new investigation by the Pulitzer Prize-winning organization Futuro Investigates and Latino USA shines a light on allegations of sexual abuse and assaults filed by migrants in U.S. immigration detention facilities. Geoff Bennett discussed more with NewsHour producer Zeba Warsi, who teamed up with Futuro Investigates and has been reporting on this story since 2021.
Morgan Till is the Senior Producer for Foreign Affairs and Defense (Foreign Editor) at the PBS NewsHour, a position he has held since late 2015. He was for many years the lead foreign affairs producer for the program, traveling frequently to report on war, revolution, natural disasters and overseas politics. During his seven years in that position he reported from – among other places - Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Haiti, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Canada and widely throughout Europe.
Zeba Warsi is Foreign affairs producer, based in Washington DC. She's a Columbia Journalism School graduate with an M.A. in Political journalism. Prior to the NewsHour, she was based in New Delhi for seven years, covering politics, extremism, sexual violence, social movements and human rights as a special correspondent with CNN's India affiliate CNN-News18.
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"DNIPRO, Ukraine -- The horrors of war arrive through the night at a hospital in eastern Ukraine, a procession of stretchers bearing limp bodies whisked from the front line.
The soldiers come with bandaged limbs soaked in blood, faces blackened with shrapnel fragments and stunned eyes fixed on the ceiling, frozen in shock. Lately, they’ve been coming with ever-greater frequency.
“Pain!” shrieks a serviceman with a gaping thigh wound as medical workers move him to a surgical gurney.
Evacuated from trenches in the east, forests in the north and the open fields of the south, wounded soldiers begin showing up at the Mechnikov Hospital in late afternoon, and dozens more in desperate need of surgery are wheeled in before the sun rises the next day.
The surge of wounded soldiers coincides with the major counteroffensive Ukraine launched in June to try to recapture its land, nearly one-fifth of which is now under Russian control. Surgeons at Mechnikov are busier now than perhaps at any other time since Russia began its full-scale invasion 17 months ago, according to doctors at the hospital, who declined to be more specific.
In a war where casualty counts are treated as state secrets, the hospital — one of Ukraine's biggest — serves as a measurement of distant battles. When they intensify, so does the doctors’ workload, which these days consists of 50 to 100 surgeries per night.
“Here, we see the worst of the front line,” Dr. Serhii Ryzhenko, the hospital’s 59-year-old chief doctor, says with a weary smile. “We have 50 operating rooms, and it’s not enough.”
The Associated Press was given rare access last week to the hospital, a 12-hour visit to witness doctors and nurses care for soldiers rushed from the battlefield to the operating room.
During the day, Mechnikov functions as a normal hospital, treating patients with cancer and other chronic diseases. But every night ushers in the same macabre routine: Wounded soldiers arrive — many unconscious — and surgeons operate. The soldiers are then sent off to recover elsewhere to create space for the next nightly deluge.
“We hold our own front line here, we understand that we must do this, we must hold on,” said Dr. Tetyana Teshyna, a soft-spoken anesthesiologist wearing pink scrubs.
“It’s very hard,” said Teshyna, who remains calm amid the bustle in this clean, orderly hospital. She wants to say more but is summoned by a nurse. Another urgent surgery is about to start.
Ukrainian soldiers are fighting in multiple combat zones along the 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) front line, but the counteroffensive — focused in the Russian-occupied east and south of the country — has been slow going. Small units are being deployed to probe a Russian army that is deeply dug in, and minefields must be cleared before Ukrainian soldiers can attempt to root them out.
Any initial momentum from the opening phase of the counteroffensive has given way to sluggish advances. Territorial gains have been minimal, despite highly publicized Western donations of military hardware that heightened expectations of a quick Ukrainian breakthrough.
For its part, Russia has stepped up operations in the north of Ukraine, near Lyman, in the forests of Kreminna, in a possible attempt to corner Ukrainian troops there.
Ukrainian soldiers fighting along the front say the ferocity of Moscow’s artillery barrages has surprised them the most, especially in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, where mine-clearing operations leave them badly exposed to enemy fire.
Oleh Halah, 22, was hit by artillery from a Russian tank near Lyman this month, injuring his stomach and legs. Straining to speak in the hospital’s intensive care unit, Halah said his platoon saw the tank coming, but the artillery hit them before they could reach their grenade launcher.
“Twenty-four hours a day, constant shooting, all the time … if not (Russian) infantry, then artillery,” he said. “It doesn’t stop.”
Other soldiers being cared for by Mechnikov’s doctors were injured while clearing mines from Russian trenches. A Belarusian fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers who uses the call sign “Gold” was injured this way. He had been walking slowly with his unit, 5 meters (yards) per minute, when he was ambushed by a Russian soldier hiding behind a dugout.
As evening comes, the pace of activity in the trauma room picks up, with new soldiers arriving nearly every 15 minutes.
Discordant voices of doctors and other hospital staff echo in the halls, describing blood loss and case histories. Diagnoses are called out: shrapnel in the brain, a burned respiratory tract, shrapnel in the legs, a bullet in the arm; and, again, shrapnel in the brain.
Shrapnel accounts for the majority of injuries treated at Mechnikov, doctors said. Bullet wounds, less so. Wounded soldiers are typically cared for in hospitals closer to the front line and then, once stabilized, they are brought to Mechnikov, a journey that can sometimes take half a day.
Dr. Simon Sechen brings in a soldier with a wide gash in his shin. A tourniquet was applied for roughly half a day, he explained, because the soldier was trapped in a faraway trench, and it took hours to evacuate him. Sechen had tried to encourage blood flow, but it may be too late. “We did all we could to fight for his leg,” he says.
The soldier is taken to the operating room, where Dr. Yakov Albayuk takes one look and determines that the leg must be amputated to save the soldier's life. “After 12 hours without blood circulation, the limb will die,” Albayuk said, explaining that a tourniquet must be taken off after two hours and, if necessary, reapplied. “Because of tiny mistakes we’re losing people’s limbs.”
For Albayuk, every wound inspected on the operating table is a raw and unvarnished account of the brutality of the fight Ukrainian soldiers face in combat: constant bombardment, hidden mines, and cunning snipers.
In this soldier’s case, his wounds tell a story of bravery; he was advancing toward fire, not running away.
The amputation takes 20 minutes. Albayuk uses a surgical saw to cut through the bone. A nurse wraps up the severed limb, and it is taken away.
Nearby, a soldier lying on a stretcher in the hallway calls out for his girlfriend, Anna. He has been brought to Mechnikov so that doctors can treat complications from a leg that was amputated a few days ago at a hospital closer to the front line.
Anna rushes to his side and tells him to be strong. When he’s gone, she collapses into tears.
Later, a soldier named Maksym, who was injured while fighting in the Donetsk region, awakens in the intensive care unit to the sight of his wife, and then a relieved kiss from her. She traveled with his sister when they learned Maksym had been admitted for surgery.
“I am so happy I got to see them one more time,” Maksym said.
Like Ukraine itself, the Mechnikov Hospital — which is more than 200 years old — has been transformed by war over the past decade.
The hospital did not begin treating wounded soldiers until Russia’s invasion in 2014, when it was not prepared for the task, said Ryzhenko. Soldiers would be admitted with guts spilling out and massive amounts of blood loss. Back then, Ryzhenko saw cases he had only read about in textbooks. Today, Mechnikov is lauded for its state-of-the-art facilities and expertise — roughly 400 doctors spread across six buildings.
On Dr. Mykyta Lombrozov's operating table is a soldier who sustained a shrapnel injury on the left part of the brain. The 28-year-old neurosurgeon’s elegant hands work methodically. Crushed skull pieces are removed, one by one, until he can extract the small metal fragments lodged in the soldier’s brain.
It’s a complicated surgery that would normally take up to four hours. The war has taught Lombrozov to finish it in 55 minutes. He does it every day, he says, sometimes up to eight times in a single 24-hour shift.
“It is very important to me, that’s why I am here. That’s why we all work here,” Lombrozov said as he looked down at the soldier. “He is our hero.”
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine",Explicit
"NEW YORK -- A federal judge on Wednesday upheld a $5 million jury verdict against Donald Trump, rejecting the former president’s claim that the award was excessive and that the jury vindicated him by failing to conclude in the civil case that he raped a columnist in a luxury department store dressing room in the 1990s.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said the jury’s May award of compensatory and punitive damages to writer E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation was reasonable.
Trump’s lawyers had asked Kaplan to reduce the jury award to less than $1 million or order a new trial on damages. In their arguments, the lawyers said the jury's $2 million in compensatory damages granted for Carroll's sexual assault claim was excessive because the jury concluded that Trump had not raped Carroll at Bergdorf Goodman's Manhattan store in the spring of 1996.
Kaplan wrote that the jury's unanimous verdict was almost entirely in favor of Carroll, except that the jury concluded she had failed to prove that Trump raped her “within the narrow, technical meaning of a particular section of the New York Penal Law.”
The judge said the section requires vaginal penetration by a penis while forcible penetration without consent of the vagina or other bodily orifices by fingers or anything else is labeled “sexual abuse” rather than “rape.”
He said the definition of rape was “far narrower” than how rape is defined in common modern parlance, in some dictionaries, in some federal and state criminal statutes and elsewhere.
The judge said the verdict did not mean that Carroll “failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’ Indeed ... the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.""
Trump's lawyers were correct in arguing that the $2 million award for sexual abuse would have been excessive if the jury based the compensatory award on a conclusion that Trump had groped Carroll's breasts through her clothing or similar conduct, the judge said. But, he said, that's not what the jury found.
“There was no evidence at all of such behavior. Instead, the proof convincingly established, and the jury implicitly found, that Mr. Trump deliberately and forcibly penetrated Ms. Carroll’s vagina with his fingers, causing immediate pain and long lasting emotional and psychological harm,” Kaplan wrote.
The judge said Trump's argument “ignores the bulk of the evidence at trial, misinterprets the jury’s verdict, and mistakenly focuses on the New York Penal Law definition of ‘rape’ to the exclusion of the meaning of that word as it often is used in everyday life and of the evidence of what actually occurred between Ms. Carroll and Mr. Trump.”
Lawyers for Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, did not immediately comment after the judge's ruling.
Attorney Robbie Kaplan, who represents Carroll and is unrelated to the judge, said in a statement: “Now that the court has denied Trump’s motion for a new trial or to decrease the amount of the verdict, E Jean Carroll looks forward to receiving the $5 million in damages that the jury awarded her.”
The lawyer said her client also looks forward to a second defamation trial against Trump scheduled for January. That claim is based on statements Trump made while he was president and on statements he made after the trial.
Since the early May verdict after a two-week trial, Trump has continued to maintain that he never encountered Carroll at the department store and that he didn't know her before she claimed in a 2019 memoir that he raped her.
At trial, Carroll testified for three days, saying Trump sexually attacked her in the midtown Manhattan store's dressing room on a desolate floor near the lingerie section after they had a chance encounter at the store's entrance and flirted with one another as they shopped for a garment for one of Trump's friends. The store is located across the street from Trump Tower.
Trump, 77, did not attend the trial. He said in a social media post last week that his lawyers ""due to their respect for the Office of the President and the incredulity of the case, did not want me to testify, or even be at the trial…..”
After the trial, Carroll, 79, added new claims to a pending defamation claim and sought an addition $10 million in compensatory damages and substantially more in unspecified punitive damages.
Trump has countersued Carroll, saying he was defamed when she continued to assert after the verdict that she had been raped.
The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.",Explicit
"Armed police have swarmed on Auckland’s CBD after reports of a gunman at a building under construction near Britomart and fears there are multiple people injured.
There are unconfirmed reports of a person with a gun at a building site. Gun shots were heard at the scene at 8.08am.
A distressed construction worker told the Herald he encountered the gunman on the stairs of a property under development.
Multiple officers are currently in Quay St near Britomart. The public is being told to stay indoors and avoid lower Queen St.
Several workers at a building site can be seen crouching behind piles of building materials near where police are gathering.
At least one construction worker has been injured and was escorted from the scene by police. This person is receiving first aid from several officers.
A man with blood on his face could be seen being rushed into an ambulance.
St John ambulance says so far two people are confirmed hurt - one person has serious injuries and one has moderate injuries.
It is understood the drama is centred at 1 Queen St, a Precinct Properties building which L.T. McGuinness is working on. Matt McGuinness confirmed to the Herald it was his site the suspected gunman was on.
“I’m from South Africa … we left there not to have this,” one construction worker said.
Several roads are closed in the CBD including sections of Lower Hobson St, Quay St, Queen St, and Lower Albert St.
Members of the public are being told to seek shelter at the HSBC Tower.
Fullers says all ferry services suspended until further notice.
Police are asking the public to “move on” and stop crowding around the scene.
A woman watching the scene said she was evacuated from Commercial Bay.
Police are telling people to go home, “you won’t be going back in there.”
Train services are still running and customers can still exit Britomart via the Takutai exit located towards the tunnel end of each platform.
Commuters are told to expect major delays to all public transport.",Explicit
"- A New York federal judge denied a request by former President Donald Trump for a new trial on monetary damages in the case where a jury ordered him to pay $5 million for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll.
- ""The jury in this case did not reach 'a seriously erroneous result,'"" Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in his decision in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
- Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, faces the possibility of two criminal trials next year.
A New York federal judge on Wednesday denied former President Donald Trump's request for a new trial on monetary damages in the case where a jury ordered him to pay $5 million for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll.
Judge Lewis Kaplan also rejected Trump's bid to sharply reduce that monetary award, which came after a trial for Carroll's lawsuit that ended in May.
""The jury in this case did not reach 'a seriously erroneous result,'"" Kaplan wrote in his decision, quoting from arguments made in Trump's motion for a new trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
""Its verdict is not 'a miscarriage of justice,'"" the judge wrote.
The jury found that Trump had sexually abused Carroll in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan after they had a chance encounter there one day in the mid-1990s. Jurors also found that Trump had defamed Carroll in comments last fall denying her allegations.
Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling Wednesday.
In a statement, Carroll's lawyer Robbie Kaplan said, ""Now that the court has denied Trump's motion for a new trial or to decrease the amount of the verdict, E Jean Carroll looks forward to receiving the $5 million in damages that the jury awarded her in Carroll II.""
Carroll II is how lawyers in the case refer to the lawsuit that resulted in this verdict.
""She also looks forward to continuing to hold Trump accountable for what he did to her at the trial in Carrol I, which is scheduled to begin on January 15, 2024,"" said Robbie Kaplan, who is not related to Judge Kaplan.
In that other civil lawsuit, Carroll alleges Trump defamed her in 2019, when he denied her claims after she first publicly accused Trump of raping her during the encounter. Trump made the comments in that case when he was president.
The Department of Justice last week abandoned a nearly three-year fight to shield Trump from civil liability in that lawsuit, which was the first one that Carroll filed. The DOJ had argued that Trump made the comments about Carroll as part of his job as president.
But the DOJ dropped that claim after a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., suggested in an opinion that Trump could be sued personally if he did not make his statements about Carroll with the intention of serving the U.S. government.
Trump is appealing the verdict from the trial for Carroll's other lawsuit. The trial for the first lawsuit is set to begin as the Republican presidential primary season kicks off next year.
Trump is the leading candidate for the GOP nomination.
In addition to the civil case, he faces two criminal indictments.
In Manhattan state court, Trump is accused of falsifying business records in connection with a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.
Trump separately is charged in Florida federal court with about three dozen felonies related to his retention of classified government records when he left office, and to his alleged obstruction of efforts by U.S. officials to recover those records.
He likewise has pleaded not guilty in that case, where he has asked a judge to delay the trial until after the 2024 election.
On Tuesday, Trump said in a social media post that DOJ special counsel Jack Smith has notified him that he is a target in a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to undo his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.",Explicit
"Chilling details have emerged about the final moments of the New Zealand gunman who killed two people and left at least 10 injured in a mass shooting on Thursday morning.
The shooter, who stormed a construction site in Auckland's CBD, has been identified as 24-year-old Matu Tangi Matua Reid who had a history of violence and has been confirmed dead by police.
According to police, the 24-year-old made his way through the construction site firing a pump action shotgun, killing two civilians. Before he died, Reid barricaded himself in an elevator high up in the building and began firing at police, critically injuring one.
Gunman's history of violence
It's since been revealed the gunman — who did not hold a firearm licence — had a history of family violence and in March was charged with injuring with intent to injure, wilful damage, male assaults female and impeding breathing, New Zealand's Stuff reported.
The 24-year-old was under house arrest at the time of the shooting and was wearing an ankle bracelet, police confirmed. In New Zealand, people serving home detention can gain exemptions to work. In an afternoon press conference, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the gunman had been given an exemption to work at the construction site on lower Queen Street. Colleagues reportedly thought it was a prank until he opened fire.
Construction company LT McGuiness confirmed in a statement the gunman was an employee of a subcontractor that had been working on the project, New Zealand Herald reported. ""Today’s tragic event has been a huge shock to us all,” the company said.
Shooting is an 'isolated incident'
The shooting is being treated as an isolated incident, not a national security threat, with no change to the country's terror settings. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the shooter had no identified ideological or political motivation.
Mr Hipkins said he had ""deep sorrow"" for the two victims, who were civilians killed inside the building. It was a ""very grim morning"" in New Zealand.
""I want to thank the brave men and women of the New Zealand police who ran into the gunfire, straight into harm's way in order to save the lives of others,"" he said. ""These kind of situations move fast and the actions of those who risked their lives are nothing short of heroic.""
He later revealed an investigation is underway into how the gunman managed to get hold of a firearm and if it could have been prevented in some way. Commissioner Coster said there had been a previous search of his property but police never found him in possession of a firearm.
BREAKING: Multiple people killed in Auckland, New Zealand mass shooting - NZHerald pic.twitter.com/COuI0A8IPl
— BNO News (@BNONews) July 19, 2023
Terrified commuters flee the scene
Gunshots were heard just after 7.20am (5.20am AEST) in Auckland, police said. Local television outlets broadcast footage of workers on the roof of the building hiding behind packs of pre-mix cement.
Australian Erin Sokolowsky was on her way to work when the chaos unfolded.
""Within a minute of walking past [the construction site], waiting for the lights, gunfire started and people started running left, right and centre,"" she said.
""They said five shots. It sounded like more than that. Really loud and felt really close and we couldn’t hear or see where it was coming from.
""The best thing we can do is run and hid behind a wall and hightail it out of there.""
Video posted to social media captured the gunshots heard by locals as workers were escorted from the building by police.
with AAP
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.",Explicit
"GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The trial of a woman charged with killing and dismembering a Green Bay, Wisconsin, man last year is set to begin Monday after a judge found her fit to assist in her own defense.
Sixteen jurors were selected Friday for the homicide trial of Taylor Schabusiness, 25, following the judge's ruling that the Green Bay woman was able to help in her defense, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported. Four of the jurors will serve as alternates.
Defense attorney Christopher Froelich told the court he disagreed with that ruling.
Schabusiness is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and third-degree sexual assault in the February 2022 killing of Shad Thyrion, 25.
Authorities say she strangled Thyrion at the Green Bay home he shared with his mother, sexually abused him and dismembered his body, leaving parts of it throughout the house and in a vehicle.
Since her arrest, Schabusiness has had not guilty pleas entered on her behalf by the court and a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity entered by her former attorney.
Brown County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Walsh had ruled in March that Schabusiness was competent to stand trial. He asked the jurors Friday to report to the courthouse on Monday morning for opening statements in a trial that's expected to last a week.
In February, Schabusiness attacked her previous attorney during a court hearing before a deputy wrestled her to the courtroom floor.",Explicit
"Unilever has said it will let Russian employees be conscripted to be sent to Ukraine if they are called up.
The consumer goods giant, which has about 3,000 employees in Russia, has policies that cover the well-being and safety of its workers.
However, in a letter to campaign group B4Ukraine, it said it would comply with Russian conscription law.
Unilever has been under pressure to pull out of Russia, but says the situation is ""not straightforward"".
In a letter to B4Ukraine, which campaigns for companies to cease operating in Russia to hurt its economy, Unilever said it ""absolutely condemns the war in Ukraine as a brutal, senseless act by the Russian state"".
It also said it had responsibility for its 3,000 employees, adding that it had ""global principles including the safety and well-being of our employees"".
Nevertheless, the British firm, which makes products including Marmite and Cornetto ice creams, said it was ""aware of the law requiring any company operating in Russia to permit the conscription of employees should they be called"".
""We always comply with all the laws of the countries we operate in,"" wrote Reginaldo Ecclissato, Unilever's chief business operations and supply chain officer.
A spokesperson for the firm declined to say whether any Russian employees had been called up.
Any who are will not continue to be paid by the firm, the spokesperson added.
In its letter, it said it had paid 3.8bn roubles (£33m; $41.8bn) in tax to the Russian state in 2022, which was a similar amount to the previous year.
The majority of its business in Russia is personal care and hygiene products, but it continues to supply ice cream.
At least 25,000 Russians have been killed in the war, according to research by the BBC's Russian service and Russian website Mediazona, but other sources put the figure much higher.
In February, UK intelligence services estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 Russian troops had died.
Russian soldiers have also been accused by the UN of war crimes, including rapes, ""widespread"" torture and killings.
Unilever and other Western firms have been under pressure to pull out of Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
However, Unilever has said this is ""not straightforward"". If it abandoned operations, they would be ""appropriated and then operated"" by the Russian state.
It has not managed to find a way to sell the business that ""avoids the Russian state potentially gaining further benefit, and which safeguards our people"".
It said there were no ""desirable"" ways forward, but continuing to run the business with ""strict constraints"" was the best option at present.
However, the Ukraine Solidarity Project, which is part of B4Ukraine, said Unilever's response was ""jaw-dropping"".
""One day you're manufacturing ice cream, the next you're gearing up for the front line. You can't say Unilever isn't offering its employees varied work experience,"" said campaigner Valeriia Voshchevska.
""If this is protecting your workers, I'd hate to see what putting them in harm's way looks like.""",Explicit
"WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till, the Black teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and killed in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi, and his mother, a White House official said Saturday.
Biden will sign a proclamation on Tuesday to create the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument across three sites in Illinois and Mississippi, according to the official. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity because the White House had not formally announced the president's plans.
Tuesday is the anniversary of Emmett Till's birth in 1941.
The monument will protect places that are central to the story of Till's life and death at age 14, the acquittal of his white killers and his mother's activism. Till's mother's insistence on an open casket to show the world how her son had been brutalized and Jet's magazine's decision to publish photos of his mutilated body helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement.
Biden's decision also comes at a fraught time in the United States over matters concerning race. Conservative leaders are pushing back against the teaching of slavery and Black history in public schools, as well as the incorporation of diversity, equity and inclusion programs from college classrooms to corporate boardrooms.
On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris criticized a revised Black history curriculum in Florida that includes teaching that enslaved people benefited from the skills they learned at the hands of the people who denied them freedom. The Florida Board of Education approved the curriculum to satisfy legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate who has accused public schools of liberal indoctrination.
“How is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities that there was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanization?” Harris asked in a speech delivered from Jacksonville, Florida.
DeSantis said he had no role in devising his state’s new education standards but defended the components on how enslaved people benefited.
“All of that is rooted in whatever is factual,” he said in response.
The monument to Till and his mother will include three sites in the two states.
The Illinois site is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Bronzeville, a historically Black neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Thousands of people gathered at the church to mourn Emmett Till in September 1955.
The Mississippi locations are Graball Landing, believed to be where Till’s mutilated body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Till’s killers were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury.
Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi when Carolyn Bryant Donham said the 14-year-old Till whistled and made sexual advances at her while she worked in a store in the small community of Money.
Till was later abducted and his body eventually pulled from the Tallahatchie River, where he had been tossed after he was shot and weighted down with a cotton gin fan.
Two white men, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam, were tried on murder charges about a month after Till was killed, but an all-white Mississippi jury acquitted them. Months later, they confessed to killing Till in a paid interview with Look magazine. Bryant was married to Donham in 1955. She died earlier this year.
The monument will be the fourth Biden has created since taking office in 2021, and just his latest tribute to the younger Till.
For Black History Month this year, Biden hosted a screening of the movie “Till,” a drama about his lynching.
In March 2022, Biden signed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law. Congress had first considered such legislation more than 120 years ago.
The Justice Department announced in December 2021 that it was closing its investigation into Till’s killing.",Explicit
"The horrors of war arrive through the night at a hospital in eastern Ukraine, a procession of stretchers bearing limp bodies whisked from the front line.
The soldiers come with bandaged limbs soaked in blood, faces blackened with shrapnel fragments and stunned eyes fixed on the ceiling, frozen in shock. Lately, they’ve been coming with ever-greater frequency.
Shrapnel accounts for the majority of injuries treated at Mechnikov, doctors said. Bullet wounds, less so. Wounded soldiers are typically cared for in hospitals closer to the front line and then, once stabilized, they are brought to Mechnikov, a journey that can sometimes take half a day.",Explicit
"Texas Governor Greg Abbott's escalating measures to stop migrants along the U.S. border with Mexico came under a burst of new criticism Tuesday after a state trooper said migrants were left bloodied from razor-wire barriers and that orders were given to deny people water in sweltering heat.
In one account, Texas Trooper Nicholas Wingate told a supervisor that upon encountering a group of 120 migrants on June 25 — including young children and mothers nursing babies — in Maverick County, a rural Texas border county, he and another trooper were ordered to ""push the people back into the water to go to Mexico.""
The trooper described the actions in an email dated July 3 as inhumane.
Travis Considine, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Safety, said the accounts provided by the trooper were under internal investigation. He said the department has no directive or policy that instructs troopers to withhold water from migrants or push them back into the river.
The emails, first obtained by Hearst Newspapers, thrust Texas' sprawling border security mission back under scrutiny at a time when Abbott is expanding the mission by putting a new floating barrier on the Rio Grande. The Republican has authorized more than $4 billion in spending on the mission, known as Operation Lone Star, which has also included busing thousands of migrants to Democratic-led cities and arresting migrants on trespassing charges.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday that the trooper's account, if true, was ""abhorrent"" and ""dangerous."" Democrats in the Texas Capitol said they planned to investigate.
""We are talking about the bedrock values of who we are as a country and the human indecency that we are seeing,"" Jean-Pierre said. ""If this is true, it is just completely, completely wrong.""
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security condemned the reported actions in a statement but did not say whether the agency was planning to investigate the allegations.
Republican Representative Tony Gonzales, whose sprawling south Texas congressional district includes the border, tweeted, ""Border security should not equal a lack of humanity.""
In one instance, according to Wingate, a 4-year-old girl attempting to cross through razor wire was ""pressed back"" by Texas National Guard soldiers in accordance with orders and that the child later fainted from the heat. Temperatures in Maverick County this summer have soared into the triple-digits.
Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber, who has supported the state deploying workers to the border, said he was taken aback by the trooper's account.
""I don't agree with whatever they were told to do,"" Schmerber said. ""That's not something that's part of our mission. You know, I know that we're here to protect and serve no matter who it is, you know, either immigrants or U.S. citizens. But we're not going to do any harm to anybody.""
Wingate did not immediately return an email message seeking comment Tuesday. The Texas Military Department also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As concern and outrage over the trooper's account mounted Tuesday, Abbott's office issued a statement that said no orders have been given ""that would compromise the lives of those attempting to cross the border illegally."" The statement did not address Wingate's specific accounts and defended the border mission overall.
The statement said the razor wire ""snags clothing"" but did not address the accounts of migrants being cut and bloodied by the barrier.
""The absence of these tools and strategies — including concertina wire that snags clothing — encourages migrants to make potentially life-threatening and illegal crossings. Through Operation Lone Star, Texas continues stepping up to respond to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis at our southern border,"" the statement read.
The email chain with the trooper included a log showing 38 encounters between June 25 and July 1 with migrants in need of medical assistance, ranging from weakness to lacerations, broken limbs and drownings in which life-saving measures were required. A dozen were under a year old.
Other accounts included a 19-year-old woman who was found cut by the wire and having a miscarriage. The others had cuts or broken bones as a result of where the wires were placed, according to the email.
""We need to operate it correctly in the eyes of God,"" Wingate wrote.
In response to Wingate's accounts, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw sent an email saying ""the priority of life requires that we rescue migrants from harm and we will continue to do so.""
A separate email exchange obtained by The Associated Press dated July 14 shows McCraw receiving pictures, originally sent by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, of injuries caused by the sharp wire placed by Texas officials.
The pictures showed some injuries that required stitches as well as bloodied hands and legs.",Explicit
"Japanese police said they arrested a woman and her parents in a beheading case in a popular night entertainment district in Japan's northern city of Sapporo, where a headless man was found in a hotel room three weeks ago.
Hokkaido police on Japan's northern main island said Tuesday they arrested Runa Tamura, 29, and her father Osamu Tamura, a 59-year-old psychiatrist, the day before on suspicion of conspiring in beheading the victim at a hotel room and relocating his severed head in the middle of the night between July 1 and July 2.
The head of the victim, Hitoshi Ura, 62, has been missing since then.
Police raided the suspects' home Tuesday and arrested the prime suspect's mother Hiroko Tamura, a 60-year-old parttime worker, on suspicion of conspiring with her family in transporting and keeping the head at home.
Police did not say exactly how the daughter and the father collaborated. Police are still investigating the motive and refused to say if the woman and the victim knew each other.
Police also noted that Runa is a possible mental patient. Media reports quoted neighbors as saying that she has had difficulty attending school and had been reclusive since childhood.
Kyodo News and other media reported the victim and another individual believed to be Runa Tamura checked into the hotel in the Susukino area known for short-stay ""love hotels."" About three hours later only one of them was seen leaving, carrying a large suitcase.
The person accompanying the victim was wearing light-colored women's clothing and a wide-brimmed hat when entering the hotel, but was dressed in black when leaving, Kyodo said, quoting unnamed investigative sources.
Ura's body was discovered later on July 2 by a hotel worker who went to check on the room because no one had checked out from it by the afternoon. The worker found the victim slumped in a bathtub, according to news reports. None of his belongings had been left in the room and the bed appeared unused.
for more features.",Explicit
"By SAMYA KULLAB (Associated Press)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia pounded Ukraine’s southern cities with drones and missiles for a third consecutive night Thursday, keeping Odesa in the Kremlin’s crosshairs after a bitter dispute over the end of a wartime deal that allowed Ukraine to send grain through the key Black Sea port.
The strikes killed at least two people in Odesa. In the nearby city of Mykolaiv, which is close to the Black Sea, at least 19 people were injured, including a child, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia has targeted Ukrainian critical grain export infrastructure since it vowed “retribution” this week for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge between Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula. Russian officials blamed that strike on Ukrainian drone boats.
The strikes on Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure have helped drive up food prices in countries facing hunger. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the end of the deal Monday would result in more human suffering, with potentially millions of people affected.
The grain deal provided guarantees that ships would not be attacked entering and leaving Ukrainian ports, while a separate agreement facilitated the movement of Russian food and fertilizer.
The Russian military on Thursday described its strikes on Odesa, a city whose downtown area is described by the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO as possessing “outstanding universal value,” as “retaliatory.”
In January, UNESCO added Odesa’s historic center to its list of endangered World Heritage Sites, with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay saying the “legendary port that has left its mark in cinema, literature and the arts.”
Despite multiple Russian artillery attacks and airstrikes during the war that began in February 2022, Odesa had not previously been subjected to the heavy barrages that have targeted other towns and cities in Ukraine’s south and east.
Odesa residents reeled from Russia’s sudden focus on their city.
“I remember the attack on the port last year, but now it feels like it was only 5% compared to what the Russians have launched at us during these past three days,” Oleksandr Kolodin, a 29-year-old photographer, told The Associated Press.
Some feared that Russia’s decision to tear up the grain deal would make Odesa a long-term primary target.
“We saw how they could attack Kyiv for an entire month,” said 29-year-old programmer Victor, referring to the intense bombardment of the Ukrainian capital in May. He asked to use only his first name out of concern for his safety.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that it targeted “production shops and storage sites for unmanned boats” in Odesa and the nearby city of Chornomorsk. In the Mykolaiv area, the Russian military claimed to have destroyed Ukrainian fuel infrastructure facilities and ammunition depots.
Neither sides’ claims could be independently verified.
The previous night, an intense Russian bombardment using drones and missiles damaged critical port infrastructure in Odesa, including grain and oil terminals. The attack destroyed at least 60,000 tons of grain.
In what appeared to be a tit-for-tat move, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced that as of Friday, all vessels in the Black Sea heading to Russian ports “may be considered by Ukraine as such carrying military cargo with all the associated risks.” That may result in higher insurance costs for those ships.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said earlier this week that Moscow had formally declared wide areas of the Black Sea dangerous for shipping and warned that it would view any incoming ship as laden with weapons, effectively announcing a sea blockade.
Despite the risks, ship owners haven’t shown any less interest in carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, according to John Stawpert, senior manager of environment and trade for the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents 80% of the world’s commercial fleet.
The European Union’s foreign affairs chief condemned Russia’s targeting of grain storage facilities.
“More than 60,000 tons of grain has been burned,” Josep Borrell said in Brussels on Thursday, regarding Moscow’s recent tactics. “So not only they withdraw from the grain agreement … but they are burning the grain.”
German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock said at the same meeting that the EU is involved in international efforts to get Ukrainian grain to the world market.
“The fact that the Russian president has canceled the grain agreement and is now bombing the port of Odesa is not only another attack on Ukraine, but an attack on the people, on the poorest people in the world,” she said. “Hundreds of thousands of people, not to say millions, urgently need grain from Ukraine.”
The White House warned Wednesday that Russia was preparing possible attacks on civilian shipping vessels in the Black Sea. The warning could alarm shippers and further drive up grain prices.
Russia has laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports, White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement. “We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks,” the statement said.
Carlos Mera, head of agricultural commodities markets at Rabobank, said wheat prices have risen about 17% over the last week, calling it a surprising rise that started even before the grain deal ended Monday and attributing it to “a little bit of panic.”
A lot of the wheat exported from Ukraine goes to very poor countries, such as those in North Africa, he said. People in those places are already struggling with food insecurity and high local food prices. Russia, meanwhile, has been exporting record amounts of wheat in recent months despite complaints that its agricultural exports have been hindered.
Russia has blasted Ukrainian towns and cities since the start of the war. Ukraine’s Western allies have helped upgrade its air defense systems. The latest military aid package from the United States, announced by the Pentagon on Wednesday, includes funding for four National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, and munitions for them.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military has begun deploying cluster munitions — bombs that open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets — that it recently received from the U.S., U.S. National Security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday at a news conference.
“We have gotten some initial feedback from the Ukrainians and they’re using them quite effectively,” he said.
___
Raf Casert in Brussels, Courtney Bonnell in London and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine",Explicit
"PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Authorities are on high alert in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, following a shooting incident that left five people dead.
Around 8 p.m. Wednesday, local time, officers responded to ""a report of a mass shooting"" in Kingstown, the capital of the Caribbean nation, according to a statement from the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force.
Police told ABC News a group of people were in the Harbour Club area, when a vehicle pulled up and occupants of the vehicle began shooting.
Five people were fatally shot in the incident, including a 13-year-old boy, investigators said.
""Based on the crime scene, an assault weapon appears to have been used,"" Police Commissioner Colin John said at a news conference on Thursday. ""We also received intel about possible reprisals and that is something that we are taking very seriously.""
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who is abroad on an official visit to Morocco, offered condolences to the families of the victims in a video statement.
""We will get to the bottom of this, and we will bring the perpetrators to justice, those who carried out the killings and those who are the authors,"" Dr. Gonsalves said.
The United States has been working with Caribbean countries to battle crime and violence in the region.
On July 5, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Caribbean heads of government in Trinidad. The leaders addressed the issue of guns being trafficked from the U.S. to the Caribbean.
Blinken announced that U.S. prosecutor Michael BenAry has been appointed as the first U.S. coordinator for Caribbean firearms prosecutions.
U.S. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who led a bipartisan Congressional delegation to Trinidad and Tobago on July 5 for talks with regional leaders, said BenAry's appointment shows ""that the United States of America, that Congress, that the Biden administration, has heard the concerns related to gun trafficking and gun violence here in Trinidad and Tobago, and throughout the Caribbean, and we are prepared to respond decisively to address it.""",Explicit
"The notorious manifesto of far-right terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway’s worst peacetime atrocity, was listed for sale by Britain’s biggest book chain, Waterstones.
Investigators found Breivik’s manifesto on the website last Wednesday before it was removed after the bookseller was informed.
Breivik killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo before heading to a youth camp on the island of Utøya, where he killed 69 people, mostly teenagers, in a gun attack in July 2011.
The right-wing extremist launched his 1,500 page anti-Muslim manifesto hours before committing his attacks.
The document charts Breivik’s attempts to mentally prepare and acquire the weaponry and explosives needed for his bomb and gun attacks with some sections plagiarised from writings by America’s Unabomber.
Investigators at Tech Against Terrorism, a UN-backed online counter-terrorism organisation, found the manifesto for sale on the Waterstones site, which also owns Foyles and Hatchards. The manifesto, called “2083 – A European Declaration of Independence” was promoted in three parts, priced at £30-£48.
The manifesto’s entry also featured an author page for the 43-year-old Norwegian extremist. But the chain said the manifesto could not be bought. “These titles were never stocked in our bookshops and were not available to order on our website or in shops. At no point were these titles part of our curation,” a spokesperson said.
Experts say such material could violate UK counter-terrorism legislation. In 2021 Sam Imrie, from Glenrothes, Fife, was convicted of encouraging terrorism as well as collecting information useful to an individual preparing an act of terrorism, after Breivik’s manifesto was found in his home.
Tech Against Terrorism identified that the version of the manifesto listed by Waterstones featured a verified international standard book number (ISBN) and was published by a private limited company registered in Estonia since September 2019.
However, Waterstones said it did not have a “trading relationship” with the publisher making it impossible for the manifesto to be ordered through the chain.
Waterstones added that it received title information for listings through an automated feed from Nielsen Book Data, the main aggregator for the UK book trade, with the retailer saying it gave extra scrutiny to review the listing and excluded unacceptable titles.
“With the size of the catalogue running into the tens of millions, inevitably some escape both Nielsen and our scrutiny. As soon as these are noticed, they are removed,” the spokesperson said.
Adam Hadley, executive director of Tech Against Terrorism, said the incident raised concerns over whether UK laws were sufficient for such cases.
“This discovery highlights an ambiguity in existing and proposed content moderation legislation. To what extent would either the Terrorism Act or the forthcoming online safety bill cover books sold on mainstream websites?”",Explicit
"Human remains were found inside three separate suitcases on Friday in Florida, according to law enforcement officials seeking information related to the gruesome discovery.
The Delray Beach Police Department responded to a 911 call from a person who said they saw something strange in the Intracoastal Waterway, police said.
Detectives discovered a suitcase that had human remains inside, according to Delray Beach Police Department.
The remains are that of ""a white or Hispanic middle-aged woman with brown hair and approximately 5'4"" tall,"" according to a statement from police.
Shortly after discovering the remains, police discovered additional human remains inside two other suitcases near the Intracoastal Waterway.
The remains in all three suitcases are that of the same woman, according to police.
Delray Beach Police said the victim was wearing a floral tank top with a black undershirt and black mid-thigh shorts.
In a brief update Monday afternoon, Delray police asked for the public's help in reviewing any possible surveillance video from the time frame of July 17 through July 20.
The woman, believed to be between 35-55 years of age, was placed into the water during that timeframe, based on her condition, police said.
The area of interest is about one mile long, with police telling the public to look for any unusual vehicles, people, or anyone carrying or moving luggage during that time.
It's believed to be an isolated incident, according to police.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Delray Beach Police Detective Mike Liberta at 561-243-7874.",Explicit
"Rishi Sunak has apologised for the treatment of LGBT veterans after they were sacked or forced out of the military for being gay.
The UK PM said the ban was an ""appalling failure"" of the British state.
It was illegal to be gay in the British military until 2000 - with thousands of veterans thought to be affected.
It comes after a long-awaited report into their treatment was published on Wednesday.
Addressing MPs in parliament, the prime minister said: ""Many endured the most horrific sex abuse and violence, homophobic bullying and harassment all while bravely serving this country.
""Today on behalf of the British state I apologise.""
Emma Riley, 51, was a Royal Navy radio operator for three years before she was arrested and discharged for being a lesbian after telling a colleague her sexuality in the early 1990s.
She told the BBC that she welcomed the report, and that she hoped it would be put into place ""swiftly.""
""Having our history, experiences and enormous pain acknowledged and apologised for, hearing that the Armed Services and government that perpetuated institutional bullying will now be held accountable to finally support LBGT+ Veterans, is a relief,"" she said.
Veterans have previously told the BBC how their lives were devastated by the ban.
Carol Morgan, who was dismissed after telling her bosses she was gay in 1978, kept her sexuality secret for another 30 years and said she had been ""robbed"" of her life.
Ken Wright, 62, served as an RAF Police Officer before losing his job when his bosses found out he was gay.
He described how losing his position in the military had left him feeling as though ""his country didn't want him.""
He added: ""After being denied the opportunity to defend one's country, being told you aren't good enough to wear the uniform, it takes huge inner strength to feel reconciled all of a sudden today.
""Carrying that insult for 35 years scars you for life.""
The report says many faced invasive medical examinations, intrusive police investigations and in some cases, as recently as 1996, were sent to prison for their sexuality. Many still have a criminal record to this day.
It also details how some veterans faced a complete loss of income, while others were deemed ineligible to claim their pension because of their dismissal.
As well as detailing the personal experiences of those impacted by the ban, Lord Etherton's report also makes 49 recommendations to the government including the restoration of medals that had to be handed back on dismissal or discharge, the clarification of pension rights and the presentation of the veterans badge.
The report comes more than 20 years after four servicemen and women, who were sacked for being gay, won a case in the European Court of Human Rights and overturned the ban.
Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer said he was pleased with the apology and that it was a ""significant moment"" for the LGBT community.
Asked why it had taken so long, with the ban lifted more than 20 years ago, he said veteran care in this country had ""been a journey"" and that there were lots of different parts of the ""veteran experience"" that needed to be brought up to standard.",Explicit
"Fox News analyst: GOP may have ‘outsmarted themselves’ on support for RFK Jr.
A Fox News contributor suggested Thursday that Republicans might be making a mistake by inviting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to a House hearing on “weaponization” of the federal government.
“Democrats are going to make him the focus of this hearing, and I think it’s entirely possible Republicans have outsmarted themselves on this one,” Byron York, a columnist at The Washington Examiner and contributor to Fox, said during the network’s coverage of the hearing.
“It’s about a very serious issue, the hearing … but what we will have is Democrats attacking the witness.”
York later said Republicans could be misreading support for Kennedy.
“I think some of the support you see for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the Democratic party is not Democrats who want to see him be president, but for Democrats who are sending a message: We want another candidate,” he added.
“So I think Republicans may have misread some of RFK’s support.”
Kennedy is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who filed paperwork in April to run for president as a Democrat. He is polling well behind President Biden and has most recently sparked backlash with offensive comments suggesting the coronavirus was engineered to avoid infecting Chinese and Jewish people.
House Republicans invited Kennedy to testify before the Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Thursday, despite calls from Democrats to disinvite him to speak to the panel following those remarks.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"Miami-Dade Police Department Director Alfredo ""Freddy"" Ramirez shot himself in the head on a Florida highway after an argument with his wife, authorities said Monday.
He had surgery Monday afternoon and is expected to recover, police said.
“He probably has a long road ahead, a lot of surgeries, but he is going to survive,” Hillsborough Country Sheriff Chad Chronister told reporters in Tampa.
Officers responded Sunday evening to the Florida Sheriff’s Association’s Summer Conference in Tampa where ""a male had pointed a gun at himself,"" police said in a statement.
When officers arrived to the 12th floor of the Marriott Westside, Ramirez, 52, told them he was no danger to himself or others, and was then ""released at the scene,"" Tampa police said.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office described that encounter as a domestic dispute between Ramirez and his wife.
But shortly after that incident, Ramirez drove off and shot himself in the head, the sheriff said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said the incident happened on I-75, south of Tampa.
“Our hearts are with Chief of Public Safety Freddy Ramirez and his family during this difficult time,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement. “All that matters right now is his well-being and we continue to pray for his speedy recovery.”
Ramirez had announced his candidacy for sheriff of Miami-Dade County in 2024.
The law enforcement leader grew up in Hialeah and was raised by his grandparents who fled Cuba and the Castro regime, according to his campaign biography.
He graduated from the University of Miami, married his high school sweetheart and joined the Miami-Dade Police Department in 1995, his campaign said.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is also attending the law enforcement conference in Tampa, praised Ramirez.
""You couldn't ask for a more respectful person, somebody that cares about others and wants to do a good job,"" said Scott, a former governor.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle called Sunday night's shooting ""deeply saddening.""
""An incident such as this is so deeply saddening, and I am praying and hoping for Chief Freddy Ramirez’ full recovery,"" she said. ""We all know that we need many, many more individuals with the strength, courage and commitment he has exemplified throughout his career.""
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.",Explicit
"SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A third man has been arrested on federal charges related to the firebombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Southern California last year, authorities said Monday.
Xavier Batten, 21, was arrested Friday in Florida and has been ordered to be detained pending trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said. Online court records for the case in California do not list an attorney for him.
Two other defendants who were arrested last month are due to appear in federal court in California Monday, prosecutors said in a statement. Tibet Ergul, 21, of Irvine, and Chance Brannon, 23, of San Juan Capistrano, a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, are expected to be arraigned in federal court in Santa Ana.
All three men are charged with conspiracy and malicious destruction of property by fire and explosion, the statement said. Ergul and Brannon also face additional charges.
“This indictment shows that federal law enforcement will work diligently to uncover and hold accountable those who plan and carry out violent extremist acts against others,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in the statement.
Brannon will plead not guilty, said Kate Corrigan, his attorney. Sheila Mojtehedi, Ergul’s attorney, declined to comment.
The charges are tied to an attack at the clinic in the Southern California city of Costa Mesa at around 1 a.m. on March 13, 2022, authorities said. A Molotov cocktail was thrown at the front of the building and fire spread up a wall and across a ceiling.
Security video recorded two people in hooded sweatshirts and face masks carry out the attack. No one was hurt but the clinic had to cancel about 30 appointments, authorities said.",Explicit
"NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A Connecticut man who was exonerated after serving 28 years in prison for killing a baby in 1994 has filed a lawsuit against the city of New Haven and six now-former police officers involved in his arrest.
Adam Carmon, 51, was convicted of murder and other crimes and sentenced to 85 years in prison for the shooting that killed 7-month-old Danielle Taft and paralyzed her grandmother, Charlene Troutman. A gunman had fired more than a dozen shots through their apartment window from outside.
Carmon was released in December after a judge ruled that prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense and city police failed to pursue other suspects — including one who recanted a confession. The charges were officially dismissed last month.
In June, Carmon told The Associated Press in a phone interview that his name remained tarnished.
“I have to live with that the rest of my life, regardless of what transpired,"" he said. ""Right now, I’m just working, trying to piece the pieces of my life back together.”
The lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Patricia King, corporation counsel for the city of New Haven, said in a statement that she could not comment on the specifics of Carmon’s case, but that “the City is committed to cooperating with all parties and appropriately engaging in the civil litigation process to ensure there are reasonable resolutions on matters where city employees are deemed legally responsible for wrongful convictions or miscarriages of justice.”
Carmen's attorney argued that evidence showed two other men — purported drug dealers — could have been involved in the shooting. Prosecutors failed to disclose to Carmon’s lawyer that one of those men voluntarily went to the police station and implicated himself and another man in the shooting, the judge said.
Police abandoned their investigation of those men when the firearms expert concluded a handgun Carmon possessed was the murder weapon.
Carmon is working at a grocery distribution warehouse and said he will soon be marrying a woman he was dating before he went to prison. He said he is building a relationship with his 28-year-old son, who was a baby when the shooting happened.",Explicit
"More than 47 years after 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington vanished while she walked to bible camp, authorities have announced the arrest of a former pastor in connection with the decades-old killing.
David Zandstra, 83, of Marietta, was charged on Monday with multiple offenses, including criminal homicide and first-degree murder, NBC Philadelphia reported. He allegedly confessed to killing Harrington after he was confronted with new evidence, including claims from a witness who said Zandstra at one point groped the young victim and attempted to kidnap another girl, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office.
The new witness provided officials with a diary entry written one month after Harrington went missing, speculating that Zandstra may have been responsible.
“Guess what?” the witness is quoted as writing in an entry dated Sept. 15, 1975. “A man tried to kidnap Holly twice! It’s a secret I can’t tell anyone, but I think he might be the one who kidnapped Gretchen. I think it was Mr. Z.”
Harrington disappeared on Aug. 15, 1975, while on a walk from her Marple Township home to a Bible school less than a mile away. District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said Zandstra, who served as a reverend at Trinity Christian Reformed Church, pulled up alongside the little girl and offered her a ride to camp.
Instead, he took her to a secluded place and ordered her to remove her clothes. When she refused, he masturbated in front of her before beating her to death, according to Stollsteimer. Her body was discovered weeks later, on October 14 in Ridley Creek State Park.
“This man is evil. He killed this poor 8-year-old girl he knew and who trusted him,” Stollsteimer said. “And, then he acted as if he was a family friend, not only during her burial and the period after that, but for years.”",Explicit
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"Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) appeared to take a veiled shot at Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) on Wednesday after his fellow far-right Republican, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), displayed what appeared to be nude pictures of Hunter Biden with women she claimed were sex workers.
“If the gentlelady from Georgia wanted to follow evidence, we should also take a look at, hypothetically, a case where sex trafficking charges against a 17-year-old girl, potentially,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the House Oversight Committee hearing before she was notified her speaking time had expired.
She was ostensibly referring to allegations that Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel across state lines in violation of sex trafficking statutes.
Gaetz denied the allegations, and his attorneys said in February that the Justice Department had dropped its sex trafficking investigation without charges against the congressman.
Gaetz’s associate, former Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in the probe. He cooperated with prosecutors against Gaetz and alleged he saw the congressman have sex with the 17-year-old and that she was paid, according to The New York Times.
Wednesday’s committee hearing included testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who claimed the Justice Department hamstrung their investigation into tax crimes by President Joe Biden’s son and pursued lesser charges than they had recommended.
Greene did not focus her questioning on those allegations, instead showing what appeared to be images of Hunter Biden making sex tapes.
“What’s even more troubling to me is that the Department of Justice has brought no charges against Hunter Biden that will vindicate the rights of these women,” she said.",Explicit
"CHICAGO -- The city of Chicago has experienced another bloody and violent weekend as six people were fatally shot and 27 others were wounded by gunfire.
Officers responded to two dozen separate shooting incidents from 6 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Sunday, according to major incident notifications released Monday.
The incidents included the slaying of one man and wounding of four others early Saturday as they stood on a sidewalk and the wounding of three people, including two women, Saturday night on Chicago’s South Side when gunfire rang out from an alley at a group of people.
A 16-year-old boy was found on a sidewalk and pronounced dead at a hospital after being shot multiple times Friday night. The teen was identified as Rashaun Hood, grandson of community activist Robin Hood.
“I want the community to remember that he was a basketball player. He stayed on the honor roll at school. He was just like any other youth,” Hood told WGN-TV. “We have got to tell on these killers and we cannot let them roam freely.""
Weekend violence has plagued the city in recent years. This Memorial Day weekend more than 40 people were shot, including nine fatally.
But the numbers in Chicago reflect a national trend that is seeing homicides decrease so far this year, while some crimes, like motor vehicle theft, are on the rise.
Homicides on average dropped 9.4% during the first half of 2023 as compared to the same period last year, the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice found in a report released last week.
The report is based on crime data posed online by police departments in 37 cities of varying sizes around the country. Several of the nation’s largest cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, are represented. Of the cities that did post crime data online, 30 included homicide numbers and 20 of those showed declines.
Through July 16, Chicago police reported 331 murders compared to 355 over the same period in 2022, according to Chicago Police Department crime statistics. Year-to-date shootings in the city also were down from 1,407 in 2022 to 1,314 this year.
Chicago tallied 695 murders and 2,832 shootings through all of 2022.
However, other major crimes in the city have increased from Jan. 1 through July 16, led by motor vehicle theft which leaped from 7,074 through July 16, 2022, to more than 15,990 so far this year.
In early June, activists gathered outside Chicago City Hall asking Mayor Brandon Johnson to sign an executive order declaring violence a public health crisis in the city.",Explicit
"A 26-year-old man is charged with sex crimes after enrolling in a public school district in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he pretended to be 17, police say.
Zachary Scheich was arrested Thursday and faces two counts of sexual assault with use of an electronic communication device, which includes any attempt to “knowingly solicit, coax, entice or lure” a child 16 years or younger to engage in sexual activity, according to the Lincoln Police Department. Scheich is also charged with one count of sex trafficking of a minor.
Scheich allegedly attended two high schools in the Lincoln school district during the last academic year, attending classes for approximately 54 days, police say.
“The district had been alerted about an individual impersonating a student who had been enrolled under the name of Zak Hess,” the Lincoln Police Department said in a written statement.
Scheich was first enrolled at Northwest High School during the first semester of the 2022-2023 academic year and then transferred to Southeast High School during the second semester, police noted in the statement.
During a news conference Friday, Lincoln Public Schools superintendent Paul Gausman said Scheich had enrolled by submitting a birth certificate, an out-of-district high school transcript and immunization records.
“All those documents turned out to be fraudulent,” said Gausman.
The documents were submitted to the school online without a parent present, associate superintendent Matt Larson said. The online enrollment process is “something we are considering changing,” he said.
An arrest warrant obtained by CNN affiliate KOLN says police gained access to Scheich’s cell phone during a search of his home and “found text messages exchanged between Scheich and minor females.”
Police found sexually explicit messages sent to a 14-year-old female student, they said. Scheich also allegedly texted a 13-year-old girl to discuss “meeting up for sex.”
During an interview with authorities, Scheich allegedly admitted to pretending to be a student at the school and sending explicit messages to children but said he did not sexually assault any of them.
“We’ve identified a number of people who are victims,” superintendent Gausman said, but declined to give an exact number.
Bond for Scheich was set at $250,000 during a court hearing Friday, KOLN reported. Scheich did not enter a plea and did not have an attorney. CNN reached out to the public defender’s office for comment Friday.
CNN’s Jennifer Feldman and Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report.",Explicit
"July 23 (Reuters) - Clashes flared in parts of Sudan on the 100th day of the war on Sunday as mediation attempts by regional and international powers failed to find a path out of an increasingly intractable conflict.
The fighting broke out on April 15 as the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) vied for power. Since then, more than 3 million people have been uprooted, including more than 700,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries.
Some 1,136 people have been killed, according to the health ministry, though officials believe the number is higher.
Neither the army nor the RSF has been able to claim victory, with the RSF's domination on the ground in the capital Khartoum up against the army's air and artillery firepower.
Infrastructure and government in the capital have fallen apart while fighting has spread westwards, particularly to the fragile Darfur region, as well as to the south, where the rebel SPLM-N group has tried to gain territory.
Over the weekend, the RSF moved into villages in Gezira State directly south of Khartoum, where the army conducted air strikes against them, according to witnesses.
In Nyala, one of the country's largest cities and capital of South Darfur, clashes have continued since Thursday in residential areas, according to witnesses. At least 20 people have been killed, medical sources said. The United Nations says 5,000 families have been displaced, and residents have reported looting of key facilities.
""Bullets are flying into homes. We are terrified and no one is protecting us,"" said 35-year-old Salah Abdallah.
The fighting gave way to ethnically targeted attacks by Arab militias and the RSF in West Darfur, from which hundreds of thousands of people have fled to Chad.
Residents have also accused RSF soldiers of looting and occupying wide swathes of the capital. The RSF has said it would investigate.
Late on Sunday, the Sudanese army said nine people died, including four military personnel, when a civilian Antonov plane crashed due to a technical failure at Port Sudan airport in the east of the country. A young girl survived the accident, the army added in a statement.
While the two warring sides have shown openness towards mediation efforts led by regional and international actors, none has resulted in a sustained ceasefire.
Both sides have sent delegations to attempt to re-start talks in Jeddah that have yielded often-violated ceasefires.
But the Sudanese foreign minister said on Friday that indirect talks had not begun seriously.
The leaders of the army and RSF headed a joint council since the ouster of former ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and diverged over plans for a transition to democracy.
Civilian political groups as well as the RSF have accused the army of turning a blind eye to appearances by wanted Bashir loyalists in recent days.
The Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian coalition, said on Sunday it was holding meeting in Egypt, which offered itself as a mediator in the conflict.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"Hunter Biden has hit back at Marjorie Taylor Greene for showing everyone his nude photos, as his lawyer filed an ethics complaint against the Georgia Republican on Friday.
The House Oversight Committee heard testimony on Wednesday from two IRS agents who say the Department of Justice dragged its feet on investigating the younger Biden for tax fraud. The hearing produced zero actual evidence, so instead, Greene tried to claim that Biden engaged in sex trafficking and listed payments to sex workers as a tax write-off. To support her argument, she held up poster-size prints of Biden’s nude photos, which she later also shared on her email newsletter.
Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell sent a letter to the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics asking that Greene be investigated and penalized for her “outrageous, undignified conduct.”
“None of her actions or statements could possibly be deemed to be part of any legitimate legislative activity, as is clear from both the content of her statements and her conduct and the forums she uses to spew her unhinged rhetoric,” Lowell wrote.
“Rather than evaluate the credibility of the IRS agents’ testimony or review our tax laws, Ms. Greene sought to use the power of her office to generate some clicks online, fundraise, and provide sensationalist clips for Fox News at the expense of harassing and embarrassing Mr. Biden.”
Lowell previously urged the OCE to take action on Greene in April, accusing her of defaming Biden, spreading false allegations and conspiracy theories about him, and publishing his private photos and data. “If the OCE takes its responsibilities seriously, it will promptly and decisively condemn and discipline Ms. Greene for her latest actions,” he said in Friday’s letter.
The OCE is an independent agency that reviews allegations of misconduct against lawmakers and their staff. If necessary, the OCE will refer matters to the Ethics Committee—which is where Greene’s case could end up (and where investigations into George Santos still continue, nearly two months after he was federally indicted).
This isn’t the first time Republicans have shared Hunter’s nudes, but blowing them up on a poster for a congressional hearing is a new low. Not only was Greene’s decision to wave Biden’s nudes around wildly inappropriate—Oversight Chair James Comer did not reprimand her, though—but she may also have violated D.C. revenge porn law. City law prohibits knowingly disclosing one or more sexual images of an identified or identifiable person when the person in the photo did not consent to the image being shared.
What’s more, Greene may have sent the nudes to minors when she included them in her email newsletter. There is no screening for age when signing up for her newsletter, so any minors who subscribe have now received nudes from their congresswoman. If that is the case, then Greene could have broken federal laws banning the distribution of obscene material to minors.",Explicit
"A man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering his 16-year-old sister.

Connor Gibson, 20, was convicted of attacking his sister Amber in woodland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, on 26 November 2021.

He removed her clothing, sexually assaulted her with the intention of raping her, inflicted blunt-force trauma to her head and body, and strangled her.

Gibson denied the charges against him but was found guilty after a 13-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday 26 November and her body was discovered in Cadzow Glen at about 10.10am on 28 November.

Gibson was arrested three days later on December 1 and, the day before his arrest, posted a chilling tribute to the sister he murdered, writing on Facebook: ""Amber, you will fly high for the rest of time. We will all miss you. Especially me. I love you ginger midget. GBFN (goodbye for now) X"".

The forensic pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination on Amber's body told the court she was found covered in mud and the cause of death was ""compression of the neck"".

Jurors also heard other forensic evidence that ""widespread blood staining"" on Gibson's jacket was compatible with Amber and his DNA was also found on her shorts, worn as underwear, which had been ""forcibly torn"" off.

The court heard Gibson, also known by the surname Niven, did not seem emotional as he spoke to his and Amber's former foster father, Craig Niven, on the day Amber's body was found.

Giving evidence, Mr Niven had said he would not leave the siblings in each other's company because they were ""not a good mix"".

Mr Niven and his wife had fostered the siblings since Amber was three and her brother was five. The couple were granted permanent care of the siblings a few years later.

At the time of Amber's murder, Connor was living at the Blue Triangle homeless hostel in Hamilton while Amber was at the town's Hillhouse children's home.

Mr Niven told the court he had not heard from his former foster son during Amber's disappearance but, in a call on the day her body was discovered, Gibson told him the pair had ""fallen out"" when they saw each other two days previously.

Jurors also heard from Peter Benson, of Police Scotland's cyber crime group, who examined a phone found where Gibson was living.

It showed that on November 27 at about 12.34am, the phone's user wrote to a Snapchat group with five recipients: ""I'm really going to need you guys help with something when yous come back. I'm being serious.""

The court saw evidence that about 40 seconds later the user messaged Amber Gibson on the app: ""Are you ok?""

The user then told the group chat at approximately 1.33am: ""nvm (never mind) it's all good.""

The search history obtained from the phone also showed the user searched ""How to get nosy police officers to stop monitoring your phone"" at 11.38pm.

Iain Currie, manager of Hillhouse children's home, told the court he spoke to Gibson at about 9pm on November 26 after he called to speak with his sister, but noted him appearing ""sharp"" on the phone after making no greeting.

Also on trial was Stephen Corrigan, 45, who was found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by intimately touching and concealing Amber's body after discovering her at some point in the following two days, instead of contacting the emergency services.

Corrigan, said in court not to be known to Gibson, also denied the charge and had lodged a special defence of alibi.

His father, William Corrigan, 79, told the court his son was at his home in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, that weekend after a fall on ice left his arm in a sling, and denied lying to protect him.

The court heard Corrigan told police he was at a ""complete loss"" to explain why his DNA was found on 39 areas of Amber's body, including her breasts, buttocks and thighs.",Explicit
"LSU grad student will no longer teach at university after alleged profanity-laced voicemail to state lawmaker
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - An LSU graduate student will no longer be allowed to teach at the university, after allegedly leaving a profanity laced voicemail to a Louisiana State Senator for his vote to override the governor’s veto on House Bill 648.
The university has identified the graduate student to WAFB as Marcus Venable.
The voicemail was left on Republican State Senator Mike Fesi’s voicemail, after he voted yes on a bill Tuesday, July 18, which prohibits certain procedures to alter the sex of a minor child.
“You know who the real experts are, it’s the ones that had this procedure done and are now in their mid-twenties, and late twenties, and trying to say that they hate their parents for letting this happen to them,” said Senator Fesi (R), District 20, on Tuesday at the Capitol.
The voicemail said:
“I just wanted to say ‘Congratulations, to our State Senator, Big Mike Fesi. And that f***ing moron voted to make things worse for people who are already suffering. You fat f***ing piece of sh**. You did not produce any g**d*** evidence to support the claims you made about people being harmed by transgender care, yet we’ve had tons of empirical evidence telling us there’s an increased suicide risk for people who don’t get this care. So you, you big fat headed mother f***er, I can’t wait to read your name in the f***ing obituary. I will make a goddamn martini made from the tears of your butthurt conservatives when we put your f***ing a** in the ground, you fat f***ing useless piece of sh*t. F*** you. I hope you have a terrible day. Go f*** yourself.”
“You know, it goes too far. We just got to understand that everybody’s got their opinion, we still live in a great country for freedom of speech. But we just got to hold it to a condition that everybody understands each other, and we don’t always have to agree,” said Sen. Fesi.
Senator Fesi first contacted the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office, which then sent the case over to Louisiana State Police.
“LSP is aware of the voicemail and we are currently investigating the complaint. It is active and ongoing,” said a spokesperson with State Police to WAFB.
“I just want them to do their investigation, and them do what they think’s right. I don’t want to see no harm come to anybody,” said Senator Fesi.
In a statement to WAFB, LSU officials said, “As a university, we foster open and respectful dialogue. Like everyone, graduate students with teaching assignments have the right to express their opinions, but this profanity-filled, threatening call crossed the line. This does not exhibit the character we expect of someone given the privilege of teaching as part of their graduate assistantship. The student will be allowed to continue their studies but will not be extended the opportunity to teach in the future.”
Legal analyst Franz Borghardt weighed in on whether or not LSU violated the First Amendment rights of the grad student, by not allowing him to teach for them in the future.
“First and foremost, your constitutional rights to free speech are not absolute, if your words or your expression are threatening, if they are harmful, they are not necessarily absolutely protected. So, can LSU respond to a faculty member, albeit an LSU grad student making a profane, potentially threatening voicemail to a member of the legislature, yes I think they can. Because candidly at the end of the day, the call borderlines on a criminal act, whether it be assault, whether it be terrorizing. So, I think LSU can act, but furthermore, LSU didn’t expel the grad student who is also a teacher. It simply said, we can’t have you teaching especially while the case is under investigation,” said Borghardt.
“This particular piece of legislation has probably gained more intensity of emotion, than any other bill in a generation,” said political analyst Jim Engster.
Engster believes calls like this towards lawmakers go too far. And as for the future of this controversial bill, a lawsuit could be next.
“But, it looks like this is going all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, and it will be up to those 9 justices to determine whether this becomes the law of the land,” said Engster.
WAFB did reach out to the grad student for a comment, and he finally gave us one on Sunday, July 23.
“The duty of the strong is to protect the weak.” - Joseph Venable (1918-1980). More later,” Venable wrote to WAFB.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a letter to Louisiana State University urging LSU not to pursue further investigation and asking them to reinstate any future opportunities for Venable to act in his assistant teaching duties.
The organization is asking LSU for a response by July 28.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2023 WAFB. All rights reserved.",Explicit
"CLAYTON, Mo. -- A second police officer from a suburban St. Louis department is now facing charges after a man was allegedly driven to a secluded spot and beaten until his jaw broke.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell on Wednesday announced that his office charged Northwoods, Missouri, Police Officer Michael Hill, 51, with second-degree kidnapping. Hill is jailed on $100,000 cash-only bond and doesn't yet have a listed attorney.
On Monday, Northwoods Officer Samuel Davis, 26, was charged with assault and kidnapping, stemming from an arrest on July 4. St. Louis County police said Davis handcuffed a man, then turned off his own body camera before driving him to a secluded spot, where the man was allegedly pepper-sprayed, beaten with a baton and told not to return to Northwoods.
A witness called 911 after finding the bloodied man. Police said the victim’s jaw was broken, among other serious injuries.
The probable cause statement in Hill's arrest said he was Davis' supervising officer and was with Davis when the man was taken into custody at a Walgreens store. The statement said Hill told a store employee “what would happen to the victim.”
Like Davis, Hill never activated his body camera, never informed the dispatcher that a suspect was in custody, and didn't write a report, the probable cause statement said.
“There is no excuse for this criminal conduct, and my office will prosecute these officers to the fullest extent of the law,"" Bell said in a statement.
Northwoods police Chief Dennis Shireff told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Davis has been suspended as the investigation plays out.",Explicit
"Evan Davis has told how his wedding day turned into a ""reflective"" occasion after he learned his father had taken his own life.

The BBC Radio 4 presenter, also known for hosting Dragon's Den, revealed to his wedding guests he had just been informed of his father's death but told them not to be ""alarmed"" and there's ""nothing we can do"".

Mr Davis said he ""burst into tears"" the next day when he was asked about his wedding.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, the presenter said his 92-year-old father, Quintin, had been diagnosed with bowel cancer and had a failing heart.

He said his father had also ""felt guilt"" over not being able to care for Mr Davis's mother, who had been admitted to a care home during the COVID pandemic with symptoms of dementia.

During his wedding, Mr Davis said he received a text message from his brother, Roland, to call him.

Despite the news, Mr Davis was urged to continue with his day by Roland and their other brother, Beric.

Mr Davis told his small number of guests of the news and said the wedding in London in July 2022 became a ""very warm-hearted, supportive, reflective day"".

""We've just had some news,"" he said at his wedding reception. ""My father died. But I don't want you to be alarmed. He was very elderly and it was definitely time.

""There's actually nothing we can do. So I'm going to propose that we carry on.""

Quintin, who had previously emailed his sons of his intention to kill himself, had left a bag of fresh clothes for his wife, while notes were found alongside his body.

One note said: ""To all my family, I am so sorry - so, so sorry - to spring this on you. But it is the best outcome.

""My system is closing down and I am on the verge of a mental breakdown. I really have no alternative. Thank you all for being such a wonderful family.""

Mr Davis had been getting married to Guillaume Baltz in a follow-up occasion to their civil partnership ceremony in 2012 when Quintin had also made a ""proud and loving"" speech.

The radio presenter added: ""We've all speculated on what the hell was going on in his head… there's no good day, is there? And I know he didn't do it to spoil our day.""",Explicit
"Robert Kennedy Jr, a long-shot Democratic candidate for US president, has a long history of racism, antisemitism and xenophobia, and should be denied a national platform, according to a damning report seen by the Guardian.
Kennedy, who provoked anger last week when he was filmed falsely suggesting that the coronavirus could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, is due to testify at the US Capitol in Washington on Thursday.
The Congressional Integrity Project, a political watchdog, called for Republicans to disinvite Kennedy after releasing a report that details his meetings with and promotion of racists, antisemites and extremist conspiracy theorists.
“Kennedy embraces virtually every conspiracy theory in existence,” the report states. “His horrific antisemitic and xenophobic views are simply beyond the pale, and he has frequently met with and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theorists. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine conspiracies go back decades and have had deadly real world consequences.”
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, is running against Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary and has drawn big and enthusiastic crowds and polled as high as 20%. But the Project’s document argues that Kennedy’s recent comments about Jewish and Chinese people, which were quickly hailed by neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers as “100% correct”, were not an aberration but fitted a long pattern.
Earlier this summer Kennedy touted a meeting with Ice Cube, a rapper who issued bizarre antisemitic tweets, and publicly defended musician Roger Waters, who was embroiled in controversy after donning a costume intended to evoke Nazi attire at a concert in Germany.
The report says Kennedy has also repeatedly promoted and praised fringe online broadcaster James Corbett, a Sandy Hook and 9/11 conspiracy theorist who has claimed that “Hitler and the Nazis were 100% completely and utterly set up”.
Kennedy has often allied himself with the National of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, who regularly unleashed tirades about alleged Jewish control of media and government. Kennedy met Farrakhan at his Chicago home in 2015, with Farrakhan later tweeting that they discussed “a vaccine that is designed to affect Black males”.
The Project details how Kennedy himself has frequently invoked Nazi Germany when pushing debunked theories about vaccines. He put out a video that showed the infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci with a moustache reminiscent of Adolf Hitler and used the word “holocaust” to describe children he believes were hurt by vaccines in 2015.
Last year, at a Washington rally organized by his group Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy complained that people’s rights were being violated by public health measures that had been taken to reduce the number of people sickened and killed by Covid-19. He said: “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did.” He later apologised.
For years, the document says, Kennedy has targeted a particularly dangerous form of vaccine denial at Black people. In 2021 at the height of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign, he released Medical Racism, a film that promoted disproven claims about the dangers of vaccines and explicitly warned communities of color to be suspicious of “sinister” vaccination campaigns.
Several doctors and experts who participated in the film later denounced it and said they felt used and misled about the message of the documentary. Richard Allen Williams, founder of the Association of Black Cardiologists, called Children’s Health Defense “absolutely a racist operation” particularly dangerous to the Black community.
In 2017, as a measles outbreak devastated Minnesota’s Somali-American community due to low vaccination rates, Kennedy continued to push his false claims that “science and anecdotal evidence suggest that Africans and African Americans may be particularly vulnerable to vaccine injuries including autism”.
In a 2020 interview, Kennedy asserted without evidence that “People with African blood react differently to vaccines than people with Caucasian blood. They’re much more sensitive.”
The following year, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Kennedy recorded a webinar encouraging Black people to be skeptical of vaccines, claiming: “There has been abundant evidence … beyond any dispute that Blacks are disproportionately harmed by vaccine injury,” adding: “Blacks react completely differently to vaccines … we now know it’s just one huge experiment on Black Americans, and they know what is happening and they are doing nothing.”
The report also argues that, from the earliest days of Operation Warp Speed, Kennedy has built “an anti-vaccine juggernaut” around opposition to Covid-19 vaccinations, which he has called “the deadliest vaccine ever made”.
He has sought to frame Covid vaccines as an elaborate conspiracy to enrich the medical establishment and big pharmaceutical companies. In a YouTube video, Kennedy accused Bill Gates of developing an “injectable chip” to enable the tracking of human movements and attempting to “genetically modify” humanity to “the flow of global information”.
Kennedy has even accused his former anti-vaccine ally, Donald Trump, of selling out to Pfizer by developing vaccines.
Such anti-scientific views go way back. Kennedy has claimed that fluoridated water is “drugging” children, HIV does not cause Aids and chemicals in the water are making people gay or transgender as well as pushing nonsensical conspiracy theories about wifi and 5G cellular networks.
As the son of former attorney general Robert Kennedy, and nephew of former president John F Kennedy, Kennedy has caused anguish to one of America’s most storied political dynasties with his toxic views.
In 2019 three relatives wrote an opinion column for the Politico website condemning his anti-vaccine advocacy, which they held partially responsible for a measles outbreak.
The Congressional Integrity Project contends that Kennedy is a “Republican stooge” who is being embraced by the far right in an attempt to damage Biden. He has become a regular guest on Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News and other rightwing outlets. Far-right provocateurs Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Alex Jones and Michael Flynn have praised him.
Now Republicans have invited Kennedy to Congress. On Thursday he is due to address the House of Representatives’ select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government during a hearing to examine “the federal government’s role in censoring Americans”. The panel is chaired by the Trump loyalist Jim Jordan, who has been criticised for launching bogus investigations into Biden.
Kyle Herrig, executive director of Congressional Integrity Project, said: “Giving RFK Jr a platform to spread dangerous conspiracy theories and xenophobic and antisemitic rhetoric is a new low for Jim Jordan – and that says something.
“Jim Jordan should stop the charade and disinvite RFK Jr immediately. Allowing this hearing to go forward is shameless and beyond the pale. Maga Republicans’ desperation is on full display this week, proving once again that they have no credibility to conduct legitimate investigations.”",Explicit
"CLAYTON, Mo. -- A second police officer from a suburban St. Louis department is now facing charges after a man was allegedly driven to a secluded spot and beaten until his jaw broke.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell on Wednesday announced that his office charged Northwoods, Missouri, Police Officer Michael Hill, 51, with second-degree kidnapping. Hill is jailed on $100,000 cash-only bond and doesn't yet have a listed attorney.
On Monday, Northwoods Officer Samuel Davis, 26, was charged with assault and kidnapping, stemming from an arrest on July 4. St. Louis County police said Davis handcuffed a man, then turned off his own body camera before driving him to a secluded spot, where the man was allegedly pepper-sprayed, beaten with a baton and told not to return to Northwoods.
A witness called 911 after finding the bloodied man. Police said the victim’s jaw was broken, among other serious injuries.
The probable cause statement in Hill's arrest said he was Davis' supervising officer and was with Davis when the man was taken into custody at a Walgreens store. The statement said Hill told a store employee “what would happen to the victim.”
Like Davis, Hill never activated his body camera, never informed the dispatcher that a suspect was in custody, and didn't write a report, the probable cause statement said.
“There is no excuse for this criminal conduct, and my office will prosecute these officers to the fullest extent of the law,"" Bell said in a statement.
Northwoods police Chief Dennis Shireff told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Davis has been suspended as the investigation plays out.",Explicit
"Robert Kennedy Jr, a long-shot Democratic candidate for US president, has a long history of racism, antisemitism and xenophobia, and should be denied a national platform, according to a damning report seen by the Guardian.
Kennedy, who provoked anger last week when he was filmed falsely suggesting that the coronavirus could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, is due to testify at the US Capitol in Washington on Thursday.
The Congressional Integrity Project, a political watchdog, called for Republicans to disinvite Kennedy after releasing a report that details his meetings with and promotion of racists, antisemites and extremist conspiracy theorists.
“Kennedy embraces virtually every conspiracy theory in existence,” the report states. “His horrific antisemitic and xenophobic views are simply beyond the pale, and he has frequently met with and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theorists. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine conspiracies go back decades and have had deadly real world consequences.”
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, is running against Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary and has drawn big and enthusiastic crowds and polled as high as 20%. But the Project’s document argues that Kennedy’s recent comments about Jewish and Chinese people, which were quickly hailed by neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers as “100% correct”, were not an aberration but fitted a long pattern.
Earlier this summer Kennedy touted a meeting with Ice Cube, a rapper who issued bizarre antisemitic tweets, and publicly defended musician Roger Waters, who was embroiled in controversy after donning a costume intended to evoke Nazi attire at a concert in Germany.
The report says Kennedy has also repeatedly promoted and praised fringe online broadcaster James Corbett, a Sandy Hook and 9/11 conspiracy theorist who has claimed that “Hitler and the Nazis were 100% completely and utterly set up”.
Kennedy has often allied himself with the National of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, who regularly unleashed tirades about alleged Jewish control of media and government. Kennedy met Farrakhan at his Chicago home in 2015, with Farrakhan later tweeting that they discussed “a vaccine that is designed to affect Black males”.
The Project details how Kennedy himself has frequently invoked Nazi Germany when pushing debunked theories about vaccines. He put out a video that showed the infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci with a moustache reminiscent of Adolf Hitler and used the word “holocaust” to describe children he believes were hurt by vaccines in 2015.
Last year, at a Washington rally organized by his group Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy complained that people’s rights were being violated by public health measures that had been taken to reduce the number of people sickened and killed by Covid-19. He said: “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did.” He later apologised.
For years, the document says, Kennedy has targeted a particularly dangerous form of vaccine denial at Black people. In 2021 at the height of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign, he released Medical Racism, a film that promoted disproven claims about the dangers of vaccines and explicitly warned communities of color to be suspicious of “sinister” vaccination campaigns.
Several doctors and experts who participated in the film later denounced it and said they felt used and misled about the message of the documentary. Richard Allen Williams, founder of the Association of Black Cardiologists, called Children’s Health Defense “absolutely a racist operation” particularly dangerous to the Black community.
In 2017, as a measles outbreak devastated Minnesota’s Somali-American community due to low vaccination rates, Kennedy continued to push his false claims that “science and anecdotal evidence suggest that Africans and African Americans may be particularly vulnerable to vaccine injuries including autism”.
In a 2020 interview, Kennedy asserted without evidence that “People with African blood react differently to vaccines than people with Caucasian blood. They’re much more sensitive.”
The following year, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Kennedy recorded a webinar encouraging Black people to be skeptical of vaccines, claiming: “There has been abundant evidence … beyond any dispute that Blacks are disproportionately harmed by vaccine injury,” adding: “Blacks react completely differently to vaccines … we now know it’s just one huge experiment on Black Americans, and they know what is happening and they are doing nothing.”
The report also argues that, from the earliest days of Operation Warp Speed, Kennedy has built “an anti-vaccine juggernaut” around opposition to Covid-19 vaccinations, which he has called “the deadliest vaccine ever made”.
He has sought to frame Covid vaccines as an elaborate conspiracy to enrich the medical establishment and big pharmaceutical companies. In a YouTube video, Kennedy accused Bill Gates of developing an “injectable chip” to enable the tracking of human movements and attempting to “genetically modify” humanity to “the flow of global information”.
Kennedy has even accused his former anti-vaccine ally, Donald Trump, of selling out to Pfizer by developing vaccines.
Such anti-scientific views go way back. Kennedy has claimed that fluoridated water is “drugging” children, HIV does not cause Aids and chemicals in the water are making people gay or transgender as well as pushing nonsensical conspiracy theories about wifi and 5G cellular networks.
As the son of former attorney general Robert Kennedy, and nephew of former president John F Kennedy, Kennedy has caused anguish to one of America’s most storied political dynasties with his toxic views.
In 2019 three relatives wrote an opinion column for the Politico website condemning his anti-vaccine advocacy, which they held partially responsible for a measles outbreak.
The Congressional Integrity Project contends that Kennedy is a “Republican stooge” who is being embraced by the far right in an attempt to damage Biden. He has become a regular guest on Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News and other rightwing outlets. Far-right provocateurs Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Alex Jones and Michael Flynn have praised him.
Now Republicans have invited Kennedy to Congress. On Thursday he is due to address the House of Representatives’ select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government during a hearing to examine “the federal government’s role in censoring Americans”. The panel is chaired by the Trump loyalist Jim Jordan, who has been criticised for launching bogus investigations into Biden.
Kyle Herrig, executive director of Congressional Integrity Project, said: “Giving RFK Jr a platform to spread dangerous conspiracy theories and xenophobic and antisemitic rhetoric is a new low for Jim Jordan – and that says something.
“Jim Jordan should stop the charade and disinvite RFK Jr immediately. Allowing this hearing to go forward is shameless and beyond the pale. Maga Republicans’ desperation is on full display this week, proving once again that they have no credibility to conduct legitimate investigations.”",Explicit
"School protesters clash with police in ugly row over LGBTQ+ teaching during Pride Month
Protests have broken out yet again outside a school board meeting in Glendale, California over the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content in the curriculum.
On Tuesday (20 June), police were called to a Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) board meeting in the city – just north of Los Angeles – after demonstrators gathered to protest LGBTQ+ content in schools.
The incident comes just two weeks after three were arrested at a similar protest outside Glendale’s school board meeting, when board members reportedly discussed whether to recognise June as Pride Month. The violent protests were reportedly attended by members of the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys.
Compared with the protest in early June, Tuesday’s meeting reportedly did not have anything related to LGBTQ+ studies on its agenda for the meeting. Despite this, dozens of protesters turned up with signs bearing slogans such as “stop grooming our children” and “teach ABCs not LGBTs”.
According to the Los Angeles Times, GUSD board President Nayiri Nahabedian reportedly called for “mutual respect” ahead of the protests, adding that the community should “see the humanity” in each other.
“I have pleaded for mutual respect as we undertake these difficult conversations and have said, even in our disagreements, let us see the humanity in one another,” Nahabedian said.
“Unfortunately, what we witnessed at the last board meeting outside in the parking lot outside of the building was the predictable result of what happens when people do really the opposite.
“These things, folks, will create long-lasting divisions in our Glendale community that may never be repaired.”
During the board meeting, fired teacher Ray Shelton stood up and said: “You cannot change your gender. You can cut off your d**k and balls, you can take hormones, but it won’t make you a woman.”
He was reportedly removed from his classroom after showing a photo of four trans flags arranged to look like a swastika at a board meeting.
According to the Los Angeles Times, one speaker at the board meeting named Amy said many within the Glendale community “love and support” the LGBTQ+ community.
“Despite the ridiculous rhetoric and misinformation and bigoted hate speech … we still love and support the LBGTQ community and support what you’re doing to be inclusive,” she said.
According to ABC7, one person was arrested during the protests, although police have not publicly confirmed this.
“As a police department, we respect and honor the fundamental right of every individual to peacefully protest and express their opinions,” Glendale Police Department said in a statement ahead of the planned protest.
“We would also like to remind those participating in the protest or demonstration that unlawful conduct in the City of Glendale, including violence, will not be tolerated.”
PinkNews has contacted the Glendale Police Department for further comment.
How did this story make you feel?
MyPinkNews members are invited to comment on articles to discuss the content we publish, or debate issues more generally. Please familiarise yourself with our community guidelines to ensure that our community remains a safe and inclusive space for all.",Explicit
"The Koblenz Higher Regional Court on Wednesday sentenced a woman, Nadine K., on Wednesday for being part of the so-called ""Islamic State"" militant group and taking part in abusing a Yazidi woman.
The court ruled that the 37-year-old had abused a Yazidi woman, forcing her to be a ""household slave"" while living with the group in Iraq and Syria. She was found guilty of crimes against humanity as well as aiding and abetting genocide.
The Yazidi woman testified at the trial and said she recognized the defendant. She traveled to Koblenz again for the verdict.
What were the court's findings?
""The starting point here is the meeting of two women whose lives would have had no points of contact under normal circumstances,"" the judge said.
The couple enslaved the 22-year-old woman from Iraq's Yazidi minority in 2016. She had been abducted by IS members in 2014, after the extremist group attacked her home village in the Iraqi Sinjar region.
The court noted that the defendant's husband had brought the victim into the household and beat and raped her regularly. Nadine K. had enabled and encouraged this, the court found.
""She could have and should have done something,"" the judge said.
The court found the accused to be an intelligent and self-determined woman, concluding that she had willingly joined IS.
While the court said there was no mitigating evidence that distanced the defendant from the crimes, the judge noted that she had shown remorse and compassion ""at least to some extent.""
The sentence fell short of the 10 years demanded by the prosecution.
Couple's journey to join IS
Nadine K. is believed to have become radicalized during her studies in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
She traveled from Germany to Syria with her husband in December 2014. Prosecutors say the purpose was to join IS.
In 2015, the couple moved to Mosul, Iraq, which had been taken by IS forces.
Nadine K.'s husband is believed to have worked as a doctor for IS fighters, while she took care of the household and their two daughters. The couple allegedly stored weapons in their home, which reportedly served as a hostel for ""single female members"" of IS.
The couple returned to Syria in late 2016, bringing their Yazidi captive with them.
They remained in IS-controlled regions of Syria until March 2019, when Kurdish forces took the couple into custody.
Nadine K. returned to Germany in March 2021, with authorities arresting her on arrival at Frankfurt International Airport.
The trial is the latest in a string of prosecutions in Germany involving women who traveled to IS-controlled regions in Syria and Iraq.
In 2021, a court sentenced a German convert to Islam on charges that she allowed a 5-year-old Yazidi girl who she and her husband kept as a slave to die of thirst in the sun. The husband was also subsequently convicted.
rc/rs (dpa, AP, AFP)",Explicit
"An Uber passenger has been charged with murder for shooting and killing her driver in El Paso, Texas. Phoebe D. Copas, 48, allegedly shot her driver, Daniel Piedra Garcia, 52, several times in the head, while in the backseat of his Nissan Maxima, according to a City of El Paso news release.
Copas claimed she thought Garcia was kidnapping her and taking her outside the U.S. after seeing a traffic sign for Juarez, Mexico, but an initial investigation conducted by the El Paso Police Department said in the news release that its findings “do not support that a kidnapping took place or that Piedra was veering from Copas’ destination.”
Copas was arrested at the scene and was initially held at the El Paso County Detention Facility where she was charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and was issued a $1 million bond.
Garcia was critically wounded at the scene and was placed on life support for five days but when doctors told his family he would be on a ventilator for the rest of his life, his family made the difficult decision to let him go. “My aunt didn’t want to see him suffer,” Didi Lopez, Piedra’s niece, told The Washington Post. “But, honestly, we don’t think that we made the decision to disconnect him. That decision was made for him the second that those bullets went into his head.”
Following Garcia’s death, Copas was charged with murder and her bond was increased to $1.5 million.
According to the affidavit, viewed by The Washington Post, Copas was reportedly on her way to meet her boyfriend in El Paso at a casino when she saw the Juarez, Mexico sign, which is seven miles across the El Paso border. Detectives reported in the affidavit that when they arrived at about 2:20 p.m., Copas’ boyfriend was pulling her from the crashed vehicle, and they allegedly saw her “drop everything she was holding in her hands on the ground,” which included the gun, according to the complaint.
Uber has multiple options to ensure passenger safety including an in-app emergency button that sends real-time location information and trip information directly to the police when the user calls or texts 911. The app also has a Live Help feature that connects riders with an ADT safety agent and RideCheck to check in with riders and drivers to ensure they are safe in the case of a long unexpected stop or possible crash.
However, authorities say that Copas made no attempt to call the police before or immediately after the incident, but according to The Post, the complaint alleges that she had texted photos of Garcia to her boyfriend prior to dialing 911.
“We are horrified by the rider’s actions that took the life of Mr. Garcia,” an Uber spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Gizmodo. “We have been in touch with his family, and our thoughts are with his loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time. We banned the rider as soon as we were made aware of what occurred and have been in contact with police.”
Copas’ bond hearing which was scheduled for Friday has been postponed and a new hearing date has not been set.
Lopez told CBS Austin that she believed the continued stereotypes about the Mexican border and the levels of safety there led Copas to wrongly assume she was in danger. “They make assumptions, they see stuff maybe on the news, maybe on social media, and stuff that’s not necessarily true and when they come here they come without really knowing.” She continued: “They make assumptions, they see stuff maybe on the news, maybe on social media, and stuff that’s not necessarily true and when they come here they come without really knowing.”
Garcia’s wife Ana Piedra set up a GoFundMe page, to help with her husband’s hospital and funeral expenses, which has already garnered nearly $84,000 in donations.",Explicit
"The parents of a man gunned down in a doorstep attack 15 years ago have appealed for the ""little piece of evidence"" which could bring his killer to justice.
Detectives believe the killing of Adam Chadwick in Leeds may have been a tragic case of mistaken identity.
The young father was shot by a masked gang after answering the door at his sister's home on 24 June 2008.
His family told the BBC: ""We are never, ever going to forget him.""
Mr Chadwick's parents, Jackie and Martin, said they had not been able to rest as their son's killer had not been identified.
""The more time goes on, the more [angry] and frustrated you get because you just want to focus on his memory and not what happened and the people responsible to get justice for Adam,"" his mother said.
Mr Chadwick, then aged 20, had been visiting his sister Gemma when a woman knocked on the door of the house in Clifton Mount, Harehills, asking for ""Michelle"".
The woman left but returned a short time later alongside three masked men who attempted to force their way into the property.
Mr Chadwick fought to repel them and was shot in the ensuing struggle.
He died in hospital two days later, leaving behind daughter Ruby whose third birthday the family had been celebrating on the day of the attack.
Despite extensive appeals, including a reconstruction on the BBC's Crimewatch programme and a £12,000 reward, no-one has been charged with his murder.
Mrs Chadwick said: ""We just want justice for him. I don't want to be buried with my son, knowing I haven't got justice for him.""
Her husband added: ""Every year comes round and then goes, but you can sense something in the air, or I can, like butterflies in your stomach.
""It's that time of year again and you start thinking 'we still miss him'.
""We just want to remember him and what he did and how he was, but we have to keep the appeals going.""
The family said knowing those responsible remained free had affected all of them.
Mr Chadwick's sister Gemma said: ""Normally you grieve for someone and then you have a funeral and each year you remember them for the good times.
""We can't do that as a family because instead it's appealing year after year, just trying to get some justice for him.""
'Utterly senseless'
West Yorkshire Police said it remained committed to bringing those responsible for Mr Chadwick's death to justice.
Det Supt Marc Bowes said: ""Adam Chadwick was a completely innocent victim who was shot and fatally wounded on the doorstep of his sister's home 15 years ago in what remains an utterly senseless act with no established motive.""
He said despite the passing years it would ""never be too late"" for anyone with information to come forward.
""It must still weigh heavily on their conscience despite the passage of time.""
Anyone with information is asked to contact West Yorkshire Police's major investigation review team.",Explicit
"Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself in his jail cell with an orange noose he fashioned from ""a sheet or a shirt,"" according to a new report issued Tuesday.
The Justice Department's Inspector General report details the failures that occurred beginning one month before the disgraced financier's death in Bureau of Prisons custody.
When officers discovered Epstein in his cell on Aug. 10, 2019, Officer Michael Thomas, who was charged criminally in the case, said, ""Breathe, Epstein, Breathe,"" according to the report.
When Thomas saw Epstein dangling from the bed, he said, ""We're going to be in a lot of trouble,"" according to the report.
When Epstein's room was searched after his death, investigators found extra bedsheets, another mattress and a noose, according to the report.
Epstein died by hanging at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center while he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, was convicted in December 2021 of conspiring with Epstein to recruit, groom and abuse minors and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.",Explicit
"BOSTON -- A suspect will be arraigned Tuesday in connection with a crime that has rattled a Boston suburb and a church community: the apparently random weekend killings of a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, along with the woman’s 97-year-old mother.
Jill D’Amore, 73, Bruno D’Amore, 74, were found dead in their home in Newton, along with Lucia Arpino, after the couple failed to show up for Sunday services at Our Lady Help of Christians Church.
Christopher Ferguson was arrested Monday; he also lives in Newton, but it appears he had no other connection to the victims, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Ferguson had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
The Rev. Dan Riley, of Our Lady Help of Christians, said they were “wonderful people, church-going, kind, hospitable, salt of the earth.” A message to parishioners said the three “lost their lives in a senseless act of violence.”
“Bruno was known for his big voice and his exuberant personality and as ‘head chef’, he proudly flipped the burgers at the parish picnic,"" wrote Paul and Ginny Arpino, who were related to the victims, in the letter to the church community.
They said Jill D'Amore had taken on the ministry of beautifying the church’s environment.
“Without a single day of liturgical training she simply followed her heart, caring for the flowers and decorating for the liturgical seasons,” they wrote.
Until coronavirus pandemic, Lucia Arpino never missed morning Mass, they said.
“Lucia will be especially missed on the upcoming Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Festa weekend as she faithfully walked in that procession through the streets of Nonantum well into her 90’s,” they wrote.
The preliminary investigation indicated the victims died of stab wounds and blunt force trauma, Ryan said. Investigators found signs of forced entry into the basement, and Ryan described a chaotic scene in which there were “obvious signs of struggle.” A crystal paperweight was covered in blood, and furniture was broken.
Ferguson is charged with killing Jill D’Amore after an autopsy revealed her death was a homicide. Ferguson also was charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, and burglary.
Additional charges are expected in the death Bruno D’Amore and Arpino after those autopsies are completed.
There was an attempted break-in about a half-mile (800 meters) from the victims’ home early Sunday, but it’s unclear if the two crimes were related, Ryan said.",Explicit
"Just one month ago, the world had no idea what to expect from HBO’s The Idol—only that it starred The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp, and that people were mad at it. Were we ever so young? The Sam Levinson-created series has been courting controversy—both of the marketing-generated and unintentional varieties—ever since. Yet somehow, it’s reached its penultimate episode without fully justifying what all the noise was even for. Despite regular exposition and backstory dumps, a lot of questions about the series and its musical sex cult remain. With next week’s finale imminent, here are the most pressing queries The Idol has yet to address.
Several key people in Jocelyn’s orbit have been largely MIA since the premiere. Where did Dan Levy go? Or Eli Roth? Or even Hari Nef, whose Vanity Fair reporter only appeared as a floating Zoom head while interviewing Jocelyn in the show’s latest episode? For a series with only five episodes total, The Idol sure knows how to shed cast members. Speaking of which: who were the actors presumably ousted after the show’s change in creative direction, including Elizabeth Berkley and the late Anne Heche, meant to play?
Will we ever see the Rolling Stone scene that The Weeknd posted in response to an actual exposé about alleged behind-the-scenes issues on the HBO show? Perhaps that VF piece doesn’t go so well for Jocelyn, prompting her team to pursue another publication?
What more is there to discover about Tedros’s controversial hairstyle? As The Weeknd warned GQ earlier this month: “You’ll find out more about the rattail later on.” The time has come—where are our answers?!
While on the subject of Tedros: who is running the nightclub he operated his cult out of before migrating to Jocelyn’s megamansion?
And what, exactly, comes of the “record deals” Tedro makes with his musical followers? Do they perform exclusively at his unnamed club? And how would Tedros, who appears to have no real standing in the music industry, know actual producer Mike Dean, who has worked with the likes of Beyoncé and Madonna?
Who is responsible for all of the security at Jocelyn’s mansion? Save for one quick shot of highly-armed men on the perimeters of her property, we hear no explanation of how they got there—or if they were always there. Also of note: what is it like to work for Jocelyn, a job description that seems to include ripping dildos off walls and scooping cocaine back into baggies? Perhaps the personal chef who was unceremoniously fired in episode three is priming a tell-all?
And the intimacy coordinator who was trapped in a closet for several hours in the premiere is headed straight to DeuxMoi, right?
Jocelyn and Leia’s (Rachel Sennott) makeup line, Half Magic, sounds familiar. Is it real? (It is, in fact, the name of the Euphoria makeup team’s actual products.)
What is up with Hank Azaria’s accent? Does he using while defending The Idol against controversy?
Although all of Jocelyn’s inner circle is being dismantled by Tedros, her childhood friend-turned-creative director is receiving the brunt of the abuse. But why is Xander (Troye Sivan) to blame? Jocelyn alleges that he silenced her about her mother’s physical abuse; Xander claims that Jocelyn’s mother forced him to sign a Little Mermaid-esque contract forcing him to never sing publicly. But who is telling the truth about their dynamic?
And what’s Chloe’s (Suzanna Son) deal? The happy-go-lucky, piano-playing cult member who is most definitely underage could be the key to exposing Tedros. At one point, Jocelyn’s manager Destiny (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) advises Chloe to “stay observant—if it feels wrong, it’s wrong.” It’s unclear what she’ll do with that tip.
Who leaked Jocelyn’s NSFW photo? It could be her newly-reintroduced actor ex-boyfriend Rob (Karl Glusman) or Jocelyn herself if she’s as manipulative as some have claimed. But will we find out either way?
Who is Sophie? At one point in the show’s latest episode, a bikini-clad woman introduced by Xander as his “best friend” sits atop Rob’s lap for an increasingly intimate photo for a reason that has yet to be revealed. So… what was up with that?
How much of Jocelyn’s “new sound” will we get to hear? So far, the show has played us “World-Class Sinner,” the single now in the hands of Jennie Kim’s Dyanne, in various sexed-up iterations. But could a concert sequence showcasing the new songs be coming, as suggested by footage of Depp performing in character at The Weeknd’s shows?
And finally, will someone die? “I think we should kill this motherfucker,” Destiny not-so-jokingly suggests in response to Tedros’s invasion of Jocelyn’s life. But will anyone actually follow through, as the first episode hints?",Explicit
"Kari Lake continues to defame me. Here's why I'm suing her for it
Opinion: Kari Lake and her campaign must be held accountable for their utter disregard for the truth and the harm their words have caused.
For the last seven months, a high-profile former statewide candidate for office — from my own political party — has spread falsehoods about our elections and about me specifically.
Rather than accept political defeat, rather than get a new job, she has sought to undermine confidence in our elections and has mobilized millions of her followers against me.
Her defamatory allegations have unleashed violent vitriol and other dire consequences.
She has gone far outside of the bounds of protected free speech as guaranteed under the First Amendment and the Arizona Constitution.
That’s why I’m suing Kari Lake, her campaign and her political action committee for engaging in a concerted campaign to defame, threaten and isolate me.
The defamation lawsuit was filed on June 22 in Maricopa County Superior Court.
Kari Lake has made repeated false claims
Following her loss in the November 2022 election, Lake alleged that I intentionally printed 19-inch images on 20-inch ballots for the purposes of sabotaging the election.
If that wasn’t enough, she also asserted that I inserted more than 300,000 invalid ballots into the county’s vote count to “steal” the election from her.
Both allegations are completely false.
Not only would I obviously never do the things that she accuses me of, but also as a matter of Arizona law and election administration processes, I don’t even have responsibility for — or jurisdiction over — the printing of ballots on Election Day.
Lake has continued to repeat these falsehoods, despite multiple court rulings that found her attacks to be unfounded.
Her words brought death threats, lost friends
Through her actions and statements, Lake has irreparably damaged my personal and professional life and reputation.
I’ve even lost friends and lifelong relationships because Lake has falsely painted me as a criminal.
She has cast doubt on my loyalty to our country, our state and my office.
She did this knowing that it would only throw gasoline on the fire of falsehoods about our elections.
Lake has not sent me into hiding. Nor will she ever.
But her defamatory statements have irrevocably altered my life, closed opportunities and damaged relationships.
That goes beyond free speech protections
I firmly believe in the protections we’re all afforded under the First Amendment, which is something so unique and beautiful about being an American.
We all have the right to express ourselves, our thoughts and our opinions publicly.
That’s why this case is not about the mis- and disinformation — and even hatred — that Lake, her campaign and her PAC have spewed about me.
Violent words:Lake ratchets up rhetoric after Trump indictment
Instead, it’s about the instances where Lake and her campaign entities chose to violate defamation law by repeatedly making specific untruthful statements alleging that I had committed heinous crimes.
Slinging mud is fair game, but Arizona law and the First Amendment draw a line at defamation.
False statements that damage others distort the marketplace of ideas and harm others’ ability to exercise their own free speech rights.
Lake's words haven't just impacted me
I’m asking a court to clear my name, declare the defendants’ statements false, order them to retract their defamatory statements, and compensate me for the harm that they have caused.
But that’s not all this case is about.
It’s also about my wife, who has had her work interrupted and has had security concerns forced upon her because of Lake’s statements.
It’s about a county election worker who now carries a firearm after she was stalked by people accusing her of “stealing an election.”
It’s about a tabulation worker who lost contact with his parents because they believe he’s a criminal for doing his job.
It’s about hundreds of law enforcement officers who have been kept from their duties to fortify and protect our elections.
It’s about the thousands of election workers who have left the field after being harassed or worse, simply because they chose to help Americans vote.
She must be held accountable for this speech
This case is about a losing candidate for office refusing to accept the will of the voters and, instead, spreading malicious falsehoods to raise money and garner attention.
Those falsehoods not only undermine confidence in our elections and our democracy, but they also cause harm to real people — like me.
Our country is built on the idea that regardless of stature, title or wealth, no one is above the law.
Our laws must be followed and enforced even among those who run for and hold office.
All of us as individuals are responsible for our own words and actions, and there is no exception for losers of elections.
I filed this lawsuit to make sure that Lake, her campaign and her PAC are held accountable for their utter disregard for the truth and the grave harm they have caused.
Stephen Richer, a Republican, is the Maricopa County recorder. On Twitter:@stephen_richer",Explicit
"Claire Harbage/NPR
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Abdullah Saif Ahmed Numan and his grandson, Mohammad, stand in the building where they live in Al Dawah neighborhood of Taiz, Yemen. The neighborhood is on the frontline of a divided city in Yemen's civil war.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Abdullah Saif Ahmed Numan and his grandson, Mohammad, stand in the building where they live in Al Dawah neighborhood of Taiz, Yemen. The neighborhood is on the frontline of a divided city in Yemen's civil war.
Claire Harbage/NPR
TAIZ, Yemen — A grassy strip of no- man's land divides the city that's covered in bullet holes. Taiz, Yemen's third most populous city, is symbolic of the civil war that has ravaged the country for nearly a decade.
The war has destroyed millions of Yemeni lives, but perhaps nowhere has it been felt more than in the frontline neighborhoods in Taiz that are closest to the fighting and have seen the worst of the war.
Snipers have terrorized residents for years. Many children have lost limbs due to rockets and landmines, while playing outside.
Claire Harbage/NPR
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The view out of the window of a residential building in Al Dawah the building has been damaged by shelling and gunshots in this frontline neighborhood.
Claire Harbage/NPR
The view out of the window of a residential building in Al Dawah the building has been damaged by shelling and gunshots in this frontline neighborhood.
Claire Harbage/NPR
""I don't play with my friends outside, I sit at home,"" said 9- year-old Mohammad Abdulrahman al-Yusufi, who is about as old as the war itself, and lost his father in a rocket attack by Houthi militants.
""I want the war to end, so life can come back here. They destroyed all the homes, they destroyed everything,"" he said.
In 2015, the Iran-backed Houthi militia took over the north and west of Taiz with the rest of the city under the control of the Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Claire Harbage/NPR
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Two members of the military in Taiz walk down a road that is often targeted by snipers from the Houthi side of the city. A thin curtain currently protects the road from the view of the snipers.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Two members of the military in Taiz walk down a road that is often targeted by snipers from the Houthi side of the city. A thin curtain currently protects the road from the view of the snipers.
Claire Harbage/NPR
The Houthi blockade severely disrupted the lives of people here. Distances that used to take 10–15 minutes by car are now an 8-hour drive on precarious mountain roads, as nearly all of the direct routes have been cut off. This has impeded the flow of food and medicine and other necessities to the city, driven prices up and further disrupted a failing economy.
The areas of Taiz under Houthi control have most of the city's water resources as well as the factories and jobs.
Several residential buildings were also hit by Saudi airstrikes in the first years of the war, killing many civilians — which led the U.S. to take a step back from providing military and intelligence support to Saudi Arabia.
Claire Harbage/NPR
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A woman stands near the frontlines of the city of Taiz where The internationally recognized government controls one side, and the Houthis control the other.
Claire Harbage/NPR
A woman stands near the frontlines of the city of Taiz where The internationally recognized government controls one side, and the Houthis control the other.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
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This woman shows her foot where she was hit by a Houthi sniper while walking one day. She's had to walk that same path every day in order to get her business done. ""I do it in fear every time. I haven't felt safe for a moment since the war began, but I have no means to move to a safer place,"" she said.
Claire Harbage/NPR
This woman shows her foot where she was hit by a Houthi sniper while walking one day. She's had to walk that same path every day in order to get her business done. ""I do it in fear every time. I haven't felt safe for a moment since the war began, but I have no means to move to a safer place,"" she said.
Claire Harbage/NPR
In the last year, peace talks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia have slowed down the fighting. The streets are mostly peaceful, but negotiations so far have failed to produce an agreement that would ease the Houthi siege of Taiz.
Families have been separated for years by the blockade. The shortage of water and food is further exacerbating malnutrition and dehydration in women and children.
The citizens of Taiz say they are at their wits end, desperate for change.
Claire Harbage/NPR
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A girl plays near the door to the building where she lives in Al Dawah. Many children have lost their limbs to landmines or been hit by snipers while playing outside.
Claire Harbage/NPR
A girl plays near the door to the building where she lives in Al Dawah. Many children have lost their limbs to landmines or been hit by snipers while playing outside.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
toggle caption
Aref Abdullah calls his daughters from the front door of his home in Al Dawah where he moved just a year ago because he couldn't afford rent at his previous home. His family is divide by the frontline just him and his wife live on the Yemeni government side while both of their parents and siblings are on the Houthi side of the war and they are unable to visit each.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Aref Abdullah calls his daughters from the front door of his home in Al Dawah where he moved just a year ago because he couldn't afford rent at his previous home. His family is divide by the frontline just him and his wife live on the Yemeni government side while both of their parents and siblings are on the Houthi side of the war and they are unable to visit each.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
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Abdullah's daughter's shoes sit outside their home in Al Dawah. While the frontlines of Yemen's civil war are nearly on their doorstep, the family tries to go about their daily lives.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Abdullah's daughter's shoes sit outside their home in Al Dawah. While the frontlines of Yemen's civil war are nearly on their doorstep, the family tries to go about their daily lives.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
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Bashaer Ameen Ali, Abdullah's wife, is in pain from a c-section she had giving birth to their fourth daughter just 15 days ago. She says she wishes her mother could be there to help but her mother lives in a Houthi controlled area and can't visit. ""I have no one but my husband,"" she says. ""We are completely cut off from our family and friends. I have not seen them in eight years.""
Claire Harbage/NPR
Bashaer Ameen Ali, Abdullah's wife, is in pain from a c-section she had giving birth to their fourth daughter just 15 days ago. She says she wishes her mother could be there to help but her mother lives in a Houthi controlled area and can't visit. ""I have no one but my husband,"" she says. ""We are completely cut off from our family and friends. I have not seen them in eight years.""
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
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Abdullah and two of his daughters stand outside of their home in Al Dawah.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Abdullah and two of his daughters stand outside of their home in Al Dawah.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
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A car and building are riddled with bullet holes in Al Dawah neighborhood. And trash piles up around the neglected car. Services in this area are non-existent though people continue to live here.
Claire Harbage/NPR
A car and building are riddled with bullet holes in Al Dawah neighborhood. And trash piles up around the neglected car. Services in this area are non-existent though people continue to live here.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
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Abdullah Saif Ahmed Numan gathers laundry in his home. Nearly all of the windows are broken and he says snipers can see in from the other side of the frontline.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Abdullah Saif Ahmed Numan gathers laundry in his home. Nearly all of the windows are broken and he says snipers can see in from the other side of the frontline.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
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A tv remains mounted on the wall in Numan's home, with bullet holes and cracks.
Claire Harbage/NPR
A tv remains mounted on the wall in Numan's home, with bullet holes and cracks.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
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Numan (right), stands looking out of the hole in his building where it was struck by a rocket.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Numan (right), stands looking out of the hole in his building where it was struck by a rocket.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
toggle caption
Nimah Said Ahmed Numan, Numan's sister, drags a jug of water to her home in a makeshift sled in Al Dawah. People have to collect water from tanks set out by aid organizations or paid for by private donors, the city doesn't provide water to frontline neighborhoods.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Nimah Said Ahmed Numan, Numan's sister, drags a jug of water to her home in a makeshift sled in Al Dawah. People have to collect water from tanks set out by aid organizations or paid for by private donors, the city doesn't provide water to frontline neighborhoods.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
toggle caption
A hole in the roof of a building where neighbors say a missile struck.
Claire Harbage/NPR
A hole in the roof of a building where neighbors say a missile struck.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
toggle caption
Ahmed Hameed Al Yusufi looks out the window of his building in Al Dawah. His roof has been destroyed by shelling and he's used tarps to try and cover it along with buckets across the room to catch any water that comes through.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Ahmed Hameed Al Yusufi looks out the window of his building in Al Dawah. His roof has been destroyed by shelling and he's used tarps to try and cover it along with buckets across the room to catch any water that comes through.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Claire Harbage/NPR
toggle caption
A view of the city of Taiz through a broken stained-glass window in Al Dawah.
Claire Harbage/NPR
A view of the city of Taiz through a broken stained-glass window in Al Dawah.
Claire Harbage/NPR",Explicit
"A Tory MP is facing a backlash after appearing to mock a woman’s mental health challenges on social media.
Brendan Clarke-Smith wrote on Twitter he was “playing the world’s smallest violin” after Supertanskiii, who has around 174,000 followers on the site and is a frequent critic of the Conservative government, thanked the Samaritans for their support while attending Glastonbury this weekend.
In the first message of a thread, she wrote: “On a personal level I’d like to say a huge thank you to the lovely man volunteering for the Samaritans near the Pyramid stage.
“He noticed that I’d paused near their truck after Lizzo and asked if I was ok. I wasn’t, it meant the world to me. That chat made such a difference.”
The next tweet referenced “severe ADHD symptoms” and how the Tories are “decimating the NHS”.
In response to the thread, Clarke-Smith wrote: “Cares little for the welfare of others however when spouting her foul-mouthed bile on twitter. Excuse me for playing the world’s smallest violin.”
His comment sparked a huge backlash, with Labour MP and privileges committee chairperson Chris Bryant writing: “This really is out of order. Mocking someone talking about mental health support from the Samaritans. Brendan Clarke-Smith I suggest you take this down.”
Broadcasters Carol Vorderman and James O’Brien were among those to add their criticism.
Later, Supertanskiii wrote she does “razz Tory MPs online” as it was “the least they deserve for destroying Britain”.
She went on: “I started making anti Tory content around the time my friend died by suicide during covid. I’m ND and have PTSD, I mask my upset but this, from Brendan Clarke-Smith, has caused severe distress.”",Explicit
"A violent rampage at a Starbucks store in Melbourne has been captured on camera, prompting locals to laments how sadly common such anti-social behaviour has become on the busy city street.
In a video taken by a perplexed Starbucks customer, the furious man can be seen holding a wooden chair and smashing it on the display cabinet several times, while a frightened young woman ordering at the counter starts backing away from him.
Due to the impact, two of the chair's legs break off. Staff helplessly watch on during the man's disturbing outburst before cleaning up the destruction he left behind.
Yahoo News Australia understands police were not called to the incident believed to be on Elizabeth Street. It is unclear what triggered the violence.
Locals react to Melbourne Starbucks incident
The video shared on Saturday currently has more than 1 million views after finding it way to social media, with the customer who filmed the scene captioning it with the menacing title: ""Australia is going crazy”.
Several viewers on TikTok commented on how sorry they felt for the ""poor staff and lady beside him"". Locals were also quick to point out how commonplace this type of behaviour is on one of the main streets in the CBD.
""Classic Elizabeth Street,"" one person said. [They] need [a] security guard,"" another aghreed. ""This is nothing compared to Elizabeth St Maccas,"" a third person added.
Others rather amusingly commended the resilience of the glass used in the display cabinet. ""Dang whoever designed that glass should use this as advertisement,"" one person said. ""Respect for that glass case! it is strong!"" another viewer commented.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.",Explicit
"Wagner chief says Russia’s war in Ukraine intended to benefit elites, accuses Moscow of lying
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday said Russia’s war in Ukraine is intended to benefit Russian elites and accused Moscow of lying about the full-scale invasion launched last year, escalating his feud with top Russian leadership to new heights .
In a video released on his Telegram channel and circulated widely on the internet, Prigozhin countered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s argument that invading Ukraine was necessary to denazify and demilitarize the country. Putin has also accused Kyiv of persecuting ethnic Russians and of acting as a puppet and “battering ram” against Russia on behalf of western allies.
“The war was not needed to return our Russian citizens and not to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine,” Prigozhin said in the video, claiming it was instead launched to benefit Russian leaders. “The war was needed by oligarchs. It was needed by the clan that is today practically ruling in Russia.”
Prigozhin claimed the goal of the “special military operation,” the official name for the war in Russia, was to install pro-Russian and Putin ally Viktor Medvedchuk, who is now living in exile in Russia, as president of Ukraine and to divide up the assets of the country.
“They were stealing loads in Donbas, they wanted more,” Prigozhin said, likely referring to the Russian-backed resistance launched in eastern Ukraine in 2014. He also said there was never any plan for Ukraine or the western security alliance NATO to attack Russia.
Prigozhin, whose mercenary fighters have played a key role in the war in Ukraine, has frequently railed against Russian elites, often targeting Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, Gen. Valery Gerasimov.
Analysts say Prigozhin is engaging in an unclear strategy, possibly intended to boost his public profile as a populist leader or gain influence in Moscow. Prigozhin has been known to distort facts and it’s unclear how truthful he has been in his public remarks.
Wagner Group seized the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine last month and lost at least 20,000 soldiers in the battle. Throughout the months-long siege of the city, Prigozhin slammed Shoigu and Gerasimov for failing to supply enough ammunition and repeatedly called them cowards.
After the seizure of Bakhmut, Prigozhin accused Russian leadership of floundering in the war effort and suggesting that inequality and imbalanced elitist power could lead to a revolution, similar to the Bolshevik communist overthrow in 1917.
Prigozhin also clashed with Russian soldiers late last month when his fighters pulled out of Bakhmut to regroup and recover, accusing a squadron of planting explosives and firing at his men when they moved to disarm them.
Prigozhin showed a video of a captured Russian officer allegedly saying he was intoxicated when he gave the order to fire and had a personal resentment against Wagner Group.
Putin has not publicly responded to Prigozhin, but Russia has moved to rein in Wagner Group, forcing allied fighters of the Russian army to sign a contract that would allow Moscow to exert more control.
While Chechen leader Ramzan Kadarov has signed the order for his paramilitary forces, Prigozhin is resisting the contract, ordered by the Kremlin, as a July 1 deadline approaches.
The Friday video appears to be a personal tell-all of Prigozhin’s experience during the war in Ukraine. The Wagner chief accused Shoigu and Gerasimov of being responsible for genocide and the “murder of tens of thousands of Russian citizens.”
Prigozhin said Russia is purposely distorting facts about losses in the conflict and that when his fighters arrived in the spring of last year, victory was not possible, claiming there was “hysteria” and “no management” in the operation.
Prigozhin also said Russia was losing ground as Ukrainian forces move forward in the counteroffensive launched earlier this month, countering the narrative from Putin that Ukraine is suffering a “catastrophic” defeat in the offensive push and stands “no chance” of winning.
“On the ground now, as of today, the Russian army is retreating,” he said. “We’re washing the blood. … There is no control. Same hysteria.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Explicit
"One year after 53 people, including six kids, were killed in an abandoned sweltering tractor-trailer near San Antonio during an alleged smuggling attempt, the Justice Department announced they have indicted and arrested four men for the incident.
Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, Felipe Orduna-Torres, Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal and Armando Gonzales-Ortega were all arrested and charged on several counts including conspiracy and alien smuggling resulting in death, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
The four men allegedly participated with three other suspects, Homero Zamorano and Christian Martinez who were previously indicted and arrested, and a seventh unidentified suspect in a human smuggling organization that attempted to bring 66 people into the United States on June 27, 2022, the indictment said.
The migrants and their families, a majority from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, paid between $12,000 and $15,000 each to be brought into the country, the indictment said.
The indictment detailed how the men worked together to use trucking routes, local guides, stash houses, trucks and trailers to transport the group. To make sure they properly kept track of the group, each migrant was given the code word ""clave"" to recite at different points in their journey, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said the men knew the tractor-trailer they were using on that day did not have a working air conditioning unit. As the temperature rose, the people in the back became desperate, screaming and banging on the walls for help.
It was the deadliest incident of human smuggling in U.S. history, according to investigators.
Eleven people found inside the tractor were hospitalized but survived, investigators said.
U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite spoke at length during a news conference about the efforts with Joint Task Force Alpha, whose mission is to investigate human rights violations and push for prosecution. Since June of 2021, they've had 80 convictions.
""Our message is simple,"" Polite said. ""When you put people’s lives at risk, when you ignore the screams of humanity for profit, we will aggressively go after you.""
The trial for Zamorano and Martinez is set for September 11, 2023. All six charged so far face life in prison if convicted. Attorney information for the suspects wasn't immediately available.",Explicit
"A third of young men in Germany find it acceptable to use violence against women, according to a new survey which has caused outrage among gender equality campaigners.
The survey was commissioned by children’s charity Plan International Germany. Its findings were published in regional newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.
A group of 1,000 men and 1,000 women aged 18-35 from across Germany were asked to give their views on masculinity for the study, which was carried out online.
34% of men from that age bracket admitted to being violent towards their female partner in the past, to “instil respect in them.” 33% said they thought it was acceptable if their “hand slipped” occasionally during an argument with their partner.
Exploring attitudes to victim-blaming and double standards, the survey found that 50% of men said they would not want a relationship with a woman who had had many sexual partners, while 20% of the women interviewed agreed with this statement.
The survey also found that expectations within a relationship differed greatly between men and women.
Just over half of men – 52% – wanted a relationship in the form of a “breadwinner-housewife model,” where they earned most of the money for the household and childcare and household tasks were primarily the woman’s role.
Over two-thirds of the women interviewed disagreed, wanting equal partnerships and shared decision-making.
Just under half of respondents – 48% – expressed a dislike for public displays of homosexuality, saying they felt “disturbed” by it.
A German group called the Federal Organization for Equality wrote on Twitter that the findings were “shocking.”
“According to a survey by Plan International Germany, every third young man finds violence against women ‘acceptable’. This urgently needs to change!”
Karsten Kassner from Federal Forum Men, a group which advocates for gender equality, also called for change as he said “It’s problematic that a third of the surveyed men trivialize physical violence against women.”
According to data from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police (BKA), 115,000 women in Germany were victims of partner violence in 2021.
Germany also has one of the highest rates of femicide in Europe - a problem which was exacerbated during the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from the BKA.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com",Explicit
"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Attorneys for the widow of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moïse filed a lawsuit Thursday in Florida against those accused in his assassination, which is still under investigation.
The lawsuit, which was first shared with The Associated Press, seeks unspecified damages for Moïse’s family and a trial by jury in a push to hold the defendants responsible for the president’s death.
“Whatever assets are out there, we will make sure these people will pay,” attorney Paul Turner told the AP.
The lawsuit was filed nearly two years after the July 7, 2021 assassination of Moïse, who was shot a dozen times at his private home in an attack that also seriously injured his wife, Martine Moïse. More than 40 people have been arrested in the case, including a former Haitian senator, an ex-government official who worked at an anti-corruption agency and 18 former soldiers from Colombia.
Turner said he believes there are more people involved in the presidential assassination who have not been identified.
“We believe there are deep pockets or political power behind this,” he said.
Eleven suspects are being held in U.S. federal prison as Turner lamented that the case is languishing in Haiti, where four judges appointed to oversee the investigation have been dismissed or resigned for personal reasons.
One judge previously told the AP that his family asked him not to take the case because they feared he would be killed. Another judge stepped down after one of his assistants died under murky circumstances.
Turner noted that while the U.S. government has kept him and Moïse’s family abreast of developments in the case, the Haitian government has not shared any information with them, including the inventory of personal assets that belonged to Moïse and his family that local authorities seized after he was killed.
“We would like to see more transparency,” he said.
A spokesperson for Haiti’s Justice Ministry did not respond to a message seeking comment.
The lawsuit filed at a Miami circuit court accuses some of the suspects of causing the president’s death and serious injury to his wife, Martine Moïse, who was shot multiple times.
It also alleges 11 other counts including battery, assault, civil conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, stating that “defendants engaged in extreme and outrageous conduct in conspiring to torture and assassinate President Moise.
“The implausible goal — upon assassinating President Moise in cold blood — was for the co-conspirators to install their own kangaroo government which would then summarily pardon the assassins. Setting aside the sheer insanity of their end game, the assassins succeeded in part,” the lawsuit stated.
Eleven of the 12 people named in the suit remain in U.S. federal prison, except for one who is under house arrest.
Rodolphe Jaar, a Haitian-Chilean businessman who pled guilty to helping Colombian mercenaries obtain weapons, was sentenced to life in prison in early June. He is the first person to be convicted and sentenced in the case that has dragged on in Haiti.
“The family needs closure,” Turner said. “We want every single person who participated in this assassination to be brought to justice.”
___
Goodman reported from Miami.",Explicit
"Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself in his jail cell with an orange noose he fashioned from ""a sheet or a shirt,"" according to a new report issued Tuesday.
The Justice Department's Inspector General report details the failures that occurred beginning one month before the disgraced financier's death in Bureau of Prisons custody.
When officers discovered Epstein unresponsive in his cell on Aug. 10, 2019, Officer Michael Thomas, who was charged criminally in the case, said, ""Breathe, Epstein, Breathe,"" according to the report.
When Thomas saw Epstein dangling from the bed, he said, ""We're going to be in a lot of trouble,"" according to the report.
When Epstein's room was searched after his death, investigators found extra bedsheets, another mattress and a noose, according to the report.
Epstein died by hanging at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center while he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
On Aug. 10, the Inspector General said Epstein was in his cell at 8 p.m. Officials said he made an unrecorded call on a landline that was not monitored by prison communications. Epstein told the officers he was calling his mother, according to the report, but she had died before that date. The report said staffers should have been monitoring this call made by Epstein.
After 10:40 p.m., Epstein was not checked on nor was he monitored until officers discovered him hanging from his cell, according to the report.
Epstein first attempted suicide in custody on July 23, 2019, and the Inspector General report said Bureau of Prisons employees should have been put on alert then.
On July 30, the Inspector General said an email was sent to 70 staffers of the prison physiological unit instructing that Epstein was to be housed with a cellmate. But the Inspector General said that warning went unheeded by Bureau of Prisons staff.
The report is coupled with nearly 4,000 pages of documents obtained by reporters earlier this month under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The documents show that toward the end of his life, Epstein sat alone in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, repeatedly calling himself a coward out loud.
Thomas and his partner were charged with doctoring the log books to make it seem like they completed their rounds when they had not, according to officials. Both pleaded guilty.
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, was convicted in December 2021 of conspiring with Epstein to recruit, groom and abuse minors and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.",Explicit
"Chancey Bush/AP
toggle caption
Movie-goers evacuate the Century Rio movie theater as officers respond to a shooting at the theater located at 4901 Pan American freeway in northeast Albuquerque, N.M., on Sunday, June 25, 2023.
Chancey Bush/AP
Movie-goers evacuate the Century Rio movie theater as officers respond to a shooting at the theater located at 4901 Pan American freeway in northeast Albuquerque, N.M., on Sunday, June 25, 2023.
Chancey Bush/AP
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An argument over seating at an Albuquerque movie theater escalated into a shooting that left a man dead and sent frightened filmgoers scrambling to flee, police said Monday.
Detectives with the Albuquerque Police Department filed charges Monday in Metropolitan Court against 19-year-old Enrique Padilla in connection with the Sunday evening shooting at a cinema complex next to an interstate highway.
Padilla was at a hospital under guard Monday evening while being treated for a gunshot wound, police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said. It was unclear whether Padilla had a legal representative who could speak on his behalf.
Witnesses told police that a man later identified as Padilla arrived at the theater with his girlfriend and found another couple in at least one of their reserved seats.
Theater staff attempted to help resolve the dispute, but it escalated with a hurled bucket of popcorn, shoving and then gunfire, according to police.
Michael Tenorio, 52, was shot and died at the scene. His wife, Trina Tenorio, said he was unarmed.
The shooter fled, and a wounded Padilla was found hiding behind a bush outside an emergency exit, according to police. A gun was also found outside that was compatible with spent casings from the shooting.
Emergency dispatchers received about 20 calls as other people fled the theater.
A criminal complaint and arrest warrant against Padilla listed open counts of homicide, shooting at an occupied building and tampering with evidence.
The complaint said Padilla was wounded in the abdomen but did not give further explanation.
An off-duty police officer who was at the movie administered emergency aid to Tenorio. The officer witnessed the confrontation but did not see a weapon in the darkened theater, reporting a rapid-fire succession of gunshots before one man in the dispute ran out.",Explicit
"UNITED NATIONS, June 22 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called out Russia on Thursday for killing 136 children in Ukraine in 2022, adding its armed forces to a global list of offenders, according to a report to the U.N. Security Council seen by Reuters.
The United Nations also verified that Russian armed forces and affiliated groups maimed 518 children and carried out 480 attacks on schools and hospitals. Russian armed forces also used 91 children as human shields, according to the report.
Russia has denied targeting civilians since it invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
The report also verified that Ukrainian armed forces killed 80 children, maimed 175 children and carried out 212 attacks on schools and hospitals. The Ukrainian armed forces are not on the global offenders list.
Guterres said in the report that he was ""particularly shocked"" by the high number of children killed and maimed and attacks on schools and hospitals by Russian armed forces.
He also said he was ""particularly disturbed"" by the high number of such offenses against children by Ukrainian armed forces.
Russia's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
Guterres' annual report to the 15-member Security Council on children and armed conflict covers the killing, maiming, sexual abuse, abduction or recruitment of children, denial of aid access and targeting of schools and hospitals.
The report was compiled by Virginia Gamba, Guterres' special representative for children and armed conflict.
Gamba last month visited Ukraine and Russia, where she met with Russia's envoy for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova - whom the International Criminal Court wants to arrest on war crimes charges.
The International Criminal Court last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lvova-Belova, accusing them of illegally deporting children from Ukraine and the unlawful transfer of people to Russia from Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.
Moscow said the warrants were legally void as Russia was not a signatory to the treaty that established the ICC.
The U.N. report on children and armed conflict verified the abduction of 91 children by Russian armed forces; all of them were subsequently released. The report also verified the transfer of 46 children to Russia from Ukraine.
Moscow has not concealed a program under which it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, but presents it as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and children abandoned in the war zone.
CONTROVERSIAL LIST
The report on children and armed conflict includes the list intended to shame parties to conflicts in the hope of pushing them to implement measures to protect children. It has long been controversial, with diplomats saying Saudi Arabia and Israel exerted pressure in recent years in a bid to stay off the list.
Israel has never been on the list, while a Saudi-led military coalition was removed from the list in 2020 several years after it was first named for killing and injuring children in Yemen.
In an effort to dampen controversy surrounding the report, the list released in 2017 by Guterres was split into two categories. One lists parties that have put in place measures to protect children and the other includes parties that have not.
Russia was placed on the list of parties that have put in place measures aimed at improving the protection of children.
The report found that Israeli forces killed 42 children and injured 933 children in 2022. Israel is not the offenders list.
""I note a meaningful decrease in the number of children killed by Israeli forces, including by air strikes,"" Guterres wrote. ""Nevertheless, I remain deeply concerned by the number of children killed and maimed by Israeli forces.""
The report overall verified that 24,300 violations had been committed against children in 2022.
The most violations were verified in Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Yemen.
""While non-state armed groups were responsible for 50% of the grave violations, government forces were the main perpetrator of the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access,"" Guterres said in the report.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Explicit
"Jimmie Johnson will not race this weekend in NASCAR's Cup Series street race in Chicago following the deaths of his wife's parents in Oklahoma.
Police in Muskogee told TMZ that Jack and Terry Janway and an 11-year-old boy were found dead in their home on Monday night. Police said they received a 911 call from a woman who reported someone with a gun before hanging up.
All three died from gunshot wounds, police told TMZ. The circumstances of their deaths remain under investigation.
NASCAR this week is preparing for its first foray into street course racing. Johnson, a seven-time Cup Series champion, is racing on a part-time basis this year as co-owner of Legacy Motor Club. He drives the No. 84 Carvana Chevrolet.
""The Johnson family has asked for privacy at this time and no further statements will be made,"" Legacy Motor Club said in a tweet.",Explicit
"Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, counted payments to prostitutes and dues for a sex club on his tax returns as expenses for his ""consulting"" business, according to whistleblower testimony to Congress.
On Thursday, that House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday released testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who said the Department of Justice, FBI and IRS had interfered with the investigation of the tax evasion case against Hunter Biden.
Gary Shapley, Jr., an IRS Criminal Supervisory Special Agent who oversaw the IRS probe into the president's son, testified that in 2018, Hunter Biden listed payments to prostitutes on his tax returns to the company Owasco P.C., which allegedly ""brought in his consulting fees.""
""There were multiple examples of prostitutes that were ordered basically, and we have all the communications between that where he would pay for these prostitutes, would book them a flight where even the flight ticket showed their name. And then he expensed those,"" Shapley testified.
Shapley said some flights were first class tickets, while others were on Frontier Airlines.
Shapley said that in Biden's 2018 tax return, which was filed late and not prepared until 2020, he was ""expensing personal expenses, his business expenses.""
""So, I mean, everything, there was a payment that — there was a $25,000 to one of his girlfriends and it said, ""golf membership."" And then we went out and followed that money it was for a sex club membership in LA.""
The Hunter Biden tax investigation — codenamed ""Sportsman"" — was opened in November 2018 as an ""offshoot"" of an IRS investigation into a ""foreign-based amateur online pornography platform,"" Shapley told Congress.
The probe into Hunter Biden's finances began in 2018 amid the discovery of suspicious activity reports regarding funds
The investigation had previously been believed to have been predicated, in part, by suspicious transactions from ""China and other foreign nations.""
""So the worst part about 2018 is that Hunter Biden's accountants are sitting there with him at a table, and they have all the numbers in front of them, right? The bank accounts in front of them and they are saying that, you know, you need to circle what are business expenses so that we know what to deduct,"" Shapley testified.
""So it becomes apparent to the accountants during this interaction that he's putting things on here that aren't expenses, that aren't true business expenses,"" He said.
""So the accountants create a representation letter that basically they said they have never done before. And they had him sign this document, and it was basically because they didn't believe what he was saying, but they didn't — if they were going to prepare his return, they had to listen to what he was saying. I mean, I guess they could have just chosen not to prepare his tax return, would have been their only out. But that was the type of conduct in 2018,"" he continued.
Shapley testified that decisions in the case seemed to be ""influenced by politics"" and that ""at every stage"" of the probe were made that ""had the effect of benefiting the subject of the investigation.""
The revelations come on the heels of the Justice Department's announcement Tuesday that Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax.
The younger Biden also agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of, or addicted to, a controlled substance.
Ian Sams, spokesperson for the White House, said in statement reacting to the whistleblower revelations:
""Since he took office and consistent with his campaign promise that he would restore the independence of the Justice Department when it comes to decision-making in criminal investigations, President Biden has made clear that this matter would be handled independently by the Justice Department, under the leadership of a U.S. Attorney appointed by former President Trump, free from any political interference by the White House. He has upheld that commitment.""",Explicit
"Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, counted payments to prostitutes and dues for a sex club on his tax returns as expenses for his ""consulting"" business, according to whistleblower testimony to Congress.
On Thursday, that House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday released testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who said the Department of Justice, FBI and IRS had interfered with the investigation of the tax evasion case against Hunter Biden.
Gary Shapley, Jr., an IRS Criminal Supervisory Special Agent who oversaw the IRS probe into the president's son, testified that in 2018, Hunter Biden listed payments to prostitutes on his tax returns to the company Owasco P.C., which allegedly ""brought in his consulting fees.""
""There were multiple examples of prostitutes that were ordered basically, and we have all the communications between that where he would pay for these prostitutes, would book them a flight where even the flight ticket showed their name. And then he expensed those,"" Shapley testified.
Shapley said some flights were first class tickets, while others were on Frontier Airlines.
Shapley said that in Biden's 2018 tax return, which was filed late and not prepared until 2020, he was ""expensing personal expenses, his business expenses.""
""So, I mean, everything, there was a payment that — there was a $25,000 to one of his girlfriends and it said, ""golf membership."" And then we went out and followed that money it was for a sex club membership in LA.""
The Hunter Biden tax investigation — codenamed ""Sportsman"" — was opened in November 2018 as an ""offshoot"" of an IRS investigation into a ""foreign-based amateur online pornography platform,"" Shapley told Congress.
The probe into Hunter Biden's finances began in 2018 amid the discovery of suspicious activity reports regarding funds
The investigation had previously been believed to have been predicated, in part, by suspicious transactions from ""China and other foreign nations.""
""So the worst part about 2018 is that Hunter Biden's accountants are sitting there with him at a table, and they have all the numbers in front of them, right? The bank accounts in front of them and they are saying that, you know, you need to circle what are business expenses so that we know what to deduct,"" Shapley testified.
""So it becomes apparent to the accountants during this interaction that he's putting things on here that aren't expenses, that aren't true business expenses,"" He said.
""So the accountants create a representation letter that basically they said they have never done before. And they had him sign this document, and it was basically because they didn't believe what he was saying, but they didn't — if they were going to prepare his return, they had to listen to what he was saying. I mean, I guess they could have just chosen not to prepare his tax return, would have been their only out. But that was the type of conduct in 2018,"" he continued.
Shapley testified that decisions in the case seemed to be ""influenced by politics"" and that ""at every stage"" of the probe were made that ""had the effect of benefiting the subject of the investigation.""
The revelations come on the heels of the Justice Department's announcement Tuesday that Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax.
The younger Biden also agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of, or addicted to, a controlled substance.
Ian Sams, spokesperson for the White House, said in statement reacting to the whistleblower revelations:
""Since he took office and consistent with his campaign promise that he would restore the independence of the Justice Department when it comes to decision-making in criminal investigations, President Biden has made clear that this matter would be handled independently by the Justice Department, under the leadership of a U.S. Attorney appointed by former President Trump, free from any political interference by the White House. He has upheld that commitment.""",Explicit
"When a new international poster for Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie movie hit the internet last week, it went viral, apparently for all the wrong reasons.
The French version of the poster looks innocuous enough. It features star Margot Robbie as the pink-clad doll-come-to-life and Ryan Gosling as her blond sidekick Ken. But the French tagline: “Elle peut tout faire. Lui, c’est juste Ken” — meaning “She can do everything. He’s just Ken” — has an NSFW double-entendre meaning in French slang, where ken is another word for “fuck.” So the tagline becomes: “She knows how to do everything. He just knows how to fuck.”
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Read like this, Gerwig’s PG-13 comedy satire becomes an R-rated raunchy sex comedy.
The internet, being the internet, lapped this up. Several French Twitter users tweeted photos of the posters with comments on the “accidental” or “unfortunate” translation. Naturally, it went viral, with some of the original tweets getting viewed millions of times.
Just why this is so hilarious for French speakers takes some explaining. In the so-called “verlan” slang, which first became popular in the 1980s, French words are given a new meaning by switching the order in which the syllables are pronounced. Tomber (to fall) becomes be-ton (concrete). In this case, forniquer or its shortened version, niquer (to fuck) becomes queni or keni, which over time has been shortened to just ken.
Then, in the Barbie tagline, “Lui, c’est juste Ken” changes its meaning because c’est (he is) and sait (he knows how) are homophones. “He is just Ken” becomes “He just knows how to fuck.”
In France, the Barbie poster drew little shock and indignation — it takes more than a raunchy pun to startle La Grande Nation — and, initially, most French speakers assumed the double entendre was the result of a bad, or a too-literal translation. But the pun was so obvious — ken as slang for “fuck” is common parlance for anyone under 30 in France — many began to suspect the poster’s NSFW message was a deliberate act of guerrilla marketing.
A closer look at the tagline seems to confirm this. The original, English Barbie tagline is: “Barbie is everything. He’s just Ken.” But the French translation of the first line isn’t “Barbie est tout” (“Barbie is everything”), the literal translation, but rather “[Barbie] peut tout faire” (“Barbie can do anything”), a line that feeds nicely into the slang-y Ken line with the dirty connotations.
“It’s definitely deliberate; there’s no way a French speaker wouldn’t have noticed the dirty pun,” a French marketing executive from a competing studio tells The Hollywood Reporter, noting admiringly, “It’s sort of genius, really, that they slipped that in.”
Asked for comment, Warner Bros. refused to confirm or deny whether the raunchy French pun was deliberate or accidental. But they made no secret of their delight in the social media buzz the poster has generated, in France and abroad.
“The speculation around the Barbie marketing campaign shows that there is a high level of awareness and major excitement from the public surrounding the upcoming release of our film in France,” said a Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson. “We can’t wait for audiences around the world to see the film upon its release next month.”
Best of The Hollywood Reporter",Explicit
"""The harder it gets for everyone, the better it gets for me.""
""D"", not his real name, has worked as an illegal moneylender for two decades, and says business has never been so good.
He is one of two loan sharks we have spoken to in rare interviews in order to highlight the dangers of people turning to unofficial lenders due to the cost of living.
With no paperwork, high interest rates, and sometimes brutal consequences, there is huge risk attached to this type of borrowing.
D estimates that he has lent money illegally to hundreds of people across the country after starting out in security work 20 years ago. When we meet in a warehouse, his mouth is covered and he wears smart-looking sunglasses.
Nearly all of his ""customers"" are regulars, he says, paying off their debts within two or three months. They're usually back again a few weeks later.
D adds that with inflation remaining high, demand has soared. He now hears from single mums and families looking to borrow smaller amounts of £500 to £1,000 to pay gas and electricity bills or for groceries.
Interest rates of up to 50%, or ""double bubble"" terms, where the original loan is doubled each month, are often applied.
Most of D's clients would probably accept whatever terms he set out, he says, largely out of desperation.
With prices failing to drop as quickly as predicted, demand is unlikely to fade soon.
Research shared with BBC Newsnight suggests that the potential client base could be expanding.
A new report commissioned by Fair4All Finance, a government-backed body that works on financial inclusion, looks at the lived experience of illegal moneylending in the UK. Researchers from fraud prevention firm We Fight Fraud and Lancaster University heard from 287 people across London, Preston, Port Talbot and Glasgow who had engaged with loan sharks and illegal moneylenders in the last three years, as well as eight illegal moneylenders.
Current users said they were borrowing about £3,000 on average, and clients were more likely to be lower-waged, full-time workers.
D calls himself an ""enforcer"", referring to what happens if payments are missed or his messages go ignored.
""Then, the car outside is uninsurable. The windows and doors in the front of your house are pulled out and then it even goes up to you being badly beaten.""
He says that beatings are ""rare"", but admits to carrying out violent acts - breaking legs, smashing teeth or eye sockets, leaving people in hospital.
When challenged on why this type of ""enforcement"" has to be so brutal, he says: ""It's personal. The way they've hurt me, I want to hurt them - physically and financially.""
In his own words, he is ""providing a service"" that relies on people ""helping him back"" after he has lent them money.
'The business leader'
Another active illegal moneylender we spoke to, ""M"", claims to have lent millions of pounds to clients over the past 20 years.
He now runs a team that operates in different areas across the UK. He estimates that he has about £2m out in loans at the moment. When a request for money above a certain value comes in, it gets referred up to him.
M deals with ""the rich"" - people borrowing higher values to fund house renovations or to get a business out of difficulty. The interest rates rise with the risk attached and a guarantor is often required.
Clients give him a form of guarantee in case they are not able to keep up with repayments. They might include a watch, a set of car keys, or pictures of photo IDs of their friends so he knows where to find them and chase the money.
""I'm constantly amazed who comes to me,"" he says. M claims to have funded birthday parties for well-known footballers who pay him back on payday.
With many people unwilling to talk about debt, there is little data available about the number of lenders operating without a licence. In a report last year, the right-leaning think tank the Centre for Social Justice estimated that about one million people in England could owe money to illegal moneylenders.
M dismisses what he describes as an outdated view of ""a bully boy business"". His collection tactics instead rely on fear.
""In this day and age, it's gone round to more being a nuisance,"" he says. ""If there's no contact, there might be pictures outside the house, or a knock on the neighbour's door asking where you are.
""That fear, that intimidation, that coercion is better to be used without an act.""
The recent research for Fair4All Finance did find that violence was rare, although the threat of it was common.
One client told the report authors that the reality of the threat felt most serious when it came to their family. ""Stuff was going to happen to me, but not just me⦠I get threats for hurting my family⦠your mum is getting this, your brother is getting that.""
Another female client in Glasgow claims that she was forced to clean an office building for an illegal lender as an alternative way to pay back £1,000 she had borrowed. Her debt would be reduced by about £30 per shift.
She described the experience as ""degrading"" and said she felt anxious and depressed. She now rarely leaves the house.
""Today, it is much more about someone getting inside your head than breaking your legs,"" says Cath Wohlers of the Illegal Money Lending Team, which prosecutes loan sharks in England.
""That can be anyone,"" she adds, pointing out that one in five people arrested by her team last year was female.
Research also suggests that clients were more likely than the average person to have been refused credit elsewhere before turning to an illegal moneylender.
Those with poor credit ratings are often limited to payday loans or other high-cost options. However, many of these - such as Wonga - have been regulated out of business, after concerns that they were causing severe financial distress to consumers.
Jason Wassell, chief executive of the Consumer Credit Trade Association, suggests there is a risk that a smaller market ""can be taken too far"", with access to credit being reduced for people who might then go to friends and family, or even illegal lenders.
But Mick McAteer, a former board member of the UK's financial watchdog, says that improving the regulation of ""subprime"" lenders has protected people from being targeted with unaffordable products.
He suggests that more efforts should be made to help people manage their debts and to boost alternative options such as community lenders or credit unions.
According to the Bank of England, about 1.98 million people across the UK use credit unions. Some experts say there is a long way to go before these can plug the gap left by the exit of higher-cost lenders. Credit unions can't reach consumers as quickly and struggle to scale up as quickly as private companies due to a lack of access to technology.
And as prices continue to rise, business for illegal money lenders like D and M shows no sign of slowing.
But as Cath Wohlers warns: ""They will absolutely bleed you dry. It's just not worth it.
""If you are in debt, speak to your creditors and have conversations rather than borrowing more money to get out of it.""",Explicit
"Retired RCMP officer charged with helping Beijing intimidation campaign
The RCMP says it's charged one of its former members in a case of alleged foreign interference. The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police ""E"" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on April 13, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
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The Canadian Press
Published Friday, July 21, 2023 12:44PM EDT
OTTAWA - The RCMP says it has charged one of its former members in a case of alleged foreign interference.
William Majcher is accused of helping the Chinese government identify and intimidate a person.
Police say he is from Hong Kong and used his network of Canadian contacts to get intelligence or services that benefited the People's Republic of China.
They say a national security investigation into Majcher's suspicious activities began in the fall of 2021.
The 60-year-old retired officer is charged with conspiracy and preparatory acts for the benefit of a foreign entity.
Police have not said who was the target of Beijing's alleged intimidation campaign.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2023.",Not_Explicit
"Let’s start with where Coutts was within its rights to dump Nigel Farage. The former Ukip leader, according to the memo of the meeting of the “Wealth Reputational Risk Committee”, was about to fall below the qualifying threshold to be a customer.
That threshold is maintaining borrowings or investments of more than £1m, or more than £3m in savings. Farage was soon to pay off his mortgage, presenting Coutts with a choice. It could keep him as a customer and overlook the qualifying criteria. Or it could put him on a “glide path”, in the language of the committee, to being removed. It opted for removal.
And one cannot call this a case of being “debanked”, as Farage is spinning it, because he was glided towards another entity within the same group. NatWest, hardly an obscure outfit, offered him a personal account and a business account. Thus, if one wishes, one can enjoy some sport at Farage’s expense: at one level, he is merely complaining about having to bank with the common people.
Except the tale is not that straightforward. The minutes of Coutts committee’s meeting make two things clear. First, Farage was still regarded as wealthy enough to be a profitable customer. “The client’s EC [economic contribution] is now sufficient to retain on a commercial basis,” it says, noting that he had been downgraded to “lower risk” in the classification of “politically exposed persons”.
Second, the choice to get shot of Farage was motivated by Coutts’ objections to his views. “The committee did not think continuing to bank NF [Nigel Farage] was compatible with Coutts given his publicly stated views that were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation.” He failed a political or inclusivity test and was regarded as a risk reputation-wise.
Are we really happy with the idea of bank committees passing inclusivity judgments on customers and then not explaining their decisions? It is surely possible to disagree profoundly with Farage’s views on most issues and find Coutts’ stance alarmingly illiberal.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the chief financial regulator, doesn’t see much a problem, it should be said. Its chair, Ashley Alder, told the Treasury select committee that regulated firms must treat customers fairly but added: “For banks as well as other commercial enterprises, it’s fundamentally up to them to choose who they do business with.” He went on: “I’m not aware of anything in the FCA rulebook that goes to the point around how banks judge their own attitude to reputational risk, if that’s what it comes down to.”
Well, OK, banks are private businesses (even NatWest, 39%-owned by the state) and they can choose their customers. But it is also reasonable to expect some accountability and transparency in the process. It is, for example, hard to pin down how the stated purposes and values of NatWest and Coutts lead them to consider, among other things, Farage’s contact with non-vaccinated Novak Djokovic or his retweeting of a Ricky Gervais trans joke.
Here’s one of NatWest’s descriptions of its purpose: “We champion potential, helping people, families and businesses to thrive. Because when they thrive, so do we.” That’s just blurry. As for Coutts, the front page of its website boasts that it wants clients who are “disrupters and challengers”, two descriptions that, perversely, could be applied to Farage.
In money-laundering cases and suchlike, it isn’t possible for banks to explain why a customer has been ditched. The regulatory demands for secrecy are rightly strict. But there is a problem if requirements for confidentiality elsewhere are used as cover for excluding accounts of politicians whose views the bosses of banks find distasteful.
Farage makes a difficult case because so many other people understandably regard him as objectionable. But Coutts’ position here is odd. It seems to amount to this: if we find your views lawful but offensive, we’ll do nothing if you’ve got £1m on deposit; but we may dump you without explanation if you’ve got less. How does that align with those fluffy corporate values?",Not_Explicit
"His comments followed a Labour backlash against Mayor of London Sadiq Khan for compromising what many leftists had seen as a sure-fire victory in the by-election for Boris Johnson’s old seat Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Danny Beales, Labour’s defeated candidate in Uxbridge, blamed his defeat to the Conservatives on a “single policy”, namely Mr Khan’s decision to extend the ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) to the outer areas of London, including Mr Johnon’s former constituency.
In further signs of prioritising electability over green goals, Sir Keir said on Saturday (July 22) that he had spoken to Mr Khan and called for reflection on “how” the expansion plans were being carried out.
Mr Rees-Mogg wrote: “Sir Keir Starmer is not a fool and is making some worryingly clever moves to give himself electoral credibility and appeal beyond Islington.
“The cancellation of the £28billion green fandango is wise. It is not affordable and moving away from the fanatical green agenda is prudent.
“Similarly, keeping the two-child limit for parents on benefits helps keep spending under control but also appeals to taxpayers, who feel that the benefits system is unfair to them.”
He concluded his brief paragraph on the Labour leader saying that Sir Keir was “taking the barnacles off the boat”.
Don't miss...
Angela Rayner has revealed Labour's plot to roll out hated ULEZ scheme across UK [REVEAL]
Sadiq Khan pushes ahead with hated ULEZ expansion after Tory by-election blow [REPORT]
'Good news for Rishi Sunak' - PM fights back as odds drift on Labour majority [REVEAL]
In June, Labour scaled back its plans to borrow £28billion a year to invest in green jobs and industry as the party’s leadership looked to review its spending in an attempt to prove its fiscal credibility.
Ms Reeves announced that their borrowing scheme would no longer begin in the first year of a Labour Government but would “ramp up” by the middle of their stint.
She said the decision had to be taken as a result of the poor economic backdrop and rising interest rates, after Liz Truss’s short premiership crashed the markets last autumn.
“No plan can be built that is not a rock of economic and fiscal responsibility … I will never play fast and loose with the public finances,” she said.
And in further evidence that Labour are cognisant of a need not to strong-arm their green policies at the expense of electability, Sir Keir said he had called upon Mr Khan to reassess how he rolls out the ULEZ.
Labour saw success in Thursday's three by-elections, overturning a huge 20,000 Conservative majority in Selby and Ainsty.
The swing of almost 24 percentage points was the second largest produced by Labour at a by-election since 1945 and ranks on a scale similar to those seen under Sir Tony Blair's leadership ahead of his 1997 landslide victory.
But its failure to overturn a 7,000 majority in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Mr Johnson's former seat, has seen Labour publicly question Mr Khan's proposals to extend ULEZ to all London boroughs.",Not_Explicit
"Pence in New Hampshire says he’s ‘not interested in trading insults’ with Trump
Former Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday that he’s “not interested in trading insults” with former President Trump after a voter at a meet-and-greet in New Hampshire pushed him to “stand up” to his onetime boss.
“Some people think we did a fair amount of standing up two and a half years ago,” Pence argued, according to ABC News, in an apparent reference to his decision to certify the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021, in the face of pressure from Trump.
However, the former vice president suggested that his campaign is more focused on “laying out the choice for the American people” in the election than going back and forth with Trump.
“I’m not interested in trading insults with my old friend. I’m not,” Pence said, according to ABC News. “And some people think that’s the way to win the presidency. I don’t. But laying out the choice for the American people, we’ve been doing it. We’ll keep doing it.”
Pence’s remarks came in response to a comment from a registered Independent at the meet-and-greet, who said he would “love” to see Pence as president.
However, the voter added, “I’m just gonna give you an honest comment. I don’t believe you ever will be until the day you stand up to that man.”
A recent New Hampshire poll showed Pence garnering just 1 percent support among likely Republican primary voters in the Granite State. Trump maintained a sizable lead over the crowded field of GOP candidates in the poll, with 37 percent support, despite dropping several points.
The former vice president is performing slightly better in the national polls, with about 6.6 percent support on average, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"CCL Products Q1 Result Review - Inline; Balance Sheet Leveraging A Key Monitorable: Nirmal Bang
Strong volume growth of 20% was mainly a function of new capacity in Vietnam.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Nirmal Bang Report
Key Points
CCL Products India Ltd.’s Q1 FY24 Ebitda came broadly in line with our estimate and implies a volume growth of ~20% YoY. Management maintained volume growth guidance of 20% for FY24.
FY25E earnings downgrade mainly factors in elevated interest cost post the increase in debt levels, as highlighted in the earnings call. Key operating parameters like Ebitda/kg and volume growth remain intact.
Downgrade to 'Accumulate' with a revised target price of Rs 700 (25 times price-to-earning on June-25E earnings per share).
While we remain structurally positive on the business backed by the strong leadership, near-term issues related to balance sheet and recent run up in the stock price makes the risk-reward unfavorable from one-year time horizon.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"American patent trolls target S.Korean companies
Of lawsuits filed by US plaintiffs against domestic businesses last year, 84.6% were by non-practicing entities
By Jul 13, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Over 80% of American companies that sued South Korean companies for patent infringement last year were non-practicing entities (NPE), or “patent trolls.”
An NPE conducts no production activity and instead earns profits through lawsuits.
The Korean Intellectual Property Office on Wednesday said that among 149 patent lawsuits filed by US companies against South Korean ones last year, 126 or 84.6% were from NPEs, up from 69.4% in 2020. Of the 126, 90.5% or 114 were aimed at corporations, mainly Samsung Electronics.
The number of such complaints against domestic small and medium businesses also doubled last year from six to 12.
Four of the five American companies filing the most complaints were NPEs, led by Daedalus Prime LLC with 10. Founded in 2021 and owning 122 Intel patents, the latter is suing companies like Samsung Electronics.
Covering complaints and lawsuits, the number of patent disputes filed in the US last year was 208, about 70% or 145 of which were related to electrical and electronics and information and communications technology. Next on the list were chemical and bio, mechanical materials and equipment.
Write to Hae-Sung Lee at ihs@hankyung.com
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"A drone attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea has led to civilian evacuations and disrupted transport, Russian authorities have said.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of occupied Crimea, said Ukraine was behind the attack, without providing evidence.
Mr Aksyonov said local residents living within five kilometres of the blast were being evacuated.
Rail services across the Kerch bridge have also reportedly been halted.
Earlier on Saturday, Russian authorities stopped traffic on the bridge, but then swiftly reopened it to cars.
A later update from the Moscow-installed government said road traffic was again halted until further notice.
Mr Aksyonov said infrastructure facilities in the Krasnogvardeysky district in Crimea were the target.
""According to preliminary data, there were no damages or casualties,"" Mr Aksyonov wrote on a Telegram post.
The BBC has not been able to independently verify the attack.
The Kerch bridge, often referred to as the Crimea bridge, was opened in 2018 and it enables road and rail access between Russia and Crimea - Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in 2014.
The bridge has become a symbol of Russian occupation and is also an important re-supply route for Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
On Monday, a blast on the bridge killed two people and damaged the road but the railway line, which runs parallel to it, was not damaged.
The Kremlin blamed Kyiv for Monday's attack and said Ukraine had carried out a ""terrorist"" act. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to retaliate and accused Ukraine of launching a ""senseless"" and ""cruel"" attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the Crimea bridge is a legitimate target.
Speaking on Friday he said the bridge was ""the route used to feed the war with ammunition and this is being done on a daily basis"", adding that Kyiv sees it as ""an enemy facility"".
""So, understandably, this is a target for us,"" Mr Zelensky said, in a video address to the Aspen security conference in the US.
Monday's alleged attack was the second major incident on the Kerch bridge in the past year.
In October 2022, the bridge was partially closed following a huge explosion. It was fully reopened in February.",Not_Explicit
"Intel Corp. has introduced a processor in China that is designed for AI deep-learning applications despite reports of the Biden administration considering additional restrictions on Chinese companies to address loopholes in chip export controls.
The chip giant’s product launch on July 11 is part of an effort by U.S. technology companies to bypass or curb government export controls to the Chinese market as the U.S. government, citing national security concerns, continues to tighten restrictions on China's artificial intelligence industry.
CEOs of U.S. chipmakers including Intel, Qualcomm and Nvidia met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday to urge a halt to more controls on chip exports to China, Reuters reported. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, National Economic Council director Lael Brainard and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan were among other government officials meeting with the CEOs, Reuters said.
The meeting came after China announced restrictions on the export of materials that are used to construct chips, a response to escalating efforts by Washington to curb China's technological advances.
VOA Mandarin contacted the U.S. chipmakers for comment but has yet to receive responses.
Reuters reported Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said in June that ""over the long term, restrictions prohibiting the sale of our data center graphic processing units to China, if implemented, would result in a permanent loss of opportunities for the U.S. industry to compete and lead in one of the world’s largest markets and impact on our future business and financial results.""
Before the meeting with Blinken, John Neuffer, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents the chip industry, said in a statement to The New York Times that the escalation of controls posed a significant risk to the global competitiveness of the U.S. industry.
""China is the world’s largest market for semiconductors, and our companies simply need to do business there to continue to grow, innovate and stay ahead of global competitors,” he said. “We urge solutions that protect national security, avoid inadvertent and lasting damage to the chip industry, and avert future escalations.”
According to the Times, citing five sources, the Biden administration is considering additional restrictions on the sale of high-end chips used to power artificial intelligence to China. The goal is to limit technological capacity that could aid the Chinese military while minimizing the impact such rules would have on private companies. Such a move could speed up the tit-for-tat salvos in the U.S.-China chip war, the Times reported.
And The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the White House was exploring how to restrict the leasing of cloud services to AI firms in China.
But the U.S. controls appear to be merely slowing, rather than stopping, China’s AI development.
Last October, the U.S. Commerce Department banned Nvidia from selling two of its most advanced AI-critical chips, the A100 and the newer H100, to Chinese customers, citing national security concerns. In November, Nvidia designed the A800 and H800 chips that are not subject to export controls for the Chinese market.
According to the Journal, the U.S. government is considering new bans on the A800 exports to China.
According to a report published in May by TrendForce, a market intelligence and professional consulting firm, the A800, like Nvidia's H100 and A100, is already the most widely used mainstream product for AI-related computing.
Combining chips
Robert Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, told VOA in a phone interview that although these chips are not the most advanced, they can still be used by China.
“What you can do, though, is you can combine lesser, less powerful chips and just put more of them together. And you can still do a lot of AI processing with them. It just makes it more expensive. And it uses more energy. But the Chinese are happy to do that,” Atkinson said.
As for the Chinese use of cloud computing, Hanna Dohmen, a research analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, told VOA Mandarin in a phone interview that companies can rent chips through cloud service providers.
In practice, it is similar to a pedestrian hopping on an e-share scooter or bike — she pays a fee to unlock the scooter’s key function, its wheels.
For example, Dohman said that Nvidia's A100, which is “controlled and cannot be exported to China, per the October 7 export control regulations,” can be legally accessed by Chinese companies that “purchase services from these cloud service providers to gain virtual access to these controlled chips.”
Dohman acknowledged it is not clear how many Chinese AI research institutions and companies are using American cloud services.
“There are also Chinese regulations … on cross-border data that might prohibit or limit to what extent Chinese companies might be willing to use foreign cloud service providers outside of China to develop their AI models,” she said.
Black market chips
In another workaround, Atkinson said Chinese companies can buy black market chips. “It's not clear to me that these export controls are going to be able to completely cut off Chinese computing capabilities. They might slow them down a bit, but I don't think they're going to cut them off.""
According to an as yet unpublished report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, China is already ahead of Europe in terms of the number of AI startups and is catching up with the U.S.
Although Chinese websites account for less than 2% of global network traffic, Atkinson said, Chinese government data management can make up for the lack of dialogue texts, images and videos that are essential for AI large-scale model training.
“I do think that the Chinese will catch up and surpass the U.S. unless we take fairly serious steps,” Atkinson said.",Not_Explicit
"Washington — GOP Rep. George Santos, who wasin May, has asked the federal magistrate judge overseeing his case to ease his pretrial travel restrictions and allow him to move within a 30-mile radius of the District of Columbia.
Santos' lawyer told U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields in a letter Wednesday that the embattled congressman has a ""good faith basis"" for requesting the change to the conditions of his release, which restricted his travel to Washington, D.C., New York's Long Island and New York City.
""In light of the small geographical area of the District of Columbia, there is a frequent need to travel outside the District of Columbia for usual and customary functions of someone who lives and works in the District of Columbia, such as dining, shopping, meetings, events, and even use of the local airports,"" Joseph Murray, Santos' lawyer said.
Murray added that this has led to ""unnecessary notifications"" to the government and Pretrial Services of Santos' travel, which can be ""easily remedied"" by extending the area where the congressman can move without advance notice to anywhere within 30 miles of the district.
The letter noted that neither the government nor Pretrial Services, an office that supervises defendants who are released pending trial, objected to the request.
Santos, who has beensince he was elected to represent New York's 3rd Congressional District last November, was charged in a 13-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in May. He faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of lying to the House and one count of theft of public funds.
Santos pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on a $500,000 bond,. As part of the conditions of his release, the freshman lawmaker surrendered his passport, and his travel was limited to New York City, Long Island and the District of Columbia. Other travel in the U.S. requires advanced notice to the government and Pretrial Services.
Santos is running for reelection, and Murray said during the congressman's arraignment in May that he would need the freedom to attend campaign events and fundraisers.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"The U.S. and U.S.-led United Nations Command say they are working to resolve the situation involving a U.S. soldier who ran into North Korea at a border village. The incident involving Private Travis King comes at a time of high tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The pace of both North Korea's weapons demonstrations and U.S.-South Korean military exercises has intensified lately in a cycle of tit-for-tat.
Other Americans have crossed into North Korea over the years, including a few U.S. soldiers. Some were motivated by evangelical zeal or simply attracted by the mystery of a severely cloistered police state fueled by anti-U.S. hatred. Others were detained after entering North Korea as tourists. In one tragic case, it ended in death.
Here’s a look back:
Charles Jenkins
Born in Rich Square, North Carolina, Jenkins was one of the few Cold War-era U.S. soldiers who fled to North Korea while serving in the South.
Jenkins, then an Army sergeant, deserted his post in 1965 and fled across the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. North Korea treated Jenkins as a propaganda asset, showcasing him in leaflets and films.
In 1980, Jenkins married Hitomi Soga, 21, a Japanese nursing student who had been abducted by North Korean agents in 1978.
Soga was allowed to return to Japan in 2002. In 2004, Jenkins was allowed to leave North Korea and rejoin his wife in Japan, where he surrendered to U.S. military authorities and faced charges that he abandoned his unit and defected to North Korea. He was dishonorably discharged and sentenced to 25 days in a U.S. military jail in Japan. He died in Japan in 2017.
Bruce Byron Lowrance
It’s clear that North Korea’s handling of American detainees is influenced by the state of its relations with Washington.
Lowrance benefited from cozy diplomacy in 2018 between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who met for a summit in June of that year, where they issued aspirational goals for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing when and how it would occur.
Five months later, North Korea announced it was expelling Lowrance, who had entered the country illegally through China in October. North Korea’s decision to deport Lowrance after only a month of confinement was remarkably quick by the country’s standards, apparently reflecting an eagerness to keep alive a positive atmosphere for dialogue with the United States.
During the buildup to the Trump-Kim summit in June, North Korea released three American detainees — Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song — who returned to home on a plane with then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
However, the diplomacy broke down after the second Trump-Kim summit in February 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
Matthew Miller
In September 2014, Miller, then 24, from Bakersfield, California, was sentenced to six years of hard labor by North Korea’s Supreme Court on charges that he illegally entered the country for spying purposes.
The court claimed that Miller tore up his tourist visa upon arriving at Pyongyang’s airport in April that year and admitted to a “wild ambition” of experiencing North Korean prison life so that he could secretly investigate the country’s human rights conditions.
North Korea’s initial announcement about Miller’s detainment that month came as then-President Barack Obama was traveling in South Korea on a state visit.
Miller was freed in November that same year along with another American, Kenneth Bae, a missionary and tour leader.
Weeks before his release, Miller talked with The Associated Press at a Pyongyang hotel where North Korean officials allowed him to call his family. Miller said he was digging in fields eight hours a day and being kept in isolation.
Kenneth Bae
Bae, a Korean-American missionary from Lynnwood, Washington, was arrested in November 2012 while leading a tour group in a special North Korean economic zone.
North Korea sentenced Bae to 15 years in prison for “hostile acts,” including smuggling in inflammatory literature and attempting to establish a base for anti-government activities at a hotel in a border town. Bae’s family said he suffered from chronic health issues, including back pain, diabetes, and heart and liver problems.
Bae returned to the United States in November 2014 following a secret mission by James Clapper, then-U.S. director of national intelligence, who also secured Miller’s release.
Jeffrey Fowle
A month before Bae and Miller were released, North Korea also freed Fowle, an Ohio municipal worker who was detained for six months for leaving a Bible in a nightclub in the city of Chongjin. Fowle’s release followed negotiations that involved retired diplomat and former U.S. Representative Tony Hall of Ohio.
While North Korea officially guarantees freedom of religion, analysts and defectors describe the country as strictly anti-religious. The distribution of Bibles and secret prayer services can mean imprisonment or execution, defectors say.
In 2009, American missionary Robert Park walked into North Korea with a Bible in his hand to draw attention to North Korea’s human rights abuses. Park, who was deported from the North in February 2010, has said he was tortured by authorities.
Otto Warmbier
Warmbier, 22, a University of Virginia student, died in June 2017, shortly after he was flown home in a coma after 17 months in North Korean captivity.
Warmbier was seized by North Korean authorities from a tour group in January 2016 and convicted on charges of trying to steal a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
While not providing a clear reason for Warmbier’s brain damage, North Korea denied accusations by Warmbier’s family that he was tortured and insisted that it had provided him medical care with “all sincerity.” The North accused the United States of a smear campaign and claimed itself as the “biggest victim” in his death.
In 2022, a U.S. federal judge in New York ruled that Warmbier’s parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, should receive $240,300 seized from a North Korean bank account, which would be a partial payment toward the more than $501 million they were awarded in 2018 by a federal judge in Washington.",Not_Explicit
"Hunter Biden is set to make his first court appearance in Delaware where he is expected to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax charges Wednesday morning stemming from the years-long federal investigation into his tax affairs.
President Biden's son is expected to appear in front of Judge Maryellen Noreika at 10:00 a.m.
Hunter Biden, 53, has agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax.
""Despite owing in excess of $100,000 in federal income taxes each year, he did not pay the income tax due for either year,"" the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David C. Weiss’ office said upon announcing the charges last month. ""According to the firearm Information, from on or about October 12, 2018 through October 23, 2018, Hunter Biden possessed a firearm despite knowing he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance.""
Weiss' office said if convicted, Hunter Biden faces a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison on each of the tax charges – a total of two years. There is a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the firearm charge for which he agreed to a pretrial diversion program.
Such programs according to the DOJ website, ""divert certain offenders from traditional criminal justice processing into alternative systems of supervision and service"" such as mental health or substance abuse treatment. Those who successfully complete diversion programs, the DOJ says, can see ""declination of charges, dismissal or reduction of charges, or a more favorable recommendation at sentencing.""
""A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors,"" Weiss' office said.
""The investigation is ongoing,"" the office said in a statement last month.
Hunter Biden will also enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate felony charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
The plea deal, which has faced ire from Republicans and opponents of the president, is likely to keep Hunter Biden out of jail.
Hunter Biden's first court appearance comes after highly-anticipated public testimony from two IRS whistleblowers – Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler – who were part of the IRS' investigative team on the Hunter investigation. They alleged the investigation and prosecutorial decisions were influenced by politics. The Justice Department has denied the allegations.
The appearance also comes a day after Judge Noreika has threatened Hunter Biden's legal team with sanctions over allegations about lying to the clerk's office. His counsel is accused of avoiding proper court procedure to allegedly get information about IRS whistleblowers removed from the docket.
Specifically, a lawyer from Hunter's legal team is accused of misrepresenting who she was when asking to remove amicus materials from the docket. She allegedly called to ask the clerk to seal the information instead of making a formal request to the court.
Noreika gave Biden's legal team until 9 p.m. on Tuesday to explain their side.
Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation since 2018. That investigation into his ""tax affairs"" began amid the discovery of suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding funds from ""China and other foreign nations."" IRS whistleblowers said the investigation began as an ""offshoot"" from an existing probe into a foreign pornography platform.
Fox News first reported in 2020 that the FBI had subpoenaed a laptop and hard drive purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden in connection with a money-laundering investigation in late 2019.
In December 2020, weeks after the 2020 presidential election, Biden publicly acknowledged he was under investigation related to his taxes. At the time, Biden said he took the matter ""very seriously"" and was ""confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors.""
The firearms charge stemmed from allegations that Hunter Biden lied during a gun purchase in 2018.
Fox News first reported in 2021 that police had responded to an incident in 2018, when a gun owned by Hunter Biden was thrown into a trash can outside a market in Delaware.
A firearm transaction report reviewed by Fox News indicated that Hunter Biden purchased a gun earlier that month.
On the firearm transaction report, Hunter Biden answered in the negative when asked if he was ""an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?""
Hunter Biden was discharged from the Navy in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine.
When asked for comment after the charges were announced, the White House released a statement saying: ""The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment.""",Not_Explicit
"A Russian delegation led by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has arrived in North Korea, to be joined by a Chinese delegation later on Wednesday.
They will attend Pyongyang's celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, marked typically by massive military parades.
The visits are the first to North Korea since the country shut its borders in a bid to keep out the pandemic.
It is unclear if this signals a change in Pyongyang's border policies.
The reclusive North Korea had sealed the country off from all trade and diplomatic ties in early 2020, even with Russia and China, which are its main economic and political partners.
They even cut off imports of essential goods like food and medicine.
North Korea has been facing food shortages, which have been made worse by its border closure and strict international sanctions that have been imposed because of its nuclear programme.
Some analysts say the inclusion of Chinese and Russian envoys in this year's 'Victory Day' parade - as the 1953 Korean armistice is called locally - hints at a possible loosening of Covid restrictions.
It comes weeks after images of North Koreans walking around without masks were shown on state media.
A delegation led by Russian Defence Minister Shoigu arrived in North Korea late Tuesday, and received a warm welcome on the tarmac at an airport in Pyongyang.
He walked past a line a saluting soldiers and a red banner emblazoned with the words, ""Welcome, Comrade Defence Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu!"" in both Korean and Russian.
The Chinese delegation will be led by Li Hongzhong, who is part of the Chinese Communist Party's central policymaking committee, and will arrive sometime on Wednesday, according to a party spokesperson.
China and Russia are both long time allies of North Korea.
Beijing had sent troops in the fall of 1950 to support North Korea in the war against South Korea. The Soviet Union had also supported North Korea in the war before the USSR collapsed in 1991.
Since then, Russia has remained a natural ally for North Korea because of their mutual dislike for the US. Washington has, in fact, accused North Korea of providing military aid to Russia in the war in Ukraine, a claim that both Pyongyang and Moscow deny.
The invitation also comes on the backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions between the US and Russia over the Ukraine war. Ties between Beijing and Washington are also frayed because of Taiwan.
The US has been trying to talk to Pyongyang following the defection of US soldier Travis King to North Korea.
Pvt King, who was meant to go back to the US to face disciplinary action, ran into North Korea while on a tour at the Joint Security Area (JSA), an area in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that divides North and South Korea.
The United Nations Command, which the United States is a part of, had earlier said talks have begun with North Korea over Pvt King, but did not elaborate on the details.",Not_Explicit
"Trump rips 2024 challengers: ‘Christie dead as his stomach band’
Former President Trump ripped some of his challengers for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Thursday, as he continues to enjoy a wide polling lead over the crowded field.
“Vivek Ramaswamy is now beating DeSanctimonious,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Christie dead as his stomach band. ‘Aida’ Hutchinson a solid minus 1%. I’m up 44 points!!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”
Trump did not cite a specific poll, but a Kaplan Strategies poll released on Thursday showed the former president leading with 48 percent support among likely Republican voters, and conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy tied with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place, with 12 percent support.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie garnered 5 percent support in the poll, alongside South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley received 3 percent and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson came in at 1 percent.
Trump has repeatedly mocked Christie for his weight, with Christie firing back last month: “Oh, like he’s some Adonis?”
“Here’s my message to him,” Christie told Fox News’s Howard Kurtz. “I don’t care what he says about me, and I don’t care what he thinks about me. And he should take a look in the mirror every once in a while. Maybe he dropped the weight thing off of his list of criticisms.”
While DeSantis has struggled to make up ground on Trump since launching his campaign in May, he maintains a sizable lead over the other Republican challengers.
A polling average from FiveThirtyEight shows the Florida governor with an average of 20 percent support, followed by Pence with almost 7 percent and Ramaswamy with almost 6 percent.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Gatwick Airport has submitted plans to make its “reserve runway” a second runway. It’s hardly surprising. The world’s busiest single runway airport has the worst punctuality of all European airports so far this summer, according to Eurocontrol, which manages European airspace. Converting the reserve runway, which is currently used for emergencies, would not only improve punctuality but also increase capacity by 60 per cent, enabling the airport to handle 75 million passengers a year, up from 46.5 million in 2019. It would also create 3,000 jobs and inject £1 billion a year into the local economy.
But, if recent history is anything to go by, Gatwick’s majority owner, France’s Vinci Airports, which bought a controlling stake for £2.9 billion in 2019, might as well give up on the £2.2 billion expansion plans now. No new large runway has been opened in the south east for more than a generation – and growing opposition to airport expansion means none probably will. So says a former boss of Gatwick, Paul Griffiths, the Briton who now runs the world’s busiest international hub, Dubai international.
“I see no realistic prospect of new runways at any of the major south-east hubs. Can you imagine any politician putting themselves in the crosshairs of Just Stop Oil and other environmental campaigners? The opposition in the courts, not to mention the disruption on the ground, over years and years would be far too politically costly.”
It’s hard to disagree – if Heathrow’s recent history is anything to go by. Many airlines and politicians have been pressing for a third runway at the west London hub, Europe’s busiest, for decades to increase passenger capacity to 142 million a year, compared with 81 million in 2019. One was originally approved in 2003 but the coalition government led by David Cameron withdrew support in 2015 after an outcry by green campaigners – and Boris Johnson who promised to lie in front of the bulldozers.
Theresa May’s government reversed that decision in 2018. Two years later the Court of Appeal ruled a third runway would be incompatible with Britain’s climate commitments. That decision was overturned by the Supreme Court later in the same year. Heathrow’s outgoing CEO, John Holland Kaye, has signalled the runway development will resume, telling the Financial Times he is looking into “what it would take to restart the planning process”. Few expect it to get beyond the drawing board.
Other airport expansion schemes have come and gone. This year should have marked the tenth anniversary of the opening of a new runway at Stansted. That was the timetable envisaged under a review of airport capacity in 2003 by Alastair (now Lord) Darling, the then transport secretary. Nobody talks any more about Boris Island, the scheme the former prime minister and London mayor floated in 2016 to build a new airport in the Thames estuary.
The biggest losers in our airport stagnation are passengers. Flight cancellations and delays are at record levels. This is partly down to airlines trimming their schedules in response to technical issues, staff shortages and strikes by air traffic controllers on the continent. But it’s also partly due to the fact that Heathrow operates at or near 100 per cent capacity, which means the moment operations are disrupted by, say, bad weather, the knock-on effect can be huge. On a typical day the airport handles 1,250 flights — around 70 an hour. One takes off or lands every 45 seconds.
UK Plc is losing out, too. “If we don’t expand our only hub airport, we’re going to be flying through Paris to get to global markets,” says Holland-Kaye. Gatwick’s CEO, Stewart Wingate, agrees airport expansion is needed to “provide vital new international connections to support ‘Global Britain’.” Before the pandemic travel and tourism accounted for 11 per cent of the UK’s economy, or about £231 billion, and supported 4.2 million jobs.
Rival European players have forged ahead to take advantage of Britain’s woes. Frankfurt International completed its fourth runway in 2011. Barcelona got a third in 2018 and Munich’s third is destined for completion in 2028.
Germany and France have a far larger land mass than the UK and lower population density which makes it easier to develop airports. But there is also a greater political appetite for big infrastructure projects. “We’ve been a bit lily-livered in the UK,” says Griffiths. “We haven’t had the political stomach for lots of the debates. Look how long it has taken to get the HS2 fast rail link approved and even now we don’t know where it will end up in the north and whether it will end in Euston in London. Compare that to the way France has completed its TGV fast train network.”
There are other reasons for Britain’s airport stagnation, some of which might not be immediately obvious. While you might think that airlines would welcome new runways, not all do. British Airways has half the takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow – a highly profitable near-monopoly – which it would lose if there were a third runway. The same applies to Ryanair which dominates Stansted.
Is there any hope? Heathrow could become more efficient with a new terminal. Surinder Arora, the founder and chairman of the Arora Group, one of the UK’s largest private hotel owner-operators, wants to build a new Terminal 6 on land between T5 and the M25 motorway. “Heathrow and UK Plc need more airport capacity to stay ahead of Dubai, Singapore and Frankfurt,” he says. He is committed to spending £100m on plans for the proposed Western Hub and has hired consultants Scott Brownrigg. Quieter aircraft might mean Heathrow’s curfew time, which currently runs from around 11pm to 6am, could be reduced, increasing the number of flights each day.
New long-haul, fuel-efficient twin engine jets can, for the first time, connect almost any two points on the planet. Airlines are moving away from hub and spoke models to direct point to point services. This raises the prospect of more flights from Britain’s regional airports to more destinations worldwide, taking the pressure off London’s hubs. Birmingham could even expand. It has enough land for a second runway and very fast rail links to London, Griffiths suggests. Before long passengers arriving in Britain may hear the words: Welcome to London Birmingham!",Not_Explicit
"How the U.S. should navigate its contentious relationship with China and counter its growing influence will be a prominent foreign policy topic in the 2024 presidential election.
Republicans say the Biden administration's response to China — widely viewed as the greatest geopolitical threat to the U.S. — has been inadequate.
Most have not explicitly laid out their own plans on how to deal with China. But many GOP candidates size up tensions between the U.S. and China in terms that are similar to Democrats, viewing the relationship as a potential new Cold War, though most also note the rivalry between the two countries is still less contentious than the U.S.-Soviet Untion relationship was. Some have called for the decoupling of the U.S. and China economies, while others say a move that drastic is not realistic.
Candidates have also hesitated to answer whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion, should any of them be elected president. The U.S. posture toward Taiwan is one of ""strategic ambiguity,"" although under the Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. would help equip Taiwan, so that it could defend itself against attack.
Here's what the 2024 GOP presidential candidates have said about China:
Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump has escalated his anti-China policies from his last campaign by essentially arguing for the decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies.
He has proposed universal baseline tariffs, revoking China's Most Favored Nation trade status and phasing out all Chinese imports of essential goods within four years. Trump has also proposed barring U.S. companies from investing in China, banning China from buying U.S. farmland and revoking federal contracts to companies that outsource to China.
Trump's campaign says the plan will allow the U.S. to ""reclaim our economic independence from China.""
The former president began his first term in the White House by starting a trade war with China, imposing tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods. His Justice Department also launched the controversial China Initiative, which sought to crack down on Chinese economic espionage.
During the 2024 campaign he vowed to ramp up efforts to stop China from spying on the U.S., saying ""a reformed FBI and Justice Department will be hunting down Chinese spies"" and new visa and travel restrictions will ""shut off Chinese access to American secrets.""
While Trump has taken a tough tone toward China, he has also made admiring statements about its authoritarian leader, Xi Jinping. Even after his presidency, Trump has continued to praise Xi, saying at a town hall in July, ""Think of President Xi: Central casting. Brilliant guy. You know, when I say he's brilliant, everyone says, 'Oh, that's terrible' ... Well, he runs 1.4 billion people with an iron fist. Smart, brilliant, everything perfect. There's nobody in Hollywood like this guy.""
During an interview with Fox News on July 16, Trump declined to say whether the U.S. should help defend Taiwan from an attack from China if it meant the U.S. would be at war with China.
""If I answered that question it will put me in a very bad negotiating position,"" he said before accusing Taiwan of taking away semiconductor business from the U.S.
Ron DeSantis
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has portrayed U.S.-China tensions as a new Cold War.
""If you look at where we are at this juncture in the 21st century, what the Soviet Union was to us, that's really what China represents in terms of the threat to the free world,"" he said during an interview with Nikkei Asia in April. ""In many respects, the Chinese Communist Party is stronger than what the Soviet Union was, certainly economically.""
He has vowed to revoke China's preferential trade status if he is elected president. Under his leadership, he would also ""project power"" to deter China from invading Taiwan, but he has avoided answering whether the U.S. would send forces to defend the self-governing island, which China wants to bring under its control.
As Florida governor, DeSantis signed several bills into law, including banning Chinese purchases of farmland and land near U.S. military bases and critical infrastructure in the state, and blocking TikTok on government devices and school networks. In doing so, he said the Chinese Communist Party is the ""greatest geopolitical threat"" to the U.S.
Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley, who served as former President Donald Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, has criticized Trump's approach to China as being too ""singularly focused"" on trade while he was in the White House.
In a June 27 policy speech on China, she said the Chinese military was ""stronger"" at the end of Trump's presidency and he showed ""moral weakness"" in trying to befriend Chinese President Xi Jinping. She criticized President Biden for continuing to ""dither"" as China ""is preparing its people for war.""
""Communist China is an enemy,"" she said. ""It is the most dangerous foreign threat we've faced since the Second World War.""
Laying out what her policy toward China would look like, Haley said her administration would respond domestically, economically and militarily.
Her proposals include pushing Congress to stop trade relations with China until the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. ends, revoking federal funding for universities who accept money from China and ending the export of sensitive military technology.
She said she would not allow China to buy land in the U.S. and would force it to sell land it already owns.
Haley also wants to ban all lobbying from the Chinese Communist Party, as well as prevent former members of Congress and military leaders from lobbying on China's behalf.
Haley argues the U.S. needs to quickly strengthen its military while deepening military ties with Japan, South Korea and Australia, and create stronger relationships with India and the Philippines.
On Taiwan, Haley said the U.S. and its allies should give it ""everything it needs to defend itself"" and maintain a strong naval presence in the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. can force China to rethink an invasion of Taiwan by quickly giving Ukraine the weapons and training it needs to fight off Russia's invasion, she said.
""If we rally now, the Chinese Communist Party will eventually end up on the ash-heap of history, like the Soviet Communist Party,"" Haley said.
Chris Christie
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wants the U.S. to take ""a totally new approach"" to China, which could include tariffs.
Like other candidates, Christie believes the competition the U.S. faces with China is more serious than the threat from the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
""I'm not saying that we should isolate China. It's impossible. They're the second largest economy in the world. They have billions of people,"" Christie told voters in June. ""But we have given into their demands of saying, 'We're a developing country. We need more advantages.' Guess what, the development is over. You're now nearly our equal, if not our equal, in many ways. So you know what? Now we compete with each other on an equal basis.""
He also views Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a proxy war between the U.S. and China, and has said it's important that the U.S. keep supporting Ukraine to deter China from invading Taiwan.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy's China policy focuses on reducing U.S. economic dependence on the country.
His plan includes ""tough measures to counter China's unfair trade practices,"" protecting intellectual property and investing in American innovation and technological advancements such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
He has said U.S. relations with other Asian nations, particularly India, are critical to helping the U.S. ""declare independence from our top enemy.""
""We're cutting the cord unless you drastically reform,"" Ramaswamy said of how he plans to confront Chinese President Xi Jinping. ""No more IP theft. No more data theft. No more turning our companies into pawns to lobby here as a condition for them being able to do business in China. We're cutting the cord. You will not buy land in this country if you're affiliated with the CCP. You will not donate to a university in this country. A U.S. business will not expand into China unless and until the CCP meets our demands or falls.""
Ramaswamy also wants to ""drive a wedge"" between China and Russia, which would make Xi ""think twice"" about invading Taiwan if he doesn't have another nuclear superpower backing him.
""That's how we deter Chinese aggression without going to war,"" he said. ""That's the hallmark of my foreign policy vision.""
Ramaswamy supports arming Taiwan against China.
Tim Scott
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott views China as an economic adversary that is only becoming stronger.
His plan to confront China if elected president includes reducing the U.S. national debt held by China and prohibiting the Chinese Communist Party from buying farmland in the U.S., donating to American universities, infiltrating U.S. airspace and collecting Americans' personal data.
He has called China ""the biggest threat to America's security"" and has vowed to rebuild the U.S. military.
Scott has declined so far to say how he would respond to a Chinese attack on Taiwan, but he said in June that ""we must stand shoulder to shoulder with the Taiwanese government and the military when it comes to defending what we believe is our ally.""
Mike Pence
During a speech on China in 2021, former Vice President Mike Pence warned that the Chinese Communist Party poses a greater threat to U.S. interests than the Soviet Union did during the Cold War — not only because of its authoritarian regime, but also because of the extent to which U.S. and Chinese business interests are intertwined.
""Beijing has exploited modern corporate America's insatiable appetite for market access and coerced top CEOs, athletes and entertainers into not only withholding criticism from the communist regime, but in many cases actively singing their praises,"" Pence said.
""Imagine if during the Cold War, the USSR also happened to be America's top trading partner. Imagine if the United States was dependent on Moscow for life-saving medical equipment or the rare earth minerals essential to modern technology. Imagine your favorite household brands in directly funding Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, building the Berlin Wall or financing the construction of gulags in Siberia,"" Pence said, expanding the Cold War comparison.
He proposed a number of policy recommendations in the speech, including putting pressure on China to reveal the origins of COVID-19, banning U.S. labs in China, manufacturing essential pharmaceuticals and medical supplies in the U.S. and decoupling in industries related to national security.
Pence has called China the ""greatest economic and strategic threat"" to the U.S.
""One of the things I'm proudest of in the Trump-Pence administration is we changed the national consensus on China,"" Pence told Iowa voters in March.
Pence has also said China's ownership of U.S. land needs to be looked at ""very carefully"" and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States guidance should be updated.
He is in favor of providing Taiwan the resources it needs to defend itself from a Chinese invasion.
Asa Hutchinson
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson's campaign website says he is willing to continue trade partnership with China, ""but it must be one that protects American interests and promotes American ideals.""
""For too long, America has been dependent upon China for the stabilization of our economy,"" his website says.
He has also said China's leadership ""must know our determination to not allow Taiwan to become another victim of China's expansion.""
Doug Burgum
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum thinks the U.S. is already in a Cold War with China ""and we won't admit it."" But the way to win it is economically, he said in a recent interview with ""Meet the Press."" He also referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a ""brutal dictator.""
In an ad listing off his reasons for running for president, Burgum included ""rebuild our military to win the Cold War with China.""
Burgum, who started a software company he later sold to Microsoft for $1.1 billion, is the rare candidate who can say he himself was a victim of Chinese intellectual-property theft. He told the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board in July that in 1989, his company, Great Plains, was selling its software system for $5,000 a module exclusively in North America. While he was in China, he said that he was tipped off about a market that sold software. He went to the market ""and was told he could buy his own product 'on a 5¼-inch floppy for $1,'"" he told the board.
Francis Suarez
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez views China as the ""threat of our generation"" in several different contexts, including economic and national security.
""China is not our partner,"" he said in his speech announcing his 2024 campaign. ""China is now our adversary.""
In June, Suarez flubbed an answer on China's human rights record, when conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt asked Suarez if he'd be talking about the Uyghurs in his campaign. ""What's a Uyghur,"" Suarez responded. He later said, ""I didn't recognize the pronunciation.""
At the end of the Trump administration, the U.S. determined that Uyghurs, Turkic ethnic Muslim who are native to Xinjiang, China, had been subjected to a ""decades-long campaign of repression"" subjected to abuses ""designed systematically to discriminate against and surveil ethnic Uyghurs as a unique demographic and ethnic group, restrict their freedom to travel, emigrate and attend schools,"" according to State Department statement.
Over 1 million Uyghurs are believed to have been held in detention camps in Xinjiang.
Will Hurd
Former Texas Rep. Will Hurd has framed the U.S.-China competition as a ""generation-defining struggle"" that will have global ramifications.
He believes the two ""can and should coexist"" and that decoupling from China is not realistic. But he also thinks the U.S. should also be preparing for a potential war.
Unlike primary opponents who favor tariffs to protect U.S. companies and even trade imbalances, Hurd aspires to produce more and better products at home.
""Instead of pursuing a 19th century tit-for-tat tariff war, which is a self-imposed sales tax on American consumers, we should be collaborating with our allies to out-innovate China,"" he wrote in a 2019 op-ed.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"- Veteran U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger met with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday during a surprise visit to Beijing, state media reported.
- Details of the talks were not disclosed, though a statement praised Kissinger as a ""legendary diplomat.""
- The meeting comes two days after spontaneous talks between Kissinger and China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Tuesday.
Veteran U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger met with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday during a surprise visit to Beijing, according to state media.
The 100-year-old former U.S. Secretary of State was hosted by the Chinese premier at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, CCTV said in an online post.
Details of the talks were not disclosed, though a statement praised Kissinger as a ""legendary diplomat"" in reference to his prior work in negotiating U.S. rapprochement with China, according to a Google translation of the report.
""Chinese people value friendship, and we will never forget our old friend and your historic contribution to promoting the development of Sino-US relations and enhancing the friendship between the Chinese and American peoples,"" an additional report from official state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying, according to Google translate.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the meeting. However, Reuters reported that the White House said Kissinger was not visiting China on behalf of the U.S. government.
Kissinger's talks with Xi were his second unexpected meeting of the week, after the former diplomat spoke with China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Tuesday.
The talks come amid wider efforts to thaw diplomatic tensions between the two global powers. U.S.-Sino relations have grown increasingly fractured over recent months amid a string of tit-for-tat tech sector trade caps, increased tensions around the Taiwan Strait, and security concerns following U.S. interception of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
Kissinger — who in 1979 helped broker talks between then-U.S. President Richard Nixon and China's Mao Zedong, paving the way for normalized relations — is still held in high regard in China.
A video accompanying CCTV's post shows footage of Kissinger sitting with Xi in one of the palatial rooms of the state guesthouse — a location considered more intimate than the Great Hall of the People, where official diplomatic meetings are typically held.
The video also features footage of the recent visits to China of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.
Notably, Blinken was the only other U.S. official to secure face time with Xi over recent weeks, holding a last-minute meeting that was described as robust but conciliatory.
Kerry, in a four-day visit to Beijing which concluded Wednesday, signaled that a forthcoming meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi could be on the cards later this year.
Kerry was referring to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Summit, which the two leaders are set to attend in San Francisco in November. The last time the pair met was in November at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.",Not_Explicit
"Thibault Camus/AP
toggle caption
Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, celebrates after the twenty-first stage of the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday.
Thibault Camus/AP
Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, celebrates after the twenty-first stage of the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday.
Thibault Camus/AP
PARIS — Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard has won the Tour de France for a second straight year as cycling's most storied race finished Sunday on the famed Champs-Élysées.
With a huge lead built up over main rival Tadej Pogačar, the 2020 and 2021 winner, Vingegaard knew the victory was effectively his again before the largely ceremonial stage at the end of the 110th edition of the Tour.
Vingegaard drank champagne with his Jumbo-Visma teammates as they lined up together and posed for photos on the way to Paris.
It had been a three-week slog over 3,405 kilometers (2,116 miles) with eight mountain stages across five mountain ranges. Vingegaard seized control of the race over two stages in the Alps.
Little had separated the two rivals until Vingegaard finished a time trial 1 minute, 38 seconds ahead of Pogačar on Tuesday, then followed up the next day by finishing the toughest mountain stage of the race almost 6 minutes ahead of his exhausted rival.
""I'm dead,"" Pogačar said.
The Slovenian rider responded by winning the penultimate stage on Saturday, but Vingegaard still had an insurmountable lead of 7 minutes, 29 seconds going into the final stage — a mostly ceremonial stage which is contested at the end by the sprinters.
""We have to be careful not to do anything stupid,"" Vingegaard warned Saturday, ""but yeah, it's amazing to take my second victory in the Tour de France.""
Belgian cyclist Jordi Meeus won the final stage in a photo finish between four riders on the line, just ahead of Jasper Philipsen, Dylan Groenewegen and Mads Pedersen.
""It was my first Tour. It was a super nice experience already so far, and to take the win today is an incredible feeling,"" Meeus said.",Not_Explicit
"The Fulton county district attorney investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia has developed sufficient evidence to charge a sprawling racketeering indictment next month, according to two people briefed on the matter.
The racketeering statute in Georgia requires prosecutors to show the existence of an “enterprise” – and a pattern of racketeering activity that is predicated on at least two “qualifying” crimes.
In the Trump investigation, the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, has amassed enough evidence to pursue a racketeering indictment predicated on statutes related to influencing witnesses and computer trespass, the people said.
Willis had previously said she was weighing racketeering charges in her criminal investigation, but the new details about the direction and scope of the case come as prosecutors are expected to seek indictments starting in the first two weeks of August.
The racketeering statute in Georgia is more expansive than its federal counterpart, notably because any attempts to solicit or coerce the qualifying crimes can be included as predicate acts of racketeering activity, even when those crimes cannot be indicted separately.
The specific evidence was not clear, though the charge regarding influencing witnesses could include Trump’s conversations with Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, in which he asked Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes, the people said – and thereby implicate Trump.
For the computer trespass charge, where prosecutors would have to show that defendants used a computer or network without authority to interfere with a program or data, that would include the breach of voting machines in Coffee county, the two people said.
The breach of voting machines involved a group of Trump operatives – paid by the then Trump lawyer Sidney Powell – accessing the voting machines at the county’s election office and copying sensitive voting system data.
The copied data from the Dominion Voting System machines, which is used statewide in Georgia, was then uploaded to a password-protected site from where election deniers could download the materials as part of a misguided effort to prove the 2020 election had been rigged.
Though Coffee county is outside the jurisdiction of the Fulton county district attorney’s office, folding a potential computer trespass charge into a wider racketeering case would allow prosecutors to also seek an indictment for what the Trump operatives did there, the people said.
A spokesperson for Willis did not respond to requests for comment.
The district attorney’s office has spent more than two years investigating whether Trump and his allies interfered in the 2020 election in Georgia, while prosecutors at the federal level are scrutinizing Trump’s efforts to reverse his defeat that culminated in the January 6 Capitol attack.
A special grand jury in Atlanta that heard evidence for roughly seven months recommended charges for more than a dozen people, including the former president himself, its forewoman strongly suggested in interviews, though Willis will have to seek indictments from a regular grand jury.
The grand jury that could decide whether to return an indictment against Trump was seated on 11 July. The selection process was attended by Willis and two prosecutors known to be on the Trump investigation: her deputy district attorney, Will Wooten, and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Charges stemming from the Trump investigation are expected to come between the final week of July and the first two weeks of August, the Guardian has previously reported, after Willis told her team to shift to remote work during that period because of security concerns.
The district attorney originally suggested charging decisions were “imminent” in January, but the timetable has been repeatedly delayed after a number of Republicans who acted as fake electors accepted immunity deals as the investigation neared its end.",Not_Explicit
"It's a scheme that takes the sound of 'moosic' to a new level.

A clever herd of cows has been enlisted to protect an ancient hill fort from invaders – by associating the sound of music with a virtual fence.

The Little Doward Hill Fort was built in the 5th Century BC and is nestled in the Wye Valley, near Whitchurch.

Hundreds of years ago it provided protection for a prominent Iron Age warlord from the likes of oncoming Anglo Saxon warriors.

Now, the biggest battle the site faces is against vegetation and invasive species sweeping over it.

Little Doward Woods forms part of the Wye Valley Special Area of Conservation and Upper Wye Gorge Site of Special Scientific Interest. There are numerous veteran oak and beech trees here, plus rare and interesting wildlife. It is of national importance for its saproxylic beetles – species which need dead or decaying wood to complete their life cycle - including the incredibly rare Cosnard's net-winged beetle. The high number of ancient and veteran trees at the wood provide the deadwood and associated fungi these species rely on. The fort itself was the hilltop stronghold of Iron Age chiefs and has been linked with the 5th Century warlord Vortigern, said to have fled here from the invading Saxons.

And the Woodland Trust, who own the site, have turned to a herd of six Dexter cows to help protect and restore the fort – as well as the 82 hectares of woodland around it.

The cows, which feast on many different varieties of plants and berries, have learnt to associate musical beats, played through a solar powered collar, with a virtual fence.

They have been trained to respond to the audio zone – meaning they turn back when they hear a sound – allowing for a perimeter to be maintained without the need for traditional wooden posts and rails.

Richard Brown, Woodland Trust site manager said: 'Little Doward is a really ancient and special site with not only the fort which looks over the beautiful Wye Valley, but ancient woodland too.

'It is a bit of a battle to preserve the fort from vegetation and we have turned to grazing a small herd of fluffy and friendly Dexter cows who have been trained to associate musical beats with a virtual fence so now the eye sore and expense of building a fence is no longer needed.

'This is a win all around for the site. For nature and restoration the cows are ideal grazers across a wide range of species. They help spread seeds through their dung and gently move the soil around but without destruction.

'For the fort itself they are able to stop vegetation engulfing it and the virtual fencing technology, via an app, helps us to move the herd around, in effect moving the fence.'

Although only a small part of Little Doward Woods is ancient it is an incredibly important habitat, providing refuge for many plants and animals - some of which are only found in isolated pockets across the UK.

Little Doward Woods forms part of the Wye Valley Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Upper Wye Gorge Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

There are numerous veteran oak and beech trees here, plus rare and interesting wildlife.

It is of national importance for its saproxylic beetles – species which need dead or decaying wood to complete their life cycle - including the incredibly rare Cosnard's net-winged beetle.

The high number of ancient and veteran trees at the wood provide the deadwood and associated fungi these species rely on.

The fort itself was the hilltop stronghold of Iron Age chiefs and has been linked with the 5th Century warlord Vortigern, said to have fled here from the invading Saxons.",Not_Explicit
"The war in Ukraine is also a ‘food fight’
In the 1930s, in a bid to pacify the still-unruly region of Ukraine, the Soviet leadership created a man-made famine on its territory. The consequences were horrific; between 1932 and 1933, an estimated 7 to 10 million Ukrainians died in the tragedy that has come to be known as the Holodomor.
Today, as part of its war against Ukraine, the government in Moscow is wielding the food weapon once again. On Monday, the Kremlin announced that it was suspending its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and that it was no longer willing to guarantee the security of food exports transiting the Black Sea. The potential effects of this decision are both profound and profoundly destabilizing.
To understand why, it’s necessary to appreciate the outsized role that Russia and Ukraine play in global food consumption. In 2021, the two countries provided a combined 34 percent of the world’s wheat, 27 percent of its barley, and 55 percent of its sunflower oil. All told, according to European estimates, they jointly accounted for nearly 12 percent of “food calories traded globally” that year.
So when the Ukraine war broke out in early 2022, worries abounded that the result could very well be a global food crisis, as one of the participants in the conflict — and perhaps both — went offline as an international supplier. That did not happen, thanks largely to the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Inked a year ago this month between Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, it created a framework for the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports despite the war, staving off potentially disastrous food shortages and commodity shortfalls in the developing world.
From the start, Moscow’s adherence to the deal was tentative at best, with the Kremlin committing only to short extensions and repeatedly threatening to abandon the arrangement altogether. In support of its position, it has woven an elaborate web of falsehoods, accusing the West of (among other things) hoarding food intended for developing nations and creating trade obstacles for Russia’s own exports.
The real reasons for Russia’s intransigence are geopolitical in nature.
The first is strategic. It didn’t take long for the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin to figure out that it could use food as a weapon to pressure the West just as it has long used its energy supplies. Ever since, Moscow has taken pains to manipulate the current global food crisis (in which nearly 350 million people worldwide are facing starvation) to its advantage.
The second reason is economic. As the State Department has noted, Moscow has taken a series of measures to restrict its own exports of foodstuffs and fertilizer, thereby “profiteering” from a crisis it created itself by forcing global prices upward. By doing so, Russia has managed to soften the impact of Western sanctions on its economy, at least somewhat.
The approach has reaped concrete dividends for the Kremlin. Even as they have sought to punish Moscow for its military aggression, Western nations have quietly tried to mollify it. To that end, the European Union recently floated a proposal for the Russian Agricultural Bank, which is currently under international sanctions, to be allowed to reconnect to the SWIFT global financial network as an inducement to keep Russia in the grain deal. (Moscow, however, didn’t bite.)
Developing nations, meanwhile, have done even more. Eager for some sort of compromise that would allow “business as usual” to resume, thereby keeping their brittle economies afloat — and their restive populations fed — countries in the Global South have become de facto advocates for Russia. For instance, on the heels of his recent jaunt to Moscow, where he discussed food insecurity in Africa, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa flew to Kyiv and floated a 10-point peace plan extremely favorable to the Kremlin.
Russia’s plan, clearly, is to raise the specter of food shortages (and political instability) as a way to turn world opinion against Ukraine, and to force Western nations to scale back their own campaign of pressure. By doing that, Putin believes, it might just be possible to eke out some sort of victory in his protracted and exceedingly troubled campaign against Kyiv. And increasingly, it looks like Russia’s president might be willing to foment an international food crisis in order to do so.
Ilan Berman is senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Proposed rule would improve responsible stewardship of America’s lands, better protect cultural and natural resources, and implement changes directed by Congress
Date: Thursday, July 20, 2023
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov
WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced new steps to revise the Bureau of Land Management’s oil and gas leasing regulations, which would ensure a balanced approach to development, provide a fair return to taxpayers and ensure that drilling does not conflict with protection of important wildlife habitat or cultural sites.
The proposed rule would revise outdated fiscal terms of the onshore federal oil and gas leasing program – including for bonding requirements, royalty rates, and minimum bids – which would increase returns to the public and disincentive speculators or less responsible actors.
“The Interior Department has taken several steps over the last two years to ensure the federal oil and gas program provides a fair return to taxpayers, adequately accounts for environmental harms, and discourages speculation by oil and gas companies. This new proposed rule will help fully codify those goals and lead to more responsible leasing and development processes,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Laura Daniel-Davis. “The Department is committed to creating a more transparent, inclusive and just approach to leasing and permitting that serves the public interest while protecting natural and cultural resources on our public lands.”
“This proposal to update BLM’s oil and gas program aims to ensure fairness to the taxpayer and balanced, responsible development as we continue to transition to a clean energy economy,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “It includes common sense and needed fiscal revisions to BLM’s program, many directed by Congress.”
Modernizing the fiscal terms of the leasing program is central to this proposed rule. Federal onshore oil and gas royalty rates are historically consistently lower than on state-issued leases and federal offshore leases; in fact, onshore royalty rates hadn’t been raised in over 100 years prior to the Biden-Harris Administration taking office. Likewise, bonding levels have not been raised for 60 years, while minimum bids and rents remained the same for over 30 years.
The proposed rule would specifically codify provisions made by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, as well as recommendations from the Department of the Interior’s Report on the Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Program, issued in November 2021. The proposed rule is also consistent with Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
Key elements of the proposed rule include:
###",Not_Explicit
"Putin intends to visit China: how the arrest warrant affects his travels
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is planning to visit China in October this year, according to Russian propaganda Telegram channels.
According to media reports, Putin plans to visit China in October. The reason for his visit is that Russia is seeking to strengthen ties with one of its closest allies.
""It is known that we have received an invitation and intend to go to China when the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&R) forum takes place in October"", said Putin's aide, Roy Ushakov.
As a reminder, in March 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Moscow. During the visit, he said that relations between the two countries were entering a new era. At the same time, China and Russia are strategic allies, and Beijing refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Putin's arrest warrant
In March of this year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. The warrant was also issued in the name of Maria Alekseevna Lvova-Belova, the Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights.
According to the court's decision, Putin must be arrested in 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute or recognized the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said that the Hague warrant allows Putin to be arrested outside Russia and brought to court.
BRICS summit
At the end of August, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) summit will take place in South Africa. However, Putin's visit was still in doubt due to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
According to the law, South Africa must arrest Putin if he arrives. South Africa has been trying to secure immunity for the dictator. But later South Africa officially requests an arrest warrant for Putin.",Not_Explicit
"Police receive request to burn Quran outside Iranian embassy
Police in Sweden have received yet another application to hold a Quran-burning protest, with the event this time to be held outside the Iranian embassy in Stockholm.
The request has come from a 31-year-old man, who intends to set fire the holy book of Islam, at the same time as setting fire to a picture of Iran's head of state, Ali Khamenei, and also two doll's heads, with the event intended to protest the way Iran treats its people.
""I cannot accept that our people live in such a state of ignorance and superstition,"" the man told Sweden's public broadcaster SVT.
Khamenei has demanded that Sweden extradite the people who carried out earlier burnings of the Quran and has also accused Sweden's government of launching a war on the entire Muslim world by allowing the burnings to continue.
""The Swedish government should know that through its support for the criminals who are burning the hold Quran, it has readied itself for a war with the Muslim world,"" Khamenei said in a statement issued on Twitter.
Sweden's national police said that as the application had only just come in, it could not yet comment on whether permission to hold the protest would be granted or not.
An appeals court confirmed at the end of June that police had been wrong to reject a series of applications to burn the Quran in February, making it difficult for police to justify rejecting similar requests this month.
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The request has come from a 31-year-old man, who intends to set fire the holy book of Islam, at the same time as setting fire to a picture of Iran's head of state, Ali Khamenei, and also two doll's heads, with the event intended to protest the way Iran treats its people.
""I cannot accept that our people live in such a state of ignorance and superstition,"" the man told Sweden's public broadcaster SVT.
Khamenei has demanded that Sweden extradite the people who carried out earlier burnings of the Quran and has also accused Sweden's government of launching a war on the entire Muslim world by allowing the burnings to continue.
""The Swedish government should know that through its support for the criminals who are burning the hold Quran, it has readied itself for a war with the Muslim world,"" Khamenei said in a statement issued on Twitter.
Sweden's national police said that as the application had only just come in, it could not yet comment on whether permission to hold the protest would be granted or not.
An appeals court confirmed at the end of June that police had been wrong to reject a series of applications to burn the Quran in February, making it difficult for police to justify rejecting similar requests this month.",Not_Explicit
"Doctors across Israel are set to strike on Tuesday in protest against the passing of a key part of Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul, after thousands of protesters took to the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Monday night.
The Israeli Medical Association, which says it represents about 95% of doctors, said it would hold a 24-hour protest, with exemptions for medical care in Jerusalem and emergency care across the country. It held a brief strike last week as a warning, arguing the judicial overhaul would “devastate the healthcare system”. The doctors are set to be joined in strike action on Tuesday by 73% of interns, according to the Intern Doctors Organization. Health minister Moshe Arbel is reportedly seeking an injunction to prevent the doctors’ strike going ahead.
Legal action, a general strike and possible refusal from upwards of 10,000 military reservists to report for duty are now on the cards as Israel’s largest ever domestic crisis enters a new chapter.
The protests have been sparked by the judicial overhaul bill, which abolishes the “reasonableness” clause that allows Israel’s unelected supreme court to overrule government decisions. It was passed into law by a final vote of 64-0 in parliament on Monday. Every member of Netanyahu’s coalition voted in favour, while opposition lawmakers abandoned the Knesset plenum in protest, shouting “Shame!” as they left.
On Monday night the streets around the parliament building in Jerusalem were thronged with approximately 20,000 protesters waving blue and white flags, some of whom marched to the city over four days last week. There were cries as news of the vote result filtered through the crowd, together with shouts of “we will never give up”. Walls and fences were plastered with stickers reading “we won’t serve a dictator,” “democracy or rebellion” and “save Israel from Netanyahu”.
Police used water cannon – and for the first time, skunk gas – to disperse people blocking roads, some of whom had lit fires, while malls and businesses in many cities closed their doors in solidarity. Many protesters put plugs in their noses or held up sprigs of rosemary plucked from nearby bushes to try to control the stench from the skunk gas. At least 19 arrests have been made.
“This puts us on the way to dictatorship,” said protester Danny Kimmel in Jerusalem. “You don’t do this to people who are protesting. It’s their right.”
Thousands of people also demonstrated in central Tel Aviv – the centre of months of anti-government protests. Scuffles took place between police and protesters, with at least eight people arrested and demonstrators lighting bonfires. Police said they arrested a driver who hit a group of protesters in central Israel, injuring three people.
The White House said Joe Biden had not given up on his goal of finding a broader consensus among politicians in Israel. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “It is unfortunate that the vote took place today with the slimmest possible majority.”
Opponents of the bill said they would challenge the new law in the supreme court. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said he would urge the supreme court to strike down the law, telling the Knesset the vote marked “a takeover by an extreme minority over the Israeli majority”.
After the vote, he said: “It’s a sad day. This is not a victory for the coalition. This is the destruction of Israeli democracy.”
Germany’s foreign ministry said on Monday it “very much regretted” that negotiations between the government and the opposition had broken down “for the time being”.
“In light of our deep ties with Israel and its people, we view the deepening tensions in Israeli society with great concern,” it added, “Especially after today’s adoption of the first part of the planned restructuring of the judiciary, it remains important to give sufficient time and space for a broad social debate and consensus.”
The British Board of Deputies backed Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s efforts to find a consensus and urged Israel’s leaders to keep talking to “prevent the deepening of a constitution crisis which will do tremendous damage to the very fabric of Israeli society”. Of the negotiations, it said it was “deeply disappointed that, at this stage, the efforts have failed”.
Jewish groups in the US condemned the vote as a threat to democracy and warned that it could damage relations with American Jews.
The American Jewish Committee, one of the oldest pro-Israel groups in the US, expressed “profound disappointment” at the vote and said it is “gravely concerned” that it will deepen divisions in Israeli society amid huge demonstrations against the law, including in the military with thousands of military reservists threatening to refuse to report for duty.
“The continued effort to press forward on judicial reform rather than seeking compromise has sown discord within the Israeli Defense Forces at a time of elevated threats to the Jewish homeland and has strained the vital relationship between Israel and diaspora Jewry,” it said.
In a televised address on Monday night, Netanyahu described the bill as “a necessary democratic act” that would “return a measure of balance between the branches of government.” The prime minister called for fresh dialogue with the opposition and pleaded for national unity.
With Associated Press and Reuters",Not_Explicit
"Last year, global healthcare consulting firm Salient Advisory surveyed more than 80 companies across four African countries for a report emphasizing the growth of startups digitizing the continent’s health supply chain and distribution and regulatory frameworks governing e-pharmacy activities.
This time, the firm went deeper into Africa’s health supply chain segment, broadening the scope of its research and making some tweaks. For one, it searched for startups across 54 countries (compared to four from last year) and included companies with verticalized health supply chain offerings.
Tracking nearly 350 innovators across 27 countries, Salient Advisory’s 2023 report establishes that public health supply chains across the continent are embattled and overburned, leaving most Africans with little choice but to source products from private health innovators. The issue, however, is that private health supply is fragmented from manufacturing to distribution, ultimately impacting price, availability and quality (fake and substandard products are more available in open drug markets in Africa than global standard medicine, for instance.) As such, Salient Advisory’s report, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, looks to track innovators leveraging technology to digitize supply chain processes and solve these problems.
“One thing to consider that has happened since the pandemic in Nigeria, and globally to an extent, is several shortages we noticed in supplies like the personal protective equipment (PPE). Those problems existed because of gaps in health supply chains,” Yomi Kazeem, senior consultant for West Africa at Salient Advisory, said on a call with TechCrunch. “And so in light of that, it’s important to take a look at how health startups are using technology to try and improve supply chains on the continent to ensure that individuals in urban areas or in rural communities have better and safer access to health products.”
Salient Advisory findings also show how African governments (about 11 from the research) are working with health supply chain innovators on nearly 50 partnerships, leveraging their tech-enabled solutions to resolve long-term challenges around the availability, accessibility and quality of health products in public health supply chains. Roughly half of the identified partnerships focus on enabling governments to digitize ordering and inventory management to improve efficiency and minimize wastage, highlighting governments’ strong interest in adopting digital order and inventory management solutions.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Kazeem dissects Salient’s findings, touching on the importance of innovators working in partnerships with governments, loopholes that need to be filled despite the commendable efforts, disparities in funding across health supply chain innovation ecosystems and an update on the Investing in Innovation (I3) initiative geared toward female-led startups.
TechCrunch: Salient’s report from last year strictly contained innovators in the private health supply chain segment. But this year’s report includes B2B e-commerce platforms like Copia Global. Why’s that?
Yomi Kazeem: Primarily, the way to think about this is to think about the segments of companies, and the way to categorize them is in what they offer. Despite being an e-commerce company, Copia Global, for instance, was included because over-the-top medication is one of the products it offers in Kenya, where it operates.
Since we’re looking to track startups and innovators that use technology to improve access to medicines, large e-commerce operators, not just Copia, but others like Glovo, Jumia and Konga, also feature. Although health products are not the only thing they distribute and are probably one of their smaller verticals, it’s essential to highlight them because these are significant channels and platforms that could be pivotal to ensure greater and broader access.
What other new categories were introduced in this research?
When you’re thinking about supply chains, you have to think broadly. It’s not just about who’s running an online pharmacy allowing individuals to order products. It includes platforms enabling pharmacies, clinics and hospitals to order products directly from a manufacturer or distributor and getting those products delivered to them, providing retailers with financing and credit solutions. It includes those offering solutions around transport, warehousing and reverse logistics because those are also key supply chain processes and that’s where drone delivery operators like Zipline, which works with governments to deliver essential medical supplies to public health facilities, come in.
The selection also goes beyond this to include other solutions, like those ensuring product protection and visibility, which solves the massive problem of fake and substandard medicines. You have companies like Chekkit building solutions around that. Another interesting subset that we saw, even though there aren’t a lot of these types of companies out there, are those that are involved in supply chain data analytics, trying to figure out what products are being consumed and also helping government agencies in charge of distributing medicines to better plan their demand and understand consumption trends.
Doesn’t the funding raised by these larger companies like Zipline and Glovo skew the numbers reported in the research?
It does. Large U.S. and Europe e-commerce companies and medical drone delivery operators accounted for about 77% of the money raised by the innovators in our research. Although they skew the data a bit because their operations are not just health, it’s something we were super clear and upfront about in the study.
Aside from the intricacies of introducing new innovators to the research, what other exciting trends are worth highlighting from the report?
The more exciting bits lie in core health supply chain startups that are building solutions being adopted by the governments. It’s a huge thing to see in these ecosystems where government agencies or governments, either at national or sub-national levels, are leveraging these solutions to improve public health supply chains. There are several examples of this in Kenya, where Maisha Meds, an inventory management and digital marketplace startup, has partnered with as many as three different county governments in the country, and those county governments are using their inventory management solution in public health facilities.
In terms of real-life impact, for example, by using that technology solution, the public health facilities can manage their stock better or minimize waste because they now have a clever sense of what products are available or when the following stock-up is likely to happen. Without such a tool to give them all that information upfront, they might have many expired products in their inventory without being fully aware of it. So that’s just an example of how these solutions solve real problems for governments. Across the service categories, solutions provided by the order and inventory management category are the most adopted by governments across the continent.
Now, we identified nearly 50 partnerships where governments have or are working with innovators, basically using their solutions to improve the public health and supply chain. This is incredible because one key thing to note is that in the context of health across Africa, if these companies are going to achieve scale, working with large public purchasers is essential to that journey. And so if governments are ordering services from these startups, that’s a pathway to scale. Beyond scale, the benefit to the government or the people is that the benefits of using that technology solution will translate into public health impact.
The report states that these partnerships require support. Is this support from the government or a third party? What’s the context behind this?
Speaking with government officials and startups, the reality of executing partnerships can be challenging, especially regarding funding. For example, a state government asked a startup to source a particular type of product; the order size was worth about $250,000. The startup couldn’t access the credit finance required to fulfill that order because the government would not pay upfront. And so what ended up happening was that the state government had to reduce the size of that order by up to 80%. And in doing that, it cut off essential products, including surgical supplies and consumables.
With that context in mind, our recommendation here is a role for donors and global health agencies to play in designing trade financing solutions and mechanisms and providing that directly to innovators working with large businesses and governments. Those early-stage innovators can access the financing required to fulfill large orders and prove their service’s validity or use case, and can then build the long-term possibility of working together with the government at a level where there’s a better rapport and flow in terms of providing the service and getting paid.
The other thing to point out regarding our recommendations for global health actors is also in continuing to understand the role of grants. So, one of the things we uncovered in the research is that if you look at the funding section, equity is the most common source of funding. But when you disaggregate for companies founded by men and women, you realize that equity is not as equally available to women as it is to men. We have a reality where startups founded by women rely heavily on grants and debt compared to those founded by men. To put this in perspective, of all the money that startups founded by men have raised, 96% is equity, 3% grants and 1% debt. For women, it’s 50% equity, 35% grants and 15% debt.
We spoke with women founders and stakeholders and included an agenda-focused case study in the report where we explored some of the systemic reasons driving the barriers women founders in health supply chain ecosystems face. A few reasons jumped out, like unequal access to funding, embedded gender bias in selection committees and women-led businesses being perceived as riskier when investing compared to men, even though they’re operating businesses at similar levels.
Fundamentally, grants are still critical in terms of creating more equitable innovation ecosystems because, ultimately, there’s an important role to play for companies that women found.
That’s one of the reasons why the $7 million pan-African health tech initiative Investing in Innovation (I3) was launched last year, right? What’s been the progress on that front?
The first year just wrapped up and 31 different startups were selected and got grants. We are now rolling into the second year, where another 30 companies across Africa will also get selected. The initiative reinforces our point because when you look at the funding sources for these innovators, the Investing Innovation Program, launched just last year, is at the top of that list. It’s the most common source of funding for health supply chains on the continent because they participated in 31 deals, essentially providing grants.
And then, of course, the other grant programs like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (investing directly) and a few equity folks, also stand out. Plug and Play Ventures and Launch Africa are at the top of the list in terms of sources of equity funding. But it highlights the role that grants play and the program itself is designed to place an emphasis first on African founders but also, of course, pay particular attention to startups that women found. In the first cohort, about 48% of the companies selected were founded by women founders and I believe that that same intentional thinking is in place for this year; perhaps it might be taken to an increased and higher level.
What lessons about early-stage startups and partnerships with the government does the research drive home?
Companies that are nascent and early typically focus on serving consumers, but as they grow and achieve more maturity, they have a bit more bandwidth to be flexible. And we see greater diversity in who they serve as they mature, which is why we see many partnerships with government. The I3 program is also striving to introduce startups to governments and, in some cases, to other industry stakeholders, including manufacturers. All of that is important to ensure that the startups can go from where they are early or early at the growth stage to establishing themselves and businesses.
The benefit goes both ways, especially working with governments. One thing we’ve often wondered about or looked at is the government’s disposition to innovation. It’s often perceived as adversarial. That’s the thinking. But here, we see governments by themselves seeking solutions and adopting them.
The general feedback when we engage with government actors was that there’s a lot of interest in how governments view partnerships. It’s still early days. And so the hope and expectation is that over the coming months and years, we’ll see many more partnerships. One thing that’s important to emphasize, in addition to scaling startups, is the real-life benefit and impact of governments using technology in public health systems to ensure safer access to quality medicines. That translates to better positive health outcomes for individuals and jobs, which is fantastic in this ecosystem.",Not_Explicit
"Secret agreements with Russia aid North Korea's nuclear program, reports indicate
According to Bloomberg, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has found new ways to replenish his depleted treasury through dealings with Russia, enabling him to finance the country's nuclear program.
Russia has resumed oil supplies to North Korea for the first time since 2020. Previously, Russia had been sending grain to the country.
Western experts speculate that in exchange, Pyongyang is supplying Moscow with ammunition for the conflict in Ukraine, although North Korea denies this claim.
It is noted that North Korea possesses millions of 152-mm artillery shells, which are of interest to Russia as they are compatible with weaponry from the Soviet era.
Weapons expert, Just Olīmans, believes that Pyongyang sees the opportunity to sell some of its ammunition at a high price. Economists estimate that if North Korea were to sell the shells for $1,000 each, selling 250,000 shells would be equivalent to approximately 1% of its GDP.
The report also highlights China's assistance to North Korea and mentions that both Moscow and Pyongyang are engaged in cybercrime. These activities help Kim Jong-un maintain economic stability in his country.
Furthermore, Russia and China demonstrate their support for North Korea by sending high-ranking delegations. Both countries engage in covert trade with North Korea, despite being under UN sanctions.
North Korea's nuclear buildup
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), North Korea continues to view its nuclear programs as a central element of its national security strategy.
SIPRI estimates that North Korea possesses around 30 nuclear warheads and has enough material to produce an additional 50-70 warheads.",Not_Explicit
"Vladimir Putin has said Russia will use “all means at its disposal” to defend Belarus after Poland and other EU countries voiced concerns about the deployment of Russian paramilitaries near their borders.
Putin delivered a series of aggressive remarks during a meeting of his security council, where he claimed without evidence that Poland was seeking to invade Belarus, a Russian ally, and that their elites were “dreaming of Belarusian lands”.
Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group have begun holding training sessions for Belarusian troops at the Bretsky training centre in western Belarus, about six miles (10km) from a border crossing with Poland.
Poles near the border say they have heard gunshots and helicopters, Reuters reported this week.
Wagner fighters began arriving in Belarus in large numbers last week after their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, struck a deal with the Kremlin to end a short-lived mutiny in which he sent his heavily armed fighters on a “march of justice” toward Moscow.
On Friday, Poland’s security committee said it would move troops toward the east in response to the Wagner group’s new presence in neighbouring Belarus. The independent Belarusian Hajun project estimated that about 2,500 Wagner mercenaries had arrived in the country, many from bases in Ukraine.
“Training or joint exercises of the Belarusian army and the Wagner group is undoubtedly a provocation,” Zbigniew Hoffmanna security official, told the Polish state news agency PAP, according to a Reuters translation.
“The committee analysed possible threats, such as the dislocation of Wagner group units. Therefore, the minister of national defence, chairman of the committee, Mariusz Błaszczak, decided to move our military formations from the west to the east of Poland.”
Poland earlier this month said it would send up to 1,000 troops to defend the eastern borders of the country.
In Moscow, Putin launched an angry invective in response, claiming without evidence that Poland was seeking to annex territories in Belarus.
“Unleashing aggression against Belarus would mean aggression against the Russian Federation,” Putin said, according to the Kremlin. “And we will respond to it using all means at our disposal.”
He similarly said without evidence that Poland would seek to annex territories in Ukraine.
“The western territories of present-day Poland are a gift from Stalin to the Poles, have our friends in Warsaw forgotten about this?” Putin said. “We will remind you.”
Russia has used similar threats of pre-emptive strikes to justify military action in the past, including its invasion of Ukraine. But there are no signs of a direct clash between Poland and Belarus or Poland and Russia at present.
The arrival of the Wagner mercenaries in Belarus appears to be a temporary measure as the Kremlin tries to manage the fallout from last month’s brief mutiny.
William Burns, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, said at the Aspen Security Forum that Putin was still buying time while he decided what to do with Prigozhin and his mercenary army.
“What we are seeing is a very complicated dance,” Burns said. But Putin could ultimately decide to take revenge on Prigozhin and kill him, he added.
“In my experience, Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback, so I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution,” he said.
“If I were Prigozhin, I wouldn’t fire my food taster.”
Russia has reportedly detained a number of military officers suspected of having advance knowledge of the mutiny, including Sergei Surovikin, the head of Russia’s aerospace forces and an ally of Prigozhin’s. On Friday, investigators also arrested Igor Girkin, a former battlefield commander of irregular Russian proxy forces in Ukraine. He had condemned Putin for his mismanagement of the war in Ukraine.
Video surfaced earlier this week of Prigozhin welcoming Russian mercenaries to Belarus, saying they would stay there “for some time” to train before focusing their efforts on Africa, where they have been contracted by a number of governments to fight in local conflicts or protect valuable assets.
He again accused Russia’s military of mismanaging the invasion of Ukraine and said his troops could return to the front in the future.
“What is happening at the front now is a disgrace in which we do not need to participate,” he said. “[We will] wait for the moment when we can prove ourselves in full.”",Not_Explicit
"Colombia vs. South Korea live updates: Women's World Cup 2023 top plays
Colombia is the No. 25 ranked team in the world, according to FIFA, while South Korea is ranked No. 17.
Colombia star forward Linda Caicedo, 18, is expected to make her World Cup debut Monday in what would be a triumphant moment for the young player after being diagnosed with cancer just three years ago. Las Cafeteras are captained by powerhouse midfielder Daniela Montoya, who scored Colombia’s first World Cup goal in the team's history back in 2015.
On the other side, South Korea, which boasts a 1-8-1 record in its three World Cups, is captained by defensive leader Kim Hyeri. Five players from South Korea, including Hyeri, have made more than 100 appearances entering the match. Monday could also mark the World Cup debut of 16-year-old South Korea forward Casey Phair. The American-born teenager would become the youngest player all-time to play in a World Cup, men’s or women’s, should she play.
Follow our live coverage below!
7': Applying the pressure early on
PREGAME
Setting the stage
The ""World Cup NOW"" crew previewed the match live on Twitter ahead of kickoff.
Eyes on the prize
Colombia is eyeing a strong outing to set the tone early in this tournament after failing to qualify for the 2019 World Cup.
Fans on both sides are hyped for the match, taking to the streets ahead of the action to rep their respective squads.
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT
Women's World Cup Daily: Netherlands draws level with USA in Group E standings
-
What's with so many PKs, and so many misses, in this Women's World Cup?
Italy-Argentina, Germany-Morocco predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup power rankings: USA stays on top; Germany holds onto top-3 spot
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: USA remains favorite to three-peat
Brazilian players at Women's World Cup urge fans to skip work to watch their matches
World Cup NOW: How Netherlands might give U.S. problems
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT
Women's World Cup Daily: Netherlands draws level with USA in Group E standings
-
What's with so many PKs, and so many misses, in this Women's World Cup?
Italy-Argentina, Germany-Morocco predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup power rankings: USA stays on top; Germany holds onto top-3 spot
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: USA remains favorite to three-peat
Brazilian players at Women's World Cup urge fans to skip work to watch their matches
World Cup NOW: How Netherlands might give U.S. problems",Not_Explicit
"Hero Future Energies on Tuesday said it has signed two agreements with REC and PFC to develop green energy projects.
Hero Future Energies on Tuesday said it has signed two agreements with REC and PFC to develop green energy projects.
The agreements were signed on the sidelines of the 4th G20 Energy Transition Working Group meeting, which concluded last week in Goa, Hero Future Energies said in a statement.
""Hero Future Energies has signed two memorandums of understanding with REC Ltd., and PFC Ltd., for infusion of Rs 3,100 crore each into HFE over the next five years,"" it said.
The funds will be used to develop renewable projects across the country, including solar and wind for commercial and industrial customers, utility projects and green hydrogen derivatives, and will strengthen the company by ensuring the financial closure for future projects.",Not_Explicit
"The European Union is set to implement its European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), a travel authorization system that would require travelers with US and UK passports to fill out an online visa application before being granted entry into the EU.
The union says that it will implement ETIAS in 2024 which will require all travelers from visa-free countries to obtain travel authorization documents before their arrival.
ETIAS is a travel authorization document and not a traditional visa. Travelers from the US and the UK will first have to complete the ETIAS process and get a travel document before their arrival.
Travelers will have to fill out details such as their bio, itinerary, travel history, and some security-related questions through an online portal.
The process will be entirely online.
Unlike a visa application, applying for and getting travel authorization through the ETIAS takes much less time, with approval expected within an hour. In some cases, approval may take up to four days and applicants could be asked for more documentation.
US applicants over 18 years of age will also have to pay an $8 fee for their application, and their British counterparts will be paying £6.
The European Union recommends that travelers apply for an ETIAS authorization “well in advance” of their plans.
Also, applicants should cross-check their name and other details on the ETIAS document once they receive it, as any mistake will prevent them from entering their destination country.
If an application is rejected, an email detailing the reason and how it can be appealed will be sent to the applicant.
Once travelers get their ETIAS document, it is valid for multiple entries for three years or until the traveler’s passport expires, whichever is first.
Visitors with ETIAS approval can stay up to 90 days at a time within 180 days. Visitors will also have to carry their ETIAS documents and passport at all times during their stay.
American and British travelers have long enjoyed visa-free travel to several countries, especially in Europe. According to the Henley Passport Index 2023, both the US and UK passports are among the strongest in the world, with the UK ranking fourth and the US ranking eighth on the list.
The ETIAS has been introduced to assess the potential security risks of travelers before they arrive and prevent cross-border crime and terrorism.
The European Union is set to implement its European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), a travel authorization system that would require travelers with US and UK passports to fill out an online visa application before being granted entry into the EU.",Not_Explicit
"Coforge Q1 Result Review - Healthy Deal Momentum To Help Deliver FY24 Guidance: Motilal Oswal
But the strong outlook already priced in.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
Coforge Ltd. posted Q1 FY24 revenue growth of 2.7% QoQ in constant currency terms, below our estimate of 3.2%. Reported revenue stood at $271.8 million (up 2.8% QoQ/13.9% YoY).
The growth was broad-based across verticals and service lines with Insurance/ banking, financial services leading the growth pack at +4.7%/+3.1% QoQ, while travel, transportation and hospitality was up 1.2% QoQ.
The company recorded the highest ever total contract value wins during the quarter with two large deals in BFS vertical having a TCV of $300 million (for five years) and $65 million, taking the overall deal signed in Q1 to $531 million.
This resulted in a robust 12- month executable order book of $897 million (+20.4% YoY), despite adverse macros. Coforge maintained its FY24 U.S. dollar constant currency revenue growth guidance of 13-16% YoY.
The growth momentum continued for Insurance and BFS verticals, aided by ramp-up of large deals and robust growth in top accounts. Management indicated that while the demand environment is stressed, the company is winning disproportionately against its peers on differentiated value offerings.
The strong delivery is reflected in winning two large deals in Q1 FY24, which should support the growth momentum for FY24. Despite the modest revenue miss, Coforge reported net hiring of 1,000 employees to support the anticipated volumes.
We expect the company to deliver revenue growth at the upper end of the guidance band of 13-16% CC YoY, which will result in FY23-25E USD revenue CAGR of 15.2%.
However, Q1 FY24 Ebitda margin came in below our estimate, with 360 bp QoQ decline versus our estimated decline of 90 bp QoQ. This was primarily due to the full impact of compensation, bigger bench and continued investment in sales team.
Management, however, remained confident of a margin recovery aided by the margin-accretive large deal ramp ups, increase in utilisation and improved offshore mix.
Coforge has guided for a flat YoY adjusted Ebitda margin for FY24. We have cut our FY24/25E Ebit margin by 50 bp, resulting in a 22% INR profit after tax CAGR over FY23-25.
We believe the robust outlook is already factored into the price and we do not see any potential upside from here.
Our target price of Rs 4,460 implies 23 times FY25E earnings per share. We reiterate our 'Neutral' rating on fair valuations.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"Brazilian police have arrested a new suspect over the killing of the Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco, the first major development for some years in a murder case that shocked Brazil and prompted international outcry.
Franco, an outspoken defender of marginalised populations, was killed with her driver Anderson Gomes in a drive-by shooting in March 2018. Two former police officers accused of carrying out the murders were arrested a year later – but they are yet to stand trial by jury and an investigation into who ordered the assassination has dragged on slowly ever since.
The former firefighter Maxwell Simões Corrêa, known as “Suel”, was arrested at his home in western Rio on Monday.
Federal police also executed seven search and seizure warrants at addresses around Rio as part of the operation, named “Elpis” after the spirit of hope in Greek mythology.
Simões Corrêa was already under house arrest for obstruction of justice, but new evidence pointing to his deeper involvement in the murders led officers to detain him, the federal police chief, Andrei Rodrigues told reporters.
According to investigators, Simões Corrêa gave logistical support to Ronnie Lessa and Élcio Vieira de Queiroz, the ex-police officers accused of firing the shots and driving the car used for the killings.
The new suspect is alleged to have helped plan Franco’s murder, as well as provided and disposed of the vehicle used for the crime. He has also given financial support to Queiroz’s family since the ex-police officer was put behind bars, the prosecutor Eduardo Morais Martins said in a press conference in Rio.
Monday’s operation was carried out by the federal police, who in February launched their own investigation into Franco’s murder and its motives, to assist a parallel state-led inquiry riddled with criticisms of inefficiency.
This produced new evidence and a plea deal with Queiroz, the justice minister, Flávio Dino, said at the Brasília press conference. Queiroz not only confessed to his role as the driver in the murders, but also implicated Lessa as the man who pulled the trigger and gave new details leading to Simões Corrêa’s arrest.
Remaining questions around the crime’s execution have been cleared up and “an important phase of the investigation has been closed”, said Dino, adding that the focus would now shift to finding out who ordered the murders. The minister confirmed speculation that paramilitary gangs known as militias – mafias that control large swathes of Rio state and are often made up of current or former state police officers – are implicated in the crime.
“I want to assure the victims’ families and civil society that the investigation is moving forward and will produce new results,” Dino said, adding that the latest developments are a sign of “a state commitment to solving all crimes and fighting impunity”.
Dino had pledged to solve Franco’s murder as “a matter of state honour” when the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government took office in January, in sharp contrast with the previous Jair Bolsonaro administration, which came under fierce criticism for its lack of commitment to resolving the case.
Franco’s sister Anielle, the current minister for racial equality, welcomed the news of the arrest. “I reaffirm my trust in the federal police running the investigation and repeat the question I have been asking for the last five years: who ordered Marielle’s killing and why?” Anielle Franco wrote on Twitter.",Not_Explicit
"Lionel Messi to come off bench in MLS debut for Inter Miami
Messi arrived for his new team's clash against Mexico's Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup just under two hours before kickoff at DRV PNK Stadium, but on the official team list named among the substitutes.
The move was expected, due to Messi's lack of recent competitive action and his limited training activity since announcing his move to Major League Soccer.
Also starting on the bench was fellow new arrival Sergio Busquets, who enjoyed many successful years playing alongside Messi at Barcelona.
Messi looked relaxed as he exited the team bus and strolled into the stadium, stopping briefly to pose for selfies with fans.
The 36-year-old has been hailed as a monumentally significant signing for Inter Miami, MLS in general, and American soccer as a whole, his switch coming just eight months after he led Argentina to a dramatic World Cup triumph.
However, some patience is required before he plays a full role. Messi has not played 90 minutes since he scored in Argentina's 2-0 friendly international victory over Australia in Beijing on June 15. Busquets, meanwhile, has not seen competitive action since May 28.
-
The key to Lionel Messi's MLS mission: Dominating games, not talking about them
How Lionel Messi's Miami arrival mirrors the Beckham Experiment
Cristiano Ronaldo on Lionel Messi joining MLS: 'Saudi League is better'
-
Luis Suarez reportedly wants to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami
Lionel Messi to Inter Miami: Contract details, debut date, full schedule
Lionel Messi takes pictures with fans while shopping at Miami supermarket
-
Lionel Messi unveiled in Miami after lengthy weather delay
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi already has his own chicken sandwich
Wayne Rooney: Lionel Messi 'won't find it easy' in MLS
World Cup 2023 social media tracker: Joe Biden, Tom Brady, Mia Hamm among USWNT well-wishers
-
The key to Lionel Messi's MLS mission: Dominating games, not talking about them
How Lionel Messi's Miami arrival mirrors the Beckham Experiment
Cristiano Ronaldo on Lionel Messi joining MLS: 'Saudi League is better'
-
Luis Suarez reportedly wants to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami
Lionel Messi to Inter Miami: Contract details, debut date, full schedule
Lionel Messi takes pictures with fans while shopping at Miami supermarket
-
Lionel Messi unveiled in Miami after lengthy weather delay
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi already has his own chicken sandwich
Wayne Rooney: Lionel Messi 'won't find it easy' in MLS",Not_Explicit
"EXCLUSIVE: The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) issued a memo Thursday explaining its ""aggressive"" strategy on a newly launched absentee ballot and early voting effort as Virginians prepare to vote in the November general election.
The RSLC announced last week that it’s partnering with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC, the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV), the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus (VSRC), and the House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) to launch an effort called, ""Secure Your Vote Virginia.""
RSLC President Dee Duncan issued a memo Thursday laying out a plan to reach ""low-propensity voters"" in an effort to keep control of the state House and chip away at the Democrats’ four-seat majority in the state Senate.
""Heading into the general election in 2023 this fall, it is our job to defend our razor-thin majority in the House of Delegates while capitalizing on the opportunities available to us in the Virginia Senate where Democrats currently hold a four-seat advantage,"" Duncan wrote. ""We need to set the bar higher and start comparing ourselves against the constellation of national liberal outside groups that drastically outspent us last cycle.""
Duncan said the outreach will focus on three issues they believe resonate the most with Virginia voters: education, the economy and crime.
""Simply put, the past two election cycles taught Republicans that we need to do better when it comes to absentee and early voting,"" he wrote. ""By implementing an absentee and early voting program that will target low propensity voters, we feel confident that a significant increase in turnout of these types of voters will help us win elections at the margins. Democrats were very effective in targeting low propensity voters around the country in 2022, and we must start combating this strategic advantage in Virginia.""
""Republicans have another strong group of diverse candidates heading into the general election, with effective messaging and a data-driven strategy to boost Republican turnout while the Democrats are coming off of a divisive primary that created an even more radicalized group of Virginia Democrats,"" he continued.
""This is good news for Republicans, but do not be fooled,"" Duncan added. ""Democrats will be energized, and they will be backed with larger sums of money from national liberal outside groups who want to take back trifecta power in Virginia and disband the great work Gov. Youngkin and his Republican allies in Richmond have been able to accomplish.""
Voters selected dozens of nominees during the state primary last month in Virginia, which is one of just a few states that have its legislative races in odd-numbered years. The unusual calendar and quasi-swing state status make Virginia a must-watch in gauging voter sentiment ahead of the 2024 elections.
Youngkin, who has not 100% ruled out a White House run next year, first announced the effort in a live appearance on Fox News’ ""America’s Newsroom.""
Youngkin energized Republicans nationwide in 2021 as the first-time candidate who hailed from the party’s business wing edged out former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe to become the first GOP candidate in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in Virginia. Republicans also won the elections for lieutenant governor and state attorney general.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Humza Yousaf accepted an invitation to meet controversial bus tycoon Sir Brian Souter last month in a desperate attempt to boost the SNP's floundering coffers. The Stagecoach founder used to bankroll the nationalists when they were led by Alex Salmond but has not donated since he stepped down.
This was a common occurrence for the SNP since Nicola Sturgeon took over as First Minister as big donations from business people dried up, leaving the party reliant on dead supporters and their membership. Analysis of their accounts shows that they have received just one donation worth £50,000 or more from a living person in the last five years.
Instead, the nationalists prided themselves on being funded by their massive membership numbers, which did hit over 100,000 a few years ago. However, this figure has plummeted to about 74,000 over the last couple of years despite the SNP attempting to cover this up through false briefings to the press.
It means they could be facing major financial issues, especially with an expensive general election being on the horizon. They had to be loaned £107,000 by former chief executive Peter Murrell in 2021 to help with ""cashflow issues"" following the Holyrood election.
Mr Yousaf is hoping that he can become more popular with tycoons and business people than his predecessor who was labelled ""incompetent"" by one former big donor. Figures from the Electoral Commission revealed that during Mr Salmond's seven and a half years as First Minister, he helped to take in more than £8.2m from supportive individuals and companies.
That is double the £4.1m raised by Ms Sturgeon during her eight year tenure. It is this poor financial outlook that has led her replacement to accept Mr Souter's offer of attending a prayer breakfast as a guest of his in June. Politico reports that Mr Yousaf joined him at the annual Christian gathering.
This was something never undertaken by Ms Sturgeon but some of her government ministers did attend. Mr Salmond's closeness to the bus tycoon did court controversy due to the latter's socially conservative views, which included campaigning to keep the Section 28 clause which forbade local authorities from ""intentionally promoting homosexuality""
He previously gave more than £2.5m to the SNP between 2007 and the independence referendum in 2014 but stopped donating once Ms Sturgeon took over. Her struggles to rule Scotland was also named as another reason why one former big donor stopped handing cash to the nationalists.
Speaking anonymously to Politico, the donor who once handed over more than £150,000 to the SNP, said they had not donated in more than a decade as they were “disappointed with the performance of the Scottish government.” They added: ""There has been an awful lot of incompetence. Nicola was basically a decent person, but she centralised everything too much and she lacked imagination.""
An SNP spokesperson said that “unlike the Westminster parties, the people-powered SNP relies on our members’ donations for the vast majority of our income. As the Tory-made cost of living crisis deepens, it’s understandable that some people have less disposable income to spare but we remain confident of returning to surplus in this year’s accounts.""
Never miss the latest top headlines from the Scottish Daily Express. Sign up to our daily newsletter here.",Not_Explicit
"Dixon Technologies Q1 Results Review - Customer, Product Addition To Drive Robust Growth: Systematix
High asset-turnover (~8x) and low NWC days (7) could drive healthy return ratios, despite low margins.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Systematix Research Report
Dixon Technologies India Ltd.'s in line Q1 FY24 revenue was mainly driven by the mobile and electronic manufacturing services segment (Rs 17.95 billion, up 38% YoY and 27% QoQ), while Ebitda/profit after tax came below estimates (by 14%/7%) on below expected Ebitda margin (4% versus 4.7% estimated) in all segments.
Management attributes the low margins to soft volumes in most key core segments. However, balance sheet remained healthy with gross debt/equity at 0.14 times and net working capital at negative six days.
Despite the soft demand, management bases its optimistic growth outlook on its robust order book position in all divisions. Customer additions (India and overseas), healthy traction in existing segments (washing machines, smartphones, lighting) and fast ramp up in new segments (telecom hardware, laptops, refrigerators) are slated to drive growth.
Dixon has also identified white spaces in its businesses that it intends to scale.
We retain our estimates post broadly in line Q1 result and estimate 23%/27%/39% compound annual growth rate in revenue/Ebitda/profit afer tax over FY23-25E (FY20-23: 40%/32%/ 28%), with 300-500 bps expansion in its return on equity/return on capital employed/return on invested capital to ~23%/32%/36% in FY25E.
High asset-turnover (~8 times) and low NWC days (seven) could drive healthy return ratios, despite low margins.
Dixon’s scrip has been volatile over last two years due to lacklustre performance, mainly in the Mobile segment.
Demand recovery and new customer onboarding should accelerate growth momentum; 'Buy' with a target price of Rs 4,966 (60 times FY25E earnings per share of Rs 83).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"BONANZA, Ore. -- A wildfire that started over the weekend in southern Oregon has burned dozens of homes and caused area residents to lose 911 service and internet, state officials said Tuesday.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal said preliminary damage assessments from the Golden Fire east of Klamath Falls showed that 43 residences near the town of Bonanza were destroyed. More than 40 outbuildings were also consumed by fire.
The fire marshal said most of the structures are believed to have burned Saturday, when the fire started and spread rapidly in hot weather and gusty winds. Crews were unable to access the structures before Tuesday because of unsafe conditions, the fire marshal said.
Sherry Booth told KATU-TV that she lost her home to the fire.
She said she was in town when she got a call saying the fire was headed toward it.
“They were closing everything off, but we know a back way in so we did get to the house,"" she said. “We had to go try to save our animals, and the cops were at the house and they were just telling us to grab our animals, go, go, go.”
By the time Booth returned home, her house was engulfed in flames.
“I did have insurance,"" she said. “We’re going to see what we can do, what they have to say.”
The fire also significantly damaged a fiber optic line affecting most of the 8,200 residents in neighboring Lake County, causing a loss of 911 service, internet and phone service. The Lake County Board of Commissioners declared a state of emergency Monday because of the outage and said an estimate for restoring the line wasn't yet known.
911 calls were being rerouted to Klamath County, and county emergency officials have been working with multiple state agencies to restore emergency connections, the commissioners said in statement. Temporary internet towers have also been put up and are providing services, commissioners said.
Fire crews also have been coordinating with utility companies that are working to repair damaged infrastructure, fire officials said Tuesday.
“Our hearts go out to the Bonanza community and those affected by the Golden Fire,” said Matt Howard, Oregon Department of Forestry Team 2 incident commander. “Our job now is to fully suppress this fire so the recovery process can begin.""
As of Tuesday morning, the blaze had burned about 3.2 square miles (8.3 square kilometers) and was 9% contained.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, the Klamath County Sheriff’s office said. According to initial information, the blaze may have started on private property being used to grow marijuana illegally, law enforcement officials said.
Crews have made progress on the fire, holding it within its original footprint, although high potential exists for the fire to keep growing because of heat, high winds and available fuel, officials said.
Some mandatory evacuations were lowered Tuesday, but several hundred homes are still impacted by evacuations at all levels, officials said. A shelter remained open and served more than 80 people over Saturday and Sunday nights, according to the state fire marshal.
An air quality advisory also remains in effect for the central and southern parts of Oregon into at least Wednesday night because of the Bedrock Fire burning between Eugene and Bend and the Flat Fire burning in southwest Oregon.
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson Laura Gleim said air quality levels will vary between unhealthy and hazardous, improving at times during the day then getting worse overnight, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.",Not_Explicit
"- A Dutch business owner says millions of US military emails are being sent to Mali.
- People are sending sensitive information to "".ml"" accounts instead of "".mil"" ones, he told the FT.
- Johannes Zuurbier said the emails sent to the Russian ally contained maps and personal records.
A Dutch entrepreneur says the Russian-allied nation of Mali has for years been receiving millions of US military emails with sensitive information — all because of a typo.
Johannes Zuurbier, who was contracted to manage Mali's country email domain, said he'd been trying to alert the Pentagon to the security issue for the past decade, the Financial Times reported.
The mix-up stems from US military personnel, as well as people attempting to contact the military, sending their emails to "".ml"" accounts — the domain owned by Mali's government — instead of "".mil"" accounts, Zuurbier told the FT.
None of these emails were classified, but some contained highly sensitive information, the FT said. Zuurbier said he was sent information such as maps, personal medical records, tax records, crew lists for ships, and photos of bases.
One email contained the official travel itinerary for Gen. James McConville, the US Army chief of staff, and his delegation for a trip to Indonesia in May. It included their room numbers and details including how McConville could collect his room key, the FT reported.
Other emails included diplomatic letters, terrorism assessments and briefings, and State Department passport numbers.
Zuurbier told the FT he'd seen about 1,000 emails a day being sent to the wrong domain. He's tried to warn the US by alerting Dutch diplomats, a senior national cybersecurity advisor, and White House officials, but the problem persists, the FT said.
His contract to manage the domain was set to expire Monday. This means Mali's government now has access to the domain and further emails received, the FT added.
Russia has given significant support to the Malian government, including weapons, diplomatic backing, and help with information campaigns. The Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary company linked to the Kremlin, also operates in Mali.
A Pentagon spokesperson, Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman, told the FT that the Defense Department ""is aware of this issue and takes all unauthorized disclosures of controlled national security information or controlled unclassified information seriously.""
US military email accounts also notify personnel if they try sending a message to addresses with the "".ml"" domain and will automatically block the email from being sent, Gorman added.
The Pentagon and the Malian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.",Not_Explicit
"Marta enters her sixth Women's World Cup seeking scoring record, Brazil's first championship
It shouldn't be difficult to move to 9-0 in opening matches for the Selecao, who start Group F play on Monday against tournament newcomer Panama in Adelaide, Australia (7 a.m. ET on FS1). Brazil is one of seven teams to qualify for all nine Women's World Cups, while Panama is one of eight teams playing in the tournament for the first time.
Marta's sixth World Cup will be her last, but she has a chance to make history as the first player — male or female — to score in six tournaments. She's already the all-time leading scorer in the Women’s World Cup with 17 goals.
But more important to Marta is winning the World Cup, something the women's national team has never done. Brazil lost in the 2007 final to Germany, made it to the quarterfinals in 2011, but was eliminated in the round of 16 in the next two tournaments.
Marta was in tears after the 2019 loss to France and pleaded with the next generation of Brazilian football players to take their country to the next level.
""It’s about wanting more,"" Marta said four years ago after Brazil's elimination. ""It’s training more. It’s taking care of yourself more. It’s about being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls.""
The national team has seemingly answered her call under coach Pia Sundhage, who as a player retired as Sweden's top scorer and as a coach led the United States to two Olympic gold medals. Sundhage has made Brazil more balanced, which was shown at the Women's Finalissma in April, when the South American champions lost in a penalty shootout to European champion England.
Marta has experience around her in Debinha and Rafaelle, but it is 23-year-old Kerolin who is poised to become Brazil's breakout star. The midfielder has scored eight goals this season for the North Carolina Courage in the NWSL.
""We have taken big steps in these four years,"" Sundhage said. ""We've brought in new players and I think we are in a good place. We have got a chance.""
Panama, meanwhile, most recently faced a South American team in June in a 1-1 draw with Colombia. But Panama has been routed twice since, giving up 13 goals in a 7-0 loss to Spain at the end of June and a 5-0 loss to Japan earlier this month.atch in Melbourne against Germany, winners of back-to-back tournaments in 2003 and 2007.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
-
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: USWNT tops Vietnam, 3-0
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
United States vs. Vietnam: Everything to know, how to watch USWNT's opener
-
USWNT puts Julie Ertz, Savannah DeMelo in starting lineup for World Cup opener
United States dispatches Vietnam 3-0: Takeaways from World Cup-opening win
United States-Vietnam, England-Haiti predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
-
World Cup 2023 social media tracker: Reactions to USWNT's solid 3-0 win
Don't fret if USWNT doesn't blow out Vietnam in World Cup opener
World Cup Daily: Spain makes a loud statement, Canada can't capitalize
-
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: USWNT tops Vietnam, 3-0
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
United States vs. Vietnam: Everything to know, how to watch USWNT's opener
-
USWNT puts Julie Ertz, Savannah DeMelo in starting lineup for World Cup opener
United States dispatches Vietnam 3-0: Takeaways from World Cup-opening win
United States-Vietnam, England-Haiti predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
-
World Cup 2023 social media tracker: Reactions to USWNT's solid 3-0 win
Don't fret if USWNT doesn't blow out Vietnam in World Cup opener
World Cup Daily: Spain makes a loud statement, Canada can't capitalize",Not_Explicit
"LOS ANGELES -- A real estate developer was sentenced Friday to six years in federal prison for paying $500,000 in bribes to a Los Angeles city councilman for help with a downtown project.
Dae Yong Lee, also known as “David Lee,” also was fined $750,000 and a company that he controlled was fined $1.5 million plus prosecution costs, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.
Prosecutors said that in 2017, Lee bribed José Huizar and the councilman's special assistant to help resolve a labor organization's appeal that was blocking approval of a planned development that was to include more than 200 residences and some 14,000 square feet (1,300 square meters) of commercial space.
At the time, Huizar chaired the city's powerful Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
In 2017, Lee made three cash payments totaling $500,000 to Huizar's assistant, George Esparza, prosecutors said.
Last year, Lee and the company were convicted of bribery, honest services wire fraud and falsifying records in federal investigations to conceal the bribes.
The sentence was the latest in a sweeping corruption case swirling around Huizar, whom authorities said ran a pay-to-play bribery scheme from 2013 to 2017 tied to the approval of downtown high-rise developments.
Huizar pleaded guilty in January to racketeering conspiracy and tax evasion. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 25. Under a plea agreement, Huizar agreed to seek a sentence of at least nine years in prison, prosecutors said.
In addition to Huizar, more than a half-dozen other people have been convicted or pleaded guilty to federal charges in the scheme, including Huizar’s brother, Salvador Huizar.
Esparza pleaded guilty in July 2020 to one count of racketeering conspiracy and testified against Lee at his trial.
Former Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan is awaiting retrial next year on federal charges of racketeering conspiracy. Prosecutors allege that he accepted more than $100,000 to help a Chinese real estate developer.",Not_Explicit
"In many election cycles, there's a snappy shorthand used to describe the type of voters who may help decide the winner. Think soccer moms or security moms. Even NASCAR dads.
And now, the “mama bears.”
These conservative mothers and grandmothers, who in recent years have organized for “parental rights,” including banning discussion of gender identity in schools, have been classified as extremists by the Southern Poverty Law Center. They have also been among the most coveted voters so far in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Donald Trump praised their work, saying organizations such as Moms for Liberty had taught the liberal left a lesson: “Don't mess with America's moms.” Ron DeSantis said “woke” policies had ""awakened the most powerful political force in the country: mama bears."" His wife, Casey DeSantis, who launched “Mamas for DeSantis” in leadoff-voting Iowa, said moms and grandmas were the “game changer” in DeSantis' blowout win for a second term as Florida governor. She predicted they will be again as he runs for president.
“We saw there was a constituency of folks who really wanted a voice, and it wasn’t just Republicans. It was independents, but also a lot of Democrats, too, who didn’t like the direction that the country was going,” Casey DeSantis said during a talk peppered with stories about raising kids in the governor's mansion, with slime on the ceiling and crayon on wallpaper.
“It’s one thing when your policies come after us as mamas. It’s another thing when your policies come after our children, and that’s when the claws come out.”
These so-called mama bears whom DeSantis and other Republicans are courting are conservative women living across the United States. They are largely white and may belong to official groups such as Moms for Liberty, which says it has 120,000 members nationally, or smaller ones like No Left Turn in Education. Some belong to no group at all.
The groups and their work took off during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they say parents got a closer look at what their children were being exposed to in public schools. They grew in numbers as Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020 and were motivated by what they called government overreach and “woke” policies.
Many fought pandemic-related school shutdowns and mask mandates, pushed to remove diversity, equity and inclusion programs from schools and tried to ban books they viewed as inappropriate, such as ones with LGBTQ content. They have turned up en masse at school board and library board meetings, fighting to ban instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation. They have run school board candidates who support their stances.
Geralyn Jones, 31, of Marion, Iowa, said she was not active in politics until the pandemic, when she grew concerned about mask requirements and online schooling for her son, who was in kindergarten. She started asking questions and did not like the answers she was getting.
Jones pulled her two kids out of public school after the district approved a policy that allows transgender students to use the bathroom or locker room of the gender they identify as, without alerting parents,. She now leads the Linn County chapter of Moms for Liberty and said that seeing other moms get involved in politics is empowering.
Jones, who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, says he and many other 2024 candidates have reached out to Moms for Liberty — not the other way around — to schedule time to meet with moms. They arrange roundtables for the candidates and always exceed the number of spots the Trump campaign reserves for their group at special events.
""I think we are going to be the most sought-out group or sought-out voice in this next election,"" she said.
At the Mamas for DeSantis event, there were games for kids who came with their parents. Attendees held little ones on their laps. The DeSantis campaign also has started selling “Mamas for DeSantis” T-shirts and tote bags.
Opponents say the warm-fuzzy image of a mama bear is a way to mask a cruel, extreme agenda that hurts children.
“Republicans have decided that this is, I think, their golden ticket for the primaries to rile up their base,” said Katie Paris, who runs Red, Wine and Blue, a network of women pushing back on GOP-backed policies such as the anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans efforts of Moms for Liberty.
“Call it ‘parents’ rights,' call it ‘mama bears,' and try to make it sound like something that would be common sense. ... The reality about ‘parents’ rights' is that it’s just about the rights of a vocal minority that is trying to carry out an extreme political agenda.”
The mama bear movement is “a contemporary iteration of a trend we've seen before"" and that dates back decades, said Linda Beail, a professor at Point Loma Nazarene University and the author of a book about Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee.
During the suffrage movement, women pushed baby carriages as they marched for the right to vote. For decades, white Southern women held a powerful role in shoring up segregation and white supremacy, doing jobs such as keeping Black people off lists of eligible voters.
Palin was a game changer in many ways — a youngish, attractive and successful woman who also was quite conservative, Beail said. In the 2010 midterms, Palin used the phrase “mama grizzlies” to describe the conservative women she said would stop Democrats. The narrative played to ideas of rugged individualism, especially appealing in rural areas, and portrayed women as fiercely protective, defending a traditional way of life and motivated by their children.
“It’s hard to argue with,"" Beail said. ""It’s selflessly protecting your cubs, right?""
In 2024, being a mama bear also may provide a space for conservative women who have not been politically active before or who may have sat out previous elections. If the mama bear narrative is persuasive, Beail said, there are a lot of women who could say, “That's the spot for me.”
Women are generally more likely to vote for Democrats than men, but Democratic House candidates held only a 50% to 47% advantage among women in last year's midterms, according to AP VoteCast, a broad survey of the electorate. More men voted for Republicans than Democrats, 54% to 43%.
In 2020, women supported Biden over Trump 55% to 43%, while men supported Trump over Biden 51% to 46%. There was little difference between moms of kids under 18 and women overall in how they voted either year.
Last year, conservatives tried to get hundreds of “parents rights” activists elected to school boards, with help from millions in donations from groups such as the 1776 Project political action committee. One-third of the roughly 50 candidates backed by the 1776 Project PAC won their races. About half the candidates supported by Moms for Liberty were successful.
But the movement was energized after Republican Glenn Youngkin won the 2021 race for Virginia governor, defeating an establishment Democrat who had previously served as governor. He thanked “mama bears” for helping him win.
Casey DeSantis also attributed her husband's 2022 victory, in part, to the women who overwhelmingly favored him. In his first term, the governor backed legislation prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, a measure that critics called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. He expanded that legislation to cover all grades earlier this year.
DeSantis did win the support of a majority of women as he routed Democrat Charlie Crist. AP VoteCast shows that 57% of women supported DeSantis compared with 42% who supported Crist, though men supported him by even wider margins. While he improved on his margin among both groups since his narrow victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum in 2018, his gains were greater among women than among men.
Several gubernatorial candidates who also leaned heavily on parents’ rights fell short in other states, including in Michigan, Wisconsin and Kansas.
Red, Wine and Blue is among the groups that have pushed back, using programs such as “Troublemaker Trainings” to educate interested women about how to defeat groups like Moms for Liberty.
Paris, of Red, Wine and Blue, criticized the ""parental rights"" movement for focusing school district resources on issues such as transgender athletes, which may account for a handful of kids in a state, at the expense of broader issues such as helping millions of kids with reading after pandemic setbacks.
“It’s a political strategy to appeal to the base, and they don’t care who gets harmed in the process,” Paris said.
Jones, the Iowa mom, defended the work that Moms for Liberty and other groups are doing, saying they are getting backlash for simply trying to protect their children. She says the criticism is evidence of the momentum behind their movement and that lawmakers and candidates are talking more about education than she has ever seen — one more sign of how important moms will be in 2024.
“There’s a mom in every household for the most part,"" she said, ""so that’s a voice that definitely carries a lot of weight.""
___
AP polling director Emily Swanson in Washington contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Sir Tony Blair and Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford have paid tribute to former Labour MP Ann Clwyd, who has died at the age of 86.
She represented the Cynon Valley constituency for 35 years, and became the oldest woman to sit in the House of Commons before standing down in 2019.
The former BBC journalist served as an MEP before she was first elected as an MP in a 1984 by-election.
She held many posts including shadow secretary of state for Wales.
In 1994, she staged a sit-in at Tower Colliery, near Hirwaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf, in protest at British Coal's decision to close the pit.
The miners were given the go-ahead to re-open the colliery the following year, after pooling their redundancy money to take it over. It continued producing coal until 2008.
She was Sir Tony's special envoy in Iraq and she campaigned on the NHS following the death of her husband Owen Roberts in 2012.
Sir Tony called her a ""courageous, fearless, principled political campaigner"" who campaigned for the ""poor and oppressed"" throughout the world.
""She didn't flinch from speaking her mind, no matter what the personal or political cost,"" he said.
""She fought the case of those employed in the coal industry, persuading my government to correct the failure to compensate former miners for the ill health they suffered through mining.
""And having spent a large part of her life standing up against the brutal repression of the Kurdish people in Iraq, she supported the removal of Saddam Hussein, not only when it was relatively easy to do so, but when the going got tough.""
Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer also paid tribute, saying: ""Ann was a leading figure in the Labour Party, dedicating her life to our movement.""
First Minster Mark Drakeford said: ""She was a fearless campaigner, a defender of human rights and a trailblazer for female politicians, but above all of these - a long-term, dedicated servant of the people of Cynon Valley.""
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Cardiff Central Labour MP Jo Stevens tweeted that Ms Clwyd ""was a trailblazer for women, not just in Wales but across the UK and abroad"".
She said Ms Clwyd was ""determined, passionate, fierce and stood her ground"".
""Ann was also very kind, funny and loyal to her many friends and constituents,"" she added.
""I'll miss her. She was one of a kind.""
Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative Senedd group leader, said he was ""saddened to hear of the passing of Ann Clwyd"".
""A formidable figure, she never shied away from fighting for her beliefs, standing on principle no matter who that may have upset,"" he tweeted.
""She was a passionate servant of the people of the Cynon Valley and will be deeply missed.""
Welsh Health Minister Eluned Morgan said Ms Clwyd was a ""pioneer and the only political female role model for women in Wales over a long period"".
""She was a true radical and was inspired by her early years serving as a Euro MP before going on to make a significant impact in Westminster,"" she tweeted.
Beth Winter, who took over Ms Clwyd as Labour MP for Cynon Valley, said her ""thoughts are with her family and friends at this difficult time"".
""Her work over so many years for women's rights, international justice and the miners will be remembered,"" she wrote.
In a tweet, Carwyn Jones, former first minister and Member of the Senedd said: ""Ann served her constituency faithfully for so many years. My thoughts are very much with her family.""
And Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted that Ms Clwyd had been a ""determined voice for the people she represented"".
""She will be much missed. My condolences to her family,"" she added.
Analysis, by BBC Wales Political Editor Gareth Lewis
They don't make them like that any more.
A conviction politician who managed to stand up for those close to home and those abroad; to rise to positions of seniority in her party, but not let that get in the way of what she thought was right.
Despite the scrapes and the high-profile interests further afield, to someone with Cynon Valley heritage, home seemed closest to her heart:
And on a personal level she was great fun to interview - woe betide you if you weren't completely on your game.",Not_Explicit
"The Russian occupation forces took nearly 80 high school students from the temporarily captured territories of Luhansk region to the military academy in Russia’s Kostroma.
That’s according to the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Ukrinfrom reports.
The abducted children are now undergoing “military courses” at the training ground of the Academy of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection and Engineering Forces, located in Kostroma region, being subjected to yet another dose of enemy propaganda, officials emphasized.
According to the report, in the temporarily occupied territories, Russian puppet authorities deny payments to mothers of newborns in case they do not hold a Russian passport.
""Despite the fact that all newborns, according to the invaders’ legislation, are considered citizens of the Russian Federation, parents are unable to receive support payments. In this way, the enemy resorts to yet another tool to force people to get Russian passports,"" the administration emphasized.
Due to the migration of Russian nationals, crime levels in occupied cities are increasing. ""One of the examples is Dovzhansk, where Tuva and Buryatia natives arrive. The number of thefts there has increased rapidly. Local ""law enforcement"" tend to turn a blind eye to most of such cases, officials note.
According to Artem Lysohor, the head of Regional Military Administration, the Russians do not reduce fire pressure on the region from the sky, employing warplanes nearly a dozen times a day. ""The strikes regularly reach the de-occupied villages. Yesterday it was Nevske, Novoliubivka and Bilohorivka. Two of them still have a sufficient number of civilians living there. By the way, food was delivered there the other day – so I am grateful to the volunteers for their help. Despite the danger and complicated logistics, we do not leave local residents alone - they always get everything they need,"" Lysohor emphasized.
Nevske and Bilohorivka also came under Russian artillery fire on Wednesday.",Not_Explicit
"Vice President Kamala Harris jetted into Florida Friday to trash Gov. Ron DeSantis over the state’s rewrite of its history curriculum to claim that slaves benefitted by gaining valuable life skills from being enslaved.
The first Black vice president in American history lambasted the conservative Republican — who is running against former President Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — for whitewashing the horrors of slavery as part of his effort to push back against so-called “woke” influence in public education.
“They decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery,” Harris said Thursday in an impassioned speech to a a Black sorority group. “They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it.”
She said Black Americans should fight back against efforts to rewrite their own ancestors’ history.
“There is so much at stake in this moment: our most basic rights and freedoms, fact versus fiction, foundational principles about what it means to be a democracy,” she said.
Harris planned to deliver a similar message in Jacksonville Friday afternoon on DeSantis’ home turf.
The DeSantis-appointed Florida Board of Education voted Wednesday to approve a revised Black history curriculum that the governor said is necessary to prevent liberal indoctrination.
The new curriculum includes instruction on how slaves supposedly benefited from skills that they gained during centuries of brutal oppression. It also focuses more on achievements of Black Americans rather than the injustices they faced through slavery and segregation.
Florida Education Department spokesman Alex Lanfranconi said slaves should be considered more than “just victims of oppression” and called slavery “a difficult time in American history.”
The pushback on Black history is just one facet of a conservative push to impose new rules on schools like Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law that restricts classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation and banning of drag performances in school.
Earlier this year, the DeSantis administration rejected a College Board Advanced Placement course on African American history, which DeSantis asserted amounted to woke “indoctrination.”
Critics are challenging the new Black history curriculum in court.
“African American history (includes) the lessons of cruelty and inhumanity interwoven in the determination of a people to live and breathe free,” said Democratic Florida state Sen. Bobby Powell, who is Black. “It is as much Florida’s story as the nation’s story and it needs to be fully told.”",Not_Explicit
"Poonawalla Fincorp Q1 Profit Rises 62% To Rs 200 Crore
Poonawalla Fincorp on Monday reported a 62% rise in net profit to Rs 200 crore in the June quarter.
Poonawalla Fincorp on Monday reported a 62% rise in net profit to Rs 200 crore in the June quarter.
The Pune-based non-banking financial institution—a financial services arm of the Poonawalla Group which is popular as the world's largest Covid vaccine maker under the flagship Serum Institute of India—had posted a net profit of Rs 124 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income in the first quarter of the current fiscal rose to Rs 712 crore from Rs 429 crore in the same period a year ago, Poonawalla Fincorp said in a regulatory filing.
Interest income of the company improved to Rs 656 crore from Rs 386 crore in the 2022 June quarter.
Total expenses of the NBFC increased to Rs 445 crore as against Rs 295 crore in the year-ago period.
The company's asset quality showed improvement as gross non-performing assets declined to 1.42%of gross advances at the end of the June quarter from 2.68% a year ago.
Similarly, net non-performing assets or bad loans, declined to 0.76% as against 0.78% in the year-ago period.
The capital adequacy ratio of the increased to 36% at the end of June 2023.",Not_Explicit
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A winning ticket has been sold in California for the Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $1.08 billion, the sixth largest in U.S. history and the third largest in the history of the game.
The winning numbers for Wednesday night’s drawing were: white balls 7, 10, 11, 13, 24 and red Powerball 24. The California Lottery said on Twitter that the winning ticket was sold in Los Angeles at Las Palmitas Mini Market.
Final ticket sales pushed the jackpot beyond its earlier estimate of $1 billion to $1.08 billion at the time of the drawing, moving it from the seventh largest to the sixth largest U.S lottery jackpot ever won.
READ MORE: Jackpot reaches $1 billion after no winner in Monday’s Powerball drawing
The winner can choose either the total jackpot paid out in yearly increments or a $558.1 million, one-time lump sum before taxes.
The game’s abysmal odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to build big prizes that draw more players. The largest Powerball jackpot was $2.04 billion Powerball in November.
The last time someone had won the Powerball jackpot was April 19 for a top prize of nearly $253 million. Since then, no one had won the grand prize.
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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"Police Scotland has postponed a new clean-shaven policy after taking health and safety advice and listening to feedback from officers, the force has confirmed.

The policy, which has already been pushed back from May, would force staff to remove any facial hair - including beards and moustaches - to comply with face-fitted PPE masks.

Police Scotland insisted there would be exemptions to the ban including for religious, cultural, disability or medical reasons.

When the policy was announced earlier this year, the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) said it had been ""inundated with complaints"" and claimed a number of officers intended to pursue employment tribunal cases.

The policy will be reviewed again in a year.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Speirs said: ""We have postponed implementation of the policy having sought further health and safety advice and after listening to the lived experience of our people.

""I am very grateful to all divisions, staff associations and unions who provided valuable feedback during the consultation phase.

""Postponing implementation allows further examination of the evidence base for a policy which is proportionate and justifies change, particularly where that change has a significant impact on officers and staff.

""This work will be reviewed in 12 months to ensure we reach an agreed position on a policy which has the health and safety of our people at its core.""",Not_Explicit
"The Canadian government used an opaque U.S. military sales program to provide Saudi Arabia with billions of dollars worth of armoured vehicles, some of which were shipped out urgently after the Kingdom joined the war in Yemen, according to government documents and an arms sales database consulted by The Breach.
It’s the second-largest weapons export deal in Canadian history. But the Saudi clients have never been disclosed by the Canadian government. Nor has the fact been reported that the deal was struck at the behest of a U.S. plan to beef up the Saudi military.
In 2009, under former prime minister Stephen Harper, a Canadian crown corporation signed a deal on behalf of weapons manufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada to provide 724 light armoured vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia. Government documents show that, as late as 2018, deliveries of the $2.9-billion worth of LAVs were still being fulfilled.
The vehicles manufactured in Canada were of the same make later seen being used in Saudi Arabia’s operations in Yemen for years.
The documents provide more evidence that the Canadian government may have knowingly supplied armoured vehicles for use in Yemen.
The government documents, obtained through an access-to-information request, indicate that Canada was shipping new vehicles to the Saudi National Guard for at least three years during the war. The Saudi National Guard is considered to be the Kingdom’s best-equipped ground force and was directly engaged in the one-sided conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis.
The Breach can also reveal that Canadian companies signed subsequent contracts to maintain the vehicles until at least 2025, according to U.S. Department of Defense procurement records. These contracts involve repairing vehicles that appear to have been damaged during Saudi military operations in Yemen.
The 2009 deal’s details have been shrouded in mystery because of Canada’s lack of transparency about its arms dealings, including those that go through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, the program that supplied Saudi forces with the weapons.
For decades, the program has integrated Canadian weapons production into American sales abroad, ensuring that the industry caters to the strategic needs of U.S. foreign policy.
Massive weapons deal flies under the radar
The lack of attention paid to the massive 2009 deal contrasts with the spotlight on another weapons deal.
A $14-billion deal signed in 2014 for a newer model of armoured vehicles—the largest such deal in Canadian history—was the subject of considerable press coverage and criticism from human rights groups.
But Canada’s second-largest weapons deal, signed five years earlier, has flown under the radar.
Arranged by a crown corporation that markets Canadian weapons to foreign buyers, it was run through the FMS program, one of the main avenues the U.S. Department of Defense uses to supply weapons to allied and friendly regimes.
Saudi Arabia is one of the largest customers of the FMS program and one of the largest clients of weapons from the U.S.
Canada’s 2009 deal was tied to the U.S. government’s “modernization” of the Saudi Arabian National Guard.
In 2011, another contract for a further 82 LAVs was signed through the same program. A U.S. Department of Defense news release announcing that contract said the sale would “contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States” and bolster “political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.”
For decades, this office has attached several U.S. Army officials to the National Guard, funded by Saudi Arabia.
In internal memos dated Nov. 29, 2018, obtained by The Breach, Canadian officials lauded this arrangement’s benefit to Canada, calling it “one of the rare examples of [Canada-U.S.] partnership in foreign military sales involving the export of full systems from Canada via FMS…that date[s] back to the 1980s.”
A Breach investigation earlier this year revealed that the Canadian government believes its weapons sales to Saudi Arabia are crucial to maintaining the regime as an “integral and valued security partner,” listing access to oil, opportunities for Canadian companies and reduced need for Western military missions as its rationale.
Saudis deploy the same vehicles in Yemen war
During the eight-year war, Saudi forces deployed the same model of LAV that Canada provided in combat operations across the northern regions of Yemen.
The Canadian LAVs seen operating in Yemen, the LAV-25 and its derivatives, are the older model of vehicle shipped under multiple contracts, with the largest being the 2009 FMS deal.
The LAV-25 model has been identified in images and videos posted from Yemen by weapons monitors and open-source researchers analyzing the proliferation of arms in the Yemeni conflict. Following an August 2019 Houthi attack on Saudi forces in Yemen’s northern Kitaf region, numerous LAV-25s were identified by experts in images of torched Saudi LAV columns.
Under the larger 2014 contract, Canada supplied a newer make of armoured vehicles that have not been seen operating in Yemen—the LAV-700—to the Saudi Royal Guard, a different unit in the Saudi military forces.
The new documents obtained by The Breach raise questions as to whether or not Canada knowingly supplied LAV-25s for use against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
In July 2015, just four months after the war in Yemen began, then-minister of foreign affairs Rob Nicholson approved “urgent” export permits for an undisclosed number of “[LAVs] and weapon systems to Saudi Arabia,” according to a memo that was included in the documents obtained by The Breach.
Further documents reveal that in September 2017, while the war was ongoing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government also received “urgent” export applications from General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada for LAV exports to Saudi Arabia. These applications specifically referenced LAVs being sent to the Saudi National Guard through FMS, one of the documents obtained by The Breach shows.
Global Affairs Canada has flip-flopped on whether or not Canadian weapons have been used in the Yemen conflict. Most recently, the department made the blanket claim that “there are no confirmed reports of Canadian-made military equipment being deployed by Saudi Arabia on Yemeni territory.”
Due to the Saudi-led Coalition’s record of violating international humanitarian law during the conflict, Canada’s provision of LAVs to the Kingdom constitutes a breach of its obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty.
According to the monitoring website Lost Armour, which tracks major military equipment destroyed during conflict, at least 61 LAV-25s and its variants were seized or destroyed by Yemeni rebels during the course of the war.
Canadian-made LAV-25s have also been diverted to the Saudi’s puppet Yemeni government, as detailed in an investigation by Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism in 2019. Credible allegations of diversion legally require action by Canadian officials, but Global Affairs Canada would not tell the reporters how much evidence it would need to actually open an investigation.
Canadians continue to service the Saudis
General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada has continued to maintain, test and repair the fleet of LAVs provided by Canada through the 2009 deal.
According to U.S. Department of Defense federal procurement records accessed by The Breach via the Tech Inquiry database, Canadian technicians have already been carrying out maintenance work on Saudi Arabia’s fleet of LAVs provided through the FMS program.
This work is being performed by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada technicians in Saudi Arabia.
Their servicing contracts, set to run until at least 2025, appear to have involved maintaining the Saudi National Guard’s LAV fleet after damages were incurred during operations within Yemen.
Large arms deals, and particularly those conducted through the FMS program, typically come with long-term servicing contracts.
Stefano Trevisan, a Geneva-based attorney at law and international expert on the regulation of post-sale services on arms contracts, said these crucial deals have “escaped scrutiny.”
“Maintenance is as fundamental as oil to [the running] of a tank. It is the same essential contribution,” he told The Breach. “Such services create long-term structural dependency between Western supplying states and multinational corporations and some of the world’s most repressive regimes.”
Trevisan suggests that the nebulous and sometimes intangible nature of post-sale servicing leads to a lower profile of these arms deals.
“These deals can go on for ten years” with little visibility, said Trevisan, who likens the relationship between original manufacturer and recipient to an “invisible link.”
The Canadian manufacturer enjoys a monopoly on this service work because it has been described by the U.S. Army as the only outfit possessing “the knowledge and expertise necessary” to fulfill the requirements of these awards.
Canadian officials have only acknowledged these sustainment contracts internally.
In March 2021, according to the documents obtained by The Breach, Global Affairs Canada staffers requested export authorizations for “4 active contracts with the U.S. FMS for the supply of LAVs and related products and services to Saudi Arabia.”
The documents noted the contracts “date back to 2009,” and were for “ancillary products/services (e.g. spare parts)” connected to the Saudi LAV program.
Canada’s ‘dependency’ on the U.S. weapons export pipeline
With the exception of the 2014 contract to supply the Saudi Royal Guard with Canadian LAVs, all other Canadian LAV contracts to the government of Saudi Arabia have been undertaken through the FMS program, dating back to the first deliveries in 1991.
At any given time, there are hundreds of billions of dollars worth of active U.S. FMS contracts to more than 180 countries.
Jack Poulson, executive director of Tech Inquiry and a former senior data scientist at Google, told The Breach that Saudi Arabia is one of the most interesting examples of how the U.S. government aims to satisfy its foreign policy objectives by arming foreign states.
“As part of the U.S. government’s alignment with countries such as Israel and Saudi Arabia against Iran, U.S. defense contractors sell Saudi Arabia about $10 billion per year of missile defense, Black Hawk helicopters, M1 Abrams tanks, etc.” Poulson told The Breach by email.
The FMS program also operates as both diplomatic carrot and stick: those who stay in the good graces of the U.S. foreign policy machine continue to benefit from the program, while those who deviate run the risk of losing access to advanced Western-produced weaponry.
The program is viewed by the Canadian government as a conduit to get Canadian military goods to the international market, openly extolled as providing new potential business lines for Canadian arms manufacturers.
The Canadian Commercial Corporation, the federal body which brokered the LAV deals, has said in its corporate plans that “Canadian exporters are able to leverage the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program [as a means to] sell into the U.S. DoD inventory where their goods can then be re-sold to third party countries.”
Ernie Regehr, co-founder of Project Ploughshares and author of Arms Canada: The Deadly Business of Military Exports, explained to The Breach via email that Canada’s defence industry is “heavily dependent” on the U.S.
Regehr explained that Canada’s defence dependency dates back to the 1950s Defence Production Sharing Agreement. That agreement stipulated that Canada’s Department of National Defence would look to procure major weapons systems from American suppliers and, in turn, Canadian manufacturers would be granted preferential access in selling military goods to the American government.
“Allowing Canada access to the U.S. defence market was a small price for the U.S. to pay…to reinforce Canadian policy dependence on the U.S.,” Regehr said.
“Ever since, the dominant narrative has been that Canada can’t manage its own security, with substantial elements of the defence policy community relentlessly proposing further security integration with the U.S.”
Domestic arms production is frequently justified on the grounds that local producers can easily supply a nation’s armed forces in the event of armed conflict. However, most arms-exporting states stake a claim on one corner of the market by developing a production niche that soon needs foreign clients to stay profitable.
Canada is no exception, Regehr said.
“Aircraft engines, armoured vehicles and rifles are all examples of Canadian military production [that became] dependent on international sales in order to sustain the Canadian production facility,” he said, pointing out that all of these facilities are also Canadian-based subsidiaries of larger American-owned multinationals.
“[A]rmoured vehicles and automatic rifles were initially built for the Canadian Forces, but the Canadian market was too small to sustain the plants, and hence they developed a reliance on exports to foreign military forces.”
General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada was forced to look for foreign, non-American clients following the end of export contracts to the U.S. in the 1980s.
The client that ultimately saved the supplier was Saudi Arabia, with contract negotiations for its first major LAV procurement contract being finalized in 1990, and later delivered through the FMS program.
According to archival documents made available by the Canadian government, officials from the U.S. Army’s Office of the Program Manager first visited factories in London in 1981, spurring initial Saudi interest in vehicles from Canada.
Deliveries of LAVs to the Saudi Royal Guard under the $14-billion contract are likely moving into the final stages.
This contract will then, too, move into long-term maintenance, about which little information is available.
The terms of the contract have never been released to the public, despite the fact that the federal government signed the deal on behalf of the vehicle manufacturer.
This article is dedicated to Mohamed Abo-Elgheit, the award-winning reporter who conducted many important investigations for ARIJ, but who was taken far too soon after losing his battle with cancer late in 2022.",Not_Explicit
"Climate protesters arrested after setting off flare at British Open golf tournament
Climate protestors interrupted The Open Championship in the United Kingdom on Friday, setting off a flare during the golf tournament.
The group Just Stop Oil reportedly set off the orange flare, at the tournament in Hoylake, England near the 17th green. Four people were arrested in the wake of the disruption, according to a police statement obtained by The Guardian.
“A small amount of powder was discarded onto the playing surface and it was reported that one person had a smoke pyrotechnic,” the statement reads, referring to an orange substance seen near the edge of the green.
“Two males and two females were quickly detained by both stewards and officers, and they were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and public nuisance,” police continued. “They will be taken into police custody to be questioned.”
The protestors were driven off the course in a golf cart and the tournament resumed.
Still, the organization called the disruption an “oil in one” — a play on words of the common golf term “hole in one.”
“There will be no more holes in one when our society collapses,” the organization posted on Twitter. “We must stop our government’s 100 new oil and gas licenses before they go on to cause more harm.”
Local law enforcement and the tournament’s manager, R&A, made preparations and put out alerts about possible disturbance leading up to the start of the event, according to reports.
The warnings come after Just Stop Oil targeted similar events, including Wimbledon earlier this month and the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, England in April.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"The Met Police abused anti-terror powers when it stopped and arrested a French publisher, an independent report has found.
Jonathan Hall KC said the arrest of Ernest Moret was at odds with the rights to freedom of expression and protest in a democracy.
Mr Moret, 28, was stopped in London in April over his alleged involvement in the French pension protests.
The Met has referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct.
Mr Moret, who works at Paris-based publisher Editions La Fabrique, was detained at St Pancras railway station after travelling on the Eurostar to attend the London Book Fair.
He was bailed and later released under investigation. Last month, police said he would face no further action.
Mr Hall, the UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said the Met should have decided ""not to exercise"" Section 7 powers to carry out the arrest.
Schedule 7 powers, listed under the Terrorism Act, allow police to stop anyone at the border without any grounds for suspicion to check if they are terrorists.
""The problem with exercising counter-terrorism powers to investigate whether an individual is a peaceful protester or a violent protester is that it is using a sledge-hammer to crack a nut,"" the report said.
The KC wrote: ""I have reached the clear conclusion that this examination should not have happened, and that additional safeguards are needed to ensure it is not repeated.
""Schedule 7 power, however useful and justified in some cases, is powerful. It must therefore be exercised with due care.
""In my view, based on the information provided, police both could have decided not to exercise the power, and should have decided not to exercise the power,"" he added.
Mr Hall said police wrongly told Mr Moret that he would never be able to travel internationally again if he was convicted for not sharing the PINs to his confiscated iPhone and laptop.
The warning was ""exaggerated and overbearing"", his report said.
The report will also recommend to the government that the code of practice for Schedule 7 is amended so it cannot be used in such circumstances in the future.
Mr Hall warned that there was a risk of it happening again if ""modest"" safeguards were not made.
Mr Moret's employer, La Fabrique Editions, and Verso Books - La Fabrique Editions' British sister publisher - condemned the arrest at the time, describing the detention as an ""outrageous and unjustifiable infringement"".
They said officers told Mr Moret, who works as a foreign rights manager, he had taken part in demonstrations about President Emmanuel Macron raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 in France.
Pamela Morton, senior books and magazine organiser at the National Union of Journalists, said it ""seems extraordinary"" that British police used terror legislation to arrest a publisher ""who was on legitimate business here"".
Cdr Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met's counter-terrorism command, said: ""Schedule 7 is an important power in protecting the borders of the UK and remains a vital tool in our efforts to counter the terrorist threat and keep the public safe.
""But the public rightly expects that the use of such powers is always carefully considered and, as Jonathan Hall KC states, that there is constant vigilance and attention to safeguards to ensure it is not used in a way that is contrary to individual rights and the wider public interest.
""We will now take time to fully review the report's finding and its recommendation in relation to further amending the code of practice and we will also look to consult with our operational partners on this.""",Not_Explicit
"The United Nations has started pumping oil off a decaying vessel moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast, averting a potential spill and environmental disaster, UN officials have said.
The FSO Safer – a floating storage and offloading (FSO) tanker holding more than 1.14 million barrels of oil – has been at risk of breaking up or exploding for years due to its corrosion and a lack of maintenance since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s war in 2015.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who control the area of Yemen’s coast where the Safer is moored, had previously prevented any salvage operation from taking place, but finally agreed in March to allow for the oil to be offloaded.
The oil abroad the Safer will now be transferred into a replacement vessel, called Yemen, in a ship-to-ship transfer that is expected to last 19 days, said the UN Development Programme (UNDP) – the humanitarian agency in charge of implementing the operation.
“In the absence of anyone else willing or able to perform this task, the United Nations stepped up and assumed the risk to conduct this very delicate operation,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday.
“The ship-to-ship transfer of oil which has started today is the critical next step in avoiding an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe on a colossal scale,” he added.
The operation, the first of its kind, is a risky one – but the potential leaking of the remaining oil in the deteriorating tanker that the Yemeni government purchased in the 1980s is even more so.
Observers have worried for years that the Safer could crack or explode. The ensuing oil spill would have the potential to wipe out one of the world’s largest marine ecosystems.
Once the oil is offloaded, the delivery and instalment of a catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) buoy will take place, the UN said.
The buoy will then be secured to the seabed, which in turn will be used to secure the replacement vessel, a process that must be completed by September, the international body noted.
A technical support vessel from the Dutch-based company Boskalis/SMITis would be ready to step in should any oil leaks occur during the operation.
The 47-year-old supertanker was left abandoned and has been out of service since the civil war broke out in Yemen eight years ago.
The Safer is anchored near the Ras Isa oil terminal controlled by Yemen’s Houthi movement, which in 2015 seized large parts of the country.
Mohammed Mudawi from UNDP Yemen told Al Jazeera in mid-July that the vessel had not been properly maintained as it was situated in an area littered with mines. The UN agency team had also been working on preventing the build-up of flammable gases.
“We have many concerns that it can explode because of the gases,” Mudawi said.
According to the UN, a major spill would destroy coral, mangroves and other sea life; expose millions of people to highly polluted air; devastate fishing communities; force nearby ports to close; and disrupt shipping through the Suez Canal. The cost of the clean-up alone is estimated at $20bn.
A spill from the Safer could potentially have an impact greater than one of the largest oil spills in history, the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, since the Safer carries four times that amount of oil, according to the UN.",Not_Explicit
"Two years ago, I made headlines after being kicked out of the House of Commons for calling out the many lies of then-Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
Now, I am once again forced to try and draw attention to parliamentary fibbing from this Conservative Government.
And it is time to toughen up the rules so that they can no longer get away with misleading the British public.
On this occasion, it was the Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, who I had to call out in the chamber two weeks in a row
Back on June 7, when he was standing in for our absentee Prime Minister, Dowden claimed that the Labour Party’s plan to invest £28billion a year in green energy would add £1,000 a year ‘to everyone’s mortgage.’
For the Deputy PM to make such a bold statement, you would expect it to be firmly backed up.
However, the Treasury has since admitted that the £1,000 figure does not come from official government analysis, after being challenged by the UK’s statistics watchdog.
We would expect Dowden to either back up his statement, or correct the record.
After all, the ministerial code, which all ministers must abide, states:
‘It is of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.’
I attempted to ensure just that, when I raised a Point of Order on July 5, calling on the Deputy PM to return to the House and set the record straight, but he refused.
A week later, I gave him another chance to do so – again, he chose not to.
I didn’t let this go and wrote to the Prime Minister – the ultimate arbiter of the ministerial code – with three clear questions.
Where did the Deputy PM get the figure from? Would he instruct the Deputy PM to return to the House of Commons at the earliest opportunity to correct the record?
And if he refuses, would he initiate an official investigation into whether he has breached the ministerial code?
I knew the code calls on ministers who knowingly misled the House to resign, but I also knew weak Rishi Sunak would take no action, just like he did with Suella Braverman.
But I was surprised that what I got back was, in fact, a letter from the Deputy Prime Minister himself in which he doubled down on his mortgage claim and tried to move the goalposts by using a theoretical interest rate rise to try and justify his misleading statement.
The Deputy PM’s response was, in my view, full of ifs, buts and maybes, based on unproven assumptions and politically motivated ‘predictions’
What this episode demonstrates is that the system must change. Even the Speaker said: ‘I really think that the rules need to be looked at again so that Ministers — do not forget that elections change Ministers as well — ensure that this House hears the facts.’
I couldn’t agree more.
It is my view that this Government hasn’t changed and neither have the archaic parliamentary rules that allow them to keep lying to the country.
The Tories are destroying our democracy and I think my job is not to simply stand by and watch it happen, but to call them out – as I explain in my new book A Purposeful Life, I have always felt that, no matter how hard and uncomfortable it may be, it is my duty to speak truth to power.
And there are solutions to this epidemic of ministerial lying. My Early Day Motion 1345 would take the ministerial code out of the hands of the partisan Prime Minister and put it under the remit of the whole House of Commons. It would apply fair and necessary standards no matter who is in government.
There is no doubt our Parliament is ripe for reform, but not just because of lies. It is also in a state of paralysis.
That paralysis is not helped by a Tory Government that has given up – they barely bother to put through meaningful legislation anymore.
Even when they did so recently with the Public Bodies Bill, designed to prevent boycotts, I believe it was nothing more than a political stunt, which will never see the light of day in law.
The only reason Dowden was even in a position to mislead the House was down to Rishi Sunak’s dismal attendance record at PMQs.
He has the worst attendance record of any recent leader and seems to avoid accountability at every opportunity.
I will be honest and say the Government isn’t the only side that needs to change. At the top, Labour has become so focussed on appearing to be a sensible alternative that we barely even attack the Conservatives anymore.
We need to go back to doing what we are supposed to do, and hold this Government’s feet to the fire every chance we get.
Lying is, I believe, the defining characteristic of this Government, under successive prime ministers, and we must stop it.
Because if not, what state will our democracy be in when they hopefully leave office? And how are they going to leave trust in our Parliament?
Rishi Sunak has been in Downing Street since October last year and on his first day he promised integrity, professionalism and accountability.
From the Prime Minister down, his government has delivered the exact opposite, and it’s time for change.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
Share your views in the comments below.",Not_Explicit
"Nineteen hail disdrometers are now in operation across the Calgary area, giving a research team from Western University nearly unparalleled access to weather data that will help them better understand and forecast dangerous hailstorms.
“It’s definitely the first in Canada and one of a handful around the globe,” said Northern Hail Project (NHP) executive director Julian Brimelow during a demonstration of the new system.
“It’s a very exciting time to be doing hail research. We’re a bit like kids at Christmas with all the technology we have at our disposal.”
Disdrometers come in the form of small round steel plates installed to face the sky and use acoustic sensing akin to a microphone to measure the number and size of hailstone strikes during a storm.
A plastic model of the largest hailstone ever found in Canada sits beside a Samsung Galaxy S23 for scale. (Connor O'Donovan)
Alongside each disdrometer, the team has installed a weather station capable of tracking factors like temperature, wind speed and direction, precipitation, and humidity to help better understand conditions before and during hailstorms.
The data can then be transmitted autonomously to the NHP team over a cellular network. The team says the information gathered, which will also be released publicly, will shine light on a hazard that was, until now, considered understudied in Canada.
“The last dedicated research on hail in Canada was through the Alberta Hail Project that occurred from [1956] to the 1980s,” says NHP Research Meteorologist Simon Eng.
“Hail is a very high-cost hazard and we haven’t really been documenting it properly in the past few years.”
That information, which could help forecasters better predict the number and intensity of hailstorms in a region, will be particularly valuable for the insurance industry.
According to the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), hailstorms have caused roughly $9.5 billion in insured damages since 2008.
“Hail is kind of a sleeper hazard. Not many people talk about it I think because only parts of the country have seen really big storms. But it causes a lot of damage,” says ICLR Managing Director Glenn McGillivry, who hopes the research can help guide ICLR’s push for more protective building code and construction practices.
“We’re going to determine if we can pull out any trends from this.”
This multispectral image sensor attached to a drone allows the NHP to capture visual and thermal imaging of hail swaths from the skies. (Connor O'Donovan)
The disdrometers are just the latest hail-tracking tool in the NHP’s arsenal.
The team also uses drones to capture visual and thermal imagery, an array of foam “hail pads” set up north of Calgary, teams of hail-chasing professionals who gather hailstones after a storm hits, as well as news and social media reports of hailstones and ensuing damage.
Related: See what large hail can do to a car
Header image: File photo (Pixabay/Laura Palner)",Not_Explicit
"TOKYO -- Senior officials from Japan, the U.S. and South Korea condemned North Korea over its recent ICBM-class ballistic missile launches and vowed to step up their trilateral cooperation to strengthen deterrence and sanctions against the North, while stressing the need for dialogue with Pyongyang.
Their meeting Thursday in the central Japanese city of Karuizawa comes days after North Korea’s solid-fuel ICBM launch last week, which landed in the water off the western coast of Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido and one day after the launch of two missiles on Wednesday.
The U.S. special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, also said that the United States was “working hard” to gather information about an American soldier who fled to the North earlier this month. The U.S. was seeking to ensure his safety and return him home, Kim said.
Private 2nd Class Travis King, 23, had been held in South Korea on assault charges and was released on July 10 after serving his time. He was taken to the airport Monday but did not board his flight home. Instead, he joined a tourist trip to the border and bolted to the North Korean side.
Kim said he and his Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Foreign Ministry, and South Korea’s Kim Gunn, Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, were to also discuss their leaders’ summit planned for next month in the United States.
In his opening remarks, Japan’s Funakoshi said Tokyo seeks to further strengthen the three-way security cooperation to enhance deterrence and implement sanctions against the North over its missile advancement in violation to the United Naitons' Security Council resolutions. However, he also stressed the need for dialogue with the North.
He reiterated that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “without any preconditions” to resolve the decades-old issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals.
Sung Kim said the United States had “no hostile intent” and that “we are willing and ready to sit down at the negotiating table to work through our differences.”
South Korea's Kim said the three officials were to affirm their intent for dialogue with North Korea, while discussing ways to strengthen “close communication to bring North Korea back to the path to denuclearization and to encourage China's constructive role.”
He noted the start of this week's launch of a nuclear consultation between Seoul and Washington, saying North Korea “undermined its own security”, while its attempt to intimidate the two allies only upgraded their cooperation on nuclear deterrence.",Not_Explicit
"L&T Finance Q1 Result Review - Accelerated Transformation Into A Retail Franchise: Motilal Oswal
Earnings in line; retail RoA/RoE at 3.1%/15.7% in Q1 FY24.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
L&T Finance Holdings Ltd. reported Q1 FY24 profit after tax of Rs 5.3 billion (inline). Pre-provision operating profit grew ~7% YoY to Rs 12.4 billion (in line), while credit costs of ~Rs 5.2 billion translated into annualised credit costs of 2.6% (previous quarter: 2.5% and previous year: 3.6%).
Retail profit after tax at ~Rs 5.3 billion surged 176% YoY in Q1 FY24. Reported retail return on asset/ return on equity stood at ~3.1%/~15.7% during the quarter.
Mr. Sudipta Roy (Chief Operating Officer) would assume the role of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer effective January 2024, while the current MD and CEO – Mr. Dinanath Dubhashi – has opted for superannuation. He will remain with the company until April 2024 to ensure a seamless leadership transition.
We expect that the retail mix will improve to ~95% by March 2024 (from 82% as of June 2023).
Considering the accelerated rundown in the wholesale book, we model consolidated loan growth of 3%/22% in FY24/FY25E.
We estimate a profit after tax compound annual growth rate of 27% over FY23-FY25, with consolidated RoA/RoE of 2.3%/~11.0% in FY25.
A strong liability franchise, a well-capitalised balance sheet and a keen intent to further accelerate the sell-down of the wholesale book will enable L&T Finance to achieve its targets articulated under Lakshya 2026 much in advance.
We have raised our FY24E/FY25E profit after tax by 7%/5% to factor in higher fee income and margin expansion and now model a 50% dividend payout in FY24E.
L&T Finance is set to transform itself into a retail franchise, which would lead to profitability improvement and RoA expansion. Reiterate 'Buy' with a target price of Rs 160 (premised on 1.6 times FY25E consolidated book value per share).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"TikTok has finally launched an ads transparency library — starting with data on ads and other commercial content running in Europe but with plans to expand that.
Also today it’s announced expanded access to its research API to Europe.
Both moves look intended to help the company comply with incoming requirements under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Back in April, the video-sharing social network was confirmed as one of 19 so-called very large online platforms (VLOPs) under the DSA — a designation which brings a suite of additional compliance requirements related to algorithmic transparency and accountability.
To wit: Article 39 of the pan-EU regulation requires VLOPs whose platforms display ads to offers a searchable database of ads with information, including who paid for the ad, the main targeting parameters and data on views. While Article 40 concerns data access for vetted and other external researchers to further the regulation’s goal of ensuring that systemic risks flowing from major platforms are able to be robustly studied.
“Today, we’re expanding access to our Research API to Europe and opening up new transparency tools for commercial content,” TikTok wrote in a blog post announcing the launches. “These tools are designed to enhance transparency about content on our platform and are informed by feedback we’re hearing from researchers and civil society.”
A TikTok spokesman confirmed the research API is being made available to researchers working across Europe, not only those at institutions inside the EU — so it’s also open to applications from academics working in the EEA (European Economic Area), Switzerland and the UK.
The social media platform announced it was developing an API for researchers last summer — when it said it would provide select researchers with more transparency about its platform and moderation system by giving access to public and anonymized data about content and activity on the app. An initial version of the Research API was ready for testing by members of TikTok’s Content and Safety Advisory Councils in November — before being opened up to academic researchers in the US earlier this year, in February.
So far, the free API has seen more than 60 applications from US non-profit academic researchers on topics including those related to consumer trends, misinformation and mental health, per TikTok.
The impact of social media platforms on young people’s lives and well-being continues to be a topic of discussion and concern in mainstream media. But scientists have warned we still don’t have robust data to draw strong conclusions — hence the push by EU lawmakers to make major platforms open up to outside scrutiny.
TikTok’s approach for the research API requires researchers to create an account and complete an application which it reviews to ensure its criteria are met before granting access. So it said it expects the first non-profit academic researchers in Europe to get access “in the coming weeks”.
TikTok’s criteria for access to the API require regional researchers to have demonstrable academic experience and expertise in the research area specified in the application; no conflicts of interest with respect to using the services; a clearly defined research proposal; and to be committed to only using the data for non-commercial purposes.
Also today, it said it’s working on being able to grant researchers who are collaborating with others the ability to work together on a shared research project. This incoming collaboration feature, which it says it’s adding in response to feedback from early users, will be called “Lab Access”.
“More than half the applications we’ve received request collaboration with other researchers, so we’ll soon be allowing up to 10 researchers to work together on a shared research project,” it wrote. “All researchers will need to have their own TikTok for Developers account and be located in the US or Europe to access our Research API.
“Principal researchers will be able to submit a single application for collaborators from the same university. Projects involving multiple universities will need to submit separate applications for each school.”
Ads transparency at last
The ads transparency library, or “Commercial Content Library” as TikTok is billing it, is a newer initiative — and the launch plugs a long-standing transparency gap for the platform.
A critical report on TikTok by Mozilla, back in mid 2021, found policy loopholes, lax oversight around influencer marketing and the lack of a public, searchable ads database was making the platform vulnerable to passing off political ads as organic content — rendering TikTok’s official policy banning political ads pretty meaningless.
Now anyone can search TikTok ads or other commercial content by country, date and keyword.
However — big caveat! — for now only data on commercial stuff running in Europe is available. TikTok said it plans to include data from “more countries” in the future (but did not specify where or when).
“The Commercial Content Library is a searchable database with information about paid ads and ad metadata, such as the advertising creative, dates the ad ran, main parameters used for targeting (e.g. age, gender), number of people who were served the ad, and more,” TikTok noted.
The tool also includes information about other content that’s “commercial in nature and tagged with either a paid partnership label or promotional label, such as content that promotes a brand, product or service but is not a paid ad” — so TikTok is including influence marketing in the database too (or at least it is if the influencers have correctly tagged their videos).
“We tested an early version of the Commercial Content Library with researchers and civil society to gather feedback over the last few months before making it more broadly available,” TikTok added. “From our tests and input from experts, we’ve added the ability to perform precise searches, included more targeting parameters, and improved data quality — among other updates.”
TikTok is also providing access to a Commercial Content API to enable researchers to query the ads database.
“Researchers will need to create a TikTok Developers account and submit an application to access the Commercial Content API which we review to help prevent malicious actors from misusing this data,” it added.",Not_Explicit
"US President Biden has chosen a female admiral to lead the US Navy - the first time a woman has been nominated to head a Pentagon military service branch.
Lisa Franchetti is a former head of the US 6th Fleet and US naval forces in South Korea, and has also served as an aircraft carrier strike commander.
Her nomination by Mr Biden must still be confirmed by the US Senate.
One lawmaker is currently blocking the Senate from confirming military leaders to protest a military abortion policy.
If confirmed as Chief of Naval Operations she will be the first woman to become a member of the elite group of senior military officers who make up the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
A 38-year veteran, she was only the second woman to achieve the rank of four-star admiral.
In a statement, Mr Biden hailed what he called her ""extensive expertise in both the operational and policy arenas"" and said she ""will again make history"" when she is confirmed for the role.
According to reports in US media, Adm Franchetti was not the first choice of the US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who instead recommended TOPGUN graduate Samuel Paparo as the next Navy chief.
Mr Biden also promoted Adm Paparo, nominating him to become the commander of the US military forces in the Pacific.
The US Coast Guard is currently led by a woman - Admiral Linda Fagan - but that military branch falls under the Department of Homeland Security rather than the Department of Defense.
Adm Franchetti is due to take up the position in the fall when the current chief's four-year term expires. But she will begin the job in an acting capacity, as it's unlikely that she will be quickly confirmed by the divided senate.
Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville is currently blocking the senate from confirming more than 270 military promotions over a Pentagon policy that pays the travel expenses of service members who have to go out of state to have an abortion.
In his statement, Mr Biden criticised the senator, saying ""what Senator Tuberville is doing is not only wrongâit is dangerous"".
He added: ""He is risking our ability to ensure that the United States Armed Forces remain the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. And his Republican colleagues in the Senate know it.""",Not_Explicit
"Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed a bipartisan package of bills into law to expand voter rights by allowing early voting and early tabulation of absentee ballots across Michigan.
The legislation, which resulted from the voter-approved Proposal 2, establishes a website for voters to track when their ballots are received and counted, and requires at least nine days of early voting before each statewide and federal election. Voters can also now fix clerical errors on their ballots and use U.S. passports, tribal photo ID cards, military ID cards or student ID cards to identify themselves when they show up to cast ballots.
Lawmakers in several Democratic-controlled states advocated sweeping voter protections this year, reacting to what they considered a broad undermining of voting rights by the Supreme Court and Republican-led states as well as a failed effort in Congress to bolster access to the polls.
Proposal 2 asked whether Michigan should expand opportunities to vote, including through absentee and early voting. The measure requires state-funded absentee ballot drop boxes, as well as postage for absentee ballots and applications, and allows voters to join a permanent list to receive absentee ballots for every election.
""Voting is the cornerstone of our system of government,"" said Whitmer, a Democrat. ""Michiganders spoke with a clear, united voice last November when they voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposal 2, expanding voting rights. Today, I am proud to sign bipartisan legislation implementing the will of the people, ensuring they can make their voices heard in every election.""
Under the new law, each municipality in Michigan is required to have at least one secure drop box for absentee ballots or at least one drop box for every 15,000 registered voters in municipalities with more than that many registered voters.
""This was a thoughtful, bipartisan effort and I’m grateful to the leaders in both chambers for getting this done,"" said Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's secretary of state. ""We are ready to work with Michigan’s clerks to implement these new laws in time for next year’s elections.""",Not_Explicit
"Trump’s ‘swamp-draining’ ambition builds upon Jimmy Carter’s reforms
The Founding Fathers were keenly aware of the headstrong nature of American society. Anticipating the likelihood that future leaders would seek extreme measures to gain power, they created a unique system of checks and balances.
The founders’ concerns are now center stage once again.
Three New York Times writers reported recently that former President Trump wants “to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government.” Trump’s campaign website confirms their conclusions, declaring that “President Trump will conduct a top-to-bottom overhaul of the federal bureaucracies to clean out the rot and corruption of Washington D.C.”
Efforts to take partisan control of government began early in the life of the republic with President Andrew Jackson’s spoils system, initiated with his inauguration in 1829. Continuing after the Civil war, it was characterized by mass turnover of jobs and officials after presidential elections.
The resulting inability to establish stable administrative structures was already noted by the French student of American democracy, Alexis DeTocqueville, in his famous book “Democracy in America,” in 1835.
The patronage system was a factor in the rampant corruption in government and the private sector during the “robber baron” era of the 19th Century.
Post-Civil War reform of the federal government began with enactment of the merit system for appointment of federal employees (The Pendleton Act of 1883). By the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), a majority of classified federal workers and administrators had become qualified civil servants with permanent tenure. Under the progressive reform movement, both major parties embraced the principle that federal agency heads should be chosen for professional qualifications and ability to exercise independent leadership.
The distinguished historian of the U.S. Civil Service Paul Van Riper showed that growth of public and Congressional trust in federal agencies allowed administrative laws to be short. They were generally less than 20 pages until the 1970s because Civil Service administrators below presidentially appointed agency heads were largely entrusted to oversee operational policy. Confidence in the federal government was at 75 percent in the late 1950s and 60s, according to polls of the Pew trust. It fell to 40 percent with the Nixon scandals in 1974, but systems of government remained largely unchanged when Nixon’s attempt to impound legislative funding was rejected. We are in a very different place today: Confidence in the federal government declined to around 20 percent in the decade from 2010 to 2020.
Looking back again, Jimmy Carter was accustomed to the “pliant, one-party Georgia legislature” and wanted federal agencies to be more responsive to the president’s policies. In a speech to Congress, he complained about a “bureaucratic maze that stifled the initiatives of federal employees”
He achieved the most far-reaching transformation of the federal government in 100 years by replacing the eight-page Pendleton Act with the 131-page Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA). The bipartisan Civil Service Commission was replaced by three agencies. The main Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was now headed by a presidential appointee. Presidential power was enhanced through the creation of a new Senior Executive Service that could be reassigned by the OPM and given special tasks as well as remuneration. Additionally, the president was given authority to appoint temporary SES administrators who would serve under top presidential heads of agencies.
Carter was never able to take advantage of the CSRA to promote presidential policies because he was defeated in 1980 by Ronald Reagan. Ironically, zealous officials in the first Reagan administration made use of the new provisions to “clean house” in key federal agencies. This gave them the power to weaken enforcement of environmental regulations, which were blamed for the stagflation of the era. To that end, Reagan appointed Ann Gorsuch to the Environmental Protection Agency and James Watt to the Department of Interior.
Both Gorsuch and Watt were forced to resign by 1983, and Gorsuch was replaced by the respected William Ruckelshaus, However, it was too late. Conflict over environmental policy widened to political polarization in the 1980s.
Despite efforts to achieve more harmonious governmental policies in the G.H.W Bush and Clinton-Gore administrations, partisan polarization continued. In 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gases, but President Trump announced withdrawal from the treaty in 2017. Subsequently, President Biden recommitted to the agreement in 2021. Federal agency policies have continued yo-yo behaviors with change in presidential administrations.
Trump and his Republican supporters have now openly challenged American law and democratic operating principles by denying the validity of the 2020 elections and seeking ways to subvert the Constitution.
History shows that politicization of federal government operations for personal and partisan purposes already began in the late 1970s with the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act. Its subsequent effects helped destabilize government operations and led to lack of trust in the federal government by a majority of the American public.
A significant fraction of voters have become supporters of Donald Trump. Lessons of history are being repeated.
Frank T. Manheim is an affiliate professor and distinguished research fellow at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"SJVN Shares Hit Record High After Bagging Five Hydropower Projects In Arunachal Pradesh
The investment in these projects, totaling 5,097 megawatts, will be more than Rs 50,000 crore.
The investment in these projects, totaling 5,097 megawatts, will be more than Rs 50,000 crore. The construction of these projects will reduce carbon emissions by around 1.1 million tonne per year, according to an exchange filing.
The company is committed to achieve 25 GW of generation capacity by end of current decade, more than half of which is bound to come from renewable resources, it said.
Last Friday, the company, through its subsidiary SJVN Green Energy Ltd., received the letter of intent from the Punjab State Power Corp. for the procurement of 1,200 MW of solar power. The power purchase agreement will be signed for 25 years, it said.
SJVN expects to achieve 25 gigawatts of generation capacity by the end of the current decade, more than half of which is bound to come from renewable resources.
Shares of SJVN surged 9.81% intra-day to hit a fresh record high of Rs 62.7 apiece. The stock is trading 5.43% higher at Rs 60.20 per share as of 10.25 a.m., compared to a 0.02% decline in the NSE Nifty 50.
The stock has risen nearly 79.7% year-to-date. The total traded volume stood at 12.9 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 85, implying that the stock maybe overbought.
All five analysts tracking the company maintain a 'buy' rating on the stock, according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies a potential downside of 17.6%.",Not_Explicit
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Next week, the contract between 340,000 unionized workers and UPS expires. Workers authorized a strike and say they are ready to walk if the Teamsters and UPS can’t reach a deal. The labor dispute could lead to the largest strike in U.S. history against a single employer and cause massive disruption in the shipping industry and beyond. Stephanie Sy reports on how the battle lines are being drawn.
Geoff Bennett:
The bipartisan political organization No Labels is considering launching a third-party unity ticket for the White House next year.
That sparked concern among some Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans that their moderate presidential ticket could serve as a spoiler in a close election by peeling off votes from Joe Biden and put Donald Trump back in the White House. That's if he's the Republican nominee.
Larry Hogan is the former Republican governor of Maryland. He is now a national co-chair of No Labels, and he joins us now.
Thank you for being with us.
Fmr. Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD):
Thank you, Geoff.
So you were a popular Republican governor in a blue state. You were term-limited out of office.
You have said you aren't seeking the Republican presidential nomination in this cycle. But in your capacity as the national co-chair of No Labels, would you be open to a third-party ticket?
Fmr. Gov. Larry Hogan:
Well, look, I have been involved in No Labels for a number of years, because I happen to believe very strongly in what the organization is all about.
And it's a citizen group that's very bipartisan. It works on bipartisan, commonsense solutions to problems. I was involved with the Problem Solvers Caucus of No Labels and helped get the infrastructure bill done.
This new thing that we're all talking about is not something that's fully baked, but it's — I understand why so many people are talking about it, because almost 70 percent of the people in America do not want Joe Biden or Donald Trump to be president. And yet it looks as, if the nominations were taking place today, that there's a likelihood that those may be the choices.
And No Labels is talking about the idea next spring of potentially giving voters an additional choice. And they're talking about the idea of maybe bringing the country together by having a Republican and a Democrat running together on a unity ticket just to put the country first.
The polling that you mentioned, it doesn't suggest that the people surveyed want or would support a third-party candidate.
What's the operating assumption that No Labels is using?
Well, actually, two recent polls, one showed 59 percent would consider a third-party candidate, and the other one said 64 percent would if they — an additional poll said that, if you had on the ballot today Trump, Biden or neither, that neither would be the winner.
So, look, we don't know what it's going to look like next spring. And there's a whole lot of campaigning between now and then. My focus is on trying to elect a Republican nominee that's going to be taking the party in a different direction than Donald Trump and that can be a candidate that could win in November.
But just leaving the door open for a group of citizens to say, maybe we should be able to petition to get on the ballot to have an additional choice, that's something that an overwhelming majority of Americans agree with.
On the matter of mounting a potential unity ticket, I spoke on this program last week with Dick Gephardt, the former House Democratic leader, who is now leading a bipartisan organization to stop your group, to stop No Labels.
Here's some of what he said.
Fmr. Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO):
They say they're forming an insurance policy in the case the candidates are Trump and Biden. That's precisely the time they should not do this, if their goal is not to reelect Donald Trump.
So he says that, in normal times, he'd have no problem with a third-party ticket. There have been third-party presidential bids for generations, but that these are not normal times this, as he says Donald Trump could not be permitted anywhere near the White House and that a No Labels potential candidacy would siphon off votes for Joe Biden.
Well, I agree that they're not normal times, and that there's never been more of a demand for this potential option ever before in the history of our country.
We have never had a situation where somewhere between 59 and 64 percent of the people say they'd consider a third option. We have never had a time when 49 percent of all the voters in America were now registered independent, with only 25 being Republican and Democrat.
So I would just disagree with the premise that they can predict now, maybe nine or 10 months early, who the nominees might be, who — whether No Labels puts together a ticket or not, and whether or not that ticket is going to draw from Joe Biden or from Donald Trump.
But I can tell you that the Democrats are in a full-blown panic because their candidate is in a really weak position. And they have currently got a third-party candidate that's potentially going to throw the election, and we have got a Green Party candidate that's pulling about 4 or 5 percent of the vote.
And they have got a difficult primary, with 30 percent of the primary voters not voting for Joe Biden.
So what would be the No Labels strategy for getting to 270 electoral votes? Because at a recent No Labels event in New Hampshire, the two most prominent politicians there were Joe Manchin, the Democratic senator from West Virginia, and Jon Huntsman, the former Republican governor of Utah, neither of whom are household names.
And it really speaks to the logistical challenge that your organization would have in building support for these candidates if they were on the ticket.
Yes, well, first of all, that's a big. If and I'm not sure that either one of them would be on a ticket, and I'm not sure if there's going to be a ticket.
But No Labels wasn't created for this purpose. No Labels has been around for 12 years. And I can tell you that there's not a single person in the No Labels organization that I know of that is trying to hand the presidency back to Donald Trump. I have been one of the strongest critics in the Republican Party.
My co-chair, Joe Lieberman, has been involved in organ organization for a long time. Right now, I think it's just a lot of kind of negative rhetoric coming out of Democratic operatives who are trying to stifle potential involvement from citizens.
We are awaiting a potential second special counsel indictment regarding Donald Trump's role in the lead-up to January 6.
He faces as many as six criminal and civil trials in this election cycle. And it seems that, as Donald Trump's legal troubles expand, so too does his base of support. What accounts for that, as you see it? And do you see that changing at all?
Well, I sure hope so.
I have been trying to do my part to steer the party away from Donald Trump. I think it would be a terrible mistake for the Republican Party to nominate Donald Trump, and I think it'd be terrible for the country for Donald Trump to be elected president again.
But, look, it's — the problem we have right now, about 50 percent of the likely Republican primary voters do not want Donald Trump, but they have got 11 choices of who else they might support. And many of them are struggling to get attention because all of our focus is on the Trump legal problems.
And I think we have got to find a way to narrow that field down, decide who the strongest candidates are, and then we have got to start giving them more attention. But with the current indictments and potential future indictments coming out, it's going to continue to be the thing that takes all of the oxygen out of the room.
And, unfortunately, that's hurting the Republican primary challengers. And if not helping Trump, it certainly isn't hurting him. In a general election, I think it hurts him terribly. It makes him a candidate that is unqualified, should be disqualified from being president. And I think it makes it impossible for him to win a general election.
But this is kind of a dream date scenario with the first case coming up in May, which is long after we're going to have selected a nominee. So it would be bad for the Republican challengers and probably good for the Democrats in the general election.
Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, thanks for being with us tonight. We appreciate it.
Stephanie Sy is a PBS NewsHour correspondent and serves as anchor of PBS NewsHour West. Throughout her career, she served in anchor and correspondent capacities for ABC News, Al Jazeera America, CBSN, CNN International, and PBS NewsHour Weekend. Prior to joining NewsHour, she was with Yahoo News where she anchored coverage of the 2018 Midterm Elections and reported from Donald Trump’s victory party on Election Day 2016.
Sam Weber has covered everything from living on minimum wage to consumer finance as a shooter/producer for PBS NewsHour Weekend. Prior joining NH Weekend, he previously worked for Need to Know on PBS and in public radio. He’s an avid cyclist and Chicago Bulls fan.
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"Autoliv (ALV) underpins that shared goal. The Sweden-based safety products and systems supplier to many global automakers reported Friday that earnings per share more than doubled in the second quarter, after doubling in Q1. Autoliv stock soared.
Autoliv No. 1 Auto Safety Supplier
Autoliv, the world's biggest air bag and seat belt maker, says it benefits from higher vehicle safety standards and stricter regulations.
Other factors driving its markets include ""the premium vehicle trend and the increasing focus on safety in emerging markets,"" the company said in its 2022 Annual Report.
In China, Autoliv customers include EV startups Nio, Li Auto (LI) and XPeng (XPEV). Its customers also include Ford and General Motors (GM) in the U.S., and Volkswagen (VWAGY) in Europe. Autoliv supplies the Nio ES6 SUV and Ford Lightning truck, for example, both premium, new electric vehicles.
The global shift to electric vehicles continues to gather pace. Autoliv also makes EV safety products, such as battery cutoff switches.
Autoliv Earnings
In Q2, Autoliv revenue jumped 27% to $2.635 billion, it said Friday. Earnings grew 115% per share to $1.93, crushing estimates for $1.41, FactSet shows. That marked accelerating growth from a 17% revenue gain and 100% earnings surge in the first quarter.
The company tied Q2 gains to new product launches, higher prices and cost-cutting measures. ""We achieved the price compensations from customers we planned for,"" the earning release said.
Autoliv Stock, Ford, Nio
In stock market action Friday, Autoliv stock surged 11.1% to 103.58. Shares pegged a 52-week high of 102.30 intraday. The move scored a breakaway gap breakout above a buy point at 98. The breakaway gap rules put the buy point at 99.68.
Nio also rose Friday, but Ford stock fell.
Cost Inflation
On Friday, Autoliv reiterated full-year guidance after beating estimates.
In 2022, the auto safety products maker's earnings fell 12% amid the chip shortage and Covid-19 lockdowns in China. Analysts expect a 48% earnings rebound for full-year 2023, FactSet shows.
Lingering challenges include cost inflation tied to raw materials, labor and logistics.
Year to date, ALV stock is up 32.6%.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:",Not_Explicit
"Commuters waiting for trains at Kurla railway station. (Photo: Vijay Sartape/BQ Prime)
The projected population of India, as on July 1, 2023, is 139 crore according to a report of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
The projected population of India, as on July 1, 2023, is 139 crore according to a report of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said as per the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, population division online publication, World Population Prospectus 2022, the total projected population of China as on July 1, 2023 is 142,56,71,000.
""The projected population of India as on July 1, 2023, as per the report of the technical group on population projections published by the National Commission on Population, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is 139,23,29,000,"" he said replying to a written question.
Rai said the intent of the central government for conducting census 2021 was notified in Gazette of India on March 28, 2019, but due to COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the census 2021 and the related field activities have been postponed.",Not_Explicit
"WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the tiny kingdom of Tonga on Wednesday, as the United States continues to increase its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific while China's influence in the region grows.
Home to just over 100,000 people, Tonga last year was the site of a massive volcanic eruption that sent millions of tons of water vapor into the atmosphere and killed four people in Tonga.
Blinken's visit helped highlight the opening of a new U.S. Embassy in Tonga and the return of Peace Corps volunteers following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Blinken met with Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni and other officials to discuss the bilateral relationship as well as regional and global issues, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
“Secretary Blinken outlined how the United States is following through on commitments made by President Biden at last year’s historic summit with Pacific Islands leaders to elevate our diplomatic and development presence and engagement in the region,” Miller said in a statement.
Miller said the visit also highlighted U.S. efforts to tackle the Pacific climate crisis, including by expanding early warning systems.
Blinken next travels to New Zealand, where on Thursday he will meet with officials and watch the women’s World Cup soccer match between the U.S. and the Netherlands. He then travels to Brisbane, Australia, for meetings with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Australian counterparts.
The trip is Blinken’s third to the Asia-Pacific region in the past two months, following visits to China and Indonesia. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, also just finished a visit to New Zealand and Samoa. French President Emmanuel Macron began a trip to the South Pacific this week.
Blinken’s travel was announced soon after the State Department notified Congress it plans a massive increase in diplomatic personnel and spending for facilities at new U.S. embassies in the Pacific islands. The update to Congress pointed out that China has permanent diplomatic facilities in eight of the 12 Pacific island nations that the U.S. recognizes and said the U.S. needs to catch up.",Not_Explicit
"Russia's foreign ministry has imposed tight travel restrictions on British diplomats working in the country.
It said they must give at least five days' notice and provide extensive travel details if they want to leave a 120km (75-mile) ""free movement zone"".
Only the British ambassador and three senior diplomats are exempted from the measures, the ministry said.
It comes amid worsening relations between Moscow and London following the invasion of Ukraine.
Despite the two countries being at odds over the war, both have continued to operate diplomatic missions on each other's soil.
The Vienna Convention - which the UK and Russia are both signed up to - is clear that governments must give accredited diplomats ""freedom of movement and travel in its territory"".
So governments rarely actually stop diplomats from travelling - but they can make it very difficult by imposing rules and regulations, such as the Russian government has.
The Russian foreign ministry said British diplomats will have to provide details of accommodation, transport, planned contacts and the purpose of any trip before travelling within Russia.
The restrictions will also be applied to diplomats working at the British consulate in Yekaterinburg, a city around 1090km (880 miles) to the east of Moscow.
The resulting bureaucratic demands are time-consuming and onerous but are just within the letter of the Vienna Convention.
In truth, this is just one of many irregular ways of making life difficult for diplomats.
They could find visa applications take time. They and their families could be subject to greater or lesser surveillance.
One diplomat once told me that she returned to her flat in Moscow one evening to find the magnetised letters on her fridge had been re-arranged to spell FSB, the Russia security service.
Another found her cat frozen to death outside her flat. She suspected it had been shut out deliberately.
So it is not unusual for authoritarian states to make life difficult for diplomats. For many, it goes with the territory.
The announcement was made shortly after the UK's interim charge d'affaires attended a meeting with Russian officials and was informed of the decision.
The UK Foreign Office has disputed the Russian foreign ministry's claim that the senior British diplomat had been ""summoned"", describing it as ""disinformation"".
A spokesperson for the department said: ""This was a planned meeting, held at our request, as part of standard diplomatic practice.""
In a statement confirming the restrictions, Russia cited the UK's support of the Ukrainian government.
It accused the UK of conducting ""hostile actions... including the obstruction of the normal functioning of Russian diplomatic offices in the UK"".
The UK Foreign Office has not said how it will respond to the move.",Not_Explicit
"Sadiq Khan has warned that day travelcards are likely to be scrapped to save cash.
The London Mayor announced that he has begun the process to axe day travelcards on the London network, a move that would save Transport for London (TfL) £40 million but is likely to add to commuters’ costs.
He has started a six-month notice period to end its use, which could see some journey prices increase by as much as 36 per cent.
A spokesman for the mayor said he had reluctantly agreed to the proposal but had to do it in order to meet the deadlines in TfL’s funding deal, adding that the decision was reversible and the Mayor and TfL were seeking alternatives in the coming months.
Unions suspend Tube action
His announcement on Friday came after three unions suspended industrial action that would have shut down all of the Tube network for four days next week after TfL made a series of concessions over pay and pensions.
London Underground members of the RMT, Aslef and Unite all planned to take action over working conditions and changes to pensions, which would significantly reduce their income in retirement. The RMT was also taking action over plans to axe 600 station staff jobs.
However, they decided to halt this, with the RMT claiming union pressure had resulted in TfL making “significant concessions” with plans for jobs cuts and pension changes halted.",Not_Explicit
"Some NHS staff in England say they are not receiving an extra one-off payment awarded by the government as part of the latest pay deal for nurses and other workers such as ambulance crews.
The issue is affecting some ""bank"" staff, who provide temporary cover for hospital trusts to fill rota gaps.
Some say they have not received the lump sum, of at least £1,655.
It was part of the new pay agreement for more than a million NHS workers, in addition to a 5% rise.
The Unite union has accused ministers of a cynical ploy.
The Department of Health and Social Care says the deal, agreed with most unions, involved a one-off payment for staff directly employed by NHS organisations - but for those on locally managed contracts, such as bank staff, it was up to individual employers to determine pay and conditions.
One staff nurse, from Liverpool, has started a petition asking the government to ensure all NHS bank staff in England receive the non-consolidated payments.
Bank staff are not employed on the national Agenda for Change contract other nurses and healthcare staff fall under.
The bank allows NHS staff at a trust to work extra shifts - but some health workers work only for the bank, taking whatever shifts are offered, and some of these have found they did not qualify for the one-off payment, even though all their work is for the NHS.
Some bank workers are paid the same rates as staff at the same employer, with some holiday and sick pay.
But others, in exchange for flexibility over hours, can be paid more per hour though without the same employment protection.
Arrangements vary trust by trust.
'Extend funding'
Yorkshire Ambulance Service has decided to pay the lump sum to some workers, including those who work for the bank.
An official said: ""Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust reviewed the contracts of its bank-only staff and determined that they should receive the one-off payment as per contractual obligations.""
Northumbria Healthcare which runs hospitals in the North East has done the same.
But the trusts that have chosen to have to do this from their own resources.
Other employers have chosen not to and are being pressed by health unions to change their policies.
Unite says the government should extend funding made available for trusts to make the payments to staff, to allow them to include bank workers.
'Two-tier system'
General secretary Sharon Graham said: ""The cynical ploy of saying that NHS bank staff - or any other NHS staff - should get a pay increase on the one hand, but then refuse to fund it on the other, is yet another case of ministers robbing Peter to pay Paul.
""Telling local trusts that they must find cash out of existing funds means one thing and one thing only - more cuts to a health service already on its knees.
""More cuts means more overworked and demoralised staff walking away and on it goes.""
Health staff at other organisations, deemed ""non-statutory"", for example in nursing homes and GP services, have also missed out on the payments.
The NHS Confederation has called on ministers to intervene, warning there is a danger of a two-tier system being created.
The Agenda for Change pay deal covers most NHS staff, except doctors and dentists, who are on a different contract.
It was reached after a series of strikes by workers over concerns about rising inflation outstripping pay awards.",Not_Explicit
"McCarthy threatens Biden impeachment inquiry:
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) says he expects the House GOP investigations into the foreign business activities of President Biden’s family to rise to the level of an impeachment inquiry.
It’s the House leader’s strongest threat to date, amid conservative-led investigations into the president.
“We’ve only followed where the information has taken us,” McCarthy told Fox News host Sean Hannity Monday night. “But Hannity, this is rising to the level of impeachment inquiry, which provides Congress the strongest power to get the rest of the knowledge and information needed.”
House conservatives have repeatedly sought to attack Biden on various issues related to his son, Hunter Biden. Two IRS whistleblowers recently testified that Hunter Biden was treated with kid gloves and given preferential treatment regarding recent tax evasion and gun charges.
Republicans also questioned Biden’s alleged involvement in his son’s business dealings while he was vice president.
McCarthy accused Biden of using “the weaponization of government to benefit his family and deny Congress the ability to have the oversight.”
The White House has denied any wrongdoing on the president’s part and accused the House of failing to focus on important issues as they continue to attack Biden.
Remember: When Democrats controlled the House, former President Trump was impeached twice. However, the then-GOP-controlled Senate voted against finding him guilty of the charges. Now the roles are reversed.
What’s next: Despite McCarthy’s threat, it’s unclear if he can gather the votes in his caucus to successfully impeach the president, especially among moderate Republicans — and it is unlikely the Democrat-controlled Senate would vote to convict Biden.
More from The Hill here.
It’s Tuesday, July 25. I’m Elizabeth Crisp, filling in for Cate, with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s campaign said he and some members of his team were involved in a car accident while heading to a campaign event in Tennessee on Tuesday.
DeSantis and his team were uninjured, according to his campaign. (The Hill)
Hunter Biden prosecutor willing to testify before Congress:
The House Judiciary Committee, which has been looking into Hunter Biden, could soon hear from the prosecutor who led the investigation.
The Department of Justice sent a letter to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to confirm that U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss is willing to testify during a public hearing in September or October.
“[We] are deeply concerned by any misrepresentations about our work—whether deliberate or arising from misunderstandings — that could unduly harm public confidence in the evenhanded administration of justice, to which we are dedicated,” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte said in the letter to Jordan.
“The Department believes it is strongly in the public interest for the American people and for Congress to hear directly from U.S. Attorney Weiss on these assertions and questions about his authority at a public hearing.”
Two IRS whistleblowers have claimed that prosecutors showed preferential treatment to the president’s son in his plea deal on tax charges and a weapons charge, stoking House Republicans’ steady pushback against Biden, who is running for reelection. (The Hill)
Trump’s indictments put more pressure on GOP senators to find alternative in 2024:
Could Trump’s mounting legal issues actually be bolstering his campaign for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination?
That’s what some Republican senators, who would prefer someone else on the ballot come November 2024, seem to be worried about.
Special counsel Jack Smith has been leading a monthslong investigation of the former president’s alleged crimes related to falsifying business records, the mishandling of classified documents and his potential role in attempts to overturn to the 2020 election.
While prominent House Republicans and conservative media outlets have rushed to defend Trump, most GOP senators have been more tepid about discussing his legal woes. But, their anxiety is only growing.
Recent polling averages show Trump is still carrying a hefty lead over his 2024 GOP rivals.
A senator, who requested anonymity, told The Hill that the threat of a new federal indictment “creates increased enthusiasm among his supporters and probably brings other voters along who see this as a rotten system.” (The Hill)
Juggling priorities, Harris leans into attack dog role:
While Vice President Harris has a lot on her plate, she’s now turning to a more traditional VP role: Attack dog, defending the Biden administration and taking GOP rivals head on.
The Hill’s Brett Samuels and Alex Gangitano report that Harris has taken to “fighting what the White House views as hypocrisy or extreme policies pushed by Republicans as she and President Biden prepare for what could be an intense, mud-slinging 2024 campaign next year.”
Harris has also been tasked with taking charge on issues that the White House thinks will not only bolster the president’s standing but will also resonate with voters — including abortion, voting rights and book bans.
🔹 Harris headed to Nashville in April to defend Democratic state lawmakers who faced political retaliation from GOP leaders over a gun violence protest following a deadly school shooting in Nashville.
🔹Just last week, the White House sent her to Jacksonville to call out Republican leaders over controversial new educational guidelines on how some issues, including Black history, are taught in Florida schools. There, she bashed GOP leaders as “extremists” who she said were pushing “propaganda” on children.
🔹 And on Saturday, she again spread a message against GOP “extremists” to a Latino audience at the UnidosUS 2023 Annual Conference in Chicago.
More here from The Hill.
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Join The Hill’s clean energy permitting reform event in DC
National Press Club and streaming online nationally
Join The Hill as we convene lawmakers, clean energy experts and executives to discuss renewable energy infrastructure deployment, reaching clean energy goals and the outlook for greater reforms. Guests include: Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), member of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee;
Maria Robinson, director, Grid Deployment Office, U.S. Department of Energy; Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), vice chair of the Energy, Climate & Grid Security Subcommittee and vice chair of the Federal Lands Subcommittee; Xan Fishman, director of energy policy & carbon management at the Bipartisan Policy Center; Shannon Baker-Branstetter, senior director, domestic climate & energy policy, Center for American Progress; Heather Reams, president of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES); and Jesse Simons, co-founder & chief commercial officer at SOLARCYCLE. REGISTER NOW
Kellyanne Conway: Trump could still show up for GOP debate:
Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway has suggested that the former president may participate in the GOP presidential debate next month but will likely “keep everybody in suspense” until the last minute for dramatic effect.
“If I were you, I would keep that center podium warm because maybe he’ll make the announcement the day of,” Conway during an appearance on Fox News, which is hosting the Aug. 23 debate. “You just never know.”
Trump, the frontrunner in the Republican primary race, has repeatedly hinted that he may skip the debate -— a move that could plummet voter interest in the debate but also give other candidates a cleaner opportunity to make their cases for the nomination.
“When you have a big lead, you don’t do it,” Trump recently told Fox News. “Why would you let somebody that’s at zero or at one or two or three be popping you with questions?”
Some of his rivals though have pressed for Trump to attend.
“Nobody’s entitled to be nominated. You gotta earn it. And I think he should show up and make his case and answer questions like the rest of us,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has typically polled second behind Trump, said last week. (The Hill)
RELATED: Culture-war battles fail to deliver for DeSantis (The Hill)
Big money: Mega Millions jackpot hits $820M:
Just days after a $1 billion Powerball jackpot was won in California, the Mega Millions jackpot has hit a massive $820 million — the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history.
The next drawing will be at 11 p.m. today.
If a winner is drawn, they will have the option of taking an estimated $265 million in a lump sum payment or about $15 million in annual payments for 30 years. (KTLA via The Hill)
Musk defends Twitter rebranding to ‘X’ following backlash:
Twitter owner Elon Musk responded to criticism after announcing a rebrand of the social media platform to “X” this week, saying the original name no longer matches his plans for new features.
“This is not simply a company renaming itself, but doing the same thing,” Musk tweeted. “The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth — like birds tweeting — but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video.”
The company also plans to shift to “comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world” in the coming months.
“The Twitter name does not make sense in that context, so we must bid adieu to the bird,” he said. (The Hill)
Clinton has a minimum wage reminder:
Former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D) had a minimum wage reminder for everyone this week.
“As of today, it’s been 14 years since the $7.25 federal minimum wage was last raised,” she wrote. “MAGA Republicans have repeatedly blocked an increase,” she wrote.
The House came in at noon, and the Senate will convene at 3 p.m. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in D.C.
- 10 a.m.: Biden received the Presidential Daily Briefing.
-
Noon: Biden signed a proclamation to establish the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monuments in Illinois and Mississippi. Harris joined for the signing event at the White House.
- 3 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks on expanding access to mental health care.
- 3 p.m.: House Rules Committee will meet.
All times Eastern.
-
3 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks on expanding access to mental health care. (Watch here)
-
3 p.m.: Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law will hold a hearing on artificial intelligence. (Watch here)
-
3:30 p.m.: Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief reporters. (Watch here)
Today is National Wine and Cheese Day!
There are plenty of wine bars throughout D.C. if you’re looking for an excuse to liven up your Tuesday. Or head to a specialty store to pick your own at home snack platter perfect for cuddling up on the couch to watch some TV or enjoying a romantic evening with your partner.
(Psst … Here’s a cheat sheet if you want the perfect pairings.)
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And because you made it this far, check out this video of a snooping pug…",Not_Explicit
"Is the Supreme Court giving favorable treatment to religion?
Have religious zealots coopted the Supreme Court? The left seems to think so.
Pieces written about its last two terms, in particular, make various versions of this claim. They’ve said the court allegedly wishes to end the separation of church and state. They’ve said the majority of justices want to give an “elevated” status to religious persons and claims, privileging them over all other principles and laws. The list goes on.
But these claims fall short — a truth we can see by a fair examination of religious cases in the past two Supreme Court terms. Rather than showing an imposition of theocracy, these decisions merely try to give religious persons equal treatment and respect constitutional religious rights.
This summer, one pundit declared that, with the current court, the First Amendment Establishment Clause’s “limits on the government’s involvement with or facilitation of religion … appear to have been smashed.” Wrong. The court has hardly decreed all government interaction with religion constitutionally permissible. Recent decisions, like last year’s Carson v. Makin, have sided with religious claims based on equality, not special privilege. This case, which concerned access to generally available educational funding, said that, once instituted, state governments must permit its use for religious and secular institutions alike.
As much as that claim misinterprets legal texts, it misrepresents the legal context. Far from being a recent shift, the Supreme Court, for 20 years, has consistently found that state governments must afford religious persons and groups the same opportunities as secular equivalents. Consider the 2002 school voucher case, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, which said parents must be allowed to use this government funding for any private school they wished, whether religious or secular.
Progressives also have attacked the court’s protection of the football coach praying at the 50-yard line after games. The case again included the issue of equality, namely the need to treat religious uses of public employee time similar to non-religious. Neither has the court only now discovered protections for prayer by public employees or in public settings. For example, the 2014 case of Town of Greece v. Galloway affirmed prayer as constitutional when made before governmental functions such as school board meetings.
Regarding accusations of special treatment for believers, let us begin with this summer’s decision in Groff v.DeJoy. The case concerned a postal worker who asked for accommodation not to work on Sundays, as the protection afforded against religious discrimination in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court revisited the standard for assessing such claims in the 1977 case Hardison v. Trans World Airlines. Courts using this case had far from “balance[d] the competing values,” religious and other, in the workplace. Instead, judges had taken the case to apply a “de minimus” standard whereby the Civil Rights Act did not protect any religious accommodation that involved more than a minimal inconvenience to the employer.
This reading stacked the deck in favor of businesses and against individuals desiring an exemption. It thus relegated religious claims to second-class status behind other classes (like race or gender) that received more robust judicial protection. Therefore, rather than supporting the left’s argument, which says the court gave religious claims unique, elevated status, the court merely took the law’s language seriously. It gave employees a fighting legal chance, comparable to other legal claims, to have religious accommodations.
Or take the court’s COVID-era decisions, which the left has criticized. There, the court demanded equal — not favored — treatment for churches seeking the ability legally to worship. The court generally sided with religious groups here because others had received special treatment permitting exemptions, not them.
Though many of these cases concern equal treatment, we should not concede to the left that religion gets no special legal status. The Constitution has enshrined protections for religious liberty, most famously in the First Amendment. Landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did the same. Religion is not the only protected liberty. But looking at our Founding shows how our Framers saw it as especially precious.
In a 1792 essay entitled “Property,” Madison declared that a person “has a property of peculiar value in his religious opinions, and in the profession and practice dictated by them.” In the same piece, Madison responded to the issue of when “a man’s religious rights are violated” by saying, “Conscience is the most sacred of all property.” The same man helped shepherd the First Amendment — which dedicated two crucial clauses to the subject — through Congress.
Finally, in respecting religious liberty, we still respect equality. Every person should receive the fullest protection afforded to him by law. To protect a religious person’s constitutional rights is to treat them as equal to others by giving them, as others receive, all constitutional and statutory privileges.
Therefore, we should affirm where the left condemns and celebrate where they bemoan. The court is not creating a theocracy or making Christians their specially favored people. Instead, it seeks equality for believers as fellow citizens under the law.
Adam Carrington is associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Michael Gove is planning to change planning laws to pave the way for more home extensions and conversions of shops into houses in England in efforts to address the housing crisis.
As part of plans due to be announced on Monday, the housing secretary said new rules will be drawn up to give greater freedoms to carry out property extensions and to open up lofts.
Officials said the proposals will allow families to expand their home as their family grows while still ensuring neighbours’ interests are protected.
New flexibilities will be introduced to allow shops, takeaways and betting shops to be turned into living spaces, with Gove arguing that Britain must “make better use of the buildings we already have”.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the proposals to relax rules around the use of retail space is designed to help rejuvenate high streets and provide greater density of housing in inner cities, rather than encouraging urban sprawl.
Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, said the announcement was a “drop in the ocean” that failed to address the scale of the housing shortage.
Gove, in a speech in London on reforming national permitted development rights, is also expected to announce that the Conservative government will cut rules limiting barn conversions and the repurposing of agricultural buildings.
Before his speech, Gove said: “Britain needs more homes to fulfil more dreams of home ownership and increase choice for renters.
“But they must be of the right type and targeted in the right places.
“So we must build more in the places that make sense – in our inner cities so that we protect our countryside.
“And we must make better use of the buildings we already have – empty shops or offices cannot be gathering dust while we have an urgent need for more homes.
“That is why we are reviewing the rules around permitted development rights to make sure we can regenerate, build and grow.”
The announcement comes only two weeks after a cross-party panel of MPs warned that Tory ministers are unlikely to deliver 300,000 new homes each year after making the target advisory rather than mandatory.
The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, decided in December to downgrade the target’s status to see off a brewing Conservative backbench rebellion.
The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities committee, in a report published earlier this month, said its inquiry into the policy change had seen it told that the six-figure target would be “impossible to achieve” by the mid-2020s.
Clive Betts, the Labour committee chair, said Sunak’s decision was “already having a damaging impact on efforts to increase the building of new homes”.
Labour’s Nandy has already announced plans to make it easier to build on unsightly parts of the greenbelt if Keir Starmer is elected prime minister at the next election, expected to be held in 2024.
Starmer has also promised to restore the 300,000 housing target.
Responding to Gove’s announcement, Nandy said: “Britain desperately needs more homes, but another review is a drop in the ocean compared [with] what is needed to fix the housing crisis.
“We don’t need more reviews or press releases, we need bold action to get Britain building.
“That’s why Labour has set out plans to reform the planning system to build the homes we need.
“We will restore housing targets, reform compulsory purchase rules and take the tough choices to back the builders, not the blockers.”",Not_Explicit
"Justice Department sues Texas over floating barrier in Rio Grande River
The Justice Department on Monday sued the state of Texas in a suit seeking to compel Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to remove a barrier in the Rio Grande River designed to block migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We allege that Texas has flouted federal law by installing a barrier in the Rio Grande without obtaining the required federal authorization,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement announcing the suit.
“This floating barrier poses threats to navigation and public safety and presents humanitarian concerns,” she said, adding that the barrier has prompted protests and “risks damaging U.S. foreign policy.”
The barrier, roughly 1,000 feet of buoys ranging from four to six feet in diameter, is the latest escalation from Texas, which also installed razor wire near the border and is among several states that have bussed migrants to left-leaning cities.
In anticipation of the suit, Abbott, who received a letter from the Justice Department Friday asking for the removal of the buoys, said in a Monday letter “Texas will see you in court.”
The suit argues the buoys are a violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act, which prohibits unauthorized barriers in any navigable waters.
DEVELOPING
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"The Sunday Telegraph welcomes a warning by Housing Secretary Michael Gove of a possible voter backlash unless some net zero measures are relaxed.
The paper's leader suggests opposition to a larger Ultra-Low Emission Zone (Ulez) in London, which is blamed for Labour's defeat in the Uxbridge by-election, is in its words the ""tip of the iceberg"". The Telegraph recommends holding a referendum on the goal of reaching net zero by 2050.
Allies of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tell the Sunday Times that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has promised to review his expansion of the Ulez zone.
But the Observer's editorial warns against what it calls weaponising green policies for political gain. It says the climate emergency, obvious in this summer of ""freak heatwaves"", cries out for a non-partisan approach.
The Sun reports a claim from Reform Party leader Richard Tice that Metro Bank closed his party's account in 2021 because of Reform's support of Brexit.
It follows claims by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage that his account at Coutts bank was shut because of his political views.
According to the Sunday Express the prime minister will ""push through new laws"" to protect bank customers' freedom of speech.
But there are warnings from the banking industry in the Observer that revealing the reasons for an account closure could tip off potential criminals who are being investigated.
According to the Sunday Mirror, nine of 11 new hospitals that are due to open in 2030 are being built in the constituencies of Conservative MPs.
Labour MPs suggest these Tory-supporting communities are being prioritised over Labour areas, where sites need redeveloping. The government was approached for comment.
The Mail on Sunday says what it calls a two-year blitz of formal visits by senior royals is being planned in a bid to protect ties with the Commonwealth and the rest of the world.
The tours, involving the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales, are said to be part of efforts to protect relations with countries such as Australia who might want to seek independence.
The Sunday People leads on claims that pictures of Nicola Bulley, who drowned while walking her dog in Lancashire, are being used for fake profiles in a dating scam.
The paper says it is feared the accounts are being used to lure in people seeking dates and are then bombarded with requests for money.
And the Sunday Times explains why the green man is slowing down at pedestrian crossings.
The guidelines - set in the 1950s - recommend pedestrians are given 6.1 seconds to cross. But given the UK's ageing population and decreasing levels of fitness, this time allowance is to be increased by 20%.
- GEO-GENIUS OR GEOGRAPHICALLY CHALLENGED?: Lose yourself in the deceivingly difficult location guessing test
- 10 BILLION A DAY: From a simple square grid to a staple of our communication, discover the story of the first emoji",Not_Explicit
"Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday took another step toward construction of a new Alabama Statehouse by appointing a committee to negotiate a lease agreement.
A 20-member panel that consists of legislative leaders and appointed members voted to allow a committee to negotiate a lease for a building that would be constructed by the Retirement Systems of Alabama. The panel will need to approve the lease agreement.
Lawmakers in the last session approved legislation to contract with the Retirement Systems of Alabama, or another entity, for the construction of a Statehouse that would be leased back to the Legislature. The proposed new building would be located in a parking lot behind the existing Statehouse. The Retirement Systems has built several office buildings in downtown Montgomery that are used by other state entities.
The negotiations are expected to be completed within a few weeks, members of the panel said.
The current building is plagued by mold and other problems and lacks adequate space for the public to attend meetings, according to lawmakers.
From the mid-1800s to 1985, Alabama lawmakers met at the Alabama Capitol, which also includes the governor’s office. Lawmakers in 1985 moved into the current building as a temporary meeting place when the Capitol was undergoing renovations. Lawmakers, who had offices in the new location, never moved back.
Alabama lawmakers in 2020 briefly discussed the possibility of using $200 million of federal pandemic relief funds to build a new statehouse, but the idea drew immediate backlash.",Not_Explicit
"Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley slammed Minnesota Democrat Attorney General Keith Ellison for comparing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to a house slave character from a Quentin Tarantino movie, and called out Democrats for not condemning the comment.
""The bitter irony is that Thomas is the antithesis of the Stephen character referenced by AG Ellison in this latest racist attack,"" Turley, a Fox News contributor, tweeted on Wednesday morning.
Turley’s tweet linked to an article on his blog with the title, ""The Django Syndrome: What The Latest Racist Attacks on Clarence Thomas Say About Our Rage Politics.""
""Thomas has always refused to yield to the demands of others on how he should think as a jurist due to his race. Keith Ellison has long valued intimidation as a political weapon,"" the tweet added. ""He previously praised the ultra-violent group Antifa as useful to ‘strike fear in the heart’ of Trump and Republicans. Of course, Django is all about righteous rage as a license for the most extreme actions.""
This week, Ellison lashed out at Thomas over his position in the 6-3 ruling against affirmative action and compared him to the ""house slave"" character in Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 Western action film ""Django Unchained.""
""Anybody who’s watched the movie ‘Django,’ just watch Stephen and you see Clarence Thomas,"" Ellison said.
""Clarence Thomas has decided that his best personal interest is siding with the powerful and the special interests regardless as to who they’re going to hurt. He's like, I'm looking out for me, and I don't care nothing about you, but I'm on the Supreme Court so it's my job to look out for you.’ So he's abdicating his responsibility. He has abdicated it a long time ago. When he got in office, he was this way. He's this way now, maybe he's worse now.""
In his article, Turley called out the lack of concern from a ""single Democrat"" about the ""openly racist attack"" against Thomas and specifically mentioned the silence from Minnesota Democrats Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Gov. Tim Walz who have both openly denounced rhetoric they have deemed racist from the other side.
Turley also pointed out the relative silence from the media on the current issue as well as historically as it relates to racist attacks against Thomas, which he said occurred since the day he was nominated to the bench in 1991.
""The media has been unrelenting in its hostile and one-sided coverage of Thomas,"" wrote Turley, the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. ""While running gushing pieces heralding the backgrounds of liberal justices, there has been a virtual news blackout on Thomas’ amazing life story, one of the truly most inspirational accounts of overcoming every possible obstacle in life.""
""The silence of figures in academia, the media, and politics is deafening,"" Turley told Fox News Digital in a statement on Wednesday. ""Even when faced with raw racist attacks against Thomas, few want to be seen as defending the jurist. He remains a figure for cathartic rage on the left, untethered by principles of decency or consistency.""
In recent months, Thomas has faced intense scrutiny from the left regarding his travel habits and friendship with a billionaire Republican donor which a government compliance expert told Fox News Digital in April amounts to ""politics plain and simple.""
Ellison's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.",Not_Explicit
"(Bloomberg) -- For the day at least, the optimists are driving China’s markets on bets Beijing is finally adopting a more aggressive growth policy, and will soon unveil a series of supportive measures.
Most Read from Bloomberg
The Politburo statement on Monday is spurring rallies in Chinese stocks, the yuan and the dollar bonds of developers after weeks of doubts. The question for many investors though is whether measures will follow through, and be able to tackle daunting challenges from local government debt to a slumping housing market and high youth unemployment.
While the statement from the ruling Communist Party’s 24-member Politburo fell short of announcing large-scale stimulus, Macquarie’s economists are arguing that it’s setting the policy tone for the second half. Yet, Chinese markets have swung from wild optimism as the nation emerged from strict Covid-restrictions to worries about stuttering growth, with Beijing repeatedly disappointing traders expecting stronger support.
“We are standing at a crossroads with many asking what type of policy are we waiting for,” said Andrew McCaffery, global chief investment officer at Fidelity International. “Clearly, markets have been disappointed as they anticipated more rapid improvement, but they are now beginning to rationalise their growth expectations. Our view is that this somewhat unexciting period will eventually give way to a more positive market tone.”
Read more: China Holds Off on Major Stimulus as It Signals Property Easing
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks major Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong, gained as much as 4.5%, the most since June 2. The onshore yuan rose as much as 0.6%, with traders reporting that state-owned banks were also seen supporting the currency.
On the mainland, the benchmark CSI 300 Index of shares climbed 2.6%, the most since November. Overseas investors net purchased 15.3 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) of onshore stocks via the trading links in the morning session, set for the biggest inflow since January. Turnover in Shanghai and Shenzhen is also on track to top the 1 trillion yuan mark.
The rally is widespread, with gains from retailers to technology companies. Country Garden Holdings Ltd. jumped 17% in Hong Kong as the major developer led gains among property stocks and their dollar bonds as Beijing pledged an “adjustment” of restrictions for a sector plagued by liquidity shortfalls and slumping demand.
Elsewhere, commodities sensitive to the property industry rose as well. Iron ore rose as much 1.7% in Singapore, while copper extended gains after closing up 0.8% on the London Metal Exchange on Monday.
Strategists are picking at the nuances in the statement, with some saying there’s a stronger recognition of the challenges. Others point to the shift where driving domestic demand was seen as more important than an export-oriented industrial policy.
The Politburo’s language on property — which accounts for up to 20% of GDP once related sectors are added — was also softer than in previous meetings. It omitted President Xi Jinping’s signature slogan that “houses are for living, not for speculation” for the first time in a mid-year review of the economy since 2019.
“They said targeted but ‘powerful’ measures can be expected,” said Kerry Goh, chief investment officer at Singapore-based multi-family office Kamet Capital Partners Pte. “So far, I’ve only heard of ‘modest’ policy stimulus from the government. So the choice of wording is interesting. We are in unchartered territory, even in terms of them saying they will prioritize consumption over industrialization.”
Here Before
Yet, there are plenty of skeptics. Afterall, Chinese stocks have been on a downtrend since a reopening surge that saw the Hang Seng China gauge surge about 50% over three months before fizzling at the end of January.
Investors have been selling into intermittent rallies since, showing a lack of conviction in the market that’s headed for a fourth year of losses. The benchmark CSI is almost flat this year, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down 2.7%, making it one of the worst performers in Asia.
Even bulls like Goldman Sachs Group Inc., UBS Group AG and Morgan Stanley have trimmed their expectations for Chinese stocks on growth worries. Goldman’s analysts on banks have gone a step further, saying investors should sell the nation’s biggest lender and prepare for lower dividend payouts due to their exposure to souring local government debt.
“We have seen this movie before,” said Chun Wang, a portfolio manager at Minneapolis-based Leuthold Group. “The latest policy signal from the Politburo is not surprising, considering the credit/liquidity crunch Chinese property companies are currently facing.”
--With assistance from Wenjin Lv, Ishika Mookerjee and April Ma.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"A ""hollow"" Ashes success or a deserved triumph over ""bellyaching"" England?
Media outlets in Australia have been split over how to summarise their side's retaining of the famous old urn, a triumph confirmed courtesy of two days of Manchester rain wiping out the Old Trafford Test as a soggy draw.
The best England can hope for is victory in the final Test at The Oval to draw the five-match series 2-2, but Australia's status as current holders means they will remain in possession of the Ashes.
There was a modicum of sympathy for the old enemy in some quarters of the Australian media, but there were also those who took aim at England's tactics, with the attacking 'Bazball' approach coming in for particular criticism.
- 'How are we supposed to feel?' - England's Ashes hopes washed away
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- Australia need to copy Bazball to win the series - McGrath
'Baz ball is not ending world hunger or reinventing the wheel'
Writing in the Herald Sun, Ben Horne had little time for sympathy.
""It's hard to tell when the rain stopped and the tears started but this much is certain - England's Ashes bellyaching has just become too much,"" he wrote, insisting that the home side only have themselves to blame for throwing away good positions in the first two Test matches.
""The best thing about this enthralling series, by far, has been Baz Ball. It is captivating and brilliant. But the most tedious thing has been how in love England are with themselves about Bazball.
""Scoring runs at seven an over is breathtaking to watch, but it's not ending world hunger or reinventing the wheel and at some point England needs to face the fact that for all their trailblazing bravado, they have, for the second time running, failed to win the Ashes on home soil.""
'Dismal way' for Ashes to be retained
Malcolm Conn in the Sydney Morning Herald was more sympathetic given Australia's perilous position in the Fourth Test before the rain arrived, though he did not spare England from criticism.
""Rarely could the Ashes have been secured in more hollow circumstances, with almost two days of rain saving Australia from what appeared certain defeat,"" he wrote.
""Despite being robbed of victory by the weather, England have only themselves to blame for being on the wrong side of history.
""It could have been so different. England were in charge of the first Test at Edgbaston before the cult of Bazball resulted in an overoptimistic declaration and reckless batting. This opened the door for Australia to snatch a dramatic two-wicket win and control the series.""
Writing in the Australian, Gideon Haigh felt England had learned from their mistakes in the first two Tests and this was a ""dismal way"" for the destiny of the Ashes to be decided.
""The fantasy of two-all going to The Oval had been enchanting to both sets of fans; only the dimmest partisans so crave trophies as to be gratified by non-results,"" he wrote.
""Let's see what happens at The Oval, of course, but there is a good argument that England will end this series a better team than when they began and Australia a little poorer. Certainly the gap between the teams that yawned in 2021-22 has been decidedly narrowed.""
'A series you'd be happy to have go on forever'
The convention of having the holder of the Ashes retain the urn in the event of a drawn series needs re-assessing, according to some sections of the Australian media.
""Unlike others, I can appreciate the value of a gritty, determined draw that feels as good as a victory. This is the unique beauty of Test cricket, and it shouldn't be disturbed,"" wrote Andrew Webster in the Sydney Morning Herald.
""But if there is one anachronistic edict that must change, it's retaining a series simply because you've won it before.
""First, it gives the team that won the last series an unfair advantage, prompting the side to play defensive cricket. Second, it can kill off the series before it's over, like we've seen this weekend, making Tests later in the series dead rubbers when they should be rubbers full of vim and verve and a whole range of words starting with 'v'.""
Gideon Haigh agreed, adding: ""Perhaps it is time to revisit this custom, to make provision for the Ashes to be shared. Looking out over a sad and sorry Old Trafford yesterday, it hardly felt as though Australia had quite 'won' the Ashes this summer, or that England had 'lost' them. On the contrary, it's been a series you'd be happy to have had go on forever.
""But how to explain to the uninitiated the Oval Test's weird hybrid character, of being 'live'' where the outcome of the series is concerned, but 'dead' in the context of the Ashes?
""I know cricket's not meant to make sense. But it might, on occasion, at least try to do so.""",Not_Explicit
"Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Q1 Net Profit Falls 17.8% To Rs 110 Crore
It had posted a net profit of Rs 133.83 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement.
Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd. on Wednesday posted a 17.8% fall in its net profit to Rs 110 crore in the June 2023 quarter on lower income.
It had posted a net profit of Rs 133.83 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement.
The company's revenues also trimmed to Rs 701.73 crore from Rs 743.42 crore in the year-ago quarter.
""Despite softening commodity prices, the Q1 FY24 result is robust as we have benefited from lower input costs primarily, thermal coal and metallurgical coke. While there are global headwinds, the ongoing power crisis in South Africa, along with stimulus measures to boost the Chinese economy, is expected to support the ferrochrome prices,"" IMFA Managing Director Subhrakant Panda said.
The expansion project in Kalinganagar, Odisha, is on track with the public hearing being conducted successfully recently. IMFA is also in active discussions to tie up for hybrid renewable energy to meet its requirement for the project and comply with enhanced renewable power obligations, he added.
Odisha-based Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd. produces 2.84 lakh tonnes of value-added ferrochrome per annum from its manufacturing complexes in Therubali and Choudwar.",Not_Explicit
"World's Best Airport Changi Sees Traffic Soar To Over 5 Million
Singapore’s Changi Airport, ranked the best in the world, saw passenger traffic surge close to pre-pandemic levels last month amid summer travel demand.
(Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s Changi Airport, ranked the best in the world, saw passenger traffic surge close to pre-pandemic levels last month amid summer travel demand.
The airport handled 5.12 million passengers in June, crossing the five million mark for the first time since January 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, according to a Changi Airport Group statement. The figure, amounting to 88% of passenger traffic in June 2019, shows the city-state is well on its way to renewing international ties.
“Changi has regained more than 80% of its pre-Covid city links,” Lim Ching Kiat, executive vice president for air hub and cargo development, said in the statement. The airport is working to build ties to more points in China and Southeast Asia in the second half of the year.
The rebound comes during the peak summer vacation period, as travelers largely buck worries about inflation and a global economic slowdown. It’s a similar story in the US, where passenger counts have largely recovered to pre-pandemic levels as consumers dip into their savings for travel.
The top markets for the Southeast Asian hub were Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in the second quarter. Passenger traffic to and from Northeast Asia rose to 75% of pre-pandemic levels in June, up from about 50% in January.
The momentum may pick up further as the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix kicks off in September and string of sold-out high-profile concerts featuring performers including Taylor Swift and Coldplay take place early next year.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking his presidential campaign to Utah on Friday, prioritizing a state where rival Donald Trump has struggled in the past and that could be a beacon of strength for DeSantis' stalled bid.
DeSantis is set to appear at the state Capitol with about a dozen supportive state lawmakers, meet with Republican Gov. Spencer Cox and attend a fundraiser.
His trip out West comes as he has been working to reset a campaign confronting financial pressures and a static position in the field trailing Trump. The former president has remained a front-runner despite his, in a special counsel investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
""The more people see Governor DeSantis and hear his forward-thinking plan for our nation's comeback, the more inspired they become to vote for him for president,"" campaign spokesperson Andrew Romeo said in a statement.
For DeSantis, the ability to show strength against Trump in a heavily Republican state like Utah could buoy his effort. In a place where the conservative and religious culture has at times given Trump a chilly reception, there are signs there's an opening for the Florida governor.
Among those set to appear with him on Friday is state Senate President Stuart Adams, who was one of the few Republicans to endorse Trump early in 2016 but who is now backing DeSantis.
""They're both great candidates. But I believe Gov. DeSantis deserves a shot. I wouldn't say anything bad about President Trump,"" Adams said in an interview this week.
Trump's history and style have long been jarring to Utah's dominant religious culture.
More than half the state's residents belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the faith's emphasis on decorum pervades its politics. Trump, a former reality television star known for his brazen personality and insulting comments about women and people of color, finished third in the state's 2016 Republican presidential caucuses, behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Utah was also home to the resistance campaign of Evan McMullin, an anti-Trump former Republican who launched a long-shot independent bid for president in 2016.
Nevertheless, Trump won the state in both the 2016 and 2020 general elections.
Utah politicians have historically boasted of their penchant for striking compromises on polarizing issues ranging from immigration to discrimination against LGBTQ residents. But the Legislature, with its Republican supermajority, has lurched rightward in recent years, in line with many red states.
It has passed laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender kids and directing school boards to convene ""sensitive materials"" committees to weigh whether to remove certain books from school libraries — issues that have become a key feature of DeSantis' campaign message.
Adams, who said he was impressed with the way DeSantis steered his state during the pandemic, believes it will be a very close race between Trump and DeSantis in Utah.
""I believe as people get to know Gov. DeSantis, he'd have great support in Utah,"" he said. ""Utah has great family values. Gov. DeSantis has great family values.""
Asked if he thought Trump did not have great family values, Adams said, ""No, I think he has a great family."" He went on and said, ""I think he loves his family.""
Republican state Sen. Todd Weiler, who helped put together Friday's event with DeSantis, said he didn't think the former president would win the state's GOP primary.
""I think it's his character when it comes to his affairs and his divorces and also when it comes to some of his rhetoric and some of his rude comments on Twitter and whatnot,"" Weiler said. He cited the Jan. 6 attack and multiple indictments as among the reasons Trump wouldn't win the support of independents, along with his record of already having lost one presidential election to President Joe Biden.
Trump has even lost one of his biggest supporters in Utah: Don Peay, who helped lead Trump's 2016 effort in Utah, went hunting with Trump's children and once said those who didn't support Trump need to ""ask for forgiveness.""
Peay told the Deseret News in an interview earlier this year that he's no longer supporting Trump and doesn't feel he can win ""because he's living in the past."" He did not respond to messages seeking comment from The Associated Press.
Utah will be among more than a dozen states holding primary contests on Super Tuesday, which falls on March 5 next year. Super Tuesday, a critical proving point for campaigns, is the biggest day on the primary calendar because it offers up the largest number of delegates, which candidates must win state by state.
Unlike 2016, when voters had to wait in long lines and attend meetings to participate in Utah's caucuses, the state now holds a primary election. That is expected to draw a broader base of voters, though it's unclear what that means for the GOP field. The winner is expected to be awarded all 40 of Utah's delegates.
Cox, the recently minted head of the National Governors Association, will meet with DeSantis on Friday afternoon. He has said on numerous occasions that he would like to see a governor in the Oval Office. He and DeSantis co-headlined the state GOP convention in April.
His spokeswoman Jennifer Napier Pearce did not respond to a question about whether Cox is endorsing DeSantis or meeting with other candidates, but instead said in a statement: ""As chairman of the National Governors Association, Gov. Cox has been vocal about supporting candidates who are Republican governors — including Gov. DeSantis — because governors are executives who get things done. He looks forward to welcoming Gov. DeSantis to Utah.""
Cox has notably not been supportive of Trump in the past.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"Hey all! Welcome to our weekly roundup of joyful finds! Hope these nuggets of delight bring a smile or 10 to your face.
If you'd like to have these posts delivered to your inbox, sign up for our free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.
Enjoy!
1. Some solid words of wisdom for the college-aged crowd
As someone who's been called ""Gordo"" for 25 years, can confirm. You have to be careful.
2. Sibling trio from South Africa sings an incredible rendition of 'Stand By Me'
@bikosmanna
🏾🏾 Stand by me Song by Ben E. King Covered by BikosManna #TauLion🦁 #BikoStar #MannaHero #TauLion🦁 #BikosManna #BKMN
That angelic voice. Those harmonies. The dancing body percussionist. Utter perfection. Read more about this dynamic trio here.
3. Dog grampa goes all out babysitting his daughter's pooch
Swipe through these texts. Could Gramps be more adorable?
4. Timothy Fletcher brings the house down with his jaw-dropping drum performance on AGT
The drumming is great, but the showmanship is next level. Read the full story here.
5. Woman sings in historic Iranian mosque, despite women being forbiddden to sing in public
Her voice is beautiful, but it's her courage and confidence—and that single finger stopping the man in his tracks—that make this video so incredible to watch.
6. Three cheers for all the Ronnies of the world
That's a young man who knew exactly what to do to put a mom's heart at ease in this situation. Way to go, Ronnie.
7. Girl calls her stepfather 'Dad' for the first time and it's just so beautiful
Here's to the dads who step in and step up to fatherhood. Read the full story here.
8. It's excitement over the little things like Egg Day that make a marriage
So dang sweet.
9. Sean Astin says just the right thing to a fan with depression (f-bomb warning)
@easttnelvira
I met one of my childhood heroes Sean Astin today and he offered me some words of wisdom and encouragement over the battles of depression that I needed to hear. I am so glad this was captured on video to remember this moment, cherish, and reflect on anytime I am feeling down. I hope anyone else who struggles with depression takes his words and kindness to heart too. 🖤 #seanastin #samwisegamgee #lordoftheringstiktok #lotr #lotrtok #lordoftherings #fanboyexpoknoxville #fyp #trending
A little empathy and understanding can go a long way. Read the full story here.
10. Watch a whole stadium sing their hearts out to 'Bohemian Rhapsody' at a Harry Styles concert in Poland
The music of Queen and the legacy of Freddie Mercury will live on forever, and listening to thousands of human voices lifted together in song will never get old. Read the full story here.
Have a fabulous weekend and come back next week for more smiles!",Not_Explicit
"‘It makes them all look silly': Dems prepare to scorch RFK Jr. testimony
The longshot Democratic presidential candidate is testifying on alleged social media censorship, at the invitation of House Republicans.
House Republicans are openly goading their Democratic colleagues by handing a megaphone to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Democrats are determined to make sure it backfires.
GOP leaders invited Kennedy to testify at a Thursday hearing on alleged social media censorship, sticking by the plan even after the long-shot presidential contender’s recent false claims that the coronavirus pandemic was designed to spare Jews and Chinese people.
The move essentially gave Democrats two choices.
They could either ignore what they see as a blatant attempt to embarrass Biden by elevating an opponent or they could embrace a chance to directly rebut the unfounded claims Kennedy has spread, particularly on vaccines. They’re going with the latter and, in the process, taking Republicans to task for elevating him.
“He is spouting baseless, unfactual, unscientific conspiracy theories,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). “You shine a white-hot spotlight on someone like that and expose the Republicans for their hypocrisy.”
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) put it more simply, calling Kennedy’s appearance another example of Republicans having “crackpots for witnesses.”
The strategy will force Democrats to go head-to-head with a member of one of their most famous dynasties amid broader jitters about a third-party spoiler in the presidential race. But they’re hoping to turn Republicans’ attempted trolling to their advantage, driving home one of their core arguments against the House GOP’s investigative onslaught this year: that it’s a politically motivated sideshow for the Republican base, not the policymaking swing voters crave.
“It makes them all look silly. … His own family has said: ‘We don’t support any of that.’ So you’re going to put a discredited witness at the table that is going to embarrass himself, embarrass the family and embarrass [Republicans]. That is your witness?” Connolly asked.
In addition to Kennedy — who has billed himself as the “prime witness” — Republicans have also called in an editor from the ultra-right publication Breitbart and D. John Sauer, the special assistant attorney general from the Louisiana Department of Justice.
A Democratic committee aide described calling Kennedy Jr. as the “ultimate troll job” but added that the party’s bigger point will be highlighting that “there are real problems and real issues in this country, and this isn’t one of them.” Democrats have invited Maya Wiley, the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, as their witness.
“This hearing is about Big Government’s censorship of Americans and nothing else,” said a GOP spokesperson for the Judiciary Committee.
Kennedy’s presidential campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
As odious as they find Kennedy’s rhetoric, top Democrats aren’t ready to let him speak unchecked on Thursday. Totally ignoring him was never on the table — they’d seen first firsthand how declining to participate in the Jan. 6 select committee had disadvantaged Republicans.
“I don’t want to leave the hearing room for the Republicans to have a free-for-all without being checked on inaccuracies and spreading more hate,” said Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary subcommittee that investigates GOP claims of bias within the federal government.
Not all Democratic members of the panel wanted to spend energy rebutting Kennedy during the hearing. Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) said experts had already “refuted all of his crazy theories.”
“They’re just digging themselves into a hole, deeper and deeper,” she said of the panel’s Republicans.
Republicans raced to distance themselves from Kennedy’s comments over the weekend. Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Monday that he disagreed with “everything” Kennedy said, though GOP leader added that he did not believe Kennedy should be disinvited from the hearing. Multiple Republicans have defended moving forward with his testimony, arguing that Democrats had injected 2024 into the conversation by trying to “censor” Kennedy.
Kennedy had been suspended from Meta-owned Instagram after posting vaccine misinformation — a fact he’s poised to testify on at the hearing, though his account was restored after he kicked off his presidential bid.
Biden allies have “been trying to censor their Democratic opponent” since the start of the administration, Jordan said, referring to criticism that Kennedy’s invitation amounted to stepping into the 2024 Democratic primary. Jordan also defended his witness track record, saying that he’s “invited more Democrats than probably Democrats have.”
Democrats aren’t concerned that Kennedy poses a real threat to Biden’s nomination. Their real worry is the effect that minor candidates — or even a dark horse third-party candidate — could have on the general election, possibly cannibalizing Biden’s votes in favor of the Republican nominee.
“If you said you’re running for president, in the Democratic primary against Joe Biden, what is your motive? Why are you doing this?” said Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), a close Biden confidant. “Just because somebody calls themselves a Democrat doesn’t mean they are a Democrat.”
As the veteran South Carolina Democrat saw it, “there’s nobody in his or her right mind who believes that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is going to be President of the United States of America or is going to be a representative of the Democratic Party.”",Not_Explicit
"ROME, July 23 (Reuters) - Illegal flows of migrants are damaging all countries across the Mediterranean, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Sunday, as she called on nations to fight together against human traffickers.
In contrast with her past hard-line rhetoric, Meloni told an international conference in Rome that her government was open to taking in more people through legal routes as ""Europe and Italy needed immigration.""
""Mass illegal immigration harms each and every one of us. No one benefits from this, except criminal groups who get rich at the expenses of the most fragile and use their strength even against the governments,"" she said.
Earlier this month, Italy pledged to issue 452,000 new work visas for non-EU nationals from 2023 to 2025, increasing the number of permits available each year to a high of 165,000 in 2025. In 2019, before COVID struck, Italy issued just 30,850 visas.
The conference, which aims to build a partnership among states on an array of topics, is hosting representatives from countries including Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, Libya and the European Union.
""International human traffickers are not welcome in our country,"" Tunisian President Kais Saied told the conference.
Meloni, who has headed a right-wing government since October last year, is moving to engage other nations in efforts to stem mass migration and fight traffickers.
Arrivals in Italy are surging this year with over 83,000 people coming ashore so far this year compared to around 34,000 in the same period in 2022.
Meloni said the main focus of the conference was to support development in Africa, with ""non-predatory, long-term partnerships ... based on mutual respect.""
""The West has given the impression of being more concerned about giving lessons than in helping ... and this has probably made it more difficult to make progress on strategic issues,"" she said.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"India has a new AI-generated news anchor called Lisa.
Upon closer inspection, Lisa's slow blinking and stuttering motion was definitely unsettling to see.
Even so, I feel news presenters should now be very worried about their job security.
Add news anchors to the list of jobs that artificial intelligence is coming for — a quiet takeover of the news reader's desk has now reached India.
AI-generated anchors presented the news in India for the first time in April, the South China Morning Post reported. One of them, named Lisa, is now a news presenter on Odisha TV, a local station broadcasting in eastern India.
At first glance, Lisa could pass for a human news presenter. Upon closer inspection, however, the AI's slow blinking and stuttering motion was definitely unsettling to see.
Lisa has a robotic monotone and fails to add the necessary shifts in tone that a human presenter might use. But keeping aside the discrepancies in the audio and video sync, her delivery would be serviceable.
Lisa can also be found on Odisha TV's Twitter account. Videos uploaded state the presenter's name but do not specifically mention that Lisa is AI-generated.
—OTV (@otvnews) July 18, 2023
If you're just listening to the news while being surrounded by the low hum and chatter of the office, you could easily mistake her for a human.
In other words, she's an acceptable match for a 24-hour medium that's often left playing in the background of offices, cafes, and hospital rooms.
The era of AI news readers isn't just on the horizon, this robotic revolution is already here. Today, Lisa joins the legion of other AI-generated presenters employed by newsrooms in Indonesia, Taiwan, Kuwait, Malaysia, and China.
It's unclear how Lisa's introduction impacted the jobs of others in her newsroom, or whether the move was motivated by cost-saving measures.
Odisha TV's managing director, Jagi Mangat Panda, told the South China Morning Post, ""Lisa is going to be a great partner. [It] does the jobs that are repetitive and data analytical, so newspeople can focus on new angles and more creative work.""
Read the original article on Business Insider",Not_Explicit
"Police are sharing more details about Carlee Russell's confounding 49-hour disappearance.
The 25-year-old, who vanished on July 13 soon after calling 911 and a family member to report seeing an unaccompanied toddler on an Alabama highway, returned home on July 15 where she was subsequently treated at a local hospital.
Days after sharing her story with authorities, Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis said at a press conference that the department is still investigating the situation but has been ""unable to verify most of Carlee's initial statement made to investigators.""
""She told detectives that while traveling down the interstate, she saw a baby walking down the side of the road and called 911,"" he explained. ""She said when she got out of the vehicle to check on the child, a man came out of the trees and mumbled that he was checking on the baby.""
He then noted that Russell alleges she was kidnapped by a man and a woman.
""She claimed that the man then picked her up and she screamed,"" Derzis continued. ""She stated he then made her go over a fence. She claimed he then forced her into a car, and the next thing she remembers is being in the trailer of an 18-wheeler.""
""However, she never saw the female, only hearing her voice,"" he noted. ""She also told detectives she could hear a baby crying. She told detectives the male had orange hair with a big bald spot on the back. She said she was able to escape the 18-wheeler and fled on foot, only to be captured again and then was put in a car. She claimed she was then blindfolded but was not tied up because the captor said he did not want to leave impressions on her wrists.""
Authorities went on to describe what the nursing student had told them about her time in captivity.
""She said that they took her into a house and made her get undressed,"" the police chief said. ""She believes they took pictures of her but she does not remember them having any physical or sexual contact. She stated the next day, she woke up and was fed cheese crackers by the female. She said the woman also played with her hair but could not remember anything else. At some point, she was put back in a vehicle.""
He continued, ""She claims she was able to escape while it was in the west Hoover area. She told detectives she ran through lots of woods until she came out near her residence.""
Detectives observed noted that Russell had a ""small injury to her lip"" and ""tear in her shirt"" and she also told them that her ""head was hurting.""
""Detectives also noted that she had $107 cash in her right sock,"" he continued. ""Out of respect for Carlee and her family, detectives did not press for additional information in this interview and they plan to speak with her in detail after giving her time to rest.""
Hoover police had said in a July 14 statement that officers dispatched in response to Russell's 911 call found her vehicle and some of her belongings nearby, ""but were unable to find her or a child in the area."" They also said they have not received any calls about a missing child.
At the July 19 press conference, Derzis also said data from Russell's phone showed that in the days and hours before she was reported missing, she researched topics such as the movie Taken and the query, ""Do you have to pay for an Amber Alert?""
He also said she traveled six football fields on the interstate while on the phone with the 911 operator.
""I'm not saying it couldn't happen,"" the police chief clarified. ""To think that a toddler, barefoot that could be 3 or 4 years old, he's going to travel six football fields without getting in the roadway, without crying...It's very it's just very hard for me to understand.""
Russell has not commented publicly about her disappearance. Her parents, Talitha and Carlos Russell, told NBC News July 18 that they believe their daughter fought for her life during her ordeal. ""There were moments when she physically had to fight for her life, and there were moments when she had to mentally fight for her life,"" Talitha said. ""She made it back.""
The two declined to share what their daughter told them after she returned, citing the ongoing investigation, and in a joint statement, ""Carlee has given detectives her statement so that they can continue to pursue her abductor.""
E! News has reached out to Carlee's family for comment but hasn't heard back. E! News was not able to locate a lawyer on record for Carlee to speak on her behalf.
(E! and NBC News are part of the NBCUniversal family.)",Not_Explicit
"One of the difficulties with trying to make sense of what has happened to this country since 2010, when the Tories took office, is the absence of acknowledgment from the right about how much has gone wrong. So tribal, almost Trumpian, has most of the rightwing press become that it prefers to make excuses for the Conservatives or vague complaints about the spread of wokeness rather than seriously investigate and analyse the state of our economy and society.
In some ways, this incuriosity is no surprise. The rightwing papers have always had a propaganda function, not just campaigning for the Tories but also distorting or suppressing inconvenient facts about the distribution of power and resources. Through the emotiveness of their coverage as well, they imply that their readers’ feelings about, say, immigration, matter more than lived experience or statistics. Facts are for wimps.
Yet there is one rightwing publication that has usually stood apart from this partisan frenzy. This September, the Economist magazine will be 180 years old. Like the rest of the rightwing press, the weekly reveres the free market and is suspicious of the state. But unlike its peers, it loves data. Graphs, tables and bar charts punctuate its dense pages, and rather than just being illustrations they are often the foundation for its reporting and editorialising. This emphasis on facts helps the Economist appeal to an elite international readership – business people, senior bureaucrats, politicians – who like to think that their worldview is evidence-based.
For months now, the evidence the Economist has been presenting about the condition of Britain, and indeed about the country’s whole trajectory under the Tories, has been damning. “Britain has been poorly governed for 13 years,” said a typical article last week. “Each chart in British public policy looks roughly the same … There is gradual improvement from the early 1990s until 2010, and then things become worse … from rough sleeping to real wages to waiting lists at hospitals.”
According to the 8 July issue, Britons are “unaware” of “how poor” their housing and healthcare are compared with other European countries. On 24 June, the magazine described our inflation rate as “an outlier, and not in a good way”. On 3 June, it said that “the Conservatives are passing on a rotten inheritance” to Labour. And most startlingly, on 11 March, the Economist published its own research about life expectancy, which showed that between 2010 and 2022 the long modern improvement had stalled “much more dramatically” in Britain than in comparable countries. “Around 250,000” people had died “sooner than expected”.
On the left, and increasingly among neutral observers, the idea that Britain is in crisis has been accepted for years, ever since the social consequences of David Cameron’s austerity policies became obvious. But for such an establishment publication, which initially praised Cameron as an anti-state “radical”, to now effectively write off all five Tory governments since 2010 feels like a significant step. In the Economist’s always mercantile eyes, the market value of contemporary Conservatism, as well as of Britain itself, has been downgraded.
The magazine’s opinions matter, despite its relatively low profile in British media circles, because of the influence of some of its readers: people wondering whether to invest in Britain; political donors monitoring the state of our political parties; financial traders assessing the stability of the government or the value of British companies. And these readers also influence the magazine. Its criticism of the Tories reflects a contempt that is now global.
The Economist’s unusual internal culture means it may not take them seriously again as a governing party for quite a while. Unlike most of the rightwing press, and unexpectedly for a magazine that praises individualism, the Economist partly operates as a collective, with almost all its articles published anonymously, and written in the same immensely confident tone, as if they are the products of a brilliant group mind. That mind can be slow to change. I was an intern at the magazine in the early 90s, three years after Margaret Thatcher’s fall. There were argumentative editorial meetings that all could attend, with people crammed into the editor’s office and some sitting on the floor. But most of the views expressed were still Thatcherite.
The fact that, this time, the magazine appears to have turned against the Tories may be a sign that, even in our polarised media, a consensus is beginning to form about their performance in office. It’s well overdue. Few, if any, British governments have gone on so long while being so incompetent, lacking direction for extended periods and doing so much damage.
Paradoxically, the sheer scale of their misrule has probably protected the Tories. To accept that the usually dominant English party, deeply entwined with the establishment, and with many other cultural and electoral advantages, has been so out of its depth in office is frightening in some ways, even for non-Tories. The supposed realists of our politics have been exposed as fantasists, not much more responsible than the Republicans under Trump. Yet our supposedly shrewd old democracy has re-elected them three times.
Unless you believe that Labour is going to be in power for a long while, or that the Tories are going to rethink how they govern – and there is little sign of that – then it’s quite possible that the next period of chaotic Conservative government is only a few years away. And it may well come when the climate emergency, international tensions and the social consequences of capitalism are even worse than they are now.
One way to reduce the chances of such a disastrous repeat would be to have a proper reckoning about the Tory governments since 2010, and about who enabled them. Not just at the Economist but at the Financial Times, in the City of London and all the other supposedly canny institutions that gave the party the benefit of the doubt, despite its recent record in office and all the risky pledges in its manifestos.
In truth, it’s hard to see such a reckoning happening. While Labour is rarely allowed to forget the mistakes it has made in government, the Tories are usually quickly forgiven because so many powerful interests depend on them. We should enjoy the Economist’s displeasure with them while it lasts.
Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist",Not_Explicit
"SEBI Suspends Registration Of Two Brokerage Firms In NSEL Paired Contracts Case
Securities and Exchange Board of India suspended the registration of two brokerage houses—Nortel Vincom and Northeast Commodities—for their involvement in illegal paired contracts on the now defunct National Spot Exchange Ltd.
Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India on Monday suspended the registration of two brokerage houses—Nortel Vincom and Northeast Commodities—for their involvement in illegal paired contracts on the now defunct National Spot Exchange Ltd.
By providing access for taking exposure to paired contracts, the broking firms exposed their clients to the risk involved in trading in a product that did not have regulatory approval, Sebi said in two separate orders.
Further, the regulator said that trading activities of the brokers in paired contracts for their clients on the NSEL platform have ""serious ingredients jeopardising the reputation, belief in competence, fairness, honesty, integrity and character of the notices in the securities market"".
Accordingly, SEBI has suspended registration of the brokerage houses for a period of three months from the date of the orders or till the FIR filed against the broking firms by Economic Offences Wing ceases to be pending or till the two entities are acquitted by a court in relation to the FIR, whichever is later.
Also, the SEBI said the orders will come into force with immediate effect.
In September 2009, NSEL introduced the concept of paired contracts for trading, which allowed buying and selling of the same commodity through two different contracts at two different prices on the exchange platform.
The scheme of paired contracts traded on NSEL had caused a huge loss to investors to the extent of Rs 5,500 crore, as per the orders.",Not_Explicit
"Former President Donald Trump warned on a conservative talk-radio show last week that it would be “very dangerous” if he went to prison over the Jan. 6 insurrection, as his supporters are “a passionate group of voters.”
But his former vice president, Mike Pence, who encountered a large group of passionate Trump voters out for his blood two years ago, doesn’t seem worried.
“Everyone in our movement are the kind of Americans who love this country, are patriotic or law-and-order people who would never have done anything like that there or anywhere else,” Pence told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday’s State of the Union. “I have more confidence in the American people than that. I hear my former running mate’s frustration in his voice, but I'm sure the American people will respond in our movement in a way that will express, as they have every right to under the First Amendment, to express concerns that they have about what they perceive to be unequal treatment of the law. But I'm not concerned about it beyond that.”
The winding answer seemingly left Bash flabbergasted, prompting her to note why someone like Pence of all people should be concerned.
“It’s pretty remarkable that you’re not concerned about it, given the fact that they wanted to hang you on on Jan. 6,” she said through a laugh before attempting to move on.
But Pence wouldn’t let that stand, refusing to let the CNN anchor “use a broad brush” to classify everyone at the Capitol on Jan. 6 as being perpetrators of violence.
“The people in this movement, the people who rally behind our cause in 2016 and 2020, are the most God-fearing, law-abiding, patriotic people in this country,” he said. “And I just I won’t stand for those kinds of generalizations because they have no basis in fact.”
But Pence wouldn’t say much about the person being investigated for allegedly helping to perpetuate some of the violence itself: His former boss.
Earlier in the interview, Bash asked Pence whether the Department of Justice should charge Trump if it finds evidence he committed a crime related to the insurrection. The ex-veep, however, would only note that Trump’s actions were inappropriate—though perhaps not criminal.
“I've said many times that the president’s words were reckless that day,” he said. “I had no right to overturn the election. But while his words were reckless, based on what I know, I’m not yet convinced that they were criminal.”",Not_Explicit
"Russian missile attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea coast have destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain and damaged storage infrastructure, officials say.
Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said a ""considerable amount"" of export infrastructure was out of operation.
Russia has pulled out of an international grain deal in place since last summer, guaranteeing safe passage for exports across the Black Sea.
The Kremlin argued its demands for Russian exports had not been honoured.
Within hours of its withdrawal from the grain deal on Monday, Russia had struck the southern port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv in the early hours of Tuesday.
It followed that up with more strikes overnight into Wednesday, targeting grain terminals and port infrastructure in Odesa and further down the Black Sea coast in Chornomorsk, two of the three ports that were included in the export deal.
Odesa military spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk called it a ""truly massive attack"".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said each missile strike was a blow not just to Ukraine but to ""everyone in the world striving for a normal and safe life"".
Ukraine's reconstruction ministry published a series of photos showing damage to silos and other grain facilities. Russian war commentators said the damage proved that Kyiv was unable to shoot down the majority of Russian missiles and drones.
Officials said the co-ordinated attack involved Kalibr cruise missiles, Onyx supersonic and Kh-22 anti-ship missiles as well as kamikaze drones, fired from the Black Sea, Crimea and southern Russia. Although 37 Russian missiles and drones were shot down, a number did penetrate Ukrainian defences, they said.
""I saw a red flash in the window and reacted immediately,"" one resident told the Reuters news agency.
""I went downstairs, it was noisy and filled with smoke outside, people were in panic, some were crying, glass shards were scattered all over. It was impossible to remain in the area.""
Russia had called its initial attack on Odesa a ""mass revenge strike"" for an attack on the Russian-built bridge over the Kerch strait linking occupied Crimea to Russia. Seaborne drones were blamed for Monday's bridge strike that knocked out a section of bridge and killed a Russian couple.
Crimea saw further disruption on Wednesday. Some 2,200 residents were evacuated from four villages near a military training range after a fire triggered hours of explosions at a nearby ammunition depot.
Russian-installed officials also shut a 12km (7.5-mile) section of the Tavrida motorway that links the cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol in southern Crimea to the bridge over the Kerch strait. Construction of the road by Russia's occupation authorities began in 2017.
A series of explosions were heard in the area from around 04:30 (01:30 GMT) on Wednesday.
Officials did not explain the cause of the fire near the city of Staryi Krim. But unconfirmed reports on social media spoke of three Ukrainian strikes.
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the incident.
Russia's appointee-boss in Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said the cause of the fire at the military range was being investigated but that no-one was hurt.",Not_Explicit
"House Freedom Caucus members on Tuesday appeared eager for Speaker Kevin McCarthy to make good on his recent veiled impeachment threat against President Biden, and one member of the conservative group of GOP members said the leader’s words marked a ""paradigm shift.""
""When he does speak to … impeachment, it carries a tremendous amount of weight. And that's why I think the ground shifted on that a little bit when he opened up the door,"" Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said after a Freedom Caucus press conference on Tuesday. ""I don't think there's any question that him speaking to that has caused a paradigm shift.""
After a series of hearings and briefings on alleged misconduct by Biden and his family, McCarthy said on Fox News's ""Hannity"" Monday night, ""This is rising to the level of impeachment inquiry, which provides Congress the strongest power to get the rest of the knowledge and information needed.""
It’s the most direct comment yet the speaker has made about impeaching Biden, something the hardliners in his conference have been clamoring for since the House GOP took the majority this year.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., suggested there would be ""an uprising"" against Biden if the House did not move forward with trying to remove him.
""Look, the evidence is mounting against this guy. Look at what he’s done,"" Norman said. ""What Donald Trump’s done with papers pales in comparison.""
Norman said there was a ""difference of opinion"" on whether to take such a severe step but dismissed the idea of risking an impeachment vote that fails.
""Some people think that what he’s done isn’t that bad. A lot of us in general — the public, it’s gonna be an uprising against this guy, I think, at the end of the day.""
It's not just Biden that Republicans are looking to target. GOP members have called for impeachment proceedings against some of the president’s top Cabinet officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Norman answered ""all of the above"" during the press conference when asked about which Biden official should be impeached first.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said Mayorkas would be the ""low hanging fruit"" to initially consider. ""But with the evidence that we've induced in the Oversight Committee and Judiciary Committee with regard to the Biden — I would call it from the crime syndicate, I don't know what else you can call it — the corruption that's there,"" he said.
""That would certainly be a very interesting and perhaps even necessary step,"" he said. ""I’ll just tell you that the evidence I’ve seen is overwhelming, and it would lead one to believe our president, our sitting president, is corrupted and compromised.""
At one point Norman took a jab at Vice President Kamala Harris that earned some nervous laughter by saying, ""I realize the replacement for Joe Biden is probably giggling somewhere now, so she’s not an alternative.""
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.",Not_Explicit
"A new photograph of a smiling Prince George has been released in celebration of his 10th birthday on Saturday.
The picture shows George - who is second in line to the throne - sitting on a set of steps at Windsor.
In a change of tradition it was taken by Millie Pilkington, rather than George's mother, the Princess of Wales, who has often photographed her children for past birthdays.
Ms Pilkington had photographed Prince Louis for his fifth birthday in April.
Prince George has just finished his first year at his new school, Lambrook School in Berkshire. He started there with his siblings Charlotte and Louis last September following the family's move to Windsor.
His first few weeks of the summer holidays have been eventful, with a visit to the royal box at Wimbledon last Sunday to watch Carlos Alcaraz win the title against Novak Djokovic, where he was pictured alongside his parents and sister Charlotte, eight.
A few days earlier, George and his younger siblings privately visited an airshow at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire.
And at the start of the month he was pictured with his father at the Ashes cricket at Lord's.
George was born on 22 July 2013 at St Mary's Hospital in London, weighing 8lb 6oz (3.8kg).",Not_Explicit
"Study highlights complexity in accessing benefits for low-income individuals
A recently published article introduces a conceptual framework for analyzing passported benefits, shedding light on the challenges that individuals face when accessing these additional cash or in-kind benefits. The article, based on a case study from Israel, identifies five key dimensions of passported benefits and explores the administrative burden associated with each dimension.
The research highlights the pressing need for simplification, automation, and improved coordination to reduce the administrative burden and ensure that passported benefits serve as a streamlined pathway to social rights. The study titled, ""Understanding Administrative Burden and Complexity in Passported Benefits: A Case Study from Israel,"" is published in the Journal of Social Policy.
Passported benefits are supplementary benefits provided to individuals who already receive direct cash benefits, aiming to provide extra support without bureaucratic processes. However, the article highlights that accessing these benefits can be challenging, leading to low take-up. To better understand these challenges, the study employs the concept of administrative burden, referring to the burdensome experiences individuals encounter when navigating bureaucratic processes.
The research finds that passported benefits in Israel are complex and decentralized, with diverse eligibility tracks and implementation. The study identifies five dimensions that shape passported benefits: the role of primary cash benefits in determining eligibility, level of automation, legal status, type of service delivery, and degree of decentralization. Each dimension contributes to the administrative burden experienced by individuals.
Eligibility for passported benefits in Israel goes beyond a simple connection to primary benefits, introducing additional conditions and distinctions. Automation plays a crucial role in determining eligibility, with some benefits being automated while others require active application from claimants.
The legal status of these benefits varies and affects their stability and potential for policy changes. Service delivery methods range from in-kind services to cash assistance and tax breaks. The decentralization of passported benefits involves multiple entities, adding complexity to the claiming process.
The study emphasizes that the complexity and administrative burden associated with passported benefits can lead to low take-up rates of the benefits. It highlights the need for simplification, automation, and flexibility in the processes to reduce burden and improve access. Unifying take-up processes and developing assessment tools are also recommended to manage the administrative burden effectively.
The research draws attention to the importance of academic scrutiny and theoretical understanding of passported benefits, which have historically received less attention compared to primary benefits in the welfare state. The study calls for further research to better understand and address the intensity of administrative burden in passported benefits.
More information: Noam Tarshish et al, A Fast Track to Social Rights? Passported Benefits and Administrative Burden, Journal of Social Policy (2023). DOI: 10.1017/S0047279423000326
Provided by Hebrew University of Jerusalem",Not_Explicit
"*
Q2 profit T$181.8 bln vs T$172.55 bln analyst view
*
Q2 revenue down 13.7% on year at $15.68 bln
(Adds milestone in second paragraph, background in sixth paragraph)
TAIPEI, July 20 (Reuters) - Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC reported a 23.3% fall in second-quarter net profit on Thursday as global economic woes dented demand for chips used in applications as varied as cars, cellphones and servers and coming off a strong period last year.
While the result beat analyst forecasts, it was the company's first on-year drop in quarterly profit since the second quarter of 2019 when it fell 7.6%.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple Inc supplier, saw April-June net profit drop to T$181.8 billion ($5.85 billion) from T$237.0 billion a year earlier.
That compared with the T$172.55 billion average of 21 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.
TSMC, Asia's most valuable listed company, said second-quarter revenue dropped 13.7% year-on-year to $15.68 billion, in line with the company's previous forecast.
As the biggest maker of chips that power products as varied as phones, cars and advanced computers, TSMC must navigate an uncertain industry outlook and a U.S.-China chip spat that could make it vulnerable.
TSMC's Taipei-listed shares fell 27.1% in 2022, but are up around 30% so far this year, giving the chipmaker a market value of $486.5 billion. The stock fell 0.3% on Thursday versus a 0.3% rise in the benchmark index.
($1 = 31.0580 Taiwan dollars) (Reporting by Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jacqueline Wong & Shri Navaratnam)",Not_Explicit
"A federal judge on Thursday denied Jacob Chansley, better known as the infamous “QAnon Shaman,” a request to reverse his guilty plea for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. In his denial, Judge Royce Lamberth wrote that Chansley was “the face of the riot” and that recently emerged materials—like video shared by Tucker Carlson in March—actually made him wish he’d slapped Chansley with a harsher sentence than he did in Nov. 2021. The swift denial came less than a week after Chansley filed a motion to have his plea reversed. Chansley had previously filed to vacate or correct his sentence in April, which was also denied. Thursday’s ruling means Chansley, who gained notoriety after photos emerged of him being shirtless with a buffalo headdress on and a painted face, will maintain his guilty plea to a charge of obstructing Congress’ certification of the 2020 vote.
CHEAT SHEET
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"An injunction blocking Florida’s law restricting drag performances applies to all venues in the state — not just to the restaurant that challenged the ban — a federal judge said Wednesday.
Dubbed “Florida’s anti-drag ban,” the legislation threatens Pride events and small businesses with criminal penalties for allowing minors to watch certain drag performances even with a parent’s approval. Venues that violate the ban could face fees or have their liquor licenses revoked.
Passage of the bill — one of several measures restricting the rights of LGBTQ people passed by Florida’s Republican-led legislature this year — brought hundreds of drag performers and their allies, including some Democratic lawmakers, to Tallahassee for a protest on the steps of the Florida State Capitol on April 25.
In May, just days after DeSantis signed the bill into law, the owner of the Orlando location of Hamburger Mary’s, a drag-themed restaurant, sued the state over the ban, claiming the law violates First Amendment rights.
Breaking News
U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell in June granted a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the state from enforcing the law.
Jeremy Redfern, DeSantis’ press secretary, said in a statement that the administration believed the judge’s opinion was “dead wrong,” adding the state “looked forward to prevailing on appeal.”
Attorneys for the state told the judge the injunction should only apply to the Orlando restaurant, but he rejected their argument.
“Plaintiff is not the only party suffering injury as a result of the passage of the Act; it has a chilling effect on all members of society who fall within its reach,” Presnell wrote.
In June, a federal judge struck down a similar ban in Tennessee, saying the first-in-the-nation legislation violated First Amendment rights.
Judge Thomas Parker, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said the law — which would severely restrict drag performances — was “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.”
With News Wire Services",Not_Explicit
"How Kerry’s energy accelerator can help to supercharge green investments
Last month, leaders from economies large and small met in Paris for a climate finance summit to help to bridge the gap between current levels of green investment and what is needed to meet international climate goals. The outcomes were modest, but ambitious ideas were put on the table.
One concept — proposed as part of the “Bridgetown Initiative” advanced by Prime Minister Mottley of Barbados — is a new facility that would issue $100 billion per year in coverage of local currency depreciation risk for green investments in developing countries.
While the $100 billion number may seem large, it pales in comparison to what analysts project is required to avoid dangerous levels of climate change. For example, a new report by the International Energy Agency and the International Finance Corporation indicates that annual clean energy investments in emerging economies (outside China) and other developing countries, which currently total $260 billion, need to rise to over $1 trillion within five years to meet our global climate goals. A substantial (albeit, minority) share of this investment will need to be sourced from international capital that remains wary of the risk of local currency depreciation.
How to overcome this barrier to clean energy investment?
One possibility is to leverage the depreciation coverage of the Bridgetown Initiative through the Energy Transition Accelerator proposed by the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, to mobilize carbon market revenues and private capital that funds them.
The proposed Bridgetown currency risk coverage would take advantage of and partially correct for the tendency of hedging markets to overestimate — and overprice — the risk of depreciation of emerging market currencies against the dollar. The proposal’s originator, Professor Avinash Persaud, has analyzed what the market has charged versus actual depreciation and found a systematic overpayment, effectively a penalty imposed on developing country investments. The new entity would avoid this overpayment, enabling currency coverage at a discounted price, lowering the cost of capital, catalyzing more green projects in developing countries, and thus, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
While various potential sources of funding for the agency have been enumerated, notably international public sector sources, there is one important potential source that merits special attention: private capital mobilized through carbon markets. Secretary Kerry, in cooperation with the Rockefeller Foundation, the Bezos Earth Fund and others, has launched the Energy Transition Accelerator to mobilize capital for mitigation through carbon market mechanisms. Combining the private capital of the Energy Transition Accelerator with the Bridgetown proposal (what might be termed “Bridgetown+”) would provide for an even greater impact.
This type of combination was contemplated by the Exchange Rate Coverage Facility, a proposal developed by our team from Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, the World Economic Forum and the World Bank’s carbon markets team that also targets this critical impediment of currency depreciation risk.
Like the Bridgetown structure, the Exchange Rate Coverage Facility would be funded by international public financial institutions, as well as governments, philanthropies, sovereign wealth funds and others interested in reducing global emissions by supporting clean energy investments in developing countries.
However, in contrast to Bridgetown, the funding source to be tapped first to cover any depreciation (what can be termed “first loss”) would be carbon market-type revenues generated by the green project’s own emissions reductions — revenues provided by private sector investors in carbon markets that are seeking the benefits of supporting certified emissions reductions. This constitutes a potentially large additional resource that would significantly expand the amount of depreciation coverage contemplated by the Bridgetown proposal.
The initial modeling for the Exchange Rate Coverage Facility indicates that many renewables projects would generate, at a relatively modest carbon price (about $20/ton of CO2), sufficient carbon revenues to cover the first 30 percent or so of currency depreciation, with a margin that would leave developers with an upside (based on assumptions regarding the project’s financing plan, the construction cost of renewables and the amount of avoided carbon given the grid’s emissions factor). These additional resources could be paired with the coverage offered by the Bridgetown agency.
For example, if local currency revenues from a project lose up to 20 percent of their value, the deficit (“first loss”) for repayments to the project’s international lenders would be funded from carbon revenues. In the event of a depreciation exceeding 20 percent, the resulting “second loss” would be funded by the Bridgetown agency.
In order to mobilize those carbon revenues, a successful Energy Transition Accelerator will be needed to remove uncertainties that currently undermine the ability of carbon markets to mobilize private capital for mitigation. Additionally, the combination proposed here would support the Energy Transition Accelerator’s own objective of better-using carbon markets for mitigation (particularly for renewable energy) by effectively leveraging them with public sector and other resources through the Bridgetown structure.
To protect against increasingly extreme climate events, we must tackle the emissions problem. This task requires massive amounts of investment in green projects in developing countries. Fortunately, the international private sector has the resources to contribute its share to meet that challenge, but it will require help to address currency risk.
The Kerry Energy Transition Accelerator is part of the answer. Using the carbon markets it is designed to catalyze can augment the impact of the Bridgetown currency proposal to provide a powerful new tool to raise the private capital we need to meet our global climate goals.
Philippe Benoit is an adjunct senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy focusing on climate finance and emerging markets and is also research director at Global Infrastructure Analytics and Sustainability 2050.
Jonathan Elkind is a former assistant secretary of Energy and a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Researchers reconstruct earliest known composite-tiled roofs
Researchers from Peking University School of Archaeology and Museology collaborated with the Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to reconstruct the world's earliest composite-tiled roofs. Their findings were consolidated in an article titled ""Reconstructing the earliest known composite-tiled roofs from the Chinese Loess Plateau,"" published in Scientific Reports.
With support from projects like ""Archaeological China: Settlements and Society in the Hetao Region,"" the researchers used 5,000 pieces of terracotta tiles dating back to the early Longshan culture, excavated from the Qiaocun Ruins in Lingtai County, Gansu Province.
By means of morphological measurement, quantitative analysis, 3D modeling, and computer simulation, the researchers then reconstructed the earliest known splicing technology of composite-tiled roofs, achieving a major breakthrough in the research on the traceability of composite terracotta tiles.
Existing archaeological discoveries indicate that the earliest ceramic tiles in the world appeared in Greece circa late 3,000 BC, but only in simple forms. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating results show that the absolute age of tiles unearthed from the relic site of Qiaocun date back to 2400–2200 BC, proving these as the earliest composite tiles.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046–771 BC), terracotta tile manufacturing was significantly developed in central Shaanxi Province, forming the Longshan Western Zhou culture, which further spread to the rest of Asia including South Korea, Japan, the Russian Far East and Southeast Asia.
To avoid the limitations of previous studies, the research team recruited experts in the fields of archaeology, architecture, relic protection and computer simulation to conduct cross-disciplinary research, overcoming difficulties such as the small sample size and the fragility of the samples.
The study of the Qiaocun Ruins is an important part of the ""Archaeology China"" project titled ""Settlements and Society in the Hetao Region."" The recent findings suggest a strong relation between the roofed buildings in Qiaocun and increasing social interactions in public affairs management in the Loess Plateau, which promotes the social complexity and civilization process of this region.
More information: Yijing Xu et al, Reconstructing the earliest known composite-tiled roofs from the Chinese Loess Plateau, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35299-x
Journal information: Scientific Reports
Provided by Peking University",Not_Explicit
"Sensex, Nifty End At A Record High For Fifth Day Led By RIL, ITC, Bajaj Finance: Market Wrap
The Sensex closed 302 points, or 0.45%, higher at 67,097.44, while the Nifty 50 gained 84 points, or 0.42%, to end at 19,833.15.
India's benchmark stock indices closed at fresh record highs on Wednesday, led by gains in consumer durables and public sector banks, while information technology and auto stocks were under pressure.
Intraday, the Sensex rose 0.56% to a new high of 67,171.38, while the Nifty 50 jumped 0.52% to hit a fresh record high of 19,851.70.
Stocks in the U.K. and Europe advanced. Rate-sensitive real estate stocks led gains in Europe’s Stoxx 600, with U.K. homebuilders surging the most since 2008 on optimism about less-aggressive hikes. The U.K. consumer price index was 7.9% higher than a year ago in June, a sharp drop from the 8.7% reading in May.
U.S. futures were flat after Wall Street stocks closed near session highs on Tuesday, as earnings results from Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley bolstered banking shares on Tuesday. In Asia, shares in Hong Kong and mainland China were the worst performers on Wednesday.
The S&P BSE Sensex closed 302 points, or 0.45%, higher at 67,097.44, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 84 points, or 0.42%, to end at 19,833.15.
Reliance Industries Ltd., ITC Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., and State Bank of India positively contributed to the change in the Nifty 50.
TCS Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., and Hindalco Industries Ltd. weighed on the index.
The broader market indices outperformed their larger peers, with the S&P BSE MidCap rising 0.63% and the S&P BSE SmallCap gaining 0.61% at the close of trading on Wednesday.
Nineteen out of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, except S&P BSE Teck. S&P BSE Utilities rose the most.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of the buyers. About 2,003 stocks rose, 1,409 declined, and 125 remained unchanged on the BSE.",Not_Explicit
"Women's World Cup ticket sales top 1.5 million, on track for record
A New Zealand family of five purchased the tickets that took the sales total to 1.5 million for the Women’s World Cup on Monday.
Soccer’s world governing body says the tournament being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand is on track to be the best attended in the competition’s history.
FIFA said the 1,500,000th ticket went to Auckland woman Maria Strong, who bought tickets for her husband and three children to attend Italy’s Group G win over Argentina at Eden Park as part of a family celebration for her son’s 12th birthday.
In a statement, FIFA said the sales target had been surpassed within the first five days of the month-long tournament, setting the 2023 edition on course to pass 2015 in Canada for record attendance. More than 1.35 million people attended a 52-game tournament in Canada. The tournament has expanded to 32 teams this year.
The opening games set records for women's soccer matches in both co-host countries. The crowd at New Zealand's upset win over Norway last Thursday set a new mark of 42,137. Australia's 1-0 win over Ireland attracted 75,784 at Stadium Australia, which is also the venue for the final on Aug. 20.
""We are seeing a surge in support for women’s football, not just in ticket sales, but also in broadcast viewership, fan festival participation and merchandise sales,"" Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said.
Football Australia said the first 12 games had a combined attendance of 363,937. with the average of 30,326 per game surpassing the 21,756 for the first dozen at France 2019 and the overall Women's World Cup average of 24,780.
The 1999 tournament in the United States holds the record for the highest average match attendance, with a crowd average of 37,944 across 32 games.
Reporting by The Associated Press.",Not_Explicit
"President Joe Biden touted his administration's efforts to boost clean energy manufacturing and create union jobs in a speech Thursday in Philadelphia.
Earlier in the day, the White House announced the first offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, which it says will have enough clean energy potential to power nearly 1.3 million homes.
“When I think climate, I think jobs,” Biden said. “I think union jobs. Not a joke.”
Biden visited the Philly Shipyard after a steel-cutting ceremony earlier in the day to mark the construction of an offshore wind vessel.
The power generators will bring an estimated $125 million in economic activity every year, and 1,000 workers across nine unions have been employed to build them, using steel plates made by the United Steelworkers in Indiana, the White House said.
Biden said: ""All this investment means good-paying jobs here at home, here at home. We're making sure these new jobs come free and fair and the ability to join a union if you're not already in one.""
The potential for more strikes looms over Biden's re-election campaign.
On Wednesday, Biden met briefly with Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers union, a White House official said. UAW leaders had asked to brief senior White House staff members about their analysis and positions in relation to negotiations with the Big Three automakers — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. Fain has said the UAW is willing to strike against those companies.
UPS workers have also threatened to strike as Teamsters leaders, who represent UPS workers, negotiate a new labor contract. Meanwhile, the national board of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, also known as SAG-AFTRA, voted unanimously to go on strike this month after the Writers Guild of America had already gone on strike.
Biden has frequently referred to himself as the most pro-union president in history. ""I made a commitment that I'd be the most pro-union president in American history, and I'm keeping that promise,"" he said Thursday.
Despite his administration's efforts to promote his ""Bidenomics"" agenda, his economic approval rating has risen only slightly, by 3 percentage points, to 37% in April, according to CNBC’s new All-America Economic Survey.
This summer, high-level administration officials spread out over the country to tout Biden's economic agenda as part of the Investing in America tour. Biden highlighted the importance of infrastructure in a speech about Bidenomics in South Carolina on July 6.
Bidenomics focuses on three points: making public investments, educating workers to grow the middle class and promoting competition, according to the White House.
Across the aisle, the GOP has seized upon voters' worries over the economy to attack Bidenomics. The White House took a swipe at Republicans in Congress in its fact sheet announcing Biden's visit to Philadelphia, saying that if Republicans ""had their way, their states would have lost out on billions of dollars in investments, jobs, and opportunity.""
""Yet nearly every Republican Member of the House voted again to overturn the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits in April 2023 — doubling down on their opposition at a time when manufacturers were investing in their state,"" the White House wrote.
In a statement in 2021 explaining his vote, Tuberville said he would be ""for a bill that invests every penny of every dollar in improvements to our roads, bridges, waterways, and rural broadband,"" but he added that ""the final legislation is loaded with giveaways to big cities and pet projects that have little to do with real infrastructure.""
Biden said: ""Here’s what he says now: 'Great to see Alabama receive critical funds to boost ongoing broadband efforts.' Thought he thought it was a bad idea to invest in that, but now it’s coming to Alabama, and hot damn, boys, good thing.""
Biden also condemned Tuberville's blockade of hundreds of military promotions as a move that jeopardizes ""our national security.""
""I’m glad the senator’s coming around on the infrastructure law, but I’m not going to let up until he comes around in the critical military nominations, as well,"" Biden said.",Not_Explicit
"The Memo: Culture-war battles fail to deliver for DeSantis
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) keeps pressing his case on culture war issues — even though his efforts so far haven’t helped him rise above a modest ceiling of support in the presidential race.
That, in turn, poses the question as to whether former President Trump already has a lock on most of the conservative voters animated by those issues.
DeSantis is plowing on regardless.
Late last week, the Florida governor suggested he could take legal action against Bud Light’s parent company over the controversy centered around transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
DeSantis’s argument is that the corporation may have breached its fiduciary duty to shareholders — including Florida pension funds — in its marketing efforts with Mulvaney, which hurt sales.
DeSantis has also been hitting back hard at Vice President Harris in a furor over new standards for teaching Black history in Florida schools.
The standards include a sentence asserting that students should be taught “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Harris, the daughter of Jamaican-born and Indian-born parents, contended that it is offensive to suggest that there could be any “benefit” to “being subject to this level of dehumanization” under slavery.
Without naming DeSantis, she slammed those who she said would “push propaganda to our children.”
DeSantis excoriated Harris’s statements as “absolutely ridiculous” and “outrageous.”
The two separate fights are just the latest manifestations of DeSantis’s culture-warrior stance, a worldview encapsulated in his boast that his state is “where woke goes to die.”
DeSantis has conducted a long-running fight with Disney, which began when the corporation publicity criticized legislation endorsed by the governor that banned the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity to young children.
He has blasted critical race theory, objected to the draft curriculum of an Advanced Placement course on African-American Studies, and defended the six-week abortion ban passed in his state.
More than a year ago, DeSantis signed the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” contending that “we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida.”
These kinds of stances should be red meat to the Republican base.
But the number of Republican voters rallying to DeSantis’s side is underwhelming so far.
DeSantis lags Trump by more than 30 points in the weighted national polling average maintained by data site FiveThirtyEight. His level of support — around 19 percent of Republican voters — is essentially unchanged since he launched his candidacy two months ago.
Some Republicans argue that DeSantis has made a strategic miscalculation in allowing his stance on culture-war issues to overshadow everything else.
GOP strategist Dan Judy argued that the Republican primary electorate is comprised of three camps, which he termed “Always Trump,” “Never Trump” and “Maybe Trump” voters.
The red-meat rhetoric, Judy added, “most appeals to the people who won’t vote for anyone but Trump. And leaning so hard into the culture wars has actually turned off some of those ‘Maybe Trump’ voters who are less comfortable with the anti-trans stuff, the hard abortion stuff. That has been [DeSantis’s] biggest strategic mistake so far.”
There is some data to support this argument.
A recent report from newspaper chain McClatchy noted polling that suggests DeSantis “has suffered steep declines in support among GOP voters with at least a bachelor’s degree.”
McClatchy cited a Quinnipiac University poll, among other pieces of evidence, that showed DeSantis’s support among college-educated white Republicans declining from 51 percent in February to 29 percent this month.
Todd Belt, the director of the political management program at the George Washington University, argued that DeSantis is trying to make “the woke issue” his point of differentiation from other GOP candidates.
But, Belt added, “it is hard to pry people away from Trump with just that. It looks like he has pried away about 20 percent, and that is not an insignificant amount. But elections are about the future, and we haven’t heard much about that.”
DeSantis allies would dispute that contention.
In broad strokes, his supporters say he has begun the process of laying out his agenda for the American people and that criticisms of the campaign to date are both premature and unfair.
DeSantis gave the first major policy speech of his campaign late last month, when he outlined a hawkish agenda on immigration.
A memo prepared by his campaign earlier this month, intended to reassure donors and other supporters, highlighted what it branded a “No Excuses policy agenda” that will focus on the economy, foreign policy and how to address the threat from China.
If DeSantis wants to engage more on policy, he also has a tailor-made opportunity just around the corner. The first Republican debate is also less than a month away.
Still, it’s not as if DeSantis is going to drop his claim as the most aggressive culture warrior in the race.
The early July memo to supporters — reportedly written by campaign manager Generra Peck — highlighted DeSantis’s biography, his economic message and his willingness to push back on China.
But, it added, “Governor DeSantis is THE leader of the culture fight in America. We will continue to burnish his record fighting the Left who want to come after our kids and take over society via the ‘Control Economy.’”
The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Yury Vorobyov, a deputy speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, brought up the issue during a meeting of Armenian and Russian lawmakers held in the Siberian city of Irkutsk. He referred to the Armenian Constitutional Court’s decision in March to give the green light for parliamentary ratification of the treaty, also known as the Rome Statute.
“While we proceed from the assumption that this step by our Armenian partners does not have an anti-Russian subtext, in practice it is causing significant damage to Russian-Armenian relations,” Russian news agencies quoted Vorobyov as saying.
“We call on our allies to once again carefully consider the implications of joining the Rome Statute and assess potential risks to allied relations with Russia,” he told deputy speaker Hakob Arshakian and other pro-government members of the Armenian parliament attending the meeting.
According the Armenian parliament’s press office, Arshakian assured the Russian side that Yerevan’s plans to submit to the ICC’s jurisdiction are “in no way directed against Russia” and are aimed instead at “preventing Azerbaijani attacks on the sovereign territory of Armenia.”
Other Armenian officials made similar statements following the Constitutional Court ruling which came one week after the ICC issued the arrest warrant for Putin over war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in Ukraine. Moscow was not convinced by those assurances. It warned Yerevan later in March that the ratification of the Rome Statute is “absolutely unacceptable” and would have “extremely negative” consequences for bilateral ties.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government appears to have ignored the warning, sending the treaty to the National Assembly for ratification late last month.
Arshakian revealed on Friday that “active discussions” on the matter are now underway between Armenian and Russian diplomats. He expressed confidence that a “legal solution acceptable to Armenia and Russia” will be found.
Independent legal experts believe that recognition of the ICC’s jurisdiction would require the Armenian authorities to arrest Putin and extradite him to The Hague tribunal if he visits the South Caucasus country.
Armenian opposition lawmakers have expressed serious concern over such a dramatic possibility, saying that it would ruin the country’s relationship with its key ally. One of them claimed in March that Pashinian engineered the Constitutional Court ruling to “please the West.” Most of the court’s current judges have been installed by Pashinian’s political team.
Russian-Armenian relations had already soured in the months leading up to the March ruling due to what Pashinian’s administration sees as a lack of Russian support for Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan.
Earlier this week, South Africa announced that Putin will not attend a summit of the BRICS nations in Johannesburg scheduled for August. South Africa is a signatory to the ICC treaty.",Not_Explicit
"When George Osborne announced the “personal savings allowance” in 2015, hardly anyone noticed.
Getting the first £1,000 of interest on your savings tax free didn’t matter much if you weren’t getting interest anyway, and with rates stuck close to zero that was the case for most people.
But these low payments also meant that the threshold was enough to take 95pc of taxpayers out of savings tax altogether.
This has changed dramatically. We learned this week that the number of Britons paying savings tax has doubled in just a year, and the Government now expects to take almost £7bn from people simply putting aside money for a rainy day.
This soaring tax on savings could well prove to be the next Tory fiscal disaster, triggering even more dissatisfaction than the widely despised inheritance tax – and if the Chancellor doesn’t take steps to fix it soon, the party will be in even more trouble than it already is.
The original allowance was the kind of fiddly measure that Osborne made a specialty of as chancellor.
His “savings revolution” sounded generous and was well-intended, but didn’t amount to very much at the time.
The idea was to encourage savings, but with interest rates at 300-year lows the returns simply weren’t there for people to want to save in the first place.
By the time rates reached 0.1pc in the pandemic, you’d have needed a million pounds just to earn £1,000 in the first place.
That’s if you got paid the full Bank Rate; given that most deposits pay rather less, you’d have probably needed a million or so more.
Unsurprisingly, most of us didn’t have that sort of cash sitting around, and if we did we were probably tempted to put it into other assets seeking capital gains.
This has started to change. The Bank of England’s base rate is already up to 5pc, and plenty of banks are offering higher returns if you are willing to park your money for a few months or more.
At these levels, even £20,000 will drag you into the net, with the result that lots more people are having to pay a chunk of tax on their savings income.
We already have some idea of the numbers. The stockbroker AJ Bell used a Freedom of Information request from HMRC to find out how much people were paying.
In the year to April 2023, the number of people paying tax on their savings incomes rose by 82pc to hit nearly 1.8m, paying up a total of £3.4bn for the Treasury’s coffers, compared to just £1.3bn a year before.
The bad news for savers doesn’t end there. Interest rates rose steeply last year and have kept rising since April.
People have a strong incentive to pile money into their savings accounts, and even if they keep the level constant can expect to earn a lot more on their savings this year – and pay a lot more in tax.
Some estimates suggest the Government will take £6.6bn this year, and possibly more. At these levels, the total take would be roughly equivalent to the £7.2bn raised annually through inheritance tax.
And while this might be good news for the bean counters at the Treasury, it’s not particularly good news for the Conservative party.
Even by our current dire standards, Conservatives should be rewarding saving, not punishing it. After all, in the 15 years since anyone last earned meaningful sums on their savings, the way we are taxed has changed significantly.
Creeping inflation has turned the 40pc rate into something increasingly normal for middle earners, with 7.8m people set to be paying it by 2027.
Being in this band cuts your savings allowance down even further to just £500, so if through heroic efforts you managed to save some money after paying all that tax, the Treasury would still be getting its greedy claws into just under half of the interest you earn.
This is the very opposite of what a genuinely Conservative government should be doing.
It punishes people for working hard, for managing their money carefully and responsibly looking after themselves and their families, and it does it in order to feed an out of control state that has long since lost the ability to manage its spending or deliver services that work.
It wouldn’t even be very hard to fix the problem if the Chancellor wanted to. The savings allowance could be increased to £10,000, so it only starts to bite when you had £200,000 or more set aside for a rainy day.
Or the tax on savings income could be fixed at 20pc, equal to capital gains tax, so that people with ordinary savings were taxed in the same way as entrepreneurs or private equity executives.
That way people might actually be rewarded for looking after themselves. As alien a concept as that might be to today’s Tories, that would seem like a sound conservative policy.
In the meantime, as millions of us have to fill in self assessment forms and send off cheques to HMRC to pay the tax on our savings, the stealth raid has the potential to turn into the next tax catastrophe to hit the party.
Inheritance tax is widely disliked precisely because it is seen as an unfair levy on aspiration and an additional charge on income that has already been taxed. That is even more true of the “savings tax”.
George Osborne was perfectly right to promise his “saving revolution”. The UK needs to save more, it needs to invest more, and it needs people to take responsibility for their own lives instead of always relying on the state.
That is impossible while the state is confiscating vast chunks of what people earn.
If Chancellor Jeremy Hunt does not reform the system very soon, the price will be a high one. People won’t bother to save. And they certainly won’t bother to vote for a party that has forgotten the core values it is meant to be defending.",Not_Explicit
"360 One Wam Q1 Results Review - Strong AUM Growth; Higher Opex Dents Margins: Motilal Oswal
Higher operating cost led to sharp increase in cost to income ratio.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
360 One Wam Ltd.’s total revenues for the quarter grew 8% YoY to Rs 4 billion. This is in line with our estimates.
Total opex grew 25% YoY and came in at ~Rs 2 billion, 12% higher than our estimates. Increased employee cost and ‘other expenses’ led to higher opex for the quarter.
Employee costs increased 22% YoY. The total employee stock ownership plan cost estimated ~Rs 1- 1.15 billion will be amortised over a period of seven to eight years. The cost/income ratio increased sharply by ~700 basis points YoY to 51.6% (our estimate: 46%).
360 One Wam's profit before tax for the quarter came in line with our estimates at ~Rs 2.3 billion (as ‘other income’ came in higher than expectations). However, profit after tax grew 18% YoY to Rs 1.9 billion. Reduction in overall taxes led to a profit after tax beat of ~6%.
Total assets under management is up 22% YoY to Rs 3.83 tonne, with continued focus on scaling up annual recurring revenue assets. ARR AUM was up 33% YoY at Rs 1.9 trillion.
The board has approved an interim dividend of Rs 4.
We broadly maintained our estimates for FY24/FY25. We retain our 'Buy' rating with a one-year target price of Rs 620 (based on 25 times March-25E earnings per share).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"ICICI Lombard Q1 Result Review - Motor Segment Remains A Growth Concern: Yes Securities
New expenses of management rules have not yet brought in pricing discipline among competitors expected by ICICI Lombard.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Yes Securities Report
Result Highlights
Net premiums earned: ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd.'s net premiums earned grew by 4.3% QoQ, driven higher by health including personal accident segment.
Loss ratios: Overall loss ratio has improved by 10 basis points QoQ to 74.1%, where motor own damage and third party has evolved positively QoQ.
Expense control: Expense ratio fell -480 bps QoQ to 26.6% where opex fell - 31.3% QoQ and commissions rose by 509% QoQ.
Our view
The motor segment net earned premium grew 0.1%/3.3% QoQ/YoY. There has been no motor third party price hike due to which certain subsegments have become unviable. Health (including personal accident) NEP grew 16.2%/31.7% QoQ/YoY.
ICICI Lombard's management is excited that the investments made in retail health are poised to play out.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"A historic university for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Washington, D.C. held a graduation ceremony to honor 24 Black deaf students and four Black teachers who were forced to attend segregated schools on their grounds.
On Saturday, Gallaudet University honored students who attended the Kendall School Division II for Negroes on the Gallaudet campus in the early 1950s, the university announced in a press release.
At the ceremony, the 24 students and their descendants received high school diplomas, and four Black teachers of the Kendall School were also honored.
Five of the six living students attended the graduation ceremony with their families.
The university proclaimed July 22 ""Kendall 24 Day"" and issued a Board of Trustees proclamation acknowledging and apologizing for ""perpetuating the historic inequity"" against the students.
""Gallaudet deeply regrets the role it played in perpetuating the historic inequity, systemic marginalization, and the grave injustice committed against the Black Deaf community when Black Deaf students were excluded at Kendall School and in denying the 24 Black Deaf Kendall School students their diplomas,"" the proclamation, which apologizes to all 24 students by name, reads.
The Kendall School on the Gallaudet University enrolled and educated Black students starting in 1898, but after White parents complained about the integration of races in 1905, Black deaf students were transferred to the Maryland School for the Colored Blind and Deaf-Mutes in Baltimore or to the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Philadelphia, completely eliminating the presence of Black students at Kendall School, the university said.
In 1952, Louise B. Miller, the hearing mother of four children, three of whom were deaf, launched a court battle after her eldest son Kenneth was denied attendance at the school because he was Black, according to the university.
Miller, and the parents of four other Black Deaf children, filed and won a civil lawsuit against the District of Columbia Board of Education for the right of Black deaf children like her son Kenneth to attend Kendall School.
""The court ruled that Black deaf students could not be sent outside the state or district to obtain the same education that White students were provided,"" the university said.
But instead of simply accepting Black deaf students into Kendall School, Gallaudet built the segregated Kendall School on its campus, which had less resources.
After the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court decision, Kendall School Division II for Negroes closed and Black students began to attend school with their White deaf peers.
The university said they will honor Miller with the Louise B. Miller Pathways and Gardens: A Legacy to Black Deaf Children. ""This memorial will provide a space for reflection and healing through remembrance of all who have fought for the equality that Black Deaf children deserve,"" the university said.
""Today is an important day of recognition and also a celebration long overdue,""president of Gallaudet University Roberta J. Cordano said. ""While today's ceremony in no way removes past harms and injustices or the impact of them, it is an important step to strengthen our continued path of healing.""
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"US officials have ‘no reason to doubt’ Russia moved nuclear weapons to Belarus: report
U.S. intelligence officials told reporters on Friday that there is ‘no reason to doubt’ Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that he moved nuclear weapons into Belarus, according to CNN.
Senior Defense Intelligence Agency officials also said they don’t believe the movement alters the global nuclear landscape or increases the risk of nuclear attack, the outlet reported.
Putin announced in June that Russia had delivered its first nuclear warheads into Belarus as part of a plan to deploy tactical nuclear bombs in the country bordering Ukraine.
“This is a deterrence measure [against] all those who think about Russia and its strategic defeat,” he said at the time.
The Russian president also claimed that it was only “the first batch,” the Russian state-run outlet TASS reported. “We will complete this work by the end of this year.”
As the Russia-Ukraine war nears its 18th month, the intel officials said they had no reason to doubt “that [Russia has] had some success” in transferring the weapons, which Putin called a “deterrence” against “all those who think about Russia and its strategic defeat.”
While they didn’t go into detail about what made them come to their decision, the officials acknowledged that the weapons were difficult to track — even with satellites.
Putin first announced plans to store tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus in March, saying their placement is a response to U.S. nuclear weapons in nearby European countries and Turkey. He said their actions were no different than what the United States is doing.
“We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews,” Putin said at the time, as reported by multiple media outlets. “We are going to do the same thing.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko also said that he would not hesitate to use the weapons if provoked.
“We have got the missiles and bombs from Russia… Not all of them, little by little,” Lukashenko said in June.
“God forbid I have to make a decision to use those weapons today, but there would be no hesitation if we face an aggression,” he added.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"India Low-Rated Firms Seen Eyeing Private Credit As Costs Spike
Borrowing costs for India’s lower-rated companies are rising at a faster clip than for higher-rated ones as money from mutual funds dries up, fueling their need to tap private credit, one veteran banker said.
(Bloomberg) -- Borrowing costs for India's lower-rated companies are rising at a faster clip than for higher-rated ones as money from mutual funds dries up, fueling their need to tap private credit, one veteran banker said.
Sujata Guhathakurta, president and head of debt capital markets at Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., said that alternative investments are filling the gap left by asset management companies. These have experienced a drop in inflows since the Franklin Templeton mutual funds crisis of 2020.
The yield premium on company notes rated BBB over those ranked AAA reached 396 basis points this month, the highest since March, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s despite bets the central bank will forgo further interest-rate increases after keeping rates on hold in June.
“Credit risk funds have shrunk in size and some of that demand has gravitated to wealth funds, alternate investment funds and non-bank companies,” Guhathakurta said in an interview. “But the cost is higher” by as much as 1.5 percentage points.
Private credit — where non-banks lend directly to companies, often at high interest rates — has grown rapidly in recent years to about $1.5 trillion globally, according to Preqin Ltd., and the asset class is projected to hit $2.2 trillion by 2027.
In India, alternative investments have skyrocketed since mid-2020, with investments more than doubling to 3.4 trillion rupees, according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The credit risk funds of asset management companies have seen a nearly 60% erosion in assets under management in about the same time span, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India.
Here’s more of Guhathakurta’s comments:
With a flat yield curve, highly rated corporates are getting short term and long-term money almost at similar levels
Spreads may widen from current levels if primary issuance increases. The yield curve would then gradually steepen
Given hopes the Reserve Bank of India is near the end of its rate-hike cycle, many corporates have actively started evaluating floating-rate debt. Firms want to borrow at a fixed rate only for a short amount of time as they don’t want to lock in high funding costs
--With assistance from Divya Patil.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"HDFC AMC Q1 Results Review - Equity Market Share Continues To Improve: Prabhudas Lilladher
Core earnings in-line at Rs 3.0 billion; revenue miss was offset by lower opex.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Prabhudas Lilladher Report
We raise multiple for HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd. from 27 times to 35 times (five year average of 40 times) as core profit after tax is upgraded by 7.0% for FY24/25E, due to higher revenue given strong assets under management growth in FY24E. Equity growth may outpace industry (+13% year-to-date) given-
market share gains from healthy net flows led by superior performance and
concerns around total expense ratio impact on earnings have been allayed as Securities and Exchange Board of India will release a new consultative paper.
HDFC AMC saw a mixed quarter; despite higher quarterly average assets under management growth, core income was a miss due to lower yields and higher opex. However, core profit was protected due to lower tax rate.
Company remains top performer in one-year and three-year buckets while it also moved to rank-1 in the five-year bucket.
Equity market share is rising and touched 11.9% (+13 bps QoQ). Over FY23-25E, we see a core profit after tax compound annual growth rate of 12.7% (earlier 8.7%) with stable core income of 35-36 basis points.
Stock is currently valued at 31 times on FY25E core EPS. We raise target price from Rs 2,100 to Rs 2,800. Retain 'Buy'.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"The days of visa-free travel throughout most of Europe are about to change. Starting early next year, the European Union will implement the European Travel Information and Authorization System requiring all visitors from visa-free countries to obtain travel authorization prior to their departure.
Application Process
The European Travel Information and Authorization System is not your traditional visa. It’s a straightforward online application process with approval delivered by email. Travelers will need to fill out an online form with basic biographical information, travel plans and travel history, along with security questions. While most applicants will receive approval within an hour, some may experience a wait of up to 96 hours for further checks. The cost of the application is approximately $8, applicable to travelers of all ages. Once approved, the travel authorization will be valid for multiple entries over three years or until the traveler’s passport expires.
Many Americans were apprehensive about the additional travel document, but as more details about European Travel Information and Authorization System emerge, travelers are finding the process simpler than expected.
“It’s still easy for us to travel to Europe,” said Alexa Moore, a frequent traveler to Europe for both business and leisure. “It’s just one more step we have to think about before our trip.”
European Travel Information and Authorization System will be required for travel to all member countries including full Schengen members, like Spain, France, and Italy, European Free Trade Association countries, like Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, future Schengen members, like Bulgaria and Cyprus, and European microstates, like Andorra and Monaco.
It Will Enhance Border Security & Digital Screening
The primary aim of European Travel Information and Authorization System is to tighten border security, digitally screen and track travelers entering and leaving the countries. The program’s purpose and application process are akin to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization program for visitors to the U.S., making travelers more understanding of the new requirement.
As Europe gears up for the rollout, it’s essential to remember that the length of time American tourists can spend in Europe remains unchanged. United States passport holders are still allowed to stay up to 90 days within a 180-day period without a visa. For stays longer than 90 days, a special visa will be required.
Although the exact launch date of the new travel authorization is uncertain, it is unlikely the European Travel Information and Authorization System will discourage anyone from traveling to Europe.
“I’m bummed about it, but it does seem easy enough,” says travel blogger Nicki Post, acknowledging the fairness of reciprocating entry requirements between nations.",Not_Explicit
"After Donald Trump’s campaign allegedly skipped out on the bill following a 2018 rally, officials in Erie, Pa., want the Republican 2024 front-runner to pay up before his rally on Saturday night.
City officials said the former president’s Make America Great Again rally ran up a $35,129 tab while passing through town for an Oct. 10, 2018, rally at Erie Insurance Arena. That bill for overtime pay for city workers including law enforcement officers was footed by taxpayer money.
Trump plans to return to the scene of the proverbial crime at 6 p.m. Saturday following an afternoon of events at that same venue. City officials said they have no control over the arena, but plan to bill his campaign in advance for the services an event like this requires.
“The city has a duty — and will continue — to provide security for our residents, businesses and anyone who holds an event like this the city, regardless of whether they reimburse the city for unusual coverage costs, or not,” a city spokesman said in a statement to the Daily News.
That statement also said any event of this magnitude, regardless its nature, requires considerable manpower and its organizers “will be billed by the city in advance.”
The former president’s campaign paid $17,500 to rent Erie Insurance Arena in 2018, according to the Erie Times-News.
Inside NYC Politics
But the city says it’s yet be made whole as the 77-year-old politician — who has a long history of dodging debt — prepares to host another costly spectacle meant to return him to the White House in 2024.
“We’re going to see whether we can get some payment from them in advance this time,” Erie Mayor Joe Schember said Tuesday. “It’s important to do this because we’re talking about taxpayer money being used to help make his visit more safe.”
Running up debt at massive fund-raising events isn’t unheard of for Trump’s campaign.
In March, the Daily Beast contacted 30 counties and municipalities where the 45th president hosted rallies and only one of those places responded to confirm it’d been reimbursed.
El Paso, Texas, hired a collection agency to retrieve nearly $570,000 compensation Trump’s campaign owed the city from a 2019 event, according to The Houston Chronicle. A representative from the purported billionaire politician’s camp said they were “reviewing” the invoice, which included more than $380,000 owed to police officers.",Not_Explicit
"Missouri Supreme Court orders attorney general to let abortion ballot initiative go forward
Missouri’s ballot initiative to legalize abortion will be allowed to move forward after the state Supreme Court ruled the attorney general was improperly stonewalling the effort.
The court ruled unanimously on Thursday that Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) was using “misleading” and “incorrect” arguments to justify delaying his approval of the cost estimates ballot measure that would allow residents to vote on whether to legalize abortion, a crucial step in the certification process.
The delay stretched far beyond the normal time the state allows for reviewing and approving ballot initiatives, meaning supporters were unable to start collecting signatures to try to place the measure on the ballot for next year’s election.
The court acknowledged the harm to plaintiff Anna Fitz-James and the initiative process. The process should take approximately 54 days, according to the ACLU of Missouri, which represented Fitz-James. Instead, it’s taken at least 135 days.
“Until the official ballot title is certified – a critical step being held up solely by the Attorney General’s unjustified refusal to act – Fitz-James cannot challenge that title in circuit court or circulate her petitions,” the judges wrote. “Fitz-James’s constitutional right of initiative petition is being obstructed, and the deadline for submitting signed petitions draws nearer every day.”
In a statement, the ACLU of Missouri applauded the decision.
“While today is a tremendous victory for Missourians and the right to direct democracy, it is clear that some who hold office will not hesitate to trample the constitution if it advances their personal interests and political beliefs,” said Luz María Henríquez, the group’s executive director.
The dispute dates back to March, when as part of the procedure to qualify a ballot initiative, the state Auditor’s office conducted a cost estimate. State auditor Scott Fitzpatrick found the proposal would have no known impact on state funds and an estimated cost of at least $51,000 annually in reduced local tax revenues, although “opponents estimate a potentially significant loss to state revenue.”
Bailey rejected those estimates and refused to approve them. Bailey instead said his office estimated the measure’s impact would be “drastic,” and could cost taxpayers upwards of $12 billion because of a loss of Medicaid funding.
Missouri was the first state to enact a “trigger law” in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. There are some exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for rape or incest.
The proposed ballot initiative would enshrine the right to make decisions about abortion, birth control, childbirth and other issues related to pregnancy in the state’s Constitution.
Ballot measures to protect abortion have been successful in other conservative states. As a result, state officials have been working to try to make the measure process much more difficult, if not ban it completely.
The court ruled the attorney general has the authority only to review the “legal content and form” of the auditor’s reports, “not their substance.”
Nothing in state law “gives the attorney general authority to question the auditor’s assessment of the fiscal impact of a proposed petition,” the court ruled
The attorney general must now approve the auditor’s fiscal assessment by 1 p.m. July 21, and the amendment will then be able to move forward.
The proposal will next go to the office of the Missouri secretary of state, who is tasked with certifying the fiscal assessment and a summary of the proposal that would appear on the ballot. Once that occurs, supporters can start gathering the more than 100,000 signatures needed.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Police shared new details on the case of Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, the Alabama woman who went missing after calling 911 to report a toddler walking alone on the side of the highway, as questions remain about what exactly happened before she returned home.
Russell, 25, was driving Thursday to her home in Hoover from her job in Birmingham, about 10 miles to the north, when she called 911 to say she was stopping her car to check on the child and then called a family member who lost contact with her – though the line remained open, according to the Hoover Police Department.
When police arrived, they found Russell’s wig, cell phone and purse near her vehicle, but no sign of her or the child.
Two days later, around 10:45 p.m. Saturday, she returned home on foot, according to Hoover police. Authorities said she was taken to a hospital, treated and released.
While detectives briefly spoke with Russell when she returned home, they are now waiting to “obtain a more detailed statement about the sequence of events” during the time she was missing, Hoover Police said in a statement Tuesday night.
As investigators try to piece together what happened in the approximately 49 hours Russell was missing, her mother has said she believes her daughter was abducted.
“Carlee has given detectives her statement and hopefully they are pursuing her abductor,” Talitha Robinson-Russell said in a statement to CNN affiliate WBRC.
“She definitely fought for her life. There were moments when she physically had to fight for her life, and there were moments when she had to mentally fight for her life,” Robinson-Russell told NBC’s “Today” on Tuesday.
Investigators have not indicated whether they suspect foul play in Russell’s disappearance or released details of her initial statement to police.
Adding to the mystery, Hoover Police said Tuesday they have not found any evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate, nor did they receive additional calls about it, “despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video.”
Russell’s 911 call remains the “only timely report of a child on the interstate” and no one has reported a child missing, Hoover Police said Monday.
Here’s what we know about the investigation.
Russell screamed on call with sister-in-law, mother says
On Thursday at around 8:20 p.m., Russell left her job at a business in Birmingham and went to pick up food before driving south on Interstate 459 toward Hoover, police said.
After picking up her food order, Russell also stopped at a Target and purchased some snack food items, police said Tuesday.
At around 9:34 p.m., Hoover dispatchers received a 911 call from Russell, who reported seeing a toddler in a diaper walking on the side of the interstate. Russell told both the 911 operator and, later, a family member that she was stopping to check on the child, police said Monday.
Russell was on the phone with her sister-in-law, who could hear Russell asking someone if they were okay, Russell’s mother told WBRC. There was no audible response, and then the sister-in-law heard Russell scream, Robinson-Russell said.
Police have said they are reviewing traffic camera footage captured at the time of the 911 call. “That footage is still being analyzed as part of the investigation in conjunction with the 911 call to accurately determine the timeframe,” police said Monday.
Officers arrived at the scene within five minutes of being dispatched and found Russell’s vehicle and some of her belongings.
The snacks Russell purchased at Target were not at the scene, police said Tuesday.
Russell returned home and ‘banged on the door’
Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis told WBRC Russell showed up at her family’s front door Saturday night, but officers weren’t sure how she got there.
“She walked up, banged on the door and that was her,” he said.
On Tuesday, police said they obtained surveillance video from Russell’s neighborhood that shows her walking down the sidewalk alone before she got to her home.
Fire department radio traffic revealed that medics were dispatched to her home on a call about an “unresponsive but breathing” person, police said, adding that was the term used by the dispatcher relaying information from what a 911 caller told the emergency communicator.
“When first responders arrived on scene, they found Ms. Russell conscious and speaking and she was transported in that condition,” police said. “She was later treated and released from a local hospital.”
Russell’s mother told NBC that when she reunited with her daughter, they “tried to hug as best they could, but I had to stand back because she was not in a good state. So, we had to stand back and let medical professionals work with her.”
CNN’s Amy Simonson, Rebekah Riess, Jamiel Lynch and Chenelle Woody contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"GT20 Canada 2023: Date, Schedule, Teams, Squads, How To Watch Global T20 Canada Online
The 3rd edition of Global T20 Canada tournament begins on July 20 and ends on August 5.
The Global T20 Canada is a T20 cricket league played in Canada. The league is operated by Bombay Sports Limited and is also sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC). This will be the third edition of this 20-over tournament, the inagural edition took started on June 2018 followed by the 2nd edition in 2019.
The inagural edition which started on June 28 got over on July 15, 2018. The first edition of the GT20 Canada tournament was won by Vancouver Knights who ended up beating Cricket West Indies B Team by seven wickets in the finals.
In 2019, the second edition which began on July 25 and ended on August 11 saw Winnipeg Hawks overcome the defedning champions Vancouver Knights in a super-over thriller. The third season was supposed to happen in 2020 but was later postponed to 2021 due to covid-19 pandemic. The 2021 season was moved to Malaysia but was latter shelved due to eminent covid-19 restrictions.
The tournament will cover a total of 25 matches which will also include - two qualifiers, one eliminator and a final (in a similar format as IPL).
Just a day away and our excitement has peaked for GT20 Canada Season 3 𤩗 GT20 Canada (@GT20Canada) July 19, 2023
Kicking off tomorrow with the home team Brampton Wolves taking on the neighbours Mississauga Panthers ð#GT20Canada #GT20Season3 #GlobalT20Â #CricketsNorth @BWolvesGT20 pic.twitter.com/ltqSgj8G2U
GT20 Canada Date And Time
The 3rd edition of Global T20 Canada would be played from July 20, 2023 – August 6, 2023 at the Brampton Sports Park.
The games are being scheduled at the following times (IST):
1:00 AM, 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM, with the qualifier 2 and final scheduled at 9:30 PM local time.
The matches will be held at 11:00 AM and 3:30 PM local time, with the qualifier 2 and final scheduled at 12:00 PM local time.
GT20 Canada 2023 Teams
Here are the six teams which are participating in the Global T20 Canada tournament
Brampton Wolves
Montreal Tigers
Toronto Nationals
Vancouver Knights
Surrey Jaguars
Mississauga Panthers
GT20 Canada Schedule
The schedule comprises 21 round-robin matches followed by 2 qualifiers, 1 eliminator, and a final.
Time is IST
GT20 Canada Squads
Brampton Wolves: Harbhajan Singh, Colin De Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Mark Chapman, Usama Mir, Hussain Talat, Usman Khan, Logan Van Beek, Jan Nicolaas Frylinck, Max O Dowd, Jeremy Gordon, Aaron Johnson, Rizwan Cheema, Shahid Ahmadzai, Rishiv Joshi, Gurpal Singh Sandhu
Montreal Tigers: Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Chris Lynn, Sherfane Rutherford, Carlos Brathwaite, Muhammad Abbas Afridi, Zahir Khan, Muhammad Waseem, Akif Raja, Aayan Khan, Dipendra Airee, Kaleem Sana, Srimantha Wijeratne, Matthew Spoors, Bhupendra Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Anoop Chima
Introducing the Montreal Tigers! ð¯ð¥— Montreal Tigers (@montreal_tigers) July 16, 2023
Ready to unleash their cricketing prowess and dominate the field! ðð¥
Grab your tickets now and secure your spot in the roaring stands! ðhttps://t.co/PlcCEMedWv
#montrealtigers #roarwithus #cricketnorth #globalt20canada pic.twitter.com/FQ8pN0ajdz
Mississauga Panthers: Shoaib Malik, Chris Gayle, Azam Khan, James Neesham, Cameron Scott Delport, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zahoor Khan, Tom Cooper, Cecil Pervez, Jaskarandeep Singh Buttar, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nikhil Dutta, Shreyas Movva, Parveen Kumar, Mihir Patel, Ethan Gibson
Surrey Jaguars: Alex Hales, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ben Cutting, Litton Kumar Das, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mohammad Haris, Sheel Patel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Jatinder Singh, Ayaan Khan, Bernard Scholtz, Pargat Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Ammar Khalid, Sunny Matharu, Kairav Sharma
Toronto Nationals: Colin Munro, Shahid Afridi, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Zaman Khan, Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Hamza Tariq, Gerhard Erasmus, JJ Smit, Saad Bin Zafar, Farhan Malik, Nicholas Kirton, Armaan Kapoor, Sarmad Anwar, Rommel Shahzad, Udhaya Bhagwan
Vancouver Knights: Mohammad Rizwan, Rassie van der Dussen, Naveen-ul-Haq, Reeza Hendricks, Corbin Bosch, Najibullah Zadran, Junaid Siddiqui, Vriitya Aravind, Karthik Meiyappan, Ruben Trumpelmann, Ravinderpal Singh, Harsh Thaker, Rayyan Pathan, Muhammad Kamal, Nawab Singh, Kanwar Tathgur
GT20 Canada Marquee Players
Brampton Wolves
Harbhajan Singh
Tim Southee
Montreal Tigers
Shakib Al Hasan
Andre Russell
Chris Lynn
Carlos Brathwaite
Mississauga Panthers
Chris Gayle
James Neesham
Shoaib Malik
Surrey Jaguars
Alex Hales
Ben Cutting
Vancouver Knights
Mohammad Rizwan
Van Der Dussen
Toronto Nationals
Colin Munro
Shahid Afridi
Where to Watch GT20 Canada Live On TV?
The tournament will be broadcasted live on the Star Sports network in India.
Here are the global broadcast details:
In Australia, you can watch the tournament on Fox Sports, with live streaming available on foxsports.com.au and cricket.com.au.
In Canada, on CBC TV
In United Kingdon, on Free Sports
In Middle East, on Bein Sports
In South Africa, on SuperSport
Where to Watch GT20 Canada Live Online?
Live streaming of the GT20 Canada will be available on the Fancode app and Website.",Not_Explicit
"KABUL: Security officials shot into the air and used firehoses to disperse dozens of Afghan women protesting in Kabul on Wednesday against an order by Taliban authorities to shut down beauty parlours, the latest curb to squeeze them out of public life.
Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban government has barred girls and women from high schools and universities, banned them from parks, funfairs and gyms, and ordered them to cover up in public.
The order issued last month forces the closure of thousands of beauty parlours nationwide run by women — often the only source of income for households — and outlaws one of the few remaining opportunities for them to socialise away from home.
“Don’t take my bread and water,” read a sign carried by one of the protesters on Butcher Street, which boasts a concentration of the capital’s salons.
Public protests are rare in Afghanistan — and frequently dispersed by force — but around 50 women took part in Wednesday’s gathering, quickly attracting the attention of security personnel.
Protesters later shared videos and photos with journalists that showed authorities using a firehose to disperse them as shots could be heard in the background.
“Today we arranged this protest to talk and negotiate,” said a salon worker. “But today, no one came to talk to us, to listen to us. They didn’t pay any attention to us and after a while they dispersed us by aerial firing and water cannon.”
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the protest breakup. “Reports of the forceful suppression of a peaceful protest by women against the ban on beauty salons — the latest denial of women’s rights in #Afghanistan — are deeply concerning,” it said in a tweet.
Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2023",Not_Explicit
"Hundreds of protesters stormed the main gates of the Swedish embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad early Thursday in response to police in Stockholm granting permission for a demonstration were organizers are reportedly planning another burning of the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
Videos posted on social media showed a large number of protesters inside the Swedish embassy’s perimeter as well as black smoke and fire coming from the building.
The protest in Sweden, scheduled for Thursday, comes just weeks after a lone man set fire to pages of the Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque, leading to widespread outrage and condemnation around the world, including in Iraq.
According to AFP, Swedish police said Wednesday they had granted a permit for a protest outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, with media reporting the organizers planned to burn the Muslim holy book.
Stockholm police told AFP they had granted a permit for a “public gathering” outside the Iraqi embassy but did not wish to give further comments on what the protesters were planning.
The Swedish police have stressed that they only grant permits for people to hold public gatherings and not for the activities conducted during them, according to AFP.
At the Baghdad protest eyewitnesses told CNN that the protesters withdrew from the perimeter of the Swedish Embassy after setting part of it on fire “after delivering their message of protest against the act of burning the Holy Book of God.”
Sweden’s embassy staff in Baghdad are all safe amid protests outside of the building, the foreign ministry’s press office told CNN via email.
“We condemn all attacks on diplomats and staff from international organizations. Attacks on embassies and diplomats constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention. Iraqi authorities have the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic staff,” it said.
The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the burning of Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad, the ministry said in statement.
The incident is part of a concerning pattern of assaults on diplomatic missions, posing a significant security threat, the ministry said.
It added that the Iraqi government has taken swift action, instructing competent security authorities to launch an urgent investigation, “measures in order to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators of this act and hold them accountable according to the law.”
At the end of June, a man burned a copy of Islam’s holy book outside a Stockholm Mosque sparking mass condemnations across the Muslim world.
Images of the event showed he was the only person apart from his translator at the demonstration, which coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha, one of the most significant dates in the Islamic calendar.",Not_Explicit
"HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba says it does not plan to sell any shares in its one-third shareholding in financial technology company Ant Group because it wants to retain its stake in an “important strategic partner.”
Alibaba Group Holdings said in a filing Sunday that it will not participate in Ant’s share buyback program. It allows shareholders to sell back up to 7.6% of their holdings at an unspecified price that values the company at 567.1 billion yuan ($78.8 billion).
Ant, which operates one of China’s leading mobile payments services Alipay, has seen its valuation fall nearly 70% from about $280 billion ($38.9 billion) at the time it was planning an IPO in 2020. That was derailed by regulators who conducted an investigation into the firm and then fined it nearly $100 billion for violating laws and regulations in the payments sector.
Given the plunge in Ant's valuation, investors who sell their shares to Ant will likely get far less than they would have gotten in 2020.
“Given that Ant Group continues to be an important strategic partner to Alibaba Group’s various businesses, Alibaba Group has decided that it will not sell any shares to Ant Group under the proposed share repurchase, so as to maintain its shareholding in Ant Group,” Alibaba said in the filing.
Alibaba had said earlier that it might sell shares during the program. Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings also said it was considering selling some of its shares.
Founded by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, Ant Group's Alipay is the primary payment method on Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall e-commerce platforms. It serves over a billion users.
Alibaba earlier this year split its businesses into six business groups to try to increase shareholder value. It plans to spin off those businesses into companies that could eventually go public and raise funding.
In May, Alibaba said that its cloud unit, headed by Alibaba’s former CEO Daniel Zhang, is expected to list within a year.",Not_Explicit
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JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to press ahead with his contentious judicial overhaul, despite unprecedented mass protests at home, growing defections by military reservists and appeals from the U.S. president to put the plan on hold.
Netanyahu’s message, delivered in a prime time address on national television, set the stage for stepped-up street protests in the coming days leading up to a fateful vote expected Monday. After Netanyahu’s speech, protesters blocked Tel Aviv’s main highway for several hours, lighting bonfires and clashing with the police. Hundreds of others continued a roughly 70 kilometer (roughly 45 mile) march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Netanyahu was at times conciliatory during his address, saying he understands the differences of opinion that have bitterly divided the country and offering to seek a compromise with his political opponents.
But he was also defiant, saying his opponents were bent on toppling him and lashing out at the scores of military reservists who say they will stop reporting for duty if the plan is passed. Some have already quit.
“The refusal to serve threatens the security of every citizen of Israel,” he said.
Parliament is expected to vote Monday on a bill that would curtail the Supreme Court’s oversight powers by limiting its ability to strike down decisions it deems “unreasonable.” The reasonability standard is meant as a safeguard to protect against corruption and improper appointments of unqualified people.
WATCH: White House says Biden is still concerned about judicial overhaul as he extends invite to Israel’s Netanyahu
The bill is one of several keystone pieces of the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul plan. Netanyahu and his allies — a collection of ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties — say the plan is needed to curb what they consider excessive powers of unelected judges.
Critics say the legislation will concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his far-right allies and undermine the country’s system of checks and balance. They also say Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has a conflict of interest.
The proposal has bitterly divided the Israeli public and attracted appeals from U.S. President Joe Biden for Netanyahu to slow down and forge a broad national consensus before passing any legislation.
After Netanyahu’s speech, opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Netanyahu to defy his coalition allies and halt the legislation.
“This extremist group has no mandate to turn Israel into a messianic and non-democratic state,” Lapid said. “The Netanyahu government is waging a war of attrition against the citizens of Israel.”
Perhaps the biggest threat to the plan are growing calls by military reservists who say they will stop reporting for duty in key units. They include fighter pilots, commandos and cyberwar officers.
Israeli leaders and military commanders have expressed growing alarm, saying the refusals to serve could hurt the country’s security. Reservists, whose service is voluntary, make up the backbone of Israel’s military.
On Thursday, the former head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency, Nadav Argaman, voiced support for the reservists.
READ MORE: Israel pushes ahead with judicial overhaul plan despite widespread opposition, protests
“We need to stop this legislation by any means,” he told the Army Radio station, saying the reservists “are very concerned and fearful for the security of the state of Israel.”
Argaman was appointed head of the Shin Bet by Netanyahu in 2016 and stepped down in 2021.
Netanyahu said the refusals to serve undermined Israel’s democratic institutions, in which the army is subordinate to the government and not the other way around.
“If they succeed in dictating their threats, this is the end of genuine democracy,” he said. “A responsible government and a responsible state cannot tolerate this.”
Tens of thousands of Israelis have joined mass protests against the overhaul since it was proposed in January, and business leaders have said that a weaker judiciary will drive international investors away.
In Tel Aviv, movement leaders staged a “night of resistance,” marching through the city’s streets, beating drums and blaring horns. Police used water cannons and officers on horseback to clear protesters from the Tel Aviv highway, which remained blocked after midnight. Police reported at least six arrests.
The movement has also begun to shift its focus from Tel Aviv, where weekly demonstrations draw tens of thousands, to Jerusalem, where the parliament is set to vote next week.
READ MORE: Thousands protest outside U.S. offices in Tel Aviv, say Netanyahu government is straining relations
Hundreds of protesters packed up rows of small white tents and continued a march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, where they plan to camp outside parliament ahead of the vote.
Protesters flocked outside the home of the chairman of the Histadrut, Israel’s national labor union. The Histadrut ordered a strike in March, leading Netanyahu to freeze the overhaul. Netanyahu revived the plan last month after talks seeking compromise with opposition lawmakers failed. But the union has yet to authorize another strike.
After Netanyahu’s statement, movement leaders vowed further escalation. “We call on all those who care about Israel’s future as a democracy to take to the streets,” said Josh Drill, a protest spokesman.
Presidents of major Israeli universities said they would hold a strike Sunday to protest the bill, according to reports from Israeli media. Doctors held a two-hour “warning strike” Wednesday to protest the overhaul, which they said would wreak havoc on the healthcare system by granting politicians greater control over public health.
They vowed more severe measures if the bill is voted through.
The judicial overhaul plan was announced shortly after Netanyahu took office as prime minister following November’s parliamentary elections. It was Israel’s fifth election in under four years, with all of the votes serving as a referendum on his leadership while facing legal charges.
Critics say removing the reasonability standard would allow the government to appoint unqualified cronies to important positions without oversight. They also say that it could clear the way for Netanyahu to fire the current attorney general — seen by supporters as a bulwark against the overhaul plan — or appoint legal officials who could ease his way out of the corruption charges he is facing in an ongoing trial.
Netanyahu now heads the country’s most ultranationalist and religiously conservative government in Israel’s 75-year history.
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Jul 13",Not_Explicit
"Ola S1 Air Arrival Confirmed, CEO Bhavish Aggarwal Announces Date; Check Details Here
The booking will first open for the one's who have reserved the electric scooter.
Ola Electric on Friday announced the date for the arrival of Ola S1 Air electric scooter.
Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder of Ola Cabs and Ola electric announced the news on Twitter.
""Purchase for S1 Air will open from 28th July-30th July for reservers and all our existing community, at an introductory price of ₹1,09,999. Everyone else can purchase from 31st July at ₹1,19,999. Reserve now to get the introductory price! Deliveries start early August!"" he tweeted.
Purchase for S1 Air will open from 28th July-30th July for reservers and all our existing community, at an introductory price of â¹1,09,999.— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) July 21, 2023
Everyone else can purchase from 31st July at â¹1,19,999. Reserve now to get the introductory price!
Deliveries start early August! pic.twitter.com/EBM35oSh0B
Soon after the announcement, Ola Electric also announced the arrival from its official Twitter handle.
""The all-new versatile S1 Air is coming on 28th July #EndICEage"", the tweet said.
Ola S1 Air Purchase Date
As per the information shared by Bhavish, the purchase of Ola S1 Air will first open for the people who have reserved the vehicle and also for the existing Ola Users and community members. They can purchase the Ola S1 Air Scooter from July 28-30, at an introductory price of Rs 1,09,999.
For others, the booking window will open on July 31 at a price of Rs 1,19,999.
He also stated that buyers can still go ahead and reserve the Ola S1 Air if they want to buy it for the introductory price!
When Will Ola S1 Air Deliveries Begin?
Many have already reserved the Ola S1 Air scooter and are keen to know the purchase date as well the delivery date.
Ola Cabs CEO confirmed through his tweet that the deliveries of Ola S1 Air will start from early August
How to Book Ola S1 Air?
To book an Ola S1 Air in Mumbai, you can follow these steps:
Go to the Ola Electric website and click on Explore Ola S1 Air button
Click on Reserve at Rs. 999 button
You will get options of various Ola S1s.
Select the Ola S1 Air.
Choose the colour you want to buy
Add your pin code.
Click on Reserve for Rs 999
Remember, the Scooter price depends on PIN Code. For registration, PIN Code should be as per your address proofs.
Once you have booked the Ola S1 Air, you will be assigned a delivery date. Currently, there is a waiting period for the Ola S1 Air in Mumbai.
About Ola S1 Air
The S1 Air is equipped with the newest MoveOS 3 software by Ola, which introduces several innovative features. Powering the S1 Air is a 2.5 kWh battery pack and a hub-mounted motor, which delivers a maximum output of 4.5 kW.
Ola S1 Air boasts an IDC-certified range of 100 kilometres on eco mode, the scooter can accelerate from 0 to 60 kmph in 9.8 seconds and can achieve a top speed of 90 kmph. A complete charge from zero takes approximately 4.5 hours.
The Ola S1 Air is fitted with a standard telescopic suspension at the front and shock absorbers at the back, and drum brakes are installed at both ends. These alterations, among others, have resulted in a weight reduction to 99 kg from the 125 kg of the Ola S1 Pro.
The S1 Air features a redesigned seat and a regular tubular grab-rail. With an under seat storage capacity of 34 litres—2 litres less than the S1 and S1 Pro—it also incorporates a 7-inch touchscreen and three riding modes: Eco, Normal, and Sports.
The Ola S1 Air will be offered in four colour options - Porcelain White, Coral Glam, Liquid Silver, and Midnight Blue.",Not_Explicit
"All Industrial Licences Issued Under IDR Act Will Be Valid For 15 Years
The government on Monday said that all industrial licences issued under the IDR Act will now be valid for 15 years
The government on Monday said that all industrial licences issued under the IDR Act will now be valid for 15 years as against three years with a view to promoting ease of doing business.
The Industries (Development and Regulation) Act deals with issuance of licences to industries.
""In supersession of all earlier Press Notes, the period of validity of industrial licence is being extended from three years to fifteen years for all kinds of Licenses henceforth to be granted under IDR Act in line with the validity of licenses being issued for defence items as a measure for ease of doing business,"" the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade said.
Streamlining the procedure for grant of industrial licences, the DPIIT said an extension of three years may be granted by the concerned ministry as per specified guidelines.
These guidelines are applicable for extension of validity of the licence in cases where the existing licence holder has not commenced production of the items within 15 years of issue of licence.
""The application for extension of licence should be submitted to the concerned administrative ministry/ explosive section, prior to the expiry of 15 years period or otherwise specified for commencement of commercial production,"" according to the guidelines.
It added that applicants should meet certain conditions at the time of applying for extension.
These conditions include acquisition of land either under ownership or on lease for a minimum period of 30 years; construction on the project should have been completed; and plant and machinery for the project should have been installed/commissioned.",Not_Explicit
"The Daily Telegraph says a number of unnamed cabinet ministers now want Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to consider abandoning green policies in the wake of the Tories' ""shock"" by-election win in Uxbridge.
The Conservatives held on to ex-PM Boris Johnson's former seat amid anger at plans by the Labour mayor of London to expand charges for polluting cars - a scheme the paper calls ""arrogant"".
It says Tory MPs looking for a path to victory at the next general election are now examining what it calls green ""wedge issues"", which they can campaign on to coax voters away from Labour. They are said to be encouraging Mr Sunak to scrap or delay net zero schemes in time for the next election manifesto.
Likewise, the Financial Times suggests that Uxbridge has persuaded some Conservative MPs to argue that Mr Sunak should now exploit voter concerns about the cost of green measures at a national level.
Craig Mackinlay, chair of the net zero scrutiny group of Tory MPs, said that ""rethinking the net zero pathway"" could put clear water between the Conservatives and Labour.
But in its editorial, the paper cautions the prime minister against obeying the ""siren voices"" urging him to swerve to what it calls the right-wing populism of abandoning green policies, and bringing in unaffordable tax cuts.
The Times suggests that the Uxbridge by-election win has buoyed the prime minister as he plans a series of ""divisive policies"" on crime, migration and transgender rights to highlight differences with Labour.
The paper says he believes that if a substantive issue is at stake - as was the case in Uxbridge - the Tories can win. It said they had effectively turned the by-election into a referendum on mayor Sadiq Khan's ultra-low emission zone plans.
Go True Blue is the Mail's headline, saying senior Tories want the prime minister to cut taxes and concentrate on house-building to lure voters back. The Express quotes Mr Sunak as saying the next general election is not a done deal. He said voters would back the Conservatives when confronted with the reality of Labour policies.
The Guardian, though, says the chances of the Tories succeeding at the next general election look increasingly slim, after suffering what it called ""shattering defeats"" in both the North Yorkshire and Somerset by-elections.
It claims those results underline the extent to which the national mood has turned against Mr Sunak's party.
There is no by-election coverage on the front of the Sun. Instead, Hell Hol! is the headline, over a picture of a congested motorway.
It says the British summer getaway ground to a halt yesterday because of delays via land, sea and air. There is worse to come, it warns.
For the Daily Mirror, it is all eyes on Brisbane, Australia, where the England women's football team - the Lionesses - kick off their World Cup campaign against Haiti in a few hours time.
Roar Us On it says simply, over a huge picture of the team captain, Millie Bright.
- CHATGPT, AI, THE CLOUD: WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?: The podcast helping you understand the technology that's become a part of our everyday lives
- NEWS SATIRE AT ITS MOST CHAOTIC: Call Jonathan Pie for rants, drama, and an unexpected live phone-in radio show",Not_Explicit
"Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs 10,644 crore in the June quarter as a freeze on the retail selling price of petrol and diesel despite a fall in oil prices helped turn around fuel marketing margins.
BPCL signage at petrol pump. (Photo: Vijay Sartape/BQ Prime)
State-controlled Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs 10,644 crore in the June quarter as a freeze on the retail selling price of petrol and diesel despite a fall in oil prices helped turn around fuel marketing margins.
State-controlled Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs 10,644 crore in the June quarter as a freeze on the retail selling price of petrol and diesel despite a fall in oil prices helped turn around fuel marketing margins.
The consolidated net profit of Rs 10,644.30 crore in April-June (first quarter of current 2023-24 fiscal year) compared to a net loss of Rs 6,147.94 crore in the same period last year, according to a company's filing with the stock exchanges.
The earning in the first quarter was 55% higher than the net profit of Rs 6,870.47 crore in the preceding January-March quarter.
In early April last year, BPCL and other government-owned fuel retailers—Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.—froze retail petrol and diesel prices to cushion domestic consumers from rising international oil prices.
That freeze led to the three retailers suffering heavy losses in not just April-June 2022 but also in the subsequent quarter.
Margins on petrol and diesel turned positive following softening of international oil prices in the June quarter, but rates were not revised, and the companies recouped losses they incurred last year.",Not_Explicit
"• Blinken claims 50pc occupied land recaptured by Ukraine
• Minsk, Moscow hold strategic dialogue
KYIV: The Ukrainian port city of Odesa came under renewed Russian missile attack early on Sunday, just hours before President Vladimir Putin declared that Kyiv’s counteroffensive had “failed” as he began two-day talks with his Belarus counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko.
The longtime leaders met for the first time since Lukashenko helped end a mutiny by Russian Wagner mercenaries in Russia last month, in the biggest threat to Putin’s more than two-decade rule.
“There is no counteroffensive,” Lukashenko said, before being interrupted by Putin: “There is one, but it has failed.”
On the other hand, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an interview to CNN on Sunday claimed that Ukraine took back about 50pc of the territory that Russia had initially seized, although Kyiv’s counteroffensive would extend several months. “These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough,” he said, adding: “It will not play out over the next week or two. Were still looking I think at several months.”
Hours before Lukashenko’s meeting with Putin in St Petersburg for “strategic” dialogue, Russian strikes targeted Odesa, which has been bombed several times since the start of the invasion.
Ukrainian leader Zelensky promised to strike back at Russia for the deadly attack. “Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral,” Zelensky said. “There will definitely be a retaliation against Russian terrorists for Odesa.”
Also, Unesco while condemning the attack on Odesa stated: “Unesco is deeply dismayed and condemns in the strongest terms the brazen attack carried out by the Russian forces, which hit several cultural sites in the city centre of Odesa, home to the World Heritage property ‘The Historic Centre of Odesa’”.
At Saint Petersburg, it was the first time Putin and Lukashenko have met since the latter helped end a dramatic mutiny by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group.
The Belarus strongman now hosts Wagner fighters on his territory, after brokering a deal that convinced its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to end a march on Moscow and exile himself to Belarus.
Lukashenko said Minsk was “controlling” the situation with the notorious Wagner fighters, and restricting them to staying in the centre of the reclusive country. Wagner’s presence in Belarus has rattled EU and Nato member Poland, which has strengthened its border.
Both Putin and Lukashenko accused Warsaw of having territorial ambitions on Ukraine and Belarus, with the Belarusian strongman issuing a veiled threat.
Lukashenko accused Poland of trying to “rip off a western chunk” of Ukraine. He also accused Poland of bringing mercenaries to the border, saying he had “brought him a map of moving armed forces of Poland to the borders of the union state”.
After their talks, Putin and Lukashenko greeted crowds in the naval town and base of Kronstadt on Kotlin Island in a rare walkabout.
Earlier, Ukraine’s southern operational command said Odesa was targeted with at least five types of missile, including Kalibr cruise missiles. “Air defence forces destroyed a significant amount of the missiles,” it said.
“The rest caused damage to port infrastructure,” and several buildings, it said, adding that a missile had hit the Orthodox cathedral in the city centre.
The Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa was damaged, according to a video posted by city hall on its Telegram channel.
The strategic port has come under repeated attack since Moscow pulled out of a grain export deal last week.
More missiles
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, repeated Kyiv’s call for more missiles and defence systems after the latest attack on Odesa. “The enemy must be deprived of the ability to hit civilians and infrastructure. More missile defence systems, as well as ATACMS — this will help Ukraine,” he said on Telegram, referring to the long-range tactical missiles that Kyiv wants Washington to supply.
Kyiv has accused Russia of targeting grain supplies and infrastructure vital to any resumption of Ukrainian grain exports.
Moscow has claimed it only targeted military sites.
The attack on Odesa comes a day after a Ukrainian drone strike blew up an ammunition depot in Crimea, forcing the evacuation of the surrounding population and temporary suspension of rail traffic on the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2023",Not_Explicit
"Netherlands vs. Portugal live updates: Women's World Cup 2023 top plays
The last time the Netherlands played in the World Cup, it met the United States in the final, losing 2-0. The squad is looking to do one better this time around and is in stellar shape heading into the tournament, having won seven of its last 10 outings in international competition. The Oranje Leeuwinnen are averaging 2.3 goals per contest over that same span.
On the other side, the Seleção das Quinas are 1-1-1, with six goals scored and two allowed, against World Cup teams in 2023. Portugal wasn't among the 24 countries that participated in the last World Cup in 2019, as it failed to qualify.
Follow our live coverage below!
13': Off the head!
Aggressiveness was the name of the game for the Netherlands early. They earned themselves a corner early in the match, and capitalized in with some crafty teamwork. Stefanie van der Gragt was the woman of the moment on the header, which was deemed good after a VAR check.
PREGAME
Setting the stage
The ""World Cup NOW"" crew previewed the match live on Twitter ahead of kickoff.
Bleeding orange
The Oranje Leeuwinnen faithful were out in full force in support of their beloved Netherlands squad.
Out for more
The Netherlands finished as the runner-up in 2019's tournament. To top that result only means one thing for Lieke Martens & co.
-
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: USWNT tops Vietnam, 3-0
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
United States vs. Vietnam: Everything to know, how to watch USWNT's opener
-
USWNT puts Julie Ertz, Savannah DeMelo in starting lineup for World Cup opener
United States dispatches Vietnam 3-0: Takeaways from World Cup-opening win
United States-Vietnam, England-Haiti predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
-
World Cup 2023 social media tracker: Reactions to USWNT's solid 3-0 win
Don't fret if USWNT doesn't blow out Vietnam in World Cup opener
World Cup Daily: Spain makes a loud statement, Canada can't capitalize
-
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: USWNT tops Vietnam, 3-0
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
United States vs. Vietnam: Everything to know, how to watch USWNT's opener
-
USWNT puts Julie Ertz, Savannah DeMelo in starting lineup for World Cup opener
United States dispatches Vietnam 3-0: Takeaways from World Cup-opening win
United States-Vietnam, England-Haiti predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
-
World Cup 2023 social media tracker: Reactions to USWNT's solid 3-0 win
Don't fret if USWNT doesn't blow out Vietnam in World Cup opener
World Cup Daily: Spain makes a loud statement, Canada can't capitalize",Not_Explicit
"Joe Rogan has turned down numerous requests from Donald Trump’s camp to interview the former president on his popular Spotify podcast, according to a report.
Rogan has stated he is not a Trump supporter and that he has no desire to give the 45th president a platform — even though a large chunk of the podcaster’s 11 million listeners do support the Republican front-runner.
However, after the two were seen shaking hands during a recent UFC fight in Las Vegas, Trump urged his advisers to explore further avenues for a sit-down, The Daily Beast reported.
One of Trump’s informal advisers, Roger Stone, has reportedly offered to engage Rogan in a UFC-style cage match in hopes of forcing the podcaster to interview the former president, according to the news site.
“The mere discussion of Donald Trump on a blockbuster podcast like Joe Rogan builds a remarkable audience,” a Trump adviser told The Daily Beast.
“Perhaps the only person bigger in the new media world than Joe Rogan is Donald Trump and the whole idea that the two of them would be together at long last — it would be an incredible audience.”
Trump recently appeared on the “Full Send” podcast, whose YouTube page counts more than 2 million subscribers.
The “Full Send” interview with Trump generated millions of views, though the YouTube video of it was removed by parent company Alphabet because the former president repeated his claims that the 2020 presidential election was fixed.
Rogan, who has faced his own criticism for spouting COVID conspiracies, has said in the past he has no desire to indulge Trump.
“I’m not a Trump supporter in any way, shape or form,” Rogan told podcaster Lex Fridman last year.
“I’ve had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once. I’ve said no every time. I don’t want to help him. I’m not interested in helping him.”
On his own podcast last year, Rogan referred to Trump as a “man baby” while speculating that the current Republican frontrunner may be using Adderall.
Nonetheless, Trump isn’t taking the snub to heart, according to The Daily Beast.
“The president listens to Rogan,” one Trump adviser told the news site.
“I don’t think the president takes Rogan’s criticism personally, and really, in the end, Donald Trump would listen to a non-politician with some mild criticism more than a politician that kisses his ass.”
The Post has sought comment from Trump and Rogan.",Not_Explicit
"The governor’s campaign manager, Generra Peck, told NBC this week that DeSantis would begin focusing on a more national approach to campaigning, shifting away from touting his political victories in Florida. DeSantis formalized his long-expected bid for the White House in May but has so far failed to make headway against former President Donald Trump’s vice grip on GOP primary polls. DeSantis’ campaign has been plagued by missteps, and skepticism about his bid has begun to grow among Republicans.
“Ron DeSantis has never been the favorite or the darling of the establishment, and he has won because of it every time,” Peck said in a statement to NBC. “No one in this race has been under fire more and won than Gov. DeSantis. He’s ready to prove them wrong again. Buckle up.”
She added that DeSantis would shift focus from large campaign events to more intimate appearances and could give more access to media outlets. The governor has largely resisted such appearances on major networks, an unusual strategy for a candidate trying to appeal to voters across the nation.
There’s also growing concern about the breakneck pace at which DeSantis has been spending campaign funds. He brought in $20 million during last quarter’s fundraising haul, but a reported 70% of his donors have already given the federal maximum for a primary race. The governor has also struggled to secure a large coalition of smaller donors, although his affiliated super PAC, Never Back Down, has raised $130 million since March.
Politico reported last week that his campaign had begun cutting staff, a troubling sign as the race is only just gearing up, with the first GOP primary debate set for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee. It’s unclear if Trump will attend the debate.
Despite such concerns, DeSantis defended his bid for the presidency earlier this week in a rare interview with CNN, saying he wanted the country to look forward rather than back, a dig at Trump, who lost reelection in 2020.
“They’ve been saying that I’ve been doing poorly for my whole time as governor, basically,” he quipped to CNN’s Jake Tapper.
DeSantis sparked nationwide criticism earlier last month after his campaign shared a new ad celebrating his efforts to limit freedoms for LGBTQ+ Americans. The video attacked Trump’s words of support after the 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left 49 people dead.",Not_Explicit
"PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — West Indies stubbornly fought to avoid the follow-on against India on a snail-paced third day of the second test at Queen's Park Oval on Saturday.
After scoring at barely two runs per over, West Indies doggedly reached stumps on 229-4 in reply to India's 438. West Indies need only 10 more runs to make India bat again.
The first test in Dominica ended in three days and the West Indies was embarrassed by a heavy innings defeat. In Trinidad, the home side has dug in to grind out a draw against a team it hasn't beaten in 21 years.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite has set the tone. The opener started on Friday and not until after lunch on Saturday did he reach his fifty off 170 balls, the second slowest of his career.
West Indies' determination to take its time, block or leave, netted only 143 runs in 67 overs, 33 of which were maidens. Two hours were lost to rain delays and play ended 20 minutes early because of bad light.
India's spinners have remarkable figures. Ravichandran Ashwin, who hauled in 12 wickets in Dominica, has 1-61 from 33 overs. Ravindra Jadeja has 2-37 from 25 overs.
Brathwaite started the day with new cap Kirk McKenzie, who took three boundaries off Jaydev Unadkat and gave medium-pacer Mukesh Kumar his maiden test wicket after taking a cut on 32.
As soon as McKenzie was out, rain arrived to delay the game for an hour.
After lunch, Kumar was pulled over fine leg for a six by Brathwaite, then the captain was out for 75 after facing 235 deliveries. He was drawn forward by Ashwin, whose ball turned in and took out middle stump.
After a period in which West Indies scored 20 runs in 15 overs, Alick Athanaze hit successive fours off Ashwin and he and Jermaine Blackwood survived India reviews.
Blackwood, on 20 from 92 balls, was out straight after tea, deflecting Jadeja to Ajinkya Rahane, who made a one-handed catch in the cordon.
Joshua Da Silva was bowled on 10 trying to drive Mohammed Siraj, right before another rain delay of nearly an hour.
India finally took the new ball in the 103rd over, but Athanaze and Jason Holder remained untroubled to stumps. Athanaze was on 37 from 111 balls and Holder on 11.
___",Not_Explicit
"Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave a thinly-veiled rebuke to members of the House of Representatives for their attacks on Israel during his Wednesday speech at a joint session of Congress.
Herzog did not name names, but he referenced criticism of Israel from House members. More than one progressive Democrat recently vilified the Jewish state in public statements.
""Mr. Speaker, I am not oblivious to criticism among friends, including some expressed by respected members of this House. I respect criticism, especially from friends, although one does not always have to accept it,"" Herzog said.
""But criticism of Israel must not cross the line into negation of the State of Israel’s right to exist,"" he added, with those in attendance responding with resounding applause.
""Questioning the Jewish people’s right to self-determination, is not legitimate diplomacy, it is antisemitism. Vilifying and attacking Jews, whether in Israel, in the United States, or anywhere in the world is antisemitism. Antisemitism is a disgrace in every form, and I commend President Joe Biden for laying out the United States’ first ever National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism,"" he continued.
Herzog's remarks were a not-so-subtle reference to criticism by progressive Democrats. Most recently, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called Israel a ""racist state"" during an appearance at an event. Jayapal later walked back the remarks, which were met with criticism, even from those in her own party.
In May, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said in a tweet that Israel is an ""apartheid state,"" that ""was born out of violence and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians."" She added that ""75 years later, the Nakba continues to this day, using the Arabic word for ""catastrophe"" that Palestinians use to refer to Israel's establishment.
Jayapal's words led to the House passing a resolution to affirm that Israel is not a racist or apartheid state,
Nine Democrats were the only ones who voted against the measure. They were Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Cori Bush of Missouri, Andre Carson of Indiana and Delia Ramirez of Illinois. Another Democrat, Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., voted ""present.""
Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"LOS ANGELES — Another bus containing migrants from Texas arrived Saturday in downtown Los Angeles, the fifth to arrive here since June 14, Mayor Karen Bass’ office announced.
“One bus with migrants on board from Texas arrived around 11:30 AM PT today at Union Station,” the mayor’s office said. “The city has continued to work with city departments, the county, and a coalition of nonprofit organizations, in addition to our faith partners, to execute a plan set in place earlier this year. As we have before, when we became aware of the bus yesterday, we activated our plan.”
No further information was immediately available about the latest arrivals.
Before Saturday’s bus arrived, the most recent arrival took place Tuesday, when a bus of migrants that originated in Brownsville, Texas, arrived at Union Station.
The L.A. Welcome Collective said those immigrants were from Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Guetemala, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela.
The group, which is composed of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Central American Resource Center-Los Angeles, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Esperanza Immigration Rights Project, and Immigrant Defenders Law Center, issued a statement Wednesday.
“The L.A. Welcomes Collective reiterates our commitment to work hand in hand with our City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles partners to receive and guide asylum seekers when they arrive,” the L.A. Welcome Collective said. “As a united front, we hope to serve as a beacon of hope to those seeking safe harbor as well as advocate for every human being be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of immigration status. Our purpose as non-profit organizations serving immigrants for decades is to help each Angeleno be fully integrated into society. We do not want to play politics with people’s lives. We will strive to do everything possible to maximize our limited resources until the busing of migrants stops or until we as a nation find a way to fix and improve a broken immigration system.”
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles issued the following statement Saturday afternoon in response to the latest arrival:
“… Our Archdiocese was founded by immigrants and we will continue to welcome our migrant brothers and sisters with open arms. We are honored to take part in the LA Welcomes Collective and the vital work being undertaken by each of our partner organizations. We are called to show compassion through accompaniment and pastoral care. As a united front, we hope to serve as a beacon of hope to those seeking safe harbor as well as advocate for every human being to be treated with dignity and respect. Our work to help migrants is that of mercy, emulating the love of God for his people.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently proclaimed his state’s border region “overrun” and hinted that more shipments of immigrants could follow.
“Texas’ small border towns remain overwhelmed and overrun by the thousands of people illegally crossing into Texas from Mexico because of President Biden’s refusal to secure the border,” Abbott said in a statement after the first bus arrived. “Los Angeles is a major city that migrants seek to go to, particularly now that its city leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary city status. Our border communities are on the front lines of President Biden’s border crisis, and Texas will continue providing this much-needed relief until he steps up to do his job and secure the border.”
In June, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a motion directing the city to draft a “Sanctuary City” ordinance that, when passed, would prohibit any city resources, property or personnel from being utilized for any federal immigration enforcement.",Not_Explicit
"Athenea del Castillo went off injured after Spain had used all subs.
Jenni Hermoso and Alba Redondo scored twice as Spain underlined their credentials as potential Fifa Women's World Cup winners by thrashing Zambia to progress to the last 16 with a game to spare.
The Spanish opened their Group C campaign with a comfortable 3-0 win against Costa Rica last week, having a total of 46 shots on goal.
They picked up where they left off against Zambia, racing into a ninth-minute lead when Teresa Abelleira drove in a stunning strike from distance.
Hermoso doubled the lead just four minutes later, heading home a cross on her 100th appearance for her country.
Redondo then rounded the goalkeeper in the second half before Hermoso scored her 50th international goal late on after a lengthy video assistant referee check.
Hermoso almost had a hat-trick soon after but her shot was pushed on to the crossbar, but Spain got their fifth when Redondo drove home in the final few minutes.
The victory also ensured Japan - who beat Costa Rica 2-0 earlier on Thursday - also progress and the two sides will meet in a battle for first place on Monday, 31 July (08:00 BST).
More to follow.
Line-ups
Spain
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Rodríguez Rivero
- 2BatlleSubstituted forHernándezat 45'minutes
- 4Paredes
- 5Andrés
- 19Carmona
- 6BonmatíSubstituted forGuerreroat 61'minutes
- 3Abelleira
- 11PutellasSubstituted forRedondoat 45'minutes
- 18ParallueloSubstituted forNavarroat 45'minutes
- 10Hermoso
- 8Caldentey OliverSubstituted fordel Castilloat 83'minutesSubstituted forat 0'minutes
Substitutes
- 7Guerrero
- 9González
- 12Hernández
- 13Salón
- 14Codina
- 15Navarro
- 16Pérez
- 17Redondo
- 20Gálvez
- 21Zornoza
- 22del Castillo
- 23Coll Lluch
Zambia
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 18Sakala
- 8Belemu
- 15Musesa
- 3MweembaSubstituted forPhiriat 76'minutes
- 13TemboBooked at 90mins
- 14Lungu
- 4BandaSubstituted forWilombeat 37'minutes
- 19MapepaSubstituted forChitunduat 37'minutes
- 12KatongoSubstituted forLubandjiat 76'minutesBooked at 90mins
- 17Kundananji
- 11Banda
Substitutes
- 2Soko
- 5Mulenga
- 6Wilombe
- 7Lubandji
- 9Mubanga
- 10Selemani
- 16Lungu
- 20Chanda
- 21Chitundu
- 22Banda
- 23Phiri
- Referee:
- Hyeon-Jeong Oh
- Attendance:
- 20,983
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home75%
- Away25%
- Shots
- Home22
- Away10
- Shots on Target
- Home13
- Away2
- Corners
- Home9
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home7
- Away5
Live Text
Match ends, Spain 5, Zambia 0.
Second Half ends, Spain 5, Zambia 0.
Martha Tembo (Zambia) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Corner, Spain. Conceded by Eunice Sakala.
Attempt saved. Alba Redondo (Spain) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Irene Guerrero with a cross.
Attempt missed. Racheal Kundananji (Zambia) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Offside, Zambia. Agness Musesa tries a through ball, but Barbra Banda is caught offside.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match because of an injury Athenea del Castillo (Spain).
Jenni Hermoso (Spain) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ochumba Lubandji (Zambia).
Attempt missed. Avell Chitundu (Zambia) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Margaret Belemu following a set piece situation.
Foul by Eva Navarro (Spain).
Martha Tembo (Zambia) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match because of an injury Teresa Abelleira (Spain).
Ochumba Lubandji (Zambia) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Irene Paredes (Spain) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ochumba Lubandji (Zambia).",Not_Explicit
"27 injured in latest Russian attack on southern Ukraine
At least 27 people were injured and two killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s southern cities, including the port city of Odesa.
The attacks mark the third straight day of strikes on the south, coming after Russia announced it would suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a diplomatic deal allowing Ukrainian grain exports from Odesa.
“Russian terrorists continue their efforts to destroy the life of our country,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram. “Unfortunately, there are wounded, there are dead. My condolences to my family and friends!”
“But there is no evil state of missiles that would be stronger than our will to save lives, support each other and win,” he added.
Odesa Gov. Oleg Kiper said that Russian strikes damaged both port and civilian infrastructure, including damaging the Chinese consulate in the city. At least two people were killed and eight others injured during the attack and rescue efforts, he noted.
“The aggressor deliberately beats port infrastructure — administrative and residential buildings around, as well as the consulate of the People’s Republic of China,” Kiper argued. “This suggests that the enemy does not pay attention to anything.”
The attack comes as Russia said it seeks “retribution” for a strike on the Kerch Bridge, connecting Crimea to Russia, on Monday. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for that attack, which shares similarities with a 2022 attack on the bridge that the Ukrainian government also did not claim responsibility for.
Russian missiles also destroyed an apartment building in Mykolaiv, another Black Sea city, injuring at least 19, according to officials.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Tech Mahindra Q1 Results: Revenue, Profit Slump As IT Slowdown Bites
Revenue at Tech Mahindra fell 4.07% from the previous three months to Rs 13,159 crore in the quarter ended June 30.
Revenue growth and profit at Tech Mahindra Ltd. faltered in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, underscoring the slowdown seen in the wider Indian information technology services industry.
The Pune-based software outsourcer's revenue fell 4.07% from the previous three months to Rs 13,159 crore in the quarter ended June, according to an exchange filing on Wednesday. That compares with the Rs 13,579.2 crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
Tech Mahindra Q1 Results: Key Highlights (QoQ)
Revenue down 4.07% at Rs 13,159 crore (Estimate: Rs 13,579.2 crore).
Net profit declines 37.5% to Rs 703.6 crore (Estimate: Rs 1,146.9 crore).
EBIT down 32.4% at Rs 891.4 crore (Estimate: Rs 1,435.9 crore).
EBIT margin at 6.77% vs. 9.60% (Estimate: 10.57%)
""This is one of the toughest quarters I have seen,"" Chander Prakash Gurnani, chief executive officer at Tech Mahindra, said during a post-earnings virtual media interaction. ""While the drop could have been anticipated, some of the macroeconomic headwinds and stretchy dealmaking have impacted our earnings.""
On Wednesday, shares of Tech Mahindra fell 0.84% to Rs 1,144.05 apiece on the BSE, even as the benchmark Sensex ended the day 0.53% higher at 66,707.20 points. The quarterly results were declared after market hours.",Not_Explicit
"No Report Of Milk, Product Shortage; Milk Procurement Up 5.6% In June: Rupala
Milk procurement increased by 5.6% year-on-year in June, the government said on Tuesday.
Milk procurement increased by 5.6% year-on-year in June, the government said on Tuesday.
""No such report has been received by this Department, about the shortage of milk and milk products in the country. The milk procurement has increased in June 2023 by 5.6 per cent compared to last year,"" Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The department periodically reviews the milk situation in the country, he said.
""Based on the inputs received from major dairy cooperatives, the stock of Skimmed milk powder has increased from 1,16,002 tonnes to 1,30,000 tonnes during May 2023 to June 2023,"" Rupala said.
The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying does not regulate the procurement and sale prices of milk in the country, the minister added.
""Prices are decided by the cooperative and private dairies based on their cost of production and market forces. Wholesale Price Index of fodder is in decreasing trend and it was 248 in January 2023, 237.4 in April 2023 and has moderated to 222.70 in June 2023. With the ensuing monsoon season, green fodder availability has improved,"" Rupala said.
During 2021-22, All India Milk production was 221.06 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT). The combined milk processing capacity of dairy cooperatives is 989.43 lakh litres per day.",Not_Explicit
"As he witnessed the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, a piece of Hindu scripture ran through the mind of J. Robert Oppenheimer: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” It is, perhaps, the most well-known line from the Bhagavad Gita, but also the most misunderstood.Oppenheimer, the subject of a new film from director Christopher Nolan, died at the age of 62 in Princeton, New Jersey, on February 18, 1967. As wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, the birthplace of the Manhattan Project, he is rightly seen as the “father” of the atomic bomb. “We knew the world would not be the same,” he later recalled. “A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent.”Oppenheimer, watching the fireball of the Trinity nuclear test, turned to Hinduism. While he never became a Hindu in the devotional sense, Oppenheimer found it a useful philosophy to structure his life around. “He was obviously very attracted to this philosophy,” says Stephen Thompson, who has spent more than 30 years studying and teaching Sanskrit. Oppenheimer’s interest in Hinduism was about more than a sound bite, Thompson argues. It was a way of making sense of his actions.The Bhagavad Gita is 700-verse Hindu scripture, written in Sanskrit, that centers on a dialog between a great warrior prince named Arjuna and his charioteer Lord Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu. Facing an opposing army containing his friends and relatives, Arjuna is torn. But Krishna teaches him about a higher philosophy that will enable him to carry out his duties as a warrior irrespective of his personal concerns. This is known as the dharma, or holy duty. It is one of the four key lessons of the Bhagavad Gita, on desire or lust; wealth; the desire for righteousness, or dharma; and the final state of total liberation, moksha.Photograph: CORBIS/Getty ImagesSeeking his counsel, Arjuna asks Krishna to reveal his universal form. Krishna obliges, and in verse 12 of the Gita he manifests as a sublime, terrifying being of many mouths and eyes. It is this moment that entered Oppenheimer’s mind in July 1945. “If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one,” was Oppenheimer’s translation of that moment in the desert of New Mexico.In Hinduism, which has a non-linear concept of time, the great god is involved in not only the creation, but also the dissolution. In verse 32, Krishna says the famous line. In it “death” literally translates as “world-destroying time,” says Thompson, adding that Oppenheimer’s Sanskrit teacher chose to translate “world-destroying time” as “death,” a common interpretation. Its meaning is simple: Irrespective of what Arjuna does, everything is in the hands of the divine.“Arjuna is a soldier, he has a duty to fight. Krishna, not Arjuna, will determine who lives and who dies and Arjuna should neither mourn nor rejoice over what fate has in store, but should be sublimely unattached to such results,” says Thompson. “And ultimately the most important thing is he should be devoted to Krishna. His faith will save Arjuna’s soul."" But Oppenheimer, seemingly, was never able to achieve this peace. “In some sort of crude sense which no vulgarity, no humor, no overstatements can quite extinguish,” he said, two years after the Trinity explosion, “the physicists have known sin; and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose.”“He doesn’t seem to believe that the soul is eternal, whereas Arjuna does,” says Thompson. “The fourth argument in the Gita is really that death is an illusion, that we’re not born and we don’t die. That’s the philosophy, really. That there’s only one consciousness and that the whole of creation is a wonderful play.” Oppenheimer, perhaps, never believed that the people killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki would not suffer. While he carried out his work dutifully, he could never accept that this could liberate him from the cycle of life and death. In stark contrast, Arjuna realizes his error and decides to join the battle.“Krishna is saying you have to simply do your duty as a warrior,” says Thompson. “If you were a priest you wouldn’t have to do this, but you are a warrior and you have to perform it. In the larger scheme of things, presumably, the bomb represented the path of the battle against the forces of evil, which were epitomized by the forces of fascism.”For Arjuna, it may have been comparatively easy to be indifferent to war because he believed the souls of his opponents would live on regardless. But Oppenheimer felt the consequences of the atomic bomb acutely. “He hadn’t got that confidence that the destruction, ultimately, was an illusion,” says Thompson. Oppenheimer’s apparent inability to accept the idea of an immortal soul would always weigh heavy on his mind.",Not_Explicit
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Cara Anna, Associated Press
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — As Russia seeks more allies during its invasion of Ukraine, longtime U.S. security partner Kenya might not be an obvious choice. But hours after Russia terminated a deal to keep grain flowing from Ukraine, Moscow’s ambassador saw an opening to appeal to one of the African countries that would feel the effects the most.
In an opinion piece for two of Kenya’s largest newspapers, Ambassador Dmitry Maksimychev blamed the United States and the European Union for the deal’s collapse, asserting they had “used every trick” to keep Russian grain and fertilizer from the global markets.
“Now, my dear Kenyan friends, you know the whole truth about who is weaponizing food,” he wrote.
READ MORE: South Africa urges Putin to not attend August summit due to international arrest warrant
It’s the kind of brash outreach expected this week at the second Russia-Africa Summit. Grain supplies are in question. The future of the Wagner military group is, too. It’s a notable time for Russia to host nearly 50 African countries that rely heavily on Moscow for agricultural products and security. It’s not clear how many heads of state will attend.
President Vladimir Putin’s government is under new pressure to show its commitment to a continent of 1.3 billion people that is increasingly assertive on the global stage.
Africa’s 54 nations make up the largest voting bloc at the United Nations and have been more divided than any other region on General Assembly resolutions criticizing Russia’s invasion.
If they leave the two-day summit, which starts Thursday, feeling unheeded, they might distance themselves from Russia, said analyst Cameron Hudson with the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“I think you could see Africans beginning to vote with their feet,” he said. “This is a decisive moment for both Africa and Putin in their relationship.”
Putin has repeatedly said that Russia would offer free grain to low-income African countries now that the grain deal has been terminated. “I want to give assurances that our country is capable of replacing the Ukrainian grain both on a commercial and free-of-charge basis,” Putin said in a statement Monday, asserting that Russia shipped almost 10 million tons of grain to Africa in the first half of this year.
The Russian military company Wagner, after its brief rebellion against Moscow, will be an urgent issue for countries like Sudan, Mali and others who contract with the mercenary group in exchange for natural resources like gold. Russia’s foreign minister has said Wagner’s work in Africa will continue.
As for a peace proposal for Ukraine that African leaders have tried to pursue, that “could be discussed” at the summit, Russian ambassador-at-large Oleg Ozerov told the Kommersant newspaper.
Putin himself is a question. He has visited sub-Saharan Africa only once in more than two decades in power. Last week, after considerable diplomatic pressure, South Africa announced that Putin had agreed not to attend an economic summit there in August because of an arrest warrant for him by the International Criminal Court over Ukraine.
READ MORE: African leaders visit Kyiv, push for peace between Ukraine and Russia
South Africa’s debate over whether to arrest him was another sign of the ambivalence toward Moscow by a once-steady U.S. ally. But President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office on Friday made clear that African leaders are working “for an end to the destabilizing Ukraine-Russia war,” saying it would be in the continent’s economic interests.
The U.S.-backed Africa Center for Strategic Studies has predicted that Russia will try to pull other influential countries including Ethiopia, Congo, Nigeria and Senegal into its orbit. Africa is “the most welcoming region for Russia of any other region in the world,” the center’s Joseph Siegle said.
Like China, Russia tries to appeal to African nations’ distaste at feeling dictated to by global powers.
A busy tweeter, Russia’s ambassador to Kenya drew the praise of that country’s foreign minister last week when he objected to a statement by the U.S. and allies expressing concern about live bullets used against Kenyan protests over the rising cost of living. “If it is not interference in internal affairs, what is it?” Maksimychev asked.
“Thank you @russembkenya for this principled position,” Kenya’s foreign minister, Korir Sing’Oei, replied — just a day after he called Russia’s decision to end the grain deal a “stab on the back.”
Despite its high profile in Africa, Russia invests relatively little in it. At the first Russia-Africa Summit in 2019, Putin vowed to double Russia’s trade with the continent within five years. Instead, it has stalled at around $18 billion a year. Moscow offers less than 1 percent of what goes to Africa in foreign direct investment, with almost no humanitarian aid.
But Russia can connect with African nations in ways that the West cannot, said Tim Kalyegira, a Ugandan analyst and writer. “Russia is one of the few European countries allied with Africa in views about homosexual relations: ‘We are a traditional Christian country. Every time you have an anti-gay bill, we’re with you,’” he said.
That could play to U.S. allies like Nigeria and Ghana as well, Kalyegira said.
Uganda faced Washington’s criticism this year for a new law that prescribed the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” President Joe Biden threatened sanctions amid “democratic backsliding” by a longtime partner.
Now Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is listed as a panelist at the Russia-Africa Summit for a discussion on “What forms of new colonialism are being imposed on the global majority by the West today?”
Uganda also has been one of the largest buyers of weapons from Russia, Africa’s top arms supplier, along with Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Ethiopia, Angola and Burkina Faso.
Kalyegira said Russia now could broker grain supply deals with individual African nations, weakening any continental stance on the war.
READ MORE: Ukraine, Russia both suffering heavy casualties amid Kyiv’s counteroffensive, UK assesses
The U.S. hosted its own Africa summit last year as part of a growing number of such Africa gatherings by powers including China, France, Turkey, Japan and Britain.
“It’s worth asking why Americans should care about competing in Africa or investing in its stability. The answer is clear: Africa is poised to shape the 21st century as the world’s fastest-growing demographic and economic power,” Joseph Sany with the U.S. Institute of Peace told a U.S. House subcommittee this month.
“By 2050, Africans will make up a quarter of the global population,” he said.
The delegations heading to Russia are being urged to use that to their advantage.
“African states would no doubt rather be kingmakers than be caught in another proxy war,” a consultant with the Africa-based Institute for Security Studies, Ronak Gopaldas, wrote earlier this year. “A smart approach is to straddle these powers for maximum benefit.”
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Jul 04",Not_Explicit
"IoTechWorld Avigation Gets DGCA Certification For New Agri-Drone Model
Anoop Upadhyay, co-founder and director, said the new drone is very easy to transport and operate because of its compact design.
Agri-drone maker IoTechWorld Avigation on Wednesday said it has received certificate from Directorate General of Civil Aviation for its new indigenous product 'AGRIBOT A6' which is more advanced and compact than previous model.
In a statement, Gurugram-based IoTechWorld said its indigenously designed and manufactured 'AGRIBOT A6' drone has received the 'Type Certificate' from the DGCA.
Type Certificate for drones is an official document issued by the DGCA certifying that a specific type of drone meets all the technical parameters and safety standards for operation in India, it added.
IoTechWorld Co-Founder and Director Deepak Bhardwaj said the newly launched model is 30% more compact compared to the previous model of 'AGRIBOT' and much more stable and reliable.
He said the company has not increased rate for this new product despite advanced design.
""AIF (Agriculture Infrastructure Fund) is available for AGRIBOT A6 in which 90% collateral free loan is available at 3 per cent subvention on the interest rate,"" Bhardwaj said.
Anoop Upadhyay, co-founder and director, said the new drone is very easy to transport and operate because of its compact design.
IoTechWorld said it has established partnership with agrochemical company Syngenta and has undertaken more than 25,000 kilometres of drone yatra in various parts of the country.
The company aims to sell more than 3,000 drones in the current financial year. Recently, it announced securing a large order from cooperative major IFFCO.",Not_Explicit
"Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics
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Fatima Hussein, Associated Press
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Kevin Freking, Associated Press
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers intent on reducing China ‘s influence on the U.S. economy are pushing the Treasury Department to help curb the outsized role of Beijing at the Inter-American Development Bank, which supports economic and social development in Latin America and Caribbean.
The bipartisan group of lawmakers say Beijing is using the bank as a tool to expand its influence in the region. And they want the U.S., the biggest voice at the bank, to do more to rein in the awarding of projects to Chinese firms and to block Chinese attempts to acquire more shares at the bank.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of a new House select committee focused on China, is the lead sponsor of of the legislation, which is being introduced Tuesday, seeking to understand and reduce Beijing’s power at the bank.
The Inter-American Development Bank Transparency Act would require the Treasury to issue a report every two years on the scope and scale of Chinese influence and involvement in all aspects of the bank, including a list of Chinese-funded projects and an action plan for the U.S. to reduce Chinese involvement at the bank.
READ MORE: China-U.S. ties at a crossroads but could possibly stabilize, Xi tells Kissinger
“For too long, the Chinese Communist Party has exploited its presence in the Inter-American Development Bank to advance its own geopolitical, economic, and technological goals,” Gallagher said in a statement. “Latin American citizens deserve to have the IDB serve their economic development, not as a vector of CCP malign influence.”
The IDB is a non-commercial development bank made up of member countries. The bank, for instance, disbursed a record $23 billion last year intended to alleviate poverty made worse by the coronavirus pandemic in the region. The U.S. is the largest shareholder, with a roughly 30 percent voting share. At issue is the number of contracts the IDB awards to Chinese firms relative to its meager share of the bank, which hovers around 0.1 percent.
China formally joined the bank in 2009 as its 48th member nation, and its influence in Latin America, both economically and diplomatically, has grown exponentially in the past two decades.
In 2022, Latin American and Caribbean trade with China rose to record levels, exporting roughly $184 billion to China and importing an estimated $265 billion in goods, according to a Boston University Global Development Policy Center analysis.
More than a dozen Republican and Democratic lawmakers have signed on with Gallagher as co-sponsors of the legislation, including Sen. Robert Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
It’s seen as a first step at addressing China’s influence over the multilateral development banks. And while the Biden administration already has the authority to do much of what lawmakers are seeking, the legislation is intended to force the issue.
READ MORE: Blinken heads to Tonga, New Zealand, Australia as U.S. aims to counter China’s influence in the region
Menendez said in a statement that “as China continues to use economic tools to advance its coercive economic agenda across the Western Hemisphere, it’s more important than ever that we protect the integrity of the IDB and ensure its critical work can continue unhampered by Beijing’s interference.”
Diplomatic relations between Latin American and China have also increased. In March, Honduras cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China, following the steps of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic in turning their backs on Taiwan.
Enrique Dussel Peters, a professor and coordinator of the Center for Chinese-Mexican Studies at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, said the U.S. effort to compete with China in Latin America “comes 20 years too late.”
“In many cases in many countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru,” he said, “China is already the most important trading partner and it has become a very dynamic investor in these countries, from lithium to raw materials to oil to gas to whatever issue you can image.”
Other development banks have also been scrutinized for possible undue influence by the Chinese.
In 2021 IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva came under fire after allegations that while she was a World Bank official, she and others pressured staffers to change business rankings in an effort to placate China. The IMF’s 24-member executive board reviewed Georgieva’s actions and concluded that she “did not conclusively demonstrate” an improper role.
The House formed the new China committee in January to focus on improving U.S. competitiveness with China economically and militarily. The committee’s early work has included investigations into partnerships that American companies and universities have entered into with Chinese entities as lawmakers take a harder look at efforts that could benefit Beijing at the long-term expense of the U.S.
Gallagher said earlier this month that every business entering China takes on a business partner whether they know it or not in the Chinese Communist Party.
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Jun 19",Not_Explicit
"Wildfires driven by an extreme heatwave have encircled Palermo after temperatures in the Sicilian city climbed to 47C (117F) on Monday.
Local authorities closed the airport temporarily and part of the motorway as more than 55 wildfires were reported on the island. Hundreds of firefighters from other regions in Italy were due to arrive to help battle the flames.
An 88-year-old woman was reported to have died in San Martino delle Scale, a few miles from the Sicilian capital, after disruption caused by the fires prevented emergency services from reaching her in time.
“We have never seen anything like it,” a San Martino delle Scale resident told Italy’s Ansa news agency. “We were surrounded by fire. We could not go anywhere. We spent the night in the square. These were terrible moments.”
More than 120 families have been evacuated from their homes in Mondello, Capo Gallo and Poggio Ridente since Monday, as clouds of smoke advanced towards the city centre and the sirens of fire engines and ambulances resounded across the Sicilian capital.
Temperatures in Palermo soared on Monday, breaking the previous record for the city of 44.8C set in 1999. The National Institute for Astrophysics said 47C was recorded at its digital weather station at the top the medieval Palazzo dei Normanni at 3.42pm local time.
Hospitals across the city have reported a sharp rise in the number of people seeking emergency care for heat-related illnesses.
In the east Sicilian city of Catania, temperatures were close to 47C and people were struggling with power cuts and problems with the water supply.
The European record of 48.8C was registered in Floridia, Sicily, in August 2021. Temperatures are high across southern Italy and forecast to remain so before a drop on Wednesday.
A 50-year-old man from Tunisia working on a farm near Viterbo, north of Rome, on Monday became the fifth worker to die of heatwave-related causes in Italy over the past two weeks, the trade union CGIL said.
But while the heat stifles the south, northern regions continued to bear the brunt of bad weather caused by the arrival of cooler air from northern Europe, with more torrential rain and gales forecast in Lombardy, Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia.
On Monday, bad weather felled trees and blocked the metro in Milan, and the northern Italian rail company Trenord said its network had experienced widespread damage and breakdowns.
In the province of Brescia, a teenage girl died after being struck by a tree. The 16-year-old was killed during a camping trip in Cedelogo after the storm caused a tree at the site to collapse on to her tent.
Lombardy’s fire service received hundreds of calls from residents as strong winds ripped the roofs of several homes.
Giuseppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, said residents endured a sleepless night as winds exceeded 63 mph (100 km/h).
The overnight storms followed extreme weather, during which huge hailstones damaged the nose and wings of a Delta Air Lines plane that had been bound for New York, forcing it to divert to Rome Fiumicino.
Sala said: “What we are seeing is not normal. We can no longer deny that climate change is changing our lives. We can no longer turn a blind eye, and above all, we can’t not do anything.”
The climate crisis is supercharging extreme weather across the world, leading to more frequent and more deadly disasters from heatwaves to floods to wildfires.
The civil protection minister, Nello Musumeci, said: “Climate change is not just a contingency and Italy must realise that it now has a tropical climate.
“On one hand, we are paying the price of climate change, for which we should have paid more attention several years ago, and, on the other, of infrastructure that does not seem to be totally adequate for the new context.”",Not_Explicit
"Russian Agents, Who Were Going to Blow up Trains with Aid for Ukraine, Exposed in Poland
Wednesday, 19 July 2023
Russian agents who were allegedly planning to sabotage trains with weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine have been exposed in Poland.
According to Gazeta Polska, citing its sources, the uncovered Russian network, including its 66 case volumes, had plans to sabotage trains carrying weapons and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
The risk of direct attacks apparently prompted the Polish special services to initiate arrests. ""For this reason, the first arrests were made precisely at that time, not any other. The risk of attacks was too significant to continue monitoring the group's actions,"" shared an anonymous source familiar with the case materials.
Journalists also learned that the intelligence network was relatively ""fresh"" as it was created in early 2023.
The agents reportedly were instructed directly from Moscow and were compensated mainly in cryptocurrencies for executing assigned tasks.
This exposed network is currently considered the largest of its kind in modern Polish history.
In March, Poland announcedthe liquidation of a spy network operating in favour of Russia. Nine individuals were initially arrested as part of the operation, later increasing to 15. Among them were citizens of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, according to media reports.",Not_Explicit
"Rishi Sunak has avoided a clean sweep of by-election defeats after holding onto Uxbridge and South Ruislip in a night of three votes.

There had been pessimism in the Conservative Party that they would lose the west London seat, alongside Selby and Ainsty in north Yorkshire and Somerton and Frome in Somerset.

But the vote in west London was dominated by the expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone - ULEZ - into the area by Labour's mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Follow by-election coverage live: Tories hang on in Uxbridge after ULEZ backlash

It means Mr Sunak avoids becoming the first prime minister since Harold Wilson in 1968 to lose three by-elections in one go.

Sir Keir Starmer will be disappointed to not have gained the west London seat. The majority before the vote was around 7,000 - and at one point in the campaign, Labour candidate Danny Beales had an eight-point lead over the Tories' Steve Tuckwell.

Mr Tuckwell walked away with a majority of 495 votes - and claimed Mr Khan had ""lost Labour this election"" after bagging 13,965 to Labour's 13,470.

At the other end of the country, in North Yorkshire, Labour sealed their largest ever by-election win - overturning a Conservative lead of roughly 20,000 - by taking 16,456 compared to 12,295.

The party threw a substantial amount of resources at the Selby and Ainsty seat, which was not on their target list before the snap vote was called when former MP Nigel Adams stepped aside.

But Conservative voters appeared to stay at home - they were down by almost 22,000 votes compared to 2019 - letting Labour take home the seat with a swing of 23.7 points.

There was further grim reading for the Tories in Somerset's Somerton and Frome as the Liberal Democrats overturned a majority of 19,213, reclaiming a seat they had held until 2015. Now the Tories trail by 11,008 behind the Liberal Democrats' 21,187 votes with 10,179.

Read more:

Labour secure record win in Selby and Ainsty

Lib Dems win Somerton and Frome

Conservatives hold Uxbridge and South Ruislip

Early on in the night, the Conservatives were playing down the likelihood they would hold any of the three seats.

The Lib Dems were so confident in their lead in Somerton and Frome, they declared their victory before all the ballot boxes had even been opened to start counting.

The Conservatives' expectation management appears to have worked for them - and they can now claim the election win in Boris Johnson's old seat as a victory, a rare win for a government in a by-election, and a condemnation of Sir Keir as a leader.

Labour are now claiming the ULEZ issue that dominated Uxbridge and South Ruislip does not represent the feeling across the UK.

A Labour spokesman said: ""This was always going to be a difficult battle in a seat that has never had a Labour MP, and we didn't even win in 1997.

""We know that the Conservatives crashing the economy has hit working people hard, so it's unsurprising that the ULEZ expansion was a concern for voters here in a by-election.""

The by-elections came about after Mr Johnson, Mr Adam and David Warburton stood aside from their seats amid scandal and shunned honours.",Not_Explicit
"Bloomberg Government subscribers get the stories like this first. Act now and gain unlimited access to everything you need to know. Learn more.
Democrats are embracing Bidenomics. Both parties say that’s a good thing.
As President Joe Biden steers toward his re-election campaign with a tour promoting his economic record, congressional Democrats are pointing to cooling inflation, low unemployment, a cap on insulin prices, and a steady roll-out of infrastructure projects as evidence that their agenda has delivered benefits for everyday Americans — and will continue doing so as next year’s races for the White House and Congress unfold.
“You can call it Bidenomics, you can call it significant progress. I think what the middle class wants to see is that these are policies that are working,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), the third-ranking Democrat in the House. “Over 13 million jobs created by the Biden-Harris administration, record (low) unemployment numbers, inflation lowering months and months in a row. These are positive, strong signs to growing the middle class from the middle out and the ground up.”
The problem for Aguilar, Biden, and battleground Democrats facing tough re-elections: Polls suggest that after three years of high inflation, most voters aren’t sold on Bidenomics.
“I hope he keeps it up. It’ll be good for the campaign,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the Republican whip.
“The American public does not agree that this is a much better economy,” Emmer said. “They’re not buying it. And they shouldn’t, people are struggling at home.”
Senate Republicans asked about “Bidenomics” immediately quoted the president’s polling average on the issue, as compiled by the web site Real Clear Politics: fewer than 39% of voters approve of his work on the issue.
“It’s amusing that he’s stuck his name on the policy and he’s not that popular himself, even among Democrats,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
Democrats countered daunting polling by arguing that voters will increasingly see the upside of their work as time goes on, and they hope, lower inflation becomes normal again. Democrats are planning to highlight those results with events built around groundbreakings for roads and bridges, broadband expansion, and other projects over the coming August recess and throughout the 2024 cycle.
“Not all of it you can feel right away,” said Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), who represents one of the country’s most closely divided districts. “But I do think Bidenomics is exactly what he should be talking about.”
‘Tangible things people can see’
Biden has emphasized the economy as a triumph of his first term, an effort he continued Thursday when he spoke at a shipyard in Philadelphia. In a state that’s crucial to control of the presidency, Senate, and House, Biden promoted an offshore wind project vessel to be built by more than 1,000 workers, with steel plates made in Indiana, and which the White House pointed to as an example of the benefits of his administration’s investments in clean energy.
Biden might not have much choice but to talk about the economy. The issue consistently ranks as voters’ top concern, and no president can run away from economic conditions on their watch — no matter how much, or little, they did to shape the results.
While other issues will also factor into the outcome of the 2024 campaign, including individual candidate quality and debates over abortion, crime, health care, and border security, Democrats in tough races predicted that the economic news this year and next will be increasingly positive.
“There’s a powerful story to tell about the impact he’s made since he’s been president and that our Democratic Senate has contributed to,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who’s seeking re-election in a Midwestern battleground.
The most recent data has shown the lowest inflation rate in more than two years. Unemployment remains low. Wages have started growing faster than costs. Some analysts are downgrading the chances of a recession. The stock market has surged. And Democrats say the public is only beginning to absorb the results of their work.
Baldwin and other Democrats pointed to the infrastructure projects, a $35 insulin price cap, and investments in green energy and semiconductor manufacturing spurred by laws they passed — sometimes with GOP support, sometimes without.
“There’s more positive change yet to come,” Baldwin said. “There are the things that are highly visible — the roads being built, the bridges being secured, the relief people feel when they know that when they turn on their faucet, there’s not going to be lead … There are some very tangible things that people can see.”
Democrats believe when voters are given a choice between Biden and the GOP, they’ll reject Republicans who, under former President Donald Trump, passed a tax package weighted toward the wealthy, and whose right wing recently threatened the country with a default by resisting an increase in the federal debt ceiling.
“There is a real lack of understanding between the GOP and the, you know, people who work for a living across this country,” said Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.).
Reminding voters about prices
Republicans say it’s Democrats who don’t understand.
“They are trying to memory-hole the last three years of the president’s term, the economic pain they’ve inflicted on everyone in America,” said Jack Pandol, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP’s campaign arm.
Some 62% of American adults disapprove of Biden’s handling of inflation, according to a Monmouth University poll released this week. There was a nearly even split when it came to his work on jobs.
Biden has been shadowed throughout his presidency by inflation, which took off early in his term and, despite pronouncements that it was a short-term problem, proved persistent. While rising prices have been a global phenomenon, and economists vary on how much of the US price spikes can be chalked up to government spending as opposed to wider economic factors after the pandemic, most believe the vast programs rolled out by Biden, and Trump before him, at least contributed to the problem.
Democrats argue that their bills were a necessary bridge after the pandemic, and that inflation was better than an anemic recovery. But Republicans say the spending was excessive, and came after the worst of the emergency had passed.
“Republicans are going to be reminding voters of high grocery costs, high gas prices, the things that have taken a bite out of family budgets, and reminding people who is responsible for that,” Pandol said.
A changing election environment
Democrats faced an even more difficult political environment last year, when inflation was running much hotter, and they still fared far better in that election than most analysts expected. This year, they’re hoping that good economic news puts the wind at their backs. Though given the unpredictability of the economy, it’s also possible the opposite happens: That a downturn inflicts economic pain just before voters weigh in on Biden’s leadership.
Republicans say they’re not wishing for that. But they’ll point to Bidenomics if it does.
“We’re all hoping for a soft landing, but that’s by no means assured,” Cornyn said. “We could well be in a recession at some point in the not too distant future. I hope that’s not true, but I don’t think the American people are particularly pleased with President Biden’s handling of the economy.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Tamari at jtamari@bloombergindustry.com",Not_Explicit
"A former government minister is investigated for corruption in Ghana. The inquiry comes after she reported her housekeeper for stealing a large sum of money, but prosecutors want to know where the money came from. Also in this edition: At least 30 people have been killed by a building collapse in Cameroon. Rescue teams are still on the scene, as the government investigates the cause of the disaster. And finally: on the eve of two years after Kais Saied came to power in Tunisia, rights groups are once again shining a spotlight on the country's human rights record. We'll have an interview with Amnesty International.
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"- On Monday, Russia pulled out of an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain.
- It then started bombing Ukrainian ports and threatened to attack ships.
- Putin's latest economic assault on the West has sent wheat prices soaring and sparked fears of a global food crisis.
Vladimir Putin's latest attack on the world economy has reignited fears that Russia's ongoing assault on Ukraine will trigger a global food crisis.
On Monday, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a United Nations-brokered deal that had allowed Ukraine to export grains and oilseeds through a safe shipping corridor.
Moscow then started bombing Ukrainian ports – and on Thursday threatened to attack any ships headed for those harbors on the grounds they could be carrying weapons.
That sent benchmark wheat prices surging by as much as 8.5% on Wednesday, the second biggest single-day jump in over a decade (prices had jumped 8.6% in one day soon after the Ukraine war broke out in February 2022). Corn and soya bean costs have climbed this week as well.
Ukraine produces so much grain that it's often referred to as the ""breadbasket of Europe"" and is the world's seventh-largest wheat producer, according to the UN. The Black Sea agreement had helped keep benchmark prices of the foodstuff under control by boosting supply.
When international grain prices rise, it becomes more expensive for poorer countries to import those commodities – so Russia's withdrawal from the UN's initiative has fueled policymakers' fears that there could be a worldwide food crisis.
'Huge food crisis'
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the Kremlin's decision to pull out of the grain deal would end ""a lifeline for global food security"" and extinguish ""a beacon of hope"", while the European Union's head of foreign policy Josep Borrell told journalists there could be a ""big and huge food crisis in the world"".
""This adds a significant layer of pressure on the price of wheat, with concerns from suppliers and consumers alike now swelling,"" Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Sophie Lund-Yates said Friday. ""The possibility of a full-blown food crisis for poor nations can't be ruled out, and further volatility on the commodity markets is likely going to take a long while to abate.""
Earlier this month, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned of bigger threats to the world than an economic slowdown, underscoring the risks of food shortages and a spreading out of the conflict in Ukraine.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has tried to squeeze commodity supplies in a bid to disrupt the global economy and hinder Kyiv's Western allies.
The West has also made Russia's economy a battleground in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, with the G7 group of countries and the EU capping the price of Russian oil in a bid to cut the Kremlin's revenues so it has less money to fund its war effort.",Not_Explicit
"First lady Jill Biden delivers a speech during a ceremony at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on Tuesday. Photo by Aurelien Morissard/EPA-EFE
July 25 (UPI) -- First lady Jill Biden praised the work of UNESCO in Paris on Tuesday during a speech to the organization that the United States dropped out of during the Trump administration.
She said President Joe Biden, made the decision to rejoin UNESCO -- the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -- in recognition of the fact that the United States must partner with global allies ""to create a better world.""
""When my husband, President Biden, took office two and a half years ago, he made a promise to the American people: That he would rebuild the systems that were broken and fortify our institutions, that he would work to bring divided communities back together that he would put os on a path to a better, brighter future while restoring our leadership on the world stage,"" she said. ""And he did.""
The United States cut its contributions to UNESCO in 2011, while Joe Biden was serving as vice president, to protest its decision to grant full membership to Palestine. In 2017, then-President Donald Trump left the organization completely. Congress, though, reauthorized funding for the organization last year, leading to the United States' re-entry.
The first lady said UNESCO can play a factor in spreading the importance of education which she said has the power to help people overcome the challenges facing the world today.
""That's why we're so proud to rejoin UNESCO,"" she said. ""Because, in my opinion -- and sure, as a teacher, I'm a little biased -- education is one of our greatest shared tools in shaping our future for those who will come after us.""
""Education is a powerful key to that future,"" Biden added. ""It changes us -- so we can go on to change our world together. Everyone deserves that opportunity. It was in that spirit that UNESCO was created.""
She also recognized UNESCO's effort to preserve art, heritage and science around the world.
""The new ideas that pass from person to person like a flame, growing brighter without diminishing its source,"" Jill Biden said. ""Together, let's empower the next generation of thinkers and dreamers and doers, helping them unleash their possibility. ""The challenges of our times, from authoritarianism to climate change, create an uncertain future. But what is certain is the possibility still inside of us to innovate, to cooperate, to discover new solutions.""",Not_Explicit
"Metro Bank has insisted it is politically neutral after being accused of closing down the Reform UK party's account because of its support for Brexit.

The party's leader Richard Tice believes Reform has been caught up in the same debanking scandal as his friend and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage and has written to Metro demanding answers.

The Treasury has announced banks will be forced to give customers three months' notice of account closures and to provide a full explanation of the reasons in response to the controversy triggered by wealthy private bank Coutts cutting ties with Mr Farage.

Mr Tice is a prominent Brexiteer who was in UKIP prior to setting up the Brexit Party, which later became Reform UK. He has revealed Metro Bank closed his party's account in July 2021.

A letter sent to him at the time gives no reason.

Mr Tice told Sky News: ""I was suspicious at the time but didn't join enough of the dots. But it is crystal clear now what has gone on. I have submitted a subject access request and look forward to seeing it.""

Metro Bank said in a statement: ""Metro Bank is and will remain politically neutral and it is not our policy to close an account due to the political or personal beliefs of an individual or organisation. We cannot comment on individual cases.""

Meanwhile, Mr Farage has formally accused the NatWest Group of passing his personal and financial data to the BBC.

He has also complained to the Information Commissioner about the way in which his personal details have been handled by NatWest and its subsidiary, Coutts Bank.

A letter from his lawyers to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) mentions a BBC news report which claimed he was losing his account at Coutts because he had fallen below a required £1m threshold.

Mr Farage made a subject access request to Coutts to discover why his account was being closed.

He revealed he had received a 40-page document showing he met the ""criteria for commercial retention"" but Coutts - a bank also used by the Royal Family - wanted him to leave because of his views, which ranged from his position on LGBTQ+ rights to his friendship with former US president Donald Trump.

Mr Farage tweeted on Saturday: ""The BBC report gives rise to the inescapable conclusion that NatWest Group provided the media with confidential information (and personal data) regarding my financial affairs.

""This would constitute a serious data breach and, worse still, disregard client confidentiality by the bank.

""My legal team have written to the ICO asking them to investigate and take action.""

Read more:

Are banks allowed to close accounts?

Key points from Coutts' dossier on Nigel Farage

The BBC has admitted part of its reporting was inaccurate in light of the new evidence, in a post on its webpage dedicated to corrections and clarifications.

On Thursday, NatWest Group CEO Dame Alison Rose wrote to Mr Farage to apologise.

But the letter from his legal team to the ICO adds: ""Conspicuously, she did not apologise for any information that had been passed to the media citing inadequate finances as the reason for the closure of his accounts.""",Not_Explicit
"Press play to listen to this article
Voiced by artificial intelligence.
PRAGUE — China and its communist ruler Xi Jinping are “absolutely complicit” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the chief of the U.K.’s Secret Intelligence Service (known as MI6) said at a rare public appearance hosted by POLITICO in Prague Wednesday.
Richard Moore — known in the intelligence community as “C” — also blamed China for enabling the brutal actions of Myanmar’s military junta and warned of threats to other countries from Chinese “data traps” and technological advances.
He said MI6 now devotes more resources to tackling China than anything else.
“When Putin invaded Ukraine, the Chinese very clearly supported the Russians,” Moore told POLITICO executive editor Anne McElvoy. “They have completely supported the Russians diplomatically, they’ve abstained in key votes at the United Nations, they’ve absolutely cynically repeated all the Russian tropes, particularly in places like Africa and Latin America — blaming NATO and all of this stuff.”
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But this support has come at a cost to Vladimir Putin’s rule and prestige in Russia.
“What may have happened, which I know many Russians find deeply uncomfortable, is that the balance of power between them has shifted,” he said. “It’s very hard to look at them and not recognize that one is very much now subservient to the other.”
The Chinese Communist Party has put forward a widely discredited “peace plan” for Ukraine and often claims it is a neutral party in the conflict.
From the late 1970s until about a decade ago, Chinese leaders described the country’s foreign policy as “tao guang, yang hui” — or “hiding one’s light and biding one’s time.”
But under chairman Xi Jinping, Beijing has jettisoned that caution and become increasingly aggressive abroad, while ramping up repression at home.
“We now devote more resources to China than anywhere else,” Moore told POLITICO Wednesday. “The resources and size of the Chinese intelligence agency effort is huge and they deploy overseas in large numbers.”
He warned China has laid “data traps” for other countries that dilute their sovereignty and increase their vulnerability, and during the pandemic Beijing required countries to share vaccination data as a condition of receiving Chinese vaccines.
“That is exactly the kind of condition in any deal which should ring alarm bells,” Moore said.
He also noted China’s untrammeled access to vast data sets at home and its practice of illegally “hoovering up” data from abroad gave it some advantages in developing artificial intelligence.
“The Chinese authorities are not hugely troubled by questions of personal privacy or individual data security, they are focused on controlling information and preventing inconvenient truths from being revealed,” he said. But “my service, together with our allies, intends to win the race to master the ethical and safe use of AI,” he added.
As well as supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine, Beijing is propping up several unsavory and corrupt authoritarian regimes around the world, such as Iran and Myanmar, he said.
“On Myanmar, it’s appalling to see what is happening in that wonderful country … it’s deeply, deeply tragic. I’m afraid China does have responsibility because they are the foremost supporter of that regime and it’s hard to see that it would be able to operate in the way that it currently does if it didn’t receive that support.”
From its founding in 1909 until 1994, the U.K.’s overseas intelligence agency did not officially exist, apart from in James Bond films or in spy novels. But in recent years, MI6 has drawn back the veil a little.
The event with POLITICO at the British ambassador’s residence in Prague was Moore’s second-ever public speech in his role as C. It included a livestream and recorded podcast interview with McElvoy — herself an expert on the Cold War and co-author of a biography on an East German spymaster.
It is the only public appearance Moore plans to make this year.",Not_Explicit
"Su has been serving as acting labor secretary since former Secretary Marty Walsh departed the administration in early 2023. Su served as deputy labor secretary under Walsh, where she assisted the Biden administration in several key labor and supply chain disputes during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic recovery.
""Upon Secretary Walsh’s departure, Acting Secretary Su automatically became Acting Secretary under its organic statute, not under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act,” a White House official said in a statement. ""As a result, Su is not subject to the time limits of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and she can serve as Acting Secretary indefinitely.""
Unlike other federal agencies, the Department of Labor is not beholden to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which requires nominees to be confirmed by the Senate within a set time frame. A 1946 law was amended in 1986 to allow the deputy labor secretary, a post to which Su was confirmed in 2021, to indefinitely perform the duties of secretary until the president announces a new nomination.
Biden, top White House officials, the majority of congressional Democrats, and several prominent union voices have all consistently pushed for Su's confirmation after her nomination was announced five months ago.
However, Democrats only hold 51 Senate seats, and Su does not currently have the support required to confirm her to her new position. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told the White House that he has concerns with Su's ""progressive background"" and would vote down her confirmation.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters this week that, despite pushback from some senators, Biden still believes Su is qualified to lead the Labor Department.
""He nominated her because he believed that she was eminently qualified to do the job. And she has done it in a — in a brilliant way,"" she said during a press briefing on July 19. ""Let's not forget the major labor agreements that she was able to do with the West Coast ports. That's something she did as acting. And let's not forget what that would have done. That would have hurt our supply chain. And so, she has been able to do that.""
Manchin's concerns echo those made by a large share of Republicans regarding her tenure as secretary of California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency. During her time in that role, California fulfilled $20 billion in fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment claims, which have still not been accounted for years after disbursement.
Meanwhile, centrists, including Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), and Jon Tester (D-MT), have not publicly declared if they would support Su or not.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) told the Washington Examiner she still believes Su can be confirmed at some point.
""I'm hoping that some people will just wake up to their responsibilities and do the right thing,"" she stated. ""All I can say is that she deserves all of our support and note that every single Democrat supported her for deputy. She's already shown her ability to lead this department as secretary, and I would like everybody to just make up their mind to get on with it and do the right thing.""
Tester has also opposed the idea of Su serving indefinitely as acting secretary.
“I don’t support that myself. I didn’t support it in the last administration. I don’t support it in this one,"" he told NBC News. ""I just don’t think they can do the job they need to do in an acting position. That’s my own opinion, could be wrong. But I just think there’s much more certainty if you’ve been confirmed.”
Former President Donald Trump utilized a similar strategy to Biden's plan for Su to bypass Senate confirmation protocols at multiple agencies in the latter part of his term in office.
Both Chad Wolf and Chris Miller, respectively, led the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense as acting secretary. A federal judge in Maryland ruled in September 2020 that Wolf and his top lieutenant, acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, were serving in their positions in an unlawful violation of the Appointments Clause of the Constitution and Federal Vacancies Reform Act, though neither were removed from their posts.
The Government Accountability Office, an independent government agency, also released a report in September 2020 alleging that in total, 15 Trump administration officials at 12 different agencies were serving in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
David Sivak contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"President Biden is threatening to veto a pair of Republican-led spending bills that would defund progressive policies on abortion, diversity and LGBTQ issues.
The White House released policy statements on Monday morning announcing it ""strongly opposes"" appropriations bills for the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Agriculture that were put together by the House of Representatives’ GOP majority.
""These bills include billions in additional rescissions from the [Inflation Reduction Act] and other vital legislation that would result in unacceptable harm to clean energy and to energy efficiency initiatives that lower energy costs and critical investments in rural America,"" the White House said.
""The draft bills also include numerous new, partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences, including harming access to reproductive health care, threatening the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Americans, endangering marriage equality, hindering critical climate change initiatives, and preventing the administration from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion,"" the White House said.
Republicans have attempted to use their thin House majority to curb the Biden administration’s progressive policies multiple times this year so far, but many of those same bills have had little to no success in the Democrat-held Senate.
The spending bills are two of 12 that Congress hopes to pass before Sept. 30 or else risk a partial government shutdown if no funding agreement is reached.
In the statements opposing the spending packages, the White House accused Republicans of trying to impose ""draconian cuts"" that should have been avoided by the debt limit deal struck between Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Biden.
The deal, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, roughly froze non-defense discretionary spending levels at fiscal year 2023 levels while increasing defense by about 3%. But conservatives, wielding an outsized influence in McCarthy’s razor-thin House majority, have successfully pushed for lower spending levels in the House Appropriations Committee.
""House Republicans had an opportunity to engage in a productive, bipartisan appropriations process, but instead, with just over two months before the end of the fiscal year, are wasting time with partisan bills that cut domestic spending to levels well below the FRA agreement and endanger critical services for the American people,"" the White House said.
""These levels would result in deep cuts to climate change and clean energy programs, essential nutrition services, law enforcement, consumer safety, education and health care,"" it added.
With Biden's strong opposition, the bills are unlikely to get any Democratic support on the House floor, although they can still pass if only a few GOP lawmakers oppose them. House conservatives sent a letter to McCarthy last week, however, warning they would vote down any appropriations legislation that did not drastically cut spending, including below the levels set in the debt limit deal.",Not_Explicit
"The cost of the NHS strike action is “eye-watering” and could run into billions of pounds, a health boss has said as he urged ministers to resolve the row over pay.
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents the healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said some NHS trusts were losing £500,000 for every day of industrial action.
Consultants in England began striking for the first time in a decade on Thursday after eight months of industrial action by other staff across the health service. Their strike will continue until 7am on Saturday, and they will strike again for 48 hours in August.
Hospitals are having to spend vast sums on agency workers to cover shifts during the strikes and administration costs to cancel and reschedule hundreds of thousands of appointments, procedures and operations. Taylor said the strikes were also derailing efforts to tackle the backlog of 7 million patients waiting for care.
“Many health leaders have told us they are deeply concerned by the long-term impact prolonged industrial action is having on the NHS’s ability to reduce waiting lists, improve staff morale and patient satisfaction,” Taylor said. “They feel like the government has buried its head in the sand by refusing to acknowledge this.
“Several members have estimated that each previous round of industrial action from junior doctors has cost them around half a million pounds, so there is an increasing financial toll to this which could run into many billions the longer the walkouts continue.”
He added: “The longer these strikes continue, the more money the NHS will have to spend on their eye-watering costs as waiting lists rise further and vital shifts need to be covered at higher rates. The direct costs of April’s industrial action involving junior doctors has been estimated to be around £100m. However, this does not include the wider loss of earnings from elective or other activity not being carried out. The true cost is likely to be much higher.
“Some leaders have told us their trusts have seen losses of around £500k each day from the strikes, so if junior doctors alone were to strike each month, it’s possible this bill could run into billions.”
Taylor urged ministers to “get back to the table to find a solution that gets the NHS moving again”.
At a rally by senior doctors at the central London headquarters of the British Medical Association (BMA) on Thursday, the union said the consultants’ strike was a last-ditch attempt to save the profession in the face of years of pay erosion and undermined patient care.
The BMA consultants committee chair, Dr Vishal Sharma, said: “When we say strike action is a last resort, we really mean it is a last resort. We have tried everything to get them to listen. We have demonstrated that our pay has fallen not only against inflation but against all our comparator groups. For 15 years, we have pleaded for the government to listen but they have ignored us and inflicted pay cut after pay cut after pay cut.”
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, has told consultants they will receive a 6% pay rise but the BMA has called this derisory and said doctors’ take-home pay has fallen in real terms by more than a third over the past 14 years.
Sharma said pay had fallen by 35% since 2008, “a staggering figure which means effectively we are working for four months of the year for free”.
According to the BMA, consultants on a 2003 contract have a starting salary of £88,364 in basic pay, rising to £119,133 after about 19 years.
The Department of Health says extra payments such as clinical excellence awards and cash for being on call would take the average NHS pay for consultants in 2023-24 to about £134,000.
Patients expressed mixed views about the latest strike action. Sarah Goodchild, 57, said she “doesn’t have a lot of sympathy” for the consultants after her hospital appointment in relation to an endocrine condition, organised nine months ago for Thursday, was cancelled.
“I’m quite angry actually because I’ve been waiting a long time for the appointment,” said Goodchild, a silversmith from Norfolk. “This is going to cause delays in detection, delays in treatment, and I think people are going to die.”
Another patient, whose life was saved by the NHS, said she supported the strike action but only if it ended quickly. Manou Dhama’levy, a patient at University College London hospital for nine years, said: “I’m unhappy about the strikes, especially senior doctors, but they do such an amazing job. I am behind them, as long as it doesn’t last too long.”",Not_Explicit
"When the infamous slogan “education, education, education” was uttered by Sir Tony Blair in 1996 at the launch of Labour’s priorities for government in Blackpool, few could have foreseen the problems facing our bloated higher education sector today.
In a report published last year by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the former prime minister’s think tank acknowledged that a significant portion of Britain’s post-2008 economic growth had been on the back of the expansion of universities and colleges.
The UK has “come to rely on the expansion of education to prop up economic growth”, the foreword said. It went on to recommend that the sector be expanded further, from approximately 53pc of young people going to university today to 60pc by 2030 and 70pc by 2040.
Just a year after Sir Tony’s target of putting half of all young adults through higher education was finally reached in 2019, then education secretary Gavin Williamson announced that the “absurd mantra” would be dropped.
It didn’t seem to matter that nearly a decade of Conservative education policies had been responsible for pushing that target over the line. In 2015 the government abolished the cap on the number of students each university was allowed to enrol.
When tuition fees were raised in 2010 from £3,225 a year to £9,000 and again to £9,250 in 2017 it came with the proviso that universities would be expected to use the extra funding to expand access to higher education.
But England’s higher education funding model is unlikely to remain sustainable for much longer. Tuition fees, which are currently frozen, will leave universities and colleges £2,500 out of pocket for every home student this year, with the shortfall expected to rise to £5,000 in the academic year between 2029 and 2030, according to the Russell Group of 24 leading British research universities.
At the same time, the promise of a university education has become increasingly tenuous for students. During Britain’s national lockdowns students were banned from campuses and learning was confined to virtual Zoom and Microsoft Teams meetings, with in-person lectures only gradually returning at many institutions long after restrictions were ended.
Universities are now facing a wave of legal action from graduates who paid full price for online teaching.
The University and College Union is in its fifth year of industrial action, which has lost students hundreds of thousands of teaching hours. The union’s latest tactic, a boycott of marking assessments, has seen scores of students graduating without a degree this year.
Striking lecturers have argued that revenue earned by universities is not being reflected in their wages, while senior leadership at many institutions preside over six-figure salaries. In February, universities and unions agreed to bring forward a pay settlement for next academic year, worth 5 to 8pc, in recognition of “urgent inflationary pressures” facing staff.
The Blair-era expansion
Following Labour’s landslide victory in 1997, the government inherited a university system that only took in a minority of school leavers.
Approximately 20pc of English students went on to study at university by the age of 30 at the start of the decade. Earning a degree was seen largely as a preserve of the country’s elite, even with the ambitious reforms enacted by Sir John Major, which abolished the divide between the polytechnics and universities.
Baroness Estelle Morris, who as education secretary oversaw part of New Labour’s expansion of higher education between 2001 and 2002, said that critics today have “legitimate” questions about the reforms, which have since allowed millions more people to hold degrees.
“I’m not uncritical. I am absolutely not saying that every course that was started during this period of expansion was worth doing. [However] I cannot see one single argument against having half of our people having studied to degree level.
“To be honest if you freeze the number I don’t think the middle classes were going to stop their children going to university. I don’t know how you change the social mix or widen participation if you kept the numbers as they were.
“I think this question about the expansion of higher education is legitimate. I think there’s a legitimate argument there… but we needed more people achieving that degree level.” She said the Government should have pursued alternative paths to degree level qualifications, such as diplomas, which don’t require going to university.
“If you’re working really hard to raise standards in schools you need a destination for the children who are doing better than they did before. When I visit schools I try not to ask youngsters questions that assume they were going to university. If I asked them 20 years ago I probably would ask that.
She said that alternatives to university, such as apprenticeships, have provided good career paths that do not require taking on debt but that they lacked the life experience that university offers.
“One of the things I worry a little bit about is I can’t think of any other post-18 study that provides that [experience]. You don’t get that university life. Children from poorer backgrounds now because of the debt they have they’re not leaving home. I worry that the children of the more affluent will still get that lifestyle and those from poorer backgrounds won’t leave home because they can’t afford it.
She added: “We also thought that there needed to be more diversity in degree level provision. We talked about a two year course with less holidays. We talked about employers sponsoring their employees to go to university.”
Debt woes
Drawing in ever-increasing numbers of students has turned higher education into a booming business. Universities in England contribute around £95bn to the economy and support more than 815,000 jobs, according to consultancy Frontier Economics.
Yet the surge in wealth generated by higher education providers has come under the backdrop of a mountain of student debt accumulated by generations of graduates. Between 2022 and 2023, student debt surpassed £200bn, according to data from the Student Loans Company. Despite the growth of the sector to become a pillar of the British economy, average earnings of both graduates and postgraduates have been steadily declining since 2007, data from the Department of Education shows.
Russell Group vice chancellors handed themselves a 6pc pay rise last year, making the average salary £413,000 a year, amidst protests from lecturers in response to a proposed 3pc pay offer, according to analysis of published accounts by The Sunday Times.
Imperial College London topped salary rankings for its outgoing president Alice Gast, who received a 35.5pc payrise to £714,000 last July.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Russell Group universities were revealed by The Telegraph to have amassed a £2.2bn cash surplus as a result of spiralling grade inflation, which saw school-leavers gaining record places at the institutions after cancelled exams meant they were handed their predicted grades in lieu of results.
Alarm bells are now ringing over the quality of some degrees. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, recently warned that some students were being “ripped off” by institutions over degrees that do not lead to decent salaried jobs and has announced plans for the universities regulator, the Office for Students, to take future earnings into account when deciding whether degrees were failing participants.
Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said: “I personally think that some of the focus the Government and regulator have put on quality is right. The alternatives to university are pretty few and far between. The cohort graduating this summer have had a pretty torrid time. They’ve been plagued by industrial action [and] they’ve been through Covid.
“Some of those courses… creative arts courses and some business courses have very low wage returns. People who do fine art at university are not expecting to be millionaires. They are doing it for the love of the subject.
“People who say too many people are going to university say ‘do vocational courses’, but business and art are vocational courses. So they are saying [both] don’t do a vocational course, [and] do a vocational course.
“I personally think university is still very much worth doing for most people. It doesn’t work out for everybody. [However] All the evidence about the likelihood of being unemployed during the financial crisis or the covid crisis suggests having a degree on average stands you in pretty good stead.
He added: “I also think there are a lot of people that now insist you have a degree. If you want to be a nurse you basically need a degree. Policing was moving in that direction for a bit. Teaching never used to be a graduate profession.”
Sam Freedman, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government, another think-tank, said: “The big thing that would change the view at the moment is if the employers change their practices.
“It’s really driven by the labour market. There are so many jobs that are graduate only, if more of those jobs became accessible to people who didn’t have degrees I think the dynamics would change quite quickly.”
“One thing that hasn’t been talked about much is that the loan cost is going to get quite a lot more expensive from September. I think that may have an impact over time on people’s view of affordability. Under Blair and Cameron the tuition fees repayment structure was generous but not too burdensome in terms of when you had to start paying off with your salary.
“Now the cutoff rate has been extended [from 30 to 40 years before being written off] and repaying back from a lower salary, so the amount graduates are paying back overtime is getting higher. It’s just going to be more burdensome and more noticeable early in your career. It’s going to be from £25,000, which most graduates will earn pretty early.
He added: “For most young people it will still be worth doing a degree. The growth in university admissions over a very long time has been driven by very high demand from students and parents who know there is a wage premium. If it stopped being true you would see that demand drop away.
The latest “Plan 5” student loans, due to apply to students going to university from September 2023, will see the threshold at which graduates start repaying debt drop to earnings above £25,000 a year, down from the old threshold of £27,295. The period after which loans are written off, currently 30 years, will rise to 40, meaning graduates will pay more for longer and in total.
Graduates pay 9pc of their income above the threshold (on top of the usual income tax and National Insurance). Hargreaves Lansdown said a student starting a three-year degrees today could expect to graduate with a student loan of up to £61,000.
Broken dreams
When Andy Davis, who left Britain to live in Canada for five years to work in aviation, sent his daughter to study at Durham University in 2019 he earmarked £10,000 a year from his savings to support her studies.
“My daughter has always been a hard worker and a high-achiever. I was looking forward to seeing her graduate with a degree, most likely a First. Covid was so hard for her, she started university at Durham in September 2019, so suffered from isolation and loneliness when lockdowns commenced in early 2020.
“This was a hard time for all the students there and teaching staff seemed to have a longer Covid break than the rest of the country. However, no fees were ever returned.”
He said that his daughter, who graduated without her degree certificate this summer due to the marking boycott, faces “ridiculous state of affairs” as she waits to find out what degree she will be awarded.
“Strikes took place earlier in the year and have been rectified with large pay rises. This action appears to me to be pointless and made without any thought of these students who had to cope with a two year interruption to their university lives.”
At the time Durham University said it was “deeply disappointing” that some of its staff had taken part in the the marking boycott.
Emily Bell, a English Literature graduate at the University of Glasgow who received her final result without having all of her work marked, said: “I handed in my final assignment ten days after it [the marking boycott] started. I got my degree classification after the deadline for them to return stuff, I got my dissertation after that and really weak feedback on how it was written.
“No-one was as excited [to graduate] as we expected. It was so anticlimactic.”
Ollie Lewis, who graduated from the University of Edinburgh this summer, was handed little more than an apology during the ceremony. “What a shambles this all is. Walking across the graduation stage to be handed a measly apology letter was, to put it mildly, very disappointing.
“Four years of work and nearly £40,000 worth of fees ended with a graduation ceremony which featured parents shouting “resign” at senior management and countless student protests. I think trust has completely broken down between universities across the UK and students, including potential future students.
“Why should anyone believe that they will be given a degree on time in the future? Whatever the difficulties of this industrial dispute, universities have failed students and there will now be considerable clamour for compensation.”
Those entering the workforce this year, or returning to university for further study, will have become accustomed to the uncertainty that comes with being a student in Britain today.
From career prospects and finding ways to stand out in a crowded field of qualified graduates, to the cost of repaying loans, which surpassed £1,000 a year for the average graduate for the first time last year according to Hargreaves Lansdown, university degrees are a life-long financial commitment that appear to be losing their ability to change lives for the better.",Not_Explicit
"Democrats put RFK Jr. on blast in change of strategy
Democrats are no longer trying to ignore Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and have taken to calling him out in public after a week of controversies.
National party leaders for the first time acknowledged Kennedy’s disruptive presidential bid with sharp criticism, and lawmakers met his claims of censorship head-on during his testimony on Capitol Hill.
It’s a notable change from their previous approach, in which Democratic leaders and party officials hoped Kennedy would simply fade away on his own. It also serves a purpose for President Biden, who has so far been cautious about addressing his primary rival directly.
“On his own, he was doing a really good job of showing everyone his initials stood for Real F—ing [K]razy, so made sense to let him be,” said Eddie Vale, a strategist who has worked on numerous Democratic campaigns.
“This week was different and made sense for folks to engage, because of the combination of outright antisemitism and being a witness for Republicans’ nonsense hearing,” Vale said.
Kennedy this week drew backlash for asserting without evidence that COVID-19 was “ethnically targeted” — a claim infectious disease and ethics experts refuted. Kennedy was caught on video by a reporter saying Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jews were not targeted as much as other races, including Black and white people.
“I’ve never even believed that he was a legitimate candidate,” said Arthur Caplan, a biomedical expert who’s spoken out about the various public relations storms that have dominated Kennedy’s campaign.
“COVID just doesn’t lend itself to being that kind of weapon,” added Caplan, who has written extensively about bioweapons and viruses. “I knew he was basically talking out of his rear end.”
But while Kennedy has frequently drawn negative attention for his views on vaccines, his remarks this week seemed to be even more offensive to many. A wave of White House officials and congressional Democrats rushed to criticize Kennedy, accusing him of spreading misinformation and making antisemitic and racist comments.
In a rare showing of condemnation toward a rival from the same side of the aisle, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took to the podium to portray Kennedy’s comments as factually inaccurate and an “attack” on people.
“If you think about the racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories that come out of saying those types of things, it is an attack on our fellow citizens, our fellow Americans,” Jean-Pierre said on Monday.
“It is important that we essentially speak out when we hear those claims made more broadly,” she added.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called the candidate’s COVID-19 comments “reprehensible” and said they were disqualifying.
“Last week, RFK Jr. made reprehensible anti-semitic and anti-Asian comments aimed at perpetuating harmful and debunked racist tropes,” DelBene said in a statement.
“Such dangerous racism and hate have no place in America, demonstrate him to be unfit for public office, and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” she added.
Adding fuel to the fire for Democrats, Kennedy on Thursday testified before a House Judiciary select subcommittee examining the “weaponization” of the federal government, using the event to argue he was being censored despite receiving widespread coverage from major news outlets. Although House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) defended him, Democrats — led by Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) — made their disapproval of him clear.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also waded into the intraparty conflict, questioning why the GOP would grant Kennedy a forum in Congress.
“Why would you give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a congressional platform to spew his hatred? Here’s the answer: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a living, breathing false-flag operation,” the New York congressman said.
The growing chorus of criticism poses a challenge for Kennedy, who always faced an uphill climb to defeat Biden. But the events of the past week could turn off even those voters who had been more open to his campaign.
Adding to the feeling of many Democrats that Kennedy is playing into the hands of the GOP, former President Trump recently praised the insurgent candidate as “a very smart person,” saying he “hit a little bit of a nerve.” Kennedy had expressed during a town hall hosted by NewsNation — owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill — that he was “proud” Trump liked him.
“His whole campaign is being run by right-wing political operatives who have one objective: try to take down President Joe Biden,” Jeffries argued this week.
That sentiment is shared by many others in the party. The Hill reported earlier this week that two pro-Israel House Democrats said he should not be allowed to serve in the Oval Office if elected following his COVID-19 remarks.
Still, Biden has been careful not to pile on, and some Democrats argue it’s better to disregard him again. Reached for comment, spokespeople from the Biden campaign and the White House also declined to comment on the record beyond what Jean-Pierre said at the podium this week.
As long as he teeters around the same polling numbers, Democrats say they should continue paying him no mind.
“I think it makes most sense to go back to ignoring him,” Vale said. “Let him just hang out with Steve Bannon and do weird push-ups in jeans.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Harris slammed the Florida Board of Education's unanimous decision on Wednesday to revise the state's black history curriculum, which critics argue whitewashes U.S. history, during a speech Thursday at the national convention for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. in Indianapolis. Chief among the criticisms is that standards require middle schools to teach students that slaves benefited from skills they learned.
“Extremists pass book bans to prevent [children] from learning our true history — book bans in this year of our Lord 2023. And while they do this, check it out, they push forward revisionist history,” Harris said. ""Just yesterday in the state of Florida, they decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it.”
DeSantis took to Twitter on Friday, the same day Harris is visiting the Sunshine State, to push back against her comments. ""Democrats like Kamala Harris have to lie about Florida's educational standards to cover for their agenda of indoctrinating students and pushing sexual topics onto children,"" he wrote. ""Florida stands in their way and we will continue to expose their agenda and their lies.""
As a 2024 presidential candidate, DeSantis has campaigned on ending ""wokeness"" in public schools, arguing that it encourages ""state-sanctioned racism"" and encourages children to hate the U.S. It's also a key part of his strategy to become the pro-parent candidate as he attempts to defeat former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination. Last year DeSantis signed the Stop WOKE Act into law which prohibited critical race theory from being taught in public schools and determines how businesses and schools address race and gender.
DeSantis's campaign has faced a hurdle of problems in recent weeks, yet the campaign maintains they are the only team that is able to defeat President Joe Biden next year.
""The Harris-Biden administration is obsessed with Florida ... yet they ignore the chaos at the border, crime-infested cities, economic malaise, and the military recruitment crisis. Maybe if Biden’s granddaughter moved to Florida he’d actually visit her,"" DeSantis also tweeted.
Democrats like Kamala Harris have to lie about Florida's educational standards to cover for their agenda of indoctrinating students and pushing sexual topics onto children.— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) July 21, 2023
Florida stands in their way and we will continue to expose their agenda and their lies.
In January, DeSantis's administration rejected a College Board Advanced Placement course on African American history because “we want education, not indoctrination,"" the governor said.",Not_Explicit
"Rishi Sunak is being urged by senior Conservatives to go for a spring election next year, with the plan said to be “gaining traction” among campaign strategists who believe it may be their best chance to stem losses.
In the aftermath of Thursday’s byelections, which saw a 21-point average swing against the Tories, some party insiders suggested May 2024 could be an “economic sweet spot” – providing the best window for “damage limitation”.
Sunak has come under pressure since the defeats in North Yorkshire and Somerset this week, despite the Tories pulling off a narrow win in Boris Johnson’s former seat in west London.
Friday’s results caused some ministers to privately push the government to soften its net zero plans and take a stronger stance on “wedge” issues that could be used to create more of a dividing line with Keir Starmer’s party.
The 19,000 and 20,000 majorities that were overturned by Labour and the Liberal Democrats have also renewed jitters among Tory MPs about the safety of their own seat.
With talk of a planned cabinet reshuffle towards the end of the summer and pressure on Sunak growing to buoy his party up at its conference in October, attention is turning among a select few in No 10 to the timing of the next election.
“Rishi will take a stronger view once we get to next January – when the economic picture is clearer and the new cabinet have had time to bed in,” said one senior Tory source. “But the case for an early election is gaining traction.”
Dan Poulter, the Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, told Times Radio on Sunday: “If we look at historical precedents, at the moment it would suggest that – unless things change and turn around – we’re probably heading for a change of government in 15, 18 months’ time.” He added there was a “slim” chance of victory, but conceded the government was in a “very difficult place”.
The idea has been advanced by those including Daniel Finkelstein, a Conservative peer and adviser to John Major in the run up to the party’s crushing defeat in 1997, as well as other figures in parliament and Conservative Central Headquarters.
“There are sound reasons for why we’d stand a better chance by going early than in November,” a minister claimed. “But if we are heading for opposition anyway, it would still help us avoid wipeout territory.”
Tory strategists point to inflation falling faster than expected – to 7.9% from 8.7% – and hopes that Sunak’s aim to halve inflation will be reached, if not by the end of the year, then in early 2024.
“There’s an economic sweep spot,” said one insider. They suggested there would probably be a period next spring where inflation comes under control but before a potential recession and the full effect of further interest rate rises has been felt.
Such a move would allow the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, to store up some intended measures and announce these at the spring budget, in March 2024.
The possible giveaways – reported to include abolishing inheritance tax – would be a pre-electoral springboard and challenge for Starmer to match, given his repeated warning that Labour’s ambitions will have to be limited to the finances they inherit.
Further advantages to an early election are reducing the potential punishment levied on the Conservative government for rising mortgage payments. Those who have been shielded from the effects of interest rates due to being on relatively low fixed-rate mortgages are gradually seeing their deals expire.
“Every person who ends up paying an extra £500 a month because they’ve come off their mortgage deal between the spring and the autumn will end up blaming us,” said one MP. “The quicker we get out the way with a damage limitation early election, the quicker we can be back in power after a spell as the opposition.”
Others have pointed to forthcoming fixtures in the political calendar. They fear a narrative-defining drubbing in the May 2024 local elections; followed by another summer where the unresolved small boats issue goes unresolved; and then, as the colder months approach, warnings of an impending winter crisis in the NHS.
Party conference, which is also held by the Conservatives in the first week of October, could also prove problematic. It is considered highly unlikely the party would pull or drastically slim down next year’s event before an election in 2024, given how vital it is to fundraising. However, CCHQ sources pointed out that this would mean activists coalescing in Birmingham in a week when their time would be better spent door-knocking across the country.
Views differ about when the election, which has to happen by January 2025, is most likely to take place. Some who want Sunak to go later point to the risk of the economy not having recovered enough by next May. They also suggest Sunak may want to make as much headway as possible in clearing the NHS backlog given the difficulties posed by strikes – making a November election more preferable.",Not_Explicit
"Living, as I do, a life of blameless rustic obscurity, I don’t go to posh dos in London much these days. So I missed the BBC Correspondents’ Charity dinner at the Langham Hotel on July 3, where media titans chowed down in chandeliered splendour with top bankers and philanthropists.

I wasn’t able to earwig on the conversation between NatWest Group boss Dame Alison Rose and the BBC Business Editor Simon Jack. They happened to be sitting next to each other and, say eyewitnesses, were plainly having a fine old time.

I cannot say for sure that they were talking about the story of the hour — the claim by Nigel Farage that he had been mysteriously and arbitrarily dropped as a customer of Coutts bank.

I didn’t hear Simon Jack ask Alison Rose the question that frankly it was his job to ask that night: namely, whether it was true that Farage had been boycotted for political reasons, as the former MEP seemed to suggest. I didn’t hear what Dame Alison said. But you know what, I have a pretty good idea.

In fact, I would wager the entire contents of my own personal bank account that they discussed the matter; and I would bet my house that it was no coincidence that the following day Simon Jack ran a BBC story claiming that the decision by Coutts to whack Farage was nothing to do with politics.

The sad truth, said the Beeb, was that Farage just didn’t have enough money. He had ‘fallen beneath the wealth limit’. It was a purely ‘commercial’ decision, said Simon Jack, and he cited ‘people familiar with Coutts’ move’.

Well, who do you think those people might be? Is there anyone who seriously thinks that Alison Rose was not involved — especially since neither party is now willing to comment?

Coutts decided to breach one of the most important principles of banking — the principle behind the survival of the bank for the past 331 years. They, or their supreme boss at NatWest, decided to betray the confidentiality that their client might expect.

They talked in deprecating terms about the state of his finances. They humiliated their customer by causing at least two media organisations — the BBC and the Financial Times — to run the same derogatory story: that he just wasn’t rich enough to qualify as a Coutts customer. And they lied.

Days later, by means of a subject access request, Nigel Farage was able to get hold of the report by the wealth reputation risk committee of Coutts — and there it is, plain as a pikestaff. The report says: ‘The client’s economic contribution is now sufficient to retain on a commercial basis.’

It wasn’t just a partly political decision. It was purely political. The conclusion of this 36-page dossier of prejudice and innuendo is that ‘the committee did not think that continuing to bank Nigel Farage was compatible with Coutts given that his publicly stated views were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation’.

Please be in no doubt that Farage is, and has for decades, been my political opponent. His activities have eaten away at Tory majorities; he has made it more difficult for us to win, and he has several times helped impede the formation of a strong majority Conservative government.

I certainly do not endorse or support all of his views — least of all on Vladimir Putin, where I believe that he has made a serious mistake (as he might now accept himself). I doubt that we see eye to eye on the need to protect the environment by reducing CO2 and many other matters.

But on this issue — his treatment by Coutts — I find myself vehemently supporting him.

I read the Coutts’ dossier with cold, hard fury. There is nothing here to justify the termination of a commercial relationship.

So what if Farage compares the tearing down of a statue in Bristol with the actions of the Taliban, who destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan? Is Coutts in favour of the violent destruction of our heritage?

So what if he stresses the biological differences between men and women? It’s a point of view shared by tens of millions — if not the majority — of people in this country. So what if he backed Brexit? So did 52 per cent of the UK electorate, and the current government.

If only ministers would proclaim it more loudly.

Why the hell does it matter if he personally supports former U.S. President Trump. So do millions of Americans, not all of them bigots or idiots.

I have news for the snowflakes on the Coutts committee: Donald Trump is very likely to be nominated as the Republican candidate in the U.S. election. Are they really going to de-bank any American who supports him?

There is no conceivable defence of the bank’s decision. There was no ‘reputational’ risk to banking Farage. Did you know he was a client? Neither did I. They did it purely to make themselves feel better — about themselves.

They wanted to feel that they were doing more than lending money at interest.

They wanted to feel environmentalist, egalitarian, trans-sensitive, anti-Brexit, anti-racist and altogether woke, and they thought they could do it by shunning Farage. Then they lied about it.

They have made a terrible mistake. Coutts is no longer the self-styled posho bank used by kids at my school, who would buy turkey sandwiches from the tuck shop with 50p Coutts cheques. It is no longer entitled to behave as it likes.

As a subsidiary of NatWest, Coutts belongs nearly 40 per cent to you and me, the taxpayers, because we bailed it out in 2008; and Alison Rose is publicly accountable for her decisions and her £5.2million salary. That matters because what this bank has done is — paradoxically — disastrous for the reputation of UK financial services.

Why would you put your money in London, if some woke committee can suddenly and arbitrarily decide to close your account? I wonder whether Dame Alison has stopped for one second to think about how the UK has prospered, and why we are seen around the world as a beacon of opportunity.

It is because we uphold the great principle: that you should not discriminate against people because of what they lawfully say or believe; and, as the report admits, time and again Farage has done nothing to break the law.

There is only one way forward. Andrew Griffith MP, the banking minister, has risen impressively to the occasion.

He now needs to establish all the facts about how a false impression of Farage’s financial circumstances was given to the media, and I am afraid that if Dame Alison was in any way responsible then she really needs to go.

And Farage — if that is what he wants — should have all his accounts restored forthwith. This is about far more than the bank account of one person.

It is about freedom under the law, for everyone in this country. It is about the freedom to think and say what you believe — provided you don’t break the law — without the fear of open or covert persecution.

That freedom made our country great. It is under threat. It is time to fight.",Not_Explicit
"The Democratic National Committee named former President Donald Trump the ""real Speaker of the House"" on Tuesday after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) suggested that an investigation into President Joe Biden's family could lead to an impeachment inquiry.
""He has made sure the House majority is little more than an arm of his 2024 campaign, and Kevin McCarthy is happy to do his bidding — promising to expunge Trump’s own bipartisan impeachments, and now threatening President Biden with a baseless impeachment to distract from their lack of any meaningful agenda and Trump’s own significant challenges,"" DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement reacting to McCarthy.
Discussing allegations against Biden and his family regarding their foreign business dealings, McCarthy told Fox News's Sean Hannity: ""I believe we will follow this all the way to the end, and this is going to rise to an impeachment inquiry, the way the Constitution tells us to do this, and we have to get the answers to these questions.""
The speaker said: ""This president has also used something we have not seen since Richard Nixon, used the weaponization of government to benefit his family and deny Congress the ability to have oversight.""
Harrison dismissed the Monday evening threat as ""another political stunt intended to help Trump, which House Republicans have already admitted.""
""Instead of wasting the American people’s time and money carrying water for Trump, Republicans should join President Biden in working to provide relief for hardworking families, lowering costs, and bringing jobs back to America instead of playing reruns of the Trump show,"" he said.
At the center of the allegations against Biden is an unclassified FBI FD-1023 form in which informants detail claims of the now-president wielding his influence to coerce payments from foreign entities.
Last week, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a lightly redacted version of the form to the public.
Congressional Democrats have pushed back against Republicans over the form, which the bureau uses to collect “raw, unverified” information from confidential sources, calling the claims levied “conspiracy theories.”
After the form was released, White House counsel spokesman Ian Sams said: “It is remarkable that congressional Republicans, in their eagerness to go after President Biden regardless of the truth, continue to push claims that have been debunked for years.”",Not_Explicit
"Strengthening Food Safety Systems Through Global Collaboration
Food safety is a global issue that transcends boundaries and geographical locations. Safe food is essential for sound health and food safety is critical to the policymakers of any nation for securing public health and the economic strength and stability of a nation.
The burden of foodborne diseases to public health and to economies is a matter of concern. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 600 million people fall ill each year due to about 200 different types of foodborne diseases. The burden of these illnesses disproportionately affects the poor and the young. Tragically, foodborne diseases are responsible for 4,20,000 preventable deaths annually worldwide.
The 2019 World Bank report on the economic burden of the foodborne diseases indicated that the total productivity loss associated with foodborne disease in low- and middle-income countries was estimated at $95.2 billion per year, and the annual cost of treating foodborne illnesses is estimated at $15 billion. Addressing the burden of foodborne diseases is a crucial task for safeguarding public health and ensuring economic stability for a better quality of life of people around the globe.
The Global Food Regulators Summit 2023, an endeavour of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, demonstrates India's commitment to strengthening the global food safety ecosystem. The summit aims to create a cohesive approach to food safety and regulatory frameworks by facilitating discussions and sharing best practices among food regulators and research institutions from around the world, thereby ensuring safe and quality food for all.
Through this summit, India provided a crucial platform for global food regulators from over 40 countries, including G20 member countries, to collaborate and strategise on transforming the food safety ecosystem and regulatory frameworks. Apart from the Codex Alimentarius Commission created by the World Health Organisation and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 60 years ago, this is the first time food regulators from across the world gathered under the same roof for a global regulatory conference of such magnitude.
Apart from regulators, reputed international organisations, including WHO, FAO, Codex Alimentarius Commission, World Food Programme and 25 international research institutes and universities took part in the summit.
A total of around 5,000 people took part over two days at the plenary sessions, exhibition and concurrent CEO’s meetings held as part of the summit, which over one lakh people joined virtually. This included around 40,000 food business operators, 35,000 students/research institutes, 6,000 exporters, 5,000 importers, 3,500 food safety officers, 2,500 food safety trainees, 2,000 laboratory officials, 1,000 Food Safety Mitras and Indian Missions Officials in 60 countries across the world.
Key goals of the summit included establishing a platform for exchanging information on food product regulatory and safety requirements. The discussion centered around five crucial areas divided into as many technical sessions–Global Regulatory Framework, Anti-Microbial Resistance: Challenges and Solutions for Global Food Safety, Best Practices on Robust Standards Setting Framework, Impact of Animal Feed on Food Safety and Human Health, and Innovation in Food Emergency Responses, Recall and Analysis.
The Global Food Regulators Summit introduced ground-breaking initiatives that will transform the accessibility and sharing of food safety information. These included the launch of Food-o-Copoeia, a comprehensive collection of food categorywise monographs that serve as a single-point reference for all applicable standards and regulatory provisions, covering aspects such as quality standards, food safety measures, labelling and claim requirements, packaging specifications and testing methods.
Additionally, the common regulators platform called 'SaNGRAH'-Safe food for Nations: Global food Regulatory Authorities Handbook features a database of Food Regulatory Authorities from 76 countries, providing insights into their mandates, food safety ecosystems, food testing facilities, contact details, etc.
Furthermore, a Common Digital Dashboard, a unified IT portal offering comprehensive information on standards, regulations, notifications, advisories, guidelines, contamination limits and the latest developments by food regulators in India has also been launched as part of the summit.
India Taking The Lead
In 1964, India became one of the first countries to join Codex and has host chaired the Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs, apart from chairing and co-chairing many working groups. From the enactment of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Law in 1954 to the formation of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the focus in the country has moved from just preventing food adulteration to ensuring food safety through setting of standards and nudging consumers towards right eating choices.
India's food market is currently valued at $905.2 billion and it is projected to grow annually at a substantial rate of 8.4%. As one of the world's major food producers and exporters, India plays a crucial role in the global food safety ecosystem. The country has exported food products worth $172.48 billion over the past five years (2017-18 to 2021-22).
Given the immense scale of the food value chain worldwide, India has taken the lead in addressing global food safety challenges and this conference serves as a significant platform for promoting international cooperation, knowledge sharing, and cross-learning, aiming to create a safer and more sustainable global food system.
The Food Safety and Standards Act now encompasses more than 710 products and 31 principle regulations have been formulated, which includes milk, meat, organic food, pesticide, nutraceuticals, etc.
The food authority in India has a Scientific Committee and 21 Scientific Panels that are its principal scientific arms in the standards development process, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has 49 technical and scientific advisory committees. The European Food Safety Authority has 10 scientific panels that include external scientific experts. The European Parliament’s Committee for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety plays a crucial role in legislation related to most of the food sector.
The laboratory approval system at E.U., U.S., Australia and New Zealand includes primary, referral and reference labs under private and government sector, which is similar to the system in India.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has 13 reference and research laboratories, New Zealand has two national laboratories and 119 accredited laboratories. In Australia, there are seven laboratories that are approved for testing imported food. While Germany has 14 national reference laboratories, U.K. has 29 national reference laboratories.
India has a network of 246 laboratories for food testing, including four National Food Labs of the FSSAI. Out of the total notified laboratories, 13 have been recognised as reference labs for development and validation of new methods of testing. India also has the world’s largest network of mobile food labs–‘Food Safety on Wheels’–which brings testing facilities and food safety education to the remotest corners of this vast country.
Food safety is an integral part of our public health system and India has been a pioneer of this sector, which includes bringing regulation for Ayurveda Aahara and vegan food. Historically speaking, ships laden with spices and condiments would take the ‘Spice Route’ from India to the western world, taking along food and food habits. Post-globalisation, Japanese food is enjoyed by people in the U.S. while food of the Middle East is easily available in Japan. As Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly said ‘One Earth,’ ‘One Family’ and ‘One Future’, every country is eating food imported from the other country.
India’s ancient tradition of Yoga and its universal appeal has found a significant global platform, thanks to the International Yoga Day celebrated on June 21 every year, as proposed by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 27, 2014.
Just as the International Yoga Day has helped bring global attention towards the holistic approach of this ancient practice towards health and wellness, the Global Food Regulators Summit would become an international platform where regulators, policy makers and scientists can exchange ideas and collaborate to counter emerging hazards, changing consumer habits, pandemic situations, etc.
The Global Food Regulators Summit would act as the catalyst for a future where food safety for all is ensured through international collaboration, open dialogues and the sharing of experiences and innovations.
G Kamala Vardhana Rao is Secretary to the Government of India and Chief Executive Officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BQ Prime or its editorial team.",Not_Explicit
"White House marks rejoining UNESCO, says Trump-era absence harmed US interests
The White House marked the United States rejoining the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) ahead of first lady Jill Biden’s trip to France, four years after former President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement.
Senior administration officials outlined that the U.S. not being a part of the international organization was harmful to its interests.
“In recent years with UNESCO, it became clear that the U.S. absence from this organization was actually harming our interests,” officials said, adding that U.S. competitors are “working hard in the U.N. to shape the global agenda on issues ranging from emerging technology to sustainable development.”
“If we aren’t in the room, we can’t push back and if we don’t show up, we can’t fight for the American people and defend our allies abroad from unfair attacks,” officials said.
The U.S. in 2019 officially withdrew from UNESCO, two years after the Trump administration cited anti-Israel bias for the decision to leave the group. The withdrawal was largely procedural, and came as the Trump administration more broadly raised concerns about the United Nations’ agenda and attitudes toward Israel.
The first lady will deliver remarks at the UNESCO flag-raising ceremony. She is set to leave Sunday evening and return on Wednesday.
Officials cited rejoining UNESCO as part of President Biden’s overall focus on U.S. leadership and participation on the global stage following the Trump years.
“From the very early days of this administration, we took steps to strengthen our global partnerships and recommit to American leadership at the U.N. and international organizations,” officials said.
The first lady will engage with UNESCO leaders on ethics of emerging technology, press freedom, and education, which is notable for her as a longtime teacher.
She will also meet with France’s first lady Brigitte Macron, a fellow teacher, while in Paris. And, she will visit Brittany American Cemetery in Normandy to honor World War II troops. UNESCO was co-founded by the U.S. after World War II.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"UN begins extracting oil from tanker, mitigating risk of environmental catastrophe
The United Nations announced Tuesday morning that it began operations to remove oil from a deteriorating supertanker, the first step toward preventing a natural disaster from unfolding in the Red Sea.
“In the absence of anyone else willing or able to perform this task, the United Nations stepped up and assumed the risk to conduct this very delicate operation,” U.N. Secretary–General António Guterres said about the project in a press statement.
FSO Safer, the 47-year-old tanker, has been a burden on the U.N.’s shoulders since 2015, when Yemen halted maintenance on the vessel due to an outbreak of a civil war in the country.
As a result, FSO Safer has been abandoned and stranded off the coast of Yemen for more than 8 years.
Despite numerous reports over the years warning that the tanker’s structural integrity is failing, Yemen’s rebel group, the Houthis, continued to block foreign attempts to access and inspect the ship.
The U.N.’s project to prevent a colossal oil spill by extracting the tanker’s 48 million gallons of oil was initially launched in 2019, but they also faced pushback from the Houthis when trying to access FSO Safer.
President Biden’s foreign policy regarding Yemen also complicated the matter. Shortly after being inaugurated, Biden stopped U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia’s offensive against the Houthis, which was the strategy of the two previous administrations.
This change, along with removing the Houthis’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization, signaled a shift toward diplomacy within U.S.’s approach to the country’s conflict.
But Biden’s policy switch-up did not have any immediate effect on the effort to stop the oil spill, which is projected to be four times the size of the Exxon Valdez leak. The 1989 incident was the second-largest oil spill in U.S. history.
On February 24th 2021, 20 days after the policy change, the Houthis made a new list of requests that delayed the U.N.’s mission.
After a drawn out process, the U.N. was finally able to begin offloading oil from FSO Safer with the help of a $10 million donation from the U.S. The U.N. anticipates the operation will last 19 days.
“This is an all-hands-on-deck mission and the culmination of nearly two years of political groundwork, fundraising and project development,” Guterres said in the press statement.
U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller called on the global community and private industries in a press release to supply the additional $22 million needed to complete the project.
“The oil transfer is a critical step towards averting an economic, environmental, and humanitarian crisis in the Red Sea and beyond,” Miller said.
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) spokesperson Sarah Bel estimated that the potential oil spill would take $20 billion and multiple years to clean up during a press briefing in Geneva.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Asia Stocks Face Cautious Start As U.S. Futures Slip: Markets Wrap
Track the global equity, currency and commodity markets here.
(Bloomberg) -- Asian markets are poised for a cautious open as US stock futures slipped in early Asia trading after disappointing results from companies including Netflix Inc. and Tesla Inc.
Equity futures for Japan fell, while contracts for Australia were little changed. A reprieve from a two-day slide in Hong Kong may be in store, with equity futures pointing to a small gain. An index of US-listed Chinese companies bounced back Wednesday from their worst day in almost a month.
Meanwhile, futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 ticked lower in Asia after Netflix declined in postmarket trading as sales missed estimates and its third-quarter forecast also fell short. Tesla fell after profitability shrank in the second quarter, a sign the electric-vehicle maker’s margins are being squeezed.
In official trading Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose for a third day. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 ended marginally lower and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its winning streak into an eighth day, the longest rally since September 2019. Apple Inc. advanced after Bloomberg reported on its efforts to build artificial intelligence tools, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ended in the green even after its profit slump stood in contrast to beats earlier in the week from peer investment firms.
US Treasuries gained, spurred by a UK inflation report earlier in the session that sent guilt yields tumbling. Price pressures in Britain dropped to the lowest in 15 months, adding to evidence central banks can go easier on raising interest rates. However, gains across the Treasury curve eased following a spike in commodities including wheat after a warning from Russia that any ships to Ukraine would be seen as carrying arms.
The dollar rose against almost all of its Group of 10 counterparts, with the pound falling as much as 1.3% in the biggest intraday drop in more than four months. The yen and Aussie were also among the worst performers Wednesday.
In the US, new home construction retreated in June after surging a month earlier, while applications to build, a proxy for future construction, slipped, data Wednesday showed.
In Asia on Thursday, Japan’s trade deficit is expected to narrow last month as exports increased, while Australia is due to report jobs figures for June following an unexpected surge the prior month.
Evidence of easing price pressures in the US and UK is bolstering hopes among investors a campaign of monetary tightening is drawing to a close. However, shaky economic reports have made clear the Federal Reserve is far from claiming victory.
“The risk of recession has receded dramatically,” said Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research, on Bloomberg TV. “I think the markets are right to allocate a little bit more to the soft-landing story, but I think you can make a good case that maybe we’re getting a little bit over our skis here and we should probably put some more potential on the resurgence of the inflationary-boom scenario.”
In other corporate news, Carvana Co. gained 40% after the used-car retailer reached a deal to restructure its debt and filed to sell as much as $1 billion in stock. AT&T Inc. rose 8.5% after the telecommunications company reassured investors by saying less than 10% of its nationwide copper-wire telecom network had lead-clad cables.
Key events this week:
- China loan prime rates, Thursday
- US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, Conf. Board leading index, Thursday
- Japan CPI, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures fell 0.3% as of 8:18 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 rose 0.2%
- Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.6%. The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
- Nikkei 225 futures fell 0.4%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index futures were little changed
- Hang Seng Index futures rose 0.3%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro was little changed at $1.1204
- The Japanese yen was unchanged at 139.65 per dollar
- The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2314 per dollar
- The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6768
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $29,864.79
- Ether fell 0.6% to $1,886.5
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 3.75%
- Australia’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 3.91%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $75.23 a barrel
- Spot gold was little changed
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"The Council of the EU has adopted new rules intended to make it much easier for EV owners to travel across Europe, while simultaneously helping to reduce the output of harmful greenhouse gases. From a report: The new regulation is set to benefit owners of electric cars and vans in three ways: It reduces range anxiety by expanding the EV charging infrastructure along Europe's main highways, it makes payments ""at the pump"" easier without requiring an app or subscription, and ensures pricing and availability is clearly communicated to avoid surprises. From 2025 onward, the new regulation requires fast charging stations offering at least 150kW of power to be installed every 60km (37mi) along the EU's Trans-European Transport Network, or (TEN-T) system of highways, the bloc's main transport corridor. The fast charging network along European highways is already pretty robust, I discovered on a recent 3,000km (2,000 mile) roadtrip with a VW ID Buzz. This new law could all but eliminate range anxiety for those sticking to TEN-T roads.
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Do you develop on GitHub? You can keep using GitHub but automatically sync your GitHub releases to SourceForge quickly and easily with this tool so your projects have a backup location, and get your project in front of SourceForge's nearly 30 million monthly users. It takes less than a minute. Get new users downloading your project releases today!
Do you develop on GitHub? You can keep using GitHub but automatically sync your GitHub releases to SourceForge quickly and easily with this tool so your projects have a backup location, and get your project in front of SourceForge's nearly 30 million monthly users. It takes less than a minute. Get new users downloading your project releases today!",Not_Explicit
"Editor's note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.
Canadian Immigration Work Initiative Reaches Cap in Two Days
Canada’s recently launched immigration work permit program is no longer accepting new applications since receiving an overwhelming response and reaching its cap of 10,000 applicants in two days. Aiming to attract highly skilled technology professionals from the United States with H-1B work visas, Canada unveiled the initiative in late June. VOA’s Immigration reporter Aline Barros has the story.
House-Approved Defense Bill Does Not Increase or Extend Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans
The country’s annual defense spending measure was narrowly approved by the Republican-led House of Representatives on July 14, and although the bill is several steps from becoming law, the White House has announced its opposition to a range of national security provisions, including inaction on the special immigrant visas for Afghans. Immigration reporter Aline Barros has the story.
Texas Trooper's Accounts of Bloodied, Fainting Migrants on US-Mexico Border Unleash Criticism
Texas Governor Greg Abbott's escalating measures to stop migrants along the U.S. border with Mexico came under new criticism Tuesday after a state trooper said migrants were left bloodied from razor-wire barriers and that orders were given to deny people water in the sweltering heat. The Associated Press reports.
Biden, Trump Asylum Rules Differ, Administration Tells Judge
The Biden administration argued Wednesday that its new asylum rule is different from versions put forward under President Donald Trump in a court hearing before a judge who threw out Trump's attempts to limit asylum on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Associated Press reports.
Hundreds of Migrants in Southern Mexico Form Group to Head Toward US
Nearly 1,000 migrants that recently crossed from Guatemala into Mexico formed a group on July 15 to head north together in hopes of reaching the border with the United States. The group, made up of largely Venezuelan migrants, walked along a highway in southern Mexico led by a Venezuelan flag with the phrase ""Peace, Freedom. SOS."" The men, women, children and teenagers were followed by Mexican National Guard patrols. The Associated Press reports.
How Are ‘Talent Visas’ Used to Lure International Students to the US?
Foreign students educated in the United States are often bright, hardworking and eager to land a job. But the backlog for U.S. work visas has created an opportunity for other countries to snag talented workers. Jon Marcus of The Hechinger Report has more.
Immigration around the world
Spain's Early Election Could Put Far Right in Power for First Time Since Franco
Spain's general election on Sunday could make the country the latest European Union member to swing to the populist right, a shift that would represent a major upheaval after five years under a left-wing government. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the early election after his Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and its small far-left coalition partner, Unidas Podemos (""United We Can""), took a beating in local and regional elections. The Associated Press reports.
UN: UK Migration Bill Contrary to International Law
Britain's Illegal Migration Bill, aimed at stopping thousands of migrants arriving in the country, is at odds with London's obligations under international law, the United Nations said Tuesday. The bill, which has been passed by parliament and now awaits the formality of being signed into law by King Charles III, means migrants arriving by boat will be refused the right to apply for asylum in the U.K. Agence France-Presse reports.
Israel to Allow Palestinian Americans Entry in Bid for US Visa-Free Access
Israel said that beginning Thursday it will allow entry to all U.S. citizens, including Palestinian Americans living in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in a policy change it hopes will secure visa-free access for Israelis to the United States. Reuters reports.
News in Brief
—The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a statement welcoming steps taken by Israel toward meeting the Visa Waiver Program requirements.",Not_Explicit
"Staff working on laptop in an office space. (Photo: Annie Spratt Source: Unsplash)
Russia's largest lender Sberbank's branch in India has received permission from the Reserve Bank of India to establish an information technology unit in Bengaluru, where it plans to employ up to 200 IT specialists.
Russia's largest lender Sberbank's branch in India has received permission from the Reserve Bank of India to establish an information technology unit in Bengaluru, where it plans to employ up to 200 IT specialists.
The new IT office would house Sberbank's in-house data processing centre, it said.
While Sberbank's India branch has been active in New Delhi since 2010 and offers a wide range of financial services, the Bengaluru office will be fully focused on developing information technologies, the state-owned bank said in a statement on Friday.
Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of Sberbank's Executive Board, said: ""The Bangalore (Bengaluru) hub will not only handle the technological needs of our Indian branch but also develop and implement new digital products for its clients. And in the longer term, we plan to employ up to 200 IT specialists in our new unit.""",Not_Explicit
"Shree Cements Gets Inspection Notice From MCA After Tax Evasion Charge
Shree Cements Ltd. said it will comply with the directions.
Shree Cements Ltd. received an inspection notice from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on Wednesday, nearly a month after the Income Tax Department's search at its offices revealed a Rs 23,000 crore tax evasion.
The MCA order came under Section 206(5) of the Companies Act, under which the central government can direct inspection of the books and papers of a company.
""This is to inform that the Company has today received a letter dated 19.7.2023 from the office of Regional Director, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, informing order of inspection under Section 206(5) of the Companies Act, 2013,"" Shree Cements said in an exchange filing.
The company said it will comply with the directions.",Not_Explicit
"England are hours away from kicking off their World Cup campaign down under with their opening match against Haiti.

The Lionesses go into the tournament off the back of their Euro 2022 win last year and as one of the big favourites to lift the World Cup trophy in August.

England sit 49 places above Haiti in the global rankings, and are expected to win comfortably in Brisbane later on.

The team will also face Denmark and China in their Group D games.

Talismanic boss Sarina Wiegman said her squad will do ""everything"" they can to bring the World Cup home, but warns facing opposition lower down the ranks means they have more to lose.

""We're here and we have a dream, and of course there's always a chance to win the World Cup, and many more countries can win the World Cup I think, but of course we're going to give our everything...,"" she said.

""The pressure is always something. Everyone expected England to win anyway... so that's not different.

""What we're just trying to do is play our game and focus on what we have to do and how we can win, and that's basically what we do all the time, so bring it back to what actions we need to take as a team.""

Wiegman is no stranger to the World Cup, having made it to the final in 2019 with the Netherlands but ultimately losing to the USA, who will be looking to retain the trophy.

However, while the Lionesses prepare to run out on to the pitch in Australia, they have expressed their disappointment after not being able to come to an agreement with the Football Association around performance-based bonuses and commercial endeavours.

Read more:

England goalkeeper hits out at Nike over shirt row

Analysis: Women 'empowered' ahead of World Cup amid pay disputes and feeling 'marginalised'

For the first time, FIFA prize money will be paid directly to the Lionesses squad rather than the FA, and England's players have been pushing the association to top up the central payments awarded to every side since 2022.

But captain Millie Bright said the squad had to put conversations on hold in order to focus on their campaign, saying they want to grow the women's game.

British expats and England supporters who've flown to Australia are planning a day of activities leading up to the game and the city's well-known British style pubs are planning for a big crowd.

More than 40,000 tickets have been sold for the big game which starts at 7.30pm local time (10.30am UK time).

Brisbane was quiet early on Saturday morning but it is expected to ramp up.

George Gallantree established the British branch of the ""Barmy Army"" and can't wait to support the Lionesses.

""We're really excited to see them,"" he told Sky News.

""I think it's a chance for young girls to see their idols play. Girls' football is huge in Australia and it's growing by the day.""",Not_Explicit
"While Israeli police smothered Palestinian protests on the streets of East Jerusalem in May 2021, a separate agency attempted its own sweep online. The Cybercrime Department in Israel’s Ministry of Justice sent social media companies lists of thousands of user accounts it wanted removed for violating the services’ content policies with their posts about the protests.A former Twitter employee says the company suspended a few of the accounts flagged by the Israeli agency for using hateful or harassing language. But policy staffers determined that most were simply Palestinians and others tweeting comments that, while critical of Israel, did not break any rules.The Israeli cyber department is an example of what scholars of online platforms call an internet referral unit—a government team created to badger online services into taking action against content it doesn’t like. A raft of IRUs have been launched by countries across the world as governments of all kinds grapple with online platforms. Tech companies often prioritize IRU requests in moderation queues, to the concern of critics who say the units can reflect political motivations and often skirt legal hurdles designed to prevent unfair censorship.After a decade of growing mostly unrestricted, internet referral units are now facing new checks and balances in the US and the EU.A federal judge in Louisiana this month issued a preliminary injunction banning 41 Biden administration officials and their staff across 10 different US agencies from tipping off social media companies about content thought to violate a service’s terms of use. The ban severely curtailed the White House’s influence on digital town squares through the agencies’ informal IRUs, and it caused the State Department to postpone a planned meeting with Meta to share information on countering disinformation abroad.In the EU, referral units are set to be subjected to new transparency requirements by one provision of the wide-ranging Digital Services Act that takes effect next year.The ruling and the law are the first significant disruptions to the coziness that has existed between online platforms and the government agencies and other organizations patrolling the web to quietly suppress unfavorable commentary. But though rights groups that promote freedom of expression have applauded the new interventions, they also warn that IRUs and the moderation decisions they prompt will largely be allowed to continue without adequate controls or disclosures.Shadow ModerationInternet referral units first emerged around 2010 in the UK, as services such as Facebook and YouTube faced pressure from counterterrorism officials to better handle content generated by violent Islamic extremists. Companies trying to establish better relations with governments generally accepted the requests and even anointed IRUs as “trusted flaggers,” whose reports of bad content would get reviewed more swiftly than those of standard users.The numbers and activity of IRUs expanded rapidly. Companies also added civil society organizations as trusted flaggers. Authorities in countries including Germany and France used the tactic to suppress far-right political extremism on social media in the later 2010s, and then health disinformation during the pandemic.Referral units are not always formal or well-organized entities, and their remits vary, but a common process has become established: Choose a topic to monitor, such as political misinformation or anti-Semitism, trawl for problematic content, and then flag it to companies through dedicated hotlines, physical letters, personal relationships with insiders, or the “report this” buttons available to all users. The units may report solely what appears to be criminal activity, but some flag content that is legal but banned under a platform’s rules, like nudity or bot accounts.More often than not, experts say, compliance by platforms is voluntary because the requests are not legally binding; users are generally not informed of who reported their content. Rights groups have long expressed concern that IRUs effectively circumvent legal processes, trading speed and simplicity for transparency and checks on the abuse of power—while also pushing reports from users to the back of the line.Social media companies can feel significant pressure to act on IRU requests because fighting them could lead to regulations that raise the costs of doing business, according to several experts and four former tech company policy staffers who have handled demands. It’s common for politicians and influential groups to request direct channels to escalate concerns about content, and for platforms to provide them.Power balances established offline get reflected in the programs. The Palestinian Authority, one of the small governing groups at odds with Israel, “does not have the leverage or relationship with Meta to operate an effective IRU,” says Eric Sype of the Palestinian rights group 7amleh. Meta, TikTok, and Twitter did not respond to requests for comment for this story, and YouTube declined to comment.IRUs have been challenged before. In 2021, the year Israel clashed with protestors in East Jerusalem and pinged companies including Twitter, the country’s Supreme Court ruled against a challenge to the Justice Ministry’s unit. The court called work “crucial to the national security and social order,” and it allowed it to continue because plaintiffs couldn’t demonstrate direct harm. That year, the IRU ultimately sent nearly 6,000 requests to tech companies, including over 1,300 to Twitter, for voluntary removal or restriction of content such as “praise of terrorism” and Covid vaccine misinformation, according to the Israeli government’s annual disclosures and a US State Department analysis. Almost 5,000 requests were granted, the data show. Israel’s embassy in Washington, DC, did not respond to a request for comment.Meta’s independent Oversight Board, an appeals body for thorny content moderation issues, has also pushed back. The company last year had removed a UK drill-music track at the request of London police over concern that the song’s reference to a shooting could incite violence. The board overturned the takedown, saying Meta lacked sufficient evidence of a credible threat, and chastised the company for accepting informal law enforcement requests in “a haphazard and opaque” manner. It called for Meta to publicize all such requests, a plea that Oversight Board cochair Michael McConnell and member Suzanne Nossel, repeated in separate op-eds this month. Meta on its website says it is working on doing so but isn't sure how long it will take, because centralizing all the requests is complicated.New RulesThe US federal court ruling this month that banned agency officials from making takedown pleas dealt the biggest blow yet to IRUs. It came after two conservative-led states and several social media users filed a lawsuit alleging that the White House was violating the First Amendment’s protection against government censorship by pressuring Facebook and Twitter to place advisory labels on posts and suspend or ban accounts. The disputed content questioned Covid face-masking, vaccines, virus origins, and lockdowns.Judge Terry Doughty ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in proving that a bombardment of takedown requests by emails and calls from White House and federal agency officials forced the social media companies’ hands, amounting to a practice known as jawboning. He accused the administration of targeting “disfavored conservative speech” and pointed to officials’ informal but sometimes intense emailed demands. One said: “Cannot stress the degree to which this needs to be resolved immediately. Please remove this account immediately.”Wrote Doughty, “Defendants ‘significantly encouraged’ the social-media companies to such extent that the decisions (of the companies) should be deemed to be the decisions of the government.”Doughty’s ban, which is now on hold as the White House appeals, attempts to set the bounds of acceptable conduct for government IRUs. It provides an exemption for officials to continue notifying social media companies about illegal activity or national security issues. Emma Llansó, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology in Washington, DC, says that leaves much unsettled, because the line between thoughtful protection of public safety and unfair suppression of critics can be thin.The EU’s new approach to IRUs also seems compromised to some activists. The Digital Services Act (DSA) requires each EU member to designate a national regulator by February that will take applications from government agencies, nonprofits, industry associations, or companies that want to become trusted flaggers that can report illegal content directly to Meta and other medium-to-large platforms. Reports from trusted flaggers have to be reviewed “without undue delay,” on pain of fines of up to 6 percent of a company’s global annual sales.The law is intended to make IRU requests more accurate, by appointing a limited number of trusted flagging organizations with expertise in varying areas of illegal content such as racist hate speech, counterfeit goods, or copyright violations. And organizations will have to annually disclose how many reports they filed, to whom, and the results.But the disclosures will have significant gaps, because they will include only requests related to content that is illegal in a EU state—allowing reports of content flagged solely for violating terms of service to go unseen. Though tech companies are not required to give priority to reports of content flagged for rule breaking, there’s nothing stopping them from doing so. And platforms can still work with unregistered trusted flaggers, essentially preserving the obscure practices of today. The DSA does require companies to publish all their content moderation decisions to an EU database without “undue delay,” but the identity of the flagger can be omitted.“The DSA creates a new, parallel structure for trusted flaggers without directly addressing the ongoing concerns with actually existing flaggers like IRUs,” says Paddy Leerssen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam who is involved in a project providing ongoing analysis of the DSA.Two EU officials working on DSA enforcement, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media, say the new law is intended to ensure that all 450 million EU residents benefit from the ability of trusted flaggers to send fast-track notices to companies that might not cooperate with them otherwise. Although the new trusted-flagger designation was not designed for government agencies and law enforcement authorities, nothing blocks them from applying, and the DSA specifically mentions internet referral units as possible candidates.Rights groups are concerned that if governments participate in the trusted flagger program, it could be used to stifle legitimate speech under some of the bloc’s more draconian laws, such as Hungary’s ban (currently under court challenge) on promoting same-sex relationships in educational materials. Eliška Pírková, global freedom of expression lead at Access Now, says it will be difficult for tech companies to stand up to the pressure, even though states’ coordinators can suspend trusted flaggers deemed to be acting improperly. “It’s the total lack of independent safeguards,” she says. “It’s quite worrisome.”Twitter barred at least one human rights organization from submitting to its highest-priority reporting queue a couple of years ago because it filed too many erroneous reports, the former Twitter employee says. But dropping a government certainly could be more difficult. Hungary’s embassy in Washington, DC, did not respond to a request for comment.Tamás Berecz, general manager of INACH, a global coalition of nongovernmental groups fighting hate online, says some of its 24 EU members are contemplating applying for official trusted flagger status. But they have concerns, including whether coordinators in some countries will approve applications from organizations whose values don’t align with the government’s, like a group monitoring anti-gay hate speech in a country like Hungary, where same-sex marriage is forbidden. “We don’t really know what’s going to happen,” says Berecz, leaving room for some optimism. “For now, they are happy being in an unofficial trusted program.”",Not_Explicit
"Christian thriller 'Sound of Freedom' faces criticism for stoking conspiracy theories
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The film ""Sound Of Freedom"" is this summer's surprise box office hit, raking in more than $85 million in ticket sales. As NPR's Shannon Bond reports, the movie is being criticized as a vehicle for conspiracy theories.
SHANNON BOND, BYLINE: ""Sound Of Freedom"" is a thriller about a former federal agent rescuing children from exploitation.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, ""SOUND OF FREEDOM"")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Why are you doing it?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Singing) Sweet land of liberty.
JIM CAVIEZEL: (As Tim Ballard) 'Cause God's children are not for sale.
BOND: The film, based on a real-life controversial anti-trafficking activist, is being heavily promoted in conservative media. It caught the wider world's eye when it earned almost as much money on its release day as the latest ""Indiana Jones"" movie. And a big part of its success is an appeal from its star, Jim Caviezel, who comes on screen at the end urging viewers to buy more tickets so other people can see it.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, ""SOUND OF FREEDOM"")
CAVIEZEL: Let's make this film a historic event and the start to the end of child trafficking.
BOND: Caviezel is drawing attention to the film in other ways. For years, he's been a prominent promoter of the false, violent QAnon conspiracy theory, specifically the claim that an international cabal of elites is abusing and killing children to extract a substance called adrenochrome. These wild claims have become deeply enmeshed with narratives about child trafficking, and Caviezel is pushing them on his press tour. Here's a recent exchange with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon about what's driving demand for children.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CAVIEZEL: Adrenochrome. The whole adrenochrome empire. This is a big deal.
BOND: Now, ""Sound Of Freedom"" itself does not contain any references to adrenochrome or other conspiracy theories. It was actually filmed before the QAnon phenomenon started. Angel Studios, the film's distributor, publicly rejects any association with conspiracies. So do Tim Ballard, the former federal agent Caviezel's character is based on, and his organization Operation Underground Railroad. They all declined or didn't respond to my interview requests. But recently, Ballard claimed adrenochrome harvesting is real. And his statements and Caviezel's have an impact, says Mike Rothschild, who wrote a book about QAnon.
MIKE ROTHSCHILD: It's being marketed to QAnon believers. It's being embraced by this community, and its leading actor is a huge part of the QAnon community.
BOND: Setting aside the QAnon cloud, the rescue story the film tells is also a lightning rod. Many of the missions Operation Underground Railroad describes are hard to verify or contain significant misrepresentations, according to reporting by Tim Marchman and Anna Merlan at Vice News.
TIM MARCHMAN: They're not whole-cloth falsehoods, but they reassemble things that are true or close to being true into stories that are just wildly and completely different from what actually happened.
BOND: Operation Underground Railroad has denied Vice's findings. On screen, ""Sound Of Freedom"" goes even further in fictionalizing Ballard's story, showing him single-handedly taking on a crime syndicate. The studio acknowledges taking, quote, ""creative liberties."" But these popular depictions raise concerns among anti-trafficking experts. They say they offer an incomplete portrait of a real and urgent problem. Elizabeth Campbell is co-director of the University of Michigan's Human Trafficking Clinic.
ELIZABETH CAMPBELL: Because trafficking is so varied and does span so many populations, it really tests our brain to not distill it down to some sort of this is what a common victim of human trafficking looks like. And by doing that, I think we make actual victims of human trafficking more invisible and more vulnerable to exploitation.
BOND: And she says they divert people's energy, resources and policy proposals away from where they're most needed.
Shannon Bond, NPR News.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.",Not_Explicit
"Judge Aileen Cannon Friday set a May 20, 2024 trial date for former President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.
The controversial Trump-appointed jurist slapped down Trump’s demand that she suspend the trial until after the 2024 presidential election.
But Cannon also pushed back on special counsel Jack Smith’s claim that the case could start before the end of the year.
“The Court rejects (Trump’s) request to withhold setting of a schedule now ... and does not see a sufficient basis on this record to postpone entry of a scheduling order,” Cannon wrote in a seven-page order.
Cannon said the Trump case is “complex” and will require a lengthy schedule of pretrial motions and possibly litigation over the handling of dozens of classified documents that are prime pieces of evidence in the case.
She handed down a detailed schedule of 24 hearings starting in October and stretching up to the May trial date.
Cannon did not even mention Trump’s argument it was unfair to put him on trial while he is running to return to the White House.
Trump pleaded not guilty last month to a 37-count federal indictment charging him with mishandling classified documents and defying a subpoena demanding their return.
He took hundreds of classified documents with him when he left the White House in January 2021 and stashed them at his Mar-a-Lago waterfront resort home. Trump’s loyal bodyman, Walt Nauta, is also facing charges of helping Trump hide the documents from prosecutors.",Not_Explicit
"Wheat prices have risen sharply on global markets after Russia said it would treat ships heading for Ukrainian ports as potential military targets.
Moscow pulled out of a deal this week that had guaranteed safe passage for grain shipments through the Black Sea.
A White House spokesperson accused Russia of planning to blame Ukraine for attacks on civilian ships.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin said he would return to the grain agreement immediately if his demands were met.
They include reconnecting Russia's agricultural bank to a global payment system.
A Russian air strike on the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv killed an unknown number of people on Wednesday night, according to a local official. Other air strikes were reported on the port of Odesa.
Following previous air strikes around Odesa this week, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately targeting grain export infrastructure and putting vulnerable countries at risk.
Kyiv urged other countries in the Black Sea region to intervene to assure the safe passage of cargo ships.
""From 00:00 Moscow time on 20 July 2023 [21:00 GMT Wednesday], all vessels sailing on the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be regarded as potential carriers of military cargo,"" the Russian defence ministry said.
""Flag states of such vessels will be considered to be involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kyiv regime,"" it added.
Wheat prices on the European stock exchange soared by 8.2% on Wednesday from the previous day, to â¬253.75 (£219.78) per tonne, while corn prices were up 5.4%.
US wheat futures jumped 8.5% on Wednesday, their highest daily rise since just after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said strikes had destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain and damaged considerable parts of grain export infrastructure.
Russia began targeting Ukraine's ports in the early hours of Tuesday within hours of its withdrawal from the grain deal.
Marex Capital analyst Charlie Sernatinger said the threat of this kind of escalation could ""cut all of the waterborne grain shipments off from the Black Sea, both Russian, and Ukrainian"" which would cause a similar situation to that at the start of the war.
Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading, said: ""Things got heated back up over in Ukraine. There is some real shooting going on over there and nobody is going to get in the middle of that.
""That is the bread basket of Europe and shippers are pulling out.""
On Wednesday Mr Putin accused the West of using the grain deal as ""political blackmail"".
Moscow also accused Ukraine of using the Black Sea grain corridor for ""combat purposes"". It struck at Ukraine's Black Sea ports after a suspected seaborne drone attack damaged its sea bridge to Crimea on Monday.",Not_Explicit
"Goods Exports, Imports Slump, But Improving Goods, Services Trade Balances Bode Well For CAD: ICICI Securities
RBI data for April-May 2023 shows services exports decelerating to +7.6% YoY growth, while services imports declined.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
ICICI Securities Report
India’s goods exports declined 15.1% YoY in April-June 2023 (Q1 FY24), succumbing to the slump in global import demand from the U.S., Europe and China. Goods imports declined 12.7% YoY in Q1 FY24, and this caused the quarterly trade deficit to shrink 7.9% YoY to $57.6 billion.
Data from the Reserve Bank of India shows services exports decelerating to +7.6% YoY growth in April-May 2023, while services imports declined 0.4% YoY, resulting in a 40% YoY increase in the services-trade surplus to $23.77 billion.
With the incomes surplus still strong (because of remittances), the current account deficit is likely to be about 1% of gross domestic product in Q1 FY24, down from 2.1% in Q1 FY23, but higher than the 0.2% of GDP in Q4 FY23. The latter, though, reflects seasonality.
The goods trade deficit had soared in April-December 2022 amid a terms of trade shock, as the prices of key import commodities – crude-oil, edible oils, coal and fertiliser – had surged.
The commodity price surge has fully subsided now, and India is thus set to benefit from a positive terms of trade shock in FY24 while the West’s industrial recession (and China’s deceleration) cause commodity prices to remain subdued.
China’s weak domestic demand is a mixed blessing: while commodity prices stay low, China continues to dump numerous exports (including steel and chemicals) that it cannot sell at home, pressuring Indian competitors. Overall, however, India is on track to see its CAD moderate to 0.6% of GDP in FY24.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
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This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"BRISBANE, Australia -- England edged out Haiti 1-0 on a retaken penalty from Georgia Stanway in a difficult Women’s World Cup opener Saturday for the European champions against a team on debut at the tournament.
England dominated possession in the first half but had to wait until the 29th minute for Stanway to convert from the spot. She was awarded a second shot on a VAR review after her first attempt was well saved by Kerly Theus diving full stretch to her right.
The Group D game between the No. 4 and the 53rd-ranked teams was tense from start to finish with Haiti forward Melchie Dumornay regularly troubling the England defense.
Theus made a succession of saves to thwart England’s chances of increasing its margin and then Haiti went within inches of a stunning late equalizer.
England goalkeeper Mary Earps made a crucial reflex save in the 81st in a close-range, one-on-one with substitute forward Roseline Éloissaint.
It was a second key moment from the keeper. Just after halftime Dumornay lashed a powerful right-foot shot that forced Earps into a save.
It was an impressive debut in front of a 44,369 crowd from Haiti, one of the last three teams to qualify for the biggest Women's World Cup ever staged.
Despite being in control in the first half, England was far from convincing against a Haiti lineup that got numbers back in defense.
Dumornay was threatening on the counter and made inroads after having some early medical treatment. After a long upfield pass in the 35th, she didn’t quite connect with a cross from the right as she attempted a bicycle kick from inside the area.
England was missing some key performers from its title triumph at Euro 2022 but would have been expecting a more polished display.
Alessia Russo started up front and created opportunities but wasn't able to convert them. Approaching the hour, she forced two saves from Theus within a minute, while Haiti was down to 10 players with inspirational skipper Nérilia Mondésir getting treatment on a left ankle injury.
Russo’s header in the 64th was tipped over the crossbar by Theus, the seventh save from the Haiti goalkeeper. Millie Bright also fired over the crossbar minutes later.
Both teams are back in action Friday, with England moving to Sydney and likely to make lineup changes to face Denmark, and Haiti meeting China in Adelaide.
The Haiti team, drawing on players based mainly in France and the U.S., aims to bring some positive news to a country in turmoil.
The team has l imited sponsors, its training center is closed because of gang violence and some of its biggest fans can’t afford a TV to watch the World Cup.
___
More AP coverage of the Women’s World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"Evan Davis has told how his wedding day turned into a ""reflective"" occasion after he learned his father had taken his own life.

The BBC Radio 4 presenter, also known for hosting Dragon's Den, revealed to his wedding guests he had just been informed of his father's death but told them not to be ""alarmed"" and there's ""nothing we can do"".

Mr Davis said he ""burst into tears"" the next day when he was asked about his wedding.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, the presenter said his 92-year-old father, Quintin, had been diagnosed with bowel cancer and had a failing heart.

He said his father had also ""felt guilt"" over not being able to care for Mr Davis's mother, who had been admitted to a care home during the COVID pandemic with symptoms of dementia.

During his wedding, Mr Davis said he received a text message from his brother, Roland, to call him.

Despite the news, Mr Davis was urged to continue with his day by Roland and their other brother, Beric.

Mr Davis told his small number of guests of the news and said the wedding in London in July 2022 became a ""very warm-hearted, supportive, reflective day"".

""We've just had some news,"" he said at his wedding reception. ""My father died. But I don't want you to be alarmed. He was very elderly and it was definitely time.

""There's actually nothing we can do. So I'm going to propose that we carry on.""

Quintin, who had previously emailed his sons of his intention to kill himself, had left a bag of fresh clothes for his wife, while notes were found alongside his body.

One note said: ""To all my family, I am so sorry - so, so sorry - to spring this on you. But it is the best outcome.

""My system is closing down and I am on the verge of a mental breakdown. I really have no alternative. Thank you all for being such a wonderful family.""

Mr Davis had been getting married to Guillaume Baltz in a follow-up occasion to their civil partnership ceremony in 2012 when Quintin had also made a ""proud and loving"" speech.

The radio presenter added: ""We've all speculated on what the hell was going on in his head… there's no good day, is there? And I know he didn't do it to spoil our day.""",Not_Explicit
"Manchester United have signed goalkeeper Andre Onana from Inter Milan for a fee of around €50 million ($56.1m). David de Gea's 12-year spell at Old Trafford came to an end earlier this month when he opted to leave on a free transfer, but how will the 27-year-old Onana fare as a replacement?
ESPN brings you all you need to know about the former Cameroon international.
Early career and info
Onana was spotted playing on the streets of Cameroon's capital city Yaounde by a member of the Samuel Eto'o Foundation -- the charity set up by the country's all-time top scorer and former Barcelona and Inter Milan forward. He was signed by Barcelona at age 14 and played in the Blaugrana's La Masia youth academy, where he became the No. 1 goalkeeper at his age group.
Developing his technical and physical skills during his time in Catalonia, the 6-foot-2 stopper became comfortable with the ball at his feet -- playing out from the back and transitioning play well -- to become a standout at under-19 level. But with a desire for regular first-team football, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen a fixture between the posts for the senior side, he decided to make the switch to Ajax in 2015, making his debut in 2016-17 season.
At Ajax he met manager Erik ten Hag, who arrived at the Johan Cruijff Arena in 2017. With his years at La Masia behind him, the Cameroon star proved to be a perfect fit for Ten Hag's possession-based style of play. In total, he made 214 appearances and picked up a hat trick of Eredivisie titles, as well as two Dutch cups, while he helped guide Ajax to the semifinals of the Champions League in 2019.
A nine-month ban for a doping violation, which Onana said was down to accidentally taking a medicine meant for his girlfriend, saw his career stall in 2021. But he returned to action in November and helped Cameroon to a third-placed finish at the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil.
He opted not to extend his Ajax contract and signed for Inter on a free transfer in the summer of 2022, but controversy was not far away again as he quit international football in December after being sent home from the World Cup in Qatar after a disagreement over tactics.
Onana established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in Europe and shone in the 2022-23 Champions League, helping Inter to the final where they narrowly lost out 1-0 to Manchester City. He conceded only 36 goals in 41 games at Inter, keeping 19 clean sheets.
Key Stats
Last season's league stats indicate that Onana is a clear upgrade on De Gea in terms of build-up play. The 27-year-old averaged 27.1 passes in his own half, compared to De Gea's 17.1. He was also more accurate with his passing with a 79.17% completion rate against De Gea's 68.33%.
Onana had a slightly better save percentage (72.09%) than De Gea (70.14%), but the Spaniard did face 58 more shots.
When compared to some top Premier League goalkeepers, the data shows that Onana also had a better save percentage than both Liverpool's Alisson (71.52%) and Manchester City's Ederson (58.97%). Onana faced a similar number of shots (85) to Ederson (78) and made 62 saves, compared to his 46; while Alisson made 108 saves from 149 shots to sum up Liverpool's poor season.
Onana's passing wasn't quite as accurate as Alisson (83.37%) or Ederson (84.40%), but he did show an greater tendency to play the ball forward (17.8 times per 90 mins, compared to 14.8 and 13.9 respectively) -- a trait that should suit the style of his new team well.
Strengths
Manchester United will benefit immediately from Onana's buildup play. Ten Hag hasn't always been able to deploy the system he has wanted to since arriving at Old Trafford, but the acquisition of Onana should have a similar impact to when he signed another of his former Ajax players for United: centre-back Lisandro Martinez.
Onana is a clear upgrade on De Gea with the ball at his feet, but is also more capable under pressure and can find his way out of trouble by forcing attackers off balance with quick turns before distributing the ball.
He excels at making reflex saves and has impressive reactions. He protects his near post well and is generally reliable in stopping shots from inside the box.
Some goalkeepers are much less comfortable when forced onto their weaker foot, but United fans shouldn't to see that with Onana. He is capable with both feet when passing and clearing the ball.
Areas to improve
At 27, Onana is yet to reach his prime as a goalkeeper but needs to deal better with long shots. Generally, more consistency is required and while Onana is often quick to come off his line, he can sometimes be hesitant with his decision-making when the attacker gets to the ball first in one-vs.-one situations.
How will he fit at Manchester United?
De Gea played a key role at United since arriving from Atletico Madrid for around €25m in 2011, but it was vital that the club found a goalkeeper who fitted the core principles of Ten Hag's tactical system. Despite his high level of ability at stopping shots, De Gea wasn't at the required level with the ball at his feet and made too many mistakes.
The addition of Onana was Man United's No. 1 priority this summer and he can help the club take the next step.
More adept at dealing with the opposition's press with his passing and dribbling ability, his consistency in transitioning the ball forward at a higher success rate means Manchester United will enjoy a greater number of attacks during a game. He should also take little time to settle under Ten Hag, having enjoyed their time together at Ajax.
All things considered, it seems an excellent move for United, who have locked down their No. 1 spot for the foreseeable future.",Not_Explicit
"Michigan's attorney general Dana Nessel has announced that more than a dozen Republican figures have been charged with felony offenses as part of a so-called ""false electoral"" scheme.
The allegations stem from claims that 16 GOP figures in the state plotted to wrongly declare that Donald Trump had beaten Joe Biden in Michigan in the 2020 Election by falsely claiming they were the official slate of electors.
This is the first time anyone has been charged over any ""false electors"" scheme, which is alleged to have taken place in states across the country in the wake of the last election as part of efforts to keep Trump in power.
Below, Newsweek has compiled the names of each Republican figure who is alleged to have been part of a team of fake electors in their respective state, and whether they are under investigation.
Michigan Alleged False Electors
On Tuesday, Nessel confirmed that 16 people, including Meshawn Maddock, a former co-chair of the Michigan Republican party, and Kathy Berden, a national committeewoman for the Republican National Committee have been charged with felony offenses in relation to the alleged 2020 election plot.
- Kathy Berden
- William (Hank) Choate
- Amy Facchinello
- Clifford Frost
- Stanley Grot
- John Haggard
- Mari-Ann Henry
- Timothy King
- Michele Lundgren
- Meshawn Maddock
- James Renner
- Mayra Rodriguez
- Rose Rook
- Marian Sheridan
- Ken Thompson
- Kent Vanderwood
Each defendant has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit forgery, two counts of forgery, one count of conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing, one count of uttering and publishing conspiracy to commit election law forgery, and two counts of election law forgery.
The suspects are scheduled to appear before Ingham County for arraignment at a date yet to be confirmed.
""The false electors' actions undermined the public's faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan,"" Nessel said.
""The evidence will demonstrate there was no legal authority for the false electors to purport to act as 'duly elected presidential electors' and execute the false electoral documents,"" Nessel added. ""Every serious challenge to the election had been denied, dismissed, or otherwise rejected by the time the false electors convened. There was no legitimate legal avenue or plausible use of such a document or an alternative slate of electors.""
Arizona Alleged Fake Electors
Days prior to the charges in Michigan getting announced, it was reported that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes' office is investigating the false slate of electors who attempted to claim Trump had won the state in 2020.
Mayes has long suggested she will probe into those who attempted to falsely declare Trump had won the state's 11 electoral votes in 2020, but until now there were no real signs of any inquiry.
Dan Barr, Mayes's chief deputy, told The Washington Postthat the investigation is in the ""fact-gathering"" phase.
""This is something we're not going to go into thinking, 'Maybe we'll get a conviction,' or 'Maybe we have a pretty good chance,'"" Barr said. ""This has to be ironclad shut.""
On 14 December, a group of Republicans, including Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward, and her husband Michael Ward, met to sign a document falsely declaring themselves the ""duly elected and qualified electors"" for the state and declared Trump the winner. Another group consisting of activists also signed a similar fake declaration.
The fake electors in Arizona include:
- Kelli Ward
- Michael Ward
- Nancy Cottle
- Loraine B. Pellegrino
- Tyler Bowyer
- Jake Hoffman
- Anthony T. Kern
- James Lamon
- Robert Montgomery
- Samuel I. Moorhead
- Greg Safsten
Georgia Alleged Fake Electors
In May, it was reported that eight of the 16 people who are under investigation over an alleged fake electoral plot in Georgia have been granted immunity.
The group of 16 Republicans met at Georgia's state capitol on December 14, 2020, to sign a certificate declaring falsely that Trump had won the presidential election and declaring themselves the state's ""duly elected and qualified"" electors.
The immunity deal for the eight Republicans was disclosed in court filings, but no other details were revealed.
The full 16 names are:
- Joseph Brannan James
- ""Ken"" Carroll
- Vikki Townsend Consiglio
- Carolyn Hall Fisher
- State Senator Burt Jones
- Gloria Kay Godwin
- David G. Hanna
- Mark W. Hennessy
- Mark Amick
- John Downey
- Cathleen Alston Latham
- Daryl Moody
- Brad Carver
- David Shafer
- Shawn Still
- C.B. Yada
Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis' investigation into the fake electoral scheme is part of an expansive probe into the attempts to overturn the 2020 election in the state. A decision from Georgia prosecutors on whether to indict Trump and his allies is expected within the next few weeks.
Wisconsin Alleged Fake Electors
Among the names involved in the suit is:
- Andrew Hitt, the former chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin
- Kelly Ruh
- Carol Brunner
- Edward Scott Grabins
- Bill Feehan
- Robert Spindell
- Kathy Kiernan
- Darryl Carlson
- Pam Travis
- Mary Buestrin
Wisconsin congressman Mark Pocan previously wrote a letter to the Department of Justice requesting an investigation into the alleged plot.
Elsewhere, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco confirmed to CNN last January that federal prosecutors were looking into the ""fraudulent elector certifications"" in other states such as Michigan and New Mexico, but no charges have been brought forward.
New Mexico Alleged Fake Electors
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, previously told CNN he was ""pleased"" the DOJ is looking into allegations of fake electoral scheme in the state.
The alleged fake electors are:
- Jewll Powdrell
- Deborah W. Maestas
- Lupe Garcia
- Rosie Tripp
- Anissa Ford-Tinnin
Nevada Alleged Fake Electors
Democratic Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford also told CNN last January that ""we welcome the Department of Justice's recent announcement that it is investigating the fake electors matter, and we look forward to providing any support we can in that endeavor.""
The names of the six alleged fake electors are:
- Michael J. McDonald
- James DeGraffenreid
- Durward James Hindle
- Jesse Law
- Shawn Meehan
- Eileen Rice
Pennsylvania Alleged Fake Electors
Earlier in July, it was reported that Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt met Special Counsel Jack Smith's team as part of the attempts to overturn the last election, although it is unclear if the alleged fake electoral scheme was a line of questioning.
The group of false electors in the Keystone State are:
- Bill Bachenberg
- Lou Barletta
- Tom Carroll
- Ted Christian
- Chuck Coccodrilli [deceased]
- Bernadette Comfort
- Sam DeMarco III
- Marcela Diaz-Myers
- Christie DiEsposti
- Josephine Ferro
- Charlie Gerow
- Kevin Harley
- Leah Hoopes
- Ash Khare
- Andre McCoy
- Lisa Patton
- Pat Poprik
- Andy Reilly
- Suk Smith
- Calvin Tucker",Not_Explicit
"The top official at the Treasury who was sacked days after Liz Truss became prime minister received an exit payout of £335,000.
Sir Tom Scholar was fired after Ms Truss pledged to change ""Treasury orthodoxy"" during the Tory leadership campaign last year.
His dismissal was criticised by former officials, who said it was an attack on the impartiality of the civil service.
At the time, the Treasury thanked Sir Tom for his ""dedicated service"".
The details of Sir Tom's severance payment for ""loss of office"" were included in the Treasury's annual report and accounts for 2022-23.
The figures show Sir Tom's total pay for 2022-23 was more than £550,000, including salary and pension benefits.
The Treasury's latest accounts also revealed the severance payments made to ministers during the 2022-23 period.
Ms Truss and her predecessor as PM, Boris Johnson, both received £18,660 after resigning, while the former chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, was given £16,876.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak received a payment of £16,876 after resigning as chancellor in July 2022, but later repaid this amount.
Severance payments of £7,920 were handed to three ministers, including Chris Pincher, who resigned as deputy chief whip in June 2022 over allegations he groped two men at a club in London.
The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, Daisy Cooper, called for the payouts to be given back.
She said: ""This is a slap in the face for all those who have seen their mortgages soar because of Truss and Kwarteng's disastrous mini-budget.""
Dismissal criticised
Large exit payouts to senior civil servants have proved controversial and Sir Tom's is higher than those handed out to other senior officials in recent years.
For example, the Department for Education handed former permanent secretary Jonathan Slater a £277,780 payout after he left in 2021.
A Treasury spokesperson said Sir Tom's payment was a ""contractual amount resulting from the Civil Service Compensation Scheme - the payment is based on length of service and includes pension payments"".
The Treasury says Sir Tom left his role as permanent secretary on 8 September, two weeks before the then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng delivered a financial statement widely known as the mini-budget.
The mini-budget caused turmoil on the financial markets and after a period of political and economic turbulence, Ms Truss resigned as prime minister after 45 days in office.
James Bowler, who was appointed as the permanent secretary to the Treasury in October last year, told a committee of MPs that Sir Tom's departure ""wasn't normal"".
Mr Bowler said: ""I think the then-chancellor of the exchequer said he didn't want Tom to continue as the permanent secretary, so Tom stood aside and the process was undertaken to appoint someone in his stead.""
Sir Tom had served as the permanent secretary to the Treasury for six years before his sacking brought an end to his career in the civil service.
In a brief statement following his dismissal, Sir Tom said: ""The chancellor decided it was time for new leadership at the Treasury, and so I will be leaving with immediate effect.
""It has been the privilege of my career to lead this great institution since 2016. I wish the Treasury all the best for the times ahead, and I will be cheering on from the sidelines.""
Throughout her campaign to be Tory leader, Ms Truss blamed ""Treasury orthodoxy"" for slow economic growth over recent years.
Ms Truss, a former Treasury minister, accused her old department of promoting an ""abacus economics"" and insisted there needed to be a greater focus on stimulating economic growth.
She promised to boost the economy through ""bold"" tax cuts - a move that her leadership rival and successor as prime minister, Mr Sunak, predicted would stoke further inflation.
Ms Truss was ultimately forced to ditch her economic plan and quit as as prime minister after a Tory revolt sapped her of authority.",Not_Explicit
"- Summary
- Odesa region grain terminals hit again, governor says
- Russia says Black Sea fleet practised seizing ships
- Reconnaissance drone crashes in NATO-member Poland
KYIV, July 21 (Reuters) - Russia pounded Ukrainian food export facilities for a fourth day in a row on Friday and practised seizing ships in the Black Sea in an escalation of what Western leaders say is an attempt to wriggle out of sanctions by threatening a global food crisis.
The direct attacks on Ukraine's grain, a key part of the global food chain, followed a vow by Kyiv to defy Russia's naval blockade on its grain export ports following Moscow's withdrawal this week from a UN-brokered safe sea corridor agreement.
""Unfortunately, the grain terminals of an agricultural enterprise in Odesa region were hit. The enemy destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley,"" regional governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app.
Two people had been injured, he said. Photographs released by the emergencies ministry showed a fire burning among crumpled metal buildings that appeared to be storehouses, and a badly damaged fire-fighting vehicle.
Moscow has described the attacks as revenge for a Ukrainian strike on a Russian-built bridge to Crimea - the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Russia said on it would deem all ships heading for Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons from Thursday, in what Washington called a signal it might attack civilian shipping. Kyiv later responded by issuing a similar warning about ships headed to Russia.
Russia's defence ministry on Friday said its Black Sea fleet had practised firing rockets at ""floating targets"" and apprehending ships. Moscow's ambassador to Washington denied any plan to attack ships.
The attacks on grain export infrastructure and perceived threat to shipping drove up prices of benchmark Chicago wheat futures on Friday towards their biggest weekly gain since the February 2022 invasion, as traders worried about supply.
The U.N. Security Council was due to meet later over the ""humanitarian consequences"" of Russia's withdrawal from the safe corridor deal, which aid groups say is vital to stem growing hunger in a string of poorer countries.
The president of Turkey, which brokered the deal alongside the U.N. said, he hoped planned talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin could lead to the restoration of the initiative.
The end of the deal could lead to rising global food prices, scarcity in some regions and potentially new waves of migration, Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on a flight back from a trip to Gulf countries and northern Cyprus.
The West should listen to some of Russia's demands, he said. ""We are aware that President Putin also has certain expectations from Western countries, and it is crucial for these countries to take action in this regard.""
Moscow says it will not participate in the year-old grain deal without better terms for its own food and fertiliser sales.
Western leaders have accused Russia of seeking to loosen sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, which already exempt exports of Russian food. Russian grain has moved freely through the Black Sea to market throughout the conflict and traders say Russia is pouring wheat onto the market.
WAGNER NEAR POLAND BORDER
A Polish broadcaster reported on Friday that a military reconnaissance drone of unspecified origins had crashed near a base in southwestern Poland earlier this week.
NATO-member Poland has been reinforcing its border with Belarus, where Russia's Wagner mercenary force has taken up residency after a failed mutiny last month.
The mercenary chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was shown on video Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, and Belarus has said Wagner fighters are now training its troops near the Polish border. People in Poland near the border said on Thursday they could hear shooting and helicopters.
Inside Ukraine, Yuriy Malashko, the governor of the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, reported 80 Russian attacks on settlements in the region in the previous 24 hours, and said that four people had been killed.
A married couple in their fifties had also been killed early on Friday in Russian shelling of the city of Kostiantynivka in the eastern region of Donetsk, the general prosecutor's office said.
Russia had already used almost 70 missiles and almost 90 Iranian-made loitering munitions to attack so far this week, mostly targeting Odesa and other southern regions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
MORE SANCTIONS
The United States on Thursday imposed Russia-related sanctions against nearly 120 people and entities aimed at blocking Moscow's access to electronics and other goods that aid its war against Ukraine.
Russia's embassy in Washington said they were part of the ""endless attacks"" by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration ""in the context of the hybrid war unleashed by the West against our country.""
Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine last year and claims to have annexed nearly a fifth of its territory. Moscow says it is responding to threats posed by its neighbour; Kyiv and the West call it an unprovoked war of conquest.
Zelenskiy urged his government on Thursday to keep a tight rein on spending in wartime, prompting his culture minister, a proponent of several high-profile and costly projects, to offer his resignation.
""Cobblestones, city decorations, fountains will have to wait. Victory first,"" Zelenskiy said.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Long-time Slashdot reader maxcelcat writes: A fleet of some 500 drives were performing a display over Melbourne's Docklands in the lead up to the FIFA Women's World Cup. About 350 of them didn't come back and are now being fished out of the Yarra River, no doubt somewhat worse for wear.
According to the operators, the drones experienced some kind of malfunction or loss of signal, which triggered a fail safe — an automated landing. So hundreds of drones landed safely... on the surface of a river!
One local newscaster called it ""a spectacular malfunction"" (in a report with a brief clip of the drones gently lowering themselves into the water).
The report also notes another drone company also once lost 50 drones in a river — worth tens of thousands of dollars — during a Christmas show.
According to the operators, the drones experienced some kind of malfunction or loss of signal, which triggered a fail safe — an automated landing. So hundreds of drones landed safely... on the surface of a river!
One local newscaster called it ""a spectacular malfunction"" (in a report with a brief clip of the drones gently lowering themselves into the water).
The report also notes another drone company also once lost 50 drones in a river — worth tens of thousands of dollars — during a Christmas show.",Not_Explicit
"The Alabama Republican party is pushing forward with its latest congressional map, proving if it’s one thing they have in droves, it’s audacity. On Friday, Governor Kay Ivey signed a new map with just one majority-Black district. All of this could be viewed as typical gerrymandering shenanigans if it weren’t for the fact that multiple courts (including the Supreme Court) ruled that the state needed to form two majority-Black districts or “quite close to it.”
Alabama’s Republican Governor didn’t even try to pretend like she was following the court’s order in a statement she released after signing off on the map. “The Legislature knows our state, our people, and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups, and I am pleased that they answered the call, remained focused, and produced new districts ahead of the court deadline,” said Ivey.
In June, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling in Allen v. Milligan, which found that the state’s original map violated the Voting Rights Act. The original map only had one Majority-Black district, despite Black Americans making up 27 percent of the state. The court ordered Alabama to draw an additional majority district.
Instead of following what sounded like a pretty straightforward ruling, the new map includes one voting district that is roughly 50 percent Black and one that is a little less than 40 percent Black.
“I am convinced that passing a non-compliant map was the plan all along,” said State Representative Chris England on Twitter. “We could have saved time and money by not doing anything and just letting the court draw it.”
The fate of the new map is now back in the hands of the court system that threw out the first one. Federal judges will hold a hearing on August 14th to hear objections to the new congressional map. But Black Democratic lawmakers, like England, are worried that won’t be the end of this saga.
“We find ourselves back in a familiar position of waiting for the Federal Court to tell us what to do,” wrote England on Twitter. “But, the thing is, I am convinced that this is what some folks actually wanted. And because of this defiance, who knows what’s going to happen next.”",Not_Explicit
"AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Doug Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, met with former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Friday to discuss ways to combat online hate and extremism.
Emhoff was in Auckland to lead a delegation to the FIFA Women’s World Cup and meet with officials. He told a meeting of the Christchurch Call the world was witnessing a “global epidemic of hate.”
Emhoff, who is Jewish, said he was “working against this scourge of anti-Semitism and this epidemic of hate in general. So this work is very, very personal to me.”
“But my work is not just about Jews. It’s about all of us. It’s about combating hate in all of its forms,” he said.
The group is named after the New Zealand city where a gunman in 2019 shot and killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques while streaming his attack online.
Ardern thanked Emhoff for his work and for sharing in the “joyous occasion"" of the World Cup. She launched the Christchurch Call with French President Emmanuel Macron two months after the Christchurch attack. After stepping down as leader earlier this year, she was appointed special envoy for the Christchurch Call, declining to take any pay for the role.
Emhoff will next travel to Samoa.",Not_Explicit
"Superspeed is a difficult power to portray in superpowered adaptations. There are almost as many ways to portray superhuman agility as there are movies that have attempted it, from dilated time to blurs of vision. And yet, as more and more speedsters race to the big-budget world of the Hollywood blockbuster, none have been rendered so captivatingly like a single scene in Shin Kamen Rider.
Superspeed is not one of the abilities Takeshi Hongo (Sosuke Ikematsu), the young student transformed by the insidious organization SHOCKER into a cybernetic and biologically augmented hero known as Kamen Rider, has. In the world of Shin Kamen Rider, which hit Amazon Prime Video this past weekend, SHOCKER’s elite agents—including ones that go rogue like Hongo and his ally, Ruriko Midorikawa (Minami Hamabe)—have all been transformed into hybrid augmented beings adopting the traits of their cross-species pattern. Hongo’s grasshopper hybrid grants him violently powerful proportionate strength and jumping abilities. Some of the agents he and Ruriko chase down in their quest to bring SHOCKER to justice are similar—the Spider-Aug shoots webs, the Bat-Aug has wings and enhanced hearing. But one augment they face, the Wasp-Aug Hiromi (Nanase Nishino), hones her abilities with superspeed to give Hongo and Ruriko one of the most dazzling fight scenes in the whole movie.
While every Augment in Shin Kamen Rider is presented to us, in the midst of their struggles against each other, as distinctly unnatural and uncannily inhuman, the Wasp-Aug’s movements as she races into a duel with Kamen Rider are unlike anything else presented in the movie. Director Hideaki Anno frames Hiromi’s movements in the perspective of not just the human audience, but the enhanced augments she battles against in Hongo and Ruriko as well. At this point in the movie, well into its second act, we’ve seen Hongo move at rapid speeds, defy gravity, spray someone’s blood in gushing fountains from a single strike: when he’s transformed into Kamen Rider, he is something beyond human capability by magnitudes. And yet Hiromi moves so much faster than what even he is capable of that his confusion becomes Ruriko’s as she watches from outside the fight, and becomes our own as Hiromi blurs and bounds across the screen.
And it’s crucially how she does that that makes the scene, albeit brief, masterful to watch. Shin Kamen Rider doesn’t bring time to a halt to highlight Hiromi’s movement. Nor does it keep itself moving a normal pace either, blurring her entirely. Instead, much like an angry hornet itself, it herks and jerks Hiromi all about the place as she dashes around and at Hongo. One second she’s smooth and gracefully gliding across the ground, the next awkward, jerked motions. She pings about the place going from an indistinct blur of glowing trail lines to a series of framey action shots that feel almost like stop motion. Crucially, all the ways Hongo moves in reaction to her—just to get out of the way, barely to land a hit on her or deflect a blow—are similarly presented, just nowhere near as smoothly, emphasizing how much he can’t keep up.
At times, Hiromi doesn’t look like we’ve been trained a human being should look, even doing superhuman things. The jerkiness of her movements is as unsettling as it is captivating, she moves less like a person and more like a series of still images being rapidly shuffled through a flip book, or panels from a manga. It’s full of stops and starts and impact frames, speeding up and jerking to a halt, the camera overwhelmed as it climaxes in a rapid-fire sequence of cuts between Hongo’s perspective, Hiromi’s perspective, and Ruriko on the sidelines. The scene is short at just around 40 seconds of action, but its unsettling, uncanny appearance is burned into your mind. And that unsettling look, the intentional surreality of it, is key to Shin Kamen Rider’s view of superpowered action, and making itself feel almost wholly unique in the superhero genre.
Shin Kamen Rider doesn’t have the budget of a Hollywood blockbuster film, but its effects work isn’t bad—it’s uncanny, it’s not showy or particularly graceful, but not because of the aforementioned budget. A movie like The Flash or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania could’ve, and probably did, spend the equivalent of Shin Kamen Rider’s entire budget on single scenes, let alone just VFX work. As the superhero cinemascape has exploded in the west across the last two decades, we’ve come to expect a display of computer-enhanced superpowers that is as slick and as “real” as we can aim for, where any indicator of uncanniness is a weakness to be pointed out and mocked—that for all the billions of dollars and horrifying labor practices, these raw machines of Hollywood capital can’t make Barry Allen not run weird.
Shin Kamen Rider, whether with superspeed or superstrength, or even the application of gravity itself, instead embraces that uncanniness with a strong authorial intent. These heroes and villains are meant to look off-kilter and surreal to us. They’re not human. The very sight of what is ostensibly normal to them should appear jarring and unsettling to us. It shouldn’t feel right. That uncanny feeling isn’t a limitation of what Shin Kamen Rider could afford to present to us, but a key aspect of its world, of its view of superhuman abilities. It’s an effective and yet also haunting dissonance that separates the human from the super. In amplifying that dissonance, it makes for one of the most visually unique live-action superhero aesthetics we’ve seen in a long, long time.
Shin Kamen Rider is streaming now on Prime Video.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.",Not_Explicit
"The Defense Department has no plans to stop covering the travel costs of female troops who seek abortions across state lines, despite protests from a Republican senator who has blocked hundreds of military promotions over the issue, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said on Thursday.
“I see this, and I think the (defense secretary) does as well, as taking care of our soldiers, and it’s the right thing to do, and I don’t think we’re going to change it,” Wormuth told NBC News’ Courtney Kube at an event at the Aspen Security Forum.
Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision removed the constitutional right to abortion last year, more than 40% of female service members stationed in the United States have no access, or severely restricted access, to abortion services, according to the Rand Corporation think tank.
Wormuth said the policy also was important to ensure that the Army can retain female troops who might leave the military if they cannot get access to abortion services. “I see this as a retention issue,” Wormuth said.
The policy also ensures women in the military have access to in vitro fertilization, since it is not necessarily available in the areas where troops are posted, Wormuth said.
Wormuth said she had not seen data on how many female troops had traveled across state lines for abortion services or the amount of Defense Department funds spent on it so far.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has held up the promotions of more than 250 military officers for months in order to force an end to the policy.
Tuberville says he wants a vote on a bill introduced by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., that would codify the Pentagon abortion policy into law, and that he will end his blockade if it passes. In return, Tuberville says that he wants the Defense Department to agree to cancel the policy if the measure fails.
Defense Department officials held a closed-door briefing Wednesday with senators on the Armed Services Committee, including Tuberville, regarding the department’s abortion travel policy, NBC News has previously reported.
The issue has complicated the normally bipartisan politics that surround the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual defense policy bill. Republicans in the House have inserted an amendment into their version of the bill that would force the Pentagon to end the policy.
Wormuth, echoing comments by other Pentagon officials and senior officers, said the blockade is having ripple effects on troops and families that could jeopardize readiness and prompt some service members to quit.
“Basically what’s happening is our whole system is getting kind of constipated,” Wormuth said.
About a dozen three- and four-star generals have had to put off their retirements for two or three months, and the officers selected to replace them are not in their new positions, she said.
The biggest concern, she said, is that junior officers may conclude that it’s not worth remaining in the military given the uncertainty and delays affecting their families.
“I really worry that we’re going to have a brain and talent drain as a result of this really unprecedented step that Sen. Tuberville has chosen,” she said.
The blockade on promotions is just the latest example of the military being drawn into Washington’s polarized politics and turned into a “political football,” Wormuth said.
“I think our military is being dragged into the political space in ways that are very unproductive,” she said. “But I want to be clear that I do not see our officers becoming politicized, that is the last thing most officers that I’ve worked with want to happen.”
She said younger officers might think twice about pursuing high-ranking positions having seen the polarized atmosphere at congressional hearings where generals face partisan questioning.
“I do think they look at our general officers who testify in hearings and see the kinds of interactions that our general officers are having each and every week and they ask themselves, ‘Do I want to be on the receiving end of that type of interaction?’”",Not_Explicit
"Japan’s discharge of treated radioactive water to not impact Vietnam: official
Hanoi (VNA) – Japan’s discharge of treated radioactive water into the sea will not impact Vietnam’s sea areas, said Deputy Director of the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety under the Ministry of Science and Technology Pham Van Toan told the ministry's regular press conference for the second quarter in Hanoi on July 19.
Toan said that on March 11, 2011, an incident occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan due to the impact of an earthquake and tsunami, resulting in a large amount of radioactive wastewater. To handle this waste, Japan's discharge plan has been assessed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and leading nuclear safety experts based on the IAEA's safety standards. The experts come from 11 countries, including Dr. Nguyen Hao Quang, former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute.
On July 4, 2023, after more than two years of working, the IAEA officially handed over an assessment report to the Japanese government, concluding that the Japanese government's plan for the discharge of treated wastewater into the sea is consistent with relevant safety standards.
“It should be noted that the total amount of tritium to be released each year in the discharge of Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS)-treated water will be well below the amount of these radionuclides produced by natural processes each year, such as interaction of cosmic rays with gases in the upper atmosphere,” the IAEA report said.
According to the report, the concentration of radioactive substances in the water at a distance of 30km from the planned discharge location is very small compared to the natural background radiation level in the seawater and has almost no significant impact on the marine environment in terms of radiation.
Toan said it can be seen that the radiation impact from the discharge is negligible to both people and the environment in Japan. Consequently, this activity will not have any impact on Vietnam's sea areas.
On the occasion, he reiterated the statement made by Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang in a recent regular press conference that Vietnam supports the development of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. Vietnam believes that the responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety and security lies with the countries using atomic energy. At the same time, Vietnam suggests the need for close international cooperation, transparency in sharing information, responsible behaviour, and compliance with international law in the event of an incident.
Vietnam also emphasises the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the region, protecting the marine environment and maritime resources in accordance with international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and relevant regulations of the IAEA, he said./.",Not_Explicit
"Chinese Banks Keep Lending Rates Unchanged After PBOC’s Pause
The one-year loan prime rate was held at 3.55%, in line with the forecasts from all 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
(Bloomberg) -- Chinese banks kept their benchmark lending rates unchanged on Thursday, in line with the central bank’s move earlier this week as policymakers assess the economy’s recovery.
The one-year loan prime rate was held at 3.55%, in line with the forecasts from all 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The five-year rate, a reference for mortgages, was also kept at 4.2%, as expected, data from the People’s Bank of China showed.
The loan rates are based on one of the PBOC’s key interest rates, which was kept unchanged this week following a cut in June. Central bank officials recently signaled it may offer more support to the slowing economy, hinting at a possible reduction in the reserve requirement ratio for banks and targeted property easing.
The economy’s recovery lost further momentum in the second quarter, while economy-wide prices declined for the first time since 2020. Loan expansion recovered in June, but questions remain on whether credit growth will pick up as business confidence remains low.
Economists expect the PBOC to take moderate steps to ease monetary policy in the rest of this year, including a potential cut to policy interest rates, lowering the RRR, and increasing the use of targeted tools to funnel credit into areas like small businesses.
The LPRs are based on the interest rates that 18 banks offer their best customers, and are published by the PBOC monthly. They are quoted as a spread over the central bank’s one-year policy rate, or the medium-term lending facility rate, which was kept unchanged this month following a 10-basis point cut in June.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is calling for a ""real investigation"" into the corruption allegations against President Biden just days after shrugging off the growing controversy.
During an interview on Sunday with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, Kennedy was asked to comment on corruption in government, specifically to findings from congressional Republicans showing how several members of the Biden family received big payments from foreign entities through various bank accounts.
""I have avoided criticizing the president because I’m trying to bring people together and end some of the vitriol, the poison that’s made politics so poisonous,"" Kennedy said.
""But corruption is corruption,"" Bartiromo interjected. ""We don't want corruption in government.""
""You're right,"" Kennedy responded. ""I think though the issues that are now coming up are worrying enough that we really need a real investigation of what happened.""
The candidate then invoked the revelations from the FBI's FD-1023 form released last week by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that outlined accusations of a bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, which had been paying his son Hunter as a board member despite his lack of experience.
""I mean, these revelations where you have Burisma- which is a notoriously corrupt company that paid out apparently $10 million to Hunter and his dad- if that’s true, then it is really troubling,"" Kennedy said. ""It needs to be investigated.""
Kennedy went on to express concern about the politicization of federal agencies after Bartiromo alluded to the IRS whistleblower claims of the DOJ interfering into the Hunter Biden probe.
""I think that that’s something that every American needs to worry about and our federal agencies, which used to be above politics, and now become weaponized as political instruments, and that, again, is another really damaging trend for our democracy,"" Kennedy told Bartiromo.
Kennedy's comments mark a dramatic shift towards the Biden corruption allegations, which he shrugged off just eight days prior in an interview with Fox News Digital.
""I don't have a comment on that,"" Kennedy told Fox News Digital on Saturday in response to the corruption claims plaguing the First Family.
Kennedy was then pressed on the controversies surrounding Hunter Biden and the findings from House Republicans claiming millions of dollars in foreign money had been funneled to the Biden family. He refused to opine.
""What I've tried to do in this campaign is to focus on issues and focus on the values and not focus on ad hominem attacks on people,"" Kennedy said.
""Isn't alleged corruption an issue that voters should be concerned about?"" Fox News Digital asked.
""I think on every side it's something that people should be concerned about, but it's not something that I'm making a spear tip to my campaign,"" Kennedy responded.
The Biden challenger had previously refrained from weighing in on the plea deal Hunter struck with the DOJ.
Corruption allegations continue plaguing the president. Miranda Devine, a New York Post columnist and Fox News contributor, reported Monday that Hunter Biden's longtime business partner Devon Archer is expected to tell the House Oversight Committee about meetings he witnessed attended by both Hunter and his father with dozens of Hunter’s business associates while he was serving as vice president between 2009 and 2017.",Not_Explicit
"The Florida Board of Education approved a new set of standards for how Black history should be taught in the state’s public schools, sparking criticism from education and civil rights advocates who said students should be allowed to learn the “full truth” of American history.
The curriculum was approved at the board’s meeting Wednesday in Orlando.
It is the latest development in the state’s ongoing debate over African American history, including the education department’s rejection of a preliminary pilot version of an Advanced Placement African American Studies course for high school students, which it claimed lacked educational value.
The new standards come after the state passed new legislation under Gov. Ron DeSantis that bars instruction in schools that suggests anyone is privileged or oppressed based on their race or skin color. DeSantis has used his fight against “wokeness” to boost his national profile amid a national discussion of how racism and history should be taught in schools.
The new standards require instruction for middle school students to include “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit,” a document listing the standards and posted in the Florida Department of Education website said.
When high school students learn about events such as the 1920 Ocoee massacre, the new rules require that instruction include “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.” The massacre is considered the deadliest Election Day violence in US history and, according to several histories of the incident, it started when Moses Norman, a prominent Black landowner in the Ocoee, Florida, community, attempted to cast his ballot and was turned away by White poll workers.
“Our children deserve nothing less than truth, justice, and the equity our ancestors shed blood, sweat, and tears for,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement condemning the new standards. “It is imperative that we understand that the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow were a violation of human rights and represent the darkest period in American history.”
“We are proud of the rigorous process that the Department took to develop these standards,” Alex Lanfranconi, director of communications for the Florida Department of Education, said in a statement, noting the standards were created by a group of 13 educators and academics.
“It’s sad to see critics attempt to discredit what any unbiased observer would conclude to be in-depth and comprehensive African American History standards. They incorporate all components of African American History: the good, the bad and the ugly. These standards will further cement Florida as a national leader in education, as we continue to provide true and accurate instruction in African American History,” Lanfranconi said.
The Florida Education Association, a statewide teachers union, called the new standards a disservice to students and “a big step backward for a state that has required teaching African American history since 1994.”
“How can our students ever be equipped for the future if they don’t have a full, honest picture of where we’ve come from? Florida’s students deserve a world-class education that equips them to be successful adults who can help heal our nation’s divisions rather than deepen them,” Andrew Spar, the association’s president, said in a statement. “Gov. DeSantis is pursuing a political agenda guaranteed to set good people against one another, and in the process he’s cheating our kids. They deserve the full truth of American history, the good and the bad,” Spar added.",Not_Explicit
"The House Oversight Committee is hearing from two IRS whistleblowers whose testimony alleging that the Hunter Biden criminal probe was mishandled has ignited a firestorm among House Republicans.
One of the two whistleblowers is speaking for the first time publicly: Joseph Ziegler, a 13-year IRS Special Agent with the Criminal Investigation Division.
In his statements to the Oversight committee, Ziegler outlined what he described as examples of prosecutors not following the normal investigative process, and echoed fellow whistleblower Gary Shapley’s claims that IRS investigators recommended charging Hunter Biden with far more serious crimes than what the president’s son has agreed to plead guilty to, and that US attorneys in other districts wouldn’t seek an indictment of the President’s son.
“It appeared to me, based on what I experienced, that the US Attorney in Delaware in our investigation was constantly hamstrung, limited, and marginalized by DOJ officials as well as other US attorneys,” Ziegler said.
The whistleblowers told lawmakers Wednesday that Justice Department officials stopped their investigators from scrutinizing President Joe Biden and his grandchildren, after finding evidence potentially linking them to Hunter Biden’s troubled finances. Shapley, told the committee that Joe Biden’s name came up in their probe of Hunter Biden’s finances, and that his team was essentially blocked from running down those leads. (Some of these references to Joe Biden, including in a much-discussed, alleged WhatsApp message from 2017, occurred when he wasn’t president or vice president.)
“When the subject’s father is somehow related to the finances of the subject, in the normal course of any Investigation, we would have to get that information, to properly vet the financial flows of money, and determine what we end up charging,” Shapley said.
The Justice Department and the White House have previously denied the whistleblowers’ claims that there was any political interference in the Hunter Biden criminal probe. These allegations are consistent with their previous closed-door testimony, which was made public last month. Biden has said he wasn’t involved in his son’s business deals.
Ziegler, who is Shapley’s deputy, also told the panel in his written testimony that he wanted to interview Hunter Biden’s adult children after uncovering potentially illegal deductions in Hunter Biden’s tax returns, related to payments to his children. But a Justice Department prosecutor said that would “get us into hot water” and it didn’t happen, Ziegler wrote.
“This, again, was abnormal and deviation from normal procedure,” Ziegler wrote, though he later acknowledged to lawmakers there are some situations when it might be appropriate for prosecutors to oppose pursuing an interview with a key player.
GOP claims of a politicized DOJ
House Republicans have capitalized on the allegations – from Shapley, a 14-year IRS veteran who oversaw parts of the Hunter Biden criminal probe, and Ziegler, whose prior testimony was anonymous – to support their claims that the Justice Department has become increasingly politicized to protect Democrats and target conservatives.
The testimony from the IRS whistleblowers has also reignited a new push for potential impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Merrick Garland, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces growing pressure from an increasingly restive right flank eager to take aim at President Joe Biden and his Cabinet. McCarthy fueled the momentum by saying he’s open to an impeachment inquiry if the whistleblowers’ claims hold up.
Shapley and his deputy told the House Ways and Means Committee in June that Justice Department officials slow-walked the criminal probe into Hunter Biden’s tax issues, stymied their efforts to obtain subpoenas and search warrants and repeatedly blocked prosecutors from filing felony charges.
The whistleblowers also claimed US Attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump and is overseeing the Hunter Biden probe, allegedly said in an October 2022 meeting he could not make final charging decisions against the president’s son, and that he was denied special counsel status when he asked for it.
Republicans have seized on these comments to claim that Garland was not truthful when he told Congress that Weiss had full authority on the investigation. But Garland and Weiss have rejected most, if not all, of the GOP lawmakers’ assertions. Also, it’s common for there to be internal disagreements among investigators, like those described by the IRS agents, a point Democrats have made in memo ahead of the hearing, according to a copy of the memo obtained by CNN.
Shapley accused Weiss and DOJ of responding to his allegations with “carefully worded denials and evolving half-truths.”
Whistleblower defends his credentials
In his closed-door deposition last month, Ziegler told lawmakers that he is gay, and pushed back against the notion that his sexual orientation influences his politics or his job.
“People have said, because I’m gay and that I am working as the case agent on this investigation, that I must be a far-left liberal, perfectly placed to fit some agenda. This was stuff that was on social media regarding me,” Ziegler told the committee, according to a transcript of his deposition. “I can tell you that I am none of those things. I’m a career government employee, and I have always strived to not let politics enter my frame of mind when working cases.”
It’s not clear which social media posts Ziegler was referring to. But a 644-page report about Hunter Biden – which was compiled by a former Trump White House aide, posted online, and has circulated widely in right-wing circles – highlighted Ziegler’s sexual orientation and used it to accuse him of being “biased” in the Hunter Biden criminal probe.
Ziegler said in his private testimony that he grew up in a conservative household and “held conservative beliefs,” but now identifies as a Democrat with “middle-of-the-road” views.
Democrats push back
Democrats also noted that many investigative decisions that the two whistleblowers disagreed with occurred during the Trump administration, highlighting specific examples from late 2020.
In his opening statement, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, called his Republican colleagues out for not following through on their mission to connect their investigation to President Joe Biden directly.
“Like every other try by colleagues to concoct a scandal about President Biden, this one is a complete and total bust,” Raskin said.
The White House repeatedly also pointed out that Weiss had been appointed by Trump in advance of Wednesday’s hearing, encouraging Republicans instead to “focus on the issues most important to the American people.”
“There are real issues Americans want us to be spending our time on, and President Biden believes we can work together to make real progress, if House Republicans would make an effort instead of constantly staging partisan stunts to try to damage him politically,” said Ian Sams, a White House spokesman responding to Republican-led congressional investigations.
Weiss also refuted claims made about his title overseeing the investigation, writing in a separate letter to Congress that he never requested special counsel status but rather explored becoming a “special attorney” under a different statute.
House Republican committee chairs have requested interviews from Weiss and a number of individuals involved in the Hunter Biden criminal probe. The Justice Department informed House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, last week that they will make Weiss available “at an appropriate time” when the ongoing criminal investigation into Hunter Biden is officially closed, and offered to start negotiating how to move forward.
Asked whether Wednesday’s hearing with the IRS whistleblowers is a step toward impeaching Garland, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told CNN, “There’s obviously a lot of eagerness to get the facts out and we’re moving as quickly as we can.” He added, however, that he’s “just in charge of getting the facts out” and that questions of impeachment will come later.
Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said, “We have two brave and credible IRS whistleblowers who have risked their careers to come forward and provide important testimony. Their testimony about the DOJ, FBI, and IRS’s investigation of Hunter Biden confirms the committee’s findings. That there is nothing normal about the Biden family’s business activity.”
Garland, a top target of the House GOP, is slated to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee for a routine oversight hearing in September.
Hunter Biden is scheduled to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors at a court hearing next week in Delaware.
This story and headline have been updated to reflect additional developments.",Not_Explicit
"Oil Holds Near $80 as US Stockpile Drop Offsets Demand Worries
Oil steadied as persistent demand concerns were offset by declines in crude stockpiles in the US.
(Bloomberg) -- Oil steadied near $80 a barrel in London as traders assessed a mixed picture in the US market and China’s efforts to revitalize its sagging economic growth.
Brent futures were slightly higher on Thursday in thin trading volumes typical for this time of year. US data showed crude inventories at the nation’s storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, shrank last week by the most since October 2021. However, that was tempered by a second weekly drop in demand for the main refined products: gasoline, distillates and jet fuel.
Crude has traded in a narrow range this week, and is still marginally down this year, after making a sharp break higher since late June on signs the market may finally be tightening.
“Brent is clearly finding it difficult to convincingly break above $80 a barrel,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy aat ING Groep NV.
China’s efforts to revive growth, ranging from lower interest rates, easier access to credit and a series of measures to kick-start the moribund housing market have done little to bolster the economy of the biggest crude importer. Another signal that Beijing was seeking to boost corporate confidence came this week, with a joint pledge by the Communist Party and the government to improve conditions for private businesses.
The recent revival in the US dollar, following a slump last week, added to the bearishness for oil, with commodities priced in the currency more expensive for most buyers.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"Washington — The letter from special counsel Jack Smith's office to former President Donald Trumpthat he is the target of a criminal investigation into his actions after the 2020 election cited three federal statutes, according to a senior Trump source.
Two of the statutes relate to conspiracy to commit an offense or to defraud the U.S., and deprivation of rights under color of law. The third includes potential charges ranging from obstruction of an official proceeding to tampering with a witness, victim or an informant.
Thewas the clearest indication yet that Trump could soon face charges related to his attempts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. Smith's office has been investigating alleged efforts to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power, including the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, since he was appointed special counsel last November. No charges stemming from this investigation have been filed against the former president, who has denied all wrongdoing and claimed any potential prosecution would be politically motivated.
The statutes mentioned in the letter offer some insight into the potential legal basis for possible future charges. Hundreds of defendants in the Justice Department's probe into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack have faced obstruction-related charges. Deprivation of rights under color of law entails using the guise of legal authority to take away constitutional or legal rights.
The former presidentthat he received the letter, and multiple sources confirmed to CBS News that the former president's post was accurate. A senior Trump source said Trump received the target letter on Sunday night.
Sources close to witnesses in the grand jury's probe have told CBS News that Smith is building a case focused on how Trump acted after he was informed that claiming the 2020 election had been rigged could put him at legal risk. The special counsel is also said to be examining whether Trump criminally conspired to block congressional certification of the Electoral College votes.
Smith has also led the investigation into the former president's. The former president faces more than three dozen federal charges in federal court in South Florida in that case, and has pleaded not guilty.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"Yevgeny Prigozhin only lives twice
Like his James Bond movie doppelgänger Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Yevgeny Prigozhin is the man who will not go away.
Just when you think he is dead, marginalized or put out to pasture in the potato fields of Belarus, he comes roaring back to life when least expected for a diabolical second act.
Prigozhin has indeed returned, this time reappearing in a video filmed at dusk at one of the Wagner Group’s new military camps in Belarus. His silhouette and voice are unmistakable, as are his criticisms of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. He is as harsh as ever, characterizing the Kremlin’s war effort on the front lines as a “disgrace.”
The specter (SPECTRE?) of Prigozhin rising once again is surely a discomfiting one for Putin, who has been left badly weakened in the aftermath of the Wagner Group’s short-lived uprising on June 24. Even more deeply troubling to Putin is that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, himself under immense pressure, appears to be coyly trying to weaponize Prigozhin against the Russian president.
On the surface, Lukashenko, during his meeting with Putin on Sunday in St. Petersburg, Russia, appeared to be aiming Prigozhin as a dagger against Poland. To that end, albeit jokingly, Lukashenko teased Putin, “The Wagner guys have started to stress us. They want to go west. ‘Let’s go on a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow.'”
Yet the not so subtle below-the-surface hint to Putin, who likely did not fail to grasp it, was that a “stressed” Prigozhin could just as easily move east toward Moscow if he so chose — or was so directed. As the Institute for War noted in its July 23 update, the bulk of Prigozhin’s Wagner Group forces in Belarus are now positioned far closer to Moscow (about 447 miles “along an excellent military highway”) than they were from their previous main base in Krasnodar Krai (851 miles) during their abortive mutiny against the Russian Defense Ministry.
Lukashenko fully understands that Prigozhin’s military forces, publicly neutered of their heavy weaponry and supplies after Prigozhin’s rebellion — including T-90 tanks, artillery, surface-to-air missile systems, armored vehicles and ammunition — pose no real threat to Poland or to NATO as currently armed. Bringing a map of Poland, in this regard, was simply the excuse for Lukashenko to visually remind Putin that Minsk now believes it holds a strategic wild card in the form of Prigozhin, which he can play at any time against the Kremlin.
To paraphrase a ubiquitous saying: With friends like Lukashenko and Prigozhin, Putin does not need enemies.
Lukashenko, since day one, despite characterizing Putin’s war in Ukraine as “our” war, has tried to avoid at all costs getting dragged into the actual fighting. Minsk is solely in it for the spoils of war, if and when they come, unwilling the shoulder the actual economic and military cost.
Prigozhin, however, is another matter.
Lukashenko, wily as he may be, likely overplays his hand when it comes to controlling the man once known as “Putin’s chef.” Undoubtedly, Lukashenko views Prigozhin as a useful and multifaceted tool, whether for rattling his saber to unsettle Warsaw, protecting against any domestic Belarusian uprising, keeping Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky off-balance or keeping Putin at bay.
But Prigozhin likely sees his future far differently. Like his fictional alter ego Blofeld, who first made his appearance in Ian Fleming’s 1964 novel “You Only Live Twice,” Prigozhin is learning, as Blofeld did from James Bond, the useful art of rising from the dead.
Bond first pulled off that feat in Japan in the 1967 movie of the same name. Prigozhin is well along the process of doing the same in Belarus.
Lukashenko, in coming to Prigozhin’s rescue after his failed mutiny in Russia, is giving the Wagner Group chief the chance to prove that yes, you can live twice. Yet in doing so, Lukashenko is playing with fire.
Prigozhin is a mercurial psychopath, useful but deadly. Even Putin has struggled to control him over time. Putin has decided for now that Prigozhin is better alive than dead. Even Sir Richard Moore, who heads up the real-life MI6, is perplexed by Putin’s decision.
Moore, who is referred to as “C” in British intelligence circles (the equivalent of “M” in the 007 movies”), noted, “If you look at Putin’s behaviors on that day, Prigozhin started off I think, as a traitor at breakfast. He had been pardoned by supper and then a few days later, he was invited for tea.”
Now, Prigozhin is having tea in Belarus.
Slippery as Prigozhin has been to date, it is best to prepare for a variety of plot twists that are likely yet to come. Lukashenko appears to believe Prigozhin is a check on Putin, but Putin might offer Prigozhin a chance to redeem himself by serving as a check on Lukashenko. Villains, after all, are infamous for turning against each other.
Or Prigozhin could turn out to be what he has always been: his own man. He could go rogue, deciding to go out in a blaze of glory and attack Poland and NATO forces as his ultimate revenge against Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the Russian Ministry of Defense. He could wait and plot to topple Lukashenko himself.
Prigozhin could also turn south, attempting to drag Belarus into a hot war with Ukraine. Kyiv would be forced to respond to any threat coming from its north. Or, perhaps in the most Blofeld-like storyline of all, Prigozhin could seek revenge against Putin by marching yet again on Moscow — or detour to take St. Petersburg.
Regardless of what choice Prigozhin ultimately makes, “Putin’s chef” has proven he has indeed found a way to live twice. Only he knows where that second life is headed and who will come to regret it. When it does, and the closing credits roll after the end of whatever his next act turns out to be, wait until the very end to see whether, as in the Bond movie style, they read: “Prigozhin will return.”
Mark Toth is an economist, entrepreneur, and former board member of the World Trade Center, St. Louis. Jonathan Sweet, a retired Army Colonel and 30-year military intelligence officer, led the U.S. European Command Intelligence Engagement Division from 2012 to 2014.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Former Trump deputy AG: Special counsel ‘not an agent of the deep state’
A former Trump deputy attorney general defended special counsel Jack Smith after the former president revealed he was the target of the Jan. 6 federal investigation looking into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
NewsNation’s Dan Abrams asked Richard Donoghue, who served in Trump’s Justice Department from December 2020 to January 2021, what he thought of remarks made by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Tuesday accusing President Biden of weaponizing the government to go after his opponent.
“I think nothing could be further from the truth,” Donoghue said. “For some people, Donald Trump will always be a man who was targeted because he stands up to corrupt elites, and for others he will always be Benedict Donald, a leader who puts his own interests above the country’s.”
“I don’t think he’s political. He’s not left-wing, he is not an agent of the deep state,” he said said of Smith. “His politics would put him right of center, I believe, and look, he secured the first capital sentence in New York in more than 50 years. He’s not a bleeding heart liberal.”
Abrams asked Donoghue if he believed it was unfair for those to describe Smith as a “tool of the left wing.”
“Absolutely, I don’t believe that for a minute,” he said. “I’ve known Jack for decades. I’ve seen and worked many, many cases over the years up close. I’ve seen him work incredibly hard at doing that and what he’s always done is follow the facts and apply the law.”
Trump revealed Tuesday that he received a letter informing him that he is a target of Smith’s investigation looking into the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Legal experts say that means the former president will likely be indicted for a third time this year.
Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal counts of mishandling classified documents and attempting to keep them from the government in a separate case last month. And he has pleaded not guilty to all charges in a hush money case in New York City.
Donoghue was one of several former Trump Justice Department officials who testified before the House Jan. 6 select committee last year. He is also a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Both NewsNation and The Hill are owned and operated by Nexstar Media Group.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. For more information on his work, visit www.lordashcroft.com or follow him on Facebook.
Last week, we held focus groups with wavering former Conservative voters as they prepare to go to the polls in Thursday’s by-elections: in Wincanton, in the heart of the Somerton & Frome constituency; at the South Ruislip end of the Uxbridge seat; and in Selby.
People in all three places had a pretty clear view about the unorthodox circumstances giving rise to the contests. Nigel Adams “didn’t get his honours, did he? So he threw his toys out of the pram and said right, that’s it.”
David Warburton “took way too long to step down… It’s a little bit naughty of the Conservatives to let it go on for so long. I think they tried to let it die down because there was so much going on elsewhere” (though there was some sympathy: “He had to stand down, but he had a really rough ride from the Parliament people… It sounds like he’s been gagged from saying anything about the harassment allegations. I mean, people can forgive the odd snort of cocaine these days, but the sexual allegations were the real meat of the scandal and we’re none the wiser about what happened, if anything at all”).
“He jumped before he was pushed. It’s not because he’s done the honourable thing or anything like that.” (Uxbridge & South Ruislip)
Boris Johnson also had some support (“the whole partygate thing was overblown and was very politically motivated;” “I liked his differentness, the way he approached people;” “he should have stuck around. It just looks like a joke now. I don’t think anyone will take the Tories seriously”) – but only up to a point: “He jumped before he was pushed. It’s not because he’s done the honourable thing or anything like that.” Either way, “we’ve got four or five by-elections at the same time, who are all MPs who have voluntarily resigned, which doesn’t reflect well on the Conservative leadership in government.”
Campaigning in all three seats had evidently been relentless: “I’ve never seen so many leaflets. The more you get, the less you look at;” “I’ve had personal letters. ‘Dear Caroline!’ I had one from Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street;” “Keir Starmer sent me a letter.” “Did you write back?” “No, I thought he was over-familiar.”
The Liberal Democrat candidate, Sarah Dyke, had evidently made an impact in Somerton & Frome: “She has actually come to parish council meetings. Anyone that rocks up at seven o’clock on a Tuesday to listen to what local concerns are, from my perspective, that almost overrides your political party;” “I’d never heard of her before, but she’s certainly got a profile now. I’m fed up to the back teeth with her!” “Tory Faye Purbrick “says ‘I’m a Somerset girl’. Well, yes, because she lives in Yeovil, and actually that’s not in the constituency;” “One of her policies was about local transport. Well, I’ve never seen her at the Bus Back Better meetings in the last year. If you’re going to say you want to make a difference, you have to have a background.” In her defence, the constituency is huge and diverse: “It’s like two constituencies in one. Frome was hived off from Wells all those years ago. Frome is very separate. These days it seems to be run by left-wing women.”
“They’re bothered about your vote, but they’re not bothered about you.” (Selby & Ainsty)
Many had views about their candidates’ localness or otherwise. In Uxbridge, “the Labour candidate is a chap called Danny, who is a councillor from Camden. Very unusual to be standing in this area, I would have thought.” In Selby & Ainsty, “the Tory is selling herself as a local, but she’s a councillor in East Riding!” Labour’s Keir Mather (“he was born in Hull”) had been out and about – “he came to our village fete at the weekend. I made him buy a raffle ticket” – but there were mixed views as to whether it matters that “he looks about twelve.” On the one hand, “he’s not very assertive. He might get eaten alive.” Then again, “the older ones haven’t exactly made a great job of it.”
Several noted that they had been favoured with visits from high-profile figures including Sunak and Starmer. At such a tough time, this did not always produce the intended reaction: “You don’t see them, and then even the leaders are on your doorstep. It just makes you sick, the fact that they’re bothered about your vote, but they’re not bothered about you.”
Local issues were evidently playing a big part in all the campaigns. Farming, planning disputes and local bus services were common themes in the two rural seats, and health services in all three: “Hillingdon Hospital is falling apart. It was approved to be rebuilt but it keeps being delayed;” “I waited four weeks for a doctor’s appointment. I think that’s wholly unacceptable;” “Please don’t tell me about the NHS and dentists because how long have you been in power and how hard is it to get a dentist in Somerset? You have to go to Cardiff to get an NHS dentist.”
“The Labour guy has stuck his ass firmly on the fence.” (Uxbridge & South Ruislip)
Two further issues in Uxbridge had the potential to play in the Conservatives’ favour. One was crime, provided they could pin the situation on the Mayor: “I feel like Sadiq Khan doesn’t care. There’s not enough police. But when that girl was murdered by a police officer, they wanted to stop men going out on the street after 9pm and he was talking about stuff like that. And they can spend money putting rainbow things round their hats;” “Uxbridge town centre has changed a lot. You feel different, especially late at night. Early evening, I should say, because you wouldn’t want to be out later.”
The other was Khan’s planned extension to the Ultra-Low Emission Zone, which would see some residents charged £12.50 a day for driving in the district. “ULEZ is a big, big thing. It affects my business because people don’t want to cross over from outside the area;” “The Labour administration has completely overspent, so they’re using ULEZ as a cash cow. I do quite admire Boris, because he did actually call it a bonehead scheme;” “Essentially it is only the rich being able to drive in the area. You can pollute as much as you like as long as you pay £12.50.”
The view was not universal: “With all the pollution it’s something we’ve got to get on board with. There was that young black girl that died. I don’t know how to resolve it, but if our kids are going to be dying something needs to be resolved.” Even so, Labour clearly felt under pressure: “The Labour guy is now sending out literature that says he’s in favour of it being delayed since he started canvassing. So he’s stuck his ass firmly on the fence.”
“There’s nothing on the Lib Dem leaflet about legal or illegal immigration. The Conservatives have shown they’re no good and everyone else just wants an open door.” (Somerton & Frome)
The list of national issues exercising voters was familiar, including the cost of living, interest rates, the NHS and public services, and small boats. This last was particularly vexing for former Tories who felt the government did not have a grip on the situation, but that other parties would not even try: “There’s nothing on the Lib Dem leaflet about legal or illegal immigration. The Conservatives have shown they’re no good, and everyone else just wants an open door.”
Whether or not the Government was directly to blame for the state of the country, “that’s the job. They have been in power for 13 years, and are we in a better position than we were 13 years ago?” “They’ve had so many years to fix these problems. Striking nurses! It reminds me of the 1970s. And at the end of the day, you’ve been in power for untold years and you’re going round in circles.” The situation had hardly made people receptive to political promises: “They knock on the door and say ‘oh, we’re going to do this’. It’s like a man promising you everything until they get what they want, and you end up doing the washing up.”
“I don’t think they care whether they win the next election or not.” (Uxbridge & South Ruislip)
There was some praise for Sunak – “straightforward,” “economically very sound,” “not scandalous,” and “quite honest with people, he doesn’t sugar-coat things” – but also a widespread feeling that he was “treading water,” “a bit of a lame duck,” and “just kind of placeholding.”
More generally, the government seemed detached – “I don’t think they’ve got a grip on reality and what it’s like for real people” – and seemed to be running out of steam: “I don’t think they care whether they win the next election or not;” “I think no matter what policies they come out with, people just don’t trust them anymore.” Kinder descriptions of the administration included disappointing, ineffective, dishonest, a circus, a shambles, dormant, paralysed, static and “a hot mess” (and the participants had all voted Conservative in 2019).
However, none of this could be taken as a positive endorsement of the Tories’ opponents. Starmer was better than his predecessor but “Donald Duck would be an improvement on Corbyn.” Many thought the Labour leader seemed lacklustre: “He needs a bit more about him, does Keir Starmer. He’s just a little bit drab. He needs to be a bit more vocal and have a bit more passion, more fire in his belly. He has it in his hands to win the election but he needs more oomph;” “I can’t see him on the world stage. I don’t think he has the backbone to go toe-to-toe with Putin.”
“They whinge and bitch about the Tories but it’s not good enough just to say you can do it better.” (Somerton & Frome)
While there were honourable mentions for Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting, Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips, some felt Labour seemed as disunited as the Conservatives: “It would be nice if he liked his deputy enough to talk to her. It’s not exactly hashtag one team, is it?”
People also felt the party was light on direction: “It’s hard to pin down what they will actually do. They whinge and bitch about the Tories but it’s not good enough just to say you can do it better;” “The Shadow Chancellor is on TV a lot but she’s very cagey. When they ask her ‘would you lower taxes? Would you do this or that?’ she just evades it and there’s no answer.”
Similarly, while plenty of our Somerset participants were inclined to vote for Sarah Dyke, they remained very doubtful about her party. “Would a Lib Dem really have any sort of power? They’ve got a reputation of being a south-west England party rather than a national party that can make a difference;” “If you don’t think you’re going to win, you can aspire to anything, and you’ll never have to prove anything.”
Some also had bitter memories of the Cameron-Clegg years: “I fell for the Nick Clegg trap all those years ago. He promised me on his mother’s flippin life that he would scrap tuition fees, so I gave him my vote and he threw me under a bus;” “David Heath was the Lib Dem MP here and he was a decent chap, but he was given a portfolio in the Coalition Government and ended up in the Ministry of Agriculture gassing badgers. That did for him. No-one liked him after that.”
“I can do this, and I’ll do it again if you don’t buck up your ideas.” (Somerton & Frome)
Both our groups in Somerton & Frome expected a Lib Dem victory on Thursday, but our west London and North Yorkshire participants were less sure of the outcome.
Several said they would stay at home, some said they would grudgingly vote Conservative, and others were planning to make their displeasure felt: “I think the Conservatives do need a bit of a warning. I could actually vote for them at the general election, simply because I don’t have any faith in Labour or the Lib Dems. But in this by-election I will vote Lib Dem so they realise I am really pissed off;” “It’s the last-chance saloon. You have let us down in so many ways, and this is my life you’re playing around with. It’s about time you realise that I do have influence. I’m a woman and I have a vote and I would like to know that I can make a difference. I can do this, and I’ll do it again if you don’t buck up your ideas.”
“He’s not going to be ordering a pina colada, put it that way.” (Selby & Ainsty)
To conclude, a seasonal exercise. Imagine Starmer and the Labour team go on their summer holidays together. Is there anyone they would accidentally-on-purpose leave behind? “Angela Rayner. She’s not part of their metropolitan elite. And they couldn’t keep up with her;” “Jonathan Ashworth, because he’s incredibly annoying. He’d be the one with the itinerary, ticking boxes. They’d tell him it was Gatwick and actually they’re all at Heathrow.”
Where would they go? “Probably nowhere because they can’t decide. The plane can’t take off because they don’t know where they’re going;” “It would have to be a package because they couldn’t organise anything.”
What kind of place would they stay at? “I think they’d want to make a statement that they’re not big spenders;” “He’s got to be a hotel man. He’s a sir, Keir Starmer, so he’s not going to be staying in a tent, is he? Too posh;” “Well it could be a bit of glamping, couldn’t it? True Labour would have roughed it in a tent, but they would want something more sophisticated. So you go glamping, but you still need wellies to get to the toilet.”
What would they all have to drink before dinner? “I don’t think he would have a pint. He’s not a man of the people, is he? Maybe a gin and tonic. Or a nice cup of tea;” “Something really plain. He’s a really plain guy. He’s not going to be ordering a pina colada, put it that way;” “They’ve got vodka in their handbags and they’re only buying Coke from the bar.”
Meanwhile, what’s happening on the Tory getaway? “It would be somewhere tax-free like Grand Cayman. But they’d pretend it was the Canary Islands, or Morecambe;” “Rishi’s pad in California. Or Mrs Sunak’s castle;” “Somewhere that was owned by somebody else. Necker Island or something like that.”
What would they do? “Drinking and golfing. If it’s gone the 12th, they’ll be on the grouse moors;” “They try and leave Boris behind, but he turns up with a case of Stella and wrecks it;” “Afterwards they’d put it down as a business trip. Or deny that they went anywhere.”",Not_Explicit
"Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Reports Q1 Net Up By 11.53% At Rs 261.23 Crore
Private sector Tamilnad Mercantile Bank has reported 11.53% rise in its April-June quarter net at Rs 261.23 crore, the bank said on Monday.
Private sector Tamilnad Mercantile Bank has reported 11.53% rise in its April-June quarter net at Rs 261.23 crore, the bank said on Monday.
The Tuticorin-based over Century old bank had registered net profit at Rs 234.21 crore during the corresponding period of last year.
Total business of the bank during the quarter under review grew by 9.40% to Rs 84,300 crore as compared to Rs 77,056 crore registered in the corresponding quarter of last year, the bank said in a statement.
The retail, agriculture and micro, small and medium enterprises portfolio witnessed an increase of 12.86% during April-June 2023 quarter at Rs 33,574 crore from Rs 29,749 crore registered in the same period of last year.
During the quarter ending June 30, 2023 the bank said it opened six branches.
To tap the emerging micro, small and medium enterprise market with focused attention, the bank said MSME Loan processing hub has been set up in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Tuticorin.",Not_Explicit
"Russian authorities on Monday sentenced an ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to nine years in prison for ""participating in an extremist organization,"" Navalny's team announced on Telegram.
Vadim Ostanin was head of Navalny's office in the Siberian city of Barnaul and was detained in December 2021. He was also charged with belonging to a nonprofit that ""infringes on citizens' rights.""
According to Navalny's team, Ostanin had carried out ""legal political work.""
Ostanin's conviction is part of a wider crackdown on political opposition in Russia. This has intensified since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Navalny is an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was arrested in January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany where he had been recovering from nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin.
Russia cracks down Putin's political opponents
As Russian authorities continue to go after Putin's critics, many of Navalny's political allies have either fled into exile or been arrested. Moscow banned Navalny's political organizations in 2021.
Recently, Lilia Chanysheva, another Navalny ally from Ufa in central Russia, was sentenced to over seven years in prison on similar charges.
Ostanin had described the squalid conditions of his prison cell as ""six square meters in a basement with a window covered with debris"" that would flood and was full of rats and spiders.
Navalny is currently incarcerated in a maximum security prison outside Moscow on several charges including fraud and contempt of court. Last week, prosecutors requested an additional 20-year term on ""extremism"" charges.
Navalny maintains that the charges and his lengthy prison sentences are an attempt to silence Russia's political opposition.
In a statement released Thursday by his legal team, Navalny said: ""Anyone in Russia knows that a person who seeks justice in a court of law is completely vulnerable. The case of that person is hopeless.""
wmr/nm (AP, Reuters, AFP)",Not_Explicit
"(Bloomberg) -- El mercado mundial de la soja está dominado por un gran comprador: China. Durante años, Brasil le ha quitado a Estados Unidos una parte cada vez mayor de ese comercio.
Lo más leído de Bloomberg
Ahora, los exportadores sudamericanos empiezan incluso a dominar durante la típica pausa de la temporada.
Los clientes chinos están comprando activamente soja brasileña para entrega en octubre, una época del año en la que las exportaciones estadounidenses suelen estar en su punto álgido, según personas con conocimiento directo. Todavía es probable que se cierren más contratos para el cuarto trimestre, según las fuentes, que pidieron no ser identificadas por tratarse de transacciones privadas.
Las ventas se producen en un momento en que Brasil tiene una cosecha récord y ofrece precios mucho más bajos que productores rivales. También reflejan el plan del presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva de estrechar lazos con China como parte de su plan de crecimiento para la mayor economía de América Latina.
“Todavía tenemos primas competitivas durante al menos otro mes más o menos”, dijo Thiago Milani, jefe de comercio y originación de 3Tentos, una empresa agroindustrial familiar en Brasil, refiriéndose a los precios de envío del país.
Los agricultores estadounidenses están perdiendo su ventaja competitiva en los mercados agrícolas a medida que crece la producción brasileña. Las tensiones geopolíticas también han llevado a China a buscar lazos más estrechos con la nación sudamericana y reducir su dependencia histórica de EE.UU.
El plan de Lula para profundizar las relaciones con China incluye obtener más financiamiento de la nación asiática y reducir el papel del dólar en las transacciones de comercio exterior. El viaje de una delegación brasileña a China este año produjo más de 15 acuerdos por un valor aproximado de US$10.000 millones en compromisos de inversión chinos.
Actualmente, a los procesadores chinos les resulta rentable moler los granos brasileños para fabricar aceite de cocina y piensos, mientras que los márgenes son negativos para los suministros estadounidenses, según datos recopilados por Bloomberg. Como resultado, los clientes chinos están comprando en Brasil al inicio de la temporada.
De hecho, las compras fueron tan tempranas que ya hay cinco barcos programados para recoger cargamentos en Brasil en septiembre, según la agencia naviera Alphamar. Se trata del inicio más temprano de la temporada para este tipo de comercio, según datos de la naviera.
“Ahora hay enormes existencias en las explotaciones agrícolas que llegarán a los puertos en los próximos meses, por lo que pronto veremos más buques en la línea”, declaró Arthur Neto, director comercial de Alphamar.
Las compras también se producen en un momento en que los cultivos estadounidenses, que normalmente se cosechan a partir de septiembre, se ven afectados por un clima seco y caluroso. En junio, la cosecha de soja estadounidense estaba en las peores condiciones en tres décadas, antes de que las lluvias regresaran al Medio Oeste.
Sin embargo, el tiempo volverá a ser seco y caluroso. Los futuros de la soja en Chicago han subido más del 5% este trimestre a unos US$14,20 el bushel.
“Desde el punto de vista meteorológico, las probabilidades de que mejoren las condiciones de los cultivos no son altas”, señaló el viernes el corredor chino Huatai Futures en un informe. “Es poco probable que la oferta de la cosecha de soja estadounidense de la nueva temporada crezca mucho”.
Traducido por Paulina Munita.
Nota Original:Brazil Is Pushing the US Out of World’s Biggest Soybean Market
--Con la colaboración de Jasmine Ng, Alfred Cang y Vanessa Dezem.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"The tournament co-host will face Nigeria in its second match on Thursday without forward Mary Fowler and defender Aivi Luik after the two sustained mild concussions in separate incidents during practice on Tuesday, the Matildas announced.
Fowler and Luik have reportedly both ""fully recovered"" and begun the team's graduated return to play protocol, but it won't be quick enough to face Nigeria.
Australia was already without captain and all-time leading scorer Sam Kerr, who will miss at least one more match due to a pre-tournament calf injury. There had actually been some confusion courtesy of midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross that Kerr might have torn her calf, which would all but end her tournament before it began, but Australia later clarified that wasn't the case.
With Kerr out, Australia started Fowler, who plays for Manchester City, at striker in their 1-0 tournament opener against Ireland. The lone goal came on a penalty kick from Steph Catley, who was wearing the captain’s armband in place of Kerr, but the Matildas only generated two shots on target in the whole match. They will now have to find a third option up front, but only for the Nigeria match if the federation's outlook is to be believed.
Nigeria played Canada to a scoreless draw in its own opener.",Not_Explicit
"Miami, 24 jul (EFE).- Un hombre de 30 años permanece desaparecido tras saltar por la borda de un crucero de la compañía Carnival que se dirigía a Florida al cabo de un trayecto de cuatro días por Bahamas, informó este lunes la Guardia Costera de EEUU.
De acuerdo a la agencia federal, que mantiene un operativo de búsqueda en el área, el hecho ocurrió la mañana del domingo cuando el barco Elation de Carnival se hallaba a unas 95 millas (153 km.) al este de la ciudad de Melbourne y rumbo a su puerto base en Jacksonville, en el noreste de Florida.
Los guardacostas señalaron hoy en su cuenta de Twitter que desarrollan una búsqueda por mar y aire para dar con el hombre reportado como desaparecido por otro pasajero que viajaba con él y no tuvo noticias suyas a lo largo del domingo.
Una vez notificada, la tripulación procedió a ""una exhaustiva búsqueda en la cubierta"" que no logró resultados, tras lo cual revisaron las imágenes de la cámara de seguridad que permitieron determinar que el hombre había saltado por la borda, según declaraciones de un portavoz de Carnival recogidas por el canal local WTSP.
La tripulación alertó a las autoridades antes de arribar este lunes por la mañana al puerto de Jacksonville, según la firma, que agregó se mantiene en contacto con los familiares del pasajero desaparecido.
Como recuerda el medio, en lo que va de este año al menos dos personas han caído de la cubierta de cruceros de Carnival que navegaban frente a las costas de Florida.
En abril, un hombre de 43 años cayó de la borda del Carnival Mardi Grass que iba a rumbo a Port Canaveral, en el este central del estado, mientras que en el mes de mayo Ronnie Peale Junior, de 35 años, presuntamente cayó de la borda del Carnival Magic y frente a la costa de Jacksonville
Los guardacostas suspendieron el operativo al cabo de dos días de infructuosa búsqueda de Peale.
En noviembre del año pasado, efectivos de la Guardia Costera lograron rescatar a un hombre que había caído de un crucero de Carnival que zarpó de Nueva Orleans (Luisiana) y estuvo varado en aguas del Golfo de México por más de 15 horas.
(c) Agencia EFE",Not_Explicit
"Boebert apologizes ‘for appearance’ of disrespecting Uvalde victims
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) offered an apology Saturday “for the appearance” of disrespecting children who died in the Uvalde shooting, after footage of the congresswoman discarding a tribute pin for one of the victims prompted a wave of harsh criticism.
“If anyone thinks that I was disrespecting a child who tragically lost their lives at the hands of an evil, evil person, I want to apologize for the appearance of that. But that’s not at all what it was,” she said.
In a video that circulated late last week, an activist appears to hand Boebert a pamphlet and a pin. The pin honored one of the 19 children who died in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Another activist is heard saying to Boebert, who is well known as an advocate for gun rights and an opponent of gun control, that “we hope you take action on gun violence prevention.”
Boebert does not appear to respond to the two activists but can be seen in the video discarding the items in a nearby trash can as she continues walking.
The activist who posted the video said Boebert shook her head and said “no” when she gave her the pamphlet.
In the new video, Boebert accused the activist of being aggressive with her previously.
“I simply did not want to receive anything from this aggressive man who has been harassing me and my office,” Boebert says in the video. She also said she was wearing AirPods and told the person that she was “occupied.”
She said her pastor inspired her to film the response video.
“Last week, there was a video of me throwing an item away that I had received randomly from somebody in the hallway. I was walking and had AirPods in, tried to tell the man that I was occupied, and he continued, and as he was handing me what turned out to be a memorial pin, I recognized him as a man who came at me very aggressively just a few weeks prior during a press conference,” Boebert said.
Boebert, one of the most vocal pro-gun members of Congress, immediately came under fire when the video first aired last week. Local news reported on the backlash from families of the victims and from political activists.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Lawyers helping conjure up fake asylum claims are telling migrants to find themselves a wife as a loophole around immigration controls, the Mail investigation uncovered.

Solicitors told an undercover reporter posing as an economic migrant to apply for asylum and then 'find a girl, arrange a marriage' to 'anyone who has permanent residence here'.

One even offered to play matchmaker, mentioning a client who had two daughters that could be prospective spouses.

Getting married would mean 'the whole route is changed' and the small boat arrival could apply to stay in the UK as a spouse regardless of his original asylum application, lawyers said. One solicitor advised getting his potential wife to call utility providers and 'put his name on the bills' to give the impression the couple lived together.

Asylum seekers are allowed to wed in the UK but getting married for immigration purposes when not in a genuine relationship is illegal and the Home Office receives thousands of reports a year of suspicious nuptials.

According to figures obtained by the Mail, 21,638 reports of dodgy marriages have been received by the Home Office since 2015.

The number of reports peaked in 2019, when 2,648 suspicious marriages were flagged to officials, and more than 1,000 reports have been received from January to May this year alone.

Our revelations come as part of an investigation into abuses of Britain's asylum system by immigration solicitors who are making thousands of pounds making fabricated claims to the Home Office.

The Mail covertly visited a string of firms with a reporter posing as an Indian national who had arrived in the UK illegally on a small boat to look for work. Muhammad Azfar Ahmad, a lawyer at Kingswright Solicitors in Birmingham, warned that while he could 'fight' for an asylum case, such claims for Indians were 'very weak' and suggested another possibility.

'If he can get married then we can, while asylum claim is pending, we go to the other route,' Mr Ahmad said. He said if he can offer proof he has lived with a person who has settled status for two years he could apply as 'unmarried partners'.

He added: 'On the other hand, once he claimed asylum he will be able to register a marriage in a marriage office.

Once the marriage is registered he can apply any time as a spouse of a British national or whatever the position will be with the British settled person.'

He said it must be either a British citizen or someone with indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Later he said: 'Wedding, yes that is better thing. As soon as you find someone who is ready to get married to him, put his name on the bills. Just tell utility provider to add his name. She can call them.'

Mr Ahmad said this was to show that they were living together.

Asked if he knew of a 'matchmaker', the lawyer suggested a Punjabi couple in Walsall with two daughters who were his clients and said he could get their number. As the meeting came to an end, Mr Ahmad said: 'We will make some story. But do something to get him married, that's better.'

Mr Ahmad said it would cost £2,000 for the asylum claim and more to submit a marriage application to the Home Office.

A solicitor at another firm in south London told an undercover reporter to marry 'anyone who has permanent residence here' telling him to 'find a girl, arrange a marriage. 'Nothing stops you from doing that. The moment he applies for asylum he can legally get married,' he added.

Kingswright Solicitors said: 'We entirely refute the allegations. However, we have commenced an internal investigation concerning the same. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.'",Not_Explicit
"Police have used water cannon and arrested protesters outside Israel's parliament ahead of a key vote on reforms which have caused uproar.
The vote brings to a head months of turmoil with some of the biggest demonstrations in Israel's history.
About 150 major firms, including banks, are striking on Monday in protest.
The reforms aim to curb the powers of the courts, which the government says have grown too wide. Opponents say the reforms imperil Israel as a democracy.
On Monday morning protesters blocking a boulevard outside the Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem were sprayed with water cannon and pulled off the road by police amid a cacophony of noise from drums, whistles and air horns.
One protester was hurt, local media say, and six were arrested, police said.
A demonstrator lying in the street told the BBC he was was defying ""dictatorship"", adding that his grandfather had been a wartime codebreaker against the Nazis at the UK's famous Bletchley Park.
Asked how long he would stay put he said: ""We will never surrender"".
The protesters - tens of thousands of whom marched some 45 miles (70km) from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem at the end of last week - are trying to thwart the passage into law of the first bill of a package of reforms, due to be voted on later on Monday.
The so-called ""reasonableness"" bill would remove the power of the Supreme Court to overturn government decisions which it deems to have gone too far.
The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he will be in parliament for the vote after he underwent unscheduled surgery on Saturday to be fitted with a pacemaker. He was discharged from hospital on Monday morning.
The controversial reforms have polarised Israel, triggering one of the most serious domestic crises in the country's history.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets weekly since the start of the year in protest at what they say is an attack on democracy. The government says the reforms serve to strengthen democracy, arguing the Supreme Court has accrued too much power over politics in recent decades.
Deepening the crisis, thousands of reservists, including pilots in the air force crucial to Israel's offensive and defensive capabilities, have vowed not to volunteer for service. Such unprecedented dissent has caused alarm over the potential impact on Israel's military readiness.
Former heads of Israel's security services, chief justices, and prominent legal and business figures have also been vocal against the government's reforms.
The measures have also been criticised by the US President Joe Biden, who in his most explicit comments yet called for the ""divisive"" bill to be postponed.",Not_Explicit
"(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said production at a planned facility in Arizona will be postponed from late 2024 until 2025, an ominous delay as Washington tries to establish a more robust chip industry.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Chairman Mark Liu said there are several challenges that TSMC faces at the US facility, including a shortage of skilled workers and expenses running higher than in Taiwan. The company is shifting some employees to Arizona to help with the development.
“We are working on improving this by sending skilled technical workers from Taiwan to the US,” Liu said on a conference call after earnings.
President Joe Biden’s administration has made development of domestic chip production a top strategic priority, backed by subsidies in the Chips Act that may top $50 billion. As the US clashes with China, American politicians have been concerned about the vulnerability of Taiwan, which Beijing has claimed as its own territory.
TSMC made the remarks as the company reported financial results for the second quarter and cut its outlook for revenue in 2023. The company, which makes chips for Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp., projected a 10% decline in US dollar terms this year, compared with guidance for single-digit declines previously.
ASML Holding NV, the leading producer of chipmaking equipment, warned that politicians seem to be underestimating the complexity of building new fabs. While governments from Washington to Beijing to Berlin want to create domestic chip capabilities, such production is complicated and requires deep expertise.
“People don’t seem to realize that when we start building those fabs across the globe now and are everywhere, that skill has been refined over the last couple of decades in only a few places on the planet — predominantly in Taiwan and in Korea and a bit in China,” said Peter Wennink, chief executive officer of ASML. “Getting access to the requisite skills and skilled workers to keep the construction plan on time is a challenge.”
--With assistance from Adrian Kennedy.
(Updates with ASML comments from sixth paragraph)
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©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"Planning system ‘set up to fail’ as housing crisis gets worse, say councillors
Councillors nationwide now agree with many developers that Britain’s planning system is “set up to fail” and is contributing to the housing crisis.
The latest National Planning Barometer, a survey of more than 300 councillors undertaken by SEC Newgate, a consultancy, found two thirds thought the housing crisis was getting worse. A similar proportion agreed that housing supply in their local area was “somewhat” or “severely” lacking.
The report concluded that there was “a crisis of resource that sees local authority planning departments unable to deliver the service on which [the] system relies”.
Six in ten of those surveyed said their planning teams lacked the resources to do a timely and effective job, echoing the concerns of developers. Just over half said planners were",Not_Explicit
"TALLINN, Estonia -- Russian prosecutors asked a court to sentence imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 20 years in prison on extremism charges, his ally Ivan Zhdanov said Thursday.
According to Zhdanov, the trial against Navalny, which went on behind closed doors in the prison where the politician is serving another lengthy sentence, is scheduled to conclude with a verdict on Aug. 4.
Navalny, 47, is President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe who exposed official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests. He was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
The authorities sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in prison for parole violations and then to another nine years on charges of fraud and contempt of court. The politician is currently serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison east of Moscow.
The new charges relate to the activities of Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation and statements by his top associates. His allies said the charges retroactively criminalize all the foundation's activities since its creation in 2011.
Navalny has rejected all the charges against him as politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of seeking to keep him behind bars for life.",Not_Explicit
"Latest Developments:
- A former U.S. Marine who was freed by Russia last year in a prisoner swap has been injured while fighting for Ukraine against Moscow's forces, the U.S. State Department said.
- Russia's prosecutor-general declared independent TV channel Dozhd to be an undesirable organization, continuing the crackdown on news media and groups regarded as threats to Russia's security. Dozhd, which is often critical of the Kremlin, closed its operations in Russia soon after the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, moving first to Latvia and then to the Netherlands.
- The European Union is considering helping fund the costly transportation of grain out of Ukraine after Russia halted a deal that allowed Black Sea exports of Ukrainian grain vital to global food security.
The United States will send Ukraine an additional $400 million in military aid, including air defense missiles, small drones and armored vehicles, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
The weapons are being provided through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows for the speedy delivery of defense articles and services from U.S. stocks, sometimes arriving within days of approval. The materiel will come from U.S. excess inventory.
The aid announcement comes at a time when Ukrainian troops are involved in a slow-moving counteroffensive against invading Russian forces.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the assistance is aimed at ""strengthening Ukraine's brave forces on the battlefield"" and ""helping them retake Ukraine's sovereign territory.""
""The people of Ukraine continue to bravely defend their country against Russia's aggression while Russia continues its relentless and vicious attacks that are killing Ukrainian civilians and destroying civil infrastructure,"" Blinken said in a statement.
The new aid package includes an array of ammunition, ranging from missiles for Patriot air defense systems and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASMS), Stinger anti-aircraft systems, more ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Stryker armored personnel carriers, and a variety of other missiles and rockets.
It also will include for the first time U.S.-furnished Black Hornet surveillance drones — tiny nano drones used largely for intelligence-gathering. Ukraine has previously received these drones from other Western allies.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. has provided more than $43 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said their air defenses intercepted Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia fired at Kyiv overnight. It was the sixth drone attack on the capital this month.
Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv regional military administration, said no casualties or damage were reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry said a Russian patrol ship destroyed two Ukrainian sea drones that attacked it in the Black Sea early Tuesday.
Ukrainian officials said Russia used cluster munitions in an attack on Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, late Monday.
Also Tuesday, Russian lawmakers approved a bill extending the upper age limit for the compulsory military draft from 27 to 30, a move that appears aimed at expanding the pool of recruits for the fighting in Ukraine.
The measure was quickly approved by the lower house on Tuesday. It will need to be approved by the upper house and signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said its staff saw directional anti-personnel mines located on the perimeter of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
The IAEA said in a statement late Monday that the mines were seen Sunday ""in a buffer zone between the site's internal and external perimeter barriers."" The agency said no mines were seen ""within the inner site perimeter.""
Russia has controlled the site since the early stages of its invasion of Ukraine. The IAEA has repeatedly warned of the potential for a nuclear catastrophe as it advocated for safety and security measures at Europe's largest nuclear power plant.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said the agency was told the placement of the mines was a military decision and done in an area controlled by the military.
""But having such explosives on the site is inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards and nuclear security guidance and creates additional psychological pressure on plant staff — even if the IAEA's initial assessment based on its own observations and the plant's clarifications is that any detonation of these mines should not affect the site's nuclear safety and security systems,"" Grossi said.
IAEA experts are also continuing to monitor the availability of water to cool the plant's reactors following the June destruction of the Kakhovka dam that affected a reservoir near the plant, the agency said.
""The site continues to have sufficient water for some months,"" the IAEA said.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.",Not_Explicit
"BRASILIA, July 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's government issued an executive order on Tuesday to initiate taxation on sports betting, in line with a measure announced by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's economic team to increase revenues.
The measure takes immediate effect but must be voted on by Congress within four months to remain valid.
Under the new regulation, companies will be subject to an 18% tax on so-called Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR).
According to the proposal, national or foreign legal entities established in the country and meeting the requirements set forth by the Finance Ministry may apply for authorization to operate fixed-odds betting lotteries.
In 2018, Brazil passed a law allowing online fixed-odds betting for the first time, permitting bookmakers to offer odds on the outcomes of sports events.
However, the necessary sector regulation was never implemented.
Finance Minister Fernando Haddad stated in March that the measure was necessary as online gambling companies were not paying any taxes while profiting immensely from their operations in the country.
Haddad recently estimated the government would raise about 2 billion reais ($423 million) with the measure in 2024, saying the estimate was conservative.
Internet sports betting firms, including bet365, Betano, and Betfair, have been expanding globally and strengthening their presence in Brazil by sponsoring major soccer clubs.
($1 = 4.7233 reais)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Wall Street’s Next Prize Is A $2 Trillion Australia Pension Pot
Inflows of more than A$1 billion a week need to find an investment destination.
(Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman has been tapping his Australian roots to access one of the world’s fastest-growing corners of global capital.
The bank’s Melbourne-born boss is one of a string of executives from Wall Street and beyond doing more business with the largest players in Australia’s A$3.5 trillion ($2.4 trillion) pensions industry. The big attraction: inflows of more than A$1 billion a week that need to find an investment destination.
As the guardians of the country’s retirement savings outgrow their own backyard, they’re partnering with more global asset managers across a range of private market deals. In the past few months, A$120 billion pension fund UniSuper invested alongside KKR & Co. in a European mobile towers firm, while A$160 billion Aware Super Pty joined investors including Allianz SE in a U.K. build-to-rent developer, shortly before buying into a U.S. data-center operator.
“The market is on a growth trajectory,” said Daniel Vanden Boom, managing director at Morgan Stanley Investment Management Australia. The firm works with Australian pensions on co-investing opportunities in areas like infrastructure and property and “our engagement on these topics has never been higher,” he said.
New York-based Gorman and his investment-management chief Dan Simkowitz regularly speak with pension executives in Australia, particularly about growth areas like private markets, said Vanden Boom.
Global tie-ups are a natural evolution for Australia’s pensions, known as superannuation funds, which are raking in more money than they know what to do with. As the funds grow, their size allows them to participate in deals alongside private markets asset managers, in contrast with their more traditional role of simply being invested in a fund. This gives them a seat at the table, helping to forge other deals and make decisions on what to invest in.
Ken Kencel, the head of Nuveen’s private credit specialist Churchill Asset Management, last November made the 20-hour flight from New York to Melbourne — the country’s pensions hub — to sign a lending partnership with AustralianSuper, the industry’s largest fund with A$300 billion of assets.
The initial $250 million investment from AustralianSuper is expected to “grow substantially,” according to the pension fund, which has plans to triple its private credit exposure — partly via other similar partnerships — in the coming years.
This year, “there are a lot more managers coming to Australia seeking capital from Aussie funds because this is one of the few areas that’s growing,” Con Michalakis, deputy chief investment officer for A$100 billion pension fund Hostplus Pty, said in an interview.
Still, while the surging clout of pensions is giving them access to deals that were once reserved for larger players, there are drawbacks that accompany the growth.
Constant inflows place extra pressure on large funds to put that money to work. And as the industry pours money into private assets at home and abroad, it’s facing fresh regulator pressure over valuations of unlisted assets. At the same time, there’s a heightened regulatory focus on performance at home, which is boosting competition for members who can easily switch to rivals.
Trillion-Dollar Club
The industry’s asset growth has helped funds weather the volatility in global markets as interest rates ratcheted higher, weighing especially hard on fixed-income returns. Total assets have surged by almost A$1 trillion in the past five years to stand at A$3.5 trillion in the first quarter of 2023.
Australian law is turbocharging the industry’s inflows. From this month, companies must pay 11% of workers’ salaries into their chosen pension fund. That’s going up to 11.5% next year and rising to 12% in 2025.
As a result, industry assets are forecast to triple to as high as A$10.5 trillion by 2040. KPMG expects that the two largest funds could each cross the trillion-dollar mark in that time. The predictions are being made against the backdrop of the economy’s low unemployment, climbing wages and resurgent levels of immigration.
In 2021, Australian pension contributions amounted to 6.9% of gross domestic product, more than three times the OECD average, according to the latest available data. Only Iceland and Switzerland, two significantly smaller pension markets, ranked higher. Australia’s retirement system is now the world’s fifth largest, while its population ranks 54th.
“There are a lot of really significant tailwinds” to the industry’s growth, said Rosemary Shannon, an Edinburgh-based director for U.K. fund manager Baillie Gifford. She oversees the firm’s ties with super funds, including AustralianSuper, and travels to Australia for up to six weeks at a time.
“We’re seeing the rise of the mega funds — that is something we’ve been keeping an eye on,” Shannon said. “Asset managers can be a part of that and take a chunk of the pie.”
The magnitude of the growth is changing the shape of the Australian economy and its capital markets. Reserve Bank economists last year identified expanding superannuation assets as a key driver behind Australia becoming a net exporter of capital. It’s also meant domestic equity markets are no longer big enough, with pension funds looking to put more investment abroad, especially in private markets.
The A$23.6 billion buyout of Sydney Airport in 2021, which was backed by a consortium of funds including AustralianSuper, removed one of the country’s few publicly-traded infrastructure assets and set a record for the biggest cash M&A deal in Australian history.
Talent Hunt
Funds are also doing more investing themselves, reducing their roster of external fund managers and increasing the importance for specialist corners such as alternatives. AustralianSuper, for instance, is building out offices in London and New York in a bid to lure talent for its internal teams, while Aware Super plans to open offices overseas.
This has provided an opportunity for Wall Street firms and other asset managers by offering extra services beyond the specific mandates they hold with funds and building out red-hot asset classes like private credit. Pacific Investment Management Co., for one, routinely offers investment research and expertise, part of a growing industry trend.
“There is a shift from many external managers to fewer, deeper partnerships,” said Sam Watkins, head of business for Australia and New Zealand at Pimco, which manages $1.8 trillion globally and is owned by Allianz. “It has become more common. There is an expectation you will do more,” Watkins said.
For T Rowe Price Group Inc., a $1.4 trillion Baltimore-based fund manager, Australia’s become a high-priority growth market, said Darren Hall, its head of distribution for Australia and New Zealand. The firm’s taken heed of the growing appetite for alternative assets and two years ago purchased Oak Hill Advisors LP, a private debt specialist with existing links to super funds.
Meantime, Franklin Templeton’s Felicity Walsh says the opportunities are large for her California-based firm.
“It’s a huge market,” said Walsh, managing director of Franklin Templeton Australia, the local offshoot of the $1.4 trillion fund manager. “It’s meaningful and you need to be in it.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"FIRST ON FOX: The campaign for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis released a six-minute video showing liberal media personalities repeatedly labeling the Republican presidential candidate as ""more dangerous"" than former President Donald Trump.
The DeSantis War Room on Sunday posted the video, ""6 MINUTES Of The Left Admitting They Fear DeSantis More Than Trump,"" which features commentary from an array of left-wing commentators including Van Jones, David Pakman and Olayemi Olurin.
""This guy is worse than Trump,"" Jones says in the video.
""I honestly believe DeSantis was forged in Hell. There’s no doubt in my mind,"" Olurin says in the video.
""If you thought Donald Trump was bad, you got another thing coming,"" says Maxwell Frost.
The commentators in the clip make their point by arguing DeSantis is more ""savvy,"" ""disciplined"" and ""competent"" than Trump and would be more capable of executing the Republican agenda.
""The Trump agenda would be far more likely to be carried on by people less cartoonishly problematic, and Ron Desantis is a perfect example of such an individual,"" Pakman argues in the video.
""He’s honestly more sinister, you know why? Because there’s less buffoonery to it,"" Olurin says.
""Based on what he’s done in five years in Florida, what would he do with all the levers of power in the White House?"" former Rep. David Jolly, D-Fla., says in the video.
The Trump campaign issued a statement to Fox News Digital on Sunday saying the liberal talking points are irrelevant.
""President Trump has been dominating in poll after poll – both nationally and statewide,"" the campaign said. ""It's not what commentators or pundits think, it's about what the voters think, and they are clearly behind President Trump in a big way.""
""The fact is that President Trump will be the nominee and will beat Crooked Joe Biden because he's the only person who can supercharge the economy, secure our border, safeguard communities, and put an end to unnecessary wars,"" the statement added. ""Americans want to return to a prosperous nation and there’s only one person who can do that – President Trump.""
On the campaign trail, DeSantis repeatedly points to his overwhelming gubernatorial re-election last November in the once-purple Sunshine State.
""What we did was not just a big victory. It was really a fundamental realignment of Florida from being a swing state to being a red state,"" DeSantis recently touted on the campaign trail.
According to a University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll released last week, Trump’s lead over DeSantis is shrinking.
Trump leads DeSantis by 37% to 23% in the poll, which is five percentage points down from the previous UNH survey in April.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Several grisly bloodsports, legal or otherwise, are enjoyed in the English countryside. But none is as popular as shooting the messenger. Rather than attend to our environmental crisis, politicians, lobbyists and the media prefer to hunt the people seeking to address the problem. No quarry is pursued as keenly as the government’s conservation agency Natural England.
This weekend, a full-spectrum attack was launched in the billionaire press. The Sunday Telegraph raged against the agency’s call for “nutrient neutrality”. This means that new housing or business developments should not increase the amount of shit in our rivers. The paper also attacked Natural England’s advice that when new homes are built there should be no net increase in air pollution. It quoted a mysterious “insider” accusing the agency of “green activism”. What’s the betting that this “insider” is a property developer? A similar attack was launched in the Times on Monday.
A column in the Sunday Times by Robert Colvile, director of the Centre for Policy Studies, a dark-money junktank that won’t reveal who funds it, also excoriated Natural England for advising councils that housing developments should be accompanied by new green spaces, to take pressure off existing nature reserves.
In all these cases, Natural England is simply discharging its statutory duties. Under the habitat regulations, it must ensure that new developments don’t adversely affect important wildlife sites, through water pollution, air pollution, visitor pressure and other impacts. It is following the evidence, not the politics. This is its cardinal sin.
But the campaign against it seems to be working. Rishi Sunak is reported to be rewriting the rules. Instead of ensuring that wastewater treatment plants must be upgraded before major new developments are completed, the government, the Telegraph says, intends to “forward count” promised improvements. In other words, just as sewage pollution becomes a major political issue, our rivers can be loaded with even more excrement, on the grounds that one day the problem will be addressed. Relying on promises of future action by water companies and housebuilders – what could possibly go wrong?
The Tories will claim they are simply eager to ease the housing shortage – and that this reported reversal is entirely unrelated to the fact that property developers are among the principal donors to the Conservative party, and seem to give most when their demands are met. The Telegraph correctly points out that the largest share of water pollution comes not from homes but “from farms”. But the government has got that covered too. Following representations from another powerful lobby – the National Farmers’ Union – it introduced loopholes into the farming rules for water, permitting livestock farmers to load rivers with dung without fear of prosecution.
There’s been a similar hue and cry about Natural England’s attempts to defend protected places (sites of special scientific interest or SSSIs) on Dartmoor. In 2012 and 2013, it struck 10-year agreements with farmers on the moor to adjust their “grazing calendars” (how many animals they release, where, when and for how long) to reverse the disastrous decline of protected species. The farmers proposed a new grazing regime that, they agreed, would be adjusted if it wasn’t working. In return, they were given millions of pounds of public money, in the form of “higher level stewardship” payments.
As the conservationist Tony Whitehead documents, it became clear several years ago that these agreements weren’t working, either because the wrong calendars had been proposed or because the farmers weren’t sticking to them. The protected sites are still in catastrophic decline. The farmers were repeatedly asked to make adjustments by Natural England.
This year, the agreements were due to expire. But the farmers receiving this money could, if they wanted, seek a five-year extension. Natural England published a blogpost explaining the issues and sent emails to farmers taking the payments, asking for further changes if they wanted another tranche of money. The result was an eruption in parliament and the press. The Country Land and Business Association led the charge, calling for a “full-scale review of Natural England’s remit and track record”, and claiming that the agency “does not receive sufficient scrutiny”. But it was simply doing its duty: it has a legal responsibility to protect and restore SSSIs.
In a parliamentary debate on the issue, only one MP (Labour’s Daniel Zeichner) offered a halfhearted defence of Natural England. Everyone else – Conservative, Labour, LibDem and DUP – lacerated the agency. MPs wrongly claimed that no one was consulted and no warnings were given, that Natural England “is attempting to force farmers out of business” and that its efforts to improve the condition of protected sites are “an insult”, “heavy handed” and a “grave wrong”.
Somehow they all managed to forget that the special subsidies – higher level stewardship grants – are payments for services rendered. If you don’t render the service, you shouldn’t get paid. Farmers could continue to trash the land, but they would no longer be paid public money for it. Somehow, they all also managed to forget that Dartmoor, allegedly a national park, is an ecological disaster zone, among the most mistreated ecosystems in Europe.
At the end of the festival of ignorance that passed for parliamentary debate, the farming minister Mark Spencer gave our elected vandals everything they demanded. The issue would be taken out of the hands of Natural England and handed to an “independent” review. In the meantime, the livestock farmers would continue to receive the special payments, regardless of the damage they inflicted. Who would chair this review? David Fursdon, the former president of the Country Land and Business Association.
Attacks like this are launched whenever Natural England tries to do its job. It was furiously denounced at the end of last month when it designated, for solid environmental reasons, a new protected site in Cornwall.
Wildlife protection is in freefall in this country. The government’s own figures show that the proportion of SSSIs in favourable condition has fallen from 44% in 2003 to 38% last year. The figures are even worse in our national parks. Natural England has an average of just one staff member to assess the condition of every 73 protected sites: an impossible workload. It doesn’t have the capacity even to see what is happening, let alone act on it.
None of the official targets are being met. The government is preparing to smash its promise of no decline in environmental protection after we left the EU. There are two options in such circumstances: address the problem or find a scapegoat. Who could have guessed they would take option two?
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist",Not_Explicit
"Beijing — Chinese leader Xi Jinping hailed former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as an ""old friend"" as the two met in Beijing on Thursday. Kissinger's visit tothis week has seen him call for a rapprochement between Washington and Beijing, which remain at loggerheads over a range of issues, from to and national .
The 100-year-old diplomat was central to the United States establishing ties with communist China in the 1970s and has maintained close contact with the country's leaders over the years.
""Chinese people value friendship, and we will never forget our old friend and your historic contribution to promoting the development of China-U.S. relations and enhancing the friendship between the Chinese and American peoples,"" President Xi told Kissinger on Thursday, according to state media. ""This not only benefited the two countries, but also changed the world.""
""The world is currently experiencing changes not seen in a century, and the international order is undergoing enormous change,"" the Chinese leader added. ""China and the United States are once more at a crossroads, and both sides must once again make a choice.""
Kissinger, in response, thanked Xi for hosting him at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse's building number five — where he met with then premier Zhou Enlai in 1971.
""The relations between our two countries will be central to the peace in the world and to the progress of our societies,"" the former diplomat said.
Kissinger's history with China
Kissinger secretly flew to Beijing in 1971 on a mission to establish relations with communist China. The trip set the stage for a landmark visit by former U.S. president Richard Nixon, who sought both to shake up the Cold War and enlist help in ending the Vietnam War.
Washington's overtures to an isolated Beijing contributed to China's rise to become a manufacturing powerhouse and the world's second-largest economy.
Since leaving office, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kissinger has grown wealthy advising businesses on China - and has warned against a hawkish turn in U.S. policy.
His trip this week overlapped with a trip by U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, and follows recent visits by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
""Since 1971, Dr. Kissinger has visited China more than 100 times,"" CCTV said on Thursday.
The former U.S. diplomat had met previously with Xi multiple times, including in recent years during economic summits in China.
""Challenges and opportunities coexist""
State news agency Xinhua said Kissinger had told defense minister Li Shangfu on Tuesday that, ""in today's world, challenges and opportunities coexist, and both the United States and China should eliminate misunderstandings, coexist peacefully, and avoid confrontation.""
Kissinger also met Wednesday with China's top diplomat Wang Yi, who praised Kissinger's ""historic contributions to the ice-breaking development of China-U.S. relations.""
""The U.S. policy toward China needs Kissinger-style diplomatic wisdom and Nixon-style political courage,"" Wang said.
Kissinger has long been feted by the American elite and was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating a ceasefire in Vietnam.
But he is seen by many as an unindicted war criminal for his role in, among other events, expanding the Vietnam War to Cambodia and Laos, supporting coups in Chile and Argentina, and turning a blind eye to Pakistan's mass atrocities during Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - NatWest (NWG.L) CEO Alison Rose stepped down with immediate effect on Wednesday after she admitted to a ""serious error of judgment"" in discussing former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage's relationship with the bank with a BBC journalist.
Paul Thwaite, the head of the bank's commercial and institutional business, will helm NatWest for an initial period of 12 months, the company said in a statement.
NatWest has faced intense political and media scrutiny over a decision by its private bank Coutts to close Farage's accounts. An internal review obtained by the politician-turned-TV show host showed Coutts' wealth reputational risk committee had said his values did not align with the bank's own.
In a post on the X social media platform on Wednesday, Farage called for further heads to roll in the wake of Rose's resignation.
""Others must follow,"" he said. I hope that this serves as a warning to the banking industry,"" he said, pledging to speak up for other people who had their accounts shut down.
NatWest shares were down 3% at 0920 GMT, the biggest faller in the FTSE 100 index.
A government official told Reuters ministers had been unhappy with the way Rose behaved and she did ""the right thing"" by resigning. NatWest remains 39% owned by taxpayers following its bailout in the 2008-9 financial crisis.
""I hope the whole financial sector learns from this incident. Its role is to serve customers well and fairly - not to tell them how or what to think,"" said financial services minister Andrew Griffith on the X platform.
Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour party, told a BBC radio phone-in that Rose was right to resign and said no-one should be refused banking services over their political views.
PERSISTENT SPECULATION
Rose, who had a more than 30-year career at the state-backed lender and was made a Dame for services to the financial sector, had faced days of speculation over whether she had discussed the account after the BBC ran a story on the topic.
On Tuesday, she acknowledged in a statement that she had discussed Farage's ""relationship with the bank"" with BBC Business Editor Simon Jack.
At the time, NatWest Chairman Howard Davies said Rose retained the ""full confidence"" of the bank's board and there would be an independent review into the matter. But following an emergency board meeting late on Tuesday, the bank said she would step down.
""It is a sad moment. She has dedicated all her working life so far to NatWest and will leave many colleagues who respect and admire her,"" Davies said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Farage said on his eponymous TV show that Rose was ""unfit"" to run a bank. He also lambasted Davies and Coutts CEO Peter Flavel.
The BBC on Monday apologised to Farage, after originally reporting that his accounts were closed after he fell below the financial threshold required to be a Coutts customer.
The review later obtained and published by Farage revealed his political views were also a factor in the decision, alongside commercial considerations. Jack later described the original story as ""incomplete and inaccurate"".
In her Tuesday statement, Rose said she had not revealed any personal financial information about Farage in her discussions with Jack and had answered a general question about eligibility criteria required to bank with Coutts and NatWest.
She realised that her comments had left Jack with the impression that the decision to close Farage's accounts was solely a commercial one, Rose said in the statement.
Rose also said she was not part of the decision-making process to ""exit"" Farage's accounts and said this was a decision made by Coutts.
Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has urged NatWest's board to review the matter.
""It is vital that the review is well resourced and those conducting it have access to all the necessary information and people in order to investigate what happened swiftly and fully,"" said Sheldon Mills, the FCA's executive director of consumers and competition.
Britain's financial services minister Andrew Griffith is set to meet lenders later on Wednesday to discuss concerns that banks have closed customer accounts over their political views. This comes ahead of reforms requiring banks to explain and delay these decisions.
($1 = 0.7765 pounds)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON -- A target letter sent to Donald Trump suggests that a sprawling Justice Department investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election is zeroing in on him after more than a year of interviews with top aides to the former president and state officials from across the country.
Federal prosecutors have cast a wide net, asking witnesses in recent months about a chaotic White House meeting that included discussion of seizing voting machines and about lawyers’ involvement in plans to block the transfer of power, according to people familiar with the probe. They’ve discussed with witnesses schemes by Trump associates to enlist slates of Republican fake electors in battleground states won by Democrat Joe Biden and interviewed state election officials who faced a pressure campaign over the election results in the days before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
It is unclear how much longer special counsel Jack Smith's investigation will last, but its gravity was evident Tuesday when Trump disclosed that he had received a letter from the Justice Department advising him that he was a target of the probe. Such letters often precede criminal charges; Trump received one ahead of his indictment last month on charges that he illegally hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.
Though it's not known when charges might come, the scope of the inquiry stands in stark contrast to Smith's much narrower classified documents investigation. The vast range of witnesses is a reminder of the tumultuous two months between Trump's election loss and the insurrection at the Capitol, when some lawyers and advisers aided his futile efforts to remain president while many others implored him to move on or were relentlessly badgered to help alter results.
A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment about the target letter or the interviews that prosecutors have conducted.
Even before Smith inherited the election interference probe last November, Justice Department investigators had already interviewed multiple Trump administration officials, including the chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence and former top lawyers at the White House, scrutinized post-election fundraising and seized as potential evidence the cellphones of numerous lawyers and officials.
Since then, Smith's team has questioned senior administration officials including Pence himself before a grand jury in Washington and has conducted voluntary interviews with a wide array of witnesses inside and outside the federal government. Those include election officials in states where Trump associates waged fruitless challenges to get results overturned in the Republican incumbent's favor.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who was personally lobbied by Trump to “find 11,780 votes” to overtake Biden, has been interviewed by Smith's team, as has Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, according to their representatives.
Wisconsin’s top elections administrator and election leaders in Milwaukee and Madison have spoken with federal investigators. And former Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who silenced a call from the Trump White House as he was publicly certifying Biden’s narrow victory in the state, has been contacted by Smith’s team, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
One person familiar with Smith’s investigation said prosecutors in recent months have expressed interest in the ordeal of Ruby Freeman, a Georgia election worker who along with her daughter recounted to the House of Representative's Jan. 6 committee how their lives became upended when Trump and allies latched onto surveillance footage to level since-debunked allegations of voter fraud.
Smith's team has subpoenaed Raffensperger’s office for any “security video or security footage, or any other video of any kind” from State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Nov. 3, 2020, according to a copy of the document obtained by The Associated Press. That’s the video Rudy Giuliani and other Trump allies have claimed showed Fulton County election workers, including Freeman, pulling “suitcases of ballots” from under a table. Georgia officials have repeatedly called those claims false.
A consistent area of interest for investigators has been the role played by Trump-allied lawyers in helping him cling to power, according to people familiar with the investigation who, like others interviewed for the story, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal probe.
John Eastman, a conservative law professor, advanced a dubious legal theory that said Pence could halt the certification of state electoral votes to block Biden's win. Another lawyer, Sidney Powell, promoted baseless claims of voter fraud and pushed an idea — vigorously opposed by Trump's lawyers at the White House — that Trump had the authority under an earlier executive order to seize state voting machines.
Charles Burnham, a lawyer for Eastman, said Tuesday that his client had not received a target letter. “We don’t expect one since raising concerns about illegality in the conduct of an election is not now and has never been sanctionable,” he said. A lawyer for Powell declined to comment.
Multiple witnesses have been asked about a heated Dec. 18, 2020 meeting at the White House in which outside advisers, including Powell, raised the voting machines idea, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting, which devolved into a shouting match, featured prominently in the House Jan. 6 investigation, with former White House official Cassidy Hutchinson memorably describing it as “unhinged.”
Giuliani, a Trump lawyer who participated in the meeting and who spearheaded legal challenges to the election results, was asked about that meeting during a voluntary interview with Smith's team and also detailed to prosecutors Powell’s involvement in failed efforts to overturn the election, according to a person familiar with his account. Giuliani has not received a target letter.
Giuliani's interview was part of what's known as a proffer agreement, the person said, in which a person speaks voluntarily with investigators while prosecutors agree not to use those statements in any criminal case they might bring. Prosecutors have worked to negotiate similar arrangements with other witnesses.
As prosecutors dig into efforts by Trump allies to thwart Biden's victory, they've focused on the creation of slates of fake electors from key states captured by Biden who were enlisted by Trump and his allies to sign false certificates stating that Trump had actually won.
Smith's team has also focused on Trump's efforts to punish officials from his administration who contradicted his false election fraud claims.
Chris Krebs, who was fired by Trump as director of the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity agency after vouching for the integrity of the 2020 vote, was interviewed by prosecutors a couple of months ago about the perceived retaliation, according to a person familiar with the questioning.
___
Associated Press writers Kate Brumback and Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta, Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix, Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Mich., and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Tonga, New Zealand and Australia next week as the Biden administration shifts its Indo-Pacific strategy into overdrive in part to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
The State Department said Thursday that Blinken will dedicate a new U.S. embassy in the Tongan capital of Nukuʻalofa on July 26 before heading to Wellington, New Zealand, where he will attend the women's World Cup match between the U.S. and the Netherlands.
Blinken will then have meetings with New Zealand officials and move on to Brisbane, Australia, for meetings with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Australian counterparts on July 28-29.
The trip will be Blinken's third to Asia in the past two months — following a visit to China last month and a visit to Indonesia for talks with Southeast Asian officials just last week. And, it comes as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry have recently wrapped up their own trips to China. Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff is currently in New Zealand for the World Cup and will be making a side trip to Samoa in the coming days.
Blinken's travel was announced a week after the State Department notified Congress that it plans a massive increase in diplomatic personnel and spending for facilities at new U.S. embassies in the Pacific islands. The boost in the U.S. presence in the Pacific is in response to China's increasing assertiveness there.
The update to Congress, which was obtained by The Associated Press, pointed out that China has permanent diplomatic facilities in eight of the 12 Pacific island nations that the United States recognizes and said the U.S. needs to catch up.
The department told lawmakers that it envisions hiring up to 40 staffers over the next five years for each of four recently opened or soon-to-be-opened embassies in the Pacific.
Those include the embassy in embassy in Nuku’alofa, an embassy in Honiara, Solomon Islands, that opened in January; and planned embassies in Port Vila, Vanuatu, and in Tarawa, Kiribati. Currently there are only two temporary American staffers each in Honiara and Nuku’alofa.
At each of those posts, the department said it will spend at least $10 million for start-up, design and construction costs.",Not_Explicit
"Tory net-zero sceptics sense wind of change
Rishi Sunak’s hesitancy this week over climate change targets is an indication of their importance as an electoral issue
The government’s position on net zero is mutating with astonishing speed. Its most visible green target is a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. Boris Johnson declared, when the plan was announced in 2020, that it “put Britain on course to be the fastest G7 country to decarbonise cars and vans”.
But earlier this week Rishi Sunak refused to confirm that the target still stands, saying only that “net zero is important to me”. The cause of his evasion is no great mystery: last week’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, in which a suburban revolt against Sadiq Khan’s Ulez scheme upended an expected Labour win and kept the seat Conservative.
Green campaigners will claim that the prime minister’s hesitancy",Not_Explicit
"A London mother campaigning for stronger action on air pollution has said plans to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) had become a ""political football"".
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah's daughter Ella died aged nine in 2013 - partly due to the effects of pollution.
She supports the Labour mayor of London's plans to extend the scheme across the whole of the capital.
But Labour's leader has said Sadiq Khan should ""reflect"" on the proposals.
The expansion of the scheme, due to be enforced from the end of August, would mean drivers of the most polluting cars will have to pay £12.50 a day to drive in any part of Greater London.
Sir Keir Starmer has blamed the plans for the party's loss at the recent by-election in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, a seat made vacant by the former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson.
Mr Khan has defended his plan as ""the right one"".
The scheme has been strongly opposed by motoring groups and some councils. Five Conservative councils have brought a judicial review of the plans to London's High Court. A judge is expected to make a ruling in the coming weeks.
Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who has campaigned for tougher legislation to cut pollution told the BBC on Monday: ""We should this morning be talking about children and the most vulnerable and this has now turned in to a political football"".
Ella, from Lewisham, south-east London, was the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed by a coroner as a cause of death.
She was found to have been exposed to ""excessive levels"" of toxic air near her home.
""The coroner was very clear that everyone needs to work together - the Department of Heath, transport, the environment, the mayor of London's office and all councils,"" Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said.
After Labour's loss at the Uxbridge by-election, Sir Keir said ULEZ was ""the reason we didn't win there"" adding, ""we've all got to reflect on that, including the mayor"".
He said he had spoken to Sadiq Khan, but declined to say whether he believed the ULEZ expansion should be paused or scrapped.
Sources close to Mr Khan told the BBC he was in ""constructive listening mode"" but added that he had no plans to delay the scheme's expansion at the end of August.
In the decade since her daughter's death, Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah has campaigned for a new law.
""Mr Khan is legally obligated to clean up the air and so is the government,"" she told Radio 4's Today programme.
'People want clean air'
When asked whether she was seeing Labour's commitment to cleaning up the air ""wavering"", she said: ""I am"".
""We should be talking about different ways to mitigate ULEZ, that is what we should be discussing. People do want clean air.""
Sir Kier Starmer said on Friday: ""When it comes to green commitments, it's not a question of whether they should be done, of course it needs to be done - it's how they're done.""
Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah also said she had told Ed Miliband, the shadow secretary of state for Net Zero, she did not think a planned new anti pollution law would ever be introduced.
If it were to become law, The Clean Air Bill would force the government to act to bring air quality to minimum standards set by the World Health Organization, which are stricter than the UK's current standards.
It has so far had two readings in the House of Commons.",Not_Explicit
"Santos granted more travel freedoms during bail period
A federal judged agreed to loosen Rep. George Santos’ (R-N.Y.) travel restrictions as the freshman lawmaker awaits trial on more than a dozen criminal charges.
Santos was charged with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and lying to the U.S. House of Representatives in May. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
The Republican lawmaker was released from custody ahead of trial on a $500,000 bond, but was directed to notify the government if he planned to travel anywhere in the continental U.S. outside of New York City, Long Island or Washington, D.C.
To prevent “unnecessary notifications” of Santos’ travels, his lawyer Joseph Murray asked the court Wednesday morning to allow Santos to travel up to 30 miles outside D.C.
“In light of the small geographical area of the District of Columbia, there is a frequent
need to travel outside the District of Columbia for usual and customary functions of someone
who lives and works in the District of Columbia, such as dining, shopping, meetings, events, and
even use of the local airports,” Murray wrote.
“This has resulted in unnecessary notifications which can easily be remedied by extending the geographical area in which my client can freely move about without providing prior notice, to include a thirty-mile radius around the District of Columbia,” he continued.
Neither prosecutors nor pre-trial services took issue with Santos’ request. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields, who is overseeing Santos’ case, agreed to allow the Republican lawmaker to travel farther without notifying the court Wednesday afternoon.
New York prosecutors allege that Santos misled donors and misrepresented his finances to the public and government agencies.
“This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations,” Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a May statement announcing Santos’ indictment. “Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself.”
A month before his arrest, Santos announced his reelection bid for New York’s 3rd congressional district despite his implication in several state and federal investigations, plus an inquiry from the House Ethics Committee.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have called for his resignation from Congress, which Santos has rebuffed.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Former President Trump could be facing his third indictment after he said earlier this month that the Justice Department had notified him that he was a target in their Jan. 6 probe. Some Republicans see the mounting legal problems as only aiding Trump.
As our Alex Bolton reports this morning, some Republican senators are convinced that Trump’s legal controversies will serve to help the former president, not hinder him, as Trump vies for a third GOP presidential nomination.
So far, Trump has been indicted in a probe overseen by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over an alleged hush money scheme, in addition to a separate Justice Department probe looking into his handling of classified documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago.
The former president is now facing a possible second federal indictment in an investigation being conducted by the Justice Department revolving around the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Trump could also face charges around a separate probe overseen by Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis around efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
“The things that one would have thought were disqualifying can be enhancing, can be improving your standing,” one GOP senator, who also requested anonymity to speak candidly, told Alex.
Trump has used his compounding legal controversies as a fundraising opportunity. At the same time, polls have shown the difficulty other 2024 contenders have experienced in trying to close the gap between Trump and the rest of the field.
The indictments also come at a particularly bad time for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose campaign has gone through several rounds of staff layoffs and whom Republican strategists have said have made some early missteps in his campaign.",Not_Explicit
"Kennedy, who is running against President Joe Biden in 2024, met with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach at the New York Society for Ethical Culture in New York on Tuesday, during which he explained his controversial comments and touted his efforts to fight antisemitism and champion Israel.
""I understand the pain of antisemitism to those people, and I do not want to contribute to that vein,"" he said. ""And I don't want people who have suffered in that way and whose lives have been touched by suffering to suspect that I, in some way, approve or endorse their suffering, and that's why it hurts me.""
Boteach asked Kennedy if he realized why his comments about Jews being more resistant to COVID-19 were harmful, drawing a parallel with accusations against Jewish people during the Black Death during the Middle Ages.
""Absolutely,"" Kennedy said, adding that he wouldn't have talked about the issue if it was a public event.
""I was describing an article that I had nothing to do with. It was an NIH-funded article that was published in 2021 and one of the 10 top high gravitas journals, and it was done by the Cleveland Clinic. ... It's not something that I would have talked about at a public event because I'm aware of the history of blood libels,"" he continued. ""And how that kind of information is used by malicious people — to just drum up hatred of Jews. I talked about it at an event that I was told was Chatham House rules.""
He added that the context was a larger discussion on ethnic bioweapons and that Jewish people wouldn't have had a part in its production, as most gain-of-function research was carried out in China.
The discussion then moved to Israel and the two's wider concerns about the direction of the Democratic Party in turning against Israel. Kennedy pledged to be a strongly pro-Israel president, saying how he had grown up deeply admiring the Middle Eastern nation and wants to fully rehabilitate the state's image in the minds of Americans.
""A major part of my campaign ... will be explaining to the American people why that [anti-Israel] view is wrong,"" Kennedy said.
Kennedy's comments reflect his previous defenses over his comments on COVID-19, during which he suggested that Ashkenazi Jews, along with Chinese people, appeared to be less affected than some other races.
Earlier this month, he tweeted, ""I have never, ever suggested that the COVID-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews."" Instead, he said he was pointing out that COVID-19 served as ""proof of concept for ethnically targeted bioweapons"" because of its disproportionate effect on certain races and ethnicities.",Not_Explicit
"Remember Onavo? The Israeli mobile market intelligence company that Meta (aka Facebook) bought back in 2013 and used to power a free VPN/data management app which claimed to users it would help protect their privacy but did the opposite by sharing usage data with Facebook for the latter’s own business intelligence purposes? The wheeze helped the tech giant figure out which rival apps were popular — feeding its acquisition strategy and enabling it to sew up its grip on the social web. (See, for e.g., Facebook’s 2014 purchase of WhatsApp.)
Meta hasn’t faced much legal blowback for using the misleading cover of a freebie VPN app that claimed it would keep people’s data “safe” to spy on users’ digital activity for its own commercial ends. But Australia’s consumer watchdog has now managed to extract an AUS$20 million (~$13.5M) total penalty payment from two Meta-owned companies involved in the saga: Facebook Israel and Onavo Inc.
The Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sued Meta over its use of Onavo back in December 2020. Today it said a federal court has ordered the two subsidiaries to each pay AUS$10M for engaging in conduct liable to mislead in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
The subsidiaries, which were the developers and suppliers of the Onavo Protect VPN app, were found to be responsible for misleading descriptions of the app displayed in Google and Apple App Store listings.
The watchdog also found that the “Onavo Protect” VPN app was installed more than 270,000 times by Australian users between February 2016 and October 2017. Facebook shuttered the service in May 2019.
“In Google and Apple App Store listings, Onavo Protect was promoted as a product that would keep users’ data protected and safe, for example with language such as ‘Use a free, fast and secure VPN to protect personal information‘ and ‘Helps Keep You and Your Data Safe‘,” it wrote in a press release. “In fact, Onavo and Facebook Israel shared the personal activity data from users collected by the app in anonymised and aggregated form with parent company Meta (then known as Facebook Inc) for commercial benefit.”
“We took this case knowing that many consumers are concerned about how their data is captured, stored and used by digital platforms. We believe Australian consumers should be able to make an informed choice about what happens to their data based on clear information that is not misleading,” ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, added in a statement.
“In the case of the Onavo Protect app, we were concerned that consumers seeking to protect their privacy through a virtual private network were not clearly told that in downloading and using this app they were actually facilitating the use of their data for Meta’s commercial benefit.”
The ACCC’s original suit also targeted Meta, as the parent company of Facebook Israel and Onavo. However the watchdog said the case against Meta was dismissed by the Court after settlement negotiations between it and the remaining parties “based on information about Meta’s role in the conduct”.
Meta was contacted for comment on the penalty. At the time of writing it had not responded.",Not_Explicit
"1 dead, cathedral damaged in latest Russian strike on southern Ukraine
The latest Russian attack on Odesa, Ukraine left at least one person dead, 22 others injured and a historic Orthodox cathedral severely damaged.
Regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said Sunday that four children were among the injured, adding that other residents of the southern Ukrainian city were trapped in their apartments. Six residential buildings, including apartment buildings, were also destroyed in the latest attack, which left much of the city covered in rubble and damaged the power lines, Kiper added.
The strike on the Black Sea port city, which comes days after Russia pulled out of the grain export deal with Kyiv, is the latest in a series of attacks this past week that caused severe damage to its infrastructure.
The damage to the historical cathedral, meanwhile, marks a severe blow to the community of Odesa. The Transfiguration Cathedral is one of the most important and largest in Odesa. Volunteers tried to salvage as many church artifacts as they could after the fires were extinguished. Paintings of the saints remained largely intact.
Archdeacon Andrii Palchuk said the cathedral took a direct hit from a Russian missile., adding that two people inside the structure at the time of the attack were wounded.
“The destruction is enormous, half of the cathedral is now roofless,” he said, later saying through tears, “But with God’s help, we will restore it.”
Russia’s defense ministry took credit for the attacks and said in a statement the strikes were carried out with sea- and air-based long-range high-precision weapons. In a later statement, the ministry denied that the attacks struck the cathedral and said its destruction was likely a result of “the fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft guided missile.”
Russia’s defense ministry said it attacked places in Odesa, “where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared.” It also claimed in the initial statement there were “foreign mercenaries” at the targeted sites.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, to which the cathedral belongs, has been accused of maintaining links to Russia. Ukrainian security agencies have raided some holy sites and discovered some Russian leaflets and passports, which they claim to be evidence of a link to Russia.
Leaders have insisted, however, that the church is loyal to Ukraine and have denounced the Russian invasion from the start.
– The Associated Press contributed.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Black people learned beneficial skills as slaves.
- ""They're probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,"" DeSantis said at a press conference.
- Florida approved a new African-American studies curriculum that teaches about the ""personal benefit"" of slavery.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said Black people benefitted from some of the skills they learned in slavery — and students in the state will soon learn about that ""personal benefit"" in Florida's education curriculum.
Florida's Department of Education on Wednesday approved a new curriculum for the state's African-American Studies program in public schools which instructs students on the personal benefit of slavery to Black people.
""They're probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,"" DeSantis said at a press conference on Friday.
—Kit Maher (@KitMaherCNN) July 22, 2023
The state's curriculum standards for the African-American Studies course say students will learn ""how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.""
DeSantis noted at the press conference that he did not play a role in the changes to Florida's curriculum, but also defended the curriculum change as a purely academic decision by the state Department of Education.
""If you have any questions about it just ask the Department of Education. But I mean these were scholars that put this together,"" DeSantis said. ""This is not anything that was done politically.""
The curriculum change follows the ""Stop WOKE Act,"" which DeSantis signed into law in 2022 and aimed to ban the teaching of anything that made students in public schools feel ""shamed because of their race.""
The law was intended to push back against the supposed teaching of critical race theory – examining how America's history of racism and discrimination continues to impact the country today — in public schools.",Not_Explicit
"Plastic waste is a problem on our beaches. Hence, it is largely removed in a coordinated manner within a few weeks. However, it can litter other coasts of the world for many months to years due to unregulated waste disposal. Often the garbage on the beach is simply burned and a special form of plastic waste is created: so-called plastiglomerate. This ""rock"" is made up of natural components, such as coral fragments, held together by the melted and reconsolidated plastic. A new study by a German-Indonesian research team at Kiel University has now demonstrated, using field samples from Indonesia, that such rocks pose an increased environmental risk to coastal ecosystems such as seagrass beds, mangroves or coral reefs. The melted plastic decomposes more quickly into microplastics and is also contaminated with organic pollutants. The researchers recently published the findings in the journal Scientific Reports.
""Until now, there have been rather basic studies describing the formation of plastiglomerates. With our results, we have shown for the first time how plastiglomerate differs from other plastic waste and can make better statements about its environmental impact,"" says first author Dr Amanda Utami, who works as a scientist at Indonesia's largest science organization (BRIN, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional) and came to Kiel on a three-month fellowship. The research work was made possible by funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and cooperation between BRIN and scientists in the Kiel Marine Science (KMS) priority research area at Kiel University.
New insights through international cooperation
If plastic waste is burnt directly on the beach, this melting and burning process produces the plastiglomerate ""rock,"" in whose plastic matrix the carbon chains are degraded. This chemically degraded plastic weathers more rapidly into microplastics through exposure to wind, waves and sediment grains on the beach. The incomplete combustion process releases new pollutants from the plastic that first settle on the plastic and are then released into the environment. These contaminants often have higher ecotoxicological relevance than the parent plastic, are potentially bioavailable, and thus can be introduced and enriched in the food chain.
Scientist Utami collected a total of 25 field samples from beaches on Panjang Island on the western side of the Indonesian island of Java and analyzed them in the laboratory together with researchers from Kiel University. One of them is Dr Lars Reuning, Utami's scientific host in Kiel and second author of the study: ""Our analyses show that Plastiglomerates are contaminated with organic pollutants. Even though further results on bioaccumulation are still pending, they can be classified as potentially carcinogenic to humans."" Reuning is a member of the Paleontology Research Group at the Institute of Geosciences at Kiel University. The working group, led by Professor Miriam Pfeiffer, is also involved in the German Research Foundation's (DFG) Earth Science Priority Program 2299 ""Tropical Climate Variability and Coral Reefs.""
Chemical investigations of pollutants in the Kiel laboratory
The researchers first differentiated the plastiglomerate samples according to optical criteria into less strongly as well as more strongly melted or burned samples and extracted volatile pollutants with the help of solvents. These analyses, which were carried out in Professor Lorenz Schwark's Organic Geochemistry Group at the Institute of Geosciences, revealed, for example, contamination with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and phthalates, which are used as plasticizers for plastics. Experts consider both classes of substances to have a high potential for causing cancer.
The research team also used physicochemical methods and comparison with databases to characterize the nature of polymers such as polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE) or their mixtures. They conducted measurements using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in the working group of Professor Gernot Friedrichs at the Institute of Physical Chemistry at Kiel University to investigate the degree of weathering. Outcome: Areas that were already visibly more exposed to the burning process also showed a greater degree of weathering and oxidation.
Numerous effects on coastal ecosystems possible
""To better assess environmental damage, we are currently researching the exact composition of the organic pollutants associated with the plastic, such as organophosphorus compounds,"" says geochemist Schwark. Also of interest is the tendency of the plastiglomerates to decay easily. ""Normally, photo-oxidation by UV light affects the top layer of plastics. But thermo-oxidation by burning the plastic waste significantly alters the internal structures of the material as well,"" says geoscientist Reuning.
In the future, numerous coastal ecosystems of tropical waters off Indonesia as well as worldwide will be affected by Plastiglomerates. Studies already show that organic pollutants are also transferred to corals or other marine organisms and can thus have a negative impact on ocean health. Further studies are therefore also looking at other ecosystems such as seagrass beds, mangroves or organisms living in the sediment.
""Compared to normal plastic waste, the unique properties of Plastiglomerates require a specific form of coastal management,"" Utami sums up. ""If trash from urban areas on tropical beaches were better disposed of and managed, a serious problem could be prevented.""
Story Source:
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"Carl Court/AP
toggle caption
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, center, and newly elected Conservative MP Steve Tuckwell, center right, speak at the Rumbling Tum cafe in Uxbridge, after Tuckwell won the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, west London, Friday July 21, 2023.
Carl Court/AP
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, center, and newly elected Conservative MP Steve Tuckwell, center right, speak at the Rumbling Tum cafe in Uxbridge, after Tuckwell won the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, west London, Friday July 21, 2023.
Carl Court/AP
LONDON — Britain's governing Conservative Party suffered two thumping defeats Friday in a trio of special elections but avoided a drubbing after holding onto former premier Boris Johnson's seat in suburban London.
Though the main opposition Labour Party and the smaller centrist Liberal Democrats overturned massive Conservative majorities to win a seat apiece, the Conservatives found some crumbs of comfort in their narrow success in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London.
Still, the results of Thursday's elections, if replicated at a likely general election next year, would certainly see Labour emerge as the biggest single party, possibly with a sizable overall majority. Despite holding onto Johnson's former seat by just 495 votes, the three election results show the Conservatives losing ground across a broad range of voters: suburban Londoners, small-town-dwellers in the north of England and rural residents in the southwest.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak headed straight off to the scene of his party's sole electoral success and noted that governments often find midterm elections difficult.
""The message I take away is that we've got to double down, stick to our plan and deliver for people,"" he said in a cafe in Ruislip.
Labour's leader Keir Starmer is also heading off to Selby and Ainsty in northern England, where 25-year-old candidate Keir Mather managed to secure the party's second largest swing at a special election since 1945.
""This is a historic result that shows that people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party that is focused entirely on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan to deliver,"" Starmer said after the result was announced.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats took Somerton and Frome in southwest England on a similarly large swing away from the Conservatives.
""The people of Somerton and Frome have spoken for the rest of the country who are fed up with Rishi Sunak's out-of-touch Conservative government,"" Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said.
What is clear about those two elections was that voters from both opposition parties clearly backed the party most likely to defeat the Conservative candidate. Facing this level of tactical voting, the defeats will likely leave many Conservative lawmakers rattled ahead of the likely national vote next year.
The defeats don't mean a change of government, since the Conservatives still have a chunky majority in the House of Commons.
For months, opinion polls have been giving Labour a double-digit lead — sometimes up to 20% — nationwide over the Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010.
The party has been plagued by the fallout from the tumultuous terms of Johnson and his successor as prime minister, Liz Truss, who quit within weeks after her plan for unfunded tax cuts alarmed financial markets, which accentuated a a cost-of-living crisis and saw mortgage costs soar.
Johnson, who stood down as premier last September, quit Parliament last month after being accused of misleading the House of Commons over statements he made regarding the lockdown breaches. The former lawmaker in Selby, an ally of Johnson's, followed him out the door while the member of parliament in Somerton and Frome resigned amid sex and drugs allegations.
In light of those bruising defeats, there is speculation that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has to call a general election by January 2025, could look to shake up his government with a Cabinet shuffle as early as Friday.
While Sunak mulls his options, much of the spotlight will turn on Labour leader Starmer, who has been cautious in laying out his plans for government.
The party's failure to secure victory in Johnson's former seat will likely some concern over London Mayor Sadiq Khan's plan to expand an anti-pollution zone to all outer boroughs of the capital, a move that will see many older cars and diesel vehicles face a daily emissions charge.",Not_Explicit
"Reliance Industries Q1 Results Review - O2C Margin Impacted Overall Performance : Yes Securities
RIL’s capex over FY24-25E is expected to remain elevated given the ongoing investment in various segments.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Yes Securities Report
Reliance Industries Ltd. reported revenue of Rs 2,075.5 billion (-5% YoY; -2% QoQ) which was below our and street estimates, with operating profit of Rs 380.9 billion (+1% YoY; -1% QoQ).
Ebitda growth was impacted by oil-to-chemical margins (normalisation from higher base of last year), offset by strong performance from other segments.
Jio Platforms Ltd. continued subscriber additions and rollout of 5G. Retail segment margin growth was led by grocery and fashion and lifestyle consumption.
RIL’s capex over FY24-25E is expected to remain elevated given the ongoing investment in various segments. Production from KGD6 in coming months to reach 30 metric million standard cubic metre per day.
We continue to maintain 'Add' rating with target price of Rs 2,873/share.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"Abbott: Operation Lone Star has seized more than 422 million lethal doses of fentanyl so far
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Friday said his administration has seized more than 422 million lethal does of fentanyl so far under it’s Operation Lone Star.
In a statement from his office, Abbott claimed the program, which began in 2021, has resulted in “394,200 illegal immigrant apprehensions” and “31,300 criminal arrests.”
“Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border,” the statement reads. “Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Joe Biden’s open border policies.”
The governor’s office also touted other initiatives the administration has put in place to address border security, including busing migrants to sanctuary cities — like New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. — and placing floating barriers along the Rio Grande to deter migrants from crossing into Texas, which has recently come under intense scrutiny from Mexico and others.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday sent a letter to Abbott and interim Texas Attorney General Angela Colmenero (R) claiming the buoys violate a number of federal laws. The state was given a three-day deadline to enter negotiations to remove them or face legal action.
“The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim and United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas Jaime Esparza in the letter, which was obtained by The Hill.
The DOJ is also looking into reports of mistreatment of migrants including refusal to provide them water and pushing them back into the Rio Grande Wednesday.
Abbott, in a Twitter thread included in the statement, responded to the threat, accusing President Biden of causing “the humanitarian crisis” at the southern border.
“Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution,” he tweeted. We have sent the Biden Administration numerous letters detailing our authority, including the one I hand-delivered to President Biden earlier this year.”
“We will continue to deploy every strategy to protect Texas and Americans — and the migrants risking their lives,” Abbott added. “We will see you in court, Mr. President.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Canada knows it can overcome an opening-game draw at the Women's World Cup because it won gold at the Tokyo Olympics when it bounced back from a first game draw against Japan.
Now Canada must rebound again following a scoreless draw against Nigeria in its opening World Cup game. The Canadians face Ireland, which is on debut in the tournament, on Wednesday in the Western Australia capital of Perth in an important Group B match.
Canada coach Bev Priestman likened her team's appearance to the Tokyo team.
“This is tournament football and if I go back to the Olympic games that we won, we started it with a draw, so you’ve got to move on very quickly,” she said.
Captain Christine Sinclair, at 40 among the oldest players at the World Cup, uncharacteristically missed a penalty in the 50th minute against the Nigerians. Sinclair is the top international scorer of all time, men or women, with 190 career goals.
“Of course the team and I are devastated we didn’t get three points. But at the end of the day, we got one (point) and we took two from another team,” Priestman said.
The Canadians have seen penalty heartbreak before.
At the 2019 World Cup in France, Janine Beckie’s attempt was stopped by Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl in the round of 16. The Swedes went on to win 1-0.
The game against Ireland is crucial for the Canadians to advance.
Australia, which is playing without injured star Sam Kerr, leads the group after a 1-0 victory over Ireland in Sydney. Steph Cately scored on a penalty in the 52nd minute that secured Australia’s win in front of a record crowd.
With the loss, Ireland tumbled to the bottom of the group. But coach Vera Pauw was encouraged with her team's play and believes the Irish can hang with anybody.
“The next one is against Canada, the Olympic champion,” Pauw said. “We do not fear anyone and these players adapt so quickly.”
SPAIN-ZAMBIA
Spain continued its recent roll by extending its streak to six consecutive victories with an easy 3-0 win over Costa Rica in its opening Group C match. Now a spot in the knockout rounds is within reach in a Wednesday game against Zambia in Auckland.
Spain looked sensational in its opening match by pouncing for three goals in the first 30 minutes, and the Zambia victory could have been more lopsided. La Roja had 46 shots, with 12 attempts on goal.
Now a win over Zambia — and just a draw in Japan's game against Costa Rica — would put Spain in the round of 16 with a game to spare.
“Our top objective is to win the game, to have six points, which would almost guarantee our progression to the next round,"" coach Jorge Vilda said. ""Whether we score one, two or three goals, it is more important that we score more goals than the opponents to win the game. And if we can have that advantage before playing our final group match, that would be great.”
Spain has not conceded a goal in its last five matches.
Zambia needs to step up its defensive play to avoid early elimination. The Copper Queens have given up at least three goals in each of its last four international matches, and a loss to Spain would seal their fate with a game to go in group play.
Adding to Zambia's issues: the team is down to its third goaltender through one game of the tournament.
JAPAN-COSTA RICA
Japan can potentially advance to the knockout stage of the Women's World Cup with a game to spare in its Wednesday match against Costa Rica in Dunedin, New Zealand.
A 5-0 win over Zambia in its opening match has put Japan in control of its own fate. The Nadeshiko have advanced to the knockout round the last three World Cups — and won the tournament in 2011 — and a victory over Costa Rica coupled with anything but a Spain loss to Zambia in the other Group C game would make it four straight.
Spain already rolled to a 3-0 win over Costa Rica in the first set of group games, but Japan coach Futoshi Ikeda has cautioned his squad against underestimating their next opponent.
“We’re getting used to the World Cup. I think we can bring out more, but we don’t want to be too complacent where (Costa Rica) can hit us where we’re not looking,"" Ikeda said. ""I think they are a very good defensive team. They have the power to do a lot of plays, so we need to pay attention to various things when we’re planning our side of things.”
Japan has won four of its last five matches, beating both Australia and Canada along the way, and Costa Rica has won only won one of its past 12 matches. Japan is feeling a lot more confident headed into its second game than it was in the opener — despite the ease in which the Nadeshiko got past Zambia.
“The first match was tough. We did it as a team. It was wonderful,"" forward Minami Tanaka said. “Compared to the first match, we’re less nervous. I think we can play better, that’s what I believe. And personally, I’m happy we got the points, but I want to be more relaxed.”
Costa Rica, playing in its second Women's World Cup, understands it can be eliminated by Japan. Las Ticas has never won a game on this stage, and the loss to Spain could have been even worse if not for 10 saves from goalkeeper Daniela Solera against Spain.
Costa Rica has nine losses, two draws and one win in its last 12 matches.
“I believe the team is filled with lots of hope, despite not having won the first match. We know we have possibilities to make it to the second round, so this had been the main goal. And personally, I feel good,"" midfielder Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez said. ""The Japanese team, their quality speaks (for) itself. It is not an easy team. We know their players are very smart, very technical, very precise, very faithful to the style of (play) they present.”
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"The Tories could be locked out of power for a generation if supporters of other parties vote tactically at the next general election, the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, says on Sunday, after his party chalked up another stunning West Country byelection victory.
A massive 29% swing to the Lib Dems saw Sarah Dyke take the Somerton and Frome seat, overturning a Conservative majority of more than 19,200. Davey’s party now has a comfortable 11,000 majority of its own, the largest it has ever had over the Tories in the constituency.
In June last year the Lib Dems won Tiverton and Honiton from the Tories, overturning a 24,000 Conservative majority as Boris Johnson’s reputation reached its nadir.
Tactical voting clearly played a large part in the latest victory, with Labour’s share of the vote dropping sharply to just 2.6% compared with almost 13% at the general election in 2019, putting the party way back in fifth place.
The Lib Dems were themselves squeezed in the other two byelections held on Thursday: in Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire, where Davey’s party won only 3.3% of the vote compared with 8.6% in 2019, and in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where it won only 1.7%, down from 6.3% in 2019.
As Davey hailed his party’s recovery in its traditionally strong territory of the south-west, he told the Observer that there was now a clear opportunity to remove the Tories from office at the next election and keep them out for the foreseeable future, if tactical voting occurred across the West Country and more widely.
“It is no secret that some Labour and Green party voters lent us their votes in Somerset and we are very grateful for their support,” he said. “In many seats across the south-west, voters at the next election will be faced with a similar choice between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives.
“My message to all voters who want to get rid of this out-of-touch Conservative government is clear: if the Liberal Democrats can win back our heartlands in the West Country, it could lock the Conservatives out of power for a generation.”
The Lib Dems, who suffered a near wipeout at Westminster after forming a coalition government with the Tories in 2010, are now rebuilding at national and local government levels.
Having returned only eight MPs to Westminster in 2015, they are now up to 15 after their victory in Somerton and Frome and have their eyes on 15 other Tory-held seats in the West Country alone, where the Conservative majorities are lower than in Somerton and Frome. They now run eight councils in the West Country, up from two in 2016.
Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, which campaigns for better democracy and favours parties working together to remove the Conservatives, said her organisation would be providing guidance to voters ahead of the next election.
“In the absence of opposition parties standing aside for one another to defeat this failing government, progressive voters have little choice but to make tactical decisions come polling day,” she said.
“But voters can’t take for granted who the main challenger to the Tories is, so Best for Britain will provide constituency-level guidance. For as long as we have an arcane first-past-the-post system that structurally favours the right, such tactics will be necessary.”
Neal Lawson, the director of Compass, a centre-left pressure group, who is facing possible dismissal from the Labour party for encouraging people to vote tactically, said it had gained 250 members since his argument with Labour came to light last month, suggesting support for his argument. He added: “To translate big by election wins into a more widespread general election and deep political victory means Labour and the Lib Dems, and also the Greens, systematically squeezing the Tory vote and building an ideas agenda for lasting change.”",Not_Explicit
"Britain’s leaders have been warned against a “politically suicidal” lurch away from their green pledges as concerns grow that both major parties may dilute their plans to combat the climate crisis in the wake of a shock byelection result.
Senior figures from business, the scientific community and across the political divide warned that any watering down of climate policies would be deeply unpopular with voters, set back the international fight to reach net zero and damage Britain’s green reputation.
There are fears that both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will loosen their support for such policies after the Conservatives’ surprise win in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip byelection on Thursday. The Tories narrowly won the seat, by just 495 votes, with a campaign that capitalised on opposition to plans by London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan to extend the ultra low emission zone (Ulez).
Sunak is already being urged by the right of the party and some of his own cabinet to rethink his commitment to green policies in the light of the Uxbridge result. Meanwhile, a senior Labour MP warned that Starmer risked “allowing the Tories to edit the next Labour manifesto” over climate change. The Labour leader had said the Uxbridge result showed the party must not adopt policies that could be featured on Tory election leaflets.
There is a concerted effort this weekend to ensure that the political unity over Britain’s net zero aims remains in place. Alok Sharma, a former Tory cabinet minister and president of Cop26, said it was vital that all parties maintained the political consensus on pursuing net zero.
“We have built up a broad political consensus in the UK on pursuit of net zero policies which are good for the economy, jobs, exports and the environment. Businesses support this agenda because they can see the economic benefits, he told the Observer. “And the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has noted that unmitigated climate change would ultimately have catastrophic economic and fiscal consequences for the UK.
“Concerns about the environment and climate change also consistently rank among the top issues of importance for voters. Given the economic, environmental and electoral case for climate action, it would be self-defeating for any political party to seek to break the political consensus on this vital agenda,” Sharma warned.
Zac Goldsmith, the former minister who quit the government over what he described as Sunak’s lack of interest in the environment, said that any party rethinking its commitment to the climate would be punished. “Byelection results can be interpreted in countless ways, and it is the nature of politicians and political commentators to wedge their own prejudices into the outcomes,” he told the Observer. “But to use these recent results to advocate abandonment of the UK’s previous environmental leadership is cynical and idiotic.
“It would also be politically suicidal, given the very deep and wide support for action on the environment that exists right across the electorate. And it is immoral, given that both government and opposition acknowledge the gravity of the crisis we face.
“So it’s hard to believe there really are people at the top of either of the main parties calling for abandonment of green policies, but if there are, I can only hope they are hammered by the electorate when the time comes,” said Goldsmith, who had been minister for the international environment and climate before he stepped down from the Foreign Office.
Professor Nicholas Stern, who led a seminal 2006 review on the economics of climate change, also issued a plea for leadership on the climate. “Air pollution kills tens of thousands in the UK each year – far more than deaths in road traffic accidents – and millions around the world,” he said.
“Inaction is not a sane option for us, our children and grandchildren. Second, the costs of investments in the transition away from fossil fuels are significantly increased by policy risk due to politicians chopping and changing their views and actions.
“Third, the investment costs of the transition need to be distributed fairly. And fourth, the UK’s reputation in the world depends on its leadership on these issues. Our standing has already been damaged by the loss of focus since we hosted the United Nations climate change summit in Glasgow in 2021.”
The latest Opinium poll for the Observer highlights the perilous state the Tories are in as MPs headed to their constituencies for Westminster’s summer recess. Labour has a 17-point lead. The party retains a 42% share of the vote, with the Tories on just 25%.
Sunak’s team are desperately searching for ways to reverse the party’s fortunes. As well as calls to back away from green measures, the prime minister is also said to be looking at a campaign that would vow to “protect” voters from Labour policies. Sunak’s government already appears to have watered down and delayed an end to the effective ban on more onshore wind farms put in place by David Cameron.
Nathan Bennett, head of strategic communications at RenewableUK, the renewable energy trade association, said that now was precisely the wrong time to be “watering down ambition” and for false arguments to be developing about the costs of greening the economy. “I am concerned about a false narrative emerging that green policies are unpopular and costly, as that’s certainly not the case for renewables and many other clean technologies,” he said.
“New wind farms are driving down energy bills, and polls consistently show that, if anything, people want us to roll out more renewables than we currently are, including new onshore wind.”
Greg Jackson, chief executive of Octopus Energy, the renewable energy group, said there was now a risk that the UK would lose out to other countries in the race for investment: “Harnessing the opportunities of net zero to deliver tangible financial benefits is extremely popular. Our customers love getting cheap energy when it’s windy, or being paid to use less when it’s not. Britain has had a lead in cheap, clean energy, but like so many industries of the past, we risk other countries getting the benefit of our innovation – costly for climate, cost of living and national security.”
Starmer raised concerns within the party by extending his criticism of the Ulez. “We are doing something very wrong if policies put forward by the Labour party end up on each and every Tory leaflet,” he told Labour’s national policy forum in Nottingham. It marks an escalation of his confrontation with Khan over the Ulez extension. In a change in tone, a source close to Khan said on Friday he was “listening to Londoners and always looking at ways he can address their concerns”.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the Observer: “Of course potential policy banana skins have to be avoided, but if we are not careful, effectively this means allowing the Tories to edit the next Labour manifesto on the greatest issue facing us, the climate crisis.”",Not_Explicit
"Michael Gove has rejected proposals by Marks & Spencer to bulldoze and rebuild its flagship Marble Arch store on Oxford Street.
The Housing Secretary on Thursday blocked Marks & Spencer from demolishing its landmark store, objecting on the ground that the project could harm the character of the area.
Stuart Machin, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, immediately hit out at the decision which he described as “pathetic” and “anti-business”.
M&S had planned to demolish the Art Deco building and replace it with a new 10-storey retail and office block with only two and half floors used for retail space.
The retailer vowed to vacate the building if its plans were blocked, warning that the ongoing decline of the shopping district would “accelerate dramatically” if it left.
The retailer argued the change was needed to help meet net zero targets and adapt to the rise of online shopping, which has led to a fall in visits to its in-person stores. It has claimed that demolishing the building, which was built in 1929, was the only way to bring it up to modern energy standards.
Mr Machin said on Thursday: “We have been clear from the outset that there is no other viable scheme – so, after almost a century at Marble Arch, M&S is now left with no choice but to review its future position on Oxford Street on the whim of one man. It is utterly pathetic.”
The project had secured approval from Westminster City Council and the Greater London Authority for its plans, but Mr Gove seized control of the planning application amid concerns about its environmental impact.
The Secretary of State called in the plans because demolishing the 90-year-old building would release 40,000 tonnes of so-called embodied carbon.
M&S claimed that 90pc of materials from the existing site would be reused in the construction of the new building, mitigating the impact of embodied carbon. The new building would also be far more energy efficient, saving on fuel needs.
During a public inquiry, which took place last year, M&S argued that refurbishing the site would be “unsustainable” and “undeliverable”.
The retailer said: “The current site is made up of three separate buildings with poor-quality structures and asbestos challenges, which although completely safe, make it impossible to develop without rebuilding.
“The existing store is a confusing warren of dense structures and misaligned floors, which is not the environment in which the modern customer wants to shop, and the “backstage” area where our colleagues work is of a poor standard and impossible to modernise.”
On Thursday, Mr Machin warned Oxford Street risked becoming the “victim of politics”.
He added “At a time when vacancy rates on what should be the nation’s premier shopping street are 13pc higher than the average UK high street and Westminster Council is pleading for help in managing the growing proliferation of sweet shop racketeers, the Secretary of State has inexplicably taken an anti-business approach, choking off growth and denying Oxford Street thousands of new quality jobs, a better public realm and what would be a modern, sustainable, flag-bearing M&S store.”
Other retailers in the area including Selfridges and Ikea, which will be taking the former Topshop site by Oxford Circus, had supported Marks & Spencer’s plans.
Selfridges said the redevelopment would play a vital role in “maintaining Oxford Street as the UK’s national shop window”.
Mr Gove’s decision was originally supposed to be revealed in April but was delayed until July 20.",Not_Explicit
"AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Huynh Nhu started playing soccer with a coconut-like fruit for a ball as a child. Now a member of Vietnam's national team, she will captain her squad in a daunting opening match against the United States in the Women's World Cup.
The match will mark a milestone for Vietnam soccer, which is making its World Cup debut. A Vietnamese national team has never played in the men's or women's tournament.
Just making the field was an accomplishment. But now Vietnam, the 32nd-ranked women’s team in the world, faces the two-time defending tournament champions in its debut.
On paper, it seems like an incredible mismatch. Even so, Vietnamese coach Mai Duc Chung is determined to show what Vietnam can do on the global stage.
“We came here not just for tourism. We are here to play,” Mai said Friday. “The U.S. is a very, very strong team. It is like a mountain, but it doesn’t mean that we will give up. We will have very suitable tactics so that we can minimize the conceded goals.”
Vietnam qualified for the tournament through last year’s Women’s Asian Cup. The Vietnamese were knocked out in the quarterfinals by China, putting them into a round-robin playoff. They then defeated Thailand and Taiwan. Both opponents were struggling with COVID-19 issues at the time.
“We will try our best so that we can bring the image of Vietnam to the world,” Mai said. “I hope that this journey will be an inspiration for the development of Vietnamese football in the future.”
Southeast Asian soccer, especially women’s soccer, is underdeveloped compared to global powers in the sport. Vietnam's first women’s national team was formed in 1997 and Huynh is the only player who competes outside the country. She plays for Länk FC Vilaverdense in Portugal’s top soccer league.
Prior to the start of the tournament, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said each player participating in the Women's World Cup will walk away with at least $30,000 in prize money –- a bonus in developed nations but a windfall for players from countries such as Vietnam.
But then Infantino this week said he couldn’t guarantee that the member federations will distribute the payments. He said he’s still working with the federations to make that happen.
The Vietnam women’s national team members can make around $850 a month, or $10,200 a year, a ccording to the New York Times,
“We received attention from the government, from the ministry of sports and from relevant agencies,” Huynh said. “The living standards have been improved. We received the support of FIFA, so it will improve the conditions for the Vietnamese players. The amount is not small for us, particularly for the women’s players.”
Despite the increase in attention and pay, the Vietnam players are trying to treat their opening match as a normal match, with the intention of bringing pride to their home country.
“I do hope that this tournament here is endless inspiration for the children of Vietnam, for the people of Vietnam,” Huynh said.
___
Zach Allen is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
___
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"Vladimir Putin arrived to Murmansk
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Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived to Murmansk on Thursday evening, July 20, the Kremlin informs. He started his visit at Novatek’s Kola Yard in Belokamenka, the plant that builds gravity-based structures for LNG projects in the Arctic.
On site to meet the president was regional Governor Andrei Chibis, Novatek CEO Leonid Mikhelson and Northwest Russian Presidential Representative Aleksandr Gutsan.
Putin’s visit to Murmansk comes against the backdrop of escalating relations between Russia and the West, particularly NATO countries. Over the past year, the Alliance has grown with a new member, Finland, and now Sweden is preparing to join NATO.
The last time Putin visited Murmansk region was for the Russian Navy Day in 2014. Murmansk region is home to Russia’s Northern fleet with several submarine bases on the coast to the Barents Sea.",Not_Explicit
"When the British government shared guidance earlier this month for those looking to honor Queen Elizabeth II with the use of her name and title on projects across the country, they added in one tantalizing detail: planning will begin “in due course” on the official national monument to Queen Elizabeth II. On Friday, The Telegraph reported that the government is working “hand in hand” with the royal household to form a committee for the national monument, the members of which will be announced by the anniversary of the late queen’s death.
Previous official monuments to a late monarch, like the white marble Queen Victoria Memorial outside of Buckingham Palace, have become popular tourist attractions. Though unofficial monuments to the queen—many of which involved donated Paddington Bear stuffed animals—erupted spontaneously across the nation in the days after her death on September 8, they were quickly cleared after her funeral 10 days later.
The official monument to the previous monarch, King George VI, was unveiled at St. James Park in London in 1955, three years after his death. Funded through a national campaign announced by Winston Churchill, it consists of a sculpture designed by William McMillan which shows the king wearing his naval uniform. In 2009, a statue of the Queen Mother, depicting her in Order of the Garter robes during the years after she was widowed, was added nearby.
In its guidance, the government noted that unofficial monuments to the late queen do not need approval unless they have a commercial component. “Communities, organizations and individuals may wish to mark the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and commemorate her extraordinary reign through the use of her name and title, for example by naming a park, garden or street,” the guidance read. “The full title of Queen Elizabeth II will continue to be closely protected and only be granted for applications with strong royal connections.”
Last November, King Charles III visited York Minster to unveil the first permanent monument to Queen Elizabeth II, a seven-foot limestone statue of the queen wearing her Order of the Garter robes on the exterior of the cathedral. In his speech at the event, Charles noted that the statue was originally planned to honor the queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, which also took place in 2022.
“Now, as we have witnessed, with great sadness, the passing of that reign, it is unveiled in her memory, as a tribute to a life of extraordinary service and devotion,” he added. “The late Queen was always vigilant for the welfare of her people during her life. Now, her image will watch over what will become Queen Elizabeth Square for centuries to come.”",Not_Explicit
"Struggles faced by Russian property owners in Finland, including tightened entry restrictions and challenges with maintaining and selling their properties, have prompted an appeal for assistance from President Sauli Niinistö.
The restrictions mean that some Russians have been unable to access their Finnish properties for up to two years. Igor Kostenko, from St Petersburg, told Yle he is disappointed that Finland does not even allow Russians to maintain their own cottages.
""We would like to be treated as property owners, not tourists. We should also have the opportunity to take care of our properties,"" Kostenko said.
Some Russian property owners frustrated by the situation have sent an appeal to Niinistö, asking him to facilitate their entry. Originally sent in January, the petition was supplemented with signatures from more than 700 Russian property owners, according to Kostenko.
Access to Finland a gamble
Starting last autumn, Russians have been banned from making tourist trips to their holiday homes in Finland, and only allowed to enter the country in order to address essential repair and maintenance work.
In early July, the border restrictions were further tightened, requiring Russian property owners to provide even more detailed reasons why the repair and maintenance work would need the owner's presence in Finland. This means that Russians should aim to assign any repair work to Finnish contractors without entering the country themselves.
According to Kostenko, ordering required repair work becomes difficult if one cannot even visit the cottage to inspect its condition. Kostenko himself came to his cottage through Norway, which still allows Russian tourists to enter the Schengen area.
The final decision on whether a Russian property owner is allowed entry is made by the Finnish Border Guard at the border.
""It's a gamble. When arriving at the border, you don't know if you'll be allowed entry,"" Kostenko said.
Accumulating bills
Paying bills in Finland has also become challenging for Russians because their bank accounts in Finnish banks have been partially closed, and banking connections between the two countries have been frozen.
The problem is further exacerbated because mail no longer travels between Finland and Russia.
""We used to receive property tax bills in Russia, for example. Now that no longer happens,"" Kostenko said.
Finland's National Enforcement Authority has confirmed that there have been more collection issues involving Russian owners' property taxes.
""We conducted a survey among district bailiffs in the regions of Kymenlaakso, South Karelia, and Savonlinna earlier this summer. It turned out that Russian property owners are now facing payment problems, which was not an issue before,"" said Antti Soininen, the leading district bailiff.
Selling property nearly impossible
Due to EU sanctions prohibiting transferring euros to Russia, it is nearly impossible for Russians to sell off their Finnish properties.
""We know a family who sold their house in Finland. However, the bank has not transferred the money to Russia because the account is closed, and banking connections between Finland and Russia don't work,"" Kostenko explained.
This has resulted in Russians trying to sell their Finnish properties by exchanging them for properties in Russia, he added.",Not_Explicit
"Police armed with rifles were in pursuit of a pig running riot near an Auckland motorway on Saturday afternoon.
But the swine gave them the slip.
Armed officers were looking for the pig near the Te Atatu motorway on-ramp on the North-Western Motorway towards Auckland after it was reported about 4pm amid heavy westbound traffic.
Police at the scene appeared to have lost sight of the pig shortly after 5pm and were turning their attention to an area of bush near the on-ramp. Officers were also awaiting the arrival of animal control.
A police spokeswoman said they were called about 4pm to the ramp.
""Police worked with animal control personnel in an attempt to capture the pig,"" she said.
""Attending officers were armed in case it was deemed necessary to put down the pig. Police have now left the location, the pig was not captured or put down.""
About an hour earlier, reports on social media suggested a ""little black pig"" was running down the motorway on-ramp heading from Te Atatu Peninsula towards the city on State Highway 16.
A spokeswoman at police national headquarters said she was aware of the motorway pig.
""Police are responding to a report received shortly after 4pm of a pig running on the North-Western Motorway near the Te Atatu Road off-ramp,"" she said.
She could not confirm if it was a Captain Cooker or a domestic breed.
""There are no details as to the breed of pig.""
- This story originally appeared on the NZ Herald website",Not_Explicit
"TERRIGAL, Australia -- About 50 miles north of Sydney, just set back from the beautiful sweeping sands of Terrigal Beach, is a slice of England. In the England women's team hotel is a cornered-off section: the team base for the duration of the World Cup complete with Yorkshire Tea, rooms named after England legends, and an area where players can craft their own bespoke trainers.
It's blissfully relaxed and against the backdrop of waves lapping on perfect sand, dogs of all shapes and sizes are walked up and down through the various cafes. The venue was chosen by a group headed up by FA women's technical director Kay Cossington and England Women's general manager Anja van Ginhoven off the back of 18 months' work, including a scouting trip in May 2022 where they visited 23 hotels, 18 training venues and boarded nine different flights. The hotel here just off the beach is coupled with the training pitch at the Central Coast Stadium, a 20-minute drive away, which is said to have the best patch of grass for football in the country.
On Wednesday, the FA opened up the team base and showed ESPN, among others, where the team relax, carry out their meetings and prepare for what they hope will be a run all the way to the final on Aug. 20. England moved into their Terrigal base the day after their 1-0 win over Haiti in Brisbane and will commute from here to their match against China in Adelaide, and then any potential trip to Brisbane again in the knockout stages.
As you walk into the team base, you're greeted by a wall of balloons in the flag of St George, with ""England"" written across it. The escalator up to the inner sanctum is adorned with slogans -- ""Our England, Our Family, Unbreakable Bond"" is one, with the whole place decked out in red and white. Everywhere you look there are motivational slogans and messages -- ""Team Play for the Shirt First"" is another -- all adorned across the various rooms and stations opened up to the team.
In the middle of the foyer is an arts and crafts work station, next to a Nike pop-up where the players can customize trainers. Nearby is a coffee station where, by the time we'd visited at about 11.30 a.m. on Wednesday, the baristas had already served 40 coffees to the 23 players and 30 staff who form the England operation.
Off to the side of the main foyer are various rooms, including the ""Scott Relaxation Room."" Back in their successful Euro 2022 campaign, the team used legends' names for their team rooms. Indeed, veteran midfielder Jill Scott was honoured that they'd named one of the rooms at their base in Teddington's Lensbury Resort after her, only to find it was actually named after former England international Alex Scott. But here in Terrigal, there is a common consensus that this Scott room is named after the newly retired Jill. (There are others named after Rachel Yankey, Fara Williams, Mary Phillip, Sheila Parker, Pat Davies and Lily Parr.)
In the Scott room is a table tennis table, two arcade games (one of which is themed around ""The Simpsons,"") and then two TVs -- one connected to an X-Box and another set-up for the matches. Around the corner is another craft wall and a bookshelf filled with autobiographies from the likes of tennis stars Serena Williams and Andre Agassi, as well as Wales rugby legend Alun Wyn Jones, alongside a selection of fiction from Jane Austen to Colleen Hoover, and all the Harry Potter books too. Nearby is a well-used darts board, with the outer wall peppered with remnants of stray arrows.
""A lot of people are doing a lot of colouring in and jigsaws, and we've got a unbelievable set up for the games room. The younger players play more games than the older players, but it's a relaxed camp and the staff make it very relaxed for us,"" defender Alex Greenwood told ESPN.
""It's got everything we can think of. It's got so much to keep us busy in our spare time, we're very lucky and grateful for what we've been given. Lauren Hemp and Niamh Charles playing table tennis a lot. Hempo is really good. I'm not playing table tennis... it's not for me.""
Next to the Scott room is the [Ellen] White room. At the back is a vast projector, a tactics board, and also on the wall is the team's path through the tournament mapped out. There's a map of Australia alongside their potential route to the final, alongside a huge board reading ""Real Sisterhood.""
The Parr [dining] room next to it has some tactical reminders pinned to the wall, next to an abundance of home comforts like the 3.25kg bag of Yorkshire Tea, including 1,040 tea bags. This is where the team have all their meals, prepared by chefs Gareth and David. On one wall reads: ""From the pitch, to the stands, at home or away, support each other through thick and thin cos that's the England way.""
There's also a respectful sign nearby which reads: ""We respectively acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land, the Darkinjung people, and pay our respect to their elders, past, present and emerging.""
It's incredibly impressive, but perhaps even more impressive is the fact the whole wing of the hotel was put together in just three days. The FA is leaving little to chance. On the flight over, the team had their own compartment on the plane, so they brought along a specific ""chrono coach"" (someone who specialises in light therapy) to dictate when the lights would be dimmed. The team had already shifted to Australian time (11 hours ahead of the UK's BST) before departure, but they used different coloured sunglasses to help control their body clocks: blue light to keep them awake, orange to encourage their bodies to make melatonin to nudge into sleep.
The goal of England's team base was to make it a home from home. It was also attuned to Van Ginhoven's philosophy of making the tournament resemble a tunnel of transitions. Each step moves the players into a different competition mode, from the light and familiar nature of St George's Park back home, to the casual nature of their pretournament base on the Sunshine Coast, to Brisbane's central business district ahead of their opener against Haiti, then into this base for the remainder.
It's a far cry from Euro 2005, where Cossington remembers how the team environment was signposted with A4 printouts manually stuck to doors and players were handed a small wallet to pay for expenses.
But ask Cossington and Van Ginhoven what they're most proud of, and they turn to this portrait on a wall near the Scott Relaxation Room. It's of this England squad as youngsters, a portrait of the team imagined at the start of their love of the game. It shows where they've come from, how far they've come, and where they are now on a journey in Australia they hope will end in World Cup triumph.",Not_Explicit
"Mayor Adams will launch a radio show on WBLS-FM that will air on Sunday morning and include live call-in segments, his office said Thursday, opening him up to unscripted interactions with potentially testy constituents.
Adams said the show, “Hear from the Mayor,” will seek to highlight the efforts of working-class New Yorkers to improve the city.
“Tune in or give me a call, and hear directly from your mayor on what we are doing to build a better New York City,” Adams said in a statement.
The first show is set for 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. Politico previously reported the news of the show’s launch.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio took questions from callers each Friday on Brian Lehrer’s WNYC radio show. De Blasio would prepare for a half-hour before each appearance, said Bill Neidhardt, who served as de Blasio’s press secretary.
The moderate Adams has appeared a handful of times on Lehrer’s show, which is thought to cater to a relatively progressive audience.
It was not immediately clear how often Adams’ show would air. The mayor’s office said in a statement the show would run “semi-regularly.” An Adams spokesman, Fabien Levy, said the exact frequency was not yet set.
Inside NYC Politics
Media veterans could not recall a mayor appearing with any regularity on WBLS in recent years.
But Mayor David Dinkins, the city’s first Black mayor, would call into WBLS and WLIB, a talk station, said Dominic Carter, a former field reporter at WBLS. The segments were sometimes aired live and sometimes recorded.
Percy Sutton, a Black political trailblazer who once ran for mayor, owned WBLS and WLIB at the time.
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican staple of New York radio who lost to Adams in the 2021 mayoral election, predicted Adams would get “softball” calls. He said he believed Bloomberg’s radio segment had a stiffer screening process than Giuliani’s and de Blasio’s.
“It was the most lame calls,” Sliwa said Thursday, recalling Bloomberg’s show. “Boring as the day was long.”
But Loeser — who noted Bloomberg’s visits to “The John Gambling Show” provided plenty of fodder for the local press corps — said call screening is not foolproof, and predicted Adams’ show would likely open the mayor up to critical constituents.
“It’s pretty simple to get through a screen,” Loeser said. “It’s going to open Adams up to a lot of activists and operatives, but also real New Yorkers.”",Not_Explicit
"A watchdog group has set its sights on foreign donors funneling cash through nonprofits ahead of the 2024 elections after liberal Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss provided significant funds to organizations with links to campaigns backing President Biden and Democrats.
Americans for Public Trust (APT) recently released a report highlighting how Wyss' nonprofits doled out $425 million in funding to left-wing groups in recent years and called for ""the foreign influence loophole to be closed."" This money has potentially made its way to groups pushing multi-million dollar drives to boost Biden's record.
Wyss has subsidized a group that manages Climate Power, which recently teamed up with Future Forward USA Action and the Way to Win Action Fund to elevate Biden. Future Forward USA Action's affiliated political committee, Future Forward, will act as the president's main outside super PAC in this upcoming election.
""This is exactly why we must close the loophole that allows foreign money to influence American elections,"" APT Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland told Fox News Digital.
""But the liberal politicians who shout about protecting our democracy from foreign interference have been noticeably silent about legislation that would do just that. And now we have President Biden's handpicked super PAC tangled up in the web of organizations funded by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. The staggering amount of foreign money that is propping up Biden's agenda needs to be stopped.""
Wyss' activity has also caught the attention of Republican lawmakers, who are working on legislation to prevent foreign nationals from ""influencing the American political system,"" Axios reported.
The Biden-backing campaigns are not the first time Wyss-funded groups have launched initiatives backing Democrats. The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Victory Fund, LCV's independent political action committee, and Climate Power shelled out $15 million last year for a ""sophisticated targeting project unlike anything they'd ever undertaken before"" to propel Democrats, Politico reported earlier this year.
The LCV and Climate Power are two prominent far-left environmental groups that push aggressive green transition policies and have received extensive funding from Wyss' nonprofits.
As part of the operation, LCV Victory Fund and Climate Power hired BlueLabs Analytics, a Washington, D.C.-based data science organization, to mine data of more than two million Biden voters in crucial swing states with advertisements and mailers ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
The operation, and other similar funding schemes for political activity during last year's midterms potentially tied to Wyss, raises legal questions given the billionaire's nationality. Under federal election law, foreign nationals — Wyss is listed as recently as 2021 in financial filings as a ""citizen of Switzerland"" — are prohibited from contributing directly or indirectly to U.S. political campaigns.
For over two decades, Wyss has been financially involved in various left-wing causes. Wyss founded the Wyss Foundation in the late 1990s as his main tax-exempt funding arm and the Berger Action Fund in 2007. The billionaire has pushed hundreds of millions of dollars to his two nonprofits, which have then spread his money to a vast array of groups, many of which, like the LCV, are actively involved in political issues.
According to tax filings, a single anonymous donor, likely Wyss himself, wired a staggering $278.9 million to the Berger Action Fund between April 2021 and March 2022. The group, in turn, contributed $72.7 million to 12 separate dark-money organizations.
LCV was among the 12 groups and received $3.5 million from Wyss' nonprofit. Other groups, including the Center for Popular Democracy, Moms Rising Together, National Redistricting Action Fund, and WorkMoney, received millions of dollars in additional contributions from the Berger Action Fund. The groups are involved in political campaigns.
The Berger Action Fund also funneled $20.3 million to a group called Fund for a Better Future (FBF), according to the tax documents. While FBF is not required to disclose its donors in its tax forms, Wyss' contribution amount was the largest anonymous donation FBF reported that year, meaning the Swiss national was FBF's biggest donor.
FBF sent nearly $10.7 million to LCV in 2021, the most significant contribution FBF gave to any group that year. Additionally, FBF oversees Climate Power, providing the group financial, legal, technological and human resources support.
Climate Power was initially founded as a project of the LCV, Center for American Progress (CAP), and the Sierra Club in 2020. Wyss has donated to CAP and remains a board member of the influential left-wing think tank.
Climate Power, meanwhile, boasts advisory board members who are also members of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. For example, both South Carolina state Rep. Harold Mitchell and Jerome Foster II, the executive director of the youth-led political advocacy group OneMillionOfUs.
Additionally, FBF contributed over $2.9 million to Building Back Together, an advocacy group primarily promoting the Biden administration's policy agenda.
Wyss' Berger Action Fund also contributed about $42.5 million to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a key cog in a billion-dollar dark money network.
""The Berger Action Fund and Wyss Foundation support efforts to increase access to public lands, lower the cost of healthcare, and address income inequality,"" Marneé Banks, a spokesperson for the nonprofits, told Fox News Digital.
""Both organizations comply with all rules governing their activities and prohibit their grants from being used for get-out-the-vote or voter registration,"" Banks added. ""They do not support political candidates or parties, or otherwise engage in political campaigns. They support increasing transparency and accountability in our campaign finance system through the DISCLOSE Act.""",Not_Explicit
"Titagarh Rail's Price Target Raised By HSBC After Q1 Profit Surges
The brokerage maintained a 'buy' rating on the company and raised its target price to Rs 750 apiece from Rs 730 apiece
Titagarh Rail System Ltd.'s revenue and earnings per share estimates, as well as its price target were upwardly revised by HSBC Global Research, citing a significant jump in demand for wagon and passenger coaches over the next few years.
The brokerage maintained a 'buy' rating on the largest wagon maker and an emerging leader in passenger coaches and raised the target price to Rs 750 apiece from Rs 730 apiece. The company is capitalising on the government's thrust to increase freight transportation by rail and modernise passenger rail transportation, the brokerage said.
Titagarh Rail System Q1 FY24 highlights (YoY):
Revenue rose 72.3% to Rs 910.76 crore.
Ebitda jumped nearly fourfold to Rs 106.11 crore.
Ebitda margin at 11.7% versus 5.4%
Net profit surged to Rs 61.78 crore from Rs 1.2 crore in Q1 FY23.
Earnings and Margin Expansion
The company's first-quarter performance was driven by robust growth in both freight and passenger rail system revenue, according to HSBC Global.
The standout contributor to this growth was the freight rail systems business, which reported a 13% segment operating margin. However, the passenger rail system margin experienced a sequential decline of 2.1%, settling at 3.9%.
The company's order backlog includes two framework contracts that it won in consortium with another firm.
The first, a contract to manufacture 80 Vande Bharat sleeper trains in consortium with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. Titagarh's share in this contract amounts to Rs 11,800 crore, the brokerage said.
The second, to manufacture and supply 15,40,000 forged wheels over a span of 20 years for Indian railways in consortium with Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd. Titagarh's share in this order is Rs 6,300 crore, the brokerage said.
Management Commentary
Titagarh affirmed that the planned capacity expansion for the freight and passenger segments is progressing as scheduled, according to the company's first-quarter earnings call. The company anticipates an increase in wagon shipments from 650–700 per month in Q1 to 1,000 per month by the end of the financial year.
Titagarh's success extends to winning wagon orders worth Rs 4.43 billion from the private sector, HSBC said.
Currently, the private sector contributes approximately 20% to the overall freight rolling stock order book, indicating a healthy collaboration, it said.
HSBC Global Research on Titagarh Rail
The brokerage has raised the price target to Rs 750.
It has also increased expectations for revenue by 2–4% and EPS by 3–9% for FY24–26e.
The research firm expects a significant jump in wagon and passenger coach shipments over FY23–26e, driving a 30% revenue compound annual growth rate over the same period.
Moreover, a 2.5x jump in profit is expected over FY23–26e, with an average return on equity of 18%.
The brokerage values the company using a one-year forward target PE multiple of 30x, which is applied to the FY26e EPS estimate and then discounted back to June 2023.
HSBC Global Research acknowledges some downside risks, including significant dependence on one government-owned entity (Indian Railways) and a potential slower-than-expected execution ramp-up of its order backlog.
Shares of Titagarh Rail Systems rose 5.43% to Rs 668.85 apiece, compared to a 0.02% fall in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 12:11 p.m.
Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 1.5 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 85.53, implying that the stock may be overbought.
All six analysts tracking the company maintain a 'buy' rating, according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies a downside of 10.8%.",Not_Explicit
"The Chino Valley Unified School District had no legitimate reason under the state open-meeting law to eject Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond from a board meeting Thursday night after he spoke against a policy requiring district officials to notify parents if students come out as transgender at school, an open government expert said.
Thurmond “did nothing whatsoever that warranted a removal from the meeting,” said David Loy, the legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, an open government group, after watching a video of the incident.
The policy Thurmond opposed was later approved by a 4-1 vote.
Thurmond had spoken for his allotted minute Thursday night before the board in San Bernardino County when he was signaled his time was up, a video of the meeting shows.
As he stopped talking and walked away from the lectern, board President Sonja Shaw responded.
“Tony Thurmond, I appreciate you being here tremendously. But here’s the problem. We’re here because of people like you. You’re in Sacramento, proposing things that pervert children,” Shaw said, her voice rising. She also criticized Thurmond for campaigning last year for then-incumbent board member Christina Gagnier, whom Shaw defeated in November.
“You walked for my opponent,” Shaw said. As she spoke, Thurmond walked back to the lectern.
In an interview with EdSource on Friday, Thurmond said he returned to the lectern because Shaw was commenting directly to him, and he thought she wanted to engage in a discussion.
Thurmond called for a “point of order,” but Shaw cut him off saying, “This is not your meeting. You may have a seat because if I did that to you in Sacramento, you would not accept it. Please sit, you are not going to blackmail us.”
Thurmond tried to respond again, and Shaw called for a five-minute break” in the meeting and left the stage where board members were sitting.
Thurmond was quickly encircled by four uniformed district security guards and walked off camera, the video shows, and left the meeting. He said in a tweet later Thursday that Shaw ordered his removal.
Neither Shaw nor district Superintendent Norm Enfield responded to messages Friday.
The state open-meetings law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, has a provision that allows a public board to remove disruptive people, but they have to be warned first “and given the opportunity to stop disrupting,” Loy said.
The act “is consistent with the First Amendment,” Loy said, in that a public board “cannot shut you down simply because it doesn’t like what you have to say.”
What happened to Thurmond could have a chilling effect on others who may decide not to speak publicly on important issues out of fear of being shouted down or forcibly removed, Loy said,
“I think it’s very troubling that (Shaw) would call out a speaker by name and in effect dress them down, with potentially what could be taken as very insulting language,” Loy said, “I’m not taking a position on the public policy debate, but (Shaw) seemed to express a certain hostility.”
Thurmond said he didn’t sense any danger from the guards or the audience, which cheered loudly as he left. He said he wanted to get ahead of the guards and went outside to speak to reporters as the meeting resumed.
“I made a decision to move ahead of them removing me and went to address the media,” Thurmond told EdSource. A statement issued by the California Department of Education late Friday said Thurmond was “forcibly escorted out of the meeting by security.”
Thurmond also told EdSource he was surprised that Shaw brought up his support for Gagnier last year.
“I volunteered for her opponent. What does that have to do with anything? Why would that be brought up at a public meeting? Politics shouldn’t be part of a public meeting. …. Once the election is over, we work together,” he said.
Thurmond said he opposed the board’s policy because it endangers students.
During his brief remarks to the board Thursday, he pointed out that “nearly half of the students who identify as LBGTQ+ have considered suicide” and that “the policy that you consider tonight may fall outside the laws that protect the privacy and safety of our students (and) may also put our students at risk because they live in homes where they cannot be safe.”
The school board ultimately voted to approve the policy, which mirrors failed Assembly Bill 1314. The California Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus described legislation that aims to “out” transgender and nonbinary students against their will as putting children in potentially life-threatening danger and subjecting them to trauma and violence.
Last week a federal judge in Sacramento struck down a similar policy passed by the Chico Unified School District Board in Butte County.
The state has a legitimate interest “in creating a zone of protection for transgender students and those questioning their gender identity from adverse hostile reactions, including, but not limited to, domestic abuse and bullying,” U.S. District Judge John Mendez wrote in a ruling dismissing a constitutional challenge to state law. Mendez wrote that students have the right to “disclose their gender identity to their parents on their own terms.”
Chino Valley Unified has had a revolving door of ultra-conservative school board members who have opposed state laws protecting transgender students’ rights. In 2021, the board attempted to ban transgender students from using restrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender identity but failed after the California Attorney General’s Office warned that the proposal violated the state education code and it was prepared to litigate.
To get more reports like this one, click here to sign up for EdSource’s no-cost daily email on latest developments in education.",Not_Explicit
"No Labels, Americans Elect and recent history of third-party candidate groupsThe idea behind Americans Elect was to create an alternative system for finding the candidates, independent of the two major parties and based in the limitless possibilities of the internet.
People with the group No Labels hold signs during a rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 18, 2011.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
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Jacquelyn Martin/AP
People with the group No Labels hold signs during a rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 18, 2011.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
In this extraordinary political season, every story seems larger than life and each event potentially apocalyptic.
That may be one cause of the feverish attention paid this week to a town hall meeting on a Monday at a small college in New Hampshire, about 16 months before the next presidential election.
No declared candidate was on hand for this event, which was not sponsored by either of the two major parties.
And that was largely the point.
The event was held by the political group No Labels, which advertises itself as a voice for moderation and an end to polarized partisanship in U.S. politics. It has been around since 2010, holding luncheon events and seminars and helping organize the ""Problem Solvers Caucus"" in Congress. Many have seen it as a ""good government"" group and nothing more.
But No Labels is getting attention now for getting involved in the presidential season of 2024. The group wants to offer an ""insurance plan"" by creating a ""Unity Ticket"" if the two major parties nominate candidates ""the vast majority of Americans don't want to vote for.""
It is lost on no one that, at present, both parties are moving toward nominating the same men they did in 2020 – President Biden and former President Trump – despite the fact that most Americans don't want that to happen. An NBC News poll released in April found 60% of U.S. adults did not want Trump to run, and 70% did not want Biden to run. Citing age most often, those opposing a Biden bid included nearly half the Democrats in the poll and a majority of the independents.
So the circumstances would seem ripe for someone such as No Labels to step into the breach. The group is working on an agenda and ""creation of a massive 'voter file' of citizens who will support leaders courageous enough to speak truth to partisanship.""
It all sounds quite high-minded, and there is no denying the voters would like to have more choices.
But there is consternation in some quarters about the impact the group could have in a close election. In 2016, more than 5% of American voters cast their votes for candidates other than Trump or Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. That was three times larger than the third-party share of the vote in 2012 or 2020, and that surge was more than enough to make the difference in several of the states where Trump barely won.
While Biden won in 2020 by 7 million votes nationally, a shift of four-tenths of one percent would have flipped Wisconsin, the same size shift would have flipped Arizona and just three-tenths of one percent would have flipped Georgia. A relative handful of votes could have reversed the Electoral College outcome.
Democrats have been disturbed enough about this to speak out against No Labels. Citing polls in 538.com and elsewhere, analysts have predicted a No Labels ticket would siphon more support from Biden than Trump.
If it also sounds somewhat familiar, it should. It is highly reminiscent of a plan offered up a dozen years ago by a group of high-powered individuals called Americans Elect. Founded in 2010 — about the same time as the original No Labels — Americans Elect had an eye toward the presidential cycle of 2012 and the stated goal of getting on the ballot in all 50 states.
Americans Elect featured some prominent individuals from both parties and from the worlds of finance and think tanks, including the late Peter Ackerman, who was a founder and early funder and whose son was installed as the group's chief operating officer. Ackerman had already had a remarkable career, finishing a doctorate from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1976, three years after he had begun working for the Wall Street investment house of Drexel Burnham Lambert. Working alongside the soon-to-be-notorious Michael Milken, Ackerman sold junk bonds and was reported to have taken home $165 million in 1988 alone.
Ackerman had been associated with Republican politics during the presidencies of George H.W. and George W. Bush but wanted to move beyond that, especially given the rising populist energy then known as the ""Tea Party"" movement. While the phrase Tea Partyhas since faded from use, much of its original energy can still be seen in the enthusiastic crowds attending rallies for Trump.
But the idea behind Americans Elect was not just to offer an alternative to the Tea Party or to Obama, or to Mitt Romney or to whichever other Republican survived the 2012 slog of caucuses and primaries. The idea was to create an alternative system of determining who the candidates would be, independent of the two major parties and based in the limitless possibilities of the internet.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was co-headliner alongside former Utah GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman at a town hall in Manchester, N.H., Monday sponsored by the bipartisan group No Labels.
The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im
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The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was co-headliner alongside former Utah GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman at a town hall in Manchester, N.H., Monday sponsored by the bipartisan group No Labels.
The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im
Instead of traipsing through Iowa and New Hampshire, Americans Elect offered to host a national online primary to winnow a vast field of ""drafted"" candidates to a single two-person ticket. Then it was to hold a convention to nominate the winning online ticket in June 2012.
The sheer boldness of the idea had appeal in an era when increasing internet access had transformed much of the economy and culture. Impressed with the concept,New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman offered a respectful description of what Americans Elect was trying to do in July 2011: ""What Amazon.com did to books, what the blogosphere did to newspapers, what the iPod did to music, what drugstore.com did to pharmacies, Americans Elect plans to do to the two-party duopoly that has dominated American political life — remove the barriers to real competition, flatten the incumbents and let the people in.""
That was the dream. But even as Friedman was describing the upside potential for Americans Elect, other observers warned of a spoiler effect. They noted the Americans Elect candidate could produce unintended consequences, as when progressive hero Ralph Nader shared some of the vote that might have gone to Democratic nominee Al Gore in 2000 – possibly costing him Florida and the election.
As it turned out, neither the dream nor the worst fears came true. Problems emerged in the online process, which allowed any registered U.S. voter to join Americans Elect and participate. The members could draft and vote for anyone they chose who met the constitutional requirements for the office of president or vice president. Anyone getting ""support clicks"" from 5,000 members in each of 10 states would advance to the first phase of actual voting.
Or that was the idea. As it turned out, participation was far below expectations and the click votes too widely dispersed. The first primary was canceled because no candidate had enough support clicks to qualify for the May event. The same fate befell the next two scheduled rounds of click voting. In July, the Americans Elect board ended its presidential process and removed the party's name from most of the 29 states where it had qualified.
Shared histories of financial question marks
There was also controversy about the finances for Americans Elect. The group grew out of another called Unity08, which had funded some selected candidates in earlier cycles. Americans Elect organized as a ""social welfare"" organization under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, which allowed it to avoid disclosure of its donor list. There was criticism for that, and also for the million-dollar contributions it was known to have received from the world of high finance.
A similar critique has attached to the funding of No Labels, which uses the same tax regime. Recent news stories about the group have sometimes suggested it had something to hide, such as substantial contributions from Biden opponents who see No Labels as helpful — intentionally or not.
The other question that hovers overhead is the logistical challenge of finding candidates and building support for them. At the New Hampshire event this week, the two most visible politicians were U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a Republican who ran for president briefly in 2012, withdrawing after finishing third in the first primary.
Neither is really a household name. Manchin faces a difficult reelection case next year, opposed by the popular Republican governor in a state Trump has twice won by nearly 40 percentage points. But he has little chance of denying Biden the Democrats' presidential nomination in 2024, so he has been mentioned often as a possible No Labels champion.
Huntsman, who has been ambassador to China and Russia under Obama and Trump, was sometimes called the Republican candidate Obama feared most in his 2012 reelection year — because he had appeal to independents and less-partisan Democrats.
In a sense, that could be said to sum up what a group such as No Labels would want in a candidate. If he seems in many ways ideal, his lack of success as a candidate (outside Utah) may also illustrate the difficulty of translating the ideal into real electoral success. That goes for voting systems and for candidates as well.",Not_Explicit
"NEW YORK -- A crane went up in flames Wednesday morning high above Manhattan, then partially collapsed onto the street below.
The fire broke out shortly before 7:30 a.m. on top of a 50-story building that was under construction on 10th Avenue between West 41st and 42nd streets.
Watch: Extended coverage of Chopper 2 overhead
Mayor Eric Adams is on the scene, along with the FDNY and Department of Buildings. First Deputy Commissioner Joseph W. Pfeifer told reporters ""this could have been a lot worse.""
""As our fire units responded to the scene, we had a collapse. The top part of the crane, the boom and a 16-ton load crashed to the ground,"" he said. ""At that point, we had injuries to civilians and firefighters, but they were minor.""
Six people were hurt, including two firefighters. All of the injuries are described as non-life-threatening.
Watch: Construction workers describe running for their lives
Pfeifer said the crane was lifting 16 tons of concrete when the fire started.
""That crane operator saw that the fire started and tried to extinguish it. So we give a lot of credit to the crane operator. But the fire overwhelmed that operator and had to exit the crane,"" he said. ""The crane operator was able to get out and is safe.""
He described what took place above the roofline.
""Above the roofline, there's a beam that goes out, and that's carrying the weight of concrete. And that weight of 16 tons is attached by a cable. As the fire heats the cable, the cable weakens to a point where it loses its strength, and that's when the collapse occurred,"" he explained.
Watch: Video shows moment crane came crashing down
Drivers are urged to avoid the area for the morning commute, as several roads are closed.
Nearby buildings have been evacuated, and others are also advised to shut their windows.
Watch the latest developments streaming live on CBS News New York in the player above and on our app.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"- Companies
LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - Work has begun on a 2.4 billion pound (2.8 billion euro) project to build the first power cable linking Britain and Germany, said NeuConnect Interconnector, which is leading the move to connect two of Europe’s largest energy markets for the first time
The new energy link will extend over 725 kilometres (450 miles) in length, mostly under the sea, and will be one of the world's largest interconnector projects.
The cables could transfer up to 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of electricity to flow in either direction between Britain and Germany, NeuConnect said in a statement on Wednesday.
The project will help boost energy security as Europe seeks alternatives to Russian pipeline gas following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
""NeuConnect is a key project to support Germany and the UK in achieving their climate targets and to boost energy security,"" said Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to the UK.
""It is the largest Anglo-German infrastructure project and will enable us to share excess power – preventing renewable energy from being wasted.""
The project is financed by France's Meridiam, Germany's Allianz Capital Partners and Japan's Kansai Electric Power (9503.T) with a consortium of more than 20 banks and financial institutions, including the UK Infrastructure Bank and the European Investment Bank.
NeuConnect, which obtained the financial green light in July 2022, will construct new converter stations on the Isle of Grain, in south east England, and the Wilhelmshaven region, in Lower Saxony, northern Germany, connected by subsea cables travelling through British, Dutch and German waters.
The project is expected to be operational by 2028.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Gains From Penny Stocks Should Be Treated As Capital Gains, Says Bombay High Court
This is significant as long-term capital gains are taxable at 10%, while unexplained cash credits are taxed at a flat rate of 60%.
In a relief for investors, the Bombay High Court has ruled that gains from penny stocks have to be treated as long-term capital gains as opposed to unexplained cash credits.
This is significant as long-term capital gains are taxable at 10%, while unexplained cash credits are taxed at a flat rate of 60%.
The recent order affirms a 2016 order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal that allowed proceeds from penny stocks to be treated as long-term capital gains as long as payment and delivery of shares are made. Exemption from long-term capital gains cannot be denied just because there is a SEBI investigation into the irregularities of the scrip, the tribunal held.
The revenue authority had contended that several taxpayers misused the exemptions provided under the Income Tax Act for sale proceeds from listed equity shares to declare their unaccounted income, leading to tax erosion.
These entities, in collaboration with stockbrokers, buy penny stocks from predetermined companies selected by the brokers. The broker then gradually rigs the price of these shares. When the price reaches the desired level, the entity sells the shares it purchased to a paper company owned by it. The purchase is completed using unaccounted money from the taxpayer.
Prior to 2018, taxpayers were exempt from paying long-term capital gains tax as long as the gains arose from the sale of listed securities. The provision was intended to encourage long-term investment in the securities market.
However, considering the misuse, the government, through the Finance Bill of 2018, made all such gains taxable at 10% as long as they exceeded Rs 1 lakh. The present case dates back to the pre-amendment period.
In the present case, it was the revenue authority's argument that the gains Indravadan Jain (Hindu undivided family) earned from the sale of shares of Ramakrishna Fincap Ltd. should be treated as unexplained cash credit as the scrip was revealed to be a penny stock in the assessment officer's investigation.
It was alleged that the transactions were bogus as the broker who dealt in the shares was found to have indulged in price manipulation by SEBI for the very same scrip.
However, according to the court, since the shares were purchased on the floor of stock exchanges and not from any broker, and as payments were made and deliveries taken, the exemption accorded to listed securities under long-term capital gains should be extended to penny stocks as well.",Not_Explicit
"Empty store shelves, people on the brink of starvation, and a region on the brink of yet another massive humanitarian crisis. Nagorno-Karabakh and its residents have once again been cut off from essential supplies after Azerbaijan suspends road traffic on the only road linking Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. For months, between December 2022 and April 2023, environmentalists from Azerbaijan — allegedly linked to the government — were blocking the Lachin Corridor, the only route connecting Armenia to Karabakh across the territory of Azerbaijan. Then on April 28, 2023, the so-called “eco-activists” suspended their blockade following the installation of an Azerbaijani border checkpoint on the corridor. However, since mid-June, no supplies have been allowed past the Azerbaijani checkpoint, and gas supplies have been once again cut off from the region. Azerbaijan has also blocked International Red Cross vehicles from entering the region, citing “contraband” prevention measures. On July 14, thousands of Armenians gathered in Stepanakert (Khankendi in Azerbaijani), Nagorno-Karabakh's capital, and marched to the ICRC office in the city and the Russian peacekeeper base on the city’s outskirts, reported OC Media.
Lachin blockade
Armenia and Azerbaijan may have fought a war two years ago and signed an agreement to end hostilities, but tensions between the two countries over the Karabakh region linger. When the blockade began in December, at first, the protesters demanded Armenia stop the illegal mining in Karabakh and prevent the transfer of minerals into the country. However, in the following days, the demands changed. According to reporting by Radio Liberty at the time, the protesters’ demands changed to “Baku establish control over the Lachin Corridor.”
The border checkpoint set up by Azerbaijan is viewed as a way to better facilitate the blockade of Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan holds the upper hand in screening any vehicle traveling between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Reports that residents were being screened by the Azerbaijani border troops emerged on May 1. According to reports, footage appeared to show Armenian vehicles passing through the checkpoint, with Azerbaijani border control officers inspecting their vehicles and documents.
“The people are from villages near the checkpoint under double blockade and were traveling with the support of peacekeepers, with guarantees of not being bothered,” wrote Artak Beglaryan, an adviser to the State Minister, on Twitter at the time when the checkpoint was set up.
The most recent blockade has left some 120,000 local Armenians cut off from supplies, causing severe shortages:
This elderly woman suffers serious health issues, can’t walk long distances. Due to absence of fuel, there’s no public transportation, leaving her no choice but to walk to find some food. 20,000 elderly civilians go through immense daily suffering due to Azerbaijan’s blockade. pic.twitter.com/tRMmjyXDGJ
— Siranush Sargsyan (@SiranushSargsy1) July 18, 2023
According to reporting by Eurasianet, since July 18, “public transportation services were cut to a bare minimum — only 2.4 percent of the pre-blockade volume.”
Peace talks
On July 15, leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Brussels in talks mediated by the European Council. This was the sixth such meeting that has taken place since the two nations fought a 44-day war in 2020. In June, their foreign ministers convened at a meeting in Washington, DC.
It was an honor to host Azerbaijani Foreign Minister @Bayramov_Jeyhun and Armenian Foreign Minister @AraratMirzoyan at our beautiful new @FSIatState campus. Pleased with the progress made and optimistic an agreement is within reach. pic.twitter.com/rLOIwvagmM
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 4, 2023
In Brussels, following the meeting between the leaders of both countries, the President of the Council of Europe, Charles Michel, said in a statement, “I commended the leaders for their strong commitment to the peace process and encouraged them to take further courageous steps to ensure decisive and irreversible progress on the normalization track.”
But while the leaders discussed some of the pressing points of reaching a final peace deal, there has been little sign of progress on the “most difficult issue — the fate of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh,” wrote Olesya Vartanyan, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, an independent organization that works to prevent wars and shape policies.
The Nagorno-Karabakh area has been under the control of its ethnic Armenian population as a self-declared state since a war fought in the early 1990s, which ended with a ceasefire and Armenian military victory in 1994. In the aftermath of the first war, a new, internationally unrecognized, de facto Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was established. Seven adjacent regions were occupied by the Armenian forces. As a result of that war, “more than a million people had been forced from their homes: Azerbaijanis fled Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the adjacent territories, while Armenians left homes in Azerbaijan,” according to the International Crisis Group. Following the second Karabakh war in 2020, Azerbaijan regained control over much of the previously occupied seven regions. Azerbaijan also captured one-third of Karabakh itself during the war. On November 10, 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia.
According to Vartanyan, although significant progress was made in talks between the two nations in light of Armenian leadership's “significant concessions” since the end of hostilities in 2020, the fate of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh remains unclear. “Armenia is insisting it includes special rights and ensures the security of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian population. International mediators also want special measures due to decades of conflict and the recent 2020 war that claimed over 7,000 lives in just six weeks,” wrote the analyst.
Azerbaijan has yet to produce a document outlining its next steps regarding the ethnic Armenian population. Speaking to Reuters, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said guarantees for ethnic Armenians were not negotiable as this would amount to interfering with Azerbaijan's internal politics. “This is an internal, sovereign issue. The Azerbaijan constitution and a number of international conventions to which Azerbaijan is party provide all the necessary conditions in order to guarantee the rights of this population,” said Bayramov.
In an interview with Politico, Tigran Grigoryan, a political analyst and the director of the Regional Center for Democracy and Security in Yerevan, said if faced with a choice, the local Armenian population will “choose to leave” rather than “accept [Azerbaijani] passports.”
A recent International Crisis Group report published in May 2023 explains how the new checkpoint is viewed among the local Nagorno Karabakh residents:
[Ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh] worry that the checkpoint’s imposition represents a form or muscle flexing that could be the precursor to ethnic cleansing. This move unsettles the ethnic Armenians, who cite a violent history – in particular, Azerbaijani-orchestrated attacks on ethnic Armenians in the late 1980s – that leads them to equate Azerbaijani control with oppression. Indeed, both Azerbaijanis and Armenians harbor bitter memories of being forced to flee areas controlled by the other group in the wake of conflict and for fear of additional bloodshed.
The new round of blockade has given Azerbaijan an upper hand at the negotiation table over peace agreements as well. Speaking to Eurasianet, Zaur Shiriyev, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, “Simply put, Baku controls the Lachin road, meaning everything is in their hands, and while it remains a priority, it seems that there is no immediate urgency to reaching a peace agreement.”
Despite the repeated international calls to end the blockade, official Baku is reluctant to lift the blockade. Meanwhile, reports of deadly clashes continue. And prospects for peace remain hanging by a thread.",Not_Explicit
"Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) is set to headline a fundraising event aimed toward ousting Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) from office, even as the first-term senator has not yet announced whether she plans to run for reelection.
The event will formally resume efforts by the Replace Sinema PAC to boost the group’s chosen candidate to win the Senate seat in 2024: Rep. Ruben Gallego. Goldman is one of four members of Congress to endorse Gallego in the race, along with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Seth Moulton (D-MA).
The fundraiser comes after Gallego managed to outraise Sinema for his second consecutive quarter, raking in $3.1 million during the second quarter alone — besting Sinema’s $1.7 million. Still, Sinema benefits from a hefty war chest of $10.8 million, nearly triple of Gallego’s cash on hand.
Gallego launched his Senate bid in January, just one month after Sinema announced she would be leaving the Democratic Party. Since then, the fifth-term lawmaker has shown considerable momentum as he has dominated both polling and fundraising.
Sinema has not yet indicated whether she plans to run for reelection. However, her candidacy would pose a high-profile three-way race for the crucial swing seat that is likely to become one of the most expensive races of the 2024 cycle.
So far, only one Republican candidate has entered the race: Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who reported a fundraising haul of $608,000 last quarter. All eyes are also on failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who lost to Katie Hobbs in 2022, to see if she launches a bid as well.
The Arizona Senate race is expected to be one of the most competitive elections of the 2024 cycle. It’s one of only three to be rated as a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.",Not_Explicit
"Ada Hegerberg tweaks groin in warmups, pulls out of Norway-Switzerland match
Star forward Ada Hegerberg was involved in a stunning development that saw her pulled out of Norway's Women's World Cup contest against Switzerland just moments before kickoff in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Hegerberg, a former winner of the Ballon D'Or Femenin award given to the best player in the world, shocked fans and television viewers by disappearing down the stadium tunnel just as the Group A clash was getting underway.
FOX reported that Hegerberg had felt discomfort in her groin while performing a final sprint as part of her pre-game warmup, with the teams already on the field and the national anthems having been performed.
She was evaluated by team doctor Trygve Hunemo and returned to the locker room to receive treatment, according to Norwegian TV. Further details as to her status remained incomplete as the Norwegians began their crucial matchup, having lost their opener to New Zealand.
Hegerberg has spent nine years with dominant French club Lyon, and is one of Europe's most feared goalscorers. However, this is only her second World Cup, as she spent five years away from the national team due to a dispute with Norway's soccer federation.
Ahead of the Switzerland matchup, Hegerberg sounded determined to kickstart the team's campaign.
""I think a lot about how I can perform as well as possible and how we can win,"" she told reporters. ""I try to be positive. It gets very serious at times like this, we have to enjoy the football.""
'I feel that it's only going forward and upwards now' - Ada Hegerberg talks return with Norway & World Cup expectations
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT
Women's World Cup Daily: Netherlands draws level with USA in Group E standings
-
What's with so many PKs, and so many misses, in this Women's World Cup?
Italy-Argentina, Germany-Morocco predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup power rankings: USA stays on top; Germany holds onto top-3 spot
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: USA remains favorite to three-peat
Brazilian players at Women's World Cup urge fans to skip work to watch their matches
World Cup NOW: How Netherlands might give U.S. problems
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT
Women's World Cup Daily: Netherlands draws level with USA in Group E standings
-
What's with so many PKs, and so many misses, in this Women's World Cup?
Italy-Argentina, Germany-Morocco predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup power rankings: USA stays on top; Germany holds onto top-3 spot
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: USA remains favorite to three-peat
Brazilian players at Women's World Cup urge fans to skip work to watch their matches
World Cup NOW: How Netherlands might give U.S. problems",Not_Explicit
"Outspoken pro-war blogger Igor Girkin, who has fiercely criticised Russia's military strategy in Ukraine, has been remanded in custody by a court in Moscow, accused of extremism.
The hardline nationalist, also known as Igor Strelkov, could face up to five years in jail.
His wife said he was detained on Friday at their Moscow flat while she was out.
A former FSB intelligence colonel, Strelkov played a key role in Russia's 2014 landgrab of Crimea.
He went on to lead Russia's proxy army in the ensuing war in eastern Ukraine.
Igor Strelkov was one of three men convicted in absentia by a Dutch court last November of murder for his role in a missile strike in 2014 that downed a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over the conflict area, with the loss of all 298 people on board.
But as the full-scale invasion of last year became increasingly bogged down, Strelkov's criticism of military failings and the commander in chief, President Vladimir Putin, became more vociferous.
""We have already lost,"" he told social media followers last year.
A few days ago he called the Kremlin leader ""a nonentity"" and ""a cowardly waste of space"", says BBC Russia editor Steve Rosenberg.
Strelkov's lawyer, Alexander Molokhov, said that after he had been detained his flat had been searched.
Strelkov later appeared at Meshchansky district court in the north-east of the capital, where the judge rejected his request for the hearing to be held behind closed doors, Ria Novosti agency reports. He will now remain in pre-trial detention until at least 18 September.
The war-blogger has been allowed free rein to criticise the president and the military for a long time, so it is unclear what led Russia's Investigative Committee to charge him at this point with using the internet to appeal for ""extremist activity"".
Ever since the start of the war, opponents of Russia's so-called special military operation in Ukraine have been handed lengthy jail terms for far milder remarks.
But earlier this week a retired Russian intelligence officer, Vladimir Kvachkov, was charged with ""discrediting"" the Russian army. He and Strelkov had created the ""Club of Angry Patriots"", livestreaming their criticism of Russia's political and military leadership.
For many years Strelkov, 53, had been considered untouchable, says BBC Russian's Ilya Barabanov.
That was partly because of his previous role as a colonel in the FSB security service, but also because he was identified as a suspect and later convicted of downing flight MH-17 while he was commander of Russia's proxy force in occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Russian investigative website Agentstvo suggested that authorities had revised a previously unspoken rule allowing pro-war bloggers to vent their anger as much as they liked.
Commentator Tatiana Stanovaya said this was a moment that many among the siloviki - the president's inner circle - had eagerly awaited.
Strelkov had long ago ""overstepped all conceivable boundaries"", she said, but the failure of mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had left the army command with greater leverage to quash its opponents.
Prigozhin's Wagner group has had its powers cut since the botched mutiny last month, and the warlord himself has held back from his earlier expletive-laden tirades against the defence minister and army chief.
This week he appeared in a video, apparently filmed in Belarus, welcoming his fighters and saying that Russia's campaign in Ukraine was a ""disgrace we want no part of"".
Reports say that of the estimated 25,000 Wagner mercenaries, 10,000 are heading for Belarus while the others are going ""on leave"". One independent report said that Vladimir Putin had made a final decision that Wagner would cease to exist in Russia itself.
Ukraine's main intelligence directorate welcomed Strelkov's detention as a sign that those inside the Kremlin were approaching an ""active phase of internal confrontation"".",Not_Explicit
"Entre el 20 de julio y 20 de agosto se realiza el Mundial de fútbol femenino Australia-Nueva Zelanda 2023 con la participación de los mejores 32 seleccionados del planeta, entre ellos la Argentina. En la primera etapa los combinados se enfrentan todos contra todos en sus respectivos grupos y los dos líderes clasificarán a octavos de final. Desde entonces, hay cruces de eliminación directa hasta la definición. Todos los encuentros se transmiten en vivo por DirecTV.
La empresa tiene los derechos para emitir en la Argentina los partidos de la Copa del Mundo y pondrá en pantalla a los 64 programados. Cada duelo se proyectará en vivo a través de las señales de DSports y por la plataforma digital DGO, para la cual se requiere ser cliente del cableoperador.
De los elencos que competirán en la cita ecuménica, la Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (Conmebol) tiene tres representes porque, además del combinado nacional, lo harán Brasil y Colombia. Chile y Paraguay no superaron el repechaje y se quedaron afuera. Europa es el que más conjuntos aporta con 12: Noruega, Suiza, Irlanda, España, Inglaterra, Dinamarca, Países Bajos, Portugal, Francia, Suecia, Italia y Alemania. La Confederación de Norteamérica, Centroamérica y el Caribe de Fútbol (Concacaf) contará con seis participantes: Canadá, Costa Rica, Haití, Estados Unidos, Jamaica y Panamá. África aportará a Nigeria, Zambia, Sudáfrica y Marruecos. El resto son los anfitriones de Oceanía y asiáticos como Filipinas, Japón, China, Vietnam y Corea del Sur.
La pelota en la cita ecuménica empezó a rodar este jueves con el duelo inaugural entre Nueva Zelanda y Noruega en el estadio Eden Park de Auckland correspondiente a la primera fecha del grupo A (ganó el local 1 a 0). En la primera jornada habrá otros dos partidos del grupo B. A las 7 (hora argentina) se enfrentarán Australia vs. Irlanda mientras que a las 23.30, es decir en el viernes en Oceanía, Nigeria chocará con Canadá. La primera fecha de la zona concluirá el 21 de julio con Filipinas vs. Suiza desde las 2.
El certamen repartirá, en total, 152 millones de dólares en premios, el triple de lo que se distribuyó en Francia 2019 y 10 veces más que Canadá 2015. El dinero no solo se otorgará a las federaciones de los países, sino también que las 736 futbolistas de los 32 equipos recibirán un premio de 30.000 dólares por solo competir en la etapa de grupos.
Fixture del Mundial 2023
Etapa de grupos
Grupo A
Fecha 1
Nueva Zelanda vs. Noruega - Jueves 20 de julio a las 4.
Filipinas vs. Suiza - Viernes 21 de julio a las 2.
Fecha 2
Nueva Zelanda vs. Filipinas - Martes 25 de julio a las 2.30.
Suiza vs. Noruega - Martes 25 de julio a las 5.
Fecha 3
Suiza vs. Nueva Zelanda - Domingo 30 de julio a las 4.
Noruega vs. Filipinas - Domingo 30 de julio a las 4.
Grupo B
Fecha 1
Australia vs. Irlanda - Jueves 20 de julio a las 7.
Nigeria vs. Canadá - Jueves 20 de julio a las 23.30.
Fecha 2
Canadá vs. Irlanda - Miércoles 26 de julio a las 9.
Australia vs. Nigeria - Jueves 27 de julio a las 7.
Fecha 3
Canadá vs. Australia - Lunes 31 de julio a las 7.
Irlanda vs. Nigeria - Lunes 31 de julio a las 7.
Grupo C
Fecha 1
España vs. Costa Rica - Viernes 21 de julio a las 4.30.
Zambia vs. Japón - Sábado 22 de julio a las 4.
Fecha 2
Japón vs. Costa Rica - Miércoles 26 de julio a las 2.
España vs. Zambia - Miércoles 26 de julio a las 4.30.
Fecha 3
Japón vs. España - Lunes 31 de julio a las 4.
Costa Rica vs. Zambia - Lunes 31 de julio a las 4.
Grupo D
Fecha 1
Inglaterra vs. Haití - Sábado 22 de julio a las 6.30.
Dinamarca vs. China - Sábado 22 de julio a las 9.
Fecha 2
Inglaterra vs. Dinamarca - Viernes 28 de julio a las 5.30.
China vs. Haití - Viernes 28 de julio a las 8.
Fecha 3
China vs. Inglaterra - Martes 1 de agosto a las 8.
Haití vs. Dinamarca - Martes 1 de agosto a las 8.
Grupo E
Fecha 1
Estados Unidos vs. Vietnam - Viernes 21 de julio a las 22.
Países Bajos vs. Portugal - Domingo 23 de julio a las 4.30.
Fecha 2
Estados Unidos vs. Países Bajos - Miércoles 26 de julio a las 22.
Portugal vs. Vietnam - Jueves 27 de julio a las 4.30.
Fecha 3
Portugal vs. Estados Unidos - Martes 1 de agosto a las 4.
Países Bajos vs. Vietnam - Martes 1 de agosto a las 4.
Grupo F
Fecha 1
Francia vs. Jamaica - Domingo 23 de julio a las 7.
Brasil vs. Panamá - Lunes 24 de julio a las 8.
Fecha 2
Francia vs. Brasil - Sábado 29 de julio a las 7.
Panamá vs. Jamaica - Sábado 29 de julio a las 9.30.
Fecha 3
Panamá vs. Francia - Miércoles 2 de agosto a las 8.
Jamaica vs. Brasil - Miércoles 2 de agosto a las 8.
Grupo H
Fecha 1
Alemania vs. Marruecos - Lunes 24 de julio a las 5.30.
Colombia vs. Corea del Sur - Lunes 24 de julio a las 23.
Fecha 2
Corea del Sur vs. Marruecos - Domingo 30 de julio a las 1.30.
Alemania vs. Colombia - Domingo 30 de julio a las 6.30.
Fecha 3
Corea del Sur vs. Alemania - Jueves 3 de agosto a las 7.
Marruecos vs. Colombia - Jueves 3 de agosto a las 7.
Octavos de final
1° Grupo A vs. 2° Grupo C - Sábado 5 de agosto a las 2.
1° Grupo C vs. 2° Grupo A - Sábado 5 de agosto a las 5.
1° Grupo E vs. 2° Grupo G - Sábado 5 de agosto a las 23.
1° Grupo G vs. 2° Grupo E - Domingo 6 de agosto a las 6.
1° Grupo D vs. 2° Grupo B - Lunes 7 de agosto a las 4.30.
1° Grupo B vs. 2° Grupo D - Lunes 7 de agosto a las 7.30.
1° Grupo H vs. 2° Grupo F - Martes 5 de agosto a las 5.
1° Grupo F vs. 2° Grupo H - Martes 8 de agosto a las 8.
Cuartos de final
Ganador partido 1 vs. Ganador partido 3 - Jueves 10 de agosto a las 22.
Ganador partido 2 vs. Ganador partido 4 - Viernes 11 de agosto a las 4.30.
Ganador partido 5 vs. Ganador partido 7 - Sábado 12 de agosto a las 4.
Ganador partido 6 vs. Ganador partido 8 - Sábado 12 de agosto a las 7.30.
Semifinales
Ganador partido 1 vs. Ganador partido 2 - Martes 15 de agosto a las 5.
Ganador partido 3 vs. Ganador partido 4 - Miércoles 16 de agosto a las 7.
Partido por el tercer puesto
Perdedor Semifinal 1 vs. Perdedor semifinal 2 - Sábado 19 de agosto a las 5.
Final
Ganador Semifinal 1 vs. Ganador semifinal 2 - Domingo 20 de agosto a las 7.",Not_Explicit
"Terrifying wildfires have ripped through the Greek island of Rhodes over the past week, forcing thousands of holidaymakers to flee and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

The mass exodus has been described by Greece's government as the 'largest ever' wildfire evacuation in the country's history.

Many British tourists have been stranded on the island with no way home.

It has left many observers wondering how the fires actually started and whether climate change is to blame.

It has not yet been confirmed what caused the fires to start, but Greek firefighters suspect arson is to blame.

Yiannis Artopios, a fire service spokesman, said the authorities were currently questioning a group of suspects.

'Fires are not sparked on their own,' he told Greek television network Skai TV.

'They are triggered by the human hand, be it intentionally or not. We currently have several people being questioned in connection with their probable involvement.'

The same is suspected in Corfu.

Giorgos Mahimaris, the mayor of North Corfu, told the BBC that the fire on the island was a result of arson by a 'group of people'.

Although this may be the case, the heatwave which has been sweeping across Europe will not have helped either.

That's because searing heat creates dry conditions that make it easier for fires to take hold and spread.

MailOnline spoke to experts, who explained that the scorching temperatures are being driven by three key factors - El Niño, a stationary high-pressure system also known as an anticyclone, and climate change.

Professor Stefan Doerr, director of the Centre for Wildfire Research at Swansea University, said: 'Any ignition can rapidly turn into a fast moving wildfire. That could be faulty power lines, small intentional fires to burn debris getting out of control, sparks from moving machinery or building activity or arson.

'Focusing mainly on ignition sources distracts from the main issues which are more flammable landscapes due to insufficient management of vegetation and more extreme weather due to climate change.'

Where have the fires spread to?

The Greek islands of Corfu and Evia are the latest to be caught in the blaze, following on from Rhodes.

Dr Thomas Smith, associate professor in environmental geography at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), said: 'The wildfire on Rhodes began almost a week ago on Tuesday 18 July, and was confined to the hilly terrain of the interior of the island until Saturday when strong northerly winds drove the fire at a fast pace to the coast, some 20 km to the south.

'This coastline is packed with large resort hotels and was the main focus of the evacuation.'

It is not just big tourist destinations and beaches that are affected, however.

Small villages such as Malona and Masari in Rhodes have also been evacuated.

Who has been affected?

Winds are blowing the wildfires towards popular resorts, with 19,000 people in being evacuated from the island of Rhodes.

More than 3,000 people were rescued from beaches and 16,000 from land.

Travel company TUI has announced it is stopping all flights to Rhodes until July 28. Meanwhile, 10,000 Britons are estimated to still be stranded on Rhodes, waiting to get home.

Humans are not the only species who need rescuing. Photographs and videos of animals struggling and dying are also circling social media.

What role did the heatwave play?

Although the fires may have been started by arsonists, the scorching temperatures of the 40 degree Cerberus heatwave are what allowed the blaze to spread so quickly and dangerously.

Last year, a report by UNEP and GRID-Arendal found that climate change and land-use change were making wildfires worse, anticipating a global increase of extreme fires even in areas previously unaffected.

It stated that wildfires were 'becoming more intense and more frequent, ravaging communities and ecosystems in their path'.

Dr Douglas Kelley, a land surface modeller at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said: 'It is too early to say if climate change has caused these wildfires.

'However, the fact there are now so many across the world, most recently in Greece and Canada, is a clear sign that climate change is causing an increase in the number of severe wildfires globally.

'Heatwaves such as the one in Greece are more likely under climate change. A heatwave dries out vegetation and dead plant material, which makes the fires more intense and spread much faster, especially with the recent high winds.

'While not uncommon in southern Europe, what was unusual about the fires in Rhodes was the intensity and the speed at which they spread.

'We predict there will be a global increase in these extreme fires of up 50 per cent by the end of the century.'",Not_Explicit
"The 45th Berlin Pride parade, known in Germany as the Christopher Street Day or CSD featured around 75 trucks that led the huge crowd through the city's downtown on a 7.4-kilometer (4.6-mile) route.
House and electro beats could be heard playing as participants partied in colorful, neon outfits under the motto ""Be their voice — and ours! For more empathy and solidarity!""
The celebration was linked to political demands to work for an open society and against hate and exclusion.
Sequins, heels and flesh dominate
Beyond the political demands, the parade was noted for its imaginative costumes, extravagant wigs, fetish outfits, high heels and lots of naked skin.
One participant even walked through the streets dressed as the Lioness of Kleinmachnow, mocking a massive two-day hunt near Berlin for an escaped lioness that was called off on Friday after it was realized she was probably just a wild boar.
Police and organizers initially did not want to give estimates on the number of participants.
Ahead of the parade, the organizers had expected about 500,000 attendees — significantly more than last year's 350,000-strong crowd.
Berlin's conservative mayor Kai Wegner and Bärbel Bas, president of the German parliament, opened the parade together calling on people to fight discrimination against LGBTQ people.
""We have to send a clear signal for a free, diverse, multifaceted society. We have achieved a lot, but we still have a lot to do,"" said Bas.
Berlin mayor calls for better rights
Wegner also promised an amendment to the German Basic Law during his opening speech at the parade to include sexual identity.
""My commitment to the Berlin Senate is: We want to change Article 3 of the Basic Law. Sexual identity must be included in it. This is my promise,"" Wegner said.
Wegner, a politician for the center-right Christian Democratic Party (CDU) was subjected to loud booing during his speech.
He is the first Berlin mayor to attend the opening of the Pride march.
Germany's constitution has protections against discrimination based on sex, ethnicity, race, language, home country and origin, faith and religious or political views, but not specifically sexual orientation.
The LGBTQ+ community has long been calling for the article to be amended.
Chancellor, Bundestag offer symbol of support
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wished the participants a happy celebration on Twitter, adding: ""Diversity is our strength.""
The rainbow flag was raised outside the chancellory earlier Saturday and on the Reichstag building, the home of the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.
The only party not to support the event was the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). One AfD lawmaker, Martin Reichardt, took to Twitter to criticize the raising of the rainbow flag, saying it stands for the ""sexualization of children.""
The parade was due to end with an evening concert at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, including a performance by the German rock band Tokio Hotel.
Christopher Street Day shares its roots with Pride as celebrated in other countries and dates back to events in June 1969, when police officers in New York stormed the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar on Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village section of lower Manhattan, triggering a historic riot.
mm/ab (AFP, dpa)",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden has represented her country at the Olympics in Tokyo, a king's coronation in London and a royal wedding in Jordan. She gets another chance to put her ambassadorial skills to work this week when the United States formally rejoins a United Nations agency devoted to education, science and culture around the globe.
Biden was arriving in Paris early Monday after flying overnight from Washington to join other VIPs and speak at a ceremony Tuesday at the headquarters of the United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization. The American flag will be raised to mark the U.S. return to membership after a five-year absence.
UNESCO aims to foster global collaboration in education, science and culture. It also designates World Heritage sites, deeming them worthy of eternal preservation.
The agency on Sunday condemned Russia’s attack on a cathedral in Odesa and other heritage sites in Ukraine in recent days and said it will send a team to the Black Sea port city to assess damage.
In a statement, UNESCO noted that Odesa’s historic center was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site earlier this year and said attacks by Russian forces contradict recent promises by Russian authorities to take precautions to spare such sites across the country.
Before returning to Washington on Wednesday, Biden will tour a historic venue in France, Mont-Saint-Michel, a 1,000-year-old Benedictine abbey that was listed as a World Heritage site in 1979. It sits on an island in Normandy, in the north of the country.
A daughter and mother of U.S. service members, the first lady will also visit Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial to pay respects to the more than 4,400 U.S. service members buried there, most of whom died in Normandy and Brittany during World War II.
She will also stop at the Elysée Palace in Paris on Tuesday to catch up with Brigitte Macron, a former teacher and the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron. The women have met several times over the past two years, including in Washington last December when Macron was on a state visit to the U.S.
Senior Biden administration officials said returning to UNESCO fits President Joe Biden’s goal of strengthening global partnerships and recommitting to American leadership at the U.N. and other international organizations to serve as a counter to nations that do not share U.S. values.
Others said Jill Biden, who teaches English and writing at a Virginia community college, was best suited to represent the United States in Paris on Tuesday.
“The first lady, as a lifelong educator and believer in the power of educational opportunity across the world, is honored to help celebrate this important milestone,” said Elizabeth Alexander, a spokesperson. “She looks forward to raising the flag for the United States once again at the UNESCO headquarters, showing our country’s commitment to international cooperation in education, science, and culture.”
The U.S. pulled out of the Paris-based organization in 2018, under then-President Donald Trump, a Republican who claimed UNESCO was biased against Israel.
The administration of Biden, a Democrat, pushed to rejoin over concerns that China was filling the void in leadership created by the U.S. absence.
The administration announced in June that it would apply to rejoin the 193-member organization that also plays a major role in setting international standards for artificial intelligence and technology education.
The organization’s governing board voted earlier this month to approve the Biden plan to rejoin, and the U.S. delivered a document certifying that it would accept the invitation to become the 194th member of UNESCO.
“Our organization is once again moving towards universality,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said at the time. She cast the U.S return as “excellent news for multilateralism as a whole. If we want to meet the challenges of our century, there can only be a collective response.”
The Trump administration in 2017 announced that the U.S. would withdraw from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias. That decision that took effect a year later.
The U.S. and Israel stopped financing UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011.
The Biden administration has requested $150 million for the 2024 budget to go toward UNESCO dues and arrears. The plan foresees similar requests for the ensuing years until the full debt of $619 million is repaid.
That makes up a big chunk of UNESCO’s $534 million annual operating budget. Before leaving, the U.S. contributed 22% of the agency’s overall funding.
The United States previously pulled out of UNESCO under the Reagan administration in 1984 because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt and used to advance Soviet interests. It rejoined in 2003 during George W. Bush’s presidency. His wife, Laura, spoke at the ceremony.
Standing in for the president at home and abroad has become a big part of a first lady's unofficial job description and Biden travels at least several times a week to promote administration initiatives.
The trip to Paris is Jill Biden’s fourth solo international excursion this year.
She visited Namibia and Kenya in February, followed by a trip to London in May for the coronation of King Charles III. In June, she traveled to Jordan to attend the royal wedding of a son of King Abdullah II, followed by stops in Egypt, Morocco and Portugal.
Before flying to Paris on Sunday night, she headlined fundraisers Friday and Saturday in Massachusetts for her husband's reelection campaign.",Not_Explicit
"Israeli president promises to ‘protect and defend’ democracy in face of judicial crisis
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday promised to “protect and defend” Israel’s democracy as it faces a crisis over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pursuit of a judicial overhaul and that has drawn unprecedented criticism from the U.S.
In a speech to a joint meeting of Congress marking Israel’s 75th anniversary, Herzog called Israeli protests against Netanyahu and his government “painful, and deeply unnerving, because it highlights the cracks within the whole.”
President Biden has urged Netanyahu to work with Herzog to reach an agreement with the political opposition to abandon some of the most controversial measures of the government’s judicial overhaul plan, which critics say would neuter the country’s Supreme Court and undermine its democracy.
“As head of state, I will continue doing everything to reach a broad public consensus, and to preserve, protect and defend the State of Israel’s democracy,” Herzog said to lawmakers.
Herzog’s visit to Washington, and his address to Congress, served as an attempt by the Biden administration to bridge the divides in his party — reinforcing Democratic support for Israel without legitimizing Netanyahu’s controversial government.
Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Monday as the Israeli president arrived in Washington and agreed to meet in the fall in the United States, but has not yet extended an explicit invitation to the White House.
Democratic divisions were apparent on Wednesday, when at least seven progressives skipped the Israeli president’s speech. They included Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Cori Bush (Mo.), Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) and Pramila Jayapal (Wash.).
Some of those lawmakers have denounced Israel as an apartheid state and condemned Netanyahu’s government as racist – critical of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, its settlement activity in the West Bank and saying that the judicial overhaul will worsen the situation.
Herzog addressed those statements head-on.
“I am not oblivious to criticism among friends, including some expressed by respected members of this House,” he said, adding that while respects the criticism “one does not always have to accept it,” which elicited laughs and claps in the chamber.
His remarks came one day after the House overwhelmingly approved a resolution affirming that Israel “is not a racist or apartheid state” and that the U.S. “will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel,” while also condemning xenophobia and antisemitism.
The final vote was 412-9-1, with all opposition coming from progressive Democrats — some of whom boycotted Wednesday’s speech.
The resolution was drawn up in reaction to remarks by Jayapal, the chair of the Progressive Caucus, who, during a progressive conference in Chicago over the weekend, said that “Israel is a racist state.”
The comment drew vocal bipartisan criticism, and Jayapal later apologized, walked back her remarks and focused her criticism on the Netanyahu government.
Jayapal did not attend Herzog’s speech, with a Democratic aide saying in a statement that her absence was due to “scheduling conflicts.” She did, however, support the resolution on Tuesday.
One of the loudest applause lines came when Herzog warned that criticism of Israel should not “cross the line into negation of the State of Israel’s right to exist.”
“Questioning the Jewish people’s right to self-determination is not legitimate diplomacy, it is antisemitism,” he added.
While Herzog’s roughly 40-minute remarks were overwhelmingly celebrated by both sides of the chamber, some Republicans stayed seated while other lawmakers stood to applaud the Israeli president describing Israel as hosting “the largest and most impressive LGBTQ Pride parades.”
Still, the chamber was filled with lawmakers proclaiming support for Israel — with the U.S. and Israel working closely together to counter threats from Iran and its nuclear ambitions and advance efforts to establish ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“Israel thanks the United States for working towards establishing peaceful relations between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a leading nation in the region and in the Muslim world,” Herzog said.
“We pray for this moment to come. This would be a huge sea change in the course of history in the Middle East and the world at large.”
The remark received an overwhelming bipartisan standing ovation. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the ranking member on the Judiciary committee who is Jewish, held up Israel’s flag during the Israeli president’s remarks.
Herzog said that his deepest “yearning… is for Israel to one day make peace with our Palestinian neighbors” — comments that drew a bipartisan standing ovation — but called out Palestinian attacks against Israelis as undermining possibilities for a future peace.
“Notwithstanding the deep political differences, and the numerous challenges that surround Israeli-Palestinian relations — and I do not ignore them — but it should be clear that one cannot talk about peace while condoning or legitimizing terror, implicitly or explicitly. True peace cannot be anchored in violence,” he said.
Herzog thanked the U.S. for its “commitment to Israel’s security,” but noted that the relationship is a “two-way alliance, in which Israel has been making critical contributions to the national security and interests of the United States in numerous ways.”
To date, the U.S. has provided $158 billion in bilateral assistance and missile defense, according to the Congressional Research Service, although that number is not adjusted for inflation.
The former Obama administration negotiated two, 10-year agreements that provided Israel $30 billion up to 2018, and $33.8 billion between 2019 and 2028.
In 2021, Congress appropriated an additional $1 billion to restock Israel’s missile defense system, Iron Dome, but that was largely delayed over opposition from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
Herzog is only the second Israeli president to address Congress. His father, Chaim Herzog, marked Israel’s 40th anniversary with a joint speech to Congress in 1987.
He called it “the honor of a lifetime” to follow in his father’s footsteps, and he paid notice to his other deep family roots in his speech, referencing how his grandfather, the chief rabbi of the newly established State of Israel, met with then-President Truman in the White House in 1949.
The president’s brother, Michael Herzog, is Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S.
“To us, it is clear that America is irreplaceable to Israel, and Israel is irreplaceable to America. It is time to design the next stage of our evolving friendship and our growing partnership together,” Herzog said in his speech.
“Israel and the United States will inevitably disagree on many matters. But we will always remain family.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"- Scores of Russians fled their homeland following the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
- Many resettled in neighboring countries such as Armenia, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan.
- The growth of such countries surged in 2022 after the arrival of these Russians, per a new report.
Hundreds of thousands of Russians who fled their homeland following the country's invasion of Ukraine have resettled in neighboring countries — and are boosting their economies.
The exodus of Russians started after many highly educated professionals — such as academics, finance, and tech workers — left Russia in the early days of the war, Insider's Jason Lalljee reported in March 2022. About six months later, there was another wave of departures after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military mobilization for the Ukraine war on September 21.
By October 2022, about 700,000 Russians had left the country, Reuters reported citing Russian media — however, the Kremlin rejected those numbers saying it doesn't have this data.
Many of these Russians ended up in neighboring countries, setting up new lives and businesses, and ended up boosting the economies of these nations, the independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta reported on Friday.
The GDP of the South Caucasus — a region comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia — grew by an outsized 7% in 2022, according to the World Bank. This far outpaced the 5.6% growth that World Bank economists had predicted.
Armenia — once known as the Silicon Valley of the Soviet Union — saw its 2022 growth spike to 12.6%, per the World Bank. The institution's economists had forecast a 7.0% growth for the country last year.
Suren Parsyan, a lecturer at the Armenian State University of Economics, told Novaya Gazeta that Armenia's growth last year was thanks to the newly arrived Russians, particularly those who work in IT.
Russians transferred about $1.75 billion to Armenia in 2022, Martin Galstyan, the country's central bank governor said in January this year, the Armenia-based NEWS.am agency reported.
Meanwhile, Georgia's GDP jumped by 10.1% in 2022, per the World Bank, beating an 8.8% growth forecast. Money transfers from Russia rose five-fold from $411 million in 2021 to $2.1 billion in 2022, according to data from Georgia's central bank.
Even Kyrgyzstan's economy grew by 7% in 2022, outpacing a 4% forecast, per the World Bank.
Turkey, a hot spot for Russia fleeing the war, saw its economy grow 5.6% in 2022, outpacing a forecast of 4.7%, per the World Bank data.
Oleg Itskhoki, an economics professor at the University of California, told Novaya Gazeta that the GDP performance in such countries demonstrates that the newly arrived Russians had savings and were wealthier than the local residents.
But to be sure, immigration hasn't only had a positive impact on the economies. The influx of Russians also contributed to a rise in inflation, such as a jump in hotel rates and rents in Kazakhstan and Georgia, Bloomberg reported in September last year.",Not_Explicit
"Richard Moore, or 'C', the man at the head of Britain's shadowy MI6 spy agency said Wednesday its doors were always open to Russians working for the Kremlin who felt uneasy about what their country was doing to Ukraine. File photo by Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
July 19 (UPI) -- The head of the British secret intelligence service MI6 on Wednesday urged Russians who felt ashamed of serving in Vladimir Putin's regime to defect or become spies for Britain.
Richard Moore, the spy agency's chief, told Russians struggling with pangs of conscience over the war in Ukraine were encouraged to come join the service, in a speech in the Czech Republic capital, Prague.
""I invite them to do what others have already done this past 18 months and join hands with us -- our door is always open,"" Moore said.
""We will handle their offers of help with the discretion and professionalism for which our service is famed, their secrets will always be safe with us.""
In his speech marking the 55th anniversary of the crackdown by Russian forces that ended the 1968 Prague Spring uprising in then-Czechoslovakia, Moore said he knew many Russian were torn by the ""same dilemmas and the same tugs of conscience"" as their forebears did back then.
He said Russians were quietly appalled to see their military ""pulverizing"" the cities of a ""kindred country.""
""They know in their hearts that Putin's case for attacking a fellow Slavic nation is fraudulent, a miasma of lies and fantasy,"" said Moore in the only speech he has given this year.
Regarding the short-lived mutiny by the Wagner mercenary forces of Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin in June, Moore said the compromise agreement the Russian president was forced to negotiate in order for the fighters to stand down was a ""humiliation.""
He said that while Prigozhin had not been seen since and his exact whereabouts remained a mystery, as far as MI6 was concerned the Wagner leader was still alive.
Under the behind-closed-doors deal, brokered in part by Belarus President Lukashenko, Prigozhin was offered safe passage out of Russia to Belarus and his forces were offered the choice of joining him there, demobilizing, or signing up with the Russian regular army.
Ukraine's border guard confirmed Wagner Group forces had arrived in Belarus as Russian President Vladimir Putin continued efforts to split the mercenaries from their leader.
However, Ukraine's State Border Service was unable to provide details saying its officers were working to gauge the numbers and location of the Wagner units arriving.",Not_Explicit
"AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Huynh Nhu started playing soccer with a coconut-like fruit for a ball as a child. Now a member of Vietnam's national team, she will captain her squad in a daunting opening match against the United States in the Women's World Cup.
The match will mark a milestone for Vietnam soccer, which is making its World Cup debut. A Vietnamese national team has never played in the men's or women's tournament.
Just making the field was an accomplishment. But now Vietnam, the 32nd-ranked women’s team in the world, faces the two-time defending tournament champions in its debut.
On paper, it seems like an incredible mismatch. Even so, Vietnamese coach Mai Duc Chung is determined to show what Vietnam can do on the global stage.
“We came here not just for tourism. We are here to play,” Mai said Friday. “The U.S. is a very, very strong team. It is like a mountain, but it doesn’t mean that we will give up. We will have very suitable tactics so that we can minimize the conceded goals.”
Vietnam qualified for the tournament through last year’s Women’s Asian Cup. The Vietnamese were knocked out in the quarterfinals by China, putting them into a round-robin playoff. They then defeated Thailand and Taiwan. Both opponents were struggling with COVID-19 issues at the time.
“We will try our best so that we can bring the image of Vietnam to the world,” Mai said. “I hope that this journey will be an inspiration for the development of Vietnamese football in the future.”
Southeast Asian soccer, especially women’s soccer, is underdeveloped compared to global powers in the sport. Vietnam's first women’s national team was formed in 1997 and Huynh is the only player who competes outside the country. She plays for Länk FC Vilaverdense in Portugal’s top soccer league.
Prior to the start of the tournament, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said each player participating in the Women's World Cup will walk away with at least $30,000 in prize money –- a bonus in developed nations but a windfall for players from countries such as Vietnam.
But then Infantino this week said he couldn’t guarantee that the member federations will distribute the payments. He said he’s still working with the federations to make that happen.
The Vietnam women’s national team members can make around $850 a month, or $10,200 a year, a ccording to the New York Times,
“We received attention from the government, from the ministry of sports and from relevant agencies,” Huynh said. “The living standards have been improved. We received the support of FIFA, so it will improve the conditions for the Vietnamese players. The amount is not small for us, particularly for the women’s players.”
Despite the increase in attention and pay, the Vietnam players are trying to treat their opening match as a normal match, with the intention of bringing pride to their home country.
“I do hope that this tournament here is endless inspiration for the children of Vietnam, for the people of Vietnam,” Huynh said.
___
Zach Allen is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
___
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
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JERUSALEM (AP) — Tens of thousands of protesters marched into Jerusalem on Saturday evening and hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv and other cities in a last-ditch show of force aimed at blocking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial overhaul.
Also Saturday, more than 100 of Israel’s former security chiefs signed a letter pleading with the Israeli premier to halt the legislation, and thousands of additional military reservists said they would no longer report for duty, in a protest against the plan.
In scorching heat that reached 33 C (91 F), the procession into Jerusalem turned the city’s main entrance into a sea of blue and white Israeli flags as marchers completed the last leg of a four-day, 70-kilometer (45-mile) trek from Tel Aviv to Israel’s parliament.
The marchers, who grew from hundreds to thousands as the march progressed, were welcomed in Jerusalem by throngs of cheering protesters before they set up camp in rows of small white tents outside the Knesset, or parliament, before Monday’s expected vote. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands flooded the streets of the coastal city of Tel Aviv, the country’s business and cultural capital, as well as in Beersheba, Haifa and Netanya.
Netanyahu and his far-right allies claim the overhaul is needed to curb what they say are the excessive powers of unelected judges. But their critics say the plan will destroy the country’s system of checks and balances and put it on the path toward authoritarian rule.
U.S. President Joe Biden has urged Netanyahu to halt the plan and seek a broad consensus.
The proposed overhaul has drawn harsh criticism from business and medical leaders, and a fast-rising number of military reservists in key units have said they will stop reporting for duty if the plan passes, raising concern that the country’s security interests could be threatened. An additional 10,000 reservists announced they were suspending duty on Saturday night, according to “Brothers in Arms,” a protest group representing retired soldiers.
READ MORE: Netanyahu’s planned judicial overhaul divides Israeli military
More than 100 top former security chiefs, including retired military commanders, police commissioners and heads of intelligence agencies, joined those calls on Saturday, signing a letter to Netanyahu blaming him for compromising Israel’s military and urging him to halt the legislation.
The signatories included Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister, and Moshe Yaalon, a former army chief and defense minister. Both are political rivals of Netanyahu.
“The legislation is crushing those things shared by Israeli society, is tearing the people apart, disintegrating the IDF and inflicting fatal blows on Israel’s security,” the former officials wrote.
“The legislative process violates the social contract that has existed for 75 years between the Israeli government and thousands of reserve officers and soldiers from the land, air, sea and intelligence branches who have volunteered for many years for the reserves to defend the democratic state of Israel, and now announce with a broken heart that they are suspending their volunteer service,” the letter said.
Israel Katz, a senior Cabinet minister from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said the bill would pass one way or another on Monday.
“I represent citizens who are not ready to have their voice canceled because of threats of refusal to serve” or by those blocking the airport, highways and train stations, he told Channel 12 TV. “There is a clear attempt here to use military service to force the government to change policy.”
After seven straight months of the most sustained and intense demonstrations the country has ever seen, the grassroots protest movement has reached a fever pitch.
The parliament is expected to vote Monday on a measure that would limit the Supreme Court’s oversight powers by preventing judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are “unreasonable.”
Proponents say the current “reasonability” standard gives the judges excessive powers over decision making by elected officials. But critics say that removing the standard, which is invoked only in rare cases, would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions, make improper appointments or firings and open the door to corruption.
Monday’s vote would mark the first major piece of legislation to be approved.
The overhaul also calls for other sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions, to changing the way judges are selected.
Protesters, who make up a wide swath of Israeli society, see the overhaul as a power grab fueled by various personal and political grievances by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, and his partners, who want to deepen Israel’s control of the occupied West Bank and perpetuate controversial draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
In a speech Thursday, Netanyahu doubled down on the overhaul and dismissed as absurd the accusations that the plan would destroy Israel’s democratic foundations.
“This is an attempt to mislead you over something that has no basis in reality,” he said. Alarmed by the growing mass of reservists refusing to serve, the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, pushed for a delay in Monday’s vote, according to reports in Israeli media. It was unclear if others would join him.
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"Former President Donald Trump and his allies are already scheming up plans to significantly expand his presidential power if he wins back the White House next year.
The New York Times reported on Monday that Trump and his inner circle have a ""broader goal: to alter the balance of power by increasing the president's authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House, according to a review of his campaign policy proposals and interviews with people close to him.""
This wide-ranging plan would include bringing independent agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency directly under the president, the return of ""impounding"" funds — a strategy banned during the Nixon administration that empowered a president to refuse to spend Congressionally-allocated money on programs they dislike — as well as the removal of employment protections for thousands of career civil servants and an intelligence agency purge of officials he holds personal vendettas against and has deemed to be ""deep staters"" and ""the sick political class that hates our country.""
""We will demolish the deep state,"" Trump said at a rally in Michigan. ""We will expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists. And we will throw off the sick political class that hates our country.""
Under Trump's plan — which was drafted during his first term — independent agencies would be required to submit actions to the president for review, in an effort to consolidate such organizations ""under presidential authority."" The order was ultimately not enacted due to internal concerns such as how the market would react if the Federal Reserve was stripped of its independence.
""What we're trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them,"" Russell Vought, who headed the Office of Management and Budget during Trump's administration, told the Times. Open discussion of such political strategies is rife in Trump's rallies and campaign websites, according to the report, a tactic Vought described as planting ""a flag"" ahead of the election.
Vought added that ""at the bare minimum,"" the Federal Reserve should be subject to presidential review. ""It's very hard to square the Fed's independence with the Constitution,"" he told the Times.
Former White House personnel chief John McEntee, who is credited with initiating Trump's 2020 efforts to expel officials he personally opposed, also did not mince words regarding the ex-president's scheme.
""The president's plan should be to fundamentally reorient the federal government in a way that hasn't been done since F.D.R.'s New Deal,"" McEntee said. ""Our current executive branch was conceived of by liberals for the purpose of promulgating liberal policies. There is no way to make the existing structure function in a conservative manner. It's not enough to get the personnel right. What's necessary is a complete system overhaul.""
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung observed that Trump has ""laid out a bold and transparent agenda for his second term, something no other candidate has done.""
""Voters will know exactly how President Trump will supercharge the economy, bring down inflation, secure the border, protect communities and eradicate the deep state that works against Americans once and for all,"" he added.
But former White House chief of staff John Kelly said he felt the strategy would be ""chaotic"" because Trump would ""continually be trying to exceed his authority but the sycophants would go along with it. It would be a nonstop gunfight with the Congress and the courts.""
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
Experts raised major concerns over Trump's ""alarming"" plot.
""Anyone who opposes a Presidential autocracy in America should read this closely,"" warned presidential historian Michael Beschloss.
""The conservatives who are pushing this should imagine for one second the panic they would express if Biden did it,"" tweeted national security attorney Bradley Moss.
""In 2024, authoritarianism—unchecked, unembarrassed and undisguised—will be on the ballot,"" wrote Bill Kristol, a longtime NeverTrump conservative and founder of The Weekly Standard.
""Be afraid. This is on the verge of happening 18 months from now,"" tweeted MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan. ""Now ask yourself this question: are cautious, in-denial, business-as-usual establishment Dems equipped, or even willing, to address this anti-democratic, autocratic threat?""",Not_Explicit
"Gaetz says he’ll offer bill to defund Jack Smith investigations of Trump
Gaetz made the announcement hours after Trump said he’d been notified he is a target of the Justice Department’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Smith is leading the investigation.
“They are attacking our democracy and engaging in election interference right now,” said Gaetz, who vowed to “defund the Jack Smith investigation.”
He also alleged the investigation lacks transparency, saying the Justice Department has been nonresponsive to his request for information about who is on Smith’s team.
Gaetz sits on the House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the committee’s chairman, has threatened to cut funding for the Justice Department and FBI, alleging those agencies have been “weaponized” for political purposes.
After Trump was indicted in the investigation into documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home — another investigation Smith is leading — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called for defunding Smith’s office.
Gaetz said he knows President Biden (D) would not sign his proposal into law and that Senate Majority Leader “Chuck Schumer [D-N.Y.] would never bring such a thing up.”
“But you deserve to know where your members of Congress are counted. Will they cosponsor my legislation? I certainly hope they will,” he said.
If Trump is indicted in the Jan. 6 investigation, it would be his third indictment this year and his second on federal charges. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the other indictments. One stemmed from charges in Manhattan related to an alleged hush money scheme, and the other was in the Smith-led case related to Trump’s holding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump said in a statement Tuesday the various investigations are a “witch hunt” and “all about election interference” in all caps.
A spokesman for Smith’s office declined to comment.
This story was updated at 11:10 a.m.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"'Nontheistic' nonprofit calls for Bible ban in Leon schools, citing Moms for Liberty efforts
The Freedom from Religion Foundation, which describes itself as a nontheistic nonprofit, is giving Leon County School District an ultimatum: Ban the Bible or stop banning books altogether.
In an email sent to school board members on July 14, Freedom from Religion foundation piled onto a recent successful effort by the local chapter of conservative group Moms for Liberty to pull five books found in Leon County high schools.
""We are disturbed that the district has chosen to start removing books from school libraries based oncontent taken out of context at the request of extremist groups like Moms for Liberty,"" foundation Staff Attorney Christopher Line said in the published email to the district.
Following prodding from Moms for Liberty Leon chapter, Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna announced on July 10 that five books would be removed from high school libraries.
""Of these 468,000-plus books that we have in our current catalog, if we come across those we deem are in violation of state statute, we will remove them immediately... These are black-and-white, cut-and-dry, need-to-be removed,"" Hanna said.
The five books were not removed in a formal hearing process, instead they were reviewed by Hanna and removed without a hearing from members of the public.
""We don't believe any books should be banned, including the Bible,"" Line told the Tallahassee Democrat in an interview. ""In cases like this where a school district appears to be using a footpath to discriminate, we demand that they apply that equally across the board to all books that have sexually explicit content, including the Bible.""
Freedom from Religion says the Bible should be banned based on the same reasoning Moms for Liberty presented in their request; ""sexually explicit content.""
""We write to request that the District either ban the bible based on the criterion of 'sexually explicitcontent' it has used to ban these books, or cease banning books and return the banned books to schoolshelves,"" Line wrote in the email.
The chair of of Leon County's Moms for Liberty chapter is not surprised by Freedom from Religion's request.
""Those who would prematurely sexualize other people’s children in schools, also do not want children exposed to The Bible,"" Priscilla West told the Tallahassee Democrat. ""I don't foresee LCS Board members taking a stand to remove the Bible from school libraries, but even if they did, would it make any difference in the children's daily educational experience?""
""Happily, in this country The Bible would still be widely available outside of schools to all who choose to enrich themselves with its wisdom.""
Leon County School District spokesperson Chris Petley told the Tallahassee Democrat on Monday that no comment would be available on the matter until the board reviews the request. The next school board meeting will be 2 p.m. July 24 to discuss the first official book challenge hearing of ""I am Billie Jean King"" by Brad Meltzer.
Not the first Bible challenge
While the Bible has been challenged and reviewed across the state in school districts, it has never been banned.
Chaz Stevens, a political activist from Deerfield Beach, sent 62 superintendents in Florida a request in April 2022 to ban the Bible, making it the first official complaint for Leon County Schools. This came on the heels of Gov. Ron DeSantis signing HB 1467 into law on March 28, 2022.
The law allows parents of students to review learning materials and contest them if they're considered inappropriate.
""My goal is to use the law as our expert politicians in Tallahassee intended,"" Stevens said last year. ""There were no carve outs for religious texts, so I would assume they meant for them to be in play.”
The School Board quickly dismissed Stevens' challenge.
The latest challenge comes days after Barry Silver, an outspoken civil rights activist, challenged the Bible in Palm Beach County for containing, ""misogyny, violence, sexual conduct, rape, incest, animal cruelty, abuse, anti-Semitism, anti-science and indoctrination.""
""The Bible has this elevated, sacrosanct status that it cannot be evaluated. That's really dangerous,"" Silver told the Palm Beach Post last week. ""If you're going to have these laws, then you have to do it in an even-handed fashion. You can't just get rid of books you don't like and consider others to be above critical review.""
The Bible was submitted for review in Brevard County Public Schools in May, along with nearly 300 other books, by an anonymous person who claimed it and other books broke state statutes. However, school board members did not see the Bible as an issue and decided to keep it on the shelves.
Last fall, the Bible was temporarily removed from shelves in Escambia County, Florida, for review amid more than 100 other books that were on a list the district maintains. The district swiftly returned the book to classroom and library shelves.
In June, a parent in Utah, backed by Freedom from Religion, submitted a complaint about the Bible in the Davis School District, citing passages describing sex and violence. The district placed the Bible under review and ultimately decided to remove it from elementary and middle school libraries for containing ""vulgarity or violence."" The decision is being appealed by another parent.
Tallahassee Democrat writer Alaijah Brown can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com.",Not_Explicit
"On the night of June 9, 2023, there should have been no one on the streets of Tobruk, a coastal city in eastern Libya. A few days earlier, a curfew had been imposed, so that the authorities could launch an operation against criminal groups trafficking in people and drugs.
But that same night, a fishing boat called the Adriana set sail clandestinely from the beach, without being stopped. At least 750 men, women and children were packed on board. This is the ship that, five days later, on June 14, sank near the coastal town of Pylos, in Greek territorial waters, leaving only 104 survivors.
An EL PAÍS investigation in collaboration with Lighthouse Reports, Reporters United, Monitor, SIRAJ and Der Spiegel has identified the migrant smuggling network that organized the trip. Evidence has been found that closely links this mafia to Khalifa Hafter, the powerful warlord who dominates eastern Libya. Certain European states have also been involved in negotiations with Hafter to stop irregular immigration.
Days after the sinking of the Adriana, another EL PAÍS investigation – conducted in collaboration with the same partners – revealed the efforts of the Greek Coast Guard to hide the role that it played in the incident. The Greek Naval Court opened an investigation to determine the possible responsibility of the Coast Guard, but so far, no action has been taken against those involved. In fact, the only arrests to date are of nine Egyptian men in a separate investigation of the human smuggling ring that organized this deadly journey. Those arrested are accused of six crimes, including illegal trafficking of foreigners, belonging to a criminal organization and reckless homicide due to negligence. They are currently in pretrial detention.
The Greek Ministry of Maritime Affairs has not responded to this newspaper’s questions about the case. The ministry’s press office has only said that there’s “a strictly confidential criminal investigation” taking place, “in accordance with the guidelines of the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court.”
However, the sources and documents that EL PAÍS and Lighthouse Reports have had access to reveal that the Adriana’s journey isn’t an isolated event. Rather, it’s merely one incident within the flourishing criminal activity of migrant smuggling that originates from the eastern coast of Libya. Those responsible for the smuggling are under the protection of the Hafter family.
Up to 17 survivors of the shipwreck have given their testimony. Several of them have provided the names of the traffickers involved in organizing the trip from Tobruk. Of the mobsters mentioned, none sailed with them on the ship. Some were originally from eastern Libya and have ties to the naval forces in that area of the country.
Among the names of the criminals, one was mentioned more than the rest: Muhammad Saad Al-Kahshi Al-Mnfi. Up to three different sources identify him as an essential figure in the human trafficking operation: a survivor, a lower-ranking trafficker and another source with inside information. “He’s the one who issued the license that allowed the boat to navigate Libyan waters,” says the survivor of the shipwreck, who asked to remain anonymous.
Al-Kahshi works for a special naval unit known as the “frogmen.” The unit is led by Bahar Al-Tawati Al-Mnfi, one of his relatives. He, in turn, is under the direct orders of Khalifa Hafter, according to the source. This witness also explains that all the boat trips take place “under the supervision of Saddam Hafter, the son of Khalifa Hafter.” The importance of the frogmen is that no ship can enter or leave Libyan beaches and ports without the approval of this unit. “Either Saddam himself leads the operation, or he assigns it to one of the frogmen battalions,” the source explains. The Libyan Coast Guard receives money in exchange for turning off the radar systems that detect the movement of ships, thus facilitating the exit of clandestine vessels.
“The ship that sank in Greece set sail from Egypt, crossed Libyan territorial waters to Tobruk and set sail again from that Libyan city. These kinds of things are only possible if the Hafter-controlled [Libyan Navy] agrees,” emphasizes Jalel Harchaoui, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a UK-based security think tank.
Five survivors of the shipwreck – who flew from Syria to Libya to board the fishing boat in Tobruk – have described how easy it was for them to get out of the military airfield in Benghazi, the main city in eastern Libya, thanks to the help of commanding officers. “At the airport, a person took my passport, went to the immigration office, put a stamp on it and took us outside,” one of the survivors recalls. On the night of the Adriana’s departure – amidst a curfew – other survivors say that they, along with hundreds of other passengers, were taken without incident to a small bay near Wadi Arzouka, east of Tobruk. From there, they boarded the fishing boat.
The Hafter family
Khalifa Hafter controls the eastern territories of Libya, which has become a failed state. Different parts of the country have been controlled by various factions since the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and, with him, the regime’s apparatus.
After years of internal struggles, there are two groups that control the majority of the territory. In the west, the Government of National Unity – sponsored by the United Nations – is in charge. In the east, a war took place between 2014 and 2017 that pitted Hafter and his allies against several political opponents. The field marshal won, becoming the closest thing to a head of state in the east. “All the armed actors [in the east] have to report to Hafter in some way, because he has the ability to project power in most of the region,” Harchaoui says. “Hafter can’t say he doesn’t know what’s going on. He cannot say that he is not involved.”
Pablo Sapag – a researcher in armed conflicts at the Complutense University of Madrid – indicates that Libya’s is currently experiencing a reduction in violence due to the fact that the armed groups have reached an agreement, dividing up ports, oil fields, human trafficking routes and other lucrative assets and activities. “During the period of great military instability in Libya, between 2012 and 2018, it was more difficult to traffic people, due to security conditions,” Sapag clarifies. “But since 2021 and 2022, the number of trafficking victims has skyrocketed.”
The European connection
These findings raise serious questions about the immigration prevention policies of several member states of the European Union (EU), which, in the past, have made agreements with the National Unity Government in the west of Libya. But now, they’ve started talks with Hafter.
It’s well known to the EU that the authorities in eastern Libya profit from migrant smuggling. An internal document from the German government shows that EU officials were informed months ago about the increase in outflows from eastern Libya, describing it as “a lucrative source of revenue for the eastern Libyan rulers involved.” And, at the beginning of June, Ylva Johansson – the EU commissioner for Home Affairs – declared that the European Commission had indications that criminal elements were part of Libya’s Coast Guard. However, a spokesperson for the European Commission explains that the institution “does not have the mandate to carry out investigations or conclusively establish the facts” in this case. “Commissioner Johansson made [was referencing] the report by the UN-appointed independent human rights investigators, published in March,” the spokesperson told EL PAÍS via email.
Despite this evidence, the EU provides Libya with resources and training, even though it has no way of controlling where these funds go. And, while the EU has a representative in Tripoli, it doesn’t have the capacity to impose its authority throughout the country. “It’s very difficult [to know if the funds are being used well],” Sapag laments. “You cannot ask a militia to give you an invoice to guarantee if they’ve intercepted migrant boats and how many there have been. It’s absolutely impossible. Obviously, the money is going to be wasted on many other things.”
In recent months, Italy and Malta have entered into talks with Hafter, for the purpose of combating irregular migration. In May of 2023, Hafter met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In June, Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi declared that Hafter’s people were willing to collaborate to stop clandestine exits.
“This is a very clear admission of how Italy intends to operate and what [Meloni’s government] has promised Hafter: ‘If you reduce the volumes of people smuggling, we as a nation will inject capital, because we know you’re busy rebuilding Benghazi,’” Harchaoui details. “Perhaps a percentage of that money will actually go to rebuild Benghazi… but there is another percentage that will go to all kinds of other activities,” the expert warns.
But Italy isn’t the only European player that has dealings with Hafter. That same month, a delegation from Malta traveled to Benghazi for the first time to meet with the Libyan strongman and discuss the region’s security challenges, with particular emphasis on irregular migration. In addition, internal EU documents seen by this newspaper and its partners reveal that the Commission is looking for ways to stop arrivals from Benghazi airport, with the help of local operators.
Involvement in summary expulsions
Hafter-backed militias aren’t only involved in human trafficking operations: they’re also actively involved in the illegal expulsion of migrant boats that have already reached European waters. At least two pushbacks occurred in May and July of this year – one of them in Maltese waters – involving a militia named Tariq Bin Ziyad, which is controlled by Saddam Hafter.
Crew member Jacob reflects on the shocking interception of a distress case by the Libyan militia vessel TAREQ BIN ZEYAD last week. They made fun of #Seabird while we witnessed them executing an illegal pushback of ~250 people despite the Maltese Armed Forces telling them not to. pic.twitter.com/HJQodkmggy— Sea-Watch International (@seawatch_intl) July 10, 2023
Four of the people who died in the major Mediterranean shipwreck in June were also on the other ship that was captured by this militia on May 25, according to the relatives of the victims. The father of one of them has provided the WhatsApp messages that his son sent him, which prove this: “Dad, we’ve been at sea for six days and we may not reach our destination. The ship has broken down and the Libyan coast guards have captured us.” In a second message, he tells him: “We couldn’t get there, our ship was out at sea, near Greece, but there were problems and breakdowns. The Libyan Coast Guard –the Tariq Bin Ziyad battalion, which belongs to Benghazi – dragged us for three days. Now, we’re close to the port. When we’re connected to the internet, you will receive this message.” This boy and his companions spent eight days in prison and were later released. The three were on the fishing boat that sank near Pylos a month later. They are still missing.
Meanwhile, mounting evidence indicates that the nine Egyptians who remain in jail on suspicion of being responsible for the shipwreck are nothing more than scapegoats. In separate interviews with relatives of four of these men, all have stated that they were passengers, not smugglers. Three relatives have provided evidence, including screenshots of conversations related to expenses. Apparently, the family members of these men paid for their passage on the ship. This indicates that it’s highly unlikely that they were involved in organizing the trip or in the smuggling ring.
The investigation conducted by EL PAÍS and Lighthouse Reports has verified the identity of one of the traffickers. He asked one of those arrested to pay him money for the trip. He also gave information about trip rates to a reporter from this investigation, who posed as a passenger. First, he asked for 4,500 Libyan dinars – about 850 euros, or $935. He then asked the undercover reporter for his nationality. When he answered that he’s Egyptian, the price was lowered to 160 dinars, or about 30 euros ($35). “The rate is different for Egyptians,” the trafficker explained.
Likewise, the comparison of testimonies from witnesses reveals that they were manipulated by the smugglers. Oftentimes, on forms – which were filled out individually – the answers to questions about the smugglers are identical. Meanwhile, those who were questioned by the Greek Coast Guard say that they were pressured to blame the nine Egyptians, who were later framed and arrested. One survivor recounts how he told the police that the real smugglers had perished in the shipwreck, but later changed his version: “They held me until 10 pm, when they finished the interrogations with the other [survivors]. They came back to me and told me that everyone else had testified against them (the Egyptians). I was tired, so I told them what they wanted to hear,” he admits.
Mohannad Najar, Eman El-Sherbiny, Felix Kesssler, Klaas van Dijken, Lina Verschwele, Janine Louloudi, Maud Jullien, Mohammed Bassiki, Muriel Kalisch, Sara Creta and Steffen Lüdke contributed to this story.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON -- FBI employees wrongly searched foreign surveillance data for the last names of a U.S. senator and a state senator, according to a court opinion released Friday. The disclosure could further complicate Biden administration efforts to renew a major spy program that already faces bipartisan opposition in Congress.
Another FBI employee improperly queried the Social Security number of a state judge who alleged civil rights violations by a municipal chief of police, according to the opinion by the chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
News of the latest violations comes as the Biden administration faces a difficult battle in persuading Congress to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows spy agencies to collect swaths of emails and other communications.
Already this year, U.S. spy officials have disclosed that the FBI improperly searched Section 702 databases for information related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and the 2020 protests following the police killing of George Floyd.
U.S. officials say Section 702 enables their highest priority work on China, Russia and threats like terrorism and cybersecurity. But many Democratic and Republican lawmakers say they won't vote to renew Section 702 when it expires at this year's end without major changes targeting how the FBI uses foreign surveillance data to investigate Americans.
Democrats who have long demanded new limits on the FBI's access to surveillance have increasingly been joined by Republicans angry about the bureau's investigations of former President Donald Trump as well as errors and omissions made during the probe of Russian ties to his 2016 campaign.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement that reforms at the bureau had led to “significant improvement” and fewer incidents of not following intelligence rules.
""We take seriously our role in protecting national security and we take just as seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of our Section 702 authorities,"" Wray said. ""We will continue to focus on using our Section 702 authorities to protect American lives and keeping our Homeland safe, while safeguarding civil rights and liberties.”
The surveillance court opinion released Friday didn't disclose the names, states or party affiliations of the people whose names were searched. It said the searches of the state senator and U.S. senator occurred in June 2022. According to the court opinion, the analyst who did the searches had information that a foreign spy service was targeting the lawmakers. But the Justice Department's national security division reviewed the searches and found that they didn't meet FBI standards, the opinion stated.
The state judge's Social Security number was searched that October. It was later determined that the analyst did not have sufficient evidence to conduct the search and did not clear the search with higher-ups as required of politically sensitive searches, according to a senior FBI official who briefed reporters Friday on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the agency.
The unnamed U.S. senator has been notified of the search, but the state senator and state judge have not, the FBI official said.
The FBI gets a section of foreign surveillance data collected primarily by the National Security Agency, U.S. officials have said. Unlike the NSA and CIA, which go after intelligence targets abroad, the FBI is responsible for investigating threats affecting the U.S. such as cyberattacks or attempts to influence or interfere in American elections.
There are strict rules governing when analysts can search for U.S. citizens or businesses in surveillance data. Facing pressure from the surveillance court and Congress, the FBI in recent years has changed its search tools, ramped up training for analysts working with foreign data, and required new approvals from higher-ups for larger searches or sensitive searches like the names of public officials.
The FBI last month also announced new disciplinary measures. Any employees accused of negligence would immediately lose access to surveillance data until they undergo training and meet with a bureau attorney. The actions revealed Friday predate the new disciplinary policy.
Judge Rudolph Contreras' opinion, which was completed in April 2023 and released Friday with redactions, says “there is reason to believe that the FBI has been doing a better job in applying the querying standard.” Of nearly 80,000 searches audited over a 16-month period ending in December 2022, 1.8% were found to have not met internal standards, the court said.
The total number of searches for Americans appears to have dropped as well. Over a year-long period ending in March, the FBI ran about 180,000 searches of U.S. citizens and other American entities, the court said.
That's well below the roughly 2 million searches reported just between December 2020 and February 2021, something Contreras wrote “should indicate less intrusion into the private communications of U.S. persons.”",Not_Explicit
"Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Sunday defended former President Donald Trump, who faces a special counsel investigation regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol protests.
The biotech entrepreneur, during an appearance on ""Fox News Sunday,"" responded to being slammed for not criticizing Trump a month before the first GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee.
""I’ve been consistent all along,""he said, ""that I would have made different judgments than Donald Trump made – that is why I’m running in this race for the presidency – the same race that he’s in. Because I would have made different and, I believe, better judgments for the country.""
""But a bad judgment is not the same thing as a crime,"" Ramaswamy continued. ""And when we conflate the two, that sets a dangerous precedent for this country. I don’t want to see us become some banana republic where the party in power uses police force to arrest its political opponents.""
""Now that I’m third in the national polls, self-interestedly it would be much easier for me to win this election if Trump were not the front-runner – if Trump were eliminated by the federal administrative police state. But that’s not the right thing for the country,"" he added.
In a recent Fox News survey of Iowa Republicans, Trump received 46% support among likely Iowa GOP caucus goers, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis received 16% and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., received 11%. Ramaswamy came in fourth, polling at 6%.
In South Carolina, another recent Fox News poll found Trump leading by more than 30 points. Ramaswamy came in sixth place in that poll at just 3%.
Ramaswamy contended that he was ""not running against anyone,"" including rival GOP presidential candidates and Democrat President Biden, stressing that he was running for the ""vision of what it means to be American.""
""We don’t want a super PAC puppet,"" Ramaswamy said. ""We want an independent voice, and a patriot who actually speaks the truth. That’s’ what I’m bringing to the race.""
In a past book, Ramaswamy argued that Trump wrongfully claimed he did not lose the 2020 election and raised millions of dollars off his supporters, ""Fox News Sunday"" host Shannon Bream noted. ""What Trump did last week was wrong. Downright abhorrent. Plain and simple,"" Ramaswamy previously tweeted on Jan. 12, 2021. ""I’ve said it before and did so in my piece.""
During the appearance, Ramaswamy responded to Trump’s recent comments describing Chinese President Xi Jinping as ""brilliant"" and ""an iron fist."" Ramaswamy said Xi ""is a dictator, and China is the top threat that the United States faces,"" arguing that he stands apart from other 2024 candidates, including Trump, in campaigning for ""economic independence"" from China.
Ramaswamy said he also has laid out a foreign policy plan based on pulling apart the China-Russian alliance.
""NATO was created to deter the USSR. The USSR does not exist anymore, yet NATO has expanded more after the fall of the USSR than it ever did during the USSR’s existence. So I think we have to ask the question of, ‘What advances American interests?’"" Ramaswamy said. ""And to me, the top American interest is pulling apart the China-Russia alliance – that ends the Ukraine war, that stops us from having to fund another hundreds of billions of dollars to protect somebody else’s border that we could be using to protect our own border. And more importantly, this is also how we deter Xi Jinping from going after Taiwan.""",Not_Explicit
"President Biden is expected to sign a proclamation Tuesday designating locations associated withas a national monument on what would have been his 82nd birthday, recognizing the impact of his killing on the civil rights movement.
Graball Landing in Mississippi, the Tallahatchie River location where the brutally beaten body of 14-year-oldwas discovered in 1955, will soon be one of three sites designated as a national monument in his honor, CBS News has learned.
The White House is expected to announce the river site, the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse and the Robert Temple church in Chicago as part of a national monument, recognizing both the history of racial violence and the need for legal justice. Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, is also being honored with the monument.
Brent Leggs, who helped secure the designation, hopes it will draw attention to approximately 5,000 additional Black historic sites across the United States that require approximately half a billion dollars for preservation.
""It isn't for our nation to remain stuck in a painful past. It really is to challenge our nation to say, 'we can do better,'"" Leggs said.
The memory of Emmett Till remains imprinted on the banks of the Tallahatchie River.
""This landscape holds memory of one of the most painful moments in American history,"" said Leggs. The site serves as a grim reminder of the violent and threatening environment faced by Black youth in American society during that era.
Nearly 70 years later, Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., Till's cousin, still remembers the fateful summer of 1955 when they traveled from Chicago to visit relatives in the Mississippi Delta. On their trip, the cousins visited Bryant's Grocery Store, owned by Roy and Carolyn Bryant. Till's innocent act of whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a White woman, resulted in fatal consequences.
""That's a death sentence,"" Parker said.
Days later, armed with guns, Roy Bryant and his brother J.W. Milam found the family at their home.
""I heard 'em talkin, 'You got two boys here from Chicago?'"" Parker said. ""I said, 'God, we're getting ready to die.' Shaking like a leaf on the tree. I closed my eyes to be shot but they didn't shoot me. They came to take Emmett. That's what they did.""
Till was abducted from his relative's home, tortured and shot before his lifeless body was dumped in the Tallahatchie River.
The images of Till's beaten and bruised body appeared in Black-owned newspapers and magazines across the country, thanks to the efforts of the Black press, which played a crucial role in exposing racial disparities.
Mamie Till-Mobley, Till's mother, held an open casket funeral at Roberts Temple in Chicago, where nearly 50,000 people paid their respects. The public viewing of Till's disfigured face is considered a catalyst for the civil rights movement.
""She allowed the world to see what she saw when she opened that box that they shipped from in Mississippi: the face of racial hatred and racism in America,"" said Marvel Parker, Wheeler Parker's wife.
The Parkers are focused on restoring the 100-year-old church building, which requires approximately $20 million for full restoration.
At the Tallahatchie County Courthouse, restored to its 1955 appearance, Patrick Weems facilitates tours, reminding visitors of the battle between racial violence and legal injustice that took place there.
It was at that courthouse that an all-White male jury acquitted Bryant and Milam for Till's murder. Months later, the brothers confessed their crime to a magazine, but were never held accountable.
""There was a battle here. There's a battle of the souls of this nation about what was gonna win out. Are they gonna say segregation is right and what the murderers did was OK? Or is justice going to prevail? And that day — we all lost,"" Weems said.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"Mayor Adams kicked off his new live radio show Sunday, saying on air that he wanted to use the call-in program to talk directly to residents as just “an ordinary cat” who runs the city.
During the 30-minute morning show on WBLS, Adams chatted about issues like public safety and diversity, noting his recent appointment of the city’s first Hispanic police commissioner.
Edward Caban was sworn in last week as the city’s top cop, succeeding Keechant Sewell, who was the first woman to run the NYPD and who resigned in June.
“I needed to continue that legacy,” Adams said on the radio program. “We are just really proud of what we’re doing and how we are really diversifying government.
“Over and over again ... you hear me say ‘first time ever done, record levels.’ That’s what this administration is about,” Adams said.
In office for 19 months, Adams joins his predecessors in engaging live radio callers. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio took questions live on weekly radio shows as did former mayors Mike Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani.
“I want people to hear directly from me,” Adams said.
“You just got an ordinary cat as the mayor. I’m one of you. I am part of the community I came up in,” he said.
Inside NYC Politics
While previous mayors often faced challenging radio callers, the small handful who phoned in to Adams’ first show lobbed softball questions about issues like the city budget.
Adams responded by touting his administration’s efforts from trimming city spending to screening for dyslexia in public schools.
“When you dig into the crevices of this administration, you see that you have a mayor that has gone through a lot. Now he’s helping people that are going through a lot,” Adams said.
A caller from Queens said he was confused by the MTA’s newly announced proposed base fare hike to $2.90, saying he didn’t understand why it didn’t just jump to $3 and asking why the transit system needed more money if it’s offering free bus rides.
Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced a pilot program of fare free bus routes, one in each borough, by late September. Her office said the routes were chosen based on such factors as ridership, fare evasion, service and equity for low-income communities.
Saying he rides the subways “all the time,” Adams said his administration has added police officers and mental health professionals to help make the subway system safer.
The live show on WBLS is set to air “semi-regularly” and include guests as well, according to City Hall.",Not_Explicit
"US Ambassador on Russia's Strikes on Ports: Russia Escalates Its War on Ukrainians
Monday, 24 July 2023
US Ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, has commented on the Russian attack on Ukraine's port infrastructure.
According to Brink, ""Russia again escalated its war on Ukrainians, their livelihoods, and global food security.""
""While Russia's attacks on ports and grain storage strike another blow to Ukraine and the world's most vulnerable, we will continue supporting Ukraine in exporting food to those who need it,"" Brink promised on Twitter.
Russia again escalated its war on Ukrainians, their livelihoods, and global food security. While Russia's attacks on ports and grain storage strike another blow to Ukraine and the world's most vulnerable, we will continue supporting Ukraine in exporting food to those who need it. pic.twitter.com/gX1zEdYyxj
Earlier, the Ukrainian operational command South reported that on the night of July 24, Russian forces launched another strike on the Odesa region. According to Ukrainian military data, Russia targetted the Danube's port infrastructure.
As a result, the attack destroyed a warehouse containing grain and damaged tanks for storing other types of cargo. A fire broke out in one of the production facilities and was promptly extinguished.
Oleh Kiper, Head of Odesa Oblast Military Administration, informed that six port workers were affected during the attack. Four of them were admitted to the oblast hospital, one of whom is in a moderate to serious condition.
If you notice an error, select the required text and press Ctrl + Enter to report it to the editors.",Not_Explicit
"The future is electric for the cars on our roads, but is the UK ready for such a major change?
At the risk of infuriating all you petrolheads out there, let's just get it out there - electric cars are the future.
They are clean, quiet, fun to drive and help us tackle the biggest challenge of our era, climate change.
But there are some big bumps along the road to the UK's electric destiny.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are expensive, there aren't enough chargers, and the switchover could destroy one of the UK's biggest industries.
There is pressure on both the Conservatives and Labour to review their climate commitments following the Tories' surprise win in the Uxbridge by-election - where the upcoming extension of London's Ultra Low Emission Zone was one of the big issues.
But the government is currently sticking to its plan - supported by Labour - to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. Sales of hybrid cars will be stopped from 2035.
So, can we meet the target?
Electric cars are selling fast, but are not without controversy. Justin Rowlatt, the BBC's climate editor, explores if the UK is on track to hit the government's targets to stop emitting greenhouse gases by 2050.
Watch on BBC One at 20:00 BST on Tuesday 25 July, and afterwards on BBC iPlayer
Let's start with the price, because EVs are still very expensive.
The cheapest EV on sale in the UK with a decent range will set you back north of £30,000.
That's significantly more than an equivalent petrol or diesel car.
However, there are much cheaper electric cars in the pipeline.
The talk of the Shanghai Motor Show in April wasn't some new sports car but a super-cheap new EV called the Seagull.
Manufactured by BYD, the Chinese battery and car behemoth, the basic Seagull has a 190-mile range and a list price in China of 78,000 yen (£8,400).
It will be a while before you can buy one, though. The company currently has no plans to sell the Seagull in the UK.
The world is racing to get a piece of the electric car market and the minerals - lithium, nickel, cobalt - packed into EV batteries are currently in short supply.
That makes them expensive, and it is likely to be some time before new mineral supplies become more widely available.
Meanwhile, the UK government has stopped offering grants to help EV buyers.
Apart from the cost, the other main reasons people give for not going electric are fears about range and charging.
And, with a growing market like EVs, perceptions are as important as reality.
If people believe electric cars are unreliable that is a huge problem.
When Times columnist Giles Coren wrote about how his expensive electric car died during a family holiday it became his most commented-on article.
He described how his wife and children had to ""strike out on foot across the fields in the driving rain and gathering darkness"" while the car was ""a lifeless corpse blocking the single-track road"".
Surveys suggest that most owners are actually broadly satisfied with their electric cars.
Range is becoming less of a problem as many new EVs can go 200 miles on a single charge and often much more, but how and where to charge the batteries remains a big issue.
You might have seen warnings that there are more than 30 electric car owners ""fighting over"" every public charge point.
However, almost two thirds of electric car owners have off-street parking and will rarely ever use public chargers.
With 200 miles-plus ""in the tank"" every morning, most people find they don't often need to top up.
But according to the RAC Foundation, 35% of people in Great Britain don't have off-street parking (a figure rising to 55% in London), and virtually all car owners will want to make longer journeys sometimes.
So, installing more public chargers - particularly rapid chargers, which can charge a car from 0% to 80% in about 30 minutes - is crucial.
One reason the ratio of chargers to EVs is low is that electric cars have been selling so well. They made up 16.6% of new car registrations in 2022 - up from 0.4% in 2016.
But it is also taking time to roll out charging infrastructure.
As of June this year, there were 44,408 charging points across the UK, 8,680 of which were rapid chargers.
The government has set a target of 300,000 public charging stations (of all speeds) by 2030, although the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has called for 2.3 million to meet demand from motorists.
The number of chargers being installed in the UK is rising each month - in June, 1,677 were installed in public places.
But unless the government ups its game, it's still likely to be more than 100,000 short of its 2030 target.
It says it can catch up, but admits that annual installations will have to more than double by 2025.
In 2022, the government also said it wanted at least six rapid chargers in every motorway service area in England by the end of this year.
However, in May the RAC said that this was unlikely to be achieved at the current rate of progress.
In the meantime, the British car industry is grappling with an even bigger problem - by 2030 it isn't going to have a market in the UK any more unless it goes electric.
That should concern us all because car manufacturing is an important industry in the UK.
About 780,000 people are employed in jobs connected with it - and it contributes an estimated £14bn a year to the economy.
The US, China and the EU are all investing billions of pounds to encourage electric vehicle manufacturing.
""The investment on offer elsewhere in the world, is quite frankly, incredibly attractive,"" says Emma Butcher of the SMMT.
""It does make companies think twice about when they come to make their investment decisions,"" she warns.
The big issue is battery production, the single most valuable part of an electric vehicle.
China has more than 100 production plants - known as gigafactories.
About 50 planned gigafactories have been announced in the EU.
It's been reported that France has offered 1.5bn euros of loans to help build four new gigafactories there.
Germany already has six but is said to be offering 1bn euros in loans to a company to build more.
The UK has only one, in Sunderland - and it is relatively small.
The Indian-owned carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has now announced that it's investing £4bn in a new gigafactory in the UK, expected to be sited in Somerset, with government subsidies worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
The Faraday Institution, a battery science research group, says that the UK is going to need at least five gigafactories by 2030 to meet domestic demand, and twice that number by 2040.
So, even though electric vehicles represent the future of the car, the UK has a long way to go before the revolution happens here.",Not_Explicit
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ‘s dog Commander bit Secret Service officers at least 10 times between October 2022 and January, including one incident that required a trip to the hospital for an injured law enforcement officer, according to records from the Department of Homeland Security.
The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch on Tuesday released nearly 200 pages of Secret Service records that it obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The group said it filed suit after the agency, a division of DHS, “failed to respond adequately” to its request last December for records about biting incidents involving the purebred German shepherd. The group said it filed the request after receiving a tip about Commander’s behavior.
READ MORE: Bidens’ older dog, Champ, has died; German shepherd was 13
The White House and the Secret Service appeared to play down the situation on Tuesday.
Elizabeth Alexander, communications director for first lady Jill Biden, said in an email that the White House complex is a “unique and often stressful environment” for family pets and that the Biden family was “working through ways to make this situation better for everyone.”
Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesperson for the Secret Service, said in a separate email that his agency has for the past several presidents “navigated how best to operate around family pets and these incidents are no exception. We take the safety and wellbeing of our employees extremely seriously.”
The Secret Service provides security protection for the president and his family, and scores of its officers are posted around the executive mansion and its sprawling grounds.
Biden received Commander in December 2021 as a gift from his brother James. The president’s previous dog, another German shepherd named Major, had been sent to live with friends in Delaware after some biting incidents of his own involving Secret Service officers and White House staff.
The family also has a cat, Willow.
On Nov. 3, 2022, a Secret Service official emailed colleagues that Commander had bitten a uniformed officer twice — on the upper right arm and thigh. Staff from the White House medical unit treated the officer and decided to have the individual taken to a hospital.
A captain of the Uniform Division emailed later that day that he had been advised that Commander was up to date on his vaccinations.
A note the following day added details about the attack, including that the officer who was bitten used a steel cart to protect himself from another attack. The officer later was placed on several days of restricted duty based on doctors’ advice.
Alexander said the Bidens have been working with the Secret Service and the White House residence staff “on additional leashing protocols and training” for Commander, as well as establishing designated areas where he can run around for exercise.
“The president and first lady are incredibly grateful to the Secret Service and Executive Residence staff for all they do to keep them, their family and the country safe,” Alexander added.
Guglielmi said Secret Service employees are encouraged to report job-related injuries to their immediate supervisors for appropriate documentation.
“As such, we are aware of past incidents involving first-family pets and these instances were treated similarly to comparable workplace injuries, to include with relevant notifications and reporting procedures followed,” he said.
“While special agents and officers neither care for nor handle the first family’s pets, we continuously work with all applicable entities to minimize adverse impacts in an environment that includes pets,” Guglielmi added.
Commander is often seen being handled by the White House’s chief groundskeeper.
The New York Post was first to report on Commander’s biting incidents.
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"The White House issued a statement of administration policy saying the bill amounts to federal overreach.
""The administration is strongly opposed to H.R. 3941, the Schools Not Shelters Act of 2023, which would supersede local control, interfering with the ability of states and municipalities to effectively govern and make decisions about their school buildings,"" it reads.
The bill would prohibit educational institutions that receive federal funding from using their facilities to shelter noncitizens, the statement continues, even though ""such noncitizens are permitted to do so under the law.""
Notably, the statement does not include a veto threat, though the bill faces long odds of passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Supporters of the bill claim it protects the safety of young students.
""By housing illegal immigrants on school campuses, children are being put at risk,"" Rep. John Rose (R-TN) said on the House floor Monday. ""And elected officials who endorse these plans are sending a clear message to children and parents that illegal immigrants and President Biden’s failure to secure the southern border matter more than their education.""
More than 5.5 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border since Biden took office, Rose continued, calling for border wall construction to continue and the Remain in Mexico program to be reinstated.
""But just like we’ve seen with Bidenomics, Biden-gration has completely failed the American people,"" he said.",Not_Explicit
"Nearly a million young people have yet to claim their Child Trust Funds, MPs have warned.
The Public Accounts Committee estimates that more than £1.7bn is sitting in accounts waiting to be accessed.
It says ""failure in long term planning"" by HMRC means 42% of eligible 18-20 year olds have not drawn on their savings.
A HMRC spokesperson said they had notified young people before their account matured.
The chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Dame Meg Hillier, said that while these accounts were a vital ""financial jump start"" to adulthood, the scheme so far had not achieved that ambition.
Under the Labour Government, any child born between 2002 and 2011 was eligible to receive at least £250 in a savings pot, which they could access as soon as they turned 18.
An average account contains £1,900.
However, according to MPs, poor planning by HMRC, a lack of engagement with account holders and barriers accessing savings meant that many from low-income backgrounds were missing out.
Children who lack capacity were particularly affected, with an estimated 80,000 having to rely on their families to go through a lengthy, often costly court process to access their savings.
Harry Kaur is one of those 80,000. His mum has saved more than £7,000 in his savings account - assuming he would be able to access it like his older brother.
But, she's been told the only way 16-year-old Harry, who has Down Syndrome and a love of Bollywood dancing, can access his money is if she goes through the Court of Protection.
""I don't know what to do to be honest, the money will mean so much to Harry - but at the same time the bureaucracy, cost, and overall impact of the legal implications is huge.
""I saved for my son, like I did for his brother, the whole system is wrong if it deprives Harry of what is rightfully his.""
The committee also found that trust fund providers were not only failing to keep customers informed; they were also charging fees - up to £100m a year - just to passively manage the accounts.
More than 800,000 accounts belong to people from low-income backgrounds - prompting concern that those who need the money the most were not able to access it.
The committee said that HMRC and trust fund providers - such as buildings societies and banks - must do more to ensure that young people are aware of their savings and provide support to help them access their money.
A spokesperson for HMRC said that every 16-year-old was sent information about finding their Child Trust Fund with their National Insurance letter and that they regularly kept account holders up to date but anyone ""unsure"" about their situation should also contact their bank or building society.",Not_Explicit
"ROME: Europe braced for record-smashing heat on Tuesday as withering heatwaves across the globe showed no signs of easing, and ongoing wildfires in Greece and the Canary Islands threatened homes while worsening air quality.
Across vast swathes of the planet, from California to China, authorities have warned of the health dangers of the extreme heat, urging people to drink water and shelter from the burning sun.
In a stark reminder of the effects of global warming, the UN’s World Meteorological Agency (WMO) said the trend of heatwaves “shows no signs of decreasing”.
“These events will continue to grow in intensity, and the world needs to prepare for more intense heatwaves,” John Nairn, a senior extreme heat adviser at the WMO told reporters in Geneva.
“Repeated high night-time temperatures are particularly dangerous for human health, because the body is unable to recover from sustained heat,” he said. “This leads to increased cases of heart attacks and death.”
World Meteorological Agency warns of risk of heart attacks, deaths during extreme heat
Temperatures were unforgiving in Italy and in Spain, where three regions were put under hot weather red alerts. But as of midday, the Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily had yet to surpass a continent-wide record of 48.8 degrees Celsius, (119.8 degrees Fahrenheit), recorded in Sicily in August 2021.
Many throughout Italy sought escape by the sea, including outside Rome, where the midday heat hit 40 degrees. Back in Rome, street hawkers substituted parasols and fans for selfie sticks, as tourists struggled to find rare patches of shade and waiters sported short sleeves instead of their customary more formal attire.
Tourists still needed to eat, said Mauro Natale, 45, a waiter at a cafe near the Pantheon, but “instead of a carbonara or an amatriciana (pasta), they just want to eat salad”.
Northwest of the Greek capital Athens, a vast cloud of smoke loomed over the forest of Dervenohoria, where one of several fires around the capital and beyond was still burning.
The heatwaves across Europe and the globe are “not one single phenomenon but several acting at the same time,” said Robert Vautard, director of France’s Pierre-Simon Laplace climate institute. “But they are all strengthened by one factor: climate change.”
In drought-stricken Spain, temperatures were set to reach highs of 44C in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. “You can’t be in the street, it’s horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible,” said Lidia Rodriguez, 27, in Madrid.
In the Canary Islands, some 400 firefighters battled a wildfire that has ravaged 3,500 hectares of forest and forced 4,000 residents to evacuate, with authorities warning residents to wear face masks outside due to poor air quality.
Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2023",Not_Explicit
"Byju’s, Lenders Aim To Amend $1.2 Billion Loan Terms By Aug. 3
A group of lenders to Byju’s is working with the Indian education-technology startup to change the terms of a $1.2 billion loan after the company fell into distress earlier this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
(Bloomberg) -- A group of lenders to Byju’s is working with the Indian education-technology startup to change the terms of a $1.2 billion loan after the company fell into distress earlier this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
A steering committee of lenders on the term loan and Byju’s have agreed to work toward a signed agreement before Aug. 3, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. The talks are still ongoing, and the situation may change.
Byju’s, once India’s most valuable startup, has faced a series of crises after it missed deadlines to file audited financial account, skipped an interest payment on its term loan and triggered a legal fight with creditors. India’s government ordered an inspection into its finances after its auditor and three board members resigned.
There was no reply to emails from a spokesperson for Byju’s, who also couldn’t be reached by phone outside normal office hours.
The Economic Times reported earlier on the matter.
--With assistance from Anto Antony.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"- Two Russian T-72 tanks were taken out by a single US-supplied Bradley IFV, Ukraine says.
- Ukraine's deputy defense minister said the tanks were set aflame by the Bradley's anti-tank missiles.
- Ukraine is keen to demonstrate to Western allies how it is putting their military aid to good use.
A US-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicle recently took out two Russian T-72 tanks, according to Ukraine's deputy defense minister.
Hanna Maliar shared an image of the Bradley with its crew on Tuesday, saying they had been fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region when they became surrounded by Russian infantry.
After Ukrainian automatic cannon fire took out the infantry Russian forces declared a ""real hunt"" by introducing two T-72s onto the battlefield, Maliar wrote, according to The New Voice of Ukraine's translation.
But both tanks were destroyed by the Bradley's heavy TOW anti-tank missiles, Maliar said.
Insider was unable to independently confirm Maliar's account, and the Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The fast, tough armored vehicle is not a tank, but has been referred to as a ""tank killer."" It can transport troops as well as provide fire support, including through the use of its powerful anti-tank missiles.
Dutch open-source weapons-tracking website Oryx said that, as of this month, Ukraine appears to have lost, or sustained damage to, 35 Bradleys — a large proportion of those handed over.
Maliar suggested that Western-donated equipment is a major target for Russian forces.
""Our military is well aware that Western equipment attracts the enemy's attention,"" she wrote, per The New Voice of Ukraine, adding: ""As soon as the Bradley appears on the frontline, the Russians unleash all their firepower, from grenade launchers to artillery and attack helicopters.""
Ukraine has been keen to demonstrate the difference the US supply of Bradleys has made on the battlefield.
In June, Maliar shared images of one such IFV appearing barely damaged after what she said was a direct rocket hit. She said the vehicle took a direct hit from a Russian Grad rocket system — but was tough enough to keep going, while protecting everyone inside.
A pair of Ukrainian soldiers also told ABC News in June that they owed their lives to the Bradley they were riding in.
""Thanks to it, I am standing here now,"" a soldier, identified only as Andriy, said. ""If we were using some Soviet armored personnel carrier we would all probably be dead after the first hit.""",Not_Explicit
"For the first time, reporters have been allowed onboard the Bibby Stockholm barge - the giant, floating accommodation complex that will house asylum seekers.
The barge is moored off Portland Port in Dorset and in the coming weeks will become home to 500 single men claiming UK asylum.
Walking around onboard, it has the feel of an old overnight ferry or an outdated motel - a bit of a faded 1980s/90s vibe.
Long, confusing corridors lead to relatively spacious cabins which include a desk, wardrobe, safe locker, TV and large windows.
Each room has an en-suite bathroom with a shower and there are additional facilities on each of the three floors.
There were originally 222 cabins - but the main contribution to increasing its capacity from 222 to 506 has been placing bunk beds in each room.
They're not the biggest beds, but the rooms don't feel too claustrophobic.
There's a TV room with a big screen and sofas, a multi-faith prayer room and a classroom which can be used for meetings and activities.
Some other communal spaces have been converted to extra dormitory space for four to six men - but we weren't allowed to see these.
The dining room is large, with a long serving counter and tables of four set out in rows.
The sample menu includes eggs and pancakes for breakfast, potato soup and beef stew for dinner. We're told it will change regularly and cater for individual needs and religious requirements.
There's a gym and outdoor recreational space in the two courtyards in the centre of the barge. The men will also have access to the dockside, within a fenced off area - we're told this is to ensure the security of the port which also sees cruise ships, cargo vessels and navy craft docking.
There will also be 24/7 security in place on board.
The men will receive healthcare onboard the barge or remotely from a team of experts, the NHS said on Friday - following concerns among the local community over the impact extra people would have on local health services.
Buses will be available hourly between 09:00 and 23:00 to take asylum seekers to Portland or Weymouth. It's not a curfew, but if they aren't back there will be a ""welfare call"" to check they're OK.
The government clearly wants to show that this accommodation isn't cruel or inhumane - but the Home Office has always described this as ""basic and functional"".
It certainly doesn't have ocean liner splendour - there's no grand staircase, fine artwork or sculpture. The stairwells feel quite industrial.
It is light, clean and currently seems reasonably comfortable.
Some of the journalists on our visit felt the standard is better than some of the hotels currently housing asylum seekers. Of course, our stay only lasted one hour.
Some men may be on board for nine months. And once it's full to capacity, conditions could feel very different.
The government says it is currently spending £6m per day housing more than 50,000 migrants in hotels.
The Home Office says that by the autumn, they aim to house about 3,000 asylum seekers in places that aren't hotels - such as the barge, and former military sites Wethersfield in Essex and Scampton in Lincolnshire.
Last week, the Home Office announced that the first asylum seekers had moved to Wethersfield. Fifty people are expected in the first group housed on the Bibby Stockholm.
As the vessel arrived on Tuesday morning, it was met with protests from local residents and human rights groups.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said the government had been ""clear that those who arrive in the UK illegally should not be housed in expensive hotels"".
""Our use of alternative accommodation sites and vessels provide basic and appropriate standards for small boats arrivals while their claims are determined,"" he said.
Dorset Council is receiving £3,500 per occupied bedspace on the Bibby Stockholm, with additional funding provided to the local NHS and police, the Home Office said.
The council has also received almost £380,000 in a one-off grant to help support local charity and voluntary organisations provide services on board, it is understood.",Not_Explicit
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Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed transporting Ukrainian grain to Greece via rail, Mediapool reported on July 24, citing Denkov.
The Bulgarian head of government said this after meeting Mitsotakis in Athens on July 24.
According to Mediapool, Bulgarian trains would load Ukrainian grain at the Ukrainian-Romanian border and transport it to the Greek port of Alexandroupoli.
As the outlet noted, it is unclear whether Bulgaria has the necessary transport capacities as its state railways suffer from a shortage of locomotives and freight cars.
However, Greece has begun developing its railway lines which are of interest to Bulgaria, Mediapool commented.
Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17, effectively terminating the deal that allowed Ukraine to export its agricultural products even amid the ongoing full-scale invasion.
Ukraine is one of the world's leading grain producers and exporters and the agreement, brokered by Turkey and the U.N. in July 2022, has played a crucial role in stabilizing food prices worldwide.
The EU promised to support Ukraine's efforts to export its agricultural products via the so-called ""solidarity lanes,"" set up in May 2022 to assist Kyiv in shipping out its produce.
According to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the solidarity lanes facilitated the export of more than 45 million tonnes of grain, oilseed, and other products so far.
Croatia also offered its rail network and ports on the Adriatic Sea as an alternative route for Ukrainian grain.
However, five EU members including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria asked Brussels to prolong the ban on the sale of Ukrainian grain products in these countries at least until the end of 2023.
In May, the European Commission instituted the ban on wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds to ""alleviate logistical bottlenecks"" related to these goods in the five countries. The ban was extended on June 5, set to expire by Sep. 15.
According to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the Central European EU members will nevertheless allow the transit of Ukrainian grain through their territory elsewhere.",Not_Explicit
"President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Adm. Lisa Franchetti to serve as the next Chief of Naval Operations, putting her in line to become the first woman ever to serve as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Franchetti, who has served 38 years in the military, currently serves as Vice Chief of Naval Operations. She is only the second woman ever to reach the rank of four-star admiral in service history.
Friday’s historic nomination of the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff was muted by the White House’s acknowledgement that the appointment is likely to be sidelined by ongoing political fights on Capitol Hill over the military’s abortion access policy.
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In a statement Friday, Biden praised Franchetti’s “extensive expertise in both the operational and policy arenas” as the impetus for her nomination. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a statement said Franchetti’s nomination as the first woman on the Joint Chiefs of staff will allow her to “continue to inspire all of us.”
Biden also announced the nomination of Adm. Samuel Paparo — who in recent weeks had been rumored to be in line for the CNO post — as commander of Indo-Pacific Command, and Vice Adm. Stephen Koehler as commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet.
“These two officers both have significant experience serving in the Indo-Pacific, where our military strength is critical to ensuring the security and stability of this vital region of the world,” Biden said in a statement.
All three are expected to face confirmation hearings before the Senate later this fall. However, timing of a confirmation vote is less certain because of an ongoing hold by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., over the Defense Department’s abortion policies.
Under rules put in place last fall, troops stationed in states where abortion is limited or illegal can be granted leave time and travel stipends to help cover the cost of moving across state lines for abortion services. Tuberville and a host of Republican lawmakers have decried the policy as illegal.
That showdown has stalled more than 250 senior military confirmations over the last four months, with no resolution in sight.
Earlier this week, Defense Department officials briefed senators on the policy in an attempt to convince Tuberville to drop his holds. But exiting the closed-door briefing, Tuberville said he was unimpressed and unmoved.
On Friday, Biden blasted Tuberville’s tactics.
“It has long been an article of faith in this country that supporting our servicemembers and their families, and providing for the strength of our national defense, transcends politics,” he said in a statement. “What Sen. Tuberville is doing is not only wrong, it is dangerous.
“In this moment of rapidly evolving security environments and intense competition, he is risking our ability to ensure that the United States armed forces remain the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. And his Republican colleagues in the Senate know it.”
The Senate is scheduled to break for a late-summer recess next week. Franchetti, Paparo and Koehler are likely to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee to answer questions about their new roles sometime in September, when lawmakers return.
Megan Eckstein contributed to this story.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.",Not_Explicit
"BRISBANE, Australia -- Indigenous sports leaders and advocates have urged FIFA to address what they've called an “egregious omission” of First Nations organizations in Australia in a Women’s World Cup legacy plan.
Former Sydney Swans Australian rules football star Adam Goodes and John Moriarty, the first Indigenous player to make Australia’s national soccer team, are among the signatories to a letter sent to soccer’s world governing body regarding funding in the wake of the World Cup.
Football Australia’s Legacy ’23 plan, formed in 2021, is a strategy designed to deliver economic, social and health benefits and multicultural inclusion following its co-hosting of the global tournament.
The joint letter to FIFA said while the report released this month features a statement acknowledging First Nations contributors to the success of women's soccer in Australia, it doesn’t include specific funding for Indigenous programs.
The letter was also signed by Sydney FC goalkeeper Jada Whyman, an Indigenous player who was called into Matildas camp in April for games against England and Scotland, co-chief executive of Professional Footballers Australia, Kate Gill, A-League women’s players Gema Simon and Allira Toby and former Socceroo Travis Dodd.
“Despite ubiquitous Indigenous culture, symbolism, traditional ceremonies and installations at the World Cup and the holding out of Indigenous culture as something of central value to football, not a single dollar from the legacy program has been committed to organizations that are Indigenous-led,” the letter said.
“Without support for the Indigenous community and their programs, we consider this symbolism empty.”
The letter was also sent to Football Australia.
Before the Women’s World Cup began, FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura said the tournament provided a platform to give opportunities to all people. She said officials needed to highlight issues for First Nations people in Australia and New Zealand.
“Because you cannot play the simple game of football by leaving outside the people without whom this nation would not have existed,” Samoura said during a visit with Indigenous players. “We cannot come and just play and leave.”
Indigenous track legend Cathy Freeman, who won the 400-meter gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in one of Australia's most iconic sporting moments, visited the Australian women's team before the tournament began. The Matildas have two Indigenous players in their current lineup, goalkeeper Lydia Williams and striker Kyah Simon.
Separately, the Indigenous Football Australia Council, formed to assist the John Moriarty Football program, is also calling on FIFA and Football Australia to include funding for First Nations-led programs in the Legacy ’23 plan before the end of the Women's World Cup.
The John Moriarty Foundation has also launched a crowd-funding campaign “ Call Time on Inequality ” to address the lack of elite level Indigenous players and raise funds to tackle the disparity they face.
“Now is the time to level the playing field by reaching even more children, more communities and empowering the next generation of Indigenous football players,” Moriarty said. “There needs to be increased investment in solutions that will lead to impactful social change and ensure equal access to football for both grassroots and elite Indigenous players.”
___
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"Labour must learn the lessons of its by-election defeat in Uxbridge, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The Labour leader had blamed the loss on London Mayor Sadiq Khan's plans to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) - a tax on polluting vehicles.
Conservative Steve Tuckwell won the seat after campaigning against the tax.
Addressing Labour's national forum, Sir Keir said there was ""something very wrong"" when a Labour policy was on ""each and every Tory leaflet"".
He said that while a by-election win in Selby and Ainsty, in North Yorkshire, should give Labour ""every reason to be confident"", the loss in Uxbridge showed there is ""still a long way to go"".
""That result in Uxbridge demonstrates there is never any reason to be complacent and never a reason to rest on our laurels,"" Sir Keir told the forum in Nottingham.
""We've got to face up to that and to learn the lesson,"" he said.
Labour's Keir Mather, 25, won the contest in North Yorkshire on Thursday, overturning a 20,137 majority to become the youngest sitting MP.
But the Conservatives clung onto ex-PM Boris Johnson's former Uxbridge seat, sparking debates about both parties' green policies.
Sir Keir told the BBC the Ulez plan had cost Labour victory - but Mr Khan has defended the measure as the ""right one"".
Mr Tuckwell, the winning candidate, said the ""damaging and costly Ulez policy"" had lost Labour the seat.
Some on the right of the Conservative party say that pulling back from some green policies would prove popular with voters, at a time when families are feeling cost-of-living pressures.
Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, chairman of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, has suggested delaying the ban on new diesel and petrol cars, pushing it back ""at least"" five years to 2035.
Downing Street sources say there are no plans to change climate targets - but that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will try to set his party apart from Labour in the coming months.
As the major parties digest the by-election results, ex-climate minister Lord Ian Duncan, a Conservative, warned that if Sir Keir and Rishi Sunak do not put politics aside and agree a common approach to climate change, people will face ""serious challenges"".
Lord Duncan, who was the parliamentary under secretary for climate change from July 2019 to February 2020, said a ""bipartisan approach"" was needed from both parties to ""get behind"" common climate policies.
Politicians might win votes in the short-term by distancing themselves from strong climate policies - ""but medium term, I'm not even talking long term anymore, there will be serious challenges and changes to our climate that will affect people in their everyday lives"", he said.
However, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Duncan said the challenge was ensuring climate policy did not penalise people ""beyond their ability to pay"".
Referring to greener technology such as new gas boilers, he said: ""We've got to make sure it's a transition and it works for everybody.""
No one should be left behind or be impoverished by these policies, ""otherwise it will be a problem for democracy"", he said.",Not_Explicit
"Tadej Pogacar salvaged some pride by taking stage 20 of this year's Tour de France as Jonas Vingegaard all but sealed the defence of his title.
Pogacar has been unable to challenge Vinegaard's supremacy in the past week, but sprinted past the Dane to win on the final day of competitive racing.
Vingegaard holds a lead of seven minutes and 29 seconds ahead of Sunday's procession into Paris.
Britain's Adam Yates is third overall, one place ahead of twin brother Simon.
They were both involved in a thrilling race for the line at Le Markstein, with Adam leading out Pogacar and eventually finishing fourth, with Simon fifth.
""Today I finally feel like myself again,"" said Pogacar, who reduced Vingegaard's lead by six seconds because of the time bonus he received for the stage win.
""It was just really good from start to finish, to feel good again after many days suffering and to pull it off in the finish, I'm just super, super happy.
""Adam did a super job. I was waiting for him to come back and his brother again was super good. I know him now well.
""He led me out really good and thanks to him it was a bit easier to prepare for the final, less nervous and I'm super happy the team did such a great job once again.""
Adam Yates said: ""For me personally third (overall) is the best result I've ever had in a Grand Tour, so obviously I'm pretty happy.
""We're a little bit disappointed as our goal was to get yellow but in the end there was only one guy better than us.""
France's Thibaut Pinot, riding his last Tour at the age of 33, had launched a solo attack on the penultimate climb, and was roared on by a huge crowd on his home roads as he went for an emotional farewell victory.
But he was caught and overhauled by Vingegaard, Pogacar and Felix Gall on the final climb, with the Yates brothers joining them for the sprint finish.
Vingegaard attempted to spring clear with 300m to go, but he was expertly tracked by Pogacar and sat up once he knew his hopes of taking the stage win were over, allowing Gall to pass him before the line.
Stage 20 results
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 3hrs 27mins 18secs
2. Felix Gall (Aut/AG2R-Citroen Team) Same time
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma)
4. Simon Yates (GB/Team Jayco-AlUla)
5. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +7secs
6. Warren Barguil (Fra/Team Arkea-Samsic) +33secs
7. Thibaut Pinot (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) Same time
8. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain Victorious)
9. Tobias Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Pro Cycling) +50secs
10. Rafal Majka (Pol/UAE Team Emirates) Same time
General classification standings
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) 79hrs 16mins 38secs
2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +7mins 29secs
3. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +10mins 56secs
4. Simon Yates (GB/Team Jayco-AlUla) +12mins 23secs
5. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +12mins 57secs
6. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) +13mins 27secs
7. Jai Hindley (Aus/Bora-Hansgrohe) +14mins 44secs
8. Felix Gall (Aut/AG2R-Citroen) +16mins 9secs
9. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +23mins 8secs
10. Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +26mins 30secs
- From secretive street artist to international icon: The Banksy Story charts the rise of this anonymous household name
- Is hydrogen the solution to our energy needs? The Inquiry explores the potential of replacing our current fossil fuel usage with hydrogen",Not_Explicit
"Foxconn Officials Discuss 'Investment Opportunities' With Tamil Nadu Government
Foxconn' called on Chief Minister M K Stalin and discussed 'investment opportunities' in Tamil Nadu,
Top officials of Foxconn Industrial Internet, the subsidiary of Taiwan-based Hon Hai Technology Group, popularly known as 'Foxconn' called on Chief Minister M K Stalin and discussed 'investment opportunities' in Tamil Nadu, sources said on Wednesday.
Foxconn Industrial Internet, is a leading global total solution provider for smart manufacturing and industrial internet, according to its website.
FII chief executive officer Brand Cheng accompanied by senior company officials discussed the 'investment opportunities' in Tamil Nadu, sources said.
Minister for Industries T R B Rajaa, chief secretary Shiv Das Meena were also present on the occasion.
The meeting of FII officials with the Tamil Nadu government assumes significance as recently the delegation called on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about its proposal to invest Rs 8,800 crore manufacturing plant in the neighbouring state.
Foxconn, a major iPhone assembler for Apple, has proposed to set up a Rs 8,800 crore supplementary plant to that of the unit at Devanahalli Information Technology Investment Region in Karnataka, the state's Large and Medium Industries Minister M B Patil had said on Monday.
Early this month, Foxconn decided to pull out of the semiconductor joint venture with diversified conglomerate Vedanta Group.
The Vedanta-Foxconn JV had announced the setting up of India's first electronic chip manufacturing unit in Gujarat with an investment of around Rs 1.50 lakh crore.",Not_Explicit
"Statements and speeches Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
""Human rights begin at home,"" Türk tells EU Parliamentary Committees
20 July 2023
Delivered by
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
At
Dialogue with the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Committee on Development, and Subcommittee on Human Rights
Distinguished Chairpersons and Members of the European Parliament,
It is an honour to be back in Brussels, and to have this exchange of views with you about the range of human rights issues that your work addresses.
Walking into the Espace Léopold, with its transparency and symbolic representation of union and accountability, it occurs to me that just one human lifetime ago, none of this existed. This building, these institutions, but also my Office, the United Nations – and the dialogue, the sense of common values which actually underpin every single thing we do.
Both of our institutions were built as acts of courage and defiance, in the face of war upon war upon war; atrocity crimes the horror of genocide; generations of exploitation and pain.
The United Nations, and the European Union, were built as acts of hope and a commitment to profound and enduring principle. These acts manifested the values that seventy-five years ago our forebears set out, to mark a new path that would lead to peace, justice and shared prosperity for all human beings.
In 1948, when States drafted and adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they had no time for idle idealism. They forged these commitments as practical tools for the problems that the world faced coming out of the Second World War.
And we know that those tools have worked.
Over the past 75 years, the world – and Europe – have made great strides away from colonial exploitation, discrimination of every kind, and many other types of injustices. Nobody could claim that this progress has been perfect – nobody is perfect – but it seems clear that much of it has been guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – the most translated, and perhaps among the most influential documents in history – and the subsequent treaties and laws that have been adopted.
Today, as we approach the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we are also approaching a kind of crossroads. We see a conjunction of multiple crises forces us to make choices of immense significance. Our choices to act, or not to act, with careful determination and in line with these deep-seated and shared values, will alter many aspects of politics, economy and society across Europe and the world.
We have seen how Europe continues to lead the development of careful regulation of digital technologies, but we know how their intense acceleration – especially of generative AI – fuels echo chambers and extremist movements, and challenges privacy, truth, equality, free speech, and democratic institutions.
Russia's war on Ukraine continues to threaten the world's peace architecture. It tugs multilateral and regional institutions back to blocs and to hostile standoffs, just at the time when we need to forge consensus solutions for problems that are too big for any country or for any region to face alone.
Climate change is out of control. The world's triple planetary crisis is threatening all of humanity, with human rights implications in each aspect of that. Despite a great deal of work being done in the EU – and I do want to acknowledge that considerable effort – still, a lot more work needs to be done to stop subsidising fossil fuel industries before they turn all human beings into fossils.
Unfortunately we also are seeing more conflicts breaking out – with climate change and environmental degradation a growing factor, as people compete for scarce resources. The sudden outbreak of conflict in Sudan demonstrates how fragile peace is and how quickly hard-won gains can be lost. Next week I will be going to Chad, where well over 100,000 more refugees have fled, especially from Darfur – and which also suffers from massive climate change impacts and violent extremism.
Progress towards the Sustainable Development Agenda has been derailed, with sharp economic inequalities of every kind. Extreme hunger is a particular concern. The World Food Programme estimates that more than 345 million people will face high levels of food insecurity this year – more than double the number in 2020. Again, conflict – including the war in Ukraine – and climate change are among the major factors driving global hunger.
The movement of migrants and refugees is clearly related to this dismal state of affairs. It has to be said that most displacement occurs within countries, and in the poorest regions of the world. I very much welcome the fact that EU countries have received over 4 million Ukrainian refugees. But I have also watched with great concern how polarised and fraught the broader discussion around migration and refugee protection has become in Europe. It deepens, unfortunately, political divisions in countries and fuels populist hostility, rather than what I think is needed: rational and evidence-based debate that tries to find really solutions.
Factually, for example, the former so-called 'Australia model' of deterring arrivals and transferring people, who are seeking safety, to third countries has raised serious human rights concerns; it has also engaged great cost to tax-payers; and it has not been viable. At the same time, robust immigration is actually vital for countries where birth-rates are declining.
We have also seen that numerous countries, including some in the EU, are backsliding on other fundamental human rights commitments. I'm thinking especially of commitments to support the widest possible civic space, including the right to peaceful assembly; commitments to support the independence of an impartial judiciary; and to commitments to uphold equality and non-discrimination. And we have seen a backlash against women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, and against the rights of LGBTIQ+ people, as we really need to make sure there is much stronger work to uphold the equality of people of African descent and migrants.
This is the most complex geopolitical and geo-economic backdrop in decades.
But we know that human rights is the compass that can help us to navigate safely through such times.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was laid out at a time of immense challenges, and it distils the practical steps which ensure that people of different origins and opinions can walk away from crisis, and live together peacefully, fairly, and well.
These steps to uphold human rights add up to make the difference between conflict and peace; between destruction and prosperity; between tyranny and social harmony. They advance justice, participation, conflict resolution and power-sharing and nourish a resilient social contract that prevents the outbreak of violent conflict and uncontrolled spread of extremism.
Human rights begin at home. They are not an annex to foreign policy; to geopolitics; or any kind of annex at all. They must be at the core of legislation, at the national and the EU level.
We have launched this concept of the human rights economy because we need to place human rights at the core of the economy, including through economic and fiscal policy, and the regulation of businesses, including – as you are demonstrating – human rights safeguards in global supply chains.
We need human rights to be at the core of all decisions and behaviour made by every public servant, in every country.
As Members of key Committees of the world's largest democratically elected parliament, you are human rights actors. No doubt about this. In this anniversary year, I encourage you to make one or several pledges to take action that can catalyse positive change, and transformative change, in human rights. These pledges can be presented at the Human Rights 75 High level event we are convening in Geneva on 11 and 12 December.
Human rights must not become the collateral damage of politics.
Thank you for contributing to this work of my Office and for helping to sustain a world, that is peaceful, prosperous and fair.",Not_Explicit
"- Ukraine took out a Russian military repair depot in Crimea, per an unofficial Russian source.
- The site was reportedly struck by the UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile.
- On the same day, Russia announced a nearby town had to be evacuated due to a hail of drone attacks.
A Russian vehicle repair base in Crimea was struck by a Ukrainian Storm Shadow missile on Monday, according to a Russian source.
The base was hit by one of four cruise missiles fired by Ukrainian Su-24 jets overnight, according to the Russian Telegram outlet Rybar, with one missile striking the repair depot near Dhzankoy, a town to the north of the peninsula, and the other three striking an ammunition store.
Insider was unable to independently verify the claim, which was also highlighted in a briefing by the US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War.
Rybar is a prominent pro-Kremlin Russian blogger with more than a million followers, and is rumored to be connected to the Kremlin and the Wagner Group.
Dzhankoy and its surrounding villages were evacuated on Monday due to Ukrainian drone strikes, Russian news outlet TASS reported the Russian-installed leader of Crimea as saying. This would include the site where the repair depot is located.
TASS did not mention the reported Storm Shadow strikes, but said that 11 drones were shot down while one destroyed an ammunition pile.
According to Rybar, the drone attack preceded the Storm Shadow strikes.
The vehicle repair base south of Dzhankoy has served at earlier points in the war as a major repair hub, according to Forbes, housing hundreds of fighting vehicles, tanks, and trucks being fixed up for the invasion.
It's unclear how many were on-site, or indeed hit, on Monday.
But the episode highlights the growing pressures the UK-supplied Storm Shadow has laid on Russian command and control.
Ukraine has had its hands on the missile, also known as SCALP, since earlier this year.
With a range of up to 155 miles, the air-launched missile has put vast swathes of Russian-held territory within reach of Ukraine, pressuring Russian commanders to move their supply lines further behind the front lines.
The site of the Crimea repair depot is roughly 130 miles behind the front lines of the conflict.
Firing a Storm Shadow is both risky and expensive, as experts previously told Insider, and this means Ukraine is likely reserving its use for concentrated, high-value targets.
This could also pressure Russia's army to disperse its depots and ammunition caches into smaller, more nimble formations — which would be a fresh challenge for Russia's centralized, Soviet-style military command.",Not_Explicit
"DeSantis PAC uses AI-generated Trump voice in ad attacking ex-president
The spot illustrates the new frontiers in political advertising.
A pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC uses an Artificial Intelligence version of Donald Trump’s voice in a new television ad attacking the former president.
The ad, from Never Back Down, charges Trump with attacking Iowa governor Kim Reynolds as part of a larger pattern of disrespect he has shown to the first caucus state.
But the audio that the spot uses is not actually from Trump. A person familiar with the ad confirmed Trump’s voice was AI generated. Its content appears to be based off of a post that Trump made on his social media site Truth Social last week. The person said it will run statewide in Iowa tomorrow and that the ad buy was at least $1 million — a massive sum though one doable for the well-heeled super PAC. It will also be running via text message and on digital platforms.
Political ads have used impersonation before, and the Trump-generated voice in the Never Back Down ad does not sound entirely natural. Still, the spot highlights what could be the next frontier of campaign advertising: The use of AI-generated content to produce increasingly difficult to identify, so-called deepfakes.
“The blatant use of AI to fabricate President Trump’s voice is a desperate attempt by Always Back Down and Jeff Roe to deceive the American public because they know DeSanctimonious’ campaign is on life support,” said Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita, referring to a top official with the pro-DeSantis super PAC. “After losing big donors and slashing their staff, they have now outsourced their work to AI just like they would like to outsource American jobs to China.”
Never Back Down had previously used AI to superimpose a fighter jet into a pro-DeSantis ad.",Not_Explicit
"Mark Graham lived to tell the tale of his encounter with a ""super inquisitive"" great white shark that nibbled on his GoPro camera during a dive
A United Kingdom resident has a shark tale you have to see to believe — luckily, the shocking interaction was caught on camera.
According to The New York Post, Mark Graham recently took a sea trip that could have turned deadly. While embarking on a Great White Shark Cage Diving Crew tour in South Africa, as the tour's videographer, he came face to face with an apex predator. ""People seem to love the clip,"" the 31-year-old said of the great white shark footage, which is currently making its rounds on social media.
The unforgettable expedition took place in Klein Brak, Mossel Bay. Graham's GoPro Hero camera was recording when the great white appeared before the dive group. The device captured the aquatic inhabitant opening its large mouth, baring rows of razor-sharp teeth,
In the clip, the shark swims up to Graham in the murky South African waters. Per National Geographic, great whites can reach over 20 feet in length and weigh more than 4,000 pounds. Their massive muscles and mouth allow them to wreak havoc on their prey.
However, Graham described his shark encounter as ""gentle"" and ""super inquisitive."" After approaching the diver, the shark lightly nudged the GoPro Hero attached to his head and swam away.
""Their electro receptors can pick up the GoPro, so they get super curious and come in close to investigate,"" Graham told Media Drum World, per the New York Post. ""It was an incredibly gentle interaction from the shark. It was just trying to figure out what the strange electrical thingy in the water was.""
Graham added that others who saw the incident may have been ""freaked out,"" but he appreciated the rare moment.
""Having such a personal and gentle interaction with such a big animal felt extremely captivating,"" he confessed. And although movies like Jaws and Deep Blue Sea may not paint the predators in the best light, the U.K. diver wants individuals to respect the deep sea creatures.
""I think humans have an instinctive fear of what they can't see and don't understand. If you get the chance to see them in the wild, go and see them, I guarantee your perception will change,"" he said earlier this year after a similar encounter.
While Graham made it through his shark experience untouched, a Florida resident can't say the same. On July 14, Chris Pospisil, a University of Central Florida student, had a near-fatal interaction with a shark. The 21-year-old was surfing with his friend Reece Redish at New Smyrna Beach when a shark knocked him off his surfboard. The predator then latched onto the young man's foot.
""The shark came from under me, on my board, and tipped me backwards off my board, and I was falling backwards, I saw my foot in his mouth, and it dragged me under,"" Pospisil recalled as he spoke to FOX affiliate WOFL-TV. He credits Redish for helping him survive the terrifying ordeal.
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""Reece was already there, already on top of me, got me by my shirt, and pulled me on the board,"" Pospisil said. Once on shore, he hoped his injuries would be minimal. ""I remember asking the lifeguard, 'Am I going to lose my foot?' He was like, 'I don't know, man,'"" the college student added.
While noting that ""The top of my foot is going to be numb in some areas for the rest of my life, and my foot might be stiff because they had to repair all seven tendons,"" Pospisil added that he is ready to return to the water. ""It hasn't changed anything. I'm definitely going to keep surfing. It's my lifestyle, and it's something I love to do,"" he admitted.
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Read the original article on People.",Not_Explicit
"LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $1.5 million fine against the Temecula Valley Unified School District less than a day after conservative board members voted to reject a state-endorsed curriculum that includes a short biography of gay rights leader Harvey Milk.
On top of the fine, the district east of Los Angeles will have to pay the $1.6 million shipping costs associated with sending the materials to the district, which he previously vowed to do if the board did not approve the material.
“After we deliver the textbooks into the hands of students and their parents, the state will deliver the bill — along with a $1.5 million fine — to the school board for its decision to willfully violate the law, subvert the will of parents, and force children to use an out-of-print textbook from 17 years ago,” Newsom said Wednesday in a statement.
The president of the school board, Joseph Komrosky, had said he would reject any such shipments, but school board members who voted in favor of the learning materials say they support Newsom's actions.
""It was a mistake to reject the curriculum,"" board member Steven Schwartz said Wednesday. ""When you play with fire, sometimes you get burned.""
Board member Allison Barclay said that ""it is devastating to receive news of a fine of this magnitude.""
""Our students deserve the best, and I believe that this new curriculum that was piloted by 47 teachers and 1,300 students is an excellent resource for our district,"" she said in an email. ""I am hopeful we can work with the state to come into compliance and avoid any undue financial burden on our district that, in the end, will only hurt our students.""
In an emailed statement, Komrosky said the school district still has time to meet state and federal mandates before the next school year. He has convened a special meeting of the board for Friday to discuss curriculum for the upcoming school year.
""We do not appreciate Governor Newsom’s effort to usurp local control and all that will apparently result from these tactics is a waste of the taxpayers’ money,"" he said in an emailed statement.
Newsom, meanwhile, has not held back from sharing his disapproval of Komrosky, Jennifer Wiersma and Danny Gonzalez.
“The three political activists on the school board have yet again proven they are more interested in breaking the law than doing their jobs of educating students — so the state will do their job for them,” he said in a statement.
“California will ensure students in Temecula begin the school year with access to materials reviewed by parents and recommended by teachers across the district,” he added.
On Tuesday night, at a nearly six-hour meeting that turned chaotic at times, three school board members backed by a conservative political action committee with ties to an evangelical church voted to reject supplemental materials for children in grades one through five.
Komrosky, the board president, has called Milk a ""pedophile,"" while dozens of attendees, many from outside the school district, delivered impassioned speeches against teaching anything that refers to sex or homosexuality to elementary school-age students.
Opponents countered that Milk, a member of the San Fransisco Board of Supervisors who was assassinated in 1978, was an important California figure and a champion of underrepresented communities whose legacy is worthy of being taught in schools.
Many also argued that any mention of Milk would be limited to a short biography available only in supplemental materials and that changing the curriculum just four weeks before classes resume would throw teachers and their lesson plans into turmoil.
""The state having to step in to provide curricular materials that adhere to state law underscores the fact that the extremist board majority is not fit to govern and only listens to outside agitators instead of local parents and teachers,"" said Jennee Scharf, a high school English teach in the Temecula district.
Scharf is among several educators and residents backing a recall of the three conservative school board members six months after they took office.",Not_Explicit
"The European Union has approved a €43 billion ($47.5 billion) plan to develop more fabs and increase semiconductor production in the region. The move will aim to double the EU’s global market share from 10 percent to “at least” 20 percent by 2030, according to a European Council press release.
“In the long run, this will also contribute to the renaissance of our industry and the reduction of our foreign dependencies,” Héctor Gómez Hernández, Spanish minister for industry, trade, and tourism, said in a statement. The Chips Act is meant to attract more investment and elevate research in Europe so that the bloc can be ready for future semiconductor shortages and be less reliant on foreign chips.
The news comes more than a year after the EU outlined ambitious plans to become a leader in developing and fabricating semiconductor chips. Companies like Intel are already building new manufacturing facilities in the continent.
The Chips Act follows after the United States’ increased domestic investments. The US has dedicated $52 billion to compete with China on semiconductor production with the CHIPS and Science Act passed in 2022. The Biden administration is offering $39 billion in incentives for companies to build plants stateside.
The Chips Act was approved by the Council of the European Union today. Next, it will be signed by the president of the European Parliament and the president of the Council and subsequently will be published in the Office Journal of the EU before going into effect.",Not_Explicit
"Sharda Cropchem Q1 Results Review - Subdued; Near Term Outlook Bleak: Prabhudas Lilladher
Volume/price decline of 11%/18% YoY; forex up 6.5% YoY in Q1 FY24.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Prabhudas Lilladher Report
We trim our FY24/25E estimates of Sharda Cropchem Ltd. by 27%/16% and downgrade the rating to ‘Accumulate’ (earlier 'Buy') citing near term pressure on both revenues and margins, led by adverse weather conditions in key geographies and high inventory concerns both at manufacturer and distributor levels which in turn exerts pressure on revenue growth and margins.
Sharda Cropchem reported subdued set of results with revenue decline of 23% YoY to Rs 6.3 billion (our estimate: Rs 8.0 billion), led by volume/price de-growth of 11%/18%YoY partially aided by positive forex variance of 6.5% YoY.
Gross margins contracted 1670 basis points YoY to 8.7% (lowest in the last 10 years), largely led by-
high cost inventory provisions of Rs 710 million;
higher sales return of Rs 1.35 billion; and
acute pressure on price realizations particularly in the NAFTA region.
Lower gross margin coupled with higher opex up 530 bps YoY has resulted into an Ebitda loss of Rs 688 million (including IU&AD write-off of Rs 27 million in Q1 FY24 versus Rs 29 million in Q1 FY23).
Citing cautious near term growth outlook, management has revised downward their FY24E revenue growth guidance to 8-10% (earlier ~15%) thereby putting pressure on margins (Ebitda margins guided earlier at 18-20% for FY24E).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"JERUSALEM — Israel’s parliament passed a key law Monday as part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's effort to overhaul the country’s judicial system, despite international criticism and huge protests.
The bill will remove the power of judges to overrule Cabinet members’ decisions in which they fail a “reasonableness” test.
Opposition politicians walked out of the chamber, shouting ""shame"" and ""government of destruction,"" boycotting the vote. Later, a crowd of protesters outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, tried to cross a police cordon near the building before being repelled, officials said.
All 64 members of the ruling coalition voted in favor of the bill but no lawmakers voted against.
Netanyahu, who attended the vote hours after being released from a hospital following an emergency heart procedure, and his allies say the change is needed to stop unelected judges from overruling democratic leaders.
President Isaac Herzog had attempted to find a compromise between the government and opposition parties, and called the standoff between the two sides a “national emergency.”
Thousands of protesters outside the Knesset believe the government’s proposed judicial overhaul is a national crisis and argue that a crucial check on political power will now be lost, harming the Jewish state’s democracy and boosting Netanyahu’s power.
Demonstrators banged on drums, blew horns and waved Israeli flags as they blocked a road leading to the Knesset. Businesses closed in protest. Police used water cannons on the demonstrating crowds.
Police earlier said 12 protesters, referred to as “troublemakers,” had been detained near the Knesset, and that one had bitten a police officer.
Protesters say Netanyahu faces a choice between democracy and autocracy.
“After an unprecedented wave of protests, and clear warnings from the security establishment, industry leaders, the hi-tech sector, the trade unions and now directly from the White House, today Netanyahu will decide between the will of the people and the will of the extremists in his own government,” Shikma Bressler, a protest movement leader, said in a statement before the final vote.
Many military reservists and retired veterans are taking part in the direct action, a sign of how deeply felt the overhaul is across Israeli society.
“We’re not going to continue to risk our lives going to serve in an air force of a country that is not democratic. It’s as simple as that,” Guy Poran, a former air force pilot who is now a protest movement leader, said ahead of the vote.
“You’re either for this kind of legislation or you’re fighting against it. And this is something that has never happened in 75 years of existence of Israel. And, frankly, it’s frightening,” he said.
So many reservists are taking part in protests that it has become a national security problem, according to a senior military leader.
“These are dangerous cracks,” military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi wrote in a letter to soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces on Sunday meant to address the tensions. “If we will not be a strong and cohesive military, if the best do not serve in the IDF, we will no longer be able to exist as a country in the region.”
The plan, which was backed by Israel’s ruling coalition of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, has been the source of intense protests for months.
The United States took the highly unusual step of weighing-in after the vote on the internal political developments of its close ally.
“We see the passage of part of the legal reform as unfortunate,” the Biden administration said.
Earlier, in a statement to the news website Axios on Sunday, President Joe Biden urged Netanyahu to come to a peaceable consensus.
“Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this — the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus,” he said.
The political turmoil comes amid heightened concerns over Netanyahu's health. The 73-year-old was fitted with a pacemaker over the weekend, in his second hospital stay in two weeks.
The prime minister recorded a short video saying he was well, thanking the doctors and the public for their support. He attended the Knesset vote in person.
The opposition movement does not end with this vote. The chairman of the Histradut, Israel's national labor union, Arnon Bar-David, said after Monday's vote that he will gather his members and if necessary call a ""complete shutdown.""
Paul Goldman and Raf Sanchez reported from Jerusalem, Patrick Smith from London.",Not_Explicit
"- Joburg CBD explosion: Are you on the scene or have been affected by the explosion? Send us your photos, videos, etc. to feedback@news24.com
2m ago
City Power's Isaac Mangena tells eNCA that while they are still unclear about what happened, the utility's technicians were on their way to the scene to assess the electricity cables underground. Mangena says City Power's Bree Substation isn't far from the scene where some of the damage has been seen.
- Sheldon Morais
5m ago
Evening Joburg— Exec. Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda (@KabeloGwamanda) July 19, 2023
Following the explosion that happened this afternoon at Jhb CBD, which caused the road to partially collapse. I’ll be heading there this evening, to assess the damage.
Please take note of the following road closures:
Bree & Simmons
Bree & Harrison
Loveday street pic.twitter.com/GzV6viGGsH
5m ago
News24 journalist Ntwaagae Seleka is on Rissik Street.
This is his update: A paramedic at the scene says they have transported more than 10 people with serious to minor injuries to hospital. Some injured people are being attended to at the scene.
10m ago
Senior fire officials say they are satisfied that there is ""no gas in the air"".
- Sheldon Morais and Alex Patrick
11m ago
Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda is also making his way to the scene. His spokesperson Mlimandlela Ndamase confirmed this, telling News24 that ""We are on our way to the scene.""
- Bongekile Macupe
14m ago
15m ago
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has confirmed to News24 that he ""just entered the scene"" of the explosion. He told News24 that he would not comment until he has been briefed.
- Bongekile Macupe
17m ago
ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring confirmed to News24 on Wednesday night that scores of people sustained minor to moderate injuries following the suspected gas explosion in the Joburg CBD.
“Reports thus far show that no one had sustained any fatal injuries,” Meiring said.
- Iavan Pijoos
19m ago
Paramedics on the ground in Lilian Ngoyi Street, near Rissik Street, say firefighters there are more confident with the situation, at least in terms of fires breaking out, despite the smell of gas lingering in the air.
- Sheldon Morais and Alex Patrick
22m ago
Journalist Alex Patrick, driving through Constitutional Hill on her way to the scene, has spotted several government forensics vehicles heading to the scene.
- Sheldon Morais
25m ago
Mihlali Ntsabo is on Lillian Ngoyi Street. Law enforcement officials there have told him part of the road has sunk in.
People around the area are being steered away from the damage. It is unclear if any buildings in this vicinity where Ntsabo is have been damaged. However, he can see damaged vehicles.
- Sheldon Morais
30m ago
Paramedics whose teams responded to the emergency have described the scene as a “red zone”, saying they asked their paramedics who reported to the scene to stand down.
- Sheldon Morais and Iavan Pijoos
34m ago
A paramedic has told News24 journalist Alex Patrick that part of Bree Street has been closed off as emergency workers treat patients. There are ambulances at the scene.
- Sheldon Morais
37m ago
News24 audio journalist Mihlali Ntsabo is in the city centre. He is reporting that there is commotion at the scene. Darkness has fallen in Johannesburg so evacuations and rescue efforts may become that much harder.
- Sheldon Morais
39m ago
45m ago
Officials on the scene are concerned whether the gas lines have been switched off, if indeed it is a gas-fuelled blast.
- Sheldon Morais
46m ago
The first photos and images emerging show scenes unlike any many people have seen before. Roads are broken up, cars are lying on their sides with their windows shattered.
- Sheldon Morais
47m ago
A voice recording describing the incident details how the speaker believes the blast or disruption “started on Loveday Street” before spreading to Bree Street.
“Taxis have overturned and people are injured. What has happened here is really bad and I think the underground gas just exploded. Cars were flying in the air and some have fallen,” the woman speaking in the clip can be heard saying.
- Sheldon Morais
51m ago
19 July 2023 - 17h46— Road Angels Traffic Information (@Road_Angels_SA) July 19, 2023
We are aware of an explosion on Bree Street in Jhb CBD possibly on the gas lines underground.
At this time we request the public to *stay clear* of the area to allow emergency services to attend to the scene. pic.twitter.com/zL674bGidB
51m ago
51m ago
51m ago
51m ago
BREAKING | Massive explosion rocks Joburg CBD, leaving devastation in its wake
Authorities rushed to the Johannesburg Central Business District on Wednesday evening following reports of an explosion in Bree Street.
The city's emergency medical services confirmed an explosion but said they were not yet aware of any deaths.
""We are aware of an explosion on Bree Street in Jhb CBD possibly on the gas lines underground,"" the Johannesburg North Joint Operations Committee (JOC) said in a communique.
The JOC is made up of community policing forums for Alexandra, Bramley, Midrand, Sandringham and Sandton.
""At this time we request the public to stay clear of the area to allow emergency services to attend to the scene. Videos showed huge cracks in the road and vehicles on their side.
- Cebelihle Bhengu and Jenna Verster",Not_Explicit
"American model Gigi Hadid was arrested and fined in the Cayman Islands earlier this month over cannabis possession, it has been revealed.
The 28-year-old and her friend were detained after their luggage was searched as they arrived on a private jet for a holiday on 10 July.
They pleaded guilty in court and paid a fine, but no conviction was recorded.
Hadid's representative said the marijuana was purchased legally in New York ""with a medical license"".
""It has also been legal for medical use in Grand Cayman since 2017. Her record remains clear and she enjoyed the rest of her time on the island,"" they said in a statement shared with the PA news agency.
According to the Cayman Islands Customs and Border Control, Hadid and her friend Leah McCarthy were arrested for ""the importation of marijuana and importation of utensils used for the consumption of marijuana"".
It was a small amount, seemingly for personal consumption, the agency added.
They were taken to a detention centre and released on bail, local newspaper the Cayman Marl Road reported.
The pair appeared in the Cayman Islands summary court two days later, where they were fined 1,000 Cayman Islands dollars ($1,200; £920).
Despite this, the model appeared to still enjoy her holiday.
""All's well that ends well"", she told her Instagram followers on Tuesday, posting photos of the beachside getaway.
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Gigi Hadid is one of the world's most famous models - and reportedly one of the highest paid. She has worked with leading luxury brands including Versace, Chanel, Fendi and Marc Jacobs and has graced the cover of Vogue more than 30 times.
The Cayman Islands is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean that has beautiful beaches, coral reefs and abundant marine life.",Not_Explicit
"The 23-year-old is unlikely to start after doing his first training session on Friday after a period out with illness.
Mauricio Pochettino has also explained that, despite playing Premier League opposition in the Summer Series, he will continue to use his young players on Saturday night.
Chelsea are expected to use a similar group of players to the one who beat Wrexham 5-0 in North Carolina on Wednesday night.
Bashir Humphreys and either Ben Chilwell or Marc Cucurella will complete the backline. Chelsea will also play with a young midfield again after Andrey Santos, Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei all excelled last time out.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Kepa; Gusto, Thiago Silva, Humphreys, Chilwell; Andrey, Chukwuemeka, Casadei; Jackson, Nkunku, Sterling.
Injured: None
Doubt: Chalobah
Time and date: 12am BST on Sunday, July 23, 2023
Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia",Not_Explicit
"A Russian-born billionaire oil tycoon is challenging the UK government's decision to freeze his assets.
Eugene Shvidler had two of his private jets, worth up to $60m (£45m), detained last March.
He was sanctioned over ties with ex-Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and a mining company operating in Russia.
In the first such case of its kind at the High Court, the 59-year-old, who moved to the US in 1989, wants the sanctions lifted.
Lord Anderson KC, representing Mr Shvidler, said there could be no doubt his client was ""sought to be used as a poster boy for Russian sanctions"" in light of comments made by ministers at the time his planes were seized.
He added that other similar challenges are understood to be waiting behind Mr Shvidler's case, which is due to be ruled on at a later date.
Mr Shvidler is seeking a declaration that his designation under post-Brexit regulations on sanctions was unlawful, and an order quashing the designation.
Lord Anderson said the designation had destroyed Mr Shvidler's ability to deal with his assets and conduct his business, disrupted his life and the lives of his family, deprived employees of their livelihoods and shattered his reputation.
He said his client has no relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin nor any influence on Russian policy - and had spoken out against the war in Ukraine.
He added that England had been Mr Shvidler's main home since 2004 and his five children were all British citizens at UK schools - although two ""were required to leave those schools"" because of the sanctions.
Mr Shvidler has demonstrated his commitment to the UK through philanthropy, including funding a library and scholarships for disadvantaged young people, Lord Anderson added.
Opposing the challenge, government lawyers argued the decision to impose sanctions was neither disproportionate nor discriminatory and asked the court to dismiss the case.",Not_Explicit
"Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania have jointly called on the European Union to extend the ban on imports of Ukrainian grain to those five countries beyond its currently planned end date of 15 September.
“We will not open this border. If the European Commission does not extend the ban, we will do it ourselves,” said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, speaking alongside agriculture ministers from the quintet of eastern member states.
The countries say that their decision – which comes just after Russia pulled out of a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea – is not directed against Ukraine, but rather aims at protecting their own agriculture sector.
📢Zakaz importu zbóż z Ukrainy – stanowisko 5⃣ krajów przyfrontowych. 🗨️Musimy zabezpieczyć interesy tych, którzy produkują żywność w naszych krajach – mówili wszyscy uczestnicy dzisiejszego spotkania.
Więcej 👉https://t.co/gKLaYEw75z pic.twitter.com/qo4GE1TzMa
— Ministerstwo Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi (@MRiRW_GOV_PL) July 19, 2023
Earlier this year, farmers protested that growing exports of Ukrainian grain to and through eastern EU member states during the war was pushing down prices. That led Poland to unilaterally introduce a ban on imports and transit in May, despite EU rules giving Brussels exclusive competence over trade policy.
Soon after, a deal was reached with the European Commission to ban the import of Ukrainian grain to the five eastern member states but with transit through them allowed to continue.
Today, the ministers signed a joint statement underlining the need to extend preventive measures on imports of wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine beyond 15 September 2023. The document will be presented at the EU Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries in Brussels on 25 July 2023.
The EU has reached an agreement to ban the import of Ukrainian grain to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria while letting transit through those countries take place https://t.co/9D8VO1Cxkt
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 28, 2023
The quintet added, however, that they want to allow transit to continue, with Poland’s agriculture minister, Robert Telus, arguing that the import ban has actually improved transit to third countries.
“Our actions in defence of the interests of farmers from EU countries are not directed against anyone,” said Telus. “They are a call for reconsideration and for appropriate, much-needed decisions on the part of the European Commission.”
“Our countries are helping [Ukraine] the most among the EU countries,” added Slovak agriculture minister Jozef Bíreš. “We will do everything to ensure that the solidarity corridors place as little burden as possible on the countries through which they pass.”
Poland’s decision to ban Ukrainian grain – angering both Kyiv and Brussels – highlighted how important rural votes are for the ruling party as it bids for re-election.
Rural areas account for 40% of Poland's population, one of the highest levels in the EU https://t.co/QI2WRqUHaT
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 25, 2023
Following recent falls in the price of certain fruits in Poland, such as raspberries, Morawiecki added that quintet stand ready to extend the ban beyond grain to other groups of products “if there are signs of destabilisation in other agricultural markets”.
“There will be import bans and compensation for farmers. We never leave farmers on their own and this will also be the case this time – in relation to the fruit market, for example,” he said.
Today’s announcement comes just two days after Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal for safe transit of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. That has caused renewed concerns about food shortages in parts of the Middle East and Africa that rely on imports from Ukraine.
Russia’s refusal to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative harms millions of hungry people around the world. Using food as a weapon is unconscionable. We urge Russia to reverse course.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) July 17, 2023
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.",Not_Explicit
"EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — Wrecking ball-sized buoys on the Rio Grande. Razor wire strung across private property without permission. Bulldozers changing the very terrain of America's southern border.
For more than two years, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has escalated measures to keep migrants from entering the U.S., pushing legal boundaries with a go-it-alone bravado along the state's 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) border with Mexico. Now blowback over the tactics is widening, including from within Texas.
A state trooper's account of officers denying migrants water in 100-degree Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius) temperatures and razor wire leaving asylum-seekers bloodied has prompted renewed criticism. The Mexican government, the Biden administration and some residents are pushing back.
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Abbott, who cruised to a third term in November while promising tougher border crackdowns, has used disaster declarations as the legal bedrock for some measures.
Critics call that a warped view.
“There are so many ways that what Texas is doing right now is just flagrantly illegal,” said David Donatti, an attorney for the Texas American Civil Liberties Union.
Abbott did not respond to requests for comment. He has repeatedly attacked President Joe Biden's border policies, tweeting Friday that they ""encourage migrants to risk their lives crossing illegally through the Rio Grande, instead of safely and legally over a bridge.”
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The Biden administration said illegal border crossings have declined significantly since new immigration rules took effect in May.
ALTERED BORDER
Under the international bridge connecting Eagle Pass, Texas, with Piedras Negras, Mexico, protesters gathered at Shelby Park this month, chanting “save the river"" and blowing a conch shell in a ceremony. A few yards away, crews unloaded neon-orange buoys from trailers parked by a boat ramp off the Rio Grande.
Jessie Fuentes stood with the environmental advocates, watching as state troopers restricted access to the water where he holds an annual kayak race. Shipping containers and layers of concertina wire lined the riverbank.
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The experienced kayaker often took clients and race participants into the water through a shallow channel formed by a border island covered in verdant brush. That has been replaced by a bulldozed stretch of barren land connected to the mainland and fortified with razor wire.
“The river is a federally protected river by so many federal agencies, and I just don’t know how it happened,” Fuentes told the Eagle Pass City Council the night before.
Neither did the city council.
“I feel like the state government has kind of bypassed local government in a lot of different ways. And so I felt powerless at times,” council member Elias Diaz told The Associated Press.
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The International Boundary of Water Commission says it was not notified when Texas modified several islands or deployed the massive buoys to create a barrier covering 1,000 feet (305 meters) of the middle of the Rio Grande, with anchors in the riverbed.
The Justice Department has warned Texas that the buoy wall is unlawful and the Biden administration will sue if the state doesn't remove the wall. Abbott tweeted Friday that the state “has the sovereign authority to defend our border.""
The floating barrier also provoked tension with Mexico, which says it violates treaties. Mexico's secretary of foreign relations asked the U.S. government to remove the buoys and razor wire in a June letter.
Fuentes sued over the buoys, arguing that border crossings are not covered by the Texas Disaster Act.
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As for the river islands, the Texas General Land Office gave the state Department of Public Safety access starting in April “to curb the ongoing border crisis.""
“Additionally, the General Land Office will also permit vegetation management, provided compliance with all applicable state and federal regulations is upheld,” said a letter from the office's commissioner, Dawn Buckingham.
The Texas Military Department cleared out carrizo cane, which Buckingham's office called an “invasive plant” in its response to questions from the AP, and changed the landscape, affecting the river's flow.
Environmental experts are concerned.
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“As far as I know, if there’s flooding in the river, it’s much more severe in Piedras Negras than it is in Eagle Pass because that’s the lower side of the river. And so next time the river really gets up, it’s going to push a lot of water over on the Mexican side, it looks like to me,” said Tom Vaughan, a retired professor and co-founder of the Rio Grande International Study Center.
Fuentes recently sought special permission from the city and DPS to navigate through his familiar kayaking route.
“Since they rerouted the water on the island, the water is flowing differently,” Fuentes said. “I can feel it.”
The state declined to release any records that might detail the environmental impacts of the buoys or changes to the landscape.
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Victor Escalon, a DPS regional director overseeing Del Rio down to Brownsville, pointed to the governor's emergency disaster declaration. “We do everything we can to prevent crime, period. And that’s the job,” he added.
TRESPASSING TO STOP TRESPASSERS
For one property owner, the DPS mission cut him out of his land.
In 2021, as Eagle Pass became the preferred route by migrants crossing into the U.S., Magali and Hugo Urbina bought a pecan orchard by the river that they called Heavenly Farms.
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Hugo Urbina worked with DPS when the agency built a fence on his property and arrested migrants for trespassing. But the relationship turned acrimonious a year later after DPS asked to put up concertina wire on riverfront property that the Urbinas were leasing to the U.S. Border Patrol to process immigrants.
Hugo Urbina wanted DPS to sign a lease releasing him from liability if the wire caused injuries. DPS declined but still installed concertina wire, moved vehicles onto the property and shut the Urbinas' gates. That cut off the Border Patrol's access to the river, though it still leases land from Urbina.
“They do whatever it is that they want,” Urbina said this month.
The farmer, a Republican, calls it “poison politics.” Critics call it déjà vu.
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“I also really see a very strong correlation to the Trump and post-Trump era in which most of the Trump administration’s immigration policy was aggressive and extreme and very violative of people’s rights, and very focused on making the political point,” said Aron Thorn, an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project.
“The design of this is the optics and the amount of things that they sacrifice for those optics now is quite extraordinary,” Thorn said.
DPS works with 300 landowners, according to Escalon. He said it is unusual for the department to take over a property without the landowner’s consent, but the agency says the Disaster Act provides the authority.
Urbina said he supports the governor’s efforts, “but not in this way.""
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""You don’t go out there and start breaking the law and start making your citizens feel like they’re second-hand citizens,” he added.
Justice | 2 Houston police officers arrested on separate charges
Education | 6 major 'Destination 2035' changes coming to HISD
Extreme | Houston-area logs 3rd heat-related death of 2023
Discovery | U of H researchers find ruins of lost Maya city
For the latest and best from Chron, sign up for our daily newsletter here.",Not_Explicit
"We're analysing all the major VAR decisions throughout all 64 games at the Women's World Cup. History was made between New Zealand and Norway as a referee announced their VAR decision to the crowd at a major tournament for the first time.
After each big call, we examine it and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game.
VAR overturn: Penalty for handball by Hansen
What happened: It was the 87th minute when New Zealand's Malia Steinmetz attempted to cross into the area from the right flank, and the ball hit Norway defender Tuva Hansen just inside the area. Japanese referee Yoshimi Yamashita signalled for play to continue, but as soon as it stopped the VAR, Tatiana Guzmán of Nicaragua, began a check for handball.
VAR decision: Penalty, missed by Ria Percival
VAR review: The Women's World Cup is the first major test of FIFA's new VAR process, where the referee announces their decision to the crowd over their microphone. It's already featured in the Club World Cup and the Under-20 World Cup, but it's this tournament which will bring it to the masses.
FIFA will be delighted it was seen in action in the high-profile opening game, and that it seemed to run smoothly. At the same time, world football's governing body could not have wished for an easier decision to showcase its trial.
Everyone in the stadium knew the ball had hit Hansen, and it was obvious there was a claim for a handball penalty. Replays showed that Hansen had her arm away from her body, so it was a simple call for the VAR to send the referee to the monitor.
After Yamashita had reviewed the footage, a hush descended upon Eden Park as the home crowd waited for their team to be awarded the spot kick.
Yamashita stepped onto the pitch, made the TV sign and announced: ""After on-field review the decision is ... penalty.""
And upon the referee pointing towards the penalty spot, the crowd erupted in celebration, which meant her explanation of the decision was lost in the noise. After giving the decision, the referee says which player has been penalised, for what offence and any disciplinary action.
This VAR overturn was so simple it didn't really need that explanation, and Yamashita announcing the outcome certainly seemed to add a little more drama. The only possible doubt was whether the handball was in the area or just outside.
But it begs the question, what will happen when there is a controversial or complicated overturn, or an off-the-ball infringement is spotted which the crowd were unaware of before the review? Will the referee's explanation also be drowned out by the reaction of the crowd?
It's early days for this trial, as it would have been obvious under the old system if there was a penalty awarded by the referee pointing to the spot.
FIFA believes this is the answer to fans' frustrations over communication of VAR calls, but we still didn't get to hear what the VAR said to the referee -- and that's what fans really want.
Also, it only applies to overturns at the monitor. Early in the second half there was another handball penalty appeal, and a lengthy check by the VAR while play was stopped. The fans were offered no explanation for this, and instead had to rely on information on the big screen.",Not_Explicit
"McCarthy denies he promised Trump vote on expunging impeachments
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday denied making a promise to former President Trump that the House would vote to expunge his impeachments, shooting down a report that said the GOP leader pledged the vote as a way to temper tensions with the former president.
“There’s no deal,” McCarthy told reporters Thursday, “but I’ve been very clear from long before when I voted against impeachments that they did it for purely political purposes.”
“I support expungement but there’s no deal out there,” he added.
Those comments contradict a Thursday morning report from Politico Playbook that McCarthy assured Trump that the House would vote to erase his impeachments, citing a source close to Trump and familiar with the conversation.
The vow came after McCarthy, during an interview late last month, said he was unsure if Trump was the “strongest” person to beat Trump in 2024, reportedly landing him in hot water with the president.
McCarthy launched a clean-up effort later that day, telling the conservative Breitbart News in a subsequent interview that “Trump is “Biden’s strongest political opponent,” sending out a fundraising blast with the same message, and, according to The New York Times, calling the former president for a conversation that two sources characterized as an apology.
But according to Politico, Trump wanted an endorsement from McCarthy following the squabble, which the Speaker was not willing to offer as he seeks to stay neutral in the primary. Instead, a source told the outlet, McCarthy promised that the House would vote to expunge his impeachments.
McCarthy later communicated, through aides, that he would hold the vote before August recess — which is set to begin next Friday — according to Politico, but he recently told the former president’s team that the vote will happen by the end of September, the outlet noted.
Either of those deadlines, however, would be difficult for McCarthy to meet. The House from now through September is working on spending bills for the annual appropriations process, with a Sept. 30 deadline looming. The process is already the source of disagreements within the GOP conference.
Even if McCarthy were to bring the expungement resolutions to the floor for a vote, it is unlikely that they would garner enough support to pass. The vote would push purple-district Republicans into a tough spot politically, and likely turn off others who are unsure if expungement is constitutionally possible.
A number of GOP lawmakers sounded cool to the idea of Thursday, and one House Republican — who said their views “represent a fair number of principled conservatives” — said they would likely oppose any effort to erase the punishments.
“I have every expectation I’ll vote against expungement, and I have every expectation that I will work to bring others with me,” the lawmaker said, noting that they communicated that position with leadership.
McCarthy voiced support for expunging both of Trump’s impeachments last month, telling reporters that one of the rebukes “was not based on true facts” and the other was “on the basis of no due process.” He said it was “appropriate” to expunge them “because it never should have gone through.”
The House — led by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in late 2019, in response to his threat to withhold U.S. military aid to Ukraine unless leaders in Kyiv launched an investigation into Joe Biden, his political opponent. No Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the punishment.
Then in early 2021, the House impeached Trump for a second time following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, penalizing him for “incitement of insurrection.” That time around, 10 Republicans voted to impeach. Just two of them — Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) and David Valadao (R-Calif.) — are still in Congress.
In both scenarios, however, Republicans in the Senate acquitted Trump.
Immediately after the Capitol riot, McCarthy took to the House floor and declared that Trump bore “responsibility” for the violence. But when it became apparent that the Republican Party was remaining loyal to Trump, he reversed his stance, meeting with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida a few weeks later. He later claimed that Trump did not “provoke” the attack.
House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) are leading the effort to expunge Trump’s impeachments. Greene sponsored the resolution for the first impeachment, relating to Ukraine, and Stefanik is taking the lead on the second, pertaining to Jan. 6.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"SAVE 49%: ExpressVPN is the best service for accessing extra content on Netflix. A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £82.82 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time.
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How to unblock South Korean Netflix
South Korean Netflix offers a wide range of popular Korean dramas, alongside 109 Oscar-winning films and the highest number of Emmy-winning titles offered by any of Netflix's global libraries. Unfortunately, you will be blocked if you try to access South Korean Netflix from outside the country. The only way to bypass this blockade is with a streaming-friendly VPN.
VPNs can hide your real IP address and connect you to a secure server in South Korea. This process tricks Netflix into thinking you're connecting from the country, meaning you get to watch all the content that is normally locked to the location. You can unblock South Korean Netflix in just a few clicks:
Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN
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ExpressVPN is tough to beat when it comes to streaming. This high-speed service offers powerful levels of encryption, helpful live support, and five simultaneous connections. ExpressVPN also has a robust privacy policy, so your data is always secure when streaming.
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Watch South Korean Netflix for free with ExpressVPN.",Not_Explicit
"Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who returned home on July 15 after she was reportedly missing for two days, was never missing, Hoover Police Department Chief Nicholas Derzis told reporters at a news conference Monday.
Derzis read a statement he said was provided to police by Russell’s attorney, Emory Anthony, acknowledging “there was no kidnapping.”
“My client has given me permission to make the following statement on her behalf. There was no kidnapping on Thursday, July 13th 2023. My client did not see a baby on the side of the road. My client did not leave the Hoover area when she was identified as a missing person. My client did not have any help in this incident. This was [a] single act done by herself,” the statement, as read by Derzis, said.
“We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward. Understanding that she made a mistake in this matter, Carlee again asks for your forgiveness and prayers,” the statement continued.
Derzis said police have a meeting with Anthony scheduled to discuss the case, and they are in discussions with the Jefferson County District Attorney's office over “possible criminal charges related to this case.” He said there is no meeting with Russell or her family at present.
Derzis added that police will announce potential charges “when and if they are filed.”
The press conference on Monday came after police told the public last Wednesday that Russell searched for Amber Alerts and the movie ""Taken"" on her phone before her disappearance.
Russell also made searches related to bus tickets in the hours before she went missing, Derzis said.
""There were other searches on Carlee's phone that appeared to shed some light on her mindset,"" Derzis said, adding he would not share them out of privacy.
""Taken,"" the 2008 movie starring Liam Neeson, centers around a young woman who is abducted and the quest to save her from her kidnappers.
ABC News has reached out to Anthony and Russell's family for comment.
Russell told police that she was taken by a male and a female when she stopped to check on a toddler she saw on the highway, Derzis said last Wednesday.
""She stated when she got out of her vehicle to check on the child, a man came out of the trees and mumbled that he was checking on the baby. She claimed that the man then picked her up, and she screamed,"" he said at the time.
Asked if investigators saw a man abduct Russell in the surveillance video of the interstate, Derzis said that they did not.
Russell called 911 on July 12 at around 9:30 p.m. ET to report a toddler on Interstate 459 in Alabama before her disappearance, but the Hoover Police Department said in a press release last Tuesday that investigators did not find any evidence of a child walking on the side of the road.
""The Hoover Police Department has not located any evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate, nor did we receive any additional calls about a toddler walking down the interstate, despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video,"" the press release said.
""People have to understand that when someone says something like this, we put every available resource -- everybody comes from a state, local, federal -- it's just a lot of work,"" he said last week.
Derzis was also asked last week if the next time a woman of color goes missing, the case may not be taken seriously. He replied: ""We investigate every crime to the fullest just like we have this one.""
ABC News' Nadine El-Bawab and Mariama Jalloh contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"From July 1 to July 24, Scott and his PAC, Trust in the Mission, spent a combined $3.1 billion on television and digital ads for the 2024 presidential primary, according to AdImpact. The pro-Scott super PAC also placed a $40 million TV and digital ad reservation in addition to $7 million slated for August — the first campaign to do so post-Labor Day.
If this substantial spending continues, Scott has the potential to slip into third place behind the former president and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
This is significant as Scott and some outsider candidates are slightly rising in some state polls, narrowing their margin between themselves and DeSantis. The South Carolina senator reached double digits in Iowa and South Carolina, two GOP primary battleground states.
In Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, Scott's Trust in the Mission PAC reserved $19.9 million, making the PAC the biggest spender of the presidential race at $25.9 million. On July 21, one day later, the pro-Scott PAC bumped its total spending up to $30.8 million.
Pro-Scott spending nationwide sits at $31.9 million, over $10 million more than pro-Trump spending and over $15 million more than pro-DeSantis spending, as of July 20.
#Election2024: In the last 2 days, we've seen Trust in the Mission PAC (Pro-Tim Scott) reserve $19.9M in IA, NH, and SC. They're now the highest spender of the Presidential race ($25.9M).— AdImpact Politics (@AdImpact_Pol) July 20, 2023
Pro-Scott spending now stands at $31.9M nationwide.
Pro-Trump: $21.6M
Pro-DeSantis: $16.7M
DeSantis himself has trickled down to a 19.3% RCP average, a slight dip from his ratings in March and early summer where he broke or hit around 30%. Trump maintains a significant lead, with Real Clear Politics marking him at an average of 51.0%.
Still, Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., and DeSantis's super PAC, Never Back Down, remain the top ad spenders, with the former spending $19.9 million and the latter spending $15.6 million. Scott sits in fourth place with $4.3 million spent on ads.
DeSantis, Scott, Trump, as well as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all qualify for the Republican National Committee's first primary debate on Aug. 23.
Scott is counting on the debates to help him present himself as a compelling and optimistic alternative to Trump, as big-money Republican donors are reportedly dissatisfied with their options. If Trump does not appear at the RNC debate, for which he is still noncommital, it could be a showdown between DeSantis and Scott.",Not_Explicit
"President Biden brushed off and smiled at reporters who peppered him with questions Tuesday evening about a potential impeachment by Republicans in the House.
Following a speech in the East Room of the White House about expanding access to mental health care, Biden made his way to the exit where a group of reporters eagerly asked for his thoughts about the growing discussion by Republicans to impeach him.
Amid numerous questions, one reporter asked, ""Mr. President, McCarthy says he may [consider] an impeachment inquiry to get to the bottom of —""
Smiling from ear to ear in one clip shared to social media, Biden quickly passed by the noisy group of reporters.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., says Republican lawmakers may consider an impeachment inquiry of Biden over claims of financial misconduct.
Speaking Tuesday at the Capitol, McCarthy said the questions House Republicans are raising about the Biden family finances need to be investigated. He said an impeachment inquiry ""allows Congress to get the information to be able to know the truth"" about whether Biden committed any wrongdoing.
An impeachment inquiry by the House would be a first step toward bringing articles of impeachment. Such a probe could be as lengthy or swift as the House determines, potentially stretching into campaign season.
Other Republicans also appear to be on board with the idea of impeachment, specifically House Freedom Caucus members.
""When he does speak to … impeachment, it carries a tremendous amount of weight. And that's why I think the ground shifted on that a little bit when he opened up the door,"" Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said after a Freedom Caucus press conference on Tuesday. ""I don't think there's any question that him speaking to that has caused a paradigm shift.""
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., suggested there would be ""an uprising"" against Biden if the House did not move forward with trying to remove him.
""Look, the evidence is mounting against this guy. Look at what he’s done,"" Norman said. ""What Donald Trump’s done with papers pales in comparison.""
Norman said there was a ""difference of opinion"" on whether to take such a severe step but dismissed the idea of risking an impeachment vote that fails.
""Some people think that what he’s done isn’t that bad. A lot of us in general — the public, it’s gonna be an uprising against this guy, I think, at the end of the day.""
McCarthy predicted Monday that Republicans will gather enough evidence soon to mount an impeachment inquiry against Biden, as the corruption scandal enveloping him and his son Hunter continues to grow.
McCarthy made reference to a relatively new revelation from the House Oversight Committee that — while Joe was vice president — Hunter Biden ""capitalized"" on a financial relationship with a Romanian national later convicted on corruption charges.
According to prepared remarks from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., in June, the Bidens received more than $1 million in 17 increments.
McCarthy, during an appearance on Fox News, said that 16 of those 17 payments went to what he described as ""Biden shell companies"" while President Biden was vice president. According to Comer's prepared remarks, the elder Biden had been ""lecturing Romania on anti-corruption policies"" while instead being a ""walking billboard for his … family to collect money.""
""When President Biden was running for office, he told the American public that he's never talked about [Hunter's] business. He said his family has never received a dollar from China, which we now prove is not true,"" McCarthy said on ""Hannity.""
He said evidence and legitimacy of their caucus' probes are mounting, as he described the two IRS investigators who testified before Congress last week as ""some of the most credible"" to come forward.
McCarthy cited the FBI 1023 form wherein a confidential human source told the bureau that Biden was paid $5 million by a Burisma executive while he was vice president and while Hunter was on the board.
Biden has long denied discussion or involvement in Hunter's business deals, recently rebuffing a New York Post reporter who asked why he is reportedly referred to as the ""big guy"" in the FBI form — which is the same nickname purportedly used as a pseudonym in a message gleaned from previously released documentation connected to Hunter.
McCarthy on Tuesday gave no timeline for launching an impeachment inquiry into Biden.
Fox News' Charles Creitz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Grand Blanc School Board member charged in alleged false electors scheme
GRAND BLANC, Mich. (WNEM) - A Grand Blanc School Board member has been charged for her reported role in a scheme to pick a fake slate of electors in the 2020 presidential election.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has charged 16 people with felonies for their roles in the alleged false electors scheme after the 2020 presidential election.
Among the 16 accused is 55-year-old Grand Blanc School Board member Amy Facchinello. She is charged with multiple felonies for conspiracy and forgery, accused of signing fraudulent election certificates claiming Donald Trump won the state in the 2020 presidential election.
The felonies Facchinello faces include forgery, election law forgery, uttering and publishing, and related conspiracy charges, some of which come with penalties of up to 14 years behind bars.
Nessel said the accused met covertly in the basement of Michigan Republican Party headquarters to sign their names to certificates claiming they were the elected and qualified electors.
“That was a lie. They weren’t the duly elected and qualified electors. And each of the defendants knew it. They carried out these actions with the hope and belief that the electoral votes of Michigan’s 2020 election would be awarded to the candidate of their choosing. Instead of the candidate that Michigan voters actually chose,” Nessel said.
This is not the first time Facchinello has made headlines.
During the pandemic, she was an ardent opponent of mask mandates. In 2021, Grand Blanc students, parents, and community members rallied to have Facchinello recalled after she repeatedly promoted QAnon-related material on her social media accounts.
In 2022, residents called for her resignation after her reported involvement in the scheme for which she is now charged.
Facchinello is not the only elected official facing charges. The current mayor of Wyoming, Kent Vanderwood, was also charged in the false elector scheme.
TV5 reached out to Amy Facchinello for comment but has not yet heard back.
One member of the Grand Blanc School Board did respond to TV5 saying they had no comment.
Subscribe to the TV5 newsletter and receive the latest local news and weather straight to your email every day.
Copyright 2023 WNEM. All rights reserved.",Not_Explicit
"The mood remained buoyant as a sea of yellow and green filled Stadium Australia at Sydney Olympic Park, becoming part of the biggest crowd ever for a women’s soccer match in Australia, announced at 75,784 on Thursday.
“Who wouldn’t want to be here for the first match?” asked Katie Lynn, who traveled from Adelaide, 850 miles (1,370 kilometers) away, with girlfriend Jasmine Williamson. “I have not been to a sporting event this big before. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Williamson summed up the mood perfectly: “People that aren’t even football fans are interested.”
Sydney’s famed sporting atmosphere seemed subdued in the days leading up to the match. But game day brought out the fans, including a man dressed in a kangaroo costume who identified himself only as “Skippy.”
“Just coming down on the train, people were everywhere,” said Vanessa Ronksley, who lives in Sydney's eastern beachside suburb of Coogee. “We can feel it now.”
Long-time friends Anthony Dunne and Kiaran Bannon were among those who stopped by the FIFA Fan Festival at Tumbalong Park, on the southern edge of Darling Harbour. They came from Ireland to watch their national team’s first-ever Women’s World Cup match.
“Even before we (Ireland) qualified, we said, ‘If we get through, we’re going,’” Dunne said. “My girlfriend was in work, and pregnant at the time, and I rang her after the (qualifying) match, and basically asked for permission.”
The excitement of the Australian fans was dampened for a while by the announcement an hour before kickoff that Matildas star and captain Sam Kerr would miss the match because of a calf muscle injury. She will also miss the July 27 match against Nigeria in Brisbane.
But Australia’s 1-0 victory gave reason for fans to be jubilant, even in Kerr’s absence.
“I haven’t stopped crying,” said Canberra resident Lydia Randall, who was in Canada in 2015 when Australia reached the World Cup quarterfinals. ""All the girls deserve this.”
___
Abby Halpin and Zeke Palermo are students at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
___
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"Leon Marchand of France set the world record in the men's 400-meter individual medley Sunday, breaking the last individual mark that Michael Phelps had held from his illustrious swimming career.
Marchand cruised to the gold medal in 4 minutes, 2.50 seconds at the world championships in Fukuoka in southwest Japan. That broke the long-standing mark of 4:03.84 set by Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Phelps had held individual world records in five different races. He still is part of the world records set by the United States in the 4x100 and 4x200 freestyle relays.
Marchand swims at Arizona State and is coached by Bob Bowman, the coach of the American team at the world championships. He is a potential hometown superstar going into next year's Paris Olympics and will also be the favorite in the 200 IM.
He finished 4.06 seconds ahead of silver medalist Carson Foster of the United States. Japan's Daiya Seto took the bronze, coming in nearly seven seconds behind Marchand.
It was the second of three world records to fall on the opening day of the swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships. Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia set the record in a star-filled women's 400-meter freestyle field with a time of 3:55.38, finishing more than three seconds ahead of Katie Ledecky. Australia also set the record in the 4x100 women's freestyle relay in 3:27.96.
In other results, Australia's Sam Short powered to victory in the men's 400 freestyle to dethrone compatriot Elijah Winnington.
Short, 19, crossed the line in 3:40.68 to narrowly beat Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia by 0.02 seconds. Germany's Lukas Martens was 1.52 seconds behind to take the bronze medal.
Winnington, who won the title in Budapest last year, was seventh out of eight competitors.
In the 4x100 men's freestyle relay, Australia took the gold in 3:10.16, with Italy earning the silver (3:10.49) and the United States the bronze (3:10.81) as all three countries automatically qualified for the Paris Games.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"More than a dozen state lawmakers in Utah are poised to endorse Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in his run for the White House, giving him a key boost in a heavily Republican state that has somewhat shied away from former President Donald Trump in recent years.
The endorsement comes after DeSantis met with the group of legislators in Salt Lake City on Friday, bringing the Florida governor’s total number of endorsements from state lawmakers to 270. The meeting was led by Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, who is set to hold a fundraising event for DeSantis later in the evening.
“Gov. DeSantis is a strong conservative leader who knows how to get things done and has the record to prove it,” Adams said in a statement. “Now more than ever, our nation needs an energetic executive leader who will get right to work for the American people on Day One.""
The mass endorsement elevates DeSantis in the deeply red state as the Florida governor seeks to reboot his campaign and close the gap between himself and Trump. Although Trump remains a front-runner by wide margins in national polling, the former president is neck-and-neck with DeSantis in Utah.
Although Utah is reliably red — Republican presidential candidates have won the state in 17 of the last 18 elections — voters have increasingly shifted away from Trump since he left office in 2020. Several state leaders have also come out against the former president, with Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) telling CBS News earlier this month he hoped the Republican Party would move on from Trump.
“I think we have lots of amazing choices, and I’m really hopeful that we can turn the page and try something else,” he said. “Someone who can win, which I think is important, and I think any of those governors could win and I certainly hope we’ll give them a chance.”
DeSantis’s trip to the Beehive State comes as the Florida governor seeks to overcome financial struggles and lackluster growth in the polls since launching his campaign in May. The Florida governor fired roughly a dozen staffers last week, raising questions over how DeSantis will shift his strategy over the coming months.
Trump continues to lead by at least 30 points in national polling, with DeSantis the runner-up in almost every survey. An average of roughly 51% of voters say they’d back Trump compared to just 19% for DeSantis, according to data from FiveThirtyEight.",Not_Explicit
"Your favorite influencer just bought a vivid new shade of lipstick, and it suits her perfectly. You’re admiring the product on TikTok, and with only a few taps, without stopping the stream, you can buy the exact same shade too. As TikTok intermingles social media and e-commerce, it is betting that this vision of shopping will knock aside rivals in the Southeast Asia market.
The short-form video streaming giant, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, is in a race to dominate e-commerce in the region. Facing growing regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. — the biggest market for the app with 116 million users — TikTok is increasingly investing in its second biggest market: Indonesia, which had 113 million app users as of April, according to Statista. Outside Indonesia, it’s ramping up its focus on Thailand and Malaysia too.
In June, TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew said the company planned to invest “billions of dollars” in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia playing a critical part in the strategy.",Not_Explicit
"NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - The sole person convicted at trial of defrauding donors to an online campaign to build Donald Trump's signature wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was sentenced on Tuesday to 5-1/4 years in prison.
Timothy Shea's sentence was the longest imposed over the ""We Build the Wall"" campaign, which federal prosecutors said raised more than $25 million from hundreds of thousands of donors.
Two other defendants, who pleaded guilty, received shorter prison terms. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was also charged in the case, but Trump pardoned him in the final hours of his presidency.
A Manhattan jury in October found Shea, of Castle Rock, Colorado, guilty on two conspiracy counts and one count of obstruction of justice after a one-week trial. An earlier trial ended last June in a hung jury.
In sentencing Shea, 52, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said he helped his co-defendants launder looted donor funds through shell companies, even as they claimed all the money was going to build the wall, and kept $180,000 for himself.
""They hurt us all by eroding the public's faith in the political process,"" Torres said at a hearing in Manhattan federal court.
The sentence matched the recommendation by the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan, which brought the case.
Prosecutors argued in court papers that he viewed the campaign as a ""personal piggybank"" and tried to deflect blame for his misconduct.
Shea's defense lawyer had sought a prison term of about two years. He said the fundraising plan was not Shea's idea, and that while Shea was paid he did actual work for the project.
Two other defendants, the campaign's leader Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, pleaded guilty and were sentenced in April to 4-1/4 years and three years in prison, respectively. Torres said on Tuesday their health issues were significant mitigating factors.
Bannon was criminally charged last September by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with state law violations arising from the wall campaign.
Bannon pleaded not guilty and faces a trial next May 27. Presidential pardons do not cover state prosecutions.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Cambodia's long-term leader is almost certain to extend his party's rule at an election on Sunday where there no serious challengers.
Voters turning up to the polls in Phnom Penh told the BBC they expected the Cambodian People's Party to sweep all 125 seats in parliament again.
Hun Sen, who has been in power for 38 years, faces no real challenge after the only credible opposition party was disqualified in May.
Critics have called the vote a sham.
""It's a rigged election because there are no real strong opposition parties,"" one voter, an aid worker in Phnom Penh, told the BBC earlier this week.
Western nations, including the US, have also expressed concerns about the integrity of the vote.
Opposition lawmakers this year have reported violent attacks, with Human Rights Watch reporting the government stepped up intimidation and arbitrary arrests of political opposition in the run-up to the poll.
In May, the government barred the country's main opposition party, the Candlelight Party, on a technicality. The National Election Commission said the party was missing paperwork, which it had not needed for the local elections last year.
Candlelight had won 22% of the vote last year - and analysts say Hun Sen saw them as a potential threat to his rule.
Hun Sen has become increasingly authoritarian in his rule, political analysts say.
Earlier this year, leading opposition figure Kem Sokha was sentenced to 27 years prison on alleged treason charges, and key news outlet Voice of Democracy shut down.
It is the second election in a row where Hun Sen has targeted democratic institutions and crippled the opposition before voting day, analysts say.
In 2018, his Cambodian People's Party won every single seat in the 125-seat National Assembly after the main opposition alliance was dissolved by the politically- controlled courts.
Seventeen other parties are participating in this year's election, but almost all are too small, new or are aligned with the ruling party to be considered credible challengers.
The vote comes at an uncertain time for Cambodia's economy - with locals reporting struggles with rising fuel prices, stagnant wages and growing debts.
While Hun Sen is campaigning for re-election, he has flagged that this may be his last term. In 2021, he said would hand over control to his eldest son who currently commands the Royal Cambodian Army.
Han Manet is a first-time candidate for a parliament seat this election and led the final day of party rallies in Phnom Penh on Friday.
However it's unclear if of when his father will relinquish control.
Hun Sen's party has won all six of the national elections held every five years since the 1990s, when the UN helped the Southeast Asian nation of 16 million people become a functioning democracy post decades of civil war and the murderous Khmer Rouge regime.
Over four decades, he has consolidated power through control of the military, police and moneyed interests. Observers say he has dispatched opponents through co-opting, jailing or exiling them.",Not_Explicit
"Kotak Mahindra Bank Q1 Results Review - Strong Performance Led By Robust Other Income: Motilal Oswal
Margin contracts 18 basis points QoQ; asset quality steady.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. reported a robust quarter, with standalone profit after tax increasing 67% YoY to Rs 35 billion (14% beat), driven by higher treasury gains and dividend income of Rs 3 billion from subs.
Consolidated profit after tax grew 51% YoY to Rs 41.5 billion.
Kotak Mahindra Bank's advances grew 17% YoY (3% QoQ) to Rs 329 billion, while margin contracted by 18 bp QoQ to 5.6%. Deposit growth was steady, though the current account and savings account mix moderated 380 bp QoQ due to a shift in savings account deposits toward high-yielding ActivMoney product launched by the bank.
Gross slippages increased 46% QoQ to Rs 12 billion, of which Rs 2.9 billion were upgraded in Q1 FY24. Higher slippages and healthy recoveries held gross non-performing asset/net non-performing asset ratios stable at 1.77%/0.4%.
We increase our FY24/FY25 profit after tax estimates by 7%/5% and revise our target price to Rs 2,170 (3.0 times FY25E book value and Rs 560 for subs). Maintain 'Neutral'.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"- Summary
- Companies
- Two pilots killed in crash, first fatalities of wildfires
- More flights return tourists home from Rhodes
- Prosecutor launches investigation into cause of fires
- State broadcaster says 10% of island's land area burned
RHODES, Greece, July 25 (Reuters) - Two Greek pilots were killed when their plane fighting wildfires crashed on Tuesday, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned of tough days ahead with blazes destroying homes and forcing tourist evacuations from the island of Rhodes.
The captain and co-pilot of the Canadair CL-215 plane were both killed when their aircraft crashed on the island of Evia, east of Athens, the air force said - the first fatalities in the current set of wildfires in Greece.
It gave their ages of the men as 34 and 27 respectively,
State broadcaster ERT earlier showed footage of the plane dropping water over a fire and then crashing into a hillside and bursting into flames.
Hundreds of firefighters, helped by forces from Turkey and Slovakia, were battling blazes that have raged on the island of Rhodes since Wednesday and resurged in hot, windy conditions. More emergency flights were due to take holidaymakers home.
Mitsotakis said on Tuesday the next days would be difficult, with conditions possibly improving after Thursday.
""All of us are standing guard,"" he said. ""In the face of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate change hot-spot, there is no magical defence mechanism, if there was we would have implemented it.""
An assessment by scientists published on Tuesday said human-induced climate change had played an ""absolutely overwhelming"" role in the extreme heatwaves that have swept across North America, southern Europe and China this month.
In Greece, a prosecutor on Rhodes launched an investigation into the causes of the fires and the preparedness and response of authorities, state broadcaster ERT said. It said about 10% of the island's land area had burned.
'UNPRECEDENTED ORDEAL'
Lefteris Laoudikos, whose family owns a small hotel in the seaside resort town of Kiotari, one of the epicentres of the fire over the weekend, said its 200 guests - mainly from Germany, Britain and Poland - evacuated in rental cars.
He said his father, cousin and two others were trying to douse the flames using a nearby water tank.
""On Saturday when I saw the wind and that there were no planes, I told everyone 'we're going to burn today,'"" he said.
""My father saved the hotel. I called him, and he didn't want to leave. He told me 'if I leave there will be no hotel'.""
John Hatzis, who owns three unaffected hotels in northern Rhodes, said the island needed to welcome back tourists.
""After the superhuman efforts to contain the fire we need superhuman efforts to restart tourism now,"" he said.
Rhodes, one of Greece's biggest islands, is among its top summer destinations, attracting about 1.5 million foreign tourists in the summer months.
About 20,000 people had to leave homes and hotels in Rhodes over the weekend as the inferno spread and reached coastal resorts on the verdant island's southeast, after charring land, killing animals and damaging buildings.
After a blaze in the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, in 2018 killed 104 people, Greece has taken a more proactive approach towards evacuations. But critics say it has not improved its ability to put out fires that are common in summer, though more intense in this year's heatwave.
The mayor of Rhodes said on Facebook the island was facing an unprecedented ordeal.
There were also fires on the island of Corfu.
Greece has seen very high temperatures in recent weeks and they are set to rise through Wednesday to exceed 44 Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) in some areas.
Around 3,000 holidaymakers had returned home by plane by Tuesday and tour operators cancelled upcoming trips. TUI (TUI1n.DE) dropped flights to Rhodes through Friday. It said it had 39,000 customers on Rhodes as of Sunday evening.
Tourism accounts for 18% of Greece's economic output and one in five jobs. On Rhodes and many other Greek islands, reliance on tourism is even greater.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Trump rages over legal problems on Truth Social
Former President Trump vented about his ongoing and potentially impending legal issues on Truth Social on Sunday, lobbing accusations of politicization against the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the prosecutors investigating him.
The DOJ appears to be close to potentially filing charges against the former president over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and broader efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump announced last week that he had received a letter informing him that he was a target of the investigation and had four days to decide whether to appear before the grand jury to make his case.
Trump and his allies have railed against the DOJ and special counsel Jack Smith for what they view as political motivation fueling the probes and the charges that have already filed against him, and the former president emphasized those attacks again Sunday.
“Every time you see these Radical Lunatics and their partners in the Fake News Media talking about the ‘Trials and Tribulations’ of President Donald J. Trump, please remember that it is all a coordinated HOAX… in order to STEAL ANOTHER ELECTION through PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT at levels never seen before in the U.S.” he posted.
“[Attorney General] Merrick Garland, Deranged Jack Smith, and coordinating Democrat ‘Prosecutors’ in New York and Atlanta, have become the Campaign Managers for the most corrupt and incompetent President in United States history, Joe Biden!” he said in another post.
Trump has already been charged in Manhattan with falsifying business records over hush money payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels, and in federal court in Florida with various counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified and sensitive documents, including possible violations of the Espionage Act.
Smith, who is overseeing both the probes into the documents and the 2020 election efforts, emphasized the “gravity” of the charges facing Trump after he announced the decision in the documents case last month. He also defended the conduct of the DOJ and FBI on the cases, indirectly addressing the criticism that they have both received from Trump and his allies.
Trump also criticized the amount of money that has been spent on investigations into him overall and specifically from Smith’s investigations. A DOJ report revealed earlier this month that Smith spent $5.4 million during the first five months of his investigation, while other DOJ agencies assisting the investigation spent an additional $3.8 million.
The report showed that Robert Hur, the special counsel appointed to investigate President Biden’s handling of classified documents, spent $615,000 on the probe, and agencies assisting him spent $570,000.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"They used to go wild for villas by the Med and ski chalets in the Alps; now they are forking out for views of the Channel and hilly walks in Shropshire.
According to figures released this week by the English Housing Survey, the proportion of English owners of second homes who have properties in Europe has fallen again, with 60% of holiday homes located in the UK rather than outside it.
Ten years ago, the split was approximately even, with 51% of second homes located outside the UK, mainly in France or Spain.
Today, after Brexit – which stops British citizens who do not have a visa from spending more than 90 days in an EU country in any 180-day period – 60,000 people in England own second homes in France, compared with 89,000 in 2008.
Overall, fewer than 30% of second homes owned by people in England are in Europe, compared with 40% in 2012.
Annette de Vries, an estate agent in Monpazier, in the Dordogne, told the Times that the additional bureaucracy of Brexit had deterred many people from buying in France.
“Less British people are looking for houses than before,” she said. “The main reason is Brexit. It’s so much more difficult for British people to buy something here. They need health insurance and that’s very difficult for them.”
The newspaper reported that Sylvie Mayer, an estate agent in Huelgoat, Brittany, said: “Many Britons have left the area. Since last summer, a lot of them have sold their second homes because the paperwork got too complicated for them to spend time here.”
The government survey also shows that buying a second home in the UK is far more popular than it used to be.
The figures show 520,000 households now own second homes in the UK, up from 279,000 in 2008, with people who live in the south-east and London among the most likely to have access to a second home, followed by residents of the Midlands and the east of England.
The survey defines second homes as properties mainly used by owners or let to others as a holiday home, or properties occupied by their owners while they are working away from home.
The campaign group Generation Rent recently described the holiday-let sector as “out of control”.
Dan Wilson Craw, the group’s acting director, told the Guardian: “It has taken homes away from locals who grew up in holiday hotspots and people who want to work in the tourist industries, making these areas unsustainable.”",Not_Explicit
"Patrick Semansky/AP
toggle caption
A poster photo of U.S. Marine Corps veteran and former Russian prisoner Trevor Reed stands in Lafayette Park near the White House, March 30, 2022, in Washington. Reed, a former U.S. Marine who was released from Russia in a prisoner swap last year, has been injured while fighting in Ukraine, the State Department said.
Patrick Semansky/AP
A poster photo of U.S. Marine Corps veteran and former Russian prisoner Trevor Reed stands in Lafayette Park near the White House, March 30, 2022, in Washington. Reed, a former U.S. Marine who was released from Russia in a prisoner swap last year, has been injured while fighting in Ukraine, the State Department said.
Patrick Semansky/AP
Trevor Reed, a U.S. Marine veteran who was freed from Russian prison in a prisoner swap last year, has sustained an injury while fighting in Ukraine, the State Department said.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters Tuesday that Reed is being treated for an injury in Germany.
""Mr. Reed was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the U.S. government and, as I indicated, we have been incredibly clear, warning American citizens, American nationals not to travel to Ukraine,"" Patel said.
Journalist James LaPorta of the news site The Messenger was the first to report the story, citing U.S. military officials as saying Reed had suffered shrapnel wounds from stepping on a land mine two weeks ago. The story added that Reed had joined a group of freelancers fighting on the side of Ukraine against Russia at some point last year.
The State Department spokesperson did not provide details about Reed fighting in Ukraine or his injury, but said a nongovernmental organization evacuated him for medical care.
Russia had detained Reed on charges of attacking a Moscow police officer in 2019, sentencing him the following year to nine years in prison.
But in April 2022, Russia released Reed in a prisoner exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who had been serving a 20-year prison sentence in U.S. prison for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.",Not_Explicit
"The crown jewel in a recent revitalization project of a London industrial area is a “rolling bridge” made of squares powered by a hand crank.
The bizarre spectacle of two large squares gradually inverting the deck of the pedestrian footpath to allow boats to pass underneath a canal lends the new Cody Docks community in London a touch of Victorian-era chic tinged with steampunk madness.
Architect Thomas Randall-Page freely admits it’s not possible to justify everything about the square rolling bridge. It could have been cheaper, it could have been powered by hydraulics or electricity, or it could have been a much simpler design.
But its childish fun, its imaginative function nestled perfectly within its surroundings leaves Randall-Page believing it to be exactly what Cody Docks needs as it transitions from an old 19th-century industrial wharf where the Thames meets the tidal River Lea to a creative community.
Reopening the dock to the Lea’s waters required the removal of a dam and the introduction of a footbridge over a canal where barges would pass into a refurbished mooring.
“To move it from one position to another takes about 20 minutes,” says Randall-Page calmly. “It was important to have that manual aspect, partly because it’s a very low-energy solution in terms of you’re not relying on external power solutions, and partly because there’s a way in which that simplifies things; there’s a whole lot less that can go wrong.”
“If something does begin to go wrong you notice it, you literally feel it getting harder to move. So it’s kind of a haptic check-in process,” he said in a micro-doc about his bridge.
MORE BIZARRE ENGINEERING PROJECTS: Girl Surprised With Pet Dragon After Surviving Cancer and Making-a-Wish – ‘It’s a Marvel of Engineering’
For someone wondering how the square portals of the bridge roll, it’s because they’re mounted on rails built into the sides of the canal wall which undulate up and down like hills on the horizon. This symmetry allows the whole bridge structure to smoothly roll through 180 degrees to a fully inverted position facilitating the movement of boats from the river to the dock.
Randall-Page said his design was inspired by a visit to a friend’s boat. At times, he had to help his friend pass through canal locks, and the architect took an immediate liking to the low-tech yet smart and hands-on Victorian design of the lock mechanism.
“There’s something very nice about being able to look at the thing even if it’s stationary, and kind of be able to read something about how it works,” he said. Everything’s on show, the winches are on show, the tracks are on show, and if you’ve got your head screwed on you can follow the logic of how this thing works.”
WATCH the mini-doc below…
SHARE This Truly Unique Project With Your Friends…",Not_Explicit
"Israel's governing coalition voted Monday to curb the supreme court's powers, setting the stage for continuing protests and a potential boycott of the military by enraged reservists in the country's biggest-ever domestic crisis.
The Knesset voted 64 to 0 for the measure, after members of the opposition boycotted the vote once it was clear that they had no hope of stopping the measure. The judicial reforms are part of a deeply contentious package of judicial changes sought by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government.
“We have taken the first step in a historic process to correct the judicial system,” Justice Minister Yarin Levin said from the Knesset rostrum.
The vote was a huge victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who left a hospital Monday morning to attend the vote after heart surgery and is currently on trial on corruption charges.
- Protesters Block Highways in Israel Over Controversial New Judicial Laws
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Hundreds of thousands of protesters in favor of and opposed to the bill were on the streets of Israeli cities from starting Sunday morning. Earlier on Monday, police used water cannons to disperse demonstrators outside the Knesset; 19 were arrested. An estimated 150 companies, including Israel's two biggest banks, closed down for the day to protest the law.
Last-minute attempts to amend the bill failed and two compromise frameworks floated by a union leader and President Isaac Herzog were rejected, the Times of Israel reported..
The new law bars the courts from examining the “reasonableness” of cabinet and ministerial decisions.
“This is a national emergency,” Herzog said before the vote. “We have to reach an agreement.”
But within hours, as the voting process began, opposition Labor party leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid said there was no hope the bill would be softened.
""In the last few weeks we made every effort to reach broad agreements as we promised, but we had conditions and the main condition was to preserve Israeli democracy,"" Lapid said on Twitter. ""With this government it is impossible to reach agreements that preserve Israeli democracy.""
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said it was Lapid and his allies who had scotched any chance of consensus. “We left no stone unturned until the last minute but the opposition unfortunately opposed” compromise, he said.
The so-called ""reasonableness"" bill approved on Monday removes the supreme court's ability to overturn government decisions. Netanyahu's reforms would blunt the power of Israeli courts, which the ruling coalition accuses of overreach.
The prime minister was in parliament for the vote just hours after being discharged from hospital following emergency for a pacemaker on Saturday.
On Sunday night, U.S. President Joe Biden urged Netanyahu to slow down passage of the bill.
“Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this — the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus,” Biden told Axios in a statement.
Israel has been roiled by sometimes massive protests for seven months since the judicial package was first introduced in the Knesset.
Thousands of reservists, including air force pilots, have vowed to avoid service, an unprecedented display of dissent in the military. Former heads of Israel's army and security services, ex-chief justices, and legal and business leaders have all publicly opposed the judicial overhaul.
Netanyahu's coalition holds a 53 percent of the Knesset, with 64 out of 120 seats.
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"A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Donald Trump’s hush-money case involving Stormy Daniels would remain in New York state court, rejecting the former president’s bid to have the case be moved to a federal court.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein’s decision sets up Trump to stand trial in Manhattan as early as next spring—possibly the heart of peak campaign season as he vies for a return to the White House. Trump’s lawyers can appeal Hellerstein’s ruling to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.
In an “order and opinion granting motion to remand” obtained by The Daily Beast, Hellerstein wrote that Trump and his lawyers “improperly invoked” a U.S. code in hopes of getting the case’s jurisdiction shifted.
Defense attorneys argued the root of Trump’s charges were within the “color of his office” when he was president and belonged in a federal court. Hellerstein reportedly scoffed at that argument last month, however, foreshadowing Wednesday’s ruling.
The hush-money case was the first of a flurry of legal troubles to hit Trump this year. He was indicted in March and arrested a month later on allegations he schemed with then-lawyer Michael Cohen to save his 2016 presidential campaign by paying hush money to the porn star Stormy Daniels—a messy attempt to keep her quiet about an affair they had nearly a decade earlier.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg slapped Trump with 34 felony counts, accusing him of making fake business records to hide the hush-money and the reimbursements he provided to Cohen, who originally paid Stormy Daniels out of his own pocket.
Ever since his indictment, Trump’s lawyers have desperately tried to have the case moved to federal court, accusing Bragg of being biased. Trump also reportedly wanted to avoid Justice Juan Merchan, a state court judge who’s already presided over the criminal trial where a jury convicted the Trump Organization of tax fraud.",Not_Explicit
"Police have released innovative images of a fugitive wanted in connection with a 16-year-old murder in East Dunbartonshire.

Officers are still on the hunt for Derek Ferguson, 59, over the death of Thomas Cameron, 49, who was shot dead outside The Auchinairn Tavern in Bishopbriggs on 28 June 2007.

Intelligence gathered suggests Ferguson may have recently travelled between the southern part of the Netherlands and Spain - including Barcelona, the south coast and the Balearic Islands.

Officers from Police Scotland's Fugitive Active Search Unit (FAST) have now released animated images - named an EvoFIT - to show how Ferguson could look now.

The EvoFIT was developed with help from forensic psychologist Professor Charlie Frowd, of the University of Central Lancashire.

With an international arrest warrant in place, police are urging anyone who recognises Ferguson to get in touch.

Detective Chief Superintendent Vicky Watson said: ""Our officers have carried out painstaking enquiries and research over the years to trace Ferguson and the new images released are a result of our investigations and the current intelligence picture surrounding his appearance.

""I would like members of the public to look at these images and get in touch with the investigation team if you recognise him and, most importantly, have information about his current whereabouts.""

Read more:

One-legged British crime boss arrested in Thailand after five years on the run

A reward of up to £10,000 is on offer from Crimestoppers for information that leads to the arrest of Ferguson.

DCS Watson said: ""I am aware that over the passage of time, loyalties and relationships change.

""Despite 16 years having passed, our investigation to trace Ferguson continues and underlines our unwavering commitment to achieve justice for the family of Thomas Cameron.""

Ferguson is described as being between 5ft 2in and 5ft 6in in height. He has a small scar on his right jawline, a small piece missing from the top of his left ear, and was known to have various tattoos on his forearms, including a heart and a dagger.",Not_Explicit
"Video: The WTTW News Spotlight Politics team on the day’s biggest stories. (Produced by Alexandra Silets)
All Chicago businesses would be required to pay their workers the same minimum hourly wage, regardless of whether they earn tips, and all employees would be entitled to 15 days of paid time off under two proposals introduced to the Chicago City Council on Wednesday.
Taken together, the two proposals are likely to form the foundation of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s agenda when it comes to labor. A former organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, Johnson enjoyed the unanimous support of Chicago’s progressive labor organizations.
Johnson has endorsed the One Fair Wage national campaign, which has cast the push to end the tipped minimum wage as part of a larger fight for justice, saying workers who earn the so-called tipped minimum wage are more vulnerable to sexual harassment, wage theft and abuse than other employees.
But even with 25 cosponsors, the proposal to eliminate the tipped minimum wage by July 2025 failed to advance Wednesday, with Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) preventing it from heading directly to a committee hearing and vote.
Johnson’s mayoral campaign platform called for an end to the tipped minimum wage, noting that those who rely on tips to earn a living wage are more likely to be Black and Latina women. Johnson was endorsed by the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois, which is part of the One Fair Wage campaign.
Ending the tipped minimum wage will be “good for workers, working families, and the future of our city,” Johnson said at an event organized by the One Fair Wage campaign.
“We have a moral obligation to make our people whole,” said Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward), noting that the practice of allowing employers to pay their workers less than the minimum wage — as long as tips make up the rest — originated in slavery.
Fuentes said she was not concerned that the measure failed to advance Wednesday, telling reporters that she expects it to be part of Johnson’s proposed 2024 spending plan.
Fuentes said she and other supporters were open to delaying the elimination of the tipped minimum wage until July 2027, but not any longer.
Chicago’s minimum wage for most workers rose to $15.80 per hour on July 1, an increase of 40 cents. That comes two years after Chicago’s minimum wage hit $15 per hour after a six-year fight that energized the labor movement and fueled new laws designed to improve the working conditions for the city’s lowest-paid workers, who are disproportionately Black and Latino.
In 2019, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot blocked a proposal backed by progressive members of the City Council to eliminate the tipped minimum wage by 2023. That proposal faced intense opposition from restaurant industry groups.
Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th Ward) said Wednesday workers who earn tips were left behind in 2019 when the City Council agreed to set the city’s minimum hourly wage at $15 starting in July 2021.
“We will fix that,” said Ramirez Rosa, Johnson’s floor leader.
The minimum hourly wage for employees of large Chicago businesses who earn tips rose by 48 cents on July 1 to $9.48 per hour, officials said.
Paying all workers the same minimum wage, regardless of what they earn in tips, will benefit Chicago’s restaurant industry and individual eateries, Ramirez Rosa said.
The push is also supported by Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd Ward), the chair of the City Council’s Workforce Development Committee.
Saru Jayaraman, the president of the One Fair Wage national campaign, said paying tipped workers the same minimum wage could help boost youth employment, a major goal of Johnson’s efforts to reduce crime and revitalize Chicago’s South and West sides.
The restaurant industry is the largest employer of Chicagoans age 16 to 24, and Fuentes said raising their wages could reduce homelessness and crime throughout the city.
A proposal to end the tipped minimum wage is likely to be a major point of negotiation during the debate over the 2024 spending plan, Johnson’s first, set to take place this fall.
The push is expected to face fierce opposition from the restaurant industry, who could push Johnson to phase out the tipped minimum wage over a longer period of time.
Leaders of the Employment Policies Institute urged the City Council to reject the proposal, saying it would lead to layoffs and lower earnings for restaurant employees.
A separate measure introduced Wednesday by Rodriguez would require Chicago employers to offer their workers one hour of paid leave for every 15 hours worked, regardless of whether they are sick.
That would entitle Chicago employees to 15 days of paid time off every year, according to the proposal backed by the Chicago Federation of Labor.
If approved, the measure would be the largest expansion of paid time off in any city in the United States, according to the Chicago Federation of Labor.
Starting in 2024, a measure signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker will require employers statewide to give their workers at least one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked. That will entitle employees to five days of paid time off every year, according to the law.
Because Chicago has a separate law, approved in 2016, requiring employers to give their employees paid sick leave, the state law exempts Chicago. Chicago employees earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours they work, or at least five days every year.
That measure passed after a fierce political battle, and has not been adjusted since.
The state law also exempts employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement in the construction industry and parcel delivery industry, and Chicago’s ordinance would not trump labor agreements, Rodriguez said.",Not_Explicit
"Two whistleblowers who alleged the Justice Department politically interfered with an investigation into President Joe Biden’s youngest son, Hunter, will testify before Congress at 1 p.m. Wednesday, including ""Whistleblower X,"" a 13-year special agent of the IRS whose identity will be revealed for the first time during the hearing and former investigation supervisor Greg Shapley.
According to an opening statement released ahead of the hearing, the unidentified official intends to describe himself as a ""whistleblower compelled to disclose the truth"" and to shed light on ""the shadow that looms over our federal legal system.""
""I have witnessed the corrosion of ethical standards and the abuse of power that threaten our nation. It is within this context that I have chosen to shed light on these actions and expose those responsible. I recognize that while I was present at the start of this investigation and was closely involved with the investigation for roughly five years — that I am just a part of the story,"" the opening statement continued. ""My aim is to address systemic problems that have allowed misconduct to flourish. It is not a call for blame but a call for accountability and reform.""
""Transparency is the foundation of our democracy,"" the unidentified IRS agent will tell Congress Wednesday. ""Without it, people lose their trust in the institutions and the bonds that tie the fabric of our nation start to fray. The American people deserve to know the truth no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient it may be for either political party.""
The IRS whistleblowers claim there was a pattern of ""slow-walking investigative steps"" into Hunter Biden, which included instructions not to speak with him at his residence, tipping the president’s son and staff off about the ongoing efforts and delaying enforcement actions in the months before the 2020 presidential election.
Leaders of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, and Ways and Means committees will join together Wednesday to host the IRS whistleblowers for what is expected to be an intense hearing.
The two IRS agents were assigned to the federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax and gun charges. Biden ultimately pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement with federal prosecutors in a lenient deal that prompted criticism from Republican lawmakers. The hearing comes as House Republicans continue to investigate the president and his family after the Justice Department failed to find evidence of criminal conduct.
The congressional inquiry into the Justice Department's case against Hunter Biden was launched last month, days after Hunter Biden’s plea deal was announced.
The House Ways and Means Committee previously voted to publicly share hundreds of pages of testimony from the IRS employees. In the testimony, the agents described several roadblocks agents on the case, such as trying to interview individuals relevant to the case or issue search warrants, which they ultimately claim impeded their investigation.
In one specific case, Shapley described IRS agents’ efforts to execute a search warrant of a storage facility in Virginia where the younger Biden’s documents were being stored. He said the assistant U.S. attorney involved in the case reached out to Hunter Biden’s lawyers and the tip-off ruined ""our chance to get to evidence before being destroyed, manipulated, or concealed.""
Shapley also claimed that U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the federal prosecutor who led the investigation into Hunter Biden, asked to be provided special counsel status in order to bring the tax cases to jurisdictions outside Delaware, including Washington, D.C., and California
Shapley claims Weiss was denied this request but both Weiss and the Justice Department refuted the claim. They said Weiss had ""full authority"" of the case and never sought to bring charges in other states.
The second IRS whistleblower said he started the investigation into Hunter Biden in 2015 and described persistent frustrations with the way the case was handled, including under the Trump administration and then-Attorney General William Barr.
He said he began to hit roadblocks when he attempted to delve deeply into Hunter Biden’s life and finances. Other agents involved in the case have so far not been willing to testify.
The three chairmen of the committees —Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, James Comer, R-Kentucky, and Jason Smith, R-Missouri — have jointly claimed the Justice Department is rife with political interference and bias.
They have also called the plea agreement Hunter Biden made with prosecutors to likely avoid jail time a ""sweetheart deal.""
High-ranking officials at the Justice Department have provided some information confirming certain accounts of the whistleblowers but have mostly countered their claims and those from the Republican leaders.
The officials have said federal prosecutors and investigators often disagree about how to conduct an investigation and can reach different determinations and conclusions. They have also pointed to the extraordinary circumstances of investigating the son of a leading presidential candidate. And, Department policy warns prosecutors to take care in charging cases with potential political overtones especially around the time of an election, to avoid any possible influence on the outcome, they have said.
House Democrats have defended the Justice Department, pointing out that Weiss was appointed by former President Donald Trump and the federal investigation into Hunter Biden was initiated by Trump's Justice Department. Biden also kept Weiss on the case after he won the presidency.
Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear for his plea hearing next week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"A Russian fighter jet fired flares directly at an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over Syria on Sunday, damaging its propeller, according to U.S. Air Forces Central -- the latest in a string of what military officials have denounced as risky and provocative behavior.
The drone was on a counter-terrorism mission against the Islamic State group, according to the Air Force.
""On 23 July, 2023 at 12:23 a.m. (EST) Russian fighter aircraft flew dangerously close to a U.S. MQ-9 drone on a defeat-ISIS mission, harassing the MQ-9 and deploying flares from a position directly overhead, with only a few meters of separation between aircraft,"" Air Forces Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich said.
One of the flares hit the drone, ""severely damaging its propeller,"" according to Grynkewich.
""The Russian fighter's blatant disregard for flight safety detracts from our mission to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS. We call upon the Russian forces in Syria to put an immediate end to this reckless, unprovoked, and unprofessional behavior,"" he said.
The crew remotely operating the MQ-9 was able to maintain control of the aircraft and fly it back to its home base.
The U.S. military has recently observed what it has called increasingly ""unsafe and unprofessional"" incidents in the sky.
Last week, a Russian Su-35 fighter endangered the crew of a manned U.S. MC-12 by forcing it to fly through its wake turbulence, according to a release from Air Forces Central.
""This reduced the crew's ability to safely operate the aircraft and put the four crewmembers' lives at risk,"" the release stated.
And for two days in a row early this month, officials have said, Russian pilots dropped parachute flares into the paths of U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones, which took evasive maneuvers to avoid damage. Russia claimed the drones had entered airspace designated for a Russian-Syrian counter-drone exercise.
A senior U.S. defense official told reporters there was no such exercise, saying, ""It's just an excuse to go after our MQ-9's and try to intercept.""
Similar incidents have occurred outside Syria. In March, a Russian fighter collided with a U.S. drone over the Black Sea, bending its propeller. The U.S. was forced to bring the craft down off the coast of Ukraine, according to defense officials.
The U.S. has around 900 troops in eastern Syria assisting in the fight against IS, while Russia has a military presence in northwestern Syria as part of its mission to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Russian and U.S. forces for years have made use of a ""deconfliction hotline"" to let each other know when they are carrying out missions so as to avoid any dangerous misunderstandings.
The hotline is still used, but ""it sometimes gets very heated,"" with a lot of back and forth during tense encounters, according to the senior U.S. defense official.",Not_Explicit
"Love Island stars Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury have announced their engagement.

It comes after the couple, who finished as runners-up during the 2019 series of the ITV2 hit-reality show, welcomed their first child, Bambi, in January.

In a black and white video captioned ""forever"" and shared to Hague's Instagram account, the 24-year-old is seen meeting Fury, 24, and their daughter on a mountain top surrounded by huge bouquets of flowers.

As Fury gets down on one knee, Hague looks emotional, before the couple embrace.

The clip, which is set to The Vow by Irish singer RuthAnne Cunningham - who also sung live during the proposal, quickly raked up more than 2.4 million likes and comments from some of the pair's celebrity friends.

The Only Way Is Essex star Gemma Collins commented: ""So happy for you. Congratulations,"" while former Love Islanders Montana Brown and Amber Gill both shared their congratulations.

Other Love Island stars including Millie Court, Nathalia Campos, Mary Bedford, Dani Dyer and Tasha Ghouri also shared that they were happy for the pair.

Read more:

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Since appearing on the fifth series of the dating show, the couple have both had successful careers, with Hague - who has 7.5 million Instagram followers - having served as creative director of clothing brand PrettyLittleThing before stepping away from the company last month.

Fury, who is the younger half-brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, beat YouTube sensation-turned-boxer Jake Paul during a hotly anticipated fight back in February.

The pair are due to appear alongside the rest of the Fury family in upcoming Netflix series At Home With The Furys, which will be released in August.",Not_Explicit
"Alabama lawmakers on Friday refused to create a second majority-Black congressional district, a move that could defyto give minority voters a greater voice in elections and trigger a renewed battle over the state's political map.
The legislation now goes to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who is expected to sign it.
Lawmakers in the Republican-dominated House and Senate instead passed a plan that would increase the percentage of Black voters from about 31% to 40% in the state's 2nd District. A conference committee proposed the map as a compromise between plans that had percentages of 42% and 38%, respectively, for the southeast Alabama district.
State lawmakers faced a deadline to adopt new lines after the Supreme Court in June upheld a three-judge panel's finding that the current state map — with one majority-Black district out of seven in a state that is 27% Black — likely violates the federal Voting Rights Act.
Voting rights advocates and Black lawmakers said the plan invoked the state's Jim Crow history of treating Black voters unfairly.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said the map ""and the Republican politicians who supported it, would make George Wallace proud,"" referring to the segregationist former Alabama governor.
""It arrogantly defies a very conservative United States Supreme Court decision ... from just weeks ago,"" Holder said in a statement.
Republicans argued that their proposal complies with the directive to create a second district where Black voters could influence the outcome of congressional elections. Opponents said it flouted a directive from the panel to create a second majority-Black district or ""something quite close to it"" so that Black voters ""have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice.""
""There's no opportunity there for anybody other than a white Republican to win that district. It will never, ever elect a Democrat. They won't elect a Black. They won't elect a minority,"" said Sen. Rodger Smitherman, a Democrat from Birmingham.
Republicans have been reluctant to create a Democratic-leaning district and are engaging in a high-stakes wager that the panel will accept their proposal or that the state will prevail in a second round of appeals. Republicans argued that the map meets the court's directive and draws compact districts that comply with redistricting guidelines.
""If you think about where we were, the Supreme Court ruling was 5-4, so there's just one judge that needed to see something different. And I think the movement that we have and what we've come to compromise on today gives us a good shot,"" House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter said.
Republican Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed said he believed the changes to the district make it a so-called opportunity district.
""I'm confident that we've done a good job. It will be up to the courts to decide whether they agree,"" Reed said.
The debate in Alabama is being closely watched across the nation, and could be mirrored in fights in Louisiana, Georgia, Texas and other states.
The three-judge panel ruled in 2022 that the current legislative map likely violates the federal Voting Rights Act and said any map should include two districts where ""Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority"" or something close. The Supreme Court upheld that decision.
Now that the plan has passed, the fight will shift quickly back to the federal court to debate whether Alabama's congressional districts comply with federal law and offer a fair opportunity to Black voters and candidates in a political landscape dominated by white Republicans.
Black Alabama lawmakers say it's crucial that their constituents have a better chance of electing their choices.
""I have people in my district saying their vote doesn't count, and I understand why they say that,"" Rep. Thomas Jackson, a Thomasville Democrat, said during a debate Friday. ""The person they want to elect can never get elected because they are in the minority all the time.""
Black lawmakers disputed that the changes to the 2nd District, an area with deep ties to agriculture and home to military bases, would easily become a swing district. They speculated that state Republicans were seeking to mount another challenge to federal voting law.
""This is designed to protect a few people and ultimately to finish off the Voting Rights Act,"" said Rep. Chris England, a Democratic lawmaker from Tuscaloosa.
An analysis by The Associated Press, using redistricting software, shows that the 2nd District proposed Friday has mostly voted for Republicans in recent statewide elections. Donald Trump won the district by nearly 10 percentage points in his 2020 reelection bid.
Experts have said the GOP proposals fall short of what the Supreme Court said last month is required.
""They have pretended as though the court didn't say what it said,"" said Kareem Crayton, senior director for voting and representation at New York University's Brennan Center for Justice. The Brennan Center filed a brief supporting the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"- Summary
- Companies
- Inflation in India sparks cheaper offers from global giant
- Domino's and Pizza Hut tout world's cheapest pizza
- India is key growth market for global restaurant chains
- Popularity of street food and local chains a big challenge
CHENNAI/NEW DELHI, July 20 (Reuters) - Q: How does the world's biggest pizza brand respond to high inflation in the world's most populous nation? A: With the world's cheapest Domino's pizza.
The 49-rupee ($0.60) pizza in India, Domino's No.1 market outside America, is the tip of the spear in its fight against rampant inflation that's squeezing profits and pricing out many customers, according to the CEO of its franchisee there.
The company wants to ""own that price point"", said Sameer Khetarpal, confirming the stripped down, seven-inch cheese pizza with a ""sprinkle"" of basil and parsley is Domino's cheapest anywhere.
""You are coming to the store or open the app, because there is a 49-rupee callout,"" he said, adding that Domino's global team supported the plans. ""Customers are going to eat out less because prices are higher everywhere - our existing consumers should not go out to some competition.""
In Shanghai, by comparison, Domino's (DPZ.N) cheapest savoury pizza is priced about $3.80, and in San Francisco about $12, online menu prices show. Domino's global HQ referred queries about India to its local franchisee.
Reuters interviews with six executives and 12 store managers revealed how Domino's and other global fast-food giants like Pizza Hut and Burger King are being forced to change tactics to weather rampant inflation in the market of 1.4 billion people.
The companies are striving to hold onto market share gained over three decades of rapid growth in a nation critical to their futures - and one where it's tough to compete with a street-food culture and a sizzling samosa for as little as 10 rupees.
Khetarpal, whose Jubilant FoodWorks (JUBI.NS) runs Domino's 1,816 outlets in the country, says he holds a staff meeting first thing every Monday to brainstorm new ways to manage costs and fight the ""historic high inflation"" that contributed to its profits sliding 70% in the first three months of 2023.
He gave new details of Domino's India pivot and its financial gains; his company has removed lids from all boxes of pizzas sold at stores starting December, saving 0.6 cents each time. He said that amounts to a significant saving in packaging costs because 37% of Domino's Indian business is dine-in.
Jubilant - whose Domino's business accounted for most of its $635 million in revenues last year - also aims to secure rent rebates from some store landlords by offering upfront payments, Khetarpal said, declining to give further details about cost benefits.
CUSTOMERS EMPTY POCKETS
Domino's is not alone in zeroing in on prices in India, a highly price-sensitive market that is currently facing higher inflation than many other markets including the U.S. The hope is that low-price offers will draw people to stores and apps who might order more add-ons or upgrade, the executives said.
Pizza Hut is aggressively promoting pizzas starting at 79 rupees ($0.96) that it launched last year and its India franchisee, Sapphire Foods (SAPI.NS), said it was the brand's lowest-priced globally.
Merrill Pereyra, managing director of Pizza Hut in the Indian subcontinent, said the chain was developing products that ""make the brand relevant and easy to access"" for price conscious consumers in India, adding its budget pizzas were a hit with young people.
McDonald's (MCD.N) launched half-price meals in June. They'll be the focus of promotion efforts in coming weeks, according to Akshay Jatia, executive director at Westlife Foodworld (WEST.NS), which runs 357 outlets in western and southern India. He said the meals would bring in more customers and boost sales and margins.
The budget products are indeed being accompanied by a digital and physical marketing blitz across the nation - with stores, and even a posh New Delhi mall, plastered with banners, according to Reuters visits to stores across four Indian states.
Domino's flagship inflation-buster is the 49-rupee pizza, which was launched in February. Khetarpal said it was ""re-engineered"" by cutting price - and tomatoes - from its earlier cheapest offering of 59 rupees.
Franchisee Jubilant said in May it witnessed a cheese price surge of 40% during 2022-23, and a 30% rise in chicken and paper boxes. There have been more shocks in recent weeks, with tomato prices rising over 400% to record highs and households toiling under rising rates of everything from milk to cereals and spices, according to official data.
The industry players described a tale of two consumers in a country with yawning gaps between rich and poor.
Many low and middle-income earners who saw dining at foreign chains as a lifestyle upgrade when the economy boomed are tightening belts as inflation bites, while the wealthier continue to spend on products like pricier smartphones, and SUV cars whose sales are touching new highs.
When Khetarpal visited Domino's stores in Chennai and other cities, he said he saw customers emptying out their pockets and only being able to scrape together 49 rupees. By contrast, he added, Domino's new gourmet pizzas priced as high as $14 had seen a sales jump in some affluent areas.
'A SMALL LAYER OF CHEESE'
It's been a bleak year for Domino's, the Indian fast-food restaurant leader with a market share of about 12.5%, as well as for other companies.
Pre-tax profit at Pizza Hut's Sapphire Foods more than halved in the March quarter. Burger King's India franchisee, Restaurant Brands Asia (RESR.NS), saw its net loss widen by 9%.
It's not all doom and gloom, though. Euromonitor International estimates India's nearly $5 billion market for quick-service restaurants which serve fast food is a fraction of United States' $341 billion and China's $137 billion.
The narrower market for pizza, burger and chicken restaurants, dominated by Western chains and worth $2.1 billion in India, will grow, but at a slower pace. Its estimated growth rate is around 15% a year until 2027, Euromonitor forecasts. That compares with 21% growth in 2022 and 43% in 2021 largely due to a post-COVID consumption spike.
Pizza Hut owner Yum Brands (YUM.N) sounded a bullish tone in June, comparing its 17,000 U.S. outlets to its over 2,000 in India, where it sees a ""tremendous growth opportunity"".
There are still daunting challenges in the near term.
""For a population eating roadside, in the current environment where inflation is hurting their pockets, (the new offers) are still on the higher side,"" said Devanshu Bansal, a consumer analyst at India's Emkay Global Financial Services.
And many pizza-lovers like Kiran Raj will never contemplate budget offerings. The 26-year-old bank employee said he was prepared to pay a little more for a cheese-loaded product as he devoured slices at Pizza Lounge, a local restaurant in Chennai.
""I avoid buying the sub-100-rupee pizzas at stores operated by big chains as they generally contain less toppings and a small layer of cheese,"" he added. ""It's just a rough crust.""
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Heavy Rain In Mumbai; Orange Alert For City, Neighbouring Districts On July 27
Incessant heavy rain lashed Mumbai on Wednesday, slowing down road traffic but services of suburban trains remained normal with slight delays.
Incessant heavy rain lashed Mumbai on Wednesday, slowing down road traffic but services of suburban trains remained normal with slight delays.
The weather bureau has issued an orange alert for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, and Palghar districts for Thursday predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places, civic officials said.
""The weather bureau has predicted heavy rain in Mumbai and suburbs with the possibility of very heavy rain at isolated places, and the possibility of occasional strong winds reaching 45-55 kmph in the next 24 hours,"" as per the daily weather forecast issued on Wednesday morning.
Amid the orange alert on Wednesday for Mumbai, the island city and suburbs have been receiving heavy downpours since morning.
Mumbai city received 61.19 mm of rainfall between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., while eastern suburbs and western suburbs recorded 34.53 mm and 40.68 mm of rainfall, respectively, in the same period.
The intensity of rain was more in the suburbs in the morning hours while the island city received intermittent heavy showers in the afternoon.
Andheri subway, an underpass between Andheri and Jogeshwari railway stations, was closed for traffic a couple of times since morning due to waterlogging, but other areas in the metropolis didn't report any major inundation during the day.
The heavy rain slowed down road traffic in Mumbai city and suburbs but services of local trains and BEST buses are normal with some delays, officials said.",Not_Explicit
"DOVER, N.H. – Republican Gov. Chris Sununu says he won't seek re-election next year to what would have been an unprecedented fifth two-year term steering the key general election battleground state of New Hampshire.
Sununu, the popular governor who's been a staple on the national cable news networks and Sunday talk shows, early last month passed on launching a presidential campaign, after seriously mulling a White House bid for over a year.
On Wednesday, Sununu announced his intention not to run for re-election in 2024 in an email to supporters.
""After discussions with Valerie and the kids and much consideration, I have decided not to run for another term as Governor in 2024,"" Sununu told supporters. ""This was no easy decision as I truly love serving as Governor.""
""Public service should never be a career, and the time is right for another Republican to lead our great state,"" he added.
Sununu highlighted a list of accomplishments that he said made New Hampshire better off than when he took office — including the lowest unemployment rate, tax cuts, investments in housing, expanded school choice defense of Second Amendment rights and other social programs.
After a hard-fought election to the New Hampshire governor's mansion in 2016 and a single-digit re-election two years later, Sununu easily cruised to a landslide re-election in 2020 and a large double-digit victory last November.
Asked about his timetable, the governor told Fox News late last month that he would have a decision ""this summer. Maybe after the Fourth or something."" And pointing to his wife, Valerie, and three children, Sununu added, ""I’ve got to talk to Val and the kids. I’ll figure it out. I really don’t know.""
Two Democrats have already launched campaigns for governor: Cinde Warmington, the only Democrat on New Hampshire's five-member elected Executive Council, and three-term Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig.
Three Republicans had been laying the groundwork to launch campaigns if Sununu — the son of former Gov. John H. Sununu and younger brother of former Sen. John E. Sununu — didn't seek re-election.
They are former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who is also a former state attorney general, former state senate president Chuck Morse, and Frank Edelblut, Sununu's education commissioner who came close to defeating Sununu in the 2016 GOP gubernatorial primary.",Not_Explicit
"Emmerdale star Danny Miller has moved into the business of audiobooks.
Familiar to soap lovers as Aaron Dingle, who he played for almost two decades up until last year, Miller announced the career switch via Instagram this week, which was inspired by his toddler son Albert.
In a homemade video, he recalled Albert growing ""obsessed"" with popular tales like The Gruffalo, while writing: ""SUMMER HOLIDAYS ANNOUNCEMENT. Myself & @nigewingmanclucas are delighted to finally announce the release of ALBERT'S BOOKSHELF!!
""If you're lucky enough to be a parent of a child who loves books as much as Albert, this may give you a chance to just sit or lie back with them and let their imagination run free. What was a birthday present idea for Albert, has now turned into a project both myself & @nigewingmanclucas felt proud enough of to share with you.
""The comments are open for any constructive (key word) criticism,"" mentioned Miller.
""We're looking to record more so will always take in the sensible ones and try and adapt as we do the same in this beautiful world of children and growing up.""
In the clip itself, Miller admitted to feeling envious of audiobook voice actors nabbing the attention of Albert even just for a few minutes, hence his decision to give it a go.
It's gone down a storm, too, as one follower replied in the comment section: ""We've just listened to wonky donkey and my little one joined in with the donkey sound each time. We're going to enjoy Albert's bookshelf. What a lovely gift to Albert and thank you for sharing.""
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
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"Work life is getting longer in Germany, but there are big differences
Can extending work lives be a solution to the future problems of an aging society? If everyone works longer and retires later, the number of people paying into the pension system will increase. Little is known about work life in Germany.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock and the Federal Institute for Population Research have now conducted a study to examine how the length of work life in Germany has changed and what influence the numerous labor market and pension reforms of recent decades have had.
The research team, led by Christian Dudel, Deputy Head of Labor Demography (MPIDR), analyzed data from the German Microcensus. ""Since 2002, there have been several policy measures and reforms in Germany aimed at extending work lives. These measures are usually designed for people with a high degree of integration in the labor market, i.e. people with a high income and a long and stable employment record. We asked ourselves whether this can work at all, or whether it has worked so far,"" says Dr. Dudel, explaining the motivation for the study.
The study looked at birth cohorts from 1941 to 1955 and working ages from 55 to 64. The period from 1996 to 2019 was considered in eastern and western Germany. The analysis was carried out according to gender, level of education and professional qualification.
Work life is getting longer
One positive finding is that the length of work life in Germany is increasing across all cohorts in all educational levels and occupational fields—for both men and women. However, there are significant differences in the length of work life. Highly educated West German men have the longest work lives.
On average, they work three times as long as women with low educational attainment in eastern Germany. Nevertheless, East German women as a whole have a longer work life than women in West Germany. This is partly due to the different histories of eastern and western Germany.
""One reason for the longer work lives is that older workers are staying longer in the labor market, which has remained more or less stable in Germany in recent years. But among people with very low levels of education and in low-skilled occupations, participation rates are rising only very slowly,"" Dudel explains.
People on low incomes are at a disadvantage
In the past, before the recent labor market reforms, the focus was on making early retirement more attractive. It was less about preventing people from being forced out of the labor market in old age. ""The challenge for the future will be to initiate policies that enable people to work longer without increasing inequalities between different groups of workers,"" said Dudel. In particular, people with low educational attainment will be at a severe disadvantage.
""The baby boomers will soon reach retirement age. The impact on the labor market could possibly be mitigated by the fact that those born after 1955 are increasingly better educated and could therefore potentially work longer. Nevertheless, forecasts from other countries show that the increase in work life could soon stagnate,"" says the Rostock researcher.
The work is published in the journal Demography.
More information: Christian Dudel et al, The Extension of Late Working Life in Germany: Trends, Inequalities, and the East–West Divide, Demography (2023). DOI: 10.1215/00703370-10850040
Journal information: Demography
Provided by Max-Planck-Institut für demografische Forschung",Not_Explicit
"One word came to mind when I heard the news this week that Donald Trump had received a target letter from the Justice Department special prosecutor Jack Smith, indicating that an indictment is likely of the former President on charges connected with his effort to overturn the 2020 election and remain in power: Finally. This, in the end, is the heart of the matter, a long-delayed reckoning with an offense against the constitutional system so great that it is without historic precedent—no President before Trump ever did such a thing.
Trump received the target letter on Sunday, and revealed it in one of his trademark hysterical social-media posts on Tuesday: “HORRIFYING NEWS!” Over the next couple of days, there were still more legal setbacks. In Florida, a Trump-appointed federal judge overseeing Smith’s other criminal case against the former President—for illegally holding on to top-secret documents—appeared deeply skeptical of Trump’s argument that she should delay a trial indefinitely since he is running for President. In Georgia, the state’s Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s motion to block the Fulton County district attorney, Fani T. Willis, from prosecuting him for his efforts to pressure officials to overturn his 2020 defeat in the state; criminal charges could result in the coming weeks. In New York, meanwhile, a judge said that Trump could not switch the venue of his Manhattan criminal trial for allegedly paying hush money to silence a former porn star with whom he had an affair. Trump is also facing two more civil lawsuits in New York, both of which could go to trial next year. America’s new political reality, in short, is: Donald Trump, Full-Time Defendant.
And yet Republicans remain in such thrall to their Orange Jesus—the honorific that Party apostate Liz Cheney so memorably quoted one of his acolytes calling him during last summer’s January 6th hearings—that, with each new legal woe, his prospects of winning the 2024 G.O.P. nomination keep going up. Few if any of these cases are likely to be fully resolved before the start of next year’s Republican primaries. Trump’s campaign is now explicitly a race not just to retake the Oval Office but to save himself from criminal conviction. This convergence of campaign and courtroom is, as the former Republican National Committee counsel Benjamin Ginsberg said this week, “a toxic mix unprecedented in the American experiment.” Something’s gotta give.
The apparently impending Smith indictment is not like all the other cases. In theory, it will force the question that has cursed the country since the evening of November 3, 2020, when Trump chose to claim victory in an election he had lost: What to do about a President who will do anything to stay in power, even unleash a violent mob of his supporters on the U.S. Capitol? Isn’t that illegal? How can it not be?
For two and a half years, the failure to answer Trump’s brazen acts with a decisive rebuke has only empowered the former President, enabling him to regain political strength within his party and force its nominal leaders to once again acknowledge his hold over their voters. Consider Mitch McConnell, who is the closest thing the current G.O.P. leadership has to an avowed enemy of the ex-President. Minutes after Trump was acquitted by the Senate in his second impeachment trial, he gave a blistering speech about the ex-President’s culpability in the events of January 6th. McConnell had not voted for conviction but, he insisted, only because of his objection to the process of impeaching a President who was no longer in office. “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” McConnell said. “The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their President. And their having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole which the defeated President kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.” The Senate Republican leader all but called for the Justice Department to do what his Senate would not. “President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office,” McConnell said. “Didn’t get away with anything. Yet.”
But this week, when liability at last seemed imminent, McConnell said nothing at all. “I’m not going to comment on the various candidates for the Presidency,” he lamely told reporters. In the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy was even worse. In 2021, he had directly blamed Trump for the attack on the Capitol. “Nobody can defend that, and nobody should defend it,” he said. This week, though, he attacked the Justice Department for indicting Trump in a case that has not been filed yet. It was, he said, an effort to “weaponize government to go after their No. 1 opponent.” According to Politico, the Speaker promised Trump that he would hold a House vote to “expunge” the two House impeachments against him—never mind that no one even knows whether such a thing is constitutionally possible. “I don’t see how he could be found criminally responsible,” McCarthy said. “What criminal activity did he do? He told people to be peaceful.”
Republicans used to revel every four years in their self-proclaimed status as the party of “law and order.” Now they follow Trump into attacks on federal prosecutors, on the Justice Department, on the F.B.I. It’s anyone’s guess how far down this road McCarthy may be willing to go, as the former President combines his legal defense with a political campaign of vengeance, retribution, and personal survival. It was surreal to see pictures of the Speaker as Joe Biden’s guest at the annual White House congressional picnic this week, grinning and chomping on an ice-cream bar, even as he seemed all too willing to light the place on fire if that’s what his restive pro-Trump majority were to demand.
The prospect of Trump returning to the White House is an existential one for American democracy, a political test from which there is no escaping. If this wasn’t clear before, it must be now. A reëlected Trump would be a President subject to no constraints at all—having twice dodged congressional impeachment, and either beaten back the Justice Department and the courts or delayed so long that he could seek to use his regained executive powers to nullify the cases against him. Trump, in his ever-more-apocalyptic rhetoric surrounding his effort to retake the White House, has taken to calling his 2024 race “the final battle.” I have increasingly come to believe that he is correct.
Given the stakes, there’s much to anticipate about what Smith’s latest case against Trump might look like. According to the Times, his target letter indicated that Trump could be prosecuted under three criminal statutes: conspiracy to defraud the government, obstruction of an official proceeding, and even a law enacted after the Civil War to give federal agents a means of prosecuting Southern white supremacists, including Ku Klux Klan members who resorted to terrorism to prevent newly freed Blacks from voting.
But knowing what he will be charged with does not mean there is nothing left to learn about this unprecedented plot against America. For that, we must wait for the indictment: Will there be new details showing that it was the President himself who orchestrated the conspiracy to overturn election results in battleground states? New examples of Trump pressuring officials or government agencies? Damning evidence in his own words that he knew he had lost the election and proceeded anyway? Will there be a turncoat—Mark Meadows, perhaps?—to provide revelations from inside Trump’s fevered quest to stay in office after the voters had spoken? I hope and expect so after more than two and a half years of waiting. And yet somehow those questions still seem subordinate to the one that the indictment will not and cannot answer: Did it come too late? ♦",Not_Explicit
"2016: Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said Monday his parents would never have thought their son would end up in the Senate and running for president. No kidding. He was a ne’er-do-well into his late 30s.
“It's certainly something that I don't think they ever believed would've happened,” the unabashed socialist remarked during CNN’s Democratic town hall forum, as polls show him taking the lead in Iowa and New Hampshire.
He explained his family couldn’t imagine his “success,” because ""my brother and I and Mom and Dad grew up in a three-and-a-half-room rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn, and we never had a whole lot of money.""
It wasn’t as bad as he says. His family managed to send him to the University of Chicago. Despite a prestigious degree, however, Sanders failed to earn a living, even as an adult. It took him 40 years to collect his first steady paycheck -- and it was a government check.
“I never had any money my entire life,” Sanders told Vermont public TV in 1985, after settling into his first real job as mayor of Burlington.
Sanders spent most of his life as an angry radical and agitator who never accomplished much of anything. And yet now he thinks he deserves the power to run your life and your finances -- “We will raise taxes;” he confirmed Monday, “yes, we will.""
One of his first jobs was registering people for food stamps, and it was all downhill from there.
Sanders took his first bride to live in a maple sugar shack with a dirt floor, and she soon left him. Penniless, he went on unemployment. Then he had a child out of wedlock. Desperate, he tried carpentry but could barely sink a nail. “He was a shi**y carpenter,” a friend told Politico Magazine. “His carpentry was not going to support him, and didn’t.”
Then he tried his hand freelancing for leftist rags, writing about ""masturbation and rape” and other crudities for $50 a story. He drove around in a rusted-out, Bondo-covered VW bug with no working windshield wipers. Friends said he was ""always poor"" and his “electricity was turned off a lot.” They described him as a slob who kept a messy apartment -- and this is what his friends had to say about him.
The only thing he was good at was talking … non-stop … about socialism and how the rich were ripping everybody off. “The whole quality of life in America is based on greed,” the bitter layabout said. “I believe in the redistribution of wealth in this nation.”
So he tried politics, starting his own socialist party. Four times he ran for Vermont public office, and four times he lost -- badly. He never attracted more than single-digit support -- even in the People’s Republic of Vermont. In his 1971 bid for U.S. Senate, the local press said the 30-year-old ""Sanders describes himself as a carpenter who has worked with 'disturbed children.’ ” In other words, a real winner.
He finally wormed his way into the Senate in 2006, where he still ranks as one of the poorest members of Congress. Save for a municipal pension, Sanders lists no assets in his name. All the assets provided in his financial disclosure form are his second wife’s. He does, however, have as much as $65,000 in credit-card debt.
Sure, Sanders may not be a hypocrite, but this is nothing to brag about. His worthless background contrasts sharply with the successful careers of other “outsiders"" in the race for the White House, including a billionaire developer, a world-renowned neurosurgeon and a Fortune 500 CEO.
The choice in this election is shaping up to be a very clear one. It will likely boil down to a battle between those who create and produce wealth, and those who take it and redistribute it.",Not_Explicit
"JOHANNESBURG -- At least 77 people were injured, five of them critically, after two buses collided at the entrance to a South African university on Tuesday, police and transport authorities said.
One of the buses was a university vehicle ferrying students between campuses at the University of Johannesburg. The other was a city bus.
Metro Bus spokesperson Goodwill Shiburi said that five people suffered critical injuries in the crash, and all 77 of the injured were hospitalized. Both drivers were among those taken to the hospital, he said.
In the aftermath, one of the buses lay on its side after crashing through a fence at an entrance to the university. The accident happened around 7 a.m., authorities said.
Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Xolani Fihla said a case of negligent driving would be opened by police considering “the severity and seriousness"" of the crash. The cause of the crash was not yet known, Fihla said.
The University of Johannesburg said three of its students were among those taken to the hospital.
___
AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa",Not_Explicit
"GENEVA, July 25 (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday called for accountability for the deaths of at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war last year in an explosion in a Donetsk region detention facility, rejecting Moscow's claim that they were killed by a rocket.
The prisoners being held in a Russian-controlled detention facility in Olenivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, were killed by an apparent explosion July 28-29 2022. Unverified Russia media video footage showed the burned out remains of the prison and charred bodies.
Russia's defence ministry said at the time that a missile strike by a U.S.-made HIMARS rocket was responsible. Kyiv, which frequently raises the incident, has maintained that Russia conducted the explosion at the Olenivka prison in order to hide mistreatment of the Ukrainian captives held inside.
Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Moscow has previously denied maltreating POWs.
""The prisoners of war who were injured or died at Olenivka, and their family members, deserve the truth to be known, and for those responsible for breaches of international law to be held accountable,"" said High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in a statement sent to journalists.
The UN rights body, which said it has conducted extensive interviews with survivors and analysed additional information, added that the incident ""was not caused by a HIMARS rocket"".
It said that it has not identified the source of the explosion but would continue to follow up on the incident. Russia has not granted requests to access parts of Ukraine under temporary Russian control nor given the satisfactory safety assurances for a site visit, the statement added.
The U.N. rights office has previously said both Russia and Ukraine have abused prisoners of war during the conflict, although the former has done so on a bigger scale.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Ashok Leyland Q1 Results Review - Near Term Positives Factored In, Maintain 'Reduce': Dolat Capital
Management is confident to maintain double digit margin for FY24.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Dolat Capital Report
Ashok Leyland Ltd. printed strong margin in Q1, despite low volume, Ebitda margin at 10% led by sharp expansion in gross margin. Management is confident to maintain double digit margin for FY24.
The company is gaining strong market share in medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment led by market share gain in Northern and Eastern geography.
In light commercial vehicles segment, the company has aggressive plan underway in Northern and Eastern market.
While we remain positive on Ashok Leyland’s improving fundamentals, we believe that valuations at 22/19 times for FY24/25E earnings per share appear fully priced at the almost top of commercial vehicle cycle.
We maintain 'Reduce' with target price Rs 186 (based on 20 times FY25E EPS).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics
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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Five European Union countries will extend their ban on Ukrainian grain imports to protect their farmers’ interests, their agriculture ministers said Wednesday, but food can still move through their land to parts of the world in need after Russia pulled out of a deal safeguarding Black Sea shipments.
The ministers of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria signed a joint declaration ahead of EU discussions on the matter planned next week in Brussels. The declaration said they support continuing to allow Ukraine’s grain to move through their borders by road, rail and river to destinations where it is needed but will keep the import ban to their countries through 2023.
READ MORE: Russia hits critical port facilities in Odesa in second night of attacks after Kremlin halts grain deal
“This coalition is not against anyone, not against Ukraine or the EU, it is in the interest of our farmers,” Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said after meeting with his counterparts in Warsaw, where they decided to push the ban beyond a Sept. 15 deadline.
Except for Bulgaria, all the countries border Ukraine, which faced a major blow Monday when Russia pulled out of a breakthrough accord brokered by the U.N. and Turkey to allow Ukrainian food to be shipped through the Black Sea to countries where millions are going hungry. Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat, barley, vegetable oil and corn.
The five agricultural ministers and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who met with them, said Ukrainian grain previously got stuck in their countries, leading to a glut that drove down prices for their farmers, and they don’t want to see that happen again.
The ministers urged the EU to work out mechanisms that will get Ukrainian grain and other food to their destinations without hurting the agricultural industry in transit countries.
“Today the EU should build proper law and infrastructure tools to regulate transport of Ukraine grain in the long term,” Telus said.
“We want to help Ukraine in the transit,” he said.
READ MORE: Major U.S. firms supplied equipment to keep Russian oil flowing after Ukraine invasion
EU commissioner for agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, a former Polish agriculture minister, said on Twitter in May that some 4.1 million tons of Ukrainian corn, barley and canola grain came to Poland from April 2022 through March 2023, with 3.4 million tons remaining there and only about 700 tons moving through.
Farmers launched protests and the countries passed unilateral bans in April without EU approval, threatening European unity in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The EU later struck a deal allowing the countries to temporarily prohibit some agricultural products from Ukraine and provide farmers more aid. The grain is allowed to move through to other markets in sealed and guarded transports.
Telus said the EU ban has bought “unexpectedly good effects to us all,” saying figures show a doubling of Ukrainian grain moving through Poland this year.
The Ukrainian Grain Association, meanwhile, has pushed to send more grain through the Danube River to neighboring Romania’s Black Sea ports, saying it’s possible to double monthly exports along that route to 4 million metric tons.
But Cezar Gheorghe, founder of Romanian grain analyst firm AGRIColumn, said that’s “not possible.”
Between March 2022 and June 2023, some 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain passed through the Romanian ports of Constanta, Galati and Braila — the maximum that could be handled, he said.
“Ukraine will need to disburse also through Poland, Hungary, Slovakia — it is simple math,” Gheorghe said. “We will stand alongside Ukraine, but through our limitations.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned about Russia’s move to terminate the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” stressing that the “risk is that it brings food insecurity to so many vulnerable countries across the globe.”
“The European Union will, with all means, continue to work to ensure that food security for vulnerable people is given,” she said.
READ MORE: Russia threatens to pull out of Ukraine grain deal, raising fears about global food security
More than 45 million metric tons of grain, oilseeds and other products have been exported through Europe, von der Leyen said.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was brokered in a bid to end a global food crisis caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, has allowed an additional 32.9 million metric tons to get to the world, according to the U.N.
Von der Leyen stressed that it was “important that the blocking of the Black Sea is stopped” and that exports can continue via that route.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that his government is working on solutions to keep exporting through the Black Sea despite Russia pulling its safety guarantees for ships.
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"Federal judge strikes down Arizona law limiting recording of police as unconstitutional
The law would have made it illegal to film police officers within 8 feet of law enforcement activity if the officer had requested the citizen or journalist to stop filming. In addition, officers could have ordered anyone filming on public property to stop if they determined the area was unsafe or if the person filming was interfering.
U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi cited infringement against a clear right for citizens to film police while doing their jobs in his ruling.
“The law prohibits or chills a substantial amount of First Amendment protected activity and is unnecessary to prevent interference with police officers given other Arizona laws in effect,” Tuchi wrote.
Tuchi suspended the implementation of the law last year. Now, his ruling permanently blocks enforcement.
Media groups, including a group of Associated Press lawyers and the ACLU, successfully sued to block the law last year, which was passed with the backing of Republicans in the state legislature and signed into law by former GOP Gov. Doug Ducey in July 2022.
Prominent law enforcement officials in Arizona refused to defend the law after the lawsuit was filed, however, and legislators refused to defend the law. Even the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh, said he was unable to find an outside group to defend the legislation, according to the Associated Press.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"A smoke flare has been set off at the Open Championship in Hoylake and orange powder thrown at the 17th green by Just Stop Oil protesters.
American golfer Billy Horschel intervened to help remove one woman before greenkeeping staff removed the powdered paint with leaf blowers.
""At around 12.20pm three Just Stop Oil supporters ran onto hole 17,"" said Just Stop Oil via a statement.
""They set off a smoke flare and threw orange powder paint on the green.""
Three people were put in handcuffs and taken away by police officers.
It is understood police have now deployed one officer to each green on the course.
Open organisers were prepared for a protest, putting in extra security precautions and advising players to not engage with anyone who tried to disrupt play.
Just Stop Oil protesters have disrupted several sporting events in England this year, including tennis at Wimbledon and an Ashes cricket Test at Lord's.
England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow carried one pitch invader to the boundary at Lord's while three people ran onto a court at Wimbledon throwing orange paper and jigsaw pieces. There was also a protest at the snooker's World Championship, where a a man jumped on a table and dropped orange powder.",Not_Explicit
"TikTok received more requests from Australia’s eSafety commissioner to remove posts that bullied children in the last 18 months than any other social media platform.
Reddit received the most reports of people’s images being shared without their consent.
A total of 795 requests by the eSafety commissioner to remove alleged bullying of children from various platforms were made since the beginning of 2022. For TikTok alone, 209 requests were made in 2022, and 100 in 2023.
The Meta-owned Instagram platform followed with 186 requests in 2022, and 84 in 2023. Snapchat was next with 70 and 45, respectively. There were four requests in 2022 to Roblox, and two so far this year.
The data is contained in tables from the office of the eSafety commissioner, released to Senate estimates in response to questions on notice from the Greens senator, David Shoebridge. Not every complaint received by the commissioner’s office results in a removal request being made.
The acting eSafety commissioner, Toby Dagg, said earlier this month complaints of cyberbullying from children under 14 had tripled since 2019.
“We received around 230 cyberbullying complaints in May this year alone and around 100 of these involved children aged eight to 13 experiencing this kind of harm. Nasty comments, offensive pictures or videos, and impersonation accounts are among the most reported issues,” he said.
The office revealed it has made 852 removal requests for image-based abuse since the start of 2022, with 54 in total made to Reddit, which topped the requests last year. Twitter was third with 21 requests last year.
A spokesperson for Reddit said the platform took the issue seriously and site policies prohibit any nonconsensual sharing of intimate or sexually explicit media, adding that 60% of material is caught by automated systems before anyone sees the content.
“Reddit was one of the earliest sites to establish site-wide policies that prohibit this content, and we continue to evolve our policies to ensure the safety of the platform,” the spokesperson said.
Some sites that had requests made for removal were censored on the table because they were predominantly created for the purpose of exploiting victims of image-based abuse, or threatening or harassing users through doxing, the office said.
In May, the commissioner said that more young men had been reporting image-based abuse than women. A total of 1,700 reports in the first quarter of this year – 1,200 of which were people aged 18 to 24, and 90% of which were male.
Meta’s Facebook and Instagram received the most removal requests for the cyber abuse of adults over 2022 and 2023, with 267 and 153 requests respectively. TikTok was not far behind with 117, followed by YouTube at 37.
A spokesperson for Meta said the company heavily invests in safety tools to ensure users have a positive experience.
“Our policies clearly prohibit people from sharing and engaging in online abuse and we will remove this content as soon as we become aware. We also work collaboratively with the eSafety commissioner and have a dedicated reporting channel where the eSafety commissioner can report content directly to us for review,” the spokesperson said.
The vast majority of the removal requests were informal, the eSafety office said, with only 53 formal removal notices issued since the start of last year.
The eSafety commissioner’s office said it submitted 22,000 notifications to the International Association of Internet Hotlines for rapid child exploitation material removal, and 20 class 1 removal notices related to pro-terror or violent extremism material in that time. But only 2% of those notifications or requests were related to content on social media like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or Twitter, the office said.
TikTok was approached for comment.",Not_Explicit
"This set of by-elections amounts to a single question: just how badly did the Conservatives do?
The answer - very badly.
But not as badly as they had feared.
The prospect of a crushing three nil defeat - beaten everywhere - was averted.
Labour managed to win - and win really big - in rural North Yorkshire; the kind of spot some distance from usually fertile political territory for them.
And yet they lost in north west London, where they had expected to win.
But, but, but: the Tory obliteration in Somerset will sow panic among many Conservatives in the south west of England.
So let's unpick where this leaves us, because on the face of it is a rather messy picture.
To what extent were these contests atypical, by-election quirks rather than true indicators of the national mood?
Firstly, Labour's victory in Selby and Ainsty is off the scale big.
Another Keir joins the ranks of Labour MPs, Keir Mather. It's a name rich in Labour history: Keir Hardie was the party's first leader.
If Labour won on this scale nationally, they would be in government with a colossal majority.
But hang on a minute.
The party that has campaigned so fruitfully for so long on the perceived failings of Boris Johnson has failed to take Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the very seat he used to represent.
Just days ago, the Conservatives were ready to blame what they described privately as ""Long Boris"" to explain away their losses.
In other words, don't blame us, blame the prime minister before last.
But now they have won where he was the MP, and lost in two places where he wasn't.
Downing Street had not anticipated a photo opportunity where smiles would feature today.
But before some of us had reached for the breakfast cereal Rishi Sunak was beaming in Uxbridge.
And his message is one we will keep hearing, I suspect: the general election is not a done deal, and where voters see what he will claim is the ""reality of Labour"" they vote Conservative.
To hear Conservatives this morning talking about Uxbridge was to hear those swimming through the roughest of rough political seas, and then seeing an unlikely raft upon which to climb, and breathe a brief sigh of relief.
Labour are disappointed to lose in Uxbridge.
Publicly, and more candidly in private, they blame the expansion of London's Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez), a policy idea blamed by many voters on the Labour mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
""If you run on a ticket about the cost of living but you are blamed for adding 90 quid a week to the cost of living for some, it's going to be difficult,"" acknowledged one party figure.
The Ulez daily charge is £12.50 a day. If a driver fails to pay the charge, or broke the penalty charge rules, the bill could be higher.
Labour's failure to take Uxbridge presents three niggles for the party, as they look to the general election:
- How vulnerable are they to targeted, single issue campaigns?
- What does that say about the depth of support for Sir Keir Starmer?
- And how might rival parties capitalise in parts of the UK where Labour are seen as the party of power - such as London and Wales?
Equally, if you are one of the innumerable Labour figures desperate to not sound complacent, losing in Uxbridge rather helps.
And what about the Liberal Democrats?
Their win in Somerton and Frome was huge.
They hope it is proof of a revival in the West Country, a former heartland for the party before the near oblivion that followed their years in coalition at Westminster.
But: they are a small party with limited resources.
They threw everything at Somerton and Frome, managing to knock on 15,000 doors on polling day alone.
That kind of operation is much harder to do at a general election - when they are likely to be trying to throw everything at around 30 seats, not just one.
Privately, party figures acknowledge that this by-election campaign was helped hugely by former Conservative cabinet minister Nadine Dorries having not yet resigned her seat in Mid Bedfordshire, another Lib Dem target.
Had that contest happened on Thursday too, it would have split their resources in half. At a general election, the demands on staffing would be even more brutal.
But the party does now have ample evidence that they have overcome the paralysing hangover of the coalition years, and are competitive again - and dangerous, particularly to the Tories.
Overall, the scope for Conservative comfort anywhere after these results is very slender.
But not as slender as it might have been.",Not_Explicit
"DUNEDIN, New Zealand -- Stefanie van der Gragt scored on a header in the 13th minute, leading the Netherlands to a 1-0 win over Portugal at the Women’s World Cup on Sunday as the 2019 finalists began their tournament run.
The Dutch defender gathered herself as teammate Sherida Spitse lofted a corner kick her way, then headed the ball across the goal into the far side of the net. An offside review delayed the celebration.
The goal by the 30-year-old van der Gragt, who plans to retire after the Women's World Cup, was the quickest first goal of the tournament. The Dutch controlled the tempo of the game — Portugal’s first shot of the match didn’t come until the 82nd minute.
The meeting with the Netherlands, ranked No. 9 in the world, marked Portugal’s first-ever tournament appearance.
On hand were 11,991 spectators, who were sheltered from the rain inside Dunedin’s covered Forsyth Barr Stadium, known as the Glasshouse, which has a capacity of 25,947.
Though most of the crowd appeared to be Dutch fans, a small but mighty group of Portuguese supporters with flags and team apparel banged on drums throughout the game, the beat echoing across the venue.
KEY MOMENTS
Van der Gragt’s first-half goal gave the Dutch a lead and allowed them to play lockdown defense. Both teams played a physical game, but Portugal was unable to match the Netherlands’ technical mastery.
WHY IT MATTERS
The Dutch victory raises the stakes for their upcoming rematch with two-time defending world champion United States, which defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in that 2019 final. A winner in that match will gain control of Group E and could very well wrap up a berth in the knockout stage.
Portugal failed to break through and become the first of the eight newcomers in the Women's World Cup to get a win.
WHAT’S NEXT
Netherlands heads to the Group E showdown against the U.S. on Thursday in Wellington. Portugal faces Vietnam, which didn't get a single shot on goal in its 3-0 loss to the Americans, also on Thursday. That match is in Hamilton, with the loser likely out of contention for the round of 16.
__
Ellen McIntyre is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
—
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"Florida's 2023 Social Studies curriculum will include lessons on how ""slaves developed skills"" that could be used for ""personal benefit,"" according to a copy of the state's academic standards reviewed by CBS News.
The lessons in question fall under the social studies curriculum's African-American studies section, and be taught to students in sixth through eighth grade, according to the state standards.
The lessons for that grade level will include teachings on understanding the ""causes, courses and consequences of the slave trade in the colonies,"" and instruction on the differences and similarities between serfdom and slavery, the curriculum says. Students will also be asked to describe ""the contact of European explorers with systematic slave trading in Africa"" and look at the history and evolution of slave codes.
The line about ""personal benefit"" is included as a ""benchmark clarification"" to a lesson that asks students to ""examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves,"" such as agricultural work, domestic service, blacksmithing and household tasks like tailoring and painting.
The curriculum wason Wednesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris called the lesson plan an attempt to ""gaslight"" students.
""They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us and we will not stand for it,"" she said in a speech at Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.'s national convention in Indiana on Thursday. ""We who share a collective experience in knowing we must honor history in our duty in the context of legacy. There is so much at stake in this moment.""
On Friday afternoon, Harris tweeted that she was traveling to Jacksonville to ""fight back"" against ""extremists in Florida who want to erase our full history and censor our truths."" , Harris is expected to ""forcefully condemn"" the curriculum.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a, dismissed Harris' criticism of the curriculum.
""Democrats like Kamala Harris have to lie about Florida's educational standards to cover for their agenda of indoctrinating students and pushing sexual topics onto children. Florida stands in their way and we will continue to expose their agenda and their lies,"" tweeted DeSantis, whose political platform has included statements against alleged "" "" in schools.
Two members of the work group who established the curriculum standards said in a statement to CBS News that they ""proudly stand behind"" the language of the lessons.
""The intent of this particular benchmark clarification is to show that some slaves developed highly specialized trades from which they benefitted. This is factual and well documented,"" said Dr. William Allen and Dr. Frances Presley Rice, members of the group, before listing examples like Crispus Attucks and Booker T. Washington. ""Any attempt to reduce slaves to just victims of oppression fails to recognize their strength, courage and resiliency during a difficult time in American history. Florida students deserve to learn how slaves took advantage of whatever circumstances they were in to benefit themselves and the community of African descendants.""
Allen and Rice said that the curriculum provides ""comprehensive and rigorous instruction on African American History.""
""It is disappointing, but nevertheless unsurprising, that critics would reduce months of work to create Florida's first ever stand-alone strand of African American History Standards to a few isolated expressions without context,"" the pair said.
Earlier this year, Florida rejected a proposed advanced placement course that would have focused on African American studies., which included lessons on Black queer theory and the prison abolition movement, ""indoctrination.""
""That is more of ideology being used under the guise of history,"" DeSantis said in January 2023. ""That's what our standards for Black history are. It's just cut and dried history. You learn all the basics, you learn about the great figures, and you know, I view it as American history. I don't view it as separate history.""
The Florida Department of Education said in a letter to the College Board, which handles AP courses, that the curriculum was ""inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value."" The College Board, which later posted a revised curriculum that did not include the areas DeSantis criticized, were ""slander.""
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"The USA had provided Ukraine with 190 Bradley vehicles, about a dozen of which have been fully destroyed; the Ukrainian military lacks spare parts for their repair.
Source: The Washington Post citing sources
Quote from WP: ""‘The United States has committed 190 Bradleys overall, with more than half delivered to operational units in Ukraine,’ said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
... About a dozen Bradleys have been destroyed, a senior U.S. defence official said.""
Details: Data from the analytical website Oryx, which only takes into account the loss of equipment with video or photo evidence of damage, indicates that several dozen more machines have been damaged to varying degrees. Many of them have been repaired and returned to the battlefield. Some of them have to be sent to Poland for more serious repairs.
In particular, WP journalists recorded six vehicles being repaired in a forested area; most of them were damaged by mine explosions.
Some vehicles can take just a few hours to repair. At the same time, the soldiers with whom the publication spoke feel a lack of spare parts for repairs.
Quote from WP citing the military: ""Some vehicles are labelled ‘donors’, meaning the Ukrainians will strip out the usable parts to install in other, less-damaged Bradleys and then fill the donor vehicle with the broken bits before shipping it off for a larger-scale repair at the facility in Poland.
One early limitation for how quickly the Ukrainians can fix the Bradleys and get them back on the battlefield: not enough spare parts, military personnel said.""
More details: A high-ranking source of the publication said that in many cases, the Ukrainians used the machines exactly as they were taught during training in Germany, namely as part of a strategy called ""combined arms"", when infantry, armoured vehicles and aircraft act together.
At the same time, the same source states that there were ""anecdotal reports to the contrary"". In his opinion, in some cases, Ukrainians are ""just not using them [the vehicles – ed.] to their fullest potential with all their other assets that they have available"".
Background:
At the end of June, The New York Times reported that about 15% of Bradley combat vehicles were damaged during the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Predominantly, the vehicles exploded on mines.
Earlier, Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi emphasised that Ukraine received the Bradley not in order to ""parade on them, but in order for them to be targeted on the battlefield"": ""Yes, we lose them. A little, let's say, but there are losses. You cannot get away from this. This is normal"".",Not_Explicit
"O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — In the national reckoning that followed the police killing of George Floyd three years ago, about 2,000 protesters took to the streets in a St. Louis suburb and urged the mostly white Francis Howell School District to address racial discrimination. The school board responded with a resolution promising to do better.
The resolution passed in August 2020 “pledges to our learning community that we will speak firmly against any racism, discrimination, and senseless violence against people regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or ability.
“We will promote racial healing, especially for our Black and brown students and families,” the resolution states. “We will no longer be silent.”
The board’s decision follows a trend that began with backlash against COVID-19 pandemic policies in places around the nation. School board elections have become intense political battlegrounds, with political action groups successfully electing candidates promising to take action against teachings on race and sexuality, remove books deemed offensive and stop transgender-inclusive sports teams.
The Francis Howell district is among Missouri’s largest, with 17,000 students, about 87% of whom are white. The vote, which came during an often contentious meeting Thursday, rescinded resolutions 75 days after “a majority of current Board of Education members were not signatories to the resolution or did not otherwise vote to adopt the resolution.”
While a few others also will be canceled, the anti-racism resolution was clearly the focus. Dozens of people opposed to its revocation packed the board meeting, many holding signs reading, “Forward, not backward.”
Kimberly Thompson, who is Black, attended Francis Howell schools in the 1970s and 1980s, and her two children graduated from the district. She described several instances of racism and urged the board to stand by its 2020 commitment.
“This resolution means hope to me, hope of a better Francis Howell School District,” Thompson said. “It means setting expectations for behavior for students and staff regardless of their personal opinions.”
The board’s vice president, Randy Cook, said phrases in the resolution such as “systemic racism” aren’t defined and mean different things to different people. Another board member, Jane Puszkar, said the resolution served no purpose.
“What has it really done,” she asked. “How effective has it really been?”
Since the resolution was adopted, the makeup of the board has flipped. Just two board members remain from 2020. Five new members elected in April 2022 and April 2023 had the backing of the conservative political action committee Francis Howell Families.
In 2021, the PAC described the anti-racism resolution as “woke activism” and drafted an alternative resolution to oppose “all acts of racial discrimination, including the act of promoting tenets of the racially-divisive Critical Race Theory, labels of white privilege, enforced equity of outcomes, identity politics, intersectionalism, and Marxism.”
Cook, who was elected in 2022 and sponsored the revocation, said there is no plan to adopt that alternative or any other.
“In my opinion, the school board doesn’t need to be in the business of dividing the community,” Cook said. “We just need to stick to the business of educating students here and stay out of the national politics.”
Many districts are dealing with debates over topics mislabeled as critical race theory. School administrators say the scholarly theory centered on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions is not taught in K-12 schools.
Others assert that school systems are misspending money, perpetuating divisions and shaming white children by pursuing initiatives they view as critical race theory in disguise.
In 2021, the Ohio State Board of Education rescinded an anti-racism and equity resolution that also was adopted after Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020. It was replaced with a statement promoting academic excellence without respect to “race, ethnicity or creed.”
Racial issues remain especially sensitive in the St. Louis region, nine years after a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown during a street confrontation. Officer Darren Wilson was not charged and the shooting led to months of often violent protests, becoming a catalyst for the national Black Lives Matter movement.
Revoking the Francis Howell resolution “sets a precedent for what’s to come,” St. Charles County NAACP President Zebrina Looney warned.
“I think this is only the beginning for what this new board is set out to do,” Looney said.",Not_Explicit
"Scott Olson/Getty Images
toggle caption
Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a Farmers for Trump campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa on July 7.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a Farmers for Trump campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa on July 7.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump announced this week he's received word that he's a target of the grand jury investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump took to social media to say he could be federally charged related to the Jan. 6, 2021 siege on the U.S. Capitol.
If charges in the Jan. 6 case come to fruition, Trump, the first former president in United States history to be criminally indicted, will be facing numerous charges in three separate criminal cases in three states.
So far this year, Trump has been criminally indicted twice for crimes he allegedly committed before and after his presidency — all announced as he's running for president again.
Trump has also been embroiled in civil lawsuits out of New York — one of which is tied to allegations he and close advisers to the Trump Organization (including his children) committed fraud.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in each of the criminal cases he's been charged and says he is not liable in the other cases.
Criminal cases
The Mar-a-Lago classified documents case
U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images
toggle caption
In this photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, stacks of boxes can be observed in a bathroom and shower in Mar-a-Lago's Lake Room in Palm Beach, Fla.
U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images
In this photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, stacks of boxes can be observed in a bathroom and shower in Mar-a-Lago's Lake Room in Palm Beach, Fla.
U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images
Number of charges: 37
Expected trial date: Waiting for U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to decide timing for a trial in Florida
Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges for allegedly storing dozens of classified documents at his Florida resort and then refusing to hand them over to the FBI and the National Archives.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who is also leading the investigation into the Jan. 6 charges against Trump, oversaw the probe into the documents case.
Federal prosecutors allege Trump had a direct hand in packing classified documents when he left the White House in 2021, that he then bragged about having these secret materials and pushed his own attorney to mislead federal law enforcement about what kind of documents he had in his resort.
Prosecutors have told Judge Cannon they want Trump's trial to begin on December 11. It's expected that legal filings by Trump's team will delay the schedule and potentially push back any trial into 2024. His legal team is working to get the trial pushed back until after the 2024 presidential election. At a pretrial hearing on July 18 Cannon said she would issue an order soon outlining an appropriate schedule.
Trump aide Walt Nauta has also been indicted in this case. He pleaded not guilty in early July to charges that he conspired with the former president to withhold classified documents.
The Stormy Daniels hush money case
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP via Getty Images
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Adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, on April 16, 2018, in New York. Trump is facing criminal charges for alleged hush money payments paid to Daniels in 2016.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP via Getty Images
Adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, on April 16, 2018, in New York. Trump is facing criminal charges for alleged hush money payments paid to Daniels in 2016.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP via Getty Images
Number of charges: 34
Expected trial date: March 25, 2024 in New York
With this case, Trump became the first former president in United States history to be criminally indicted. The grand jury voted to indict Trump in March on 34 felony counts of business record falsification.
Allegations in this case go back to before Trump was elected president. They are tied to hush money payments made before the 2016 elections to the adult film star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair.
Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, has said that she and Trump had an affair in 2006. Following the launch of Trump's campaign in 2016, Daniels offered to sell her story to gossip magazines. In October, National Enquirer executives friendly to Trump flagged this to Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
Cohen agreed to pay $130,000 to Daniels to keep her silent. Her attorney received this money less than two weeks before the election. Cohen was later reimbursed $420,000 after Trump was elected president — which Trump has admitted to doing to pay off Daniels. Trump has long maintained he never had an affair with Daniels.
Elizabeth Williams/AP
toggle caption
This artist sketch depicts former President Donald Trump, far left, pleading not guilty as the Clerk of the Court reads the charges and asks him ""How do you plea?"" on April 4, 2023, in a Manhattan courtroom in New York, as his attorney Joseph Tacopina, center, watches.
Elizabeth Williams/AP
This artist sketch depicts former President Donald Trump, far left, pleading not guilty as the Clerk of the Court reads the charges and asks him ""How do you plea?"" on April 4, 2023, in a Manhattan courtroom in New York, as his attorney Joseph Tacopina, center, watches.
Elizabeth Williams/AP
According to court records, executives with the Trump Organization categorized the reimbursements as a ""retainer"" for ""legal services.""
One of Trump's attorneys called the decision to prosecute the former president as ""political persecution."" Trump himself has called District Attorney Alvin Bragg a racist for pursuing this case.
Ongoing criminal investigations
The Jan. 6 case
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
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Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
It's unclear what any charges against Trump could entail.
Last December, the congressional Jan. 6 committee investigating the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol referred Trump to the Justice Department for four criminal charges. That included obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to make a false statement; and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by assisting, aiding or comforting those involved in an insurrection.
The committee, however, had no power over what the DOJ chose to do.
But a possible indictment from federal prosecutors could touch on attempts by Trump and his allies to pressure officials not to certify the 2020 election results or urging his supporters to ""fight like hell"" to stop Congress from certifying the result.
Trump spoke with his supporters during a rally in the hours leading up to the mob taking over the U.S. Capitol. In his speech, he told the thousands present ""we must stop the steal.""
So far, investigators have reached deep into Trump's inner circle, contacting former Vice President Mike Pence and the former president's son-in-law to testify before the grand juries in Washington, D.C.
Secretaries of State in several states were also reportedly interviewed as part of the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. CNN reported recently that officials in seven key battleground states during the 2020 election, Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, that were targeted by Trump and his allies ""to subvert the Electoral College"" were subpoenaed.
Also, investigators have spoken with dozens of witnesses with knowledge of the final days of the Trump presidency and what he and his team might've done to prevent Biden from taking the White House.
Trump insiders embroiled in the federal investigation have also included attorneys John Eastman and Jeffrey Clark, who both had their phones taken by agents last year during the probe.
Georgia 2020 election interference
Megan Varner/Getty Images
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An exterior view of the Superior Court building of Fulton County on Aug. 31, 2022 in Atlanta, Ga.
Megan Varner/Getty Images
An exterior view of the Superior Court building of Fulton County on Aug. 31, 2022 in Atlanta, Ga.
Megan Varner/Getty Images
In Fulton County, Ga., which is home to Atlanta, District Attorney Fani Willis has impaneled a grand jury to investigate efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn 2020 election results in the state.
The criminal investigation was started by Willis after the publication of a phone call in January 2021 of Trump pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ""find"" ballots in support of Trump. This was after the former president narrowly lost the state to Joe Biden.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and still baselessly maintains there was large-scale voter fraud in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election.
Willis has suggested she'll ask the grand jury for indictments later this summer, potentially as soon as August, and has told law enforcement to prep for a major public response.
Trump is also still fighting civil lawsuits
New York AG Letitia James' suit against Trump for alleged fraud
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
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New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference on July 13, 2022 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference on July 13, 2022 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Expected trial date: Oct. 2, 2023 in New York
After a three-year investigation, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against Trump, the Trump Organization's executive team and three of his eldest children, last September.
The lawsuit claims that Trump committed fraud by inflating his net worth by billions of dollars in order to get richer.
The case against Trump's oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, has since been dropped.
James is seeking around $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump, his kids and members of his executive team from operating businesses in the state of New York.
E. Jean Carroll case
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
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U.S. magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll departs the Manhattan Federal Court in New York City on May 9, 2023 after a jury found former President Donald Trump liable for the sexual abuse of the writer in the 1990s.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll departs the Manhattan Federal Court in New York City on May 9, 2023 after a jury found former President Donald Trump liable for the sexual abuse of the writer in the 1990s.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
Expected trial date: Jan. 15, 2024 in New York
In 2019, writer E. Jean Carroll first publicly came forward saying Trump had raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s when Trump was known as just a businessman. Trump responded then (and since), denying the accusation and saying that the writer had ulterior motives.
Carroll sued Trump — twice (in 2019 and later in 2022) — in large part for his alleged defamation.
The columnist filed the second lawsuit against Trump (this time for both defamation and rape) after the state of New York lifted the statute of limitations for survivors of sexual assault to file civil claims.
In May, a federal jury found Trump liable for battery and defamation in this second lawsuit. The jury in this case said he did sexually abuse the writer and defamed her when he denied her allegation.
Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages.
This week, a federal judge in New York rejected Trump's motion for a new trial.
Trump's legal team filed a counterclaim against Carroll in late June for defamation. In that suit, he claims Carroll defamed him during her appearance on CNN after the jury verdict. In that interview, she was asked about the verdict finding Trump sexually abused her, but that he didn't rape her. Carroll responded, ""Oh, yes he did.""
Carroll's first lawsuit filed in 2019, referred to as Carroll I in the court, was filed for Trump's early alleged defamatory statements. Following her victory in May, Carroll and her lawyers asked a court to expand the scope of the Carroll I case against Trump, seeking at least an additional $10 million in damages. That trial date is expected next year.",Not_Explicit
"Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., stumped the head of the Air Force Academy Wednesday during a tense hearing about race and gender-based admissions practices at military colleges and universities.
Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark was unable to define gender identity terms like ""agender"" and ""demigender"" that were listed in eligibility guidelines for a fellowship that’s open to Air Force cadets and other Americans, something Gaetz noted during their heated exchange.
""You’re literally pushing a program in the academies that says, ‘If you’re a cisgender woman, a transgender woman, a non-binary, agender, bigender, two-spirit, demigender …' What’s demigender?"" Gaetz asked.
""Sir, that's a term of the people that are eligible for that particular scholarship, that is available to,"" Clarke said.
""It's a person who looks at their gender in a different way than I do, sir,"" Clarke said when the congressman cut him off to further question him.
""Well, sure. That's all of these people. You're a cisgender man, you don't even get to apply. Do you know what demigender really means?"" Gaetz asked.
""I’m not really sure, sir,"" Clark said. Gaetz then asked if he knew what ""agender"" meant, and the general again said he didn't know.
""Right. So, here we are, pushing a fellowship calling for people that you don't even know what the words mean,"" Gaetz said. ""And the No. 1 group of people, the cisgender men, are excluded. In the name of diversity, equity and inclusion, should we be pushing programs that we can't define, that exclude the largest group of service members?""
The Brooke Owens fellowship that Gaetz was referring to is open to ""women and gender-minority students in aerospace,"" according to its website.
Under its eligibility requirements, the site says, ""If you are a cisgender woman, a transgender woman, non-binary, agender, bigender, two-spirit, demigender, genderfluid, genderqueer, or another form of gender minority, this program is for you.""
Clark clarified when pressed that it is not an Air Force Academy program but rather is one students are allowed to apply for ""because it’s an opportunity for us to develop them as warfighters.""
""I mean, how can you use this as a way to develop the warfighters if you don't know what it means?"" Gaetz asked.",Not_Explicit
"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will not be ordering floating barriers to be removed from the Rio Grande, in defiance of the US Department of Justice.
“Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused,” Abbott wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden following last week’s DOJ request to remove the barriers. “Texas will see you in court, Mr. President.”
The Justice Department told Texas on Thursday that it intends to file legal action against the placement of the floating barriers in the Rio Grande as part of the state’s operation along the Texas-Mexico border, according to sources familiar and a letter obtained by CNN.
The Justice Department gave Texas a deadline of Monday at 2 p.m. ET to commit to the removal of the floating border barriers or face legal action, according to the letter sent to Abbott.
The White House responded to Abbott’s decision by slamming his actions as “dangerous and unlawful.”
“Governor Abbott’s dangerous and unlawful actions are undermining that effective plan and making it hard for the men and women of Border Patrol to do their jobs of securing the border. The governor’s actions are cruel and putting both migrants and border agents in danger,” White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan said.
He added: “If Governor Abbott truly wanted to drive toward real solutions, he’d be asking his Republican colleagues in Congress, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz, why they voted against President Biden’s request for record funding for the Department of Homeland Security and why they’re blocking comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures to finally fix our broken immigration system.”
The Justice Department’s threat of legal action over the floating barriers is based on a clause in the federal law that “prohibits the creation of any obstruction to the navigable capacity of waters of the United States, and further prohibits building any structure in such waters without authorization from the United States Army Corps of Engineers.”
The inspector general for the Texas Department of Public Safety has received several additional complaints from DPS personnel on the front lines at the border about the treatment of migrants trying to enter the United States, three sources familiar with the investigation told CNN. Among the complaints are reports that Texas troopers were told to push back migrants into the Rio Grande and ordered not to give them water.
Abbott’s office has denied that any orders have been given that “would compromise the lives of those attempting to cross the border illegally.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.",Not_Explicit
"Japanese police will begin testing a draconian network of AI-enhanced security cameras — hoping to stop major crimes before they happen.

The pre-crime monitoring tests, reminiscent of the 2002 sci-fi film Minority Report, will intentionally avoid using the tech's 'facial recognition' capabilities, according to Japan's National Police Agency.

Instead the AI cameras will focus on machine-learning pattern recognition of three types: 'behavior detection' for suspicious activities, 'object detection' for guns and other weapons, and 'intrusion detection' for the protection of restricted areas.

Japanese police officials said they intend to launch their AI test program sometime during this fiscal year, which ends March 2024 in Japan.

While some counterterrorism experts maintain that the new AI-powered cameras will 'help to deploy police officers more efficiently' providing 'more means for vigilance,' others worry about introducing hidden algorithmic biases into police work.

Terrified by last year's surprise assassination of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and shocked by a failed attempt on the life of Japan's new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida this April, the nation's police have struggled to prevent high-profile crimes, which are often committed by individuals they call 'lone offenders.'

Police have used the term 'lone offenders' to describe a growing sector of Japanese society, lonely and disaffected young people, sometimes called 'otaku' for 'nerd' or 'shut-in,' who have sometimes proven violent despite no known criminal history.

Japan's National Police Agency AI-camera tests come on the one-year anniversary of Prime Minister Abe's fatal shooting.

Advocates say the AI's so-called 'behavior detection' machine-learning algorithm would be capable of training itself by observing the patterns of individuals deemed suspicious: activities like looking around in a repetitious and nervous fashion.

While Japanese police officials did not get into details, past efforts at AI-enhanced security cameras in the far eastern nation have focused on fidgeting, restlessness, rapid eye movement and other behaviors flagged as products of a guilty mind.

Police officials hope that the software can pull these identifications out of large crowds and other distracting conditions that make identification of risks difficult even to highly trained humans in law enforcement.

AI shape analysis will also help the system detect suspicious items like firearms and other weapons (object detection), while certain protected locations will be programmed in to detect malicious trespassers (intrusion detection).

For now, the National Police Agency's use of this 'crime prediction' tech will only be a test — an effort to evaluate the AI-assisted cameras accuracy to carefully consider the value of officially adopting the system.

The police agency will not employ the technology's 'facial recognition' features, according to Nikkei, focusing only on generic behaviors and suspicious objects.

Isao Itabashi, chief analyst for the Tokyo-based Council for Public Policy, told Nikkei that Japan is far from the first nation to deploy this kind of AI pre-crime tech.

'AI cameras are already being used widely in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, and behavior detection technology is being studied by Japanese companies,' said Itabashi, who is also an expert on counterterrorism defense strategy.

A 2019 survey conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in fact, reporter that AI security camera tech was already in use by 52 of the 176 countries covered in their research.

France has recently adopted legislation authorizing the installation of AI security systems to protect Paris in advance of the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics to be held in the capital city.

Japan's private sector has been years ahead of its national police force on the use of AI-equipped security cameras.

Last May, at G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japanese railway firm JR West implemented a system that would notify security teams of activity the AI deemed suspicious, following train closures and evacuations the preceding month over a 'suspicious object' that has yet to be publicly identified.

And in 2019, Japanese startup Vaak unveiled a controversial new software designed to identify potential shoplifters based on their body language.

While aspects of Vaak's software resemble the promises behind Japan's National Police Agency AI tests, officials have not confirmed that Vaak's product have been contracted for these trials.

Vaak's criminal-detecting AI is trained to recognize 'suspicious' activities such as fidgeting or restlessness in security footage, according to Bloomberg Quint.

Vaak says its AI can distinguish between normal customer behaviour and 'criminal behaviour,' such as tucking a product away into a jacket without paying.

And, in fact, the Minority Report-style system was reportedly used in successfully 2018 to track down a shoplifter who has struck a convenience store in Yokohama.

Vaak has said that their software can alert staff to suspicious behavior via smartphone app once it's spotted something in the CCTV stream, Bloomberg said.

But, while it's designed to crack down on theft, both predictive policing and predictive private security efforts have sparked concerns that people may be unfairly targeted as a result of racial and other biases.

An MIT study published in 2018 found that many popular AI systems exhibit racist and sexist leanings.

Researchers have urged others to use better data to ensure biases are eliminated.

'Computer scientists are often quick to say that the way to make these systems less biased is to simply design better algorithms,' said lead author Irene Chen, a PhD student, when the study was published in November.

'But algorithms are only as good as the data they're using, and our research shows that you can often make a bigger difference with better data.'",Not_Explicit
"The House will consider several pieces of legislation as early as Tuesday under a suspension of the rules, including a bipartisan bill that could crack down on Chinese manufacturers of synthetic opioids.
Republican Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky authored the bill – the ""Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act of 2023"" – which would impose sanctions on Chinese opioid producers and ""opioid precursors,"" as the fentanyl crisis continues to climb.
Precursor chemicals are used for legal opioid medications but can be diverted for illicit fentanyl and heroin production.
""The Chinese Communist Party plays a prominent role in every step of the fentanyl crisis from producing precursor chemicals to transferring expertise to laundering cartel profits who illegally traffic it into the United States,"" Barr told Fox News Digital Tuesday.
Barr said he expects broad support for the bill on the House floor.
""The Biden administration has abandoned control of the southern border and I am proud to lead this effort to defend our national security,"" he said.
According to the bill, first introduced in May, it updates the definition of a ""foreign opioid trafficker"" in the Fentanyl Sanctions Act to include specific Chinese entities and government officials who don’t take steps to prevent so-called ""opioid trafficking.""
The U.S. has previously called on both Mexico and China to link arms against the crisis.
Fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, is often made by Mexican cartels in labs with precursors shipped from China. A small amount of fentanyl can lead to a deadly overdose, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has warned, with thousands of fentanyl-related deaths reported each year.
Barr’s bill aims to ""hold Chinese officials accountable for the spread of illicit fentanyl,"" in line with other congressional members who have been calling for a similar crackdown on China’s role in black market opioid production.
Last week, Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., floated the idea of including an amendment to the much-anticipated military defense bill that would sanction China over its illicit fentanyl production.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also made remarks last week that the Chinese Communist government ""bears responsibility"" for cleaning up fentanyl in the U.S.
And the Department of Justice brought conspiracy charges against three Chinese chemical manufacturing companies suspected of manufacturing and distributing fentanyl in the U.S. in June.
Democratic Reps. Chris Pappas, Pat Ryan and Morgan McGarvey are co-sponsoring the bill, alongside Republican Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Gregory Murphy, Mike Lawler, Beth Van Duyne, Anthony D'Esposito and Zach Nunn.",Not_Explicit
"UBS has been ordered to pay $388 million to British and US regulators over Credit Suisse’s dealings with private investment firm Archegos Capital Management, the Swiss bank said Monday.
The settlement is the first of several that UBS could have to pay after it last month closed its takeover of Credit Suisse, which was involved in a number of legal battles.
Under the agreement, UBS is to pay the Federal Reserve $268.5 million and the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority $111.6 million (87 million pounds).
Reports ahead of time had suggested the US regulator would impose a penalty of up to $300 million and the UK regulator would fine UBS up to 100 million pounds over the bank’s dealings with Archegos.
Switzerland’s regulator FINMA does not have the power to fine financial institutions.",Not_Explicit
"Judge rejects Trump’s bid to move hush money case to federal court
A judge on Wednesday rejected former President Trump’s bid to move his hush money criminal case to federal court, ruling that the allegations are not connected to Trump’s role as president.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a Clinton appointee, granted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) office’s request to keep the case in New York state court.
Trump had argued the case must be moved to federal court because he was being prosecuted for an act under the color of his office as president and that Bragg’s prosecution was politically motivated.
Manhattan prosecutors charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records, accusing him of making a series of false entries as he reimbursed his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, in part to conceal a $130,000 hush payment that Cohen made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump pleaded not guilty.
The former president’s lawyers argued that Trump hired Cohen to handle his personal affairs “solely because he was President of the United States” and that the reimbursements were truthful legal expenses made while Trump was serving in the White House.
“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the President — a cover-up of an embarrassing event. Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a President’s official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the President’s official duties,” Hellerstein wrote.
DEVELOPING
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Argentina has claimed a diplomatic “triumph” after the EU agreed to refer to the Falklands as the Malvinas in an official document.
The move was signed off by European Union leaders when they met with the Celac group of Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Brussels.
James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, had asked Brussels to reject any mention of the Falkland Islands in the declaration ahead of the summit.
But EU officials said Britain would not be allowed any say in the matter, since it is no longer a member of the bloc.
The agreed declaration read: “Regarding the question of sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands, the European Union took note of Celac’s historical position based on the importance of dialogue and respect for international law in the peaceful solution of disputes.”
‘This is outrageous’
James Sunderland, a Tory MP who served in the Falklands War, said: “This is outrageous. The UK has exercised de facto sovereignty over the Falkland Islands since 1833 and went to their defence in 1982.
“The good people of the Falklands have also overwhelmingly voted to remain British. The EU would be wise to respect British sovereignty, rather than waste its time with tokenism.”
The statement was endorsed by all 27 EU member states and 32 of the 33 Celac countries, with Nicaragua refusing to back it because of the language on the war in Ukraine.
Argentina said it was the first time Brussels had officially recognised Latin America’s claim over the Falkland Islands in a joint declaration.
Santiago Cafiero, Argentina’s foreign minister, said Buenos Aires expected to “deepen dialogue with the European Union in relation to the question of the Malvinas Islands” following the pronouncement.
“This joint declaration represents a new call from the international community to the United Kingdom to agree to comply with its obligation to resume sovereignty negotiations with Argentina,” he said.
But a figure close to Mr Cleverly said: “The Argentine government can lobby whoever they wish but it doesn’t change the fact that the Falkland Islands are British.
“That is the clear will of the Falkland Islanders. Ten years ago, 99.8 per cent of Falkland Islanders who voted said they wanted to stay a part of the UK family.
British officials are relaxed over the statement because it does not oblige or promise any change in policy from Brussels over the Falklands.
A spokesman for the European External Action Service, the EU’s foreign affairs arm, said the bloc endorsed the statement in a “spirit” that displayed it is “ready to listen to the position of our partners”.
He added: “The EU member states have not changed their views/positions concerning the Falklands/Malvinas Islands.
“The EU is not in a situation to express any position on the Falklands/Islas Malvinas, as there is not any Council discussion on this matter.
“The EU does not take any position on such matters without a Council mandate.”
Shailesh Vara, a former Cabinet minister who sits on the Falklands Islands All-Party Parliamentary Group, said: “The EU doesn’t speak for the UK on these matters and nothing changes the fact that the Falkland Islands remain British, which is what 99.8 per cent of the Falkland Islanders want.”
Known as the Malvinas in Spanish, the UK-ruled islands were the subject of a short but brutal war after Argentina invaded in 1982
Britain and Argentina last year marked the 40th anniversary of the conflict, which claimed the lives of 649 Argentinian soldiers, 255 British servicemen, and three women who lived on the island.",Not_Explicit
"SEBI Receives 4,085 Complaints For Corporate Governance Violations: Government
SEBI has received 4,085 complaints pertaining to the flouting of corporate governance norms
Capital markets regulator SEBI has received 4,085 complaints pertaining to the flouting of corporate governance norms against 1,551 companies in the last four-and-half years, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
Of these, 132 complaints were received against firms in the current financial year till July 13; 640 grievances in 2022-23, 809 in 2021-22, 1,151 in 2020-21 and 1,353 in 2019-20, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
During the last four years and current year, complaints for corporate governance violations were received against several companies, including Yes Bank, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Religare Enterprises, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone, Adani Power and ACC Ltd.
In cases of complaints regarding violation of corporate governance norms, Sebi takes up the matter with the concerned stock exchange, which in turn, seeks comments from the concerned company, and subsequent steps are taken for redressal of such complaints, he added.
Further, SEBI constituted a committee under the chairmanship of its former whole-time member G Mahalingam in April last year on strengthening the governance of market infrastructure institutions.
In complaints against companies related to violation of rules on diversion or misappropriation of funds; material misstatement in financial statements, etc. SEBI investigates the allegations, and based on the findings of the probe, appropriate enforcement action is initiated.
Additionally, Sebi's complaints redress system SCORES received 239 complaints against entities for alleged insider trading or price manipulation in the current fiscal till July 13, the minister said.
Some of the entities against which complaints were received for alleged insider trading or price manipulation include Adani Enterprises, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Coal India, HDFC Bank, Vedanta, IIFL Securities and Eros International Media in the current financial year.
Further, a total of 552 complaints were received in 2022-23, 616 grievances in 2021-22, 1,130 complaints in 2020-21 and 1,801 complaints in 2019-20, according to the data shared by the minister.
SEBI Complaints Redress System, a grievance redressal system launched in June 2011, helps investors to lodge their complaints online with SEBI, pertaining to the securities market, against companies, intermediaries and market infrastructure institutions.",Not_Explicit
"A real estate developer was sentenced Friday to six years in federal prison for paying $500,000 in bribes to a Los Angeles city councilman for help with a downtown project.
Dae Yong Lee, AKA “David Lee,” was also fined $750,000 and a company that he controlled was fined $1.5m plus prosecution costs, the US attorney’s office said in a statement.
Prosecutors said that in 2017, Lee bribed José Huizar and the councilman’s special assistant to help resolve a labor organization’s appeal that was blocking approval of a planned development that was to include more than 200 residences and about 14,000 sq ft (1,300 sq meters) of commercial space.
At the time, Huizar chaired the city’s powerful planning and land use management committee.
In 2017, Lee made three cash payments totaling $500,000 to Huizar’s assistant, George Esparza, prosecutors said.
Last year, Lee and the company were convicted of bribery, honest services wire fraud and falsifying records in federal investigations to conceal the bribes.
The sentence was the latest in a sweeping corruption case swirling around Huizar, whom authorities said ran a pay-to-play bribery scheme from 2013 to 2017 tied to the approval of downtown high-rise developments.
Huizar pleaded guilty in January to racketeering conspiracy and tax evasion. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on 25 September. Under a plea agreement, Huizar agreed to seek a sentence of at least nine years in prison, prosecutors said.
In addition to Huizar, more than a half-dozen other people have been convicted or pleaded guilty to federal charges in the scheme, including Huizar’s brother, Salvador Huizar.
Esparza pleaded guilty in July 2020 to one count of racketeering conspiracy and testified against Lee at his trial.
Raymond Chan, the former deputy mayor, is awaiting retrial next year on federal charges of racketeering conspiracy. Prosecutors allege that he accepted more than $100,000 to help a Chinese real estate developer.",Not_Explicit
"Michael Gove is announcing plans to relax planning rules in England to create more homes in towns and cities.
The levelling up secretary says he wants to make it easier to convert empty retail premises and betting shops into flats and houses.
But critics say such conversions are often poor quality.
It comes as Rishi Sunak insists his party will meet its commitment to building a million homes before the next election, expected in 2024.
A report by the Commons housing committee earlier this month found that while ministers are on track to deliver its one million homes target they are not expected to meet their other commitment to deliver 300,000 new homes every year by the mid-2020s.
Hitting that figure became harder after the government was forced to water down its housing targets on local councils following a fierce backlash from its own MPs.
The prime minister said his government would not be ""concreting over the countryside"" adding: ""Our plan is to build the right homes where there is the most need and where there is local support, in the heart of Britain's great cities.""
Lisa Nandy, Labour's shadow housing secretary, said: ""It takes some serious brass neck for the Tories to make yet more promises when the housing crisis has gone from bad to worse on their watch.""
In a speech in central London, Mr Gove will provide details of his plan to build more homes including making it easier to convert shops, takeaways and betting shops into homes.
This idea has been around for a long time, with minister launching a consultation on such changes back in 2013.
The Local Government Association has warned that offices, shops and barns are not always suitable for housing, and could result in the creation of poor quality homes.
Mr Gove also wants to ease rules on building extensions to commercial buildings and repurposing agricultural buildings.
In order to speed up big developments, the government will establish what it calls a ""super squad"" of planners to unblock certain projects - a development in Cambridge will be the team's first task. Developers will be asked to pay higher fees to fund improvements to the planning system.
However, in an early sign that Mr Gove's plans may attract criticism from the government's own MPs, Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire Anthony Browne has tweeted: ""I will do everything I can to stop the government's nonsense plans to impose mass housebuilding on Cambridge, where all major developments are now blocked by the Environment Agency because we have quite literally run out of water.""
The issue of building more homes has been a tricky one for the government. While there is great demand for housing, particularly among younger voters struggling to get on the property ladder, new housing developments have proved unpopular in Conservative heartlands.",Not_Explicit
"L&T Finance Q1 Result Review - Accelerated Transformation Into A Retail Franchise: Motilal Oswal
Earnings in line; retail RoA/RoE at 3.1%/15.7% in Q1 FY24.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
L&T Finance Holdings Ltd. reported Q1 FY24 profit after tax of Rs 5.3 billion (inline). Pre-provision operating profit grew ~7% YoY to Rs 12.4 billion (in line), while credit costs of ~Rs 5.2 billion translated into annualised credit costs of 2.6% (previous quarter: 2.5% and previous year: 3.6%).
Retail profit after tax at ~Rs 5.3 billion surged 176% YoY in Q1 FY24. Reported retail return on asset/ return on equity stood at ~3.1%/~15.7% during the quarter.
Mr. Sudipta Roy (Chief Operating Officer) would assume the role of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer effective January 2024, while the current MD and CEO – Mr. Dinanath Dubhashi – has opted for superannuation. He will remain with the company until April 2024 to ensure a seamless leadership transition.
We expect that the retail mix will improve to ~95% by March 2024 (from 82% as of June 2023).
Considering the accelerated rundown in the wholesale book, we model consolidated loan growth of 3%/22% in FY24/FY25E.
We estimate a profit after tax compound annual growth rate of 27% over FY23-FY25, with consolidated RoA/RoE of 2.3%/~11.0% in FY25.
A strong liability franchise, a well-capitalised balance sheet and a keen intent to further accelerate the sell-down of the wholesale book will enable L&T Finance to achieve its targets articulated under Lakshya 2026 much in advance.
We have raised our FY24E/FY25E profit after tax by 7%/5% to factor in higher fee income and margin expansion and now model a 50% dividend payout in FY24E.
L&T Finance is set to transform itself into a retail franchise, which would lead to profitability improvement and RoA expansion. Reiterate 'Buy' with a target price of Rs 160 (premised on 1.6 times FY25E consolidated book value per share).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"Protesters breach Swedish Embassy in Baghdad over planned burning of Quran
Protesters breached the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad early Thursday morning to rail against a planned burning of the Quran in Stockholm.
The protesters who stormed the embassy were showing support for Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who called for protests after news broke that two people were planning to hold a demonstration outside the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm on Thursday. One of those people had reportedly burned the Quran outside the Iraqi Embassy last month, a move that also sparked protests at the Swedish Embassy.
Stockholm police said that a permit was approved for a demonstration outside the embassy on Thursday but did not say whether a Quran would be burned. Iraq has warned Sweden it would cut off diplomatic ties with the country if the Quran was burned.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry said that all embassy staff are safe.
“We condemn all attacks on diplomats and staff from international organizations,” the ministry said in a statement. “Attacks on embassies and diplomats constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention. Iraqi authorities have the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic staff.”
The Swedish Embassy in Baghdad said in a statement Thursday that it is closed to visitors.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the protests on Thursday, which included lighting a fire within the embassy. Video footage shows a small fire being set, protesters climbing over the walls and police and other officials gathering at the site at dawn, where plumes of smoke remained.
“The Iraqi government has instructed the competent security authorities to conduct an urgent investigation and take the necessary security measures in order to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators of this act and hold them accountable according to the law,” officials said.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that the U.S. “strongly condemns” the attack on the Swedish Embassy.
“Freedom of peaceful assembly is an essential hallmark of democracy, but what occurred last night was an unlawful act of violence,” Miller said. “It is unacceptable that Iraqi Security Forces did not act to prevent protestors from breaching the Swedish Embassy compound for a second time and damaging it.”
“We are in contact with our Swedish partners and have offered our support. Foreign missions should not be targets of violence. We call on the Government of Iraq to honor its international obligations to protect all diplomatic missions in Iraq against any intrusion or damage, as required by international law,” Miller added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report, which was updated at 9:13 a.m.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"TikTok has finally launched an ads transparency library — starting with data on ads and other commercial content running in Europe but with plans to expand that.
Also today it’s announced expanded access to its research API to Europe.
Both moves look intended to help the company comply with incoming requirements under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Back in April, the video-sharing social network was confirmed as one of 19 so-called very large online platforms (VLOPs) under the DSA — a designation which brings a suite of additional compliance requirements related to algorithmic transparency and accountability.
To wit: Article 39 of the pan-EU regulation requires VLOPs whose platforms display ads to offers a searchable database of ads with information, including who paid for the ad, the main targeting parameters and data on views. While Article 40 concerns data access for vetted and other external researchers to further the regulation’s goal of ensuring that systemic risks flowing from major platforms are able to be robustly studied.
“Today, we’re expanding access to our Research API to Europe and opening up new transparency tools for commercial content,” TikTok wrote in a blog post announcing the launches. “These tools are designed to enhance transparency about content on our platform and are informed by feedback we’re hearing from researchers and civil society.”
A TikTok spokesman confirmed the research API is being made available to researchers working across Europe, not only those at institutions inside the EU — so it’s also open to applications from academics working in the EEA (European Economic Area), Switzerland and the UK.
The social media platform announced it was developing an API for researchers last summer — when it said it would provide select researchers with more transparency about its platform and moderation system by giving access to public and anonymized data about content and activity on the app. An initial version of the Research API was ready for testing by members of TikTok’s Content and Safety Advisory Councils in November — before being opened up to academic researchers in the US earlier this year, in February.
So far, the free API has seen more than 60 applications from US non-profit academic researchers on topics including those related to consumer trends, misinformation and mental health, per TikTok.
The impact of social media platforms on young people’s lives and well-being continues to be a topic of discussion and concern in mainstream media. But scientists have warned we still don’t have robust data to draw strong conclusions — hence the push by EU lawmakers to make major platforms open up to outside scrutiny.
TikTok’s approach for the research API requires researchers to create an account and complete an application which it reviews to ensure its criteria are met before granting access. So it said it expects the first non-profit academic researchers in Europe to get access “in the coming weeks”.
TikTok’s criteria for access to the API require regional researchers to have demonstrable academic experience and expertise in the research area specified in the application; no conflicts of interest with respect to using the services; a clearly defined research proposal; and to be committed to only using the data for non-commercial purposes.
Also today, it said it’s working on being able to grant researchers who are collaborating with others the ability to work together on a shared research project. This incoming collaboration feature, which it says it’s adding in response to feedback from early users, will be called “Lab Access”.
“More than half the applications we’ve received request collaboration with other researchers, so we’ll soon be allowing up to 10 researchers to work together on a shared research project,” it wrote. “All researchers will need to have their own TikTok for Developers account and be located in the US or Europe to access our Research API.
“Principal researchers will be able to submit a single application for collaborators from the same university. Projects involving multiple universities will need to submit separate applications for each school.”
Ads transparency at last
The ads transparency library, or “Commercial Content Library” as TikTok is billing it, is a newer initiative — and the launch plugs a long-standing transparency gap for the platform.
A critical report on TikTok by Mozilla, back in mid 2021, found policy loopholes, lax oversight around influencer marketing and the lack of a public, searchable ads database was making the platform vulnerable to passing off political ads as organic content — rendering TikTok’s official policy banning political ads pretty meaningless.
Now anyone can search TikTok ads or other commercial content by country, date and keyword.
However — big caveat! — for now only data on commercial stuff running in Europe is available. TikTok said it plans to include data from “more countries” in the future (but did not specify where or when).
“The Commercial Content Library is a searchable database with information about paid ads and ad metadata, such as the advertising creative, dates the ad ran, main parameters used for targeting (e.g. age, gender), number of people who were served the ad, and more,” TikTok noted.
The tool also includes information about other content that’s “commercial in nature and tagged with either a paid partnership label or promotional label, such as content that promotes a brand, product or service but is not a paid ad” — so TikTok is including influence marketing in the database too (or at least it is if the influencers have correctly tagged their videos).
“We tested an early version of the Commercial Content Library with researchers and civil society to gather feedback over the last few months before making it more broadly available,” TikTok added. “From our tests and input from experts, we’ve added the ability to perform precise searches, included more targeting parameters, and improved data quality — among other updates.”
TikTok is also providing access to a Commercial Content API to enable researchers to query the ads database.
“Researchers will need to create a TikTok Developers account and submit an application to access the Commercial Content API which we review to help prevent malicious actors from misusing this data,” it added.",Not_Explicit
"- International investment firms have changed their China GDP forecasts nearly every month so far this year, with JPMorgan making six adjustments since January.
- That's according to CNBC analysis of the firms' notes.
- The average prediction among six firms studied by CNBC now stands at 5.1%, close to the ""around 5%"" target Beijing announced in March.
BEIJING – International investment firms have changed their China GDP forecasts nearly every month so far this year, with JPMorgan making six adjustments since January.
That's according to CNBC analysis of the firms' notes. JPMorgan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
related investing news
The U.S. investment bank most recently cut its China GDP forecast in July to 5%, down from 5.5% previously.
That came alongside cuts this month by Citi and Morgan Stanley to 5%.
The average prediction among six firms studied by CNBC now stands at 5.1%, close to the ""around 5%"" target Beijing announced in March.
Citi's latest forecast marks the firm's fourth change this year. Morgan Stanley has only adjusted its forecast once since it was set in January.
During that same period, Nomura changed its forecast four times, while UBS adjusted it three times and Goldman Sachs changed forecasts twice.
The investment banks mostly revised their forecasts higher early this year after China's initial rebound, following three years of strict Covid controls.
The latest cuts come as recent economic data point to slower growth than expected, and authorities show little inclination to embark on large-scale stimulus. Second-quarter GDP rose by 6.3% from a year ago, missing the 7.3% growth that analysts polled by Reuters had predicted.
The disappointment in second-quarter GDP growth, however, is due to official revisions to China's quarter-on-quarter growth last year, according to Rhodium Group's Logan Wright and a team.
The resulting low figure helps Beijing make a case for supporting the economy, the analysts said in a July 17 report. ""Understand what you are seeing in this year's GDP data: these are artificially constructed narratives for various audiences, not reports on China's economic performance.""
The National Bureau of Statistics did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
Instead of releasing multiple reads of data, the bureau discloses quarterly GDP relatively soon after the end of the period, and subsequently issues revisions.
The statistics bureau has also issued public statements about punishing local governments for falsifying data. The accuracy of official data in China has long been in question.
Goldman Sachs on Friday noted the seasonal revisions, but maintained its 5.4% forecast for China's growth. ""On net, we do not think the surprises are either consistent or large enough for us to make major adjustments to our China growth forecast this year.""
Researchers have sought alternatives to gauge growth.
One organization is the U.S.-based China Beige Book, which claims to regularly survey businesses in China in order to put out reports on the economic environment.
Earlier this year, the firm's data ""showed there was no revenge spending wave or a bombastic recovery,"" said Shehzad Qazi, New York-based managing director at China Beige Book.
""Wall Street's predictions of blockbuster growth in China were first based on hype, and then juiced up by China's inflated GDP prints into early 2023.""
Qazi testified this month at a hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
Investment bank research is often known as the ""sell-side,"" since it is meant to inform buyers about financial products and company stocks.
In the case of China, Qazi pointed out that ""investment banks are not only incentivized to sell a 'China booming' story, but given their business interests in China, they are also unwilling to publish any views that can be seen as critical of China's economy.""
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund also put out regular economic forecasts for China and other countries. However, their reporting schedule means that predictions may not fully match current the current economic situation.
In June, the World Bank raised its forecast for China's growth this year to 5.6%, up from 4.3% previously.
The International Monetary Fund in April raised its forecast for China's GDP to 5.2%, up from 4.4% previously. This month, its spokesperson noted that growth was slowing in China, and said an ""updated forecast"" would be reflected in the IMF's next World Economic Outlook.
Chinese officials have in the last several weeks emphasized the country is on track to reach its annual growth target of around 5%.
Among the six investment firms CNBC looked at, the highest China GDP forecast so far this year was JPMorgan's 6.4% figure — when the bank adjusted for the second time in April alone.
In all, the range of the firm's forecasts have spanned 1.4 percentage points, the most of any of those in the CNBC analysis.
Although businesses and investors have expressed uncertainty about China's near-term economic trajectory, analysts expect growth in the world's second-largest economy will still pick up in the longer term.
""Overall, there is a case emerging for a cyclical rebound in China's economy in early 2024, even without any meaningful policy support in the second half of 2023,"" the Rhodium analysts said.
They said that given four quarters, a steady household consumption recovery should help boost service sector employment, while industrial inventories will likely need restocking down the road.",Not_Explicit
"Reliance Retail Q1 Results: Profit Jumps 18.8% On Higher Footfalls, Store Additions
Reliance Retail witnessed an all-time high of 249 million footfalls during the quarter across its diverse formats.
Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd.’s first quarter revenue and profit rose, aided by increased footfalls and store additions.
The net profit of India’s biggest retailer, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, increased 18.8% over the previous year to Rs 2,448 crore in the quarter ended June, according to its parent company, Reliance Industries Ltd.'s exchange filing.
Reliance Retail Q1 FY24 Highlights (YoY)
Revenue from operations (net of GST) increased by 20.5% to Rs 62,159 crore.
Gross revenue rose 19.5% to Rs 69,948 crore.
Ebitda increased 33.9% to Rs 5,139 crore—an all-time high.
Margin widened to 7.9% from 7.6%.
Reliance Retail recorded the highest ever footfalls at 249 million across formats during the quarter.
In April-June, the company added 406 stores to take the total count to 18,446, the highest in India, spanning across an area of 70.6 million sq. ft.
""Retail business delivered robust growth, with fast-paced store additions and steady growth in footfalls,"" Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd., said in a statement.
""The contribution of digital and New Commerce initiatives is scaling up, delivering value to consumers, and providing synergistic benefits to merchant partners,"" he said.
According to the company, revenue growth was led by grocery, consumer electronics, and fashion and lifestyle segments, while margin growth was a result of improving efficiencies.
Segmentwise Performance (YoY):
The grocery business grew 59%.
Fashion and lifestyle reported 15% growth.
Consumer electronics, excluding devices, rose 14%.
Digital and new commerce contributed 18% of revenue.",Not_Explicit
"""They sacrificed protecting our freedoms, but Democrat Joe Manchin turned his back on West Virginia's veterans. Manchin may talk like a Republican ... but he votes like a liberal,"" the ad targeting Manchin said.
""Joining Washington extremists to deny wounded veterans their Second Amendment rights, limiting constitutional freedoms, pushing more government control, selling out West Virginia veterans. Tell Joe Manchin: Stand with our wounded warriors. Hands off our Second Amendment rights,"" the ad continued.
The ad targeted against Brown was nearly identical, but the one targeting Tester accused the Montana Democrat of being changed by Washington.
""Washington changes people — just look at Jon Tester. Tester promised to stand up for Montana veterans ... but instead, he sold them out,"" the ad against Tester said.
All three ads go after the senators for voting against a measure to overturn the Biden administration's rule on pistol braces. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule requires firearms equipped with stabilizing braces to be registered with the government or be subject to fines and possibly jail time.
The rule was decried by Republicans, who said it infringed on the Second Amendment gun rights of disabled citizens who use pistol braces. In the House of Representatives, Republicans voted to overturn the rule, but in the Senate, the measure failed in a 49-50 vote on party lines. Brown, Manchin, and Tester all voted against the measure.
The three Democrats targeted with this series of advertisements all are incumbents in generally Republican states, making them some of the most vulnerable seats for the Democratic Party in the 2024 elections. The Democrats now hold a 51-49 majority, with three of the 51 being independents who caucus with the Democratic Party.
Brown and Tester have both said they are running for reelection in 2024, while Manchin has said he will not make a decision until the end of the year. Manchin has also not ruled out running for president, potentially on a third-party ticket. The West Virginia Democrat has said if he gets ""in a race, I’m gonna win.""",Not_Explicit
"Nifty Ends Near 20,000, Sensex At Another Record Led By RIL, ICICI Bank, ITC: Market Wrap
The Sensex closed 475 points, or 0.71%, higher at 67,571.90, while the Nifty 50 gained 146 points, or 0.74%, to end at 19,979.15.
India's benchmark stock indices advanced for the sixth day to end at a fresh record close on Thursday. The Nifty 50 closed 21 points away from the 20,000 mark, while the Sensex closed above the 67,500 level.
Intraday, the Sensex rose 0.78% to a new high of 67,619.17, and the Nifty 50 advanced 0.80% to a fresh record high of 19,991.85. While pharma and fast-moving consumer goods were the top gainers, the information technology and consumer durables sectors were under pressure.
Futures on the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up almost all of its 1.4% advance. Japan's and South Korea's equities also fell.
The S&P BSE Sensex closed 475 points, or 0.71%, higher at 67,571.90, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 146 points, or 0.74%, to end at 19,979.15.
Bharti Airtel Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., ITC Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd. positively contributed to changes in the Nifty 50.
HCL Technologies Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. weighed on the index.
The broader market indices ended marginally higher, with the S&P BSE MidCap rising 0.05% and the S&P BSE SmallCap gaining 0.19% at the close of trading on Thursday.
Twelve out of the 19 sectors compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, while seven sectors declined. S&P BSE Fast-Moving Consumer Goods rose the most.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of the buyers. About 1,751 stocks rose, 1,628 declined, and 133 remained unchanged on the BSE.",Not_Explicit
"Police have used water cannon and arrested protesters outside Israel's parliament ahead of a key vote on reforms which have caused uproar.
The vote brings to a head months of turmoil with some of the biggest demonstrations in Israel's history.
About 150 major firms, including banks, are striking on Monday in protest.
The reforms aim to curb the powers of the courts, which the government says have grown too wide. Opponents say the reforms imperil Israel as a democracy.
On Monday morning protesters blocking a boulevard outside the Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem were sprayed with water cannon and pulled off the road by police amid a cacophony of noise from drums, whistles and air horns.
One protester was hurt, local media say, and six were arrested, police said.
A demonstrator lying in the street told the BBC he was was defying ""dictatorship"", adding that his grandfather had been a wartime codebreaker against the Nazis at the UK's famous Bletchley Park.
Asked how long he would stay put he said: ""We will never surrender"".
The protesters - tens of thousands of whom marched some 45 miles (70km) from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem at the end of last week - are trying to thwart the passage into law of the first bill of a package of reforms, due to be voted on later on Monday.
The so-called ""reasonableness"" bill would remove the power of the Supreme Court to overturn government decisions which it deems to have gone too far.
The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he will be in parliament for the vote after he underwent unscheduled surgery on Saturday to be fitted with a pacemaker. He was discharged from hospital on Monday morning.
The controversial reforms have polarised Israel, triggering one of the most serious domestic crises in the country's history.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets weekly since the start of the year in protest at what they say is an attack on democracy. The government says the reforms serve to strengthen democracy, arguing the Supreme Court has accrued too much power over politics in recent decades.
Deepening the crisis, thousands of reservists, including pilots in the air force crucial to Israel's offensive and defensive capabilities, have vowed not to volunteer for service. Such unprecedented dissent has caused alarm over the potential impact on Israel's military readiness.
Former heads of Israel's security services, chief justices, and prominent legal and business figures have also been vocal against the government's reforms.
The measures have also been criticised by the US President Joe Biden, who in his most explicit comments yet called for the ""divisive"" bill to be postponed.",Not_Explicit
"“Jean was Robert’s truest love. He loved her the most. He was devoted to her.”
That quote, from Robert Oppenheimer’s close friend Robert Serber, opens a chapter in the biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. He’s talking about Jean Tatlock, a medical student and eventual psychiatrist who was romantically involved with Oppenheimer for years. Their relationship, a key part of Oppenheimer’s personal and also political life, is also a major element of Oppenheimer—which even at three-hours long still doesn’t have quite enough time to get into everything that’s fascinating about Jean Tatlock.
Played by Florence Pugh in the film, Tatlock is described in American Prometheus as “a shapely woman with thick, dark curly hair, hazel-blue eyes, with heavy black lashes and naturally red lips; some thought she looked ‘like an old Irish princess.’” She did first meet Oppenheimer at a party, as depicted in the film, but he was also friendly with her father, John S.P. Tatlock, a Chaucer scholar who was impressed, as so many other people were, with Oppenheimer’s literary knowledge.
Jean too was highly educated, having spent time with a community of Jungian psychoanalysts in Switzerland even before she enrolled at Vassar to study English. One of her Vassar classmates remembered her as “the most promising girl I ever knew, the only one of all that I saw around me in college that even then seemed touched with greatness.” By the time she met Oppenheimer, she was enrolled at Stanford Medical School; she was also a dues-paying member of the Communist Party, and a writer and reporter for the Western Worker newspaper.
As depicted in the film, Jean could be a bit of a skeptic—she called organized religion “claptrap”—but she was a devoted Communist, telling a friend at one point, “I just wouldn’t want to go on living if I didn’t believe that in Russia everything is better.” When she and Oppenheimer began their relationship in 1936, she introduced him to many of her friends in the Party and “opened the door,” in the words of the biography, for his involvement in political causes like the Spanish Civil War and the plight of migrant workers. “I liked the new sense of companionship, and at the time felt that I was coming to be part of the life of my time and country,” Oppenheimer later explained. When he once told Jean he would have to settle for remaining on the outside of some of these causes, Jean retorted, “Oh, for God’s sake, don’t settle for anything.”
Their relationship was intellectual but also “intense” and mercurial, in keeping with what some speculated was Jean’s manic depression. “He’d be depressed some days because he was having trouble with Jean,” Serber remembered, per American Prometheus. She did indeed tell him to stop bringing her flowers, and rejected multiple proposals from him. There’s no evidence in the biography that she made him read the Bhagavad Gita aloud during sex, as happens very memorably in the film, but it’s possible to imagine it happening. She got him into the poetry of John Donne, which later inspired him to name the first nuclear bomb test “Trinity,” and he had been reading Sanskrit since the early 1930s.
Oppenheimer met his wife, Kitty, during a party in August of 1939, and his relationship with Jean had fallen apart by the end of this year. So the breakup scene between them in the film is very plausible. But as we see in the movie, their relationship did not end there. They continued to see each other about twice a year between their breakup and 1943; as Oppenheimer later explained, “we had been very much involved with one another, and there was still a very deep feeling when we saw each other.” Their reunion in June of 1943, during his return trip to Berkeley from Los Alamos, happens as depicted in the film, and was documented extensively by military agents who shared their findings with the FBI. The agents weren’t in the room to see the two naked, of course, but reported that “the relationship of Oppenheimer and Tatlock appears to be very affectionate and intimate.”
Oppenheimer was under “near-total surveillance” during his time at Los Alamos, with the government never letting go of their suspicions about his Communist ties. After this visit with Tatlock, that surveillance extended to her too. On September 1, 1943, J. Edgar Hoover himself wrote a memo recommending that her phone be wiretapped because she had become “the paramour of an individual possessed of vital secret information regarding this nation’s war effort.” Unlike Oppenheimer, she had not given up her Communist ties at this point. But after months of wiretaps the FBI had learned “nothing to confirm their suspicions that the young psychiatrist was Oppenheimer’s (or anyone’s) conduit for passing information to the Soviets,” as biographers Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin write.
Given her brilliance and connections to some of the brightest minds of her era, Jean Tatlock could well have become someone we know as much about as Oppenheimer. Instead, her life ended suddenly on January 4, 1944. As depicted in the film, Tatlock was found lying on a pile of pillows with her head submerged in the bathtub. Her father, Professor John Tatlock, found her, and in an indelible image described in the book, lay her body on the sofa while he went through a stack of her letters and photographs, then burned them in the fireplace.
Tatlock’s death was ruled a “suicide, motive unknown.” She had ingested a number of drugs and left a note that read, in part, “I think I would have been a liability all my life—at least I could take away the burden of a paralyzed soul from a fighting world.” In American Prometheus, the authors speculate she may have been struggling with her sexuality at the time, telling a friend before her death that in order to overcome her attraction to women, she had “slept with every ‘bull’ she could find.” When told the news, as seen in the film, Oppenheimer took “one of his long, lonely walks high into the pines surrounding Los Alamos.”
In the film we see Tatlock’s death in snippets many times, seemingly from Oppenheimer’s imagination. Sometimes she slowly, methodically lowers her head in the bathtub; a few other times we see a black-gloved hand pressing her down as she struggles. That’s a nod to the lingering uncertainty some have about whether Tatlock’s death really was a suicide. One of the drugs in her system, chloral hydrate, is the active ingredient in a “Mickey Finn,” exactly what you would administer to someone if you wanted to knock them out cold. As one doctor says in American Prometheus, “If you were clever and wanted to kill someone, this is the way to do it.”
One potential prime suspect is Boris Pash, the Army intelligence officer played by Casey Affleck in the film, who interrogates Oppenheimer about his Communist ties and also directed the wiretapping at Tatlock’s apartment. In 1975, a Senate hearing on CIA assassination plots determined that Pash’s CIA unit, where he worked from 1949 through 1952, had been assigned “responsibility for assassinations and kidnappings.” None other than E. Howard Hunt Jr., a former CIA officer who went on to play a key role in the Watergate scandal, said in 1975 that he was told Pash’s unit was responsible for “the assassination of suspected double agents and similar low-ranking officials.”
Pash denied any responsibility for assassinations during those hearings; he died in 1995. And in Tatlock’s case specifically, the facts don’t quite line up. By January 1944 he had been reassigned to London, far from Jean’s apartment in San Francisco.
Questions about Jean were a key component of Oppenheimer’s security clearance hearing in 1954, as Nolan vividly captures in Florence Pugh’s last scene in Oppenheimer. She was not the only woman with whom Oppenheimer had an affair—Ruth Tolman, the wife of his good friend Richard Tolman, also appears briefly in the film—but his relationship with Jean was clearly foundational. And because history played out the way it did, we now primarily know about her only because of her connection to him.",Not_Explicit
"What to expect in Lionel Messi's Miami debut? It's a bit of a mystery
Already the talk was all about Messi, the ridiculously talented wunderkind starting to shine at Barcelona. The scuttlebutt was that he could be a legend in the making, maybe even someone to match Diego Maradona, perhaps capable of one day also winning a World Cup for the South American nation. Spoiler alert: it would take 17 more years, but it did happen.
At Budapest's Ferenc Puskas Stadium, Messi trotted onto the pitch in the 63rd minute of an international friendly game against Hungary, replacing Lisandro Lopez. His jersey was too big, his hair fell to his shoulders, but he was ready for action. As play restarted, Messi found some space in midfield, collected the ball, and headed for goal.
Less than two minutes later, he was leaving the field, sent off before his senior Argentina debut could even get properly underway.
Hungarian defender Vilmos Vanczak admitted later he'd heard of Messi's precociousness and had no desire to be made a fool of. So, as the teenager sprinted forward with the ball, Vanczak tugged aggressively at Messi's shirt. That caused Messi to yank backward and his arm swung forcefully to the rear, connecting with Vanczak just below the Hungary player's chin.
Referee Markus Merk was nearby and adjudged there to have been malicious intent. To say it was a poor decision is being kind to the official. But there it was, a red card, leaving a disbelieving Messi to trudge disconsolately to the sideline while his teammates remonstrated with the official.
Soon after, according to reports, he was found in tears in the locker room. ""It was not like I dreamed it would be,"" he told reporters. What a way to begin his international career. Let's just say that things would get a little better from there.
Messi hasn't made many debuts. In fact, if, as expected, he takes the field for Inter Miami against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup on Friday, it will be only the third club he has represented at senior level. Naturally, he has played for only one senior national team, the land of his birth, which now regards him as its favorite son, perhaps ever.
He moved to Barcelona's youth academy at age 13 and stayed more than two decades, before switching to French power Paris St. Germain for two seasons.
The small collection of opening acts he's had each say a little something about him, and have added to the Messi legend in different ways.
In his early years, the pressure of playing for his country was sometimes a little much for Messi. The red card against Hungary was harsh, but was still prompted by an unnecessarily rash reaction.
""I wanted it so badly,"" Messi would later say. ""Maybe too badly.""
Barcelona meanwhile, for all the associated pressure of the Spain's La Liga and the club's huge following, gave him a little more freedom. His first Barcelona senior outing in a competitive game made had come in October 2004, a Catalan derby against Espanyol.
He played for just seven minutes and his input was restricted to mere flashes of skill, but the simple fact of how his debut came about was significant.
First-team players had already urged head coach Frank Rijkaard to promote Messi to the senior ranks based off his performances in training. Brazil icon Ronaldinho, firmly established as a legendary figure and arguably still the world's best player, befriended Messi, anointed him as his successor, said the sky was the limit for the youngster, and urged management to give him as much playing time as possible.
Before long, Messi was not only an incumbent starter, but the creative heartbeat of the team, a position he would never relinquish until he left all those years later.
""You could see it in him,"" Ronaldinho told Brazil's Globo television channel, years later. ""More than that, you could feel it.""
By the time Messi next made a move, his legend was cemented. In the summer of 2021, Barca and he parted company with the club mired in a financial crisis and limited in its capacity to offer new contracts.
Messi headed to France to play for Paris St. Germain and team up with Kylian Mbappe. Much like as he shows up in Miami, there was nothing left for him to prove as a player, and thus his impact was watched and scrutinized in different ways.
Upon arriving in America he has been touted as the player to push Major League Soccer to a new level of international importance and to further increase the game's growth in this country.
When he touched down in France, there were similar vibes. For all of France's might as an international team, Ligue 1 still lags behind the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A on the spectrum of global importance.
Yet Messi's first game for PSG was watched 2.2 million viewers in Spain, compared to the 591,000 viewers who saw Barcelona play Getafe the same night. In other words, just the kind of impact PSG, and Ligue 1, was looking for.
Messi's performance was just a glimpse – PSG already led Reims by the final score 2-0 when he came on after 66th minutes, both thanks to Mbappe. Mbappe gave up the chance of a hat-trick to try to set up Messi for a debut goal toward the end, but the pair got in each other's way. His most dangerous interjections came when delivering slicing passes and by the end even the Reims fans stood to applaud him.
Messi didn't always have an easy relationship with PSG, the perception being that there were times when he wasn't fully invested. Yet he still left having had a positive influence on French soccer, as highlighted by his dramatic entrance.
So then, what to expect on Friday? It seems likely that Messi will be restricted to a cameo from the substitutes' bench, given that he has had limited training and competition of late. What can be guaranteed is a sellout crowd, a lot of cameras, worldwide interest and a special night in the history of MLS. Beckham was quoted in Argentina media as saying Messi might not play, though a far more positive tone has been struck in other media appearances.
""This is holy water,"" Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas shouted, when the rain poured down at Messi's unveiling. That might have been overdoing the hyperbole, but the point was clear, this is as big a splash as could possibly be made.
All debuts are notable in one way or another, but this is a different realm. Lionel Messi, object of the world's attention, all eyes are on you.
-
How Lionel Messi's Miami arrival mirrors the Beckham Experiment
Luis Suarez reportedly wants to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami
Cristiano Ronaldo on Lionel Messi joining MLS: 'Saudi League is better'
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Lionel Messi to Inter Miami: Contract details, debut date, full schedule
Lionel Messi takes pictures with fans while shopping at Miami supermarket
Wayne Rooney: Lionel Messi 'won't find it easy' in MLS
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Inter Miami owner confirms Jordi Alba will sign, reunite with Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi takes field with Inter Miami teammates for first time since signing
Lionel Messi unveiled in Miami after lengthy weather delay
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How Lionel Messi's Miami arrival mirrors the Beckham Experiment
Luis Suarez reportedly wants to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami
Cristiano Ronaldo on Lionel Messi joining MLS: 'Saudi League is better'
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Lionel Messi to Inter Miami: Contract details, debut date, full schedule
Lionel Messi takes pictures with fans while shopping at Miami supermarket
Wayne Rooney: Lionel Messi 'won't find it easy' in MLS
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Inter Miami owner confirms Jordi Alba will sign, reunite with Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi takes field with Inter Miami teammates for first time since signing
Lionel Messi unveiled in Miami after lengthy weather delay",Not_Explicit
"3 years ago today, China launched the Mission Tianwen-1, or “Heavenly Questions” to Mars, becoming the second nation to have a presence there. It was the first time a nation-state had ever launched an orbiter, lander, and rover all in the same mission, and the Chinese space program became the first in the world to have all three of these machines successfully deploy on Mars on the first try, as well as the first to get them all right at the same time. READ more about the Chinese Martian program… (2020)
The Chinese are a society that is intensely focused on the stars: the organization of the heavenly branches and stems guide their calendars, auspicious and inauspicious signs, and even their language.
The Chinese government sees space exploration as both symbol and substance, believing as NASA does that investments into space science and exploration can come good by developing advanced and useful technology for Earthbound life.
By late 2021, the rover Zhurong, named after a mythical fire god, had already accomplished its primary mission goal and continued to explore the Utopia Planitia plain, providing substantive evidence to support the hypothesis that this part of Mars was an ocean.
Zhurong gathered data on the Martian weather, registering 37 mph winds that blew close to true south from the northern summer solstice, shifting to southeastwards until the northern fall equinox.
MORE Good News on this Day:
- The ice cream cone was invented by Charles E. Menches on the occasion of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri (1904)
- The first successful liver transplant was performed by Dr. Thomas Starzl at the University of Colorado on 19-month-old Julie Rodriguez, a cancer patient who lived for 400 days with her new liver (1967)
- Democracy returned to Greece as military factions, which forced him out, invited the former prime minister Constantine Karamanlis to return and huge crowds gathered to greet him ar the Athens airport as jubilation arose in the streets (1974)
- More than 25 countries joined together to end commercial whaling following more than a decade of public pressure, with major whaling forces like the US becoming strong proponents of the anti-whaling convention (1982)
On this day, 131 years ago, Emperor Haile Selassie was born. One of the seminal figures in Ethiopian history, he was a member of the Menelik dynasty that traced its ancestry to the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. As emperor of Ethiopia, he introduced the first written constitution, abolished slavery, presided over the formation of the Organization of African Unity, the precursor of the African Union, and served as its first chairman.
He is believed to have been the reincarnation of Christ on earth in the eyes of the Rastafarian movement, and he is referred to as “Jah” or “Jah Rastafari.” When he eventually traveled to Jamaica to address the growing religious movement, his plane landed on a runway of covered people and couldn’t leave the airplane.
The leader of the Rastafarians was invited up to “negotiate the Emperor’s disembarking” which was eventually done, marking the day as “Grounation Day,” the second holiest day on the Rasta calendar.
Rita Marley, Bob Marley’s wife, supposedly saw the marks on his hands from where his previous form had been nailed to the crucifix by the Romans, hence Bob’s transition to Rastafarianism and the growth of its notoriety thereafter. Marley’s song Iron Lion Zion is about Haile Selassie. (1892)
Happy 52nd Birthday to the amazing musician and singer Alison Krauss, who has won more Grammys than almost anyone.
A teenage prodigy in Decatur, Illinois, she was attracted to bluegrass music and was winning contests at age 10—and at 16 showed off her extraordinary fiddle playing on a debut album with a major label. Her soundtrack performance for O Brother, Where Art Thou? was credited with helping renew Americans’ interest in bluegrass music. As of 2019, she had won 27 Grammy Awards from 42 nominations, ranking her fourth behind Beyoncé, Quincy Jones, and classical conductor Georg Solti for most wins overall.
Her collaboration with Robert Plant, Raising Sand, was certified platinum and won five Grammys, including Album and Record of the Year. She’s sold more than 12 million records to date and will be inducted in 2021 to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
Krauss has teamed up with many country musicians, but also across genres with stars like Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, The Chieftains, James Taylor, Yo-Yo Ma, Cyndi Lauper, Heart, and Phish. Check out her fiddle skills in Man of Constant Sorrow on YouTube, playing with her longtime band, Union Station—and WATCH her perform the ballad, When You Say Nothing At All... (1971)
Happy Birthday to Harry Potter—the actor Daniel Radcliffe—who turns 34 years old today.
At age 11, he was cast as Potter in the debut film Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone—and he learned the life-changing news while in the bathtub chatting with his mum in London. While starring in all 8 films of the series for 10 years, until 2011, he became one of the highest-paid actors in the world, and earned critical acclaim in his role as the young wizard.
Later, he portrayed Allen Ginsberg, the famed beat poet, in the 2013 independent film Kill Your Darlings, and won praise in the Broadway musical revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He recently co-starred with Steve Buscemi (who plays God) in a TBS comedy series Miracle Workers about working in heaven as a low-level angel responsible for handling all of humanity’s prayers.
And, on this day in 1983, an Air Canada 767 jet ran out of fuel at 41,000 feet elevation but, thanks to the pilot’s experience in flying gliders, it made a miraculous deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba, with no injuries to the 61 passengers or the festival goers attending a drag-racing event at the closed air force base where Captain Bob Pearson, 47, had planned to land. The plane was dubbed ‘The Gimli Glider’.
This TV show segment from The National produced five years ago on the 30th anniversary didn’t include some of the juicier details about the pilots’ calculations and the landing, which you can read on Wikipedia. They encountered good fortune when the nose landing-gear did not stay open and they were able to use a guardrail that had been installed down the center of the old runway to produce added friction for stopping the plane’s momentum.
WATCH the dramatic video from CBC News…
Also on this day 23 years ago, Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win a complete Grand Slam. At age 24, he held all four modern major championships simultaneously — the U.S. Open, The British Open Championship, the PGA Championship, and the Masters. He won the British Open that year at St. Andrews, with the best score ever recorded—19 under par.
His father Earl, a former Vietnam War lieutenant colonel and a formidable amateur golfer, first lost to his son in a golf match when Tiger was 11 years years old. Even with his dad trying his best, he lost to the boy every time after that.
After personal problems and a divorce he dropped to 58th in the rankings, but in 2013 he climbed back to #1. An injury followed, but with back surgery Woods recovered and just won his first major in 11 years at the 2019 Masters. (2000)
SHARE the Milestones, Memories, and Music…",Not_Explicit
"Michael Gove has rejected proposals by Marks & Spencer to bulldoze and rebuild its flagship Marble Arch store on Oxford Street.
The Housing Secretary on Thursday blocked Marks & Spencer from demolishing its landmark store, objecting on the ground that the project could harm the character of the area.
Stuart Machin, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, immediately hit out at the decision which he described as “pathetic” and “anti-business”.
M&S had planned to demolish the Art Deco building and replace it with a new 10-storey retail and office block with only two and half floors used for retail space.
The retailer vowed to vacate the building if its plans were blocked, warning that the ongoing decline of the shopping district would “accelerate dramatically” if it left.
The retailer argued the change was needed to help meet net zero targets and adapt to the rise of online shopping, which has led to a fall in visits to its in-person stores. It has claimed that demolishing the building, which was built in 1929, was the only way to bring it up to modern energy standards.
Mr Machin said on Thursday: “We have been clear from the outset that there is no other viable scheme – so, after almost a century at Marble Arch, M&S is now left with no choice but to review its future position on Oxford Street on the whim of one man. It is utterly pathetic.”
The project had secured approval from Westminster City Council and the Greater London Authority for its plans, but Mr Gove seized control of the planning application amid concerns about its environmental impact.
The Secretary of State called in the plans because demolishing the 90-year-old building would release 40,000 tonnes of so-called embodied carbon.
M&S claimed that 90pc of materials from the existing site would be reused in the construction of the new building, mitigating the impact of embodied carbon. The new building would also be far more energy efficient, saving on fuel needs.
During a public inquiry, which took place last year, M&S argued that refurbishing the site would be “unsustainable” and “undeliverable”.
The retailer said: “The current site is made up of three separate buildings with poor-quality structures and asbestos challenges, which although completely safe, make it impossible to develop without rebuilding.
“The existing store is a confusing warren of dense structures and misaligned floors, which is not the environment in which the modern customer wants to shop, and the “backstage” area where our colleagues work is of a poor standard and impossible to modernise.”
On Thursday, Mr Machin warned Oxford Street risked becoming the “victim of politics”.
He added “At a time when vacancy rates on what should be the nation’s premier shopping street are 13pc higher than the average UK high street and Westminster Council is pleading for help in managing the growing proliferation of sweet shop racketeers, the Secretary of State has inexplicably taken an anti-business approach, choking off growth and denying Oxford Street thousands of new quality jobs, a better public realm and what would be a modern, sustainable, flag-bearing M&S store.”
Other retailers in the area including Selfridges and Ikea, which will be taking the former Topshop site by Oxford Circus, had supported Marks & Spencer’s plans.
Selfridges said the redevelopment would play a vital role in “maintaining Oxford Street as the UK’s national shop window”.
Mr Gove’s decision was originally supposed to be revealed in April but was delayed until July 20.",Not_Explicit
"Prince George will turn 10 on Saturday, a milestone birthday that is special for every child.
Prince William and Princess Kate are understood to have planned a party for family and many of the prince’s friends at their Windsor home, but in keeping with all “big” birthdays, the celebrations will be “special but not showy,” according to one family friend. Football, one of George’s greatest passions, is likely to feature prominently during the gathering.
There will be official pictures to mark the occasion, a royal tradition William and Kate have made their own with the princess often taking charming and candid photographs of her children on their birthdays.
One person who will be watching the occasion closely is childrenswear designer Rachel Riley, as she has been dressing the prince since he was a baby. Her pieces are also popular with Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, and together, the children have been spotted wearing her brand on 23 occasions. Riley, who works closely with the Princess of Wales’s dresser, Natasha Archer, to ensure Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are all immaculately dressed, has had a pivotal role in all three of the Wales children growing up.
For Riley, who started making clothes for her own children so that they could be comfortably and smartly attired, watching George, Charlotte, and Louis grow up wearing her clothes has been a privilege and an honor. It’s possible that George, who has worn Rachel Riley outfits on many occasions, will be wearing something from Rachel’s collection to celebrate his 10th birthday, however, she never knows what the children will wear until the occasion itself.
“Seeing pictures of the royal children is uplifting and joyous and I think it makes everyone feel happy,” Riley exclusively told Vanity Fair. “There’s a lot of hardship in the world and these children seem to bring a smile to people around the world.”
In recent years, the Prince and Princess of Wales have been more relaxed about allowing their children to be in the public arena. Prince George and Princess Charlotte have attended various important occasions from the memorial service for their great-grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh to the queen’s state funeral in September last year. In May, all three children attended King Charles’s coronation where Prince George had a key role as page of honour.
“It has been a very important year for Prince George,” Riley observed. “Turning 10 is always a big deal as a child, as it’s turning double digits, and it puts you on the path to becoming a teenager and moving towards ‘big school’ with all the responsibilities that comes with growing older and becoming more mature. I am sure they will have a lovely celebration with family and friends for this momentous occasion.”
Last September, the Waleses swapped their imposing apartment at Kensington Palace for the more humble four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage in Home Park, Windsor, where they are said to be loving their new, quieter lifestyle. William and Kate take turns doing the school run and the family operates without any live-in help, although they still employ their long-term nanny, Spanish-born Maria Borrallo who has been with them since George was a baby.
While Borrallo often chooses clothes from Spanish clothing outlets, Rachel Riley has been Kate’s go-to designer of choice. “I feel so proud being able to dress them,” Riley said. “It’s remarkable that a dress I designed for my daughter who is now 30 is one that Charlotte has worn at least four times. Classic style never goes out of fashion. We bring in new prints and fabrics, but the timeless styles are relevant today as much as they were years ago.”
Having dressed royal children for decades (Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, was the first British royal to champion the brand and dressed her daughter Lady Louise in Rachel Riley couture), Riley says that the real fascination into royal dressing began with Prince George.
“It all started with Prince George—everyone wanted to see what a modern-day prince looked like. The princess has chosen our clothes for a number of very important occasions. George wore our embroidered dungarees for his first ever play date in New Zealand and they sold out in hours. He also wore our heritage piped shirt and shorts when he presented his baby sister to the world, and again for the queen’s 90th-birthday commemorative stamps. He also wore the shirt again for when he made Christmas puddings with the queen for another important photo call. I think it’s great the royals re-wear and recycle and hand the clothes down because they are made to last.”
Riley says she is enjoying watching the Wales children enter the spotlight. “It’s so lovely to see Prince George growing up into a handsome older boy now. As he is the eldest (and, of course, heir to the throne) he looks responsible and as though he is looking out for his younger siblings.”
Royal watchers may have noticed George’s style evolving over the years. Traditionally he has been dressed in the brand’s heritage shorts and smart piped white shirts, however, his clothes are more casual now that he is getting older.
“I loved seeing the images from the Father’s Day photographs where both Prince William and Prince George were both wearing blue shirts and casual trousers. They all looked so happy in those photos. Prince George looked so comfortable and at ease in his check shirt and blue jeans. It seems as though he has the freedom to enjoy himself as a child and have fun with his siblings. He was equally at ease when he visited the Chelsea Flower Show in 2019 when Prince George and Princess Charlotte were barefoot with their feet in the stream. I loved that casual look and the appreciation of nature.”
Comfort is of utmost importance to Princess Kate, who oversees the children’s wardrobes with Archer, as is being color-coordinated. “I think the Princess of Wales is very involved. She has a fashion background, so it’s important to her what her children wear. Every mum wants the best for their children, and for them to look great and feel comfortable.”
On recent occasions, including last Sunday’s Wimbledon final, George has upped the fashion stakes and worn a blazer like his father Prince William. “It’s been wonderful to see Prince George wearing suits and more formal wear for certain occasions, and he always looks good. He’s like a mini Prince William and we have seen that with Charlotte too—when she wore McQueen just like her mother for the coronation. I think Princess Charlotte is one to watch, she’s about to go into her tween years, so it’s going to be interesting to see how her style evolves. Interestingly, she wears more blue than pink. That’s quite a trend in France and America. She goes for the blue color palette—then she can match back to her brothers and her parents.”
When it comes to what Prince George will wear on his birthday, it’s a case of wait and see. Having scored more than a hat trick when it comes to dressing the royals, Riley will be hoping to make it 24 times lucky.",Not_Explicit
"Grounded SpiceJet Q400 Aircraft's Engine Catches Fire At Delhi Airport
An engine of a grounded SpiceJet Q400 plane caught fire at the Delhi airport on Tuesday evening, and the aircraft and maintenance personnel are safe, according to officials.
An engine of a grounded SpiceJet Q400 plane caught fire at the Delhi airport on Tuesday evening, and the aircraft and maintenance personnel are safe, according to officials.
A SpiceJet spokesperson said a fire warning was observed in an engine of the Q400 aircraft that was under maintenance, and the fire extinguisher was discharged.
The spokesperson also added that as a precaution, the fire brigade was called and that the aircraft and maintenance personnel are safe.
An official at the airport said that around 8 pm, the fire was reported in one of the engines of the grounded aircraft, and later the fire was extinguished.
""On July 25, SpiceJet Q400 aircraft under maintenance, while carrying out engine ground run at idle power at bay, the AME observed fire warning on #1 engine,"" the airline spokesperson said in a statement.
Q400 is a turbo-prop aircraft.
As per the airline's website, it has Q400s that can accommodate 78 passengers and 90 passengers.
Earlier in the day, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it has taken off SpiceJet from its enhanced surveillance regime.",Not_Explicit
"Air India Invites Applications For Cabin Crew Jobs; Check Dates & How To Apply
Air India is hiring cabin crew! Walk-in interviews will be held in Mumbai and New Delhi.
Indian airline Air India on Saturday invited applications for job opportunities for vacancies related to cabin crew. The walk-in interviews for the female cabin crew will be held in Mumbai and New Delhi.
Cabin crew walk-in interviews
Candidates are expected to wear wlestern formals on the day of the interview. They are also expected to carry their update resume on the day of interview. Experienced candidates are requested to kindly carry a copy of their SEP cards. Here is the schedule for walk-in interviews of Cabin Crew (Female) in Delhi and Mumbai.
Mumbai
Date: July 28, 2023
Time: 9.30 am to 12.30 pm
Venue: Hotel Parle International, B.N Agarwal Commercial Complex, Opposite Vile Parle Railway station, Vile Parle East, Mumbai - 400057
New Delhi
Date: July 25, 2023 and July 31, 2023
Time: 9.30 am to 12.30 pm
Venue: Essex Farms, 4 Aurobindo Marg, Opposite to IIT flyover crossing, Next to Haus Khas Metro Station, New Delhi- 110016
A life-changing airline job is just an interview away. Dreamers, attend walk-in interviews of Cabin Crew (Female) in Delhi and Mumbai.— Air India (@airindia) July 22, 2023
For more details visit our career page at https://t.co/OaSh5L6Db3#CabinCrewHiring #AirIndiaRecruitment pic.twitter.com/6ZPCQDpL5R
Eligibility Criteria
Indian National holding a current Indian passport, PAN card and Aadhar card.
Between the age of 18-27 years for freshers and till 35 for experienced crew.
Minimum Educational Qualification: Must have completed class 12 from a recognised board /university with minimum 50% marks.
Minimum height required: Female-155 cm
Weight: In proportion to height.
BMI Range: Female candidates - 18 to 22.
Well-groomed with no visible tattoos in uniform.
Fluent in English and Hindi.
Vision 6/6.
Skills and attributes
Represent Air India in a professional manner.
Warm, caring and empathetic.
Maintain up to date knowledge of current safety and security requirements.
Maintain knowledge of service procedures and company policies.
Comply with all DGCA regulations and ability to maintain all required licenses up to date.
Remain medically fit, following rest regulations to comply with flying duties.
Key Responsibilities
Safety and security-related duties.
Check safety equipment for availability and functionality.
Conduct safety demonstration for guests prior to take-off.
Ensuring compliance to all safety procedures throughout the flight.
Managing emergency situations such as performing first aid and emergency evacuations Inflight service duties.
Pre-boarding tasks such as checks on the availability of required food and beverage as well as inflight amenity items.
Boarding of guests, welcoming and directing them to seats, aiding with storage of carry-on luggage.
Conducting Inflight sales and service.
Ensuring that aircraft cabins and toilets are clean and replenished during flights.
Making announcements and responding to guest queries during the flight.
Ensure orderly disembarkation of guests after landing.
Administrative duties
Attending mandatory pre-flight briefings.
Preparation of reports on flight incidents, including safety, service and security incidents.
Other vacancies in Air India
Air India also has various vacancies in multiple locations for positions such as Pilots, Flight Operations, Ground Services and security, Sales and Marketing, Digital and Technology. Interested candidates can apply at https://careers.airindia.com/",Not_Explicit
"Water Level in Mumbai Lakes Crosses 55%; Check Latest Data Shared By BMC
The water stock in the seven lakes that supply drinking water to Mumbai is now at 55.18%. Check details here.
The water stock in the seven lakes that supply drinking water to Mumbai is now at 55.18%, the BMC said on Tuesday.
The seven reservoirs that supply water to Mumbai city are Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tulsi, Tansa, Vihar, Bhatsa, and Middle Vaitarna.
According to the data shared by the civic body on Twitter, the water level in Modak Sagar is 82.94%. Tulsi Lake started overflowing on July 20.
The water level in Tansa is at 94.27%, while the % of useful water in Upper Vaitarna and Middle Vaitarna is at 27.62% and 63.98% respectively.
Water Levels In Mumbai Lakes On July 25
ð° मà¥à¤à¤¬à¤à¤²à¤¾ पाणà¥à¤ªà¥à¤°à¤µà¤ ा à¤à¤°à¤£à¤¾à¤±à¥à¤¯à¤¾ ॠà¤à¤²à¤¾à¤¶à¤¯à¤¾à¤à¤à¤¾ à¤à¤ सà¤à¤¾à¤³à¥ ६ वाà¤à¥à¤ªà¤°à¥à¤¯à¤à¤¤à¤à¤¾ ठहवाल— माà¤à¥ Mumbai, à¤à¤ªà¤²à¥ BMC (@mybmc) July 25, 2023
ð° Report of water stock in the seven lakes, supplying water to Mumbai, till 6am today.#MumbaiRains #MyBMCUpdates pic.twitter.com/m2sZpInBvd
Meanwhile, as per the weather predictions - Mumbai city and the suburban areas are likely to receive to heavy rains on July 25.
Mumbai and neighboring areas have been put on Orange alert on July 25.
ðï¸à¥¨à¥«à¤à¥à¤²à¥ २०२३— माà¤à¥ Mumbai, à¤à¤ªà¤²à¥ BMC (@mybmc) July 25, 2023
âï¸â मà¥à¤à¤¬à¤ शहर à¤à¤£à¤¿ à¤à¤ªà¤¨à¤à¤°à¤¾à¤¤ मधà¥à¤¯à¤® तॠà¤à¥à¤°à¤¦à¤¾à¤° पावसाà¤à¥ शà¤à¥à¤¯à¤¤à¤¾ à¤à¤¹à¥.
ðà¤à¤°à¤¤à¥ -
ðसायà¤à¤à¤¾à¤³à¥ - ०४:३२ वाà¤à¤¤à¤¾ - ०३.à¥à¥¦ मà¥à¤à¤°
à¤à¤¹à¥à¤à¥ -
ð रातà¥à¤°à¥ - १०:५१ वाà¤à¤¤à¤¾ - ०१.४८ मà¥à¤à¤°
ðà¤à¤°à¤¤à¥ -
ð(à¤à¤¦à¥à¤¯à¤¾ - २५.०à¥.२०२३) पहाà¤à¥ - ०५:२५ वाà¤à¤¤à¤¾ - ०३.३१ मà¥à¤à¤°
à¤à¤¹à¥à¤à¥ -
âï¸(à¤à¤¦à¥à¤¯à¤¾ - २५.०à¥.२०२३)â¦
The average rainfall in Mumbai Metropolitan from 8 am on July 24 to 8 am on July 25 is as follows:
Mumbai City received an average rainfall of 30.81 mm
Eastern Suburbs of Mumbai received an average rainfall of 55.78 mm.
Western Suburbs of Mumbai received an average rainfall of 55.20 mm.",Not_Explicit
"Andor’s second season already found itself embroiled in the early days of the WGA strike, when series showrunner Tony Gilroy faced criticism due to alleged misunderstandings that he was continuing to work on the series in spite of the WGA strike’s demands of union members. Now, as Hollywood finds itself facing another, Andor is once again in the spotlight.
Deadline reports that production on the second season of the show, currently filming in England, has been paused “just weeks away” from a wrap on principal photography—but only for members of its cast that are members of the U.S. unions currently striking. Deadline further notes that the series will continue to shoot as much material as it can with local actors involved in the production, although just how feasible that is for what remains to be filmed remains to be seen. The UK’s equivalent to SAG-AFTRA, Equity, operates under different contracts, and members of the UK union have been warned that they can be sued for breach of contract should they strike in solidarity with their SAG-member crewmates.
Gilroy has, for his own part, used Andor’s recent press highlights in the wake of a raft of Emmy nominations for the critically acclaimed series to advocate for a swift end to both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and a fair deal for writers and actors alike.
“You have this massive community of creative people in all departments everywhere. They’ve spent their lives, and some of them are second and third generation, some of them are just brand new; whatever it is, they’ve all come there, and they’re all part of this thing,” Gilroy recently told Collider. “Sadly, we’re in the place right now where the unions are the people that are trying to preserve this industry, this amazing American industry that grew up this incredible system that we have.”
“And who’s trying to protect it? It’s left to the unions to try to protect this industry,” Gilroy concluded. “That sense of community, I think, is the thing that will drive a successful conclusion to all this labor trouble.”
Andor season 2 was anticipated to release some time in the summer of 2024, with Gilroy previously stating at Star Wars Celebration earlier this year that there was approximately a year of post-production planned after the conclusion of principal photography. With this stall, whether that timeframe remains accurate remains to be seen—but it’s just another example of an industry being force to reckon with the impact of the strikes in any way other than negotiating with the unions.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.",Not_Explicit
"Swiss drug policy is shifting. Some pharmacies and social clubs in major cities are making cannabis available for recreational purposes under scientific pilot projects. There is even talk of extending such trials to cocaine.
That is welcome news for those who use cannabis for fun or to self-medicate. ""As a conscious consumer, I want to be able to decide what kind of cannabis to use,” says E.S, a 40-year-old woman who has been using the substance since her teens, primarily to numb menstrual pain or to relax after a day of work. “Like a wine enthusiast, I want to discover the many varieties without depending on the black market.”
She is among 1,091 people in Switzerland who have signed up to participated in in the scientific pilot SCRIPT.External link The programme will make cannabis available for sale in pharmacies in the Swiss capital Bern, along with the cities of Lucerne and Biel/Bienne. The goal is to evaluate what impact a regulated, not-for-profit sale of cannabis coupled with advisory services may have on cannabis consumption. It is one of several pilot trials planned across Switzerland.
It took over ten years for the SCRIPT project to take off due to political and legal wrangling. The green light came in 2021, when the Federal Act on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances was amended by a regulation permitting their use in scientific studiesExternal link.
Reducing health and social risks
Professor Reto Auer, a doctor and researcher at the University of Bern, is coordinating the project team. This is, he explains, a randomised controlled trial (RCT), namely research in which the results of two comparable groups are contrasted. “The control group consists of people who will continue to obtain cannabis by buying it on the black market,” he explains.
The other group, meanwhile, will be able to buy the substance in pharmacies. Cannabis will be offered in the form of dried flowers (“grass”), resin (“hashish”), liquid for e-cigarettes or oil – all produced in Switzerland in accordance with organic farming regulations. E.S, who didn’t want to give her full name, is particularly concerned about the quality of the substance.
“It has become increasingly difficult to find ‘outdoor’ weed, that is, from plants grown in the open air,” she says. “Due to a prohibitionist policy, which I consider pointless, you must take what you find. These are often substances that are of poor quality, were grown intensively and are too strong.”
The main goal of SCRIPT is harm reduction, Auer stresses. “Cannabis users smoke it mixed with tobacco. And this, beyond the effects of the substance on the brain and psyche, represents the greatest danger to their health,” he says. The study includes a strong counselling component. In the pharmacies, the participants will receive information and advice on alternative ways of taking cannabis.
The trial, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, is expected to collect a large amount of data thanks to laboratory tests and questionnaires completed by the participants. “We want to get information on the social aspects of consumption – because, ultimately, the question of what place drugs should have in society is one of ethics rather than science,” Auer says.
Innovative Swiss cities
In the space of a few months, similar projects have been launched in several Swiss cities. In the northwestern city of Basel, distribution began in January and will continue until mid-2025. In financial hub Zurich, the “Zuri Can – Cannabis with Responsibility” project starts in August. This trial will compare three supply points: pharmacies, social clubs and drug counselling services. In Geneva, a pilot project run by the association ChanGEExternal link will test the model of “cannabinotheque”, a venue providing regulated cannabis access to members for personal use.
The French-speaking city of Lausanne also has its pilot trial, Cann-LExternal link. The aim is to assess the “feasibility and impact of the sale of cannabis on a non-profit basis.” The foundation Addiction Switzerland is a partner in the project. Its deputy director, Frank Zobel, calls for a pragmatic approach on the issue.
“Regulation of cannabis is coming – there is a real wave in many countries around the world,” he says. “Some places, like California and Colorado, have chosen a commercial model. We believe, however, that this model, which is the one used for tobacco and alcohol, could prove dangerous. We think that a scheme where no one makes a profit is more appropriate, where those running it can decide what products to offer and train the sales staff properly. We’ve opted for ideas that put the protection of public health at the centre.”
The global wave and the Swiss case
The list of countries that have decided to regulate cannabis consumption is steadily growing. Uruguay was the pioneer greenlighting cannabis for recreational purposes, followed by Canada and 23 American states. In 2022, Thailand, whose drug legislation has always been among the strictest on the planet, removed it from its banned narcotics list.
In Europe, the first country to decriminalise its consumption was Portugal, although in recent years Malta has stood out. Like Spain, it has adopted the “Cannabis Social Club” model of meeting places for members only. Each club must also grow its own marijuana, according to the requirements laid down by the Maltese government. Assessment procedures and pilot projects are also underway in many other European countries, such as LuxembourExternal linkgExternal link and the Czech Republic. Germany recently went so far as to legalise the possession of up to 25 grammes per personExternal link.
Under Swiss law today, only hemp with less than 1% tetrahydrocanabinol (THC) – the main psychoactive constituent – may be sold or purchased. But anyone found in possession of less than 10 grammes of hashish or weed is only liable to a CHF100 ($112) fine. A legislative vacuum in the early 2000s led to an explosion of hemp production, including extensive plantations, in several cantons, and dedicated shops selling hemp seedlings and cannabis sachets ready for consumption even sprung up in some Swiss cities.
A lot has changed since then, including at the judicial level. In 2019, the Federal External linkCourt passed a landmark ruling that people with drug dependencies can be considered ill and can therefore access disability insurance benefits. The Swiss people last voted on cannabis in 2008, when an initiative to decriminalise consumption was rejected with 63% of the votes.
Public opinion has also shifted. In a survey by the Federal Office of Public Health in 2021, two-thirds of the respondents were in favour of legalisation, albeit accompanied by preventive measures.
Now up to the politicians
Over the years, dozens of parliamentary motions have been submitted on the issue. Today, the question is going through a crucial stage with the deliberations of the “hemp regulation” sub-committeeExternal link. This group of members of the House of Representatives is working to turn into law the initiative ”On regulating the cannabis market to better protect young people and consumersExternal link”, which was tabled by parliamentarian Heinz Siegenthaler of the Centre party and approved by both houses.
In 2021 the Swiss government itself concluded, in its Perspectives on dug policy up to 2030External link, that “the social and health costs of substance use are highest with strict prohibition”. So the executive is also reflecting on the need to regulate the issue. With these stances, the Swiss Federal Council and parliament are once more falling into line with a global trend of legalisation.
Controlled distribution of cocaine
In early June, Bern’s city parliament went even further. It overwhelmingly approving a motion from the Alternative Left partyExternal link calling on the city to conduct a scientific pilot trial of controlled cocaine sales.
According to the party, current policy leads to a clampdown on “small fry” – that is, the people who use it and those who sell it to them – while large-scale traffickers get off scot-free. Bern’s vote is intended to send a signal to the government and to other cities to consider the idea.
Zobel, of Addiction Switzerland, is also concerned about the need to manage the cocaine market. Swiss cities are among those on the continent where consumption is highestExternal link. “A lot of it circulates throughout Europe. The costs are low, the purity is high: it’s a thriving market. And there are people who consume a lot of it.”
The idea of regulating cocaine, as suggested by the Bern city parliament, merits consideration in his view. “Our position is that it is an excellent question, to which we do not yet have an answer,” says Zobel. “There definitely is a problem and something has to be done. We must think it through carefully, as we did with the heroin question many years ago.”
Translated from Italian by Julia Bassam/ds
In compliance with the JTI standards",Not_Explicit
"Russian exiled leader: Post-Putin era may be ‘months’ away
- Quick Read
- Deep Read ( 4 Min. )
| WASHINGTON
Ilya Ponomarev’s life changed forever in March 2014, when he became the sole member of the 446-member Duma – Russia’s lower house of parliament – to vote “no” on the annexation of Crimea.
Russia’s takeover of the strategically significant peninsula, we now know, was just the opening act for President Vladimir Putin’s eventual invasion of Ukraine.
Why We Wrote This
Now living in exile in Kyiv, Ilya Ponomarev expressed gratitude for U.S. weapons and other aid to Ukraine. But he told reporters at a Monitor coffee that “regime change” is a cause for Russians alone.
Today, Mr. Ponomarev is fighting for Ukrainian independence in exile. In the opening days of the war, he fought at the front. He’s also a founder of something called the Congress of People’s Deputies – a kind of Russian parliament-in-exile composed of opposition leaders and former Duma members.
The point is to prepare for a post-Putin Russia, Mr. Ponomarev told reporters Wednesday over coffee at the Monitor’s Washington bureau.
He understands the sensitivities around any discussion in Washington about “regime change” in Russia. But he suggests the United States needs to be less reactive in its approach to the war. The weapons supplies to Ukraine are “fantastic,” he says. But “what’s the endgame? This is something that we want to encourage people to think about.”
The post-Putin era, he adds, may come sooner than many people think. “We are not years away. We are months away,” he asserts.
Ilya Ponomarev’s life changed forever in March 2014, when he became the sole member of the 446-member Duma – Russia’s lower house of parliament – to vote “no” on the annexation of Crimea.
Russia’s takeover of the strategically significant peninsula from Ukraine, we now know, was just the opening act in President Vladimir Putin’s eventual full-blown invasion of Ukraine.
Today, Mr. Ponomarev, now in his late 40s and a Ukrainian citizen living in exile in Kyiv, is still fighting for Ukrainian independence. In the opening days of the war, he fought at the front, and he says he’s “still under active contract with the Ukrainian military.” He started an online TV channel operating from Kyiv that aims to counter Russian propaganda.
Why We Wrote This
Now living in exile in Kyiv, Ilya Ponomarev expressed gratitude for U.S. weapons and other aid to Ukraine. But he told reporters at a Monitor coffee that “regime change” is a cause for Russians alone.
Mr. Ponomarev was also a key founder of something called the Congress of People’s Deputies – a kind of Russian parliament-in-exile composed of opposition leaders and other former Duma members. The 93-member body held its first meeting last November outside Warsaw.
The point is to prepare for a post-Putin Russia, and reform the federal government into a decentralized parliamentary democracy, Mr. Ponomarev told reporters Wednesday over coffee at the Monitor’s Washington bureau.
First question: Why is he in Washington?
“We’re trying right now, firstly, to establish a formal relationship between the congress and the different parliaments of the world. So we’re talking to members of Congress about this,” Mr. Ponomarev says, though when pressed, he won’t name names.
“It’s moving slowly, but still moving. And also, what we want very much to encourage people in Washington to do is to start a discussion about the postwar future of Europe, Russia, in general, how the war would end,” he says.
Mr. Ponomarev, who says he’s “no novice in this city,” is aware of the deep sensitivities around any discussion in Washington about “regime change” in Russia. People here are “extremely reluctant” to discuss this, he says, describing the Biden administration as “extremely cautious.”
In fact, he adds, “I don’t want any other countries to be involved in the regime change. I want this to be the cause for Russians to do.”
Still, he suggests the United States needs to be a bit less reactive in its approach to the war. The weapons supplies to Ukraine are “fantastic,” he says, expressing deep gratitude. “But at the same time, what’s the endgame? This is something that we want to encourage people to think about.”
Mr. Ponomarev, a onetime tech entrepreneur from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, also asserts that the post-Putin era may come sooner than many people think.
“Being inside Ukraine, I see a lot of signs that it’s a feasible option this year,” he says.
To the assembled reporters, this seems rather optimistic, given that Ukraine’s monthlong counteroffensive has only made incremental gains. Mr. Ponomarev acknowledges that his assertion might seem self-serving.
“Obviously there’s a certain political part of that statement,” he says. “We need to inspire people. We need to say that yes, it will happen tomorrow. But really, we are not years away. We are months away. Maybe it would be the end of this year, maybe it would be the beginning of next year, but I’m absolutely convinced that it would not be like 2025 or later.”
Mr. Ponomarev points to “Ukrainians entering Crimea” – which he clarifies to mean retaking control – as the sign that Mr. Putin is finished. “I will say [there’s] like 80% certainty in my mind that Ukraine would enter Crimea this year. And 80% certainty that if Ukraine is in Crimea, that political changes from Russia will start.”
“Crimea is what this war started from, it has sacred meaning,” Mr. Ponomarev says.
Following are more excerpts from our discussion, lightly edited for clarity:
The recent mutiny by Russian paramilitary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin gave the world a very different view of Mr. Putin. He’s no longer seen as the leader in iron-clad control. What does this tell us?
Putin is fundamentally changing his strategy of how he wants to be seen in the West. In the past, he wanted to be seen as the great macho guy, the alpha male. ... But right now, I think he wants to be seen as weak. He wants to be seen as a vulnerable person because he perfectly realizes that the main fear in [Washington] is that if he falls, it would be chaos – civil war, nuclear arms, Russia collapses.
He’s playing on this distinction between Ukraine not losing or Ukraine winning. ... And a significant part of the American establishment wants something like [the war] to be just settled down, we’ll return to business as usual, because the downside of Russia being defeated could be more dangerous than Putin winning in Ukraine.
You were critical of Ukraine’s 2014 revolution because you said it was dominated by nationalist and neoliberal forces. Part of Mr. Putin’s justification for this war is that Ukrainians are dangerous right-wing nationalists, and many Ukrainians are very sensitive about this characterization. How significant is this nationalist presence in Ukraine today, and how big a threat do you consider it to be?
I was never critical of the revolution. To me, I was stating the obvious, that it was dominated by right-wing forces, nationalist forces. ... [Today] at the front, those people are the core of the resistance. They are the most devoted patriots, and there is a major shift in the position of the society towards this pretty radical nationalist position. Emotionally, it’s fully understandable. Do I think it would be sustainable, [that] there would be some radical nationalist coming to power? No, I don’t think so. In 2014 parliamentary elections, pretty much all the radical nationalist movements failed. In general, it’s the lack of the left that is the problem.
Why do you believe Ukraine will retake Crimea? The counteroffensive is going very slowly.
We will make this offensive successful because just simply the Ukrainian army is way better organized. ... It has the spirit, and the Russian army just simply doesn’t know what it’s fighting for. Just be patient; everything will happen.
You are meeting with parliamentarians around the world as you seek to build support for a democratic parliamentary government in Russia. Are you meeting with members of Congress [in Washington]?
Congress, that is [who] is meeting with us without hiding. The executive office right now is very shy of announcing this. We are planning most likely in the fall a large event on the Hill, but let them speak first.
Are you heading back to Kyiv next?
Firstly, I go to Japan. They have a lot of interest. What our congress is doing generates a lot of interest there.",Not_Explicit
"PARIS -- Neighborhoods in northeast Paris have struggled for years with the scourge of crack cocaine and its use in public. The Summer Olympics, kicking off a year from Wednesday, are offering an impetus to tackle the problem.
Yet despite a surge in arrests and new promises of tougher security around the 2024 Paris Games, some residents question whether the newfound focus is just pushing users elsewhere instead of treating medical and mental health problems, a lack of housing and jobs and other deeper ills at the root of the crack crisis.
Residents in the 18th and 19th arrondissements, or districts, of the French capital have long complained about the open-air crack use in their neighborhoods that stands in sharp contrast to the postcard-perfect tourist areas of Paris farther south.
Small groups of people could be seen using illicit drugs on Sunday at the Porte de la Chapelle metro station and tram stop, located across the street from a new multi-purpose arena that is slated to host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics during the 2024 Olympics. Similar scenes play out along local quays and public parks.
Police cleared out a large encampment of drug users last year at Forceval Square, just outside a huge park that hosts the Paris Philharmonic and other cultural spaces. Since then, police have made an all-out effort to prevent more from gathering, deploying up to 600 officers a day in the northeastern part of the city alone.
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez promised after taking his job in 2022 to eradicate crack from the streets before the Olympics. On Thursday, declared the efforts a success.
Police have arrested 255 people for selling crack cocaine in Paris so far this year, Nuñez said, compared to 285 in all of 2022. Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said an average of two people a day were brought to justice on charges related both to the consumption and selling of crack this year.
While local residents welcome the attention to the problem, some say the number of users hasn't necessarily diminished, but instead been dispersed.
“If the chief of police congratulates himself today, it is because there have been no new camps,” said Frédéric Francelle, the spokesperson of Collectif19, an association of 19th-arrondissement residents calling for an end to drug use in the streets. “But there are still places where consumption is done in the open.”
Francelle said that while the city’s current focus appears to be security, drug users need medical and social help.
“We doubt that they’re really trying to treat them by the time the Olympics start,” Francelle said. “They’ll just pressure them to go somewhere else. They will try to move them to the provinces or the suburbs.”
Last month, a treatment center across the street from the new Olympic arena was moved a few blocks away. It is run by two community associations, Gaïa-Paris and Aurore.
Workers at the center say the number of visitors jumped 30% after the Forceval Square site was cleared but has dropped again, to around 150 people per day.
Local authorities have asked the associations to hire more people, open earlier and close later, according to Gaïa-Paris deputy director Victor Deprez.
“The idea is to broaden our capacities,” Deprez said. “In a way, their request is that these people are not visible in the streets during the day.”
Efforts also are underway to increase the number of hospital beds for crack users in the Paris region, up from the 39 at five sites currently to 50 by September, said Amélie Verdier, chief of the Paris region state health agency. She could not provide an estimate of the number of crack users in Paris today, though past estimates ran into several thousand.
Police chief Nunez said the law enforcement presence around the new arena and other places in the city will be increased “by five or 10 times” during the Olympics.
The arena is among only a few venues being built from scratch for the Paris Olympics, all in underprivileged, multi-ethnic neighborhoods to give the areas an economic boost. The facilities will also be used at the Paralympics before being handed over to local clubs and schools.
“The Olympics are an opportunity to ask ourselves questions about the people who remain in the street,” Jamel Lazic, who oversees drug consumption rooms at Gaïa-Paris that are intended the reduce the harm to addicts and prepare them for treatment. “Maybe it will be an opportunity to try to deal with the problem and to open up large-scale facilities that can accommodate these people and have a better strategy. Why not?”
___
Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
___
More AP coverage of the Paris Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games",Not_Explicit
"Patrick Harvie is set to penalise owners of fossil fuel boilers in a shake-up of energy efficiency standards under a “massive transition” to how people heat their homes.
The Greens minister has insisted that millions of homes will need to clean up heating systems “at a pace and scale that is consistent with Scotland’s legal climate targets”.
Scotland has pledged to cut 1990 levels of carbon emissions by 75% in just seven years’ time, while the nation has a legal net zero target of 2045, five years ahead of the UK.
One of the biggest challenges is replacing fossil fuel gas boilers in homes with climate-friendly heating-systems such as heat pumps, with Mr Harvie previously admitting the costs could total £33bn.
From 2025, certain trigger points such as the sale of a home, will mean properties will need to meet EPC band C energy efficiency standards, while new fossil fuel boilers will be banned in new buildings from next April.
Ahead of the shake-up, Mr Harvie is set to reform EPC standards so they are more appropriate for driving the improvements needed to reach net zero.
It is understood that this could include taking account of the type of heating system, raising the possibility of those with an old fossil fuel boilers receiving a lower rating than those who have installed a heat pump.
Currently, EPC ratings take account of how costly it is to heat a home, but the reforms could also include the fabric efficiency and the type of heating.
Statutory advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), wrote to Mr Harvie in February, calling for an overhaul of the EPC system.
The body warned that domestic EPCs should be clearer and focus on four metrics – energy use intensity, fabric, heating system type and cost of heating.
Writing exclusively for the Herald on Sunday, the zero carbon buildings minister said his government wants “all homes to reach new energy efficiency standards by no later than 2033”.
He said: “Improved energy efficiency is essential but nowhere near enough.
“We can’t insulate our way to zero carbon buildings.
“To do that we need to change the way we heat homes.
“To meet our 2030 targets alone, more than one million Scottish homes will need to change to a climate-friendly heating system: a massive transition – as big as the shift from coal to gas last century, but in a shorter timescale.”
The Scottish Government has introduced rules that mean from next April, newly-built homes and other buildings coming forward for a building warrant will need to have a green heating system installed.
Mr Harvie said: “Scotland’s construction industry is building the future we need right now.
“But, of course, the biggest challenge we face is bringing existing properties – 2.5 million homes, 100,000 other buildings – from fossil fuel heating to climate-friendly heating.”
The Greens co-leader said that “for most people”, the transition will mean “either a very energy-efficient heat pump or another modern form of electric heating”.
He added: “For some households, it will mean drawing on a heat network – systems of pipes used to transfer heat from one central source to nearby homes, schools or offices.
“My job is to support that kind of shift at a pace and scale that is consistent with Scotland’s legal climate targets.”
Mr Harvie has stressed that “in every country making this transition, regulation is needed to steer choices about energy use and heating systems”.
He said: “Scotland is no different.
“It’s what our manufacturers and installers need as well, with the prospect of thousands of skilled, secure jobs for decades ahead.”
The minister has insisted that “we are not asking households to make this transition by themselves”, amid concerns over costs.
He said: “The package of support provided by the Scottish Government is already the most generous in the UK.
“We updated the Home Energy Scotland scheme last December and we will be launching a new warmer homes Scotland scheme in the Autumn.
“We have provided specific funds for public buildings, heat networks and social landlords and I am excited by some of the plans I see coming forward.”
Hr Harvie has previously stressed that around £33bn will be needed for Scotland’s buildings to install heating systems that meet net zero targets, the bulk set to come from the private sector.
His Greens co-leader and fellow government minister, Lorna Slater is drawing up an investment plan to lever in “responsible private finance” to plug a £20bn funding gap for nature.
The Herald revealed that former first minister Nicola Sturgeon was lobbying the City of London for investment to reach climate targets.
The Scottish Government is expected to publish the interim report from the green heat finance taskforce, a technical group set up to look at potential ways to fund the transition to net zero.
Mr Harvie has warned “the challenge is daunting but the prize is huge”.
He added: “Not just in making sure that Scotland meets the climate emergency head-on but in securing our energy future; providing the jobs and skills we need and making us all less vulnerable to volatile fossil fuel prices.
“We can’t do it entirely alone and the UK’s Climate Change Committee has highlighted that the UK Government must equally to rise to the challenge.
“But I am confident that Scotland has the ambition and the will to make it happen.”
In his letter to Mr Harvie in February, the outgoing chairman of the CCC, Lord Deben, warned that the present EPC ratings are “not fit for purpose”, adding that they “do not provide the clear information people need to understand the energy efficiency of their homes”.
Lord Deben and the CCC has suggested reformed EPCs to include six ranked categories for the type of heating system.
He said this would provide people “with a clear hierarchy of heating system types, giving clarity on the merits of different heating technologies”.
Scottish Conservative shadow net zero, energy and transport secretary Douglas Lumsden, said: “Patrick Harvie’s plans will be deeply concerning for homeowners reliant on gas boilers.
“The Green minister is typically acting like he knows best by ploughing ahead with these plans. This is hugely naïve considering he has put in a pitiful amount of the funding required to support homeowners to replace gas boilers.
“Penalising them during a cost-of-living crisis is simply unacceptable. While we all want to see a just transition, policies must be fair and measured.
“Patrick Harvie must be fully upfront about what his plans to overhaul these ratings will mean for homeowners in reality.”",Not_Explicit
"DALLAS — As the Taliban swept back into power in Afghanistan, in the summer of 2021, Fahima Sultani and her fellow university students tried for days to get into the Kabul airport, only to be turned away by gun-wielding extremists.
""No education, just go back home,"" she recalled one shouting.
Nearly two years later, Sultani, now 21, is safely in the U.S. and working toward her bachelor's degree in data science at Arizona State University in Tempe on a scholarship. When she's not studying, she likes to hike up nearby Tempe Butte, the kind of outing she enjoyed in her mountainous homeland.
Seeing students like Sultani rush to leave in August 2021 as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan after 20 years, colleges, universities and other groups across the U.S. started piecing together the funding for hundreds of scholarships so they could continue their educations outside of their home country.
Women of Sultani's generation, born around the time the U.S. ousted the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, grew up attending school and watching as women pursued careers. The Taliban's return upended those freedoms.
""Within minutes of the collapse of the government in Kabul, U.S. universities said, 'We'll take one;' 'We'll take three;' 'We'll take a professor;' 'We'll take a student,'"" said Allan Goodman, CEO of the Institute of International Education, a global not-for-profit that helps fund such scholarships.
The fears leading the students to quickly board flights were soon justified as the Taliban ushered in a harsh Islamic rule: Girls cannot attend school beyond the sixth grade and women, once again required to wear burqas, have been banned from universities and are restricted from most employment.
Sultani is one of more than 60 Afghan women who arrived at ASU by December 2021 after fleeing Afghanistan, where she had been studying online through Asian University for Women in Bangladesh during the pandemic.
""These women came out of a crisis, a traumatic experience, boarded a plane not knowing where they were going, ended up in the U.S.,"" said Susan Edgington, executive director and head of operations of ASU's Global Academic Initiatives.
After making their way to universities and colleges across the U.S. over the last two years, many are nearing graduation and planning their futures.
Mashal Aziz, 22, was a few months from graduating from American University of Afghanistan when Kabul fell and she boarded a plane. After leaving, she scoured the internet, researching which schools were offering scholarships and what organizations might be able to help.
""You've already left everything and you are thinking maybe there are barriers for your higher education,"" she said.
Aziz and three other Afghan students arrived at Northeastern University in Boston in January 2022 after first being taken to Qatar and then a military base in New Jersey. She graduated this spring with a bachelor's degree in finance and accounting management and plans to start work on her master's degree in finance this fall at Northeastern.
Just two days after the fall of Kabul, the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma announced it had created two scholarships for Afghans seeking refuge in the U.S. Later, the university created five more scholarships that went to some of the young Afghans who had settled in the area. Five more Afghans have received scholarships to study there this fall.
Danielle Macdonald, an associate anthropology professor at the school, has organized a regular meetup between TU students and college-aged Afghans who have settled in the Tulsa area.
Around two dozen young people attend the events, where they've talked about everything from U.S. slang to how to find a job. Their outings have included visiting a museum and going to a basketball game, Macdonald said.
""It's become a really lovely community,"" she said.
Sultani, like many others who left Afghanistan, often thinks about those who remained behind, including her sister, who had been studying at a university, but now must stay home.
""I can go to universities while millions of girls back in Afghanistan, they do not have this opportunity that I have,"" Sultani said. ""I can dress the way I want and millions of girls now in Afghanistan, they do not have this opportunity.""
Since the initial flurry of scholarships, efforts to assist Afghan students have continued, including the creation of the Qatar Scholarship for Afghans Project, which has helped fund 250 scholarships at dozens of U.S. colleges and universities.
But there are still more young people in need of support to continue their educations in the U.S. or even reach the U.S. from Afghanistan or other countries, explained Jonah Kokodyniak, a senior vice president at the Institute of International Education.
Yasamin Sohrabi, 26, is among those still trying to find a way to the U.S. Sohrabi, who had been studying at American University of Afghanistan, realized as the withdrawal of U.S. forces neared that she might need to go overseas to continue her studies. The day after the Taliban took Kabul, she learned of her admission to Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, but wasn't able to get into the airport to leave Afghanistan.
A year later, she and her younger sister, who has also been accepted at the university, got visas to Pakistan. Now they are trying to find a way to get into the U.S. Their brother, who accompanied them to Pakistan, is applying to the school as well.
Sohrabi said she and her siblings try not to focus on what they have lost, but instead on how to get to WKU, where 20 other Afghans will be studying this fall.
""That's one of the things in these days we think about,"" she said. ""It keeps us going.""",Not_Explicit
"Aston Villa have signed France winger Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen.
Villa have not disclosed the fee or length of contract for the 24-year-old but it has been reported that the deal is worth 60m euros (£51.9m).
Villa's previous club record was £33m for Argentina midfielder Emiliano Buendia from Norwich in June 2021.
""I will always look back happily and gratefully on my time in Leverkusen,"" said Diaby. ""Now I want to take the next step, start a new chapter.""
Diaby joined Leverkusen from Paris St-Germain in 2019 and went on to register 49 goals and 48 assists from 173 games for the German Bundesliga club.
He has 10 caps for France after making his international debut in 2021 and is Villa's third summer signing after Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans from relegated Leicester City and Spain centre-back Pau Torres from Villarreal.
""Here [at Leverkusen], as a very young player, I received so much trust and playing time that I was ultimately able to become who I am today,"" Diaby added.
""It might not have been possible so quickly without Bayer 04 and all the team-mates and employees who have always supported me.""
More to follow.
- Our coverage of Villa is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment
- Everything Villa - go straight to all the best content",Not_Explicit
"Spain vs. Zambia live updates: Women's World Cup 2023 top plays
Spain — a unanimous favorite to make it out of the group — is led by two-time two Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati and Jennifer Hermoso. Putellas will make her first start of the tournament as La Roja aims to build on last week's 3-0 victory over Costa Rica.
On the other side, Zambia is one of the eight debutantes in this year's tournament and is aiming for a bounce-back performance after falling to other group favorite Japan, 5-0, in last week's opener. The Copper Queens are headlined by star forwards Barbra Banda (captain), Grace Chanda and Racheal Kundananji.
Follow our live coverage below!
9': Goal
Spain was first on the board with a goal from Teresa Abilleira.
PREGAME
Setting the stage
The ""World Cup NOW"" crew previewed the match live on Twitter ahead of kickoff.
-
Alexi Lalas' Women's World Cup power rankings: Spain No. 1, USWNT out of top 3
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Carli Lloyd explains 'art of finishing,' where USWNT can improve
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United States vs. Netherlands: Everything to know, how to watch USWNT match 2
Why USWNT believes Rose Lavelle is primed for World Cup encore
2023 Women's World Cup odds: Unders continue to hit — will market Over-correct?
-
New Zealand-Philippines, Switzerland-Norway predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup Daily: Germany, Brazil put on scoring clinics
-
Alexi Lalas' Women's World Cup power rankings: Spain No. 1, USWNT out of top 3
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Carli Lloyd explains 'art of finishing,' where USWNT can improve
-
United States vs. Netherlands: Everything to know, how to watch USWNT match 2
Why USWNT believes Rose Lavelle is primed for World Cup encore
2023 Women's World Cup odds: Unders continue to hit — will market Over-correct?
-
New Zealand-Philippines, Switzerland-Norway predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup Daily: Germany, Brazil put on scoring clinics",Not_Explicit
"What should China do to revive its economy?
There are a couple of aces that the government hasn't yet played.
OK, I know I said that the previous post in my China’s Economy in 2023 series would be the last one, but I just can’t resist writing one more. In the earlier posts I talked mainly about structural long-term issues, but I really should write something about the macroeconomic situation.
Everyone is talking about China’s economic slowdown. China’s headline growth for the second quarter is being reported at 6.3%, which sounds really fast, and which the country’s boosters have been trumpeting as a sign that China Is Back. But economics writers aren’t being fooled; they know this is a year-on-year figure, and represents a comparison with the darkest days of Zero Covid. In fact, China’s quarterly growth rate was 0.8%, which represents a 3.2% annualized rate of growth:
3.2% isn’t that bad; it certainly isn’t a recession. The question is whether or not even that modest number reflects reality. We have plenty of evidence that China smooths its growth numbers over time; when the economy is slowing down, “smoothing” just means “overstating”. And of course China has become a lot more cagey and secretive about its economic statistics in the last couple of years, and its leaders want to avoid the perception of economic weakness, so there’s a high likelihood that the real growth number is significantly worse than 3.2%.
Other numbers generally corroborate that story. China’s youth unemployment has risen from 11% or so before the pandemic to over 20% now, exports and imports are both falling, and the country appears to be heading for deflation if it isn’t there already:
The reason for this downturn — whether or not you want to call it a “recession” — is clear to pretty much everyone. It’s the real estate sector, which has been China’s biggest economic engine since at least 2008, and which has now mostly ground to a halt after a bunch of developers blew up.
Whether this is a bad thing for the rest of the world isn’t yet clear. On one hand, China used to be the largest contributor to global economic growth, and at least until recently was expected to be this in the 2020s as well. On the other hand, a collapse in Chinese demand for imported commodities has helped lower inflation around the world, and the diversion of international investment from China to other countries could give them a boost.
But either way, China’s policymakers will certainly be looking for ways out of this downturn. So far, the main ideas being suggested are basically the tools the U.S. used to fight its own housing-driven crash in 2008: fiscal stimulus and a central government bailout of bad debts.
Stimulus and bailouts
The economist Richard Koo was one of the intellectual heroes of the Great Recession. Having carefully watched Japan’s bubble bust and “lost decade” in the 1990s, he came up with the idea of the “balance sheet recession”. This is the idea that when a recession follows a big borrowing binge, households and/or companies stop borrowing and start trying to “rebuild” their balance sheets. Of course if everyone tries to save money all at once, it means people stop consuming and companies stop investing. That exacerbates the recession.
Koo’s analysis isn’t very different from traditional Keynesian economics, but it assumes a specific type of what Keynes called “animal spirits”. Basically, it’s the idea that when the economy gets weaker, people are more sensitive to debt. Maybe when it’s 2006 and everyone is seeing their house prices go way up, you don’t mind having a bunch of debt because you expect price appreciation to pay it off for you, or maybe you’re just having so much fun you’re not really paying attention to the “liabilities” side of the ledger. But when it’s 2010 and your house is underwater, maybe you go into financially-conservative mode and decide that you had better pinch every penny you can. There are lots of reasons people could behave like this — extrapolative expectations, limited attention, time-varying credit constraints, or various other reasons. But the evidence generally favors the idea that downturns with a bunch of debt are deeper and last longer.
And the basic policy recommendation is the same: to fight a recession, make people and companies feel financially healthy again. This means either bailouts and/or fiscal stimulus — either have the central government explicitly take on the debts of various other actors in the economy, or have it spend a bunch of money that people can use to pay down their own debts.
(Note: This is a little different than standard Keynesianism, which recommends fiscal stimulus as a way to jump-start spending activity via multiplier effects. In Koo’s modified version, stimulus helps even if the multiplier is low; even if people just save their government checks instead of spending them, that will help repair their balance sheets and eventually make them more confident about spending more.)
[T]he private sector themselves cannot change their behavior -- after all, they're doing the right things: trying to repair their balance sheets -- then the government has to come in and borrow and put that money back into the income stream, which means fiscal stimulus is absolutely essential once you're in balance sheet recession.
Now, the basic macroeconomic argument for stimulus looks pretty strong. Rising youth unemployment and deflation both suggest a lack of aggregate demand, which is the typical Keynesian reason for stimulus. Chinese households have boosted their savings rates in recent years, suggesting a Keynesian “paradox of thrift” is going on. And China’s high amount of private-sector debt — substantially higher as a share of GDP than either the U.S. or the Eurozone — suggests that the central government could afford to assume some of this debt.
China certainly has the fiscal “space” to do massive stimulus and/or bailouts. Its central government debt to GDP ratio is only around 80% of GDP — about where Japan’s was at the start of its lost decade, and much lower than where the U.S., Japan, or most of Europe are today:
But a couple points here. First, China is a very low-tax country. Taxes were less than 20% of GDP in 2022, compared to about 33% in Japan and 27% in the U.S. And that number has gone down in recent years:
If China’s central government does stimulus, it will either have to raise taxes or accept a very large, very rapid runup in government debt. Raising taxes could be politically quite difficult, and there’s also eventually some limit to how much debt the central government can take on before economic problems start emerging. So these will hamper China’s attempts to do big sustained stimulus. This probably explains the general skepticism about whether China will take this route.
Next, it’s far from clear that stimulus will make China avoid Japan’s fate. Koo writes:
And so my guess is that Chinese government will put in the fiscal stimulus, which they're actually quite good at, and that will keep the recession from turning into a depression or something. So that's the key difference between the Japanese situation 30 years ago and what the Chinese may be faced with today…
But if you look at the chart above, you can see that starting in 1993, Japan started to run very large and very sustained fiscal deficits. And in fact those deficits are probably one reason why Japan avoided a large increase in unemployment during its “lost decade”. Japan’s stimulus was macroeconomically successful. It just didn’t stop Japan from becoming “Japanified”. So I’m not sure we should expect even a large Chinese stimulus to achieve significantly better results.
Some people argue that because Chinese property prices aren’t actually plummeting — as Japanese commercial real estate prices did in the early 90s — that China can avoid Japan’s fate. And maybe that’s true — if credit constraints are the reason for balance sheet recessions, then maybe having real estate that’s still worth a lot on paper can help avoid the economic harms of a debt hangover.
But I have my doubts. At this point, Chinese people no longer think of real estate as an asset that always goes up in price. Even if prices don’t plummet, the extrapolative expectations are gone; most people know that the only way to avoid selling their houses at a big loss will be not to sell at all. And if you can’t sell an asset for cash, what’s it really worth?
Japan comparisons aside, there’s the question of what China would actually spend stimulus money on. Koo suggests that China’s government spend money on completing the uncompleted houses that have made lots of people so mad:
I would recommend Chinese government to go in there and help those construction companies so that all the promised construction will be actually completed. I think that will be the most effective way to spend fiscal stimulus, fiscal money.
This might be a good idea, but it would be pretty small potatoes. China was estimated in 2022 to have up to 225 million square meters of unfinished homes (though some of that has probably since been completed or scrapped). That sounds like a lot, until you realize that it’s only 15% of Chinese housing construction in 2021, and less than 7% of the total number of unsold homes China already has sitting on the market.
There are also several big problems with the general idea of using stimulus to prop up the real estate industry. This is what China did again and again throughout the late 2000s and 2010s; when Koo says China’s government is “actually quite good at” stimulus, this is what he’s talking about. But those years of real-estate-focused stimulus came with major costs — in particular, a massively bloated real estate sector and slower productivity growth.
So trying to go back to that well once again might cement China in the dread middle-income trap.
Second, China’s ability to use real estate as stimulus was predicated on the expectation that prices would always go up, which created ever-greater demand for the new apartments that were being pumped out. That’s probably gone now; China has reached developed-world levels of floor space per person, and Chinese people have now spent a couple years watching prices drift downward. So the extrapolative expectations that motivated whole families — eight grandparents, two parents, and a young couple — to pool their life’s savings to buy a single urban apartment have probably been destroyed.
In other words, having the central government borrow a large percentage of GDP and hurl it at the housing market will probably not be a very effectual form of stimulus.
The other big suggestion I’ve seen is to have the central government use stimulus money to bail out local governments, which ran up a ton of real-estate-related debt. I don’t see the point of that. China’s local governments have a lot of debt because they don’t do property taxation, so bailing them out will not allow them to start spending more, now that land sales revenues have dried up. Instead, China’s government can (and probably will) take over some of the day-to-day funding of local governments, though this will require raising income taxes or sales taxes or some such.
Instead, what China should do is just have the central government cut a bunch of checks to Chinese households. If they went out and spent the money, good — that would deal with the aggregate demand problem. And if they used the money to pay down their debts, also good — that would help deal with the balance-sheet problem.
I’m not sure whether China’s government feels comfortable dropping money out of a helicopter, but it seems like the best way to give their economy a short-term boost.
But there’s one more big thing I think China can and should do.
Might as well build a world-class health care system
Some people argue against using a short-term macroeconomic crisis as a reason to undertake needed long-term structural reforms. I don’t see the point of that argument. If there are reforms you need to make anyway, and if they involve spending more government money, then a recession seems like a perfect time to do them.
In China’s case, the reform it needs is a world-class health government-funded health care system. China still spends very little of its GDP on health care compared to advanced economies:
Although China nominally has universal health coverage, it’s actually pretty patchwork and subpar:
Since 2016, the two main [Chinese health insurance] programs covering 95% of population are voluntary, residency-based, basic medical insurance; and mandatory employment-based program for urban residents with formal-sector jobs…Although China has universal coverage, it has a very entrepreneurial, unregulated healthcare system which led to some gaps in the system…
The health system is conflicted between stressing quality of care or spreading the scarce medical resources as widely as possible. As evaluated on a per capita basis, China’s health facilities remain unevenly distributed. Only about half of the country’s medical and health personnel work in rural areas, where approximately three-fifths of the population resides. The severest limitation on the availability of health services, however, appears to be an absolute lack of resources, rather than discrimination in access on the basis of the ability of individuals to pay. An extensive system of paramedical care has been fostered as the major medical resource available to most of the rural population, but the care has been of uneven quality.
Basically, China’s health care system isn’t great because they just don’t spend very much. Well, time to spend more. A massive program of government spending on health care would work as fiscal stimulus even as it also fixed one of the most glaring holes in the Chinese economic model.
It would also deal with that pesky youth unemployment problem. Health care is one of the most labor-intensive industries, so in terms of providing jobs for youngsters, it makes a good replacement for the anemic real estate industry.
It’s also something China is just going to have to do anyway. A huge cohort of Chinese people in their 50s is about to enter old age:
Without a world-class health care system, the burden of caring for these old folks when they get sick or disabled is going to fall on young workers. That eldercare burden will draw young healthy people (especially women) away from productive work, and force them to spend their time doing tasks for which they are not specialized. Which will starve Chinese companies of needed labor and reduce potential growth.
Building a world-class health care system could avert this fate. Maybe the Chinese government won’t do this; maybe Xi Jinping thinks that health care is weak and decadent, and that Real Men (TM) work in factories or construction sites. But what America’s New Dealers realized is that if you lower the amount of time that young people have to spend taking care of grandma and grandpa, you free up young people for more productive work. China would be wise to follow that example. And an economic downturn is a perfect chance to do this.
So those are my two suggestions for China to get its flagging economy on its feet: Cut big checks to households, and rapidly build out a top-notch government-funded health care system. Those will both require spending a lot of central government money, and — eventually, not right now — raising taxes to developed-world levels. But the alternative is to experience a protracted downturn as real estate prices go sideways for a decade and economic pessimism becomes entrenched. And spending money on consumption and health care will yield a lot more bang for the buck than hurling it directly into the maw of the real estate mess. Either way, Chinese growth is going to slow down going forward, but I think my two suggestions would make that transition a lot less painful.",Not_Explicit
"|Fifa Women's World Cup 2023|
|Hosts: Australia and New Zealand Dates: 20 July-20 August|
|Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website & app.Full coverage details; latest news|
England goalkeeper Mary Earps says it is ""hurtful"" that fans cannot buy a replica of her goalkeeper shirt.
The 30-year-old was named the world's top goalkeeper at last year's Fifa Best awards following the Lionesses' win in the European Championship that summer.
England's kit for this summer's World Cup is manufactured by Nike.
""Millie [Bright] said 'my niece is desperate to get your shirt, where can I get it?' and I was like, 'you can't',"" Earps said.
""All my team-mates have ordered a lot of shirts for their friends and family.
""They were talking about it at the dinner table, saying 'oh I wasn't able to get this'. And I'm thinking, 'I can't get it at all'.
""There are a lot of people who have spent a tremendous amount of money on outfield shirts and then put a number one and 'Earps' on the back, which doesn't sit well with me either.""
Replicas of Earps' kit with Manchester United, who she plays for in the Women's Super League, sold out last season.
It has been reported that producing new women's goalkeeper kits for the public is not part of Nike's commercial strategy.
The England home and away shirts are available to buy in men's, women's and children's sizes and retail at £79.95 for an adults and £59.95 for kids.
A replica of the men's England goalkeeper shirt is not available on the England Store but is available with other outlets.
Earps says she was not told her kit would not be available to the public and only found out when the outfield kit went on sale.
""For my own family and friends and loved ones not to be able to buy my shirt, I know that sounds like 'oh Mary, what a horrible problem', but on a personal level that is really hard,"" Earps added.
""I have been trying to go through the correct channels as much as possible, which is why I have not spoken on it publicly.
""On a personal level, it is hugely hurtful. There has been an incredible rise in goalkeeping participation.""
Earps started every game as the Lionesses won Euro 2022 and became the first goalkeeper to keep 50 clean sheets in the Women's Super League earlier this year.
She said she had spoken to her team-mates about the issue and that they were also disappointed by the situation.
""I can't really sugar-coat this in any way, so I am not going to try. It is hugely disappointing and very hurtful,"" she added.
BBC Sport has contacted Nike for comment. The Football Association declined to comment.
- Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before - follow your team and sign up for notifications in the BBC Sport app to make sure you never miss a moment",Not_Explicit
"Poland has launched negotiations for the acquisition of S-70i Black Hawk helicopters for its armed forces.
The number of aircraft to be bought is not disclosed. However, Lockheed Martin told media houses last month that the Polish military is looking to buy around 32 units.
The S-70i is an export variant of the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter, produced by Lockheed Martin’s Polish arm PZL Mielec.
“The procurement procedure for multi-role S-70i Black Hawk helicopters for the Aeromobile Forces has begun. An invitation to negotiate was sent today,” the Polish Armaments Agency tweeted last week.
“BlackHawk will be able to cooperate with the currently acquired from WSK PZL Świdnik AW149 and the AH-64E Apache planned to be acquired,” it said.
More Rotorcarft Coming
Warsaw bought 32 Leonardo/ AgustaWestland AW149 multirole helicopters for 1.75 billion euros ($1.83 billion) last year. The aircraft’s first batch is expected to arrive this year.
The NATO member has also requested to purchase 96 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from the US.
The country has already loaned an additional eight Apaches from the US, which will start arriving in 2024.
To arm the aircraft, Warsaw is buying 800 anti-armor AGM-114R2 Hellfire missiles from the US.
“We are supplementing the helicopter fleet with more BlackHawk. The Polish Army will soon have a full range of helicopters – Black Hawk, AW149, AW101, and Apache,” the Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak wrote on Twitter.
“Training of our soldiers on Apache in the US will begin later this year, and the first machines will arrive in Poland next year.”
Uzupełniamy flotę śmigłowców o kolejne #BlackHawk. Już niebawem Wojsko Polskie będzie dysponowało pełną gamą śmigłowców – Black Hawk, AW149, AW101 i Apache. Szkolenia naszych żołnierzy na Apache w USA rozpoczną się jeszcze w tym roku, a pierwsze maszyny trafią do Polski w… https://t.co/cztAPhxJNE
— Mariusz Błaszczak (@mblaszczak) July 21, 2023",Not_Explicit
"The chief executive of NatWest, Dame Alison Rose, is to step down after coming under pressure in the row over Nigel Farage's bank account.
She had been heavily criticised for being the source of an inaccurate BBC report about the leading Brexiteer's account at Coutts, which is part of NatWest Group.
NatWest chairman Howard Davies said she was leaving by mutual consent.
Dame Alison had admitted a ""serious error of judgment"".
In a statement released early on Wednesday morning, NatWest Group chairman Sir Howard Davies said: ""The Board and Alison Rose have agreed, by mutual consent, that she will step down as CEO of the NatWest Group. It is a sad moment.
""She has dedicated all her working life so far to NatWest and will leave many colleagues who respect and admire her.""
In a separate statement, Dame Alison thanked her colleagues ""for all that they [had] done"", saying: ""I remain immensely proud of the progress the bank has made in supporting people, families and business across the UK, and building the foundations for sustainable growth.""
Earlier, she apologised for discussing the closure of Nigel Farage's account at NatWest's private banking arm Coutts with a BBC journalist, saying it was a ""serious error of judgement"".
That apology came after the BBC apologised for its inaccurate report earlier this month which said Mr Farage's account was being closed because he no longer met the wealth threshold for Coutts, citing a source familiar with the matter.
On Tuesday evening Downing Street and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt expressed ""significant concerns"" over her conduct, BBC News was told.
Mr Farage, the former leader of the UK Independence Party, first reported in early July that his account had been closed.
In her first admission that she had been involved, Dame Alison said in conversations with BBC business editor Simon Jack ""she had confirmed that Mr Farage was a Coutts customer and he had been offered a NatWest bank account"". She said she had believed this was public knowledge.
The NatWest boss said she had not revealed any personal financial information about Mr Farage.
""In response to a general question about eligibility criteria required to bank with Coutts and NatWest I said that guidance on both was publicly available on their websites.
""In doing so, I recognise that I left Mr Jack with the impression that the decision to close Mr Farage's accounts was solely a commercial one,"" she said.
She added: ""I was wrong to respond to any question raised by the BBC about this case. I want to extend my sincere apologies to Mr Farage for the personal hurt this has caused him and I have written to him today.""
Mr Farage has said that Coutts did not give him a reason when it decided to close his account.
But Mr Farage had obtained a document outlining his suitability as a Coutts client.
The document had concerns that he was ""xenophobic and racist"", and assessed the reputational risk of having Mr Farage as a customer.
Dame Alison said that Coutts had told her the account closure had been for commercial reasons.
She said when she spoke to the BBC's Simon Jack she had not seen the dossier obtained by Mr Farage.",Not_Explicit
"Switzerland vs. Norway live updates: Women's World Cup 2023 top plays
Right before the start of the match, Norway attacker and reigning Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg was spotted heading back to the team's dressing room. The team doctors confirmed Hegerberg hurt her groin during warm up making her unavailable for the game.
Switzerland is the No. 20 ranked team in the world, according to FIFA, while Norway is ranked No. 12. Norway and Switzerland checked in at 15th and 16th, respectively, in our latest World Cup power rankings.
Switzerland is led by captain Lia Walti, the team's all-time leading scorer and appearance leader Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic and star forward Ramona Bachmann, who already has one goal under her belt for La Nati thus far in the tournament.
Follow our live coverage below!
07': Attacking hard
Switzerland aggressively attacked the goal of Norway to begin the game.
00': Unfortunate start
Just before the match kicked off Norway star Hegerberg was seen heading back into the tunnel. According to the team doctor, Hegerberg hurt her groin during warm up.
PREGAME
Setting the stage
The ""World Cup NOW"" crew previewed the match live on Twitter ahead of kickoff.
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT
Women's World Cup Daily: Netherlands draws level with USA in Group E standings
-
What's with so many PKs, and so many misses, in this Women's World Cup?
Italy-Argentina, Germany-Morocco predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup power rankings: USA stays on top; Germany holds onto top-3 spot
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: USA remains favorite to three-peat
Brazilian players at Women's World Cup urge fans to skip work to watch their matches
World Cup NOW: How Netherlands might give U.S. problems
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT
Women's World Cup Daily: Netherlands draws level with USA in Group E standings
-
What's with so many PKs, and so many misses, in this Women's World Cup?
Italy-Argentina, Germany-Morocco predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup power rankings: USA stays on top; Germany holds onto top-3 spot
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: USA remains favorite to three-peat
Brazilian players at Women's World Cup urge fans to skip work to watch their matches
World Cup NOW: How Netherlands might give U.S. problems",Not_Explicit
"Labour must learn the lessons of its by-election defeat in Uxbridge, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The Labour leader had blamed the loss on London Mayor Sadiq Khan's plans to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) - a tax on polluting vehicles.
Conservative Steve Tuckwell won the seat after campaigning against the tax.
Addressing Labour's national forum, Sir Keir said there was ""something very wrong"" when a Labour policy was on ""each and every Tory leaflet"".
He said that while a by-election win in Selby and Ainsty, in North Yorkshire, should give Labour ""every reason to be confident"", the loss in Uxbridge showed there is ""still a long way to go"".
""That result in Uxbridge demonstrates there is never any reason to be complacent and never a reason to rest on our laurels,"" Sir Keir told the forum in Nottingham.
""We've got to face up to that and to learn the lesson,"" he said.
Labour's Keir Mather, 25, won the contest in North Yorkshire on Thursday, overturning a 20,137 majority to become the youngest sitting MP.
But the Conservatives clung onto ex-PM Boris Johnson's former Uxbridge seat, sparking debates about both parties' green policies.
Sir Keir told the BBC the Ulez plan had cost Labour victory - but Mr Khan has defended the measure as the ""right one"".
Mr Tuckwell, the winning candidate, said the ""damaging and costly Ulez policy"" had lost Labour the seat.
Some on the right of the Conservative party say that pulling back from some green policies would prove popular with voters, at a time when families are feeling cost-of-living pressures.
Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, chairman of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, has suggested delaying the ban on new diesel and petrol cars, pushing it back ""at least"" five years to 2035.
Downing Street sources say there are no plans to change climate targets - but that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will try to set his party apart from Labour in the coming months.
As the major parties digest the by-election results, ex-climate minister Lord Ian Duncan, a Conservative, warned that if Sir Keir and Rishi Sunak do not put politics aside and agree a common approach to climate change, people will face ""serious challenges"".
Lord Duncan, who was the parliamentary under secretary for climate change from July 2019 to February 2020, said a ""bipartisan approach"" was needed from both parties to ""get behind"" common climate policies.
Politicians might win votes in the short-term by distancing themselves from strong climate policies - ""but medium term, I'm not even talking long term anymore, there will be serious challenges and changes to our climate that will affect people in their everyday lives"", he said.
However, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Duncan said the challenge was ensuring climate policy did not penalise people ""beyond their ability to pay"".
Referring to greener technology such as new gas boilers, he said: ""We've got to make sure it's a transition and it works for everybody.""
No one should be left behind or be impoverished by these policies, ""otherwise it will be a problem for democracy"", he said.",Not_Explicit
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GENEVA (AP) — Swiss authorities have temporarily shut the airspace over a small part of southwestern Switzerland because recreational gliders have endangered the work of emergency teams battling a persistent forest fire in the area.
The Federal Office of Civil Aviation said Friday that the restriction in an airspace of up to 8,000 feet (about 2,400 meters), over a wooded mountainside near the town of Bitsch, will last a week.
READ MORE: Analysis: Nearly twice as many wildfires are recorded on July 4 as other days in the West
The measure affects civil aircraft and drones and is aimed “to protect the ongoing activities of response teams on the ground and in the air,” the office said on its website.
Office spokesman Christian Schubert, in an email to The Associated Press, said the closure affects about 40-50 square kilometers (about 15-20 square miles) in an area that is popular with recreational gliders.
The heads of local helicopter crews and firefighting squads requested the closure because of the dangers presented by the gliders to what was already risky work, Schubert said. No incidents or injuries have been reported, and the measure was “exclusively of a preventative nature.”
REDA MORE: Wildfires driven by climate change are on the rise – Spain must do more to prepare, experts say
Scores of firefighters, police, troops and other emergency teams, backed by helicopters, have deployed to battle the wildfire that was first reported on Monday. The move prompted authorities to temporarily evacuate residents of four villages and hamlets in the area.
Franz Mayr, a community leader in Bitsch, said the fire remained “small” — some 107 hectares (about 265 acres) have been affected — and the situation was stable, though strong winds continued.
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"On the eve of the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, Maria Lvova-Belova stood before Vladimir Putin and thanked him for giving her another child to raise.
Russia’s smiley ombudswoman for children’s rights had just briefed the president on how many Ukrainian children had been “saved” since the war started.
Among the estimated 750,000 young people who had “arrived in Russia” was Filipp Golovnya, a 17-year-old boy from Mariupol – now her adopted son.
Filipp has become something of a poster boy for Russia’s programme to “rescue” children of war.
He had – the story goes – been found among the rubble in his coastal city flattened by two months of Russian bombing, and had nowhere to go.
But friends and relatives have now told The Telegraph that the boy was likely taken by Russia against his will, casting doubt on the official account broadcast on Russian television.
Thousands of Ukrainian children are thought to have been forcibly taken into Russia and adopted or fostered in a campaign of “Russification”.
Lvova-Belova, 38, and Putin, 70, are wanted by the International Criminal Court for the “unlawful deportation of children” – a war crime.
State television claims that the Russians saved Filipp, spelled Pylyp Holovnya in Ukrainian, after he was kicked out of his home during the invasion.
He was living with his mother’s ex-husband and new wife, who were appointed guardians following his mother’s death from cancer in 2017.
The foster parents, now living under tightly controlled Russian occupation, have never publicly contested the official Russian story.
But they are unlikely to be able to speak freely, said friends and family of Filipp.
Vitaly Golovnya, a brother of Filipp’s guardian Sergei, rejected the Russian claims about Filipp.
“There is no way they could have just thrown him out,” said Mr Golovnya, who fled into Ukrainian-held territory during the siege of Mariupol.
“We were all in Mariupol together when it was captured,” he said.
“Filipp was simply forcibly taken away like many children.”
Mr Golovnya, who now lives abroad, said he was separated from his brother during the Russian invasion and has not spoken to him since Christmas.
Friends and relatives often avoid direct communication across the front lines, as they fear being associated with the enemy.
Many details about Filipp’s story are almost impossible to verify. It demonstrates prosecutors’ challenges in collecting evidence to bring Putin, Lvova-Belova, and other potential suspects to trial.
The Russian story of Filipp is told through This is My Child, a half-hour documentary broadcast on an ultra-nationalist television channel, complete with dramatic footage of war-ravaged Mariupol and interviews with him and his new foster mother.
He says that Ukrainian troops at some point “entered Mariupol” and threw Molotov cocktails at civilians – claims that run counter to well-established facts about one of the bloodiest chapters of Russia’s war.
The bespectacled teenager fidgets nervously with a ring on his index finger during the interview. He explains how he was sheltering in a basement of his block when the building caught fire.
“I went home,” says Filipp.
“My guardian said: ‘What are you doing here? Go back to where you came from.’ He shut the door. I knocked again. I asked for my documents. He gave them to me and I walked away.”
The documentary then shows archive footage of scorched cars at a bombed-out location in Mariupol.
The Telegraph’s requests for telephone interviews with the boy’s guardians went unanswered.
But a friend of Irina Kalatalova, Mr Golovnya’s wife, also dismissed suggestions that the couple threw the boy out in the middle of a war.
“It’s just impossible,” Olga Tulainova told The Telegraph.
“I’ve known her most of my life. She’s not the person to do something like this.”
Ms Tulainova fled to government-controlled areas in Ukraine and has not kept in touch with Ms Kalatalova, a recurrent pattern between Ukraine’s now divided south and east.
An unnamed teacher of Filipp told Radio Free Europe’s Ukrainian this year she also doubted that Filipp’s guardians abandoned him.
The woman, who asked to be anonymous out of fear for her safety, said the boy was well taken care of in Mariupol and his foster parents were involved in the school.
This is My Child portrays Lvova-Belova, a blonde petite woman with a penchant for floaty dresses, as a saviour.
She is shown to give up her comfortable life in Moscow – where she is filmed entering a black Mercedes saloon in a white fur coat – to rescue children from smouldering Mariupol.
Filipp was taken from Mariupol to Russia-controlled Donetsk and later to a resort outside Moscow last spring, along with an unspecified number of other children.
Both Filipp and Lvova-Belova describe their meeting there as a kind of love at first sight.
“That moment I spoke to him I realised he’s mine: this is my child,” she said, while Filipp called her “the most wonderful person I’ve ever met”.
In the documentary, Lvova-Belova, a mother of 10 children – five biological and five adopted – is interviewed in front of a fireplace, sitting next to her husband Pavel Kogelman, an IT engineer-turned-Orthodox priest.
Over the past 17 months of the war, the Kremlin has tried to use the young and likeable role model as a human face for Russia’s deportation campaign.
Lvova-Belova is from Penza, a city 400 miles east of Moscow. She took over as ombudswoman for children’s rights in 2021 from her old friend and co-worker Anna Kuznetsova – another young mother with multiple children and an Orthodox priest for a husband.
Both were heavily involved in charity work, helping orphans and children with disabilities.
Oleg Sharipkov, a well-respected charity worker in Penza who met them in their 20s, described the pair as “just ordinary girls”.
Other former colleagues described her as a “charming young woman and a good fundraiser” who had a gift for getting people involved in her work.
Both Lvova-Belova and Kuznetsova did not appear to be devout Christians until the mid-2010s, when Putin’s third term in power ushered in an era of conservatism with a focus on “traditional values”.
The women became “a spin doctor’s dream” for the Kremlin, said Mr Sharipkov.
Lvova-Belova’s charity began receiving generous donations from Penza’s regional government and businesses that relied on the government for lucrative contracts.
Mr Sharipkov said that colleagues from other NGOs warned her of the risk of being drawn in too close to the Kremlin.
But Lvova-Belova soon started mingling with the governor and top local officials. She appeared to be competing with Kuznetsova on “who’d have more kids, who’d be more pious”, said Mr Sharipkov.
Mr Sharipkov, whose NGO was declared a “foreign agent” over his apparent refusal to toe the Kremlin line, said he was stunned by the transformation of Lvova-Belova.
“I think she does believe in what she says,” he said.
“She used to be someone who genuinely wanted to help others. Then apparently something clicks in your head – and before you know it you turn into a little monster.”
Exact figures on deportations vary, but Lvova-Belova herself reported in April that more than 730,000 children had “arrived in Russia” since the start of the invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine has identified at least 11,000 children deported to Russia and about 400 children who were put into foster care.
That would include Filipp, who joined Lvova-Belova’s family “all thanks to Putin”, as she told the Russian president himself in February.
Rights activists have condemned Russian officials for placing Ukrainian children into foster care without proper background checks. Russia insists it is saving children from the misery of war.
Ukrainian minors in foster care in Russia are trapped and face brainwashing, said Mykhailo Savva, an expert at the Nobel Prize-winning Centre for Civil Liberties in Kyiv.
“Those kids are the most vulnerable,” she told The Telegraph.
“They are not able to leave on their own. Those kids are at a particular risk – for them, the likelihood that they will lose their identity is very, very high. They are not old enough to have formed a worldview or resist attempts to impose a new one on them.”
The Telegraph contacted Mrs Lvova-Belova but received no response.",Not_Explicit
"Is there anything in science more exciting than when an ancient legend is confirmed by modern research?
Archaeologists in Mexico were able to experience this exact triumph when they found evidence that a mythical underground city lies undisturbed beneath the altar of a church—exactly where a Spanish legend stated it would.
In the time of Babylon, there emerged from Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley a culture known as the Zapotec which could create monumental stone architecture, sophisticated crafts and artwork, as well as a written and spoken language that predated Mayan, Mixtec, and Aztec. They were among Mesoamerica’s first great civilizations, and existed longer than perhaps any other, from 700 BCE to the time of Spanish conquests when they were part of the Aztec Empire.
Legend has it that the Zapotec built a great labyrinthine city called “Lyobaa,” or “place of rest,” centered around a large cavity found in the earth which they believed was the gateway to the underworld.
Later, venturing Spanish missionaries were so repulsed and frightened to explore more than a few yards into the tunnel network that they “ordered [the] infernal gate to be thoroughly closed with masonry,” wrote a Dominican chronicler named Francisco Burgoa.
Now, a collaboration between the Mexican National Institute of History and Anthropology (INAH), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and the Association for Archaeological Research and Exploration called the “ARX Project Lyobaa” has discovered a “vast underground labyrinth” underneath the 15th-century Church of San Pablo, all but confirming the Zapotec legend.
The collaboration began at the archaeological site of the Zapotec city called Mitla, where murals, mosaics, and a monument stone palace are still seen above ground today.
The researchers created a 3D model of Mitla’s subterranean passageways using a combination of three geophysical scanning technologies—ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity tomography, and seismic noise tomography—all of which left the archaeological site above undisturbed.
MORE MESOAMERICAN DISCOVERIES: Ancient Mayan City Hidden for Over 1,000 Years Discovered by LiDAR
The model shows a very large hollow void underneath the precise location of the altar inside the church that was built on the Mitla site. Additionally, the void appears to be connected with another significant geophysical anomaly located immediately to the north of the church.
“Burgoa’s account speaks of a vast subterranean temple consisting of four interconnected chambers, containing the tombs of the high priests and the kings of Teozapotlán,” reads a press release on the truly epic discovery.
“From the last subterranean chamber, a stone door led into a deep cavern extending thirty leagues below ground. This cavern was intersected by other passages like streets, its roof supported by pillars.”
The electrical tomography confirmed the existence of two passageways between 18 and 26 feet below the ground. They enter the void from the east. Their scanning also revealed what could be the barricaded entranceway Burgoa spoke of.
The size and scope of the passageways surprised the researchers, who conclude that more work is needed before we can truly comprehend what has been found.
“Additionally, the study has revealed evidence of an earlier construction stage of the Palace of the Columns, Mitla’s most important and best-preserved ancient monument, as well as several other geophysical anomalies that may be interpreted as tombs or buried archaeological structures,” the press release reads. “These findings will help rewrite the history of the origins of Mitla and its development as an ancient site.”
Further studies of this kind are already scheduled for this September, meaning that the true scope of the mythical Lyobaa could be illuminated before the year is out.
CELEBRATE This Incredible Story Of The Past Coming Alive On Social Media…",Not_Explicit
"Filipina-American Sarina Bolden scores Philippines' first-ever World Cup goal
With its first goal at its first Women's World Cup the unfavored Philippines achieved its first win Tuesday, shocking host New Zealand 1-0 in a Group A match made contentious when a potential equalizer was disallowed.
New Zealand achieved its first World Cup win when it upset favored Norway in the opening match of the tournament five days ago. For the first time in six World Cups, the Football Ferns went into a match as favorite, almost certain with another win to become the first team to reach the round of 16.
But Sarina Bolden scored the Philippines' historic match-winner from its first shot on goal in the 24th minute, flipping the script and silencing a packed stadium of 33,000 mostly newly-minted Kiwi soccer fans.
New Zealand had been ascendant in the first 20 minutes, playing with a confidence which reflected its expectation that this would be its best shot at winning in the group stage. It had 80% of possession, 74 completed passes to 11, five early shots on goal, and it seemed inevitable the goals would come which would carry into the next round for the first time.
New Zealand keeper Vic Esson had nothing to do until the 20th minute when she had to come forward to punch away a threatening free kick. Suddenly there was panic, even disarray in the New Zealand defense.
Four minutes later and from another free kick which caused chaos in the New Zealand goalmouth, the clearance was ineffective and Sara Eggesvik sent the ball back in for Bolden, who leapt high to head the ball home.
Bolden, 27, was born in Santa Clara, CA and attended Loyola Maramount University. She currently plays for the Western Sydney Wanderers in the women's A-League.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"HOOVER, Ala. -- Authorities in Alabama said Monday that a woman has confessed to fabricating a story that she was kidnapped after stopping to check on a toddler she saw walking on the side of the interstate.
Hoover Police Department Chief Nicholas Derzis said Carlee Russell's attorney, Emory Anthony, provided a statement on Monday saying there was no kidnapping.
""There was no kidnapping on Thursday July 13. My client did not see a baby on the side on the road,"" the statement read, according to Derzis, who read it at a news conference. She did not leave the city, and acted alone, the statement added.
“My client apologizes for her actions to this community, the volunteers who were searching for her, to the Hoover Police Department and other agencies as well, as to her friends and family,"" Anthony said in a statement. ""We ask for your prayers for Carlee, as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward, understanding that she made a mistake in this matter. Carlee again asks for your forgiveness and prayers.”
The Hoover Police Department announced the development five days after casting doubt on Russell’s story. Derzis said it is possible that Russell could face charges. He said they are trying to determine where she was in the two days she was gone.
“This was an elaborate deal. When you talk about calling 911,” the chief said.
Russell, 25, disappeared after calling 911 on July 13 to report a toddler wandering beside a stretch of interstate. She returned home two days later and told police she had been abducted and forced into a vehicle.
Her disappearance became a national news story. Images of the missing 25-year-old were shared broadly on social media.
Russell told detectives she was taken by a man who came out of the trees when she stopped to check on the child, put her in a car and an 18-wheel truck, blindfolded her and held her at a home where a woman fed her cheese crackers, authorities said at a news conference last week. At some point, Carlee Russell said she was put in a vehicle again but managed to escape and run through the woods to her neighborhood.
Investigators cast doubt on her story in a news conference last week. They said in the days before her disappearance, she searched for information on her cellphone about Amber Alerts, a movie about a woman’s abduction and a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham, Alabama, to Nashville, Tennessee, departing the day she disappeared. Her phone also showed she traveled about 600 yards while telling a 911 operator she was following a 3- or 4-year-old child in a diaper on the side of the highway.
Hoover is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Birmingham.",Not_Explicit
"British tourists were among more than 2,000 people ferried to safety from beaches after wildfires swept across the Greek island of Rhodes.
The coastguard, army and more than 30 private boats were working to rescue swathes of people from the south-eastern part of the island, with a navy ship also dispatched to join the evacuation effort.
According to the Greek coastguard, people were being picked up from Kiotari and Lardos beaches on the east of the popular Mediterranean island.
The operation had been hampered by fires cutting off some road access, according to George Hadjimarkos, regional governor of the South Aegean, leaving some tourists to travel to safety on foot.
They are being looked after in local gyms and schools, as well as three passenger ferries moored at the port of Rhodes.
Videos showed crowds of tourists walking away from billowing, black smoke as flames burnt through buildings and vegetation behind them, with some pushing prams carrying small children.
Sarah Roberts, 45, from Southampton, said she could see the flames “lapping the hills” as they fled the five-star Mitsis Rodos Village Beach Hotel and Spa on Saturday.
Abandoning their possessions at the hotel, she and her mother, 78 – who has COPD – along with her two children, aged nine and six, and her partner Chris were among the crowds walking to safety.
She told The Telegraph: “People were still trying to take their suitcases along the beach, it was horrendous and stupid to see.
“There was one tourist boat with one guy trying to board women and children but men were barging past and arguing, delaying the effort. It was horrific.
“There was no point waiting for a boat as there were few in sight, all the time we heard sirens and saw the flames and smoke getting worse.”
The family managed to escape when a hotel waiter drove them to a hotel where other tourists were stranded.
Others caught up in the evacuation described a “terrifying situation”.
Paul Karlburgi wrote on Twitter:
Currently stranded in #Rhodes escaping the wildfires on foot - left everything at the hotel and fled with towels across our faces. My youngest just told me he doesn’t want to die. No news from any authorities. Terrifying situation here. @LBCNews
— Paul Kalburgi ✍🏼 (@PaulKalburgi) July 22, 2023
Some of those seeking rescue had been unable to contact their airlines and missed their flights.
British tourists criticised the response from Jet2, which sells flights and package holidays to the destination.
Jon Hayes shared a clip of crowds evacuating the area on Twitter, writing: “Jet2 where are you? No help, contact or guidance. Had to walk 4 mile in the heat across dirt tracks in smoke and ash with a 5 year old. No possessions”.
Meanwhile, Ian Edwards posted a video of his son walking away from the fire. He said: “No help at all from Jet2”.
A Jet2 spokesperson said their “in-resort teams are working tirelessly to comply with the guidance of local authorities” and it has a dedicated team set up in the UK to help customers.
According to local authorities, a total of 30,000 people were taken away from the evacuated areas.
The blaze, which has been burning since Tuesday, has now damaged three hotels in the seaside village of Kiotari, according to the Athens News Agency.
The fire has burnt through swathes of forest since breaking out in a mountainous area. Aided by winds, high temperatures and dry conditions, it spread toward the coast on the island’s central-eastern side.
Already 11 days into its heatwave, Greece’s national weather institute warned reprieve was still days away, setting this up to be the longest hot spell the country has ever seen.
The previous heatwave record in Greece was set in 1987, when scorching temperatures of over 39C (102.2F) lasted 11 days.",Not_Explicit
"Kia India Eyes 10% Sales Growth This Calendar Year
The situation of semiconductor supplies is much better now as compared to last year, says Kia India.
Automaker Kia India expects its sales to grow by 8–10% this year as compared with 2022 on the back of improved chip supplies and introduction of the updated Seltos in the market, according to a senior company official.
The South Korean carmaker, which sells models like Carens, Sonet and Seltos in the Indian market, sold a total of 3.4 lakh units in the domestic and export markets last year.
""So last year our domestic sales were about 2.54 lakh units, while exports stood at around 80,000 units. So we did about 3.34 lakh units overall. So, this year, we are looking at about 8–10% growth,"" Kia India National Head (Sales and Marketing) Hardeep S Brar told PTI in an interaction.
He said the company outpaced the overall passenger-industry growth in the first half of the year and expects to do the same in the second half as well.
""For the first six months, industry has grown at 10%. We have grown at 12%. So like every other year, we have outpaced the industry,"" Brar said.
He expressed hope that the overall industry volumes are expected to stay in the vicinity of 40 lakh units this year.
""The second half is not going to be such a high growth period for the industry,"" Brar said, adding that the high base of last year is going to be a restricting factor.
Last year, the industry volumes were around 18 lakh units in the first six months, it is around 20 lakh units this year in the January–June period, he noted.
Elaborating further, he stated that in the second half, industry volume stood at about 19.5 lakh units.
""So that means from 19.5 lakh units to 20 lakh units would be a very marginal growth. Similarly, for us also, the base is high but for example, if it is at 12% in the first half, we would still like to grow at 8 to 10% so that we can keep that pace of 4–5% higher than the industry,"" Brar said.
The automaker is targeting about 10% growth over the last year and new Seltos will surely help the company to get closer to that, he added.
On semiconductor supplies, he noted that the situation is much better now as compared to last year.
""It's not to the same extent it was last year. We have about 5–10% mismatches so to say but largely it is sorted out. So not so much of a problem now,"" Brar said.
With improved supply, Kia is looking to produce around 3.6–3.7 lakh units this year to cater to both domestic and export demand, he said.
On the company's plans regarding the upcoming festive season, Brar said that besides Seltos introduction, the company is looking to roll out certain new trims of Carens and Sonet.
On exports, he noted that the company is exploring new markets in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
The company currently exports to around 100 countries, with Mexico remaining its number one overseas market in terms of volumes.",Not_Explicit
"Environmental activists and experts are increasingly concerned about the impact that military activity by India, China and Pakistan is having on the unique biodiversity and pristine ecosystems of Ladakh, an Indian-administered region high in the Himalayas.
Simmering tensions between India and China since a deadly border confrontation in 2020 have led to a surge in military deployment, with both sides fortifying their positions to ensure territorial security.
The influx of troops, equipment and infrastructure construction for military purposes has disrupted the fragile Himalayan ecosystem. The unchecked expansion of military bases, roads, helipads and related projects has led to deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and increased air and noise pollution, the experts say.
They point to the rapid degradation of sensitive habitats, such as alpine meadows, wetlands and high-altitude forests, which are home to several endangered species, including the elusive snow leopard, Tibetan antelope and black-necked crane.
“Rare birds such as the black neck crane face disturbances in their habitats due to the heavy military presence on both the Chinese and Indian sides,” said Sonam Wangchuk, an environmentalist and past winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award – sometimes referred to as the Nobel Prize of Asia.
He and other experts explained that the military activities disrupt the natural breeding patterns, feeding habits and migration routes of these vulnerable species, threatening their survival.
The damage caused by military activity is exacerbating degradation already underway from rising global temperatures attributed in large part to the burning of fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide, trapping heat from the sun in Earth’s atmosphere.
Mountain regions like the Himalayas are rapidly changing because of the climate crisis, said Doug Weir, policy director at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, a U.K.-based charity working to develop policies that will reduce the environmental harm caused by conflicts and military activities.
Weir told VOA that military activity is estimated to account for 5.5% of all global carbon dioxide emissions.
“Increased military spending and activity help accelerate the climate crisis and the regional changes that are already readily apparent,” he said. “While India has begun to acknowledge a need to reduce its military emissions, efforts are in their infancy. China's views on military emissions reductions remain unclear.”
Wangchuk argued in an interview that the military buildup in Ladakh is contributing significantly to the warming climate.
“The Indian side alone emits approximately 300,000 tons of CO2 [carbon dioxide] annually, considering the substantial amount of fuel transported and burned for military operations,” he said. “Similarly, the emissions would be slightly higher on the Chinese side and somewhat lower on the Pakistani side, resulting in nearly 1 million tons of CO2 being emitted each year in this triangular junction.
“Pollution doesn’t know borders,” Wangchuk added, urging governments to prioritize the well-being of soldiers and civilians alike, irrespective of their nationalities. He compared the disputes between nations “to squabbling neighbors fighting over a fence while an impending avalanche threatens them both.”
Not only the wildlife is threatened. A recent study indicated that if temperature trends continued, the Himalayan glaciers might disappear entirely, “having a significant impact on regional water supplies, hydrological processes, ecosystem services and transboundary water sharing.”
Ladakh is particularly vulnerable to the threat, Wangchuk said. “Its glaciers play a crucial role in sustaining not only the local population but also communities across northern India and northern Pakistan. Consequently, many villages are teetering on the brink of becoming climate refugees.”
In a media report last year, the village of Kumik witnessed residents abandoning their homes and relocating to other parts of Ladakh because of water scarcity.
On a more positive note, Wangchuk said efforts are underway to collaborate with the Indian army to introduce passive solar-heated shelters, which have proven effective in significantly reducing emissions.
“These innovative zero-emission buildings have been successfully tested during two harsh winters, ensuring soldiers' warmth without relying on conventional fuel sources,” he said, calling for China and Pakistan to adopt similar environmentally friendly practices.",Not_Explicit
"MOSCOW, July 21 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused NATO member Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union, and said any aggression against Russia's neighbour and close ally Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia.
Moscow would react to any aggression against Belarus, which forms a loose ""Union State"" with Russia, ""with all the means at our disposal"", Putin told a meeting of his Security Council in televised remarks.
Warsaw's Security Committee decided on Wednesday to move military units to eastern Poland after members of the Russian Wagner mercenary force arrived in Belarus, the state-run news agency PAP quoted its secretary as saying on Friday.
On Wednesday, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part for now in the war in Ukraine but ordering them to gather strength for Wagner's operations in Africa while they trained the Belarusian army.
Prigozhin says Wagner, which led the conquest of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, is Russia's most effective fighting force. But his frequent clashes with the Moscow defence establishment led him to stage an armed mutiny four weeks ago.
The insurrection ended with an agreement that Wagner fighters - many recruited from prison - could move to Belarus if they wished.
On Thursday, Minsk said Wagner mercenaries had started to train Belarusian special forces at a military range just a few miles from the Polish border.
Russia has in recent weeks begun stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus for the first time. The Kremlin said Putin would meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, with whom he speaks regularly, in Russia on Sunday.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday that Germany and NATO were prepared to support Poland in defending the allaince's eastern flank.
Putin said there were press reports of plans for a Polish-Lithuanian unit to be used for operations in western Ukraine - parts of which in the past belonged to Poland - and ultimately to occupy territory there.
""It is well known that they also dream of the Belarusian lands,"" he said, also without providing any evidence.
""But as far as Belarus is concerned, it is part of the Union State (with Russia); unleashing aggression against Belarus will mean aggression against the Russian Federation,"" Putin said. ""We will respond to this with all the means at our disposal.""
Poland denies any territorial ambitions in Belarus.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"- Ukrainian women are using online profiles to lure in Russian soldiers, The Times reported.
- The soldiers often share crucial information about the war with the women, they told The Times.
- The women, who say they feel no remorse, pass on the information to the Ukrainian military.
Ukrainian women are using dating profiles with AI images to trick Russian soldiers into giving away military secrets, The Times reported on Wednesday.
A woman identified only as Angelina told the publication that since the start of Russia's invasion last year, she has been using online dating apps to target Russian soldiers operating in occupied bored areas in Ukraine.
Angelina said she uses AI-generated profile pictures and a pseudonym to lure in men posting pictures in military uniform online.
The soldiers, she said, constantly reveal information about the state of the Russian army, which she then passes on to the Ukrainian military.
""We're looking for information about the number of troops, information on the amount of military equipment, the success or lack of success of some attacks, their problems with food and equipment,"" she told The Times.
Some of the information she has received includes photos of a military passport and videos of soldiers driving, which she can then use to track their location.
Angelina's colleague, a Ukrainian woman who uses the pseudonym Masha, told the Times that she tries to avoid men who are particularly ""horny"" because they are ""less likely he is to talk about anything else.""
Both women often make fun of the soldiers, who they refer to as ""orcs"" — a name Ukrainians commonly use to describe Russians during the war.
""I chatted with Maxim Korneev for a couple of months, this simple guy with a round face. He makes loads of mistakes in his messages — it's unusual to meet someone who writes like this who is not a child,"" Angelina joked, according to The Times.
""He was responsible for training, he went on trips to train mobilized soldiers in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. He told me that army benefits had actually been cut since the start of the war, rather than increased [as Putin says].""
Another soldier asked Angelina to marry him, screenshots shared with The Times show. The soldier tried to persuade her by saying that she could win his compensation if he deliberately gets wounded in the war.
Angelina, whose brother fought and died in the war last year, said she feels no sympathy for the soldiers.
""I hope what we do means something bad happens to them,"" she said.
Helping the war effort in this way is not unusual in Ukraine. An OnlyFans-inspired group in Ukraine has been selling nude pictures of themselves to fundraise for their armed forces, Insider previously reported.",Not_Explicit
"SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea wasn't responding Thursday to U.S. attempts to discuss the American soldier who bolted across the heavily armed border and whose prospects for a quick release are unclear at a time of high military tensions and inactive communication channels.
Pvt. Travis King, who was supposed to have been heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, after finishing a prison sentence in South Korea for assault, ran into North Korea while on a civilian tour of the border village of Panmunjom on Tuesday. He is the first known American held in North Korea in nearly five years.
“Yesterday the Pentagon reached out to counterparts in the (North) Korean People’s Army. My understanding is that those communications have not yet been answered,” Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, told reporters Wednesday in Washington.
Miller said the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department are working together to gather information about King’s well-being and whereabouts. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. government will continue to work to ensure his safety and his return to his family.
The motive for King's border crossing is unknown. A witness on the same civilian tour said she initially thought his dash was some kind of stunt until she heard an American soldier on patrol shouting for others to try to stop him. But King had crossed the border in a matter of seconds.
King, 23, was serving in South Korea as a cavalry scout with the 1st Armored Division. He could be discharged from the military and face other potential penalties after being convicted of crimes in South Korea.
In February, a Seoul court fined him 5 million won ($3,950) by convicting him of assaulting an unidentified person and damaging a police vehicle in Seoul last October, according to a transcript of the verdict obtained by The Associated Press. The ruling said King had also been accused of punching a man at a Seoul nightclub, though the court dismissed that charge because the victim didn’t want King to be punished.
It wasn't clear how King spent the hours from leaving the airport Monday until joining the Panmunjom tour Tuesday. The Army realized he was missing when he did not get off the flight in Texas as expected.
North Korea has previously held a number of Americans who were arrested for anti-state, espionage and other charges. But no other Americans were known to be detained since North Korea expelled American Bruce Byron Lowrance in 2018. During the Cold War, a small number of U.S. soldiers who fled to North Korea later appeared North Korean propaganda films.
“North Korea is not going to ‘catch and release’ a border-crosser because of its strict domestic laws and desire to deter outsiders from breaking them. However, the Kim regime has little incentive to hold an American citizen very long, as doing so can entail liabilities,"" said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
“For Pyongyang, it makes sense to find a way of extracting some compensation and then expel an American for unauthorized entry into the country before an isolated incident escalates in ways that risk North Korean diplomatic and financial interests,” he said. “In the best-case scenario, the American soldier will return home safely at the cost of some propaganda victory for Pyongyang, and U.S and North Korean officials will have an opportunity to resume dialogue and contacts that went stagnant during the pandemic.”
Other experts say North Korea won't likely easily return King as he is a soldier who apparently voluntarily fled to North Korea, though many previous U.S. civilian detainees were released after the United States sent high-profile missions to Pyongyang to secure their freedom.
The U.S. and North Korea, who fought during the 1950-53 Korean War, still have no diplomatic ties. Sweden provided consular services for Americans in past cases, but Swedish diplomatic staff reportedly haven’t returned since North Korea ordered foreigners to leave the country at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What I will say is that we here at the State Department have engaged with counterparts in South Korea and with Sweden on this issue, including here in Washington,” Miller said.
Jeon Ha-kyu, a spokesperson of South Korea’s Defense Ministry, said Thursday his ministry is sharing related information with the American-led U.N. Command in South Korea, without elaborating.
Currently, there are no known, active dialogues between North Korea and the U.S. or South Korea.
King's case happened as North Korea has been stepping up its criticism of the United States over its recent moves to bolster its security commitment to South Korea. Earlier this week, the U.S. deployed a nuclear-armed submarine in South Korea for the first time in four decades. North Korea later test-fired two missiles with the potential range to strike the South Korean port whether the U.S.. submarine docked.
King’s family members said the soldier may have felt overwhelmed by his legal troubles and possible discharge from the military. They described him as a quiet loner who did not drink or smoke and enjoyed reading the Bible.
“I can’t see him doing that intentionally if he was in his right mind,” King’s maternal grandfather, Carl Gates, told The Associated Press from his Kenosha, Wisconsin, home. “Travis is a good guy. He wouldn’t do nothing to hurt nobody. And I can’t see him trying to hurt himself.”
Carl Gates said his grandson joined the military three years ago out of a desire to serve his country and because he “wanted to do better for himself.”
King’s mother, Claudine Gates, told reporters outside her Racine, Wisconsin, home that all she cares about is bringing her son home.
“I just want my son back,” she said in video posted by Milwaukee television station WISN. “Get my son home.”
King’s grandfather called on his country to help rescue his grandson.
___
Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Melissa Winder in Kenosha, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Rishi Sunak has insisted the Conservatives can still win the next election, despite suffering two damaging by-election defeats.
Labour and the Lib Dems overturned big Tory majorities in Somerton and Frome, and Selby and Ainsty constituencies.
But the Tories held the London seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, despite predictions they could lose there too.
The result showed the next election was not a ""done deal"" for Labour, the prime minister said.
He added that the results showed his government needed to ""double down"" on his signature pledges on the economy and illegal migration.
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said its ""historic"" victory in Selby showed ""just how powerful the demand for change is"" ahead of the next general election, expected to take place next year.
The Tories' narrow victory in the suburban seat of Uxbridge, which they won by 495 votes, spared Mr Sunak the humiliation of being the first PM for 55 years to lose three by-elections in one night.
The party managed to capitalise on local anger over the planned expansion of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez), a tax on polluting vehicles, to outer London boroughs by the capital's London mayor.
Visiting a cafe in the constituency, Mr Sunak said it showed that people would vote Conservative when confronted with the ""reality"" of Labour in power.
But the other two results suggest the Tories face a difficult path to possible victory at the next election, with the party trailing Labour in the polls nationally by significant margins.
Asked what the defeats meant for his party, Mr Sunak replied: ""The message I take away is that we've got to double down, stick to our plan and deliver for people.""
'Electoral Armageddon'
He vowed to renew his focus on his government's five flagship priorities of halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt and NHS waiting times, and stopping small boat crossings.
Former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the Conservative Party needed to back the prime minister, adding: ""Tory MPs including me need to row in behind the prime minister, because divided parties don't win elections.""
However, a former cabinet minister on the right of the Conservative Party told the BBC the ""eye-watering swings"" in Selby and Somerton showed the party needs a ""complete change of direction"".
""Uxbridge provides no get-out-of-jail-free card for Rishi,"" they added.
""It is becoming increasingly clear that a failure by the party leadership to act now and change course risks electoral Armageddon.""
Progress towards the prime minister's pledges has so far been slow, with inflation in particular falling more slowly than predicted by many economists at the start of the year.
Conservative chairman Greg Hands conceded there was a ""lot of work still to be done"" to meet the promises, adding they ""weren't designed to be an easy thing to meet"".
Labour won with a 23.7% swing in the rural North Yorkshire seat of Selby and Ainsty, breaking the record for the largest Tory majority it had overturned at a by-election since 1945.
And a 29% swing to the Liberal Democrats in the Somerset seat of Somerton and Frome showed they could be a stronger challenger to the Tories in the West Country than at the last election in 2019.
He added that its two defeats in Somerset and Yorkshire had both seen tactical voting to eject the Conservatives locally, spelling ""bad news"" for the governing party.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said her party was hopeful it would be able to persuade Labour voters to lend them their votes to oust the Tories, in seats where they are the main challengers.
She added there were around 15 seats in the West Country with smaller Tory majorities than Somerton and Frome, which the Lib Dems would be targeting at the next general election.",Not_Explicit
"Former Italy striker Giuseppe Rossi announced his retirement from soccer on Saturday following a career that was slowed by severe injuries.
The New Jersey-born Rossi last played for Spal in Serie B last season.
“My journey is unique. A lot of ups but also some downs. Those down moments (mostly injuries) never defined me,” Rossi wrote on Instagram. “My purpose was stronger than any obstacle that was in front of me. I never stopped dreaming when things I couldn’t control got in my way. I love the game so much that I could’ve never given up. That is why I’m writing this with a heavy heart but a big smile on face — I’m proud of what I accomplished!”
Rossi also scored seven goals in 30 appearances for Italy after choosing to play for his father’s country over the United States.
___
The Associated Press",Not_Explicit
"Israeli MPs have passed into law a highly controversial bill despite mass protests which had aimed to thwart it.
The law removes the power of the Supreme Court to overrule government actions it considers unreasonable.
It is the first in a series of bitterly contested reforms aimed at curbing the power of courts to be approved.
The planned reforms have triggered some of the biggest protests in Israel's history, with opponents warning they imperil Israel as a democracy.
The government argues that the measures are necessary to correct an imbalance in power which has seen the courts increasingly intervene in political decisions in recent decades.
Hours before the final vote, police used water cannon and arrested protesters outside Israel's parliament (Knesset) in Jerusalem.
The vote brings to a head months of turmoil, with Israel's president warning political leaders on Monday that the country was ""in a state of national emergency"".
On Monday morning protesters blocking a boulevard outside the Knesset were sprayed with water cannon and pulled off the road by police amid a cacophony of noise from drums, whistles and air horns.
One protester was hurt, local media say, and six were arrested, police said. Other protesters surrounded a police van shouting ""shame"" at officers.
A demonstrator lying in the street told the BBC he was was defying ""dictatorship"", adding that his grandfather had been a wartime codebreaker against the Nazis at the UK's famous Bletchley Park.
Asked how long he would stay put he said: ""We will never surrender"".
Another, Reut Yifat Uziel, the daughter of a paratrooper pictured in an iconic Israeli photograph of the capture of the Western Wall in the 1967 Middle East war, said she feared for her children's future.
""Netanyahu kidnapped the country and I am worried it will become a theocracy,"" she said.
The protesters - tens of thousands of whom marched some 45 miles (70km) from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem at the end of last week - are trying to thwart the passage into law of the first bill of a package of reforms.
The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was in parliament for the vote hours after being discharged from hospital following unscheduled surgery for a pacemaker on Saturday.
The controversial reforms have polarised Israel, triggering one of the most serious domestic crises in the country's history.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets weekly since the start of the year in protest at what they say is an attack on democracy. The government says the reforms serve to strengthen democracy, arguing the Supreme Court has accrued too much power over politics in recent decades.
Deepening the crisis, thousands of reservists, including pilots in the air force crucial to Israel's offensive and defensive capabilities, have vowed not to volunteer for service. Such unprecedented dissent has caused alarm over the potential impact on Israel's military readiness.
Former heads of Israel's security services, chief justices, and prominent legal and business figures have also been vocal against the government's reforms.
The measures have also been criticised by the US President Joe Biden, who in his most explicit comments yet called for the ""divisive"" bill to be postponed.",Not_Explicit
"L&T Finance - Journey Towards Retailisation At Attractive Valuation: ICICI Direct
With retail loan book gaining traction to almost >90% of outstanding AUM by FY24E, valuation multiple should witness a re-rating.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
ICICI Direct Report
Investment Rationale
Re-orientation of balance sheet towards retailisation: In April 2022, L&T Finance Holdings Ltd. announced 'Lakshya 2026', which was targeted towards retailisation with customised products in mature markets [farm equipment, rural group loans (micro finance) and two wheeler finance] and focus on newer retail segment (consumer loans, home loans, loan against property and small and medium enterprise loans).
Accordingly, in the last quarters, the share of retail loans has increased from 51% to ~82% while the proportion of wholesale book has declined from 49% to ~18%.
Leaner business structure and change in leadership:
L&T Finance's transformation process includes a leaner, simpler organisation structure and hierarchy to enable improved focus on performance. L&T Finance has exited unfocused business lines, stopped growing real estate vertical and is in the process of consolidating L&T Finance and L&T Infra Credit wherein National Company Law Tribunal approval is awaited.
L&T Finance has announced superannuation of current Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer and appointment of Mr Sudipta Roy as new MD and CEO from Jan 2024; which remains in-line with focus on retailisation target articulated earlier.
Return on assets managed trajectory to improve to ~2.7-2.8% in FY25E:
Increase in retail proportion will continue to aid net interest margins trajectory (calculated NIMs at 7.5% in FY23), and is expected to improve to ~8-9% levels. Sustainable retail assets under management growth (31%/ 24% YoY in FY24E/ 25E) to aid gradual improvement in efficiency, though cost/income ratio could remain elevated at ~40-41% in the initial phase.
Provision buffer of ~2% is expected to keep credit cost largely steady, thus aiding earnings momentum. We expect return on AUM (RoAUM) to improve from ~2% in FY23 to ~2.7-2.8% by FY25E.
Rating and target price
With retail loan book gaining traction to almost more than 90% of outstanding AUM by FY24E, valuation multiple should witness a re-rating.
Further, contained gross, net non-performing asset guidance of less than 3%, less than 1%, respectively, provide comfort.
At the current market price, L&T Finance currently trades at ~1.2 times adjusted book value offering room for further expansions as RoE, RoA are expected to reach ~10%, ~2.1%, respectively, in FY23-25E. Hence, we assign a target price of Rs 160/share, valuing at ~1.6 times FY25E ABV and recommend 'Buy' rating on the stock
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"What royal watchers can forget the adorable antics of Prince Louis, and all the times he has acted, well, like a kid? At the Trooping of the Colour last month, the five-year-old pulled his famous faces, and at one point seemed to imitate a pilot as the military flew over Buckingham Palace. Fans have also been charmed by Prince William and Princess Kate’s seemingly relaxed and accepting reaction to their youngest child’s cheeky behavior—unthinkable to previous royal generations.
William and Kate’s more modern, tactile parenting style stands in stark contrast to the way royals have parented for centuries. Equally memorable, but much less fun, is the image of Louis’s grandfather, King Charles III, as a solemn young boy greeting his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, after she and Prince Philip had been away on a months-long commonwealth tour. The little prince receives no hug from his mother, just a formal handshake.
Elizabeth and Philip’s cold parenting style would lead Princess Diana to reportedly quip that the only thing her husband “learned about love from the Queen and Prince Philip was shaking hands.” But sadly, the parental distance Charles experienced has been the norm in royal households for centuries.
“Royal parents traditionally had nothing to do with their children’s day-to-day care when they were very young—George V, the late Queen’s grandfather, once saw a maid pushing a pram along a corridor at Buckingham Palace,” Tom Quinn, author of Gilded Youth: A History of Growing Up in the Royal Family, tells Vanity Fair. “He said to the maid: ‘Whose baby is that?’ The maid replied, ‘It’s yours, sir.’”
Royal children were also often treated harshly by their parents. “My father was frightened of his mother,” King George V of England once reportedly said. “I was frightened of my father, and I am damn well going to see to it that my children are frightened of me!”
Fostering out children was seen as a necessity when life expectancy was short and royal children were needed to assume governing duties (and marry) as quickly as possible. “In medieval times, royal princes and princesses were sent away aged just eight or nine to live in other aristocratic households—the idea was to make the child into an adult as soon as possible,” Quinn says. “The modern version of this is the royal obsession with boarding schools: sending princes and princesses to schools where they live and work 24/7 and only return home every couple of months.”
Day-to-day child-rearing was considered undignified for royals; they were usually given to wet nurses from the moment they were born. They were then handed over to nannies (whom many royal women have been notably jealous of for their close relationship to their charges) and strict—sometimes violent—governors and tutors who were pressured to produce dignified, noble “mini adults” who would make the ruling house proud, but this method came at a cost.
“The royal obsession with making princes and princesses as mature as possible as early as possible actually has the opposite effect and many royal children (especially boys) never really grow up,” says Quinn. “They behave like children when they grow up because they were not allowed to be children when they were young. This applies to Edward VII, George V and VI, Edward VIII, and especially King Charles.”
Parental estrangement could also have catastrophic consequences. Kings often viewed their sons, who were virtual strangers, as rivals and enemies. Three sons of Henry II of England would wage war against their father. In 1718, Peter the Great of Russia had his son Alexei tortured and killed. The dysfunctional Hanoverian kings of England uniformly despised their eldest sons, leading one courtier to reportedly quip, “The House of Hanover like ducks produces bad parents… They trample on their young.”
Even loving royal parents often found their hands tied by dynastic ambition and royal precedent. According to In Triumph’s Wake by Julia P. Gelardi, in 1502, a teenage Catherine of Aragon found herself trapped and destitute in England after the death of her first husband, Prince Arthur. Her anguished mother, Queen Isabella of Castile, instructed her ambassador to beg Arthur’s father, King Henry VII, to send Catherine back to her parents:
You shall say to the King of England that we cannot endure that a daughter whom we love should be so far from us when she is in affliction, and that she should not have us at hand to console her; also it would be more suitable for a young girl of her age to be with us than to be in any other place.
King Henry VII declined, and Isabella never saw her daughter again.
The red tape of protocol also often stopped royal parents (particularly mothers) from having meaningful roles in their children’s lives. In 1594, James I of England and his wife, Queen Anne, had their first child, Henry. James soon entrusted his heir to be raised by the Earl of Mar.
“A furious Anna demanded that the Scottish council discuss these arrangements for the heir to the throne to occupy a separate household and began to cultivate allies in her effort to retain custody of her son,” Carolyn Harris writes in Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting. “James refused to allow a debate about the circumstances of Henry’s upbringing. Anna responded by attempting to kidnap her son from his guardians…Anna threatened not to bear any further children unless she were permitted to raise her son.”
According to Harris, a compromise was soon reached, though to modern ears it sounds like a paltry concession. Prince Henry would stay with the Earl of Mar, and Queen Anne would have more input into her future children’s guardians.
However, as David Cohen notes in Bringing Them Up Royal: How the Royals Raised Their Children from 1066 to the Present Day, King James I clearly did love his children. James had endured a horrific, virtually orphaned childhood (his father, Lord Darnley, was murdered when James was an infant, and his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned). Clearly attempting to give his son the parental guidance he never had, he wrote a touching treatise on kingship called the Basilikon Doron for Prince Henry especially.
If royal children were lucky enough to be housed with their parents, they were often in distant nurseries, which could cause distinct problems in times of turmoil. In 1620, when King Frederick and Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia were forced to flee Prague, they accidentally left one of their large brood behind.
“As the last carriages were preparing to leave the castle courtyard, a court chamberlain made a last inspection of the royal apartments,” Harris writes. “Following the sound of a baby’s cries, he discovered Frederick and Elizabeth’s eleven-month-old son, Prince Rupert, who had been forgotten or abandoned by his nurse.”
This parental neglect would continue. Elizabeth’s daughter Sophia wrote witheringly that her mother preferred “the sight of her monkeys and dogs to that of her children.”
As Quinn notes, royal parenting styles often lag generations behind that of their subjects, but there have been exceptions. In the late 18th century, Marie Antoinette of France embraced Enlightenment principles and was determined that her children would be her “friends,” allowed to have childhoods and develop individual personalities, unencumbered by their predestined roles. “He has no idea of his station in his head, and I strongly desire that this continue,” she wrote of her eldest son, Prince Louis Joseph. “Our children learn soon enough what they are.”
Marie Antoinette’s parenting style was not the norm. In the 19th century, royals increasingly presented themselves as united families to appease middle-class sensibilities. No one did this more brilliantly than Queen Victoria, the “mother of Europe,” whose brood of nine was often photographed with their parents. Raised under the careful direction of their strict, progressive father, Prince Albert, they still were primarily looked after by servants.
According to Cohen, Queen Victoria, who was not a great fan of children, warned her daughter that “too great care, too much constant watching leads to the very dangers hereafter which one wishes to avoid.”
But times were changing, and the advent of modern media meant royal families were being “watched” like never before. As the world rapidly changed, some royal parents attempted to shield their precious children from political machinations and press intrusion.
Perhaps the most hands-on, coddling royal parents of the early 20th century were the doomed Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his wife, Alexandra. “The greatest treasure that parents can leave their children is a happy childhood,” Tsarina Alexandra wrote, per Harris, “with tender memories of father and mother. It will lighten the forthcoming days, it will preserve them from temptation, and it will help them face the harsh realities of life after they leave the parental roof.”
The Tsar and Tsarina were attentive, even smothering parents, and an early nanny was fired when she complained Alexandra popped into the royal nursery too often. The five Romanov children were isolated with their parents and servants, and desperate to learn about the outside world. According to Maria Rasputin, daughter of the “Mad Monk,” the four imperial daughters would pepper her with questions about her life and thought her school and trips to the cinema and circus were “the rarest and most enviable of wonders.”
Queen Elizabeth II would receive much the same upbringing with loving parents and attentive nannies but little contact with the outside world, and long separations from her parents. Her mother, Elizabeth, detailed the anguish many royal parents must have felt when leaving her children for a commonwealth tour. “Feel very miserable at leaving the baby,” she wrote. “Went up & played with her & she was so sweet. Luckily, she doesn’t realize anything…I drank some champagne and tried not to weep.”
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip continued this tradition, although reportedly with less warmth. “Elizabeth…inherited the idea that the young Charles and Anne must be looked after by nannies and governesses—they had nothing to do with Charles’s and Anne’s daily routine when they were babies,” Quinn writes. “All the work was done by paid staff and Elizabeth and Philip saw their children just once each day for a very formal meeting. One member of staff told me that, ‘Queen Elizabeth would no more visit the nursery than fly—instead we took the children to see her each day.’”
Constantly working, Queen Elizabeth is said to have keenly felt she was hurting her children by not being available to them (she would try to spend more time with her younger children, Andrew and Edward). “Once when he walked by her door, Charles asked her to come and play with him,” Cohen writes. “‘If only I could,’ she said.”
With the weight of the Crown on her shoulders, Elizabeth, perhaps misguidedly, left many family decisions to her husband, who had very little parenting in his chaotic childhood. This resulted in a legendary thick shell, and according to Quinn, an awkwardness with children. “I think children should be toughened up and just get on with it,” Philip once said, according to Quinn. “We fuss far too much about children’s sensitivities and emotional well-being. It’s largely nonsense.”
So, imagine the royal family’s shock when Princess Diana decided to shake things up. Like Marie Antoinette, she believed in enlightened parenting and despised the cold, removed relationship she and other aristocratic and royal parents had with their kids. “If only my parents hadn’t had enough money to do stupid things like employing endless nannies,” she told a friend, per Quinn, “they might have done something for us themselves. Stupid people are bad enough but rich stupid people are the absolute worst.”
In many ways, she started a royal parenting revolution that was adopted by many European ruling houses. She was demonstratively affectionate in private and public, took them to McDonald’s and amusement parks, and made sure many harsher aspects of royal life were not imposed on “her boys.” It is a legacy of involvement her sons are attempting to follow, expand, and refine (no McDonald’s for Kate’s children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis).
“William and Kate—but especially Kate—are determined to do things differently,” Quinn says. “William was brought up partly by Charles (who was embarrassed by physical affection) but also by Diana who loved to hug her children. But despite their slightly more modern outlook, both Charles and Diana still relied on paid staff—nannies—to do most of the work. Old habits die hard!”
According to Quinn, the “warm and maternal” Kate, who was raised in a loving, tight-knit family, insisted William change diapers and bathe the kids, take them on school runs, and put their family first. “The family’s recent move to Windsor is designed to ensure that even if the boys go to boarding school at Eton (which is near Windsor), their parents will be close enough to see them regularly,” he explains.
But the Prince and Princess of Wales are still restricted in how much control they have over their children’s lives. According to Quinn, when William and Kate discussed sending their children to state schools, there was pushback from “The Firm.” And the family still has a huge staff, including super nanny Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo.
“When [Kate] demurred and suggested she would like to do a little more the nitty-gritty part of the childcare,” Quinn writes in Gilded Youth, “it was made very clear to her that this was best left to the professionals, and Kate is nothing if not obedient to the rules of life in the royal family.”
Nowhere is the Prince and Princess of Wales’s modern outlook on parenting more obvious than in their reaction to Prince Louis’s adorable antics. “Old school royal parents would have felt Louis’s behaviour was undignified for a royal child of any age,” says Quinn, “because elements of the old obsession with royal princes behaving like adults even when they are still children still persists, but Kate and William are acutely aware of how much good publicity comes from having a charming child!”
However, according to Gilded Youth, there are still limits to how much a royal child can misbehave. When Kate tells her children the seemingly benign “let’s take a break,” it seems to mean: You are going to be in big trouble if you don’t stop. Time will tell if the coded parenting technique is a success.",Not_Explicit
"Examining how El Niño affects precipitation over the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica
The precipitation in West Antarctica, especially around the Antarctic Peninsula, exhibits large variability on the interannual time scale. In recent years, scientific research activities, tourism and fisheries have been experiencing remarkable growth there. Thus, understanding the variability of precipitation in West Antarctica, including the Antarctic Peninsula, is of substantial importance both for scientific and practical aspects.
As the strongest signal of interannual climate variability, El Niño exerts significant impacts on climate in the Antarctic, especially in the West Antarctic.
However, a recent study indicated that the effect of ENSO (which stands for El Niño–Southern Oscillation and refers to the broader climate pattern comprising the phases of El Niño and La Niña) on precipitation in West Antarctica is not significant, which is inconsistent with its significant impact on the West Antarctic climate through modulation of the Amundsen Sea low pressure system via Rossby wave trains (atmospheric or oceanic waves that form as a result of Earth's rotation).
In a paper recently published in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters, Prof. Shuanglin Li from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, and Xueyang Chen and Dr. Chao Zhang from the China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China, clear up the impacts of different types of El Niño events on precipitation over West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, and explain the uncertain connection between the two.
""Previous studies show that precipitation over West Antarctica, especially the Antarctic Peninsula, is less correlated with El Niño. One possible reason is that these studies did not classify El Niño into its two known sub-types: EP [Eastern Pacific] and CP [Central Pacific] El Niño,"" explains Prof. Li.
EP and CP events have similar impacts on precipitation over the Amundsen–Bellingshausen seas, but opposite impacts on that over the Weddell Sea, including the eastern Antarctic Peninsula, thereby canceling each other out in terms of the precipitation response they induce. This of course then accounts for the uncertainty in ENSO's influences on precipitation over the Antarctic Peninsula.
""EP events force two branches of Rossby wave trains that propagate southeastward and converge in West Antarctica, which causes an anomalous anticyclone and cyclone over the Ross–Amundsen–Bellingshausen seas and Weddell Sea, respectively. Consequently, anomalous southerly winds occur over the Bellingshausen–Weddell seas, acting to decrease the amount of precipitation there.""
""In comparison, only one weak and westward-shifted Rossby wave train is stimulated under a CP event, which induces an anomalous anticyclone and cyclone in the Ross–Amundsen seas and Bellingshausen–Weddell seas. Anomalous southerly winds reduce the precipitation over the Amundsen–Bellingshausen seas, while anomalous northerly winds increase the precipitation over the Weddell Sea,"" adds Xueyang Chen.
More information: Xueyang Chen et al, Distinct impacts of two kinds of El Niño on precipitation over the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica in austral spring, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.aosl.2023.100387
Provided by Chinese Academy of Sciences",Not_Explicit
"These politicians are fueling talk of late-entry 2024 bids
A number of politicians are stoking speculation that they could make late entries into the 2024 presidential race ahead of what’s shaping up to be a potential rematch between President Biden and former President Trump.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) became the latest figure to raise questions about a White House bid after he released a cryptic video this week that prompted murmurs about a possible third-party campaign. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has sparked similar questions for the past few months and in recent days.
Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has been floated as a potential late entry into the GOP primary. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) was considered a possible choice as well until he ruled out a run on Monday.
The speculation surrounding these candidates underscores the degree of frustration over the parties’ respective front-runners.
“This is the point of the race every cycle where voters start to think, ‘Are these our only choices?’ And that always draws late interest,” said Alex Conant, a consultant who served as the communications director for Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) 2016 presidential campaign.
Although these candidates might ultimately not choose to run, none of them has completely shut the door on the possibility.
The political organization No Labels has also increasingly gained attention around its plan to put forward a centrist ticket made of one Democrat and one Republican. But it has raised some concerns among Democrats that any such ticket could act as a spoiler and hand the race to Trump.
“The nature of our electoral politics means that the third-party candidate is almost never viable and most likely just serves to be a spoiler and primarily spoilers for the incumbent party,” said Sawyer Hackett, a Democratic strategist and senior adviser to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
He said the interest in a possible third-party candidacy comes from the sheer number of voters disillusioned with the two major parties. Meanwhile, he said there’s a significant number of GOP voters who do not want to see Trump win the nomination, leading to hopes that another candidate might join that primary field.
Trump’s age and many legal woes — including the possibility of a second federal indictment in the coming days — could offer another Republican an opportunity, some party members argue.
“So I think everybody is still waiting to see what happens legally, what implications that might have,” said Saul Anuzis, a Republican consultant and former Michigan GOP chairman. “Are there health reasons or any other reasons … that might create an opportunity?”
Here are the top politicians who are rousing speculation about possible late-entry 2024 bids:
Glenn Youngkin
The Virginia governor has allowed questions to swirl about his 2024 ambitions since he was elected to the highest office in a state that was initially assumed to be trending blue.
Youngkin has sent mixed signals for months about joining the race. He declared in early May that he would focus on supporting GOP candidates in Virginia’s state legislative elections this year but did not directly rule out a presidential run later.
He released a campaign-style video later that month paid for by his super PAC that featured comments he previously made calling for a “new era of American values.”
Brian Seitchik, a GOP strategist and former Trump campaign staffer, said Youngkin’s 2021 election was a national story that gave him name recognition, and he would receive at least a “serious look” in the race. He said history shows a late entrant to the race is not likely to break through, but he expects the race will tighten and GOP voters will consider if they want to fully get behind Trump as he faces multiple indictments.
“There will be a time of reflection before this thing is done where voters say are we really ready to make this jump? Now, if you’re wagering today, you’d have to say the odds are yes, but I don’t think Trump goes wire-to-wire here without at least getting pushed for a period of time,” Seitchik said.
Larry Hogan
Hogan, a moderate Republican who served two terms as governor of Maryland, announced in March he would not be a candidate for the GOP nomination following “serious consideration.” But he said shortly after that he had not ruled out a third-party bid.
The video from the super PAC supporting Hogan, An America United, did not directly address a potential campaign but included a voiceover of him talking about being an underdog and finding political success by working with both parties.
“I’ve always been an underdog, and people have always counted us out, but every single time we’ve beaten the odds,” Hogan said in the video he posted Tuesday on Twitter.
Still, he has remained unclear about his plans.
Hogan acknowledged to ABC News on Tuesday that a third-party bid would be a “steep climb” but argued it is “worth trying.” He said in an interview on “CNN This Morning” on Friday that now “may be time” for a third-party candidate, and he is serving as a national co-chairman of No Labels because he believes in “bipartisan, common-sense solutions.”
But he also told CNN he is not considering a third-party run, and he has not taken any “overt steps to take any actions.”
Joe Manchin
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has raised fears among his fellow Democrats that he is open to trying to run a middle lane between Biden and Trump. Facing what would likely be a tough reelection campaign in a strongly conservative state, Manchin has said he wouldn’t decide his “political future” until toward the end of the year.
On Monday, he headlined the first of multiple “Common Sense” town halls organized by No Labels, though he has not directly said whether he would run under its banner.
A recent poll from Monmouth University showed Biden defeating Trump even with Manchin on the ticket as a third-party candidate, but senators from both parties have said they expect his candidacy would hurt Biden more than Trump.
Democrats who spoke to The Hill say they ultimately don’t expect Manchin to run for president.
“I certainly think he will want his legacy to be how helped shape and mold the future of this country as a senator of West Virginia, versus his legacy being how he helped elect right-wing extremists potentially,” said Democratic consultant Antjuan Seawright, who noted that Manchin is known to be a “serious political flirt.”
Manchin said at the No Labels town hall that he has not ever been in a race as a spoiler, and if he runs, he will run to win.
Consultant Simon Rosenberg said he would expect Manchin would perform no better than single digits in polls against Trump and Biden, which he said would be considerably lower than how unnamed independents have performed in polls. He tweeted last week that he expects any third-party candidate will receive even less support than they hope based on the “gravity” of the race.
“My guess is absolute ceiling for Manchin or anyone else is like 8-10%. Will be within a few months clear failure, life long embarrassment for whomever goes,” he said in his tweet.
“I think we’re in still early days, and many of these efforts will not come out to anything,” Rosenberg later told The Hill.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Hundreds of protesters stormed the main gates of the Swedish embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad early Thursday in response to police in Stockholm granting permission for a demonstration were organizers are reportedly planning another burning of the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
Videos posted on social media showed a large number of protesters inside the Swedish embassy’s perimeter as well as black smoke and fire coming from the building.
The protest in Sweden, scheduled for Thursday, comes just weeks after a lone man set fire to pages of the Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque, leading to widespread outrage and condemnation around the world, including in Iraq.
According to AFP, Swedish police said Wednesday they had granted a permit for a protest outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, with media reporting the organizers planned to burn the Muslim holy book.
Stockholm police told AFP they had granted a permit for a “public gathering” outside the Iraqi embassy but did not wish to give further comments on what the protesters were planning.
The Swedish police have stressed that they only grant permits for people to hold public gatherings and not for the activities conducted during them, according to AFP.
At the Baghdad protest eyewitnesses told CNN that the protesters withdrew from the perimeter of the Swedish Embassy after setting part of it on fire “after delivering their message of protest against the act of burning the Holy Book of God.”
Sweden’s embassy staff in Baghdad are all safe amid protests outside of the building, the foreign ministry’s press office told CNN via email.
“We condemn all attacks on diplomats and staff from international organizations. Attacks on embassies and diplomats constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention. Iraqi authorities have the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic staff,” it said.
The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the burning of Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad, the ministry said in statement.
The incident is part of a concerning pattern of assaults on diplomatic missions, posing a significant security threat, the ministry said.
It added that the Iraqi government has taken swift action, instructing competent security authorities to launch an urgent investigation, “measures in order to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators of this act and hold them accountable according to the law.”
At the end of June, a man burned a copy of Islam’s holy book outside a Stockholm Mosque sparking mass condemnations across the Muslim world.
Images of the event showed he was the only person apart from his translator at the demonstration, which coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha, one of the most significant dates in the Islamic calendar.",Not_Explicit
"Voters in Maine will likely be the ones to decide whether to restore long removed language about the state's obligations to Native American tribes to printed versions of its constitution.
The Maine Legislature is poised to give its final approval on Tuesday to a proposal to restore the language that requires Maine to honor treaties the state inherited from Massachusetts when it became its own state more than two centuries ago. The language has always applied, but was removed from printed versions of the constitution in 1876.
Statewide voters would have to approve of the change to the constitution for it to take place. The date of the referendum has not yet been set.
The restoration of the language to the printed constitution would improve transparency and illuminate Maine's debts to Native American tribes, said Democratic House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross. The language is not in the official online version of the Maine Constitution either, though it can be read elsewhere, such as in the Maine State Library.
""For decades, the history of the state’s treatment of the Wabanaki people has been concealed and disregarded - even in our most formal and guiding documents,"" Ross said. ""Transparency is critical to truly have an elected government that decides on how we live, what the norms of our society are, and ultimately who gets to participate.""
Lawmakers easily approved the proposal earlier in the legislative session and are scheduled to take a final vote on Tuesday, which could be the final day of the session.
The language compels Maine to ""assume and perform all the duties and obligations of"" Massachusetts upon becoming a state, which it did in 1820. It does not make reference to specific obligations.
Lawmakers are preparing to send the constitutional change to voters at a time when tribes in the state are seeking greater autonomy. The legislature voted in June to let most federal laws apply to Wabanaki tribes in a move designed to put them on equal footing with other federally recognized tribes in the U.S.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills opposed that proposal and vetoed it, saying she feared it could lead to lawsuits. Mills also opposed the restoration of the treaty language to the printed constitution. Her office said in testimony that the change had the potential to create confusion.
Tribal groups have urged passage of the restoration of the language and characterized it as overdue. John Dieffenbacher-Krall, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, said in testimony that restoration ""would make our Maine Constitution more transparent increasing the likelihood current and future residents of this state do understand the obligations of the State of Maine to the Wabanaki Nations.""",Not_Explicit
"A new House of Lords report into the Windsor Framework shows that it 'utterly fails' the DUP's seven tests, says Nigel Dodds
(Scroll down for a link to the main story and editorial)
The party’s House of Lords leader was responding to the findings of a committee of peers who looked at Rishi Sunak’s deal with the EU to reform the Northern Ireland Protocol. Lord Dodds, who is on the committee but which has more pro-EU members than Brexiteers, cited the way in which today’s report says that the new trade arrangement across the Irish Sea will be an improvement on the NI Protocol as it was originally designed but more burdensome than the protocol as it is at present, because it has never been implemented due to the UK’s unilateral imposition of grace periods.
The report today cites various concerns of groups such as hauliers and retailers to aspects of the framework including the proposed red and green lanes and the Stormont lock, and then repeatedly calls on Mr Sunak’s government to provide clarity in response to those concerns.
Lord Dodds said: “It is clear that the Windsor Framework utterly fails the seven tests set by the DUP. It represents the embedding of the Irish Sea border to a greater extent than anything we have seen thus far.”
While the DUP said in its council election manifesto that the framework failed its tests, Lord Dodds is now saying so with particular emphasis. He claimed that the report showed the framework “makes things worse for businesses compared to what they have experienced up to now”.
Lord Dodds, whose party currently refuses to operate power-sharing at Stormont, in protest at the NI Protocol, said: “The original protocol was unworkable and could not be implemented without major damage to our economy. That led to grace periods and easements. Now these are to be done away with and replaced with the more onerous and burdensome Windsor Framework provisions.
“The Windsor Framework renders us worse off in terms of the Irish Sea border and creates greater checks and barriers to trade with the rest of the UK compared to what we have experienced thus far even if it theoretically improves upon the original version of the protocol which was unworkable in any case.”
He continued: “The report points out there are still many unresolved and outstanding problems that have not been settled by the Windsor Framework. It looks through the hype and spin around the government narrative … and objectively analyses the truth behind the propaganda. It is clear that the Windsor Framework utterly fails the seven tests set by the DUP. It represents the embedding of the Irish Sea border to a greater extent than anything we have seen thus far.
“The events at Westminster last week, where the government sacked five of its own MPs from a committee to force through the new border for sending parcels to Northern Ireland, illustrates the reality of what it is actually doing versus the spin it tries to peddle.”
The government’s new legislation on postal regulations was not published when the peers compiled their evidence. However, the committee’s report noted that, “while the provisions are less burdensome than the protocol as originally conceived, they represent an increase in customs processes for business movements compared to the protocol as it has operated to date, in particular for business-to-business movements where suppliers are not trusted traders”.
Lords report into Windsor Framework: Hauliers were forthright witnesses",Not_Explicit
"• Blinken claims 50pc occupied land recaptured by Ukraine
• Minsk, Moscow hold strategic dialogue
KYIV: The Ukrainian port city of Odesa came under renewed Russian missile attack early on Sunday, just hours before President Vladimir Putin declared that Kyiv’s counteroffensive had “failed” as he began two-day talks with his Belarus counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko.
The longtime leaders met for the first time since Lukashenko helped end a mutiny by Russian Wagner mercenaries in Russia last month, in the biggest threat to Putin’s more than two-decade rule.
“There is no counteroffensive,” Lukashenko said, before being interrupted by Putin: “There is one, but it has failed.”
On the other hand, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an interview to CNN on Sunday claimed that Ukraine took back about 50pc of the territory that Russia had initially seized, although Kyiv’s counteroffensive would extend several months. “These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough,” he said, adding: “It will not play out over the next week or two. Were still looking I think at several months.”
Hours before Lukashenko’s meeting with Putin in St Petersburg for “strategic” dialogue, Russian strikes targeted Odesa, which has been bombed several times since the start of the invasion.
Ukrainian leader Zelensky promised to strike back at Russia for the deadly attack. “Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral,” Zelensky said. “There will definitely be a retaliation against Russian terrorists for Odesa.”
Also, Unesco while condemning the attack on Odesa stated: “Unesco is deeply dismayed and condemns in the strongest terms the brazen attack carried out by the Russian forces, which hit several cultural sites in the city centre of Odesa, home to the World Heritage property ‘The Historic Centre of Odesa’”.
At Saint Petersburg, it was the first time Putin and Lukashenko have met since the latter helped end a dramatic mutiny by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group.
The Belarus strongman now hosts Wagner fighters on his territory, after brokering a deal that convinced its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to end a march on Moscow and exile himself to Belarus.
Lukashenko said Minsk was “controlling” the situation with the notorious Wagner fighters, and restricting them to staying in the centre of the reclusive country. Wagner’s presence in Belarus has rattled EU and Nato member Poland, which has strengthened its border.
Both Putin and Lukashenko accused Warsaw of having territorial ambitions on Ukraine and Belarus, with the Belarusian strongman issuing a veiled threat.
Lukashenko accused Poland of trying to “rip off a western chunk” of Ukraine. He also accused Poland of bringing mercenaries to the border, saying he had “brought him a map of moving armed forces of Poland to the borders of the union state”.
After their talks, Putin and Lukashenko greeted crowds in the naval town and base of Kronstadt on Kotlin Island in a rare walkabout.
Earlier, Ukraine’s southern operational command said Odesa was targeted with at least five types of missile, including Kalibr cruise missiles. “Air defence forces destroyed a significant amount of the missiles,” it said.
“The rest caused damage to port infrastructure,” and several buildings, it said, adding that a missile had hit the Orthodox cathedral in the city centre.
The Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa was damaged, according to a video posted by city hall on its Telegram channel.
The strategic port has come under repeated attack since Moscow pulled out of a grain export deal last week.
More missiles
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, repeated Kyiv’s call for more missiles and defence systems after the latest attack on Odesa. “The enemy must be deprived of the ability to hit civilians and infrastructure. More missile defence systems, as well as ATACMS — this will help Ukraine,” he said on Telegram, referring to the long-range tactical missiles that Kyiv wants Washington to supply.
Kyiv has accused Russia of targeting grain supplies and infrastructure vital to any resumption of Ukrainian grain exports.
Moscow has claimed it only targeted military sites.
The attack on Odesa comes a day after a Ukrainian drone strike blew up an ammunition depot in Crimea, forcing the evacuation of the surrounding population and temporary suspension of rail traffic on the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2023",Not_Explicit
"Asian Paints Q1 Results Review - Demand Outlook Healthy; Valuations Expensive: Motilal Oswal
In-line sales; better-than-expected margins.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
Asian Paints Ltd. reported strong volume growth of 10% in Q1 FY24 (our estimate: 8%). The management attributed this growth to the strong performance of the economy and premium segments, although the luxury segment lagged behind.
Additionally, the company observed an improvement in rural markets, with rural and urban markets coming closer in terms of performance.
The increase in gross margin was attributed to the softening of raw material prices, efficient sourcing, and a favorable product mix. As raw material prices stabilize, the gross margin is expected to return to normal levels.
The management has given guidance for the Ebitda margin to be in the range of 18-20%. Although sharp input cost reductions could lead to healthy earnings growth, Asian Paints’ valuations are fair at 62.3 times FY24E and 54.5 times FY25E earnings per share.
We retain our 'Neutral' rating with a target price of Rs 3,120 (based on 50 times FY25E EPS).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"MINNEAPOLIS -- Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction for second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd, now that the Minnesota Supreme Court has declined to hear the case, his attorney said Wednesday.
The state’s highest court without comment denied Chauvin’s petition in a one-page order dated Tuesday, letting Chauvin’s conviction and 22 1/2-year sentence stand. Chauvin faces long odds at the U.S. Supreme Court, which hears only about 100 to 150 appeals of the more than 7,000 cases it is asked to review every year.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism that is still playing out.
Chauvin's attorney, William Mohrmann, told The Associated Press that they were “obviously disappointed” in the decision. He said the most significant issue on which they appealed was whether holding the proceedings in Minneapolis in 2021 deprived Chauvin of his right to a fair trial due to pretrial publicity and concerns for violence in the event of an acquittal. He said they will now raise that issue with the U.S. Supreme Court.
“This criminal trial generated the most amount of pretrial publicity in history,” Morhmann said. “More concerning are the riots which occurred after George Floyd’s death (and) led the jurors to all express concerns for their safety in the event they acquitted Mr. Chauvin — safety concerns which were fully evidenced by surrounding the courthouse in barbed wire and National Guard troops during the trial and deploying the National Guard throughout Minneapolis prior to jury deliberations.”
Mohrmann asked the Minnesota Supreme Court in May to hear the case after the Minnesota Court of Appeals in April rejected his arguments that he had been denied a fair trial. The Minnesota attorney general’s office, in a response last month, asked the Supreme Court to let that ruling stand instead.
“Petitioner received a fair trial, and received the benefit of a fulsome appellate review,” prosecutors wrote at the time. “It is time to bring this case to a close.”
The attorney general's office did not immediately reply to a request for comment Wednesday.
Morhman asked the Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court to throw out the ex-officer’s conviction for a long list of reasons, including the decision by Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill not to move the trial out of Minneapolis despite the massive pretrial publicity, and the potential prejudicial effects of unprecedented courthouse security.
After his conviction on the state charge, Chauvin pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence. Three other former officers who assisted Chauvin are serving shorter state and-or federal sentences for their roles in the case.
Only Tou Thao, who held back the concerned crowd, still faces sentencing in state court. That's scheduled for Aug. 7. Thao rejected a plea agreement and, instead of going to trial, let Cahill decide the case based on written filings by each side and evidence presented in previous trials.
Cahill convicted Thao in May of aiding and abetting manslaughter. Minnesota guidelines recommend four years on the manslaughter count, which Thao would serve concurrently with his 3 1/2-year federal sentence.",Not_Explicit
"Bank chiefs have been summoned by City Minister Andrew Griffith to discuss how customers can be protected from being ""de-banked"" after Coutts terminated its relationship with Nigel Farage.

Mr Griffith is expected to write to the bosses of 19 banks, building societies and digital challengers warning that the government will ""take all action necessary"" to crack down on accounts being closed in response to customers' political views.

He said that regulations around politically exposed persons, or PEPs, are ""being applied in a disproportionate manner by some financial institutions"".

It comes after the former UKIP and Brexit Party leader received a 40-page dossier from the private bank Coutts - which is owned by NatWest Group - indicating that his bank account was closed because his views did not align with the firm's ""values"".

Mr Farage said the bank regarded him as ""xenophobic and racist"" and a former ""fascist"" and accused the NatWest Group of passing his personal and financial data to the BBC.

Last week, the Treasury announced reforms designed to give customers greater protections, give them more time to challenge decisions or to find replacement banks.

New measures include making banks explain why they are shutting an account, and extending the notice period from 30 days to 90 days.

Read more: 

Coutts hits back amid Nigel Farage bank account row

Key points from Coutts' dossier

Nigel Farage calls bank's apology 'a start' but 'no way near enough'

While the reforms have yet to be enacted legally, they appear to have been accelerated in response to Mr Farage's experience, which sparked outrage among senior Tory MPs.

Mr Griffith has told banks including NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group, Santander and HSBC that the government ""expects"" that ""firms should seek to take action on this policy as soon as possible and make best endeavours to implement"" it.

Other chief executives expected to be called include those at TSB, Metro, Allied Irish, Danske Bank and Bank of Ireland, while the heads of digital finance outfits at Monzo, Starling, Chase, PayPal, Revolut and Wise will also be called to the Treasury.

In his letter Mr Griffith says: ""I am calling a roundtable at the earliest opportunity to hear your views on how you and your firms will ensure that customers can access payment accounts without fear of being de-banked for their lawful expression, and necessary actions to be taken to implement the reforms announced.""

Mr Farage received an apology from NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose for ""deeply inappropriate comments"" about him in official papers.

In a statement on 20 July, Coutts said its policy does not ""close customer accounts solely on the basis of legally held political and personal views"".",Not_Explicit
"Lionel Messi to come off bench in MLS debut for Inter Miami
Messi arrived for his new team's clash against Mexico's Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup just under two hours before kickoff at DRV PNK Stadium, but on the official team list named among the substitutes.
The move was expected, due to Messi's lack of recent competitive action and his limited training activity since announcing his move to Major League Soccer.
Also starting on the bench was fellow new arrival Sergio Busquets, who enjoyed many successful years playing alongside Messi at Barcelona.
Messi looked relaxed as he exited the team bus and strolled into the stadium, stopping briefly to pose for selfies with fans.
The 36-year-old has been hailed as a monumentally significant signing for Inter Miami, MLS in general, and American soccer as a whole, his switch coming just eight months after he led Argentina to a dramatic World Cup triumph.
However, some patience is required before he plays a full role. Messi has not played 90 minutes since he scored in Argentina's 2-0 friendly international victory over Australia in Beijing on June 15. Busquets, meanwhile, has not seen competitive action since May 28.
-
The key to Lionel Messi's MLS mission: Dominating games, not talking about them
How Lionel Messi's Miami arrival mirrors the Beckham Experiment
Cristiano Ronaldo on Lionel Messi joining MLS: 'Saudi League is better'
-
Luis Suarez reportedly wants to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami
Lionel Messi to Inter Miami: Contract details, debut date, full schedule
Lionel Messi takes pictures with fans while shopping at Miami supermarket
-
Lionel Messi unveiled in Miami after lengthy weather delay
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi already has his own chicken sandwich
Wayne Rooney: Lionel Messi 'won't find it easy' in MLS
World Cup 2023 social media tracker: Joe Biden, Tom Brady, Mia Hamm among USWNT well-wishers
-
The key to Lionel Messi's MLS mission: Dominating games, not talking about them
How Lionel Messi's Miami arrival mirrors the Beckham Experiment
Cristiano Ronaldo on Lionel Messi joining MLS: 'Saudi League is better'
-
Luis Suarez reportedly wants to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami
Lionel Messi to Inter Miami: Contract details, debut date, full schedule
Lionel Messi takes pictures with fans while shopping at Miami supermarket
-
Lionel Messi unveiled in Miami after lengthy weather delay
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi already has his own chicken sandwich
Wayne Rooney: Lionel Messi 'won't find it easy' in MLS",Not_Explicit
"Arizona fake electors, Cyber Ninjas' 'audit' under investigation by state attorney general
Arizona's fake electors and the Arizona Senate's hand recount of 2.1 million Maricopa County ballots are under investigation by the Arizona Attorney General's Office.
Investigators are looking at a range of Republican-led efforts to overturn results of the 2020 election, including the so-called ""audit,"" which was the only privately run recount of ballots in America, The Arizona Republic has learned.
The state was a nexus of coordinated attempts to challenge 2020 election results, with events here serving as a template for several swing states where former President Donald Trump lost. Arizona saw a campaign by Trump's legal team to pressure state lawmakers not to certify results; two slates of fake electors certifying that Trump carried the state; and the ""audit,"" which sowed doubts in the voting process.
The ""audit,"" led by Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan, was managed, financed and organized by allies of Trump. It so far has cost Arizona taxpayers more than $5 million without delivering any definitive results.
Logan was involved in a partisan plot to overturn the 2020 election when then-Senate President Karen Fann hired him, documents obtained through a public records lawsuit by The Republic show.
Logan's own text messages show he was unable to quantify the results of his hand count, and privately admitted that he couldn't make sense of the vote tallies that hundreds of volunteers spent two months recording at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Attorney General's Office confirmed Tuesday it had launched a criminal investigation into GOP efforts, but spokesperson Richie Taylor said he could not discuss the scope of the inquiry or any specific details.
He said he could not answer questions about the ""audit,"" Logan or Cyber Ninjas.
Logan did not respond to an interview request.
Arizona prosecutors since May have sought interviews with Trump electors, documents from election officials and evidence collected by the U.S. Department of Justice and prosecutors in other states who are mounting their own election interference investigations, The Washington Post first reported on July 13.
Arizona's investigation continues as the Justice Department ramps up its probe of some Republicans in seven states who submitted falsified documents claiming to be the rightful electors where Democrat Joe Biden actually won in the November 2020 election.
Michigan's attorney general on Tuesday announced felony charges against a group of 16 fake electors, marking the first criminal case to be brought in any state related to the plan.
Fake electors in spotlight in multiple investigations
The Michigan Republicans are accused of trying to use a phony certificate to award the state's Electoral College votes to Trump despite his 154,188-vote loss to Biden. Each person was charged with eight forgery-related counts.
While federal prosecutors in Nevada and state authorities in Georgia have offered immunity deals to those states' fake electors, it's unclear if the same is true of any of Arizona's fake electors. Some of them were subpoenaed a year ago after questions from the now-disbanded House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
State Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, who was among several Arizona GOP representatives who signed the false documents, denied knowing anything about an investigation during a June phone interview.
He brushed off questions about investigations. Asked if he had sought legal counsel, Kern said he didn't need a lawyer. Only people who have done something wrong or had something to hide would need to hire a lawyer, he said.
None of the other Arizona fake electors would comment when contacted by The Arizona Republic in June. State Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, retreated to a members-only stairwell at the Capitol without addressing the issue.
Emails obtained by The New York Times in 2022 showed Arizona lawyer Jack Wilenchik, who was working with the state's fake electors, discussed the plan with a Trump adviser, which he called wild and inventive.
“We would just be sending in ‘fake’ electoral votes to (Vice President Mike) Pence so that ‘someone’ in Congress can make an objection when they start counting votes, and start arguing that the ‘fake’ votes should be counted,” Wilenchik wrote in a Dec. 8, 2020, email.
Wilenchik did not respond to an interview request.
Biden beat Trump by 10,457 votes in Arizona, or 0.3 percent of the nearly 3.4 million ballots cast.
Arizona had two different groups of fake GOP electors.
One group included then-state party Chair Kelli Ward, Kern and Hoffman, and turned the signing into a social media event, promoting it on Twitter. The other group was made up of lesser-known Trump loyalists who called themselves “The Sovereign Citizens of the Great State of Arizona.”
The fake electors scheme was the brainchild of John Eastman, a lawyer on Trump's legal team who proposed the competing slates could create confusion and give Vice President Mike Pence the justification needed to toss out votes from all seven states.
Trump could then be declared the winner, or short of that, the certification of election results could be delayed long enough to give states time to pursue allegations of fraud. Pence, however, refused to go along.
Eastman is now facing a disbarment trial. The State Bar Court of California has charged him with 11 disciplinary counts for his efforts to keep Trump in office. Bar lawyers allege Eastman knew his advice was not supported by law and his purpose was to prevent Biden from becoming president.
Eastman has countered that he was engaged in legitimate legal discussions about the powers of the office of the vice president rather than trying to overturn the election.
Arizona's fake electors have long held that the effort was nothing more than a backup plan in case any of Trump’s legal challenges to his loss in Arizona were successful, to ensure the state had some electors, even though the documentation they submitted did not say as much.
Prominent former prosecutor seeks criminal probe of Cyber Ninjas
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley in June called for state and county authorities to investigate Logan for potential criminal charges.
Romley, a Republican, said this is not a partisan issue. He said Logan has defied court orders to turn over thousands of ""audit"" records.
Logan is not only in contempt of court, he also appears to be violating a state law that makes withholding public records a Class 6 felony, Romley said.
Romley said records Logan has so far released also suggest Cyber Ninjas might have perpetrated fraud by taking millions for an election review that appeared to have a predetermined outcome and could not be completed.
Logan has turned over several thousand text messages in response to The Republic's public records lawsuit, but he has withheld thousands more.
A judge in January 2022 fined Cyber Ninjas $50,000 a day until the company complied with the order to turn over all audit-related material. The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the daily fine in July 2022, rejecting Logan's request to rescind it. The fines to the company now total millions of dollars.
An independent review by a team of data analysts in June found Logan improperly redacted thousands of texts and eliminated others. The review identified missing messages, long gaps in communications and conversations that dropped in midstream.
Senate Republicans in 2021 announced they would commission a hand count of every ballot cast in Maricopa County to address claims the election had been stolen from Trump. The Senate subpoenaed the ballots and other election material from the county.
Fann tapped Logan to lead the audit after privately communicating with retired Army Col. Phil Waldron, an ardent Trump supporter who met with the former president. Although neither Logan nor his company had election auditing experience, Fann at the time said he was ""well qualified"" and ""well experienced.""
The ballot review was supposed to take a few weeks and cost taxpayers $150,000. It ultimately took about two months and so far has cost Arizona more than $5 million.
While Logan confirmed Biden's victory in Arizona, his report to the Senate focused on so-called anomalies that raised doubts about the process. It allowed Trump allies to insist the vote was compromised, instilling distrust in voting machines and encouraging partisan calls for paper ballot tabulations, hand recounts and ""audits.""
Arizona's two slates of fake electors
This is the Arizona Republican slate of electors. These individuals all were listed as electors on the 2020 ballot:
- Tyler Bowyer, an executive with Turning Point USA and a committeeman for the Republican National Committee.
- Nancy Cottle, who chaired the Arizona Trump electors.
- State Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek.
- Then-state Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale.
- Jim Lamon, a failed U.S. Senate candidate.
- Robert Montgomery of the Cochise County Republican Committee.
- Samuel Moorhead of the Gila County Republican Party.
- Loraine Pellegrino, the secretary of the Arizona Trump electors.
- Greg Safsten, former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party.
- Kelli Ward, the state GOP chair at the time,
- Michael Ward, Kelli Ward's husband and a GOP activist.
The Sovereign Citizens slate
- Federico Buck, a real estate professional.
- Cynthia Franco.
- Sarai Franco.
- Stewart A. Hogue.
- Jamie Hunsaker, a Trump enthusiast.
- Carrie Lundell.
- Christeen Taryn Moser.
- Danjee J. Moser.
- Jessica Panell.
- Donald Paul Schween, who was active in Republican Party politics.
- Peter Wang.",Not_Explicit
"Republicans to play more selective role in 2024 midterm candidates
Establishment Republicans are looking to play a more assertive role in ensuring their preferred candidates win in competitive Senate primaries as they work to flip the upper chamber next year.
There’s broad consensus that candidate quality factored in to the party’s failure to take back the Senate in last year’s midterms, with a number of controversial candidates endorsed by former President Trump losing in key states like Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Georgia.
Now, GOP Senate leaders are doing whatever they can to prevent that from happening again in 2024. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the current head of the party’s campaign arm, has said he plans to be more active in recruiting candidates and selective in where the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) sends its support — a departure from his predecessor, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who argued it wasn’t his job to interfere in primaries.
In West Virginia, for example, Daines is backing Gov. Jim Justice (R) as he runs against fellow Republican Rep. Alex Mooney in the Senate primary. They’re both vying for the seat held by Democrat incumbent Sen. Joe Manchin, who hasn’t said whether he’s running for reelection.
In Montana, Daines has been supportive of businessman Tim Sheehy, who is challenging incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, and said he’d prefer to avoid a contentious primary as Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) weighs a bid that could potentially tee up an eventual Tester-Rosendale rematch of their 2018 Senate race.
“Senate Republicans have seen the majority slip through their fingers in previous cycles. And they’re so close to regaining the majority, they can taste it. Republicans in 2024 have an opportunity to be on offense, and they’re going to be looking for candidates who can prevail in a general election,” said Jeff Grappone, who led communications for the Senate GOP Conference under Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), adding that candidate quality “has been an issue” for the party.
“It’s understandable after the last cycle, that there would be a desire to have a different approach, a winning approach, to go on offense and to not leave any opportunities on the table,” Grappone said.
Given the narrow Senate margin, and “given how high the stakes are, I think it’s the right decision for the NRSC to get involved in primaries,” said GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak, although he added that the decision is “not without some risks.”
“A 50-50 Senate could be decisive one way or the other. If you just look at Montana, Ohio and West Virginia, those three — the GOP should be favored in all three of those states if we don’t blow it,” Mackowiak said, noting that states like Arizona and Wisconsin could also be pickup opportunities this time around.
“There’s a pathway to Republicans gaining three or more seats this election cycle, and that would be significant. It’s the most advantageous map, Senate map, in my lifetime for Republicans,” Mackowiak said.
The election handicapper Cook Political Report rates the Senate races for Manchin’s seat in West Virginia, Democrat Sherrod Brown’s seat in Ohio and Independent Kyrsten Sinema’s seat in Arizona as “toss up” states, while Tester’s seat in Montana and Democrat Bob Casey Jr.’s seat in Pennsylvania are among five posts rated “lean Democrat.”
Daines told CBS News last week that the NRSC plans to stay neutral in the Ohio Senate race, where three Republican candidates are now jostling for their party’s nomination in a competitive primary. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) became the latest Republican to announce his candidacy, joining businessman Bernie Moreno and state Sen. Matt Dolan (R).
“When you have three candidates [where] anyone could win the general election, we don’t stay up late at night worrying about that,” the Senate campaign arm’s chair said of Ohio in an interview with CBS News.
“But if we have a situation where a candidate may not be able to appeal across a broader spectrum, that’s where we’ll be more intentional to try to get candidates that can,” Daines said.
But Brian Darling, a GOP strategist and former Senate aide, said establishment Republicans may be setting themselves up for failure by getting involved in primary battles.
“I think it’s a mistake for the party to get involved in primaries,” Darling said. “The party has a mixed record on picking preferred candidates and it doesn’t always work out for them”
Darling added that the party’s involvement in primaries causes rifts between conservatives and the more establishment-wing candidates, creating problems for the eventual general election.
“You end up having these primaries that are pretty, pretty rough-and-tumble, that end up dividing the party and giving ammunition to the Democrats to go after the conservative if the conservative ends up winning,” Darling said.
Darling also raised concerns that the NRSC risks “trying to defeat somebody who may eventually win,” which could then create “a lot of distrust with leadership before these members potentially get elected.”
Other strategists shrugged off that concern, saying those candidates would have to win a general election first in order for that distrust to become a factor.
After a disappointing midterm cycle in which Republicans barely etched out a majority in the House and lost a chance to lead the Senate, many pointed to controversial Trump-backed candidates as at least partially responsible for the failed “red wave.”
Now, some Republicans are saying Trump should stay out of the primaries.
Daines told CBS News that he’s “getting on the same page” with the former president about endorsements and has endorsed Trump in his 2024 bid to get back to the Oval Office.
Darling said endorsements from the former president are “huge” for congressional hopefuls.
“That’s a much more important endorsement than the Senatorial Committee or anybody sitting in the U.S. Senate today,” he said.
CNN reported this week that Trump has told both Mooney in Montana and Rosendale, if he runs in West Virginia, that they’re unlikely to secure his endorsement.
“Certainly, Trump hurt us” in states like Pennsylvania and Arizona last year, Mackowiak said, but it’s “good news” that the former president now seems not to be getting behind “less electable candidates” in places like Montana and West Virginia.
“It appears as though, at least as of now, he’s not going to be the problem he’s been in the past,” the GOP consultant said of Trump.
The party has also appeared to breathe a sigh of relief that some controversial candidates from last year’s midterms are foregoing getting into next year’s races for both the House and Senate.
Pennsylvania’s state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R), who questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election during his 2022 gubernatorial bid, decided against a 2024 run for Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-Pa.) seat. Endorsed by Trump, Mastriano lost his race last year by 15 points.
Others, though, could still jump into Senate races and complicate things for the establishment, like failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R), who is considering an upper chamber bid for Sinema’s seat.
The Hill has reached out to the NRSC for comment.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Romania is set to start its 155mm self-propelled howitzer armament program in the imminent future, focusing on industrial cooperation. In pursuit of this goal, Romania has been in talks with South Korean defense manufacturer Hanwha to produce some components of the K9 Thunder howitzer domestically.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defense has already sought parliamentary approval to launch several weapons programs, including the self-propelled howitzer project. The entire programme, which encompasses the procurement of five 155mm self-propelled howitzer systems at the battalion level, is estimated to be worth $1.923 million.
The Defense Romania website has revealed that Romania may procure a total of 59 K9 155mm self-propelled howitzers from South Korea, with the initial procurement consisting of 18 howitzers.
At a recent strategic event organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Romania, Daniela Nicolescu, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, confirmed talks with Hanwha on the production of K9 Thunder howitzer components in Romania. The South Korean company Poongsan also participated in the discussions on the production of gunpowder.
Romania’s National Company Romarm signed two MoUs with South Korean firms Hanwha Aerospace and LIG Nex1, a missile manufacturer, earlier this year. Procurement of 155mm self-propelled howitzers is expected to start soon, with several tenders anticipated, including Hanwha’s bid for K9 Thunder howitzers.
The K9 Thunder, developed by the South Korean company Samsung Techwin, is a 155mm self-propelled howitzer, initially introduced to the South Korean military in 1999. With a caliber of 155mm, this robust piece of machinery demonstrates impressive range. It can launch standard projectiles up to about 30 kilometers, while the range is extended to about 40 kilometers when rocket-assisted projectiles are used. It is equipped with a highly efficient firing system that allows a burst of 3 rounds in just 15 seconds. The sustained rate of fire is 6 rounds per minute for the first 3 minutes, then reduced to 2 rounds per minute for an hour.
The K9 Thunder is powered by an MTU MT 881 Ka-500 8-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine, which generates a powerful 1000 horsepower. This power allows the 47-tonne vehicle to reach a top highway speed of 67 kilometers per hour. Armament-wise, in addition to the 155mm/52 caliber main gun, it also features a 7.62mm caliber K6 secondary machine gun. It can cover a range of 480 kilometers, demonstrating its substantial endurance in various operational scenarios.
The K9 Thunder is already in service with Estonia, Finland, India, Norway, Poland and South Korea. Australia and Egypt have also bought it. The Turkish Army also signed a contract to produce a localized version called the T-155 Fırtına, replacing many components with domestically produced ones. Furthermore, Finland acquired 48 used K9s from South Korea in 2017 and integrated them into its military forces.
Alain Henry de Frahan",Not_Explicit
"EURACTIV.com with Reuters Est. 3min 22-07-2023 Content-Type: News Service News Service Produced externally by an organization we trust to adhere to journalistic standards. Russian President Vladimir Putin holds an operational meeting via video conference with permanent members of the Russian Security Council in Moscow, Russia, 21 July 2023. [Kremlin pool/EPA/EFE] EURACTIV is part of the Trust Project >>> Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram President Vladimir Putin on Friday (21 July) accused NATO member Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union, and said any aggression against Russia’s neighbour and close ally Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia. Moscow would react to any aggression against Belarus, which forms a loose “Union State” with Russia, “with all the means at our disposal”, Putin told a meeting of his Security Council in televised remarks. Warsaw’s Security Committee decided on Wednesday to move military units to eastern Poland after members of the Russian Wagner mercenary force arrived in Belarus, the state-run news agency PAP quoted its secretary as saying on Friday. Poland denies any territorial ambitions in Belarus. In his remarks Putin had also stated that the western part of Poland was a gift from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to the country and that Russia would remind Poles about it. In apparent reference to that, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted on Friday evening that “Stalin was a war criminal, guilty of the death of hundreds of thousands of Poles. Historical truth is not debatable.” “The ambassador of the Russian Federation will be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”, he said. On Thursday, Belarus said Wagner mercenaries had started to train Belarusian special forces at a military range just a few miles from the Polish border. Tactical nuclear weapons Russia has in recent weeks begun stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus for the first time. The Kremlin said Putin would meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, with whom he speaks regularly, in Russia on Sunday. Putin says Russia positions nuclear bombs in Belarus as warning to West Putin said on 16 June that his deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, something he confirmed for the first time had already happened, was a reminder to the West that it could not inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday that Germany and NATO were prepared to support Poland in defending the military alliance’s eastern flank. Putin said there were press reports of plans for a Polish-Lithuanian unit to be used for operations in western Ukraine – parts of which in the past belonged to Poland – and ultimately to occupy territory there. “It is well known that they also dream of the Belarusian lands,” he said, also without providing any evidence. On Wednesday, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part for now in the war in Ukraine but ordering them to gather strength for Wagner’s operations in Africa while they trained the Belarusian army. Prigozhin says Wagner, which led the conquest of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, is Russia’s most effective fighting force. But his frequent clashes with the Moscow defence establishment led him to stage an armed mutiny four weeks ago. The insurrection ended with an agreement that Wagner fighters – many recruited from prison – could move to Belarus if they wished. Read more with EURACTIV New war with Azerbaijan 'very likely', says Armenian PMArmenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned Friday (21 July) of the risk of a new war with Azerbaijan, accusing Baku of ""genocide"" in the breakaway Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Topics Belarus Global Europe nuclear weapons Poland Russia Russia World",Not_Explicit
"On CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, former Vice President and Republican presidential candidate Mike Pence said he’s not sure Donald Trump’s actions on January 6 were criminal.
“While his words were reckless,” Pence said of his former boss’ actions before and during the pro-Trump mob’s ransacking of the Capitol, “based on what I know, I am not yet convinced that they were criminal.”
“I don’t honestly know what his intention was that day,” Pence added, and “I believe that history will hold him accountable.”
Perhaps. Earlier this week, Trump announced that he’d received a letter notifying him he was a target of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. If true, this indicates that Trump may soon face his third criminal indictment since leaving office. As my colleague Dan Friedman writes:
The letter, according to Trump, offered him a chance to appear before a grand jury meeting in Washington, DC, this week. Prosecutors typically send such letters when they are close to seeking the indictment of a target of their probe.
Trump received a separate target letter from Smith’s office in June prior to his indictment for allegedly violating the Espionage Act, along with other charges, related to his efforts to retain White House documents, many of them highly classified, at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump has also been charged in New York with falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis is also expected to decide soon whether to charge Trump and associates over their attempts to interfere with the 2020 election results in that state.
Pence, of course, was a key target of the January 6 mob. As rioters stormed the Capitol building, toppling barricades, smashing windows, and attacking police officers with various weapons, and the VP and his family were whisked away to a secure location, some of the attackers yelled, “Hang Pence.” Amid all this mayhem, Trump, who appeared to be aware that his vice president was in danger, tweeted, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
He did, actually, by certifying the 2020 election results. But judging from the CNN interview, Pence doesn’t have the courage to stand up to a bully who might literally have gotten him killed.",Not_Explicit
"Conspiracy-mongers in Congress: Republicans go off the deep end
“The most durable narratives are not the ones that stand up to fact-checking. They’re the ones that address our deepest needs and desires,” journalist George Packer once acknowledged. But, he warned, “when facts become fungible, we’re lost.”
These days, in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, conspiracy theories are in the saddle, and facts have become fungible.
During the testimony of John Kerry before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee a couple of weeks ago, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) accused the U.S. Climate Envoy of hyping a global warming “problem that doesn’t exist.” When Kerry pointed to the consensus of climate scientists and the 195 nations that signed the Paris Accords, Perry declared they were “grifting, just like you.” In the 117th Congress, according to one study, 52 percent of House Republicans and 60 percent of Senate Republicans were climate skeptics or deniers. Every time soil or a rock “is deposited into the seas,” opined Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) “that forces the sea levels to rise because now you’ve got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving.”
In May, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced articles of impeachment against FBI Director Christopher Wray. More recently, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, alleged that the Bureau spied on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign “raided” the former president’s home and targeted conservatives in a “double standard” of the system of justice. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) described the Bureau as a “creepy personal snooping machine.” Blasting the FBI as “tyrannical,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) claimed agents “stormed” the home of an anti-abortion activist and arrested him.
The FBI did not “raid” Mar-a-Lago, Wray said; agents acted pursuant to a search warrant approved by a judge. “There are specific rules about where to store classified information,” Wray added, “and in my experience, ballrooms, bathrooms, and bedrooms are not SCIFs” (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities). In the case of the anti-abortion activist, agents knocked on his door and “asked him to exit. He did without incident.” Given his background as a registered Republican who was appointed by President Trump, Wray concluded, “the idea that I’m biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me.”
In May, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) issued a press release: “Grassley, Comer Demand FBI Record Alleging Criminal Scheme Involving Then VP Biden.” Hours later Grassley tweeted, “I can’t verify whether or not it’s really criminal activity…” Two weeks ago, the DOJ unsealed an indictment filed on Nov. 1, 2022, charging Gal Luft, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel, with arms trafficking, sanctions violations, lying to the FBI, and acting as an unregistered agent for China. Arrested in Cyprus in February 2023, Luft skipped bail in April and may now be hiding in Israel. If convicted, he faces up to 100 years in prison.
After acknowledging that Luft was the whistleblower he and Grassley had referenced, Rep. James Comer (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Oversight Committee, insisted he “is a very credible witness.” Comer alleged Luft was the left’s “worst nightmare,” because the FBI had flown to Brussels to interview him, only to insist as well that the Bureau “never investigated any of this. They turned a complete blind eye.” In another non sequitur, Comer stated that Luft had been charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, “which is the main thing we’ve said the Bidens were all along.”
House Republicans joined Comer in suggesting, without evidence, that Luft had been indicted because he had accused the Bidens of wrongdoing. “I don’t trust the DOJ or FBI. They are trying to silence our witnesses,” maintained Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). As Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) recommended immunity from prosecution in exchange for Luft’s testimony against the Bidens, Comer doubled down on his undocumented assertion that “the president of the United States and his family has taken millions of dollars from a company that’s 100 percent wholly owned by the Chinese Communist Party.”
There are 154 House Republicans who claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen; objected to certifying the Electoral College results; supported recounts in swing states; or attended and/or supported the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol who returned or were newly elected to Congress in November 2022. A couple of weeks ago, GOP Chair Ronna McDaniel told CNN’s Chris Wallace “I don’t think he [Biden] won it fair.” The only evidence she cited — a woman from Wayne County, Michigan, who claimed she was told to backdate ballots, and the removal of Republican poll watchers — has been debunked.
McDaniel did not mention that more than 60 court cases challenging the results were rejected. In one of them, Stephanos Bibas, who was appointed to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by President Trump, summarized a simple principle MAGA Republicans and their enablers continue to ignore. Charges of unfairness, Judge Bibas agreed, “are serious.” But such charges “require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”
Let’s hope all Americans keep this principle in mind if, as expected, former President Trump is indicted again in the near future.
Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He is the co-author (with Stuart Blumin) of “Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the Nineteenth Century.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union and said any aggression against its neighbour and ally Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia itself.
In televised remarks on Friday, Putin warned that Moscow would use any means at its disposal to protect Belarus, which forms a loose Union State with Russia, against possible attacks.
Putin said there were reports of plans for a Polish-Lithuanian unit to be used for operations in western Ukraine – parts of which in the past belonged to Poland – and ultimately to occupy territory there.
“But as far as Belarus is concerned, it is part of the Union State. Unleashing aggression against Belarus will mean aggression against the Russian Federation,” Putin said at a meeting of the Kremlin’s Security Council.
“We will respond to this with all the means at our disposal.”
“It is well known that they also dream of the Belarusian lands,” he said, also without providing any evidence.
‘Pathetic bore from the Kremlin’
Poland, a NATO member and one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies in its fight against Russia’s invasion, denied any territorial ambitions in Ukraine or Belarus.
“The pathetic bore from the Kremlin is once again repeating lies about Poland and also trying to falsify the truth about the war against Ukraine,” Poland’s deputy minister coordinator of special services, Stanislaw Zaryn, told the state-owned PAP news agency.
“Vladimir Putin is also using historical revisionism again to spread false accusations against Poland.”
In his remarks, Putin argued Poland’s western territories were a “gift” from former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
“It was thanks to the Soviet Union, thanks to steps taken by Stalin, that Poland got substantial territories in the West – German land. This is a fact,” Putin said. “Western Polish territories are Stalin’s gift to Poland. Have our friends in Warsaw forgotten about it? We’ll give them a reminder.”
Putin’s comments are a message that “Poland has to be grateful to the Soviet Union, to Russia, and instead they are becoming more of an enemy to Russia,” said Nina Khrushcheva, professor of international affairs at the New School and great-granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
“Also this is a message to the Ukrainians: ‘Please remember that for many years Ukraine and Poland were not great friends, and so now you’re being duped.’ So this is a multilayered propaganda message on the Kremlin’s part,” she told Al Jazeera from Moscow.
Poland has reinforced its defences at the border with Belarus, where fighters from the Wagner mercenary force moved after an aborted mutiny in Russia last month.
Warsaw’s Security Committee decided on Wednesday to move military units to eastern Poland after Wagner fighters arrived in Belarus, PAP quoted its secretary as saying on Friday.
On Wednesday, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part for now in the war in Ukraine but ordering them to gather strength for Wagner’s operations in Africa while they trained the Belarusian army.
Prigozhin’s short-lived insurrection four weeks ago ended with an agreement that Wagner fighters – many recruited from prison – could move to Belarus if they wished.
On Thursday, Minsk said Wagner mercenaries had started to train Belarusian special forces at a military range close to the Polish border.
Poland responded by deploying troops near its eastern border.
“These are hardened war criminals, so of course, any Polish government would be concerned,” Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s former defence minister, told Al Jazeera. “The first duty of any government is to protect its external and international border and the people on our side.”
Poland has provided Kyiv with arms and welcomed refugees since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
It has, however, shown no interest in sending troops to Ukraine.
Putin accused its leaders of trying to “directly intervene in the conflict” to occupy Ukrainian land.
Belarus – which borders Ukraine, the European Union and NATO members Poland and Lithuania – served as a launch pad for Russia’s Ukraine invasion.
“With Belarus and the Wagner Group being there and Poland bringing troops to the border with Belarus and Poland also saying it would potentially like to carry a NATO nuclear arsenal to some degree – that’s why I think Poland has become a piece of rhetoric in the Kremlin,” Khrushcheva said.",Not_Explicit
"The boss of NatWest, which owns Coutts, has admitted a ""serious error of judgement"" in discussing Nigel Farage's relationship with the private bank.
Dame Alison Rose said she was ""wrong"" to respond to questions from the BBC about his bank account being closed.
The ex-UKIP leader had demanded NatWest explain how his financial information was made public as the row over his bank account closure escalated.
NatWest said it still had full confidence in Dame Alison at the helm.
Dame Alison's apology comes after the BBC apologised on Monday for its inaccurate report earlier this month which said Mr Farage no longer met the wealth threshold for Coutts, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Mr Farage later secured a Coutts report which indicated his political views were considered.
Dame Alison said in conversations with BBC business editor Simon Jack ""believing it was public knowledge"" she had confirmed that Mr Farage was a Coutts customer and he been offered a NatWest bank account.
The NatWest boss said she did not reveal any personal financial information about Mr Farage.
""In response to a general question about eligibility criteria required to bank with Coutts and NatWest I said that guidance on both was publicly available on their websites.
""In doing so, I recognise that I left Mr Jack with the impression that the decision to close Mr Farage's accounts was solely a commercial one,"" she added.
When Coutts decided to close Mr Farage's account, he said it did not give him a reason.
Mr Farage subsequently obtained a document looking at his suitability as a Coutts customer.
The 40-page document flagged concerns that he was ""xenophobic and racist"", and also questioned the reputational risk of having Mr Farage as a client.
It said that to have Mr Farage as a customer was not consistent with Coutts' ""position as an inclusive organisation"" given his ""publicly stated views"".
Dame Alison said she had not been involved in the decision to close Mr Farage's account, but Coutts had told her it was for commercial reasons.
She said when she spoke to Mr Jack, she had not seen the dossier released by Mr Farage.
""I was wrong to respond to any question raised by the BBC about this case. I want to extend my sincere apologies to Mr Farage for the personal hurt this has caused him and I have written to him today,"" she added.",Not_Explicit
"Federal prosecutors investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results have evidence to charge the former president with three crimes, including section 241 of the US legal code that makes it unlawful to conspire to violate civil rights, two people familiar with the matter said.
The potential charges detailed in a target letter sent to Trump by prosecutors from the office of special counsel Jack Smith, who also charged Trump with retaining classified documents last month, was the clearest signal of an imminent indictment.
Prosecutors appear to have evidence to charge Trump with obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States based on the target letter, two statutes that the House select committee examining the January 6 Capitol attack issued criminal referrals for last year.
The target letter to Trump identified a previously unconsidered third charge, the sources said. That is section 241 of title 18 of the US code, which makes it unlawful to conspire to threaten or intimidate a person in the “free exercise” of any right or privilege under the “Constitution or laws of the United States”.
The statute, enacted to protect the civil rights of Black voters targeted by white supremacy groups after the US civil war, is unusual because it is typically used by prosecutors in law enforcement misconduct and hate crime prosecutions, though its use has expanded in recent years.
What the potential charges means for Trump is unclear.
Prosecutors have been examining various instances of Trump pressuring officials like his former vice-president Mike Pence, but Trump’s efforts to obstruct the transfer of power could also be construed as conspiring to defraud voters more generally.
The other two statutes, meanwhile, suggest a core part of the case against Trump is focused on the so-called fake electors scheme and the former president’s efforts to use the fake slates in a conspiracy to stop the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s election win on 6 January 2021.
The target letter did not cite any seditious conspiracy, incitement of insurrection or deprivation of rights under color of law – other areas for which legal experts have suggested Trump could have legal risk.
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the contents of the target letter, though a senior adviser to Trump did not dispute that section 241 was listed when reached late on Tuesday night.
The New York Times also reported the inclusion of the statute.
Trump, who is facing unprecedented legal peril as he leads the pack of candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, called the target letter “HORRIFYING NEWS” in a post on his Truth Social platform, where he first disclosed the development.
Last year, the House select committee that investigated the Capitol attack concluded that Trump committed multiple crimes in an attempt to reverse his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding.
The committee issued symbolic criminal referrals to the justice department, although at that point the justice department had since stepped up its criminal investigation with the addition of new prosecutors in spring 2022 before they were folded into the special counsel’s office.
House investigators also concluded that there was evidence for prosecutors to charge Trump with conspiracy to defraud and obstruction of an official proceeding. They also issued referrals for incitement of insurrection, which was not listed in the target letter.
Should prosecutors charge Trump in the federal January 6 investigation, the case could go to trial much more quickly than the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case – before the 2024 election – because pre-trial proceedings would not be delayed by rules governing national security materials.
Trump was charged last month for retaining national security materials and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them. Trump and his co-defendant, his valet Walt Nauta, who was charged with conspiring to obstruct and making false statements to the FBI, have both pleaded not guilty.
The target letter to Trump comes weeks before the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, is expected to charge Trump and his allies for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia, the Guardian has previously reported.",Not_Explicit
"Oil Holds Near $80 as US Stockpile Drop Offsets Demand Worries
Oil steadied as persistent demand concerns were offset by declines in crude stockpiles in the US.
(Bloomberg) -- Oil steadied near $80 a barrel in London as traders assessed a mixed picture in the US market and China’s efforts to revitalize its sagging economic growth.
Brent futures were slightly higher on Thursday in thin trading volumes typical for this time of year. US data showed crude inventories at the nation’s storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, shrank last week by the most since October 2021. However, that was tempered by a second weekly drop in demand for the main refined products: gasoline, distillates and jet fuel.
Crude has traded in a narrow range this week, and is still marginally down this year, after making a sharp break higher since late June on signs the market may finally be tightening.
“Brent is clearly finding it difficult to convincingly break above $80 a barrel,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy aat ING Groep NV.
China’s efforts to revive growth, ranging from lower interest rates, easier access to credit and a series of measures to kick-start the moribund housing market have done little to bolster the economy of the biggest crude importer. Another signal that Beijing was seeking to boost corporate confidence came this week, with a joint pledge by the Communist Party and the government to improve conditions for private businesses.
The recent revival in the US dollar, following a slump last week, added to the bearishness for oil, with commodities priced in the currency more expensive for most buyers.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"The Tories’ lesson from Uxbridge: pretend not to be the Tories
The Conservative Party was barely mentioned in election leaflets, while Boris Johnson’s name didn’t come up once
“Wow!” cried Steve Tuckwell, the new Tory MP for Uxbridge & South Ruislip, as he started his victory speech.
Tuckwell’s razor-thin victory came as a surprise to pundits – but also to his own party and, apparently, to Tuckwell himself.
Even though this true-blue slice of suburbia has voted Tory at every election for the last 53 years, most commentators had predicted that Labour would gain Boris Johnson’s old seat, which the former prime minister quit in sensational fashion last month.
Instead, the Conservatives held on by 495 votes, slashing the previous majority of 7,210.
The Covid-19 public inquiry is a historic chance to find out what really happened.
Not that all of Uxbridge’s voters necessarily knew that Steve Tuckwell was a Conservative. openDemocracy collected a range of Conservative leaflets handed out during the campaign, barely any of which so much as mentioned the Conservative Party and even those only in small print. None of them mentioned Boris Johnson.
The only mention of Rishi Sunak came in an eight-page booklet: there was a small photo of one of Sunak’s campaign stops, which didn’t even have a caption mentioning who he was. When Tuckwell gave his victory speech and interviews, he again failed to mention the prime minister.
Instead, Tuckwell fought an almost single-issue campaign, opposing London mayor Sadiq Khan’s proposal to extend the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to the outer suburbs.
Voters could have been forgiven for thinking Tuckwell was standing as an independent. He was described as a “local man and anti-ULEZ campaigner”, and “The STOP ULEZ candidate”, with one voter quoted as saying “I’m voting for Steve to stop ULEZ”. Indeed, more than one voter openDemocracy spoke to said they were only bothering to turn out in order to register a protest against the scheme.
This was despite the fact that the ULEZ policy was first introduced by Khan’s predecessor as mayor – the same Boris Johnson whose departure triggered the by-election.
In this heavily car-dependent area, with wide roads and large drives, the issue clearly cut through. So did dislike of Sadiq Khan – whose photo appeared on Tuckwell’s leaflets almost as many times as Tuckwell himself.
‘Horrendous on the doorsteps’
Tuckwell, by his own admission to the BBC, “wasn’t expected to win this election”. He did not appear to have been briefed by CCHQ on the usual “lines to take”, either, instead simply repeating his ULEZ campaign theme in answer to almost every question.
openDemocracy visited several local Conservative headquarters during the campaign. None seemed terribly energised; at the Uxbridge Conservative Club, our reporter was met with the words: “What are you doing here? You can’t come in – there’s no-one around to answer your questions.”
Other Tory activists we spoke to said it had been “horrendous on the doorsteps” and that they weren’t expecting to hold the seat. Campaigners who were sent a morale-boosting video of the candidate on Wednesday night told openDemocracy that Tuckwell looked “exhausted”, and “a broken man”.
At another Conservative HQ in the seat, a party worker told us that Boris Johnson had been “a divisive figure… he doesn’t come up on the doorstep much but, when he does, it’s negative”.
None of the other parties managed to set the campaign ablaze with other issues. Both Labour and the Tories pledged to save a local police station, each blaming the other for its threatened closure.
Meanwhile, Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party was keen to claim momentum. It blitzed the constituency with glossy leaflets, held a string of press stunts, and on election day they tweeted a picture of Fox in an oak-panelled office with the words: “If things go well in Uxbridge and South Ruislip this evening, I give you the next PM of the United Kingdom.” Hours later, Fox lost his deposit, polling just 2.3%.
Turnout
This was a low-turnout election – though, at 46%, slightly less so than in either of yesterday’s other by-elections.
As political reporters, we’re used to people being jaded. But speaking to voters a week before polling day, the anger seemed particularly bitter. This wasn’t the vague shrug of boredom with politics. It was an active rage.
Most of the people we stopped in the street stormed off as soon as we mentioned the election.
Many of those who did chat sneered at the idea of voting. Some had little idea a by-election was happening; some didn’t know Boris Johnson had been their MP. But they were proud not to be stupid enough to waste their time with all that.
Some told us that they were voting, but only negatively – Tory because they were against ULEZ, Sadiq Khan or Labour in general; or Labour because they were against the Tories. No one we spoke to mentioned anything they were for, anything they were excited about, anything positive at all. If there was a mention of Starmer or Sunak, it was angry.
“The only thing worse than no hope is false hope,” Labour front-bencher Wes Steeeting wrote recently. His party’s commitment to the second worst thing had clearly filtered through to people in Uxbridge.
“We’re fucked,” said one man. If there was an attitude among the people openDemocracy spoke to on the high street in Uxbridge, he had summed it up.
While the media tends to focus on swings in by-elections, in reality, they almost always have much lower turnouts than general elections. The stories they tell are about which parties do and don’t succeed in persuading their backers to the ballot box.
The turnout means taking some of the headline results with a pinch of salt. In Selby and Ainsty, where Labour overturned a majority of 20,000 on a huge swing, their actual number of votes was only 2,600 higher than last time – but they benefited from a vast collapse in turnout among 2019 Tory supporters, just over one in three of whom turned out. In Somerton and Frome, where a 19,000 majority was turned into an 11,000 majority on a 29% swing, the Lib Dem vote was still 15,000 short of what the Tories polled last time. And in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Labour lost 5,000 of its 2019 voters – if it had held its ground, it would have won comfortably. Meanwhile, the Tories managed to turn out more than half of their 2019 voters.
Conservatives will take solace in the fact they managed to hang on in one of these three difficult seats. But the lesson they may draw from Uxbridge – disowning their own party label, and standing a hyper-local, single-issue candidate – may be one that they struggle to translate into a general election strategy.
Read more
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"Five Adani Group Companies See Rise In Shareholder Base In June Quarter
Adani Total Gas led with a 60% rise in the number of shareholders.
Investors in five Adani Group companies rose in the quarter ended June, following the conglomerate's recovery in stock prices after the Supreme Court-appointed committee to look into the Adani-Hindenburg matter did not find any regulatory failure.
Adani Total Gas Ltd. led with a 60% rise in the number of shareholders, according to exchange disclosures. The retail base also grew nearly 61%.
It was followed by Adani Transmission Ltd. with shareholders rising 32%, followed by 8.3% in the news media company New Delhi Television Ltd.
To be sure, many of the Adani Group shareholders are likely to be common among group firms as these were spun-off from Adani Enterprises Ltd.
Foreign portfolio investors also rose in four Gautam Adani-owned companies—Adani Enterprises, Adani Wilmar Ltd., Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. and Adani Green Energy Ltd.
Rajiv Jain’s GQG Partners recently bought an additional 3% stake worth Rs 2,633 crore in Adani Transmission Ltd., taking its total holding in the company to 6.54%.
In March, Adani Group promoters raised $1.87 billion, or about Rs 15,446 crore, by selling stakes in four companies of the apple-to-airports conglomerate to GQG Partners.
The investments were made across Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission.
Disclaimer: AMG Media Networks Ltd., a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd., holds 49% stake in Quintillion Business Media Ltd., the owner of BQ Prime.",Not_Explicit
"Lawmakers seek to slash the cost to citizens to receive Wisconsin voter list
MADISON – The cost to obtain an electronic list of every registered voter in Wisconsin would be capped at $250 under a new proposal from two Republican lawmakers.
Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, and Rep. Amy Binsfield, R-Sheboygan, sent a memo seeking co-sponsors for the legislation on Monday.
The proposed $250 limit would be a significant reduction from the current fee. Under current law, the cost to obtain the state's entire set of voter records is $12,500, an amount the two lawmakers said in the memo is out of reach for most citizens.
""This bill is set to level the field for those who would like to see transparency in our voter information. We want to take away barriers that don’t have a solid purpose,"" Binsfield said in a statement.
The $12,500 figure is based on a $25 base fee, plus $5 per 1,000 records returned by the request. The state currently has nearly 3.6 million registered voters. Without the $12,500 cap, based on the existing formula, the cost of the entire set of records would be about $18,000.
The proposed legislation would apply the $250 limit to electronic records and would allow the Wisconsin Elections Commission to apply an additional fee for producing a physical copy of the list. Under current law, that fee is 25 cents per printed page along with the cost of postage and shipping.
State law currently requires the commission to determine the fee to obtain voter records by estimating, in consultation with local election officials, the cost to maintain and reproduce the list at the state and local levels. There is no mechanism under state law to waive the fee.
Voter records include a registered voter's name, address, which electoral districts they live in, which elections they've voted in and whether they voted in person or via absentee ballot. They also include any additional contact information provided in that person's voter registration.
Voter lists are often purchased by political parties and campaigns, as well as academic researchers. There are no restrictions on how voter files can be used.
According to information compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures and Ballotpedia, costs to obtain voter records in other states range from $0 to nearly $40,000, but most states charge less than $2,500.
A spokesman for the Wisconsin Elections Commission did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the proposal.",Not_Explicit
"The U.S. has suspended funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese research laboratory at the center of the debate over the origins of the coronavirus that has killed nearly 7 million people worldwide.
The lab has not received any U.S. funding since 2020, but for months the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been reviewing its operations, concluding that the institute “is not compliant with federal regulations and is not presently responsible.”
The funding cutoff was prompted by the lab’s “failure to provide documentation on [its] research requested by [the National Institutes of Health] related to concerns that [the lab] violated NIH’s biosafety protocols.”
The virus was first identified in Wuhan. One theory holds that COVID-19 escaped from the Wuhan lab in late 2019, triggering the pandemic. Some scientists believe the virus was passed from animals to people, possibly from a wholesale seafood market.
The U.S. intelligence community has yet to reach a conclusion about the origins of the virus.
Researchers at the institute have repeatedly denied that their work was related to the coronavirus outbreak, but China has blocked international scientists from a wide examination of the facility and its operations.",Not_Explicit
"(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said production at a planned facility in Arizona will be postponed from late 2024 until 2025, an ominous delay as Washington tries to establish a more robust chip industry.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Chairman Mark Liu said there are several challenges that TSMC faces at the US facility, including a shortage of skilled workers and expenses running higher than in Taiwan. The company is shifting some employees to Arizona to help with the development.
“We are working on improving this by sending skilled technical workers from Taiwan to the US,” Liu said on a conference call after earnings.
President Joe Biden’s administration has made development of domestic chip production a top strategic priority, backed by subsidies in the Chips Act that may top $50 billion. As the US clashes with China, American politicians have been concerned about the vulnerability of Taiwan, which Beijing has claimed as its own territory.
TSMC made the remarks as the company reported financial results for the second quarter and cut its outlook for revenue in 2023. The company, which makes chips for Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp., projected a 10% decline in US dollar terms this year, compared with guidance for single-digit declines previously.
ASML Holding NV, the leading producer of chipmaking equipment, warned that politicians seem to be underestimating the complexity of building new fabs. While governments from Washington to Beijing to Berlin want to create domestic chip capabilities, such production is complicated and requires deep expertise.
“People don’t seem to realize that when we start building those fabs across the globe now and are everywhere, that skill has been refined over the last couple of decades in only a few places on the planet — predominantly in Taiwan and in Korea and a bit in China,” said Peter Wennink, chief executive officer of ASML. “Getting access to the requisite skills and skilled workers to keep the construction plan on time is a challenge.”
--With assistance from Adrian Kennedy.
(Updates with ASML comments from sixth paragraph)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"The GOP-controlled Legislature had called a special session to redraw an earlier map after the Supreme Court reaffirmed a federal court order to include two districts where Black voters make up voting-age majorities, “or something quite close to it.” But on Friday, state Republicans approved a new map with just one majority-Black seat and a second district that is approximately 40% Black.
The map was completed Friday afternoon — hours before the court-ordered deadline for the Legislature to draw up new boundaries — as a compromise between the House and Senate versions.
Democrats slammed the map and its drafters, arguing that legislators ignored a court order and that the map continued the racist history of voter suppression.
""There was never any intent in this building to comply with their court order,"" said state Rep. Chris England, a Democrat from Tuscaloosa. ""There was never any intent in this building to comply with the Voting Rights Act.""
England and other Democrats argued the map was designed to bring another challenge to the Voting Rights Act.
""I'm ashamed of what we did here this week,"" said state Rep. Juandalynn Givan, a Democrat from Birmingham. ""We’ve chosen to outright, blatantly disobey the law and to further attempt and vote to bury the Voting Rights Act.""
The district lines are being closely watched by many in Washington, where redistricting battles playing out in the courts in Alabama, New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas and other states could decide control of Congress.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and much of the rest of Alabama's congressional delegation had reached out to Republican legislators, according to Republican state House Speaker Nathan Ledbetter.
Alluding to Tuberville’s past as the football coach at Auburn University, spokesman Steven Stafford said in an email before the final vote: ""Coach just wants the maps to be fair and for all Alabamians to be represented well. He trusts Alabama’s state legislators to get this right.""
McCarthy reached out to plan sponsors and is concerned about maintaining his House majority, Ledbetter said, while Tuberville called Thursday morning and said he was surprised the Supreme Court had ruled against the state, given the court's conservative tilt.
""He was kind of surprised that we were in the situation,"" Ledbetter said. ""There are a lot of eyes on Alabama.""
McCarthy confirmed to NBC News that he talked to ""a few"" Alabama legislators.
""I’d like to know where they’re going to go and whether they’re in the process of happening,"" he said. ""I know the Democrats are trying very hard to redraw New York. ... I think people should be very fair in this process to be able to see what’s happening. I like to know what’s going to happen out there.""
'Flip off' the Supreme Court
Republicans have insisted the maps would give Black voters an opportunity to elect the representatives of their choice as required by the courts, but Democrats, voting rights experts and the groups that sued the original maps disagree.
Kareem Clayton, an Alabama native who is a redistricting expert at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, said his team looked at 15 recent elections to see how the proposed Senate and House drafts would perform.
They found that the candidate preferred by Black voters would win four times out of 15 under the House plan, while Black voters could elect their preferred candidate just once under the Senate plan. And that win was narrow, deriving from a remarkable upset: former Sen. Doug Jones' historic upset over Roy Moore, a Republican accused of sexual misconduct with teenagers.
""The through line in both plans is obviously they're prioritizing keeping the Gulf Coast together, the very thing the Supreme Court said wasn't more important than delivering a serious, effective opportunity for African American voters,"" he said.
The voting and civil rights groups that challenged the map as a violation of the Voting Rights Act promised to fight the new one as well.
Plaintiffs can submit objections in the coming weeks under the current court order, and the federal judges will consider them at an Aug. 14 hearing. The court can decide to hire an outside expert to redraw the maps if it agrees that the map is another racial gerrymander.
As the Legislature advanced two maps without a second Black-majority district, plaintiffs expressed outrage and shock.
Marina Jenkins, the executive director of the National Redistricting Foundation — one of the groups that supported some of the plaintiffs in the suit, Allen v. Milligan — slammed the maps in a statement.
“Alabama Republicans are intentionally drawing political retention maps at the expense of Black Alabamians — in defiance of the Supreme Court and the Alabama district court. It is a continuation of the state’s long, sordid history of disenfranchising Black voters,” she said, promising to challenge the maps in court.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney Deuel Ross, who argued the case before the Supreme Court, said the plaintiffs were disappointed in Alabama's responses to the court orders.
""This is exactly why the Voting Rights Act was first created — this sort of stubbornness of states,"" he said in an interview. ""Even when a court says that they're violating federal law or the Constitution, they continue to fail to do the right thing. It's troubling, but it's part of a troubling history that has existed in America and Alabama for a long time.""
CORRECTION (July 21, 2023 8:43 a.m. ET): A headline and a previous version of this article misstated McCarthy’s title. He is the House speaker, not its majority leader.",Not_Explicit
"Justice Department sues Texas over floating barrier in Rio Grande River
The Justice Department on Monday sued the state of Texas in a suit seeking to compel Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to remove a barrier in the Rio Grande River designed to block migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We allege that Texas has flouted federal law by installing a barrier in the Rio Grande without obtaining the required federal authorization,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement announcing the suit.
“This floating barrier poses threats to navigation and public safety and presents humanitarian concerns,” she said, adding that the barrier has prompted protests and “risks damaging U.S. foreign policy.”
The barrier, roughly 1,000 feet of buoys ranging from four to six feet in diameter, is the latest escalation from Texas, which also installed razor wire near the border and is among several states that have bussed migrants to left-leaning cities.
In anticipation of the suit, Abbott, who received a letter from the Justice Department Friday asking for the removal of the buoys, said in a Monday letter “Texas will see you in court.”
The suit argues the buoys are a violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act, which prohibits unauthorized barriers in any navigable waters.
DEVELOPING
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender, representing a further blow to Russia’s embattled LGBTQ+ community.
The act, passed unanimously by both houses of parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person”, as well as banning changing a person’s gender in official documents or public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.
It also annuls marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.
The ban is said to stem from the Kremlin’s crusade to protect what it views as the country’s “traditional values”. Lawmakers say the legislation is to safeguard Russia against “western anti-family ideology”, with some describing gender transitioning as “pure satanism”.
Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ people started a decade ago when the president first proclaimed a focus on “traditional family values”, supported by the Russian Orthodox church.
In 2013, the Kremlin adopted legislation that banned any public endorsement of “nontraditional sexual relations” among minors. In 2020, Putin pushed through constitutional reform that outlawed same-sex marriage and last he year signed a law banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” among adults.",Not_Explicit
"Stock Market Live: GIFT Nifty Signals Cautious Start; Reliance, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel In Focus
Live updates on India's equity markets on July 25.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Oldest First
PSU Banks See Buying Interest Even After Results: Trade Setup
Global Cues
U.S. Dollar Index at 101.3
U.S. 10-year bond yield at 3.86%
Brent crude up 0.07% at $82.80 per barrel
Nymex crude up 0.15% at $78.86 per barrel
GIFT Nifty down 0.07% or 14 points at 19,719 as of 8:20 a.m.
Bitcoin down 0.23% at $29,077.57
Trading Tweaks
Ex-date Dividend: Carborundum Universal, Transport Corporation of India, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance, Kirloskar Brothers, Orient Cement, KEC International, Paushak
Ex-date Interim dividend: Bhansali Engineering Polymers
Ex-date AGM: Carborundum Universal, Transport Corporation of India, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance, VIP Industries
Record date dividend: Kirloskar Brothers, Paushak, KEC International
Move Into Short-Term ASM Framework: Transformers and Rectifiers (India), Sterling, and Wilson Renewable Energy
Move Out Of Short-Term ASM Framework: PC Jeweller.
Bulk Deals
Usha Martin: Sixteenth Street Asian Gems Fund bought 16.5 lakh shares (0.5%) at Rs 329.07 apiece.
Lloyds Metals And Energy: Om Hari Halan sold 35 lakh shares (0.7%) at Rs 560.93 apiece.
Earnings In Focus
Amber Enterprises India, Apollo Pipes, Asian Paints, Aurionpro Solutions, Bajaj Auto, Cyient, CEAT, Delta Corp., Dixon Technologies (India), Jubilant FoodWorks, Jyothy Labs, KPIT Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra Holidays and Resorts, Mindspace Business Parks REIT, Hitachi Energy India, RattanIndia Power, SBI Life Insurance Company, Sundaram-Clayton, Tata Motors, Suzlon Energy, and UTI Asset Management Company.",Not_Explicit
"Head of Arizona's school voucher program, which is bigger than any Arizona school district, resigns
The executive director of Arizona's school voucher program, which has grown in the past year to more than 60,000 students, making it bigger than any public school district in the state, resigned Monday.
Christine Accurso began directing the Empowerment Scholarship Account program within the Arizona Department of Education in January, when Republican Tom Horne took office as the state’s superintendent of public instruction.
""It is time for me to move on and pursue opportunities to engage citizens, especially parents, to fight for school choice and the other issues they believe in, for the future of our state and of our nation,"" Accurso said in a statement.
She oversaw the voucher program during a time of rapid growth, which began during the final months of the Education Department's administration by Kathy Hoffman, Horne's predecessor. Last year, the Legislature massively expanded the voucher program to make all school-age children eligible for public funding. The most common voucher amount is around $7,000 per student. That money can be used for private school tuition, homeschool supplies, tutoring and other educational resources.
Previously, the program had been restricted to select groups, including students with disabilities and children in foster care.
Before her role in the Horne administration, Accurso was a staunch proponent of universal voucher expansion. She encouraged people not to sign petitions by voucher opponents that would have put the expansion before voters. She also served as the head of an anti-abortion pregnancy center in Phoenix.
According to Department of Education spokesperson Doug Nick, Accurso told the department that she took the school voucher director position to ""clean up"" the recently expanded program and ""having successfully done that she has chosen to move on.""
At the end of the 2021-22 school year, there were roughly 12,000 students in the program.
In late December 2022, just before Horne took office, there were about 45,000.
As of Monday, there were roughly 60,500.
""She worked tirelessly managing the ... operation during a period of unprecedented growth and confronted the various challenges that accompany the transition from a limited program to one available to all Arizona parents,"" Nick said.
The Horne administration has promised that universal school vouchers would bring equity to school choice in Arizona, but as it has ballooned, Democratic lawmakers and public education advocates have raised concerns about how to fund it. The initial rush of school voucher enrollments in September came from students already enrolled in private schools, according to an analysis by the state Education Department.
Early in the Horne administration, Accurso and the voucher program came under fire by parents of students with special education needs who told the State Board of Education that the program was being poorly administered and they were experiencing late payments. Vendors serving the program said they were experiencing late payments and a lack of communication from the Education Department. Accurso attributed payment issues to a backlog that began under Hoffman and problems with the company that processes payments.
Accurso oversaw significant changes to the voucher program's handbook for parents, which was approved in April. The revisions included allowing students with disabilities to be assessed by an independent evaluator or private school in addition to a public school, requiring families to submit a curriculum for items not commonly used for educational purposes, and lessening the credential requirements for a tutor.
The school voucher program will now be under the direction of John Ward, the internal auditor brought to the department from the Arizona Auditor General's Office when Horne took office, Nick said.
Ward has 16 years of experience as an auditor and ""extensive knowledge of the many technical aspects of managing the large financial system required"" to operate the school voucher program as it grows, he said.
AZ's school voucher program explained:Answers to common questions about Arizona's school voucher program",Not_Explicit
"- Ukraine reported a lower success rate in shooting down Russian missiles targeting Odesa.
- Ukraine's president said it needs better missile defense systems to stop infrastructure attacks.
- Ukraine said it shot down 37 of 63 missiles and drones Wednesday, mainly targeting Odesa.
Ukraine reported a lower success rate in shooting down missiles targeting the key port city of Odesa, a likely sign that it doesn't have enough ammo to stop all the missiles from Russia.
Over the last two nights, Russia targeted grain shipment sites and port infrastructure, mainly in the Ukrainian city of Odesa. It came after the Kremlin pulled out of a UN deal allowing safe passage to vessels transporting grain in the Black Sea.
In its air defense update, the Ukrainian armed forces said Russia fired 63 missiles and drones to attack Ukraine, and 37 had been shot down from Tuesday to Thursday, giving it a 59% success rate.
It's a significantly lower success rate than Ukraine was reporting in foiling Russian air attacks in Kyiv in May, when it said that 90% of Russian missiles and drones were being downed.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, on Wednesday said that Ukraine urgently needed more air defense systems.
""It is necessary to ensure air defense of all Ukrainian cities, especially those that supply the military, through which the main logistics corridors pass, where strategic infrastructure and nuclear facilities are located,"" he said at a press conference in Kyiv.
He called on Ukraine's Western allies to supply it with more SAMP/T and Patriot missile defense systems to protect against Russian attacks. The systems are used to shoot down long-range missiles, such as the Russian Kalibr cruise missiles used in the recent attacks on Odesa.
""They work perfectly. If we had additional systems, they would protect the infrastructure of Odesa, and not just the port. Or it could be Patriot systems,"" he said.
Yaroslav Trofimov, a foreign affairs correspondent at The Wall St Journal, said that Ukraine's relatively low missile interception success rate indicated that it needed urgent improvements to its air defenses.
—Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) July 20, 2023
""Overnight, Ukraine managed to shoot down only 5 out of 19 missiles fired by Russia at Odesa and Mykolaiv port infrastructure,"" he tweeted Thursday, referencing data on Wednesday night's Odesa attack. ""It urgently needs more and more modern air defenses — or an ability to take out Russian launchers in Crimea.""
Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian government advisor, said some of the missiles used to target Odesa were Oniks, a type of low-flying anti-ship missile Ukraine had no defenses against.
Ukraine was vulnerable to Russian missile and drone attacks in the early months of the conflict, but has built an effective multi-layered air defense system around Kyiv with the help of its Western allies, a report by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) said.
This means that it's able to shoot down most of the missiles and drones Russia uses to target the Ukrainian capital, reporting a 100% success rate on some nights in June.
But a problem is missile defense ammunition stockpiles, with a US defense official telling Reuters last year that Russia was deliberately trying to exhaust Ukraine's supply by launching waves of attacks, sometimes using unarmed missiles.
And according to the ECFR report, Kyiv is the only Ukrainian city with sufficient air defense protection, and Ukraine's other major cities remain vulnerable to Russian attacks.
""Extending the missile sanctuary to the rest of the country is no easy task, but it will enable future Ukrainian offensives and show the Russians that their illegal war cannot be won,"" it said, calling on Western countries to increase its supply or air defense systems and ammunition to Ukraine.",Not_Explicit
"England fails to impress in first look at Women's World Cup
It was one of the most pressing questions coming into this Women's World Cup.
Could England, despite missing four of the 11 starters from last summer's European Championship triumph – the only trophy, men's or women's, the country that invented the sport has won in more than half a century – overcome those absences and compete for soccer's ultimate prize?
If Saturday's 1-0 win over Haiti is anything to go by, the answer is probably not.
In a wildly entertaining match in Brisbane, Australia, the Lionesses rode a first-half penalty kick by Georgia Stanway to claim all three points against a tournament newcomer playing in its very first World Cup game. The win was fully expected. The manner of victory, well, that part was anything but impressive.
Even without the injured trio of Fran Kirby, Beth Mead, Leah Williamson and the retired Ellen White, FIFA's fourth-ranked squad was supposed to pummel the No. 53 Haitians. The bigger tests for England were supposed to come later in the first round, in matches against Denmark and China, and then in the knockout phase. The group stage was supposed to be nothing more than a formality.
But after watching the Lionesses struggle for long stretches against a plucky, athletic but decidedly inexperienced foe, it's all but impossible to see England standing on the podium with confetti raining down around them following the Aug. 20 final in Sydney.
England came into the competition with the bookies' second-best odds of winning it all, behind the two-time defending United States. But while the title-favorite U.S. was held to a single goal by debutant Vietnam until deep into first half stoppage time in their opening match on Friday, they still ran out as 3-0 winners by the time the final whistle blew.
Saturday marked just the third day of the 2023 World Cup, and already a trend has started to emerge. Billed as the most competitive tourney ever, that's precisely how it has played out so far.
So while it's possible that England will rebound from its lackluster opener and go on to make a deep run, it sure doesn't seem likely following its opening contest. That's not to take anything away from the Haitians, who deserve a ton of credit for their performance.
Les Grenadières defended their hearts out on Saturday and scared their more decorated opponent on more than one occasion. Haiti fought for every 50-50 ball. The players most certainly didn't play scared. And they might even have stolen a goal with just a little more patience and quality in England's end. Even then, Haiti came oh-so-close to netting the equalizer several times after falling behind, their three shots on target forcing a trio of superb saves out of goalkeeper Mary Earps in the second half. Melchie Daëlle Dumornay, just 19, was a revelation for the Haitians throughout.
While England still collected all three points, they really didn't look dangerous despite a 21-7 shot and 75-25 possession advantage, despite Haitian backstop Kerly Théus making nine saves – some of them spectacular – of her own.
The hard truth for England supporters is that Wiegman's side had next to no answers without veteran attackers Kirby, Mead and White in its first game, the Lionesses' only goal coming on a retaken effort from the spot after a silly (and totally avoidable) handball by winger Batcheba Louis.
In other words, England got lucky. And it's going to get much harder from here.
""What we want to do, of course, is finish our chances,"" Wiegman said afterward. ""I hope the next game in open play we can score a goal.""
The Lionesses are capable of that. Winning the World Cup without some of their most experienced and important players? They can still hope for that, too. But based on Saturday's evidence at least, that particular goal is almost certainly beyond them.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Bettor places big bet, $70k on USWNT to beat Vietnam in Women's World Cup
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: Nigeria-Canada ends in draw
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: Alternate betting options for USWNT-Vietnam
Women's World Cup Daily: Host countries New Zealand, Australia both pick up wins
Philippines-Switzerland, Spain-Costa Rica predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
-
How USWNT is prepping for Vietnam in World Cup opener
Women's World Cup power rankings: United States No. 1; Canada moves down after draw
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: Switzerland tops Philippines, 2-0
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Bettor places big bet, $70k on USWNT to beat Vietnam in Women's World Cup
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: Nigeria-Canada ends in draw
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: Alternate betting options for USWNT-Vietnam
Women's World Cup Daily: Host countries New Zealand, Australia both pick up wins
Philippines-Switzerland, Spain-Costa Rica predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
-
How USWNT is prepping for Vietnam in World Cup opener
Women's World Cup power rankings: United States No. 1; Canada moves down after draw
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: Switzerland tops Philippines, 2-0",Not_Explicit
"BELGRADE, July 21 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's parliament voted on Friday to end Russian oil firm Lukoil's (LKOH.MM) concession to run the Rosenets oil terminal near the Black Sea port of Burgas, a move lawmakers hope will speed the country's entry to the EU's Schengen borderless area.
The bill supported by 144 deputies in the 240-seat parliament, stipulates that Lukoil will be allowed to operate the oil terminal after the termination of the concession, but must pay fees to the Bulgarian government. It also says that the concession will end within a week.
The Rosenets port, just outside Burgas, is the only specialised oil terminal on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. It has been under Lukoil's control since 2011, when the Russian company was granted a 35-year concession.
The terminal serves Bulgaria’s only refinery, Neftochim Burgas, which has capacity to process 196,000 barrels per day and is also owned by Lukoil. In January, Bulgarian lawmakers adopted a decision that paves the way for the government to take over operation of the refinery for up to a year.
In its proposal before parliament, the ruling centre-right GERB, We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB), and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms parties, said the termination of the concession would prevent Russia from using Bulgarian facilities to finance its war in Ukraine.
It would also ensure the enforcement of EU sanctions, helping Bulgaria's Schengen bid, PP-DB co-chair Kiril Petkov, said the ahead of the vote. Bulgaria hopes to be admitted as early as this autumn.
""Our strategic goal is to enter Schengen and this is a big step towards it. This ... is also in line with the EU's ... sanctions"" against Russia, Petkov said.
In a statement on Thursday, the Lukoil Neftochim refinery said it will seek court protection against parliament's decision.
On Wednesday, Bulgaria's pro-Russian President Rumen Radev also criticised the move.
""The proposal to terminate the concession ... is yet another rushed and wrong idea of political leaders,"" he told reporters.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - Senate Democrats are pursuing legislation this week that would set a binding ethics code for the U.S. Supreme Court following revelations that some conservative justices have failed to disclose luxury trips and real estate transactions - a measure facing an uphill battle thanks to Republican opposition.
Senate Judiciary Committee members on Thursday are set to debate and vote on a bill introduced by Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse that would impose on the top U.S. judicial body new requirements for financial disclosures and for recusal from cases in which a justice may have a conflict of interest.
Unlike other members of the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court's nine life-tenured justices have no binding ethics code of conduct. They are subject, as many high-level federal officials are, to disclosure laws requiring them to report outside income and certain gifts, though food and other ""personal hospitality"" such as lodging at an individual's residence is generally exempted.
Justices also decide for themselves whether to step aside from cases involving a possible conflict of interest.
Democratic lawmakers have said that news reports in recent months detailing ties between wealthy benefactors and some conservative justices show the court cannot be trusted to police itself.
""To hold these nine justices to the same standard as every other federal judge is not a radical or partisan notion,"" Whitehouse and the committee's Democratic chairman Senator Dick Durbin said last week in a joint statement.
The legislation, even if it manages to gain committee approval, would face long odds to win passage on the Senate floor, where it would need some Republican support to advance. And it appears to have little chance to get through the Republican-led House of Representatives.
The news outlet ProPublica has detailed ties spanning decades between conservative Justice Clarence Thomas and billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow, including real estate purchases and luxury travel paid for by the Dallas businessman. ProPublica also has reported that conservative Justice Samuel Alito failed to disclose a private flight to Alaska provided by a billionaire hedge fund manager whose business interests have come before the court as the justice took a luxury fishing trip.
Separately, the news outlet Politico has reported that conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch failed to disclose that the buyer of a Colorado property in which he had a stake was the chief executive of a major law firm whose attorneys have been involved in various Supreme Court cases.
The court's public approval cleaves along partisan lines as its 6-3 conservative majority continues to steer the law in a rightward direction, with 44% of respondents - including 28% of Democrats and 72% of Republicans - expressing a favorable view of it in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in June.
Some Judiciary Committee Republicans have sought to portray the ethics reform push as an effort by liberals and Democrats to smear the court, and have argued that it should set its own rules.
""The Supreme Court does a good job of that on their own,"" Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Reuters, referring to ethics rules. ""My general inclination is to let them do it.""
Senator John Kennedy, another Republican panel member, questioned whether lawmakers possess the power to impose ethics standards on the court.
""I'm not sure that Congress has the authority to do it under the separation of powers,"" Kennedy told reporters, referring to the U.S. Constitution's division of powers among the U.S. government's executive, legislative and judicial branches.
The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Supreme Court ethics concerns in May, but conservative Chief Justice John Roberts rebuffed Durbin's invitation to testify, citing ""the importance of preserving judicial independence.""
Roberts has said the justices, in assessing their own ethics obligations, consult a code of conduct adopted by the policymaking body for the broader federal judiciary. That code, binding to lower federal court judges but not the justices, requires judges to avoid even the ""appearance of impropriety.""
Whitehouse's legislation would require the justices to adopt a code of conduct as well as create a mechanism to investigate alleged violations. Whitehouse has accused the justices of reading current ethics rules ""in unique and eccentric ways.""
""And when they're caught out of bounds,"" Whitehouse said at the May hearing, ""they refuse to allow any investigation of the facts.""
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Derek McInnes hopes Kilmarnock's hard-fought Viaplay Cup win at Dunfermline is a sign of things to come for his side this season.
Goals in each half from Fraser Murray and Kyle Vassell sent McInnes' side to the Group F summit with full points from two games.
“Winning on the road is something we have to do a lot more of this season and this was always going to be a tough game for us,"" said the Rugby Park boss.
“The pitch was really dry and sticky. We tried to play an intense cup tie, but the ball wasn’t travelling along the surface well so the game became a bit feisty and slow. Sometimes you just need to dour it out and when we get the second goal it knocked the stuffing out of them.
“Vassell coming back is a huge lift for us, just as it was when he joined in January.”
Former Aberdeen forward Marley Watkins made his debut off the bench after signing for Killie on Friday. McInnes is eyeing further reinforcements but says nothing is ""imminent"".
He added: ""We’re doing a lot of talking – we’d be top of the league for talking.
“We’ve made a pitch to try to get a couple of players and are still trying to get more balance to the squad but I’m pleased with the work we’ve done.""",Not_Explicit
"WARSAW, Poland -- Hundreds of women in Poland protested outside police stations Tuesday to oppose the allegedly ruthless way officers treated a woman who had taken an abortion pill.
The protests in Krakow, Warsaw and some other cities were intended to show solidarity with the woman and to condemn police shaming practices.
The woman, identified publicly only as Joanna, has told Polish media outlets that police surrounded her and searched her belongings as she was preparing for an obstetrician to examine her at a Krakow hospital.
The woman's doctor had notified the ambulance service and police after the stressed-out patient had called to report she was feeling unwell at home after having taken the pill to end her pregnancy.
Officers were there when the medics were transporting the woman and also during her visit to the hospital.
The woman says she felt humiliated, which added to her stress and poor condition.
Police officials insist that having the officers on hand was required and non-oppressive, but Poland's political opposition is calling for the head of police to resign. The justice minister, who is also the chief prosecutor, has ordered an investigation.
Abortions only are allowed in Poland for pregnancies resulting from crimes like rape or incest. It is otherwise illegal to perform or aid in an abortion, although a woman terminating her own pregnancy does not break the law.",Not_Explicit
"As the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Britain led the world into modernity. Today, it seems determined to do the opposite, its politicians happier mouthing platitudes about net zero than they are with getting on with growth. Nowhere has this been more clearly illustrated than in the response to Michael Gove’s housing speech, which dangled the prospect of a new Cambridge quarter filled with beautiful, dense housing and lab space; a fitting gift for one of the world’s finest cities.
And how was this vision met? With objections so short-sighted they were almost comical. Anthony Browne, a local Tory MP, swore he’d do “everything I can” to block it. Cambridge has “run out of water”, and new reservoirs will take 20 years to build. Speeding this up by waving through plans and buying extra buckets and spades is apparently beyond the ken of man.
These objections are a perfect example of why Britain is poor – and apparently wants to be poorer. The Hungarian sinologist Étienne Balazs once described imperial China as “a regime of paperwork and harassment, endless paperwork and endless harassment”. At times, this feels like the state that Britain has chosen to model itself on. Every attempt to build or innovate is choked off.
As a result, we are slipping behind countries we once considered our peers. We invest far less of our GDP in machinery and buildings than other rich countries, and the effects are showing. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the prosperity of Australia and the United Kingdom tracked one another. Today, Australians produce in real terms $8,000 more than their British counterparts.
Americans, meanwhile, might as well be living on a different planet; the gap in output per person between Britain and America is twice as large as the gap between Britain and Romania. And the rest are catching up. Poland, a country once ravaged by communism, is growing so quickly that, if you project pre-pandemic growth rates forward, it overtakes the UK’s GDP per capita in ten years’ time.
It’s no mystery why. Cambridge should be a shining star in the economy of the South East, churning out biotech unicorns and building on its deep heritage of academic expertise to forge the industries of the future. Yet its expansion is choked off by regulation that seems actively hostile to economic growth.
Prosperity comes through people, in the right place and the right jobs. Our own history shows how much this matters. In 1700, Manchester was a market town of around 10,000 people. As cotton spinning took flight, the economy grew and by 1850 some 300,000 people called it home. The city was dubbed “Cottonopolis”, filled with warehouses described in Dickens’s Household Words as “fit for the Town Hall of any respectable municipality”. Would that growth be permitted today?
Economists have estimated that loosening planning constraints in just three US cities would let people work in better jobs, boosting GDP by around 9 per cent. Lifting housing constraints in England’s South East could have a similar effect.
The Cambridge plan was put forward because past attempts to boost building have failed. But despite the economic case and the intent to build for beauty, people are still finding ways to object. At this point, if the UK is utterly determined to become the world leader in degrowth, we might as well pack it in and move to France – where they do at least build houses.",Not_Explicit
"Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who returned home on July 15 after she was reportedly missing for two days, was never missing, Hoover Police Department Chief Nicholas Derzis told reporters at a news conference Monday.
Derzis read a statement he said was provided to police by Russell’s attorney, Emory Anthony, acknowledging “there was no kidnapping.”
“My client has given me permission to make the following statement on her behalf. There was no kidnapping on Thursday, July 13th 2023. My client did not see a baby on the side of the road. My client did not leave the Hoover area when she was identified as a missing person. My client did not have any help in this incident. This was [a] single act done by herself,” the statement, as read by Derzis, said.
“We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward. Understanding that she made a mistake in this matter, Carlee again asks for your forgiveness and prayers,” the statement continued.
Derzis said police have a meeting with Anthony scheduled to discuss the case, and they are in discussions with the Jefferson County District Attorney's office over “possible criminal charges related to this case.” He said there is no meeting with Russell or her family at present.
Derzis added that police will announce potential charges “when and if they are filed.”
The press conference on Monday came after police told the public last Wednesday that Russell searched for Amber Alerts and the movie ""Taken"" on her phone before her disappearance.
Russell also made searches related to bus tickets in the hours before she went missing, Derzis said.
""There were other searches on Carlee's phone that appeared to shed some light on her mindset,"" Derzis said, adding he would not share them out of privacy.
""Taken,"" the 2008 movie starring Liam Neeson, centers around a young woman who is abducted and the quest to save her from her kidnappers.
ABC News has reached out to Anthony and Russell's family for comment.
Russell told police that she was taken by a male and a female when she stopped to check on a toddler she saw on the highway, Derzis said last Wednesday.
""She stated when she got out of her vehicle to check on the child, a man came out of the trees and mumbled that he was checking on the baby. She claimed that the man then picked her up, and she screamed,"" he said at the time.
Asked if investigators saw a man abduct Russell in the surveillance video of the interstate, Derzis said that they did not.
Russell called 911 on July 12 at around 9:30 p.m. ET to report a toddler on Interstate 459 in Alabama before her disappearance, but the Hoover Police Department said in a press release last Tuesday that investigators did not find any evidence of a child walking on the side of the road.
""The Hoover Police Department has not located any evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate, nor did we receive any additional calls about a toddler walking down the interstate, despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video,"" the press release said.
""People have to understand that when someone says something like this, we put every available resource -- everybody comes from a state, local, federal -- it's just a lot of work,"" he said last week.
Derzis was also asked last week if the next time a woman of color goes missing, the case may not be taken seriously. He replied: ""We investigate every crime to the fullest just like we have this one.""
ABC News' Nadine El-Bawab and Mariama Jalloh contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"International Chess Day 2023: Date, History, Significance, How To Celebrate
World Chess Day is a day to celebrate the game of chess and its benefits for people of all ages.
International Chess Day is celebrated on July 20 every year to commemorate the founding of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in 1924. FIDE is the governing body of international chess and is responsible for organising the World Chess Championship and other major chess tournaments.
ð In two days, we celebrate the 99th birthday of FIDE and the International Chess Day!— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 18, 2023
âï¸ Join us in our tradition and teach someone to play chess on July 20. ð¤ Let's make the chess community bigger and spread our love for chess to the world!
ð£ï¸ Share your videos and images⦠pic.twitter.com/fvdke4Mzac
International Chess Day 2023: History
International Chess Day was officially declared by the United Nations General Assembly on December 12, 2019. However, World Chess Day is celebrated on July 20 each year as the date coincides with the founding of the FIDE in 1924.
Chess, which originated in India around the 6th century, was originally known as 'chaturanga'. It eventually spread to Persia and then to the Islamic world, before reaching Europe by the late middle ages. The game has since evolved and grown exponentially, becoming a popular pastime and competitive activity worldwide.
International Chess Day 2023: Significance
International Chess Day is significant because it is not only for chess enthusiasts but also for communities worldwide. The day serves to highlight the educational benefits of chess, enhancing cognitive abilities, logical reasoning, and strategic thinking in children and adults alike. It also celebrates the game's universal appeal, transcending linguistic, cultural, and geographical barriers, as it is played in every corner of the world.
Moreover, chess fosters camaraderie and sportsmanship, teaching lessons in patience, decision-making, and resilience. The game, despite its competitive nature, encourages dialogue and mutual respect between opponents, making it a metaphor for peaceful coexistence.
International Chess Day 2023: How To Celebrate
There are various ways in which you can celebrate International Chess Day:
Participate in a Chess Tournament: Many chess clubs and organisations host special tournaments on World Chess Day. You could participate in one such event, testing your skills against other enthusiasts and potentially earning a bit of friendly prestige.
Host a Chess-Themed Party: Gather your friends and family for a fun-filled day of chess. You could set up multiple boards for people to play, and decorate your home with a chess theme. Make it an event for all, regardless of their level of knowledge or expertise in the game.
Learn the Game: If you've never played chess before, World Chess Day provides a perfect opportunity to learn. You can find tutorials online, or get a friend to teach you the basics. If you're already a player, consider deepening your understanding of strategy or studying the games of grandmasters.
Teach Chess: If you're already a proficient player, why not pass on your knowledge? Teaching chess to children or adults who want to learn can be incredibly rewarding.
Play Online: Chess platforms online host special events and tournaments on World Chess Day. There are many online platforms like Lichess that offers players to play online with different players across the world.",Not_Explicit
"North Korea has fired “several cruise missiles” into the Yellow Sea between China and the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) says.
The launches, which the military said took place about 4am on Saturday (1900 GMT Friday), come as relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points ever and as Pyongyang remained silent about the fate of a US soldier who fled across the border on Tuesday.
“South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analysing the launches while monitoring signs of additional activities,” the JCS said.
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea on its opposite coast towards Japan just three days earlier.
The recent weapons tests are the latest in a series by Pyongyang and come as Seoul and Washington ramp up defence cooperation in the face of soaring tensions with the North.
Diplomacy between Pyongyang and Seoul has stalled and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for ramping up weapons development, including tactical nukes.
In response, Seoul and Washington have staged joint military exercises with advanced stealth jets and US strategic assets, while an American nuclear-armed submarine this week made a South Korean port call for the first time in decades.
North Korea’s defence minister, Kang Sun-nam, issued a veiled threat on Thursday, suggesting the docking of the Kentucky could be grounds for a nuclear attack by the North. Pyongyang has used such rhetoric before, but the comments underscored how strained relations are now.
A day later, South Korea’s defence ministry reiterated that any use of nuclear weapons by the North would prompt an “immediate and decisive response” resulting in the “end” of the Kim regime.
Saturday’s incident also comes as a US soldier is believed to be in North Korean custody after breaking away from a tour group visiting the Demilitarised Zone.
The US has said it is “very concerned” about how Private Second Class Travis King would be treated, and that as of Thursday, Pyongyang had yet to respond to inquiries about the soldier.
King was due to return to the US to face military discipline after serving jail time in South Korea for assault.
Associated Press contributed to this report",Not_Explicit
"Republican Daniel Cameron selected state legislator Robby Mills as his running mate Wednesday in Kentucky's race for governor, turning to a steadfast conservative with a record of shepherding pro-coal and anti-transgender legislation that fits into his campaign themes.
Cameron, the state’s attorney general, introduced Mills to the campaign at a news conference at state GOP headquarters.
Choosing from a deep GOP bench, Cameron ended weeks of speculation about his lieutenant governor pick since emerging as his party's gubernatorial nominee in May to challenge Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Cameron adds a state senator to the ticket whose resume includes running his family business, ousting Democratic incumbents and sponsoring bills popular with Republicans.
Mills, 56, represents a district in western Kentucky — a region that has shifted heavily toward the GOP in recent years. The sprawling region is seen by Cameron's campaign as crucial to its strategy of overcoming Beshear's expected advantage in the state's largest cities. Mills had a hand in crafting relief legislation after tornadoes devastated parts of western Kentucky, including in his district. Beshear was front and center after the storm hit and was widely praised for mobilizing state support for the region in its aftermath.
Kentucky's showdown for governor is one of the nation’s most closely watched campaigns this year and could provide insight about voter sentiment heading into 2024 elections to determine control of the White House and Congress. Beshear is seeking a second term in November with incumbent Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman as his running mate. Coleman's experience as a teacher and school administrator has reinforced the governor's theme of an education-first agenda.
Meanwhile, Cameron turned to a lawmaker who shares his decidedly right-leaning philosophy. He praised Mills as a ""strong conservative"" and ""man of faith"" who can team with him to promote GOP campaign priorities. Cameron has focused on a host of social issues, including abortion and transgender issues.
""As your attorney general, I’ve shown I will always defend Kentucky values and I’ve found that same conviction in Robby Mills,"" Cameron said in a statement.
Mills was elected to the Kentucky Senate in 2018, defeating a Democratic incumbent by fewer than 500 votes. In 2022, Mills won reelection with 66% of the vote. In 2016, he ousted a Democratic incumbent to serve a term in the Kentucky House. Prior to that, he served as a city commissioner in Henderson.
Mills' family has owned a regional dry-cleaning business for decades.
He is best known in the legislature as the chairman of the Senate State and Local Government Committee and sponsor of a host of high-profile bills.
Mills led the fight to ban transgender girls and women from participating in school sports matching their gender identity. He sponsored bills to defend the state's coal industry and require Kentucky residents to show a government-issued photo ID in order to vote.
Beshear has his own deep ties to western Kentucky. His father, former two-term Gov. Steve Beshear, grew up in Dawson Springs — a town that's in Mills' Senate district.",Not_Explicit
"The first incident during this period was on Oct. 5, 2022, when Commander allegedly jumped on and bit the ""arm/wrist area"" of an emergency response technician on the grounds of the executive mansion.
The most serious incident listed in the report was on Nov. 5, 2022, when the dog allegedly came toward a Secret Service officer from down the stairs of the White House and bit the person's arm and then bit the officer's leg when the officer stood up. The officer was reportedly treated by White House medical personnel before being transported to a hospital in the area.
In an email to a colleague two days after the incident, the Secret Service officer who was attacked said that he ""bit me twice and ran at me twice."" To which the other Secret Service employee replied, ""What a joke … if it wasn’t their dog he would already have been put down — freaking clown needs a muzzle.”
“These shocking records raise fundamental questions about President Biden and the Secret Service. This is a special sort of craziness and corruption where a president would allow his dog to repeatedly attack and bite Secret Service and White House personnel,"" Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. ""And rather than protect its agents, the Secret Service tried to illegally hide documents about the abuse of its agents and officers by the Biden family.""
Judicial Watch announced legal filings in April to obtain documents related to alleged incidents with the first family's dog after it allegedly received a tip.
Biden's previous dog, Major, had been a problem for the first family in the early days of Biden's administration, biting Secret Service officials and using White House hallways as a restroom.
The White House later confirmed that Major was given away to family friends in December 2021, when the Biden family also welcomed Commander to the executive mansion.",Not_Explicit
"The Trump Organization and former President Donald Trump's one-time attorney Michael Cohen agreed Friday to settle a million-dollar dispute, just days before a jury trial was scheduled to start.
Cohen had accused the Trump Organization of failing to pay his legal fees of about $1 million.
The two sides announced the settlement agreement during a court hearing Friday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
Jury selection in the case was to have started Monday.
In the suit, Cohen alleged the Trump Organization broke an agreement to cover his legal bills when he appeared at congressional hearings and participated in investigations, including the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller about Russian election interference.
Trump has countersued Cohen in Florida, alleging that Cohen breached a fiduciary duty to maintain secrecy about his time working for Trump. That lawsuit is ongoing.
Cohen is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution in Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's criminal case against Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied all wrongdoing in the case.",Not_Explicit
"Police in South Carolina are investigating whether Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann may have been involved in the 2014 disappearance of a teenager, authorities confirmed to ABC News on Thursday.
In November 2014, 18-year-old Aaliyah Bell vanished in Rock Hill, about 20 miles from the vacant lots associated with Heuermann that police had been searching in connection with the Gilgo Beach case.
""Our investigators have been reviewing any information to see if there is a correlation between the disappearance of Aaliyah Bell and Rex Heuermann,"" Rock Hill Lt. Michael Chavis said in an email to ABC News. ""So far there is no indication that leads us to identify Heuermann as a suspect in this case. We will continue to investigate Bell's disappearance and follow up on all tips and leads.""
Unsolved murders and missing persons cases ""around the nation"" are getting a second look a week after Heuermann's arrest for the murders of three young women whose burlap-wrapped bodies were found along Gilgo Beach, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said.
Among those cases getting a second look are the 2006 killings of four women working as prostitutes in Atlantic City. Their bodies were found in a watery ditch along Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.
Police in Las Vegas, where Heuermann owned a timeshare, said this week they are also looking at possible connections to unsolved cases.
""We are working with partner law enforcement agencies, obviously the FBI continues to be engaged, to see if there are any other connections that need to be made,"" Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone told New York ABC station WABC on Thursday. ""I can tell you this: the investigation continues. We will remain and our police department will remain focused on bringing justice for our other victims.""
Evidence technicians were scouring Heuermann's Massapequa Park home for a seventh consecutive day on Thursday. The search of the house is expected to last at least another three days, a law enforcement official familiar with the search told ABC News.
Heuermann was arrested on July 13 in connection with three of the 10 victims linked to the Gilgo Beach murders. The 59-year-old father of two was charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose bodies were found along Ocean Parkway on Long Island's South Shore in December 2010, according to court records unsealed last week in Suffolk County Criminal Court.
Barthelemy disappeared in July 2009, Waterman disappeared in June 2010 and Costello was last seen in September 2010. The three women were between 22 and 27 years old and all worked as sex workers, court records said.
A fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who vanished in July 2007, was also tied to the three women. While Heuermann is not charged in the death of Brainard-Barnes, the court documents said he is the ""prime suspect in her death."" The investigation into Brainard-Barnes' death is ongoing, officials said last week.
Defense attorney Michael Brown entered a not guilty plea on Heuermann's behalf at his arraignment on Friday on three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder.
Brown told ABC News this week that the state has amassed ""circumstantial evidence"" against his client and that there were no eyewitnesses to the murders and no confessions from his client.
ABC News' Arielle Schwartz contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Jim Cleveland/AP
toggle caption
In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti meets with leadership at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Nov. 17, 2022 in Kittery, Maine. President Joe Biden has chosen Franchetti to lead the Navy.
Jim Cleveland/AP
In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti meets with leadership at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Nov. 17, 2022 in Kittery, Maine. President Joe Biden has chosen Franchetti to lead the Navy.
Jim Cleveland/AP
President Biden has nominated Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the current vice chief of naval operations, to be the next chief of naval operations — the first woman who would serve in that role and on the Joint Chiefs of Staff — setting up a clash in the Senate where Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has been holding up military nominations.
Franchetti, who has served as a commissioned officer for nearly four decades, ""has demonstrated extensive expertise in both the operational and policy arenas,"" Biden said in a statement. She is the second woman to achieve the rank of four-star admiral in the U.S. Navy.
Biden also nominated Vice Adm. James Kilby, the deputy commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, to be the next vice chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Samuel Paparo for commander of Indo-Pacific Command and Vice Admiral Stephen ""Web"" Koehler for commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet.
In his statement, Biden urged the Senate to quickly confirm the nominations, along with others that are on hold.
""These leadership positions are far too important to delay filling while one Senator prioritizes his domestic political agenda over our military readiness,"" he said. ""It has long been an article of faith in this country that supporting our servicemembers and their families, and providing for the strength of our national defense, transcends politics. What Senator Tuberville is doing is not only wrong — it is dangerous. In this moment of rapidly evolving security environments and intense competition, he is risking our ability to ensure that the United States Armed Forces remain the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. And his Republican colleagues in the Senate know it.""
Tuberville, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has refused to confirm officer positions since the start of this year, citing his disapproval of the Pentagon's 2022 decision to support service members and their families in traveling out of state to receive an abortion.",Not_Explicit
"English and Welsh manufacturers have experienced a decline in exports going to the EU since leaving the continent’s political group, research from Make UK found.
A report by the leading manufacturing trading body said that Northern Ireland and Scotland both experienced a jump in their share of exports to the EU since Brexit in 2020.
In 2022, the UK’s share of exports to the EU rose from 50% to 52%, largely driven by tariff-free trade in Northern Ireland and an increase in demand for Scottish oil and gas.
“This [jump] was a result of sharp increases in the share of exports to the EU from Northern Ireland and Scotland over the same period, without which the overall UK share of goods exports would also be on a downward trend,” the report said.
Since 2019 the UK’s share of exports to the US, Asia and Oceania has remained at around 16%, Make UK believe this is because manufacturers are targeting newer and less traditional markets.
The north of England was one of the worst affected places by a decrease in EU exports, with the northwest dropping from 52% to 50% and the northeast from 60% to 57%.
In London and the south-east, exactly half of the exports went to the EU, up one percentage point, and in the east of England, the figure rose from 49% to 54%.
Verity Davidge, director of policy at Make UK, said: “Given the EU remains the most important market for manufacturers, efforts still need to be made to improve the existing agreement with the EU to reduce barriers to trade.
“However, UK trade patterns may be undergoing a gradual shift, with many companies continuing to look for opportunities in other markets.",Not_Explicit
"Germany Confirms Off-Budget Fund To Support $22 Billion Chip Aid
Germany’s economy ministry said that the government is preparing aid worth about €20 billion ($22 billion) to support the development of local semiconductor production in the coming years.
(Bloomberg) -- Germany’s economy ministry said that the government is preparing aid worth about €20 billion ($22 billion) to support the development of local semiconductor production in the coming years.
The money will be drawn from the off-budget Climate and Transformation Fund starting next year, the ministry said Tuesday confirming a Bloomberg News report on Monday. The time frame for the planned aid wasn’t specified.
“We are only able to provide concrete funding amounts for individual projects once the European Commission has given its approval under state aid law and the funding decision has been handed over to the company,” the ministry said.
Fünf Themen des Tages
European countries have been under pressure to attract investments amid economic uncertainty, stubborn inflation and the impact of the US’s Inflation Reduction Act. The bulk of Germany’s funds are earmarked for international companies, highlighting the country’s limited tech expertise.
The German government has already agreed €10 billion in aid for a new Intel Corp. plant and is in the process of agreeing to about €6 billion more in subsidies to companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG.
The economy ministry said the government also plans to support a $3 billion wafer factory that car-parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Wolfspeed Inc. plan to build in the Saarland region, as well as a battery-cell factory from Northvolt AB.
The total aid plan indicates there’s still at least €3 billion available for additional investments. That could benefit other companies active in Germany. GlobalFoundries Inc. has a sizable presence in Dresden, while German supplier Robert Bosch GmbH also runs a chip plant in the city.
The use of the off-budget fund, known as KTF, allows Germany to support investment plans billions in cuts to spending next year, including social benefits. The fund has a total of as much as €180 billion to dole out.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"The government borrowed less than expected in June, helped by higher tax receipts and a big drop in debt interest payments.
Borrowing - the difference between spending and tax income - fell to £18.5bn, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It is £400m lower than last June and below predictions by the government's independent forecaster.
But the ONS said borrowing is still the third highest for June on record.
The Office for Budget Responsibility had expected public borrowing to reach £21.1bn. Meanwhile, the ONS said that borrowing for April and May had been revised down by £7bn.
Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ""now looks likely to have a little more wiggle room in the Autumn Statement to fund a few pre-election giveaways"".
But she added: ""With the full upward impact on borrowing from higher interest rates and weaker GDP growth still coming down the line, we continue to think any package of pre-election net tax cuts will probably need to be modest or swiftly reversed.""
Mr Hunt said it was important to ""avoid reckless spending"".
""Now more than ever we need to maintain discipline with the public finances,"" he said.",Not_Explicit
"A new medal has been launched to honour the ""unsung heroes"" who provide aid during major disasters and emergencies, such as floods and earthquakes.

The Humanitarian Medal, which has been approved by the King, will be awarded to emergency workers and relief teams, including charities, military personnel and medical staff, who respond to crises at home and abroad.

This could range from natural disasters, such as tsunamis and hurricanes, through to war zones and epidemics.

The government point to the civilian and military response to Ebola outbreak across West Africa in 2015, which the UK marked with a bespoke medal.

Eligibility for the Humanitarian Medal will be for those providing assistance on behalf of the UK government, but will not be restricted to British nationals.

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden said: ""Britain has a long and proud tradition of being first in line to help those in need, wherever they may be in the world.

""This new medal is a fitting tribute to our humanitarian heroes who put the needs of others before their own, often in the most challenging or dangerous environments.""

Read more on Sky News:

Trying to escape Rhodes wildfires 'was literally like the end of the world', says UK tourist

Paul Pogba's 'goal' to end poverty as footballer launches new fund

International development minister Andrew Mitchell said: ""At a time when the world faces increasing crises, this new Humanitarian Medal recognises the unsung humanitarian heroes who go above and beyond to provide aid when disasters hit.

""I applaud the efforts of those who show such courage and serve as inspiration in a range of desperate situations.

""Our work around the world depends on these extraordinary people, and this award honours their outstanding contribution in responding to a major crisis.""

The medal's design features an image of the King on one side and the words ""for humanitarian service"" on the other.

It is decorated with a multi-coloured ribbon which aims to reflect ""the different paths for humanitarian service and the variety of services involved in such responses"", according to the Cabinet Office.",Not_Explicit
"- Russia saw an record $239 billion in net capital outflows — i.e. assets leaving — in 2022, per a think tank.
- The outflow was four times that in 2021 and 70% more than during the GFC in 2008.
- Some of the capital likely left for neighboring countries, where some Russians have fled to.
It's not just Russians who are leaving their homeland, a large swathe of capital has also left the country following its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia witnessed an unprecedented $239 billion in net capital outflows in 2022 amid the war in Ukraine, according to a Monday report from the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-term Forecasting, a Moscow-based think tank. According to Investopedia, capital outflows refer to the movement of assets out of a country.
Outflows this significant are even larger than Greece's GDP of $219 billion in 2022, according to World Bank data.
Countering that, Russia's current account surplus — meaning a country's exports eclipse its imports — hit a record high of $227 billion in 2022 as revenues from the country's oil and gas exports surged while imports plunged on the back of sweeping sanctions over the Ukraine war.
Last year's capital outflows were four times that of 2021 and 70% more than in 2008 amid the Global Financial Crisis, according to the analysis. Another $27 billion has flowed out of Russia so far in the first half of 2023, the report states. Insider could not independently verify these numbers.
The outflows out of Russia are not all about money getting transferred out of the country. They would also cover overseas investments.
But it's not just Russia — emerging markets, in general, have become increasingly exposed to capital outflows last year as the US dollar strengthened against local currencies, Bloomberg reported in September 2022.
Part of the capital outflows likely left for neighboring countries, where some Russians have fled to, following the start of the Ukraine war.
Russians transferred about $1.75 billion to Armenia in 2022, Martin Galstyan, the country's central bank governor, said in January, Armenia's News.am reported. Money transfers from Russia to Georgia rose fivefold, from $411 million in 2021 to $2.1 billion in 2022, according to data from Georgia's central bank.
Many of these Russians landed in neighboring countries, setting up new lives and businesses, and ended up boosting the economies of these nations, the independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta reported Friday.
Although Russia's economy appeared to be holding up in the first year of the Ukraine war, the situation has gone from bad to worse due to stifled exports, a weak ruble, and now, record-breaking capital outflows.
In fact, Russia's current account has collapsed by 93% since last year, Insider reported on July 13.
""It is a slow burn,"" said Timothy Ash, an associate fellow at Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia program, the UK media outlet Telegraph reported on Monday. ""As time goes on, the more difficult it gets for them. They will have to make choices, guns versus butter.""",Not_Explicit
"The 2023 Women's World Cup is in full swing, and these daily files will give you the latest reporting from around the 2023 World Cup as well as betting lines, what-to-watch-for information and best reads. Check in with ESPN throughout the tournament as we bring you the latest from Australia and New Zealand.
THE LEAD: USWNT starts strong with 3-0 win over Vietnam
The U.S. women's national team got the result it expected, though perhaps not the margin of victory it anticipated going in, defeating Vietnam 3-0 in the teams' 2023 FIFA World Cup opener. Sophia Smith scored two first-half goals and Lindsey Horan added a third on a day when the U.S. defense was untroubled.
Smith scored the opener in the 14th minute, finishing through the legs of Vietnam keeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh after she was put through thanks to Alex Morgan's layoff. Morgan should have added to the U.S. scoreline, but her 44th-minute penalty was saved by Tran. It was left to Smith to extend the Americans' lead, scoring deep into first-half stoppage time as she fired home after a weak attempted punch by Tran.
The U.S. kept up its territorial dominance in the second half, and finally broke through in the 77th minute with Smith assisting on Lindsey Horan's goal.
NEWS OF THE DAY
Netherlands coach Andries Jonker criticized tournament organizers over the team's training conditions in New Zealand, but they are still using the Bay Oval in Tauranga to prepare for their opening game on Sunday. Jonker told reporters he feared his players could be injured on the field, which has a hard cricket pitch in the middle, and which the Dutch had asked to be taken out months ago.
Megan Rapinoe won her 200th cap for the USWNT, becoming the 14th American to reach that mark with her appearance in the win over Vietnam. Rapinoe, 38, made her debut with the USWNT in 2006 and has enjoyed a standout career, winning World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019 as well as an Olympic gold medal in 2012.
Just hours before Perth was set to host their first World Cup game between Denmark and China, the local A-League side Perth Glory was placed into receivership and stripped of their license to operate while the club's future is determined. So much for celebrating the arrival of the World Cup in Western Australia.
TODAY IN THE USWNT CAMP
Ali Krieger and Herculez Gomez react to the United States Women's National Team's 3-0 win vs. Vietnam.
In the end, the USWNT won 3-0, missing a slew of quality scoring chances in the process -- 28 shots in all -- and it almost didn't matter who Andonovski put on the field. But the U.S. coach appeared to be setting the stage for a tournament in which the USWNT will be difficult to predict, and the notion of the ""best possible lineup"" will be less straightforward than it seems.
- Caitlin Murray, in Auckland, reports on how U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski was being risky with his team selections against Vietnam.
While it didn't hurt the team in its opener, Andonovski will have to get his lineups right vs. the Netherlands on Wednesday if the defending champs are going to remain on a winning course.
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
USWNT made to work for win
AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- The U.S. women's national team got off to winning start, even as it wasted a tournament's worth of chances in a 3-0 win over Vietnam. Sophia Smith -- one of six World Cup debutantes for the U.S. -- was the star of the game with two goals and an assist. But the U.S. was made to work hard for its win, as Vietnam proved to be organized and disciplined in frustrating the Americans for long stretches. Alex Morgan having a penalty saved by Vietnam keeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh added to the frustration.
But ultimately the U.S. did more than enough to the win -- it held a 28-0 shot advantage, though only seven were on target, and even got a look at Julie Ertz as a center-back. Ertz had previously been thought to be the team's starting midfielder, but the recent injury to Becky Sauerbrunn changed the plans of manager Vlatko Andonovski, and Ertz looked solid alongside Naomi Girma.
Both Rose Lavelle and Megan Rapinoe made appearances late in the match, with Rapinoe's giving her 200 appearances with the U.S. women's national team. All in all, a good night. -- Jeff Carlisle
Sophia Smith discusses her 2-goal performance in the United States' 3-0 win over Vietnam.
BRISBANE, Australia -- England are off and running, but it was far from convincing as they survived a scare to beat World Cup debutants Haiti 1-0 in Brisbane. Goalkeeper Mary Earps was England's best player, while Haiti will have felt aggrieved to not come away from this match with at least a point as their marauding midfielder Melchie Dumornay was the best outfield player on the pitch.
Before the game, Haiti manager Nicolas Delépine pointed out England's recent wastefulness in front of goal and there was little evidence to suggest they've solved that problem. For so much of the match England were living off scraps up front, with Georgia Stanway's 29th minute penalty the only thing separating the teams (which she scored at the second time of asking, after her first effort was saved and then ruled out as goalkeeper Kerly Théus had come too far off her line.)
Sam Marsden and Marissa Lordanic give their verdict on England's performance after their 1-0 win vs. Haiti.
The introduction of Lauren James on the hour mark didn't bring the required fluidity in attack to England's game as Ella Toone struggled to get into the game in the No. 10 role, while Alessia Russo had a series of half-decent chances but saw them well saved by Theus. Instead, it was Haiti who had the best chances to score. Roselord Borgella missed a one-on-one in the first half, Haiti had two decent chances when players were left unmarked in the box from corners, while Lyon-bound Dumornay forced Earps into a smart save in the second half.
It was only further heroics from Earps in the 80th minute which kept Haiti out as she was forced into a fine stop with her feet against Roseline Eloissaint, who had escaped England's defence to carve out a huge chance. A 1-0 win is job done for England, but it was far from convincing. -- Tom Hamilton
Japan off to a fine start
HAMILTON, New Zealand -- Since they won the 2011 World Cup and then a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics, the last decade for Japan's women has been a casual slide into frustration, backed by a sense of apathy from the JFA. Even when they reached the World Cup final in 2015, Japan did so without really flexing their muscles, moving the ball but rarely pressing the issue.
With almost all of the 2011 side now phased out or retired, the team have struggled to reach their enigmatic best. Yet, following the appointment of Futoshi Ikeda -- the former U20 and U17 coach -- the team have finally started to find form, even though it took over a year to start seeing positive performances.
Needing a strong start against Zambia, Nadeshiko fell foul of VAR and the offside flag on multiple occasions as they took their time to settle into the game, finding calm and joy in their attacking football. The deadlock was broken with a 43rd-minute goal from Hinata Miyazawa, then the floodgates opened once Mina Tanaka finally found the net in the second half (after having two earlier efforts called back for offside by VAR) and Miyazawa scored again. Jun Endo and substitute Riko Ueki added some gloss to the scoreline and Zambia goalkeeper Catherine Musonda was dismissed late on for two yellow cards.
More than just keeping the ball and going forward well, Japan managed to stop the supply lines to the Copper Queens' talismanic Barbra Banda, taking the captain out of the game and muting the entire opposition in the process. With a potentially long journey ahead of them, their commanding 5-0 win should provide firm foundations for the team to build on as they work their way through the tournament. For now the win takes them top of the table, ahead of Spain on goal difference. -- Sophie Lawson
Penalties, VAR an early theme of this World Cup
The penalties keep on coming in Australia and New Zealand. By the end of England's narrow win over Haiti on Saturday, all eight games played had seen one awarded. Only half of them have been scored, though, with some big players missing from 12 yards.
New Zealand's Ria Percival, Canada's Christine Sinclair, Spain's Jenni Hermoso and USA's Alex Morgan have all squandered spot kicks, although only Sinclair's miss proved crucial as Canada dropped two points against Nigeria. England's Georgia Stanway and Japan's Riko Ueki also saw penalties saved, although they were handed a second chance by VAR because the goalkeepers had encroached. Both then converted their second efforts.
It is the use of VAR that has led to the spike in penalties. Five of the eight given in the tournament were not spotted in real time; instead, the referees awarded them after reviewing the pitchside monitor, announcing the decision over the microphone as FIFA trials a new method of keeping fans informed. Perhaps the most controversial call came in Switzerland's win over the Philippines when Jessika Cowart was deemed to have fouled Coumba Sow, although play had continued without any protest from the Swiss.
At the current rate of one per game, the record for penalties at a Women's World Cup will be smashed. Four years ago, 26 were given in 52 games, setting the current high at an average of 0.5 penalties per game. In 2015, 22 were awarded (0.42 per game), but prior to that the average had never gone beyond 0.35 and the count never higher than 11, although the number of games played in the World Cup has continued to increase. -- Sam Marsden
Denmark 1-0 China
Given that the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup marked the end of a 16-year gap between tournament appearances for Denmark, some sense of nervousness and disjointedness was to be expected in their opening game. Few Danish fans, though, will be happy that it took almost 90 minutes for coach Lars Sondergaard's side to find the back of the net in future contests.
De rod-hvide finally broke through a spirited Chinese defence to secure a 1-0 winning start to their World Cup in Saturday's late kickoff, when Pernille Harder swung in a corner in the dying stages that substitute Amalie Vangsgaard drove home with a powerful header. Making it sweeter, it was Vangsgaard's maiden international goal and her side's first effort on target all game long.
Neither the Danes nor Shui Qingxia's China had been clean or decisive in possession across a cagey opening stanza, though the reigning Asian champions were able to fashion more of the game's half-chances across the first 45. The tempo quickened and both units began to fashion more chances in increasingly back and forth chaos in the second half but it was the Danes eventually breaking through to win the first game of the 2023 World Cup to finish without a penalty being awarded. -- Joey Lynch
MATCH PREVIEWS
Odds: Sweden -1400, Draw +750, South Africa +3500
Sweden's hugely talented team will look to lay down a marker when they open their campaign against South Africa at Wellington Regional Stadium. Milan's Kosovare Asllani, Barcelona's Fridolina Rolfo and Bayern Munich's Magdalena Eriksson are all hugely experienced and form the spine of a side looking to go one better than 2019, when they reached the semifinals. ""Sweden are at their best when we have a clear identity -- and we have that this tournament,"" Eriksson warned Saturday.
South Africa's preparations, meanwhile, were hampered by a pay dispute, but captain Refiloe Jane insists ""everything is resolved"" and the players are focused on football. Coach Desiree Ellis wants Morocco's men's World Cup semifinal run to serve as inspiration. ""They were in a tough group and no one gave them a chance,"" she said. ""We take a lot of heart from that.""
Group E: Netherlands vs. Portugal (Forsyth Barr, Dunedin; 7.30 p.m. local / 3.30 a.m. ET / 8.30 a.m. UK)
Odds: Netherlands -215, Draw +320, Portugal +550
Finalists four years ago, the Netherlands have been flattering to deceive for some time. Even in France 2019, the Oranje reached the final without really hitting top gear. This time around the considerations are different: The squad is younger, star striker Vivianne Miedema is still rehabbing an ACL injury, and next-most important player (Lieke Martens) has been battling with her own injuries this year.
Despite the context, the pressure will still be on the Dutch to deliver, especially against a debuting but evolving Portugal team. In an unforgiving group, there is little room for error. -- Sophie Lawson
Alexis Nunes explains why it's a given that Jamaica will beat France in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup.
Group F: France vs. Jamaica (Sydney Football Stadium; 8 p.m. local / 6 a.m. ET / 11 a.m. UK)
Odds: France -6000, Draw +1200, Jamaica +8000
Coming into yet another tournament as something between favourites and sneaky contenders, France's problems off of the pitch -- like Jamaica's -- have been well-documented but even with Hervé Renard bringing positivity and joy back to Les Bleues, the World Cup may have come just too soon for France. Without Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Amandine Henry, Griedge Mbock and Delphine Cascarino, there's no question that France have been considerably weakened in each third of the pitch.
We have also seen them struggle for their best in the limited time Renard has had with the squad. Favourites against the Reggae Girlz, France will be looking for a strong showing against Jamaica to build through the group stage but their defence will be given a stern test by Bunny Shaw & Co. -- Sophie Lawson
FEATURES OF THE DAY
Crystal Dunn playing with freedom and fury
Motherhood and finding her voice have helped the U.S. women's national team veteran liberate herself from the pressure to perform.
England's turbulent World Cup prep
It's been a difficult year for the Lionesses since winning the Euros at home last summer. Can they rally, shrugging off key injuries and off-field conflict, to make a strong run at the World Cup?
Why are so many Women's World Cup stars missing due to torn ACLs?
The list of absentees is depressingly long. Why is this long-term injury so much more prevalent in the women's game?
AND FINALLY...
When you score (twice) in your first ever World Cup game, chances are you are going to be named the player of the match. So when Sophia Smith was tabbed as the top player from the USWNT's 3-0 win over Vietnam, she got the snazzy trophy -- from her dad!
As dads often do, Kenny Smith was quite doting over his daughter as he gave her a big hug for her stellar performance. As she said, ""Thanks, Dad!""",Not_Explicit
"The House Oversight Committee will hold an unusual hearing Wednesday on what's being called ""unidentified aerial phenomena"" — better known as UFOs. Several witnesses, including a former Navy commanding officer, are expected to testify about what they've seen in the skies.
The number of so-called ""close encounters"" has risen dramatically in recent years, with 366 reports of unidentified aerial phenomena since March 2021.
Videos from across the globe appear to show strange objects flying through the air, like a triangle hovering over a California military base or an unidentified object zipping across the sky over the Middle East.
Retired Navy Commander David Fravor previously described another incident near San Diego on """"
During a 2004 training exercise, Fravor and another pilot were diverted to check out an anomalous object. Both said they found an area of roiling whitewater the size of a Boeing 737, and then they saw something strange above the water.
""We saw this little white Tic-Tac-looking object… and it's just kind of moving above the whitewater area,"" Fravor said.
Fravor went down for a closer look at the object, which he said was about the size of his F/A-18F, but with no markings, no wings, and no exhaust plumes.
""It goes boop! And just turns abruptly. and it starts mirroring me. So I'm coming down, it starts coming up,"" he said.
Fravor tried to cut off the object, but it accelerated away so fast that it seemed to disappear, he said. Seconds later, the USS Princeton, the ship that had detected the phenomena in the first place, reacquired the UAP on its radar — approximately 60 miles away.
Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett believes the Pentagon is withholding evidence of possible extraterrestrial encounters.
""I think there's a lot of questions that the American public needs to know,"" he said. ""I want transparency, just release all the files that they have on it. Quit with this redacted stuff and let's get it out there.""
Former intelligence officer David Grusch will tell Congress during the hearing that he was ""denied access"" to information on a secret government UFO ""crash retrieval program."" The Pentagon disputed that claim.
Astronomer Seth Shostak said the Pentagon would have little incentive to cover up UFO encounters.
""Why would they do that? And almost invariably the response is, well, the public couldn't handle the news,"" he said. ""That's totally bonkers, right?""
But New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said more transparency is critical, as the increasing number of objects in the sky could be a threat to military aircraft.
""These pilots, they see it as urgent for a national security reason to have domain awareness,"" she said. ""They could crash into the objects.""
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"In Iceland, the world's newest ""baby"" volcano is throwing a temper tantrum: It's overflowing and spewing ""spatter bombs,"" or blobs of molten lava, into the surrounding crater.
The volcano formed on July 10, when an underground eruption opened a 1.7-mile-long (2.7 kilometers) fissure in the ground of Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula, southwest of the capital, Reykjavík. Leading up to this event, the region experienced a ""seismic swarm,"" during which more than 7,000 earthquakes shook the area starting on July 4, according to a statement from the Icelandic Met Office. Lava trickled from the fracture in the ground, and seismic activity decreased for about a week after the eruption.
On July 18, however, ""there was a major shift in the vent activity overnight,"" according to a post on the Facebook page of Rannsóknarstofa í eldfjallafræði og náttúruvá (the Laboratory of Volcanology and Natural Hazards), a research group from the University of Iceland. At around 11:30 p.m. local time, ""the crater filled up to the brim with lava and the fountaining began to throw spatter bombs well beyond the crater rims."" Roughly three hours later, a small opening formed, allowing lava to spill over the crater, the post added. By early morning, a section of the crater's rim had collapsed, releasing a river of lava to the north and west. The lava pouring from this crater is roughly 2,192 degrees Fahrenheit (1,200 degrees Celsius), the scientists said.
""The crater became unstable and collapsed,"" Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir, an associate professor of geography at the University of Iceland and member of the lab, told Live Science in an email. ""It had built up quite fast and it was filling up with lava on the inside, causing pressure to the walls. Not unusual as such but spectacular and of concern since there were people quite close by not long before it happened (in a closed area though).""
On the opposite side of the volcano, lava flowing south stalled and eventually crusted over, the post said. The area around the eruption site is uninhabited, and the eruption does not currently post a risk to infrastructure, according to the Icelandic Met Office. Firefighters in Grindavík, a nearby Icelandic town, have already contained the potential spread of fire from July 18's lava spill, and they no longer believe it is a threat, according to the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service.
Scientists will continue to monitor the volcano's behavior because future lava flows could ignite wildfires and reduce air quality in the region, according to the statement. Watch a livestream of the volcano on the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service's website here.
Live Science newsletter
Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter.
Kiley Price is a Live Science staff writer based in New York City. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Slate, Mongabay and more. She holds a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University, where she studied biology and journalism, and is pursuing a master's degree at New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program.",Not_Explicit
"A recent research study from Germany has illuminated the top-performing agricultural robots for potato farming in Europe: the Robotti LR and Robotti 150 D from Danish company AgroIntelli. The research was carried out by a group of scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam and the Technical University of Berlin.
As Future Farming reports, the study evaluated about 35 various field robots based on their compliance with plant development requirements, with a particular focus on geometric dimensions.
The findings indicated that the Robotti LR and Robotti 150 D stood out as highly effective for potato farming. Equipped with the appropriate carrier tools, they can autonomously drive, perform spraying tasks, and carry out mechanical weed control.
The advent of agricultural robots introduces new possibilities for automation and enhanced precision for potato farming.
[The video below was published on the Dewulf YouTube channel and can be viewed here as well.]
Source: Future Farming. Read the full story here
Photo: In the spring of 2021, the AgroIntelli Robotti robot and a Dewulf planter planted potatoes on the Dutch experimental farm Farm of the Future in Lelystad. That went surprisingly well. Credit Koos Groenewold via Future Farming",Not_Explicit
"Trump Attempt To Stoke Auto Worker Tension With Biden Is Failing
Trump released a video on Twitter Thursday attacking President Joe Biden’s environmental policies, including the Inflation Reduction Act and its incentives for electric vehicles.
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump wants the United Auto Workers, with its almost 1 million active and retired members, to endorse his candidacy for president by saying that Democrats are “setting the stage for the destruction of American auto production.”
For all his bluster, the former president is failing to make inroads.
UAW President Shawn Fain and his executive board have no plans to endorse Trump, said people with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be named because the union hasn’t thrown support behind any candidate.
Trump released a video on Twitter Thursday attacking President Joe Biden’s environmental policies, including the Inflation Reduction Act and its incentives for electric vehicles. The Republican front-runner promised to gut the programs and said, “you better endorse Trump.”
While Trump has very little chance of getting the UAW’s backing, the union is also withholding its endorsement of Biden to see if his administration will press automakers to raise battery-plant wages, a potential setback for a politician who’s sided with organized labor his entire career and is wooing them again as he seeks a second term.
Fain has bristled at the IRA’s incentives that provide automakers with billions of dollars in incentives to create battery production in the US, but at lower pay than auto workers get today.
At Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture between General Motors Co. and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, workers start as low as $15.50 an hour, half the top rate at GM assembly plants.
“US taxpayers have and are going to continue to funnel over $1 billion a year to Ultium despite their paying poverty wages and having horrifying health and safety conditions,” Fain said at a town hall meeting with union members last month.
Fain has also criticized the Biden administration for giving Ford Motor Co. a $9.2 billion loan to open three battery plants with Korea’s SK On. The plants will open mid-decade and the union wants the same wages paid by Ford.
The UAW is currently bargaining for a new four-year deal with GM, Ford and Stellantis NV and, separately, a deal with Ultium for its sole plant in Lordstown, Ohio, which the union successfully organized in December. Pay and benefits for battery workers is a central issue in bargaining.
Fain met with Biden and senior White House staff on Wednesday to brief them on contract negotiations. The union wants the administration to attach a version of wage-based qualification to EV production incentives, or at least pressure automakers to raise pay.
If Biden doesn’t help, the UAW could simply not endorse anyone, which would be tantamount to a vote of no confidence in Biden, one of the people said. Fain said in May he wasn’t quite ready to endorse Biden.
While the UAW hierarchy has little interest in Trump, the former president does have support among its membership. The union’s internal polling shows about one-third of members voted for Trump in the last election. Democratic presidential candidates typically have gotten support from more than 70% of union members.
--With assistance from Gregory Korte.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"El precio de Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) ha bajado un 6,57% en las últimas 24 horas hasta los 23,04 dólares, continuando así la tendencia bajista que siguió la semana pasada de un -13,00%, pasando de los 26,94 dólares a su precio actual.
La siguiente gráfica compara el movimiento de los precios y la volatilidad de Solana durante las últimas 24 horas (izquierda) con el movimiento de los precios de la semana pasada (derecha). Las bandas grises son las bandas de Bollinger, que miden la volatilidad de los movimientos de precios diarios y semanales. Cuanto más anchas sean las bandas o mayor sea el área gris en un momento determinado, mayor es la volatilidad.
El volumen de operaciones de la moneda ha caído un 41,00% durante la última semana, moviéndose de forma opuesta, direccionalmente, al suministro circulante total de la moneda, que ha subido un 0,72%. Esto coloca el suministro circulante en 404,14 millones. Según nuestros datos, por capitalización de mercado, SOL ocupa actualmente el puesto #10 en 9,41 mil millones.
¿Dónde se puede comprar Solana?
Si estás interesado en comprar Solana o quieres obtener más información sobre ella, sigue este enlace a Benzinga Money. Nuestro equipo de Benzinga Money cuenta con contenido educativo que no solo explica los detalles de la moneda en profundidad, sino también cómo y dónde se puede comprar.
¿Quieres aprender más sobre trading y ser capaz de analizar tu propia cartera de acciones o criptomonedas? Suscríbete a Benzinga Pro. Benzinga Pro te ofrece noticias y análisis actualizados que te permitirán perfeccionar tu estrategia de inversión y trading. Sigue este enlace para visitar la web.
Esta publicación contiene enlaces de afiliados a través de los que Benzinga podría obtener una comisión.",Not_Explicit
"NEWS AND OPINION:
The all-important pairing of potential White House candidates has begun — at least among the folks in New Hampshire who support former President Donald Trump in his quest to return to the nation’s highest office. A Daily Mail headline tells all:
“Donald Trump’s supporters in New Hampshire have a new favorite choice for vice president: They want youthful, anti-woke entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy on the ticket. He displaces Arizona’s election-denying Kari Lake in the affections of MAGA world, according to a new DailyMail.com poll,” the news organization said.
The future bumper sticker would look like this: TRUMP/RAMASWAMY 2024.
What do the numbers say? Mr. Ramaswamy earned 19% of the vice president vote in the survey, ahead of both Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Ms. Lake, who ran for Arizona governor in 2022.
Both received 17% of the vote.
The poll’s leading vice presidential hopeful may not be so keen on the idea however.
“For his part, Ramaswamy told DailyMail.com he is in the race to win it, not settle for a runners-up prize,” the news organization said.
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley was in fourth place with 11% of the vote, followed by Ben Carson (4%); Marjorie Taylor Greene (3%), Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo (each with 2%) and Chris Christie (1%).
Another 12% of the respondents, however, are unsure about the matter.
The poll of 591 registered New Hampshire Republicans was conducted by J.L. Partners from July 13 to 20.
IN CASE YOU WONDERED
The aforementioned Vivek Ramaswamy has met all fundraising and polling criteria, making him eligible to participate in future Republican National Committee candidate debates. Among other things, that criteria includes garnering support in a half dozen significant national and state-level polls and attracting a minimum of 40,000 donors.
“The debate stage criteria are stringent but fair,” he said in a written statement shared with the Beltway.
“I am a first-time candidate who started with a very low name ID, no political donors, and no pre-existing fundraising lists. If an outsider can clear the bar, politically experienced candidates should be able to as well: if you can’t hit these metrics by late August, you have absolutely no chance of defeating Joe Biden in the general election.” Mr. Ramaswamy said.
“Vivek’s momentum is undeniable,” Ben Yoho, CEO of Vivek 2024, also noted in a written statement.
And one more thing. He added that the candidate “looks forward” to facing his foes on the debate stage.
MEANWHILE IN TEXAS
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has officially responded to a recent letter he received from the U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Abbott reveals that the letter informed him that the federal agency plans “to sue the State of Texas over the floating marine barriers placed in the Rio Grande River to deter illegal crossings near Eagle Pass.”
The governor revealed this development in a simple press release, then chose to make his response on Twitter. Here is what he said:
“The tragic humanitarian crisis on the border was created because of Biden’s refusal to secure the border. We will continue to deploy every strategy to protect Texas and Americans — and the migrants risking their lives. We will see you in court, Mr. President,” Mr. Abbott said in his succinct reply, which he shared on Sunday.
FOXIFIED
Following the recent departure of prime-time host Tucker Carlson, Fox News revamped its prime-time lineup — and it appears that the new schedule suits viewers just fine. According to Nielsen Media Research numbers for Thursday evening, the network drew 2.1 million viewers during the 7-11 p.m. time period.
In contrast, MSNBC had an audience of 1.4 million while CNN attracted 611,000 viewers. If we do the math on this, the new prime-time lineup on Fox News appears to have bested the audience numbers of MSNBC and CNN combined.
Meanwhile, which program ruled the roost on Fox News?
That would be “The Five”, with an audience of 2.7 million viewers, followed by “Hannity” 2.5 million), “Jesse Watters Primetime” (2.3 million), “Gutfeld” (2 million) and “The Ingraham Angle” (1.8 million).
BOURBON REVISITED
The Beltway recently highlighted 2A Bourbon, a new offering from North Carolina-based Constitutional Spirits LLC. Our coverage noted that the company had “partnered” with the Second Amendment Foundation in the new endeavor.
Here’s a clarification on that: The two forces are not actually partners — and the foundation was not involved in the conception or creation of the bourbon. Instead, the foundation will get a portion of the proceeds from each bottle sold.
And they are handsome bottles.
“We’re delighted at this special method of providing corporate support for our activities,” the foundation’s founder and executive vice president Alan M. Gottlieb said in a written statement.
2A Bourbon is available for sale in 44 states through mail order. Curious bourbon fans can visit 2ABourbon.com for more information.
Find Mr. Gottlieb’s group at SAF.org.
POLL DU JOUR
• 41% of Republican voters think economic issues such as inflation, jobs and taxes will be most important in deciding who they will support for the Republican nomination.
• 15% cite immigration issues, such as border security and legalization as the most important.
• 15% cite social issues, such as religion, abortion and gender in school.
and sports.
• 12% cite foreign policy and defense issues, such as terrorism and relations with China and Russia.
• 9% cite populist issues, such as corruption, elite power and corporate activism.
• 5% say all of the issues will be important.
• 2% don’t know.
• 1% say some other issue will be most important in their decision.
Source: A Fox Business poll of 806 Iowa Republican caucus-goers conducted July 15-19.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
Copyright © 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
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"Sometimes it seems like golf fans are treated harshly. There are a lot of competitions throughout the year, but almost all events require a subscription to watch. You might think that this is just how the world works these days, but we're not having it. We're on a mission to provide the information you need to watch golf for free this year.
It is possible to watch the British Open Championship 2023 for free from anywhere in the world, with the help of a VPN.
When is The Open in 2023?
The 151st Open Championship begins on July 20, with the final round July 23. This competition is the final major of the year.
Where is The Open in 2023?
The Open Championship will take place at Royal Liverpool in 2023. Royal Liverpool is a golf club in Wirral in Merseyside, England. The Open Championship has been played 12 times at this famous venue.
Where can you watch the The Open in 2023?
It's always good to have options, and there are plenty of streaming services offering live coverage of the British Open Championship in 2023:
Australia — Foxtel Now (free trial) or Kayo Sports (free trial)
UK — Sky Sports Golf via NOW TV
USA — Peacock or Sling Blue
The key thing here is that Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports offer free trials. You can access these free trials by using a VPN.
How to watch the British Open Championship for free
You can watch The Open by using the free trials offered by Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports. The problem is that you can't sign up for these free trials from outside Australia, unless you're using a VPN.
With a VPN, you can hide your real IP address and connect to a secure server in another country, meaning you can access sites like Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports from anywhere in the world. This process might sound complicated, but it's actually really straightforward:
Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia
Visit Foxtel Now or Kayo Sports and start free trial
Watch The Open from anywhere in the world
It's important to remember to cancel your subscription before the end of your free trial, otherwise you'll end up paying full price for a subscription. It's also important to note that the best VPNs for this task are not free, but they do tend to offer free trials or money-back guarantees.
By using these offers, you can access the Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports free trials without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you plenty of time to watch The Open for free. There are a few steps to take, but it's worth the hassle for free coverage.
What is the best VPN for streaming?
There are plenty of VPNs that can reliably unblock Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports, but ExpressVPN is tough to beat. ExpressVPN is the best service for unblocking streaming services, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 94 countries including Australia
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
Fast streaming speeds free from throttling
Up to five simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £82.82 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a 30-day money-back guarantee. The money-back guarantee means you can unblock the Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports free trials, and then recover your investment after the final round of The Open. This is sneaky, but it works.
Watch The Open for free with ExpressVPN.",Not_Explicit
"Sharda Cropchem Q1 Results Review - Subdued; Near Term Outlook Bleak: Prabhudas Lilladher
Volume/price decline of 11%/18% YoY; forex up 6.5% YoY in Q1 FY24.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Prabhudas Lilladher Report
We trim our FY24/25E estimates of Sharda Cropchem Ltd. by 27%/16% and downgrade the rating to ‘Accumulate’ (earlier 'Buy') citing near term pressure on both revenues and margins, led by adverse weather conditions in key geographies and high inventory concerns both at manufacturer and distributor levels which in turn exerts pressure on revenue growth and margins.
Sharda Cropchem reported subdued set of results with revenue decline of 23% YoY to Rs 6.3 billion (our estimate: Rs 8.0 billion), led by volume/price de-growth of 11%/18%YoY partially aided by positive forex variance of 6.5% YoY.
Gross margins contracted 1670 basis points YoY to 8.7% (lowest in the last 10 years), largely led by-
high cost inventory provisions of Rs 710 million;
higher sales return of Rs 1.35 billion; and
acute pressure on price realizations particularly in the NAFTA region.
Lower gross margin coupled with higher opex up 530 bps YoY has resulted into an Ebitda loss of Rs 688 million (including IU&AD write-off of Rs 27 million in Q1 FY24 versus Rs 29 million in Q1 FY23).
Citing cautious near term growth outlook, management has revised downward their FY24E revenue growth guidance to 8-10% (earlier ~15%) thereby putting pressure on margins (Ebitda margins guided earlier at 18-20% for FY24E).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"You have never seen a live band like Young Fathers.
Headlining the BBC Sounds stage at the Latitude festival, you don't even need to know their songs to be swept away by the sheer force of their musical attack.
This is a show that is pure propulsion.
The band's music is a blend of soul, gospel, hip-hop and tribal chants: I Saw has a loping glam rock beat and a playground chorus; Geronimo is all coiled, sinister tension; and the anthemic hook of Get Up is so incendiary, it threatens to set the moshpit on fire.
On this tour, founder members Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham 'G' Hastings are joined on stage by two female vocalists - and, at times, each of them seems to be singing their own version of the same song, lost in the music, before they suddenly snap back in sync with a ferocious roar.
The show is thrilling to watch, to be a part of, and it has rightfully earned them a reputation as Britain's most exciting live act.
It's a title they prize.
Before making their latest album, Heavy Heavy, the Edinburgh trio drew a chart of the bands they wanted to emulate: Talking Heads, Massive Attack, Suicide, Sly and the Family Stone.
""What I was trying to do was write a list of bands who have created their own artistic thing,"" says Hastings, speaking to the BBC backstage at Latitude.
""They don't sound like anyone else. They live in their own space. That's what we were trying to do.""
It was almost as if they needed something to aspire to, says Massaquoi.
""If you train yourself to run a mile in under five minutes, you notice over the months that you have more energy and you can run further. Whereas, with music and creativity, it's hard to gauge when you've improved.""
They decided to rely on their instincts.
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Their messy studio, a windowless squat next to a graveyard in Scotland, was set up so that they could record as soon ""as soon as we came through the door"", says Massaquoi.
The goal was to capture the spontaneity and joy they've always conveyed on stage - a decision prompted by the pandemic, when ""everybody had time to reflect and gain a bit of appreciation for what we do"".
In practice, it meant the album was created in the almost the same way they started out, rapping into a karaoke machine in Hastings' teenage bedroom.
Vocals were sung communally around the microphone. If one person made a mistake, the other two would roll with it, folding the chaos into the creative process.
""We hardly even talk,"" says Massaquoi. ""A lot of it is instinctual.""
In the end, they recorded over four album's worth of material - a patchwork of group vocals, free-flowing percussion, politically-charged hip-hop and African melodies.
But, betraying their origins as a ""weird kind of boyband"" (their words), they edited that music down to a ruthlessly efficient 32 minutes.
""As people that love a pop song, we're pretty brutal with ourselves,"" says Hastings, recalling how direct the studio conversations could be: ""Just take that out. Get to the point. This is the best it.""
""We like short songs and hooks and sweet things,"" he explains.
The reviews were effusive, even for a band that's used to critical acclaim.
""Heavy Heavy pulls in the listener with an empathetic lust for life that never wavers,"" wrote AllMusic's Andy Kellman.
""From the opening woody drag of the bassline on Rice to the chug and claps of Holy Moly, Heavy Heavy bursts with overwhelming momentum, as if to say, 'Keep up, if you can,'"" added Will Pritchard in Pitchfork.
""Succinct and underpinned by a catchy melodic structure, it further cements Young Fathers' as one of the more unique acts to exist today,"" concluded the NME's Dhruva Balram.
The album is already being tipped for a nomination at this year's Mercury Prize (they previously won with their debut, Dead, in 2014) and it's success has seen them rise to the top of this summer's festival bills.
But even though they're a semi-mainstream prospect in 2023, they've never felt fully embraced by the industry.
The trio met at a high school youth club and were signed at the age of 15 to what they've previously called, ""a nasty, horrible production deal"".
After a series of false starts, they landed on their unique sound over two mixtapes, Tape One and Tape Two, the second of which won them the Scottish Music Prize.
""When we were young, we were outsiders in Scotland,"" says Hastings. ""We were outsiders at hip-hop nights, we were outsiders at any night.""
""None of our friends used to come to the gigs,"" adds Massaquoi. ""Some of them didn't like the music - although I like that. That's honest.""
Despite, or perhaps because of, those challenges, they maintain an enormous sense of self-belief.
""We're one of these bands that comes about every 15 or 20 years,"" says Massaquoi, referencing that list of iconoclasts that Hastings drew up in the studio.
""In the end, people will realise that, but you have to hold onto the vision and say, 'people will get it eventually'.
""It's frustrating while it's happening but the world doesn't owe you any favours. All you can do is put in the time and the effort and increase your chances of the luck happening.""
The band hit the headlines with their Glastonbury performance last month, after they dedicated Shame to Home Secretary Suella Braverman, leading the audience in a chant of: ""Say it loud and say it clear, refugees are welcome here"".
As with everything they do, Young Fathers' protest came from experience. Massaquoi came to the UK when he was four years old, as his parent fled the civil war in Liberia.
He doesn't remember much of the transition - but what sticks is hearing Maxi Priest's version of Wild World in a refugee camp in Ghana.
The song's message of hope amidst the sadness of leaving home resonates with him to this day.
He wants Young Fathers' music to have the same impact on their fans - and being outside pop's inner circle makes that easier, they argue.
""Historically, a lot of bands get worse over time,"" observes Hastings.
""But when you get a bit more comfortable and things get a bit easier and there's a bit of budget from the record label, you start to realise why the music can take second place to the lifestyle... Not that I'm living a mad lifestyle, but you can see the seeds of it happening.
""But because we can work on our own - the three of us in a room, no windows, pretty spartan - I hope that makes us a bit foolproof.""
""We're a working class band at a time when there's a lack of them, and that's a completely different mind-set to have,"" adds Massaquoi.
""We come from a place where if we're not doing this, we have to get a job.""",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON -- A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a rule that allows immigration authorities to deny asylum to migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through. But the judge delayed his ruling from taking effect immediately to give the administration time to appeal.
The order from U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of the Northern District of California takes away a key enforcement tool set in place by the Biden administration as coronavirus-based restrictions on asylum expired in May. The use of a rule known as Title 42 allowed the U.S. to expel millions of people starting in early 2020 on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
The new rule imposed severe limitations on migrants seeking asylum. It included room for exceptions and did not apply to children traveling alone. Tigar's order will not take effect for two weeks.
Immigrant rights groups that sued argued it was a violation of U.S. law that protects the right to asylum regardless of how a person enters the country. The groups said it forced migrants to seek protection in countries that don’t have the same robust asylum system and human rights protections as the United States and leaves them in a dangerous limbo. They also argued that the CBP One app the government wants migrants to use doesn't have enough appointments and isn’t available in enough languages.
The Biden administration said the asylum rule was a key part of its strategy to strike a balance between strict border enforcement and ensuring several avenues for migrants to pursue valid asylum claims. The rule was a response to political and economic instability fueling an exodus of migrants from countries including Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela.
Critics have argued that the rule is essentially a newer version of two efforts by President Donald Trump to limit asylum at the southern border. The Supreme Court eventually allowed the Trump administration to limit asylum for people who don't apply for protection in a country they travel through before coming to the U.S. to go into effect. But another Trump effort to bar people from applying for asylum except at an official border entry point was caught up in litigation and never took effect.
In announcing the new rule, the Biden administration emphasized the complex dynamics at play when it comes to immigration that at one time consisted largely of adults from Mexico seeking to come to the U.S. They could easily be returned home. Now migrants come from across the Western Hemisphere and beyond.",Not_Explicit
"KYIV, July 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Defence Ministry said on Thursday it would consider all ships travelling to Russian ports and Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea that are occupied by Moscow as potential carriers of military cargo from July 21.
A day after Russia said that any ships travelling to Ukraine's Black Sea ports will be seen as possibly carrying military cargoes, the Ukrainian defence ministry said it could repel what it called Russian aggression at sea.
""The fate of the cruiser 'Moskva' proves that the Defence Forces of Ukraine have the necessary means to repel Russian aggression at sea,"" the ministry said, referring to the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet which was sunk last year.
""Ukraine's Ministry of Defence warns that from 00:00 on July 21, 2023 (2100 GMT on Thursday) all vessels heading in Black Sea waters in the direction of the Russian Federation's seaports and Ukrainian seaports on Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by Russia may be considered by Ukraine as carrying military cargo with all the relevant risks.""
Russia this week quit the Black Sea Grain Initiative that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey a year ago and allowed safe Black Sea shipments of Ukrainian grain, and revoked guarantees of safe navigation.
Ukrainian officials want to continue the Black Sea grain shipments and are trying to establish a temporary route.
The Ukrainian Defence Ministry also said that navigation in the northeastern part of the Black Sea and the Kerch-Yenikal Strait of Ukraine was banned as dangerous from 05:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) on July 20.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"More Michigan lawmakers targeted for recall
- Rep. Noah Arbit, a West Bloomfield Democrat, faces recall over supporting LGBTQ protections against hate crime
- Donni Steele of Orion becomes second Republican to face recall challenge
- Eight lawmakers — all in first term — are up against recall efforts; all are long-shots
LANSING — Six House Democrats and two Republicans are now facing recall threats for votes they cast earlier this year, as efforts to unseat incumbent lawmakers continued to grow this week.
House Reps. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, and Donni Steele, R-Orion, became the two latest targets of recall petitions earlier this week.
All eight lawmakers are serving their first term in the state Legislature. Although it is unclear if the recall petitions are connected, they were all filed by Republican activists or past candidates in those lawmakers’ districts, Bridge Michigan previously reported.
The lawmakers are targeted for their votes to support a series of issues, including the “red flag” gun law allowing a judge to temporarily take firearms away from dangerous people, protections for LGBTQ communities against hate crimes and the naming of Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit, as House Speaker.
In a Friday statement, Arbit — the main sponsor of the hate crime legislation — said the recall petition targeted him for supporting the measure.
“I wrote it and I sponsored it - in one of the proudest, most meaningful moments of my life,” he said. “I will never apologize for fighting to protect ALL Michiganders from hate violence, and I will never be intimidated or cowed out of achieving my mission.”
By Friday, the first-term Democrat is already fundraising off of the recall efforts, which have yet to be certified by the Board of State Canvassers. The fundraising website called the recall efforts “baseless, extremist” and “likely backed by dark money conservative donors.”
“Defeating this extremist, anti-democratic recall effort is going to take everything we have,” the website said.
Steele faces recall threats because of her vote in March for the safe storage law, which would require gun owners to store weapons in secure locations away from children, according to the petition document obtained by Bridge.
She told Bridge on Friday she supports the law because most gun owners support the idea of safe storage. She noted she voted against other gun restrictions backed by Democrats.
“Safe storage for minors in the house when the parents aren’t there — that’s what that’s for,” she said.
Steele said with the recall threats, she has now faced blowback from both Republican and Democratic groups for her stance on gun measures — for opposite reasons.
“I must be doing something right,” she said.
Steele deemed the recall efforts a “disappointing” waste of “taxpayer dollars.”
“It takes away from the job at hand, which is representing my district and taking care of constituents’ needs,” Steele said.
The language and content of the recall petitions must be approved by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers before circulation for signatures. The board is scheduled to meet Aug. 1 to consider at least six of the recall petitions announced Monday.
With board approval, recall organizers must — within 60 days — collect thousands of signatures equal to or more than 25 percent of total voters for governor in each district during the 2022 election.
While it is hard to recall a sitting lawmaker, any recall efforts that make it onto the ballot could threaten the slim two-seat Democratic majority in the state House, especially when several of the targeted lawmakers represent competitive areas.
See what new members are saying about why they donated to Bridge Michigan:
- “In order for this information to be accurate and unbiased it must be underwritten by its readers, not by special interests.” - Larry S.
- “Not many other media sources report on the topics Bridge does.” - Susan B.
- “Your journalism is outstanding and rare these days.” - Mark S.
If you want to ensure the future of nonpartisan, nonprofit Michigan journalism, please become a member today. You, too, will be asked why you donated and maybe we'll feature your quote next time!",Not_Explicit
"El ministro de Economía y precandidato presidencial por Unión por la Patria (UxP), Sergio Massa, anunció, en el discurso que pronunció en la Exposición Rural, que, ""a partir del 1° de septiembre, ninguna economía regional va a pagar retenciones""; aseguró que ""no todo vale en la campaña"" electoral; y pidió al sector agropecuario que considere las ""medidas transitorias"" que el Gobierno debe tomar teniendo en cuenta ""la coyuntura"", marcada por los condicionamientos que ""el programa con el Fondo (Monetario Internacional) y la sequía"".
""Hay medidas transitorias que pueden ser más o menos agradables o más o menos cuestionables, pero que tienen que ver con la realidad del momento y no se las puede analizar sin tener en cuenta la coyuntura"", expresó Massa en su disertación en el marco de la tradicional Exposición Rural que se lleva a cabo en el barrio porteño de Palermo.
Las declaraciones de Massa se dieron en el marco de la presentación de un paquete de medidas, entre las que se destacó la aplicación de un dólar diferencial de $ 340 para las exportaciones de maíz, en el cierre de una serie de exposiciones de precandidatos presidenciales.
Esas disertaciones fueron presentadas por el presidente de la Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA), Nicolás Pino, quien aseguró que a los productores agropecuarios las medidas anunciadas anoche por el Gobierno ""no les generan confianza"".
""Ninguno de ustedes puede desconocer el momento que el programa con el FMI y la sequía le imponen a la economía"", planteó Massa al respecto.
Tras aclarar que no quería ""entrar en polémicas"", el titular del Palacio de Hacienda y precandidato presidencial cuestionó a quienes lo habían precedido en el uso de la palabra y habían cuestionado la aplicación de retenciones a ""doscientas economías regionales"".
Massa justificó las medidas sobre el dólar que se implementan desde este lunes
Massa: fin de las retenciones a las economías regionales
""No todo vale en la campaña"", advirtió Massa, quien luego precisó que, ""hasta el 31 de agosto, quedan seis"" en esa situación, y que, ""a partir del 1° de septiembre, ninguna economía regional va a pagar retenciones"".
Por otra parte, sostuvo que ""es fundamental"" que el Congreso sancione la ley de Fomento al Desarrollo Agroindustrial, por entender que le dará ""competitividad al sector agropecuario"" y constituirá ""un primer sendero de recaudación impositiva que nos va a permitir ir aliviando la carga"" tributaria.
Además, en su exposición, Massa destacó el aporte que representará el Gasoducto Presidente Néstor Kirchner (GPNK) al sector agrícola, en tanto permitirá ""desarrollar con Brasil y Paraguay un programa de inversión, producción y comercialización en materia de fertilizantes"".",Not_Explicit
"PRAGUE -- British spies are already using artificial intelligence to hamper the supply of weapons to Russia, the head of Britain’s MI6 agency said Wednesday, predicting that Western spies will increasingly have to focus on tracking the malign use of AI by hostile states.
In a speech that depicted machine learning as both a huge potential asset and a major threat, Richard Moore said his staff at Britain's foreign intelligence agency ""are combining their skills with AI and bulk data to identify and disrupt the flow of weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine.""
Calling China the “single most important strategic focus” for his agency, Moore said, ""we will increasingly be tasked with obtaining intelligence on how hostile states are using AI in damaging, reckless and unethical ways.”
Moore, who has previously warned that the West was falling behind rivals in the AI race, said his service “together with our allies, intends to win the race to master the ethical and safe use of AI.”
But he said AI would not replace the need for human spies, arguing that the “human factor” will remain crucial in an era of rapidly evolving machine learning.
“As AI trawls the ocean of open source, there will be even greater value in landing, with a well-cast fly, the secrets that lie beyond the reach of its nets,” he said.
He argued that “the unique characteristics of human agents in the right places will become still more significant,” highlighting spies’ ability to “influence decisions inside a government or terrorist group.”
Moore also told an audience at the British ambassador’s residence in Prague that Russia's military campaign in Ukraine had run out of steam and “there appears to be little prospect of the Russian forces regaining momentum.”
He said Ukraine's counteroffensive was proving “a hard grind,” but he was optimistic it would succeed.
Moore said the government of President Vladimir Putin was beset by “venality, infighting and callous incompetence"" and the mutiny by Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had “exposed the inexorable decay of the unstable autocracy over which Putin presides.”
He accused Russia of using Wagner as a tool of imperialism in Africa, offering leaders in the Central African Republic, Mali and other countries a “Faustian pact” of protection in return for handing over mineral wealth to Russia.
Moore also called out Iran for fueling further conflict in Ukraine by supplying Russia with drones and other weapons — a policy he said “has provoked internal quarrels at the highest level of the regime in Tehran.”
Speaking publicly about spycraft is still something of a novelty for Britain’s intelligence services. The government refused even to confirm the existence of MI6 until 1992, and public speeches by its leaders are infrequent.
Moore chose to give Wednesday's address in the Czech capital, home of the 1968 “Prague Spring” freedom movement that was crushed by Soviet tanks.
Moore’s only other public speech since becoming head of the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, almost three years ago also touched on the power and threat posed by AI. In the November 2021 address, he accused the West of being slow to reckon with AI’s disruptive impact and of lagging behind adversaries who are “pouring money and ambition” into AI and other cutting-edge technologies.
In that speech, he said China was the agency’s “single greatest priority” and said Britain and its allies “must stand up to and deter Russian activity which contravenes the international rules-based system.”
Three months later, Russia invaded Ukraine.",Not_Explicit
"A New Jersey Ponzi scheme architect, whose 24-year prison sentence was commuted by then-President Donald Trump in 2021, has been arrested again Wednesday on charges he defrauded investors by making false promises involving humanitarian supplies destined for Ukraine.
Eliyahu Weinstein and four other men were charged with conspiring to defraud 150 individual investors of more than $35 million and with conspiracy to obstruct justice, according to federal prosecutors in New Jersey.
""This is now the third time this office has charged Weinstein with a large-scale scheme to rip off investors,"" U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said during a news conference in Newark on Wednesday.
This time, Weinstein allegedly used a fake name and falsely promised access to deals involving scarce medical supplies, baby formula, and first-aid kits supposedly destined for wartime Ukraine, prosecutors said.
""These were brazen and sophisticated crimes that involved multiple coconspirators that can came from Weinstein's playbook of fraud,"" Sellinger said.
Weinstein was convicted twice in New Jersey federal court for defrauding investors. His first case involved a real estate Ponzi scheme, and his second case stemmed from additional fraud Weinstein committed while on pretrial release. Those crimes resulted in combined losses to investors of $230 million, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to serve 24 years in prison.
On Jan. 19, 2021, after Weinstein had served less than eight years, Trump commuted Weinstein's term to time served.
Soon after his release from prison, Weinstein allegedly began orchestrating a new scheme to solicit money from investors through a company called Optimus Investments Inc., according to the criminal complaint.
Weinstein ran Optimus while using a fake name, ""Mike Konig,"" keeping his true name and identity hidden because, as Weinstein acknowledged in a secretly recorded conversation, investors wouldn't give them ""a penny"" if they learned of Weinstein's involvement, the complaint said.
Weinstein joins a growing list of people who secured clemency from former President Donald Trump and have since faced additional legal scrutiny, as ABC News reported earlier this year.
At the time, ABC News reviewed the 238 people who were pardoned or had their sentences commuted during the Trump administration and found at least ten who were back under investigation, charged with a crime, or already convicted.
Legal experts called this recurring theme unprecedented -- but not entirely unexpected, given the former president's unorthodox approach to the pardon process.
""President Trump bypassed the formal and orderly Justice Department process in favor of an informal and fairly chaotic White House operation, relying in some cases on his personal views and in others on recommendations from people he knew or who gained access to him in various ways,"" said Margaret Love, a lawyer who represents clients seeking pardons and a former U.S. Pardon Attorney, a Justice Department appointee who helps advise presidents on grants of clemency.
""So, it might have been predicted,"" Love said at the time, ""that some who made it through that lax gauntlet were going to get in trouble again.""",Not_Explicit
"Two whistleblowers who alleged the Justice Department politically interfered with an investigation into President Joe Biden’s youngest son, Hunter, will testify before Congress at 1 p.m. Wednesday, including ""Whistleblower X,"" a 13-year special agent of the IRS whose identity will be revealed for the first time during the hearing and former investigation supervisor Greg Shapley.
According to an opening statement released ahead of the hearing, the unidentified official intends to describe himself as a ""whistleblower compelled to disclose the truth"" and to shed light on ""the shadow that looms over our federal legal system.""
""I have witnessed the corrosion of ethical standards and the abuse of power that threaten our nation. It is within this context that I have chosen to shed light on these actions and expose those responsible. I recognize that while I was present at the start of this investigation and was closely involved with the investigation for roughly five years — that I am just a part of the story,"" the opening statement continued. ""My aim is to address systemic problems that have allowed misconduct to flourish. It is not a call for blame but a call for accountability and reform.""
""Transparency is the foundation of our democracy,"" the unidentified IRS agent will tell Congress Wednesday. ""Without it, people lose their trust in the institutions and the bonds that tie the fabric of our nation start to fray. The American people deserve to know the truth no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient it may be for either political party.""
The IRS whistleblowers claim there was a pattern of ""slow-walking investigative steps"" into Hunter Biden, which included instructions not to speak with him at his residence, tipping the president’s son and staff off about the ongoing efforts and delaying enforcement actions in the months before the 2020 presidential election.
Leaders of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, and Ways and Means committees will join together Wednesday to host the IRS whistleblowers for what is expected to be an intense hearing.
The two IRS agents were assigned to the federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax and gun charges. Biden ultimately pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement with federal prosecutors in a lenient deal that prompted criticism from Republican lawmakers. The hearing comes as House Republicans continue to investigate the president and his family after the Justice Department failed to find evidence of criminal conduct.
The congressional inquiry into the Justice Department's case against Hunter Biden was launched last month, days after Hunter Biden’s plea deal was announced.
The House Ways and Means Committee previously voted to publicly share hundreds of pages of testimony from the IRS employees. In the testimony, the agents described several roadblocks agents on the case, such as trying to interview individuals relevant to the case or issue search warrants, which they ultimately claim impeded their investigation.
In one specific case, Shapley described IRS agents’ efforts to execute a search warrant of a storage facility in Virginia where the younger Biden’s documents were being stored. He said the assistant U.S. attorney involved in the case reached out to Hunter Biden’s lawyers and the tip-off ruined ""our chance to get to evidence before being destroyed, manipulated, or concealed.""
Shapley also claimed that U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the federal prosecutor who led the investigation into Hunter Biden, asked to be provided special counsel status in order to bring the tax cases to jurisdictions outside Delaware, including Washington, D.C., and California
Shapley claims Weiss was denied this request but both Weiss and the Justice Department refuted the claim. They said Weiss had ""full authority"" of the case and never sought to bring charges in other states.
The second IRS whistleblower said he started the investigation into Hunter Biden in 2015 and described persistent frustrations with the way the case was handled, including under the Trump administration and then-Attorney General William Barr.
He said he began to hit roadblocks when he attempted to delve deeply into Hunter Biden’s life and finances. Other agents involved in the case have so far not been willing to testify.
The three chairmen of the committees —Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, James Comer, R-Kentucky, and Jason Smith, R-Missouri — have jointly claimed the Justice Department is rife with political interference and bias.
They have also called the plea agreement Hunter Biden made with prosecutors to likely avoid jail time a ""sweetheart deal.""
High-ranking officials at the Justice Department have provided some information confirming certain accounts of the whistleblowers but have mostly countered their claims and those from the Republican leaders.
The officials have said federal prosecutors and investigators often disagree about how to conduct an investigation and can reach different determinations and conclusions. They have also pointed to the extraordinary circumstances of investigating the son of a leading presidential candidate. And, Department policy warns prosecutors to take care in charging cases with potential political overtones especially around the time of an election, to avoid any possible influence on the outcome, they have said.
House Democrats have defended the Justice Department, pointing out that Weiss was appointed by former President Donald Trump and the federal investigation into Hunter Biden was initiated by Trump's Justice Department. Biden also kept Weiss on the case after he won the presidency.
Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear for his plea hearing next week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"My psychotherapy colleagues and I are fed up with the grim Jonah Hill situation being put down to the inadequacies of therapy, so it was nice to see Daisy Jones speaking to qualified therapists and putting some distance between unqualified opinions being shared via TikTok and the profoundly delicate and valuable work of long-term psychotherapy (Are Jonah Hill’s texts really ‘therapy speak’? I asked a therapist, 13 July). However, it’s still grating that the unpleasant actions of a famous actor are being conflated with therapy at all. Hill plays a fair amount of golf, too – perhaps it’s golf culture that’s really to blame?
Jane Nash
London
According to George Orwell in The Road to Wigan Pier, cheap and nutritious fish and chips was one of the things that kept Britain from revolution during the economic crisis of the 1930s. They remain nutritious, but no longer cheap or even always easy to obtain (The long read, 20 July). Surely sorting this out is worthy of a pledge from Keir Starmer?
Keith Flett
Tottenham, London
Derek Malcolm (Obituary, 17 July) was a living legend for Guardian readers. Who could forget his satirical 1974 review of the fictional “Magnum Fart”, playing on the title of Magnum Force, the 1973 Dirty Harry film starring Clint Eastwood.
David Simpson
Datchet, Berkshire
Does Prince Andrew still bank with Coutts (Sunak, Braverman and City regulator wade into Farage banking row, 19 July)?
Dora Henry
Birmingham",Not_Explicit
"BEIJING/SINGAPORE, July 20 (Reuters) - Climate talks this week between China and the United States were buoyed by goodwill, but the world's two biggest carbon polluters achieved more on righting their diplomatic relationship than battling climate change.
Despite a strong rapport between the countries' veteran envoys, expectations for a breakthrough were low when John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua sat down for three days of talks in Beijing through Wednesday.
Kerry claimed progress, if mostly on getting relations back on track, but issues from U.S. politics to the diplomats' job prospects could make further advances difficult. China has not yet published an official reaction to the talks.
""We came here first of all to get back into sync,"" Kerry told reporters. ""That is breaking ground: We were stopped, stymied for almost a year.""
With relations at a low over national security issues, U.S. export bans on advanced technologies and China's state-led industrial policies, Washington has been trying to repair ties between the world's two biggest economies.
High-level U.S. visits to China had been halted due to Beijing's anger at a visit by U.S. then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August 2022 to Taiwan, a self-governed island claimed by China. But in recent weeks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited ahead of Kerry, a former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate.
'AS GOOD AS IT CAN GET'
Washington and Beijing share a desire to accelerate the transition away from coal and abate methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Kerry said China agreed that a target to keep global temperatures rises within 1.5 Celsius of pre-industrial levels should remain ""alive"".
China has previous shown scepticism around the ability to achieve 1.5C, favouring the less stringent Paris target of 2C.
""I'm very comfortable we came out at a place where we had China ready and willing to work in an aggressive way - providing someone else or something else doesn't screw it up.""
Li Shuo, climate adviser with environmental group Greenpeace in Beijing, said building more resilience into a still ""fragile"" diplomatic relationship was a crucial element in the talks.
""Overall, this is as good as it can get,"" said Li, who has been closely following China-U.S. climate diplomacy for more than a decade.
Kerry and Xie focussed on progress headed toward COP28, the annual U.N. climate summit in November.
Questions remain about the longer term, should political winds shift in the United States or the two diplomats leave their posts.
Kerry, powered by orange juice and ice cream sundaes during this week's marathon talks, turns 80 in December. Xie, 73, has been plagued by ill-health, limiting his trips overseas.
The U.S. envoy would not speculate on what would happen if he or Xie stepped down but acknowledged that U.S. politics, heating up before next year's presidential election, would make diplomacy harder.
Republicans who favour a harder line against China have criticised his trip.
NO 'PUSHING PEOPLE AROUND'
""We all understand the difficult situation for John Kerry,"" said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Environment and Public Affairs, a Beijing environment group.
""He is passionate on climate, just like his counterpart, Special Envoy Xie,"" Ma said. ""But in America, climate collaboration has been affected by local politics and that does make it quite difficult.""
Disputes remain. Premier Li Qiang, meeting Kerry on Tuesday, raised the issue of finance, urging richer countries to make money available as soon as possible.
Top diplomat Wang Yi rejected Kerry's plea to ring-fence climate from broader bilateral disputes, saying climate ""cannot be separated from the overall environment of Sino-U.S. relations"".
The Communist Party-run People's Daily said last week the ""oasis"" of climate change cooperation could soon be a desert if the United States did not ""meet China halfway"" on issues like U.S. trade sanctions on solar panels.
But Kerry told reporters he was still optimistic that diplomacy could bring more rewards in the run-up to COP28 in Dubai.
""You don't come crashing in here and start pushing people around,"" he said. ""You work through it. You talk. You build a relationship.""
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"KYIV – Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired Vadym Prystaiko as Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, after the envoy criticized the Ukrainian president in public.
Zelenskyy’s decree, announcing the dismissal of the ambassador, does not give a reason for his decision. But it comes after Prystaiko criticized Zelenskyy’s punchy response to U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace, who suggested that Ukraine should show more gratitude to its allies.
Speaking to reporters at the NATO summit in Vilnius earlier this month, Wallace said that the U.S. is heading for a presidential election next year, and lawmakers from countries making big military donations to Kyiv could face a political problem if they are met with Ukrainian anger. There is concern across much of Europe that NATO-skeptic Donald Trump could return as U.S. president.
Zelenskyy responded with an ironic remark during the press briefing in Vilnius, saying he does not understand how much more he should express his thanks, in response to Wallace’s comment. “He can write to me about how he wants to be thanked, so we can fully express our gratitude. We can make a point to wake up (every) morning and thank him,” Zelenskyy said.
During the interview with Sky News Prystaiko was asked if that remark had a hint of sarcasm. He agreed. “I don’t believe that this sarcasm is healthy. We don’t have to show Russians that we have something between us. They have to know we are working together,” Prystaiko said.",Not_Explicit
"Washington, 24 jul (EFE).- EE.UU. lamentó este lunes que la Knéset (Parlamento israelí) aprobara con ""la mayoría más estrecha posible"" la ley que anula la doctrina de la razonabilidad, la primera ley del paquete legislativo de la polémica reforma judicial impulsada por el Gobierno de Benjamín Netanyahu.
""Es lamentable que la votación de hoy haya tenido lugar con la mayoría más estrecha posible"", afirmó en un comunicado la portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Karine Jean-Pierre.
La portavoz recordó que el presidente de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, como ""amigo de toda la vida de Israel"" ya ha expresado en público y en privado su visión de que ""los cambios importantes en una democracia deben contar con el consenso más amplio posible"" para que perduren en el tiempo.
Pese a ese deseo de consenso por parte de Estados Unidos y las protestas en las calles, la votación en la Knéset siguió adelante y la ley de la razonabilidad fue aprobada con 64 votos a favor -de todos los diputados de los partidos de la coalición del Gobierno israelí-; y cero en contra, ya que la oposición en bloque, 56 legisladores, boicotearon la votación ausentándose del pleno.
Aunque esa primera pieza de la reforma judicial fue aprobada, la Casa Blanca dijo que apoya los esfuerzos del presidente del Estado de Israel, Isaac Herzog, para intentar que avancen las negociaciones entre el Gobierno y la oposición para intentar lograr un consenso.
La ley se votó en una sesión plenaria que comenzó el domingo, después de 30 horas de acalorados debates, mientras miles de manifestantes acampados frente a la Knéset desde la noche del sábado protestaban contra la reforma, vista como una amenaza a la democracia porque socava la separación de poderes y la independencia de la Justicia.
Las protestas han dejado de momento 19 detenidos por ""violar el orden público"" y cinco herido leves, en los altercados desatados con la Policía, que tuvo que recurrir a la Policía montada y a cañones de agua para dispersar a los manifestantes que trataban de bloquear el acceso principal al parlamento.
(c) Agencia EFE",Not_Explicit
"President Biden will reportedly establish a national monument this week to honor Emmett Till, the Black teen from Chicago whose 1955 lynching while on vacation in Mississippi helped galvanize the civil rights movement.
A White House official, who spoke on condition on anonymity, reportedly told the Associated Press that Biden will sign a proclamation on Tuesday to create the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument across three sites in Illinois and Mississippi. Tuesday is the anniversary of Emmett Till's birth in 1941.
CBS News also reported Saturday it had learned in advance of Biden's planned announcement Tuesday.
Till's mother's insistence on an open casket to reveal how her 14-year-old son had been brutalized and Jet magazine's decision to publish photos of his mutilated body contributed to the rousing of the civil rights movement.
The Illinois site is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Bronzeville, a historically Black neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Thousands of people gathered at the church to mourn Emmett Till in September 1955.
The Mississippi locations are Graball Landing, believed to be where Till’s mutilated body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Till’s accused killers were tried and acquitted.
Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi when Carolyn Bryant Donham said the 14-year-old Till whistled and made sexual advances at her while she worked in a store in the small community of Money.
Till was later abducted, and his body eventually pulled from the Tallahatchie River, where he had been tossed after he was shot and weighted down with a cotton gin fan.
Two White men, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam, were tried on murder charges about a month after Till was killed, but an all-White Mississippi jury acquitted them. Months later, they confessed to killing Till in a paid interview with Look magazine. Bryant was married to Donham in 1955. She died earlier this year.
The Justice Department announced in December 2021 that it was closing its investigation into Till's killing.
In 2022, a grand jury in Mississippi had declined to indict Donham, ruling there was insufficient evidence to bring charges of kidnapping and manslaughter against the woman by then in her 80s.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Former President Donald Trump on Friday received some bad news from the firm of his own pollster about the 2024 presidential race.
A Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research poll surveying voters in 40 competitive House districts across the nation found that while President Joe Biden has an edge over Trump in those crucial swing districts, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was a bigger threat to the incumbent.
While Biden led Trump 47 percent to 43 percent in a hypothetical matchup, Biden and DeSantis were to be tied at 45 percent. Trump and DeSantis are both gunning to be the Republican nominee. DeSantis has been the only other GOP candidate to break away from the crowded field, but polls continue to give Trump a wide lead over DeSantis, suggesting that he's still the favorite among Republican voters.
Participants were surveyed by Fabrizio Ward, a firm headed by Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward. Fabrizio, who is credited with writing an influential internal memo that helped Trump switch his 2016 campaign strategy two weeks before Election Day, was Trump's chief pollster in 2016 and 2020. He is currently a pollster with MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned super political action committee.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment.
The poll, commissioned by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), was conducted between July 5 and 11 and surveyed 1,752 likely general election voters in House districts that the Cook Political Report rated as ""Lean"" or ""Toss Up"" as of July 5. It has a 2.83+/- margin of error among participants 18 and older and for those 50 and above.
Women over 50 in those competitive districts also seemed to favor Biden over Trump and DeSantis over Trump. When Trump and Biden go head to head, 48 percent back the Democrat, compared to the 44 percent who support Trump. But in a Biden-DeSantis matchup, the two tie at 46 percent among women over 50.
Although the majority of voters seemed to prefer Biden over Trump, the former president did better among four nonpartisan demographics than Biden. Trump had a 17-point lead over Biden among rural voters, an 11-point lead among those without a college degree, an 2-point lead among white voters.
Trump also had an 11-point lead over Biden when it came to voters age 50 to 64, but Biden did better with voters 65 and above, earning 50 percent support to Trump's 42 percent.
""We know that voters age 50-plus will make up the majority of the electorate in 2024,"" Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer, said in a Friday press release. ""The fact that this group is divided shows that no one running for office should take them for granted or write them off. Candidates who want to win need to connect with them and address their concerns.""
The discrepancy between voters 50 to 64 and those 65 and up seemed to remain in a hypothetical matchup between Biden and DeSantis, with the earlier group favoring the Republican and the latter group favoring the Democrat. DeSantis had a 15-point lead over Biden among the 50-64 age group, while Biden say a 4-point lead over DeSantis among those 65 and above.",Not_Explicit
"The stars are all over this year’s Toronto International Film Festival lineup—but that’s to be expected. The real surprise here is that, in a bit of a twist, they’ll likely be able to appear in Canada, despite ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike rules that largely prohibit promotional appearances at film festivals. Why? A whole bunch of those stars also happen to be filmmakers.
This year’s preliminary TIFF lineup, released Monday, includes films directed by the likes of Tony Goldwyn (Ezra), Michael Keaton (Knox Goes Away), Kristin Scott Thomas (North Star), Chris Pine (Poolman), Viggo Mortensen (The Dead Don’t Hurt), Ethan Hawke (Wildcat), and Anna Kendrick (Woman of the Hour). What’s more, these are all sales titles, meaning they’re not beholden to a studio (and thus, the AMPTP) yet. It’s great, necessary timing for the fall-festival community, which is reeling from studio pullbacks in the wake of the dual SAG and WGA strikes.
That said, TIFF still appears to be playing its usual role of awards-season central station. Each year, TIFF immediately follows the overlapping Venice and Telluride festivals, presenting films that previously premiered at those events. Indeed, the most newsworthy part of this lineup may be the number of Telluride debuts we can infer, based on premieres that have been labeled “Canadian” or “International” debuts rather than “worldwide” debuts. (Telluride does not announce its lineup until just before Labor Day Weekend.) Netflix’s Nyad and Rustin, which feature already buzzy performances from Annette Bening and Colman Domingo, respectively, both appear to be going that route, as does Focus’s The Holdovers—which reunites Sideways director Alexander Payne and star Paul Giamatti—and Apple’s Fingernails, whose killer cast includes Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, and Jeremy Allen White.
Toronto will also bring in the top prize winners from Cannes, Neon’s Anatomy of a Fall and A24’s The Zone of Interest—both of which star German actress Sandra Hüller, presumably not bound by SAG-AFTRA rules—as well as a few Sundance successes like Netflix’s Fair Play. Several sales titles beyond those aforementioned celeb-directed ones could also catch fire as late-season contenders, if they play well. Kate Winslet portrays war photographer Lee Miller in the biopic Lee, from Ellen Kuras, while Jessica Chastain top-lines Michel Franco’s Memory.
Notably, while the list is littered with implicit Telluride debuts—Anatomy of a Fall can also be counted on showing up at the earlier fest—the list is much smaller, among notable titles, when it comes to presumed Venice launches. (One seeming exception is Richard Linklater’s Hitman.) Venice recently lost its opening film, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers (which is moving to a 2024 release), due to the ongoing strikes; we’ll have to see whether the typically starry fest has been further affected by postponed titles when it announces its lineup on Tuesday. Major fall films yet to secure a festival announcement include Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, and David Fincher’s The Killer; according to the lineup, none of these four are debuting at TIFF. We’ll soon know whether more of their rollouts have changed for them, or if Toronto simply wasn’t in the cards for these films.
See the full lineup below.
GALAS
- Concrete Utopia Um Tae-Hwa | South Korea North American Premiere Sales Title - North America Rights Available
- Dumb Money Craig Gillespie | USA World Premiere
- Fair Play Chloe Domont | USA International Premiere
- Flora and Son John Carney | Ireland/USA Canadian Premiere
- Hate to Love: Nickelback Leigh Brooks | Canada World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Lee Ellen Kuras | United Kingdom World Premiere Sales Title - US Rights Available
- Next Goal Wins Taika Waititi | USA World Premiere
- NYAD Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | USA International Premiere
- Punjab ’95 Honey Trehan | India World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Solo Sophie Dupuis | Canada World Premiere Sales Title - US Rights Available
- The End We Start From Mahalia Belo | United Kingdom World Premiere Sales Title - North American Rights Available
- The Movie Emperor Ning Hao | China World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- The New Boy Warwick Thornton | Australia North American Premiere Sales Title – North American Rights Available
- The Royal Hotel Kitty Green | Australia/United Kingdom Canadian Premiere
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
- A Difficult Year Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache | France International Premiere Sales Title - US Rights Available
- A Normal Family Hur Jin-ho | South Korea World Premiere Sales Title - North American Rights Available
- American Fiction Cord Jefferson | USA World Premiere
- Anatomy of a Fall Justine Triet | France Canadian Premiere
- Close to You Dominic Savage | Canada/United Kingdom World Premiere Sales Title - US Rights Available
- Days of Happiness Chloé Robichaud | Canada World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- El Rapto Daniela Goggi | Argentina North American Premiere Sales Title - North American Rights Available
- Ezra Tony Goldwyn | USA World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Fingernails Christos Nikou | USA International Premiere
- Four Daughters Kaouther Ben Hania | France/Tunisia/Germany/Saudi Arabia North American Premiere Sales Title - Some Rights Available
- His Three Daughters Azazel Jacobs | USA World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Hitman Richard Linklater | USA North American Premiere Sales Title - US Rights Available
- In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon Alex Gibney | USA World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Kidnapped Marco Bellocchio | Italy/France/Germany North American Premiere
- Knox Goes Away Michael Keaton | USA World Premiere Sales Title - US Rights Available
- La Chimera Alice Rohrwacher | Italy/France/Switzerland North American Premiere
- Last Summer Catherine Breillat | France North American Premiere
- Les Indésirables Ladj Ly | France World Premiere Sales Title - North America Rights Available
- Memory Michel Franco | USA/Mexico North American Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Monster Kore-eda Hirokazu | Japan North American Premiere
- Mother Couch Niclas Larsson | USA World Premiere
- North Star Kristin Scott Thomas | United Kingdom World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- One Life James Hawes | United Kingdom World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Pain Hustlers David Yates | USA World Premiere
- Poolman Chris Pine | USA World Premiere Sales Title - Some Rights Available
- Reptile Grant Singer | USA World Premiere
- Rustin George C. Wolfe | USA International Premiere
- Seven Veils Atom Egoyan | Canada World Premiere Sales Title - US Rights Available
- Shoshana Michael Winterbottom | United Kingdom/Italy World Premiere Sales Title - North American Rights Available
- Sing Sing Greg Kwedar | USA World Premiere Sales Title - US Rights Available
- Smugglers Ryoo Seung-wan | South Korea North American Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Swan Song Chelsea McMullan | Canada World Premiere Sales Title - Some Rights Available
- The Beast Bertrand Bonello | France/Canada North American Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- The Burial Maggie Betts | USA World Premiere
- The Convert Lee Tamahori | Australia/New Zealand World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- The Critic Anand Tucker | United Kingdom World Premiere Sales Title - Some Rights Available
- The Dead Don’t Hurt Viggo Mortensen | Mexico/Canada/Denmark World Premiere Sales Title - North American Rights Available
- The Holdovers Alexander Payne | USA International Premiere
- The Peasants DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman | Poland/Serbia/Lithuania World Premiere Sales Title - Some Rights Available
- The Zone of Interest Jonathan Glazer | United Kingdom/Poland/USA Canadian Premiere
- Together 99 Lukas Moodysson | Sweden/Denmark World Premiere
- Unicorns Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd | United Kingdom/USA/Sweden World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Uproar Paul Middleditch, Hamish Bennett | New Zealand World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Wicked Little Letters Thea Sharrock | United Kingdom World Premiere Sales Title - International Rights Available
- Wildcat Ethan Hawke | USA International Premiere Sales Title - North American Rights Available
- Woman of the Hour Anna Kendrick | USA World Premiere Sales Title - US Rights Available",Not_Explicit
"ICICI Bank Q1 Results Review - Relatively Soft Quarter But No Structural Red Flags: Yes Securities
Sequential growth in opex outpaced balance sheet and income growth but this was not entirely structural.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Yes Securities Report
ICICI Bank Ltd.'s slippages were higher sequentially due to slippages from the Kisan Credit Card portfolio, which amounted to Rs 6.66 billion. Higher KCC slippages is a seasonal phenomenon for the odd quarters. Provisions were Rs 12.9 billion, down by -20% QoQ but up 13% YoY.
Reported provisions declined since there were no contingent provisions made during the quarter whereas Q4 had seen contingent provisions worth Rs 16 billion.
Thus, there was a moderate rise in specific provisions on a sequential basis. However, key reasons for the rise were KCC slippages and the writeback on corporate recoveries being lower for the quarter, neither of which are structural.
Cost of deposits moved up 33 basis points QoQ to 4.31%. This was despite retail deposit rates having stabilized and wholesale deposits rates having declined. Retail term deposits rates have, in fact, stayed stable for the last six months or so. The rise in cost of deposits is due to the rapid pace of deposit growth where new higher-cost deposits now occupy a large proportion of the overall deposits book.
Staff cost was driven by annual increment and employee addition. The employee count is up ~27650 over the past 12 months. Non-employee expenses were driven by the retail business and tech expenses. 174 branches were added during the quarter, taking the branch count to 6074.
Result Highlights
Asset quality: Gross non-performing asset additions amounted to Rs 53.18 billion for the quarter, translating to an annualised slippage ratio of 2.0% in Q1 FY24.
Margin picture: Net interest margin at 4.78% was down -12 bps QoQ, with cost of deposits moving up faster than yield on advances.
Asset growth: Advances grew 3.7%/18.1% QoQ/YoY driven sequentially by healthy growth in retail, business banking and SME loans.
Opex control: Total opex grew 6.7%/25.9% QoQ/YoY, Employee expense grew 14.2%/36% QoQ/YoY and other exp. rose 2.0%/19.5% QoQ/YoY .
Fee income: Fee income grew 0.3%/14.1% QoQ/YoY. Fees from retail, rural, business banking and SME customers constituted about 78% of total fees.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday announced that his administration has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over its approval of a New York plan to reduce traffic congestion.
Murphy said New Jersey filed the lawsuit against the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and accused the federal agencies of violating environmental laws. In May, the FHWA authorized a plan from New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to charge commuters an increased fee to enter Manhattan in an effort to reduce congestion and improve the city's air quality.
""After refusing to conduct a full environmental review of the MTA’s poorly designed tolling program, the FHWA has unlawfully fast-tracked the agency’s attempt to line its own coffers at the expense of New Jersey families,"" Murphy said Friday in a statement. ""The costs of standing idly by while the MTA uses New Jersey residents to help balance its budget sheets are more than economic.""
""At the MTA’s own admission, its tolling program would divert traffic and shift pollution to many vulnerable New Jersey communities, impacting air quality while offering nothing to mitigate such considerable harm,"" he added. ""Today we stand as a unified front against this reckless scheme and reaffirm our commitment to combat the unjust taxation of our hardworking residents by other states.""
After the plan received federal approval in May, Murphy said it also violated President Biden's own environmental justice agenda and Justice40 initiative, which requires 40% of certain federal investments to flow to disadvantaged communities that are ""marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution.""
In a letter to New York officials dated May 5, the FHWA approved the release of the proposal's final environmental assessment, one of the final hurdles the project faced. The agency said it determined the assessment met the statutory threshold to move forward.
Under the plan, which the state is planning to begin implementing in 2024, commuters entering midtown or downtown Manhattan could be hit with a fee of up to $23 during peak hours and up to $12 during nighttime hours. The program is projected to boost state revenue by about $1 billion.
While the proposal was heralded as a major climate win by top New York officials — New York City Mayor Eric Adams said it would clean up the air in the most polluted communities — New Jersey lawmakers blasted it, saying it would force traffic through and increase emissions in New Jersey.
""As the senior senator of New Jersey, I have made it abundantly clear that it’s unacceptable for New York to try balancing its budget on the backs of New Jersey commuters. Their proposed congestion tax scheme is nothing more than a shakedown and must be defeated,"" Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said Friday.
""If the MTA gets its way, trucks will be backed up here in North Jersey, billowing cancer-causing pollution into the lungs of our children. I want to thank our Governor for punching back at a state that decided to use Jersey as their piggy bank to solve their years of criminal mismanagement at the MTA,"" Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., added. ""I don’t know how the MTA Chairman looks at himself in the mirror.""
Gottheimer and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., introduced legislation earlier this year that would strip federal funding from infrastructure projects in New York unless the state exempted commuters from all congestion pricing fees.
Local lawmakers and business groups like the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce and New Jersey Business and Industry Association also opposed the plan.
In addition, Murphy signed legislation Friday that would enable New Jersey to tax remote employees who live out of state but work for companies based in New Jersey.
The FHWA declined to comment, saying it doesn't comment on pending litigation.",Not_Explicit
"Ahn Young-joon/AP
toggle caption
A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday.
Ahn Young-joon/AP
A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday.
Ahn Young-joon/AP
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired several cruise missiles toward its western sea Saturday, South Korea's military said, marking the second launch event this week, apparently in protest of the docking of a nuclear-armed U.S. submarine in South Korea.
While adding to its barrage of missile launches in recent months, North Korea remained publicly silent for a fifth day on the fate of an American soldier who bolted into the North across the heavily armed Korean border this week.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were detected beginning around 4 a.m. but did not immediately report how many missiles were fired or how far they flew. It said the United States and South Korean militaries were closely analyzing the launches.
North Korea in recent years has been testing newly developed cruise missiles it describes as ""strategic,"" implying an intent to arm them with nuclear weapons. Experts say the main mission of those weapons would include striking naval assets and ports. Designed to fly like small airplanes and travel along landscape that would make them harder to detect by radar, cruise missiles are among a growing collection of North Korean weapons aimed at overwhelming missile defenses in the South.
On Wednesday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from an area near its capital, Pyongyang. They flew about 550 kilometers (340 miles) before landing in waters east of the Korean Peninsula.
The flight distance of those missiles roughly matched the distance between Pyongyang and the South Korean port city of Busan, where the USS Kentucky on Tuesday made the first visit by a U.S. nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea since the 1980s.
Also Tuesday, American soldier Pvt. Travis King sprinted across the border into North Korea while on a tour of an inter-Korean truce village.
Ahn Young-joon/AP
toggle caption
A TV screen shows a file image of American soldier Travis King during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday.
Ahn Young-joon/AP
A TV screen shows a file image of American soldier Travis King during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday.
Ahn Young-joon/AP
North Korea's state media has yet to comment on King and the country has not responded to U.S. requests to clarify where he is being kept and what his condition is. U.S. officials have expressed concern about King's well-being, considering North Korea's previous rough treatment of some American detainees. It could be weeks, or even months, before North Korea releases meaningful information about King, analysts say, as the country could drag out his detention to maximize leverage and add urgency to U.S. efforts to secure his release.
Some experts say the North may try to use King for propaganda or as a bargaining chip to coax political and security concessions from Washington, possibly tying his release with the United States cutting back its military activities with South Korea.
""With so many moving pieces, it's important not to attribute causation to mere correlation of events. But North Korea's missile provocations do not foreshadow an easy negotiation to secure Travis King's release,"" said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at South Korea's Ewha University. ""Unauthorized border crossings endanger personnel, risk a political and even military incident, and can be exploited by North Korean hostage diplomacy.""
The United States and South Korea have been expanding their combined military exercises and have agreed to increase the regional deployment of U.S. strategic assets like bombers, aircraft carriers and submarines in a show of force against North Korea, which has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022.
The allies also kicked off new rounds of nuclear contingency planning meetings that are partially aimed at easing fears among the South Korean public about the North's growing nuclear threat and suppressing voices within the country that it should pursue its own deterrent.
North Korea's defense minister issued a veiled threat Thursday suggesting the docking of the Kentucky in South Korea could be grounds for a nuclear attack by the North. North Korea has used such rhetoric before, but the comments underscored how much relations are strained now.
South Korea's Defense Ministry on Friday described the deployment of the Kentucky and the nuclear contingency planning meetings between Washington and Seoul as ""defensive response measures"" to counter the North Korean threat. The ministry said in a statement it ""strongly warns"" that any nuclear attack by the North on the allies would face an ""immediate, overwhelming and decisive response ... that would bring an end to the North Korean regime.""",Not_Explicit
"The UK: Must change? Won’t change!
Backlashes against green taxes speak to a paralysed future
Greetings, this piece is free to read but please support my journalism by signing up as a paying subscriber (cost £1.15 a week) or as a free subscriber (cost, well, nothing). Best, Nick
All sane commentators expect the British Conservatives to lose the next general election. To reinforce their conviction, the government suffered staggering defeats in two by elections early this morning.
In the West Country constituency of Somerset and Frome the Liberal Democrats overturned a 19,000 Conservative majority to take the seat with 55 per cent of the vote. In Selby in Yorkshire an astonishing Labour victory showed that the Brexiteers “northern strategy” was dead. Boris Johnson was meant to have given the Conservatives new territory by smashing the “red wall” of previously safe Labour seats in the north of England. Such is the disillusion with the government, the party could not hold the previously safe Conservative seat of Selby and Ainsty.
Labour overturned a Conservative majority of 20,137 in a white, semi-rural constituency with a disproportionately elderly population.
An epic Tory defeat is surely coming at the next election.
It almost certainly is. And yet and yet. The result that will have the most effect on the future government of the United Kingdom will be the Conservatives clinging on against all expectations in the outer London suburb of Uxbridge. It speaks to a paralysed future.
This was Boris Johnson’s seat. No voters had more right to be angry at his lies and failures than the voters of Uxbridge.
But Labour could not capture it because the issue was no longer disillusion with Brexit, Johnson’s scandals, Liz Truss’s madness, the cost of living or national decline, but a Labour environmental tax.
Steve Tuckwell defies expectations in Uxbridge.
Steve Tuckwell, the winning Tory candidate, was certain that his victory had nothing to do with the merits or otherwise of Rishi Sunak’s government. Instead, he explained that, “Sadiq Khan has lost Labour this election, and we know that it was his damaging and costly ULEZ policy which lost them this election.”
Khan, the Labour mayor of London, is expanding London’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to cover Uxbridge and the rest of outer London. He explained his admirable motives when he said that he was seeking, “to address the triple challenges of toxic air pollution, the climate emergency and traffic congestion”. Owners of old, polluting vehicles would have to pay a charge of £12.50 a day if they insisted on keeping them. To encourage them to send their wheezing cars to the junkyard, Khan offered compensation in the form of a scrappage scheme. .
Not enough.
Across the West you can see a pattern. Record breaking heat waves in southern Europe and north America, and extreme hunger in east Africa ought to burn the need to tackle the climate crisis into the public’s consciousness. But the cost of dealing with it hits relatively poor people in rich countries the hardest.
Wealthy Londoners can afford modern vehicles. The self-employed working class, which relies on old diesel cars and battered white vans, struggles.
In Germany, the Green party has learned the hard way that people want to save the planet but are reluctant to pay the price. The Green leader in the governing coalition Robert Habeck may rage, but his party is suffering its worst results in provincial elections in 20 years because of the price of phasing out fossil fuel heating in private homes. Environmentally friendly heat pumps cost 13,000 Euros per installation. The charge is like a poll tax that hits those least able to pay hardest.
Meanwhile, the Farmer Citizen Movement has upended the politics of the Netherlands. The alliance of the righteously angry countrymen and women, infuriated by controls on nitrogen pollution, has come from nowhere to being a major player in the country’s politics.
And now we have the Uxbridge election result.
Come on, I hear you say how many constituencies are likely to revolt against the London mayor’s policies? Ten, maybe. Fifteen at most. It’s nothing.
But I fear the effect may be wider. The UK is in a desperate position. It needs radical reform to break out of years of national decline. But the message from Uxbridge the naturally cautious Keir Starmer will take is that any reform that raises opposition, as all reforms do, is too risky to contemplate.
Contrary to the rhetoric of his critics on the left, Labour is proposing one sweeping policy: a rewriting of the UK’s Byzantine planning system. Everyone knows planning needs to be tackled to make it easier and cheaper to build new homes, infrastructure and workplaces.
Then, everyone knows that climate change must be tackled. It’s the tackling of it that is the problem.
I wonder how Labour’s promise to simplify the planning system will survive in an election campaign. The Conservatives will inflame the residents of suburban and semi-rural England’s perfectly reasonable dislike of development.
The one radical plan Labour could offer is immediate steps to rejoin the European single market. Economically there is no cost, only benefits. Most people now realise that Johnson and Farage sold them a false bill of goods. And yet, the minority who still support Brexit is concentrated in marginal seats Labour needs to win. The party has duly made it clear that it will ask the EU for little beyond minor changes to a dreadful settlement.
The average Briton has not had a real pay rise since 2007. The public services are visibly crumbling. The national debt is 100 percent of GDP. Sweeping change is necessary if the UK is not to sink further into the mire.
Yet the lesson I am sure the Labour leadership will draw from the one disappointment in an otherwise triumphant night is that it pays to do nothing or next to nothing because, however angry voters are, they are not angry enough to embrace change.
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"Asia Cup 2023 Schedule Announced; India vs Pakistan On September 2, Check Full Fixtures
Asia Cup 2023 will be played from August 30 to September 17. Here is all you need to know
The schedule for the highly awaited Asia Cup 2023 was announced by Asian Cricket Council president Jay Shah on Wednesday.
Pakistan will play against Nepal in the tournament opener on August 30 in Multan while India will play their first game against Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy.
Asia Cup 2023 will be held from August 30 to September 17 and will feature teams like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Nepal.
A total of 13 ODI matches will be played in the tournament which will be hosted in a hybrid model with four matches being across two venues in Pakistan and the remaining nine matches being played in Sri Lanka's Kandy and Colombo.
""I am happy to announce the schedule for the highly anticipated Men's ODI #AsiaCup2023, a symbol of unity and togetherness binding diverse nations together! Let's join hands in the celebration of cricketing excellence and cherish the bonds that connect us all,"" Jay Shah said in a tweet.
Asia Cup 2023: Schedule And Fixtures
I am happy to announce the schedule for the highly anticipated Men's ODI #AsiaCup2023, a symbol of unity and togetherness binding diverse nations together! Let's join hands in the celebration of cricketing excellence and cherish the bonds that connect us all. @ACCMedia1 pic.twitter.com/9uPgx6intP— Jay Shah (@JayShah) July 19, 2023",Not_Explicit
"L&T Shares Hit Record High On Bagging 'Mega-Order' For Its Heavy Civil Infra Business
Although L&T has not specified the order value, it classifies projects worth over Rs 7,000 crore as mega-orders.
Shares of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. hit a record high on Friday after it won a 'mega-order' for its heavy civil infrastructure business.
The company was awarded a contract by The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. to construct the 135.45 km stretch of the MAHSR-C3 package, which is part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project, , according to an exchange filing.
Although L&T has not specified the order value, it classifies projects worth over Rs 7,000 crore as mega-orders, the filing said.
The scope includes building viaducts, stations, major river bridges, depots, tunnels, earth structures, and auxiliary works, it said.
The Mumbai Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Project will cover approximately 508 km, passing through Maharashtra, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Gujarat, with 12 stations. With this package, L&T will execute 92% of the main line between Shilphata, Maharashtra and Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Separately, the company said its board will meet on July 25 to consider the proposals for the buyback of shares and the declaration of a special dividend for this fiscal. If approved, the record date for the same is set for Aug 2.
Shares of L&T rose 3.36% intraday before paring gains to trade 2.37% higher as of 10:23 a.m. This compares to a 0.82% dip in the NSE Nifty 50.
Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 7.3 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 72.5, indicating that the stock may be overbought.
Of the 41 analysts tracking the company, 38 maintain a 'buy' rating, one recommends a ‘hold’, and two indicate a ‘sell', according to Bloomberg data. However, the average 12-month consensus price target implies an upside of 0.8%.",Not_Explicit
"- Foxconn is best known as the main assembler of Apple's iPhones. But in last couple of years, the Taiwanese firm has made a push into semiconductors.
- Foxconn agreed last year with Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta to set up a semiconductor and display production plant in India as part of a $19.5 billion joint venture.
- But the joint venture failed, highlighting the difficulty for new players to enter a market dominated by established firms with huge experience and a highly intricate supply chain.
Foxconn is best known as the main assembler of Apple's iPhones. But in last couple of years, the Taiwanese firm has made a push into semiconductors, betting that the rise of technologies like artificial intelligence will boost demand for these chips.
But Foxconn's semiconductor foray has had a tough start, highlighting the difficulty for new players to enter a market dominated by established firms with huge experience and a highly intricate supply chain.
""The industry presents newcomers with high barriers to entry, mainly high levels of capital intensity and access to coveted intellectual property,"" Gabriel Perez, ICT analyst at BMI, a unit at Fitch Group, told CNBC via email.
""Established players such as TSMC, Samsung or Micron count with several decades of R&D (research and development), process engineering and trillions of dollars in investment to reach their current capabilities.""
Foxconn, officially known as Hon Hai Technology Group, is a contract electronics manufacturer that assembles consumer products like iPhones. But in the last two years, it has stepped up its presence in semiconductors.
In May 2021, it formed a joint venture with Yageo Corporation, which makes various types of electronic components. That same year, Foxconn bought a chip plant from Taiwanese chipmaker Macronix.
The biggest ramp-up in effort came last year when Foxconn agreed with Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta to set up a semiconductor and display production plant in India as part of a $19.5 billion joint venture.
Neil Shah, vice president of research at Counterpoint Research, said Foxconn's push into semiconductors is about diversifying its business, and the company's decision to launch an electric car unit is part of that plan. Its aim is to become a ""one stop shop"" for electronics and automotive companies, Shah said.
If Foxconn could assemble electronics and manufacture chips, it would be a very unique and competitive business.
Foxconn looked to India for its joint venture with Vedanta because the country's government is looking to boost its domestic semiconductor industry and bring manufacturing on shore.
""Foxconn's decision to establish a JV in India responds to two key trends – one of them being the market's growing role as a consumer electronics manufacturing hub, the second one being India's ambitions – mirroring other major markets such as the US, the EU and Mainland China - to develop its domestic semiconductor industry through public subsidies and regulatory incentives,"" BMI's Perez said.
This month, Foxconn pulled out of its joint venture with Vedanta. The two sides ""mutually agreed to part ways,"" Foxconn said in a statement at the time.
""There was recognition from both sides that the project was not moving fast enough, there were challenging gaps we were not able to smoothly overcome, as well as external issues unrelated to the project,"" Foxconn said.
Deadlocked talks with European chipmaker STMicroelectronics, which was the technology partner for the project, was one major reason for the venture's failure, Reuters reported this month.
Foxconn and Vedanta wanted to license the technology from STMicro and India wanted the firm to have a stake in the joint venture, but the European chipmaker did not, Reuters reported.
Foxconn's hurdles point to a broader issue — it's hard for newcomers to get into semiconductor manufacturing.
The manufacturing of chips is dominated by one player — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, better known as TSMC — which has a 59% market share in the foundry segment, according to Counterpoint Research.
TSMC doesn't design its own chips. Instead, it makes these components for other companies like Apple. TSMC has had more than two decades of experience and billions of dollars of investment to get to where it is.
TSMC also relies on a complex supply chain of companies that make critical tools to allow it to manufacture the most advanced chips in the world.
Foxconn and Vedanta's effort appeared to rely heavily on STMicro, but once the European company bailed, the joint venture was without much expertise in semiconductors.
""Both companies ... lacked the core competency of manufacturing a chip,"" Counterpoint Research's Shah said, adding that they were dependent on third-party technology and intellectual property.
Foxconn's attempts to crack the semiconductor space highlight how difficult it is for a new entrant to do so — even for a $47.9 billion giant.
""The semiconductor market is highly concentrated with few players which have taken more than two decades to evolve to this point,"" Shah said, adding that there are high barriers to entry, such as large amounts of investment and specialized labor.
""On an average, it takes more than two decades to be at the level of skill and scale to be a successful semiconductor manufacturing (fab) company.""",Not_Explicit
"- Summary
- Companies
- Russian air strikes hit southern Ukrainian port cities
- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemns the attacks
- Russia says it carried out retaliatory strikes
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine, July 20 (Reuters) - At least three people were killed and a Chinese consular building was damaged on Thursday in a third successive night of air strikes on southern Ukrainian port cities, Ukrainian officials said.
Regional governor Oleh Kiper posted a photograph showing at least one broken window at the Chinese consulate in the Black Sea city of Odesa, but there was no sign of any other damage.
Beijing, a Russian ally, did not immediately comment on the incident, one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 60,000 tons of agricultural products destined for China had been destroyed in an attack on another Ukrainian port city.
Moscow said it had carried out ""retaliatory strikes"", days after it quit a deal allowing Ukrainian Black Sea grain shipments and accused Ukraine of being behind blasts on a bridge used to transport Russian military supplies.
Ukraine's military said Russian forces launched 19 missiles and 19 drones overnight, and that five of the missiles and 13 of the drones were shot down.
""Russian terrorists continue their attempts to destroy the life of our country,"" Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app. ""Together we will make it through this terrible time. And we will withstand the attacks of Russian evil.""
In Odesa, a security guard was killed and at least eight other people were hurt, including a child, Kiper said.
A married couple was killed in the city of Mykolaiv, mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said.
Regional governor Vitaliy Kim had said earlier on Thursday that 19 people were hurt in the city, and several residential buildings were damaged.
Fire fighters in Mykolaiv tackled a huge blaze that left a three-storey residential building without its top floor, and adjacent buildings were gutted by the fire.
A Russian attack on the port of Chornomorsk on Wednesday damaged grain export infrastructure as well as the agricultural products Zelenskiy said were meant for China.
Ukrainian officials see the air strikes as an attack on global food security because Kyiv is a major grain exporter. Mykhailo Podolayk, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy, urged the international community to do more in response.
""Will we see an emergency convocation of the UN Security Council to discuss global food security? The international community chooses... to stand aside,"" he wrote on Twitter.
Authorities in the northeastern region of Kharkiv said separately a 61-year-old man had been killed there by Russian shelling on Thursday.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Bajaj Auto Q1 Results Review - Miss On Ebitda Margin Largely Led By Unfavorable Mix: Motilal Oswal
Triumph-order book at 17,000 units; aims to hit a run-rate of 5,000 units/month by September 2023.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
Bajaj Auto Ltd. posted lower Ebitda margin (-30 basis points QoQ) at 19.0% (versus estimate: 19.5%) due to unfavorable mix as the share of commuter segment rose during the marriage season in Q1 FY24.
Despite volume recovery and stable raw material, we project Bajaj Auto's Ebitda margin to remain rangebound over next few quarters due to weak mix-driven ramp-up in Chetak volumes and recovery in exports.
We maintain our FY24E earnings per share while marginally upgrade our FY25E EPS by 2.6% to factor in higher other income.
We reiterate our 'Neutral' rating with a target price of Rs 5,150 (based on 16 times September-25E consolidated EPS).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"A new photograph has been released of a smiling Prince George to mark his 10th birthday on Saturday.

The second in line to the throne is seen wearing a check shirt and teal trousers as he sits on outdoor steps at Windsor.

The image was taken by photographer Millie Pilkington, who also snapped Prince Louis ahead of his fifth birthday in April.

And she took a Father's Day picture, released last month, of the Prince of Wales embracing his three children - Prince George, eight-year-old Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

George has had a busy month leading up to his 10th birthday.

At the start of July, he and his father were spotted watching the second Ashes Test at Lord's cricket ground in London.

George was seen tucking into a slice of pizza while Prince William talked to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

A couple of weeks later, George and his younger siblings sat in the cockpit of a C-17 transport aircraft and played with the switches as they enjoyed a family day out at the Royal International Air Tattoo, at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire.

And last Sunday at Wimbledon, George and Charlotte watched from the Royal Box on Centre Court as Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in the men's singles final.

Prince George Alexander Louis was born in the private Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, on 22 July 2013, weighing 8lb 6oz.",Not_Explicit
"Spandana Q1 Results Review - Improving Trajectory In Earnings Sustained: ICICI Securities
RoA expanding to industry-leading 5.9%.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
ICICI Securities Report
Since the new management took charge in March 2022, Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd. has embarked on a transformation journey to build a sustainable long-term microfinance lending model.
In all five quarters since then, earnings trajectory kept on improving and in Q1 FY24 its return on asset expanded to 5.9% versus 5.1% in Q4 FY23, 3.7% in Q3 FY23, 2.9% in Q2 FY23 and net loss in Q1 FY23.
Spandana's earnings in Q1 FY24 were driven mainly by strong top-line growth (adjusted for assignment income) and credit cost normalisation.
Total provisions fell to Rs 286 million translating into credit cost moderating to 1.4% versus ~7% in FY23. With management highlighting further yield expansion in Q2/Q3 FY24 and credit cost at 1.6% in FY24, we increase our earnings estimate by 23% each year in FY24E/FY25E.
Maintain 'Buy' with a revised target price of Rs 1,100, valuing at two times September-24 book value per share versus 1.5 times earlier.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"Carlethia ""Carlee"" Nichole Russell, a 25-year-old Alabama nursing student who told police she was abducted, admitted Monday through a statement from her lawyer that she was not kidnapped.
A massive search for Russell began on July 13 after she called 911 and reported seeing a toddler on the side of the highway. Sheon July 15 and in a brief statement told Hoover police officers she'd been abducted.
In the days since, police said they wereabout being captured. Officers thought they were finally going to meet with her again Monday, but Russell's attorney emailed a statement instead, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said.
Derzis read out the statement at a press conference.
""We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward,"" Derzis read on behalf of Russell's lawyer. ""Understanding that she made a mistake in this matter, Carlee again asks for your forgiveness and prayers.""
Police still do not know where Russell was during the approximately 49 hours after her disappearance, though they built aof the days before her disappearance. Some of the timeline focuses on ""very strange"" online searches, Derzis said.
On July 11, Russell searched: ""Do you have to pay for an Amber alert,"" according to police. On the day of her disappearance, Russell searched online for the Birmingham bus station and information on bus tickets. She searched for information on taking money from a register without being caught. Russell also did an online search for the movie ""Taken,"" which is about a woman who is abducted and the ensuing quest to rescue her.
Russell left work in Birmingham, about 10 miles from Hoover, on the day she disappeared, around 8:20 p.m. local time. Surveillance video shows her leaving her workplace with a bathrobe, a roll of toilet paper and other items, all of which police said she kept ""concealed.""
The Alabama woman ordered food from a nearby business at The Colonnade shopping mall and picked it up before she headed to a Target on Highway 280. She bought some granola bars and Cheez-Its and stayed in the store parking lot until 9:21 p.m.
Russell called 911 at 9:34 p.m. to report a toddler on the highway, saying she'd stopped to check on the boy, police said. Investigators on Wednesday said they never found any evidence of a child on the road.
""My client did not see a baby on the side of the road,"" Derzis read on behalf of Russell's lawyer during Monday's press conference.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"UN begins extracting oil from tanker, mitigating risk of environmental catastrophe
The United Nations announced Tuesday morning that it began operations to remove oil from a deteriorating supertanker, the first step toward preventing a natural disaster from unfolding in the Red Sea.
“In the absence of anyone else willing or able to perform this task, the United Nations stepped up and assumed the risk to conduct this very delicate operation,” U.N. Secretary–General António Guterres said about the project in a press statement.
FSO Safer, the 47-year-old tanker, has been a burden on the U.N.’s shoulders since 2015, when Yemen halted maintenance on the vessel due to an outbreak of a civil war in the country.
As a result, FSO Safer has been abandoned and stranded off the coast of Yemen for more than 8 years.
Despite numerous reports over the years warning that the tanker’s structural integrity is failing, Yemen’s rebel group, the Houthis, continued to block foreign attempts to access and inspect the ship.
The U.N.’s project to prevent a colossal oil spill by extracting the tanker’s 48 million gallons of oil was initially launched in 2019, but they also faced pushback from the Houthis when trying to access FSO Safer.
President Biden’s foreign policy regarding Yemen also complicated the matter. Shortly after being inaugurated, Biden stopped U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia’s offensive against the Houthis, which was the strategy of the two previous administrations.
This change, along with removing the Houthis’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization, signaled a shift toward diplomacy within U.S.’s approach to the country’s conflict.
But Biden’s policy switch-up did not have any immediate effect on the effort to stop the oil spill, which is projected to be four times the size of the Exxon Valdez leak. The 1989 incident was the second-largest oil spill in U.S. history.
On February 24th 2021, 20 days after the policy change, the Houthis made a new list of requests that delayed the U.N.’s mission.
After a drawn out process, the U.N. was finally able to begin offloading oil from FSO Safer with the help of a $10 million donation from the U.S. The U.N. anticipates the operation will last 19 days.
“This is an all-hands-on-deck mission and the culmination of nearly two years of political groundwork, fundraising and project development,” Guterres said in the press statement.
U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller called on the global community and private industries in a press release to supply the additional $22 million needed to complete the project.
“The oil transfer is a critical step towards averting an economic, environmental, and humanitarian crisis in the Red Sea and beyond,” Miller said.
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) spokesperson Sarah Bel estimated that the potential oil spill would take $20 billion and multiple years to clean up during a press briefing in Geneva.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"DUESSELDORF, Germany -- A year before the Paris Olympics, and nearly a year-and-a-half since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, officials governing many of the sports on the 2024 program are still split on how to treat Russian athletes.
Increasingly, various governing bodies are allowing them back into Olympic qualifying competitions as neutral competitors without national flags or anthems. Most sports initially barred Russians from competing soon after last year's full-scale invasion.
The International Olympic Committee strongly backs those moves even as the body itself says it hasn't decided if athletes from Russia and ally Belarus can compete at the Paris Games. However, the IOC has delayed action on the one sport whose qualification it runs in-house, boxing.
Most of the sports which have allowed Russians to return also followed IOC advice on its preferred name — ""individual neutral athletes” — and to keep barring those who are under contract with the military or who have supported the war publicly. The IOC also recommends blocking Russia from team sports like soccer or basketball.
Ukraine is opposed to any Russians competing. Since last year, Ukrainian athletes and national teams have been boycotting competitions which allow Russians back in, a policy enforced in April by a government decree. Activists from Ukraine have been trawling Russian athletes' social media for pro-war posts that could disqualify them from competing.
Here is a look at the situation for Russian and Ukrainian athletes in key sports on the Olympic program:
TRACK AND FIELD
World Athletics excluded athletes from Russia and Belarus from competitions after the invasion of Ukraine. That remains in place “for the foreseeable future,"" after a vote of the World Athletics council in March. President Sebastian Coe said at the time that deaths and destruction in Ukraine have only “hardened” his resolve to keep a ban in place.
SWIMMING
World Aquatics is one of the sports taking Russia's return slowly. It has said it favors Russia and Belarus returning to its sports — swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming — but set up a task force that won't report back with suggestions until late July. That means no Russians at the world championships this month in Japan.
TENNIS
The big exception among Olympic sports in tennis. The men’s and women’s tours didn’t exclude Russian or Belarusian players when Russia launched its invasion. They even fined tournaments including Wimbledon which did impose restrictions.
Ukrainian players continued competing but often refuse to shake hands with Russians or Belarusians. Aryna Sabalenka, who is from Belarus and won the Australian Open in January, has been questioned about her past support for Belarus’ authoritarian leader, President Alexander Lukashenko. She has said she does not support the war.
Russian and Belarusian players still can’t enter national team competitions like the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup. The International Tennis Federation hasn’t made a final decision on the Olympics but has plenty of time because qualification is decided by the June 2024 world rankings.
GYMNASTICS
Gymnasts from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to take part in sanctioned competitions as “individual neutral athletes” from the start of 2024.
That timetable pushed their return beyond the world championships in early October in Belgium.
Russian gymnasts have been some of the most vocal supporters of the war. Days after the invasion, Ivan Kuliak wore a pro-war “Z” symbol on a competition podium while standing next to a Ukrainian athlete. He was suspended for a year. Other Russian gymnasts appeared on stage at a rally in support of the war, and Olympic gold medalist Nikita Nagornyy heads a military youth organization in Russia.
BOXING
This is the one sport the IOC has total control over, but that doesn't mean a quick decision. The IOC is running Olympic boxing in Paris and qualifiers in-house after a long-running feud with the International Boxing Association and its Russian president. Qualifiers were held at the European Games in June but the host nation, Poland, refused to allow any Russian athletes. A plan to qualify Russians via the Asian Games has been suggested but not confirmed. That could mean any Russian return only happens at two last-chance qualifying tournaments in early 2024.
COMBAT SPORTS
Sports like fencing, judo and taekwondo have seen some of the bitterest disputes. Ukraine boycotted the world championships in both judo and taekwondo, taking a big hit to its Olympic qualifying hopes, after Russians were allowed to compete. In judo the “neutral” delegation of Russian athletes included some previously listed by the Defense Ministry as holding military ranks. The International Judo Federation, which had last year opposed excluding any Russians, said all the Russian competitors were employed at a state sports training facility.
Ukraine is also boycotting some events at the fencing world championships in Italy, another key Olympic qualifier. The International Fencing Federation — whose former president, Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, said last year he was stepping aside from his duties — has been a strong supporter of reintroducing Russian and Belarusian fencers this year. Competition organizers in several European countries canceled their events in protests, disrupting the Olympic qualifying calendar, and the European Championships were stripped of their status as a qualifier when Poland refused to allow Russians to compete.
TEAM SPORTS
Don't expect to see Russian teams competing in soccer, volleyball, basketball or handball at the Paris Olympics. The IOC still backs excluding Russia from team sports and no Olympic sport has yet defied that regulation. In some events, like men's basketball and soccer, Russia has already missed its last chance to qualify. The IOC also recommends a ban on “team events in individual sports” like relay races or the team all-around in gymnastics.
OTHER SPORTS
Russia is boycotting weightlifting events after its team refused to sign a waiver accepting the conditions for “neutral” status, including a promise to “continue to abstain from expressing any support to the war.” Belarusian athletes signed and are competing.
Some sports like archery have delayed things further. World Archery is exploring plans for a Russian return but said in February it would be “very unlikely” this year, potentially restricting Russia to a limited number of events in the months just before the Olympics.
Canoeing is planning to allow Russians back in some Olympic qualifiers but is giving the local organizers of each competition a veto. Rowing will only allow single sculls and pairs, no larger Russian crews.
___
AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.
___
AP coverage of the Paris Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"The India Opportunity: India In Boom Phase For Small, Mid Caps, Says S Naren
People don't hold investments till long term when they invest in a boom market, says Naren.
Markets are in the boom phase for small and mid caps, according to veteran fund manager S Naren
""I define markets into five phases,"" Naren, chief investment officer at ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co., said during a discussion at BQ Prime's The India Opportunity Summit on July 13.
The first is bust like when Lehman Brothers collapsed, World Trade Centre was attacked and Covid broke out—that's the best time to invest, if ""you have the guts to invest"", he said.
The second phase is 'best', when there's no such crisis, but markets are in bad shape. The third phase is 'boring', when there are few notable happenings with moderate buying from foreign institutional investors, and moderate buying in mutual funds. The fourth is 'boom'--like now when small and mid caps are surging.
""What we've seen in boom phase is if you've invested, you normally don't make money in the medium term,"" Naren said. During the boom market, the medium term is the problem, he said.
In the short term, markets may go up, and in the long term India is a good structural story. ""But normally, people don't hold till long term when they invest in a boom market.""
The last phase is the bubble, and whoever invests then will lose money, he said. ""In bubble phase, the market narrows. There'll be only a few stocks which go up.""
Today, according to Naren, we're in the boom phase in only small and mid caps. ""We are not in the boom phase in large-cap or multi-cap or flexi-cap.""
""Where three-four year returns are very good, you have to be extremely careful,"" said Sailesh Bhan, chief investment officer, equity, Nippon India Mutual Fund, who was part of the discussion.
Watch the full conversation here:",Not_Explicit
"LINCOLN, Neb. -- A former Nebraska State Patrol evidence technician who stole $1.2 million worth of drugs from evidence storage areas — drugs later tied to a series of overdoses — was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 22 years in prison.
Anna Idigima, 38, pleaded guilty to one drug conspiracy count in federal court in February. Idigima and her boyfriend, George Weaver Jr., conspired to steal cocaine, some of it laced with fentanyl, and sell it, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. Weaver is awaiting sentencing in October.
Idigima apologized during her sentencing hearing. Senior U.S. District Judge John Gerrard said the ramifications were huge: The drugs were connected to a series of overdoses, and nearly 100 criminal cases had to be dismissed because of the lost evidence.
“And for what? A guy? A little bit of cash on the side?"" Gerrard asked. “There just isn’t any reason that can explain this.”
Puzzled by an unprecedented spate of overdoses in 2021, narcotics investigators in the Lincoln area uncovered the plot. They audited storage areas where Idigima had access and found 154 pounds (70 kilograms) of marijuana, 19 pounds (9 kilograms) of cocaine and 6 pounds (3 kilograms) of fentanyl missing.",Not_Explicit
"Chinese foreign minister ousted in shakeup
Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Qin Gang was removed from his post Tuesday and replaced by his predecessor, fueling speculation of personal rivalries within the Chinese Communist Party, according to The Associated Press.
Qin has served as foreign minister since the end of December, but has not made any public appearances since late June. The party gave no explanation for the cabinet change, which is normal for moves in the Chinese government.
Wang Yi will take over as minister of foreign affairs for a second stint, previously serving for nearly a decade from 2013 to December.
Qin was absent from an international summit in Indonesia last week, fueling speculation over his job security. The ministry blamed Qin’s health for the absence.
The change comes as the U.S. ramps up its attempts to mend relations with China amid rising tensions. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing last month, meeting with both Qin and Wang, as well as other senior officials including President Xi Jinping.
A State Department spokesperson described those talks as “productive.”
Blinken and Qin discussed “the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation,” spokesperson Matthew Miller said last month.
The U.S. and China are dealing with ongoing tensions regarding China’s relationship with Russia, trade and patent disputes and U.S. support for Taiwan.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Research Highlights:
- An analysis of more than 202,000 heart attack deaths between 2015-2020 in a single Chinese province found that days that had extreme heat, extreme cold or high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution were significantly associated with the risk of death from a heart attack, especially in women and older adults.
- The greatest increase in the risk of death from heart attack was seen on days that had the combination of extreme heat and high levels of PM2.5.
- The days with extreme heat were associated with an increased risk of heart attack death in women vs. men, and in older adults than in younger adults. Older adults were also at a greater risk of heart attacks compared to younger adults during days with extreme cold or high levels of PM2.5.
Embargoed until 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET Monday, July 24, 2023
DALLAS, July 24, 2023 — The combination of soaring heat and smothering fine particulate pollution may double the risk of heart attack death, according to a new study of more than 202,000 heart attack deaths in China. The study published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation.
“Extreme temperature events are becoming more frequent, longer and more intense, and their adverse health effects have drawn growing concern. Another environmental issue worldwide is the presence of fine particulate matter in the air, which may interact synergistically with extreme temperatures to adversely affect cardiovascular health,” said senior author Yuewei Liu, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China. “However, it remains unknown if and how co-exposure to extreme temperatures and fine particulate pollution might interact to trigger a greater risk of death from heart attack, which is an acute response potentially brought on by an acute scenario and a great public health challenge due to its substantial disease burden worldwide.”
To examine the impact of extreme temperatures with and without high levels of fine particulate pollution, the researchers analyzed 202,678 heart attack deaths between 2015-2020 that occurred in Jiangsu province, a region with four distinct seasons and a wide range of temperatures and fine particulate pollution levels. The deaths were among older adults with an average age of 77.6 years; 52% were older than age 80; and 52% were male. Particulate exposure on the day of each death and one day before death were included in the analysis.
Extreme temperatures were gauged according to the daily heat index (also referred to as apparent temperature) for an area, which captures the combined effect of both heat and humidity. Both the length and extremeness of heat waves and cold snaps were evaluated. Heart attack deaths, or case days, during these periods were compared with control days on the same day of the week in the same month — meaning that if a death occurred on a Wednesday, all other Wednesdays in the same month would be considered control days. Particulate levels were considered high on any day with an average level of fine particulate matter above 37.5 micrograms per cubic meter.
“Our findings provide evidence that reducing exposure to both extreme temperatures and fine particulate pollution may be useful to prevent premature deaths from heart attack, especially for women and older adults,” Liu said.
Compared with control days, the risk of a fatal heart attack was observed at the following levels:
- 18% higher during 2-day heat waves with heat indexes at or above the 90th percentile (ranging from 82.6 to 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit), increasing with temperature and duration, and was 74% higher during 4-day heat waves with heat indexes at or above the 97.5th percentile (ranging from 94.8 to 109.4 degrees Fahrenheit). For context, 6,417 (3.2%) of the 202,678 observed deaths from heart attack happened during heat waves with heat indexes at or above the 95th percentile (ranging from 91.2 to 104.7 degrees Fahrenheit) for three or more days.
- 4% higher during 2-day cold snaps with temperatures at or below the 10th percentile (ranging from 33.3 to 40.5 degrees Fahrenheit), increasing with lower temperatures and duration, and was 12% higher during 3-day cold snaps with temperatures at or below the 2.5th percentile (ranging from 27.0 to 37.2 degrees Fahrenheit). For context, 6,331 (3.1%) of the 202,678 observed deaths from heart attack happened during cold spells with temperatures at or below the 5th percentile (ranging from 30.0 to 38.5 degrees Fahrenheit) for 3 or more days.
- Twice as high during 4-day heat waves that had fine particulate pollution above 37.5 micrograms per cubic meter. Days with high levels of fine particulate pollution during cold snaps did not have an equivalent increase in the risk of heart attack death.
- Generally higher among women than men during heat waves.
- Higher among people ages 80 and older than in younger adults during heat waves, cold snaps or days with high levels of fine particulate pollution.
- The mean age of all individuals who died from a heart attack in Jiangsu from 2015-2020, including during non-extreme temperature events, was 77.6 years old; 52.1% of these individuals were over 80 years old.
The researchers estimated that up to 2.8% of heart attack deaths may be attributed to the combination of extreme temperatures and high levels of fine particulate pollution (> 37.5 micrograms per cubic meter), according to WHO targets.
“Strategies for individuals to avoid negative health effects from extreme temperatures include following weather forecasts, staying inside when temperatures are extreme, using fans and air conditioners during hot weather, dressing appropriately for the weather, proper hydration and installing window blinds to reduce indoor temperatures,” said Liu. “Using an air purifier in the house, wearing a mask outdoors, staying clear of busy highways when walking and choosing less-strenuous outdoor activities may also help to reduce exposure to air pollution on days with high levels of fine particulate pollution. To improve public health, it is important to take fine particulate pollution into consideration when providing extreme temperature warnings to the public.”
In a 2020 scientific statement and a 2020 policy statement, the American Heart Association details the latest science about air pollution exposure and the individual, industrial and policy measures to reduce the negative impact of poor air quality on cardiovascular health. Reducing exposure to air pollution and reversing the negative impact of poor air quality on cardiovascular health, including heart disease and stroke, is essential to reducing health inequities in Black and Hispanic communities, those that have been historically marginalized and under-resourced, and communities that have the highest levels of exposure to air pollution.
The investigators recommended additional research about the possible interactive effects of extreme weather events and fine particulate pollution on heart attack deaths in areas with different temperature and pollution ranges to confirm their findings. The study did not include adjustments for any adaptive behaviors taken by individuals, such as using air conditioning and staying indoors, when temperatures are extreme or pollution levels are high, which could cause misclassification of individuals’ exposure to weather and alter their risk patterns. These results also may not be generalizable to other regions in China or other countries due to potential variations of adaption capacity and temperature distribution.
Background:
- Fine particulates are less than 2.5 microns in size and may be inhaled deep into the lungs, where they can irritate the lungs and blood vessels around the heart. Most are associated with fuel combustion, such as particles from car exhaust, factory emissions or wildfires.
- Previous research has confirmed that exposure to particulate matter including fine particulates is linked to heart disease, stroke and other health issues.
- For context, the World Health Organization’s target for average annual exposure to fine particulate pollution level is no more than 5 micrograms per cubic meter and no more than 15 micrograms per cubic meter for more than 3-4 days per year.
- In this study, heat waves were defined as periods at or above the 90th, 92.5th, 95th and 97.5th percentiles of daily heat indexes (ranging from 82.6 to 109.4 degrees Fahrenheit across Jiangsu province, China) for at least 2, 3 or 4 consecutive days.
- Cold spells were defined as periods at or below the 10th, 7.5th, 5th, 2.5th percentiles of daily heat indexes (ranging from 27 to 40.5 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least 2, 3 or 4 consecutive days.
Co-authors and authors’ disclosures are listed in the manuscript. This study was funded by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.
Statements and conclusions of studies published in the American Heart Association’s scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association’s policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Association’s overall financial information are available here.
Additional Resources:
- Multimedia is available on right column of release link
- After July 24, 2023, view the manuscript online.
- AHA news release: Extremely hot and cold days linked to cardiovascular deaths (December 2022)
- AHA news release: Personal protection and public policy change can decrease health impact of pollution (Nov. 2020)
- Follow AHA/ASA news on Twitter @HeartNews
- Follow news from the AHA’s flagship journal Circulation @CircAHA
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.
###
Journal
Circulation
Article Title
Risk of fatal heart attack may double in heat wave & high fine particulate pollution days",Not_Explicit
"Former President Trump could be facing his third indictment after he said earlier this month that the Justice Department had notified him that he was a target in their Jan. 6 probe. Some Republicans see the mounting legal problems as only aiding Trump.
As our Alex Bolton reports this morning, some Republican senators are convinced that Trump’s legal controversies will serve to help the former president, not hinder him, as Trump vies for a third GOP presidential nomination.
So far, Trump has been indicted in a probe overseen by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over an alleged hush money scheme, in addition to a separate Justice Department probe looking into his handling of classified documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago.
The former president is now facing a possible second federal indictment in an investigation being conducted by the Justice Department revolving around the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Trump could also face charges around a separate probe overseen by Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis around efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
“The things that one would have thought were disqualifying can be enhancing, can be improving your standing,” one GOP senator, who also requested anonymity to speak candidly, told Alex.
Trump has used his compounding legal controversies as a fundraising opportunity. At the same time, polls have shown the difficulty other 2024 contenders have experienced in trying to close the gap between Trump and the rest of the field.
The indictments also come at a particularly bad time for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose campaign has gone through several rounds of staff layoffs and whom Republican strategists have said have made some early missteps in his campaign.",Not_Explicit
"HAMILTON, New Zealand -- Japanese players wore black armbands in their Women's World Cup opener against Zambia on Saturday following the death of Fumiko Tottori, the mother of Japanese Princess Takamado.
The princess is the honorary patron of the Japan Football Association, and her mother, Tottori, 96, died Tuesday in Tokyo. FIFA granted the association’s request to wear the bands as a tribute.
The Japanese team wore the armbands days after New Zealand and Norway held a moment of silence ahead of the tournament's opening match after two men were killed in a shooting in downtown Auckland.
Before the tournament, FIFA announced it would permit team captains to wear eight specially designed armbands unveiled earlier this month.
The eight armband designs were based on anti-discriminatory themes including inclusivity toward Indigenous peoples, ending domestic violence and creating gender equality.
___
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"Historic flooding hits Nova Scotia amid torrential downpours
This weather event appears to be heaviest rainfall in Halifax area since Hurricane Beth in 1971
Nova Scotia is experiencing a historic flooding event as significant rainfall sweeps the province this weekend.
The heaviest rain has fallen across an area which stretches from near Liverpool in Queens County on the South Shore, through Lunenburg County, then across to northwest Halifax County and into Hants County.
Preliminary numbers show rainfall totals in this area ranging from 150-250+ millimetres of rain as of 6 a.m. AT Saturday.
- Cross Country Checkup wants to know how wildfires and extreme heat are changing your summer plans? Are extreme weather events changing the way you think about the future? Fill out the details on this form and send us your stories.
Some folks in these areas, especially near Bedford, Sackville and Windsor, picked up much of that rain in just five to seven hours.
As a result, rivers and streams are overflowing and numerous road washouts are being reported by the Department of Public Works.
The rain continues
Unfortunately, it's not finished yet.
Tropical moisture will continue to stream into the province from the south throughout the day.
Rainfall warnings remain in effect for the Atlantic coastline, including Halifax, as well as Hants County, Kings County and Colchester County.
Additional rainfall amounts in the 50 to 100-millimetre range are possible throughout the day, with even higher amounts possible locally due to more downpours and thunderstorms in this tropical setup.
The rain will finally begin to clear from western areas through Saturday afternoon and then central areas through the evening.
Past events
The most recent similar event occurred in Ingonish, Victoria County, in November 2021, when a rain and wind storm washed out several roads and bridges.
Before that, on Thanksgiving Day in 2014, Sydney experienced serious flooding, which forced dozens of homes to be evacuated.
But this appears to be the heaviest rainfall event to hit the Halifax area since Hurricane Beth in 1971.
That storm dropped 266 millimetres of rain at the Halifax airport and 238 millimetres at Shearwater.",Not_Explicit
"Australia Aims To Conclude Trade Talks With India By Year-End
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May visited Sydney, and hailed the fast-growing Indian diaspora in Australia for the improving bilateral relations.
(Bloomberg) -- Australia hopes to complete an agreement with India that will expand market access for Australian exporters by the end of the calendar year and before next year’s Indian election, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said.
Watt and a delegation of agribusiness representatives visited India earlier this month to discuss improving market access for Australian producers under a proposed Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, which would expand the partial free trade pact that came into effect at the end of last year.
“We are starting to see Australian producers take advantage of those opportunities under the existing deal,” Watt said in an interview. “But we are in the process of negotiating what we hope will be a broader deal.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May visited Sydney, where he held discussions with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and hailed the fast-growing Indian diaspora in Australia for the improving bilateral relations.
Other points:
- Australia is planning to continue talks with the European Union on a free-trade deal in August. While Canberra remains open to continuing negotiations, their EU counterparts are only open “to a point.” Issues to be resolved include access for some Australian agricultural exports, in particular beef.
- Australia is “very hopeful” China’s curbs on barley will be lifted in August. Canberra has agreed to suspend a World Trade Organization case for a fourth month while Beijing reviews the restrictions.
China imposed trade sanctions on a range of Australian goods in 2020 following a call by then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison for an international investigation into the origins of Covid-19. Relations between the countries improved following the election of Albanese’s Labor government in May 2022.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"Almost half in new poll would consider third-party presidential candidate
Almost half of voters in a poll released Wednesday said that they would consider casting their ballot for a third-party presidential candidate in the 2024 election.
The Quinnipiac University poll found that 47 percent said they would consider voting for a third-party candidate, while another 47 percent said they would not.
Independents were much more likely than Democrats or Republicans to say they would consider voting for a candidate not running under a major party banner. While 64 percent of Independents they would consider a third-party ticket, just 35 percent of Democrats and 38 percent of Republicans said the same.
“With neither President Biden nor former President Trump knocking it out of the park on favorability, almost half of the country would consider another option,” Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac University polling analyst, said in a press release.
“No specific name for the candidate, no specific designation for the party, but it is a vivid indication that for many voters, the status quo is a no-go,” he added.
As the 2024 race heats up, it appears increasingly likely that the election will be a Biden-Trump rematch. Biden, who is facing challenges from two long-shot Democratic candidates, sits well ahead of both, with 71 percent support among Democratic and Democratic leaning voters, the poll found.
Trump is also the clear frontrunner in a crowded Republican field, garnering 54 percent among Republican and Republican leaning voters, the poll found. His closest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, sits 29 points behind.
However, both Biden and Trump have low favorability ratings. While 40 percent of voters in the poll said they had a favorable opinion of the incumbent president, 38 percent said the same of the former president.
The poll underlines Democratic concerns that third-party candidates could help hand the election to Trump, should he win the GOP primary.
Professor and activist Cornel West has already launched his presidential bid as the People’s Party candidate. And the centrist political group No Labels stoked speculation with an event in New Hampshire this week featuring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a moderate who has refused to count out his own presidential run.
The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted July 13-17 with 2,056 adults and had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points. The poll included 1,809 registered voters with a margin of error of 2.3 percentage points.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Carlethia ""Carlee"" Nichole Russell, a 25-year-old Alabama nursing student who told police she was abducted, admitted Monday through a statement from her lawyer that she was not kidnapped.
A massive search for Russell began on July 13 after she called 911 and reported seeing a toddler on the side of the highway. Sheon July 15 and in a brief statement told Hoover police officers she'd been abducted.
In the days since, police said they wereabout being captured. Officers thought they were finally going to meet with her again Monday, but Russell's attorney emailed a statement instead, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said.
Derzis read out the statement at a press conference.
""We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward,"" Derzis read on behalf of Russell's lawyer. ""Understanding that she made a mistake in this matter, Carlee again asks for your forgiveness and prayers.""
Police still do not know where Russell was during the approximately 49 hours after her disappearance, though they built aof the days before her disappearance. Some of the timeline focuses on ""very strange"" online searches, Derzis said.
On July 11, Russell searched: ""Do you have to pay for an Amber alert,"" according to police. On the day of her disappearance, Russell searched online for the Birmingham bus station and information on bus tickets. She searched for information on taking money from a register without being caught. Russell also did an online search for the movie ""Taken,"" which is about a woman who is abducted and the ensuing quest to rescue her.
Russell left work in Birmingham, about 10 miles from Hoover, on the day she disappeared, around 8:20 p.m. local time. Surveillance video shows her leaving her workplace with a bathrobe, a roll of toilet paper and other items, all of which police said she kept ""concealed.""
The Alabama woman ordered food from a nearby business at The Colonnade shopping mall and picked it up before she headed to a Target on Highway 280. She bought some granola bars and Cheez-Its and stayed in the store parking lot until 9:21 p.m.
Russell called 911 at 9:34 p.m. to report a toddler on the highway, saying she'd stopped to check on the boy, police said. Investigators on Wednesday said they never found any evidence of a child on the road.
""My client did not see a baby on the side of the road,"" Derzis read on behalf of Russell's lawyer during Monday's press conference.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"24.07.2023
THEME: WORLD
The New Frontlines: Grain Deals, Drone Strikes, and Global Consequences
The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia has recently escalated, with Ukraine's retaliation to Russia's missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa. Early on Monday, Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow and annexed Crimea, hitting two buildings in Moscow and an ammunition depot in Crimea. Although Moscow's electronic warfare systems reportedly intercepted the drones, causing no serious damage or casualties, the strikes marked a significant escalation in the conflict. Russia’s Foreign Ministry denounced the drone strikes as an act of international terrorism, while Crimea saw the evacuation of residents and the suspension of transport services for safety reasons.
Simultaneously, the US imposed new sanctions on Russia, targeting the nation's access to crucial front-line electronics and logistics. Announced on Thursday, these sanctions aim to restrict Kremlin's war funding by limiting its income from the metals and mining sector. The sanctions extend to members of the Russian security service, a regional governor, six deputy ministers, and private military companies, including Gazprom-owned Okhrana. The Russian embassy in Washington has criticized these sanctions as destructive actions aimed at the Kremlin.
The conflict has also had severe implications for global food security, with Russia initially blockading supplies of Ukrainian wheat and cereals, causing a surge in food prices. Although a UN-Turkey brokered deal lifted the blockade last summer, Russia withdrew from the agreement this week. The situation has been further complicated by Ukraine's decision to declare ships traveling to Russia and occupied territories as military targets, in response to Moscow's similar warning.
Recent Russian attacks have damaged the Chinese consulate in Odesa and export facilities in Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk, resulting in the loss of 60,000 tons of grain. This happened following Ukraine's counteroffensive to recapture territory occupied by Russia, which has led to escalated fighting in the region.
In an unexpected development, the Kremlin seized the Russian assets of foreign firms Carlsberg and Danone, handing control of these subsidiaries to regime loyalists. This move has reignited debates about the future of Russia’s Central Bank assets, worth $300 billion, frozen by the G7 at the start of the conflict.
As the conflict intensifies, the world watches with apprehension. The implications of this war extend beyond Ukraine and Russia, impacting global food security, international relations, and the world economy's stability. The decisions made in the coming weeks will undoubtedly have lasting effects, shaping the course of history for years to come.
LINKS TO THE JOURNALS
WORLD PIONEER",Not_Explicit
"DUESSELDORF, Germany -- A year before the Paris Olympics, and nearly a year-and-a-half since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, officials governing many of the sports on the 2024 program are still split on how to treat Russian athletes.
Increasingly, various governing bodies are allowing them back into Olympic qualifying competitions as neutral competitors without national flags or anthems. Most sports initially barred Russians from competing soon after last year's full-scale invasion.
The International Olympic Committee strongly backs those moves even as the body itself says it hasn't decided if athletes from Russia and ally Belarus can compete at the Paris Games. However, the IOC has delayed action on the one sport whose qualification it runs in-house, boxing.
Most of the sports which have allowed Russians to return also followed IOC advice on its preferred name — ""individual neutral athletes” — and to keep barring those who are under contract with the military or who have supported the war publicly. The IOC also recommends blocking Russia from team sports like soccer or basketball.
Ukraine is opposed to any Russians competing. Since last year, Ukrainian athletes and national teams have been boycotting competitions which allow Russians back in, a policy enforced in April by a government decree. Activists from Ukraine have been trawling Russian athletes' social media for pro-war posts that could disqualify them from competing.
Here is a look at the situation for Russian and Ukrainian athletes in key sports on the Olympic program:
TRACK AND FIELD
World Athletics excluded athletes from Russia and Belarus from competitions after the invasion of Ukraine. That remains in place “for the foreseeable future,"" after a vote of the World Athletics council in March. President Sebastian Coe said at the time that deaths and destruction in Ukraine have only “hardened” his resolve to keep a ban in place.
SWIMMING
World Aquatics is one of the sports taking Russia's return slowly. It has said it favors Russia and Belarus returning to its sports — swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming — but set up a task force that won't report back with suggestions until late July. That means no Russians at the world championships this month in Japan.
TENNIS
The big exception among Olympic sports in tennis. The men’s and women’s tours didn’t exclude Russian or Belarusian players when Russia launched its invasion. They even fined tournaments including Wimbledon which did impose restrictions.
Ukrainian players continued competing but often refuse to shake hands with Russians or Belarusians. Aryna Sabalenka, who is from Belarus and won the Australian Open in January, has been questioned about her past support for Belarus’ authoritarian leader, President Alexander Lukashenko. She has said she does not support the war.
Russian and Belarusian players still can’t enter national team competitions like the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup. The International Tennis Federation hasn’t made a final decision on the Olympics but has plenty of time because qualification is decided by the June 2024 world rankings.
GYMNASTICS
Gymnasts from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to take part in sanctioned competitions as “individual neutral athletes” from the start of 2024.
That timetable pushed their return beyond the world championships in early October in Belgium.
Russian gymnasts have been some of the most vocal supporters of the war. Days after the invasion, Ivan Kuliak wore a pro-war “Z” symbol on a competition podium while standing next to a Ukrainian athlete. He was suspended for a year. Other Russian gymnasts appeared on stage at a rally in support of the war, and Olympic gold medalist Nikita Nagornyy heads a military youth organization in Russia.
BOXING
This is the one sport the IOC has total control over, but that doesn't mean a quick decision. The IOC is running Olympic boxing in Paris and qualifiers in-house after a long-running feud with the International Boxing Association and its Russian president. Qualifiers were held at the European Games in June but the host nation, Poland, refused to allow any Russian athletes. A plan to qualify Russians via the Asian Games has been suggested but not confirmed. That could mean any Russian return only happens at two last-chance qualifying tournaments in early 2024.
COMBAT SPORTS
Sports like fencing, judo and taekwondo have seen some of the bitterest disputes. Ukraine boycotted the world championships in both judo and taekwondo, taking a big hit to its Olympic qualifying hopes, after Russians were allowed to compete. In judo the “neutral” delegation of Russian athletes included some previously listed by the Defense Ministry as holding military ranks. The International Judo Federation, which had last year opposed excluding any Russians, said all the Russian competitors were employed at a state sports training facility.
Ukraine is also boycotting some events at the fencing world championships in Italy, another key Olympic qualifier. The International Fencing Federation — whose former president, Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, said last year he was stepping aside from his duties — has been a strong supporter of reintroducing Russian and Belarusian fencers this year. Competition organizers in several European countries canceled their events in protests, disrupting the Olympic qualifying calendar, and the European Championships were stripped of their status as a qualifier when Poland refused to allow Russians to compete.
TEAM SPORTS
Don't expect to see Russian teams competing in soccer, volleyball, basketball or handball at the Paris Olympics. The IOC still backs excluding Russia from team sports and no Olympic sport has yet defied that regulation. In some events, like men's basketball and soccer, Russia has already missed its last chance to qualify. The IOC also recommends a ban on “team events in individual sports” like relay races or the team all-around in gymnastics.
OTHER SPORTS
Russia is boycotting weightlifting events after its team refused to sign a waiver accepting the conditions for “neutral” status, including a promise to “continue to abstain from expressing any support to the war.” Belarusian athletes signed and are competing.
Some sports like archery have delayed things further. World Archery is exploring plans for a Russian return but said in February it would be “very unlikely” this year, potentially restricting Russia to a limited number of events in the months just before the Olympics.
Canoeing is planning to allow Russians back in some Olympic qualifiers but is giving the local organizers of each competition a veto. Rowing will only allow single sculls and pairs, no larger Russian crews.
___
AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.
___
AP coverage of the Paris Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"|Fourth LV= Insurance Ashes Test, Emirates Old Trafford (day three of five):|
|Australia 317 (Labuschagne 51, Marsh 51; Woakes 5-62) & 113-4 (Labuschagne 44*; Wood 3-17)|
|England 592 (Crawley 189, Bairstow 99; Hazlewood 5-126)|
|Australia are 162 runs behind|
|Scorecard|
Mark Wood struck crucial late blows in England's battle against Australia and the Manchester weather in the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford.
Wood, bowling with high pace and hostility, snared 3-17 to leave Australia 113-4, a considerable 162 runs behind.
In any other circumstances, England would be huge favourites, yet heavy rain is forecast for the weekend - particularly Saturday's fourth day.
The home side's strong position was forged by piling up 592, their highest total in a home Ashes Test since 1985, to take a first-innings lead of 275.
Harry Brook made 61 and Ben Stokes 51, but the real pyrotechnics came from Jonny Bairstow, who clobbered a thrilling 99 not out.
Bairstow added 66 in a riotous last-wicket partnership with James Anderson and was only denied a deserved hundred when Anderson was lbw to Cameron Green.
At 2-1 up in the series and knowing a draw is enough to retain the Ashes, Australia are batting for time and the rain. They lost openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner to Wood and Chris Woakes respectively.
Stubborn pair Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith quietened the crowd before Wood had Smith caught hooking and bounced out Travis Head.
Labuschagne remains unbeaten on 44, an obstacle as large as the weather in the home side's bid to continue an unprecedented English comeback from 2-0 down in an Ashes series.
England weigh up weather conundrum
Ordinarily, England would be well on course for a series-levelling victory, but could face a race against time win their first Ashes Test on this ground since 1981. If the weather forecast is to be believed, Saturday is a washout and Sunday curtailed.
All of this would have been factored into their approach with the bat on Friday. Their stated aim was to get as many runs as possible in the first innings, the theory being that would be the quickest way to win and it is easier to score runs in the first innings than in a tricky second-innings chase.
Whether or not England batted too long will only be revealed over the next two days. Their innings did not end until nearly 15:00 BST - later than most would have expected at the beginning of the day.
In that time, there was further evidence that Australia have had their minds frazzled by England's aggression. Ambitions of winning the match were abandoned by the first ball of the day, there was noticeable frustration at Pat Cummins' tactics and the chaos caused by Bairstow and Anderson was comical.
England find themselves 2-1 down because of the mistakes they made in the first two Tests, but have been superb at Old Trafford to engineer the chance of victory.
They now look the superior team and, regardless of the outcome of this match, will go to The Oval as favourites to win the final Test.
Wood and Woakes strike vital blows
Even if England are set to be hampered by the weather, they will take encouragement from a pitch that is showing increasing evidence of uneven bounce.
They were times when Australia were settled - the mini partnerships between Khawaja and Warner, then Labuschangne and Smith - but Wood and Woakes have been difference-makers since coming into the England side for the third Test.
Wood needed only two deliveries to have Khawaja poking an edge behind, while Woakes caused enough uncertainty for Warner to play on to his own stumps.
Woakes almost had Smith without scoring, only for the third umpire to adjudge an edge had not carried to Joe Root at first slip.
Just as Smith was starting to look ominous, Wood switched ends and cranked up the velocity. Smith's top edge to Bairstow was Wood's 100th Test wicket before Head, never comfortable against the short ball, gloved a catch to gully from a 91mph delivery.
Labuschagne was joined by Mitchell Marsh, who defended 27 balls for his one not out.
Brilliant Bairstow toys with Australians
From a platform of 384-4 overnight, England were looking to push forward on Friday morning. Though they added 122 runs in the morning session, it was not the out and out carnage that could have materialised.
Brook and Stokes, resuming on 14 and 24 respectively, helped themselves to half-centuries but, with the field back and ball soft, boundaries were hard to come by. When Australia took the second new ball some 10 overs after it became available, Josh Hazlewood removed Brook and Woakes with successive deliveries.
It was only when last man Anderson joined Bairstow, who at that point was 49 from 50 balls, did the fun really begin.
Bairstow went to 50 by pulling Mitchell Starc for six and the assault was on. Australia spread all nine fielders to the boundary and, just as they did on Thursday, lost control.
In an attempt to farm the strike, Bairstow three times pinched a bye to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, a measure of revenge for Carey's controversial stumping in the second Test at Lord's.
Bairstow belted three more sixes, one a huge wallop over mid-wicket off Cummins. He took 50 runs off the last 31 balls he faced, with Anderson bravely fending off bouncers and even swiping a four of his own.
With Bairstow on 98, he looked for the two to take him to three figures, only to send Anderson back. Next ball, Anderson was palpably leg before to Green, leaving Bairstow as the first England batter stranded on 99 in a Test since Alex Tudor 24 years ago.",Not_Explicit
"On Tuesday Israel’s sovereign credit rating was lowered by credit rating agency Morgan Stanley, and Moody's warned of a ""significant risk"" that political and social tensions will lead to ""negative consequences for Israel's economy and security situation,"" following the Knesset’s vote to pass the first law of its controversial judicial reform on Monday.
Morgan Stanley updated Israel’s sovereign credit to a ""dislike stance,"" noting that the government has reaffirmed the trajectory of its economy in a direction that is likely to scare off investors.
""We see increased uncertainty about the economic outlook in the coming months and risks becoming skewed to our adverse scenario,” the agency said. “Markets are now likely to extrapolate the future policy path and we move Israel sovereign credit to a 'dislike stance.’”
They added that recent events indicate ""ongoing uncertainty"" in Israel and that the shekel is likely to continue depreciating alongside the Tel Aviv Stock Market, which has lost nearly 10% since November of last year.
Shoveling more problems onto the pile
Moody's warned that there is ""a significant risk that political and social tensions over the [judicial reform] will continue, with negative consequences for Israel's economy and security situation.""
The credit rating agency warned that it believes that ""the wide-ranging nature of the government's proposals could materially weaken the judiciary's independence and disrupt effective checks and balances between the various branches of government, which are important aspects of strong institutions.""
The agency added that ""the executive and legislative institutions have become less predictable and more willing to create significant risks to economic and social stability.""
Moody’s announcement was made outside of its standard schedule for rating updates, which would have seen the next update in October. Given the outlook of Morgan Stanley and prior statements from Moody’s, the latter can likely be expected to demote Israel’s rating as well.
In April, the agency affirmed Israel’s sovereign credit rating at ""A1"" but downgraded the outlook on the Israeli government's credit ratings to ""stable"" from its prior status as ""positive."" Moody’s cited “a weakening of institutional strength and policy predictability” and “a deterioration of Israel's governance” as its primary concerns for Israel’s economy.
Netanyahu, Smotrich dismiss Moody's announcement as a 'momentary reaction'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich dismissed the announcement set to be published by Moody's on Tuesday afternoon, stating ""This is a momentary reaction, when the dust settles it will become clear that Israel's economy is very strong.""
""Israel's economy is based on solid foundations and will continue to grow under an experienced leadership that leads a responsible economic policy.""
For months, hundreds of economists, experts, and executives throughout Israel and around the world have warned against the current government’s plan for judicial reform, claiming that it will lead to a sharp decline in foreign investment due to a lack of economic stability brought about by the weakened legal system.
Recent credit rating downgrades are only the latest signs of damage to the country’s economy. According to a report from Start-Up Nation Central published on Sunday, 68% of start-ups have already initiated steps such as withdrawing cash reserves, relocating their headquarters outside of Israel, moving employees abroad, and conducting layoffs in response to the judicial reform’s impending effects on the economy.
“Whatever your political views about it, what's happening now in the country reflects big time on the business community. Now, doing business with Israel is a little bit more complicated, more risky, and that's largely affected Israel’s overseas income,” Aman Group CEO Ben Pasternak told the Post. “Now, uncertainty is very large around the world as it is, but in Israel it’s even higher… Uncertainty kills business.”",Not_Explicit
"BEIJING, July 24 (Reuters) - China is struggling to revive foreign investment in its financially battered cities and provinces as foreign firms remain wary of political risks and new incentives fall far short of sweeteners once used to attract overseas money.
With their coffers depleted after an economically bruising pandemic and property crisis, local authorities have been racing to find new revenue sources, with foreign investment particularly coveted.
Premier Li Qiang in March declared China open for business again, and since then provinces and cities from Sichuan to Chaozhou have sent delegations across the globe to pitch and invited investors to rare symposiums.
However, foreign industry executives and lobbyists say the incentives many local governments now offer are far less attractive than they were a decade ago, when companies could easily win subsidies or free land use and the regulatory environment seemed more predictable.
""Clearly the China-side is very much getting on the front foot with international engagement,"" said Kiran Patel, senior director at the China-Britain Business Council. He cited five meetings between their London office and delegations from Chinese local governments in late June.
But ""there’s still a lot of work to do in terms of warming up or reheating interest in China,"" he warned.
The charm offensive contrasts with Beijing's more hawkish overtures about dominance in supply chains and President Xi Jinping's increased focus on national security.
Dollar-denominated foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 5.6% in January-May from the same period last year, despite the end of strict COVID curbs, as the post-pandemic recovery in the world's second-largest economy faltered.
China's Ministry of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment.
BENEFITS, NOT INCENTIVES
Noah Fraser, managing director of the Canada China Business Council, said his organisation had also been on the receiving end of a ""charm offensive"" from municipal, provincial and regional authorities, but that his understanding from most of them was that cash would not be forthcoming and projects would need to be self-financed.
""They'll be friendly, they'll be open minded, but I don't suspect that they have a great deal of financial capital to move with,"" he said. ""So I think any equity or any assets will be...in the relationships and permissions that get rid of the red tape.""
Senior executives from three large Western companies that Reuters spoke to on the condition of anonymity said they were similarly unconvinced after discussing prospective investment with local authorities.
""(The incentives) are not worth engaging our finance team over, it's public affairs work, as it's a conversation we're having with the local government, but it's not going to affect the company's investment or operational decisions,"" said one of the executives.
He added that while in the past his company had been offered enterprise tax waivers and deals on land to put in fresh investment, an eastern Chinese government had recently only offered him a deal on personal income tax for their top executives amounting to 6 million yuan.
""I wouldn't say its an incentive. It's a benefit. But would our company stay in China forever for this 6 million yuan? No.""
PART OF THE SYSTEM
Local authorities carry out a delicate balancing act when courting foreign investment and dealing with critical questions about Xi's security policies.
Many foreign companies have expressed concerns over the changing business environment in China, which in recent years has been marked by a crackdown on consultancies affecting how investors can perform due diligence, as well as new data and anti-espionage laws.
Analysts say there is now very little tolerance for deviation from Chinese Communist Party thinking on business, which has forced many foreign firms to rethink their approach to China.
""I do think (Li Qiang) wants and intends to bring inbound investment back, but he's someone who's loyal and so should he be asked to lock down Shanghai again or do anything that isn't business friendly, he would,"" said Agatha Kratz, director at Rhodium Group, a China-focused consultancy.
One of the three executives, whose employer is a foreign automaker, said he had been surprised by how officials had repeatedly raised Xi's policies on self-reliance and self-strengthening in a recent meeting in a southern Chinese city.
""As far as the macro situation is concerned, local governments can't do anything to reassure foreign investors. Actually, they are part of the system,"" he said.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Research Highlights:
- An analysis of more than 202,000 heart attack deaths between 2015-2020 in a single Chinese province found that days that had extreme heat, extreme cold or high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution were significantly associated with the risk of death from a heart attack, especially in women and older adults.
- The greatest increase in the risk of death from heart attack was seen on days that had the combination of extreme heat and high levels of PM2.5.
- The days with extreme heat were associated with an increased risk of heart attack death in women vs. men, and in older adults than in younger adults. Older adults were also at a greater risk of heart attacks compared to younger adults during days with extreme cold or high levels of PM2.5.
Embargoed until 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET Monday, July 24, 2023
DALLAS, July 24, 2023 — The combination of soaring heat and smothering fine particulate pollution may double the risk of heart attack death, according to a new study of more than 202,000 heart attack deaths in China. The study published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation.
“Extreme temperature events are becoming more frequent, longer and more intense, and their adverse health effects have drawn growing concern. Another environmental issue worldwide is the presence of fine particulate matter in the air, which may interact synergistically with extreme temperatures to adversely affect cardiovascular health,” said senior author Yuewei Liu, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China. “However, it remains unknown if and how co-exposure to extreme temperatures and fine particulate pollution might interact to trigger a greater risk of death from heart attack, which is an acute response potentially brought on by an acute scenario and a great public health challenge due to its substantial disease burden worldwide.”
To examine the impact of extreme temperatures with and without high levels of fine particulate pollution, the researchers analyzed 202,678 heart attack deaths between 2015-2020 that occurred in Jiangsu province, a region with four distinct seasons and a wide range of temperatures and fine particulate pollution levels. The deaths were among older adults with an average age of 77.6 years; 52% were older than age 80; and 52% were male. Particulate exposure on the day of each death and one day before death were included in the analysis.
Extreme temperatures were gauged according to the daily heat index (also referred to as apparent temperature) for an area, which captures the combined effect of both heat and humidity. Both the length and extremeness of heat waves and cold snaps were evaluated. Heart attack deaths, or case days, during these periods were compared with control days on the same day of the week in the same month — meaning that if a death occurred on a Wednesday, all other Wednesdays in the same month would be considered control days. Particulate levels were considered high on any day with an average level of fine particulate matter above 37.5 micrograms per cubic meter.
“Our findings provide evidence that reducing exposure to both extreme temperatures and fine particulate pollution may be useful to prevent premature deaths from heart attack, especially for women and older adults,” Liu said.
Compared with control days, the risk of a fatal heart attack was observed at the following levels:
- 18% higher during 2-day heat waves with heat indexes at or above the 90th percentile (ranging from 82.6 to 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit), increasing with temperature and duration, and was 74% higher during 4-day heat waves with heat indexes at or above the 97.5th percentile (ranging from 94.8 to 109.4 degrees Fahrenheit). For context, 6,417 (3.2%) of the 202,678 observed deaths from heart attack happened during heat waves with heat indexes at or above the 95th percentile (ranging from 91.2 to 104.7 degrees Fahrenheit) for three or more days.
- 4% higher during 2-day cold snaps with temperatures at or below the 10th percentile (ranging from 33.3 to 40.5 degrees Fahrenheit), increasing with lower temperatures and duration, and was 12% higher during 3-day cold snaps with temperatures at or below the 2.5th percentile (ranging from 27.0 to 37.2 degrees Fahrenheit). For context, 6,331 (3.1%) of the 202,678 observed deaths from heart attack happened during cold spells with temperatures at or below the 5th percentile (ranging from 30.0 to 38.5 degrees Fahrenheit) for 3 or more days.
- Twice as high during 4-day heat waves that had fine particulate pollution above 37.5 micrograms per cubic meter. Days with high levels of fine particulate pollution during cold snaps did not have an equivalent increase in the risk of heart attack death.
- Generally higher among women than men during heat waves.
- Higher among people ages 80 and older than in younger adults during heat waves, cold snaps or days with high levels of fine particulate pollution.
- The mean age of all individuals who died from a heart attack in Jiangsu from 2015-2020, including during non-extreme temperature events, was 77.6 years old; 52.1% of these individuals were over 80 years old.
The researchers estimated that up to 2.8% of heart attack deaths may be attributed to the combination of extreme temperatures and high levels of fine particulate pollution (> 37.5 micrograms per cubic meter), according to WHO targets.
“Strategies for individuals to avoid negative health effects from extreme temperatures include following weather forecasts, staying inside when temperatures are extreme, using fans and air conditioners during hot weather, dressing appropriately for the weather, proper hydration and installing window blinds to reduce indoor temperatures,” said Liu. “Using an air purifier in the house, wearing a mask outdoors, staying clear of busy highways when walking and choosing less-strenuous outdoor activities may also help to reduce exposure to air pollution on days with high levels of fine particulate pollution. To improve public health, it is important to take fine particulate pollution into consideration when providing extreme temperature warnings to the public.”
In a 2020 scientific statement and a 2020 policy statement, the American Heart Association details the latest science about air pollution exposure and the individual, industrial and policy measures to reduce the negative impact of poor air quality on cardiovascular health. Reducing exposure to air pollution and reversing the negative impact of poor air quality on cardiovascular health, including heart disease and stroke, is essential to reducing health inequities in Black and Hispanic communities, those that have been historically marginalized and under-resourced, and communities that have the highest levels of exposure to air pollution.
The investigators recommended additional research about the possible interactive effects of extreme weather events and fine particulate pollution on heart attack deaths in areas with different temperature and pollution ranges to confirm their findings. The study did not include adjustments for any adaptive behaviors taken by individuals, such as using air conditioning and staying indoors, when temperatures are extreme or pollution levels are high, which could cause misclassification of individuals’ exposure to weather and alter their risk patterns. These results also may not be generalizable to other regions in China or other countries due to potential variations of adaption capacity and temperature distribution.
Background:
- Fine particulates are less than 2.5 microns in size and may be inhaled deep into the lungs, where they can irritate the lungs and blood vessels around the heart. Most are associated with fuel combustion, such as particles from car exhaust, factory emissions or wildfires.
- Previous research has confirmed that exposure to particulate matter including fine particulates is linked to heart disease, stroke and other health issues.
- For context, the World Health Organization’s target for average annual exposure to fine particulate pollution level is no more than 5 micrograms per cubic meter and no more than 15 micrograms per cubic meter for more than 3-4 days per year.
- In this study, heat waves were defined as periods at or above the 90th, 92.5th, 95th and 97.5th percentiles of daily heat indexes (ranging from 82.6 to 109.4 degrees Fahrenheit across Jiangsu province, China) for at least 2, 3 or 4 consecutive days.
- Cold spells were defined as periods at or below the 10th, 7.5th, 5th, 2.5th percentiles of daily heat indexes (ranging from 27 to 40.5 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least 2, 3 or 4 consecutive days.
Co-authors and authors’ disclosures are listed in the manuscript. This study was funded by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.
Statements and conclusions of studies published in the American Heart Association’s scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association’s policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers and the Association’s overall financial information are available here.
Additional Resources:
- Multimedia is available on right column of release link
- After July 24, 2023, view the manuscript online.
- AHA news release: Extremely hot and cold days linked to cardiovascular deaths (December 2022)
- AHA news release: Personal protection and public policy change can decrease health impact of pollution (Nov. 2020)
- Follow AHA/ASA news on Twitter @HeartNews
- Follow news from the AHA’s flagship journal Circulation @CircAHA
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.
###
Journal
Circulation
Article Title
Risk of fatal heart attack may double in heat wave & high fine particulate pollution days",Not_Explicit
"Wheat prices soar after Russian attack on Danube port
Wheat prices hit a five-month high after Russia attacked a port on the Danube, disrupting a vital export route for Ukrainian grain to global markets, Bloomberg reported.
On Monday, Russia launched a drone attack on the port of Reni on the Danube in Ukraine, destroying a grain storage facility. This attack came about a week after Moscow terminated an agreement that allowed Ukraine to transport its harvest through the Black Sea and subsequently targeted ports in Odesa.
Michael Magdovitz, a senior commodity analyst at Rabobank Group, said that wheat is likely to be most affected by any shutoff in export capacity, followed by corn
Magdovitz added that vegetable oils may still be transported on truck and train, but it’s less cost effective for grains to be exported that way.
Wheat futures climbed as much as 2.6% in Chicago to $7.7725 a bushel, the highest since Feb. 21. Futures jumped by the exchange limit the previous day. Corn for December delivery rose as much as 0.7%.
Reni is one of Ukraine’s biggest river ports for grain and is located on the Danube at the border with Romania. Local traders had been expanding capacity there in response to Russia’s sea blockade. While it’s unclear how far the attacks will impact exports from Reni, the strikes increase operational risks.
Russian attack on the port of Reni
On the night of July 24, Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian river port of Reni on the Danube, located near the Romanian border.
The drone strike resulted in the destruction of a grain storage facility and damage to several reservoirs containing other types of cargo, as well as other port facilities.
This attack came after Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal which has a significant impact on food security worldwide.",Not_Explicit
"As he headlines the Latitude Festival, George Ezra offers some redundant instructions.
""Halfway through this song,"" he tells the audience, ""I'm going to introduce you to some words and we're going to sing them together.""
The audience don't need asking. They already know the drill. They've been singing at the top of their lungs all day.
By luck or design, festival organisers have planned a whole day of singalongs. A Radio 2 playlist of golden oldies and modern classics.
Ezra is at the top of the bill, playing the last show of his 18-month world tour.
But 12 hours earlier, the main stage in Suffolk opened with Manchester indie band James, celebrating their 40th anniversary by reworking their back catalogue with an orchestra and a gospel choir.
They start with an ace - a hushed version of Sit Down that blows away any campsite cobwebs in the audience.
""We came on at this time, where there wouldn't be any noise pollution, so we could do some of our more quiet songs,"" says frontman Tim Booth.
Frustratingly, they almost squander the goodwill, continuing the set with the 2010 album track Dust Motes and an obscure b-side, The Lake. Even Booth admits these tracks will test the audience's ""concentration and patience"", which makes you wonder why they bothered.
But when they turn to the hits - Tomorrow, Born Of Frustration, Laid - everything comes to life. Then an audience member screams, ""Play Say Something!"" and, to his surprise, the band agree.
""Don't tell anyone we took a request,"" asks Booth. ""It'd be terrible if this caught on.""
The highlight is Sometimes, which ends with a long, lingering chorus that alternates between the choir and the crowd. The band line up at the front of the stage to take it in, clearly moved at the response.
The stage manager feels the same - and gifts them an extra 10 minutes to keep the magic flowing.
After Ireland's Picture This deliver some high-energy pop kicks, The Bootleg Beatles take the stage, boasting the rather unfair luxury of the world's best song catalogue to construct their setlist from.
Thankfully, they avoid Maxwell's Silver Hammer and open with the mop top classics - Can't Buy Me Love, Twist and Shout, Help - before swerving into the post-Pepper era with I've Got A Feeling, Get Back and Come Together.
They illustrate the two halves with era-appropriate costume changes, transforming from clean-cut youngsters to shaggy-haired iconoclasts.
""It's amazing what LSD can do for your hair,"" quips the Bootleg John Lennon.
The set ends with Hey Jude (what else?) producing more na-nas than the man from Del Monte.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor covers Madonna's Like A Prayer, but she's more like a Ray of Light - high kicking and shimmying around the stage, saying hello to everyone in the audience while streamers flail from her epaulettes.
Complying with proper festival etiquette, she completely ignores her new album to play a Kitchen Disco set that interspersed her hits with covers of Moloko's Sing It Back and Mojo's Lady (Hear Me Tonight).
But the emotional high point comes when she introduces her mum, former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis, who was watching from the side of the stage.
""This is her first ever festival,"" Sophie announces. ""It's taken me 25 years to get her to come to a field⦠It's a bit like seeing the Queen.""
As she plays Young Blood - written about the enduring love between her mum and step-dad John Leach, who died in 2020 - the camera pans to Ellis, wiping tears from her eyes.
After a brief reset, Scottish rockers The Proclaimers take the reins, attracting a massive crowd who just want to belt out (I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles.
Newcomer Mimi Webb has a smaller, younger, but no less enthusiastic audience, chanting her name and sitting on parent's shoulders to scream the words to Red Flags and House On Fire.
Webb's parents also make an appearance - staging a stage invasion to present her with a 23rd birthday cake and lead everyone in an impromptu chorus of Happy Birthday.
The singer later confesses her birthday wish in 2022 had been to play Latitude.
""That was my goal for this year [and] I am so, so stoked to be here.""
Ezra gets the biggest crowd of the entire weekend, and a young one too - toting glow sticks, bubble guns and Pokemon hats as they dance around to his effortlessly sunny pop songs.
It would take a hard heart not to warm to tracks like Anyone For You, Budapest, and Paradise, all of which hold the tantalising promise of escape (a dream everyone is trying desperately to hold onto, as the festival ends and they face the quagmire of the carpark).
When he switches to the romantic beauty of Hold My Girl, you can hear a pin drop; and when he plays the ebullient Green Green Grass - ""a celebration of life"" - the party spills out beyond the Obelisk arena, with kids and parents dancing around the food stalls.
Ezra's job seems simple - but writing life-affirming pop songs is much harder than moping around being edgy. The audience embrace him not because he's cool, but because there's a mountain top we're all dreaming of.
Or most of us, at least.
The BBC Sounds tent caters to the audience who want something more visceral, with a noisy, jolting set from Black Midi; and a rare chance to see Siouxsie Sioux, playing only her second UK gig in 10 years.
She twists bewitchingly across the stage in a silver jumpsuit, punching out the beats of goth-punk anthems like Spellbound, Happy House and Hong Kong Garden.
Her still-loyal fans are so eager to get close that she has to admonish them.
""You're all packed in like sardines,"" she declares before launching into Kiss Them For Me. ""You need some room to dance"".
Back on the main stage, Ezra is about to wrap up.
""We've been on tour playing these songs for 18 months and this is our last show,"" he declares.
""It has been an absolute pleasure to share it with you.""
Then he launches into Shotgun, his biggest, singalongiest number, augmented by fireworks and confetti and arms being punched in the air.
But, as if to prove a point, Latitude didn't let their headliner have the last word.
As the audience file away, the speakers start playing Matthew Wilder's 1980s oddity Break My Stride.
And that, for no apparent reason, becomes the closing chorus of Singalong Sunday.",Not_Explicit
"Crowned Miss England, Jessica Gagen is on a mission to become an astronaut, and has just graduated from university with a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering.
The 27-year-old became the first ever redhead winner of the prestigious beauty pageant last year in October and, after juggling competitions on the catwalk alongside her studies at the University of Liverpool, was delighted when she graduated alongside her classmates this week.
She now wants to use her degree and beauty queen title to inspire the next generation of female engineers and get more women into STEM subjects.
Her university journey was fraught with obstacles as she suffered insomnia and chest pains while combining her studies with being Miss England.
“I think it’s important that today’s youth know that sometimes things don’t go entirely to plan, and that’s perfectly okay,” said Jessica, who’s from Lancashire, near Liverpool.
“But I’m incredibly proud with what I have achieved. I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet.
“Aerospace engineering was very challenging, covering topics like aerodynamics, structural mechanics, programming, and advanced materials. It equips candidates with a range of skills sought after by different industries, making them highly employable in the fields of science, technology and finance.
“I absolutely loved it. It certainly opens up a lot of opportunities for me and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
She says she went out to celebrate “with the lads” after graduation because there weren’t many girls in her department.
When she started her college career she had no intention of entering Miss England, but after noticing the lack of females at school—only about 10 percent of her classmates were women—she made it her mission to advertise the subject to the next generation through social media, which subsequently lead her to be scouted for Miss England.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into becoming Miss England, and I really wanted to win because I knew I could use the platform to get more girls into engineering.”
Upon winning the contest, Jessica recalls, “I was ecstatic and life went crazy.
“I had to protect my health and my grade – I was set to be traveling around the world with the Miss England team from February, a once in a lifetime opportunity. But was thrilled to be able to attend the graduation ceremony.
“The lads in class felt like little brothers, we had the best relationship and I missed them incredibly, so it was lovely still being able to graduate with them.
Jessica now spends a lot of time visiting schools up and down the country giving free talks about STEM subjects, aimed to advertise them to the next generation.
She plans to go back to school and get her Masters degree but will continue the pageant circuit by competing in the 71st annual Miss World Contest in December.
With an eye toward space her ambitions include becoming an astronaut—the first beauty queen in outer space.
INSPIRE Girls to Show Off Beauty AND Brains By Sharing on Social Media…",Not_Explicit
"Silencing Dissent
The UK Government's Authoritarian Crackdown on Protest
In recent years, the UK government has embarked on a disturbing path, systematically dismantling the right to protest, and in doing so, trampled on civil liberties. Despite the legal protection of peaceful demonstrations under the European Convention of Human Rights, the government has implemented restrictive measures that infringe upon the fundamental right to protest. These actions raise concerns about the state of democracy and the preservation of civil freedoms in the UK.
One of the most controversial pieces of legislation, used to this end, is the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, introduced by the Conservative government. This act grants the police unprecedented powers to impose conditions on protests and demonstrations. Police officers can now dictate start and finish times, limit locations, and enforce maximum noise levels, effectively suppressing the ability of protesters to convey their message effectively.
Furthermore, the act enables government ministers to create regulations without parliamentary approval, altering the definitions of “serious disruption to the life of the community” and “serious disruption to the activities of an organization.” This executive power undermines democratic checks and balances, allowing the government to redefine and expand the scope of what constitutes “serious disruption” at will, and not only that – but I would wager that this change was made intentionally so that successive governments would find an easier path when seeking to curtail the freedoms of protesters.
Previously, static demonstrations enjoyed more lenient regulations compared to protest marches. However, under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, static demonstrations are now subjected to the same stringent conditions as protest marches. This includes location restrictions, limiting the duration of the protest, and restricting the number of participants. These conditions effectively hamper the ability of peaceful demonstrators to assemble and express their grievances, which, whilst no longer a surprise to me, will likely come as a surprise to many that don’t read or watch the news often.
The Act introduces a broad offence of “intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance,” replacing the common law offence of public nuisance. This new definition extends the scope of what can be considered a criminal offence, potentially criminalizing actions that cause serious annoyance, inconvenience, or disturbance. By giving the police significant discretion in interpreting this offence, the Act creates a chilling effect on protest activities, making it difficult for individuals to exercise their right to protest without fear of arrest and punishment.
Another concerning development is the expansion of stop and search powers, particularly in London during recent protests. Civil liberties campaigners have criticized the police for misusing these powers to deliberately target demonstrators. The Public Order Bill further extends the grounds for justifying a search, allowing police to search individuals without suspicion if they are close to a protest deemed to be causing “annoyance.” This overreach of police authority undermines the principle of freedom of assembly and gives rise to concerns about the suppression of dissenting voices.
These restrictive measures imposed by the UK government severely hamper the exercise of democratic rights and freedoms. By stifling protests and limiting the ability of individuals to express their grievances, the government is undermining the foundations of a free and democratic society. The erosion of civil liberties and the concentration of power in the hands of government ministers raise alarm bells about the future of democracy in the UK. Since this assault on protest, hundreds of protesters have been arrested and held using the glaringly overreaching Bill. Opposition to the monarchy from Republicans was ruthlessly put down, those protesting against the lack of action on the climate crisis, and those protesting and striking for better pay and working conditions, have also been unfairly targeted by these new powers.
To me there is no longer a concern that this power ‘could’ be abused, the evidence of that abuse is everywhere before us – A simple search of protests since the bill became law can provide the evidence for you. The UK government's increasing restrictions on protests represent a worrying trend towards the erosion of civil liberties and the stifling of dissenting voices. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Bill grant excessive powers to the police, limit the right to peaceful assembly, and curtail freedom of expression. These actions not only undermine the democratic principles upon which the UK is founded, but also create a chilling effect on protest activities. It is crucial for civil society and advocates of freedom to challenge these measures and safeguard the right to protest, ensuring that the voices of the people are not silenced in the face of governmental overreach.",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) - A Senate panel on Thursday was set to debate and vote on Democratic-backed legislation that would mandate a binding ethics code for the U.S. Supreme Court following revelations that some conservative justices have failed to disclose luxury trips and real estate transactions.
The measure, however, faces Republican opposition that may doom its chances even if it is approved by the Judiciary Committee at its session due to start at 9:30 a.m. (1330 GMT).
Introduced by Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the bill would impose on the top U.S. judicial body new requirements for financial disclosures and for recusal from cases in which a justice may have a conflict of interest. It would require the justices to adopt a code of conduct as well as create a mechanism to investigate alleged violations.
Unlike other members of the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court's nine life-tenured justices have no binding ethics code of conduct. They are subject, as many high-level federal officials are, to disclosure laws requiring them to report outside income and certain gifts, though food and other ""personal hospitality"" such as lodging at an individual's residence is generally exempted.
Justices also decide for themselves whether to step aside from cases involving a possible conflict of interest.
The legislation would face long odds to win passage on the Senate floor, where it would need some Republican support to advance. And it appears to have little chance to get through the Republican-led House of Representatives.
The news outlet ProPublica has detailed ties spanning decades between conservative Justice Clarence Thomas and billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow, including real estate purchases and luxury travel paid for by the Dallas businessman. ProPublica also has reported that conservative Justice Samuel Alito failed to disclose a private flight to Alaska provided by a billionaire hedge fund manager whose business interests have come before the court as the jurist took a luxury fishing trip.
Separately, the news outlet Politico has reported that conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch failed to disclose that the buyer of a Colorado property in which he had a stake was the chief executive of a major law firm whose attorneys have been involved in various Supreme Court cases.
Democratic senators have said these reports show that the court cannot be trusted to police itself.
Some Republican senators have sought to portray the ethics reform push as an effort by liberals and Democrats to smear the court as its 6-3 conservative majority continues to steer the law in a rightward direction. They have said the court should set its own rules and have questioned whether lawmakers possess the power to impose ethics standards on it under the U.S. Constitution's division of powers among the federal government's executive, legislative and judicial branches.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"He said his party’s narrow victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where they saw their 7,000 majority reduced to just 495, showed the next election is still all to play for.
The result plunged Labour into a civil war over London mayor Sadiq Khan’s decision to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which proved deeply unpopular with voters in Boris Johnson’s old seat.
Speaking on Sky News, Mitchell said: “I think it shows that the ULEZ scheme that the Labour mayor had put in place was the wrong scheme. It was the wrong time and it was conducted in the wrong way.
“But I think overall what Uxbridge shows is that those who have written off this government at the next election have done so prematurely and that the next election is wide open.”
But his remarks sparked a backlash on Twitter, with many poking fun at his prediction.",Not_Explicit
"U.S. State Department officials and a recent report by ApplyBoard, a Canadian-based international student recruitment platform, indicate the United States is set to issue the most student visas in a year since fiscal 2016.
The tally of visas issued in fiscal 2023 has passed 392,000 to date. In fiscal 2016, a total 471,728 F1 visas were issued.
It could be close: Compared to fiscal 2022 — October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022 — more than 411,131 international student visas were issued, including F1, according to the State Department.
An F1 visa is for those attending an academic program or seeking a full-time degree at a U.S. institution.
In order to pass fiscal 2022, the U.S. will have to issue more than 40,000 international visas before the end of September.
""Facilitating the ability of foreign students and academic exchange visitors to study at U.S. universities and colleges is a priority,"" a State Department spokesperson told VOA by email. ""We are on track to issue the most student visas in a year since [fiscal year] 2016.
""While the US has a long way to go before rivaling its high mark of over 644,000 student visas issued in FY2015, these numbers inspire confidence that long-term, sustainable growth is ahead,"" ApplyBoard's July 18th report states.
Last September, the Institute of International Education released its annual study showing that international enrollment had largely recovered from the steep drop it took during the pandemic, and U.S. colleges were seeing an increase in applications for admission after significantly fewer new international student enrollments in 2020 and 2021.
Countries
According to ApplyBoard, the six countries the saw the largest percentage increases in student visas issued from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2022 were Asian. Uzbekistan is at the top of this list for the first time, while Nepal, Bangladesh, and Vietnam show continued growth in visa issuance.
""All four countries hit 25-year highs in student visas issued,"" according to the report.
Meanwhile, more African students were awarded F1 visas in 2022 than ever before, the report said. Nigeria and Ghana were issued the most student visas in their histories in 2022.
According to the State Department records, the number of visas issued to students from Africa in fiscal 2022 surpassed 30,700. This marked a significant increase compared with 21,037 visas issued in fiscal 2018, followed by 20,165 in fiscal 2019, a notable dip to 7,333 because of the pandemic in 2020, and then a rebound to 23,229 in fiscal 2021.
According to the 2022 Open Doors report and State Department data, the top two countries are China and India, which together represent the majority of all international students in the United States, or about 52%.
In 2022, China remained the top country, with 290,086 students on U.S. campuses, a decrease of 9% year-over-year. That same year, India had the second most international students, with about 200,000, an increase of 19% year-over-year.
""In fiscal year 2022, our Embassy and Consulates in India broke the all-time record for most student and exchange visitor visas issued in a year, issuing more than 125,000 [new] visas. India now is the second largest origin country for U.S. international students,"" according to State.
Approval rate
The approval rate for nonimmigrant student visa applicants also hit a 10-year high in fiscal 2022.
""In [fiscal year] 2022, worldwide, we issued 411,131 F1 visas and refused 220,676 F1 visas,"" the State Department spokesperson told VOA. ""In [fiscal] 2021, worldwide, we issued 357,839 F1 visas.""
ApplyBoard called the data ""overwhelmingly good"" in its analysis.
""The new F1 visa data should be music to the ears of international recruitment offices around the United States,"" said ApplyBoard's report.",Not_Explicit
"Large Hadron Collider Upgrade Will Open Opportunities For India’s Scientists: CERN Scientist
India is playing a major role and could play an even bigger one in the upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator that helps scientists understand the fundamental structure of matter, says European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) scientist Archana Sharma.
India is playing a major role and could play an even bigger one in the upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator that helps scientists understand the fundamental structure of matter, says European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) scientist Archana Sharma.
The upgrade of the LHC -- a 27-km ring of superconducting magnets buried under the ground between France and Switzerland -- expected in 2025 could lead to new and exciting opportunities for India's researchers and industry, says the Indian-origin senior scientist.
“There is a very big upgrade happening… The potential benefits of this upgrade for India's scientific community and industrial sector hold the promise of pushing the boundaries of knowledge and technological advancements,” Sharma told PTI.
“And, of course, India is playing a major role and can play an even bigger role because I see huge potential, huge competence, huge industry component as well, huge student population that can be trained and build capacities for future leaders,” she added.
CERN, headquartered in Geneva, has been at the forefront of groundbreaking discoveries in particle physics for decades.
The LHC has been instrumental in unravelling the mysteries of the universe, including the discovery of the Higgs boson, or the ‘god particle’ in 2012. Higgs boson is an elementary particle in the standard model of particle physics.
Sharma is best known for her work in gaseous detectors which she contributed to the discovery of the Higgs boson, the only Indian scientist to do so.
""You and everything around you are made of particles. But when the universe began, no particles had mass; they all sped around at the speed of light. Stars, planets and life could only emerge because particles gained their mass from a fundamental field associated with the Higgs boson. The existence of this mass-giving field was confirmed in 2012, when the Higgs boson particle was discovered at CERN,” according to the CERN website.
The forthcoming upgrade to the LHC, known as the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), is expected to further enhance the collider's capabilities, allowing scientists to delve even deeper into the fundamental constituents of matter and the forces that govern the universe.
“I feel that is an opportunity (for India). So yes, we should engage in these and we are engaging, it’s not that we aren’t. However, the room I see is large,” said Sharma, the recipient of this year’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award for her contribution to science and technology.
Sharma received her masters in nuclear physics from the Banaras Hindu University. In 1989, she received her PhD in experimental particle physics from Delhi University.
She is in India to attend a conclave on ‘Bridging the Gap: Particle Physics and its Relevance in our Everyday Lives’ organised by the Shiv Nadar School, Gurugram, and her NGO Life Lab Foundation on Tuesday.
Sharma said there is an ambitious plan to build a new, much larger collider in Geneva.
“In the future, there are bigger programmes that are on the horizon. One programme is the Future Circular Collider (FCC) and which is going to be 100 km in circumference... there is room for research and development (R&D), there is room for taking big chunks of responsibility and making our industry engage in a way that is never done before,” she explained.
The goal of the FCC is to push the energy and intensity frontiers of particle colliders, with the aim of reaching collision energies of 100 TeV, in the search for new physics.
TeV stands for tera electron Volts or 1,000,000,000,000 electron Volts. 1 TeV is about the energy of motion of a flying mosquito.
Sharma said the Indian scientific community has long been engaged in collaborative efforts with CERN, contributing to various experiments and research projects.
""Indians have played quite a big role at CERN from the 1960s and 70s. There were stalwarts like (particle physicist) Prof Prince Malhotra who were already working at CERN, in collaboration with Delhi University, Punjab University, and so on. But everybody has been contributing for several decades.""
“Our contribution became much bigger, and we became an observer state in 1999. Then we became an associate member in 2017. So, opportunities started opening for Indian nationals,” she noted.
Sharma is now working on making experiments at CERN more environment friendly.
“I think we all have a duty towards the planet. So we need to look at ways and means on how we can work sustainably, especially given the very long nature of our experiments,” she added.
CERN, the scientist said, is phasing out greenhouse gases such as freons as a coolant.
“In the next generation, that is the upgrade, we have freon-less cooling. All the cooling that was leaking or giving (carbon) footprint in the atmosphere is going to be zero starting from 2027,” she said.
CERN is also working on reducing carbon footprint by optimising energy usage in experiments.
“We are reusing the waste energy that is being created from the accelerators into heating, because we need to heat buildings, and there are programmes on R&D. So we are definitely very conscious and we have a team that is looking into ways of improving sustainability,” Sharma said.
The physics conclave at Shiv Nadar School, she said, gave her an opportunity to directly interact with the students.
“I keep coming back because I feel that whatever little I have done in my life, it can inspire students, particularly girls. So I try to do what I can to inspire the students.” “And I think scientific temperament in India is much better than in many other countries. Education and particularly scientific education is highly regarded in our country,” she added.",Not_Explicit
"South Carolina law enforcement officials say there is “no danger to the transgender community” as a transgender teenager was found dead this week after going missing and two suspects were taken into custody.
Family members reported Jacob Williamson, 18, as a missing person to authorities in the city of Laurens, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office. The family said they last saw or heard from Williamson on the evening of June 30, a sheriff’s news release said. The sheriff’s office launched an investigation into Williamson’s disappearance on July 2, according to the release.
Joshua Newton, 25, has been charged with first-degree murder and obstruction of justice. Victoria Smith, 22, has been charged with obstruction of justice and assisting Newton after he allegedly committed the crime, according to the sheriff’s office.
Newton is being held at the Union County Jail without bond, while Smith is being held on a $3 million bond at the same jail, records show. As of Thursday morning, it was unclear if either had obtained attorneys. Their next court dates are scheduled for August 8, records show.
Union County Sheriff’s Office Lt. James Maye said law enforcement doesn’t have a reason to believe Williamson’s preferred name and gender marker were part of the suspects’ motive.
Victim’s body found on July 4
The victim had an online relationship with the alleged suspect, Maye told CNN.
Williamson had established an online dating relationship with Newton a month prior to their first face-to-face encounter, Maye said, and Williamson had plans to meet up with Newton.
Williamson’s family told law enforcement that he had met with Newton and gave his family phone tracking information, which led deputies to the Monroe, North Carolina, area, Maye said.
The sheriff’s office said it received information that Williamson was “believed to be at a residence” in Monroe. Deputies made contact with Newton at his home and determined Williamson’s disappearance “needed some serious attention” due to “the way the suspect was acting,” Maye said. The investigation later led to Newton’s arrest.
The sheriff’s office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation conducted an “extensive search and investigation” over the course of 36 hours before Williamson’s body was found on July 4.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information related to the case to call 911, the sheriff’s office or Union County Crime Stoppers.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim in this case as they begin to mourn this unimaginable loss,” said Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey in the news release. “Over the past several days, the men and women of the Union County Sheriff’s Office have fully dedicated themselves to this case and ensuring the people responsible for this tragic loss were brought to justice.”",Not_Explicit
"A Russian-born billionaire oil tycoon is challenging the UK government's decision to freeze his assets.
Eugene Shvidler had two of his private jets, worth up to $60m (£45m), detained last March.
He was sanctioned over ties with ex-Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and a mining company operating in Russia.
In the first such case of its kind at the High Court, the 59-year-old, who moved to the US in 1989, wants the sanctions lifted.
Lord Anderson KC, representing Mr Shvidler, said there could be no doubt his client was ""sought to be used as a poster boy for Russian sanctions"" in light of comments made by ministers at the time his planes were seized.
He added that other similar challenges are understood to be waiting behind Mr Shvidler's case, which is due to be ruled on at a later date.
Mr Shvidler is seeking a declaration that his designation under post-Brexit regulations on sanctions was unlawful, and an order quashing the designation.
Lord Anderson said the designation had destroyed Mr Shvidler's ability to deal with his assets and conduct his business, disrupted his life and the lives of his family, deprived employees of their livelihoods and shattered his reputation.
He said his client has no relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin nor any influence on Russian policy - and had spoken out against the war in Ukraine.
He added that England had been Mr Shvidler's main home since 2004 and his five children were all British citizens at UK schools - although two ""were required to leave those schools"" because of the sanctions.
Mr Shvidler has demonstrated his commitment to the UK through philanthropy, including funding a library and scholarships for disadvantaged young people, Lord Anderson added.
Opposing the challenge, government lawyers argued the decision to impose sanctions was neither disproportionate nor discriminatory and asked the court to dismiss the case.",Not_Explicit
"Liberal justices dissent from order allowing Alabama to move ahead with execution
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by the Supreme Court’s two other liberal justices, publicly dissented from an order that allowed Alabama to move forward with its first execution since a recent pause.
Before dawn on Friday morning, Alabama executed James Barber, who was convicted of murdering a 75-year-old woman in 2001. Barber had raised concerns about the state’s lethal injection method in his emergency appeal to the high court.
“Alabama plans to kill him by lethal injection in a matter of hours, without ever allowing him discovery into what went wrong in the three prior executions and whether the State has fixed those problems. The Eighth Amendment demands more than the State’s word that this time will be different,” Sotomayor dissented.
Alabama had paused executions after officials experienced issues securing the IV lines during attempts last year. The state had canceled the executions of Alan Eugene Miller and Kenneth Eugene Smith after spending at least an hour trying to secure the needed IV access, according to court filings. Some groups have also accused officials of botching the execution of Nathan James, Jr. earlier in the year.
Barber was the first to receive a lethal injection following the pause.
“If it takes hours to set Barber’s IV line, like Miller and Smith before him, the State may subject Barber to an intolerable level of pain under the Eighth Amendment,” Sotomayor wrote. “If it successfully executes him anyway, like James, it will have mooted his claim. The Eighth Amendment does not tolerate playing such games with a man’s life.”
The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) conducted a review of its executions policies during the pause, but Sotomayor’s dissent sided with critics and Barber’s lawyers, who contended the changes did not substantively solve the past issues.
“There is no evidence in the record explaining what may have caused such difficulties. Nor is there evidence that the State has addressed what went wrong. It has replaced its IV team with new members, but revealed nothing about how those members are different from or similar to its 2022 team,” Sotomayor wrote.
ADOC Commissioner John Hamm said at a press conference that it took officials three sticks in six minutes to secure the necessary IV access.
Officials had a deadline of roughly sunrise time on Friday in Alabama to complete the execution. Barber lost in a lower court on Wednesday, and he and the state filed opposing briefs with the justices throughout the day on Thursday.
The Supreme Court handed down its order just after 1 a.m. ET on Friday. The majority did not explain its decision, but Sotomayor issued a written 11-page dissent.
Barber was pronounced dead roughly two hours later, according to the ADOC.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"- In the latest update to its World Economic Outlook, the IMF raised its 2023 global growth prediction by 0.2 percentage points to 3%, up from 2.8% at its April assessment.
- The IMF kept is 2024 growth forecast unchanged at 3%.
- The IMF highlighted concerns with tighter credit conditions, depleted household savings in the U.S. and a shallower-than-expected economic recovery in China from strict Covid-19 lockdowns.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised its growth forecast for the global economy, turning slightly more positive despite slowing momentum from China.
In the latest update to its World Economic Outlook, the IMF raised its 2023 global growth prediction by 0.2 percentage point to 3%, up from 2.8% in its April assessment. The IMF kept its 2024 growth forecast unchanged at 3%.
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In terms of inflation, the fund also expects an improvement from last year. Headline inflation is projected to reach 6.8% this year, falling from 8.7% in 2022. However, core inflation, which strips out volatile items, is seen declining more slowly to 6% this year, from 6.5% last year.
""The global economy continues to gradually recover from the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In the near term, the signs of progress are undeniable,"" Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, chief economist of the IMF, said in an accompanying blog post Tuesday. ""Yet many challenges still cloud the horizon, and it is too early to celebrate,"" he added.
The IMF highlighted concerns with tighter credit conditions, depleted household savings in the U.S. and a shallower-than-expected economic recovery in China from strict Covid-19 lockdowns.
""In the United States, excess savings from the pandemic-related transfers, which helped households weather the cost-of-living crisis and tighter credit conditions, are all but depleted. In China, the recovery following the reopening of its economy shows signs of losing steam amid continued concerns about the property sector, with implications for the global economy,"" Gourinchas said.
The U.S., the world's largest economy, is set to grow 1.8% this year and 1% in 2024, according to the IMF. In China, gross domestic product is seen falling from 5.2% this year to 4.5% for 2024.
""Continued weakness in the [Chinese] real estate sector is weighing on investment, foreign demand remains weak, and rising and elevated youth unemployment, at 20.8% in May 2023, indicates labor market weakness,"" the IMF said in its report. It added that ""high-frequency data through June confirm a softening in momentum into the second quarter of 2023.""
The comments come after Chinese stocks rallied Tuesday off the back of remarks from the country's authorities that they are preparing more stimulus. Beijing is reportedly working on new measures to expand domestic demand, according to Reuters, citing China's state news agency.
Among Europe's major economies, Germany is the only one where the IMF has cut its growth expectations for this year. The fund sees the German economy contracting by 0.3% this year, that's a reduction of 0.2 percentage point from April's forecast. This is due to weaker manufacturing output and lower growth performance during the first quarter of this year, the IMF said.
Data released Monday showed business activity shrinking at a faster pace than expected in July across the euro zone. In Germany, the data pointed to an economic contraction with manufacturing production levels dropping for the third month in a row and at the fastest pace since May 2020.
""This is a bad start to the third quarter for Germany's economy, with the flash PMI dropping into contraction territory. The downturn continues to be led by the manufacturing sector, while the slowdown in services sector growth that started last month has extended into July,"" Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at the Hamburg Commercial Bank, said about the data release.",Not_Explicit
"With three by-elections approaching, the race between the now-two Tory hopefuls vying to take on Sadiq Khan in the 2024 mayoral election has taken something of a backseat.
But following the exit of former No10 advisor Daniel Korski, the odds have shortened for both those standing.
Former Conservative group leader in the London Assembly Susan Hall is pitching herself against rival Tory candidate Moz Hossain as the no-nonsense, law and order option.
Passion for policing
A former hair salon owner, entrepreneur and council leader, Hall is a robust presence at City Hall debates.
She’s keen to be seen as taking the mayor to task on his record, particularly on policing, which she tells City A.M. would be her top priority if elected.
“My passion in life is policing – always has been,” she says. “I do think things are getting less and less safe.
“We don’t see police around like we used to, we don’t see response cars, or blue lights. And certainly from talking to residents, people are feeling less and less safe, especially women.
“Many years ago, I was threatened – somebody threatened to kill me. And it suddenly occurred to me that actually to feel safe is more important.
“I’d rather feel hungry than really unsafe, really, it’s just a knot in your stomach, you just feel so vulnerable.”
Her experiences have clearly informed her campaign with ‘Safer with Susan’ literature echoing her focus on law enforcement.
She has pledged to take £200m from the City Hall budget to fund a ‘low level’ policing unit to tackle burglaries.
“If you’re burgled it’s not low level, you feel violated,” she adds. “It’s absolutely my first priority.”
Protecting small businesses
Safety is an area she believes crosses into the economy, affecting small businesses and communities.
“If you’ve got a shop in an area that’s got nothing but gangs running around, you’re going to lose customers, because they’re not going to want to come into your area,” Hall says.
“I do think that the main thrust of what I want to do will help businesses, I want to make the streets safer,” she says.
Listening, she says, is crucial, rather than assuming you know what’s needed.
“It should always be an open dialogue, talk to people, see what they need, see how you can help. The mayor doesn’t always know best… you mustn’t ever assume you know.”
The city’s finances, Hall says, would also be safe in her hands.
She tells me: “If you are spending somebody else’s money, which is what the [London Assembly] budget is, then you look after it.
“I mean, I’m shocking with my own money, I will just go buy things and buy things for the kids all the time.
“[But] if it’s somebody else’s money, oh my god. I’m always able to handle other people’s money because it’s not mine.”
‘Doesn’t like women’
Khan and Hall disagree on much. ULEZ aside, they’ve butted heads on everything from crime to housing during often testy exchanges.
Her pitch that he’s afraid of her, though, is an interesting one. What’s the thinking behind it?
“He clearly doesn’t like women,” Hall responds. “He absolutely doesn’t like me, you’ve only got to see the videos of it. He literally snarls. He doesn’t like loud women, who will be heard.”
She continues: “One of the great reasons for picking me is I know how City Hall works. I know how the boroughs work, because I’ve been a leader of one. I know how the whole mechanism works.
“And I have got the ability to challenge him at least once a month between now and the election. And I have been doing that for six years, I’ve never been a pushover.
“He needs to be called out on these things. And I’m not frightened of calling him out.”
Khan’s office declined to comment, but a Labour source close to the mayor hit back, describing it as a “desperate and nonsense attack”.
“Sadiq has been a proud feminist in City Hall, leading the way in areas such as equal pay, combating violence against women and girls, and introducing ground-breaking policies supporting women with the menopause in the workplace,” the source said.
“It’s even more ridiculous coming from Susan Hall who has championed Donald Trump and his abhorrent views.”",Not_Explicit
"AUSTIN, Texas -- The Justice Department on Monday sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over a newly installed floating barrier on the Rio Grande that is the Republican's latest aggressive tactic to try stopping migrants from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.
The lawsuit asks a federal judge in Austin to force Texas to remove a roughly 1,000-foot (305-meter) line of bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys that the Biden administration says raises humanitarian and environmental concerns. The suit claims that Texas unlawfully installed the barrier without permission between the border cities of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Mexico.
The buoys are the latest escalation of Texas’ border security operation that also includes razor-wire fencing, arresting migrants on trespassing charges and sending busloads of asylum-seekers to Democratic-led cities in other states.
In anticipation of the lawsuit, Abbott sent President Joe Biden a letter earlier Monday that defended Texas’ right to install the barrier. He accused Biden of putting migrants at risk by not doing more to deter them from making the journey to the U.S.
“Texas will see you in court, Mr. President,” Abbott wrote.
The Biden administration has said illegal border crossings have declined significantly since new immigration restrictions took effect in May.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Abbott's policies as a whole have made it difficult for U.S. Border Patrol agents to access the river.
“Those are unlawful actions that are not helpful and is undermining what the president has put forward and is trying to do,"" she said.
In a letter last week, the Justice Department gave Texas until Monday to commit to removing the barrier or face a lawsuit. The letter said the buoy wall “poses a risk to navigation, as well as public safety, in the Rio Grande River, and it presents humanitarian concerns.”
The state deployed the buoys without notifying the International Boundary and Water Commission or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mexico's secretary of state asked the federal government to intervene, saying the barrier violates international treaties.
___
Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas.",Not_Explicit
"- TikTok Shop, the e-commerce marketplace of the short video app, will offer ""buy now, pay later"" service Atome in Malaysia, as part of its e-commerce push into Southeast Asia.
- The partnership is expected to ""drive growth"" and ""enable merchants and small businesses to offer their customers a convenient and flexible payment option,"" Jonathan Low, e-commerce lead of strategy and special projects at TikTok Shop, said in a statement on Friday.
- TikTok Shop has been aggressively expanding into e-commerce in Southeast Asia, as the company looks outside the U.S. for growth.
TikTok struck a partnership with ""buy now, pay later"" service Atome to offer installment payments on its e-commerce marketplace in Malaysia, the latest in the company's e-commerce push into Southeast Asia.
TikTok Shop will include Atome as a payment option, which would allow customers to spread deferred payments over three or six months.
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Atome is the BNPL arm of Singapore-based fintech firm Advance Intelligence Group, which is backed by major investors like SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Warburg Pincus.
The partnership is expected to ""drive growth"" and ""enable merchants and small businesses to offer their customers a convenient and flexible payment option,"" Jonathan Low, e-commerce lead of strategy and special projects at TikTok Shop, said in a statement on Friday.
""By integrating Atome as a payment option on TikTok Shop, we're excited to help drive ecommerce growth and support brands of all sizes,"" said William Yang, head of commercial at Atome.
The partnership comes as TikTok looks to markets outside of the U.S. for growth. While the U.S. is the company's largest market, TikTok faces headwinds there after Montana became the first state to ban the app. The app has also been banned in India.
TikTok's CEO previously said the company will pour ""billions of dollars"" into Southeast Asia over the next few years. As of April, TikTok said it has more than 325 million monthly users in Southeast Asia.
In June, the company said it would invest $12.2 million to help over 120,000 small and medium-sized businesses sell online. The investment consists of cash grants, digital skills training and advertising credits for these businesses.",Not_Explicit
"U.S. says F-16s will arrive in Ukraine ‘towards the end of the year’
The comments signal that the Biden administration is feeling a new sense of urgency to deliver the warplanes as quickly as possible.
The Biden administration expects American-made F-16 fighter jets will arrive in Ukraine near the end of this year, a top spokesperson said, signaling that U.S. officials are feeling a new sense of urgency to deliver the warplanes as quickly as possible.
“Now look, the F-16s will get there probably towards the end of the year,” John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said on Fox News on Thursday. “But it’s not our assessment that the F-16s alone would be enough to turn the tide here.”
National security adviser Jake Sullivan echoed Kirby’s comments on Friday, saying the U.S. is “moving rapidly” to get F-16s to Ukraine.
“We are going to push as fast as possible,” Sullivan said during remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colo.
The Ukrainians have been pleading for modern fighter jets to help repel Russian invaders for more than a year. President Joe Biden in May lent U.S. support to an international effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, but the U.S. has yet to formally approve the training program, which is required under export restrictions.
In the meantime, a coalition of 11 nations, led by Denmark and the Netherlands, has taken early steps to make the training program a reality. European officials said last week that they hope to begin the training in Denmark in August, and a training center will also be set up in Romania. The U.K., in the meantime, will soon start English language instruction for Ukrainian pilots.
F-16 manufacturer Lockheed Martin plans to supervise pilot training through a subcontractor, Draken International, according to Ukrainian press reports.
However, countries have been hesitant to commit to sending F-16s from their own fleets to the battlefield after training concludes. Norway has plans to send two trainer aircraft for Ukrainians to learn on, according to a Norwegian defense official, but that has not been announced publicly.
Kirby’s remarks are “aspirational,” as the administration is still working to finalize plans to deliver the jets and train Ukrainian pilots, said a U.S. official, who like the Norwegian official was granted anonymity to speak about a sensitive technology transfer.
The U.S. is working to get Ukraine the F-16s “as quickly as possible, but it will take some time,” the official added. Neither Kirby nor the official specified which countries would be sending their F-16s.
The timeline Kirby laid out is faster than Ukrainian officials have predicted, signaling a new sense of urgency. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a July 12 interview that he expected the first F-16s will fly in Ukrainian skies by the end of the first quarter of 2024.
Kirby’s comments come days after Sullivan was forced to respond to questions about whether the U.S. was committed to training Ukrainian fighter pilots, after POLITICO reported that Europe was still waiting on formal approval from the U.S.
Sullivan stressed that the president had promised to meet “whatever timeline our European partners need.”
“The United States will not be the hold up in ensuring that this F-16 training can get underway,” he told CNN.
Sullivan said the main roadblock was that the European partners needed a few more weeks to create the necessary training infrastructure. He did not commit to a specific timeline for training or delivery.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pressed his Western partners to deliver the jets as soon as possible. Speaking ahead of a NATO defense summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, last week, he blamed his colleagues for what he characterized as a delay in sending the aircraft.
“We have agreed, we have pressed, and we have a coalition of countries that are ready to start training for Ukrainian pilots. [But] there is no schedule for training missions, and they’re delaying it. I don’t know why they’re doing this,” he said.
Alexander Ward contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"An entire summer's worth of rain fell in just a couple of hours on Friday, July 21, as an unprecedented deluge swept over southern Nova Scotia.
Parts of the Halifax Regional Municipality recorded more than 250 mm of rain during the prolific thunderstorms that persisted through the afternoon and evening hours.
The average summertime rainfall in Halifax is usually around 270 mm.
""This certainly ranks as one of the highest impact flash floods in Canadian history,"" say Chris Scott, Chief Meteorologist at The Weather Network.
A deeply tropical airmass flowing over the Maritimes was responsible for the historic rains that hit. Days of record warm temperatures and soupy humidity also helped to set the stage, as the enhanced moisture acted like a reservoir for the storms to tap into.
This is now the only way people can get in and out of Ellershouse @RachelSchoutsen @weathernetwork #nswx pic.twitter.com/5gAza6RFm3
This is now the only way people can get in and out of Ellershouse Nathan Coleman on Twitter: ""This is now the only way people can get in and out of Ellershouse @RachelSchoutsen @weathernetwork #nswx pic.twitter.com/5gAza6RFm3 / Twitter"" Nathan Coleman on Twitter: ""This is now the only way people can get in and out of Ellershouse @RachelSchoutsen @weathernetwork #nswx pic.twitter.com/5gAza6RFm3 / Twitter"" Nathan Coleman on Twitter: ""This is now the only way people can get in and out of Ellershouse @RachelSchoutsen @weathernetwork #nswx pic.twitter.com/5gAza6RFm3 / Twitter"" Nathan Coleman on Twitter: ""This is now the only way people can get in and out of Ellershouse @RachelSchoutsen @weathernetwork #nswx pic.twitter.com/5gAza6RFm3 / Twitter""
Friday's thunderstorms repeatedly developed and moved over the same areas like train cars on railroad tracks. This created a classic ""training"" storm setup that's responsible for some of the most intense flash flooding possible.
""The storms just kept coming to the same place for about five to seven hours on Friday, and that's what did the damage,"" Scott says, adding that the intensity of the rainfall over such a short period of time resulted in similar storm totals of that of a hurricane.
""This situation relates to Hurricane Beth back in 1971 with similar types of rainfall amounts, however, that was over a longer period of time...so it's all about the intensity. That's why this was not only a big event, but a historic one, which did things we've never seen before in this part of the country,"" says Scott.
WATCH: Body of missing man, human remains found after N.S. floods
On Monday, the body of a missing 52-year-old man was found, as well as unidentified human remains, in an extensive search for four missing people after two vehicles were submerged in the devastating floodwaters in West Hants. Two children and one youth remain unaccounted for.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston expressed his condolences from the West Hants RCMP detachment in Windsor, Nova Scotia on Monday.
""It's a heartbreaking day for our province,"" he said. ""We can rebuild roads and bridges and buildings but we can't bring people back, and the legacy from these floods will be the incredibly tragic loss of life.""
Now the question remains -- can we immediately tie this recent flood catastrophe to climate change? Be sure to watch the in-depth video above with Chief Meteorologist, Chris Scott and The Weather Network's Tyler Hamilton.
With files from Dennis Mersereau, The Weather Network",Not_Explicit
"Revamped ITPO Complex: PM Modi Performs 'Pooja' Ahead Of Inauguration; All You Need To Know
PM Modi will return to the ITPO for a grand inaugural ceremony at 6:30 pm on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday performed a 'pooja' at the inauguration of the International Convention Centre, ITPO, Pragati Maidan in Delhi.
Several Union ministers were also present at the event. PM Modi will return to the ITPO for a grand inaugural ceremony at 6:30 pm on Wednesday.
News agency PTI shared a video where PM Modi was seen felicitating labourers involved in the construction work at the redeveloped Pragati Maidan complex.
The International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre will serve as a venue for the G20 summit.
New IECC Complex: All You Need To Know
Prime Minister’s vision of having a world class infrastructure for hosting meetings, conferences and exhibitions in the country has led to the conceptualization of the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) at Pragati Maidan, a PIB release said.
The project, which revamped the old and outdated facilities at Pragati Maidan, was developed as a National project at a cost of about Rs 2700 crore.
With a campus area of approximately 123 acres, the IECC complex has been developed as India’s largest MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) destination.
The newly developed IECC complex at Pragati Maidan comprises of multiple state-of-the-art facilities including Convention Centre, Exhibition halls, amphitheatres etc.
The Convention Centre is developed as the centerpiece of Pragati Maidan complex.
It is a grand architectural marvel, designed to host large-scale international exhibitions, trade fairs, conventions, conferences, and other prestigious events, PIB said.
It is equipped with multiple meeting rooms, lounges, auditoriums, an amphitheatre and business centre, making it capable of hosting a wide range of events.
Its multi-purpose hall and plenary hall have a combined capacity of seven thousand people, which is larger than the seating capacity of the famous Sydney Opera House in Australia.
Its Amphitheater is equipped with a seating capacity of 3,000 individuals.
Take A Look At New ITPO Complex
The architectural design of the Convention Centre building is inspired from Indian traditions and showcases India’s confidence and conviction in its past while also embracing modern facilities and way of life.
The shape of the building is derived from the Shankha (conch shell), different walls and facades of the Convention Centre depict several elements of India's traditional art and culture including ‘Surya Shakti’ highlighting India’s efforts in harnessing solar energy, ‘Zero to ISRO’, celebrating our achievements in space, Pancha Mahabhuta signifying the building blocks of universal foundation - Aakash (Sky), Vayu (Air), Agni (Fire), Jal (Water), Prithvi (Earth), among others.
Pragati Maidan Convention Centre: Featrures
Other facilities available in the Convention Centre include 5G-enabled fully Wi-Fi covered campus.
10G Intranet connectivity
Interpreter room equipped with cutting-edge technology to support 16 different languages
Advanced AV systems with huge-sized video walls
Building management system ensuring optimal functionality and energy efficiency
Light management system with dimming and occupancy sensors
State-of-the-art DCN (Data Communication Network) system
Integrated surveillance system and energy-efficient centralized air conditioning system.
Further, the IECC complex features a total of seven exhibition halls, each serving as a versatile space for hosting exhibitions, trade fairs, and business events.
The exhibition halls are designed to accommodate a diverse range of industries and showcase products and services from around the world. These state-of-the-art structures are a testament to modern engineering and architectural prowess.
The convenience of visitors is a priority at the IECC, reflected in the provision of over 5,500 vehicle parking spaces. The ease of access through signal-free roads ensures that visitors can reach the venue without any hassle.",Not_Explicit
"Tiger Global, DST Global, Peak XV, Steadview Capital, and Kotak Private Equity are among global and Indian investors who have asked the India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the recently announced taxation on online gaming.
The Goods and Services Tax Council, which comprises top federal and state finance ministers, said earlier this month that it had agreed to levy a 28% indirect tax on online gaming, casinos and horse racing. The council said there should be no distinction between “game of skill” and “game of chance,” closing a loophole that has allowed fantasy sports companies to justify their offerings as skill-based.
“The decision of the 50th GST Council has the unintended consequence of equating the constitutionally protected legitimate online skill gaming industry with gambling, betting and other “games of chance,” a group of 30 investors wrote in a letter to Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, on Friday.
“We invested in this sector with the vision to make India the gaming capital of the world, which would help in generating, among other things, high-skilled jobs, billions in foreign capital and make the country a net exporter of innovation in gaming and allied areas such as animation, artificial intelligence and visual effects,” said the letter, titled “urgent prayer.”
Online gaming is one of the fastest growing consumer internet businesses in India. Fantasy sports startups — including Dream Sports, backed by Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Global and valued at over $8 billion, and Sequoia India-backed Mobile Premier League — have altogether raised billions as a generation of internet users build a habit of making bets on real-world sporting events in hopes to make money.
More to follow.",Not_Explicit
"British tourists said they had been left in “a living nightmare” after wildfires caused the emergency evacuation of 19,000 people on the Greek island of Rhodes.
More than 3,000 people were rescued from beaches and another 16,000 taken to safety on land as flames intensified in the south-eastern region of the island on Saturday.
The wildfires, which began six days ago, had prompted the biggest evacuation from a blaze in Greece’s history, the Athens government said on Sunday.
The British ambassador to Greece said the UK Foreign Office had sent a rapid deployment team to help stranded UK tourists, as travel companies cancelled holidays to Rhodes.
Local agencies have struggled to get the wildfires under control amid a prolonged heatwave across southern Europe, which officials warned could trigger further evacuations in the coming days.
Travel firm Jet2 on Sunday cancelled package holidays to Rhodes for at least a week, while easyJet and Tui aborted holidays due to depart up to Tuesday.
Thomas Cook announced it had cancelled all holidays to Kiotari and Lardos, the areas of the island most at risk, until 31 July.
However, Tui was criticised for flying holidaymakers out as late as Saturday night, when many hotels had been evacuated due to the worsening situation.
Holidaymakers described scenes of panic and chaos on beaches where thousands of people waited to be rescued.
One said they saw children falling into the sea from evacuation boats as ash fell from the sky. Another described people abandoning their belongings on beaches as they clambered on to rescue vessels.
Ian Murison, from London, likened the evacuation to “the end of the world” as the sea turned black with soot and people rushed towards boats.
Murison said he and his family had walked almost 4 miles in scorching heat towards Gennadi beach, where they were met by a scene of chaos.
“Thousands moved on to the beach. It was impossible to get on to coaches because people just ran. It was literally like the end of the world and the flames were now far more visible because of course it’s night-time and we couldn’t see that during the day,” he told Sky News.
“Suddenly there were leaping flames into the sky, and the sky was completely orange in the distance, so that sort of set about a level of panic.”
Murison said there were hundreds or thousands of people left on the beach, which was littered with suitcases that had been thrown off the rescue boat so more families could be taken to safety.
He said: “My wife ... was finding it stressful, particularly when they said it was women and children only on the bus and I kissed them goodbye. She thought it might be the last time she saw me.”
Helen Tonk, from the east Midlands, said Tui had flown her family and hundreds of others into a “living nightmare” in a flight that landed in Rhodes just before 11pm on Saturday.
Tonk was told when they landed that their hotel in Gennadi had been evacuated and that she, her husband and daughters aged 15, 21 and 22 would instead have to sleep in a school sports hall, which had been turned into an emergency refuge centre in the city of Rhodes.
“We shouldn’t be here in a million years,” she said. “It’s one thing being here already and being caught in the chaos – and we’ve been talking to families who have had to flee and there was just panic and chaos – but then we’ve added to the problem by effectively being dropped into it. Our plane should have come over empty and should have been bringing people back.”
She praised local people for providing food and support to those stranded but said her family and dozens of others had been “completely abandoned” by their holiday companies.
“We are adding to the problem. We’ve been completely abandoned. Abandoned is the word I would use, and we just don’t know what our options are.”
She added: “In my mind I don’t see how you could say this is an act of God because we weren’t already here. They [Tui] have chosen to bring us here. They’ve read the situation locally wrong and we should not be here.”
Another woman, Sharon Richards, described how her family were told to flee their hotel in Lardos, on the fire-ravaged south-east of the island, on Saturday night.
Richards, from Glasgow, said her family, including a nine-year-old boy and girls aged 11 and 17, and dozens of other British guests had been let down by UK travel companies.
Tourists from other countries had been evacuated but Jet2 and Tui had failed to provide any proper information to those on the ground, she said.
“We were told to leave our suitcases in our hotel and flee for the beach. The flames were on the hillside right next to us but there’s a petrol station right across the road from the hotel,” she said.
“We were quite scared really, not knowing what was happening. All the Polish and Scandinavian people in our hotel were bussed to other hotels more or less straight away whereas us Brits were just kind of left.”
Richards, speaking to the Guardian from an evacuation centre in the city of Rhodes, said they eventually reached the north of the island about 10 hours after being told to flee their hotel.
Her family, who are on a package holiday with Jet2, are due to fly home on Monday night but have not been told whether they will be able to collect their possessions.
A Tui spokesperson said: “We’re continuing to closely monitor the wildfires in Rhodes which have led to the evacuation of a number of hotels in the south of the island.
“We appreciate how distressing and difficult it is for customers who have been evacuated and ask they follow the advice of the local authorities who are managing tourist movements in impacted areas.
“Our resort teams are doing everything they can to support customers, working closely with the relevant authorities.”",Not_Explicit
"Great news for those traveling to China! You can finally enjoy the seamless, cashless payment experience that you may have heard about for years and avoid the awkward interaction of asking your local friends to pay and giving them paper money that they can’t spend anywhere.
This week, China’s two dominant mobile payment solutions, WeChat Pay and Alipay, announced that foreign users can now pay at Chinese retailers by linking their foreign credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, and Discover.
Previously, using WeChat Pay and Alipay in China required a local bank account, making it challenging for short-term visitors to use these payment methods. While paying has become breezier for those living in China, finding places that accept cash is now a headache for foreign visitors, as the two payments giants have largely replaced cash from metropoles to villages despite the government’s efforts to warn merchants against rejecting cash.
The development is thus a huge improvement in foreign visitors’ experience in China. Given Alipay and WeChat Pay are literally ubiquitous in both China’s online and offline retail spheres, foreign visitors may now be able to hail a Didi car, ride the subway, rent a shared bike, buy fruit from a grocer, order food delivery, and even shop online for the myriad of Chinese e-commerce goods.
WeChat’s announcement provides useful details on what the setup looks like. To activate their WeChat wallets, foreign users will need to authenticate their identity by uploading their passports. Foreign phone numbers can be used for receiving verification codes.
Unfortunately, visitors won’t be able to try out the digitized Chinese hongbao custom, which involves sending or receiving digital versions of auspicious red envelopes filled with money. This feature was originally what drove WeChat’s early wave of mass adoption. Visitors also can’t conduct money transfers, which is unsurprising given China’s stringent control of capital flows across borders.
On WeChat, spending limits per transaction, month and year for foreign visitors are 6,000 yuan (around $835), 50,000 yuan and 60,000 yuan, respectively. Transaction fees are waived for payments under 200 yuan (around $28), and any amount above that charges a 3% fee. Exchange rates are based on the rates of the card organization and the issuing bank.
The payments giants previously had plans to integrate with international bank cards, but those didn’t materialize. Hopefully, the regulatory approvals and infrastructure are ready this time. We will report back once we’ve tried it out on the ground.",Not_Explicit
"Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes committed in Ukraine, will not attend a summit of BRICS countries in South Africa next month, the South African presidency said Wednesday.
“By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov,” the South African government said in a statement.
In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Putin over the forced transfer of children to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
As a signatory to the ICC, it would have been bound to enforce the warrant and arrest Putin if he visited the country for a planned leaders’ summit of the BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — in Pretoria in August.
On Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that his country had “obvious problems” with arresting Putin, which would constitute a “declaration of war.”
Russia, which has extended its influence in Africa in recent years — including through the Wagner paramilitary group — is due to host another meeting with African leaders in St. Petersburg on July 27-28.
The BRICS summit will thus be attended by leaders from Brazil, China, India and South Africa, according to the presidency’s statement.",Not_Explicit
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WASHINGTON (AP) — New rules for the nation’s oil and gas leasing program would raise costs for energy companies to drill on public lands and strengthen requirements for cleaning up old wells where drilling is completed or abandoned, the Biden administration said Thursday.
A rule proposed by the Interior Department raises royalty rates for oil drilling by more than one-third, to 16.67 percent, in accordance with the sweeping climate law approved by Congress last year. The previous rate of 12.5 percent paid by oil and gas companies for federal drilling rights had remained unchanged for a century. The federal rate was significantly lower than what many states and private landowners charge for drilling leases on state or private lands.
The new rule does not go so far as to prohibit new oil and gas leasing on public lands, as many environmental groups have urged and as President Joe Biden promised during the 2020 campaign. But officials said the proposal would lead to a more responsible leasing process that provides a better return to U.S. taxpayers.
The plan codifies provisions in the climate law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the 2021 infrastructure law and recommendations from an Interior report on oil and gas leasing issued in November 2021.
The new rule “provides a fair return to taxpayers, adequately accounts for environmental harms and discourages speculation by oil and gas companies,” said Laura Daniel-Davis, principal deputy assistant Interior secretary for land and minerals management.
Interior “is committed to creating a more transparent, inclusive and just approach to leasing and permitting that serves the public interest while protecting natural and cultural resources on our public lands,″ she added.
READ MORE: Major U.S. firms supplied equipment to keep Russian oil flowing after Ukraine invasion
The new royalty rate set by the climate law is expected to remain in place until August 2032, after which it can be increased.
The rule also would increase the minimum leasing bond paid by energy companies to $150,000, up from the previous $10,000 established in 1960. The higher bonding requirement is intended to ensure that companies meet their obligations to clean up drilling sites after they are done or cap wells that are abandoned.
The previous level was far too low to force companies to act and did not cover potential costs to reclaim a well, officials said. As a result, taxpayers frequently end up covering cleanup costs for abandoned or depleted wells if an operator refuses to do so or declares bankruptcy. Hundreds of thousands of “orphaned” oil and gas wells and abandoned coal and hardrock mines pose serious safety hazards, while causing ongoing environmental damage.
The Interior Department has made available more than $1 billion in the past two years from the infrastructure law to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells on public lands. The new rule aims to prevent that burden from falling on taxpayers in the future.
Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning, whose agency issued the new rule, said the proposal “aims to ensure fairness to the taxpayer and balanced, responsible development as we continue to transition to a clean energy economy. It includes common-sense and needed fiscal revisions to BLM’s program, many directed by Congress.”
The BLM, an Interior Department agency, oversees more than 245 million acres of public lands, primarily in the West.
Environmental groups hailed the rule change as overdue and said the Biden administration recognized that business as usual by the oil and gas industry is incompatible with increased risks from climate change — a crisis the oil industry played a large role in creating.
WATCH: Biden’s complex relationship with oil and gas, despite campaign promises
“These changes were badly needed — to put it mildly — and will help make onshore leasing more fair to taxpayers and hold industry accountable for its harms,” said Josh Axelrod of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
But he and other advocates said Biden should keep his promise to end new drilling on public lands. “In addition to making polluters pay with these fiscal reforms, it’s time for the Biden administration to align our federal fossil fuel program with America’s transition to a clean energy economy,” said Mattea Mrkusic of Evergreen Action, another environmental group.
The oil industry said the rule change would discourage oil and gas production in the United States.
“Responsible development of federal lands is critical for meeting the growing demand for affordable, reliable energy while reducing (greenhouse gas) emissions,” said Holly Hopkins, vice president of the American Petroleum Institute, an industry lobbying group.
“Amidst a global energy crisis, this action from the Department of the Interior is yet another attempt to add even more barriers to future energy production,” she said.
The proposal issued Thursday follows an Interior report on federal oil and gas leasing issued in November 2021. Biden ordered the report soon after taking office in January 2021 as he directed a pause in federal oil and gas lease sales, citing worries about climate change.
The moratorium drew sharp criticism from congressional Republicans and the oil industry, even as many environmentalists and Democrats urged Biden to make the leasing pause permanent.
The moratorium was overturned by the courts, and oil and gas lease sales have resumed, including some mandated by the climate law in a compromise with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
A separate proposal by the Biden administration would put conservation on equal footing with industry. The plan would allow conservationists and others to lease federally owned land to restore it, much the same way oil companies buy leases to drill and ranchers pay to graze cattle. Leases also could be bought on behalf of companies such as oil drillers who want to offset damage to public land by restoring acreage elsewhere.
Critics including Republican lawmakers and agriculture industry representatives blast the BLM plan as a way to exclude mining, energy development and agriculture.
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Russia's Defense Ministry reported on its Telegram channel that two drones hit central Moscow in the early hours of July 24. Fragments of a drone were found later some two kilometers away from Russia's Defense Ministry's main building, according to local state news agencies.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on his Telegram that the drones hit two office buildings. They were reportedly neutralized by electronic warfare. There were no casualties, according to the mayor.
Komsomolsky Avenue from the center of Moscow towards the outskirts of the city was closed, RIA news agency cited Moscow's Department of Transport.
A previous drone attack on Moscow, that targeted the Kremlin took place early on May 3, several days before Russia celebrated Victory Day. Russian officials at the time said the drones were intercepted and destroyed before they could cause injuries.
As explosions and drone strikes continue to happen in Russia, Ukrainian officials are often coy about the incidents, hinting that they’re responsible without directly taking credit.",Not_Explicit
"HAMILTON, New Zealand -- Hinata Miyazawa scored a pair of goals, while Mina Tanaka and Jun Endo each added a goal and an assist, as Japan shut out Zambia 5-0 to open Women’s World Cup play Saturday for both sides.
Miyazawa found the back of the net with one-time finishes on either side of halftime to secure an easy win over the Copper Queens in what was their World Cup debut.
Tanaka, denied goals twice on offside calls, scored in similar fashion in the 55th minute, assisted by Endo.
Endo then scored in the 71st minute, finding herself alone on the left side of goalkeeper Catherine Musonda’s goal and slotting home a left-footed strike.
Not only did Tanaka see two goals called back by VAR for offside, the Nakeshido were awarded an early second-half penalty only to see it rescinded for yet another offside call.
The Group C clash was the first time a senior World Cup match was hosted at Hamilton’s Waikato Stadium. Saturday’s attendance of 16,111 nearly filled the stadium that holds just over 18,000.
Zambia struggled to find its footing in its World Cup debut. Star striker Barbra Banda found herself isolated at the top of the pitch and marked by three Japanese defenders for much of the night.
Deep into second-half injury time, the Copper Queens' fortunes went from bad to worse as goalkeeper Catherine Musonda, who started the match in place of an injured Hazel Nali, was sent off with a second yellow card for a foul in the box.
Initially, Riko Ueki’s penalty hit the underside of the crossbar, but VAR ruled the penalty be retaken for goalkeeper encroachment. Ueki sent her second chance into the lower right corner of the net.
KEY MOMENT
Aoba Fujino nearly scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the match, but it was her ranging run and subsequent assist in the 43rd minute that put Japan in control. The victory was Fujino’s first World Cup match and first assist for her country at just 19 years old.
WHY IT MATTERS
Japan now sits first in Group C, ahead of Spain on goals scored, and the Nakeshido remain unbeaten in opening World Cup matches since 1995. With a loss and five goals to the bad on goal differential, Zambia faces a longshot fight to qualify for the round of 16 with Spain and Costa Rica as its next opponents.
WHAT’S NEXT
Japan will travel to Dunedin to face Costa Rica, who were shut out 3-0 in a poor showing against Spain. Zambia will take on a confident La Roja in its second match of the group stage in Auckland. Both matches will be played on Wednesday.
—-
Luke Vargas is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
—-
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Prosecutors want the rapper Quando Rondo sent back to jail after he crashed a car while free on bond pending trial on gang and drug charges.
The 24-year-old rapper, whose given name Tyquian Terrel Bowman, was indicted last month in his hometown of Savannah. He was released from jail June 26 on a $100,000 bond. Now prosecutors are asking a judge to revoke his bond.
Their filing in Chatham County Superior Court says Bowman crashed a car while driving at high speed Wednesday, and that emergency responders “administered Narcan as he was exhibiting signs of an overdose.”
Narcan is a drug used to treat opioid overdoses. Bowman was ordered to refrain from using illegal drugs as a condition of his bond, according to court records.
Bowman's attorney, Kimberly Copeland, had no comment on the case, said a woman answering the phone at Copeland's law office Friday.
A judge scheduled a Thursday hearing on Bowman's bond. Prosecutors obtained a subpoena for toxicology tests and other medical records from the hospital that treated Bowman after the crash.
Bowman and 18 others were indicted last month by a Chatham County grand jury. Bowman was charged with four counts, including being a manager of an illegal street gang known as “Rollin’ 60’s.” His other charges include conspiring with others to distribute marijuana and to buy pills of the opioid hydrocodone.
Prosecutors said additional charges stemming from the car crash are pending.
As Quando Rondo, the rapper’s singles “I Remember” and “ABG” led to a deal with Atlantic Records, which released his debut album, “QPac,” in 2020. His follow-up album, “Recovery,” came out in March.",Not_Explicit
"The ‘Germany's Next Top Model’ host got all dressed up to party in Berlin
Heidi Klum is beating the heat this summer in her tiny denim cutoffs — with a twist!
The model, 50, took to Instagram on Saturday to show off her Berlin party look, which included an elevated pair of denim cutoffs. The shorts Klum wore were not just your basic denim — they were trimmed with complementary light blue feathers.
“Let’s Party BERLIN,” the America’s Got Talent judge wrote on her carousel post, which features multiple slides of her entire outfit as she posed for a fun photo shoot in front of her window. Klum paired the embellished shorts with delicate fishnet tights, a white bralette top featuring floral lace accents, nude heels and a brown statement belt. The accessories were minimal, but her blue glitter makeup look was the perfect complement to her eye-catching cutoffs. As always, the model was rocking her signature long blonde locks and bangs.
In a separate Instagram Story, Klum posed with artist Katy Bähm in a slightly altered look as she took the party outside. The former Project Runway host now rocked a navy bomber jacket and oversized pair of sunglasses, but still had her decorated denim cutoffs on full display.
While Berlin is close to home for the former Germany’s Next Top Model host, Klum and her husband, Tom Kaulitz, have been parading around on vacation all summer. From color-coordinated swim looks to dancing in little bikinis, the model has been garnering tons of style attention.
Another one of Klum’s most noteworthy vacation looks has been her two-piece Mona Lisa set, which she wore sailing in Europe at the beginning of the month. All of her looks and vacation escapades are usually shared on Instagram, but never with the comments on.
At the beginning of June, the former Victoria’s Secret angel took to social media to answer questions from her followers. One asked: “Why did you turn your comment section off?” to which Klum replied: “my own mental health.”
“I don’t think it’s nice sometimes what people have to say and I think it’s not good to be influenced by what people say,” the model continued. “It kind of makes you not do then what you feel in your gut, what you want to do.""
“And I feel more free this way,” she added.
Klum continued, saying that there are some reasons she would like to keep them on — namely her fans — but that the cons outweigh the pros: “Obviously I’m sad for all the fans who I can’t speak with but there’s just too much hate, unfortunately, in the world right now.""
The model went on to say that her Instagram is a place where she shares moments of love and happiness. Klum explained that people who fight in her comment section take away from that joy, and added: “That’s not what I’m all about.”
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Read the original article on People.",Not_Explicit
"This Place In Maharashtra Received The Highest Rainfall On July 20
Skymet shared a list on Thursday of the wettest cities in India. Matheran in Maharashtra recorded the highest rainfall.
Weather officials issued orange alert warning in the different districts of Maharashtra on July 20, 2023. Several districts received heavy rainfall but this small hill station received the highest rainfall on July 20 all over the country.
Private Weather Forecaster, Skymet shared a list on Thursday of the wettest cities in India.
Matheran in Maharashtra recorded 398 mm of rainfall, making it one of the wettest places in India on July 20, 2023.
Top Wettest Places In India
1. Matheran, Maharashtra: Asia's only automobile free hill-station, Matheran in Maharashtra received the highest rainfall of 398 mm on July 20, making it one of the wettest cities in India today.
2. Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra: This beautiful place in India is known for its valleys and hills and the fact that there are five holy rivers. Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra received the highest rainfall of 315 mm on July 20. It is the second wettest city in India today.
3. Dahanu, Maharashtra: The coastal town of Maharashtra is famous for its nature-loving environment and beaches. Dahanu in Maharashtra received the highest rainfall of 305 mm on July 20. It is the third wettest city in India today.
4. Surat, Gujarat: Famously known as the Diamond City of India, Surat in Gujarat received the highest rainfall of 145 mm on July 20. It is the fourth wettest city in India today.
5. Harnai, Maharashtra: The village in Maharashtra is famous for its religious sites, forts, and beaches. Harnai in Maharashtra received the highest rainfall of 131 mm on July 20. It is the fifth wettest place in India today.
6. Medak, Telangana: Famous for the old forts and cathedral this place is the most famous and powerful pilgrim destination in the country. The tourist place Medak in Telangana received the highest rainfall of 131 mm on July 20. It is the sixth wettest place in India today.
7. Valsad, Gujarat: The place famous for its handloom cloth, bricks, dyes, hills, and mountains. Valsad in Gujarat received the highest rainfall of 122 mm on July 20. It is the seventh wettest place in India today.
8. Santacruz, Maharashtra: The suburb of Mumbai - Santacruz is one of the popular localities for living. This suburb in Mumbai received the highest rainfall of 99 mm on July 20. It is the eighth wettest place in India today.
9. Bhavnagar, Gujarat: The city in the district of Saurashtra is famous for its maritime trade. Bhavnagar in Gujarat received the highest rainfall of 98 mm on July 20. It is the ninth wettest place in India today.",Not_Explicit
"Women's World Cup roundtable: Which group stage match will live up to hype?
The first round of group stage matches at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup has come to an end, but fear not; there are still plenty of games left to be played.
We asked our panel of soccer experts here at FOX Sports which of the remaining group stage matches they're most excited for — here's what they had to say:
Which group stage matchup that we haven't seen yet are you most excited about?
Carli Lloyd: France-Brazil. France has been injected with more confidence and belief from their newly appointed manager Herve Renard. Brazil is thriving right now and have many players who have been in form for their clubs and Brazil.
Alexi Lalas: Any game that the eight debutants play. Seeing the pride and happiness on the faces of these players is awesome. Just their mere presence can help motivate, inspire, and energize cultures that traditionally haven’t looked at the women’s game as worthy of attention or resources.
Stu Holden: USA-Netherlands. As a rematch of the 2019 final, I think it’s going to be a close and exciting match. It's a good early test for the USWNT and one in which we’ll find out if they have what it takes for the 3-peat.
Leslie Osborne: USA-Netherlands. A lot has changed for both teams since 2019. Who will come out on top?
Jimmy Conrad: Spain-Japan. Spain has the back-to-back reigning Ballon d’Or winner, Alexia Putellas, who is coming off a 10-month layoff due to an ACL tear, on their team, and Japan have one of the best young players in the world on theirs in 19-year-old Maika Hamano, who is heading to Chelsea next season. They're both the real deal. But that’s on the player level.
On a team level, Spain has the talent to win this tournament but have some major off-the-field distractions with their federation and coaching. Meanwhile, Japan, after winning the World Cup in 2011 and being finalists in 2015, crashed out in the round of 16 in 2019, so they’re going to be looking to restore their reputation as one of the world’s best.
Laken Litman: USA-Netherlands. What’s juicer than a 2019 World Cup final rematch in the group stage?
Doug McIntyre: USA.-Netherlands. Not only is it a rematch of the 2019 finale, I can’t remember the Americans ever having a more meaningful first round game at a World Cup. If the USWNT loses, they’ll almost certainly finish second in the group. And you know the Dutch will be up for it after what happened four years ago in France.
Martin Rogers: Aside from USA-Netherlands, I’d go for Australia-Canada. One of the host nations against the Olympic champion in a game both teams will likely be desperate to win, as second place in the group may mean a round of 16 meeting with England.
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT
Women's World Cup Daily: Netherlands draws level with USA in Group E standings
-
What's with so many PKs, and so many misses, in this Women's World Cup?
Italy-Argentina, Germany-Morocco predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup power rankings: USA stays on top; Germany holds onto top-3 spot
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: USA remains favorite to three-peat
Brazilian players at Women's World Cup urge fans to skip work to watch their matches
World Cup NOW: How Netherlands might give U.S. problems
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT
Women's World Cup Daily: Netherlands draws level with USA in Group E standings
-
What's with so many PKs, and so many misses, in this Women's World Cup?
Italy-Argentina, Germany-Morocco predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup power rankings: USA stays on top; Germany holds onto top-3 spot
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: USA remains favorite to three-peat
Brazilian players at Women's World Cup urge fans to skip work to watch their matches
World Cup NOW: How Netherlands might give U.S. problems",Not_Explicit
"TORONTO -- Toronto police are seeking help from the public to identify three suspects who allegedly stole luxury vehicles from a car dealership.
Police said Monday they responded to a vehicle theft call just after 3:40 p.m. on Saturday at a dealership in the downtown area of Dundas Street East and Carroll Street area.
They say three people entered the dealership and stole three luxury vehicles.
The stolen vehicles are a black 2021 Rolls Royce Dawn without a license plate, a black 2022 Bentley Bentayga with Ontario plate number CYAA632, and a white 2020 Rolls Royce Cullinan with Ontario plate number CXCY439. The combined value of the cars is worth more than 1 million Canadian dollars ($750,000)
The vehicles were last seen driving northbound on Carroll Street.
Police have released images of the suspects and are asking anyone with information to contact them or Crime Stoppers. The suspects are wearing masks in the photos.
Toronto has seen a large spike in car thefts this year.",Not_Explicit
"Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge will hear arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit opposing an asylum rule that is a key part of the Biden administration’s immigration policy. Critics say the rule endangers migrants trying to cross the southern border and is against the law, while the administration argues that it encourages migrants to use lawful pathways into the U.S. and prevents chaos at the southern border.
The new rule took effect May 11 with the expiration of a COVID-19 restriction known as Title 42 that had limited asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. The new rule makes it extremely difficult for migrants who come directly to the southern border to get asylum unless they use a government app to get an appointment or they’ve already tried to seek protection in another country before coming to the U.S. It includes room for exceptions and would not apply to children traveling alone.
The lawsuit threatens to undermine a key tool that President Joe Biden’s administration has relied on to manage immigration as congressional Republicans attack the administration for what they say is a failure to control the roughly 2,000-mile (3,220-kilometer) border with Mexico. Republicans see immigration as a key issue in next year’s presidential election.
A group of immigrant rights organizations that sued argues the new rule violates immigration law that allows people to seek asylum wherever they arrive on the border. The groups argue that it forces migrants to seek protection in countries that don’t have the same robust asylum system and human rights protections as the United States and leaves them in a dangerous limbo.
READ MORE: Texas trooper’s accounts of bloodied and drowning migrants on U.S.-Mexico border unleashes criticism
“The rule is already inflicting untold suffering on thousands of asylum seekers, who are either being deported to persecution or stranded in Mexican states where migrants face horrific and pervasive violence,” the groups argue in court filings.
They also argue that the CBP One app that the government wants migrants to use to set up appointments is faulty. It doesn’t have enough appointments and isn’t available in enough languages, they argue.
Also, opponents say the Biden rule is essentially a rehash of efforts by President Donald Trump to limit immigration at the southern border. A federal appeals court prevented those similar but stricter measures from taking effect.
The Biden administration has argued that the asylum rule is not a rehash of Trump’s efforts but part of an overall strategy that provides a way into the U.S. for those who follow legal pathways and consequences for those who don’t. They also argue that the new asylum rule was needed because it took effect when immigration numbers at the southern border were expected to skyrocket when Title 42’s use went away. And, they say, the strategy is working. The number of border crossings peaked ahead of the end of Title 42 and then fell.
As for legal pathways, the government points to a program it created in January that allows 30,000 people a month to enter the country from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela if they have a sponsor and fly into an airport. Advocates for immigrants note that program covers only four countries.
Separately, Republican-aligned states are suing over that January program. A trial is slated for late August.
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Jun 18",Not_Explicit
"Rishi Sunak has criticised the EU for its “regrettable choice of words” after it appeared to endorse the name that Argentina uses for the Falklands.
Downing Street was reacting after EU leaders attending a summit in Brussels supported an Argentinian-backed declaration that used the name Islas Malvinas alongside Falkland Islands.
UK diplomats have been asking the EU to “clarify” its position while Buenos Aires hailed a “diplomatic triumph” after the declaration was agreed at a meeting of EU leaders with counterparts from the Celac bloc of Latin America and the Caribbean on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the European External Action Service – the EU’s diplomatic service – subsequently said the bloc had not changed its views on the disputed archipelago as there had been no mandate from the council of member states.
Sunak’s official spokesperson said: “The prime minister’s view is that it would have been entirely unacceptable for the EU to question the Falkland islanders’ right to decide their own future.
“To be clear, the Falkland Islands are British, that was the choice of the islanders themselves. The EU has rightly now clarified that their position on the Falklands has not changed after their regrettable choice of words.”
The spokesperson added that 99.8% of islanders who took part in a 2013 referendum had voted to retain the Falklands’ status as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom.
Part of the declaration of the EU-Celac summit stated: “Regarding the question of sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands, the European Union took note of Celac’s historical position based on the importance of dialogue and respect for international law in the peaceful solution of disputes.”
Santiago Cafiero, Argentina’s foreign minister, said on Wednesday that his government hoped to “further expand dialogue” with the EU on the question of the islands “off the back of this declaration”.
He added: “This joint declaration constitutes a further call from the international community for the UK to agree to meet its obligation to resume sovereignty negotiations with Argentina.”
Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, had asked the EU to keep the Falklands out of the declaration, the Financial Times reported.
UK government sources on Thursday pointed out that coverage in the Argentinian media had noted that the EU had insisted its position on the Falklands had not changed.
On Twitter, Cafiero criticised the coverage in his country’s largest selling newspaper, Clarín, describing it as a lie and insisting that Argentinian diplomacy had achieved a “forceful” triumph which incorporated the issue into a bi-regional declaration.",Not_Explicit
"ROME -- The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Russia to resume the internationally-brokered deal so grain can be shipped from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, saying otherwise the world's most vulnerable among the hungry will suffer the worst consequences.
The U.N. chief made the call during a speech in Rome at the opening of a three-day food systems summit.
With the recent collapse of the Ukraine-Russia grain deal, “the most vulnerable will pay the highest price,'' Guterres said. He lamented that there are already negative effects on global wheat and corn prices, although he cited no figures.
Both Russia and Ukraine are “essential to global food security,'' the U.N. leader said. He noted that they have historically accounted for 30% of global wheat and barley exports, a fifth of all maize and more than half of all sunflower oil.
""For my part, I remain committed to facilitating unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilizer from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation and to deliver the food security every person deserves,'' the U.N. leader said.
“I call on the Russian Federation to return to the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, in line with my latest proposal,"" Guterres said, urging the international community to stand united to find solutions for the issue during the summit's keynote speech.
Russia's refusal to renew the accord triggered the deal's collapse earlier this month. It said the Black Sea Initiative would be suspended until demands to get Russian exports of food and fertilizer to the world are met.
The accord had been brokered by the U.N. and Turkey as a way to keep grain flowing to developing countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East, despite the war unleashed by Moscow against Ukraine in February 2022.
When the grain deal was struck, the U.N. World Food Program regained a top supplier, allowing 725,000 metric tons of humanitarian food aid to leave Ukraine and reach countries on the brink of famine, including Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Yemen.
The deal's suspension as well as Russian attacks on the Black Sea ports of Ukraine have irked Russian ally China and as well as developing nations heavily dependent on the shipments to feed their people.
Besides the grain deal, the effects of climate change on food production will figure in discussions at the Rome summit.
The way food is grown and produced is contributing to climate change, weakening the agriculture-food system, according to Corinna Hawkes, director of the division of food systems and food safety at the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, which is hosting the summit.
The gathering aims to take stock of progress and setbacks since the first food systems summit was held in 2021.
According to FAO, the summit has drawn participants from 161 countries, including 22 heads of state or government, and 150 non-governmental organizations.",Not_Explicit
"Inflation Set To Overshoot RBI's Target In Jul, Aug On High Vegetable Prices: Nomura
The Consumer Price Inflation rose to 4.81% in June from 4.31% in May, driven by a spike in food prices.
Consumer price inflation is expected to overshoot the Reserve Bank's tolerance mark of 6 per cent again in July and August due to the sky high vegetable prices, a Japanese brokerage said on Friday.
The government, which banned non-basmati rice exports earlier this week, is likely to usher in more supply-side measures to tame the price rise going forward, Nomura said in a note.
""We expect continued supply-side interventions, with inflation likely to be above 6% levels in July and August, buoyed by sky-high vegetable prices,"" Nomura economists said.
Last year, inflation had been above the 6% mark -- the upper tolerance level under the flexible inflation targeting set up -- for over three quarters at a go. This led to RBI writing an explanatory note to the government explaining the reasons for the price rise being above the set threshold.
The Reserve Bank of India started its efforts to tame inflation with rate hikes and upped the repo rate by a cumulative 2.50% in policy actions from May 2022 to arrest the price rise.
Earlier this year, the central bank paused its rate hike cycle to pay attention to growth, and many analysts expect a prolonged pause in policy rates before it starts cutting interest rates.
The Consumer Price Inflation rose to 4.81% in June from 4.31% in May, driven by a spike in food prices.
Nomura said the rice inflation rose to 12% in June from 9% earlier, and daily data is suggesting a further rise in the prices in July as well.
The government had imposed a 20% export tax on non-basmati rice in September last year, and with the latest move, 42% of the rice exports are now banned, Nomura said.
According to the note, the late arrival of monsoons and its uneven spread is disrupting paddy sowing which, as of mid-July, is 6% lower right now.
""It (the export ban) also marks the latest in a series of supply-side interventions, highlighting inflation as a political priority, with state elections in Q4 2023 and general elections in Q2 2024,"" the brokerage said.
Further, it said that India accounts for 40% of the global rice exports and that the ban will have an impact on global prices.
Thailand can gain through the Indian move because the South East Asian country is a net rice exporter. Among the rice importing nations, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia could be impacted by the move, it added.",Not_Explicit
"Deadly shooting in Auckland hours before Women's World Cup
- By Neil Johnston in Auckland and Emily McGarvey in London
- BBC Sport and BBC News
A shooting has left two people dead in the centre of Auckland, New Zealand, hours before the city is due to open the Fifa Women's World Cup.
Six other people, including police officers, were injured and the gunman is also dead after the incident at 07:22 (19:22 GMT) on a construction site in the central business district.
PM Chris Hipkins said the attack was not being seen as an act of terrorism.
The tournament would go ahead as planned, he said.
The public, he added, could be assured police had neutralised the threat and there was no ongoing risk after the incident on Queen Street.
No political or ideological motive for the attack had been identified, the prime minister said.
The gunman, he said, had been armed with a pump-action shotgun.
Mr Hipkins thanked ""the brave men and women of the New Zealand police who ran into the gunfire, straight into harm's way, in order to save the lives of others"".
""These kinds of situations move fast and the actions of those who risk their lives to save others are nothing short of heroic,"" he added.
According to Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, all Fifa personnel and football teams are safe and have been accounted for.
""I can't remember anything like this ever happening in our beautiful city. This morning's events have been tragic and distressing for all Aucklanders, as this is not something that we are used to,"" Mr Brown said on Twitter.
Fifa expressed its ""deepest condolences"" to the victims' families and said it was in communication with New Zealand authorities.
""The participating teams in close proximity to this incident are being supported in relation to any impact that may have taken place,"" it said.
The opening match is to be held between New Zealand and Norway in the city's Eden Park.
Sport Minister Grant Robertson said there would be extra police in the area to provide reassurance.
The ninth Women's World Cup is being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
Earlier, the mayor warned people should stay home and avoid travelling into the city. Mr Brown said it was a ""dreadful thing to happen"" in his city.
Police say they heard reports of a person discharging a firearm inside the construction site, and the gunman moved through the building and continued to fire.
The man then went into a lift shaft and police attempted to engage with him.
Further shots were fired by the man and he was found dead a short time later, police say.
Following the shooting there was a large armed police presence in the central business district not far from the waterfront and the fan park.
Tatjana Haenni, chief sporting director for National Women's Soccer league USA, is staying close to where the shooting happened.
She told BBC News she had woken up to sounds of police cars arriving and was told to stay inside. ""So far we feel safe,"" she said.
The biggest Fifa Women's World Cup - featuring European champions England and debutants the Republic of Ireland - will finally get under way on Thursday.
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"Yatharth Hospital IPO Subscription: Day 1 Live Updates
The IPO has been subscribed 0.21 times or 21% as of 11.06 am on Wednesday.
Yatharth Hospital & Trauma Care Services launched its initial public offering on Wednesday. The IPO includes a fresh issue of Rs 490 crore and an offer for sale of 65.51-lakh shares.
Yatharth Hospital operates three super-specialty hospitals located in the National Capital Region. With the company's acquisition of a 305-bed multi-specialty hospital in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, its total bed capacity stands at 1,405 beds. As of March 31, the company had engaged 609 doctors and offered healthcare services across several specialties and super specialties.
Yatharth Hospital raised Rs 206 crore from anchor investors ahead of the IPO. The company allocated 68.65-lakh shares to 18 funds at an average price of Rs 300 apiece, according to the BSE circular. ICICI Prudential, HDFC Mutual Fund, SBI Life, Nippon Life, Aditya Birla Sun Life, BNP Paribas, HSBC and Goldman Sachs are among the major investors.
Issue Details
Issue opens: July 26.
Issue closes: July 28.
Listing date: on or around Aug. 7.
Total issue size: Rs 686.6 crore.
Total shares: 2,28,85,023 shares.
Face value: Rs 10 per share.
Fresh issue: Rs 490 crore.
Shares for fresh issue: 1,63,33,333 shares.
Offer for sale: Rs 196.6 crore.
Shares for OFS: 65,51,690 shares.
Price band: Rs 285–300 per share.
Lot size: 50 shares.
Lisiting: BSE and NSE.
Use of Proceeds
Repayment or prepayment of borrowings availed by the company: Rs 100 crore.
Repayment or prepayment of borrowings by the subsidiaries, namely, AKS and Ramraja: Rs 145 crore.
Funding capital expenditure expenses of the company for two hospitals: Rs 25.6 crore.
Funding capital expenditure expenses of the subsidiaries, AKS and Ramraja: Rs 107 crore.
Funding inorganic growth through acquisitions and other strategic initiatives: Rs 65 crore.
General corporate purposes.
Subscription Status: Day 1
The IPO has been fully subscribed 21% or 0.21 times as of 11.06 am on Wednesday.
Institutional investors: Zero
Non-institutional investors: 19% or 0.19 times.
Retail investors: 34% or 0.34 times.",Not_Explicit
"L&T Q1 Results Review - Strong Start To FY24 But Guidance Unchanged: Centrum Broking
The board has announced buy back of Rs 100 billion and special dividend of Rs 6/share.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Centrum Broking Report
Larsen and Toubro Ltd. reported stellar set of numbers with strong 34%/46% YoY growth in revenue and adjusted profit after tax driven by better execution in projects and manufacturing segment.
While L&T's revenue was significantly ahead of our estimate, Ebitda margins at 10.2% were lower on account of legacy Covid projects and increased staff costs.
Despite strong show in Q1, the management has maintained its revenue guidance of 12-15% growth and 10-12% growth in order inflow for FY24 considering the possible softening in awarding activity in Q4 FY24 on account of general elections.
We expect the management to revise its guidance upwards if awarding and execution momentum is maintained in Q2 FY24.
Given the record orderbook of Rs 4.1 trillion, robust prospect pipeline of Rs 10 trillion, controlled net working capital environment and improving development business dynamics, we maintain our 'Add' rating on the stock with revised target price of Rs 2,892 (Rs 2,246 earlier).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"A woman who is holidaying in Rhodes has said she was ""absolutely petrified"" amid ""falling ash"" and ""orange skies"" as wildfires spread across the island.
Katie Piercefield-Holmes and her family, from Newmarket in Suffolk, decided to lock themselves in the Princess Andriana hotel in Kiotari.
She said she had woken up ""every half hour"" on Saturday night and was packed and ready to run to the beach.
It has been ""surreal"" and ""almost apocalyptic"", she added.
Mrs Piercefield-Holmes said it was ""like something out of a movie, with abandoned suitcases everywhere"".
""When the tree opposite us caught fire I was ready to leave and I would have, but my husband was able to evaluate and assess what was best for our family and the risks of staying as opposed to going.
""So we stayed put and now we are very happy we made that decision,"" she said.
Rhodes has been battling wildfires fanned by strong winds since Tuesday, as Europe deals with a heatwave.
More than 3,500 people have been evacuated by land and sea to safety and many tourists have been left in limbo, with thousands fleeing hotels.
Katie and Brett Piercefield-Holmes, their two children, aged 11 and seven, and Mr Piercefield-Holmes' parents, are gathering in a ground floor room with a pool, as they thought it safer to be near water.
Fire on the hillside behind the Princess Andriana destroyed some of the hotel's buildings, including the kids club and sports facilities, but two other hotels on the hill have burned down.
Mrs Piercefield-Holmes said that on Saturday there had been ""lots of ash coming down in the night but breakfast was fine"" but ""around lunchtime the sky was orange and brown"".
""I went to the gym but when I got out there was carnage in reception,"" she said.
""People were rushing around... we heard a local town was being evacuated.""
She said they received a national alert saying the area was being evacuated and were initially told to leave the hotel.
""We could see hundreds of people passing down the beach shouting for water,"" she said, ""We rushed out to give water and wet towels.
""But there was thick smoke so we decided to lock ourselves in rather than leave.
""Then the wind shifted so we're glad we took that decision.""
Mrs Piercefield-Holmes admitted that she was ""absolutely petrified"" but her husband, who had 20 years of training in the US airforce, said they should stay and monitor what was happening.
""We slept in our clothes in case we had to run and had the curtains open,"" she said.
The blaze has now ""moved well back"" and the hotel has told the family to continue to stay where they are.
""At the moment we are trying to make the most of it for the children,"" Mrs Piercefield-Holmes said.
She said they had found some drinks and a ""plate of sandwiches"" and ""some fruit"" but feared what happened next.
She added: ""This is not a vacation, it's a survival exercise.
""My husband retired in May and this was supposed to be our family holiday to celebrate his retirement - it's not turned out how we envisaged but the main thing is we're safe.
""We feel very sorry for those who are sleeping on the floor or families that have been split up and we count ourselves quite fortunate.""
She said she had received generic messages from tour operator Jet2, telling them to follow local advice, keep their phones on and call the company's helpline if needed.
""I had already done that and been on hold for 45 mins,"" she said, adding she had given up and the family were just ""sitting it out"".
The manager has told them the hotel should be able to reopen in a couple of days but things would not be completely back to normal as some buildings have burned down.
""Ideally I'd like to move but I'm practical,"" she said.
""It's peak holiday season and thousands of people are displaced so they won't be able to relocate us.""
Jet2 said its ""absolute priority"" was the ""health, safety and wellbeing of customers and colleagues in the affected area"" and it had cancelled all flights and holidays that were due to depart to Rhodes.
In a statement it added that it was ""contacting all customers in affected areas as quickly as possible by telephone so that we can support them with what they need"".
""We are sending direct communications to affected customers to let them know this, and to remind them of our 24/7 Customer Helpline number.""
It added that the situation was ""under constant review"".",Not_Explicit
"Byju’s, Lenders Aim To Amend $1.2 Billion Loan Terms By Aug. 3
A group of lenders to Byju’s is working with the Indian education-technology startup to change the terms of a $1.2 billion loan after the company fell into distress earlier this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
(Bloomberg) -- A group of lenders to Byju’s is working with the Indian education-technology startup to change the terms of a $1.2 billion loan after the company fell into distress earlier this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
A steering committee of lenders on the term loan and Byju’s have agreed to work toward a signed agreement before Aug. 3, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. The talks are still ongoing, and the situation may change.
Byju’s, once India’s most valuable startup, has faced a series of crises after it missed deadlines to file audited financial account, skipped an interest payment on its term loan and triggered a legal fight with creditors. India’s government ordered an inspection into its finances after its auditor and three board members resigned.
There was no reply to emails from a spokesperson for Byju’s, who also couldn’t be reached by phone outside normal office hours.
The Economic Times reported earlier on the matter.
--With assistance from Anto Antony.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"Ron DeSantis Is Starting to Look Like a Scott Walker–Level Loser
The governor of Florida is on a 2024 trajectory that mirrors the former governor of Wisconsin’s doomed 2016 campaign.
A brand new Rasmussen Reports survey has Florida Governor Ron DeSantis polling at just 13 percent in the race for the Republican presidential nomination—44 points behind Donald Trump. Despite Trump’s mounting legal troubles, the embattled former president has gained 10 points since the last Rasmussen poll, while DeSantis has lost seven.
Could it get any worse for DeSantis? Yes.
A Harvard-Harris poll, which like the Rasmussen poll was released on Monday, has DeSantis falling to just 12 percent with Republican voters nationwide—40 points behind Trump and just two points ahead of political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy.
When the governor of Florida launched his presidential campaign two months ago, he positioned himself as a political “giant killer” whose “war on woke” crusade would displace Trump and secure the Republican Party’s 2024 nomination.
But, with each passing week, the governor of Florida is looking more and more like what Trump called him over the weekend: “a loser.”
DeSantis is shedding staff, struggling to gain traction in critical caucus and primary states, and making billionaire donors nervous about writing more checks to a campaign that has been burning through cash so fast that The New York Times recently observed, “DeSantis is spending hand over fist, and his dependence on large donors suggests a lack of grassroots support.”
Once heralded by the mainstream media as the alternative to Trump, DeSantis is now taking a pounding in the press. “DeSantis Can’t Shake Trump’s Long Shadow,” warns U.S. News and World Report. “There Is No Ron DeSantis 2.0,” asserts Politico in a dismal assessment of prospects for a campaign reset. The Atlantic simply notes “The Humiliation of Ron DeSantis.”
This all sounds oddly familiar to those of us who chronicled the rise and fall of another GOP “star” who imagined that a reputation as a headline-grabbing Republican governor, along with a penchant for mouthing social-conservative dogma, would be enough to win a Republican presidential nomination.
Eight years ago this summer, Scott Walker was the hottest commodity in GOP politics. The recently reelected governor of Wisconsin had joined the 2016 presidential field with a splashy announcement that drew the national press corps to an exposition center amid the suburban sprawl of what was then a reliably Republican county. Walker went live that night with Sean Hannity on Fox News—attacking “lame ideas” from “the left” such as the minimum wage. The next morning, images of the 47-year-old career politician plunging into a crowd of seemingly enthusiastic supporters were splashed across the front pages of the nation’s newspapers, as The New York Times reported that Walker would cast himself as a cultural conservative “who would defend the ‘unborn,’ the Americans who oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds, and more broadly the conservative and traditional citizens who feel under attack from what they consider coastal elites.”
Republican operatives assured reporters that the Wisconsinite had what it took to grab the GOP nod and take back the White House from President Barack Obama’s Democrats. Walker, South Carolina Republican Party chair Matt Moore announced, had “rocketed to the top tier of candidates.” A Reuters analysis noted that “a resume that appeals to conservatives” had “placed him among the top contenders for his party’s nomination in poll after poll.” In Iowa, he led surveys of likely Republican participants in the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. In New Hampshire, the first primary state, headlines reported that Walker was “surging.”
But, within weeks of its formal launch, there were signs that Walker’s campaign was unraveling. There were money problems. Staffing problems. Messaging problems. And Donald Trump problems, which surfaced when the political newcomer shredded Walker in debates. By September, just two months after he started running, Walker’s poll numbers had tanked to roughly zero. He quit the race with a feeble call for Republicans to unite against Trump and then, when political reality finally dawned on him, repositioned himself as a Trump enthusiast.
Defeated for reelection in 2018, Walker is now in the business of giving vapid advice to losing political candidates. He even has a tip for DeSantis: “light a fire with primary and caucus voters with some really bold ideas.” Walker doesn’t have an actual plan for DeSantis; just a word salad of political happy talk. The failed governor turned presidential candidate of 2015 says the failed governor turned presidential candidate of 2023 needs to “be lean and, at the same time, he needs to go bold. I know this firsthand.”
While Walker’s practical advice is trite–what candidate doesn’t want to “be lean” and “go bold”? —he’s right about his area of expertise.
Few Republicans know so much about getting beaten to a political pulp by Trump as Walker. But DeSantis is rapidly accumulating his own “firsthand knowledge” of how to tank a campaign for the Republican presidential nod.",Not_Explicit
"Over 8.75 Lakh HUFs Claimed Rs 3,803 Crore Tax Deductions In 2022-23: Finance Ministry
Over 8.75 lakh Hindu Undivided Families have filed income tax returns and claimed deductions worth Rs 3,803 crore during 2022-23
Over 8.75 lakh Hindu Undivided Families have filed income tax returns and claimed deductions worth Rs 3,803 crore during 2022-23, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a reply to the Rajya Sabha provided details of the number of Hindu Undivided Families availing tax benefits (in the form of deduction under Chapter VIA of the Income-tax Act) during the last five years.
To a question on whether the government has assessed the impact of the Uniform Civil Code on tax benefits to HUFs in the country, the minister said: ""No such assessment has been made as there is no such Code at present"".
Currently, a debate is going on about the status of the HUFs, following the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code on which the Law Commission has invited comments from the public.
Under Hindu Law, a HUF is a family comprising all lineally descendants of a common ancestor, including wives and unmarried daughters. This provision also covers Jain and Sikh families.
The Income Tax Act accords 'legal person' status to HUF and entitles them to all tax deductions under Chapter VI-A. HUFs are taxed at the same rate as individuals, and they can claim applicable deductions.
According to the minister, in fiscal 2022-23 fiscal, 8,75,948 HUFs claimed deductions of Rs 3,802.86 crore. As many as 8,77,303 HUFs claimed deductions worth Rs 3,745.51 crore in 2021-22.
In 2020-21 and 2019-20, over 9.25 lakh and 9.02 lakh HUFs claimed deductions of Rs 4,173 crore and Rs 4,161 crore, respectively. In 2018-19, over 8.84 crore HUFs claimed deductions worth Rs 4,044 crore.",Not_Explicit
"Samsung Unpacked 2023
While Samsung already revealed its flagship Galaxy S23 phones earlier this year, summer is reserved for its foldable devices. This year, that event is taking place in South Korea, with the company teasing not just the latest Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 devices, but smartwatches and tablets as well — for more, check out our preview and video on what to expect. You'll have a couple of ways to follow along, so keep reading to find out more.
When is Samsung Unpacked 2023?
Unpacked 2023 takes place in Samsung's home country of South Korea for the first time, and will be streamed live on July 26th at 7AM ET.
How to watch Samsung Unpacked 2023
If yu can get up that early, Samsung is streaming the event on its website and YouTube channel and we've embedded the livestream above. If you'd rather have some in-depth commentary (or both), Engadget will be liveblogging the event starting at 7AM ET / 4AM PT / 11AM BST, and we have a reporter on the ground in South Korea. Follow all the activities by bookmarking our liveblog here, which will go live tomorrow morning.",Not_Explicit
"A kitchen shrine adorned with serpents, a bakery, human skeletons, exquisite frescos, and yes, a picture of something that looks very much like pizza. These are among the new finds being turned up at the Pompeii Archaeological Park.
Dig anywhere in the ancient city destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in AD79 and you will unearth an ancient treasure - a snapshot of a lost Roman world.
It's extraordinary to think that one-third of the city buried under pumice and ash has yet to be excavated.
""Much of that will be for future generations,"" says Alessandro Russo, the co-lead archaeologist on the new dig.
""We have a problem to conserve what we've already found. Future generations may have new ideas, new techniques.""
The latest work returns to a sector in the park last explored in the late 19th Century.
Back then, archaeologists had opened up the frontage of houses on Via Di Nola, one of Pompeii's main thoroughfares, but hadn't delved far behind.
They had identified a laundry but that was about it.
Now, the diggers are progressively pulling away the volcanic ash and pea-sized stones, known as lapilli, that smothered Pompeii during the two catastrophic days of the Vesuvian eruption.
The dig site is, in effect, a whole city block. It is known as an insula and is some 3,000 sq m (32,000 sq ft) in size.
BBC News has been given exclusive access to the investigation with Lion TV, which is making a three-part series to be aired early next year on the BBC.
The oven
""Every room in every house has its own micro-story in the grander story of Pompeii. I want to uncover those micro-stories,"" said Gennaro Iovino.
The other co-lead archaeologist wants you to imagine that you are entering a delightful atrium - an entrance hall - with a hole in the roof where lion figureheads direct rainwater down onto a fountain, next to a statue.
The builders were clearly doing some repairs at the time of the eruption because the roof tiles are neatly stacked in two piles. But this is not a magnificent villa, like some of the imposing homes found elsewhere in Pompeii.
This building would have been part-commercial because, on turning right, you are confronted by a giant oven, big enough to be producing 100 loaves a day.
Roughly 50 bakeries have already been found in Pompeii. This, however, can't have been a shop because there is no shop front.
It's more likely to have been a wholesaler, distributing bread across town, perhaps to the many fast-food joints for which Pompeii was so famous.
That 'pizza'
The discovery of a fresco depicting a piece of round flatbread on a silver tray, surrounded by pomegranate, dates, nuts and arbutus fruits, caused a sensation when it was announced to the world in June.
It's not a pizza, though. Tomatoes and mozzarella, two ingredients in the classic Neapolitan recipe, were not available in Italy in the first century AD.
Perhaps it's a piece of focaccia? The pizza thing started as a bit of a joke, says Gennaro. ""I emailed a picture to my boss, saying 'first the oven, now the pizza.'""
The world just went crazy after that. A cover will be built over the fresco to try to protect it from the elements. It will also be treated with a special sealant.
The 20,000 visitors who come to Pompeii every day will demand to see the ""ancestor to the pizza"", as some are now describing the fresco subject.
The skeletons
It's easy to forget that Pompeii was a human tragedy. We have little idea how many died. You have to believe most residents left when they saw the horror unfolding at the top of Vesuvius.
Skeletons have been recovered, perhaps 1,300 to 1,500 in total, and the new dig has its own examples: two women and a child of unknown sex.
Looking at the position where the victims were found, it's obvious that they were trying to take cover, hoping that by hiding under a staircase, they would be safe.
What they hadn't counted on was the roof collapsing from the weight of all the lapilli and ash. The heavy stonework smashed their bodies.
The burnt bed
The drama of those momentous days in October AD79 are also revealed on the other side of the atrium in what was once a bedroom.
The bed itself is a charred mass - caused by a fire. It is barely recognisable apart from its broad outline seared into the walls and floor.
If you look closely at the debris, you can see blackened fragments of the textile bedclothes and even the filling from the mattress.
Archaeologists can tell from the position of these carbonised remains that the fire occurred relatively early in the eruption. They speculate that a lamp might have been knocked over in the panic to get out.
""It would be interesting to understand who were the people that didn't make it,"" wonders park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel.
""Were they the poor? More women than men? Or maybe people who had property and tried to stay to protect what they had, while others who had nothing just took off and ran.""
The shrine
Towards the back of the area so far excavated there is a wall that encloses three rooms. It's here that the removal of lapilli and ash has exposed more astonishing artwork.
In the middle room, covered by a tarpaulin, is yet another elegant fresco. It shows the episode in the myth of Achilles where the legendary hero soldier - with his unfortunate Achilles heel - tried to hide dressed as a woman to avoid fighting in the Trojan War.
In the third room, I pull back another tarp to reveal a magnificent shrine. Two yellow serpents in relief slither up a burgundy background. ""These are good demons,"" says Alessandro. He points to a fresco further down the wall just above an opening to a box of some kind.
""This room is actually a kitchen. They would have made offerings here to their gods. Foods like fish or fruits. The snake is a connection between the gods and the humans.""
As the insula is further revealed, scaffolding is being put up around what remains of the buildings to make protective roofing. In the future, the park hopes to erect a high walkway so tourists can see the new treasures that are emerging.
""People sometimes ask [us], 'What would you like to find? What are you looking for?'"" explains Gabriel. He says such questions are misleading.
""What we're really looking for is what we don't know. We're always looking for a surprise. It's all emerging evidence, leading us somewhere, but we don't know where that journey goes.""
Additional reporting by Rebecca Morelle, Alison Francis and Tony Jolliffe. The BBC/Lion TV series (Pompeii: The New Dig) will be broadcast early next year.
All photos subject to copyright
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TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian prosecutors have asked a court to sentence imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 20 years in prison on extremism charges, his ally Ivan Zhdanov said Thursday.
According to Zhdanov, the trial against Navalny, which has been held behind closed doors in the prison where the politician is serving another lengthy sentence, is scheduled to conclude with a verdict on Aug. 4. If the court finds Navalny guilty, it will be his fifth criminal conviction, all of which have been widely seen as a deliberate strategy by the Kremlin to silence its ardent opponent.
In his closing statement released Thursday by his team, Navalny bashed Russian authorities as being governed by “bargaining, power, bribery, deception, treachery … and not law.” Navalny said: “Anyone in Russia knows that a person who seeks justice in a court of law is completely vulnerable. The case of that person is hopeless.”
WATCH: Why Navalny poses a special challenge to Putin’s leadership
Navalny, 47, is President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe who exposed official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests. He was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
The authorities sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in prison for parole violations and then to another nine years on charges of fraud and contempt of court.
The politician is currently serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison east of Moscow. He has spent months in a tiny one-person cell, also called a “punishment cell,” for purported disciplinary violations such as an alleged failure to properly button his prison clothes, properly introduce himself to a guard or to wash his face at a specified time.
Navalny’s allies have accused prison authorities of failing to provide him with proper medical assistance and voiced concern about his health.
The new charges relate to the activities of Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation and statements by his top associates. His allies said the charges retroactively criminalize all the foundation’s activities since its creation in 2011.
Navalny has rejected all the charges against him as politically motivated and has accused the Kremlin of seeking to keep him behind bars for life.
One of his associates — Daniel Kholodny — was relocated from a different prison to face trial alongside him. The prosecution has asked to sentence Kholodny to 10 years in prison.
The trial against the two began a month ago and went along swiftly by Russian standards, where people often spend months, if not years, awaiting for their verdict. It was unusually shielded from public attention and Navalny’s lawyers haven’t offered any comments on the proceedings.
Navalny, in his sardonic social media posts, occasionally offered a glimpse of what was going on with his case. In one such post, the politician revealed that a song by a popular Russian rapper praising him was listed as evidence in the case files, and claimed that he made the judge and bailiffs laugh out loud as the song was read out during a court hearing. In another, he said that the case files linked him to U.S. mogul Warren Buffet.
Another insight into the trial came from three other prominent imprisoned dissidents: Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin and Alexei Gorinov — they all have revealed in recent weeks that they testified in the trial in Navalny’s favor.
In social media statements from behind bars, the three described Navalny as in good spirits and cheerful. Kara-Murza said the trial was “Kafkaesque.” Gorinov said he exchanged jokes with Navalny about similar treatment they both face while in prison. Yashin recalled how Navalny himself was asking him questions during Yashin’s testimony at the hearing, challenging the accusations levelled against him.
In his closing statement, Navalny once again described the trial against him as unjust and referred to the recent short-lived armed rebellion by the fighters of Russia’s private military company Wagner, after which their chief and the leader of the mutiny, Yevgeny Prigozhin, walked free, even though a number of Russian soldiers were killed by his troops.
READ MORE: Putins reveals he offered Wagner mercenaries the option to stay as a single unit after uprising
“Those who were declared traitors to their Motherland and betrayers, in the morning killed several Russian army officers as the entire Russia watched in astonishment, and by lunch agreed on something with someone and went home,” Navalny said.
“Thus, law and justice in Russia were once again put in their place. And that place is not prestigious. One sure can’t find them in court,” the politician said.
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"Burchett will not lead UFO whistleblower hearing: ‘It’s just politics’
Burchett told The Hill that subcommittee chair Glenn Grothman will chair the hearing. But, he had expected to lead it after spearheading the hearing with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.).
“Yeah, I’m upset. I mean, you know, I’ve spent a lot of time helping put this thing together. It’s just politics,” he said.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said Burchett misunderstood his role, saying, “he’s not a committee chairman.”
“Tim misunderstood. He is going to give an opening statement. He’s going to get to ask 20 questions.:
“You don’t — I mean, he’s not a committee chairman,” Comer added. “You don’t have a subcommittee. We’re gonna have a good UFO hearing tomorrow.”
Related coverage from The Hill
- How the search for UFOs went mainstream: A tale in 5 moves
- Here’s what scientists say about whistleblower claims that Pentagon has evidence of alien crashes
- Frustrated lawmakers demand answers on UFOs
Comer said Burchett is still the “main player” in the hearing and regretted the miscommunication.
The change in the role Burchett expected to have comes after he attacked the Pentagon one day before the UFO-focused hearing.
Members of the House will hear from a whistleblower who claims the U.S. is withholding evidence of “non-human craft” or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs).
During an interview with Fox News, host Martha MacCallum showed clips of supposed “tic-tac” videos of suspected unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) released by the Department of Defense.
MacCallum asked Burchett what people should expect from Wednesday’s proceedings, and he first doubted the “tic-tac videos” before slamming the “war pimps at the Pentagon.”
“So this — the Tic Tac videos, which you showed earlier … The military denied that that even existed, and then it was put out and they said they were fakes and then they eventually came around,” Burchett said.
“The Pentagon is coming around because they smell dollars, man, the war pimps at the Pentagon, all they want to do is drain more dollars from us,” he continued. “We don’t need any more dollars. All we need is transparency. That’s the job of you all in the media and us in Congress.”
Emily Brooks contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"World Cup NOW: Does 5-0 win show Japan is a real threat?
Led by Mina Tanaka and Hinata Miyazawa, the squad looked comfortable against an inexperienced Zambia lineup that took the pitch with their backup goalie. Still, Japan's showing was striking and could be a sign of good things to come.
The ""World Cup NOW"" crew — Jimmy Conrad, Leslie Osborne and Melissa Ortiz — discussed whether it's wise to go all in on Japan, or whether Zambia's porous performance aided its opponent in the easy victory.
Ortiz: ""We saw today out of Japan how organized they were. They stuck to their game plan, and they were really able to use their strengths of being organized. … That's what they used to be known as so much, and then they went through this drought era, but I feel like they found their footing again in today's performance.""
Holden: ""So wait … Are we thinking really good Japan, or really bad Zambia? Because I will say, as good as Japan were — super dominant, won the game 5-0 — some of the defending I saw tonight from Zambia, and goalkeeping. … They're missing [Hazel] Nali, their starter is out, so then [Catherine] Musonda is out. … And you [Jimmy] picked her in the beginning as your player to watch, because she conceded 18 goals in six games. Well, chalk that up to — she conceded four of the five. … It just doesn't help, especially when your team is pretty disorganized defensively. That's what I was most disappointed with from a Zambia perspective, is … they made it way too easy for Japan. I'm a little cautious to go all in on Japan.""
Ortiz: ""No, I agree. Fun fact, Zambia has been in camp for over a month straight.""
Holden: ""Have they been working on defense at all?""
Ortiz: ""No.""
Conrad: ""… There was nothing that was working for them tonight, and I find Japan's performance … a bit deceptive because when we harken back to the SheBelieves Cupp that happened in the U.S., they played against Brazil, lost 1-0, they played against the U.S., lost 1-0. And coming into this tournament … they were struggling to score goals and were dealing with a lot of criticism. But this is one of those cathartic performances where ‘okay, we start with an opponent that’s got a lot of hype coming in,' and that was a very professional performance from Japan. I don't want to say they're back, but that is a strong message that they're sending to everyone else.""
Ortiz: ""Well, I think one of the things to note also is they went up against Barbara Banda, and Barbara Banda as we've seen has been pretty much unstoppable. … What I want to applaud Japan is how to deal with a striker like Barbara Banda, it means that they were so composed and organized defensively. You saw every time that Barbara got the ball, there were two, even three defenders around her every time. And I think that was obviously part of the game plan, but they stuck to it. They made sure that she was not strong on the ball.""
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Bettor places big bet, $70k on USWNT to beat Vietnam in Women's World Cup
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: Nigeria-Canada ends in draw
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2023 Women's World Cup odds: Alternate betting options for USWNT-Vietnam
Women's World Cup Daily: Host countries New Zealand, Australia both pick up wins
Philippines-Switzerland, Spain-Costa Rica predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
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How USWNT is prepping for Vietnam in World Cup opener
Women's World Cup power rankings: United States No. 1; Canada moves down after draw
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: Switzerland tops Philippines, 2-0
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Bettor places big bet, $70k on USWNT to beat Vietnam in Women's World Cup
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: Nigeria-Canada ends in draw
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: Alternate betting options for USWNT-Vietnam
Women's World Cup Daily: Host countries New Zealand, Australia both pick up wins
Philippines-Switzerland, Spain-Costa Rica predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
-
How USWNT is prepping for Vietnam in World Cup opener
Women's World Cup power rankings: United States No. 1; Canada moves down after draw
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: Switzerland tops Philippines, 2-0",Not_Explicit
"Staffers at San Domenico Palace — the Four Seasons hotel featured in “The White Lotus” — have been working at the posh Sicilian resort throughout Europe’s triple-digit heat wave — and one worker reportedly passed out on the job.
A worker sweeping the San Domenico Palace’s palazzo patio told The Times: “A cook fainted the other day. He went completely pale and had to be taken home.”
A gardener added that landscapers tend to the property’s citrus gardens from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily without breaks.
“The automatic watering system isn’t working so we have to water them manually,” the gardener added, pointing to a useless tube on the floor.
“These are not normal temperatures,” he said with a pained laugh, The Times reported.
“Not for plants and not for workers,” the staffer added, noting that some greenery is noticeably drooping in the heat, which has soared to record-breaking temperatures across Europe this summer.
A spokeswoman for the San Domenico Palace assured The Post that “the hotel is thoroughly air conditioned.” She declined to comment further.
A waitress told the outlet that water bottles are in shorter supply these days as requests from guests have tripled, and the fruit selection has also been suffering.
“We change the fruit at the breakfast buffet five times every morning that way it remains fresh,” the waitress added, noting that “sometimes we don’t have enough strawberries and blueberries to go round.”
The server noted that there was “a big problem with a banana” last week, suggesting that a hotel guest was quite unhappy when they realized the heat wave meant the hotel wouldn’t be able to provide a banana at breakfast each morning.
When another guest also asked for a banana on a different morning, it was served sliced on a plate and garnished with petals, The Times reported.
A couple who served as a witness recalls the gust seeming “traumatized” at the presentation.
The couple — Tyler Peters, 36, and Olivia Austin, 34, from California, who were staying at the hotel to attend a friend’s wedding at a venue nearby — said they were spending their stay moving from the blistering outdoors to the air-conditioned hotel.
It’s “like moving from an oven to a refrigerator,” Peters told The Times.
When Peters and Austin went to the wedding, they noted that the church wasn’t air conditioned.
“The priest fainted at the end of the wedding ceremony and a family member had to deliver the blessings,” Peters told the outlet.
He continued: “We were in a church with zero air conditioning. An uncle who was also a doctor missed the initial cocktails at the after-party. He stayed with the priest because he was worried he’d have a heart attack. These churches get hot: so many robes.”
Though the 104-degree heat that plagued Sicily led to cases of heat-related illness, unlike the famed HBO series starring Jennifer Coolidge, there were thankfully no casualties.
Meanwhile, guests are also reportedly struggling to get to the hotel since a faulty air conditioning unit at the local Catania Airport forced it to partially close.
Travelers who would normally get to the San Domenico via Catania, which is only 35 miles away from the property, now have to reroute through the Reggio Calabria or Palermo airports, which are hundreds of miles away from the hotel.
A receptionist told The Times that some of the hotel’s wealthy clientele have opted to “arrive by boat or by helicopter” instead.
“There’s a launchpad nearby,” the concierge added, whose job sometimes includes helping guests book private jets.
The San Domenico is no stranger to dealing with wealthy customers — including the likes of Melbourne socialite Sarah Lew and her husband, restaurateur Chris Lucas, who have been honeymooning in Taormina and staying at the hotel since they tied the knot in Venice last month.
Lew told The Times that the newlyweds have been sticking around the hotel grounds due to the heat, and she’s been entertaining herself by people watching.
“When you spend a few days here you get to know everyone’s story and who’s married to whom,” she told the outlet. “You think you’ve got everyone’s storyline and then somebody else comes into the picture.”
Lucas chimed in, referencing “The White Lotus:” “All you need now is for somebody to be murdered.”",Not_Explicit
"More than four decades after a young New Hampshire woman was killed, law enforcement officials have solved the crime through DNA analysis and the use of forensic genealogy technology, the state attorney general said Thursday.
But solving the case doesn't bring with it the satisfaction of seeing justice: The man responsible for killing 23-year-old Laura Kempton died from an overdose in 2005, Attorney General John Formella said.
Formella told reporters at a news conference in Portsmouth, where the killing took place in September 1981, that the investigators' conclusion was ""bittersweet"" but underscored their resolve.
The conclusion of the investigation after so many years should ""send a message to anyone who has been affected by a case that has gone cold in this state that we will never stop working these cases,"" he said. ""We will never forget about these victims.""
A police officer found Kempton dead in her apartment after attempting to serve a court summons for parking meter violations. An electrical cord was tied around her ankles, and a phone cord was around her neck and shoulder area. Blood was on a rug underneath her head, and an autopsy concluded that she died from head trauma.
Kempton, a Portsmouth Beauty School student who worked at a gift shop and ice cream parlor, was last seen earlier that morning, returning alone to her apartment after a night out with a friend, police said.
Evidence collected at the scene, including a cigarette butt, a pillow and a glass bottle, revealed a male DNA profile years later.
For the next four decades, investigators pursued many leads and potential suspects, but without success. Last year, the Portsmouth Police Department and cold case unit worked with New Hampshire and Maine's forensic laboratories and a forensic genetic genealogy firm to identify the person believed to be responsible for Kempton's death. A DNA profile was a confirmed match to another in a public genealogy database.
The man believed to be responsible was Ronney James Lee, who was working as a security officer in 1981, Formella said. Members of Lee's family were briefed on the investigation's conclusion. Investigators declined to release their names to reporters.
The Associated Press attempted to reach several people believed to have been associated with Lee, but messages were not immediately returned.
There was no known relationship between Kempton and Lee, who was 21 at the time. Lee, who died at 45 in February 2005 from a cocaine overdose, would have been charged with murder if he were still alive, Formella said.
""It is my hope that this conclusion and announcement will be the long-awaited first step in providing what closure the criminal justice system can provide for Laura Kempton's family and community,"" Formella said.
The Kempton family expressed gratitude to the Portsmouth Police Department. ""Their diligence and determination, along with extraordinary personal commitment over the past decades, have led to this moment for Laura,"" the family said in a statement.
Investigators say New Hampshire has 130 cold cases that are still being pursued, CBS Boston.
Genetic genealogy is increasingly being used by investigators to solve cold cases. It's what prosecutors said, a lawyer accused of raping and kidnapping several people in Boston back in 2007 and 2008.
Even if a suspect hasn't willingly uploaded their DNA into a public system, investigators can match the DNA to a relative who may have used a genealogy website, and follow the trail from there.
""I think we can expect a ton of crimes to be solved that are decades old,"" professional forensic genealogist Michael Brophy told CBS Boston for the Nilo case.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"The relative of one of the party’s MPs has been desperately avoiding media and refusing to answer his door in recent weeks.
A source said: “He has been going around associates, friends and family demanding to know who has reported him. He is absolutely livid as you can imagine.
“There has been a confrontation in a shopping centre – it has been causing all sorts of trouble. He thinks the police have been outside his house and he is not happy about getting caught up in this scandal.
“His MP relative is also keeping very quiet about the whole thing.”
A whistleblower has claimed senior party figures received donations but they then broke electoral law by failing to publish details. The allegations made in a letter to police and the Lord Advocate, the country’s chief prosecutor, are understood to involve tens of thousands of pounds.
Police Scotland have said they are still assessing the letter. Political parties are legally obliged to declare donations worth more than £500 with failure to do so a criminal offence.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - sign up to our daily newsletter here.",Not_Explicit
"Regulatory Changes In Insurance Sector Will Create Value For Customers: Deepak Parekh
He also said HDFC International Life has received the regulatory approval to establish a branch in the IFSC.
The massive changes taking place on the regulatory front in the insurance space will help in ease of doing business, encourage development of longer-term products and improve persistency, thereby creating value for customers, according to HDFC Life Chairman Deepak Parekh.
Addressing the company's 23rd annual general meeting, Parekh, who till June 30 was the chairman of HDFC which got merged with HDFC Bank, said several changes that the regulator Irdai is proposing would enhance insurance penetration, facilitate sustainable growth and ease the operating environment.
The regulator has already introduced use and file regime for faster product launches and revised the expenses of management and commission guidelines to provide greater flexibility to companies to manage their cost structures.
These regulations will increase the ease of doing business, encourage development of longer-term products, improve persistency, thereby creating value for customers, Parekh said.
Further, he said that granting of composite licences, enabling distribution of other financial products by insurers and allowing insurers to set up an insurtech subsidiary, are being discussed by the government to boost stakeholders' confidence in the insurance space.
Parekh said the life insurance sector has recovered from the aftermath of the pandemic in FY23 and grew 18% and collected new business premium of Rs 3.7 lakh crore compared to Rs 3.1 lakh crore in FY22.
Private life insurers grew 24% in individual business and recorded a 17% growth in group business during this period.
Meanwhile, Parekh said HDFC Life subsidiary HDFC Pension Management Company has doubled its assets under management in 18 months, exceeding Rs 45,000 crore in FY23.
This makes it the largest and fastest growing pension fund manager in both retail and corporate NPS segments with a market share of 41.2% from 36.9% with 60% growth in assets under management, he added.
He also said HDFC International Life has received the regulatory approval to establish a branch in the IFSC which will help the company tap new opportunities by serving the needs of global Indians.
He said the low insurance coverage, favourable demographics, increasing life expectancy and growing consumer awareness regarding financial protection bode well for the industry.
Longer life expectancy also signifies a greater need for retirement planning, making the retirement space a substantial opportunity in India alongside life insurance business, he said.",Not_Explicit
"A federal grand jury met Thursday to hear more evidence in the special counsel probe of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and former President Donald Trump’s sweeping effort to overturn the 2020 election.
The panel could hand up an indictment of Trump anytime after the former president was hit Sunday with a letter naming him as a target in the sprawling investigation.
But most legal analysts believe Smith will wait to seek charges in part because he might want to give Trump’s lawyers a chance to ask for a meeting to convince him not to file charges.
Trump says the target letter he got gave him until Thursday to testify before the grand jury, an option legal analysts say he is unlikely to take because of the danger of further incriminating himself.
The grand jury heard testimony Thursday from a relatively junior Trump campaign aide who was with the former president on Jan. 6.
William Russell, a former White House aide who now works for Trump’s presidential campaign, made a second appearance before the panel. It’s not known why Russell was called back or what he might have added to the probe.
The grand jury, which operates in secret, has already heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including many of Trump’s closest aides and once-trusted lieutenants, in the wide-ranging and fast-moving investigation.
The target letter sent to Trump reportedly mentions three federal statutes that he is accused of violating including a conspiracy to defraud the United States, depriving people of their rights, and witness tampering.
The possible charges mentioned in the letter suggest Smith’s team is focused more on the broad plot to overturn the election as opposed to leading or inciting the actual violence on Jan. 6.
Trump last month became the first ex-president in American history to be criminally charged when he was indicted in connection with a separate probe regarding mishandling of classified documents that he took when he left the White House.",Not_Explicit
"MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is poised to remain prime minister as a result of Sunday’s inconclusive national elections in which the center-right Popular Party won the most votes but was left with no clear path to form a government.
As expected, none of Spain’s major parties secured a governing majority. With 99 percent of the votes tallied, the Popular Party had 136 seats, the Socialists 122, the far-right Vox 33, and the left-wing Sumar 31.
Prior to the vote, conservative leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo indicated that he would be willing to form a coalition government with Vox, but both parties fell short of the 176 seats needed to control the Spanish parliament.
There is no scenario in which Spanish MPs would back a minority government composed of the Popular Party and Vox, and Feijóo does not appear to have enough support among the country’s smaller, regional parties to cobble together the support he would need for minority rule on his own.
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The outcome opens the door to Sánchez remaining in power.
Together with Yolanda Díaz’s left-wing Sumar coalition, the prime minister’s Socialist Party could form a coalition that controls 153 seats in parliament, but in order to govern he’ll need to forge deals with a variety of political groups with wildly different objectives.
Sánchez is unlikely to be able to obtain the backing of the 176 MPs needed to be confirmed as prime minister the first time the new parliament discusses the matter, but he could make a bid during the second round of voting, in which the candidate to head the new government has to receive more yays than nays.
In 2019, Sánchez became prime minister following that same roadmap after making deals with regional parties. But in these high-stakes elections, voters opted to back larger parties, leading smaller groups like Teruel Existe to lose their seats.
That means the Socialists will have to look for support from Basque and Catalan nationalists — among them those belonging to former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont‘s Junts party.
Puigdemont fled Spain in the immediate aftermath of the 2017 Catalan independence referendum and was subsequently elected to the European Parliament; a top EU court recently stripped his legal immunity, paving the way for his extradition to Spain.
Junts candidate Míriam Nogueras told the press that her party had “understood the result” and would “take advantage of the opportunity.”
“This is a possibility for change, to recover unity,” she said. “But we will not make Pedro Sánchez president in exchange for nothing.”
Over 37 million Spaniards were registered to vote in these elections, which were framed as a referendum on Sánchez. The tight race meant the stakes were incredibly high, with Spain facing the possibility of ending up with a government with far-right ministers for the first time since the death of Francisco Franco.
That could have signaled a wider sea-change in Europe ahead of next year’s European Parliament elections and given fuel to right-wing forces that want the EU to take more hardline stances on everything from climate policy to migration.
With 33 seats, the far-right Vox party remains the third-largest political group in the Spanish parliament, but these elections have seen it shrink from the 52 seats it secured in 2019, indicating the group may be losing steam.
At the Socialist Party headquarters in Madrid on Sunday night, euphoric supporters cheered Sánchez while shouting “¡No pasarán!,” the anti-fascist slogan used by Spain’s legitimate government in its struggle against Franco’s forces during the Spanish Civil War.
Despite being held in the middle of the summer and in the midst of a heatwave, some 24 million Spaniards voted in person, while a record 2.4 million opted for mail-in voting.",Not_Explicit
"United States vs. Vietnam live updates: Women's World Cup 2023 top plays
The U.S. — four-time winners of the tournament, including emerging victorious in the past two World Cups — is the No. 1-ranked team in the world, according to FIFA, while Vietnam is ranked No. 32.
The USWNT, which is eyeing an unprecedented three-peat this year, is 20-3-1 all-time in the group stage at the World Cup. The Americans are also undefeated in the opening game of the tournament. What's more, the last time the Americans played an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) nation in a World Cup, they defeated Thailand 13-0.
Of the 23 players on the U.S.'s roster, 14 are making their World Cup debut, including young forwards Sophia Smith — the 22-year-old phenom who leads the National Women's Soccer League with 10 goals in 13 matches — Trinity Rodman and Alyssa Thompson. The USWNT also returns veteran stars such as Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, who announced earlier this month that she will retire after the tournament.
On the other side, Vietnam is captained by Huynh Nhu, who has scored 67 goals in 103 appearances for the national team, also known as the Golden Star Women Warriors. Other key players to watch for Vietnam are powerhouse midfielders Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung and Nguyen Thi Thanh Nha.
Follow our live coverage below, including live analysis from FOX Sports' Michael Cohen!
PREGAME
Setting the stage
The ""World Cup NOW"" and ""World Cup Live"" crews previewed the match ahead of kickoff.
The U.S. is ready to roll
The USWNT was all business ahead of Friday's match.",Not_Explicit
"Suzlon Energy Net Profit Falls 96% To Rs 101 Crore In Q1
Suzlon Energy registered a 96% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 101 crore in the April-June quarter.
Suzlon Energy registered a 96% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 101 crore in the April-June quarter.
The company had registered a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,433 crore in the year-ago quarter, an investors' presentation showed.
The company's net revenue in the first quarter of this fiscal also came down to Rs 1,348 crore from Rs 1,378 crore in the year-ago period.
Girish Tanti, vice-chairman, Suzlon Group, said in a statement, ""With the country poised to lead decarbonisation of its economy, we are seeing renewed enthusiasm from India Inc. to drive this green energy transition."" J P Chalasani, chief executive officer, Suzlon Group, said in the statement, ""At Suzlon, we continue to show stable and steady growth in line with our business plan. With the fruition of our initiatives to strengthen the balance sheet and reduce debt, our focus is now on ramping up our operations to service our cumulative orders, which stand at a healthy 1,582 MW as on date.""
Himanshu Mody, chief financial officer, Suzlon Group, said in the statement, ""Q1 of FY24 takes forward our consistent efforts to consolidate and stabilise our performance over the last few quarters. Q1 FY24 shows YoY (year-on-year) growth and an improvement in overall profitability with a steady performance on all our key parameters.""
After a sustained effort to reduce debt in 2022-23, which has resulted in a healthier and sustainable balance sheet for the company, our focus in FY24 remains on funding our operations and fulfilling our commitments to customers and other stakeholders, he said.
""We continue to maintain strict control on costs and are in the process of further optimising our organisational structure to drive excellence and continual improvement on the strong foundation set with over the last three years,"" he added.",Not_Explicit
"At least 15 people are dead after a ferry sank off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, according to local authorities.
The ferry had 40 passengers on board when it sank at approximately midnight (16:00 GMT) and authorities are searching for 19 people who remain missing, Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency said on Monday.
Six passengers were rescued and are being treated in hospital, the agency said.
Keep readinglist of 4 items
It was not clear how many people were on board as it is not uncommon in Indonesia for the actual number of passengers on a boat to differ from the manifest.
“The search will be conducted by dividing into two teams. The first team will dive around the accident site,” Muhamad Arafah, head of the local search and rescue agency in Kendari city in Southeast Sulawesi, said in a statement.
“The second team will conduct a sweep above the water surface around the accident site using a rubberboat and longboat.”
Ferry accidents are not uncommon in Indonesia, which is the world’s largest archipelago country with more than 17,000 islands.
In 2018, as many as 192 people drowned when an overloaded ferry overturned and sank on Lake Toba on Sumatra island.
In May last year, a ferry with more than 800 people on board ran aground in waters off East Nusa Tenggara province. No one was hurt in the incident.",Not_Explicit
"Seniors' voter turnout has been the most reliable in every presidential election for decades, outpacing younger voters. This election cycle will be no different, as age will play another major factor in the 2024 presidential election if a rematch occurs between the oldest candidates President Joe Biden, 80, and former President Donald Trump, 77.
Biden and Trump nearly tied among older voters, 45% to 46%, respectively, according to a poll from the American Association of Retired Persons, known as AARP.
“Voters 50-plus are the key to winning and losing elections — and they show up,” John Anzalone, a veteran Democratic pollster from Impact Research, said.
Although seniors 65 and older have not widely supported a Democratic presidential candidate since Al Gore in 2000, Biden did surprisingly well among older voters in the 2020 election. Trump narrowly led over Biden in the election among older voters. Biden won over voters under 30 with more than a 20-point margin, according to the Pew Research Center.
“We know that voters age 50-plus will make up the majority of the electorate in 2024,” Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer, said. “The fact that this group is divided shows that no one running for office should take them for granted or write them off. Candidates who want to win need to connect with them and address their concerns.”
Voters are concerned about Biden's age. Thirty-seven percent of Democratic and independent voters believe Biden's age makes them less likely to vote for him, according to a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll. A majority of people believe a president can be too old to hold office, according to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll.
Older voters continue to favor the Republican Party, with 48% of voters 50-plus saying they prefer a GOP candidate, while only 40% would support a Democratic candidate. Voters between the ages 50 to 64 are more likely to vote along Republican lines, with 52% of the age range supporting a GOP candidate compared to 35% supporting Democrats. However, voters narrowly favor Democrats to Republicans, 46% to 43%.",Not_Explicit
"BARCELONA.- La mayoría de sondeos apuntaban a que la llave del próximo gobierno la tendría la extrema derecha, pero las ajustadas elecciones legislativas españolas convirtieron al independentista catalán Carles Puigdemont en un protagonista inesperado, ya que su formación podría ser clave.
Pese a que el Partido Popular (PP) venció en los comicios, su resultado no fue suficiente para lograr mayoría absoluta, ni siquiera con un eventual apoyo de la ultraderecha de Vox, lo que complica mucho sus opciones de poder gobernar.
Esto abre una vía para que el presidente del gobierno saliente, el socialista Pedro Sánchez, trate de negociar una compleja investidura. Tiene ya el apoyo de la coalición de izquierda radical Sumar, y ahora debería conseguir de nuevo el apoyo de varios partidos nacionalistas vascos, catalanes y gallego, con los que suele contar en el Congreso.
Pero esta vez Sánchez necesitaría, además, la decisiva abstención de los siete diputados logrados por Junts per Catalunya, la formación fundada por Puigdemont, quien se autoexilió en Bélgica desde el intento fallido de secesión en 2017.
El aglomerado de izquierda Sumar anunció el lunes que encargó a uno de sus antiguos dirigentes en Cataluña iniciar las negociaciones con Junts para “explorar todas las vías de acuerdo”.
Sin embargo, este lunes, un día después de las elecciones, la Fiscalía española pidió a un juez que vuelva a cursar una orden de busca y captura internacional en contra del expresidente de la Generalitat de Cataluña.
“Un día eres decisivo para formar el gobierno español, y al siguiente España ordena tu arresto”, ironizó en Twitter Puigdemont, poco después de que la Fiscalía solicitara reactivar su orden de detención tras el rechazo de la justicia europea al recurso contra el levantamiento de su inmunidad.
One day you are decisive in order to form a Spanish government, the next day Spain orders your arrest. https://t.co/7e33rCzd6S
— krls.eth / Carles Puigdemont (@KRLS) July 24, 2023
Representante de la línea dura del secesionismo, y contraria al diálogo emprendido con Madrid, Junts adoptó una postura de oposición sistemática al gobierno de Sánchez, a diferencia del otro gran partido independentista, ERC, convertido en uno de sus apoyos regulares.
Y, ahora en una posición clave, los dirigentes de Junts no piensan poner las cosas fáciles.
“Nosotros no haremos presidente a Pedro Sánchez a cambio de nada, nuestra prioridad es Cataluña, no es la gobernabilidad del Estado español”, aseguró su cabeza de lista al Congreso, Miriam Nogueras, la misma noche del domingo.
🎥 Candidata @miriamnoguerasM: “No em tremolarà en absolut el pols en continuar mantenint la posició. @JuntsXCat no farem president a Pedro Sánchez a 'cambio de nada'. La nostra prioritat és Catalunya, no la governabilitat de l’Estat Espanyol.”#PerCatalunya pic.twitter.com/3XlFOzZWal
— Junts per Catalunya🎗 (@JuntsXCat) July 23, 2023
“Inasumibles”
Desde Junts, que ya votó en contra de la investidura de Sánchez en 2020, reiteran que sus posiciones nunca han cambiado, y no facilitarán el gobierno de nadie que no apoye un referéndum de autodeterminación en Cataluña y la amnistía de los encausados por su papel en la intentona secesionista.
La celebración por parte del gobierno que lideraba Puigdemont de un referéndum en 2017, pese a la prohibición de la justicia, derivó en una de las crisis políticas más graves vividas en España en las últimas décadas.
Pese a que Sánchez –quien hizo de la distensión en Cataluña una de sus prioridades tras llegar al poder en 2018– tomó decisiones como indultar a los nueve políticos independentistas en prisión, el líder socialista nunca cedería a esas reivindicaciones, estiman los analistas
“Son completamente inasumibles por cualquier gobierno de España, o partido de ámbito estatal, cualquiera de estas dos condiciones”, estimó Ana Sofía Cardenal, profesora de Ciencias Políticas de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.
En Junts “saben que es inasumible esto, pero van a ir hasta el final”, agregó.
“Ironía”
La decisión final de la formación dependerá, sin embargo, de sus propios cálculos y su íntima competencia con ERC, que viene acusando una marcada pérdida de votos en las últimas elecciones.
“Si Junts es el responsable de una repetición electoral, ¿cómo le va a pasar factura eso electoralmente? Creo que esa es la pregunta que se están haciendo ahora”, estimó de su lado Oriol Bartomeus, de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.
Si la formación valora finalmente que un nuevo escrutinio podría “hundir a Esquerra”, que cayó de 13 a 7 diputados en las legislativas, optarán por no facilitar el gobierno de Sánchez, opina el investigador.
El inesperado resultado del domingo deja todavía muchos interrogantes abiertos.
“Es como una ironía del destino”, apuntó Ana Sofía Cardenal. “Mucha gente del PSOE que se ha ido a la derecha con el tema catalán” –en referencia a las concesiones de Sánchez al independentismo, muy controvertidas incluso dentro de su propio partido– “y resulta que [Puigdemont] está en el centro del tablero político para la gobernabilidad de España”, indicó.
Agencias AFP y ANSA",Not_Explicit
"The gap is closing at the Women’s World Cup as the underdogs rise up
The underdogs are rising up at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
There were enough examples of that during the men's World Cup in Qatar last year with Saudi Arabia beating eventual champion Argentina, while Morocco became the first African team to advance to the semifinals.
""Smaller countries are getting that understanding. We might not have the resources the bigger countries do in terms of equipment and traveling and games, but I think there's an understanding there with coaches and technical staff and everything that our preparation is a little bit better all around,"" said Jamaica coach Lorne Donaldson.
""Once upon a time the US by far was very, very dominant and you can just see the gap is closing. I think the smaller nations are jumping on the bandwagon and saying, ‘We can do this too.'""
France coach Hervé Renard, who led Saudi Arabia's men to that unforgettable win against Lionel Messi's Argentina, agrees.
""The French are used to having the upper hand during the opening games, but this is something that is going to change because things are getting a lot closer,"" he said.
One reason why the traditionally smaller nations are providing such competition for their bigger rivals is the undoubted quality they now boast.
Haiti's 19-year-old forward Melchie Dumornay looks set to become a global star.
""The players are developing,"" said Donaldson. ""They are getting a chance, some of these players, to go and play in the top leagues and they are taking it.""
While upsets are becoming more commonplace in international soccer, it remains to be seen if one of the underdogs can go all the way at a major tournament.
The men's World Cup final ended up with Messi's Argentina facing off against then-defending champion France with Kylian Mbappe leading its attack.
The US is aiming for a three-peat at the Women's World Cup and is favorite to become the first nation to do so.
England and Australia were pushed close, but are still well-placed to advance from the group stages after winning their opening games. Both will be expected to improve - especially Australia if star forward Sam Kerr can recover from a calf injury.
And Renard, who has won two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, has no doubts about France's ability to build from a disappointing start.
""I'm satisfied with the mindset of my girls,"" he said. ""They showed fighting spirit and this will be very useful for us in what comes next.
""I think we need to keep a cool head. I have full faith in my girls and this is how I tend to function. We are going to move forward all together and we are on the right track.""
Reporting by The Associated press.",Not_Explicit
"Abby Wambach sends it to penalties: Women's World Cup Moment No. 2
Editor's note: Each day between now and the kickoff of the first match of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on July 20, FOX Sports is counting down the most memorable moments in the tournament's 32-year history.
On one hand, Rapinoe couldn't have played a better ball in if she tried. It flew over Brazil's back line and to the far post to Wambach. On the other hand, Wambach had to get up and over her defender and out-stretched arms of the goalkeeper — no small feat, even for a player of Wambach's quality.
Whatever your preference is, there is no wrong answer. Rapinoe's cross is so iconic that it's now simply known as ""The Cross,"" and Wambach's 122nd minute finish is the latest goal in World Cup, men's on women's.
The U.S. went on in to win in penalties thanks to a big save from Hope Solo and a clutch goal from Ali Krieger.
-
Cristiano Ronaldo on Lionel Messi joining MLS: 'Saudi League is better'
2023 Women's World Cup odds: Chris 'The Bear' Fallica's best futures bets to make now
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
-
Women's World Cup Guide, Group E: United States, Netherlands, Portugal, Vietnam
Women's World Cup roundtable: Which team poses biggest threat to USWNT?
USWNT's quest to win 2023 World Cup to be subject of Netflix docuseries
-
France's reality-bending 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup ad goes viral
Alexis Putellas quits Spain training after 30 minutes, raising concerns
Parity, bigger field mean there could be surprises at the Women's World Cup
-
Cristiano Ronaldo on Lionel Messi joining MLS: 'Saudi League is better'
2023 Women's World Cup odds: Chris 'The Bear' Fallica's best futures bets to make now
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
-
Women's World Cup Guide, Group E: United States, Netherlands, Portugal, Vietnam
Women's World Cup roundtable: Which team poses biggest threat to USWNT?
USWNT's quest to win 2023 World Cup to be subject of Netflix docuseries
-
France's reality-bending 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup ad goes viral
Alexis Putellas quits Spain training after 30 minutes, raising concerns
Parity, bigger field mean there could be surprises at the Women's World Cup",Not_Explicit
"A new Senate push to add billions of dollars in new spending next year is setting up a battle later this year in Congress that could result in a partial government shutdown if it can't be resolved by September 30.
The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee struck a deal on Thursday to add $13.7 billion in additional ""emergency"" funding for defense and non-defense discretionary spending. A Senate aide told Fox News Digital, ""It is a very routine thing. They do that almost every year, if not every year.
But that addition will put the Senate on a collision course with House Republicans, whose conservative flank has been pushing for spending cuts even below those set in the debt limit deal between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, and President Biden. The Senate's higher number was already angering Republicans in the House who worked for months to get the deal done, and don't want to see their promised cuts evaporate.
""It is a concern for those of us in the House who see the final debt ceiling agreement as spending too much, and for Appropriations, which is grappling with the need to get 218 votes, we're recognizing that we're gonna have to make additional cuts to get things passed on the floor,"" Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the conservative Freedom Caucus, told Fox News Digital on Friday. ""It does seem as though we're moving even further apart.""
Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., stressed on Thursday that additional emergency dollars were sought by both sides of the aisle and would not violate the McCarthy-Biden agreement.
""Members on both sides of the aisle — on and off committee — have voiced serious, bipartisan concerns about the cuts in the debt ceiling deal to vital non-defense programs and the caps it imposes on defense spending,"" Murray said at a committee hearing. ""Vice Chair Collins and I have discussed how best to address these concerns, and we have agreed to make use of additional emergency appropriations — just as we do every year, and is fully allowed under the debt ceiling deal — to address in a bipartisan way some of the pressing challenges our nation faces.""
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, also said later in the hearing, ""I want to point out that this bill, as well as many of the others that we have approved, are actually below last year's funding levels, as enacted in the omnibus bill. And so, the idea that these are fiscally irresponsible is countered by that fact.""
But House Republicans, including those who supported the final deal, made clear they would not be entertaining any compromise that can be seen as adding to the agreed-upon spending levels.
""House Republicans won't go along with this added spending,"" Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee, told Fox News Digital. ""Our majority is committed to reducing our debt and spending taxpayer dollars responsibly. Meanwhile, many in the Senate are happy to turn a blind eye to our rising federal debt and have clearly learned nothing from the Democrats' spending-fueled inflation crisis. The caps agreed to this spring are the ceiling, not the floor.""
Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., leader of the moderate Main Street Caucus, called the $13.7 billion addition ""a non-starter in the House.""
""GOP won the battle on never-before-seen savings during debt ceiling negotiations, the Senate is working to walk those savings back,"" he wrote on Twitter.
Several top conservatives met with House GOP leaders, including McCarthy, in a Wednesday night meeting where they plotted out how to cut spending even further below their current mark, according to Roll Call. That’s after House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger, R-Texas, committed to bringing spending bills that lined up with fiscal 2022 levels — below the McCarthy-Biden deal.
Cline told Fox News Digital he was in the meeting but declined to discuss the details. ""I will say that it was an attempt to reach consensus on how to move forward . . . and there are many on the more conservative side of our conference who recognize that the first bills out of the chute are spending up instead of making the necessary savings.""
If an agreement cannot be forged on a path forward by September 30, Congress risks leaving the government in a partial shutdown. Cline did not say directly whether he was concerned that one would occur, but said, ""Nobody wants to shut down.""",Not_Explicit
"Paytm Q1 Loss Narrows To Rs 358.4 Crore, Revenue Jumps 39.4%
Fintech firm One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand, on Friday reported narrowing of loss to Rs 358.4 crore.
Fintech firm One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand, on Friday reported narrowing of loss to Rs 358.4 crore.
The company had posted a loss of Rs 645.4 crore in the same period a year ago.
The revenue from operations of the company increased by 39.4% to Rs 2,341.6 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 1,679.6 crore in the June 2022 quarter.
The company said that its merchant payments volume (GMV) grew 37% YoY to Rs 4.05 lakh crore in the April-June quarter of FY2023-24.
""Paytm's EBITDA before ESOP margin stood at 4% on the account of consistent improvement in profitability due to strong revenue growth, increasing contribution margin and operating leverage,"" the statement said.
Paytm said that due to an increase in gross merchandise value of non-UPI instruments like EMI and cards, and lower interchange cost for Wallet, post-interoperability circular by NPCI, and Postpaid due to better portfolio quality, Paytm’s net payment processing margin has further improved and is now at the top end of 7-9 basis points range.
Sharing update on the Reserve Bank of India's bar on onboarding of new customers by Paytm Payments Bank, Paytm Chairman, Managing Director and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that the bank has submitted compliance report to the banking regulator and the same is under review.
During financial year 2022, RBI had directed the Paytm Payments Bank to stop the onboarding of new customers with effect from March 1, 2022.
During FY 2023, RBI appointed an external auditor for conducting a comprehensive systems audit of the PPBL.
On October 21, 2022, PPBL received the final report thereof from RBI outlining the need for continued strengthening of IT outsourcing processes and operational risk management, including KYC etc at the Bank.
""Pursuant to a supervisory engagement thereafter, RBI recommended remediating action steps (including further steps to be taken by the Bank) in a time-bound manner. The Bank has submitted the compliance to these instructions of RBI and the same is currently being reviewed by RBI,"" Sharma said.",Not_Explicit
"SYDNEY - The United States commissioned a warship in Sydney on Saturday, the first time a U.S. Navy vessel joined active service at a foreign port, as the two close allies step up their military ties in response to China's expanding regional reach.
The Independence-class littoral combat ship -- named after a Royal Australian Navy cruiser that was sunk while supporting the U.S. Marine landings on Guadalcanal in 1942 -- was commissioned at a ceremony at an Australian naval base on Sydney Harbor, officially joining the U.S. Navy's active fleet.
""Australians can be proud that this ship, designed in Western Australia by local industry and named after HMAS Canberra, is being commissioned here for the first time in the history of the United States Navy,"" Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a statement.
The commissioning of the U.S. ship in Australian waters reflected ""our shared commitment to upholding the rules-based order,"" he added.
The ceremony comes amid the biennial Talisman Sabre military exercises between the U.S. and Australia, seen as a show of force and unity as China increasingly asserts power in the Indo-Pacific.
The exercises, taking place in various locations across Australia over two weeks, include mock land and air combat, as well as amphibious landings.
In addition to Australia and the U.S., forces from Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Korea, Tonga and Britain are taking part.
Germany is participating for the first time with 210 paratroopers and marines taking part, as the European nation bolsters its presence in the region.
Under the AUKUS project announced in March, the United States and Britain have agreed to help Australia acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
Before that, in the early 2030s, the United States is supposed to sell Australia three U.S. Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines, with an option for Australia to buy two more.",Not_Explicit
"Former Phoenix councilmember Daniel Valenzuela announces run for Maricopa County Supervisor
Jul 24, 2023, 3:20 PM
(Daniel Valenzuela for Arizona)
PHOENIX – Former Phoenix City Councilmember Daniel Valenzuela announced Monday he is running for Maricopa County Supervisor District 3.
Republican supervisor Bill Gates announced in June he would be vacating the seat and would not be seeking reelection saying he wanted to pursue other opportunities.
Valenzuela, a Democrat, was elected to the city council in 2011 and left in 2018 to run for Phoenix mayor.
The board has five members, four Republicans and a Democrat. It sets the agenda and approves a budget that allocates money to all departments and elected offices.
Why he’s running
Valenzuela emphasized his past successes as a city councilmember including chairing the city’s two pension reform efforts, helping enact the city’s Anti-Discrimination Ordinance and being a leader on economic development and job creation.
“I have worked hard my entire life as a coalition builder and problem solver,” he said in a press release. “My family and I are excited to move forward with overwhelming support from first responders, community, business, non-profit and labor leaders.”
Valenzuela said he looks forward to focusing on many issues including keeping people and families safe, moving the economy forward and working toward smart investments around infrastructure for future planning.
“I will also work to protect our democracy, making voting as accessible and equitable as possible throughout the county. I want to take a regional leadership approach to these important issues and others, including housing and homelessness,” he said.",Not_Explicit
"CSB Bank Q1 Result Review - Strong Quarter Despite Elevated Opex: Dolat Capital
Growth driven by gold; credit costs continue to surprise.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Dolat Capital Report
CSB Bank Ltd. reported good set of numbers with net interest income/pre-provision operating profit growth of 17% YoY each. Sequentially stable net interest margin at 5.4%, robust core fee lines, and low credit costs aided profit after tax growth of 15% and return on asset of 1.8% for the quarter.
With continued investment towards people and technology, opex growth was up sharply (11.5% QoQ), partly owing to one-offs. Loan growth at 2% during the quarter was led by gold (up 4% QoQ) other retail (up 6% QoQ).
We tweak estimates, factoring higher other income and lower slippages, offset by rise in opex assumptions.
Outlook and view
CSB Bank stands out for its robust liability franchise, superior NIM and strong asset quality metrics. The next two years could see significant investment in people, distribution and technology, in preparation for scale phase from FY26.
A likely Fairfax stake in IDBI Bank Ltd. remains an overhang.
Maintain 'Buy' with an unrevised target price of Rs 370 (1.5 times FY25E adjusted book value). The stock trades at 1.2 times FY25E ABV.
Risks to our view: Weaker than anticipated growth trends, higher than anticipated pressure on NIM, inability to contain opex.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – Virginia Democrats have launched “The Majority Project,” an early-voting campaign touted as the “biggest, earliest voter turnout project” in state legislative history that aims to counter a similar initiative unveiled by Gov. Glenn Youngkin and state Republicans.
The seven-figure project aims to boost Democratic absentee and early voting for the 2023 Virginia General Assembly elections in November, crucial contests that will determine which party controls the legislature next year.
The program, which began work in May but formally launched Thursday, has sent more than 100 staffers to state legislative districts across Virginia.
“The Virginia Democrats’ campaign launched on a scale that has never been seen before in the Commonwealth,” House Minority Leader Don L. Scott Jr. (D-Portsmouth) said in a statement.
The coordinated effort from the House Democratic Caucus, Senate Democratic Caucus and the Democratic Party of Virginia includes a “relational organizing” and field program with staffers going door-to-door and calling potential voters to increase early and absentee voting.
“Democrats have been ahead of the curve on early and absentee voting for years now, and that is because we are investing in people over corporations and standing up for women’s rights and the rights of Virginians all across the Commonwealth,” Scott added.
“The Majority Project” comes on the heels of a new Republican effort led by Gov. Youngkin to help boost early and absentee voting among GOP voters in the Nov. 7 elections, an initiative Del. Scott called “blatant hypocrisy.”
Republicans’ “Secure Your Vote Virginia” website drew criticism from Democrats who pointed to GOP efforts this year to restrict early voting in the state, including failed proposals to ban ballot drop boxes and shorten the window for early in-person voting to two weeks.
State Sen. Mamie E. Locke (D-Hampton), chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, reiterated those views in a statement Thursday.
“Senate Democrats are meeting voters at their doors on these key issues such as protecting reproductive rights, funding our public schools and our teachers, and preventing gun violence,” Sen. Locke said. “Secure your vote is a fallacy because MAGA Republicans are determined to take away these very rights.”
All 140 General Assembly seats are on the line in the Nov. 7 elections, making this year’s campaign season pivotal to both parties’ plans to seize control of the state legislature. Democrats control the state Senate and Republicans have a majority in the House of Delegates.
“Virginians are motivated to show up and elect legislators who will safeguard access to abortion, fully fund our public schools, and fight for hardworking Virginians,” Democratic Caucus Chair Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria) said in a statement.",Not_Explicit
"Mark Graham lived to tell the tale of his encounter with a ""super inquisitive"" great white shark that nibbled on his GoPro camera during a dive
A United Kingdom resident has a shark tale you have to see to believe — luckily, the shocking interaction was caught on camera.
According to The New York Post, Mark Graham recently took a sea trip that could have turned deadly. While embarking on a Great White Shark Cage Diving Crew tour in South Africa, as the tour's videographer, he came face to face with an apex predator. ""People seem to love the clip,"" the 31-year-old said of the great white shark footage, which is currently making its rounds on social media.
The unforgettable expedition took place in Klein Brak, Mossel Bay. Graham's GoPro Hero camera was recording when the great white appeared before the dive group. The device captured the aquatic inhabitant opening its large mouth, baring rows of razor-sharp teeth,
In the clip, the shark swims up to Graham in the murky South African waters. Per National Geographic, great whites can reach over 20 feet in length and weigh more than 4,000 pounds. Their massive muscles and mouth allow them to wreak havoc on their prey.
However, Graham described his shark encounter as ""gentle"" and ""super inquisitive."" After approaching the diver, the shark lightly nudged the GoPro Hero attached to his head and swam away.
""Their electro receptors can pick up the GoPro, so they get super curious and come in close to investigate,"" Graham told Media Drum World, per the New York Post. ""It was an incredibly gentle interaction from the shark. It was just trying to figure out what the strange electrical thingy in the water was.""
Graham added that others who saw the incident may have been ""freaked out,"" but he appreciated the rare moment.
""Having such a personal and gentle interaction with such a big animal felt extremely captivating,"" he confessed. And although movies like Jaws and Deep Blue Sea may not paint the predators in the best light, the U.K. diver wants individuals to respect the deep sea creatures.
""I think humans have an instinctive fear of what they can't see and don't understand. If you get the chance to see them in the wild, go and see them, I guarantee your perception will change,"" he said earlier this year after a similar encounter.
While Graham made it through his shark experience untouched, a Florida resident can't say the same. On July 14, Chris Pospisil, a University of Central Florida student, had a near-fatal interaction with a shark. The 21-year-old was surfing with his friend Reece Redish at New Smyrna Beach when a shark knocked him off his surfboard. The predator then latched onto the young man's foot.
""The shark came from under me, on my board, and tipped me backwards off my board, and I was falling backwards, I saw my foot in his mouth, and it dragged me under,"" Pospisil recalled as he spoke to FOX affiliate WOFL-TV. He credits Redish for helping him survive the terrifying ordeal.
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""Reece was already there, already on top of me, got me by my shirt, and pulled me on the board,"" Pospisil said. Once on shore, he hoped his injuries would be minimal. ""I remember asking the lifeguard, 'Am I going to lose my foot?' He was like, 'I don't know, man,'"" the college student added.
While noting that ""The top of my foot is going to be numb in some areas for the rest of my life, and my foot might be stiff because they had to repair all seven tendons,"" Pospisil added that he is ready to return to the water. ""It hasn't changed anything. I'm definitely going to keep surfing. It's my lifestyle, and it's something I love to do,"" he admitted.
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Read the original article on People.",Not_Explicit
"Politics Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s Grandson, Slams Cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: ‘An Embarrassment’ “I’ve listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president,” Schlossberg, who voiced support for Biden, said in a passionate Instagram video posted early Friday morning By Tracey Harrington McCoy Tracey Harrington McCoy Tracey Harrington McCoy is a celebrity news writer at PEOPLE Digital. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Newsweek, Parents Magazine, AOL, and Huffington Post. People Editorial Guidelines Published on July 21, 2023 10:26AM EDT Jack Schlossberg, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Joe Biden. Photo: Shutterstock, Getty Just days after presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was slammed for giving a speech full of conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 virus, John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, blasted his cousin in a scathing video message. Early Friday morning, Schlossberg posted a video on Instagram criticizing his cousin’s presidential candidacy — and strongly endorsing incumbent President Joe Biden as the person to carry on his grandfather's legacy. He filmed the selfie video from a car. “Hi, I’m Jack Schlossberg and I have something to say,” the 30-year-old attorney said, addressing the camera directly. “President John F. Kennedy is my grandfather and his legacy is important. It’s about a lot more than Camelot and conspiracy theories. It’s about public service and courage. It’s about civil rights, the Cuban missile crisis, and landing a man on the moon.” Robert Kennedy Jr. Leans into Conspiracy That CIA Was Involved in Uncle John F. Kennedy's Assassination JFK’s only grandson continued, diving into a full scale endorsement of Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. “Joe Biden shares my grandfather's vision for America. That we do things not because they are easy but because they are hard,"" Schlossberg said, ""and he’s in the middle of becoming the greatest progressive president we’ve ever had.” President Joe Biden delivers the 2023 State of the Union address with Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy behind him. Drew Angerer/Getty The selfie video continued with Schlossberg listing some of Biden’s successes while in office. ""Under Biden, we’ve added 13 million jobs. Unemployment is at its lowest in 60 years. Biden passed the largest investment in infrastructure since The New Deal. And the largest investment in green energy ever. He’s appointed more federal judges than any president since my grandfather. He ended our longest war. He ended the COVID pandemic. And he ended Donald Trump,"" Schlossberg said. “These are the issues that matter,"" he continued, ""and if my cousin, Bobby Kennedy Jr., cared about any of them, he would support Joe Biden, too. Instead, he’s trading in on Camelot, celebrity, conspiracy theories, and conflict for personal gain and fame."" Biden 'Hugely Popular' Among Kennedy Relatives, Says Source, as RFK Jr. Launches 2024 Campaign (Exclusive) Schlossberg then got more pointed in denouncing his cousin, saying, ""I’ve listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president. What I do know is, his candidacy is an embarrassment. Let’s not be distracted, again, by somebody’s vanity project.” “I’m excited to vote for Joe Biden in my state’s primary and again in the general election — and I hope you will too,” he ended the video. RFK Jr. Slammed for Pushing 'Abhorrent' COVID-19 Conspiracy Theory About Jews and Chinese People Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Schlossberg and Kennedy are cousins, once removed. Schlossberg’s mom, Caroline Kennedy, is RFK Jr.'s first cousin. Earlier this week, advocacy organizations criticized RFK Jr.'s reckless comments at a private New York City event, which were captured on video by The New York Post. “COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,” Kennedy, 69, said. “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” A Look Back at Robert F. Kennedy's Tragic Presidential Campaign as His Son Declares Candidacy 55 Years Later Known for his track record of spouting debunked misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccinations, Kennedy echoed antisemitic discourse that Jews engineered and spread the COVID-19 virus, according to the 2021 Antisemitism Worldwide Report by Tel Aviv University. Similar conspiracies about Jewish people and disease have been made for centuries. Ted Deutch, a former congressman and CEO of the American Jewish Committee, tweeted Saturday that Kennedy’s comments are “deeply offensive and incredibly dangerous.” “Every aspect of his comments reflects some of the most abhorrent antisemitic conspiracy theories throughout history and contributes to today’s dangerous rise of antisemitism,” Deutch continued via Twitter. RFK Jr.'s younger sister, Kerry Kennedy — who runs a human rights organization named after their father, Robert F. Kennedy — also weighed in on the controversy, tweeting, ""I STRONGLY condemn my brother's deplorable and untruthful remarks last week about Covid being engineered for ethnic targeting."" Kerry Kennedy Speaks Out on Bobby's Presidential Bid: 'Love My Brother, but Do Not Share or Endorse His Views' Robert F. Kennedy Jr. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty The 2024 presidential hopeful responded to the backlash to his comments via Twitter in a lengthy video of a conversation with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, calling the insinuation that his comments were antisemitic “a disgusting fabrication.” “I understand the emotional pain that these inaccurate distortions and fabrications have caused to many Jews who recall the blood libels of poison wells and the deliberate spread of disease as the pretext for genocidal programs against their ancestors,” Kennedy wrote in the tweet. “My father and my uncles, John F. Kennedy and Senator Edward Kennedy, devoted enormous political energies during their careers to supporting Israel and fighting antisemitism. I intend to spend my political career making those family causes my priority,"" he continued. RFK Jr.’s Instagram Account Reinstated More than 2 Years After COVID-19 Misinformation Got Him Banned On Thursday, hours before Schlossberg posted his video, House Republicans invited Kennedy to speak at a hearing by the GOP-led House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. During the hearing, Kennedy accused political foes — including the Biden administration — of trying to silence him, and insisted, “In my entire life, and while I’m under oath I have never uttered a phrase that was either racist or antisemitic.” He also claimed, “I’ve never been anti-vaccine,” despite repeatedly spreading scientifically discredited narratives about vaccines and founding an anti-vaccination advocacy group in 2011.",Not_Explicit
"Amit Shah Speaks To Gujarat CM, Delhi LG; Enquires About Flood-Like Situation, Yamuna Status
Shah also had a discussion with Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena about the water level in the Yamuna river.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Sunday and enquired about the flood-like situation in various parts of the state.
Shah also had a discussion with Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena about the water level in the Yamuna river.
""Spoke to Gujarat CM Shri @Bhupendrapbjp Ji about the flood-like situation occurring in various parts of the state due to the recent heavy rainfall. Also had a discussion with LG of Delhi, Shri VK Saxena Ji about the water level in the Yamuna river. Ample numbers of SDRF and NDRF teams are available to help the people in need,"" the home minister said on Twitter.
Heavy to very heavy rains pounded several districts in Gujarat's southern and Saurashtra regions on Saturday, triggering a flood-like situation in urban areas and isolating villages amid the water level in dams and rivers surging to danger levels.
The water level of the Yamuna in Delhi breached the danger mark again on Sunday following a surge in the discharge from the Hathnikund barrage into the river after heavy rain in parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
A further increase in the water level of the river is likely to impact the relief-and-rehabilitation work in the flood-affected low-lying areas of the national capital, officials said.",Not_Explicit
"Thousands of scaffolding that are both ubiquitous and widely regarded as eyesores in New York City may come down quicker under a plan unveiled Monday by Mayor Adams.
Under current regulations, building owners are required to erect scaffolding when conditions exist that could result in debris falling from a structure’s facade. But the rules also grant owners wide latitude around how long those protective structures can remain up — with some becoming part of the cityscape for longer than a decade.
For many landlords, it’s less expensive to erect the sheds and delay repairs than it is to do the repairs in a timely manner.
But Adams is hoping to turn that incentive structure on its head. On Monday he laid out a roadmap on how to accomplish that goal — including proposed fines that would be tied to how long a sidewalk shed remains up and new aesthetic requirements for the temporary structures.
“City rules are incentivizing property owners to leave sheds up and put off critical work,” Adams said at a press conference in Chelsea. “Most sheds stay up for longer than a year, and some have darkened our streets for more than a decade. We have normalized the sheds all over our city, and that is unacceptable.”
Adams held his announcement outside a Seventh Ave. building that had scaffolding up for about 20 months prior to the press conference. According to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, the scaffolding came down after the property owner got wind of Adams’ announcement.
Right now, there are about 9,000 permitted sheds in use throughout the city, according to city data. Those sheds, on average, have been up for 497 days and span nearly 400 miles, or about 3% of the city’s sidewalk space. Last year, the city’s Independent Budget Office revealed that the use of scaffolding on city streets has tripled over the past 20 years.
To get them down faster, Adams and Levine are planning to push for new legislation that would create a fine structure to be applied to sheds erected for building repairs.
Under the plan, fines would start kicking in 90 days after a shed is first permitted and could run from between $6,000 to $10,000 per month, depending on the building’s location. Landlords with sheds covering buildings in Midtown Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, Long Island City and on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx would be subject to $10,000 penalties under the plan.
“Once a sidewalk shed goes up, the clock starts ticking. At 90 days, the first penalties are issued. So you have to act,” Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi said. “Every month thereafter, until repairs are complete, we’ll issue another penalty.”
Buildings Department Commissioner Jimmy Oddo said the city doesn’t intend to be inflexible when issuing fines, though, noting that when repair work begins, “we’ll have conversations about the fines that have been issued.”
The penalties outlined by Joshi and Oddo would require City Council approval. While the mayor’s relationship with the Council has been frosty lately, Adams has at least two supporters on the lawmaking body, Council members Gale Brewer and Keith Powers who were both on hand to back Adams in his announcement Monday.
Inside NYC Politics
Brewer suggested that some negotiations over the finer points of the plan could be in the offing, though. After Adams and several other top city officials spoke Monday, she noted that while some landlords have the means to make their repairs more quickly, others — like church and synagogue owners — might delay in doing so due to a lack of cash.
Brewer said she was heartened that the administration included in its plan a low-interest loan program to provide aid for struggling small property owners that might not have the financial wherewithal to work within the city’s new shed-removal timeframe.
The specific contours of that loan program, however, are not yet entirely clear.
Other measures laid out by Adams include replacing sheds with netting in cases were it’s safe to do so. Safety netting for facade work is currently permitted, but rarely used due to a lack of standardized netting designs, according to city officials. To encourage the use of netting, the Buildings Department plans to issue a new bulletin with specific rules pertaining to its use.
That agency is also planning to request new proposals for more aesthetically pleasing shed designs to replace the pipe-and-plywood structures most New Yorkers have become inured to over the years. The updated designs will require better lighting and allow for art to be placed on shed panels, according to city officials.
Adams would not say definitively whether or not such aesthetic standards might be extended to other parts of the city landscape — like store awnings, for example — but hinted that policies along similar lines might be in the works.
“Everything is on the table,” the mayor said. “As we reach a point of announcement, we will do something like this.”",Not_Explicit
"ICICI Bank Q1 Result Review - NIMs Declined QoQ; Return On Asset Sustained At Multi Quarter High: IDBI Capital
Asset quality remain stable with gross non-performing asset at 2.76%.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
IDBI Capital Report
ICICI Bank Ltd.’s (one of our top picks) reported decline in net interest margins by 12 basis points QoQ to 4.78% during Q1 FY24 led by higher cost of deposits.
Asset quality remain stable with gross non-performing asset at 2.76% versus 2.81% QoQ led by higher slippages. Also, restructured assets stood at 0.4% versus 0.4% QoQ.
Credit growth declined to 18% YoY versus 19% YoY (FY23) as overseas book declined by 29.5% YoY.
ICICI Bank reported strong profitability growth at 40% YoY led by strong net interest income growth. During Q1 FY24, NII grew by 38% YoY against a loan growth of 19% YoY; however margins declined QoQ.
Pre provision operating profit grew by 37% YoY led by lower other income (up 17% YoY).
Lower credit costs led by better recoveries resulted in best return ratios in last few years; return on asset maintained at 2.4%.
We maintain ‘Buy’ with a target price of Rs 1,240, valuing parent business at Rs 1,082 at 2.9 times price/adjusted book value FY25E and rest for the subsidiaries.
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DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"Bloomberg via Getty Images
toggle caption
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during a meeting of President Biden's Competition Council in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during a meeting of President Biden's Competition Council in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday slammed the growing political rhetoric and focus on culture war issues, such as LGBTQ concerns that overtook an appropriations debate on Capitol Hill earlier this week.
Buttigieg, the first openly gay man confirmed to a Cabinet position, made the remarks in a wide-ranging interview at the Department of Transportation with members of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
He said he had not ""very closely"" tracked the argument that broke out Tuesday in a House appropriations meeting on funding for transportation, housing and urban development. At the meeting Democrats slammed Republicans for proposing to eliminate funding for LGBTQ efforts, including community centers in Pennsylvania.
Buttigieg said the focus on such culture war issues isn't reflective of what's a major priority for communities across the country. He alluded to fights over drag shows and ads by beer companies that have led to boycotts.
""When I'm out in Wheeling, West Virginia or Pittsburgh at the airport or anywhere else, the questions are not about beer bottles or drag queens. The questions are about making sure that we can deliver these transportation assets that people can count on,"" he said. ""It is maddening sometimes to look at the split screen on cable TV, and I'm trying to make sure people are aware of the literally tens of thousands of good projects we've already supported around the country.""
In Tuesday's meeting, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro called Republicans ""terrorists"" for moving to block funding for LGBTQ centers and other programs. Republicans pushed back, arguing that they were not targeting specific groups, and asking for DeLauro's remarks to be ""taken down,"" or removed from the record.
The hearing recessed several times after members traded insults.
Buttigieg says the political rhetoric focused on culture wars has ultimately eclipsed other major issues, including the annual funding measure for his agency and others that must pass to avert a government shutdown.
""We need to do two things and it should not be hard to do. One is to safeguard vulnerable groups as a matter of policy, which is something we believe in as administration and is the right thing to do, and another is to keep doing the work of taking care of the basics,"" he said.
Buttigieg also noted that his agency is closely watching if Congress will make next budgetary deadlines to fund his agency. The Fiscal Responsibility Act signed into law last month to lift the nation's debt ceiling also sets out new budget restraints.
""We're working to make sure that we can get the resources we need for what Americans were expecting of us in the context of some very real constraints presented by the Fiscal Responsibility Act,"" he said. ""A lot of the [Infrastructure Act] money is advanced appropriated, but a lot of what we need to do isn't ... and so, as we get closer and closer to budget time, it's something we're going to be really concerned about.""",Not_Explicit
"IMF raises global economic growth expectations to 3 percent
The International Monetary Fund has raised its global economic growth forecast for 2023 to 3 percent from 2.8 percent, the organization announced Tuesday.
That’s a slight decrease from 2022’s 3.4 percent economic growth, but shows improvement over previous expectations. The U.S. economy is expected to grow by 1.8 percent in 2023 — above the average for other advanced economies — and 1 percent in 2024.
“The global economy continues to gradually recover from the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the near term, the signs of progress are undeniable,” IMF Research Director Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said. “Yet many challenges still cloud the horizon, and it is too early to celebrate.”
The global focus on fighting inflation has led to depressed economic growth, the IMF said, and its still unclear if policymakers can achieve a “soft landing,” solving inflation without a recession.
“Tentative signs in early 2023 that the world economy could achieve a soft landing — with inflation coming down and growth steady — have receded amid stubbornly high inflation and recent financial sector turmoil,” the report states.
“Although inflation has declined as central banks have raised interest rates and food and energy prices have come down, underlying price pressures are proving sticky, with labor markets tight in a number of economies.”
While factors like inflation are going in the right direction, the IMF report says economists are unsure if the global economy can avoid another crisis like a resurgent COVID-19 or a worsening war in Ukraine.
If the global financial markets worsen, advanced economies could see 2.5 percent growth this year. That would be the smallest growth outside of a recession since 2001, the report says.
“The anemic outlook reflects the tight policy stances needed to bring down inflation, the fallout from the recent deterioration in financial conditions, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and growing geoeconomic fragmentation,” the report states.
Global inflation is expected to reduce to 6.8 percent this year from 8.7 percent in 2022, and reduce again to 5.2 percent in 2024. That projection is also a slight improvement over previous forecasts.
But inflation still won’t return to target levels, 2 to 3 percent, until after 2025. Only then will interest rates also return to lower levels as well, according to the report.
“Risks to the outlook are heavily skewed to the downside, with the chances of a hard landing having risen sharply,” the report states. “Policymakers have a narrow path to walk to improve prospects and minimize risks.”
In the U.S., inflation has hit its lowest mark since early 2021, slowing to 3 percent year-over-year as of June, according to the Labor Department.
The Consumer Price Index also marked the smallest year-over-year increase since March 2021.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"MOSCOW, July 20 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin approved Arctic LNG 2's first line departure via the Northern Sea Route from the Murmansk region to its future production site on the Gydan peninsula, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
Putin, the ultimate decision-maker in Russia, pays special attention to energy projects in the country. Russia heavily relies on oil and gas production, while Moscow is focusing on developing its own know-how at a time of Western sanctions.
The Murmansk region hosts the world's first facility for mass producing natural gas liquefaction trains on gravity-based structures (GBS), which will be used in Arctic LNG 2.
Arctic LNG 2 would be Russia's third large-scale project for producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) after a Gazprom (GAZP.MM)-led Sakhalin 2 plant in Russia's Pacific and Yamal LNG controlled by Novatek (NVTK.MM).
It would help Russia achieve its goal of gaining 20% of the global LNG market by 2035 from around 8% currently.
""LNG projects are very important. They allow us to conquer share on global LNG market, to develop related sectors... There are reasons to believe that Arctic LNG 2 will be implemented on time,"" Putin said in televised comments.
Novatek, with a 60% stake, leads Arctic LNG 2, which is expected to start producing the super-cooled gas at the end of this year or in early 2024 at its first technological line.
Arctic LNG 2's three lines will have production capacity of 6.6 million tonnes of LNG per year each. Investments in the project are estimated at $21.3 billion.
Other shareholders of Arctic LNG 2 are French energy major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) (10%), China's CNPC (10%) and CNOOC (0883.HK) (10%), as well as Japan Arctic LNG (10%), a consortium of Mitsui & Co, Ltd. (8031.T) and JOGMEC.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"From July 1 to July 24, Scott and his PAC, Trust in the Mission, spent a combined $3.1 billion on television and digital ads for the 2024 presidential primary, according to AdImpact. The pro-Scott super PAC also placed a $40 million TV and digital ad reservation in addition to $7 million slated for August — the first campaign to do so post-Labor Day.
If this substantial spending continues, Scott has the potential to slip into third place behind the former president and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
This is significant as Scott and some outsider candidates are slightly rising in some state polls, narrowing their margin between themselves and DeSantis. The South Carolina senator reached double digits in Iowa and South Carolina, two GOP primary battleground states.
In Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, Scott's Trust in the Mission PAC reserved $19.9 million, making the PAC the biggest spender of the presidential race at $25.9 million. On July 21, one day later, the pro-Scott PAC bumped its total spending up to $30.8 million.
Pro-Scott spending nationwide sits at $31.9 million, over $10 million more than pro-Trump spending and over $15 million more than pro-DeSantis spending, as of July 20.
#Election2024: In the last 2 days, we've seen Trust in the Mission PAC (Pro-Tim Scott) reserve $19.9M in IA, NH, and SC. They're now the highest spender of the Presidential race ($25.9M).— AdImpact Politics (@AdImpact_Pol) July 20, 2023
Pro-Scott spending now stands at $31.9M nationwide.
Pro-Trump: $21.6M
Pro-DeSantis: $16.7M
DeSantis himself has trickled down to a 19.3% RCP average, a slight dip from his ratings in March and early summer where he broke or hit around 30%. Trump maintains a significant lead, with Real Clear Politics marking him at an average of 51.0%.
Still, Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., and DeSantis's super PAC, Never Back Down, remain the top ad spenders, with the former spending $19.9 million and the latter spending $15.6 million. Scott sits in fourth place with $4.3 million spent on ads.
DeSantis, Scott, Trump, as well as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all qualify for the Republican National Committee's first primary debate on Aug. 23.
Scott is counting on the debates to help him present himself as a compelling and optimistic alternative to Trump, as big-money Republican donors are reportedly dissatisfied with their options. If Trump does not appear at the RNC debate, for which he is still noncommital, it could be a showdown between DeSantis and Scott.",Not_Explicit
"AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- The U.S. women's national team arrived at the 2023 Women's World Cup 10 days ago. The players have talked about the environment, their teammates and how they fill the days. Now, with less than 24 hours to go before their first game, they finally have an opponent to talk about, that being World Cup debutantes Vietnam.
Manager Mai Duc Chung's side is something of a wild card, having qualified out of the Asian Confederation via a playoff at the expense of Chinese Taipei and Thailand. Their recent friendly results have been a hodgepodge; there's no disgrace in losing to Germany 2-1, a match in which the Golden Star Women Warriors showed improved organization and defensive discipline. But that was followed up by a 2-0 defeat to New Zealand and a 9-0 hammering by Spain behind closed doors.
So what version of Vietnam is the U.S. expecting? U.S. manager Vlatko Andonovski is clearly consulting his ""Worst Case Scenario Handbook.""
""We're preparing to see the best Vietnam team that has ever been on the field, and if that is the team that we saw against Germany, that's what we're preparing for,"" Andonovski said at the pre-game press conference. ""And at the end, I hope we have a good result. I hope we finish the game and win the game with multiple goals, but we won't know anything until the game is over. All we can do is just prepare the best that we can to be ready for it.""
The U.S. players are of similar minds.
""You can't take them for granted,"" forward Lynn Williams said about Vietnam. ""I think that every single opponent we come up against, it's going to be tough. Every single [team] is qualified for the World Cup, so there's that.""
Vietnam is under no illusions about the magnitude of its task. Mai referenced the fact that Vietnam is the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, while the U.S. is ranked first. And while he emphasized his team is here to learn, they don't intend to be pushovers either.
""The U.S. is a very, very strong team. It is like a mountain,"" said Mai during Friday's press conference via a translator. ""But it doesn't mean that we will give up. We will have very suitable tactics so that we can minimize the goals and we can minimize the injuries. And if we can score goals, then it will be great.""
Forward Huynh Nhu added, ""At the moment, no fear at all... I believe all my comrades and friends [are] the same; no fear.""
The expectation is that Vietnam will sit deep, defend stoutly and then try to hit the U.S. on the counterattack through forward Huynh Nhu. It's an approach the U.S. struggled to cope with in its final pre-World Cup friendly against Wales, when it took two second-half goals from Trinity Rodman to finally get the win. But Williams said the U.S. has to be ready for anything.
""I think that they're going to play a different style than we are probably used to,"" she said. ""So it's just our ability to adapt. Obviously, every single opponent that we play -- we scout them, and then half the time it's not what we scouted. So just trusting each other and being able to adapt on the fly and trust that somebody behind you is seeing something and talking that through. What we've been talking about a lot is just we stick to our game plan, what makes us great, and then also having the ability to adapt in the game.""
Four years ago, the U.S. faced Thailand in its opener and went goal wild on their way to 13-0 victory. U.S. defender Crystal Dunn recalls that the two teams met on the final day of the first set of matches. The Americans were pent up and ready to be let loose, resulting in a lopsided scoreline. This time around, the Americans' first game comes on Day 3 of the tournament.
""I think this go around, we have that same excitement,"" Dunn said. ""Everyone's always asking us questions about the Netherlands and Portugal. I'm like, 'We have Vietnam. We've got to get through this game before we even consider talking about the second game.' And I think we're all focused on that first game, that first kickoff.""
Vietnam's recent results, not to mention the United States' significant edge in speed and size, have only added another layer of expectation that fans will witness a similarly uneven scoreline Saturday. But Dunn and her teammates are determined to tune out that kind of noise. In 2019, the Americans proved themselves adept at creating a bubble that kept outside distractions and the expectations of others to a minimum; that same approach is being applied this time. Against Vietnam, getting the three points is the objective, no matter how it happens.
""In a World Cup setting vs. a friendly match, it's really about getting the job done, moving on to the next, and fine-tuning the little things along the way,"" Dunn said. ""But we're going to obviously try to put our best foot out there, and it doesn't always have to result in a 13-0 win. Sometimes you could play well and a team just defends their heart out. And I think that is something that we have to have to anticipate against Vietnam.""
Four years against ago against Thailand, the U.S. took some heat for some seemingly over-the-top celebrations as the goals piled up. Williams, who at age 30 endured a long wait to get to her first World Cup, said that if she gets on the scoresheet, she won't be holding back.
""You have to remember: It's the group stage, so goal differential matters,"" she said. ""And two, I think that you are taking away people's ability to celebrate maybe their first goals in the World Cup ever. And I just don't think that we would ever see that on the men's side of like, 'Don't celebrate.' I think that the most sportsmanlike thing we can do is treat Vietnam, if we're in that position, like any other opponent that we would play.""",Not_Explicit
"Strikes in schools across England may still happen in September, after local branches of the largest union representing teachers told the Observer this weekend that they would vote against the proposed pay offer.
Two weeks ago the government announced that it would accept the recommendation of the independent School Teachers’ Review Body for a 6.5% pay rise for most teachers from September, and the four education unions representing teachers and heads advised their members to vote in favour of the offer.
But on social media last week, many teachers and heads were arguing that the rise was not enough to solve the crisis in retaining and recruiting teachers. Many also said they did not trust government reassurances that the deal was properly funded.
After emergency meetings last week, some local branches of the National Education Union (NEU), the largest education union – including ones in Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Birmingham and some parts of London – defied their national executive and recommended that their members reject the offer.
Leigh-Amanda Seedhouse, a special educational needs (SEN) teacher and the secretary of the Oxfordshire branch of the NEU, said: “There is anger out there that this offer is still short of what we were asking and most certainly does not redress the real-term losses we have all suffered over the past 13 years.”
She told the Observer that one SEN school in her area had already been forced to move to opening only four days a week because of teacher shortages.
“We can’t continue with the current crisis and this offer won’t fix it,” she said.
One significant issue is whether schools can afford the proposed pay rises. The Department for Education has said 3% will come from “reprioritising” within its own budget, though it said no cash would be taken from “frontline services”, including SEN funding, school building, nurseries or funding for those aged 16 to 19.
Schools will be expected to fund the remaining 3.5% from their budgets, drawing on the £2bn which the government said it would provide for each of the next two years in last year’s autumn statement.
But some schools say this money has already been taken up by the rising cost of energy and everything else they buy, because inflation has soared.
The head of a primary school in Birmingham said she and her staff would be voting against the pay offer because their budget was already at breaking point. “It is an utter fallacy to say this is funded,” she said. “Yes, the government did put in more money, but it was all sucked into the hole that was already there.”
She added: “We’ve reached the precipice. My worry is that no amount of money will fix the serious problems we have now after being underfunded for so long.”
The head said she could not afford to order even basics such as paper this term. The school had been hiring its own family support worker for one day a week because public services were now so depleted that families had been left with no outside support, she said. However, this term they had had to let the support worker go because they could not afford to pay her.
“She was helping families where six people were living in a two-bed flat full of mould and needed help to get out,” the head said.
“It is bad enough that we had to hire someone to do this sort of thing ourselves, but now having to take it away feels terrible.”
Mary Bousted, general secretary of the NEU, said: “I’m not selling this as the best deal ever, but given the government we are dealing with, this is a real achievement and I’m very proud of our members.”
She added: “We are saying: ‘You can absolutely reject this, but that means committing to multiple days of strike action in the autumn term and the government still won’t budge.’”
The Department for Education declined to comment.",Not_Explicit
"Gallego nearly doubles Sinema’s Q2 fundraising in Arizona’s US Senate race
Jul 20, 2023, 10:19 AM
(Facebook Photos)
PHOENIX – U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego was the top second-quarter fundraiser in Arizona’s Senate race, but incumbent Kyrsten Sinema had the largest war chest of the potential candidates who submitted campaign finance reports earlier this month.
That comes after Gallego outraised Sinema in the first quarter of 2023, $3.74 million to $2.1 million.
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, a Republican who entered the race in April, reported nearly $608,000 in contributions in his first FEC filing. No other Republicans have submitted fundraising numbers in the 2024 Senate race.
Sinema, an independent who hasn’t yet said whether she intends to seek reelection next year, had nearly $10.8 million cash on hand after spending around $842,000 in the second quarter.
Gallego spent nearly $2.1 million from April to June, leaving his campaign with about $3.8 million in the bank.
Lamb went through just over $272,000 in the second quarter and carried around $335,000 into July.
What about the race for Ruben Gallego’s seat?
Gallego is leaving a safe Democratic congressional district to pursue Sinema’s seat.
Four Democrats have entered the race to succeed Gallego in District 3 and submitted their first campaign finance reports earlier this month.
Phoenix City Councilwoman Yassamin Ansari, the city’s current vice mayor, was the leading fundraiser and spender in the race, taking in $510,229, more than her three opponents combined.
Ansari spent $97,498, leaving her with $412,730 cash on hand, more than doubling the war chest of her closest competitor, Raquel Terán.
Terán, who resigned from the state Senate to run for Congress, reported $206,037 in contributions and $47,206 in disbursements, leaving her with $158,830 heading into the third quarter.
Phoenix City Councilwoman Laura Pastor, whose late father Ed Pastor once held the House seat she’s seeking, had $106,825 cash on hand after raising $116,001 and spending $9,175.
Ylenia Aguilar, a member of the Central Arizona Project Water Board, raised $59,770 and didn’t spend much, reporting only $3,451 in disbursements. That left her campaign with $56,319 in the bank.",Not_Explicit
"The consultation into the plan to close hundreds of ticket offices in England is set to be extended for at least another month, the BBC understands.
The 21-day period for passengers to share their views is due to end on Wednesday. But chairman of Network Rail, Lord Peter Hendy, told the BBC it was ""going to be extended"".
More than 170,000 responses have been received, according to Transport Focus.
The plan has been met with concern from unions and disability groups.
Lord Hendy told BBC Breakfast an extension to the consultation would be ""a really good thing for our customers, because the railway ought to listen to its passengers.""
Posters went up in stations earlier this month, inviting the public to send in their responses.
The Department for Transport has not denied a report in the Mirror newspaper that the extension might now run into September.
The ticket office closure proposals have been put forward by train operating companies. They are under pressure from the government to cut costs after being supported heavily during the Covid pandemic, and argue only 12% of tickets are now bought at station kiosks.
Currently 299 stations in England run by train companies with DfT contracts have a full time staffed ticket office. 708 are staffed part time. Under the proposals, most would close.
The industry argues staff would instead be present on platforms and concourses to sell tickets, offer travel advice and help people with accessibility.
However, the UK's largest rail union the RMT and the TSSA union both warned the plans could ultimately lead to job cuts.
Some rail experts have also said the complicated ticketing system should be reformed before ticket office changes are introduced.
Penny Melville-Brown, a blind Royal Navy veteran who regularly uses the railway said the proposals discriminated against people living with sight loss.
She told the BBC that she relied heavily on ticket office staff at a train station as she has ""no idea where to go as I don't see anything"".
She added: ""I don't have huge problems with making things modern and work better for everyone, but when you design new systems, you need to start designing with the people who are going to have most problems, the most vulnerable.""
The disability rights campaigner has written an open letter explaining how difficult commuting would be and criticising the consultation process.
There have been threats of legal challenges to both from some disability campaigners, and from five Labour metro mayors.
But the train operating companies' body, the Rail Delivery Group, has consistently defended the proposals and the consultation.
Last week its chief executive Jacqueline Starr told the BBC the industry was listening to accessibility groups' concerns, and had taken part in a 'round table' with the rail minister.
Asked if she could promise that every ticket would still be available from machines or online, including the cheapest, Ms Starr responded: ""I'm not going to make promises that that that I can't keep"".
She added that the industry would work hard to make sure vending machines did offer every ticket where possible.",Not_Explicit
"PARIS -- The torch that will be used to carry the Olympic flame around France and on its final leg at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Games next July is a sleek silver-colored cylinder of recycled steel that is gracefully tapered at both ends and is being made in limited numbers to save resources.
Paris organizers unveiled French designer Mathieu Lehanneur's torch design Tuesday — part of a week of activities that mark the year-to-go countdown to the July 26 opening.
Organizers said 2,000 torches — five times fewer than for some previous editions of the Olympics — are being produced from recycled steel.
Each one weighs 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) and is 70 centimeters (27.5 inches) tall.
Paris is using the same torch design for both the Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Once lit in Ancient Olympia, Greece, the flame will be transported by boat to the southern French city of Marseille.
The torch relay will start from there on May 8, with 10,000 torchbearers taking turns to carry it — the last of them lighting the cauldron at the opening ceremony.
___
AP coverage of the Paris Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"Lord Frost’s call to roll back devolution handed SNP ammunition
One of Boris Johnson’s former ministers handed the SNP ammunition by calling for devolution to be “rolled back”, a former senior Tory adviser has said after a poll showed that people in Scotland want Holyrood to have more powers.
It found that 51 per cent of people want an enhanced Scottish parliament either through the transfer of more responsibilities from Westminster or through independence.
In April, Lord Frost, who was Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator, called on Conservative ministers to make clear that they would “review and roll back some currently devolved powers” if they were returned to government at the next general election.
This provoked a reaction among Tories at Holyrood and prompted Adam Morris, director of Shorthand PR and former head of media",Not_Explicit
"The mayor of Erie, Pennsylvania, is asking Donald Trump's campaign to reimburse the city tens of thousands of dollars in relation to a 2018 rally that the former president held.
Trump is set to return to Erie, a western Pennsylvania city that helped propel him to the White House in 2016, on Saturday for another rally as he aims to strike up support amongst voters ahead of the 2024 Republican presidential primary. The former president is expected to take the stage to deliver remarks at the Erie Insurance Arena at 6 p.m. ET.
As the former president's campaign prepares for the rally, Erie Mayor Joe Schember is again requesting for Trump to pay the city $35,129 for a rally that he held in 2018, the Erie Times-News reported on Monday. City officials first attempted to bill Trump's campaign for the rally, which attracted 12,000 people to downtown Erie in October 2018, nearly five years prior, but never heard back from Trump's team, the newspaper reported.
The requested funds were related to overtime pay for city employees who were needed to work the event, including police officers, according to the Erie Times-News.
""I think we have to try, and I feel like my team feels the same way,"" Schember told the newspaper. ""We're going to see whether we can get some payment from them in advance this time. It's important to do this because we're talking about taxpayer money being used to help make his visit more safe.""
Schember also pointed to the income generated from Trump's rallies, which typically attracts thousands of his supporters, as to why he should be paying cities where he holds rallies. While Trump's campaign, which had more than $35 million on hand at the time, did not pay the city for the 2018 rally, it did pay $17,500 to the arena, the Times-News reported based on Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
""Trump has been able to bring in millions of dollars for his campaign,"" the mayor said. ""He should be able to easily pay these costs to cities.""
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email.
Several cities where Trump has visited have complained about his campaign not paying for increased costs required to ensure his rallies would be held in a safe manner. Local news station KTSM, which is based in El Paso, Texas, reported in November 2022 that the former president's campaign did not submit any payments for a February 2019 rally it held at the El Paso County Coliseum.
Trump's campaign owed the city more than $560,000, which includes a 21 percent late fee, by 2022, KTSM reported.
Newsweek reached out to the El Paso mayor's office via email for comment.
In 2020, Trump's campaign owed nearly $2 million to 14 cities across the country to cover police and public safety costs, Newsweek previously reported. The largest amounts owed at the time were to El Paso and Minneapolis, Minnesota, to which he owed $542,733.
Michael Glassner, who served as Trump's 2020 campaign's chief operating officer (COO), previously deferred to Secret Service when asked about these funds, Politico reported. Secret Service officials, however, said they do not have a mechanism to pay for police overtime due to these rallies.",Not_Explicit
"The R&A hasn’t received any credible threat or “direct intelligence” about a protest or demonstration at the British Open this week, but CEO Martin Slumbers said Wednesday that they are fully prepared should one break out.
After what apparently happened last year at St. Andrews, they have to be.
Slumbers revealed on Wednesday ahead of this year’s event at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England, that there was a direct threat to “one of the most senior players in the field” last year in Scotland. Though he didn’t get into specifics, and nothing ended up happening, it was enough to take extra precautions this time around.
“I think you’re aware that there was direct intelligence last year, and most people in this room don’t know that The Open was targeted last year,” Slumbers said. “We have significant security procedures in place. We work clearly with the law enforcement agencies, and we’ll wait and see what happens. You will have seen that we advised the players, please don’t get involved, and I stand by that. We have enough things in place to be able to deal with it.”
Demonstrators under the name “Just Stop Oil” have been staging protests at various sporting and entertainment events throughout the United Kingdom in recent weeks and months in an effort to get “the UK Government [to] stop licensing all new oil, gas and coal projects.”
The group interrupted Wimbledon earlier this month and dumped confetti and puzzle pieces onto the court during play. The group has staged similar protests at cricket and rugby matches, horse races and more. They were out in Parliament Square in London protesting again on Wednesday, too.
🎾 BREAKING: Just Stop Oil Disrupt @Wimbledon
🎉 “Once more, orange clouds hang over a British sporting event this summer—this time it’s ticker tape rather than paint dust, but it is an intrusion and will need sorting out.”
🚷 Sign up to take action at https://t.co/7BzUVS02dZ pic.twitter.com/2iaoo6GNdO
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) July 5, 2023
It’s unclear if the threat Slumbers mentioned at last year’s British Open was connected to “Just Stop Oil.”
Slumbers said they haven’t received any direct threats about a protest or demonstration this week, and it’s unclear if anything will break out. A perimeter has been set up around Hoylake as a precaution, however, and there is a large security presence in and around the course for the expected 200,000 or more spectators that will attend the tournament this week.
Players and caddies have been warned too, and have been told not to engage should something occur on the course. The last thing anyone wants, reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm said Tuesday, is to get hit by a golf ball.
“I do have a reputation, so I hope they don’t catch me on a bad hole,” he said jokingly about potential demonstrators. “I really don't know. I’ve seen a couple of those things. I know they’re going for an impact. I saw a couple of them intervening in Wimbledon, and obviously this looks like it could be a perfect spot. But obviously we have nothing to do with it.”",Not_Explicit
"‘A frozen conflict’: U.S. ‘rushes’ arms into Ukraine to break ‘stalemate’06:01
‘Russia is not being helpful’ to U.S. efforts to release wrongfully detained US citizens07:39
- Now Playing
Jack Smith will try to prove Trump knew stolen election ‘theory’ was ‘false’ and would ‘not hold up’05:41
- UP NEXT
Rep. Zoe Lofgren: If reelected, Trump ‘intends to destroy three branches of government’08:30
U.S. soldier detained in North Korea was ‘supposed to be heading home’ before crossing DMZ04:50
‘This is an endgame move’: Trump receives target letter from Special Counsel in Jan. 6 probe06:35
John Kirby: Ukraine ‘has every right’ to choose how it will ‘defend itself’ and ‘reclaim territory’08:41
Bill Kristol: ‘No Labels’ centrist ticket ‘is not responsible centrism’ as it could elect Trump05:33
20-Year-Old Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Novak Djokovic01:09
Rep. Moskowitz responds to Jayapal: Saying that ‘an entire country’ is ‘racist” is ‘unacceptable’04:20
Actors join writers in historic dual strike, effectively shutting down ‘Hollywood as we know it’05:32
Biden surrogate Messina touts fundraising haul: ‘Biden outraised all the Republicans combined’06:53
Gen. Barry McCaffrey: U.S. ‘correct’ to send Ukraine cluster bombs; ‘they are a very effective tool'04:55
Jen Psaki: Biden ‘is trying to keep hold’ of NATO alliances that ‘were shattered’ by Trump.04:32
Sen. Jacky Rosen says ‘our adversaries are watching’ Sen. Tuberville’s military promotions blockade03:43
Sen. Mark Warner: China ‘has a goal’ of trying to ‘not only hurt our economy’ but ‘all our systems’06:48
John Kasich says secretaries of state are ‘slow rolling’ ballot access for No Labels party04:58
Sen. Angus King: ‘If NATO accepted Ukraine tomorrow, we'd be in a world war;’ delay is ‘appropriate’06:51
Rep. Mikie Sherrill: Tuberville’s 'unconscionable' military promotions blockade hurts ‘readiness’06:07
Rep. Eric Swalwell calls House GOP-led Wray hearing 'just bananas, absolute chaos'03:57
‘A frozen conflict’: U.S. ‘rushes’ arms into Ukraine to break ‘stalemate’06:01
‘Russia is not being helpful’ to U.S. efforts to release wrongfully detained US citizens07:39
- Now Playing
Jack Smith will try to prove Trump knew stolen election ‘theory’ was ‘false’ and would ‘not hold up’05:41
- UP NEXT
Rep. Zoe Lofgren: If reelected, Trump ‘intends to destroy three branches of government’08:30
U.S. soldier detained in North Korea was ‘supposed to be heading home’ before crossing DMZ04:50
‘This is an endgame move’: Trump receives target letter from Special Counsel in Jan. 6 probe06:35
Play All",Not_Explicit
"Scott Olson/Getty Images
toggle caption
Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a Farmers for Trump campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa on July 7.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a Farmers for Trump campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa on July 7.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump announced this week he's received word that he's a target of the grand jury investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump took to social media to say he could be federally charged related to the Jan. 6, 2021 siege on the U.S. Capitol.
If charges in the Jan. 6 case come to fruition, Trump, the first former president in United States history to be criminally indicted, will be facing numerous charges in three separate criminal cases in three states.
So far this year, Trump has been criminally indicted twice for crimes he allegedly committed before and after his presidency — all announced as he's running for president again.
Trump has also been embroiled in civil lawsuits out of New York — one of which is tied to allegations he and close advisers to the Trump Organization (including his children) committed fraud.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in each of the criminal cases he's been charged and says he is not liable in the other cases.
Criminal cases
The Mar-a-Lago classified documents case
U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images
toggle caption
In this photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, stacks of boxes can be observed in a bathroom and shower in Mar-a-Lago's Lake Room in Palm Beach, Fla.
U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images
In this photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, stacks of boxes can be observed in a bathroom and shower in Mar-a-Lago's Lake Room in Palm Beach, Fla.
U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images
Number of charges: 37
Expected trial date: Waiting for U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to decide timing for a trial in Florida
Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges for allegedly storing dozens of classified documents at his Florida resort and then refusing to hand them over to the FBI and the National Archives.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who is also leading the investigation into the Jan. 6 charges against Trump, oversaw the probe into the documents case.
Federal prosecutors allege Trump had a direct hand in packing classified documents when he left the White House in 2021, that he then bragged about having these secret materials and pushed his own attorney to mislead federal law enforcement about what kind of documents he had in his resort.
Prosecutors have told Judge Cannon they want Trump's trial to begin on December 11. It's expected that legal filings by Trump's team will delay the schedule and potentially push back any trial into 2024. His legal team is working to get the trial pushed back until after the 2024 presidential election. At a pretrial hearing on July 18 Cannon said she would issue an order soon outlining an appropriate schedule.
Trump aide Walt Nauta has also been indicted in this case. He pleaded not guilty in early July to charges that he conspired with the former president to withhold classified documents.
The Stormy Daniels hush money case
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP via Getty Images
toggle caption
Adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, on April 16, 2018, in New York. Trump is facing criminal charges for alleged hush money payments paid to Daniels in 2016.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP via Getty Images
Adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, on April 16, 2018, in New York. Trump is facing criminal charges for alleged hush money payments paid to Daniels in 2016.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP via Getty Images
Number of charges: 34
Expected trial date: March 25, 2024 in New York
With this case, Trump became the first former president in United States history to be criminally indicted. The grand jury voted to indict Trump in March on 34 felony counts of business record falsification.
Allegations in this case go back to before Trump was elected president. They are tied to hush money payments made before the 2016 elections to the adult film star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair.
Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, has said that she and Trump had an affair in 2006. Following the launch of Trump's campaign in 2016, Daniels offered to sell her story to gossip magazines. In October, National Enquirer executives friendly to Trump flagged this to Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
Cohen agreed to pay $130,000 to Daniels to keep her silent. Her attorney received this money less than two weeks before the election. Cohen was later reimbursed $420,000 after Trump was elected president — which Trump has admitted to doing to pay off Daniels. Trump has long maintained he never had an affair with Daniels.
Elizabeth Williams/AP
toggle caption
This artist sketch depicts former President Donald Trump, far left, pleading not guilty as the Clerk of the Court reads the charges and asks him ""How do you plea?"" on April 4, 2023, in a Manhattan courtroom in New York, as his attorney Joseph Tacopina, center, watches.
Elizabeth Williams/AP
This artist sketch depicts former President Donald Trump, far left, pleading not guilty as the Clerk of the Court reads the charges and asks him ""How do you plea?"" on April 4, 2023, in a Manhattan courtroom in New York, as his attorney Joseph Tacopina, center, watches.
Elizabeth Williams/AP
According to court records, executives with the Trump Organization categorized the reimbursements as a ""retainer"" for ""legal services.""
One of Trump's attorneys called the decision to prosecute the former president as ""political persecution."" Trump himself has called District Attorney Alvin Bragg a racist for pursuing this case.
Ongoing criminal investigations
The Jan. 6 case
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
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Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
It's unclear what any charges against Trump could entail.
Last December, the congressional Jan. 6 committee investigating the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol referred Trump to the Justice Department for four criminal charges. That included obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to make a false statement; and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by assisting, aiding or comforting those involved in an insurrection.
The committee, however, had no power over what the DOJ chose to do.
But a possible indictment from federal prosecutors could touch on attempts by Trump and his allies to pressure officials not to certify the 2020 election results or urging his supporters to ""fight like hell"" to stop Congress from certifying the result.
Trump spoke with his supporters during a rally in the hours leading up to the mob taking over the U.S. Capitol. In his speech, he told the thousands present ""we must stop the steal.""
So far, investigators have reached deep into Trump's inner circle, contacting former Vice President Mike Pence and the former president's son-in-law to testify before the grand juries in Washington, D.C.
Secretaries of State in several states were also reportedly interviewed as part of the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. CNN reported recently that officials in seven key battleground states during the 2020 election, Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, that were targeted by Trump and his allies ""to subvert the Electoral College"" were subpoenaed.
Also, investigators have spoken with dozens of witnesses with knowledge of the final days of the Trump presidency and what he and his team might've done to prevent Biden from taking the White House.
Trump insiders embroiled in the federal investigation have also included attorneys John Eastman and Jeffrey Clark, who both had their phones taken by agents last year during the probe.
Georgia 2020 election interference
Megan Varner/Getty Images
toggle caption
An exterior view of the Superior Court building of Fulton County on Aug. 31, 2022 in Atlanta, Ga.
Megan Varner/Getty Images
An exterior view of the Superior Court building of Fulton County on Aug. 31, 2022 in Atlanta, Ga.
Megan Varner/Getty Images
In Fulton County, Ga., which is home to Atlanta, District Attorney Fani Willis has impaneled a grand jury to investigate efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn 2020 election results in the state.
The criminal investigation was started by Willis after the publication of a phone call in January 2021 of Trump pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ""find"" ballots in support of Trump. This was after the former president narrowly lost the state to Joe Biden.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and still baselessly maintains there was large-scale voter fraud in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election.
Willis has suggested she'll ask the grand jury for indictments later this summer, potentially as soon as August, and has told law enforcement to prep for a major public response.
Trump is also still fighting civil lawsuits
New York AG Letitia James' suit against Trump for alleged fraud
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
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New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference on July 13, 2022 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference on July 13, 2022 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Expected trial date: Oct. 2, 2023 in New York
After a three-year investigation, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against Trump, the Trump Organization's executive team and three of his eldest children, last September.
The lawsuit claims that Trump committed fraud by inflating his net worth by billions of dollars in order to get richer.
The case against Trump's oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, has since been dropped.
James is seeking around $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump, his kids and members of his executive team from operating businesses in the state of New York.
E. Jean Carroll case
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
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U.S. magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll departs the Manhattan Federal Court in New York City on May 9, 2023 after a jury found former President Donald Trump liable for the sexual abuse of the writer in the 1990s.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll departs the Manhattan Federal Court in New York City on May 9, 2023 after a jury found former President Donald Trump liable for the sexual abuse of the writer in the 1990s.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
Expected trial date: Jan. 15, 2024 in New York
In 2019, writer E. Jean Carroll first publicly came forward saying Trump had raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s when Trump was known as just a businessman. Trump responded then (and since), denying the accusation and saying that the writer had ulterior motives.
Carroll sued Trump — twice (in 2019 and later in 2022) — in large part for his alleged defamation.
The columnist filed the second lawsuit against Trump (this time for both defamation and rape) after the state of New York lifted the statute of limitations for survivors of sexual assault to file civil claims.
In May, a federal jury found Trump liable for battery and defamation in this second lawsuit. The jury in this case said he did sexually abuse the writer and defamed her when he denied her allegation.
Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages.
This week, a federal judge in New York rejected Trump's motion for a new trial.
Trump's legal team filed a counterclaim against Carroll in late June for defamation. In that suit, he claims Carroll defamed him during her appearance on CNN after the jury verdict. In that interview, she was asked about the verdict finding Trump sexually abused her, but that he didn't rape her. Carroll responded, ""Oh, yes he did.""
Carroll's first lawsuit filed in 2019, referred to as Carroll I in the court, was filed for Trump's early alleged defamatory statements. Following her victory in May, Carroll and her lawyers asked a court to expand the scope of the Carroll I case against Trump, seeking at least an additional $10 million in damages. That trial date is expected next year.",Not_Explicit
"TCS Enters 10-Year Partnership With AIB Life, To Support AIB's Ireland Operations
New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Monday said it has assisted AIB Life in launching its Ireland operations.
Tata Consultancy Services on Monday said it has assisted AIB Life in launching its Ireland operations.
AIB Life is a joint venture between Allied Irish Banks plc and Great-West Lifeco.
The IT services behemoth has leveraged its insurance platform TCS BaNCS which integrates AIB's network of 120 financial advisors and 32 lakh customers to access financial services ranging from life insurance, pensions via mobile banking, a statement said.
""The Joint Venture between AIB and Great-West Lifeco, which will provide AIB customers with exclusive access to AIB life protection, pensions, and investment products, has entered into a 10-year partnership with TCS to build and operate a future-ready digital infrastructure that enables customers to more effectively plan their finances and investments,"" Jacquie Doyle, COO, AIB life, said.
TCS will provide end-to-end administration, information technology and customer as well as claims handling services through its global delivery centre in Letterkenny, Donegal, the company said.
""TCS BaNCS' digital capabilities and configurability will help AIB life differentiate itself in the Irish market with innovative offerings that seamlessly support its customers in their personal financial journeys,"" Vivekanand Ramgopal, President of BFSI Products and Platforms at TCS said.
TCS operates in about 19 countries of Europe since the 1980s, driving almost 30% of its revenue from the region.",Not_Explicit
"- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News that the media is treating him more harshly than it did Donald Trump.
- He said that he thinks he is being ""slammed"" by mainstream outlets in a way that is ""unprecedented.""
- Kennedy's own family has distanced themselves from him and his beliefs about COVID-19 and vaccines.
Longshot Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that the mainstream media has been giving him a tougher time than it gave former President Donald Trump.
During an appearance on Fox News' ""Sunday Morning Futures"" with Maria Bartiromo, the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy was asked if he was being heard by potential voters.
Kennedy, who has recently stirred controversy by baselessly claiming that COVID-19 was ""ethnically targeted"" to spare Jews and Chinese people, told Fox News that his message seems to be getting across despite what he perceives as media bias.
But he didn't hold back in expressing his frustration with how the press is covering him, stating, ""I've been really slammed in a way that I think is unprecedented.""
He added: ""Even more than President Trump was slammed by the mainstream, corporate media.""
Kennedy went on to refer to a July 19-20 Harvard/Harris poll of 2,068 registered voters, which showed that he has a favorability rating of 47%, before erroneously claiming that it showed he had a 20-point lead over any other candidate.
Several candidates, including Trump, have favorability rates within single digits of him.
Nonetheless, he pointed to the numbers as proof that his message is resonating.
""Listen, if I believe the stuff that's written about me in the papers and reported about me on the mainstream news sites, I would not have anything,"" Kennedy told Fox News. ""I would definitely not vote for me, and I would think that I was a very despicable person.""
Kennedy's own family members have publicly distanced themselves from him, saying they oppose his candidacy and what he stands for.
Kerry Kennedy, one of his sisters, told Insider in April that she loves her brother but doesn't endorse his opinions on various issues, including COVID-19 and vaccinations.
And after he made the comment about COVID-19 being ethnically targeted earlier this month, she strongly condemned his comments as ""deplorable.""
Kennedy built a reputation as a prominent anti-vaxxer long before the pandemic, previously proliferating a widely debunked claim that vaccines are linked to autism.
His niece, Kerry Meltzer, told Insider in April that she could not support his presidential bid as a practicing physician because his ""vaccine skepticism is unfounded and potentially dangerous.""
In 2019, two of his siblings and another niece penned an op-ed for Politico in which they denounced Kennedy's views on vaccines and their ""heartbreaking consequences.""",Not_Explicit
"Ramaswamy: Trump showed bad judgment on Jan. 6, but it’s ‘not the same thing as a crime’
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said on Sunday that former President Trump showed bad judgment on Jan. 6, 2021, but that is “not the same thing as a crime.”
“I’ve been consistent all along that I would have made different judgments than Donald Trump made. That is why I am running in this race for the presidency, the same race that he’s in, because I would have made different – and I believe better – judgments for the country. But a bad judgment is not the same thing as a crime. And when we conflate the two, that sets a dangerous precedent for this country,” the tech entrepreneur and billionaire told Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” when asked about Trump’s actions on Jan. 6.
“I don’t want to see us become some banana republic, where the party in power uses police force to arrest its political opponents,” he added, reiterating previous statements.
Ramaswamy has been critical of some of Trump’s actions, while also ardently defending the former president against steps taken by the Department of Justice.
Following news that Trump would be indicted in the classified documents probe, Ramaswamy was quick to pledge to pardon Trump, if Ramaswamy were elected president, and called on other Republican 2024 candidates to do the same.
Trump last week said he received a target letter signaling a possible indictment in the investigation into his attempts to hold onto power after losing the 2020 presidential election.
On Sunday, Ramaswamy, referring to the letter, called a potential indictment against Trump in the Jan. 6 case a “bad idea.”
Trump has remained atop national polling of the 2024 Republican presidential primary race. According to the most recent Morning Consult data, Trump has the support of 55 percent of GOP primary voters, compared to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s 20 percent and Ramaswamy’s 8 percent.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"England have named an unchanged starting XI for the fifth Ashes Test against Australia at The Oval.
Pace bowler James Anderson keeps his place despite having taken only four wickets in three Tests in the series.
Australia are 2-1 up and retained the Ashes after the fourth Test ended in a draw because of persistent rain.
England are looking to draw the series 2-2 and deny Australia a first men's Ashes series win away since 2001 when the final Test starts on Thursday.
Bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes has overcome a quad problem sustained in the fourth Test at Old Trafford to keep his spot.
Fast bowler Mark Wood will play three consecutive Tests in a series for the first time since the last Ashes down under in 2021-22.
Stuart Broad, the leading wicket-taker in the series, is set to play in all five Tests, the only England bowler to do so.
Pace bowler Ollie Robinson, who took 10 wickets in the first three Tests but struggled with a back spasm at Headingley, has again been left out.
England XI: Ben Stokes (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
Anderson, 40, said he has ""no thoughts about retirement"" despite his relative lack of impact in this series.
In his Telegraph column on Tuesday, he said: ""Ten or 15 years ago the debate would be about whether I should be dropped. Now it is about my future. I understand that.
""It is The Oval, the end of a series and a time for speculation.
""If I was bowling horrendously, with my pace down and hobbling around in the field, I might be thinking differently. But the hunger is still there. I feel like I'm bowling well, that I can still offer something to the team.""
Anderson added that he still had the backing of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
""They want me around, so as long as I am still hungry, want to put in the work then I will keep trying to give my best for the team,"" he said.
This match is likely to be the final home Ashes Test for many England players, with the next series in the UK in 2027.
The next Ashes series down under is in the winter of 2025-26, meaning the likes of Anderson, Broad, 37, Wood, 33, and Woakes, 34, could be playing against Australia for the final time.
Spinner Moeen Ali, 36, is unlikely to play beyond this series after only coming out of Test retirement to cover for the injured Jack Leach.",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON -- Global growth will see a slight improvement compared to previous International Monetary Fund projections but “many challenges still cloud the horizon, and it is too early to celebrate,” the organization's chief economist said Tuesday.
IMF economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas gave his assessment as the organization projected that global economic growth will slow to an estimated 3% in 2023 and 2024, down from 3.5% in 2022.
The latest projection reflects a 0.2% increase from the organization's April projections, when IMF leadership said the world economy was expected to grow less than 3% this year, increasing the risk of hunger and poverty globally.
Despite the slight improvement, global growth “remains weak by historical standards,” the IMF report states. But Gourinchas said in a Tuesday blog post that “in the near term, the signs of progress are undeniable.”
The IMF also predicts that global inflation is expected to fall from 8.7% in 2022 to 6.8% in 2023 and 5.2% in 2024.
The organization's economists said that when the U.S. was able to fend off an unprecedented default by resolving the debt ceiling standoff earlier this summer, that in part “moderated adverse risks to the outlook.”
But it said the threat of higher inflation due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and extreme weather could lead central banks to hike interest rates or cause world leaders to enact more restrictive economic policies.
In addition, China's slow recovery following the reopening of its economy after the pandemic “shows signs of losing steam” the IMF said.
The U.S. economy has proved surprisingly resilient in the face of sharply higher borrowing costs. Employers are adding a strong 278,000 jobs a month so far this year; and at 3.6% in June, the unemployment rate is not far off a half-century low.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other officials will gather this week for their latest decision on interest rates, hoping to achieve a “soft landing,"" which is the goal of curbing inflation without causing a deep recession.
___
Associated Press reporter Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Spain's conservative party PP [Partido Popular] is on track to lead negotiations to form a new government in Madrid, exit polls have shown, suggesting this could be the end of the socialist rule of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
PP secured between 145 and 150 seats, followed by the incumbent socialist party PSOE with between 113 and 118 seats, according to initial exit polls published by RTVE. An absolute majority requires 176 seats.
In the absence of a clear majority for any of the two major parties, the focus is now heavily on who will be the third largest political force emerging from Sunday's election. It is so far unclear if the far right party Vox came in third or fourth, given that exit polls put it neck-to-neck with the left-leaning Sumar party.
One of the biggest questions from this election is whether PP will formally join forces with Vox — potentially marking the first time that the far right would return to power since the 1975 dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Exit polls suggest that the right wing bloc could potentially have a working majority.
PP and Vox have previously joined forces to govern in three of the country's regions, but might find it more complicated to work together at the national level.
Members of Alberto Feijóo's conservative party have raised concerns regarding Vox's anti-LGBT rights and anti-immigration policy. Vox has also been criticized by mainstream politicians for opposing abortion rights and denying climate change, among other measures.
The snap election was brought about by socialist PSOE's strong defeat in regional and municipal polls in May. General elections were originally due at the end of this year.
The Sunday vote was the first to ever take place during the summer time. The extreme heat felt in different parts of the country in recent weeks may have shed light on climate policy ahead of the vote.
Pedro Sanchez has served as Spain's prime minister since 2018. He has been criticized for pardoning politicians supporting regional independence. During his mandate, there have also been issues with the ""only yes means yes"" sexual consent law, which reduced the jail time of many convicted rapists through a loophole.
However, Sanchez' economic record proved strong ahead of the vote. Spain's economy experienced a growth rate above 5% in 2022 and is set to expand by about 1.5% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Inflation in Europe's fourth-largest economy is also one of the lowest. In June, Spain became the first economy to report an inflation rate below 2% across the region, down since the historic highs recorded in 2022, according to the country's economy ministry. Political experts have nevertheless said the Sunday vote was more heavily focused on cultural and societal matters.",Not_Explicit
"Ministers are considering putting extra conditions on banking licences after a row over the closure of Brexiteer Nigel Farage's account at Coutts.
It follows reports that lenders could lose their permits if they cut ties with customers because they disagree with their political views.
Mr Farage has accused Coutts of lying about its decision, saying he was ""cancelled"" by the bank.
Coutts says decisions to close an account ""are not taken lightly"".
Government sources told the BBC that the possibility of putting conditions on banking permits was being explored, although no decision had been made.
Banks would also be required to explain why an account is being shut, and give a longer notice period, under tougher rules to be brought in.
According to the Times newspaper, licences could be stripped in order to protect customers' right to free speech.
The BBC understands that the Treasury is also seeking clarity on the handling of Mr Farage's accounts from Alison Rose, the boss of NatWest, which owns Coutts.
It comes after Mr Farage obtained documents, which have been shared with the Mail newspaper, from minutes of a Coutts meeting where both ""commercial"" reasons and ""reputational risk"" associated with his political views are cited as reasons behind terminating his account with them.
The 40-page report, obtained under a Freedom of Information request, mentioned Brexit and his alleged links to Russia.
Banks do have the right to what's known as ""commercial independence"" to make decisions about their company, and who their clients are.
For example, Coutts very openly advertises that it excludes anyone who is not a millionaire.
'Uncomfortable'
Angela Knight, former chief executive of the British Bankers' Association, told the BBC's Today programme that banks were not allowed to have certain people as customers, but that there was a grey area around so called ""political exposed persons"" such as Mr Farage.
She added: ""I do find it somewhat uncomfortable to see a situation arise where because of somebody's legitimate views, even though you don't agree with them, it somehow has resulted in a service being withdrawn and they are not being told about it.""
She added: ""In this instance what seems to have happened is nothing was really said to the individual concerned and then when they put in an application under the Freedom of Information Act, they suddenly find that there's a whole series of reasons which seems to centre around what they have said.""
On Thursday the former UK Independence Party leader welcomed reports of a government crackdown, saying closing bank accounts for political reasons could stop people from going into public life.
""Refusal to open [accounts] and closures have happened to several members of my family... Which is perhaps, above all, what has made me angry, really angry and motivated me to [speak out].""
'Shocked'
It came after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted that shutting someone's account over their views was ""wrong"", calling free speech the ""cornerstone of our democracy"".
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said elsewhere that the Coutts row ""exposes the sinister nature of much of the diversity, equity and inclusion industry"".
The BBC had previously reported Mr Farage had fallen below the financial threshold needed for an account at Coutts, citing a source familiar with the move.
The former politician accused the broadcaster of falling for ""spin"" and restated that he had been targeted for his political views.
He cited the report by the bank's reputational risk committee which states that the Brexiteer's views did not ""align with our values"".
""Apparently, I'm a risk to them. I have virtually no links of any kind to Russia whatsoever. This is political. There is no other way of looking at it,"" he said.
He later told BBC Newsnight he was ""literally shocked"" when he saw the report, which he described as a ""personal hit job"". ""This bank is behaving now like a political campaigning organisation,"" he said.
But economist Frances Coppola told the same programme that ""having read the report, I actually don't think that's the reason why they closed his account. The report makes it clear that the reason they closed the account was that Nigel paid off his mortgage and the house was released as a security and that brought him below the criteria for an account at that bank.""
Coutts has said it has offered Mr Farage an alternative account at its sister bank, NatWest and the offer still stands.
Anyone concerned that they have not been treated fairly by their bank can appeal to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority is also talking to NatWest about the handling of Mr Farage's accounts, its boss told MPs on Wednesday.
Nikhil Rathi said that current rules made clear banks should not discriminate on the basis of political views.
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.",Not_Explicit
"NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Pausing at the microphone, 5-year-old Noah took a breath and softly stated, “I don't want any guns today or any day in my school.”
His mom, Sarah Shoop Neumann, wiped away tears as she held the young boy. It had been more than four months since a shooter indiscriminately opened fire while Noah was at a private elementary school in Nashville, killing three of his schoolmates and three adults. And Neumann wanted action.
Joining a group of families from The Covenant School, Neumann and others on Thursday announced that they had created two nonprofits to not only promote school safety and mental health resources, but also form an action fund to push legislative policy changes that would place certain limits on firearms inside the politically ruby red state of Tennessee.
“We can create brighter tomorrows for our state so no other community has to endure the suffering,"" Neumann told reporters at a news conference. “And our children can go to school without fear.”
The group's announcement is the latest development in the ongoing tension over whether Republican-dominant Tennessee will pass meaningful legislation in response to The Covenant School shooting. While gun control advocates have pushed for stricter regulations on firearms for years, these families are hoping to make greater strides with conservative lawmakers by using commonalities in their faith and, for some, their political backgrounds, while stressing the need to prevent future tragedies.
Over the next few weeks, parents will meet at the state Capitol building every day to pray and meet with lawmakers.
“As a native Tennessean and a gun owner, I think it’s important to emphasize we are proponents of responsible gun ownership,” said Melissa Alexander, a Covenant parent. “However, I think it’s important to intervene when there are clear signs that something is wrong.”
The creation of the political advocacy fund helps clear the way for families to lobby lawmakers on their policy positions and collect donations. Yet the parents maintain that they have no plans to meddle with state elections or endorse any particular candidates. The group says they are in favor of removing guns from people who are danger to themselves or others, as well as strengthening firearm storage regulations and tightening background checks.
So far, GOP lawmakers have overwhelmingly resisted calls made by Republican Gov. Bill Lee to pass legislation that would keep firearms away from people who could harm themselves or others. The Legislature initially rebuffed Lee's attempt to pass the legislation in the spring, forcing the governor to since declare that he'll call a special legislative session to take place in August for members to once again consider his proposal and others.
Instead, the Republican supermajority has largely argued for the need to add more security to school buildings, and many have vowed to spike any proposals that would mimic so-called “red flag” laws that other states have passed in the wake of school shootings.
Lee has maintained that his proposal is not a red flag law, which he describes as a “toxic political label.”
To date, 19 states have red flag laws on the books — with many lawmakers enacting them after tragedies. Notably, Florida did so after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that killed 17 students. Law enforcement officials had received numerous complaints about the 19-year-old gunman’s threatening statements.
Under Lee’s proposal, law enforcement would first determine if a person is a threat, then a hearing with the person in question would be held, generally within three to five days. A judge would rule whether they should indeed have their weapons taken away temporarily. If so, the person would have to surrender their guns and ammunition to a third party within two days and any handgun carry license would be suspended within three business days. The actions would last up to 180 days at a time.
The special session is scheduled to start Aug. 21.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.",Not_Explicit
"CINCINNATI — Some Ohio counties are reporting high turnout for the August 2023 special election. In fact, the Butler County Board of Elections reports there have already been more people who voted early in one week during this election cycle than the entire early voting cycle of the 2022 special election.
WCPO found out Butler County isn't the only county seeing higher voter turnout. In fact, as of July 17, the Hamilton County Board of Elections data shows 15,932 people cast an early ballot this cycle — including both early in-person voting and mail-in absentee — compared to 10,146 for the entire early voting cycle last year.
""We're actually seeing a bigger number than we saw last August. We were at about a little over 2,000 voters throughout the whole early voting period. For the first week, we've seen over 3,000 voters,"" said Nicole Unzicker, director of the Butler County Board of Elections.
Unzicker said the 3,000 is just for people who cast an early in-person ballot, with more than 2,000 people requesting a mail-in absentee ballot. In Cuyahoga County, the board of election is reporting that 3,550 people cast an early in-person ballot in one week compared to August 2022, where 3,094 voters made up the entire early voting period.
""I'm sure there are some passionate voters out there either side that are viewing that on but we're just happy to be here to give them that opportunity,"" said Unzicker, who compared this turnout to a midterm election.
This August, Ohio voters are deciding Issue 1, which would change the threshold to amend the state's constitution from 50% plus one vote, to a 60% majority.
""Obviously the special election came across because of the ballot initiative you know the required number of petition signatures to get on the ballot in November,"" said Russell Mock, chairman of the Hamilton County GOP.
Mock was referring to abortion rights advocates collecting signatures so voters can decide whether or not abortion should be a constitutional right in Ohio this upcoming November.
""It shouldn't be so easy to amend it and it should be something that really has the vast majority support of Ohioans,"" said Mock.
On Tuesday, Ohio native and Grammy Award-winning artist John Legend canvassed Hamilton County, advocating against Issue 1.
""You know about the election on Aug. 8, so now once you already vote, all you have to do is tell your friends and family,"" said Legend, while speaking to a woman Tuesday. ""Making it much harder for voters to have a say in our democracy, so we're voting no.""
READ MORE
Ohioans vote on Issue 1 in Aug., what does it say?
'Hypocritical' — Sec. of State LaRose apparently changes law to help Issue 1 supporters
Music superstar John Legend campaigns in Cincinnati for Democrats, Ohio Issue 1",Not_Explicit
"The country’s annual defense spending measure was narrowly approved by the Republican-led House of Representatives on Friday, and although the bill is several steps from becoming law, the White House has announced its opposition to a range of national security provisions, including inaction on the special immigrant visas (SIV) for Afghans.
The House version of the National Defense Authorization Act does not increase the SIV cap by 20,000 in fiscal 2024 or extend the SIV program beyond December 31, 2024, despite the administration’s request to do so.
In 2009, the Afghan Allies Protection Act was approved by Congress, leading to the implementation of the Afghan SIV program — an immigrant visa program that helps military interpreters and others who worked for the U.S. government to come to the U.S. with a direct pathway to permanent residency.
Through this program, the U.S. government has successfully resettled more than 100,000 Afghans and their families in the United States. However, if the annual defense policy bill does not include an extension of the program, it would end a legal immigration path to the United States for Afghans who worked for the U.S. government during the war in Afghanistan at the end of 2024.
“Giving our Afghan allies a chance to apply for legal status is the right and necessary thing to do,” U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, said in a statement.
Another strategy
On the same day the House passed its version of the NDAA, a bipartisan group of lawmakers reintroduced the Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA) in the House and the Senate.
It would also expand SIV eligibility to include more Afghans. Women, who served in special counterterrorism teams, and others who worked with U.S. forces as commandos and air force personnel, could be eligible for the SIV program. It would also establish a path to U.S. citizenship for Afghans with humanitarian parole status living in the United States. SIV presently covers translators, interpreters, or other professionals employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government in Afghanistan.
Dara Lind, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, wrote Tuesday that the NDAA has become a vehicle “for many other legislative proposals to pass into law.”
“Because the need for the AAA is a direct consequence of the U.S. occupation of (and withdrawal from) Afghanistan, and the Department of Defense has long supported ways for Afghans who assisted the government to become U.S. citizens, including the AAA in the current defense authorization bill is thematically appropriate, to say the least. It’s also, given Congress’ aversion to voting on standalone immigration bills, the most likely way the AAA will pass,” Lind wrote.
In 2022, the AAA also was supported by a group of lawmakers from both parties and expected to be included in the omnibus spending package. But it failed to win congressional approval.
Senator Chuck Grassley, then-ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and others objected to the legislation on security grounds, VOA reported.
Following the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, more than 70,000 Afghans were brought to the United States and granted a temporary humanitarian parole status that lasts for two years.
Humanitarian parole is given to those hoping to enter the U.S. under emergency circumstances. While it does not automatically lead to permanent residency, parolees can apply for legal status through the asylum process or other forms of sponsorship, if available, once they're in the U.S.
But the humanitarian status is only temporary.
U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas, said Afghans who escaped to the U.S., face uncertainty because their original parole statuses are temporary.
“[The AAA] legislation establishes a pathway for our Afghan partners to begin a new life while also establishing a critical vetting process to reduce threats to our national security,” Moran wrote in a statement.
In January, VOA reported that more than 40,000 Afghans living outside the U.S. had submitted humanitarian parole applications since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Others were allowed to continue their SIV process inside the United States, which leads to a direct pathway to permanent residency.
“Two decades of allyship merits much more than an unnecessary and unsustainable legal limbo. The Afghan Adjustment Act is precisely how we provide the stability our new Afghan neighbors deserve while demonstrating that the United States honors its promises of protection to its allies,” Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, told reporters.
The Senate has drafted and needs to pass its own version of the NDAA. Once both bills are approved, they will need to be reconciled, and a compromised version will have to be approved once again by the Senate and House.",Not_Explicit
"World Cup NOW: Why Spain's dominant win disappointed
Spain's first goal came in the 21st minute when a cross bounced off a Costa Rica defender's boot and into the net for an own goal. Moments later, La Roja pushed its lead to 2-0 on a left-footed blast from midfielder Aitana Bonmati. Esther Gonzalez made it 3-0, collecting a loose ball and shoving it into the net in the 27th minute.
Just like that, the Spanish scored three times in six minutes to take a commanding lead that it never relinquished. However, there were still some aspects of Spain's game that raised some eyebrows — like the 46 total shots taken.
The ""World Cup NOW"" crew — Jimmy Conrad, Leslie Osborne and Melissa Ortiz — was joined by Ariane Hingst, a two-time World Cup champion with Germany, and together they discussed Spain's win and whether there's any cause for concern.
Conrad: ""I predicted 4-0 in this one. … When I look at Group C, though, Japan and Zambia are the other two teams who I think are threats to challenge Spain in a different way. … I don't see them getting troubled too much, but they definitely didn't suffer at any point throughout this game.""
Osborne: ""This is what we expected from Spain. We all know they play a beautiful style of soccer; they were gonna move the ball around beautifully. … I talked about being ruthless, being clinical in front of [the] goal. It doesn't matter how beautiful it is — if they want to go far in this tournament, [they're] gonna have to finish. … It's gotta be better than that. As this tournament progresses, the competition is going to get more difficult. You have to finish your chances.""
Ortiz: ""[Daniela Solera] saved two opportune moments for Costa Rica. It could have easily been 5-0, 6-0, even 7-0, and the goalkeeper for Costa Rica did a fantastic job. Yes, Spain definitely has to finish their chances. One interesting stat: Spain had 26 shots in the first half against Costa Rica today, which is the most in a single half in FIFA Women's World Cups. That is incredible how many chances they had. You can look at it on a negative side, but on the positive side — at least they're creating goal-scoring opportunities.""
Hingst: ""She (Solera) is one of the reasons why Spain didn't score more, and I totally agree [that] you have to finish better. At the end of the day, what really matters is that you can get better from game to game. It's a good star. Spain has been the best in this tournament this far — really showing their abilities — so it doesn't worry me too much that they left out too many chances. They have to get better, there's no doubt about it, but it's a fair start for them.""
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
How Lionel Messi's Miami arrival mirrors the Beckham Experiment
Meet the 'badass' OG soccer moms who blazed a trail for USWNT
-
World Cup Daily: Australia, New Zealand hoping for inspiring starts
New Zealand-Norway, Australia-Ireland predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup roundtable: Who is the USWNT's most important player?
-
Women’s World Cup opener to proceed as scheduled after shooting in New Zealand
Women's World Cup power rankings: New Zealand moves up with statement win
USWNT embracing pressure of chase for historic three-peat
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
How Lionel Messi's Miami arrival mirrors the Beckham Experiment
Meet the 'badass' OG soccer moms who blazed a trail for USWNT
-
World Cup Daily: Australia, New Zealand hoping for inspiring starts
New Zealand-Norway, Australia-Ireland predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup roundtable: Who is the USWNT's most important player?
-
Women’s World Cup opener to proceed as scheduled after shooting in New Zealand
Women's World Cup power rankings: New Zealand moves up with statement win
USWNT embracing pressure of chase for historic three-peat",Not_Explicit
"Spain’s opposition conservative party is poised for the narrowest of victories over the ruling socialists but looks unlikely to secure a rightwing majority following a snap general election that had raised fears of the far right entering government for the first time since the country returned to democracy after General Franco’s death five decades ago.
Although the polls had consistently predicted that the opposition conservative People’s party (PP) would cruise past the Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) to secure an emphatic victory in Sunday’s election, early results suggested the race was going to be much tighter.
By 10pm local time, with 92% of the vote counted, the PP had won 136 seats to the PSOE’s 122. The conservatives’ potential coalition partners in the far-right Vox party had taken 33 seats – well down on the 52 they picked up in the last election – and PSOE’s allies in the new, far-left Sumar alliance were in fourth place with 31 seats.
Most polls and early projections had predicted that, despite its victory, the PP would fall short of the absolute majority of 176 seats needed in Spain’s 350-seat congress, and would seek to form a coalition government with the far-right party. Such an alliance would make Spain, which has just assumed the rotating EU presidency, the newest addition to the growing club of European countries where the far right has moved from the fringes into the mainstream – and often into power.
But the early results suggested the political hue of the next government is far from a foregone conclusion, with the left and right blocs running almost neck and neck in their race to get as close to 176 seats as possible. Weeks of negotiations and horse-trading are likely to follow Sunday’s vote.
Sánchez, who gambled on the snap election after the PSOE suffered a drubbing in May’s regional and municipal elections, had billed the poll as a stark choice between the forces of progress and the forces of reactionary conservatism.
Speaking as he cast his vote on Sunday, the PSOE leader, who has governed Spain in a minority coalition government with the far-left Unidas Podemos alliance since 2019, said the election was “important not just for us, but also for the world and for Europe”.
Sánchez had argued that only the PSOE and the Sumar alliance – which includes Podemos and is led by Spain’s deputy prime minister and labour minister, Yolanda Díaz – could defend and deliver the progressive agenda he has pursued over the past four years.
But PP and Vox have repeatedly attacked Sánchez and his partners for being weak, opportunistic and over-reliant on the Catalan and Basque separatist parties on which it depends for support in parliament.
They also say Sánchez and his partners have failed Spaniards through their badly botched reform of sexual offences legislation, which has led to more than 100 convicted sex offenders being granted early release.
Although the PP had consistently led the polls and waged an aggressive campaign, it suffered a poor final week as the focus shifted to its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. He had already been left looking awkward after his claims about the PP’s track record on pensions turned out to be untrue, but was then criticised for the sexist tone of an apparent reference to Díaz’s makeup.
By Friday, Feijóo found himself having to respond to renewed questions about his relationship in the 1990s with Marcial Dorado, a friend who was later convicted of drug trafficking, bribery and money laundering.
The PP leader, who was a senior politician in Galicia before serving as regional president between 2009 and last year, has always insisted he had no reason to suspect Dorado was involved in anything illegal and has said he broke off contact with him as soon as he was charged with criminal offences.
“It’s easier to find out about these things now because you’ve got the internet and Google,” Feijóo said on Wednesday. Two days later, he accused his opponents of trying to smear him, adding that when he knew Dorado, he “had been a smuggler [but] never a drug trafficker”.
Sánchez, who was unexpectedly beaten by Feijóo in the only head-to-head debate between the leaders of Spain’s two biggest parties, had seized on the controversy and claimed that the left was staging a late comeback.
“I see a right and a far right that are absolutely bankrupt,” he said at his party’s final campaign rally near Madrid on Friday night. “The socialist advance is unstoppable. All I ask is that we all bet on red on Sunday to win the election and guarantee four more years of progress.”
Díaz, meanwhile, had exhorted people to get out and vote so that Spanish society “doesn’t go back 50 years”.
Feijóo had urged Spaniards to vote “to bring our country together again” and said that, unlike Sánchez, he was beholden to no one.
“I’ve got no debts or deals with anyone,” he told supporters in the Galician city of A Coruña on Friday. “I don’t need to answer to anyone except the Spanish people.”
Vox, which has made culture wars a central part of its campaign, called on Spaniards to come out and speak up. Addressing a rally in Madrid on Friday, the party’s leader, Santiago Abascal, laid into the government over its ideology and bungled sexual offences legislation.
“There are millions of Spaniards who want to say yes to freedom of expression and no to cancel culture,” he said. “[And millions] who want to say yes to safe streets and no to the government of rapists.”
An Ipsos poll for La Vanguardia this month found that the economy was the single biggest issue for voters, with 31% of those surveyed putting it at the top of their list. Next was unemployment (10%) and healthcare (9%). Immigration, one of Vox’s favourite talking points, was the most important issue for just 2% of those polled.",Not_Explicit
"Corfu has become the latest Greek island to issue an evacuation order, as the country grapples with wildfires.
Photos uploaded to social media show flames engulfing Corfu. A fire broke out on the northern part of the island which is popular with British tourists.
It comes after some 19,000 people were evacuated on the island of Rhodes, which has also been hit by fires.
Many were forced to flee their hotels as the flames continued to spread from the centre of the Greek island.
Greece has been grappling with searing heat, with temperatures exceeding 40C across the country, and fires have blazed for nearly a week in some areas.
A national holiday that had been planned for Monday has been cancelled ""in view of the extraordinary conditions prevailing in the country due to the fires"", the Greek presidency said.
Late on Sunday evening Greece's Emergency Communications Service published evacuation orders for a number of areas of Corfu.
People in the areas of Santa, Megoula, Porta, Palia, Perithia and Sinies on the island have been told to evacuate.
Boats in the area had been dispatched to evacuate residents by sea, a government official said.
Corfu - sits in the Ionian sea off the northwest of Greece - is a destination popular with tourists, with hundreds of thousands Brits visiting every year.
Rhodes - an island some 1,027km (670km) away - has been battling wildfires fanned by strong winds since Tuesday and after smoke started enveloping tourist areas.
Some 16,000 people were evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea on the island, according to local officials. Greece's Ministry of Climate Change and Civil Protection said it was ""the largest evacuation from a wildfire in the country"".
Thousands of holidaymakers were camped out at Rhodes airport on Sunday, waiting for a flight to get out. Konstantia Dimoglidou, a Greek police spokeswoman, told the AFP news agency that more than 30,000 people have been evacuated across the country so far.
Some tourists said they walked for miles in scorching heat to reach safety. Dead animals have been seen in the road near burnt-out cars.
Holiday company Jet2 has now cancelled five flights to Rhodes, while Tui cancelled all flights there until Wednesday.
At least three hotels have been destroyed in the dense forest area of Kiotari on the east of the island.
The deputy mayor of Rhodes, Athanasios Vyrinis said some people had slept in cardboard boxes overnight and warned that there were not enough essentials.
Greece's fire service has warned the situation could worsen as further villages require evacuation and that the battle to contain the flames could take several days. 260 firefighters, backed by 18 aircraft, were battling the fire on Sunday.
Six people were briefly taken to hospital with respiratory problems and were later released.
Emergency services have also been dealing with fires on the island of Evia, east of Athens and Aigio, southwest of Athens. Homes have already been lost to the wildfires on Rhodes and other areas.
Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires. The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to carbon emissions.
Spain and Italy are among the Mediterranean countries which have also experienced intense heat this week, while parts of the US are also seeing records broken.",Not_Explicit
"ANTIOCH, Ill. -- Northern Illinois police have seized a carnival ride as they continue investigating a Sunday incident in which a 10-year-old boy was seriously injured when he was thrown from his seat.
After the Illinois Department of Labor finished inspecting the ride Wednesday, police in the village of Antioch and the Lake County State's Attorney's office sought and obtained a search warrant from a judge to seize the ride as part of an “ongoing criminal investigation into the incident,” village officials said.
“The outcome of this week’s inspections of the ride necessitated us to immediately secure it as evidence,"" Antioch Police Chief Geoffrey Guttschow said in a news release.
Police towed the Moby Dick ride on Wednesday from the village of Shorewood in Chicago’s south suburbs, where the ride's owner had towed it on Monday, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) back to Antioch, near the Wisconsin border, village spokesman Jim Moran said Thursday.
Guttschow said the investigation by village police and the state's labor department aims “to determine if any criminally reckless or negligent acts may have contributed to the accident.”
Antioch police said Monday that the Moby Dick ride was inspected this year and given a state permit.
In Sunday's incident, the boy was riding the Moby Dick, which locks people in at the shoulders and then goes up and down as speed increases, when he was thrown from the ride during Antioch’s Taste of Summer festival.
He was taken to a Chicago hospital with injuries that include multiple facial fractures and a significant leg injury, Antioch police said Monday.
Police said they will not provide additional updates on the boy's condition to respect his privacy. But they said in Wednesday's news release that the boy's “road to recovery will take a significant amount of time, and we wish for the family to focus on his well-being.""
The ride is owned and has been operated by All Around Amusement of Lockport, Illinois, officials said.
A telephone listing for the company called Thursday by The Associated Press went to a recording that said its mailbox was full.",Not_Explicit
"FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Lionel Messi’s debut gameday with Inter Miami has arrived.
Messi is expected to play Friday night when Inter Miami takes on Cruz Azul in a Leagues Cup match at his new home stadium. Team officials say all tickets — about 21,000, in a newly expanded stadium — have been sold, though thousands were available for resale on secondary markets Friday morning.
It’s unclear how much Messi, a World Cup champion for Argentina and someone who Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham calls the best player ever, will be on the field in his debut. He signed a 2-1/2 year contract with Inter Miami this past weekend, and the deal will pay him between $50 million and $60 million annually. That will almost certainly work out to more than $1 million per match.
He was introduced to his new home fans on Sunday and officially trained for the first time as a member of the club Tuesday.
Messi made the decision in June to join Inter Miami and come to Major League Soccer. He considered a return to Barcelona, the club with whom he spent almost the entirety of his career, after spending the last two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain.
But Inter Miami and MLS found a way to land the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner in Messi, setting the stage for an unprecedented era for the club that has largely sputtered during its first four seasons.
Leagues Cup is a tournament between clubs from MLS and Liga MX, the top Mexican league. Cruz Azul won the inaugural version of this event in 2019.
Neither club has enjoyed much success this season. Inter Miami has the fewest points in the MLS standings; Cruz Azul is the only team in the Mexican league yet to record a standings point through the season’s first three matches.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"• A preview of the Wimbledon men’s final said that Novak Djokovic had won a “record 13 consecutive tie-breaks”. In fact, his record before the final stood at 15 consecutive grand slam tie-breaks (“Alcaraz faces date with destiny against Djokovic”, 16 July, Sport, p5).
• Nadeem Sarwar is no longer “a senior leader at [the] pharmaceutical company Eisai”, as an article said (“New dementia drugs: pay privately or face postcode lottery, warns top scientist”, 16 July, p6).
• We misnamed the constituency of Somerton and Frome, which is in Somerset, as “Somerset and Frome” (“Starmer tells party: ‘We can’t spend our way back to power’”, 16 July, p2 from p1).
• The Bellingham Show in Northumberland takes place in the village of Bellingham, not nearby Hexham as we said (“Have you herd? Farm shows boom as record crowds flock to the fields”, 16 July, p7).
• The clue for 25 across in Everyman crossword No 4,004 (16 July, New Review, p46) asked for: “A small duck at ship’s rear (6)”. This should have referred to a seabird, not a duck.
• It was steel cladding, not “beams” as we said, that Tata made in blue and red respectively for the Everton and Liverpool football stadiums (“Welsh steelworks at breaking point over the cost of cleaning up its act”, 16 July, p52).
Other recently amended articles include:
• Write to the Readers’ Editor, the Observer, York Way, London N1 9GU, email observer.readers@observer.co.uk, tel 020 3353 4736",Not_Explicit
"Cancer survivor Linda Caicedo scores in Colombia's 2-0 win over South Korea
The Real Madrid forward, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 15, fired in her country's second goal of the match at Sydney Football Stadium before racing toward Colombia's fans in celebration.
The 18-year-old Caicedo, who is an inspirational figure on and off the field, further enhanced her reputation as one of soccer's rising stars with her goal and performance as Colombia made a winning start to the tournament.
In a moment for the history books for talented teens, 16-year-old Casey Phair became the youngest-ever player in the Women's World Cup when she went on as a second-half substitute for South Korea.
By then, it was too late.
The Colombians took the lead from a penalty in the 30th minute after Shim Seo-yeon handled a goal-bound effort from Manuela Vanegas in the area. Catalina Usme converted from the spot, sending South Korean goalkeeper Yoon Young-geul the wrong way when placing her shot to the left of the net.
Caicedo's goal came at the end of a darting run from midfield, which saw her cut in from the left before curling a shot from the edge of the box. Her effort appeared too central to trouble Yoon, but the keeper got her positioning wrong and instead fumbled it into the net.
Lee Geum-min was close to pulling a goal back for the Koreans at the end of the half, but was denied by the flying save of Catalina Perez.
Colombia had a late chance to score a third, which would have seen it record its biggest ever win at the tournament, but a miscommunication between Usme and Vanegas meant a promising break came to nothing.
These were the last two teams to begin their campaigns in Australia and New Zealand, and it was the 300th game in Women's World Cup history.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT
Women's World Cup Daily: Netherlands draws level with USA in Group E standings
-
What's with so many PKs, and so many misses, in this Women's World Cup?
Italy-Argentina, Germany-Morocco predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup power rankings: USA stays on top; Germany holds onto top-3 spot
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: USA remains favorite to three-peat
Brazilian players at Women's World Cup urge fans to skip work to watch their matches
World Cup NOW: How Netherlands might give U.S. problems
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
Netherlands' tight win sets up showdown with USWNT
Women's World Cup Daily: Netherlands draws level with USA in Group E standings
-
What's with so many PKs, and so many misses, in this Women's World Cup?
Italy-Argentina, Germany-Morocco predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup power rankings: USA stays on top; Germany holds onto top-3 spot
-
2023 Women's World Cup odds: USA remains favorite to three-peat
Brazilian players at Women's World Cup urge fans to skip work to watch their matches
World Cup NOW: How Netherlands might give U.S. problems",Not_Explicit
"YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan -- The ongoing race against adversaries and competitors who possess advanced space capabilities and questionable intentions further emphasizes the need to reinforce norms of behavior in space.
U.S. Space Force Deputy Chief of Space Operations, Strategy, Plans, Programs, and Requirements, Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant, recently made history by leading the first-ever Space Engagement Talks with Japan, aiming to enhance combined space operations and establish a bilateral roadmap for future collaboration.
“The US-Japan Space Engagement Talks represent a further expansion of our strong alliance into the space domain,” emphasized the Commander of United States Space Forces Indo-Pacific, Brig. Gen. Anthony J. Mastalir, who hosted the event. “Through these talks and Space Working Groups to follow, we can build a roadmap for cooperation to ensure safety and security in space for our nations and all responsible actors.”
The USSF-JASDF Space Engagement Talks serve as a model of the US-Japan Alliance's commitment to space collaboration and reinforces the significance of partnerships in achieving shared objectives.
“It’s an exciting time to participate in the Space Engagement Talks with Japan,” exclaimed Mastalir. “This forum is an excellent mechanism to drive new collaborative efforts with allies and partners, and to ensure we preserve security, stability, and long-term sustainability of space for the INDOPACOM region.""
The US Space Force's ""Partner to Win"" line of effort drives this collaboration, recognizing the strategic advantage that the global network of alliances and partnerships offers.
The potential benefits of such collaborations include greater situational awareness, improved operational effectiveness, and increased resiliency in the face of emerging threats. For example, countries with advanced space capabilities can provide technical assistance and training to those with developing space programs, while those with access to strategic locations and infrastructure can provide valuable support in areas like satellite tracking and communication.
As space continues to remain an increasingly essential domain for military operations, communication, and intelligence gathering, strong partnerships and collaborations with international allies are considered imperative for ensuring the security and safety of space-based assets.
“These talks are another example of how our two countries are working together to defend the space domain and support our bilateral joint forces,” Mastalir explained. “I’m grateful for our strong alliance with Japan and proud to be part of this important effort to advance our space operations cooperation.”
Furthermore, establishing widely accepted norms of behavior for space operations is crucial. These norms enhance the ability to attribute actions, mitigate threats, protect interests in space, and reduce the risk of strategic miscalculations. By advocating for norms of behavior in space, nations with space-based assets show a vested interest in the importance of resilience and leadership against nefarious activities.
“Through these engagements we have an opportunity to align efforts with our ally to enhance our bilateral capability in space,” highlighted Mastalir. “With representatives from U.S. Space Force Field Commands stateside and within the Indo-Pacific theater, we are able to build stronger relationships across all parts of the Space Force and normalize our presence with an important strategic ally.”",Not_Explicit
"AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Brazil starts the Women's World Cup trying to remain undefeated in opening matches, and then take superstar Marta deep into her sixth and final tournament.
It shouldn't be difficult to move to 9-0 in opening matches for the Selecao, who start Group F play on Monday against tournament newcomer Panama in Adelaide, Australia. Brazil is one of seven teams to qualify for all nine Women's World Cups, while Panama is one of eight teams playing in the tournament for the first time.
Marta's sixth World Cup will be her last, but she has a chance to make history as the first player — male or female — to score in six tournaments. She's already the all-time leading scorer in the Women’s World Cup with 17 goals.
But more important to Marta is winning the World Cup, something the women's national team has never done. Brazil lost in the 2007 final to Germany, made it to the quarterfinals in 2011, but was eliminated in the round of 16 in the next two tournaments.
Marta was in tears after the 2019 loss to France and pleaded with the next generation of Brazilian football players to take their country to the next level.
“It’s about wanting more,” Marta said four years ago after Brazil's elimination. “It’s training more. It’s taking care of yourself more. It’s about being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls.”
The national team has seemingly answered her call under coach Pia Sundhage, who as a player retired as Sweden's top scorer and as a coach led the United States to two Olympic gold medals. Sundhage has made Brazil more balanced, which was shown at the Women's Finalissma in April, when the South American champions lost in a penalty shootout to European champion England.
Brazil rallied just five days later to beat Germany in a friendly, and notched a 4-0 win over Chile earlier this month to head into the tournament on a roll.
Marta has experience around her in Debinha and Rafaelle, but it is 23-year-old Kerolin who is poised to become Brazil's breakout star. The midfielder has scored eight goals this season for the North Carolina Courage in the NWSL.
“We have taken big steps in these four years,” Sundhage said. “We’ve brought in new players and I think we are in a good place. We have got a chance.”
Panama, meanwhile, most recently faced a South American team in June in a 1-1 draw with Colombia. But Panama has been routed twice since, giving up 13 goals in a 7-0 loss to Spain at the end of June and a 5-0 loss to Japan earlier this month.
ITALY-ARGENTINA
Argentina holds the men's World Cup trophy following the Lionel Messi-led run last December in Qatar, but the women’s team has never won a match in the global tournament.
The women are hoping that changes Monday night when Argentina meets Italy in a Group G match in Auckland.
La Albiceleste are making their fourth World Cup appearance, and they had a tough go four years ago in France with a draw and two losses before elimination. Argentina's group included England, Japan and Scotland in 2019. Its group this time contains Italy, Sweden and South Africa.
Argentina came into the tournament winners of five of six matches this year.
“We will always try to achieve, and to see our dreams come true,” Argentina coach German Portanova said. “Once you win one match, why not achieve more? We have for years tried to improve our operation and our game. It’s because women’s football is nurtured by results. So a good result here would be another step forward for women’s football.”
Aldana Cometti, a defender who plays for Madrid, said she’s grateful the Argentine federation has been devoting more resources to developing the women’s game.
“There have been many, many changes. For example, the medical team told us that when we went to France in the past World Cup, we had only two people in our medical team. Today there are six. This is an enormous achievement for all of us, to have all this support,” Cometti said through a translator.
Italy has had more success at the World Cup, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2019 after a 2-0 round of 16 victory over China. The Italians were stopped by the Netherlands, which went on to lose to the U.S. team in the final. That result gave the U.S. women's team back-to-back titles.
Portanova had a message for fans back in Argentina, where the game is set to start at 3 a.m. local time on Monday.
“Please trust us, put your confidence in us. We are going to do our best, our very best on the field. We’ll sacrifice and make an effort for every ball, every kick,” he said. “Our heart will be in it.”
GERMANY-MOROCCO
Morocco enters its first Women's World Cup hoping to put together the kind of fairy tale run the men's team did last year in Qatar, when the national team made it to the semifinals in Qatar before losing to France and then Croatia in the third-place game.
Morocco is the first Arab nation to play in the Women’s World Cup, qualifying as runners-up in the Africa Cup of Nations. The Atlas Lionesses open their Group H match in Melbourne against Germany, winners of back-to-back tournaments in 2003 and 2007.
“We are really proud in Morocco for the achievements we have made so far. We feel a sense of pride and honor to represent our country on the world stage,"" captain Ghizlane Chebbak said through a translator. “We have great motivation and are eager to make our mark in this tournament.”
Women’s soccer is still in its infancy in the northern Africa country, where religious conservatives object to women playing sports. Morocco has a large Muslim population.
FIFA allowed Muslim players to wear a hijab during competitions in 2014, and at this World Cup, Nouhaila Benzina will be the first player to wear a hijab at the senior women’s tournament.
“This is a great milestone for us and we hope that our match with Germany tomorrow will pave the way for other matches,” Chebbak said about the team’s debut.
There was a tense moment at Sunday's pre-match news conference when a reporter pointedly asked if there were any LGBTQ players on the team because same-sex relationships are against the law in Morocco. FIFA moderators shut down the line of questioning.
___
AP Soccer Writer Anne M. Peterson in Auckland contributed to this report.
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"Any hope of a speedy return of the American soldier who illegally crossed into North Korea earlier this week appears all but dashed by the silence from the hermit state on the whereabouts of Pvt. Travis King.
“We have channels of communication. We’ve used them,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday at the Aspen Security Forum, explaining that Washington has been trying to establish dialogue with North Korea since the early days of the administration.
“Here’s the response we got: One missile launch after another,” he said.
As Washington awaits response to outreach through United Nations channels and its intermediary, Sweden, investigations are underway at the U.S. Army and United Nations Command, or UNC, levels to determine how a soldier who was supposed to be on a flight to the United States to face disciplinary measures instead emerged at the border of the two Koreas.
Counterintelligence personnel are leading the army probe in coordination with the U.S. military in South Korea, the Pentagon said Thursday, noting that King’s status is AWOL (absent without leave), or away without permission, for now.
The UNC, the U.S.-led multinational force managing the Joint Security Area, or JSA, through which King bolted, is studying the events of July 18 to “determine what policies or procedures are required to minimize risk to visitors in the JSA,” UNC Public Affairs Director Colonel Isaac Taylor told VOA.
July 18
On a day that a U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarine made a rare port call to South Korea to coincide with the launch of the U.S.-South Korea Nuclear Consultative Group, Pvt. King, 23, was in civilian garb taking in a DMZ tour that included a stop at the JSA.
The Joint Security Area is iconified by bright blue buildings that stand on the Military Demarcation Line, the official border that divides North and South Korea, in place for 70 years since an armistice put a pause to the Korean War.
The compound is a popular tourist destination, with bookings often sold out for months, offering the novelty of standing “inside North Korea” within one of the meeting buildings. A tour of the JSA requires submission of additional documents days in advance, including a passport.
King, who was expected at his base in Fort Bliss, Texas, where he faced pending administrative separation from the Army for misdemeanors committed during his South Korea deployment, instead bolted into the North Korean side of the border complex about 3:30 p.m. local time.
He was laughing as he ran, eyewitnesses who were part of the same tour group said. The army private was last seen moving to the back of a North Korean building, then being driven away inside a van by North Korean soldiers, according to a report that cited a Defense Department report on the illegal crossing.
His motive for such a puzzling and dangerous decision remains unknown, as are his whereabouts between checking in for his Dallas-bound flight at Incheon International Airport on Monday and his JSA tour that left from Seoul the following day.
King had served time in a civilian jail in South Korea on assault charges up until a week before his scheduled flight to Texas, and he was facing potential additional repercussions at his base in Fort Bliss.
In interviews with news outlets, his family expressed surprise, his mother recalling she’d heard from him a few days prior and couldn’t see him doing anything like that.
“I just want my son back. I just want my son back,” Claudine Gates told reporters outside her home. “Get my son home and pray, pray that he comes back.""
Rare bolt
King’s dash through the JSA is highly unusual, with few precedents.
While over the decades there have been U.S. soldiers who defected through the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ — the 160-mile-long, 2.5-mile-wide buffer running across the Korean peninsula of which the Joint Security Area is a part — this is the first time any person successfully disappeared into North Korea from the South while on a JSA tour.
There was one such attempt in 2001 by a German doctor-turned-activist, Norbert Vollertsen, according to the assistant secretary of the Military Armistice Commission at the time, Stephen M. Tharp.
Vollertsen was caught by armed guards before skipping over the low concrete blocks that mark the border, the retired lieutenant colonel said. His stated purpose was to start an incident to bring North Korea’s human rights plight to the world’s attention.
King’s run also comes as firearms and guard posts were removed at the compound in 2018 amid a detente mood between the two Koreas during the previous administration of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
North Korean troops have not been seen outdoors at the JSA since before the COVID-19 pandemic, observers note. The lack of armed guards on both sides likely contributed to King’s run looking very different from the last infraction at the JSA.
In November 2017, a North Korean soldier dodged a shower of live fire rounds by his compatriots, running for his life through the JSA in a bold defection attempt. By the time he got to the south side, he was wounded but alive.
Now, with COVID-19 restrictions and other fears at play, King could be looking at a more complicated processing reality, analysts say, such as weeks of quarantine before questioning by North Korean guards even begins.
Amid escalating tensions
While North Korea has yet to speak on King’s status, it did issue a warning this week against the presence of the USS Kentucky nuclear submarine parked in Busan, South Korea, presumably holding 20 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“The U.S. military side should realize that its nuclear assets have entered extremely dangerous waters,” North Korea’s defense minister, Kang Sun Nam, said late Thursday via state media KCNA, hours before the submarine would depart.
Kang said the deployment of such strategic assets could trigger North Korea’s use of nuclear weapons, as codified in its nuclear force policy, if “it is judged that the use of nuclear weapons against it is imminent.”
The nuclear weapon trigger warning is mostly being taken in stride in Seoul, with some analysts saying it shows a North Korea under duress. Pyongyang knows full well a first-use case will almost certainly mean a mutual wipe-out, they say.
Still, a war on the Korean peninsula is a scenario the U.S., Japan and South Korea must be ready for together, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said in an interview published Saturday.
“I think that the Korean situation is an area that the United States could — I’m not saying it will, but could — find itself in a state of war, you know, within a few days, with very little notice,” Milley said, according to the Nikkei news organization based in Japan.
For now, North Korea will have its hands full this week, in part, as it gears up for a second massive military parade of the year to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice signing on July 27, which Pyongyang claims as its Victory Day.
Remembrances planned at the JSA on the South Korea side, however, have been canceled as the UNC conducts its investigation.",Not_Explicit
"Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel has been officially selected as the Louisville Metro Police Department's new chief, marking the first time a Black woman has served permanently in the role.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said Gwinn-Villaroel — who had been serving as the department's interim chief since January — was named the permanent chief following an extensive nationwide search.
The mayor said Gwinn-Villaroel was one of 20 candidates from across the U.S. who were interviewed by an advisory committee made up of elected officials, nonprofit leaders, and affected residents.
""Over the past six months, Chief Gwinn-Villaroel has shown our city that she has exactly what I'm looking for in a chief and exactly what our community is looking for in a leader,"" Greenberg said in a statement.
Before joining Louisville police, Gwinn-Villaroel spent 24 years with the Atlanta Police Department. During her time as the interim chief, she launched a nonfatal shooting unit and expanded a ""Crisis Call Diversion Program.""
""Louisville has welcomed me with open arms, and I am honored to be the leader of our police department,"" Gwinn-Villaroel said in a statement. ""My team and I are dedicated to building trust between LMPD and the people of this city through community policing, transparency and accountability.""
The selection comes after Attorney General Merrick Garlandin March that the Justice Department found there was ""reasonable cause to believe"" Louisville police and the city's government had engaged in a pattern of conduct that violated citizens' constitutional and civil rights, following an investigation prompted by the of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor.
— Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"Enhanced Version Of Russia’s Ka-52 Attack Helicopter Appears
The new version of the primary attack helicopter Russia is using in Ukraine is notably different from the prototype Ka-52Ms seen before.
The first photos of a new version of the modernized Ka-52M combat helicopter have appeared in Russian service, with the strong possibility that it’s already participating in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the basic Ka-52 Hokum has become a signature weapon of the Russian campaign, sustaining both heavy losses and inflicting a steady toll on Ukrainian armor, this iteration of the improved Ka-52M version had not been seen anywhere until last week.
The Ka-52M in question appeared in three photos posted on the usually well-informed Fighterbomber channel on Telegram. Among others, this channel conducts fundraising and gives Russian airmen involved in the Ukrainian war flight suits, shoes, radios, navigation devices, first aid kits, etc. In pictures posted on July 14, airmen present some of the gadgets they received against the backdrop of the new version of the Ka-52.
The helicopter seen in the Fighterbomber photos has fresh paintwork, indicating that it was recently delivered. Photos of this kind, on this channel, have previously generally been taken at deployed locations in Ukraine, or at airbases in Russia that are used to support the campaign there. While we can’t be sure that these photos originate in Ukraine, or at a Russian airbase used in the conflict, the connection with the Fighterbomber effort to source equipment for aircrews suggests that it’s at least likely.
Media reports of the use of the Ka-52M in Ukraine had already appeared, but they were not supported by any imagery. For example, in September 2022, Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency described “successful tests of this modernized helicopter during the special operation in Ukraine.” In Russia, the invasion of Ukraine is still known as a “special military operation.”
What is the Ka-52M?
On April 5, 2019, the Kamov company received a contract from the Russian Ministry of Defense for the Avangard-4 research and development work, the aim of which was to develop a modernized Ka-52M (the Mi-28NM helicopter being developed at the same time is codenamed Avangard-3). Actual work had started much earlier than the contract and the new equipment and armament used in the Ka-52M were almost ready by this time.
In June 2020, the Progress plant at Arsenyev in Russia’s Far East, which produces Ka-52s, received an order to convert two helicopters into Ka-52M versions for trials. The first Ka-52M made its first post-conversion flight on August 10, 2020. According to the contract, the Ka-52M was to have completed all its tests and be ready for series production by the end of September 2022.
The first Ka-52M was shown to the public during Russia’s International Aviation and Space Show (MAKS) in July 2021, and then at the Army-2021 exhibition the following August. The helicopter received a modernized GOES-451M electro-optical targeting turret, the updated BKS-50M (Bortovoi Kompleks Svyazi) communication suite, as well as the SUO-806PM (Sistema Upravleniya Oruzhiyem) stores management system, capable of employing new weapons. The most significant addition to the helicopter’s armament is the introduction of the LMUR guided missile with a range of up to nine miles. You can read a full description of this important weapon in this previous article.
Other upgrades were introduced to the helicopter itself. The Ka-52M’s rotor blades have a more powerful heating element, which allows the helicopter to operate in a wider temperature range, including in the Arctic, a particular focus of recent Russian military strategy. The landing gear features wheels with increased load capacity and wear resistance and the helicopter also has external LED lighting. The crew cockpit has improved ergonomics and is also better adapted to flying with night vision goggles (NVGs).
In terms of specifications, the Ka-52M (known within the factory as the izdeliye 800.50) has a maximum takeoff weight of around 27,000 pounds, a maximum speed of 186 miles per hour, a ceiling of 18,045 feet, and a range of 286 miles.
Production steps up
The contract for the first batch of 30 Ka-52Ms for the Russian Aerospace Forces was signed on August 24, 2021, during the Army-2021 forum; 15 helicopters were to be delivered in 2022 and 15 in 2023. It’s likely this contract has already been fulfilled. During the next Army-2022 forum, the Russian Ministry of Defense placed another order for an unknown number of Ka-52Ms. In July 2023, the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu said that deliveries of the Ka-52 in 2023 “have doubled” compared to 2022, i.e. amounting to approximately 30 helicopters, if true.
After around 18 months of fighting, Russia has lost almost 40 Ka-52 combat helicopters in Ukraine out of approximately 140 it had at the beginning of the war (in terms of all types of attack helicopters, Russia has lost around 70 out of over 400 at the beginning of the war). In addition to the Ka-52, there are two other types of combat helicopters in production in Russia, the Mi-28N/NM and the Mi-35M, both produced at the Rostvertol plant in Rostov-on-Don. Together with the information about the doubling of the production of the Ka-52, Shoigu said that the production of the Mi-28 had been increased by a factor of three in 2023 compared to 2022 (i.e. to approximately 50 per year).
New GOES-451M targeting payload
Returning to the new photos of the Ka-52M, arrow number one points to the GOES-451M electro-optical payload installed under the front of the fuselage; the standard version of the helicopter has a GOES-451 turret in this position. The turret houses a thermal imaging camera, TV camera, laser rangefinder/designator, laser beam riding output for anti-tank missiles, as well as laser spot tracker.
The GOES-451M payload’s sensors offer an increased detection and recognition range to match the ranges of new types of weapons, including the LMUR missile. The payload’s manufacturer, UOMZ of Yekaterinburg, declares a tank detection range of 9.3 miles using the TV channel and 7.5 miles with the thermal imaging channel; target recognition ranges are 7.5 miles and 5 miles, respectively.
New L418 Monobloc self-defense suite
Arrow number two points to the L418-2 ultraviolet missile approach warning sensor (MAWS) produced by the GIPO company in Kazan, part of the L418 Monobloc self-defense suite. Regular Ka-52s, as well as previously seen Ka-52M prototypes, have the L370P2 Vitebsk suite with the L370-2 MAWS in this position. Four such sensors are positioned on the sides of the forward fuselage and the tail boom, covering a full 360 degrees around the helicopter.
The L418 Monobloc is made by NII Ekran in Samara. This is a modernization of the L370 Vitebsk system, which works across a broader band of frequencies and at longer ranges.
While the new photos don’t show it, the Ka-52M helicopter most likely also has other new components of the L418 suite, primarily two L418-5 directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) fairings made by SKB Zenith in Zelenograd, installed on the sides of the lower part of the fuselage, just ahead of the main landing gear. The new L418-5 jammer is angular in shape, while the previous L370-5 was a rotating sphere (nicknamed ‘eggs of life’); inside, there is a new SP3-1500 (previously, SP2-1500) lamp that generates modulated infrared and ultraviolet radiation to jam the infrared seekers of air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles.
Interestingly, the L418 Monobloc sensors were installed on Ka-52E helicopters sold to Egypt well before they appeared on Russian helicopters. This was a result of the Russian Ministry of Defense’s more stringent formal requirements for the equipment, and perhaps also due to additional functions required by the Russian military. The introduction of new equipment of this kind in Russia requires multi-stage tests that are not necessarily needed by a foreign customer. In a similar way, Mi-28NE helicopters delivered to Iraq received radars in February 2015, while deliveries of helicopters with radars to the Russian Aerospace Forces started only at the end of 2017.
Now, in wartime conditions, Russia has significantly reduced such requirements and are throwing into the fight equipment that is apparently still far from mature. Perhaps the best example of this is the UMPK wing kit/guidance module installed on general-purpose bombs, something that The War Zone has also explored in detail.
New radar
Most interesting is an apparently new radar on the Ka-52M seen in the recent photos. Arrow number three points to a small air intake on the underside of the radome in the front of the fuselage; on the other side, symmetrically, is another similar air intake. There are no such inlets in any of the previously seen Ka-52 helicopters.
A single inlet of larger size, but otherwise similar, is seen in the prototype Ka-52K naval combat helicopter numbered ‘103’. And this leads us to a likely conclusion about the purpose of these inlets. In Ka-52K ‘103,’ this inlet is used to cool the antenna of the Rezets active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which is undergoing tests on this helicopter.
The Ka-52M prototypes have the same radar as the regular Ka-52, the FH01 Arbalet-52 produced by Phazotron-NIIR of Moscow. It is a Ka-band (8-millimeter wavelength) radar with a wide 31.5-inch mechanical antenna in the nose of the helicopter. The detection range for a large ground target (e.g. a railway bridge) is 15.5 miles, or 7.5 miles for a tank. The weakness of the FH01 radar is the inability to directly target guided missiles. For weapons guidance, target information must be transmitted by the radar to the GOES-451 electro-optical payload, which is the main targeting sensor of the Ka-52.
As to the radar on the new version of the Ka-52M helicopter, this is most likely the V006 Rezets radar from the Zaslon company in Saint Petersburg (the same company that makes the V004 radar used by the Su-34 Fullback fighter-bomber). The V006 or RZ-001 Rezets (cutter) radar has a fixed AESA antenna with 640 transceiver modules. The radar works in the X-band and, according to the manufacturer, can detect a group of tanks from 25 miles and a fighter aircraft from up to 31 miles. The Rezets radar is air-cooled, which is why it needs additional air intakes on the radome.
While the Rezets radar is the most likely option for the Ka-52M, it’s not the only one. Phazotron-NIIR, the manufacturer of the current FH01 radar, also has an offering. The modernized FH02 has two separate antennas: a mechanical slotted array for the Ka- and an AESA for the X-band. This solution allows simultaneous scanning for surface and airspace targets, implementation of advanced target detection and tracking algorithms, and greater reliability. The X-band gives a much greater range, although at the expense of lower resolution. According to the company, a tank can be detected at a distance of 12.4 miles in the Ka range or 21.8 miles in the X range.
We need to wait for more imagery of the Ka-52M in its new variant to get more clarity about the precise configuration of this new version, and whether it’s already in Ukraine or involved in the war there. At this point, it certainly seems likely. Either way, it’s clear that the helicopter, in general, including in its original Ka-52 variant, will remain a key weapon system for the Russian Aerospace Forces as the Ukrainian campaign grinds on.
Contact the editor: thomas@thedrive.com",Not_Explicit
"Trevor Reed, the former U.S. Marine who was wrongfully detained in Russia before being released in a prisoner swap, has been injured while fighting in Ukraine, according to a Biden administration official.
Reed ""was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the U.S. government,"" State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a press briefing.
With the help of a nongovernmental organization, Reed ""has been transported to Germany and he is receiving medical care,"" Patel said. His condition was not immediately clear.
Patel declined to say when or where Reed was hurt in Ukraine.
A spokesperson for Reed's family declined to comment.
Reed was arrested in 2019 when he was visiting his Russian girlfriend, a recent law graduate, in Moscow. He was wrongfully detained for nearly three years.
In April 2022, he was freed as part of a prisoner swap between the Biden administration and the Kremlin.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.",Not_Explicit
"The Canadian government used an opaque U.S. military sales program to provide Saudi Arabia with billions of dollars worth of armoured vehicles, some of which were shipped out urgently after the Kingdom joined the war in Yemen, according to government documents and an arms sales database consulted by The Breach.
It’s the second-largest weapons export deal in Canadian history. But the Saudi clients have never been disclosed by the Canadian government. Nor has the fact been reported that the deal was struck at the behest of a U.S. plan to beef up the Saudi military.
In 2009, under former prime minister Stephen Harper, a Canadian crown corporation signed a deal on behalf of weapons manufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada to provide 724 light armoured vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia. Government documents show that, as late as 2018, deliveries of the $2.9-billion worth of LAVs were still being fulfilled.
The vehicles manufactured in Canada were of the same make later seen being used in Saudi Arabia’s operations in Yemen for years.
The documents provide more evidence that the Canadian government may have knowingly supplied armoured vehicles for use in Yemen.
The government documents, obtained through an access-to-information request, indicate that Canada was shipping new vehicles to the Saudi National Guard for at least three years during the war. The Saudi National Guard is considered to be the Kingdom’s best-equipped ground force and was directly engaged in the one-sided conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis.
The Breach can also reveal that Canadian companies signed subsequent contracts to maintain the vehicles until at least 2025, according to U.S. Department of Defense procurement records. These contracts involve repairing vehicles that appear to have been damaged during Saudi military operations in Yemen.
The 2009 deal’s details have been shrouded in mystery because of Canada’s lack of transparency about its arms dealings, including those that go through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, the program that supplied Saudi forces with the weapons.
For decades, the program has integrated Canadian weapons production into American sales abroad, ensuring that the industry caters to the strategic needs of U.S. foreign policy.
Massive weapons deal flies under the radar
The lack of attention paid to the massive 2009 deal contrasts with the spotlight on another weapons deal.
A $14-billion deal signed in 2014 for a newer model of armoured vehicles—the largest such deal in Canadian history—was the subject of considerable press coverage and criticism from human rights groups.
But Canada’s second-largest weapons deal, signed five years earlier, has flown under the radar.
Arranged by a crown corporation that markets Canadian weapons to foreign buyers, it was run through the FMS program, one of the main avenues the U.S. Department of Defense uses to supply weapons to allied and friendly regimes.
Saudi Arabia is one of the largest customers of the FMS program and one of the largest clients of weapons from the U.S.
Canada’s 2009 deal was tied to the U.S. government’s “modernization” of the Saudi Arabian National Guard.
In 2011, another contract for a further 82 LAVs was signed through the same program. A U.S. Department of Defense news release announcing that contract said the sale would “contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States” and bolster “political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.”
For decades, this office has attached several U.S. Army officials to the National Guard, funded by Saudi Arabia.
In internal memos dated Nov. 29, 2018, obtained by The Breach, Canadian officials lauded this arrangement’s benefit to Canada, calling it “one of the rare examples of [Canada-U.S.] partnership in foreign military sales involving the export of full systems from Canada via FMS…that date[s] back to the 1980s.”
A Breach investigation earlier this year revealed that the Canadian government believes its weapons sales to Saudi Arabia are crucial to maintaining the regime as an “integral and valued security partner,” listing access to oil, opportunities for Canadian companies and reduced need for Western military missions as its rationale.
Saudis deploy the same vehicles in Yemen war
During the eight-year war, Saudi forces deployed the same model of LAV that Canada provided in combat operations across the northern regions of Yemen.
The Canadian LAVs seen operating in Yemen, the LAV-25 and its derivatives, are the older model of vehicle shipped under multiple contracts, with the largest being the 2009 FMS deal.
The LAV-25 model has been identified in images and videos posted from Yemen by weapons monitors and open-source researchers analyzing the proliferation of arms in the Yemeni conflict. Following an August 2019 Houthi attack on Saudi forces in Yemen’s northern Kitaf region, numerous LAV-25s were identified by experts in images of torched Saudi LAV columns.
Under the larger 2014 contract, Canada supplied a newer make of armoured vehicles that have not been seen operating in Yemen—the LAV-700—to the Saudi Royal Guard, a different unit in the Saudi military forces.
The new documents obtained by The Breach raise questions as to whether or not Canada knowingly supplied LAV-25s for use against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
In July 2015, just four months after the war in Yemen began, then-minister of foreign affairs Rob Nicholson approved “urgent” export permits for an undisclosed number of “[LAVs] and weapon systems to Saudi Arabia,” according to a memo that was included in the documents obtained by The Breach.
Further documents reveal that in September 2017, while the war was ongoing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government also received “urgent” export applications from General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada for LAV exports to Saudi Arabia. These applications specifically referenced LAVs being sent to the Saudi National Guard through FMS, one of the documents obtained by The Breach shows.
Global Affairs Canada has flip-flopped on whether or not Canadian weapons have been used in the Yemen conflict. Most recently, the department made the blanket claim that “there are no confirmed reports of Canadian-made military equipment being deployed by Saudi Arabia on Yemeni territory.”
Due to the Saudi-led Coalition’s record of violating international humanitarian law during the conflict, Canada’s provision of LAVs to the Kingdom constitutes a breach of its obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty.
According to the monitoring website Lost Armour, which tracks major military equipment destroyed during conflict, at least 61 LAV-25s and its variants were seized or destroyed by Yemeni rebels during the course of the war.
Canadian-made LAV-25s have also been diverted to the Saudi’s puppet Yemeni government, as detailed in an investigation by Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism in 2019. Credible allegations of diversion legally require action by Canadian officials, but Global Affairs Canada would not tell the reporters how much evidence it would need to actually open an investigation.
Canadians continue to service the Saudis
General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada has continued to maintain, test and repair the fleet of LAVs provided by Canada through the 2009 deal.
According to U.S. Department of Defense federal procurement records accessed by The Breach via the Tech Inquiry database, Canadian technicians have already been carrying out maintenance work on Saudi Arabia’s fleet of LAVs provided through the FMS program.
This work is being performed by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada technicians in Saudi Arabia.
Their servicing contracts, set to run until at least 2025, appear to have involved maintaining the Saudi National Guard’s LAV fleet after damages were incurred during operations within Yemen.
Large arms deals, and particularly those conducted through the FMS program, typically come with long-term servicing contracts.
Stefano Trevisan, a Geneva-based attorney at law and international expert on the regulation of post-sale services on arms contracts, said these crucial deals have “escaped scrutiny.”
“Maintenance is as fundamental as oil to [the running] of a tank. It is the same essential contribution,” he told The Breach. “Such services create long-term structural dependency between Western supplying states and multinational corporations and some of the world’s most repressive regimes.”
Trevisan suggests that the nebulous and sometimes intangible nature of post-sale servicing leads to a lower profile of these arms deals.
“These deals can go on for ten years” with little visibility, said Trevisan, who likens the relationship between original manufacturer and recipient to an “invisible link.”
The Canadian manufacturer enjoys a monopoly on this service work because it has been described by the U.S. Army as the only outfit possessing “the knowledge and expertise necessary” to fulfill the requirements of these awards.
Canadian officials have only acknowledged these sustainment contracts internally.
In March 2021, according to the documents obtained by The Breach, Global Affairs Canada staffers requested export authorizations for “4 active contracts with the U.S. FMS for the supply of LAVs and related products and services to Saudi Arabia.”
The documents noted the contracts “date back to 2009,” and were for “ancillary products/services (e.g. spare parts)” connected to the Saudi LAV program.
Canada’s ‘dependency’ on the U.S. weapons export pipeline
With the exception of the 2014 contract to supply the Saudi Royal Guard with Canadian LAVs, all other Canadian LAV contracts to the government of Saudi Arabia have been undertaken through the FMS program, dating back to the first deliveries in 1991.
At any given time, there are hundreds of billions of dollars worth of active U.S. FMS contracts to more than 180 countries.
Jack Poulson, executive director of Tech Inquiry and a former senior data scientist at Google, told The Breach that Saudi Arabia is one of the most interesting examples of how the U.S. government aims to satisfy its foreign policy objectives by arming foreign states.
“As part of the U.S. government’s alignment with countries such as Israel and Saudi Arabia against Iran, U.S. defense contractors sell Saudi Arabia about $10 billion per year of missile defense, Black Hawk helicopters, M1 Abrams tanks, etc.” Poulson told The Breach by email.
The FMS program also operates as both diplomatic carrot and stick: those who stay in the good graces of the U.S. foreign policy machine continue to benefit from the program, while those who deviate run the risk of losing access to advanced Western-produced weaponry.
The program is viewed by the Canadian government as a conduit to get Canadian military goods to the international market, openly extolled as providing new potential business lines for Canadian arms manufacturers.
The Canadian Commercial Corporation, the federal body which brokered the LAV deals, has said in its corporate plans that “Canadian exporters are able to leverage the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program [as a means to] sell into the U.S. DoD inventory where their goods can then be re-sold to third party countries.”
Ernie Regehr, co-founder of Project Ploughshares and author of Arms Canada: The Deadly Business of Military Exports, explained to The Breach via email that Canada’s defence industry is “heavily dependent” on the U.S.
Regehr explained that Canada’s defence dependency dates back to the 1950s Defence Production Sharing Agreement. That agreement stipulated that Canada’s Department of National Defence would look to procure major weapons systems from American suppliers and, in turn, Canadian manufacturers would be granted preferential access in selling military goods to the American government.
“Allowing Canada access to the U.S. defence market was a small price for the U.S. to pay…to reinforce Canadian policy dependence on the U.S.,” Regehr said.
“Ever since, the dominant narrative has been that Canada can’t manage its own security, with substantial elements of the defence policy community relentlessly proposing further security integration with the U.S.”
Domestic arms production is frequently justified on the grounds that local producers can easily supply a nation’s armed forces in the event of armed conflict. However, most arms-exporting states stake a claim on one corner of the market by developing a production niche that soon needs foreign clients to stay profitable.
Canada is no exception, Regehr said.
“Aircraft engines, armoured vehicles and rifles are all examples of Canadian military production [that became] dependent on international sales in order to sustain the Canadian production facility,” he said, pointing out that all of these facilities are also Canadian-based subsidiaries of larger American-owned multinationals.
“[A]rmoured vehicles and automatic rifles were initially built for the Canadian Forces, but the Canadian market was too small to sustain the plants, and hence they developed a reliance on exports to foreign military forces.”
General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada was forced to look for foreign, non-American clients following the end of export contracts to the U.S. in the 1980s.
The client that ultimately saved the supplier was Saudi Arabia, with contract negotiations for its first major LAV procurement contract being finalized in 1990, and later delivered through the FMS program.
According to archival documents made available by the Canadian government, officials from the U.S. Army’s Office of the Program Manager first visited factories in London in 1981, spurring initial Saudi interest in vehicles from Canada.
Deliveries of LAVs to the Saudi Royal Guard under the $14-billion contract are likely moving into the final stages.
This contract will then, too, move into long-term maintenance, about which little information is available.
The terms of the contract have never been released to the public, despite the fact that the federal government signed the deal on behalf of the vehicle manufacturer.
This article is dedicated to Mohamed Abo-Elgheit, the award-winning reporter who conducted many important investigations for ARIJ, but who was taken far too soon after losing his battle with cancer late in 2022.",Not_Explicit
"JERUSALEM -- Thousands of Israeli doctors walked off their jobs, labor leaders threatened a general strike and senior justices rushed home from a trip abroad on Tuesday, a day after the government's approval of a law that weakens the country's Supreme Court. Critics say the legislation will erode the system of checks and balances.
Four leading Israeli newspapers covered their front pages in black ink — an ominous image paid for by an alliance of high-tech companies. The only words on the pages were in a line at the bottom: “A black day for Israeli democracy.”
Monday's vote — on the first of a series of measures that make up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s divisive judicial overhaul — reverberated across the country. It came despite seven months of fierce popular resistance, Netanyahu’s promises of an eventual compromise and a rare warning against the overhaul from Israel’s closest ally, the United States.
The bill was unanimously passed by the governing coalition, which includes ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious parties, after the opposition stormed out of the house shouting “Shame!”
Opponents say they are not done fighting and civil rights groups submitted petitions to the Supreme Court, calling for the new law to be overturned. Protests again roiled the country's streets.
“These protests are not going anywhere, especially because the government has clearly stated that this is just phase one,” said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank. “This is the most widespread and significant democratic awakening in the history of the country. Clearly, it won't end.”
Hundreds of thousands of people fanned out in Tel Aviv overnight, burning tires, setting off fireworks and waving Israeli flags. In Jerusalem, mounted police and water cannons spraying foul-smelling liquid cleared protesters from a main highway. At least 40 people were arrested by police in protests around the country.
Videos showed police officers dragging protesters by the hair and neck, beating people until they bled and violently pushing them back with batons. At least 10 officers were assaulted and injured, police said.
Israel is now hurtling into uncharted territory against the specter of further social and political unrest. Thousands of officers in the military reserves have announced they will no longer turn up for voluntary service — a blow that could undermine the country’s operational readiness. High-tech business leaders are considering relocation.
On Tuesday, Moody's issued a report warning of “significant risk” if divisions within the country continue as Netanyahu's government presses ahead with the overhaul, “with negative consequences for Israel’s economy and security situation.”
Netanyahu said the credit rating company's assessment was “a momentary response, when the dust clears, it will be clear that the Israeli economy is very strong.”
The overhaul also threatens to strain ties with the Biden administration, jeopardize Israel’s new alliances with Arab states and deepen the conflict with the Palestinians, analysts say.
“I think this country is going to either split into two countries or be finished altogether,” said Yossi Nissimov, a protester in a tent city set up by demonstrators outside of the Knesset, or parliament, in Jerusalem.
The vote on the law came just hours after Netanyahu was released from the hospital, where he had a pacemaker implanted, adding another dizzying twist to an already dramatic series of events.
The Israeli Medical Association, which represents nearly all of the country's doctors, said they would strike en masse Tuesday across the country, with only emergencies and critical care in operation.
“The vast majority of physicians know they will not be able to fulfill their oath to patients under a regime that does not accept the role of reason,” said Hagai Levine, chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Health. He was referring to the law passed Monday, which prevents the Supreme Court from using the standard of “reasonableness” to strike down government decisions.
“This overhaul will damage the public health and the health care system in Israel,” Levine said, adding that already over 1,000 physician members have asked to be transferred abroad since the law passed.
Israel’s largest labor union, the Histadrut, which represents some 800,000 workers, said Tuesday that it would convene in the coming days to plan a nationwide general strike.
The chief justice of the Supreme Court, Esther Hayut, along with five other senior justices, cut short a trip to Germany in order to deal with the crisis, the court said. The justices were expected to land home on Tuesday night, a day earlier than expected, to discuss petitions against the overhaul.
But any move by the court to strike down Netanyahu’s new law could lead to a constitutional crisis and put the justices on an unprecedented collision course with the government.
Supporters of the judicial overhaul say the powers of unelected judges should be curbed to boost the powers of elected officials.
Opponents say it will undermine Israeli democracy and erode the country’s only check on majority rule in a system where the prime minister governs through a coalition in parliament — in effect giving him control over the executive and legislative branches of government.
As a result, the Supreme Court plays a critical oversight role. On Tuesday, for instance, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara appealed to the top court to scrap a law passed earlier this year that strips her of the power to remove the prime minister from office.
Netanyahu responded to the court, saying it shouldn't intervene in the matter.
Protesters also fear that the overhaul is fueled by the personal grievances of Netanyahu, who is currently on trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
While protesters represent a wide cross section of society, they come largely from the country’s secular middle class. Netanyahu’s supporters tend to be poorer, more religious and live in West Bank settlements or outlying rural areas.
The judicial overhaul has laid bare Israel’s social and religious divisions, said Israeli historian Tom Segev.
“This is the beginning of a whole plan to change the basic values of society,” he said.",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised its 2023 global growth estimates slightly given resilient economic activity in the first quarter, but warned that persistent challenges were dampening the medium-term outlook.
The IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook said inflation was coming down and acute stress in the banking sector had receded, but the balance of risks facing the global economy remained tilted to the downside and credit was tight.
The global lender said it now projected global real GDP growth of 3.0% in 2023, up 0.2 percentage point from its April forecast, but it left its outlook for 2024 unchanged, also at 3.0%.
The 2023-2024 growth forecast remains weak by historical standards, well below the annual average of 3.8% seen in 2000-2019, largely due to weaker manufacturing in advanced economies, and it could stay at that level for years.
""We're on track, but we're not out of the woods,"" IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told Reuters in an interview, noting that the upgrade was driven largely by first-quarter results. ""What we are seeing when we look five years out is actually close to 3.0%, maybe a little bit above 3.0%. This is a significant slowdown compared to what we had pre-COVID.""
This was also related to the aging of the global population, especially in countries such as China, Germany and Japan, he said. New technologies could boost productivity in coming years, but that in turn could be disruptive to labor markets.
Debt distress could spread
The outlook is ""broadly stable"" in emerging market and developing economies for 2023-2024, with growth of 4.0% expected in 2023 and 4.1% in 2024, the IMF said. But it noted that credit availability is tight and that there was a risk that debt distress could spread to a wider group of economies.
The world is in a better place now, the IMF said, noting the World Health Organization's decision to end the global health emergency surrounding COVID-19, and with shipping costs and delivery times now back to pre-pandemic levels.
""But forces that hindered growth in 2022 persist,"" the IMF said, citing still-high inflation that was eroding household buying power, higher interest rates that have raised the cost of borrowing and tighter access to credit as a result of the banking strains that emerged in March.
""International trade and indicators of demand and production in manufacturing all point to further weakness,"" the IMF said, noting that excess savings built up during the pandemic are declining in advanced economies, especially in the United States, implying ""a slimmer buffer to protect against shocks.""
While immediate concerns about the health of the banking sector — which were more acute in April — had subsided, financial sector turbulence could resume as markets adjust to further tightening by central banks, it said.
The impact of higher interest rates was especially evident in poorer countries, driving debt costs higher and limiting room for priority investments. As a result, output losses compared with pre-pandemic forecasts remain large, especially for the world’s poorest nations, the IMF said.
The IMF forecast that global headline inflation would fall to 6.8% in 2023 from 8.7% in 2022, dropping to 5.2% in 2024, but core inflation would decline more gradually, reaching 6.0% in 2023 from 6.5% in 2022 and easing to 4.7% in 2024.
Gourinchas told Reuters it could take until the end of 2024 or early 2025 until inflation came down to central bankers' targets and the current cycle of monetary tightening would end.
The IMF warned that inflation could rise if the war in Ukraine intensified, citing concern about Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea grain initiative, or if more extreme temperature increases caused by the El Nino weather pattern pushed up commodity prices. That in turn could trigger further rate hikes.
The IMF said world trade growth is declining and will reach just 2.0% in 2023 before rising to 3.7% in 2024, but both growth rates are well below the 5.2% clocked in 2022.
The IMF raised its outlook for the United States, the world's largest economy, forecasting growth of 1.8% in 2023 versus 1.6% in April as labor markets remained strong.
It left its forecast for growth in China, the world's second-largest economy, unchanged at 5.2% in 2023 and 4.5% in 2024. But it warned that China's recovery was underperforming, and a deeper contraction in the real estate sector remained a risk.
The fund cut its outlook for Germany, now forecast to contract 0.3% in 2023 versus a 0.1% contraction in April, but sharply upgraded its forecast for the U.K., now expected to grow 0.4% versus a 0.3% contraction forecast in April.
Euro zone countries are expected to grow 0.9% in 2023 and 1.5% in 2024, both up 0.1 percentage point from April.
Japan's growth was also revised upward by 0.1 percentage point to 1.4% in 2023, but the IMF left its outlook for 2024 unchanged at 1.0%.
Inflation remains a focus
The rise in central bank policy rates to fight inflation continues to weigh on economic activity, the IMF said, adding that the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England were expected to raise rates by more than assumed in April, before cutting rates next year.
It said central banks should remain focused on fighting inflation, strengthening financial supervision and risk monitoring. If further strains appeared, countries should provide liquidity quickly, it said.
The fund also advised countries to build fiscal buffers to gird for further shocks and ensure support for the most vulnerable.
""We have to be very vigilant on the health of the financial sector ... because we could have something that basically seizes up very quickly,"" Gourinchas said. ""There is always a risk that if financial conditions tighten, that can have a disproportionate effect on emerging market and developing economies.""
The IMF said unfavorable inflation data could trigger a sudden rise in market expectations regarding interest rates, which could further tighten financial conditions, putting stress on banks and nonbank institutions — especially those exposed to commercial real estate.
""Contagion effects are possible, and a flight to safety, with an attendant appreciation of reserve currencies, would trigger negative ripple effects for global trade and growth,"" the IMF said.
Fragmentation of the global economy given the war in Ukraine and other geopolitical tensions remained another key risk, especially for developing economies, Gourinchas said. This could lead to more restrictions on trade, especially in strategic goods such as critical minerals, cross-border movements of capital, technology and workers, and international payments.",Not_Explicit
"Rishi Sunak Warned Watering Down Net Zero ""Will Not Help"" Tory Party Prospects
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Alamy)
A co-author of the Conservative party's 2019 manifesto has urged Rishi Sunak to stick with the government's net zero pledge, warning that watering it down and indulging sceptics will not be a vote winner at the general election.
Rachel Wolf, who wrote the party's general election-winning manifesto four years ago, and is now a founding partner at consultancy Public First, said there was a ""massive risk"" of ministers ""overinterpreting and misinterpreting"" the Tory party by-election win Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where debates about environmental policy dominated the campaign.
The Conservatives' surprise win in the west London seat last week, where the Tories held onto Boris Johnson's former Uxbridge constituency with a majority of just 495, subsequently prompted a debate among Conservative MPs about whether the result was evidence that the public wants the government to dilute its plans for achieving net zero by the year 2050. Conservative campaigners had framed the vote for Tory candidate Steve Tuckwell to appeal to significant local opposition to London mayor Sadiq Khan expanding the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ).
Since that result, Conserative MPs on the right of the parliamentary party have called on the PM to rethink his strategy for tackling climate change. Jacob Rees Mogg, the former business secretary, said the Uxbridge result demonstrated the need for the Tory party to do away with ""unpopular, expensive green policies”.
On Monday morning, Sunak said government would pursue the 2050 net zero target in a ""proportionate and pragmatic way"" which ""doesn’t unnecessarily give people more hassle and more costs"", casting doubt on his watertight commitment to the pledge. Sunak's spokesperson later added that mechanisms for hitting the net zero target, like the plan to outlaw the sale of petrol and diesel cars from the year 2030, were ""under review"".
Levelling up secretary Michael Gove this morning later clarified that the 2030 ban was ""immovable"", but hinted that the phasing out of gas boilers could be slowed down.
Wolf told PoliticsHome ministers would be wrong to interpret the Conservative victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip last week as a vote against the net zero agenda, and urged the government to not get caught up in ""a big overreaction"".
“There is a massive risk of overinterpreting and misinterpreting the Uxbridge result,"" she said.
“There’s a big difference between a policy lke ULEZ, which people can see comes with very tangible costs and feel is unfair, which you can argue is true, and the general net zero policies, many of which don’t have those.
""More importantly, people remain very supportive of net zero and climate policy, and there have been lots of policies over the last twenty years that have come with costs but haven’t caused big electoral issues.""
She added that Public First polling has consistently found majority support for net zero across every voter group, ""whether it be red wall, older, younger or metropolitan voters"".
""It might not be their top priority, but they care about it,"" she said.
“The government needs to be focused on what really matters to people and that is the economy, the cost of living, the National Health Service, crime, and the core areas where people want to see rapid progress on climate policy. They should not be filling the airwaves as net zero sceptics, which some people want them to do, as that is not going to help them.”
There are Conservatives on the moderate wing of the parliamentary party who are privately exasperated with calls from some Tory back benchers for the Prime Minister to rethink net zero. One former secretary of state said the statements were ""lunacy"".
Wolf was echoed by Adam Hawksbee, deputy director at cente-right think tank Onward, who said the government would be ""mad"" to water down its stance on achieving net zero.
""The public want action on the environment and energy, and they are unforgiving of politicians who break their promises,"" said Hawskbee, who warned that ditching net zero could cost the Conservative party a quarter of its current support and deter a significant number of potential voters at the next general election, which is set to take place in 2024.
""The important thing is that policies don't exacerbate the cost of living crisis – which is why we [Onward] called for the hydrogen levy on households to be scrapped, but also why we want increased investments in lower cost renewables,"" he told PoliticsHome.
They were echoed by Craig Oliver, former 10 Downing Street director of communications for ex-prime minister David Cameron, who said ""history will take a dim view of politicians on all sides"" who back away from net zero ""because of a single by-election result"".
Writing in The House, Oliver said: ""Trying to get our economy to net zero is an epic task. It will require creativity and bravery from politicians, educating us all and taking us through several pain barriers. It also requires both parties to form a consensus that the other will not overturn at the slightest whiff of electoral advantage.""
The Uxbridge result also triggered a row within Labour, with leader Keir Starmer urging mayor Khan to consider how ULEZ can be tweaked in light of the shock defeat. Danny Beales, the unsuccessful Labour candidate, described it as a ""bad policy"" which ""cut us off at the knees”.
Oliver wrote: ""Would Clement Atlee and Margaret Thatcher have been so successful if they did not see part of their job as being educators and turned back at the first difficulty?""
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe",Not_Explicit
"Harris slammed the Florida Board of Education's unanimous decision on Wednesday to revise the state's black history curriculum, which critics argue whitewashes U.S. history, during a speech Thursday at the national convention for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. in Indianapolis. Chief among the criticisms is that standards require middle schools to teach students that slaves benefited from skills they learned.
“Extremists pass book bans to prevent [children] from learning our true history — book bans in this year of our Lord 2023. And while they do this, check it out, they push forward revisionist history,” Harris said. ""Just yesterday in the state of Florida, they decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it.”
DeSantis took to Twitter on Friday, the same day Harris is visiting the Sunshine State, to push back against her comments. ""Democrats like Kamala Harris have to lie about Florida's educational standards to cover for their agenda of indoctrinating students and pushing sexual topics onto children,"" he wrote. ""Florida stands in their way and we will continue to expose their agenda and their lies.""
As a 2024 presidential candidate, DeSantis has campaigned on ending ""wokeness"" in public schools, arguing that it encourages ""state-sanctioned racism"" and encourages children to hate the U.S. It's also a key part of his strategy to become the pro-parent candidate as he attempts to defeat former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination. Last year DeSantis signed the Stop WOKE Act into law which prohibited critical race theory from being taught in public schools and determines how businesses and schools address race and gender.
DeSantis's campaign has faced a hurdle of problems in recent weeks, yet the campaign maintains they are the only team that is able to defeat President Joe Biden next year.
""The Harris-Biden administration is obsessed with Florida ... yet they ignore the chaos at the border, crime-infested cities, economic malaise, and the military recruitment crisis. Maybe if Biden’s granddaughter moved to Florida he’d actually visit her,"" DeSantis also tweeted.
Democrats like Kamala Harris have to lie about Florida's educational standards to cover for their agenda of indoctrinating students and pushing sexual topics onto children.— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) July 21, 2023
Florida stands in their way and we will continue to expose their agenda and their lies.
In January, DeSantis's administration rejected a College Board Advanced Placement course on African American history because “we want education, not indoctrination,"" the governor said.",Not_Explicit
"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday defended the legality of floating barriers that state officials recently set up along the U.S.-Mexico border to repel migrant crossings, defying a Biden administration threat to sue the state over the river buoys.
Last week, top Justice Department lawyersAbbott and other Texas officials that the administration would file a lawsuit against the state unless it removed the barriers it deployed in the middle of the Rio Grande. The Biden administration argued the river barriers violate a federal navigable waters law, pose humanitarian challenges and impede federal law enforcement from apprehending migrants.
But in a letter to President Biden and other top administration officials on Monday, Abbott, a Republican, appeared to welcome a legal battle, arguing that Texas was using its ""constitutional authority"" to combat unauthorized border crossings.
""Texas will see you in court, Mr. President,"" Abbott wrote.
Representatives for the Justice Department and White House did not immediately respond to requests to comment on Abbott's response.
The river buoys assembled earlier this month by Texas have ignited renewed criticism of the state's broader border initiative, known as Operation Lone Star. As part of the operation, Abbott has bused thousands of migrants to large Democratic-led cities, directed state troopers to arrest migrants on state trespassing charges and deployed members of the Texas National Guard to repel migrants through razor wire and other means.
A Texas trooper recently madeabout the state operation, detailing reports of migrants, including children and a pregnant woman, being cut by the razor wire and directives to withhold water from migrants and to push them into the Rio Grande. Texas officials are investigating the allegations, but have denied the existence of orders to deny migrants water or to push them into the river.
The state trooper also urged superior officers to remove the floating barriers, saying the structures force migrants to cross into the U.S. through parts of the Rio Grande where they are more likely to drown.
In his letter Monday, Abbott denied the Justice Department's argument that the river buoys violate the Rivers and Harbors Act. But he called that ""a side issue.""
""The fact is, if you would just enforce the immigration laws Congress already has on the books, America would not be suffering from your record-breaking level of illegal immigration,"" Abbott wrote.
The White House has called Abbott's actions ""cruel"" and counterproductive, saying the river barriers have increased the risk of migrants drowning and obstructed Border Patrol agents from patrolling the river. The Justice Department has also been reviewing the reports about Texas officials mistreating migrants.
""While I share the humanitarian concerns noted in your lawyers' letter, Mr. President, your finger points in the wrong direction,"" Abbott said in his response. ""Neither of us wants to see another death in the Rio Grande River. Yet your open-border policies encourage migrants to risk their lives by crossing illegally through the water, instead of safely and legally at a port of entry. Nobody drowns on a bridge.""
Biden administration officials have sought to blunt Abbott's criticism by pointing to the dramatic decrease in unlawful entries along the southern border in recent weeks. Border Patrol apprehensions of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally fell below 100,000 in June, the lowest level in two years.
The administration has said the drop in illegal crossings stems from its revamped border strategy, which pairs programs that allow tens of thousands of migrants to enter the U.S. legally each month with stiffer penalties and stricter asylum rules for those who cross into the country unlawfully.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"Marta enters her sixth Women's World Cup seeking scoring record, Brazil's first championship
It shouldn't be difficult to move to 9-0 in opening matches for the Selecao, who start Group F play on Monday against tournament newcomer Panama in Adelaide, Australia (7 a.m. ET on FS1). Brazil is one of seven teams to qualify for all nine Women's World Cups, while Panama is one of eight teams playing in the tournament for the first time.
Marta's sixth World Cup will be her last, but she has a chance to make history as the first player — male or female — to score in six tournaments. She's already the all-time leading scorer in the Women’s World Cup with 17 goals.
But more important to Marta is winning the World Cup, something the women's national team has never done. Brazil lost in the 2007 final to Germany, made it to the quarterfinals in 2011, but was eliminated in the round of 16 in the next two tournaments.
Marta was in tears after the 2019 loss to France and pleaded with the next generation of Brazilian football players to take their country to the next level.
""It’s about wanting more,"" Marta said four years ago after Brazil's elimination. ""It’s training more. It’s taking care of yourself more. It’s about being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls.""
The national team has seemingly answered her call under coach Pia Sundhage, who as a player retired as Sweden's top scorer and as a coach led the United States to two Olympic gold medals. Sundhage has made Brazil more balanced, which was shown at the Women's Finalissma in April, when the South American champions lost in a penalty shootout to European champion England.
Marta has experience around her in Debinha and Rafaelle, but it is 23-year-old Kerolin who is poised to become Brazil's breakout star. The midfielder has scored eight goals this season for the North Carolina Courage in the NWSL.
""We have taken big steps in these four years,"" Sundhage said. ""We've brought in new players and I think we are in a good place. We have got a chance.""
Panama, meanwhile, most recently faced a South American team in June in a 1-1 draw with Colombia. But Panama has been routed twice since, giving up 13 goals in a 7-0 loss to Spain at the end of June and a 5-0 loss to Japan earlier this month.atch in Melbourne against Germany, winners of back-to-back tournaments in 2003 and 2007.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: USWNT tops Vietnam, 3-0
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
United States vs. Vietnam: Everything to know, how to watch USWNT's opener
-
USWNT puts Julie Ertz, Savannah DeMelo in starting lineup for World Cup opener
United States dispatches Vietnam 3-0: Takeaways from World Cup-opening win
United States-Vietnam, England-Haiti predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
-
World Cup 2023 social media tracker: Reactions to USWNT's solid 3-0 win
Don't fret if USWNT doesn't blow out Vietnam in World Cup opener
World Cup Daily: Spain makes a loud statement, Canada can't capitalize
-
Women's World Cup 2023 highlights: USWNT tops Vietnam, 3-0
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
United States vs. Vietnam: Everything to know, how to watch USWNT's opener
-
USWNT puts Julie Ertz, Savannah DeMelo in starting lineup for World Cup opener
United States dispatches Vietnam 3-0: Takeaways from World Cup-opening win
United States-Vietnam, England-Haiti predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
-
World Cup 2023 social media tracker: Reactions to USWNT's solid 3-0 win
Don't fret if USWNT doesn't blow out Vietnam in World Cup opener
World Cup Daily: Spain makes a loud statement, Canada can't capitalize",Not_Explicit
"MG Appeals To British Roots With Two-Seater Electric Roadster
With a starting price of £50,000 ($63,300), the car is a key part of MG’s mission to capitalize on the brand’s British heritage.
(Bloomberg) -- MG Motor has unveiled an electric roadster in its first break from the family-oriented models it has sold since being bought by Chinese investors 16 years ago.
The two-seater Cyberster, which taps into the marque’s 1960s design classics like the MG Midget and MGB, will hit showrooms in China in 2023 before arriving in the UK and Europe in the middle of next year, according to Guy Pigounakis, commercial director for MG Motor UK Ltd. With a starting price of £50,000 ($63,300), the car is a key part of MG’s mission to capitalize on the brand’s British heritage.
“This is about the brand going back to its roots,” said Carl Gotham, MG’s design director. The two-seater sportscar, featuring scissor doors, will be a “brand builder,” rather than a driver of mass sales.
MG has jumped on the transition to EVs, becoming one of the earliest Chinese-owned manufacturers to break into the European market. So far this year, sales in the UK are 55% higher than last at 25,000 cars, and that rate is being “eclipsed” in mainland Europe, according to Pigounakis.
The growth in part reflects MG’s success in keeping prices down, something that has evaded many of the European EV manufacturers, enabling it to compete with rivals such as Tesla Inc. Its all-electric SUV, the MG ZS EV, starts at about £30,495.
The Cyberster release marks a significant moment for MG in appealing to its British origins after being bought by the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation in 2007. While MG retains design facilities in the UK, it hasn’t produced cars there since shutting its Longbridge plant near Birmingham in 2016.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"Why Senate Dems want to force a doomed vote on Supreme Court ethics
A dozen Democrats said they’re itching to force Republicans to reject the ethics measure — and pay the political price of that vote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has yet to say how he’ll approach his party’s Supreme Court ethics legislation — a historic bid to check the high court after reports of ethically questionable behavior among its justices. But lawmakers in his Senate Democratic caucus are eager to put their Republican colleagues on the record with a floor vote.
Washington is betting that the proposal won’t go further than the Judiciary Committee, which cleared it along party lines Thursday. Any action beyond that would be a waste of time, the thinking goes, since it’s all but guaranteed to be filibustered and would be dead on arrival in the GOP-controlled House. But in interviews with your Huddle host, a dozen of Schumer’s Democrats challenged that conventional wisdom. They said they’re itching to force Republicans to reject the ethics measure — and pay the political price of that vote. Schumer sounds interested in pressing the matter, too.
“The American people deserve to have all members of the judiciary … accountable to some kind of ethical standards,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in an interview. “And anybody who disagrees with that proposition should be held accountable” themselves.
POLITICO reported earlier this week that Democrats are betting that a Senate focus on Supreme Court ethics will help them remind voters of its recent flurry of conservative rulings, even after the justices’ term is over for the year. It doesn’t hurt that the highest-profile reports about potential ethical liabilities at the court touch on two conservative justices — Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
Democrats also think the added national visibility that accompanies a floor vote might pressure the Supreme Court into setting its own stricter rules as confidence in the institution hits historic lows.
“I would hope that we would bring it to the floor, because I think it [makes] it more likely that the Supreme Court might act,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said.
If this Dem strategy sounds familiar, it should. Schumer pushed doomed floor votes last year on issues like voting rights and abortion access despite near-unanimous GOP opposition. The leader vowed again on Thursday to work with bill sponsors to “make progress on this legislation.”
But any hope of getting 60 votes in the Senate would have to start with moderate Republicans like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and she’s unimpressed with the committee-passed SCOTUS ethics push. That measure would require the court to adopt and publish a code of conduct within 180 days, establish a process for investigating alleged violations and beef up disclosure rules for gifts and travel.
Murkowski (R-Alaska), a perennial swing vote in her chamber, said she had “real concerns” that the ethics legislation is “way too prescriptive and violates” the Constitution’s separation of powers. She and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) have their own, less stringent bipartisan bill requiring the court to establish an ethics code.
But Murkowski’s still frustrated with the court’s handling of the swirl of ethics concerns, which “does not make them look good,” she told Huddle. “They could have responded differently and this matter would have been put to bed a long time ago. So, that’s their failure.”
Republicans other than Murkowski have been even more skeptical, bashing the legislation as unnecessary, a separation-of-powers violation and an act of retaliation against the 6-3 conservative-led court following a series of decisions that outraged Democrats.",Not_Explicit
"RHODES, Greece (AP) — A weeklong wildfire on the Greek island of Rhodes tore past defenses Monday, forcing more evacuations, as three major fires raged elsewhere in the country fueled by strong winds and successive heat waves.
The latest evacuations were ordered in south Rhodes after 19,000 people, mostly tourists, were moved in buses and boats over the weekend out of the path of the fire that reached several coastal areas from nearby mountains.
Help continued to arrive from the European Union and elsewhere, with Turkish firefighting planes joining the effort in Rhodes, where eight water-dropping planes and 10 helicopters buzzed over flames up to five meters (16 feet) tall despite low visibility.
“The risk of fire will be extreme in several areas of Greece today,” Fire Service spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said a day after temperatures on the southern Greek mainland soared as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
Overnight, evacuations were also ordered on the western island of Corfu, where more than 2,000 people including tourists were moved to safety, on the island of Evia and in a mountainous area in the southern Peloponnese region.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen contacted Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis late Sunday to offer additional assistance.
“I called (Prime Minister) Mitsotakis to express our full support for Greece, which is confronted with devastating forest fires and a heavy heat wave due to climate change,” she wrote in a tweet.
On Rhodes, officials from the Greek Foreign Ministry were working at the international airport with several embassies and diplomats who traveled from the U.K. to assist tourists who had lost their travel documents.
British tourist Kevin Evans was evacuated twice Saturday with his wife and three young children — first from Kiotari to Gennadi, and then as the fire approached to the island’s capital in the northeast, he told Britain’s PA news agency.
“There were lots of people in Gennadi sent from the hotels — many in just swimsuits having been told to leave everything in the hotel,” he told PA. “As night fell, we could see the fire on the top of the hills in Kiotari. They said all the hotels were on fire.”
The army was also helping to set up temporary accommodations on Rhodes, where schools and sporting facilities were opened to help with the effort.
A relative respite from the heat on Monday, with highs of 38 C (100 F) forecast, is to be followed by yet more high temperatures starting Tuesday.
However, it should get significantly cooler on Thursday, with temperatures in the low- to mid-30s Celsius, the country's Meteorological Service said Sunday evening. ___ Gatopoulos reported from Athens.",Not_Explicit
"Madrid, 24 jul (EFE).- El colombiano Óscar Darío Pérez, copresidente saliente de la Asamblea Parlamentaria Euro-Latinoamericana (EuroLat), definió como “agridulce” la Cumbre la UE y CELAC celebrada en Bruselas el pasado 17 y 18 de julio.
En el marco de la decimoquinta Asamblea de EuroLat, que arrancó este lunes en el Senado español en Madrid, el senador colombiano analizó en una entrevista con EFE los impactos de esta reunión entre ambas regiones que no se daba desde 2015.
Para el colombiano, que entregará la copresidencia de EuroLat al panameño Amado Cerrud el próximo jueves, la cumbre dejó momentos “dulces” ya que “después de ocho años se volvieron a convocar a presidentes de ambos continentes”.
Por el contrario, Pérez se refirió a “lo agrio” de este encuentro porque “no hubo una condena precisa” a la invasión de Rusia a Ucrania, aunque sí una declaración en la que no se citaba al presidente ruso, Vladímir Putin, y aún así no contó con el apoyo de Nicaragua.
“Yo vi definitivamente unas posturas supremamente grises, nebulosas con lo que está pasando en Ucrania, en suelo europeo, vi casi una actitud silente”, criticó el miembro del Parlamento Latinoamericano y Caribeño (Parlatino).
“Nadie mencionó, al menos que yo hubiera visto, que se está acabando el acuerdo para la exportación de los granos ucranianos (...) y las consecuencias de esto para los cerca de 600 millones de habitantes del mundo”, enfatizó.
Con todo ello, el parlamentario mostró su preocupación y advirtió sobre cómo este conflicto entre Ucrania y Rusia está “perjudicando al mundo”.
PREVENIR PANDEMIAS, CRISIS FISCALES Y MEDIOAMBIENTALES
En cuanto a los temas que aquejan a la región latinoamericana, Pérez alertó que hay una serie de temas en los que la región necesita “la ayuda” de los “países desarrollados”.
“Las vacunas deben ser universales (...), necesitamos que haya una regulación precisa sobre las vacunas para prevenir futuras pandemias y que nos permitan las patentes para que nosotros podamos producir”, sentenció.
Además, el parlamentario expuso la necesidad de que se active una “banca multilateral” entre ambos continentes para “paliar la situación fiscal”: “si un país no es viable fiscalmente tampoco existirá democracia en ese país. Ahí es cuando surgen esos populismos que se apoderan de las angustias de la gente”.
Respecto a la agenda medioambiental, el político colombiano recordó que ya se sabe quienes son “los grandes productores de CO2” y apuntó que “ellos tienen una deuda con América Latina”.
“América Latina en su conjunto contribuye muy poco al calentamiento global (...) nosotros producimos oxígeno en la Amazonía, en los Páramos (zona andina), en los mares nuestros, en nuestras selvas, todos son fábricas de oxígeno”, concluyó para preguntarse: “¿y quién nos remunera eso?”
RECONOCIMIENTO A EUROLAT
El congresista latinoamericano celebró que los mandatarios europeos y latinoamericanos le den “la importancia debida a la EuroLat”.
""Nosotros somos quienes hacemos las leyes, los que marcamos la ruta jurídica de los gobiernos"", dijo, al tiempo que consideró que los parlamentarios tienen ""que tomar atenta nota"" y ""consciencia"" de que sus decisiones ""terminarán afectando favorable o desfavorablemente a la gente"".
Por todo ello, Pérez opinó que “el reconocimiento” de esta decimoquinta asamblea es fundamental, porque, según insistió, “son los congresistas quienes aprueban las leyes y esas leyes son las que rigen los destinos de nuestros países”. EFE
Por Ana Báez
(c) Agencia EFE",Not_Explicit
"Ever since the first ball in Manchester, Australia had a mindset of not wanting to lose the crucial fourth Test.
They knew the rain, which ensured the game ended in a draw, was forecast for the last two days and were in survival mode, rather than looking to attack and dominate.
It was not the normal Australian way but I would never call it 'Un-Australian' because this is a successful Test team.
They did what they had to do.
It may have looked ugly and negative but Australia's tactics worked. Their first job when arriving here was to retain the Ashes, which they have now done courtesy of their 2-1 lead with one match to play.
But Australia's next job is to go and win a series in England for the first time since 2001 and I am hoping we see a different mindset at The Oval from Thursday.
- England denied by rain as Australia retain the Ashes
- 'How are we supposed to feel?' England's Ashes hopes washed away
I have to be honest, England dominated this match.
It was their 'Bazball' style in its finest form but Ben Stokes' decision not to declare earlier on day three cost them victory.
England were 506-8, leading by 189, but Stokes decided to bat long into the afternoon session.
Jonny Bairstow's 99 not out may have been brilliant for team morale but had Stokes pulled out England would have had another 10 overs when the ball was reverse swinging late on the third day.
England can say they were unlucky but it rained as much as was forecast.
Afterwards Stokes talked about the bigger picture, his desire to reenergise the longest format, and that is important.
But it is worrying me England might be using that as a tactic to deflect - that they are doing everything they can to take all of the pressure off themselves.
Yes, talk about your style of play but once you cross that line you have to do everything to win.
England have the attributes to become a great team but the best teams embrace the pressure. They should have declared at lunch and backed themselves to bowl Australia out.
Still, there is much to admire about England and this Test will be remembered for Zak Crawley's brilliant 189.
I have always been a big fan of Crawley and, on the best batting surface of the series, he gave Pat Cummins his most difficult day as Australia captain.
As England racked up 592 at almost five-and-a-half runs per over, Cummins looked tired - not physically but mentally.
He has done an excellent job since being appointed in 2021, winning the Ashes at home, the World Test Championship this year and had not had any real negative press.
In Manchester he was put under the pump for the first time.
Being skipper as a bowler is a hard job. You cannot wander down to fine leg between overs and switch off and the difficulty goes up another level in an Ashes series, when there is so much outside noise.
Cummins will now know all about it. The true Test of his captaincy will come at The Oval.
He had Sunday with his feet up and the pressure should be alleviated now Australia have retained the urn.
I hope Australia take something from the best of England's style when they turn up in south London and analyse what happened this week.
Cummins and the management have had this plan to set the field back ever since the opening delivery of the series but it was not the fours and sixes that hurt them at Old Trafford. It was the constant availability of ones and twos that had the bigger impact.
You have got to back yourself to force a batter to hit good shots for boundaries off good balls more often. Set a field with more chance of getting a wicket.
Australia may say this ploy has worked but now they have retained the Ashes I would like to see them be more aggressive. Play with freedom and take to the field without fear.
We saw it from Marnus Labuschagne with his century at Old Trafford on day four, and Mitchell Marsh at Headingley.
I would rather see Australia lose the last Test by backing themselves, really taking it to England, rather than going down with a whimper.
Winning in England for the first time since 2001, beating this energised England team under Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, should be massive motivation.
To return to Australia with a 3-1 victory would be huge response to Bazball - an incredible achievement.
People will say England could be 3-0 up and they would be right.
Had they been smarter earlier in the series, not dropped so many vital catches, they would still be alive. They certainly should have won the first Test at Edgbaston.
But England have also had the better of conditions and won four tosses.
Ultimately the series has been so tight it is pointless trying to debate which way the score should or should not be. The first three Tests could have gone either way.
Now Australia need to give everything they have got. It is time to not worry about saving anything and go out and win the Ashes.
Glenn McGrath was speaking to BBC Sport's Matthew Henry",Not_Explicit
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Thursday on a new ethics code for the Supreme Court, an attempt to respond to recent revelations about justices’ interactions with wealthy donors and others. Republicans are strongly opposed, arguing the ethics bill could “destroy” the high court.
The hearing is expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. EDT. Watch live in our player above.
The committee’s legislation would impose new ethics rules on the court and a process to enforce them, including new standards for transparency around recusals, gifts and potential conflicts of interest. Democrats first pushed the legislation after reports earlier this year that Justice Clarence Thomas participated in luxury vacations and a real estate deal with a top GOP donor — and after Chief Justice John Roberts declined to testify before the committee about the ethics of the court.
READ MORE: AP investigation reveals potential conflicts of interest for Supreme Court justices
Since then, news reports also revealed that Justice Samuel Alito had taken a luxury vacation with a GOP donor. And The Associated Press reported last week that Justice Sonia Sotomayor, aided by her staff, has advanced sales of her books through college visits over the past decade.
“Just about every week now, we learn something new and deeply troubling about the justices serving on the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land in the United States, and their conduct outside the courtroom,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said this week. “Let me tell you, if I or any member of the Senate failed to report an all-expense paid luxury getaway or if we used our government staff to help sell books we wrote, we’d be in big trouble.”
Even though the ethics legislation has little chance of passing the Senate — it would need at least nine GOP votes to pass, and Republicans appear united against it — Democrats say the spate of revelations means that enforceable standards on the court are necessary.
WATCH: What the Supreme Court’s latest term tells us about its future direction
“The Roberts court has not been able to clean up its own mess,” said Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the lead sponsor of the ethics bill.
The legislation comes after years of increasing tension, and increasing partisanship, on the committee over the judiciary. Then-President Donald Trump nominated three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, all of whom were confirmed when Republicans were in the Senate majority and with considerable opposition from Democrats. The court has as a result shifted sharply to the right, overturning the nationwide right to an abortion and other liberal priorities.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Republicans on the committee said they would fight the ethics bill, which they said would undermine the separation of powers and is more about Democratic opposition to the court’s decisions than its ethics. They are expected to offer several amendments to the legislation in the committee meeting on Thursday.
READ MORE: What Americans think about affirmative action in college admissions
“It’s not about ethics or accountability,” said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a senior Republican on the panel. “It’s about outcomes they don’t like.”
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Judiciary panel, said that if the bill were to ever pass, “the Supreme Court as we know it would be destroyed.” Congress should stay out of the court’s business, Graham said.
The legislation would mandate a new Supreme Court “code of conduct” with a process for adjudicating the policy modeled on lower courts that do have ethics codes. It would require that justices provide more information about potential conflicts of interest, allow impartial panels of judges to review justices’ decisions not to recuse and require public, written explanations about their decisions not to recuse. It would also seek to improve transparency around gifts received by justices and set up a process to investigate and enforce violations around required disclosures.
Though Democrats had pushed versions of the ethics legislation in the past, the current push came after news reports revealed Thomas’ close relationship with Dallas billionaire and GOP donor Harlan Crow. Crow had purchased three properties belonging to Thomas and his family in a transaction worth more than $100,000 that Thomas never disclosed, according to the nonprofit investigative journalism organization ProPublica. The organization also revealed that Crow gifted Thomas and his wife, Ginni, with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of annual vacations and trips over several decades.
READ MORE: Poll shows Americans’ trust in Supreme Court remains low
Durbin had invited Roberts to testify at a hearing, but he declined, saying that testimony by a chief justice is exceedingly rare because of the importance of preserving judicial independence. Roberts also provided a “Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices” signed by all nine justices that described the ethical rules they follow about travel, gifts and outside income.
While the rules were not new, the statement provided by Roberts said that the undersigned justices “reaffirm and restate foundational ethics principles and practices to which they subscribe in carrying out their responsibilities as Members of the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Besides Sotomayor’s push for book sales, the AP reported that universities have used trips by justices as a lure for financial contributions by placing them in event rooms with wealthy donors and that justices have taken expenses-paid teaching trips to attractive locations that are light on actual classroom instruction.
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"Manchester United have unveiled their away kit for the 2023-24 season, and it sees the club return to vertical stripes for the first time in two decades, a design that harks back to the start of their existence.
However, rather than their original green and gold stripes of 1893 to 1899, or red and black as worn in the early 1900s, or even the green and white bars worn briefly from 1902 to 1905, United have instead chosen to meld them all together.
The result is a railing of white stripes all split by thin red pinstripes, which in turn sit atop a dark green backdrop. If there were a Guinness World Record for how many stripes you can fit on one jersey, this would surely go into the book.
According to manufacturers Adidas, elements of the palette are intended to mirror Manchester and its proud industrial heritage, with the red representing the bricks that were used to build much of the city and the grimy green apparently being a colour found in many of its urban structures (presumably in the form of mould or lichen?).
With almost no real estate on the body or the sleeves to spare, there are stripes absolutely everywhere. The long-sleeved version of the jersey boasts so many barcode-esque lines that it could probably check itself out at the club megastore. Indeed, the addition of the manufacturer's trademark three stripes down the arms adds even more clutter jammed into an already saturated field.
While certain to divide opinion among fans, it's safe to say that if you happen to like striped football kits -- like, really like them -- then United's latest away jersey is definitely the one for you.
The kit was actually first unveiled at the weekend on stage at Tramlines festival in Sheffield by Liam Fray, lead singer of Manchester band Courteeners.
Courteeners' association with United goes back a few years, to when their song ""Not Nineteen Forever"" became an anthem for the club's fans as they celebrated wining their 20th league title in 2013.
The stunt follows on from a similar one involving Manchester rapper Aitch, who revealed United's new home jersey while performing on stage at Glastonbury last month",Not_Explicit
"“QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley unsuccessfully tried to vacate the guilty plea and prison sentence he received in connection to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but was admonished by a federal judge for basing his request on a furtherance of conspiracy theories.
Calling the face-painting, pelt-wearing Arizona man “the face of the riot,” Judge Royce Lamberth lambasted Chansley for contending that “cherry-picked” Capitol security footage of him behaving calmly between outbursts — aired without context by disgraced former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — was some kind of exoneration.
”The Court finds it alarming that the host’s viewers throughout the nation so readily heeded his command,” the judge wrote in response to a request filed by Chansley last week, according to the Arizona Republic. Lamberth compared Carlson’s coverage favoring Chansley to the nonsensical reporting that led many people to falsely believe Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election.
At his Nov. 2021 sentencing hearing, Chansley described himself as a man “of honor” who accepts responsibilities for his “mistake.”
But Lamberth wrote that material he’s seen since Chansley was sentenced, including Carlson’s discredited coverage, makes him wish he had actually been harder on the defendant, according to the Daily Beast.
The 35-year-old convict was released to a halfway house in March — 14 months earlier than scheduled.
Carlson’s departure from television followed a $787.5 million settlement between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems, which stopped the right-wing network from having to defend the lies it spread about 2020 election fraud.
Former MAGA radical Ray Epps also filed suit against Fox News last week claiming Carlson fueled lies about his involvement in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.",Not_Explicit
"Democrats put RFK Jr. on blast in change of strategy
Democrats are no longer trying to ignore Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and have taken to calling him out in public after a week of controversies.
National party leaders for the first time acknowledged Kennedy’s disruptive presidential bid with sharp criticism, and lawmakers met his claims of censorship head-on during his testimony on Capitol Hill.
It’s a notable change from their previous approach, in which Democratic leaders and party officials hoped Kennedy would simply fade away on his own. It also serves a purpose for President Biden, who has so far been cautious about addressing his primary rival directly.
“On his own, he was doing a really good job of showing everyone his initials stood for Real F—ing [K]razy, so made sense to let him be,” said Eddie Vale, a strategist who has worked on numerous Democratic campaigns.
“This week was different and made sense for folks to engage, because of the combination of outright antisemitism and being a witness for Republicans’ nonsense hearing,” Vale said.
Kennedy this week drew backlash for asserting without evidence that COVID-19 was “ethnically targeted” — a claim infectious disease and ethics experts refuted. Kennedy was caught on video by a reporter saying Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jews were not targeted as much as other races, including Black and white people.
“I’ve never even believed that he was a legitimate candidate,” said Arthur Caplan, a biomedical expert who’s spoken out about the various public relations storms that have dominated Kennedy’s campaign.
“COVID just doesn’t lend itself to being that kind of weapon,” added Caplan, who has written extensively about bioweapons and viruses. “I knew he was basically talking out of his rear end.”
But while Kennedy has frequently drawn negative attention for his views on vaccines, his remarks this week seemed to be even more offensive to many. A wave of White House officials and congressional Democrats rushed to criticize Kennedy, accusing him of spreading misinformation and making antisemitic and racist comments.
In a rare showing of condemnation toward a rival from the same side of the aisle, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took to the podium to portray Kennedy’s comments as factually inaccurate and an “attack” on people.
“If you think about the racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories that come out of saying those types of things, it is an attack on our fellow citizens, our fellow Americans,” Jean-Pierre said on Monday.
“It is important that we essentially speak out when we hear those claims made more broadly,” she added.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called the candidate’s COVID-19 comments “reprehensible” and said they were disqualifying.
“Last week, RFK Jr. made reprehensible anti-semitic and anti-Asian comments aimed at perpetuating harmful and debunked racist tropes,” DelBene said in a statement.
“Such dangerous racism and hate have no place in America, demonstrate him to be unfit for public office, and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” she added.
Adding fuel to the fire for Democrats, Kennedy on Thursday testified before a House Judiciary select subcommittee examining the “weaponization” of the federal government, using the event to argue he was being censored despite receiving widespread coverage from major news outlets. Although House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) defended him, Democrats — led by Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) — made their disapproval of him clear.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also waded into the intraparty conflict, questioning why the GOP would grant Kennedy a forum in Congress.
“Why would you give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a congressional platform to spew his hatred? Here’s the answer: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a living, breathing false-flag operation,” the New York congressman said.
The growing chorus of criticism poses a challenge for Kennedy, who always faced an uphill climb to defeat Biden. But the events of the past week could turn off even those voters who had been more open to his campaign.
Adding to the feeling of many Democrats that Kennedy is playing into the hands of the GOP, former President Trump recently praised the insurgent candidate as “a very smart person,” saying he “hit a little bit of a nerve.” Kennedy had expressed during a town hall hosted by NewsNation — owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill — that he was “proud” Trump liked him.
“His whole campaign is being run by right-wing political operatives who have one objective: try to take down President Joe Biden,” Jeffries argued this week.
That sentiment is shared by many others in the party. The Hill reported earlier this week that two pro-Israel House Democrats said he should not be allowed to serve in the Oval Office if elected following his COVID-19 remarks.
Still, Biden has been careful not to pile on, and some Democrats argue it’s better to disregard him again. Reached for comment, spokespeople from the Biden campaign and the White House also declined to comment on the record beyond what Jean-Pierre said at the podium this week.
As long as he teeters around the same polling numbers, Democrats say they should continue paying him no mind.
“I think it makes most sense to go back to ignoring him,” Vale said. “Let him just hang out with Steve Bannon and do weird push-ups in jeans.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"The leader of the United States Space Command, an Army general named James H. Dickinson, said Wednesday that megaconstellations such as SpaceX's Starlink network have played an important role in Ukraine's efforts to deter an invasion by Russia.
""We are seeing for the first time what a megaconstellation means to the world,"" Dickinson said. ""That provides such resiliency and redundancy in terms of maintaining satellite communications in this example. That is powerful, and the department is moving in that direction.""
Dickinson made his remarks at the Aspen Security Forum. As leader of the Space Command, Dickinson is responsible for the command and control of all US military forces in outer space. He said Starlink had facilitated communications among Ukraine's armed forces and that other commercial companies had provided essential observation services through means such as synthetic aperture radar, which can observe at night and through clouds.
Distributed the risk
Additionally, Dickinson said that by having a constellation of distributed satellites, it was more difficult for Russia to take countermeasures.
""Having a megaconstellation, quite frankly, frustrates our adversaries,"" he said, ""because you don't know how many satellites it would take to have any kind of a degradation to that architecture, or which one if you had to pick one, you would have to, you know, have an effect against.""
Last October a deputy director in Russia's foreign ministry, Konstantin Vorontsov, said the use of Western commercial satellites by Ukraine established ""an extremely dangerous trend."" While Vorontsov did not specifically name any satellites, he almost certainly was referring to SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation, which has been used by Ukrainian soldiers for communications and for tracking Russian troop and tank movements.
The use of civilian satellites for wartime purposes, Vorontsov said, essentially made them military targets. Dickinson was asked how Space Command would respond to an attack on a US commercial satellite by a foreign adversary. Basically, he punted on the question.
""I do have a mission area protecting and defending, and that's widely known, assets on orbit,"" he replied. ""But to be honest with you, those have to be directed to me by, you know, my boss, and my boss's boss, eventually if that were to happen.""
At the time that US Space Command was reestablished in 2019, Dickinson said the organization was tracking about 25,000 objects in space—active and defunct satellites, as well as old rocket stages, debris, and more. Now that number is close to 50,000, he said. Some of this is due to the increasing number of satellites, but a large amount has been caused by activities such as Russia's anti-satellite test in 2021.
Striking a balance
Dickinson said that some of this growth has come down to new objects identified and tracked by commercial providers. At present, he said, Space Command works with 133 commercial space companies, which are performing various functions from satellite communications to space domain awareness. He said these partnerships have proven potent in enhancing the capabilities of the US Department of Defense.
But does this increasing reliance on commercial companies—which have their own priorities and at times mercurial leadership—not also threaten the ability of Space Command to do its job? What if a company decided that it no longer wanted its products to be used as part of the military's warfighting capabilities?
""It's a balance,"" Dickinson said. ""In other words, we're not going to be all commercial. We may not be all military. But as we look at our mission areas within US Space Command and the Department of Defense, there is a balance between what is purely military and what might be relied upon as a service.""
Already, he said, the US military relies heavily on commercial services in other domains, such as at sea, for shipping, and in the air, such as using commercial aircraft for some legs of troop deployments. Still, he acknowledged, space is a relatively new domain, and the extent to which the military relies on commercial services for its duties is still being worked out.",Not_Explicit
"Ashok Leyland Q1 Review - Seasonality Defies Profitability; Valuation Captures The Positives: ICICI Securities
As against flat M&HCV volume YoY, LCV volume was up 3%, spares revenue was up ~33% YoY and power genset volume grew ~two times YoY
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
ICICI Securities Report
Ashok Leyland Ltd.’s Q1 FY24 Ebitda margin at 10% (up 560 basis points YoY) was ~100 bps ahead of consensus estimate, despite it being a seasonally weak quarter.
Margin expansion was led primarily by gross margin improvement through favorable mix (higher mix of spares and gensets), controlled discounting and cost-saving initiatives.
Ashok Leyland expects further margin improvement in the coming quarters led by falling commodity prices, better operating leverage and pricing discipline. Capex in Q1 FY24 was ~Rs 950 million, and the targeted investment for Switch Mobility remains at Rs 12 billion for FY24.
Ashok Leyland’s medium and heavy commercial vehicle market share during Q1 FY24 was at ~32%, up 100 bps YoY, and the company expects to increase it further by enhancing its share in the northern and eastern states, where it is currently sub-30%.
We estimate Ashok Leyland’s M&HCV volume compound annual growth rate at ~5% in FY23-FY25E, with its market share at ~33% (Ashok Leyland expects M&HCV industry growth of 6-8% in FY24).
Post ~30% rally in last three months and no change in estimates, we downgrade Ashok Leyland to 'Hold' (from 'Add') with a revised discounted cash flow-based target price of Rs 185 (earlier: Rs 176), implying 11 times FY25E enterprise value/Ebitda.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"In the days and hours before the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, diehard Donald Trump allies gathered at Washington’s Willard Hotel, hunkered down as the last-ditch efforts to overturn the 2020 election went forward. What exactly they were doing in those meetings was a subject of intense interest for Congress’ Jan. 6 investigation, but the committee ran into the limits of its powers as it struggled to reconstruct the specifics of those eleventh-hour meetings.
Now, special counsel Jack Smith’s office is taking its shot, hoping to figure out exactly what went down in the Willard “war room” — and just how involved Trump himself was in the Willard-based efforts to stop the transfer of power to then president-elect Joe Biden.
Special counsel investigators are grilling witnesses about the crucial Willard meetings, two people with knowledge of the investigation tell Rolling Stone. It could prove to be a fruitful line of questioning. One former senior Trump administration official, who stayed on through the Jan. 6 riot, simply refers to it as “the crime headquarters.”
The Willard, a luxury hotel a block from the White House, became the site of what participants described as a “war room” for Trump-aligned lawyers and diehard MAGA operatives working to overturn the 2020 election. The summit took place in the days and hours before the certification of electoral college votes on Jan. 6, and participants included Trump advisers and allies such as Giuliani, John Eastman, Bernard Kerik, Boris Epshteyn, and Steve Bannon.
Investigators led by special counsel Jack Smith have questioned multiple witnesses — including then-top Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani — about the timeline and deliberations of the meetings, seeking to reconstruct the events, the sources say. The investigators also plan to bring in additional witnesses who have knowledge of the Willard meetings, the sources add.
The federal investigators are also focused on the level of Trump’s direct involvement in the meetings, the sources say. The then-president reportedly called Rudy Giuliani on Jan. 5 to complain about Vice President Mike Pence’s refusal to go along with a plan to block the counting of legitimate electoral college votes, according to interviews conducted by the Jan. 6 Committee.
The special counsel’s office declined to comment on this story. But Smith’s interest in Trump associates’ activities at the Willard Hotel, where the then-president’s lieutenants reportedly oversaw the effort to disrupt the count of legitimate electoral college votes, suggests the special counsel is exploring Trump’s role in and knowledge of the efforts to disrupt the proceedings.
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Early this week, the former president was sent a target letter related to this investigation, strongly suggesting that an indictment — Trump’s third of the year — could be coming soon. The letter listed the federal statutes under which Trump is expected to be charged, including conspiracy, obstruction, and civil rights violations.
Smith’s office’s efforts to reconstruct what occurred at the Willard during the tumultuous Trump-Biden presidential transition could address questions left unanswered by Congress’ wide-ranging investigation into Trump and his associates.
The January 6 House committee interviewed a number of Trump allies in attendance about the Willard “war room,” including Giuliani and Kerik. But others, including Trumpist attorney Eastman, invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination when asked even basic questions about whether they were in attendance at the Trump “war room” in early Jan. 2021.
“We didn’t get to peek behind the curtain there because they stonewalled us,” a former Jan. 6 committee staffer tells Rolling Stone in reference to the Willard investigation.
Related
The House committee also focused on the phone call Trump apparently made to deputies at the hotel the day before the insurrection.
During Giuliani’s interview with the January 6 House committee, investigators asked about a phone call which they said took place between Trump, Giuliani, and Bannon at the hotel. Trump, one investigator said during Giuliani’s deposition, “called you and Mr. Steve Bannon and conveyed to you that the Vice President was very arrogant and that the President wasn’t happy with him,” according to transcripts released by Congress.
Giuliani, citing attorney-client privilege issues, declined to describe the substance of his call with the former president.
The Trump “war room” at the hotel was a subject of particular interest for the committee’s investigation for its role as a hub for the Trump campaign’s attempts to block the counting of electoral votes on January 6. Top Trump advisers used the so-called “command center” while pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the counting of legitimate electoral votes and encourage state legislatures to instead send slates of bogus pro-Trump electors in battleground states where the former president had lost to Joe Biden.
In a sign that the fake electors plot could be a key part of the Smith investigation, the special counsel’s office has issued subpoenas to election officials in Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin seeking information about the activities of the Trump campaign.
Trending
Despite the “command center’s” importance in Trump’s attempted coup, during the presidential transition, the Willard hub attracted the private ire of other Trump advisers who were quietly embarrassed by Giuliani and others’ efforts. Other members of the administration and Trump campaign advisers, the former official says, regularly mocked their work and had nicknames for the “Star Wars cantina” of 2020 dead-enders.
One former senior Trump campaign official tells Rolling Stone that, in discussions at the time with other Trump aides, they called the Willard hotspot “idiot island.”",Not_Explicit
"- US officials say there's been no change in US policy on sending ATACMS, despite Ukraine's pleas.
- Kyiv has repeatedly called on the US to send the powerful long-range missiles.
- No major discussions on the issue have taken place for months, officials told The Washington Post.
US defense officials said the Biden administration remains hesitant to provide long-range ballistic missiles to Ukraine, despite reports the US was considering sending the weapons earlier this month, according to The Washington Post.
They told the outlet there had been no substantive discussions on providing the Army Tactical Missile System, the ATACMS, to Ukraine, for months despite President Biden's remarks that the missiles were ""still in play"" in May.
The ATACMS are missiles with a range of about 190 miles, which could strike Russian targets beyond the front line and threaten any Russian base or ammunition depot in Ukraine, according to a retired US general.
ATACMS not a priority and could escalate the conflict
US resistance to sending ATACMS to Ukraine is partially down to fears that it could trigger Russian escalation of the conflict.
But the Pentagon is holding firm on its stance that the ATACMS are not a priority for Kyiv's forces, per the outlet. It remains concerned that sending enough missiles to Ukraine would deplete the US's limited stock, weakening its response to other potential conflicts, officials told The Post.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking hundreds of missiles from the US. ""Without long-range weapons, it is difficult not only to carry out an offensive mission but also to conduct a defensive operation,"" Zelensky said during a press conference earlier this month.
Ukraine's forces, engaged in a counteroffensive, have been forced to advance slowly on foot in the face of dense Russian minefields and an area of landmines the size of Florida. Yesterday, Zelenskyy told the Aspen Security Forum that Ukraine's counteroffensive was poised to ""gain pace.""
Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenkyy's office, told the Forum that a decision on the ATACMS was at the top of Ukraine's list of security needs, per The Post.
No shift despite US lawmaker calls
The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution calling for ATACMS to ""immediately"" send the missiles to Ukraine earlier this month.
But one official familiar with the issue told The Post that the US position remained firm despite the perception that there was ""some sort of slow, gravitational pull"" towards sending the missiles.
The UK announced it sent Ukraine a number of Storm Shadow cruise missiles in May, which have a range of around 140 miles, according to The Post. The UK's Defence Minister Ben Wallace said the missiles were striking their targets with ""accuracy"" and ""almost without fault.""",Not_Explicit
"Wildfire evacuations: How our diverse experiences can strengthen disaster response
Wildfire affects us all differently. This is the central message from research about the social dimensions of climate hazards.
Considerable research has calculated potential land area burned, counted the dollars spent in evacuation and recovery and proposed technical and infrastructural adaptation measures to cope with longer and more intense fire seasons.
However, less attention has been paid to how different groups of people are affected and the intangible social losses they experience.
As researchers working on gender, diversity and environment, we believe that to effectively address climate hazards like wildfire, we must consider the diverse experiences of people. We must also account for longstanding ""taken for granted"" institutions and create processes that empower local people to plan, respond and learn from their specific experiences.
The diverse experiences of wildfire
Over the past decade, we have conducted multiple projects in the boreal region of western Canada to learn how residents experience and plan for wildfire.
While governments and the media tend to focus on the economic losses of wildfire, community residents tend to focus on losses associated with mental and emotional well-being, social exclusions and the grief they experience from changes to the places and landscapes they love.
Even within small communities, such effects vary considerably according to peoples' gender, socio-economic status, Indigenous identity, age, their social networks and other characteristics. And many of these characteristics intersect with one another, resulting in diverse experiences of wildfire.
In other instances, men felt pressure to stay and fight the fires to protect their assets, despite the health and safety risks. Meanwhile community members were worried about how the fires would affect their sense of belonging to a place.
Other studies have similarly shown that people experience wildfire differently at various intersections of, for example, rural identity and gender, youth or age and Indigeneity and affluence and physical mobility.
These differences are influenced by the social institutions that shape our experiences, such as colonial legacies and gendered norms and expectations.
In the above example, the women's experiences of anxiety were influenced by legacies of harmful assimilative practices of residential schools and the Sixties Scoop, which forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families. This in addition to the ongoing inequalities and injustices that see Indigenous children over-represented in foster systems.
Masculine norms and expectations to be community protectors also often influence men's decisions to ""stay and fight"" during the event and create barriers to their willingness to access mental health assistance afterwards.
Institutions can help or hinder
Institutions we take for granted can exacerbate the secondary risks people face from wildfire events.
Top-down, command-and-control approaches to emergency management are often very effective in getting people out of immediate harm's way when wildfires draw near. But evacuation triage processes that prioritize physical health risks may result in the fragmentation of extended family support networks.
Realizing these gaps, Indigenous residents and their governments have often taken the initiative to offer culturally appropriate and timely provision of food, supplies, temporary residences and social supports for evacuees in addition to fighting the fires.
The ""Rez Cross,"" hosted by Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation in Saskatchewan in 2015, is but one example.
While people are impacted by wildfire and evacuations in different ways, community members also have important knowledge—including information about the land, social context, cultural protocols, and local values—which is critical during and after wildfires and other extreme events.
In our studies, when residents spoke about the need to rebuild their communities, they meant much more than the physical bricks and mortar, calling for projects that demonstrate care for one another and learn from the past.
Learning from these experiences, we are now engaging in research that supports local people from diverse situations to work together to share experiences and knowledge related to wildfire impacts and to co-design effective local strategies.
This is hopeful work.
Working together builds resilience
Addressing climate change and climate hazards requires governments, community-based organizations and even private sector entities at all levels to fund and support communities.
This will help communities plan and adapt in ways that account for diversity of experience, address underlying social inequalities and draw on local strengths and knowledge.
An inclusive approach involves meaningful engagement processes with diverse groups of people within communities, facilitated by robust funding and social infrastructure, alongside a re-thinking of institutions or ""rules in use"" that are taken for granted.
By accounting for social dimensions in each of these contexts, we can help empower communities to leverage local innovation and strengthen their resilience in the face of climate hazards.
Provided by The Conversation",Not_Explicit
"This Is No Way to Teach History
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At the end of the week, the Florida Board of Education approved new standards for how American history should be taught to that state’s students in that state’s public school. This, of course, is a direct result of Governor Ron DeSantis’s “War On Woke,” on which he’s attempting to ride to the White House, but which the available evidence says won’t even get him to Cedar Rapids. However, the damage he can do to Florida is serious, deep, and ongoing. The new standards by which American history will be taught look as though they were devised by Strom Thurmond on some very good mushrooms. From CNN:
The new standards require instruction for middle school students to include “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit,” a document listing the standards and posted in the Florida Department of Education website said. When high school students learn about events such as the 1920 Ocoee massacre, the new rules require that instruction include “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.” The massacre is considered the deadliest Election Day violence in US history and, according to several histories of the incident, it started when Moses Norman, a prominent Black landowner in the Ocoee, Florida, community, attempted to cast his ballot and was turned away by White poll workers. Similar standards are noted for lessons about other massacres, including the Atlanta race massacre, the Tulsa race massacre and the Rosewood race massacre.
I was particularly intrigued by the instruction that the curriculum include “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.” Given that the list provided by the Board is composed entirely of violence by white mobs against Black citizens — Tulsa, Rosewood, and the turn of the century race riots in Atlanta, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. — this equivocation reeks of trying to apply the standards of Both Sides Do It to racial violence. Even if you count Nat Turner, and that’s very arguable, this is a preposterous way to teach history, but it’s a great way to teach profitable ignorance. I know that first-hand, about which more anon.
The only reason I can come up with for that curious “and by African Americans” equivocation is that it might distressingly be referring to attempts by the victims of those bloody episodes to fight back. For example, the Ocoee Massacre, which occurred on election day in 1920. Armed members of the Klan prevented Black citizens from voting. A man named Mose Norman was particularly insistent to the point that the Klan and its affiliates went looking for him at the home of July Perry, a influential man among Ocoee’s Black community. From the Florida History Blog:
The group’s leader, a military veteran and former police chief of Orlando named Sam Salisbury, knocked on the door of the wood-framed home. Perry knew they were cornered and reluctantly answered the door. The officer insisted that Perry must come with him, to which the 51-year-old replied, “Yes suh, boss, let me get my coat.” At that moment, Salisbury grabbed Perry by the arm and put him in a headlock, thinking he might run. Perry’s daughter Coretha responded by placing a rifle in the officer’s belly. Salisbury instinctively brushed the weapon aside. In that intense moment, the gun fired, shooting the officer in the right arm; he retreated out of the door and rolled on the ground to escape.
With only Perry’s family inside, a volley of gunfire erupted in both directions. Two of Salisbury’s men, Elmer McDaniels and Leo Borgard, were killed when they tried to storm the house by kicking in the backdoor. Coretha was also shot in the arm, possibly by a stray bullet from her father’s gun. Though the wound was not life-threatening, she had a scar for the rest of her life.
The story goes that the family so valiantly defended their home that some were convinced there was a large group inside. The mob retreated temporarily to get reinforcements and manpower from Klan members in surrounding cities.
The Perry family used the two or three-hour respite to escape the house. July had been seriously wounded during the incident and fled, with the help of his wife, into a nearby sugar cane patch. While her two young brothers hid in the barn, Coretha remained in the house to tend to her injuries alone.
By the time it was over, an estimated 58 Black citizens were dead, their community centers and churches were burned to the ground, and July Perry had been lynched on a telephone pole outside a country club. Now, this would be a helluva discussion topic in a history class — the role of violence in self-defense against oppressors. Was Coretha Perry right to draw down on the cops trying to haul her father away? Of course, to have that discussion, you would have to describe in some detail the oppression against which someone like Coretha Perry was defending herself. And that would be, I guess, “woke,” and we can’t have that.
Riding the ""war on woke"" straight to nowhere.
What’s really distressing to me is the knowledge that what DeSantis and his hirelings on the Board of Education are attempting to bring back is the truncated, bloodless American history that I was taught in elementary and in high school. I am the product of 11 years of Catholic education — seven with the Sisters of St. Joseph and four with the Xaverian Brothers. I treasure what I learned from all of them. (I still remember the day in sixth grade when Sr. Marie de Paul told me, “Charles, maybe you should be a writer when you grow up.” Made it, Sis! Top of the world!) But the history they taught left an awful lot out. All of the European history I learned was tangled up with an equally pale version of Church history.
(Why did I have to wait to be almost 40 to learn about the Cadaver Synod, perhaps my favorite historical event of all time?)
American history taught me that Manifest Destiny was largely an unusually clever land deal and that indigenous people were natural obstacles to it, like rivers or coyotes. The Civil War was about a clash of economic systems, and a dispute over states rights. Reconstruction was a matter of carpetbaggers and scalawags looting the defeated South. We skipped from the Industrial Revolution (America is on the move!) to World War I (A noble cause) to the Depression to World War II. And then everything went sideways while dealing with the Soviet Union. It wasn’t until I got to my senior year in high school, with the Vietnam debacle at high tide and some of the Xaverian Brothers having turned hippie on us in the wake of Vatican II, that it was intimated that the United States had lost quite a bit of its mind over Communism.
I’ve been filling in the gaps ever since, all the way through college and beyond. I have found American history to be richer and fuller and, God knows, more ambiguous in its morality than I was led to believe. (In college, I took a history course from a professor who taught the American Revolution from the British perspective. It was like a bucket of cold water in my face every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but I stood by my ancestors and refused to rise when he played God Save The Queen.) I now know as much about Denmark Vesey and Crazy Horse as I do about Paul Revere and Ulysses Grant. And I am so much the better for it.
The Carlise Indian School in 1901. Native American children were shipped off to boarding schools operating on the principle of, “Kill the Indian. Save the man,” and some of them never came back.
Woman, said I, I’ve heard that every fellow in this place is called Jams O’Donnell. If that’s the way it is, it’s a wonderful world we have and isn’t O’Donnell a wonderful man and the number of children he has.
— Flann O’Brien, The Poor Mouth (An Beal Bocht)
Bonaparte O’Coonassa, the hapless hero of the novel, is beaten with an oar on his first day of school by a schoolmaster who insists Bonaparte’s name is Jams O’Donnell. It turns out that he has insisted this was the case for every child in the benighted burg of Corkadoragha. Erasure of this sort is the first tool of colonial oppression. There are very few African Americans who know what their true family names are. Native American children were shipped off to boarding schools operating on the principle of, “Kill the Indian. Save the man,” and some of them never came back. Throughout my adult life, talented historians have worked to fill in the gaps in our common humanity that were torn by centuries of colonial oppression. It was an energizing process of simple validation through understanding and empathy. Plus, it was absolutely fascinating. And now it is under direct assault by the likes of Ron DeSantis and his pet Board of Education, who evidently want to take our future generation back to the amnesiac history that people of my generation were taught.
This is a threat to freedom, exactly the kind of “tyranny over the mind of man” that Thomas Jefferson swore eternal hostility “on the altar of God.” And, thanks to those historians — like, for example, the great Annette Gordon-Reed — that DeSantis wants to ignore, we have a better idea of TJ’s deeply flawed humanity and we are better for it. As the Irish playwright Brian Friel wrote in his masterful Translations, his play about colonial erasure of the Irish language and culture.
It is not the literal past, the ‘facts’ of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in language…we must never cease renewing those images; because once we do, we fossilize.
Republicans Will Turn Any Anodyne Bit of Congressional Business Into Performative Hatred
Thursday Was a Total Crackpot Day on Capitol Hill
Even a Whistleblower Hasn't Stopped Greg Abbott's Inhumanity in the Rio Grande
Trump's Lawyers Just Argued That Paying Hush Money to Stormy Daniels Was All Part of the Job
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"Israeli CEOs Ditch The C-Suite To Lead Anti-Government Protests
Israel’s anti-government protest movement, the largest in the nation’s history, has taken over the streets for seven months.
(Bloomberg) -- Sixteen members of a roving paid workforce. A volunteer steering committee of former military chiefs of staff, public-relations gurus and top-tier lawyers who speak daily. A budget in the tens of millions of dollars.
Israel’s anti-government protest movement, the largest in the nation’s history, has taken over the streets for seven months since plans emerged to weaken the power of the courts. On Saturday night, they again brought hundreds of thousands out. But they are not radicals neglected by the establishment — they are the establishment. And they are using traditional symbols like the flag to fight the populist policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“This is the backbone of Israeli society — people who’ve founded companies and headed large organizations,” says Shikma Bressler, a physicist and protest leader. “Some have carried out special military operations.”
“People arrested on the streets include CEOs of unicorns,” she adds, referring to the term for a startup valued at more than $1 billion.
Five other activists with inside knowledge gave behind-the-scenes details on condition of anonymity.
They estimate that 270 groups are active, involving some 800,000 individuals. They’ve deployed scores of photography drones, mobilized late-night operations to wrap monuments with slogan-filled banners, and sent out thousands of women dressed in the red capes and white bonnets of the Margaret Atwood novel “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
They succeeded in stopping Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government from rushing the entire judicial overhaul through the Knesset, as the parliament is known. With the government preparing to pass at least one key change, the movement is calculating its next steps.
Netanyahu’s plans have unnerved global investors, with Israel’s stocks, bonds and currency performing badly this year relative to similar assets in other countries. The US has also criticized the overhaul.
“We will have to direct our efforts against actions that will become possible under the new law,” says Bressler.
Her grassroots group, known as the “Kaplan Force,” after a street in central Tel Aviv that has hosted the weekly Saturday night demonstrations, is the largest. And she’s become the face of the movement.
She’s not new to the demonstration business. She led anti-corruption protests against Netanyahu starting in 2019. That meant that when the judicial overhaul arose seven months ago, the group had a solid infrastructure for getting people onto the streets.
There are 140 sectoral or professional groups of military reservists, high-tech executives, women’s-rights activists, doctors and lawyers. At the Saturday night protests, they occupy the same spot, like at a farmers’ market. Some 130 additional groups organize local demonstrations across the country.
The groups are independent, with their own WhatsApp groups and agendas, but they quickly realized they needed funding and collaboration. This is how protest headquarters came about.
“Free in Our Country”
The oversight group goes by the name “Hofshi b’artzenu,” a Hebrew quote from Israel’s national anthem meaning “Free in our country.” Its 16 employees are full and part time and rotate among donated workspaces in different high-tech offices. The chief executive officer is Eran Schwartz, a former air force pilot and deputy general manager at the Ministry for Social Equality. Another employee is Daria Shaked Henig, a former venture investor dedicated to promoting women in Silicon Valley.
The team is overseen by a steering committee. Some are household names in Israel: Dan Halutz and Moshe Ya’alon, both former military chiefs of staff; Dina Zilber, aformer deputy to the attorney general; Gilead Sher, a top lawyer; and Yossi Kucik, a business consultant. Sher and Kucik both worked for former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who’s attended some of the protests.
Others include top business leaders such as Orni Petrushka, one of Israeli high tech’s founding fathers; Zohar Levkovitz, a tech entrepreneur and venture investor; Ilan Shiloah, former CEO and chairman of Israel’s largest advertising firm; and Itay Ben Horin, owner and CEO of a major public relations firm.
Hedge Funders Drive Protests in Battle Over Israeli High Court
They hold weekly meetings to discuss trends and provide the organizations’ back-office services that mainly involve funding allocations, strategic planning and legal assistance — so far, they say, 800 protesters have been arrested.
The high-powered nature of the protesters can cause friction. There are frequent disagreements on tone or direction. One of the steering committee’s main roles is to make peace and keep the movement united.
The operation’s funding, estimated in the low tens of millions of dollars, is provided by private donors and crowd sourcing. Committee members say 90% of donors are Israeli, and they don’t accept money from governments or politically affiliated organizations. The money is channeled through a nonprofit called “Future Blue and White,” established by Sher and Petrushka in 2009 to promote Israeli democracy and the two-state solution with Palestinians.
Elite Reservists
The street protests rely heavily on elite military reservists. Last spring, what stopped the overhaul in its tracks was an increasing number of combat-pilot reservists threatening to stop volunteering. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said security was at risk and called for the legislation to stop.
Now that a law barring judges from declaring government action “unreasonable” is headed for final passage in the Knesset, reservists — who play a key part in military operations — are once again vowing to get involved. On Friday, 1,142 Air Force reservists, including 422 pilots, signed a letter saying they’d abstain from volunteering if the bill becomes law.
Ten thousand other reservists issued a similar threat on Saturday. Gallant hasn’t backed them but there have been last-minute talks on a possible compromise. It’s a game of intense brinkmanship.
If the current bill does pass, attention will turn to whether the government advances a second part of the judicial overhaul, to ensure judge selections are driven more by political parties.
Bressler, the physicist, says, if so, the protests will adjust — but not stop.
“No one knows in what way this will manifest itself in Israel,” she said. “It’s unfathomable, but the whole reality now is unfathomable.”
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"Russia Blames Ukraine for ""Terrorist"" Drone Attack in Moscow
The Russian Ministry of Defense has accused Ukraine of carrying out an attempted ""terrorist attack"" in Moscow earlier today. According to the ministry's statement posted on Telegram, two Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian capital, but their attack was thwarted. The drones were reportedly ""suppressed and crashed"" before they could cause any casualties. Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, confirmed that the attack struck two non-residential buildings.
Escalating Tensions Amid Ongoing Hostilities
In the wake of the alleged drone attack in Moscow, tensions between Russia and Ukraine have escalated further. Ukraine has not yet officially responded to the accusations made by the Russian authorities.
Odesa Airstrike Deepens Conflict
This incident comes just a day after the beleaguered port city of Odesa in Ukraine faced a deadly Russian airstrike. The attack resulted in the loss of at least one life and left 22 others injured. The Odesa attack caused significant damage to a grain depot and the Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Cathedral, a revered cultural heritage site in the region.
Rising Concerns Over Black Sea Grain Deal
Ukrainian officials have reported that Russia's departure from the UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal contributed to rising tensions in the region. The deal had facilitated the safe export of Ukrainian agricultural products to global markets, but Russia pulled out of the agreement, leading to disruptions in the flow of Ukrainian supplies.
International Efforts for Support
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been actively seeking support from the international community amid the ongoing hostilities. He recently thanked NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg for convening the first meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council, where Black Sea security and humanitarian corridors for agricultural exports were expected to be discussed.
Counteroffensive and Denials from Russia
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly acknowledged Ukraine's counteroffensive during talks with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, describing it as having ""failed."" However, the Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to media inquiries regarding these claims.
Global Concerns and Vigilance
As the situation continues to escalate, global concerns over the Black Sea region's stability and rising food prices persist. The international community remains vigilant and closely monitors the developments on the ground.",Not_Explicit
"A nuclear-propelled U.S. submarine has arrived in South Korea in the second deployment of a major U.S. naval asset to the Korean Peninsula this month, South Korea’s military said Monday, adding to the allies' show of force to counter North Korean nuclear threats.
The USS Annapolis arrived at a port on Jeju Island about a week after the USS Kentucky docked at the mainland port of Busan.
The Kentucky was the first U.S. nuclear-armed submarine to come to South Korea since the 1980s. North Korea reacted to its arrival by test-firing ballistic and cruise missiles in apparent demonstrations that it could make nuclear strikes against South Korea and deployed U.S. naval vessels.
In between those launches, North Korea’s defense minister issued a veiled threat insisting the Kentucky’s docking in South Korea could be grounds for the North to use a nuclear weapon against it. North Korea has used similar rhetoric before, but the statement underscored how much relations are strained now.
The Annapolis, whose main mission is destroying enemy ships and submarines, is powered by a nuclear reactor but is armed with conventional weapons. The Annapolis mainly docked at Jeju to load supplies, but Jang Do Young, a spokesperson of South Korea’s navy, said the U.S. and South Korean militaries were discussing whether to arrange training involving the vessel.
Meanwhile, North Korea remained publicly silent on an American soldier, Private Travis King, who crossed the border last Tuesday. U.S. officials have expressed concern about his well-being and said North Korea has been ignoring their requests to provide basic information about King, including where he’s being detained and what his condition is.
Analysts say North Korea wait weeks or even months to provide meaningful information about King to maximize leverage and add urgency to U.S. efforts to secure his release. Some say North Korea may try to wrest concessions from Washington, such as tying his release to the United States cutting back its military activities with South Korea.
The United States and South Korea have been expanding their combined military exercises and increasing regional deployments of U.S. strategic assets bombers, aircraft carriers and submarines in a show of force against North Korea, which has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022.",Not_Explicit
"Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday said that the Chinese communist regime ""bears responsibility"" for helping tackle the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. – pointing to areas in which China can assist the U.S. in stopping the drug getting into the country.
Mayorkas was asked at the Aspen Security Forum about whether China bears some responsibility for the U.S. fentanyl crisis, given that the precursor chemicals originate there.
""The precursor chemicals, many of which have legal use, the precursor chemicals, the pill presses that are used to manufacture fentanyl, it's extremely easy to manufacture, it's extremely quick, it's easy to conceal,"" he said. ""We seized vertical, long vertical candles that were hollowed out with pills. China bears responsibility. We need their assistance in interdicting the chemicals and pill presses that are going in volumes that don't reflect legitimate use.""
Illicit fentanyl is typically created in Mexico by cartels in labs with the use of precursors shipped over from China. The U.S. has called for an international coalition to combat the crisis and has appealed for help from both China and Mexico.
The drug is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine and is often cut with other drugs and pressed into pills, meaning that the user doesn’t know they are ingesting fentanyl. It kills more than 70,000 Americans a year.
The amount of drugs seized at the southern border has shot up to more than 22,000 pounds so far this fiscal year, up from 14,000 pounds in fiscal year 2022 and just 5,600 pounds in fiscal year 2020.
Republicans have said the amount of fentanyl being seized is a consequence of the border crisis bringing more drugs and migrants to the border. The administration has touted the increase in seizures as a sign of the success of its efforts in increasing detection. Mayorkas on Thursday said that ""some have used the border as a cudgel and conflated migration and the trafficking of fentanyl"" but noted that the majority of seizures happen at ports of entry.
Mayorkas said he recently visited JFK International Airport in New York City and saw the number of small packages stopped that contained drugs and firearms.
""We are addressing the supply side from an enforcement perspective. We are harnessing artificial intelligence to advance our capacity to interdict drugs, to be able to see anomalies in passenger vehicles, commercial trucks. I will say the creativity of the smugglers is extraordinary,"" he said. ""And yet our ingenuity in building response protocols is also extraordinary.""
The U.S. isn’t the only country to put pressure on the Chinese to do more to tackle the fentanyl threat. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more this year in a letter in which he couldn’t resist taking a shot at American politicians critical of his own handling of the cartels that are running rampant in Mexico.
""I write to you, President Xi Jinping, not to ask your help on these rude threats, but to ask you for humanitarian reasons to help us by controlling the shipments of fentanyl,"" he said.
Fox News' Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"It just happened to be in front of the biggest crowd ever to watch a women’s soccer match in Australia, a record 75,784. She just happened to be replacing Australia’s all-time leading scorer, Sam Kerr. The country name on the opposing jerseys just happened to be her father’s homeland.
“I feel ready, and everyone feels ready, so whoever is out there you know what you need to do and when you get out there you just play,” Fowler said after Thursday’s 1-0 victory over Ireland, which was making its tournament debut.
The 20-year-old Fowler was a replacement in the starting lineup for star striker Kerr, who was ruled out of the tournament co-host's opening match because of a calf muscle injury sustained in practice the previous day.
While the news of Kerr’s injury was announced publicly only an hour before kick-off, the team knew about the situation Wednesday night.
“I obviously feel for Sam, because it’s such a big tournament and she means so much to this team and this country,” Fowler said.
Fowler was born in Cairns in the far northeast of Australia, but played on Ireland’s youth national teams throughout her childhood. She never got a call-up to the Irish senior team.
Having an Irish father allowed her to play for either national team until appearing in a competitive match for one of them.
When she was 15, the Matildas gave her a chance at the senior level and all but secured her allegiance. That match was not a competitive one, so Ireland was still in the mix for Fowler's representative future. But the Irish federation could not convince her to switch back.
Since then, Fowler has scored 10 goals and earned 38 caps for Australia, with Thursday’s the most significant of those.
Fowler played 84 minutes against Ireland before being replaced by veteran Clare Polkinghorne. She had some skillful dribbling runs past Irish defenders but wasn't able to create a goal-scoring opportunity for the Matildas like she did in a warmup win the previous week against France.
“It’s nice to be able to put the Aussie jersey on, but feel connected to the Irish side,” Fowler said.
She’s played against Ireland once before, when she scored twice in a 3-2 loss in a 2021 friendly.
Fowler plays her club football for Manchester City in the English Women’s Super League, where she tallied five goals and two assists in 19 games in all competitions this season.
Kerr will be evaluated by team medical experts again after the Matildas’ second group-stage match against Nigeria, meaning there'll be at least one more game where somebody has to start in her absence.
So Fowler has time to shine, and make a name for herself on the biggest stage of all.
___
Clay Witt is a student at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
___
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"Russia's ambassador to the United States has told Newsweek that Moscow is preparing to boost strategic ties with African nations in line with an emerging new international order as President Vladimir Putin prepares to host most of the continent's leaders for a summit later this week.
The gathering will come amid Western accusations that Russia is weaponizing food exports after Moscow pulled out of a grain deal and struck Ukrainian ports in a war that just entered its 18th month.
""Russia has rich and long-standing relations with African countries,"" Ambassador Anatoly Antonov told Newsweek. ""Nowadays we intend to give an additional impetus to these ties and elevate them to a brand-new level.""
This concept, he argued, ""stands behind the Second Russia-Africa Summit, which will take place on July 27-28 in Saint Petersburg,"" the second of its kind since the debut event was held October 2019 in Sochi. Since then, Russia has maintained robust relations across much of Africa, even as a largely Western coalition of nations backing Kyiv seek to isolate Moscow on the world stage.
The upcoming summit will serve as an opportunity to showcase Russia's staying power in this part of the Global South amid a shift in a broader shift in global geopolitics.
""We look forward to developing the mutually beneficial strategic partnership with the countries of the continent at a time when a multipolar world order is taking shape,"" Antonov said.
While located far from the frontlines of the conflict raging in Ukraine, many African nations have been impacted directly by the war. Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly a third of global exports of critical grains such as wheat and barley, deliveries of which have been disrupted due to active fighting in Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia.
A deal forged a year ago under the auspices of Türkiye and the United Nations, through which a rare mutual buy-in from Moscow and Kyiv was secured, allowed for the continued to export of grains from Ukrainian docks. However, Russia terminated the agreement last week, arguing that the arrangement did not sufficiently allow for Russia to export its own food and fertilizer as a result of ongoing sanctions.
In a statement published to the Kremlin's website and shared with Newsweek by the Russian Embassy to the United States on Sunday, Putin recited this reasoning and argued that the initiative ended up being ""shamelessly used solely for the enrichment of large US and European businesses that exported and resold grain from Ukraine"" rather than serving its initial humanitarian purpose.
The Russian leader also offered to replace the Ukrainian supply with Russia's own exports as food security is set to be a major topic in Saint Petersburg.
""I want to give assurances that our country is capable of replacing the Ukrainian grain both on a commercial and free-of-charge basis, especially as we expect another record harvest this year,"" Putin said. ""Notwithstanding the sanctions, Russia will continue its energetic efforts to provide supplies of grain, food products, fertilizers and other goods to Africa.""
Putin also took the opportunity to highlight growing ties with African countries, naming a number of initiatives in trade, education and other fields, while noting that ""the potential of our trade and economic partnership is much higher."" He noted potential cooperation ""in the sphere of high technologies and geological exploration, in the fuel and energy complex, including nuclear power, in the chemical industry, mining and transport engineering, agriculture and fishery.""
He touted his administration's efforts ""to prepare an impressive package of intergovernmental and inter‑agency agreements and memoranda with individual states as well as regional associations of the continent"" during the upcoming summit.
And he too referenced the rise of ""a new multipolar world order,"" which he said ""will be more just and democratic."" He asserted that ""there is no doubt that Africa, along with Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, will take its worthy place in it and finally free itself from the bitter legacy of colonialism and neo-colonialism, rejecting its modern practices.""
Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and U.S. State Department for comment.
African countries have also stepped up their diplomacy around the ongoing conflict. As previewed by Newsweek, a delegation of six African heads of state hailing from Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia traveled to both Moscow and Kyiv last month in a bid to advance Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
Weeks earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also appeared in South Africa alongside the African nation's foreign minister and top diplomats from Brazil, China and India for a BRICS ministerial. Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev also traveled to South Africa to attend the economic quintet's security meeting on Monday, when he accused the West of using ""any means—from unilateral sanctions to waging hybrid wars—in an attempt to preserve its hegemonic global position.""
But it would be Lavrov again who represented Russia in person at next month's BRICS leader's summit, with Putin instead appearing via video link amid a controversy over whether South Africa would be legally obliged to arrest Putin in line with an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant issued in March over war crime allegations related to the war in Ukraine.
South Africa and Ukraine are parties to the ICC's founding Rome Statue, while neither Russia nor the U.S. is. Washington has nonetheless welcomed the ICC decision and has increasingly criticized Moscow's inroads to Africa, including in security affairs.
Russia's security cooperation in Africa has been highlighted not only by official bilateral agreements but also the presence of the Wagner Group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin. While the private military company's future remains uncertain following Prigozhin's abortive uprising last month, U.S. officials have accused Russia and the Wagner Group of influencing Mali's decision to withdraw consent for United Nations Peacekeepers just weeks later.
Mali is one of several nations in which growing support for Russia has manifested amid heightened frustration over the presence of Western powers, especially France, which has increasingly withdrawn its troops from the continent.
U.S. officials have also sought to counter Russia's narrative on food security as the war in Ukraine continues with no clear end in sight.
When Russian ambassador-at-large and head of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Oleg Ozerov told Newsweek in May of ""unprecedented momentum"" in shoring up Russia-Africa relations, a U.S. State Department spokesperson argued that ""Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine has exacerbated the increase of food and commodity prices—especially wheat, fertilizer and cooking oil—just as African economies are striving to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, deadly drought, and the growing impact of the climate crisis on agriculture and food systems.""
The State Department spokesperson told Newsweek at the time that U.S. officials ""are confident that our partners will see through Russia's cynical attempts at disinformation and focus on the lives lost and the misery Russia's needless war has inflicted both on the people of Ukraine and also on vulnerable people far beyond Ukraine due to the war's exacerbation of food insecurity.""
But, like Ozerov and Antonov, Putin expressed his own confidence that Moscow's message would resound at the upcoming gathering in Saint Petersburg.
""I am looking forward to welcoming the African leaders in St. Petersburg and stand committed to a fruitful constructive dialogue,"" Putin said in his statement Sunday. ""I firmly believe that the decisions adopted at the Summit and Forum, coupled with continuous diversified joint work will contribute to further development of Russian‑African strategic partnership for the benefit of our countries and peoples.""",Not_Explicit
"Russia’s parliament has voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30 from 27, increasing the number of young men liable for a year of compulsory military service.
The bill comes as Moscow seeks to replenish its forces on the frontline in Ukraine without resorting to another mobilisation – a step the Kremlin took last September which proved unpopular.
“From January 1, 2024, citizens aged 18 to 30 will be called up for military service,” the lower house of parliament said after the bill was passed in a second and third reading.
The law also prohibits conscripts from leaving the country once the enlistment office has sent them their draft notice.
The bill still has to be approved by the upper chamber and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, steps that are considered a formality.
Previously, one year of military service was mandatory in Russia for men aged 18 to 27 with conscription carried out twice a year. Lawmakers also said they were dropping an initial proposal to gradually shift the conscription age to between 21 and 30.
“The wording of the draft law changed because the demographic situation is serious and affects the volume of the mobilisation resource,” Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Duma’s defence affairs committee, told the Interfax news agency.
Also on Tuesday, the Duma passed a bill significantly increasing fines for those who fail to show up at an enlistment office after a draft notice is received. They will be risking a fine of up to 30,000 rubles (about $330) when the law comes into force on 1 October. The maximum fine is currently 3,000 rubles.
The legislation passed on Tuesday also gives Russian governors the power to set up regional paramilitary units during periods of mobilisation or martial law. These units would be funded and armed by the state and given the right to shoot down drones, fight enemy sabotage groups and conduct counter-terrorist operations.
In 2022, Russia announced a plan to boost its professional and conscripted combat personnel by more than 30% to 1.5 million, an ambitious task made harder by its heavy but undisclosed casualties in Ukraine. In September, tens of thousands of men fled Russia last autumn after Putin announced a mobilisation of 300,000 reservists to prop up Moscow’s forces in Ukraine.
In April, Russian lawmakers adopted a law creating a digital conscription notice system. It allowed call-up papers to be served online instead of in person, greatly facilitating the mobilisation of Russians into the army.
Compulsory military service has long been a sensitive issue in Russia, where many men go to great lengths to avoid being handed conscription papers during the twice-yearly call-up periods.
Conscripts cannot legally be deployed to fight outside Russia and were in theory exempted from the September mobilisation – although some conscripts were sent to the front in error.
However, Russia unilaterally claimed four Ukrainian regions as its own last September, in a move not recognised internationally, fuelling fears that raw conscripts could now legally be sent into battle.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report",Not_Explicit
"SINGAPORE/HONG KONG/LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - China's property sector crisis escalated again on Friday as a sharp fall in the shares and bonds of one of the country's biggest developers, Country Garden (2007.HK), capped a turbulent week for the long-troubled sector.
News that the firm, which has thousands of projects in nearly 300 Chinese cities, had moved to refinance part of a 2019 loan facility sent its Hong Kong-listed shares (2007.HK) down more than 5% and left its bonds close to record lows hit late last year.
""That doesn't get them completely out of the woods,"" said one Country Garden bondholder, who declined to be identified, adding that the developer was facing a further batch of bonds payments in coming months.
Raymond Cheng, head of China research at CGS-CIMB Securities, delivered a similar warning and said it was part of the broader issue of the government's approach to the crisis.
""If sales don't improve people will worry about the repayment ability for developers like Country Garden who have large exposure in smaller cities,"" Cheng said.
""Country Garden is a top developer in terms of sales. If it defaulted it would send a very bad signal to the market that the central government does not care (about) more developers going down and has no plan to bail out.""
It has been another week of unsettling news in the property market in China. The sector has been on a downward trend that accelerated during the COVID pandemic, with home sales slumping and the government moving to rein in unsustainable borrowing built up during a decade-long building boom.
Other high-profile, but debt-strained China firms, including Dalian Wanda Group and state-backed Sino-Ocean (3377.HK), have also seen sizable sell-offs this week amid a flurry of major rating downgrades.
Analysts at ANZ said the worst may not be over either with the sector facing $12.8 billion of dollar-denominated bond repayments before the end of the year, they estimated.
""New measures, while helpful, are no panacea for the sector’s woes. Other efforts are needed to boost buyers’ sentiment about the long-term trajectory of the property market,"" they added.
Country Garden, which declined to comment on Friday's selloff, is one of China's top market players and its troubles are adding to the pressure for Beijing to provide additional support to the property sector, which previously accounted for around a quarter of China's economic output.
JPMorgan's analysts said Country Garden's loan refinancing was ""marginally credit positive"" as a large part of the outstanding amount was being rolled into a new 30-month term instead of facing immediate repayment.
""That said, the onshore operating environment remains challenging for the developers, especially with no indication of relaxation of escrow account supervision,"" they said.
This week's other main problems in the sector, at Dalian Wanda Group, another of China's most high-profile conglomerates, Sino-Ocean (3377.HK) and the second default in just over a year by state-backed Greenland (600606.SS), have also unnerved investors.
Wanda, owned by China's once-richest man Wang Jianlin, has $400 million bond payment due at its key property unit, Dalian Wanda Commercial Management (DWCM), on Monday. Rating agencies Moody's and S&P Global are uncertain it will make it.
Wanda was one of the few private firms to have navigated the property crash of the past three years. DWCM had even managed to sell bonds earlier this year, in what was seen as an encouraging step for the sector.
Friday's selloff saw Country Garden's bonds <XS2051371222=TE> , fall to between 17 and 21 cents on the dollar - around of a fifth of their face value. Its onshore bonds , slumped roughly 30% each.
""Country Garden is in great difficulties,"" said Yao Yu, founder of credit analysis firm Ratingdog, adding that it had more than 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) of debt due in the next two months.
Wanda Commercial's bonds, which have plunged over 70% this year also slipped, leaving them at less than a quarter of their original face value.
Since the crisis began to snowball in 2020 a total of around $120 billion worth of Chinese property debt has defaulted, JPMorgan estimates.
The bank's analysts expect another $9 billion of defaults this year. That does not include Country Garden, which has over $40 billion of debt, although the analysts say it is likely to need the government to provide fresh support to the sector.
($1 = 7.1807 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"The biggest Women's World Cup ever kicked off in Australia and New Zealand earlier this week with wins for both of the host nations.

For the first time, the women's version of FIFA's tournament has 32 teams participating, following the format of the men's competition for the past 25 years.

It comprises 64 matches across five time zones in nine cities, culminating with the final in Sydney on August 20.

On Saturday, England kick off their campaign with a match against Haiti in Brisbane at 7:30pm local time (10:30am BST).

MailOnline has taken a look at the innovations underpinning the player and fan experience this year, including AI-powered limb-tracking, a new video assistant referee procedure and a Web3 prediction game.

Some people love it and some people hate it – but controversial video assistant refereeing (VAR) is present at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

VAR refers to a team of people behind the scenes watching instant video replays of the action at multiple angles to gain insights that may have been missed by the referee.

The VAR team advise the ref on key decisions, although opponents of the system argue that this often interrupts the flow of a match.

For Australia and New Zealand 2023, there is a 19-member video refereeing team, which, for the first time, includes six women.

But also this year there is a major update to how VAR decisions are relayed to the crowd.

Taking its lead from the NFL, VAR decisions are being explained by the referee to spectators, for the first time at an international football tournament.

When a decision is made based on info from the VAR team – such as overturning a red card or awarding a penalty – the ref speaks into a microphone to explain.

Her voice is broadcast over the stadium's loudspeaker, letting people in the crowd and at home in front of their TVs know what's going on.

Already, during New Zealand's opening match against Norway, the new system was used to award a penalty, which was subsequently missed by the co-hosts.

Usually, VAR decisions are accompanied by descriptions on the stadium's big screens – but these tend to be very brief and can cause confusion.

Speaking back in February, Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA's referee committee, said: 'We decided to have this trial because we received some requests to make the decision taken by the referee after a VAR intervention more understandable for all.

'There are other experiences in other sports, namely the NFL in American football, who have been doing this for quite a long time.

'It seems that the referees are pretty comfortable with this.'

Live VAR decisions were trialed at the men's Club World Cup in February before coming to the Women's World Cup.

Semi-automated offside technology is a clever AI-powered system that helps match officials come to the right decision quickly – without causing frustrating delays to gameplay.

The technology tracks players' limbs to detect if they're in an offside position and sends an alert to the video assistant referee (VAR).

So how does it work?

All 10 stadiums at Australia and New Zealand 2023 have 12 cameras installed that collect data on up to 29 data points on every player's body 50 times per second.

These data points spread from the tips of a player's feet, to their arms and the top of their head.

Using footage from the cameras, AI tracks when exactly a pass was made and what position an attacking player was in, relative to the defending players.

It determines if any part of the player was offside in half a second and then send an alert to the VAR operator, who can validate and confirm the information and notify the referee.

Semi-automated offside technology is akin to goal-line technology, except that the cameras continuously track moving objects rather than the static goal line

It was successfully used at the men's World Cup in Qatar last year and the FIFA Club World Cup final in February.

For the first time at a Women's World Cup, the official football comes with smart 'connected ball technology'.

The ball, called OCEAUNZ, has a sensor placed in its centre that provides 'unprecedented insight' into every element of the movement of the ball.

Held aloft in the middle of the ball by a suspension system, the sensor sends data to the video operation room 500 times per second, allowing a precise detection of its location when kicked.

The connected ball works in tandem with semi-automated offside technology to ensure that the position of the ball, as well as the players, can be accurately judged during crucial moments.

It is also powered by a rechargeable battery that's charged by induction – the same type of wireless power transfer used for smartphones.

OCEAUNZ also has a polyurethane skin with 'micro and macro textures' and a 20-piece panel exterior to enhance aerodynamics.

Its blue and white design have been inspired by the unique natural landscapes of the two host nations, according to FIFA – white for the vast mountains of Aotearoa New Zealand and blue for Australia's connection with the Indian Ocean.

An official online game called Own the Zone has been specially created this World Cup for fans to predict all the action prior to each match's kick-off.

After signing up with a few details, users pick a team that's about to play a match and predict which quarter of the pitch certain actions will take place.

For example, it may ask, 'What will Canada do most often in zone 1?' and users can make four predictions from 13 options, including cross, tackle, intercept and foul.

Correct predictions reward fans with points as well as unique World Cup-themed digital collectibles known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Those who earn enough points will be entered into a global leaderboard – and have the chance to win a 'money can't buy' prize.

The free game is the creation of OTZ Sports, a 'Web3' company that uses blockchain technology to power digital ownership and rewards.

Web3 is the third stage of evolution of the web, incorporating blockchains, digital currencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and user-owned content.

An incredible ad made by Orange, an official partner of the French women's team, has already fooled thousands of fans in the lead-up to the competition.

During the first minute of the clip, the viewer is made to think they are watching the dazzling skills of male stars such as Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé.

But it then reveals the action was actually performed by female players – with the likeness of the men's team superimposed using CGI.

It was widely praised online as 'magnificent' and 'genius' for suggesting the women's game is as exciting as the men's – and how preconceptions make us think otherwise.

The ad was made for Orange by artificial intelligence company Marcel, although according to the firm it used frame-by-frame VFX software, not AI.

'Essentially, we searched for action images of the French women's team, created our montage, and once we were satisfied with the female version, we searched for similar images of the male French team for each action and shot,' VFX artist Nicolas Vogel told Red Shark News.

'After all this visual research, the VFX team worked on each image individually to change the bodies. It involved only masking and tracking, so there's no deepfake or AI involved.'

ChatGPT reveals its ultimate Women's World Cup line-up - but do you agree? When asked by MailOnline for an ultimate Women's World Cup line-up for 2023, the AI chatbot returned the following in a 4-3-3 formation: Alyssa Naeher (United States). ChatGPT says: 'A reliable and talented goalkeeper who has proven herself at the international level, with excellent shot-stopping abilities and strong leadership on the field.' Lucy Bronze (England) - ChatGPT says: 'A dynamic right-back with exceptional defensive skills and the ability to contribute to the attack. Wendie Renard (France) - ChatGPT says: 'A commanding centre-back known for her aerial prowess and leadership on the field.' Millie Bright (England) - ChatGPT says: 'A solid center-back with great positioning and tackling abilities. Crystal Dunn (United States) - ChatGPT says: 'A versatile left-back who can also play in midfield, known for her speed and defensive acumen.' Julie Ertz (United States) - ChatGPT says: 'A defensive midfielder with excellent ball-winning abilities and a strong presence in midfield.' Rose Lavelle (United States) - ChatGPT says: 'A talented and creative midfielder known for her dribbling skills, vision, and ability to score crucial goals.' Sam Kerr (Australia) - ChatGPT says: 'A dynamic midfielder/forward with a lethal goal-scoring instinct and great aerial ability.' Alex Morgan (United States) - ChatGPT says: 'A prolific striker known for her goal-scoring ability and poise in front of the goal. Marta (Brazil) - ChatGPT says: 'A legendary forward with exceptional dribbling skills and a knack for creating scoring opportunities. Pernille Harder (Denmark) - ChatGPT says: 'A skillful and versatile forward known for her ability to score goals and set up her teammates.'",Not_Explicit
"BYD Auto Co. of China has been denied permission to invest US$1 billion in India
India is becoming a popular investment destination for businesses from all over the world. The market is the driving force behind India’s rise as an investment destination. Recently, India surpassed the United Kingdom to become the world’s fifth-largest economy. Besides, India become a US$ 3.75 trillion economy last month.
As India’s economy grows to be a $5 trillion dollar economy around the end of this year and chip manufacturing hub, several Chinese enterprises are drawn to the Indian market. To capitalize on the possibility to benefit from the Indian market, Chinese EV automaker BYD Co. planned to invest in India’s EV industry and to develop a factory in India in collaboration with Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd.
The organization submitted its proposal to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for that purpose. Following receipt of that proposal, DPIIT solicited feedback from other government departments on the investment plan, however, the proposal was outrightly rejected by the Government of India.
India rejected the proposal, citing security concerns in India’s internal affairs, as well as the fact that India’s present norms do not permit such investment.
BYD Auto Co., headquartered in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China, is the automobile subsidiary of the publicly traded Chinese multinational manufacturer BYD Company. BYD Auto produces passenger automobiles, buses, lorries, electric bicycles, forklifts, and rechargeable batteries. The company surpassed Tesla, the American EV manufacturing behemoth, as the world’s largest electric vehicle maker in June 2022, stating it had sold over 641,000 EVs in the first half of 2022.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructures is a Hyderabad-based infrastructure firm that has constructed highways, bridges, and power plants. Megha provided the finance, while BYD provided the technology and know-how.
Reasons for Not Allowing Chinese BYD’s Investment
Before 2020, the Indian government accepted billions of dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) from China, but everything changed after then. China attempted to invade and occupy Indian territory in the Ladakh region in 2020, something it failed to do in 1962. Following that incident, the Indian government banned Chinese apps in India and regulated the country’s foreign direct investment policy, making government clearance essential for investments from nations with which it shares a land border. Such recommendations are decided upon by a committee chaired by the home secretary.
Recently, Indian authorities searched and apprehended Chinese mobile phone manufacturers on suspicion of money laundering. These Chinese mobile phone manufacturers record losses by siphoning money out of the country and sending it back to China via promiscuous investors all over the world. The Indian government also discovered several Chinese businesses involved in money laundering via mobile phone loan apps. The Indian government also nabbed a Chinese person living in India under the name of whom he obtained an Aadhar card and other forms of identification in order to engage in questionable financial operations involving money laundering.
In the pretext of doing business, China conducts shadow money laundering networks all over the world, including in India. The Chinese are concerned about India’s rise because they see it as a serious challenge to their superpower image, and they aim to undermine India’s economy and image in every way they can. India recognizes this geopolitical game, and after detecting suspicious actions in India, the government has chosen not to allow Chinese BYD to invest in the country.",Not_Explicit
"About 2,000 dead penguins have washed up on the coast of eastern Uruguay in the past 10 days, and the cause is a mystery.
Bird flu has been ruled out by environmental authorities after the Magellanic penguins, mostly juveniles, died in the Atlantic Ocean and were carried by currents to Uruguayan shores.
“This is mortality in the water. Ninety per cent are young specimens that arrive without fat reserves and with empty stomachs,” Carmen Leizagoyen, head of the Environment Ministry's department of fauna, told the AFP agency,
She stressed that all samples taken have tested negative for avian influenza.
Magellanic penguins nest in southern Argentina. In the southern hemisphere winter, they migrate north in search of food and warmer waters, reaching the coast of the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo.
“It is normal for some percentage to die, but not these numbers,” Ms Leizagoyen said, recalling that a similar situation occurred last year in Brazil, for undetermined reasons.
Hector Caymaris, director of the Laguna de Rocha protected area, told AFP that he counted more than 500 dead penguins along 10km of Atlantic coast.
Environmental campaigners blame the increase in Magellanic penguin deaths on overfishing and illegal fishing.
“From the 1990s and 2000s, we began to see animals with a lack of food. The resource is overexploited,” said Richard Tesore, of SOS Marine Wildlife Rescue.
A subtropical cyclone in the Atlantic, which hit south-eastern Brazil in mid-July, probably killed the weakest birds, he said.
As well as penguins, Mr Tesore said he has also recently found dead petrels, albatrosses, seagulls, sea turtles and sea lions on the beaches of Maldonado, a department east of Uruguay's capital, Montevideo.",Not_Explicit
"Relatives and associates of Nigel Farage have been refused bank accounts after being designated as politically exposed persons, or PEPs, the former Ukip leader has disclosed.
Mr Farage said someone close to him had been the subject of a “very nasty” account closure in the past fortnight and that others had been told they could not open accounts.
He said Coutts’s decision to close his personal and business accounts had left him “screwed” because he has been turned down as a customer by 10 other banks after having to tick a box saying he has been refused an account elsewhere.
Mr Farage has also dismissed as “a fable” claims by Coutts’s parent company NatWest that he was offered personal and business accounts with NatWest after being “exited” by the private bank.
After being told his accounts were being closed and convinced the decision was politically motivated, Mr Farage submitted subject access requests to Coutts and two companies which send them press cuttings and other information on customers, Lexis Nexus and Refinitiv.
As a result of their responses, Mr Farage discovered that a number of family members and associates, thought to be more than 10, were designated by the bank as PEPs, some of whom have now found it difficult to obtain banking facilities.
Mr Farage has always been protective of his family and private life and did not want to give details of who had been targeted.
But he told The Telegraph: “We have had several refusals to open accounts and a very nasty closure a couple of weeks ago.”
He said that as a result of being blacklisted by UK banks he would now have to open an account with an online bank licenced to accept payments and make payments, but he would still be unable to access the full range of banking services.
He said: “I can’t borrow money or have overdraft facilities. It’s very inconvenient. You are screwed if this happens to you.”
He said claims by NatWest that he had been offered accounts by them were untrue.
“It was only when I went public with this story about Coutts closing my account two weeks ago that someone called me 10 minutes before my show on GB News to say I could have a current account,” he said.
“She told me they hadn’t found a solution for the business account, which is far more important to me than the personal account.
“I have still not been offered a business account and they have never made any offer in writing.”
Mr Farage obtained a 40-page dossier from Coutts, using a subject access request, to gain information about the decision to shut his account.
The bank cited his retweet of a Ricky Gervais joke about trans women and his friendship with tennis player Novak Djokovic, who is opposed to Covid vaccinations, to flag concerns that Mr Farage is “xenophobic and racist”.
It also took issue with his defence of former US president Donald Trump’s behaviour and Mr Farage’s comments criticising the UK Government’s policy of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The former Ukip leader told the PA news agency that his experience has left him fearing the UK is moving towards a “Chinese-style social credit system” where only those with “acceptable views” can participate in society.
“I am effectively de-banked. How do I pay my gas bill? What have I done wrong? I haven’t broken the law,” he said.",Not_Explicit
"The war in Ukraine is also a ‘food fight’
In the 1930s, in a bid to pacify the still-unruly region of Ukraine, the Soviet leadership created a man-made famine on its territory. The consequences were horrific; between 1932 and 1933, an estimated 7 to 10 million Ukrainians died in the tragedy that has come to be known as the Holodomor.
Today, as part of its war against Ukraine, the government in Moscow is wielding the food weapon once again. On Monday, the Kremlin announced that it was suspending its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and that it was no longer willing to guarantee the security of food exports transiting the Black Sea. The potential effects of this decision are both profound and profoundly destabilizing.
To understand why, it’s necessary to appreciate the outsized role that Russia and Ukraine play in global food consumption. In 2021, the two countries provided a combined 34 percent of the world’s wheat, 27 percent of its barley, and 55 percent of its sunflower oil. All told, according to European estimates, they jointly accounted for nearly 12 percent of “food calories traded globally” that year.
So when the Ukraine war broke out in early 2022, worries abounded that the result could very well be a global food crisis, as one of the participants in the conflict — and perhaps both — went offline as an international supplier. That did not happen, thanks largely to the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Inked a year ago this month between Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, it created a framework for the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports despite the war, staving off potentially disastrous food shortages and commodity shortfalls in the developing world.
From the start, Moscow’s adherence to the deal was tentative at best, with the Kremlin committing only to short extensions and repeatedly threatening to abandon the arrangement altogether. In support of its position, it has woven an elaborate web of falsehoods, accusing the West of (among other things) hoarding food intended for developing nations and creating trade obstacles for Russia’s own exports.
The real reasons for Russia’s intransigence are geopolitical in nature.
The first is strategic. It didn’t take long for the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin to figure out that it could use food as a weapon to pressure the West just as it has long used its energy supplies. Ever since, Moscow has taken pains to manipulate the current global food crisis (in which nearly 350 million people worldwide are facing starvation) to its advantage.
The second reason is economic. As the State Department has noted, Moscow has taken a series of measures to restrict its own exports of foodstuffs and fertilizer, thereby “profiteering” from a crisis it created itself by forcing global prices upward. By doing so, Russia has managed to soften the impact of Western sanctions on its economy, at least somewhat.
The approach has reaped concrete dividends for the Kremlin. Even as they have sought to punish Moscow for its military aggression, Western nations have quietly tried to mollify it. To that end, the European Union recently floated a proposal for the Russian Agricultural Bank, which is currently under international sanctions, to be allowed to reconnect to the SWIFT global financial network as an inducement to keep Russia in the grain deal. (Moscow, however, didn’t bite.)
Developing nations, meanwhile, have done even more. Eager for some sort of compromise that would allow “business as usual” to resume, thereby keeping their brittle economies afloat — and their restive populations fed — countries in the Global South have become de facto advocates for Russia. For instance, on the heels of his recent jaunt to Moscow, where he discussed food insecurity in Africa, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa flew to Kyiv and floated a 10-point peace plan extremely favorable to the Kremlin.
Russia’s plan, clearly, is to raise the specter of food shortages (and political instability) as a way to turn world opinion against Ukraine, and to force Western nations to scale back their own campaign of pressure. By doing that, Putin believes, it might just be possible to eke out some sort of victory in his protracted and exceedingly troubled campaign against Kyiv. And increasingly, it looks like Russia’s president might be willing to foment an international food crisis in order to do so.
Ilan Berman is senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - British radical Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has been charged with three terrorism offences after being arrested in London last week, police said on Monday.
Choudary, 56, has been charged with membership of a proscribed organisation, directing a terrorist organisation and addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organisation, police said. He will appear in court in London on Monday.
Once Britain's most high profile Islamist preacher, Choudary was imprisoned in Britain in 2016 for encouraging support for Islamic State before being released in 2018 after serving half of his five-and-a-half year sentence.
Choudary, former head of the now banned organization al-Muhajiroun, drew attention for praising the men responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the United States and saying he wanted to convert Buckingham Palace into a mosque.
His followers have been linked to numerous plots across the world.
A 28-year-old Canadian man, Khaled Hussein, has also been charged with membership of a proscribed organisation after being arrested on the same day as Choudary when he arrived on a flight at Heathrow Airport, police said.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"The legal team for former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik reportedly secured a deal with Special Counsel Jack Smith to hand over thousands of documents related to the investigation into former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Kerik’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, was quoted by The Daily Beast and CNN Monday as having agreed to turn over nearly 2,000 pages of material describing how Kerik investigated allegations of voter fraud.
Kerik’s legal team had initially refused to turn over the documents to the House select committee probing the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. They had cited attorney-client privilege, given that Kerik worked with Trump’s attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on the probe.
Parlatore said Kerik had agreed to turn over the documents to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign for review in recent weeks, and the campaign waived the attorney-client privilege on Friday, ultimately allowing Kerik’s team to turn over the documents to Smith’s office on Sunday.
""From the time he received a subpoena from the January 6 Committee, Mr. Kerik has believed that full disclosure is the best policy so that the public can understand how extensive the legal team’s efforts to investigate election fraud were,"" Parlatore told The Daily Beast.
Kerik’s attorney noted that the documents could include exculpatory evidence for Trump, suggesting the former president’s investigators acted in good faith.
""I have shared all of these documents, appropriately 600MB, mostly PDFs, with the Special Counsel and look forward to sitting down with them in about two weeks to discuss,"" Parlatore told CNN.
Parlatore is reportedly scheduled to sit down with federal investigators some time in mid-August.
Last week, Trump announced that he received a letter from Smith notifying him that he was the subject of a Jan. 6 grand jury investigation, suggesting the former president could soon be indicted. Trump had similarly reported receiving a letter ahead of his federal indictment in connection to classified documents found during an FBI search of Mar-a-Lago.
Newsweek noted that Kerik, who served as the NYPD commissioner from 2000 to 2001, pleaded guilty in 2009 to felony charges of tax fraud and making false statements to the government. He spent about three years in prison before transitioning to home confinement and eventually supervised release. Trump pardoned Kerik for his past convictions in early 2020.
Fox News Digital reached out to Parlatore on Tuesday seeking comment.",Not_Explicit
"ISRO To Launch PSLV-C56 With DS-SAR Satellite Along With 6 Co-Passengers On July 30; Details Here
ISRO said that NSIL has procured PSLV-C56 to deploy the DS-SAR satellite from DSTA & ST Engineering, Singapore.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday announced launch the details of its upcoming mission.
The national space agency said the launch of PSLV-C56 carrying DS-SAR satellite along with 6 co-passengers is scheduled for July 30 at 06:30 Hrs. IST from first launch pad SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota.
In a tweet, ISRO said that NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) has procured PSLV-C56 to deploy the DS-SAR satellite from DSTA & ST Engineering, Singapore.
The co-passengers are:
VELOX-AM, a 23 kg technology demonstration microsatellite.
ARCADE Atmospheric Coupling and Dynamics Explorer (ARCADE), an experimental satellite
SCOOB-II , a 3U nanosatellite flying a technology demonstrator payload
NuLIoN by NuSpace, an advanced 3U nanosatellite enabling seamless IoT connectivity in both urban & remote locations.
Galassia-2, a 3U nanosatellite that will be orbiting at low earth orbit.
ORB-12 STRIDER , satellite is developed under an International collaboration
ð®ð³PSLV-C56ð/ð¸ð¬DS-SAR satellite ð°ï¸ Mission:— ISRO (@isro) July 24, 2023
The launch is scheduled for
ð July 30, 2023
â²ï¸ 06:30 Hrs. IST
ð©First launch pad SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota. @NSIL_India has procured PSLV-C56 to deploy the DS-SAR satellite from DSTA & ST Engineering, Singapore
and 6 co-passenger⦠pic.twitter.com/q42eR9txT7
As per ISRO, PSLV-C56 is configured in its core-alone mode, similar to that of C55. It would launched DS-SAR, a 360 kg satellite into a Near-equatorial Orbit (NEO) at 5 degrees inclination and 535 km altitude.
About DS-SAR
ISRO said that the DS-SAR satellite is developed under a partnership between DSTA (representing the Government of Singapore) and ST Engineering.
Once deployed and operational, it will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the Government of Singapore.
ST Engineering will use it for multi-modal and higher responsiveness imagery and geospatial services for their commercial customers.
DS-SAR carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). This allows the DS-SAR to provide for all-weather day and night coverage, and capable of imaging at 1m-resolution at full polarimetry.
ISRO has also invited citizens to witness the launch from the Launch View Gallery at SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The registration begins on Monday at 6 PM IST. Register here.",Not_Explicit
"(Reuters) -French-Italian automaker Stellantis and South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI on Monday said they plan to open a second joint-venture plant in the U.S. to build electric vehicle batteries, with a target to start production in 2027.
The companies said the transaction still needs to be finalized, and where the plant will be located is under review. Also, how much will be invested at the site and how many people it will employ will be announced later. The plant will have an initial production capacity of 34 gigawatt hours (GWh).
""This new facility will contribute to reaching our aggressive target to offer at least 25 new battery electric vehicles for the North American market by the end of the decade,"" Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said in a statement.
Stellantis, whose brands include Peugeot, Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo, Citroen and Opel, has announced plans to reach 100% electric passenger car sales in Europe and 50% car and light truck electric mix in the U.S. by 2030. To achieve that, it has said it wants to secure about 400 GWh of battery capacity.
In 2021, Stellantis said it planned to pump $35 billion into EV production and software globally through 2025. Stellantis said the second U.S. battery plant will be the sixth to support the company's goals.
""The second plant will accelerate our market penetration into the U.S.,"" Samsung SDI CEO Yoon-ho Choi said in the statement.
In May 2022, Stellantis and Samsung SDI said they would invest more than $2.5 billion to build their first joint battery plant, to open in the first quarter of 2025 in Kokomo, Indiana. That plant will have an initial capacity of 23 GWh, and eventually rise to 33 GWh.
The companies said then the Indiana plant would employ 1,400 people and investment could gradually rise to $3.1 billion.
Stellantis is also building a joint-venture battery plant in Windsor, Ontario, in Canada with South Korea's LG Energy Solution. That plant is set to open in 2024, creating 2,500 jobs and sporting an annual production capacity of over 45 GWh.
In April, Samsung SDI and General Motors said they would invest over $3 billion to build a joint-venture battery plant in U.S., to open in 2026 with an annual capacity of 30 GWh. That plant will also be built in Indiana and employ 1,700 people.
The United Auto Workers union, which has opened negotiations with Stellantis for a new labor agreement covering the automaker's U.S. hourly workers, wants employees at these joint-venture plants being built by GM, Stellantis and Ford Motor to be union-represented and paid higher wages.
Samsung SDI shares extended gains after Monday's announcement, rising to as much as 4.1% versus a 0.8% increase in the benchmark KOSPI.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit and Heekyong Yang in Seoul; Editing by Christopher Cushing)",Not_Explicit
"Zharnel Hughes broke the 30-year British 200m record by clocking 19.73 seconds in front of a sell-out 50,000 crowd at the London Diamond League.
The 28-year-old took 0.21 secs off the previous mark of 19.94, set by John Regis at the 1993 World Championships.
The record time saw Hughes take third, with American world 200m champion Noah Lyles winning in 19.47 secs.
It is the second long-standing national mark Hughes has broken this season, having smashed the 100m record in June.
Hughes, who ran 9.83 secs in New York to better Linford Christie's time in 1993, previously ran 19.77 with an illegal wind speed to claim the UK 200m title in Manchester earlier this month.
Compatriot Dina Asher-Smith ran a 100m season's best of 10.85 secs to place second behind Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast.
That put her ahead of Jamaica's world 200m champion Shericka Jackson, with Britain's Daryll Neita taking fourth in 10.96 secs.
However, Keely Hodgkinson withdrew before the women's 800m as a precaution because she was feeling unwell.
The 21-year-old Briton had been excited to compete at London Stadium for the first time but will now focus her attention on next month's World Championships in Budapest and the chance to achieve the gold she missed out on by 0.08 seconds last year.
Sunday's competition, the first major athletics meet to be held at London Stadium since 2019, represented one of the final opportunities for some of the sport's biggest names to fine-tune their preparations for the worlds, which start on 19 August.
Hughes delivers on brilliant day of athletics
Hughes, 28, predicted his 100m British record, writing it down in his notebook on the morning of the race.
While he would not commit to targeting the 200m mark on Sunday - despite Lyles' insistence during the pre-event news conference that the time was within reach - a captivated home crowd celebrated with the Briton as his time appeared on the big screen.
Hughes, born in Anguilla and living in Jamaica, uses a vision board at home to map out his goals.
He recently told BBC Sport he has another 100m time written down, which he hopes to achieve at the World Championships, and this performance will leave him full of confidence as his full attention turns to Budapest.
Lyles, who will target an ambitious trio of world golds in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay next month, showed he remains the man to beat over the longer sprint as he held off Botswana's Letsile Tebogo.
Asher-Smith continues to improve but Hodgkinson misses out
With less than four weeks to go until the World Championships, Asher-Smith continues to look sharper as the season progresses.
The 27-year-old 2019 world 200m champion followed up the 200m season-best she posted in Monaco on Friday with her best 100m performance of 2023 in a high quality field.
Jackson has recorded the fastest time in the world this year but was never involved at the head of the race as Ta Lou took victory, with Asher-Smith roared on all the way to her latest promising time.
Neita can also have few complaints after improving to 10.96 this season, finishing 0.02 secs behind Jackson.
Hodgkinson's absence was an undoubted loss, with the in-form Olympic and world silver medallist expected to produce the grand finale to proceedings.
However, in her absence, Jemma Reekie delivered a stunning run - setting a meeting record of one minute 57.30 secs to hold off Jamaica's Natoya Goule-Toppin.
Van Niekerk stars as world's best descend on London
Wayde van Niekerk continues to try to rediscover his best form after sustaining a serious knee injury in 2017, just months after retaining his world title at the World Championships in London six years ago.
Returning to that venue, South Africa's world record holder ran 44.36 secs to take victory in a race in which Matthew Hudson-Smith finished fourth in a season-best 44.72 secs before being assisted off the track in a wheelchair.
Elsewhere, the Netherlands' Femke Bol dominated the women's 400m hurdles field, winning by more than two seconds as she set an improved world-leading time of 51.45 seconds.
American Quanesha Burks jumped a personal best 6.98m to win the women's long jump, in which European indoor champion Jazmin Sawyers (6.67m) and former world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson (6.60m) finished fourth and fifth respectively.
American Yared Nuguse took victory ahead of Norway's Narve Gilje Nordas in three minutes 30.44 secs in the men's 1500m, with the pair followed by a trio of British athletes.
Neil Gourley (3:30.60), Elliot Giles (3:30.92) and Matthew Stonier (3:31.30) all ran personal bests.
London Marathon winner Sifan Hassan was made to settle for third in a women's 5,000m won by world champion Gudaf Tsegay in 14:12.29 - despite the Olympic champion running a European record time of 14:13.42.
Meanwhile, Britain's Aimee Pratt took third with a season-best time of 9:16.10 in the women's 3,000m steeplechase as Jackline Chepkoech stormed to victory in the women's 3,000m steeplechase in a new world lead of 8:57.36.
- Meet the world's largest-known dinosaur: Sir David Attenborough unmasks the titanosaur
- Who inspired the iconic Barbie doll?: Her creators, Ruth and Elliot Handler, reveal it all",Not_Explicit
"The summer transfer window is now open in Europe, and there's plenty of gossip swirling around. Transfer Talk brings you all the latest buzz on rumours, comings, goings and, of course, done deals!
TOP STORY: Henderson to join Gerrard's Al Ettifaq?
Liverpool and Al Ettifaq have reached an agreement in principle regarding the fee for midfielder Jordan Henderson, reports Fabrizio Romano.
Romano adds that the 33-year-old Henderson has already agreed a three-year deal with Saudi Arabian side, with the relevant documents set to be signed.
The England international has been heavily linked with a move away from Anfield this summer, as Liverpool look to add fresh faces to their midfield following the departures of Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner.
Henderson travelled to Germany with the Liverpool squad for their pre-season tour but played no part in their 4-2 win over second-tier side Karlsruher, indicating that a move is close for the veteran.
Al Ettifaq recently announced the appointment of former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard as manager.
Henderson made 43 appearances across all competitions for the Merseyside outfit last season, however, with Fabinho also reported to be close to parting ways with the club, manager Jurgen Klopp looks to be eager to boast a more youthful midfield.
PAPER GOSSIP
- Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby is pushing for a move to Al Nassr, having reached an agreement with the Saudi club, per Rudy Galetti. The Frenchman has attracted interest from across Europe, following a stellar season in the Bundesliga, notching 14 goals and 11 assists in all competitions, with Aston Villa earmarking the 24-year-old as a priority target for the summer. Despite the interest from Villa, Diaby has reportedly informed Leverkusen of his desire to make the switch to the Saudi Pro League.
- Barcelona could include Franck Kessie and Ferran Torres in a potential deal for Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, according to Sport. The report reveals that whilst there has been no contact between the two clubs regarding a deal for Felix, Atleti are keen to part ways with the Portugal international, who fell out with manager Diego Simeone last season. Torres and Kessie have both attracted interest from Atleti, however, the wages of the pair are understood to be a possible stumbling block, with this previously proving to be an issue when the club showed interest in midfielder Kessie.
- Liverpool will reject any offers for winger Luis Diaz following reported Al Hilal interest, report the Athletic. The report indicates that Liverpool view the 26-year-old as integral to their plans for the upcoming season, despite missing significant portions of last year through injury. Al Hilal have reportedly shown an interest in the Colombia international, but Diaz has not shown any indication that he wants to depart Anfield.
- Paris Saint-Germain are planning to make an opening bid of €75 million for Benfica forward Goncalo Ramos, reveals Ekrem Konur. The 22-year-old excelled in Portugal last season, notching 27 goals across all competitions, as well as providing 12 assists. PSG are reported to be in the market for attacking reinforcements this summer, following the departure of Lionel Messi, alongside the uncertain situation of Kylian Mbappe, who could also depart the Ligue 1 champions.
- Saudi clubs are monitoring the situation of Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku, who is still keen on a move to Juventus, suggests Fabrizio Romano. The 30-year-old looks certain to depart Stamford Bridge this summer, and whilst the Belgian would prefer a move in Europe, a deal has not yet materialised in the continent for the striker. Internazionale were previously reported to be keen on Lukaku following his loan spell at the club last summer, but Inter have pulled out of the race, following his discussions with rivals Juventus.",Not_Explicit
"A big lie, an attack on the Capitol — and soon, another indictment
How Trump’s disparate and increasingly desperate campaign to undermine the 2020 election led to his next expected criminal charges.
In a more than two-month blitz that ended in violence, Donald Trump lied, cajoled, inveighed and inspired his supporters to challenge the results of an election he lost. Now, special counsel Jack Smith appears on the verge of indicting Trump for those efforts.
Two and a half years have passed since the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. Yet investigators are still piecing together the breadth of Trump’s attempt to derail the transfer of power. It wasn’t a singular plan but in fact was many disparate schemes, led by distinct groups of advisers who embraced increasingly fringe strategies and were not always working in harmony.
Each arm of the effort was held together by one core lie with Trump at the center: that the election was stolen. And each tentacle has faced withering scrutiny from Smith’s investigators, who may ask a federal grand jury any day now to approve criminal charges tied to Trump’s election subversion, mere weeks after Smith charged Trump in a separate case for hoarding classified documents.
But if and when Smith brings charges related to Trump’s wide-ranging bid to cling to power, it will fall to the courts and a jury to determine whether Trump’s conduct — no matter the broad powers and immunities of the presidency — crossed the line into criminality.
The exact charges that Smith will seek are unclear, but here’s a look at the extraordinary range of conduct that will figure into them.
The disinformation campaign
Key figures: Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell
Even before votes were cast, Trump began conditioning his supporters to distrust the outcome of the 2020 election, insisting that mail-in voting — which states embraced to contend with Covid-era dangers — would be exploited by Democrats, foreign adversaries and bad actors to steal the election.
Trump rejected advice from his own allies, like campaign manager Bill Stepien and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, to embrace mail-in voting as a way to drive turnout among his supporters. Instead, he set up mail ballots to be a scapegoat for his possible defeat.
In tandem with this effort was Trump’s plan, which he telegraphed to advisers, that he would declare victory on election night — when interim results were likely to be tilted in his favor due to delays in counting mail-in ballots — even though large shifts toward Joe Biden were anticipated as all votes were tallied in the days following the election.
Trump did just that. In the wee hours of the morning on Nov. 4, 2020, at the urging of Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani and against the advice of virtually everyone else in his inner circle, Trump declared victory and warned his supporters that Democrats would try to steal the election.
Trump followed his early claim of victory with a weekslong campaign alleging — without evidence — widespread fraud in a handful of states Biden won: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona. He and his allies filed dozens of lawsuits aimed at overturning the results or throwing out millions of votes in areas that favored Biden. Most were summarily dismissed for lacking substance or being filed in untimely ways.
A last-ditch bid to challenge the results, filed by Texas but supported by Trump in a separate legal brief, was turned aside by the Supreme Court.
Despite being rebuffed in the courts, wild conspiracies proliferated in pro-Trump circles. Figures like Sidney Powell, an attorney who represented Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn in criminal matters, promoted the false notion that election machines made by Dominion Voting Systems had been manipulated by foreign governments to tip the election toward Biden.
In the meantime, Trump barraged the airwaves and his supporters’ inboxes with fundraising appeals and ads accusing Democrats of cheating, stuffing his campaign’s coffers even as many of his own advisers privately indicated that he had, in fact, lost the race.
Smith may be eyeing Trump’s fundraising and messaging tactics for potential crimes related to defrauding donors or the public at large.
The Electoral College, Part I: The states
Key figures: Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Brad Raffensperger, John Eastman
As Trump’s efforts flailed in the courts, his allies began eyeing a second target: state legislatures. Although by late November election officials and governors had certified Biden’s victory, Giuliani began promoting the notion that state legislatures could simply override those decisions by citing fraud or “irregularities” that justified a different outcome.
To support this notion, Giuliani and Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis traveled to the states Trump was contesting and convened public hearings with sympathetic GOP legislators to highlight allegations of fraud. They pushed GOP-controlled legislatures to attempt to designate pro-Trump slates of presidential electors to replace or compete with Democratic electors that had been certified by election officials and governors.
Most notably, Trump leaned on Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, to simply “find” the votes that would put Trump ahead of Biden in the state. A recorded Jan. 2, 2021, phone call captured the lengthy exchange and has become fodder for Smith as well as investigators in Georgia.
Raffensperger balked. So did other state leaders, refusing to appoint their own slates of electors despite Trump’s increasing pressure.
This stage of Trump’s strategy is where John Eastman — a conservative attorney with fringe theories about the Electoral College — began gaining prominence in Trump’s orbit. He participated in Trump’s efforts to lean on state legislatures to act, appearing at public hearings convened by Republican legislators. Ultimately, Eastman would become the driving force behind Trump’s final, desperate bid to stay in power, a plan focused squarely on Jan. 6.
The Electoral College, Part II: The fake electors
Key figures: John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani
When the Electoral College met on Dec. 14, 2020, in 50 state capitals and Washington, D.C., no contested states had designated pro-Trump electors to compete with Biden’s electors. Nevertheless, in seven of those states, dozens of pro-Trump activists convened in state capitals, at the same time as Democratic electors, and cast ballots that they claimed made them legitimate presidential electors.
These “alternative” or “contingent” electors signed certificates claiming to be the states’ duly qualified electors and delivered them to the National Archives and Congress, following a process set out in federal law for actual presidential electors.
Enter Eastman. Emails released by the House select committee on Jan. 6 show that after the Electoral College ballots had been cast, he shifted his focus to legitimizing the uncertified electors.
The conservative attorney, who advised Republican legislators during the contested Bush v. Gore election of 2000, had been advising Trump and his allies since before the 2020 election, joining a working group assembled by attorney Cleta Mitchell to develop a post-election litigation strategy.
Within days of the Nov. 3 election, Mitchell asked Eastman to draw up a plan for state legislatures to appoint pro-Trump electors to supplant those certified by governors. Eastman obliged, and his plan, by late November, had made its way to the Oval Office.
Eastman, who would also author Trump’s Supreme Court brief in the Texas case, spent much of December leaning on state legislators to declare their elections invalid, citing fraud and irregularities, and use that as a pretense to appoint alternate electors. Eastman told allies at the time that without the imprimatur of a state legislature, these “contingent” electors wouldn’t have any legal force.
Mulling the seizure of voting machines
Key figures: Sidney Powell, Mike Flynn
After the Supreme Court refused to consider the Texas election challenge Dec. 11, 2020, Trump saw his options dwindle to an increasingly desperate few.
He had begun mobilizing members of Congress to formally challenge the election results Jan. 6, when the House and Senate were required to meet and count electoral votes. And he still hoped state legislatures would swoop in and send their own electors to Washington. But he also began eyeing a more extreme option.
Powell, Flynn and their allies had been in Trump’s ear about the prospect of invoking presidential authority to seize voting machines in the states he was contesting, using a combination of national security directives to justify the move. Various drafts of an executive order supporting such a move circulated in the White House (some of which were turned over to the Jan. 6 select committee).
The conversation culminated in a Dec. 18 Oval Office meeting with Trump, Flynn, Powell, Giuliani and others. At the meeting, Trump flirted with naming Powell a roving “special counsel” to pursue election-related matters, and Flynn advocated for taking the machines. But White House aides and Giuliani pushed back, and Trump ultimately opted against the move.
Hours later, in the middle of the night, Trump issued his first call to supporters to descend on Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. “Be there,” he tweeted. “Will be wild.”
Deploying the Justice Department
Key figures: Jeff Rosen, Rich Donoghue, Jeff Clark, Pat Cipollone, Scott Perry
Trump was publicly frustrated that his own Justice Department had openly rejected his claims of widespread election fraud, and when Attorney General Bill Barr resigned in December 2020 — amid open conflict with the president — Trump eyed another mechanism to bolster his bid to remain in power.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA.), who espoused some fringe theories about election fraud, had begun connecting Trump with Jeff Clark, a Justice Department official who was sympathetic to his efforts. Several documented meetings or calls with Trump in late December 2020 and early January 2021 showed Clark had Trump’s ear during this crucial period.
Internally, Clark had been pressing Justice Department leaders to issue a letter to the states Trump was challenging, describing “irregularities” and recommending that their legislatures reconvene to consider whether Trump, rather than Biden, should be declared the winner.
Clark faced sharp pushback from Barr’s successor, acting attorney general Jeff Rosen, and his deputy, Rich Donoghue. But Trump briefly considered outflanking them by naming Clark acting attorney general and giving him the perch to implement the effort. But Trump backed down after a mass resignation threat by Trump Justice Department officials and top White House lawyers, including White House counsel Pat Cipollone.
Records revealed by the Jan. 6 select committee indicate that Trump may have briefly effectuated Clark’s appointment as acting attorney general before rescinding it.
The Electoral College, Part III: Pressuring Pence
Key figures: Mike Pence, John Eastman, Greg Jacob, Ken Chesebro
When all else failed, Trump turned firmly to Jan. 6, 2021, seen by his increasingly fringe group of allies as the ultimate deadline to stop the transfer of power to Biden. Though no states had endorsed alternative slates of electors, Congress was still in receipt of the unofficial slates sent in by pro-Trump activists.
The Jan. 6 session, required by the Constitution as well as an 1887 law known as the Electoral Count Act, has long been a formality, a ceremonial gathering to affirm the certified results of the states. Only a handful of times in American history have challenges been brought — and no challenge to a state’s electoral votes had ever been sustained.
But in Trump’s view, the Jan. 6 session was a last stand of sorts. And he had one final cudgel to attempt to stave off a Biden presidency: his vice president, Mike Pence.
The Constitution requires that the vice president — who doubles as the president of the Senate — preside over the counting of Electoral College ballots. So Trump spent the final weeks of his presidency pressing Pence to assert the power to simply refuse to count Biden’s electoral votes. Pence, Trump argued, could cite the competing slates of electors and declare the results to be in doubt, postponing the count and sending the matter back to the states for consideration.
His contention was backed by a coterie of fringe attorneys who had spent a frantic few weeks fleshing out what they dubbed “The president of the Senate strategy.” Emails obtained by the Jan. 6 select committee show Eastman communicating with lawyers like Giuliani and Ken Chesebro, who attempted to muscle through what they acknowledged was a constitutionally dubious plan.
But Pence resisted. He recognized that taking such steps would require violating provisions of the Electoral Count Act and would be an unprecedented assertion of single-handed authority to determine the outcome of the election.
Trump publicly and privately browbeat Pence to change course, but Pence repeatedly refused. On the morning of Jan. 6, Trump called Pence for one final, angry phone call in which he derided Pence for refusing to bend to his will. It was the last time they would speak that day.
As violence unfolded at the Capitol that afternoon, Eastman and Giuliani continued to press Trump’s allies to stop the election process. Giuliani called Republican members of Congress and asked them to mount continued challenges to the results that might buy more time, and Eastman corresponded with a Pence aide, counsel Greg Jacob, in a final effort to get Pence to delay the electoral vote count.
Jacob pushed back on Eastman, even as he fled from the first wave of rioters. He has since become a key witness in California bar discipline authorities’ bid to strip Eastman of his law license over his Jan. 6-related actions.
The rally
Key figures: Ali Alexander, Alex Jones, Steve Bannon
After Trump told his supporters to “be there” for a “wild” protest in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, a large pro-Trump faction responded. The tweet invigorated groups like Ali Alexander’s “Stop the Steal” organization, which made plans for a rally on Capitol grounds Jan. 6. Women for America First organized a rally near the White House that became Trump’s primary event that day.
The rally was the primary reason tens of thousands of Trump supporters descended on Washington. And Trump’s tweet imploring them to “be there” has figured into dozens of prosecutions stemming from the riot that followed the rally. It was the moment, prosecutors have argued, that extremists like Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes began mobilizing large contingents to descend on Washington. Both have since been convicted of seditious conspiracy.
The far-right conspiracy theorist and broadcaster Alex Jones, who attended the rally, helped lead hundreds of people from the Ellipse to the Capitol. Nearby, at the Willard Hotel, a pro-Trump “war room” was working to manage the ongoing efforts to overturn the election, featuring participation from Steve Bannon, Giuliani and other Trump allies.
Trump used the rally crowd as a means to pressure Congress, telling them that if they didn’t “fight” to stop Biden’s victory they wouldn’t “have a country anymore.” He then pointed them to the Capitol, where he urged them to march “peacefully and patriotically” to reject the election results.
But Trump’s rhetoric was overwhelmingly packed with apocalyptic imagery, which has led at least one federal judge to say he might plausibly be accused of inciting the violence that followed.
The riot
Key figures: Mark Meadows, Mike Pence, Pat Cipollone
After Trump’s rally speech, he retreated to the White House — furious that his Secret Service detail had resisted his desire to go to the Capitol, where violence had begun to break out.
Instead, he withdrew to the Oval Office dining room, where he watched the chaos at the Capitol unfold on TV. While watching, he resisted desperate pleas from allies like McCarthy and other Republicans in Congress, aides, advisers and family members to explicitly tell his supporters to go home. For hours, Trump ignored those appeals while outnumbered police officers were battered and members of Congress — and Pence — evacuated to safety.
While Pence fled, Trump tweeted an attack on his vice president, saying he lacked the courage to stop Biden’s election. That tweet appeared to inflame the crowd; the Jan. 6 committee has shown how the mob intensified in the ensuing moments and many on hand at the Capitol shared it with those around them.
Throughout the day, Trump held court with a long list of advisers, like chief of staff Mark Meadows and Cipollone. Both have become key witnesses in Smith’s probe. Pence has also testified to the special counsel.
When Trump finally did tell supporters to go home, 187 minutes after the first police line was breached, many in the crowd seemed to respond. Videos from the riot show supporters sharing the tweet with one another and heeding his call.
The damage, however, was done. Five people died during or shortly after the attack; hundreds more were injured. In the 30 months since, more than 1,000 rioters have been criminally charged for what they did Jan. 6. Now, Smith’s next moves — and the secret vote of a grand jury that has undoubtedly heard all of the evidence above — will determine whether Trump, and members of his inner circle, will stand trial, too.",Not_Explicit
"Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has not ruled out a special legislative session on tax cuts after Arkansas ended the fiscal year with a near-record surplus, she said Tuesday.
Speaking to the Rotary Club of Little Rock, the Republican governor said the state would have the opportunity to cut the income tax further ""over the coming months."" Sanders later said that could include the fiscal legislative session next April or a special session before then.
""We'll work with our partners and our friends in the Legislature to make that determination whether we do something sooner or do something during the fiscal session,"" Sanders told reporters after her talk.
When asked whether a special session was a possibility, Sanders said, ""I never like taking anything off the table.""
Arkansas finance officials said earlier this month that the state ended its fiscal year June 30 with a surplus of more than $1.1 billion, its second largest.
Sanders said she also wants to use the surplus to make further investments in education, but she did not elaborate on how much.
In April the governor signed legislation cutting individual and corporate income taxes by $124 million a year.",Not_Explicit
"Los Ángeles, 24 jul (EFE).- El gobernador de Texas, el republicano Greg Abbott, insistió este lunes en mantener boyas en el Río Grande para frenar migrantes en un desafío al Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos que el viernes amenazó con demandar en cortes la iniciativa al considerarla ilegal.
En una misiva dirigida hoy al presidente de EE.UU., Joe Biden, Abbott ha dicho que ""Texas utilizará plenamente su autoridad constitucional para lidiar con la crisis que ha causado"".
La carta responde a una advertencia de la Fiscalía al republicano para discutir la instalación de las boyas puestas en el sector fronterizo de Eagle Pass.
El republicano tenía hasta hoy para responder al Departamento de Justicia, pero desde el mismo viernes Abbott anticipó que seguiría con su plan, al señalar que se vería en corte con el presidente Biden.
El gobernador cita en la carta de hoy el interés soberano de Texas en proteger sus fronteras, que le otorga la Constitución estatal.
""Si realmente se preocupa por la vida humana, debe comenzar a hacer cumplir las leyes federales de inmigración. Al hacerlo, puede ayudarme a evitar que los migrantes apuesten sus vidas en las aguas del Río Grande"", agregó Abbott.
El Departamento de Justicia considera que las boyas aumentan los riesgos humanitarios, pueden interferir con la capacidad del gobierno federal para llevar a cabo sus funciones, y presentan serios riesgos para la seguridad pública y el medio ambiente.
La misiva del republicano también incluyó copias de varias cartas entregadas anteriormente al presidente en la que le pide cumplir con su obligación de proteger las fronteras.
Las boyas hacen parte de su más reciente esfuerzo migratorio y han provocado el rechazo de grupos proinmigrantes y ambientalistas, como también del Gobierno de México, que envió una nota diplomática a Estados Unidos advirtiendo que la barrera viola el Tratado de Aguas.
El gobernador Abbott ha ordenado la extensión de una barrera de boyas y además de un alambrado en un tramo del Río Grande para impedir el cruce de migrantes desde México.
El Gobierno Biden también investiga las recientes denuncias de medios sobre trato inhumano a inmigrantes en la frontera de Texas con México, y especialmente los riesgos que implican de las boyas y el alambre de púas para los migrantes.
(c) Agencia EFE",Not_Explicit
"It is over a year since I declared on my Planet Normal podcast that soon there would be no such thing as a “safe” Tory seat. When party members of 30 years’ standing email me to say they don’t just want the Conservatives to lose the general election, they are hoping for “evisceration”, you know something has gone very wrong indeed.
With what speed have we moved from murmurs of disillusion to outright mutiny. I was not in the least bit surprised to hear that the highly respected American pollster Frank Luntz recently told the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs that any Tory MP with a majority under 15,000 should look out.
No shock, then, that it is widely predicted that on Thursday the Conservatives will get a kicking in three by-elections, two of which a proper Tory party should have no business losing. Boris Johnson had a slim 7,210 majority in Uxbridge so it’s not unreasonable to expect a less charismatic candidate to come a cropper in west London, although Sadiq Khan’s ruinous Ulez policies could have provided an opportunity. But Selby and South Ainsty (20,137) should be a true blue Yorkshire stronghold. And what possible excuse is there for allowing Somerton and Frome (19,213 majority) to fall into the Pontius-Pilate, frangipane-scented hands of the Lib Dems who last held the seat back in 2010 with a wafer thin margin of 1,817?
Our reassuringly competent (yet somehow lacklustre and disastrously weak) Prime Minister tells his troops that mid-term by-elections are “always difficult”. In this case, that’s like saying the Battle of Stalingrad was “a bit tricky”. It’s not as if Tory voters are gagging for the alternatives. Low turnouts in recent by-elections suggest that many previously loyal Tories are too sick at heart to vote at all. The prevailing mood was summed up in the comments under a recent Telegraph article on how other European countries were increasingly choosing Right-wing governments. “If only we had a Conservative option here,” said one wag.
The overwhelming sense is that it’s not us who have left the party, but the party that’s left us. “I’m seriously struggling to call myself a Conservative,” emails a Tory donor who was recently invited by his MP to have dinner with Jeremy Hunt. “The irony of asking for £3,000 to have dinner with J Hunt Esq was seemingly completely lost on him,” boggles my friend.
Sunak has an almost uncanny ability to misread the room. Even when he alights on the right topic, he invariably gets the wrong end of the stick. The Tories I know are not obsessing about students doing useless degrees. Instead, parents are resentful and distressed about what young people have suffered at the hands of universities, acting as profit centres servicing international students, particularly after the terrible time they had during the pandemic. My son graduates this summer and his uni career has been a mixture of strikes and lockdowns. For the majority of the time, he has had no access to college facilities, no clubs, no sport, hardly any in-person teaching. Basically, our boy has done distance learning while paying the full cost of his course. What a con.
There has been no apology, no refund. Instead, students had to take their chances with exams being cancelled all around them because of lecturers downing tools. One mother told me that her daughter at Edinburgh had her language Oral cancelled as she was cycling to the exam. It might not be rescheduled, the distraught girl was told. I hear that some institutions were reduced to drafting in temporary, unqualified markers to grade papers.
The failure to process a year’s worth of graduates stores up another generation of problems for the country. Now, that is what a Conservative government should be concerned about – holding universities to account, not agonising over the drawbacks of Hedgehog Studies at Scunthorpe Metropolitan.
Another easy win for the Government would have been to ban self-identification in schools altogether. No longer could some stroppy, deluded 13-year-old compel teachers and fellow pupils to refer to them as a cat or whatever sex they fancied being that day. Nor would a teacher at an all-girls’ private school be ordered to apologise for greeting her class as “girls”.
Instead, it now looks as if the much-postponed new government guidance on trans issues will be a disastrous cop-out. The advice will make it clear that schools will have to tell parents if their child wants to identify as a different gender or start using a new name – that’s big of them! – and any child who does want to self-identify “should first undergo a period of reflection”.
What possible use is that against a cult that is aggressively grooming children?
What would help parents to protect their children is for schools not to to be allowed to lie about a pupil’s sex. Biology matters. “Change of pronouns” equals lying about a child’s sex because girls cannot simply become boys, and vice-versa, although thousands are now being sold that pernicious fantasy.
A hairdresser tells me that a group of 11-year-olds came into his salon recently and three of the girls asked to have all their hair shaved off because “we now identify as boys”. Their tearful mothers turned up later and admitted that they felt totally helpless. During PSHE lessons at school, their daughters had learnt they could pick a gender as easily as trying on a new set of clothes. When parents complained that their kids were too young to be exposed to that kind of thing they were called “bigots” and “transphobes”.
You hear these chilling stories all the time. The leader of the Reclaim party, Laurence Fox, encountered it first when he asked his son for a goodnight hug and the boy replied, “You need my consent for that, dad”.
Fox, who is standing as a candidate in the Uxbridge by-election tomorrow, went up to his son’s school and was horrified to find out that young children were being taught they could be born in the wrong body. Reclaim wants PSHE to be banned from the curriculum because it is wicked and “possibly criminal”.
It’s obvious that the Government would enjoy massive support if it took a firm stand against the pernicious, unscientific nonsense that is being taught to our children.
Just as I was coming to the end of this piece, an email arrived from Rory in Frome. Subject: A Few Reasons for No Longer Supporting the Conservative Party. Rory was copying me in on a “rant” to his local Tory party explaining why he, as “a once loyal but now ex-Conservative”, would not be casting his vote for their candidate in Frome tomorrow.
All of us could come up with pretty much the same list, I reckon. Complete failure to take meaningful steps to curb illegal migration. A profoundly unconservative Chancellor “raising corporation tax at exactly the wrong time”. No attempt at NHS reform. Hiding from the culture wars. Running down our Armed forces. “Wet career politicians” who might as well be Lib Dems or Labour. Blind adherence to “back of a fag packet” net zero ideology “which will wreck the country”.
Well said, Rory, a champion rant. If other Conservatives in Frome feel the same, then it’s game over. Who cares? Defeat will be richly deserved. When a political party thinks that appeasing their enemies is more important than consoling their voters, it’s no surprise if they end up friendless and unloved.",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - China does not want a trade or tech war but will definitely respond if the United States imposes more curbs on its chip sector, China's ambassador to Washington said on Wednesday.
Ambassador Xie Feng told the Aspen Security Forum China did not shy away from competition, but the way it was defined by the United States was not fair. He highlighted existing U.S. prohibitions on Chinese imports of equipment to make advanced chips.
""This is like ... restricting the other side to wear outdated swimwear in a swimming contest, while you yourself (are) wearing a Speedo,"" he said.
Xie referred to reports that Washington is considering an outbound investment review mechanism, and further prohibition on the export of AI chips to China.
""The Chinese government cannot simply sit idly by. There's a Chinese saying that we will not ... make provocations, but we will not flinch from provocations,"" he said.
""China, definitely ... will make our response. But definitely it's not our hope to have a tit for tat. We don't want ... a trade war, technological war, we want to say goodbye to the Iron Curtain as well as the Silicon Curtain.""
The Biden administration has been finalizing an executive order that would restrict certain investment in sectors including advanced semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence, and a senior administration official said the aim was to wrap up reviews of it by Labor Day.
China targeted U.S. chip maker Micron Technology after Washington imposed a series of export controls on American components and chipmaker tools to ensure that they are not used to advance China's military capabilities.
The Cybersecurity Administration of China said in May that Micron failed its security review and barred operators of key domestic infrastructure from purchasing its products.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week at the end of a four-day trip to China she had spoken with Chinese counterparts about the proposed order, and said that any investment curbs would be ""highly targeted, and clearly directed, narrowly at a few sectors where we have specific national security concerns.""
She said the order would enacted in a transparent way, through a rule-making process that would allow public input.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"Before we decided to have a baby, I thought a lot about what being a mother would be like, but there were some respects in which my imagination failed me. Both are related to my living environment. I live in a first-floor flat with quite a few steps leading up to the front door from street level, and it did not occur to me that this would be what might politely be termed a “complete and utter ball-ache”, both in respect of getting myself and the baby outside, but also his many effects, meaning it requires at least two trips and, unless I am using the Babyzen Yoyo, which is extremely light, the assistance of my husband or sometimes my very kind neighbour. Without that pram and someone there to assist, I’d basically be housebound, which makes me feel pathetic and a tad vulnerable. (For a while I could pop the baby on a blanket in the communal hall while lugging the pram down the steps, but now that he is mobile he’s on a kamikaze mission to go headfirst after me.)
The other was toys. For some reason, I had not realised that there would be so many toys, and that not tripping over those toys in the dark at 3.55am when retrieving a bottle would become quite key.
So when a friend falls pregnant now, I tend to gently highlight these two things, especially the former, so that she can be prepared. Although what tends to happen is that her housing situation comes with its own issues, as in the case of the friend who moved to a ground floor apartment in preparation, but has found the neighbourhood outside it to feel crime-ridden and lacking in green space. Having a baby changes your approach to housing, both in a practical and an emotional sense. The way you use space changes, as does the way that you feel within that space. It’s all for someone else, now, and so your home’s shortcomings feel more depressing and distressing than ever.
I write this as a renter in an area that has gentrified so completely in the past decade that any former resident who comes to see you spends at least the first 10 minutes swearing in disbelief. As such, it’s been a lovely place in which to have a baby, and there is still a feeling of community here. On the other hand, it can be quite fatiguing being surrounded by millionaires, and now that I’m a parent, the absurdity of the wealth divide in my borough hits even harder. That there should be babies in beautifully appointed nurseries in Victorian townhouses, all decorated in various shades of sad beige (the satirical term used to describe the way upper-middle class parents eschew colour in pursuit of a Scandi aesthetic), a stone’s throw from children living in appalling cramped conditions: it breaks my heart.
It’s not that I begrudge the friends and acquaintances who have made it on to the property ladder (most of them), usually with huge cash injections from family. They are admirably candid about this. But living side-by-side with them at times makes that lifestyle feel achievable, when in fact you might as well wish that you had won the lottery. So successful has been the media manipulation around the housing crisis that to be renting at my age and stage of life feels like a personal failure, even though I know objectively that it isn’t. At one point a few years ago buying a house somewhere else in the UK started to look possibly achievable, though relocation work-wise would have been a challenge, and then Liz Truss happened.
There are many thousands of others in the same boat, or worse off, and many thousands of others living with mortgage terror, working multiple jobs in fear of losing their homes. The social contract in terms of being able to provide an affordable, comfortable home for your family by working hard has completely broken down. The landlord class continues to leech off the younger and the poorer. I think about the parents who are waiting to have the lift repaired for the seventh time, the ones who already have too many children in too little space, or who have decided that they can’t have another despite desperately wanting one because there’s nowhere to put them.
I think a lot about Awaab Ishak, the two-year-old boy who died because of a respiratory condition caused by exposure to mould at his Rochdale home. Especially last winter, when the black mould bloomed on our own windowsills, and while my husband scrubbed and scrubbed, I sobbed and sobbed because our son had needed help to breathe when he was born early, and I was scared for his tiny lungs. I couldn’t write about it at the time. I felt ashamed. Because how could someone with all my privileges, someone writing a parenting column for a national newspaper, be in such a situation?
I consider myself lucky. I have a landlord, Clarion Housing, that will eventually replace the windows, though it took two years for them to fix the crumbling brickwork that made my son’s room so damp, and they are yet to make the collapsing wall in the back garden safe, or provide an outside tap for a paddling pool, or fix the hob in the kitchen. But it’s better than what most tenants get (the bar is very low).
If you’re reading this in your beautiful, secure home, you are one of the fortunate ones - there are millions of parents out there who are not. I suppose I want them to feel seen. Because it used to be taken for granted that you could give your children a better life than you yourself had, and in the past decade we’ve lost that principle. I don’t know how we find it again.
What’s working
Colin and Zach, the paramedics who took my son to hospital last weekend, and were so kind to us (the baby is now on the mend). You joked that I’d write about you in the Guardian, so here I am doing it. Thank you. I couldn’t be more grateful for you and our NHS.
What’s not
My husband has noticed an alarming number of viral “funny kid” videos in which parents deliberately make their children cry. I feel queasy enough about putting children on social media without their consent, but to upset them and then film it seems doubly cruel. If someone treated their pet in such a way, for the cynical reason of simply getting likes, people would rightly be outraged.
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist",Not_Explicit
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MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — High-water rescue crews pulled people from flooded homes and vehicles Wednesday in Kentucky, where waves of thunderstorms prompted flash flood warnings and watches. A search continued for two children swept away after torrential rains in the northeastern United States.
The National Weather Service issued flash flood watches and warnings, estimating that as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain could fall in the area where Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri meet at the convergence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The weather system will then move Thursday and Friday over New England, where the ground remains saturated after recent floods.
READ MORE: Massive search underway for missing children swept away in Philadelphia flash flood
Atmospheric scientists say the global warming responsible for unrelenting heat in the Southwest also is making this kind of extreme rainfall a more frequent reality, because clouds hold more moisture as the temperature rises, resulting in more destructive storms.
With so much rain falling so quickly, it was a “life-threatening situation” in the Mayfield and Wingo areas early Wednesday, according to Keith Cooley, a senior forecaster with the weather service in Paducah, Kentucky.
In Mayfield, a city of 10,000 that was especially hard hit by storms that produced deadly tornadoes in December 2021, the flooding appeared concentrated in older neighborhoods, where the overflowing Red Duck Creek usually meanders toward Mayfield Creek, which feeds the Mississippi.
“I know we’re weary of this, but also so hopeful for the future,” Mayfield Mayor Kathy O’Nan said. “I don’t think this is going to set us back any, but we all feel that enough is enough.”
READ MORE: Analysis: New flood control systems are getting federal funding. Here’s why it’s key to factor in climate change
In Connecticut, a woman died after being swept down a swollen river Tuesday with her 5-year-old daughter. State Fire officials say the pair were swimming in the Shetucket River in Sprague when they were swept away by currents that have been running high because of the recent heavy rains in New England. They were found unconscious downstream and taken to a local hospital, where the mother, a woman in her 30s, died. Fire officials say the daughter was stabilized at a local hospital and is expected to survive.
And in Pennsylvania, searchers are still trying to find two children visiting from South Carolina who were swept away in what one fire chief called “a wall of water” that hit their family and killed their mother Saturday. Four other people also died in those flash floods.
Emergency officials described the flash flooding as a catastrophic threat in Kentucky’s Graves County, where Mayfield is the county seat. With major flooding already occuring and more rain on the way, Sheriff Jon Hayden urged drivers Wednesday to stay off the roads.
“Many roads have been washed out, many cars have driven into water and drowned out,” Hayden posted on social media. He said His House Ministries opened their church for anyone needing shelter.
READ MORE: Floodwaters in New England begin to recede as communities shift to recovery
Mayfield police urged people to closely watch for updates since many roads were becoming impassable and the area was expecting another 3 to 6 inches of rain. A short time later they began restricting travel due to flooding, with numerous roads under water.
Crews have had to rescue people from homes, but there haven’t been any reports of injuries or deaths, said Trooper Sarah Burgess, a spokesperson for Kentucky State Police Post 1, which covers 11 western Kentucky counties. Graves County appears to be hardest hit so far, she said.
O’Nan said she had no reports of injuries or deaths from the flooding after about six inches had fallen since midnight. Emergency officials and police officers were going door to door and finding that most residents had self-evacuated.
“There have been no injuries reported, which is just a blessing,” O’Nan said. She added that power briefly went out in the southern part of the city, which is still recovering from the 2021 tornados that toppled the county courthouse and killed dozens of people.
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Jul 11",Not_Explicit
"Biden video mocking Marjorie Taylor Greene speech hit over 30M views in 12 hours
President Biden’s video featuring clips from a Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speech to tout his legislative accomplishments reached over 30 million views in 12 hours after it was posted on Tuesday evening, according to statistics first shared with The Hill.
The video received the second highest impressions on a Biden video since he was inaugurated, only behind his reelection campaign launch video that dropped in April.
The video received over 34 million views as of Wednesday around 10:30 a.m. and over 10 million of those were in the first three hours since it dropped. It also received over 200,000 shares and over 2 million engagements as of Wednesday morning.
Greene’s speech at Turning Point USA was intended to attack the president on policy issues. But, the Biden campaign video set the speech to uplifting music as she lists the president’s agenda and legislative priorities and compares him to former Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
“I approve this message,” Biden said on Twitter, sharing the video on Tuesday evening.
When it was first posted, other Democrats rallied around the video and shared it, including Gov. Gavin Newsom (Calif.) and Reps. Ilham Omar (Minn.) and Adam Schiff (Calif.).
“Joe Biden had the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs, that is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on, and Joe Biden is attempting to complete,” Greene said in her speech this weekend.
“Programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, labor unions, and he still is working on it,” she added.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Biden dog Commander bit multiple Secret Service officers: report
Commander, the Bidens’ German Shepherd, has reportedly been involved in several aggressive incidents that injured Secret Service officers — with emails obtained by a conservative legal activist group describing encounters similar to those that got another Biden dog booted from the White House.
The emails released Tuesday by Judicial Watch, which it said followed a Freedom of Information Act request lawsuit, detail 10 alleged attacks by Biden’s nearly 2-year-old dog, from October 2022 through last January.
Commander was involved in a biting incident last November, according to the emails, which left an officer with injuries on both the upper right arm and the thigh. The officer “had to use a steel cart to [shield]” themself “from another attack.” The officer, the email says, was “in a considerable amount of pain.”
Other communication includes an officer warning that the dog had been “exhibiting extremely aggressive behavior.”
“Today, while posted, he came charging at me. The First Lady couldn’t regain control of [Commander] and he continued to circle me,” the email said.
“I believe it’s only a matter of time before an agent/officer is attacked or bit,” the note said.
In another November message, an officer wrote in a memorandum that as they were walking towards a post assignment, “I noticed Commander and the First Lady” in the Kennedy Garden.
“As I continued walking, I saw Commander exit the Kennedy Garden and sprint towards me. I immediately stopped and put my hands up. Commander then bit me on my left thigh and then ran back towards the First Lady.”
“I am currently experiencing bruising, tenderness, and pain in the bite area,” the officer said.
Other emails recall a series of more minor biting incidents involving the dog.
A White House spokesman didn’t immediately return ITK’s request for comment.
In 2021, Major, another German Shepherd belonging to President Biden, was removed from the White House and relocated to the family’s home in Delaware following several reported aggressive episodes.
Major’s removal came after a “biting incident” with a security team member at the White House, as well as another instance when the animal “charged” at staff and security employees, CNN reported at the time.
Commander arrived at the White House in 2021. The presidential pup and Willow, Jill Biden’s cat, are frequently featured at events at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Last year, the Bidens’ holiday décor at the White House included miniature smiling statues of Commander and Willow to greet visitors entering the East Wing.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Illinois will officially become the first state to eliminate cash bail in September, following months of legal action from opponents of the law who say it will leave residents and law enforcement officers less safe.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled last week that the elimination of cash bail did not violate the state constitution, allowing the law to proceed and take effect on Sept. 18. Under the new regulations, judges will not require suspects charged with crimes to post bail in order to leave jail while they await trial. Suspects deemed a threat to the public or those who are likely to flee can still be required to remain in jail.
Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker celebrated the state Supreme Court’s ruling after arguing for years that eliminating cash bail is one step toward ""dismantling the systemic racism that plagues our communities.
""In this terrible year, in the middle of a brutal viral pandemic that hurt Black people and Brown people disproportionately, lawmakers fought to address the pandemic of systemic racism in the wake of national protests,"" Pritzker said in a press release back in 2021.
Fox News Digital spoke to the former police chief of Riverside, a suburban village in Cook County located about 12 miles from Chicago, who sounded the alarm that residents and law enforcement will be left more vulnerable to crime due to the law, while arguing activists and politicians supporting the measure ""overdramatized"" the reasoning for it.
""They came up with this theory that … the court system, especially in Cook County, was unfair,"" retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel told Fox News Digital in a phone interview following the state Supreme Court’s ruling. ""There were several different tiers of justice and if you were Black or Hispanic … that somehow you were receiving a different level of justice, especially when it came to the bond court.
""And then there were advocates that just didn't think you should be held in custody with a bond because your case had not been adjudicated yet, that you have not been found guilty,"" he added.
Weitzel said that bail was established to ""ensure you're going to be in court in the future,"" and that local leaders and activists ""kind of hijacked that and made the public think that ‘Oh, you know, we shouldn't hold people in custody at all if they haven't been found guilty or pled guilty.’""
He added that the reasoning that cash bail unfairly affected minority suspects was ""overdramatized"" to the public.
""Misdemeanor case defendants were never held in custody. That's a complete lie. Some of the low level felonies in Illinois, the class four felonies, drug possession … they were rarely held in custody. Most of them are put on electronic monitoring or very low bond,"" Weitzel said.
He added that in Cook County jail on a given day, most of the suspects behind bars are being held on violent crimes such as carjackings, armed robberies, sexual assaults and homicides.
Weitzel added he was ""shocked"" by the state Supreme Court’s ruling, explaining he thought it would at least be partially overturned.
The elimination of cash bail, which is part of the 2021 criminal justice reform bill, the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, was set to take effect in Illinois on Jan. 1, but was met with fierce legal pushback from dozens of sheriffs and prosecutors in the state who said the law was unconstitutional, diminished public safety and put law enforcement at risk. A Kankakee County judge ruled in December that the law was unconstitutional, but that ruling was overturned by the state Supreme Court last week.
Now, sheriffs who previously spoke to Fox News this month say they are bracing for the fallout from the law, which they labeled as ""America’s most dangerous law.""
The exact ramifications of the law, however, won’t be known until it actually takes effect, law enforcement officials have said.
""We have 100 people sitting in jail or requiring cash bond. What happens with that? We have literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of arrest warrants that are assigned a cash bond. What happens with that?"" Franklin County Sheriff Kyle Bacon told Fox News this month. ""All of these questions exist and, quite honestly, I sit here and have no idea what the answers are.""
The majority of Illinois residents live in Cook County, which is home to roughly 5 million people and encompasses the city of Chicago. It is where such policies originated, according to Weitzel. Now, rural and more suburban areas will have to follow the rules of Cook County policies, he said.
""You could go to other counties - DuPage County, Will County, farther out west - and they operate different and you could see that even in the court system. So they would hold people on higher bonds that and when they were convicted, they would receive stiffer sentences from judges in those counties,"" Weitzel said.
Meanwhile, Cook County ""always had this reputation to be extremely lenient, and to not really support law and order to the extent that the rest of the state does.""
The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 was a turning point for policing policies in Illinois and served as a ""launching pad"" for more lenient Cook County policies to go into effect for all of Illinois, he said.
""These bond policies, these warrant policies, all originated with politicians in either Chicago or the greater Cook County area,"" Weitzel said.
He was clear, however, that not all the policies in the SAFE-T Act are bad.
""There are some good things - the police keep body cameras are good, and no police chief has argued about that. There's some good training legislation in there … The only thing that's bad and this is this bond provision,"" he said.
Once the law takes effect, ""chaos"" will likely break out, especially with suburban departments, he said.
""The city of Chicago probably gets enough personnel to comply with whatever the courts put in. But you're going see a lot of dissatisfaction in the job, and you're going to see police officers say, ‘why even bother,’"" Weitzel said.",Not_Explicit
"Cleaning up contaminated industrial sites in battle against soil pollution
The answer to cleaning up contaminated industrial sites in Europe could lie in the microbes that are already there.
Trees and other vegetation grow on the site of a former soap factory in northwestern France. While the greenery suggests all is well in the Ploufragan commune near the Brittany coast, the truth is that a plant for making cleaning products has left a mess. The surrounding soil is saturated with toxic hydrocarbons—byproducts of the soap production.
Pressing problem
Tackling such environmental damage is a priority for Dr. Thomas Reichenauer under a research project that has received EU funding to investigate how microbes can be used to break down contaminants in soil and groundwater.
The problem is pressing because poisonous substances in the soil can seep into plants, which may then get eaten by animals, and can leak into groundwater, according to Reichenauer, senior scientist at the Austrian Institute of Technology in Vienna.
""For these contaminants we are working on, it will take decades—or hundreds of years—until nature breaks them down completely,"" he said.
The EU has an estimated 2.8 million contaminated sites ranging from old industrial zones to landfills. Clean-up efforts vary across Member States, with Germany and the Netherlands leading the way.
The groundwater dimension is all the more acute because of worsening climate change, which threatens to cause increasingly severe droughts. So even as groundwater becomes a more precious resource, less may be available to drink if it contains industrial pollutants.
Reichenauer coordinates a project called MIBIREM that has received EU funding to speed up the process of decontaminating soil and groundwater by learning more about their microbiome—the collection of microorganisms in a particular environment.
The researchers are trying to figure out how microbes interact to break down three particular contaminants: cyanides, hexachlorocyclohexane and petroleum hydrocarbons.
Petroleum hydrocarbons are very common. While cyanides and hexachlorocyclohexane are less prevalent, they're toxic enough to warrant developing technology for breaking them down.
The initiative began in October 2022 and runs until end-March 2027.
Good riddance
The process by which microbes can be stimulated to ramp up their consumption of contaminants is called bioremediation.
In the case of cyanides, for example, glucose could be added to the soil, according to Reichenauer, who originally trained as a geneticist and plant physiologist.
""Bioremediation is eco-friendly as we don't have to introduce any toxic or dangerous chemicals,"" he said.
There are other ways of removing pollutants from soil.
Plants have been studied as a potential method for removing heavy metals. But few commercial ventures exist because the removal process—another form of bioremediation—is slow.
Chemical remediation, while quicker, offers only a partial solution because it typically removes toxic substances by adding fewer from the outset.
MIBIREM will focus entirely on using microbes because they have the potential to be the fastest and most eco-friendly option, according to Reichenauer.
Soil tools
The project ultimately wants to come up with bioremediation tools for different industrial spots across Europe. In some cases, researchers hope to identify particularly useful microbes and store them for later use.
MIBIREM is focused on developing technologies that can be used on-site, sparing itself the hassle of excavating soil and transporting it. Because the project targets mainly industrial spots, which are often located in urban areas, treating soil in the original place is sometimes the only option.
In the case of the factory site in Ploufragan, where soap was produced for almost half a century until the mid-1990s, this would mean being able to treat the area without digging up the vegetation that has grown there since the buildings were demolished in 2017.
""If you can show that it works in the fields, then there is a good chance that it can be commercially applied later on,"" said Reichenauer.
Reichenauer sought to soothe any concerns that people might have about altering the microbiome of soil to remove contaminants, saying such changes are neither negative nor positive and occur in line with environmental influences regardless of any human intervention.
MIBIREM could help the EU meet targets set under a mission called ""A Soil Deal for Europe,"" which seeks a transition towards healthy soils by 2030.
Pilot projects
The use of microbes for bioremediation has also been the focus of an EU-funded project called GREENER, which is due to finish this August after four and a half years.
It has included pilot projects in Belgium, Ireland, Spain and China.
In the Spanish city of Toledo, for example, soil from a former machinery park was excavated and treated on-site, where microbes were used to remove hydrocarbons. For a wetland site in Belgium, microbes enabled the removal of heavy metals from the groundwater without extracting it.
""We are working with clients that have a contamination problem and assisting companies that are performing remediation of the site,"" said Rocío Barros, the project coordinator. ""Better understanding the microbiome in the soil will be very important for improving technologies that address soil pollution.""
Energy angle
GREENER went beyond MIBIREM in one respect: trying to create energy during the bioremediation process.
By coupling energy generation with soil and wastewater cleaning, GREENER sought to help diversify the EU's power sources while removing pollutants from the environment.
Results on this front have been less than promising when it comes to ramping up such activity, according to Barros, who heads an environment, sustainability and toxicology research group at the University of Burgos in Spain.
""Not all of the microbial fuel cells have reached a good enough performance for scaling up,"" she said.
This aspect of the project highlights the risks involved in research and development and, by extension, the importance of funding sources including the EU.
Some of the microbial fuel cells being used to treat water have shown potential.
""The use of the fuel cells with wetlands has been very good,"" said Barros.
Hoping that microbial fuel cells can be further advanced, she is now seeking to develop a film that could be added to them to improve electricity generation.
Provided by Horizon: The EU Research & Innovation Magazine",Not_Explicit
"Cleaning up contaminated industrial sites in battle against soil pollution
The answer to cleaning up contaminated industrial sites in Europe could lie in the microbes that are already there.
Trees and other vegetation grow on the site of a former soap factory in northwestern France. While the greenery suggests all is well in the Ploufragan commune near the Brittany coast, the truth is that a plant for making cleaning products has left a mess. The surrounding soil is saturated with toxic hydrocarbons—byproducts of the soap production.
Pressing problem
Tackling such environmental damage is a priority for Dr. Thomas Reichenauer under a research project that has received EU funding to investigate how microbes can be used to break down contaminants in soil and groundwater.
The problem is pressing because poisonous substances in the soil can seep into plants, which may then get eaten by animals, and can leak into groundwater, according to Reichenauer, senior scientist at the Austrian Institute of Technology in Vienna.
""For these contaminants we are working on, it will take decades—or hundreds of years—until nature breaks them down completely,"" he said.
The EU has an estimated 2.8 million contaminated sites ranging from old industrial zones to landfills. Clean-up efforts vary across Member States, with Germany and the Netherlands leading the way.
The groundwater dimension is all the more acute because of worsening climate change, which threatens to cause increasingly severe droughts. So even as groundwater becomes a more precious resource, less may be available to drink if it contains industrial pollutants.
Reichenauer coordinates a project called MIBIREM that has received EU funding to speed up the process of decontaminating soil and groundwater by learning more about their microbiome—the collection of microorganisms in a particular environment.
The researchers are trying to figure out how microbes interact to break down three particular contaminants: cyanides, hexachlorocyclohexane and petroleum hydrocarbons.
Petroleum hydrocarbons are very common. While cyanides and hexachlorocyclohexane are less prevalent, they're toxic enough to warrant developing technology for breaking them down.
The initiative began in October 2022 and runs until end-March 2027.
Good riddance
The process by which microbes can be stimulated to ramp up their consumption of contaminants is called bioremediation.
In the case of cyanides, for example, glucose could be added to the soil, according to Reichenauer, who originally trained as a geneticist and plant physiologist.
""Bioremediation is eco-friendly as we don't have to introduce any toxic or dangerous chemicals,"" he said.
There are other ways of removing pollutants from soil.
Plants have been studied as a potential method for removing heavy metals. But few commercial ventures exist because the removal process—another form of bioremediation—is slow.
Chemical remediation, while quicker, offers only a partial solution because it typically removes toxic substances by adding fewer from the outset.
MIBIREM will focus entirely on using microbes because they have the potential to be the fastest and most eco-friendly option, according to Reichenauer.
Soil tools
The project ultimately wants to come up with bioremediation tools for different industrial spots across Europe. In some cases, researchers hope to identify particularly useful microbes and store them for later use.
MIBIREM is focused on developing technologies that can be used on-site, sparing itself the hassle of excavating soil and transporting it. Because the project targets mainly industrial spots, which are often located in urban areas, treating soil in the original place is sometimes the only option.
In the case of the factory site in Ploufragan, where soap was produced for almost half a century until the mid-1990s, this would mean being able to treat the area without digging up the vegetation that has grown there since the buildings were demolished in 2017.
""If you can show that it works in the fields, then there is a good chance that it can be commercially applied later on,"" said Reichenauer.
Reichenauer sought to soothe any concerns that people might have about altering the microbiome of soil to remove contaminants, saying such changes are neither negative nor positive and occur in line with environmental influences regardless of any human intervention.
MIBIREM could help the EU meet targets set under a mission called ""A Soil Deal for Europe,"" which seeks a transition towards healthy soils by 2030.
Pilot projects
The use of microbes for bioremediation has also been the focus of an EU-funded project called GREENER, which is due to finish this August after four and a half years.
It has included pilot projects in Belgium, Ireland, Spain and China.
In the Spanish city of Toledo, for example, soil from a former machinery park was excavated and treated on-site, where microbes were used to remove hydrocarbons. For a wetland site in Belgium, microbes enabled the removal of heavy metals from the groundwater without extracting it.
""We are working with clients that have a contamination problem and assisting companies that are performing remediation of the site,"" said Rocío Barros, the project coordinator. ""Better understanding the microbiome in the soil will be very important for improving technologies that address soil pollution.""
Energy angle
GREENER went beyond MIBIREM in one respect: trying to create energy during the bioremediation process.
By coupling energy generation with soil and wastewater cleaning, GREENER sought to help diversify the EU's power sources while removing pollutants from the environment.
Results on this front have been less than promising when it comes to ramping up such activity, according to Barros, who heads an environment, sustainability and toxicology research group at the University of Burgos in Spain.
""Not all of the microbial fuel cells have reached a good enough performance for scaling up,"" she said.
This aspect of the project highlights the risks involved in research and development and, by extension, the importance of funding sources including the EU.
Some of the microbial fuel cells being used to treat water have shown potential.
""The use of the fuel cells with wetlands has been very good,"" said Barros.
Hoping that microbial fuel cells can be further advanced, she is now seeking to develop a film that could be added to them to improve electricity generation.
Provided by Horizon: The EU Research & Innovation Magazine",Not_Explicit
"The Biden administration says it will do ""everything we can"" to bring home Private 2nd Class Travis King, the junior soldier crossed into North Korea earlier this week ""willfully and without authorization.""
John Kirby, director of strategic communications for the National Security Council, told VOA on Thursday that American officials have not had a chance to communicate with the 23-year-old soldier, who crossed the demilitarized zone earlier this week.
Kirby also expressed concerns about political infighting in Congress that has delayed passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, about concerns over Moscow's pullout from the deal that allowed grain shipments to leave ports in the Black Sea, and about the continued lack of direct communication between the militaries of the U.S. and China.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
VOA: Thank you for joining us this morning. Let's start with the saga of Private Travis King. Do we have any updates on his condition, his motivations, his whereabouts, and have we heard any communication from Pyongyang? And is the administration committed to bringing him home even if that's against his wishes?
Kirby: We don't have any updates on Private King. We continue to conduct appropriate outreach to the North Korean side to try to gain some information and insight as to his whereabouts and his well being, but we just don't know. And we are absolutely committed to working to getting him returned to his family. We don't know the motivation here. We haven't had a chance to talk to him. So we don't know exactly what he's thinking right now. But he's an American soldier. And we're going to do everything we can to try to find out where he is, how he is, and work to get him back home.
VOA: Let's move on to Russia and the grain deal. Is the administration looking at any workarounds to get these essential supplies out of port? Things like NATO escorts, or reflagging vessels? How seriously does the administration take the threat from Russia's defense ministry that it's going to treat all vessels in that port as carrying military equipment?
Kirby: We have to take that ridiculous threat seriously. We are working and we will work with Ukraine and our allies and partners to try to find other ways to get the grain out of Ukraine. It'll most likely have to go through ground routes. We've done this before [when] the grain deal was in effect. It's not as efficient; you can't get as much grain out that way. We understand that. But we're going to keep trying.
Look, what has to happen here is — aside from Russia ending its blockade and, make no mistake, what they're threatening to do is a military blockade that is a military act, so aside from just not doing that — they need to get back into the deal. The deal was good for everybody including Russian farmers. But it was really good for developing nations who have food scarcity issues that are only going to be exacerbated by this throughout the Global South, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
VOA: Let's move on to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. First of all, the Kremlin has said Putin is not going to South Africa, which allows him to avoid getting arrested. Does the U.S. still encourage International Criminal Court signatories to arrest him if they have the opportunity? And does this change or improve the relationship between Washington and Pretoria now that there's no longer this awkward situation between them?
Kirby: I'll let the South African leaders speak for themselves. We believe it's important that everyone responsible for the atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine to be held accountable and that includes Russian leaders who are responsible for the efforts of their troops on the ground in Ukraine.
VOA: We've seen Prigozhin resurface and say — allegedly — that Wagner troops are not willing to fight in Ukraine. What do you make of this? What are the implications?
Kirby: It's too hard to know right now exactly how seriously we should take this or what the impacts on the battlefield will be. I will tell you that Wagner forces — we haven't seen them fighting in Ukraine since Mr. Prigozhin attempted overthrow of the Ministry of Defense. It's unclear exactly how many are in Ukraine, but we haven't seen them contribute much to the fighting in Ukraine. So it's just too soon to know.
VOA: Moving on to the Aspen Security Forum: China keeps coming up as the big concern. U.S. Admiral John C. Aquilino said that they're still trying to reopen military-to-military communication with China. Can you update us on that effort and why it's so important?
Kirby: Military-to-military communications remain closed. That's unfortunate, especially when tensions are so high. You want to be able to pick up the phone and talk to your opposite. And try to take the tensions down and to avoid miscalculation when you have that kind of military hardware sailing so close together, flying so close together. The potential for miscalculation and risk only shoot up if you can't talk to one another.
VOA: On Iran: in April the U.S. confiscated some Iranian oil from a tanker. Iran's navy chief is very unhappy about this and says they'll retaliate. Is the U.S. ready to engage militarily with Iran on this? And what are the rules of engagement?
Kirby: Nobody wants to see armed conflict in the Gulf region. That said, Iran's attacks on maritime shipping have continued nearly unabated, some of them successful, some not, because we intervene. You saw that the Pentagon just recently announced some new force deployments to the Gulf region to make us more capable of deterring these kinds of attacks. And we urge the Iranian regime to stop these destabilizing behaviors. In the meantime, we're going to make sure we've got the capabilities that we need and our allies and partners have had the assurance that the United States has the capability that it needs to continue to defend ourselves and in our interests.
VOA: Last week, you told us about a mass grave in Sudan. Does this return of ethnically tinged violence at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces change the U.S. position on who to support in this conflict?
Kirby: We're supporting the people of Sudan. Make no mistake about it. And you saw us issue sanctions against both sides. You saw us condemn this report of mass graves in West Darfur. We are on the side of the people of Sudan. That's not going to change and we will continue to hold those accountable who are making it harder for the people of Sudan to live, to work and to achieve the kinds of civilian governance that they so desperately want.
VOA: My final question is about the National Defense Authorization Act. Earlier this week, you gave an impassioned argument for why the administration believes that reproductive care needs to be offered to service members and their families. Some right-wing media in the United States have taken your argument as justification for why women should be barred from the military. I understand that this is not a proposal that the White House or the Pentagon would take seriously. But can you remind us why diversity, equity and inclusion add to national security?
Kirby: Diversity adds to national security because it helps us make better decisions. Yes, there is a representational aspect of this. We are an all-volunteer force. And we need to recruit people from all walks of life in the United States and this is a diverse nation. Why wouldn't you want your military to represent the very people they're defending? But I have seen, myself, in almost 30 years of naval service, that when you have diverse people in the room, decisions are smarter, they're more contextual, and the way we operate is better and more efficient and more effective to national defense. And that's not something that President [Joe] Biden will ever walk away from.
VOA: Do you want to say anything else about the delay in the passage of the NDAA and the effect that it's having on morale or national security?
Kirby: The president looks forward to getting the NDAA legislation on his desk. He knows it's going to look different when it gets to his desk than what it does right now. But it's important that we do get an NDAA to the president's desk as soon as possible so that the troops can have the resources that they need to continue to defend the nation. It is a national security issue.
VOA: Thank you so much for your commitment to our audience, John.
Kirby: It's a pleasure.",Not_Explicit
"The Conservatives are in danger of underestimating the scale of their electoral predicament, political strategists have warned, as the cost of living crisis is forcing the party’s core voters to cancel holidays and leaving them in fear for their livelihoods.
New focus group evidence on the economic plight of “Blue Wall” middle-class Tories has led one expert to predict that the party faces “electoral annihilation” if it fails to address the issue.
Tory MPs have long held onto the hope that, with at least a year still to go until the general election, there will be enough time for the party to turn their fortunes around and secure an unlikely victory at the ballot box in 2024.
Ministers regularly point to the remarkable feat of escapology carried out by John Major at the 1992 election, which saw the Conservatives clinch an unexpected win over a resurgent Labour party.
But academics and political strategists have started to paint a very different outlook for the party as a result of what has been described as an “unprecedented” set of economic shocks that have caused fissures in the bedrock of traditional Tory support.
Ed Dorrell, partner at political strategy firm Public First, recently carried out a series of focus groups of lower middle-class voters in the Home Counties, who voted for Boris Johnson in 2019, that will be a cause for significant concern for the Tory leadership.
He said that the country will have a better sense of the Conservatives’ political situation after the by-election results this week, which he said “may yet give the Tories hope”, despite current polling.
But he told i: “I get the impression that the Conservatives don’t yet seem to understand that the economy improving by 1 per cent will not have a huge tangible impact on people’s pockets – at least in the short or medium term. There is always a lag, particularly when it comes to how much people’s mortgages are, or how much they are paying for goods in the supermarket.
“Prices will still be much higher than what they were, mortgage repayments will remain very high and wages are likely to lag behind.”
Carrying out the focus group, he said he was struck by the gloomy prospects voiced by each of those taking part.
“There are now lots of voters who should be instinctive Tories who feel very poor in a way they haven’t before. And instinctive Tories feeling poor is very bad news for the Conservatives,” Mr Dorrell said.
“They are what I would call ‘Tebbit Tories’, who would admire Margaret Thatcher. These are people who have started their own small businesses, plumbing firms, electricians, who are now saying they are unsure how they will survive next year.”
He said that some members had been forced to cancel their summer holiday abroad and highlighted one member taking part in the focus group, who admitted: “I now head to Aldi for bargains. The days of Waitrose are long gone.”
Another focus group member said: “A couple of years ago I thought we were working quite hard and doing ok. Now I’m worried we might actually be poor.”
Mr Dorrell believes this could have disastrous consequences for the government. “If the Tories are not careful, they’re looking at electoral annihilation,” he wrote in an article for the CapX website.
The freefall in traditional Tory voters’ living standards coincides with the precipitous rise in interest rates, which has ramped up mortgage costs, while inflation has remained stubbornly high.
Of particular concern for Rishi Sunak and his Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is that around one million mortgage holders will see their monthly mortgage costs increase by £500 by 2026, the equivalent of a £10,000 cut in people’s annual wages, going on assumptions of homeowners’ salaries based on the size of their mortgages.
It means the mortgage pain being felt for homeowners, who are more likely to be Tory voters, will still be felt by the next election.
“Few economists seem to believe that mortgage rates will start going down substantially by the time of the general election next year and could still be climbing,” Mr Dorrell told i. “Unless something miraculous happens for the Conservatives – or Keir Starmer somehow implodes – this will likely spell disaster for Rishi Sunak.”
Despite this, some Tory MPs believe the mortgage crisis is either not affecting their constituents, or perhaps more surprisingly, being overplayed by the media.
One Tory backbencher representing an outer London constituency told i: “The mortgage issue hasn’t been raised with my office at all, the new affordability checks introduced post-2008 seem to have worked in that households have been ‘stress tested’ against rises like we have seen already.”
Although the MP added: “For new buyers who have lost cheap rates it’s incredibly frustrating.”
The comments were echoed by a former minister in a Tory/Labour marginal in the South East, who insisted the issue was not being raised by their constituents.
“Everyone understands the risks of rate rises when they take out a mortgage. It is entirely driven by the opposition and media,” the MP said.
Others within the Government are holding out for a repeat of what happened in 1992, as they look for a narrow path to power next year.
One Cabinet minister told i that the perception of both Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer as being similar “responsible managers of the country” means voters may be willing to stick with the incumbent “because we think these guys will get us out of the economic mess”.
“In ’92, we were in a recession and the economy was in a terrible bloody mess,” the Cabinet member said. “Norman Lamont was the chancellor, and yet people were frightened to make the change to [Neil] Kinnock.”
According to Will Jennings, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Southampton, said too many within Westminster can become “obsessed about drawing analogies rather than looking at what’s really going on”.
“One difference was that John Major was actually quite popular, his approval ratings were around +4, despite his party being at -30, while Neil Kinnock was not popular and was polling behind where Keir Starmer is now,” Professor Jennings said.
“But the bigger thing is the economic comparisons. The recession in 1992 was short and sharp. Recessions then were seen as reflecting the business cycle and did not hugely impact the reputation of the Conservative government.”
He added the economic situation is fundamentally different. “We’re in a period of wage stagnation since 2008 that is exceptional. It is unprecedented. Whereas before this was offset by a lower cost of borrowing, now interest rates are going up and wages are not keeping up,” Professor Jennings said.
What the Prime Minister and the Tory party can hope for is for voters to have short memories, and that by the general election next year people’s standard of living will not be any worse than now. “Maybe then they can sell a story that things are beginning to turn around.”",Not_Explicit
"It was a night of contrasting results.
The Conservatives unexpectedly held on to seemingly vulnerable Uxbridge, but lost supposedly safe Selby to Labour.
Meanwhile, in Somerton and Frome, the Liberal Democrats pulled off a spectacular victory.
As a result all three main parties had a prize they could celebrate.
Labour needed just a 7.5% swing from the Conservatives to capture Boris Johnson's former Uxbridge seat. That was well below the 15% swing to the party in the latest national polls.
It was also less than the average swing of 11% Labour had previously secured in by-elections in three safe seats that have taken place since the demise of former PM Liz Truss.
Yet the party fell a little short of what was needed.
Nevertheless, at the same time Labour captured Selby and Ainsty on a 23.7% swing, the second biggest ever swing from Conservative to Labour in a post-war parliamentary election.
Indeed, Labour have not previously secured a by-election win in a seat that was previously so safe for the Conservatives. The last time Labour secured swings of over 20% was in the 1992-7 parliament, which, of course, concluded with the Conservatives being ejected from office.
Meanwhile, in Somerton and Frome the Liberal Democrats secured as much as a 29% swing from the Conservatives.
That was slightly less than the swing the Liberal Democrats enjoyed in their previous by-election victories in North Shropshire and in Tiverton and Honiton - yet it still represented the fifth biggest swing from Conservative to Liberal Democrat in any post-war by-election.
The Liberal Democrats have been making the spectacular seem routine.
But what broader lessons, if any, can be discerned from such a contrasting set of results?
Both the Conservatives and Labour agree that a local issue - London mayor Sadiq Khan's proposed extension of London's low emission zone to the capital's outer boroughs - played an important role in helping shore up the Conservative vote.
Indeed, the newly elected Conservative MP himself suggested the issue was crucial - and did not give Rishi Sunak and his government any credit for his success.
Together with the heavy scale of the party's losses in Somerton (a fall of nearly 30%) and in Selby (a drop of 26 points), it would seem unwise for Tory MPs to draw any conclusion other than that their party is still in deep electoral trouble.
Meanwhile, as in previous by-elections over the last couple of years, voters registered their dissatisfaction with the Conservatives by switching to whichever opposition party appeared best able to defeat the local Conservative candidate.
In Uxbridge and in Selby, the already low Liberal Democrat vote was badly squeezed, while in Somerton, Labour were pushed into fifth place. In a general election such a pattern of tactical voting could seriously accentuate the scale of Conservative losses.
Yet at the same time, Labour's failure to take Uxbridge will raise questions about the effectiveness of Sir Keir Starmer's electoral strategy. Characterised as it is by few promises and a focus on the centre ground, his critics may well argue that Labour's appeal proved too brittle when confronted by a difficult local issue.
Of course, Sir Keir himself may well feel the outcome illustrates the risk of promoting radical policy options.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Sr Ed Davey, will be delighted with his party's fourth by-election gain in this parliament - the party has not taken so many Tory scalps since the 1992-7 parliament (again a bad omen for the Conservatives). But whereas Labour is riding high in the national polls, the Liberal Democrats have still made little advance nationally.
The Liberal Democrat leader still has to find a way of turning his by-elections successes into a springboard for a wider revival for his party.
But it is Rishi Sunak who has the biggest headache. The coalition of Leave supporters that delivered Boris Johnson his majority in 1997 has collapsed - nearly half are no longer supporting the party, while Brexit itself has lost its allure for some voters.
The Tory leader needs to find a new tune for his party. But with living standards falling, the economy faltering, and public services struggling, enticing voters back into the Tory fold still looks far from easy.
John Curtice is Professor of Politics, University of Strathclyde, and Senior Research Fellow, National Centre for Social Research and The UK in a Changing Europe.",Not_Explicit
"When it comes to Europe’s cannabis market, the biggest piece of news this year is what didn’t happen. Contrary to what a lot of people expected, Germany isn’t on the way to legalizing recreational use of marijuana. Instead, the EU’s most populated country watered down its law reform plans after liaising with regulators.
Is Germany’s decision and the precedent it has set bad news for VCs who invest in cannabis startups in Europe? Not necessarily, and it could even be good news for some. According to Oliver Lamb, co-founder of Óskare Capital, Germany’s “push to slow down the legalization of recreational cannabis is positive for the medical and pharmaceutical market.”
“The hybrid recreational-medical experiment has already been played out in North America, and there were a painful amount of lessons learned that it would be reckless to ignore,” he said.
Lamb, like other investors, is wary of the mistakes they’ve seen being made in the U.S.: “The blurred line between the medical and recreational sectors has undoubtedly been to the detriment of targeted medication development,” he said.
“It is crucial to use lessons from paths that others have laid before you. In New York, we’ve seen a failure to do this, with just a handful of dispensaries up and running alongside lax law enforcement, which led to an overt and booming illicit market,” said Matt Hawkins, founder and managing partner at Entourage Effect Capital.
However, some funds are worried that the total addressable market for legal cannabis on the continent is limited and has been affected by Germany’s decision. “The scaling back by Germany has made us more hesitant to deploy capital in Europe,” Hawkins said. “Germany’s process has indicated the entire continent will struggle to create a commercial adult-use market in the coming years and have a limited TAM.”
Similarly, like other private businesses looking to raise venture capital, cannabis startups aren’t immune to the global repricing that investors are pushing for. “European cannabis companies are still overvalued,” said Emily Paxhia, co-founder and managing partner at Poseidon Investment Management.
For founders of cannabis-related startups hoping to weather the slowdown, the advice isn’t very different from what all entrepreneurs are being told at the moment: survive and advance. That’s Poseidon’s motto, Paxhia said.
For cannabis companies that know they won’t survive, finding a buyer seems to be a viable option, as consolidation is expected in the coming months. But whether we are talking about investments or M&A, we are in a strong buyer’s market, Lamb warned.
Read on to find out where these investors see the next opportunity, how they plan to tackle the market following Germany’s decision, and how to best pitch them.
We spoke with:
- Oliver Lamb, co-founder, Óskare Capital
- Emily Paxhia, co-founder and managing partner, Poseidon Investment Management
- Matt Hawkins, founder and managing partner, Entourage Effect Capital
Oliver Lamb, co-founder, Óskare Capital
Is cannabis more legally accessible in Europe this year than it was when we conducted our previous survey last year? Have there been any key regulatory changes at play?
On the medical side, cannabinoid therapeutics and non-cannabinoid therapeutics (i.e., therapeutics that modulate the endocannabinoid system but do so without cannabinoids) are notably increasing in availability.
There are many factors at play that explain this shift, amongst them [being] increases in tailwinds and reductions in headwinds. Today we have more, higher quality clinical data demonstrating the efficacy of these medications for various conditions, coupled with an uptick in highly qualified teams that are bringing these medications to market.
As for the tailwinds, difficulties in patient access have long hindered prescriptions of medications that target the endocannabinoid system (the mammalian regulatory system that reacts to cannabinoids and cannabinoid-like molecules, similar to the central nervous system).
However, we are excited to see a number of technologies and platforms linking specialized doctors with patients in need of these medications. One such example is Leva, whose digital clinic is tackling the vastly underserved chronic pain market in the U.K.
Alongside this, there is a growing acceptance within medical communities of the suitability of ECS-modulating medications for certain pathologies. At a conference in Berlin this month, a founder happily relayed that a recent meeting of general practitioners dedicated two hours to talk about medical cannabinoids. This is a clear indicator of the increasing understanding and adoption of these medications by doctors across Europe.
Aside from watered-down plans to legalize recreational use, Germany imported a record amount of marijuana for medical and scientific use in 2022. Is this taking focus away from the fact that imports are slowing?
Although Germany’s decision was undoubtedly unpopular at companies that bet on the legislation going in the opposite direction, this push to slow down the legalization of recreational cannabis is positive for the medical and pharmaceutical market.
The hybrid recreational-medical experiment has already been played out in North America, and there were a painful amount of lessons learned that it would be reckless to ignore. Specifically, legalizing recreational cannabis in tandem with medical use in North America can be seen to have diminished the incentives for researchers to develop targeted therapeutics for specific pathologies, given the flood of cannabis flower being distributed through dispensaries. That happened despite a preference held by the majority of doctors to prescribe targeted and licensed treatment that does not need to be smoked.
The North American approach also blurred the lines between the recreational and medical markets, strengthening the impression that users of such therapeutics were simply prioritizing pleasure while claiming a genuine need.
This misconception is not only counterproductive for patients looking for proven treatments, [but] it also detracts attention from the fact that ECS-modulating medications can provide not only far superior side-effect profiles compared to traditional pharmaceuticals such as opiates, but also treatments for conditions that are currently untreatable.
The Czech Republic might end up legalizing recreational cannabis use before Germany, but it is a smaller market. Is it big enough to move the needle and find out what the EU will tolerate?
Peter Lynch once noted that if you spend 13 minutes a year on economics, you’ve wasted 10 minutes. Politics is arguably the same. Influences on international regulation are vast and varied, and even if you have a good idea of the outcome, the timings are just as complicated to predict.
Therefore, as a rule, we don’t bet on regulation. Instead, we invest in what we know: strong teams, innovative science and untapped market opportunities. We select our investments assuming that the regulatory landscape is fixed as it is today. That way, if nothing changes, we know that they can succeed regardless, and as and when things continue to open up, they can be positioned to benefit further.
A prediction I do feel confident in making is that governments and medical communities will continue to gain understanding of the benefits of these medications.
How has your approach to investing in the cannabis sector changed in the last 12 months? What are your expectations for the next 12 months? Is consolidation in the cards in that period?
With regards to our thesis, not at all. We started by focusing on Europe and continue to do so. Likewise, we launched the fund to target life sciences and deep tech investments in the sector, and this remains unchanged, largely due to the fact that our portfolio is performing very well.
It’s also gratifying to see that a number of U.S. funds are now looking to Europe for the next wave of growth in the sector. This is an asset, as we like to syndicate rounds and having stakeholders across the pond is often helpful when it comes to intercontinental expansion.
We’re happy to say that most of our past predictions have come to fruition, and those for this year are on track to do the same.
What advice are you giving your cannabis-related portfolio companies right now in terms of preserving or extending their runway?",Not_Explicit
"LONDON -- A small spelling error has resulted in thousands of emails intended for the U.S. military being sent instead to Mali, an issue that Pentagon officials said they've taken steps to mitigate.
The suffix used for U.S. military emails is .mil, but leaving the ""i"" out by mistake would result in the email being redirected to .ml -- the domain used by government of the West African nation Mali.
""Since 2015, the Department of Defense has been aware that typographical errors could result in the misdirection of unclassified emails intended for a '.mil' recipient to the '.ml' domain,"" Lt. Commander Tim Gorman, a U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson, told ABC News.
Some of the emails sent to Mali reportedly reportedly contained sensitive Pentagon information such as diplomatic documents, passwords and the travel itinerary of top defense officers.
U.S. officials are ""aware of these unauthorized disclosures of controlled national security information,"" Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokesperson, said on Monday.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Johannes Zuurbier, a Dutch internet entrepreneur who has a contract to manage Mali's county domain, said he identified the problem almost a decade ago. Zuurbier, who said has been collecting misdirected emails since January in effort to flag the issue to U.S. authorities, said he has close to 117,000 misdirected messages.
In one day, Zuurbier receiving 1,000 misdirected emails arrived as a result of the typo, he told the newspaper.
None of the redirected emails were marked as ""classified,"" however some are reported to have contained ""highly sensitive"" data including information on serving U.S. military personnel, official itineraries, contracts, maps and images of bases, he said.
The Pentagon said it's taken steps to stop outgoing emails from being sent to the incorrect domain.
""The Department takes all disclosures of Controlled National Security Information or Controlled Unclassified Information seriously and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) began blocking .ml lookalike domains immediately,"" Gorman said.
He added, ""By 2023, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) was blocking outbound emails to 135 .ml domains and subdomains. In July 2023, DISA began blocking outbound email to the entire .ml domain with the ability to allow legitimate emails.""
The Department of Defense says it is coordinating with interagency, industry partners and international allies to alert them to the possibility of unauthorized disclosure of information due to the typographical error.
Mali's government did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.",Not_Explicit
"Middle school students in Florida will soon be taught that slavery gave Black people a “personal benefit” because they “developed skills.”
After the Florida Board of Education approved new standards for African American history on Wednesday, high school students will be taught an equally distorted message: that a deadly white mob attack against Black residents of Ocoee, Florida, in 1920 included “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”
Dozens of Black residents were killed in the massacre, which was perpetrated to stop them from voting.
According to members of the board, that distorted portrayal of the racist massacre is factually accurate. MaryLynn Magar, a member of the board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, said at the board’s meeting in Orlando on Wednesday that “everything is there” in the new history standards and “the darkest parts of our history are addressed,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
The majority of the speakers who provided public testimony on the planned curriculum were vehemently opposed to it, warning that crucial context is omitted, atrocities are glossed over, and in some cases students will be taught to “blame the victim.”
“I am very concerned by these standards, especially some of the notion that enslaved people benefited from being enslaved,” state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) said, per Action News Jax.
“When I see the standards, I’m very concerned,” state Sen. Geraldine Thompson said at the board meeting. “If I were still a professor, I would do what I did very infrequently; I’d have to give this a grade of ‘I’ for incomplete. It recognizes that we have made an effort, we’ve taken a step. However, this history needs to be comprehensive. It needs to be authentic, and it needs additional work.”
“When you look at the history currently, it suggests that the [Ocoee] massacre was sparked by violence from African Americans. That’s blaming the victim,” the Democrat warned.
“Please table this rule and revise it to make sure that my history, our history, is being told factually and completely, and please do not, for the love of God, tell kids that slavery was beneficial because I guarantee you it most certainly was not,” community member Kevin Parker said.
Approval of the new standards is a win for the DeSantis administration, which has effectively sought to create a new educational agenda that shields white students from feeling any sense of guilt for wrongs perpetrated against people of color. The Florida governor signed the “Stop WOKE Act” last year to do just that, restricting how issues of race are taught in public schools and workplaces.
In keeping with the administration’s crusade against “wokeness,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz defended the new standards against criticism, saying, “This is an in-depth, deep dive into African American history, which is clearly American history as Governor DeSantis has said, and what Florida has done is expand it,” Action News Jax reported.
Paul Burns, the Florida Department of Education’s chancellor of K-12 public schools, also insisted the new standards provide an exhaustive representation of African American history.
“Our standards are factual, objective standards that really teach the good, the bad and the ugly,” he was quoted as saying Wednesday by Florida Phoenix. He denied the new standards portray slavery as beneficial.
Although education officials say teachers are meant to expand upon the new curriculum in the classroom, critics say teachers are unlikely to do that for fear of being singled out and possibly punished for being too “woke.”
The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, called the new standards “a big step backward for a state that has required teaching African American history since 1994” in a statement after Wednesday’s vote.
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, also condemned the new curriculum, saying in a statement: “Our children deserve nothing less than truth, justice, and the equity our ancestors shed blood, sweat, and tears for.”
“Today’s actions by the Florida state government are an attempt to bring our country back to a 19th century America where Black life was not valued, nor our rights protected. It is imperative that we understand that the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow were a violation of human rights and represent the darkest period in American history. We refuse to go back,” he said.",Not_Explicit
"U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) killed five members of Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, in a “self-defense airstrike” in central Somalia on July 19. AFRICOM has launched four self-defense airstrikes in Somalia this month as it continues to provide air support for the Somali National Army.
Yesterday’s strike brings the total number of US air strikes in Somalia so far this year to 13. US special operations forces additionally conducted a raid in northern Somalia earlier this year against the Islamic State.
The strike took place about 200 miles north of the capital of Mogadishu in “a remote area near Hareeri Kalle,” AFRICOM reported in a press release. Hareeri Kalle is just south of the town of Gal-Libaax in Somalia’s central Galguduud Region. The Somali military reported an operation against Shabaab in the area in recent days, adding that it was supported by “international partners.”
The Somali government claims to have killed around 100 Shabaab members in this operation, which is a number that cannot be independently verified. AFRICOM’s press release, though not indicative of the entire operation, provides a much smaller body count. The Somali government, much like its enemies in Shabaab, often inflates casualty numbers that its forces inflicted on Shabaab.
“The airstrike was in support of Somali National Army forces who were engaged by the terrorist organization,” AFRICOM noted. AFRICOM assessed that no civilians were killed or wounded in the strike.
Today’s strike was preceded by three other self-defense airstrikes, all which took place on July 8 near Afmadow, which is about 60 miles north of the southern city of Kismayo. AFRICOM reported that 10 Shabaab fighters were killed in the 3 strikes, which took place as the Somali military was engaged with the terror group.
In the past, the U.S. military masked offensive operations and counterterrorism strikes against Shabaab, such as raids on training camps and the targeting of individual terrorists, as defensive strikes. More recently, AFRICOM’s airstrikes against Shabaab have truly been defensive in nature, with just one offensive strike reported this year.
That air strike, which took place near Shabaab’s stronghold of Jilib in May, targeted Maalim Osman, the emir of Shabaab’s external operations wing. The terrorist leader reportedly survived. [See LWJ graphic, Detailing Shabaab’s Leadership and Key Personnel, for more]
AFRICOM is supporting the Somali National Army as its offensive to eject Shabaab from its strongholds in southern and central Somalia has largley stalled. Shabaab has responded by attacking and overrunning Somali, Ugandan, and Ethiopian military bases, and conducting a campaign of suicide and IED attacks, as well as assassinations. [See LWJ report, Analysis: Shabaab takes advantage of slowed counter-offensive.]
The Somalia government has been slow to actually implement the so-called second phase of its much-touted offensive, though counter-Shabaab operations in Somalia’s south have picked up in recent weeks. The problem is compounded by internal Somali clan infighting in Middle Shabelle and political squabbles in Hiraan, the imminent withdrawal of thousands of troops from the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) over the next several months. This turmoil further leaves Somali troops with less support and provides more opportunities for Shabaab to exploit any potential security gaps. [Listen to Generation Jihad podcast, Is Africa the epicenter of today’s jihad?, for more information.]
For instance, Shabaab is currently imposing a blockade against the southern city of Baidoa, impacting the ability of tens of thousands to access food and supplies. That Shabaab is currently able to blockade a city of this size should stand as a warning sign that the fight against it is far from over and that any premature announcements of victory harm the Somali government’s narrative.
And for its part, AFRICOM continues to describe Shabaab as “the largest and most kinetically active al Qaeda network in the world” that “has proved both its will and capability to attack partner and U.S. forces and threaten U.S. security interests.”
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.",Not_Explicit
"An 82-year-old grandmother affiliated with the local Republican Party spat at and attacked a group of veterans during a press conference in Tulsa last Friday, after they vocally protested against the enforced use of religion in public schools.
The incident, which was captured on camera, took place at a press conference called by State Superintendent Ryan Walters on the grounds of Tulsa Public Schools’ administration building.
Attendees were there to show support for E’Lena Ashley, a Tulsa school board member who had been criticized by parents and her fellow board members for praying during a high school graduation ceremony in May. Among those attending the event were members of the local chapter of extremist group Moms for Liberty, which endorsed Ashley’s campaign for school board last year.
Also in attendance were Roberta Pfanstiel and her husband Carl, who were there to support Walters’ call for “religious freedom” in schools. Last month at a Tulsa School Board meeting he called for the promotion of Christianity and “Western heritage” in every classroom, including displaying the Ten Commandments.
At the event, the Pfanstiels were standing next to three activists from Veterans Defending Democracy, who were calling out what they saw as Walters’ hypocritical calls for “religious freedom” in schools.
During the event Pfanstiel, who lives in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, approached one of the activists, Bailee Tyler, who was sitting on the ground wearing a hat bearing the name of one of the activist groups she is affiliated with, Defense of Democracy.
“[Tyler] was on her knees, on the ground in front of me, and [Pfanstiel] came up from behind her and smacked her hat off of her head,” Erika Stormont, one of the three activists said in a podcast discussing the incident.
Much of the exchange was captured on video and posted online. In the clips Stormont, who was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 before becoming one of the Army’s first female cavalry scouts in 2015, told Pfanstiel that she cannot touch her or anyone else, and that if she does it again they would press charges.
At one point during the press conference a Christian pastor began praying, and at this point protesters called on Walters to allow a rabbi to pray also if he really believed in religious freedom, chanting “let him pray.”
“And it’s as we’re chanting that, again unprovoked, this woman comes up from behind my friend who’s still on the ground and it looks to me like both of her hands are going for her neck, her shoulders area, and that she made contact,” Stormont said.
In Stormont’s video, posted on TikTok, Pfanstiel’s husband is seen restraining his wife by holding both her elbows.
“As I turned my camera back to her and said: ‘That’s twice, you cannot touch people in public.’ She spits in my face and her saliva lands on my cheek,” Stormont said.
At this point in the video, Stormont is heard telling Pfanstiel to spit again because she has captured it on camera. “I know that’s a very inciting thing to say [but] when I say that, every single part of my body at that point was in fight flight [mode].”
Stormont says she drew on the training she had received in therapy about how to deal with such situations. “I refocused back to the event, I refocused on why I was there, and I ‘gray rocked’ her, which is a term we use when we talk about recovering from narcissistic abuse. You cannot give them any of your energy at that point. And I knew at that point we were going to be pressing charges.”
Stormont filed a police report online and received a tracking number, but told VICE News that she has not heard back from the Tulsa Police Department. She called the department this week to update them with the identity of the person who spat at her, after she had been identified by online sleuths, but had to leave a voicemail. The Tulsa Police Department did not respond to VICE News’ requests for comment on the case.
In total about 100 people attended the event according to Stormont, with about one third of the attendees opposing Walters’ and Ashley’s claims that the school board is being religiously intolerant.
Alongside members of the local Moms for Liberty chapter were prominent members of the state and county Republican Party, including Oklahoma GOP chair Nathan Dahm and Tulsa County GOP chairwoman Ronda Vuillemont-Smith. Moms for Liberty did not respond to questions about Pfanstiel’s affiliation with the group.
Pfanstiel, who deleted her Facebook account this week after VICE News contacted her, has in the past appeared in pictures posted online showing herself and her family with Dahm. One photo was taken in front of the Oklahoma State Capitol on January 6, 2021, to oppose the outcome of the 2020 presidential elections.
Dahm didn’t respond to VICE News’ request for comment but Vuillemont-Smith said the party “is aware of the allegations of assault that took place” and “while the party was not the organizer of this press conference, we are monitoring the situation.”
“The Republican Party of Tulsa County honors all veterans who served, and support the freedom of speech,” Vuillemont-Smith added. “We do not condone nor endorse violence of any kind, nor do we support actions or free-speech that disrupt and impede on others' right to free speech.”
When asked if Pfanstiel is a member of the Tulsa GOP, the chairwoman said “all registered Republicans in Tulsa County are considered members of the Tulsa GOP.”",Not_Explicit
"A new exoskeleton to support workers in railways maintenance and renewal operations
A back support exoskeleton has been developed at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology—IIT) to improve railway workers' safety and conditions for heavy manual material handling during maintenance and renewal operations.
The prototype, named StreamEXO, was validated in approximately 100 hours of use by 15 people during a 6-month test campaign hosted in Italy highlighting a 50% reduction in the ergonomic risk of physical overload and a 30% of muscle fatigue. The exoskeleton was recently presented during a live demonstration with workers wearing StreamEXOs at the port of Tarragona, in Spain, and it is ready to start an industrialization process.
The exoskeleton StreamEXO has been developed within the European project STREAM coordinated by Christian Di Natali, researcher of the IIT—the first major strategic transnational initiative aimed at promoting research and innovation in the railway sector to make it more competitive, efficient and sustainable.
The STREAM project has introduced a new technological solution from Industry 5.0, where workers' activities are connected, through the IoT, to wearable technologies and enhanced occupational exoskeletons. STREAM developed the exoskeleton StreamEXO and a fully automated excavator for accomplishing tasks in the rail worksites, such as ballast and sleepers' replacement.
On June 8, researchers showed the exoskeleton and the automatic excavator in a rail worksite while simulating the project's target activities at the STREAM's final event in Tarragona, Spain. The event, hosted at Port of Tarragona, was attended by the Shift2Rail Project Office and the port's authorities.
The STREAM exoskeleton (StreamEXO) generates forces which are distributed to the shoulders and legs to support the worker's back during handling activities, such as lifting and carrying heavy loads. The device's ergonomics have been studied to enhance comfort and provide totally free movements, ensuring a perfect fit on the worker's body while carrying out dynamic activities.
The system has an innovative one-size-fits-all solution that guarantees both robustness and power, and a lightweight design (7 kg of weight with a battery of 6 hours autonomy).
The device comprises of a mechanical structure, some electric actuators, and an electronics system, completed by specific algorithms that assist workers during work tasks to reduce the risk of injury. Therefore, thanks to the control algorithms, the exoskeleton can interpret the movements that a person does to manage the different intensities of work and can automatically implement assistance strategies. Workers can use StreamEXO in a versatile way, also while they are driving vehicles or walking on rough terrain.
The benefits of the exoskeleton have been evaluated during an experimental campaign of six months hosted in railway construction sites by RFI and MERMEC STE s.p.a, including a final phase near Milan. The campaign saw several laboratory tests and an on-site validation with railway workers.
The final demonstration involved 15 workers for about 100 hours of use during real work activities in railways sites. They wore StreamEXO for carrying and positioning concrete conduit whose weight was between 20kg and 30kg.
Results showed a 50% reduction in the musculoskeletal system's ergonomic risk of physical overload, particularly for the lumbar region. Fatigue was reduced by up to 30%, and muscle activity was also reduced by 25%.
The experimental campaign was fundamental to obtaining an advanced technological maturity level for the prototype, which is ready for future industrialization. The design of the StreamEXO created by IIT was intended to be a comfortable solution to be used during work shifts for workers employed in the heavy-duty industry and in the construction sector, such as railways.",Not_Explicit
"AP
toggle caption
In this image taken from video, a wildfire burns in Zbarbar, Bouira Province, Algeria, Monday, July 24, 2023.
AP
In this image taken from video, a wildfire burns in Zbarbar, Bouira Province, Algeria, Monday, July 24, 2023.
AP
ALGIERS, Algeria — Wildfires raging across Algeria have killed 25 people, including 10 soldiers trying to get the flames under control in the face of high winds and scorching summer temperatures, government ministries said Monday.
At least 1,500 people were evacuated, the Interior Ministry said, without providing details.
The Interior Ministry announced 15 deaths and 24 injuries. In addition, the Defense Ministry later announced 10 soldiers were killed and 25 injured as they fought fires in the resort area of Beni Ksila east of the capital Algiers.
It wasn't immediately clear over what period of time the casualties happened, but the fires have been burning for several days.
Wildfires, some spread by strong winds, moved across forests and agricultural areas in 16 regions causing 97 blazes in the north African country. The largest and deadliest fires ravaged parts of Bejaia and Jijel — in the Kabyle region east of Algiers — and Bouira, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Algiers, the Interior Ministry said.
Operations to tamp down the fires included some 7,500 firefighters and 350 trucks on the ground as well as air support.
Algeria is no stranger to summer wildfires.
At least 37 people were killed last August after wildfires blazed near Algeria's northern border with Tunisia.
A year earlier, authorities said dozens were killed in blazes — including soldiers called in to help fight the fires in the mountainous Kabyle region that is dotted with villages.
Strong winds and successive heat waves have fueled vicious fires in Greece and elsewhere around the Mediterranean this summer.",Not_Explicit
"- Ukraine took out a Russian military repair depot in Crimea, per an unofficial Russian source.
- The site was reportedly struck by the UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile.
- On the same day, Russia announced a nearby town had to be evacuated due to a hail of drone attacks.
A Russian vehicle repair base in Crimea was struck by a Ukrainian Storm Shadow missile on Monday, according to a Russian source.
The base was hit by one of four cruise missiles fired by Ukrainian Su-24 jets overnight, according to the Russian Telegram outlet Rybar, with one missile striking the repair depot near Dhzankoy, a town to the north of the peninsula, and the other three striking an ammunition store.
Insider was unable to independently verify the claim, which was also highlighted in a briefing by the US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War.
Rybar is a prominent pro-Kremlin Russian blogger with more than a million followers, and is rumored to be connected to the Kremlin and the Wagner Group.
Dzhankoy and its surrounding villages were evacuated on Monday due to Ukrainian drone strikes, Russian news outlet TASS reported the Russian-installed leader of Crimea as saying. This would include the site where the repair depot is located.
TASS did not mention the reported Storm Shadow strikes, but said that 11 drones were shot down while one destroyed an ammunition pile.
According to Rybar, the drone attack preceded the Storm Shadow strikes.
The vehicle repair base south of Dzhankoy has served at earlier points in the war as a major repair hub, according to Forbes, housing hundreds of fighting vehicles, tanks, and trucks being fixed up for the invasion.
It's unclear how many were on-site, or indeed hit, on Monday.
But the episode highlights the growing pressures the UK-supplied Storm Shadow has laid on Russian command and control.
Ukraine has had its hands on the missile, also known as SCALP, since earlier this year.
With a range of up to 155 miles, the air-launched missile has put vast swathes of Russian-held territory within reach of Ukraine, pressuring Russian commanders to move their supply lines further behind the front lines.
The site of the Crimea repair depot is roughly 130 miles behind the front lines of the conflict.
Firing a Storm Shadow is both risky and expensive, as experts previously told Insider, and this means Ukraine is likely reserving its use for concentrated, high-value targets.
This could also pressure Russia's army to disperse its depots and ammunition caches into smaller, more nimble formations — which would be a fresh challenge for Russia's centralized, Soviet-style military command.",Not_Explicit
"President Biden is expected to sign a proclamation Tuesday designating locations associated withas a national monument on what would have been his 82nd birthday, recognizing the impact of his killing on the civil rights movement.
Graball Landing in Mississippi, the Tallahatchie River location where the brutally beaten body of 14-year-oldwas discovered in 1955, will soon be one of three sites designated as a national monument in his honor, CBS News has learned.
The White House is expected to announce the river site, the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse and the Robert Temple church in Chicago as part of a national monument, recognizing both the history of racial violence and the need for legal justice. Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, is also being honored with the monument.
Brent Leggs, who helped secure the designation, hopes it will draw attention to approximately 5,000 additional Black historic sites across the United States that require approximately half a billion dollars for preservation.
""It isn't for our nation to remain stuck in a painful past. It really is to challenge our nation to say, 'we can do better,'"" Leggs said.
The memory of Emmett Till remains imprinted on the banks of the Tallahatchie River.
""This landscape holds memory of one of the most painful moments in American history,"" said Leggs. The site serves as a grim reminder of the violent and threatening environment faced by Black youth in American society during that era.
Nearly 70 years later, Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., Till's cousin, still remembers the fateful summer of 1955 when they traveled from Chicago to visit relatives in the Mississippi Delta. On their trip, the cousins visited Bryant's Grocery Store, owned by Roy and Carolyn Bryant. Till's innocent act of whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a White woman, resulted in fatal consequences.
""That's a death sentence,"" Parker said.
Days later, armed with guns, Roy Bryant and his brother J.W. Milam found the family at their home.
""I heard 'em talkin, 'You got two boys here from Chicago?'"" Parker said. ""I said, 'God, we're getting ready to die.' Shaking like a leaf on the tree. I closed my eyes to be shot but they didn't shoot me. They came to take Emmett. That's what they did.""
Till was abducted from his relative's home, tortured and shot before his lifeless body was dumped in the Tallahatchie River.
The images of Till's beaten and bruised body appeared in Black-owned newspapers and magazines across the country, thanks to the efforts of the Black press, which played a crucial role in exposing racial disparities.
Mamie Till-Mobley, Till's mother, held an open casket funeral at Roberts Temple in Chicago, where nearly 50,000 people paid their respects. The public viewing of Till's disfigured face is considered a catalyst for the civil rights movement.
""She allowed the world to see what she saw when she opened that box that they shipped from in Mississippi: the face of racial hatred and racism in America,"" said Marvel Parker, Wheeler Parker's wife.
The Parkers are focused on restoring the 100-year-old church building, which requires approximately $20 million for full restoration.
At the Tallahatchie County Courthouse, restored to its 1955 appearance, Patrick Weems facilitates tours, reminding visitors of the battle between racial violence and legal injustice that took place there.
It was at that courthouse that an all-White male jury acquitted Bryant and Milam for Till's murder. Months later, the brothers confessed their crime to a magazine, but were never held accountable.
""There was a battle here. There's a battle of the souls of this nation about what was gonna win out. Are they gonna say segregation is right and what the murderers did was OK? Or is justice going to prevail? And that day — we all lost,"" Weems said.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"Chelsea and Saudi club Al-Hilal have begun the process of trying to sign 24-year-old France forward Kylian Mbappe, who has not travelled with Paris St-Germain on their pre-season tour of Asia. (RMC Sport - in French)
Mbappe is prepared to sit out an entire season and leave PSG on a free transfer next summer after the French champions put him up for sale on Friday. (Sky Sports)
Harry Kane's wife has been spotted in Munich, looking for properties and schools ahead of a potential move from Tottenham to Bayern Munich for the 29-year-old England striker. (Bild - in German; subscription required)
Inter Milan believe it is now impossible to consider bringing Romelu Lukaku back to the club from Chelsea after the Belgium striker, 30, approached rivals AC Milan and Juventus about a potential move. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)
England striker Ivan Toney, 27, is considering changing agents, a sign that he is looking to leave Brentford even before his eight-month ban for breaking betting rules ends in January. (Sun on Sunday)
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has hinted at a potential swap deal involving Levi Colwill, with Chelsea using their English centre-back, 20, to help them sign the Seagulls' Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo, 21. (Talksport)
Southampton have turned down a new approach from Newcastle for England Under-21 right-back Tino Livramento, 20. (Talksport)
Watford's Senegal winger Ismaila Sarr, 25, is closing in on a move to Marseille despite interest from Everton, which will not affect the French club's pursuit of Sarr's compatriot, Sheffield United forward Iliman Ndiaye, 23. (FootMercato - in French)
Manchester United are set to announce the double signing of twin brothers Jack and Tyler Fletcher, sons of former United midfielder Darren Fletcher, from Manchester City in a British record deal for 16-year-olds. (Fabrizio Romano)
Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before - follow your team and sign up for notifications in the BBC Sport app to make sure you never miss a moment",Not_Explicit
"The final stage of this 2023 Tour de France before Sunday’s procession to Paris should see a fierce battle both for the polka dot jersey and the stage win.
Stage 20 is relatively short at 133km, riding from Belfort to Le Markstein ski resort in the Vosges mountains, and features six categorised climbs. There are King of the Mountains points available at the top of each ascent and Giulio Ciccone will need to sweep up as many as possible to hold on to the polka dots, under pressure from Austrian rider Felix Gall.
Meanwhile Jonas Vingegaard would love to close out his second Tour de France victory by winning a stage in the yellow jersey, but he will face fierce competition from the other climbers across the peloton, not least Thibaut Pinot, looking to win the fourth Tour stage of his career in what is his last hurrah before retirement.
Follow updates from stage 20 of the Tour de France below.
Tour de France 2023 – stage 20
Stage 20 is 133km ride to Le Markstein ski resort in Vosges mountains
Jonas Vingegaard set to seal yellow jersey and eyeing stage win
Giulio Ciccone trying to keep hold of polka dot jersey
98km to go: Podium-chasing Carlos Rodriguez crashes
Tour de France LIVE – breakaway forming ahead of peloton
13:53 , Lawrence Ostlere
85km to go: A breakaway of around 15 riders is trying to pull clear of the peloton, but UAE Emirates are working hard to haul them back and ensure Tadej Pogacar gets a look at winning this stage. The break are only around 20 seconds clear of the rest.
Tour de France LIVE: Sepp Kuss receives medical attention
13:46 , Lawrence Ostlere
91km to go: Jumbo-Visma’s Sepp Kuss is also struggling – he’s got a very similar injury to Rodriguez around his left eye and he’s receiving medical attention as he tries to catch up with the escaping peloton. Kuss’s teammate, the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard, was just one bike away from being involved in that crash. That could have been hugely dramatic.
Tour de France LIVE: Carlos Rodriguez injured in crash
13:39 , Lawrence Ostlere
98km to go: A crash in the peloton! It looks like Carlos Rodriguez, the man currently fourth in the overall standings, has hit the ground and he looks hurt, with blood pouring from around his left eye and more on his left arm and leg. The young Spaniard is back on his bike, trying to catch up with the peloton, but this looks pretty bad.
Tour de France LIVE – stage 20
13:34 , Lawrence Ostlere
Here is how the top of the King of the Mountains standings look after that ascent:
Giulio Ciccone 93 points
Felix Gall 82
Jonas Vingegaard 81
Tour de France 2023 – stage 20
13:32 , Lawrence Ostlere
At the top of the first climb of the day, the Ballon d’Alsace, Giulio Ciccone is teed up by his teammates before sprinting to pick up the maximum five King of the Mountains points on offer for this category two climb. Felix Gall wasn’t bluffing when he said he wasn’t interested in contested for polka dots, but Jonas Vingegaard sneaks to the front to try and grab some extra KoM points – but Ciccone’s teammate Mads Pedersen spotted what Vingegaard was up to and sprinted ahead to deny Vingegaard any points haul.
So now we know: the polka dots will be fought between Ciccone and Vingegaard today.
Tour de France 2023 – stage 20
13:24 , Lawrence Ostlere
110km to go: Victor Campenaerts has been reeled in and the peloton is back together as one. Lidl-Trek are working hard on the front to help Giulio Ciccone win the points he needs to protect the polka dot jersey.
Tour de France 2023 – stage 20
13:09 , Lawrence Ostlere
Interesting to hear from Felix Gall ahead of the stage, who tells ITV he is not prioritising the polka dot jersey today. He is only seven points behind Giulio Ciccone and there are a maximum of 37 King of the Mountains points up for grabs here, but Gall insists he won’t be fighting for it.
“If it happens it’s somehing, we’ll see how it plays out, but for sure it’s not the first priority today.”
Tour de France 2023 – stage 20 preview
12:57 , Lawrence Ostlere
Here’s a closer look at today’s stage...
What is left to play for? The team category has been sewn up by Jumbo-Visma, to go with Vingegaard’s yellow jersey, and the green jersey has been won by Jasper Philipsen, assuming he can get through this day unscathed and before the time cut – his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates will ensure that he does. The best young rider’s white jersey will almost certainly be won by Pogacar for the fourth year in a row.
But the polka dot jersey is still very much on the line. Giulio Ciccone currently wears the famous red and white colours but his tally of 88 points at the top of the standings is not definitive. Austrian rider Felix Gall – winner of the Souvenir Henri Desgrange as the first over the top of the highest point of the race – has 82 points on the board. Then there is Vingegaard, with 81 points. There are 37 points available on stage 20, so this is where the King of the Mountains will be decided.
There is also a final podium spot up for grabs. Pogacar’s UAE Emirates teammate Adam Yates currently occupies third in the general classification, an impressive achievement given the work he has put in for his leader throughout the Tour. But Yates is only a minute or so up on Ineos’s Carlos Rodriguez and his twin brother Simon Yates, while Bahrain Victorious’s Pello Bilbao is around two minutes back from the podium. We can expect some attempts to dislodge Adam Yates, who will now doubt have his teammates’ support in defence of his place, which comes with plenty of prize money as well as prestige.
Tour de France 2023 – stage 20
12:49 , Lawrence Ostlere
Stage 20 has just begun and in news that will shock no one who has followed this Tour de France, Belgian chaos-magnet Victor Campenaerts has gone on the attack immediately. He has won both of the past two combativity awards for his aggression over the last two stages and he’s on one again.
Tour de France 2023: Latest updates from stage 20
12:45 , Lawrence Ostlere
Follow all the action from the final stage before Paris.",Not_Explicit
"Democrats tear into RFK Jr. during weaponization hearing
Democrats on the newly created House subcommittee on the “weaponization” of the federal government on Thursday blasted Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democratic candidate for president, as he testifies at a hearing on censorship, tech companies and free speech.
Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) in her opening statement ran through a list of some of Kennedy’s claims related to COVID-19 and vaccines, including “that COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people, [and] the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese;” and implications that “Jews in Nazi Germany had more freedoms than unvaccinated Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Democrat, who is the ranking member on the panel, dismissed the idea that Republicans invited Kennedy before the committee in an attempt to protect his free speech. She argued that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have “affirmatively chose” to give Kennedy’s “hateful, evidence-free rhetoric” a platform.
“They intentionally chose to elevate this rhetoric to give these harmful dangerous views a platform in the halls of the United States Congress. That’s endorsing that speech. That’s not just supporting free speech. They have co-signed on idiotic bigoted messaging,” Plaskett said.
“There’s no doubt as to why they’re making the choice. It’s not o guard free speech or to ensure equality for all. All of this … is to show us by their conduct, over and over again, that any attack on Joe Biden to get Donald Trump back in the White House, is what they need to do.”
After Kennedy’s opening statement, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) made a motion to move the committee into executive session, arguing “Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly made despicable antisemitic and anti-Asian comments” in violation of a rule against testimony that would tend to defame or degrade. The motion failed.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"MELBOURNE, Australia -- Morocco’s debut game at the Women’s World Cup ended in a 6-0 loss to two-time champion Germany in what head coach Reynald Pedros described as a “David versus Goliath"" contest.
Germany is ranked No. 2 and the Atlas Lionesses are No. 72 and the first Arab or North African team to qualify.
The margin of defeat on Monday was the biggest so far at the tournament where Morocco is one of eight teams on debut.
Pedros has made it clear the opening game is now history, and Morocco's focus must shift swiftly to the next game against South Korea.
“Our objective is obviously to as quickly as possible get back to work,"" he said. ""We’re still going to stay positive, that’s extremely important.”
A large contingent of Morocco fans, many gathered in the southwest corner of the stadium in Melbourne, cheered vocally for the recent Africa Cup of Nations finalists.
“We were coming up against a team that’s extremely high level,” Pedros said. “We could have avoided some of the goals we conceded, but I think we gave it our all, and we’re in a competition that’s a high-level competition.”
Throughout the match, Morocco struggled defending crosses and corner kicks. Germany opened its scoring with captain Alexandra Popp finding the back of the net with two first-half headers serviced from out wide.
In the second half, Klara Bühl and Lea Schüller added to Germany’s tally, bookending two own goals that bounced off Morocco’s Hanane Aït El Haj and Yasmin Mrabet after German corners.
Pedros described the third goal – coming from Bühl just 23 seconds into the second half – as a “hard blow,” noting that if the team could have scored after Popp’s opening wo goals, the end result may have been different.
The Atlas Lionesses will look to earn crucial points against No. 17-ranked South Korea on Sunday, before finishing the group stage against No. 25 Colombia on Aug. 3.
“As soon as one (goal) goes in, and you don’t really gain momentum after that against a team like Germany, it’s always going to be hard,” Morocco forward Rosella Ayane said. “We have the spirit, we have the fight, and we’ll regroup.”
___
Cassidy Hettesheimer is a student at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
___
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup",Not_Explicit
"Ukrainian military intelligence comments on the placement of nuclear weapons in Belarus
According to the statement from Ukrainian Military Intelligence representative Andriy Yusov during a TV interview, the placement of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus does not alter Ukraine's security situation significantly. However, it can serve as an additional tool for coercion.
""For Ukraine, this fundamentally changes nothing. It's a repetition of the Caribbean Crisis, only closer and on a smaller scale,"" he said.
Yusov emphasized that Russian nuclear weapons remain in Belarusian territory, and this serves as an additional instrument for blackmail, pressure, possible negotiations, and raising the stakes. They could withdraw the weapons they have deployed if someone wants to engage in talks with the dictator.
The intelligence representative also highlighted that globally, it does not alter the security situation for Europe or Ukraine.
""Our border with Russia is so vast, and nuclear facilities, including elements of nuclear weapons, are located in different areas. So, for Ukraine, it changes nothing... It's primarily about blackmail and raising the stakes: 'Please start talking with me, and maybe we'll come up with something and reach an agreement,'"" he added.
Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus
In late May, the defense ministers of Russia and Belarus signed an agreement on the placement of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Moscow was to transfer the ""Iskander-M"" missile complex to Minsk, which is capable of launching missiles with nuclear warheads.
U.S. intelligence has no doubt that Russia has already transported the first batch of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
However, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, believes that Russia will not launch a nuclear strike against Ukraine.
Caribbean Crisis
This tense standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union arose from the secret placement of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962, in response to the installation of missiles in Turkey. The superpowers came close to direct military confrontation and the imminent threat of nuclear war.",Not_Explicit
"Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics
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All eyes are on the Republican primary this election cycle, but one Democratic underdog has been getting attention for his controversial comments spreading misinformation on a range of subjects. Lisa Desjardins reports on how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. captured the attention of some voters and Geoff Bennett discusses Kennedy's vaccine stances with Dr. Paul Offitt.
Lisa Desjardins is a correspondent for PBS NewsHour, where she covers news from the U.S. Capitol while also traveling across the country to report on how decisions in Washington affect people where they live and work.
Saher Khan is a reporter-producer for the PBS NewsHour.
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"Sir Keir Starmer has said the Labour party must have been doing something “very wrong” over the controversial Ulez expansion policy after their loss in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip byelection.
In a speech at the national policy forum in Nottingham on Saturday, the Labour leader said that despite the party’s success at the Selby and Ainsty byelection, their loss in Uxbridge and South Ruislip showed that there “is still a long way to go”.
Starmer added: “We are doing something very wrong if policies put forward by the Labour party end up on each and every Tory leaflet. We’ve got to face up to that and learn the lessons.”
Starmer’s comments comes a day after he urged Sadiq Khan to “reflect” on the impact of extending Ulez into Uxbridge and Ruislip, where Labour was unexpectedly defeated in a byelection on Thursday.
Both Conservative and Labour campaigners have attributed the narrow Tory victory to London mayor’s decision to expand the capital’s ultra low-emission zone (Ulez) – which charges drivers who use older, more polluting vehicles £12.50 a day to use their vehicles – to every borough next month.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said the party had lost by 495 votes in Uxbridge because it had failed to “listen to voters” over concerns about the expansion of Ulez, but environmentally minded Conservatives urged Rishi Sunak to hold firm on net zero commitments.
Despite the intensifying climate emergency, with world temperature records broken twice in the last week alone, the prime minister is facing calls from other Tories to rethink “very unpopular” green policies, such as the current plans to phase out gas boilers by 2035 and ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.
One Tory cabinet minister told the Daily Telegraph: “It is about pace and practicality. This isn’t the area for pure ideology, it is an area for balance.” Another said: “There probably is a broader lesson that the Conservatives should stand for sensible approaches to net zero.”
Craig Mackinlay, chairman of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, told the Daily Telegraph: “This is a wake-up call to warn politicians against anti-motorist policies across the entire country.
“We need to get the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars overturned at least until 2035, which is where most of the developed world is going.”
But Conservative Chris Skidmore, who led a recent net zero review of the UK’s climate goals, said: “It helps no one in politics if we are not honest about the reality of pollution in our cities and the health consequences of this, but we also need to be honest about what investments are needed to deliver policies with public support.
“This was what the net zero review very clearly set out: we need long-term investment to encourage private sector investment and to create a just transition by establishing the effective incentives to decarbonise.”
Meanwhile, The Times reports that Sunak is preparing to launch an aggressive political campaign on crime, migrant boats and transgender rights in an attempt to drive down Labour’s lead in the polls.
The newspaper said the Conservative party is planning to focus on “divisive” issues, with the government said to be drawing up a series of policies for a crime and justice bill that will include tougher sentences for antisocial behaviour, fraud, burglary and robbery.
Sunak is also expected to press ahead with plans to change the Equality Act to introduce explicit protections for biological women in same-sex spaces such as changing rooms and hospital wards.",Not_Explicit
"FARGO, N.D. -- A New Jersey man has been sentenced to a year-and-a-half in federal prison for trying to smuggle people from Mexico across the U.S.-Canada border into North Dakota.
Jose Gonzalez-Resendiz, 41, was sentenced Monday, becoming the third man sentenced in the scheme. On July 13, Armando De Dios-Carrillo received a two-year sentence, and Victor Manuel Perez-Aguilera was sentenced to 18 months. All three men pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to transport people into the U.S. illegally.
Prosecutors say the conspiracy involved smuggling a group of people from Mexico across the border from Canada into North Dakota in March, with plans to eventually move them to other U.S. locations. In exchange, the smugglers would be paid thousands of dollars by each person.
Authorities said the plan fell apart when a pickup truck carrying the people got stuck in the snow. The truck was towed and later seen by Border Patrol agents at a hotel in Langdon, North Dakota, where the smugglers and some of the people they brought into the U.S. were staying, according to prosecutors.",Not_Explicit
"Manager Carlo Ancelotti said Real Madrid are ""lucky"" to have the ""fantastic"" Jude Bellingham after the England midfielder impressed on debut in a 3-2 pre-season win against AC Milan in Los Angeles.
It was another Englishman, Fikayo Tomori, who got his name on the scoresheet, heading the opener for AC Milan, but two second-half goals from Federico Valverde and a superb winner from Vinicius Jr, who ran on to a sublime Luka Modric pass, sent the majority of fans in a 70,000 crowd at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena home happy.
Bellingham's 62-minute debut had flashes of his natural technique and confidence, twice bringing roars of approval from the crowd and then praise from his manager Ancelotti.
In the opening stages Bellingham went on a mazy run by the touchline, leaving a couple of Milan defenders in his wake.
Then, as the opening period drew to a close, a brilliant first-time half-volleyed pass, blending dexterity and a sure touch in a crowded penalty area, almost put Brahim Diaz in on goal.
""It is rare to find player with this kind of quality,"" Ancelotti said. ""He is only 20, so he can improve. We are lucky to have him in our squad.
""He was fantastic. He has a lot of rhythm, moves well and has quality finding open spaces.""
Real paid Borussia Dortmund £88m to sign Bellingham on a six-year contract. They can already be assured the 20-year-old is the real deal.
Bellingham eases his way into life at Real
At his public unveiling as a Real player last month, Bellingham said he liked the idea of being out of his ""comfort zone"".
There is no club in the world where the glare is quite as intense for quite as long.
But everything about Bellingham - from his solid family background and parental guidance, to the bravery of his move to Dortmund from Birmingham aged only 17, to his decision not to join any of the Premier League suitors this summer in favour of a switch to the Bernabeu - suggests that if anyone can deal with what lies ahead, it is Bellingham.
""Real Madrid is a big team with big pressure, but from what he did at Borussia Dortmund, he is ready to accept that,"" said football writer Joel Del Rio, who was covering the AC Milan game for Madrid-based newspaper Marca.
""He is a player who can do everything.""
Watching Bellingham in the build-up to the game and then the opening hour, before he was replaced with a congratulatory handshake from Ancelotti, was instructive.
First of all, Ancelotti picked him at the tip of a diamond, which is the role he has earmarked for the Midlander.
It allowed Bellingham to ghost and glide into positions of space as Toni Kross, deployed in the sitting position at the base of that midfield, could dictate play.
Despite his tender years and the elite trophy-winning environment he has joined, Bellingham is not scared to demand the ball. When he gets it, he rarely takes the easy option.
Ancelotti said: ""He is distinct from our other midfielders and he is going to help us a lot.
""He could play left or right to use his characteristics, but his best position is as a number 10, where he has more possibility to get near to the opposition goal.""
Bellingham already seems to have a connection with former Manchester City forward Diaz.
The pair did the pre-match passing drill together and twice Bellingham almost set the 23-year-old up, first with a flicked pass with the outside of his right foot, which drew appeals for a penalty as Tomori slid in to block, then that beautifully delicate half-volley pass very few players can execute.
Tomori, 25, was in conversation with Bellingham after the game and told BBC Sport: ""He is so elegant and will be a really good player for them. He said he has gelled in well and a few of the guys speak English, which makes it easier for him.
""It is good to see so many English players move to different countries. I know the Premier League is big, but there is football beyond that.""
Judging by the names of the back of the Madrid shirts being worn at the Rose Bowl, Bellingham is not yet vying with Vinicius in terms of popularity.
But there were still plenty of number five shirts - most famously worn by Zinedine Zidane, now with Bellingham on the back - in the crowd.
Bellingham was showing signs of tiredness when his outing was brought to an end and, with matches against Barcelona and Juventus to come before Real return to Madrid, it will be interesting to see how much involvement he has against Manchester United - who were so keen to sign him before he went to Dortmund - in Houston on Wednesday.",Not_Explicit
"Two teams at the Tour de France -- including overall leader Jonas Vingegaard's squad -- may not be raising glasses to cheer when the famed cycling race ends Sunday.
Groupama-FDJ hit out at Richard Plugge, the team manager for Vingegaard's Jumbo-Visma, after he said that riders from the French-based team drank ""large beers"" during Monday's rest day.
Plugge told L'Equipe that Vingegaard and his team's success was due to an extreme attention to ""details,"" saying none of the riders drank alcohol.
""We were with a French team at our hotel during the rest day. We could see riders drink large beers,"" Plugge said. ""... Alcohol is poison, and when you're tired [and you drink], it makes you more tired.""
Groupama-FDJ was the only French team sharing the same hotel in Saint Gervais on Monday.
""Who does he think he is? Frankly, it's an exceptionally vile attack on his part,"" Groupama-FDJ team manager Marc Madiot said. ""... Let him keep his mouth shut! I don't intend to see him. I don't care about him. I'm not going to go and see him. I'm angry. It's pathetic. I don't watch what he puts in his riders' bowls.""
Groupama-FDJ sports director Philippe Mauduit also challenged Plugge's comments, telling Reuters that the team's riders had socialized during the rest day but none had drunk alcohol.
""Everyone orders the drink they want, and the guys are so tired this year that they're not fooling around,"" he said.
The performance of defending champion Vingegaard, who holds a 7-minute, 35-second lead, has come under tight scrutiny after the Danish cyclist pulverized his rivals in Tuesday's individual time trial to solidify his grasp on the title.
The final major chance for second-place Tadej Pogačar and the other riders to catch Vingegaard will be Saturday's hilly 20th stage before the Tour finishes Sunday on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.",Not_Explicit
"Christine Sinclair missed out on becoming the first player to score at six Fifa World Cups as Canada were held by Nigeria.
Nigeria keeper Chiamaka Nnadozie kept out Sinclair's spot-kick early in the second half as the Olympic champions were frustrated in Melbourne.
Deborah Abiodun was sent off late on for Nigeria, however they earned a point with a battling display.
Canada and Nigeria have one point in Group B, behind co-hosts Australia.
The Canadians face Republic of Ireland in their next game on 26 July, after the Irish were beaten by Australia on Thursday.
Their captain Sinclair went into this game aiming to make some personal history. The 40-year-old forward was making her 324th international appearance and has scored 190 goals for her country.
She is one of three players to score at five Fifa World Cups - alongside Marta and Cristiano Ronaldo - and seemed destined to make history when she was fouled inside the area by Francisca Ordega early in the second half.
Referee Lina Lehtovaara awarded the penalty after the video assistant referee intervened, however Sinclair's effort was weak and well saved by impressive Nigerian keeper Nnadozie.
Nigeria, ranked 33 places lower than Canada in the Fifa rankings, defended deep and prevented Canada from many clear chances other than the penalty.
Sinclair fired narrowly wide from the edge of the area in the first half, while Nnadozie kept out Evelyne Viens' stabbed effort in the second.
Nigeria came closest to a goal in the first half when a mistake from Canadian keeper Kailen Sheridan allowed forward Asisat Oshoala to round her, however the Barcelona forward's shot from a tight angle was well blocked by Ashley Lawrence.
VAR again intervened in the final seconds to instruct Lehtovaara to send off Abiodun for a high tackle on Lawrence, after the Finnish official originally only gave a yellow card.
However Nigeria held on to give them fresh hope of getting out of their Women's World Cup group for only the third time in nine tournaments.",Not_Explicit
"SoftBank-Backed Paytm Posts Narrower Loss After Winning Users
Paytm posted a narrower loss after winning more users, helped by a campaign to target customers such as small merchants.
(Bloomberg) -- Paytm posted a narrower loss after winning more users, helped by a campaign to target customers such as small merchants.
The SoftBank Group Corp.-backed fintech company reported a net loss of 3.57 billion rupees ($43.6 million) for the quarter ended June 30, compared with 6.44 billion rupees a year earlier. Analysts had estimated a loss of 3.33 billion rupees. Revenue from operations rose 39% to 23.4 billion rupees.
The payment services provider is one of the biggest players in India’s emergent fintech industry, which is benefiting from the country’s growing mobile phone use and expanding middle class. The company, also backed by Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co., has added to its product offerings to reach more users.
Read more: Paytm Leads $6 Billion Rally as India Tech Firms Seek Redemption
Paytm earlier this month disclosed a 23% jump in average monthly transacting users to 92 million for the quarter ended in June. Loan disbursements, a key growth metric, more than doubled to 148.5 billion rupees.
But the shares remain down by more than 60% since its $2.5 billion initial public offering in 2021, depressed by concerns over intensifying competition from the likes of Alphabet Inc.’s Google Pay, Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Pay and Walmart Inc.’s PhonePe.
Paytm’s stock price has been volatile after a one-year lock-in for certain shareholders expired on Nov. 15, freeing them to reduce their holdings. SoftBank recently trimmed its stake to about 9.2%.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"The federal government has launched a civil rights probe into Harvard University’s use of legacy admissions, the U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday, increasing pressure on universities already grappling with intense backlash to the practice.
The disclosure arrived three weeks after a Boston civil rights group filed a complaint with the Education Department over Harvard’s use of legacy admissions — the practice of advantaging the children of alumni in admissions decisions — and almost a month after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision banning affirmative action nationwide.
Legacy admissions, a controversial practice used by many elite universities, can disproportionately benefit white applicants. Civil rights advocates have seized on the fight against legacy admissions after the U.S. Supreme Court sharply curtailed colleges’ ability to give admissions bumps to Black and Latino students.
About 70% of legacy applicants to Harvard are white, and legacy applicants are about six times more likely to be admitted to the school than non-legacy applicants, according to the complaint filed earlier this month by the Boston firm, Lawyers for Civil Rights.
“Harvard is on the wrong side of history,” Oren Sellstrom, the firm’s litigation director, said in a virtual news conference Tuesday.
Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, President Biden pledged that the Education Department would study legacy admissions and other “systems that expand privilege instead of opportunity.”
The investigation into Harvard marks his administration’s most aggressive step against legacy admissions to date.
The Education Department’s Civil Rights Office said it would investigate whether Harvard “discriminates on the basis of race by using donor and legacy preferences” in admissions, according to a notice letter dated Monday and released by Lawyers for Civil Rights. The letter was addressed to the firm.
The Education Department said in a Tuesday statement that it “can confirm” the investigation, but that it does not comment on pending probes.
Legacy admissions, like race-conscious admissions, appear broadly unpopular in the U.S. A Pew Research Center survey last year found 75% of respondents did not think legacy considerations should play into admissions decisions.
Some selective schools have voluntarily given up legacy admissions. Wesleyan University in Connecticut said last week that it would stop giving preferential admissions treatment to the children of alumni.
But top universities seem largely reluctant to withdraw from a practice that supporters say can sharpen school spirit and supercharge fund-raising efforts.
Harvard has declined to comment on the complaint from Lawyers for Civil Rights. The firm filed the complaint on July 3 on behalf of three Boston-area advocacy groups: the Chica Project, the Greater Boston Latino Network and the African Community Economic Development of New England.
In one section, the complaint lifts directly from the conservative Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision, arguing that if the practice is scrapped so should legacy admissions.
”Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it,” the complaint said, quoting Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion.
The fate of legacy admissions could ultimately be decided in the courts, but lawmakers in some states — including New York — have sought to take legislative action against the practice.
Colorado outlawed legacy admissions in public universities in 2021, but the state remains an outlier.
And last year, New York State lawmakers proposed a bill banning the practice in the state’s public and private schools, but the legislation floundered. The bill appears likely to get a second life next year.
Some New York schools, including NYU, say they do not consider legacy status in admissions decisions. Johns Hopkins University in Maryland and Amherst College in Massachusetts ended their use of legacy admissions in recent years.
It was unclear if New York’s two highly selective Ivy League universities — Columbia in the city and Cornell in upstate Ithaca — would move to give up legacy admissions. The two schools did not immediately reply to requests for comment Tuesday on the federal probe into Harvard.",Not_Explicit
"Ferocious wildfires have inflicted devastating damage across southern Europe and forced thousands of people to flee for their lives.

But just how bad are they in comparison to previous years?

It's important to point out that this is 'prime fire season' for the Mediterranean and that such natural disasters are not unusual because of its 'especially flammable' landscape.

The region's climate is the only one in the world with mild wet winters which allow vegetation to grow, and dry, hot summers that dry it out and make it a tinderbox.

In Greece, for example, wildfires have blighted communities for centuries.

Not only that, but as terrifying as the current blazes tearing across the islands of Rhodes and Corfu might be, experts say the country has been 'devastated by much more severe fire events in recent years'.

One example is August 2007, when more than 250,000 hectares of forests, olive groves and other land were charred.

But what makes the current wildfires so scary is the power of them.

Why this is Greece's worst July on record for wildfires

The intensity of this month's blazes has meant it has been the worst July since satellite monitoring began in 2003.

Almost 800,000 tonnes of carbon have been released into the atmosphere this month so far, eclipsing the previous high for July in Greece which was 470,000 tonnes in 2007.

Most years the the number is below 200,000.

The data comes from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which relies on the beady eyes of two Earth-observing satellites in space.

With the wildfires still raging, attention has now turned to whether July and August combined will eclipse the worst carbon emissions in Greece's recent history.

That title currently belongs to the fires which broke out as a result of a heatwave in summer 2021, but experts say 2023 could yet beat that record if the scorching temperatures continue.

Dr Douglas Kelley, a land surface modeller at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said that the intensity and speed at which the Rhodes wildfires have spread is what have caught a lot of scientists off guard.

In a dire warning for the future, he added: 'We predict there will be a global increase in these extreme fires of up 50 per cent by the end of the century. '

What does this mean for people's health?

A concerning thing to note is the danger these wildfires pose to humans. Not only in terms of burn risk, but also by inhaling the smoke and toxic particles of scorched matter that can be carried by the wind.

These wildfire-related PM2.5 – particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres in diameter – are linked to asthma, lung disease and premature death.

They can also cause problems to a person's cardiovascular system when they pass into the bloodstream.

Signs of high carbon monoxide levels in the blood include headaches, dizziness, nausea and decreased mental functioning.

'Smoke particles are one of the most toxic forms of particles we can generate,' said Athanasios Nenes, an atmospheric chemist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne.

'When you breathe them, they increase your chance of getting all kinds of cancers.'

How much of the landscape has been burned?

Intensity is one measure of the scale of a fire. Another is burn area.

The total area of Greece that has been scorched is well above the norm for the past 16 years.

More than 35,000 hectares have gone up in smoke, according to the latest data from July 22.

This compares to the average of 6,600 hectares for this time of year.

For Europe as a whole, wildfires have sparked a burn area of more than 173,000 hectares — yet again higher than the average of 128,000.

The elephant in the room of course is climate change. How much effect has that had on the wildfires?

It's too early to say exactly - experts need to carry out an attribution study first - but there is no doubt that heat-induced fire weather will become more prevalent as our planet continues to warm.

Guillermo Rein, a professor of fire science at Imperial College London, said wildfires in southern Europe are nothing new, but that 'climate change is making them larger, faster, and harder to stop'.

The reason for this is that searing heat creates dry conditions that make it easier for fires to take hold and spread.

Europe has been in the grip of a 40C record-breaking heatwave for the best part of July, while another one now waits in the wings.

As Cerberus dies out, Italian weather forecasters are warning that the next heatwave - dubbed Charon after the ferryman who delivered souls to the underworld in Greek mythology - will push temperatures even higher.

A newly-released scientific study has said such heatwaves would have been 'virtually impossible' without human-induced climate change.

It also concluded that global warming has made the Cerberus heatwave in southern Europe 2.5C hotter.

'Human-driven climate change is increasing the likelihood and intensity of heatwaves.' said Dr Thomas Smith, of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

'This is the second major heatwave in the Mediterranean this year.

'The first heatwave was found to have been made 100-times more likely due to the human impact on climate change, and at least 2C hotter.

'I expect there will be a similar finding for the current situation, which is ultimately responsible for the wildfires we've been seeing over the past week.'

Dr Kelley stressed that it was 'too early to say if climate change has caused these wildfires'.

However, he added that 'the fact there are now so many across the world, most recently in Greece and Canada, is a clear sign that climate change is causing an increase in the number of severe wildfires globally'.

How do the evacuations compare to past years?

The Greek government says the mass exodus of more than 20,000 people from the islands of Rhodes and Corfu has been the 'largest ever' wildfire evacuation in the country's history.

'It's a testament to the Greek authorities that the evacuation was swift and effective,' said Dr Smith.

'Greece has been devastated by much more severe fire events in recent years, and they were clearly very well prepared for this fire.'

The blazes have destroyed locals' homes and businesses in some areas, while tourists in Rhodes have had to flee hotels as flames sweep towards resorts on the eastern coast.

Up to 10,000 Britons are believed to be staying on the island, with repatriation flights home continuing throughout the week for those caught up in the drama.

Where could wildfires strike next?

As well as Rhodes, parts of Sardinia, Crete, Sicily and southwestern Turkey all have extreme fire weather outlooks for the coming days.

That is according to Europe's Copernicus Emergency Management Service, which produces a map of wildfires and a 'fire danger forecast'.

The programme's 'fire danger forecast', which is based on the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System, has six different levels: very low, low, moderate, high, very high and extreme.

It involves coming up with a numeric FWI rating after calculating daily observations of temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and 24-hour precipitation.

On the map, very low is shown as green, low as greenish yellow, moderate as yellow, high as orange, very high as red and dark brown as extreme.

To be forecast as extreme, the FWI rating must be greater than 50.

Much of the central and southeastern part of inland Spain has received that classification over the coming days, along with the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia and the Greek island of Rhodes.

There is also a risk of less intense wildfires in parts of southeastern France, the north-east of Austria, eastern Germany, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.

How you can stay safe

The British Red Cross has issued the following guidance for people caught up in wildfires.

If you see one, you should:
Ensure you are in a safe location away from vegetation and smoke
If you are in a car, close all windows and vents
If you are at home, keep doors and windows closed but unlocked
Provide information on the location and size of the wildfire, as well as any other relevant details such as a What3Words address
Carry wet towels to cover your head or bare skin or to wrap your feet, in case you need to run through a small area of fire",Not_Explicit
"Tuberville still dug in after Pentagon abortion policy briefing
Senior Defense officials failed to change minds with a Wednesday briefing to senators on the Pentagon’s abortion policy, with Alabama Republican Tommy Tuberville describing the meeting as “not very good.”
Tuberville is holding up approval of senior military officials in protest of a Pentagon policy that reimburses travel costs for service members who must go across state lines to seek an abortion.
The White House and Democrats have slammed Tuberville for the hold, which they say is damaging military readiness. But the Biden administration’s public shaming, combined with efforts to directly engage with Tuberville, have so far been fruitless.
The senator said defense officials on Wednesday could not explain how the abortion policy helped military readiness, or define the parameters around when the Pentagon would allow service members or their dependents to receive the procedure.
“They didn’t explain it very well,” he said. “They had no clue about readiness. They had no clue what month they’d do an abortion. We asked them eight or nine months — well they didn’t know.”
He said he had gone into the meeting with “open mind, to be convinced that this is affecting readiness, and they gave a poor answer – [it’s] affecting recruiting, very poor answer on that.”
Tuberville since March has held firm on blocking some 300 military promotions over the policy, which was established after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has called the senator three times — including once in March, once last week, and again on Tuesday — in an effort to get him to loosen his grip.
Austin explained to Tuberville “that his blanket holds were increasingly harming U.S. military readiness and national security at a critical geopolitical moment,” a Pentagon official told The Hill.
Tuberville earlier suggested that he could be convinced to drop his hold should the Senate vote on an amendment to curtail the Pentagon policy in its annual defense policy bill, which lawmakers hope to pass before August.
The House’s version of the $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which narrowly passed on Friday, included a provision that would end the policy.
GOP senators have offered up similar proposals for the upper chamber’s NDAA — which it will begin to debate this week — but if included, the amendment would hamper the likelihood the bill passes the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Tuberville was not the only senator who left Wednesday’s briefing unmoved. Armed Services ranking member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) also complained that the Defense officials failed to give data on how abortion access affects enlistment and readiness.
“Officials from the Department of Defense could not supply that information, which clearly indicates that this policy was entered into for political reasons and not based on the facts, not based on data,” Wicker told reporters. “So I’m very disappointed, though not surprised, at what we are learning today.”
But Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed (D-R.I) offered a far different take of the briefing, saying that after today “there can be no doubt in my colleagues’ minds about the legality of the Department’s policy. I am even more convinced of the necessity and appropriateness of this policy, which is critical for the health of our military women, men, and their families.”
He added: “The Defense Department laid out clear, plain facts to the committee. The Department of Justice has examined the Pentagon’s policy and found it to be entirely legal, consistent with 40 years of precedent through both Republican and Democratic administrations.”
And Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) told The Hill that the presentation was “very thorough and answered a lot of questions.”
King noted that only four to five Republican senators attended the briefing.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"The White House published a memo Wednesday seeking to drive a wedge between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, over the United States' support for Ukraine.
Comer has led Republican efforts to investigate corruption allegations levied against President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden for overseas business dealings. The White House has issued a blanket denial of allegations made by Comer and other Oversight Republicans, but press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rarely goes into detail when the topic is raised during press briefings.
Wednesday's memo highlighted comments Comer made Wednesday morning on Fox News claiming that Ukraine is an ""adversary of the United States"" and should not receive additional support in its ongoing attempts to fend off Russia's invasion.
""As Comer continues to struggle in his wild goose chase to attack the President, his dangerous comments about Ukraine play right into Putin’s hands to sow opposition to Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion and to erode support for America’s firm commitment to support Ukraine and rally the world against Putin’s aggression,"" wrote Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations. ""We only have one question: Does Speaker McCarthy agree with his top lieutenant that Ukraine is an 'adversary' of the U.S.?
""McCarthy should condemn these dangerous comments from his top ally,"" he concluded.
Despite McCarthy's objections to many of Biden's policies, he has repeatedly defended U.S. support for Ukraine, despite raising concerns about handing over a ""blank check"" without U.S. oversight of Ukraine's security apparatus.
He notably dressed down a Russian reporter at a May press conference in Israel for suggesting he doesn't ""support"" arming Ukraine against the invasion.
""I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine. I do not support your killing of the children either,"" McCarthy said at the time. ""We will continue to support because the rest of the world sees it just as it is.""",Not_Explicit
"Match ends, Japan 2, Costa Rica 0.
|Fifa Women's World Cup 2023|
|Hosts: Australia and New Zealand Dates: 20 July-20 August|
|Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website & app. Full coverage details; latest news|
Japan are on the verge of qualifying for the Fifa Women's World Cup round of 16 after a routine win over Costa Rica.
Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fujino both scored in the space of three first-half minutes to ease the 2011 champions to three points.
Japan will be the first side to secure their place in knockout stages, if Spain earn at least a point against Zambia later.
Costa Rica will be eliminated from the World Cup if Spain avoid defeat.
Japan get the job done
Since stunning the football world by beating the United States in the 2011 final, Japan have underwhelmed on the global stage.
But following the Tokyo Olympics - where Japan were eliminated in the quarter-finals on home soil - Futoshi Ikeda was appointed manager and has put together a side which has impressed with its attacking, possession-focused football.
Japan will face much tougher tests than Costa Rica and Zambia in their opening game, and they will need to be more clinical than they were at Dunedin Stadium. However, two wins and seven goals cannot be ignored.
This game was settled by the 27th minute - first Naomoto found the far left corner with a low shot from the left of the box, before Fujino shrugged off a tackle on the right wing, cut into the box and beat keeper Daniela Solera at the near post for her first Japan goal.
It was a moment of redemption for Fujino following a bizarre incident on 15 minutes where she prevented team-mate Risa Shimizu scoring with an inadvertent sliding tackle as both went to finish a chance.
Solera shines but Costa Rica outclassed
Costa Rica were outclassed here just as they were in their opening loss to Spain.
Nervous in possession, they were not technically able enough to play out from the back and inaccurate with long balls, constantly ceding possession to their opponents.
Solera - who has now made a tournament-high 19 stops at this World Cup - was once again the only factor between Costa Rica and a truly embarrassing scoreline.
Line-ups
Japan
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 1Yamashita
- 5Miyake
- 4Kumagai
- 3Minami
- 2ShimizuSubstituted forMoriyaat 90+1'minutes
- 14Hasegawa
- 16HayashiSubstituted forNaganoat 74'minutes
- 6Sugita
- 15FujinoSubstituted forMiyazawaat 59'minutes
- 8NaomotoSubstituted forSeikeat 74'minutes
- 11TanakaSubstituted forUekiat 59'minutes
Substitutes
- 7Miyazawa
- 9Ueki
- 10Nagano
- 12Takahashi
- 13Endo
- 17Seike
- 18Tanaka
- 19Moriya
- 20Hamano
- 21Hirao
- 22Chiba
- 23Ishikawa
Costa Rica
Formation 4-4-1-1
- 23Solera
- 3Coto
- 20Villalobos
- 4Benavides
- 12Elizondo
- 7Herrera
- 15GranadosSubstituted forRodríguezat 64'minutes
- 16Alvarado
- 2GuillénSubstituted forVillalobosat 45'minutes
- 9SalasSubstituted forScottat 76'minutes
- 14ChinchillaBooked at 85mins
Substitutes
- 1Pérez
- 5del Campo
- 6Sánchez
- 8Campos
- 10Villalobos
- 11Rodríguez
- 13Valenciano
- 17Varela
- 18Tapia
- 19Pinell
- 21Scott
- 22Estrada
- Referee:
- Maria Ferrieri Caputi
- Attendance:
- 6,992
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home57%
- Away43%
- Shots
- Home24
- Away6
- Shots on Target
- Home12
- Away2
- Corners
- Home9
- Away0
- Fouls
- Home7
- Away13
Live Text
Second Half ends, Japan 2, Costa Rica 0.
Riko Ueki (Japan) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Rocky Rodríguez (Costa Rica).
Attempt missed. Sheika Scott (Costa Rica) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Mélissa Herrera with a headed pass.
Attempt saved. Riko Ueki (Japan) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Hinata Miyazawa.
Attempt missed. Riko Ueki (Japan) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Hinata Miyazawa.
Attempt saved. Riko Ueki (Japan) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Hina Sugita with a cross.
Substitution, Japan. Miyabi Moriya replaces Risa Shimizu.
Corner, Japan. Conceded by María Coto.
Fuka Nagano (Japan) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Gloriana Villalobos (Costa Rica).
Priscila Chinchilla (Costa Rica) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Yui Hasegawa (Japan) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Priscila Chinchilla (Costa Rica).
Attempt saved. Mariana Benavides (Costa Rica) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Katherine Alvarado with a cross.
Foul by Kiko Seike (Japan).
Rocky Rodríguez (Costa Rica) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Moeka Minami (Japan).
Daniela Solera (Costa Rica) wins a free kick in the defensive half.",Not_Explicit
"Buddhist murals in China that date back to the 4th century are being threatened by heavy rain and rapidly fluctuating humidity, Greenpeace experts said on Monday.
Art in the the Dunhuang cave temples and at historical sites in Zhangye, both in the northwestern province of Gansu, are under threat from increased heavy rainfall. The region is historically dry, which has preserved a lot of the ancient art and structures. Dunhuang is home to the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The caves hold more than 40,000 square meters (430,550 square feet) of murals and thousands of painted statues that date from the year 400 to the 1400s. Artifacts in nearby Zhangye include cave temples that are national heritage sites, according to Greenpeace.
The temples and ancient art have withstood over a thousand years, but climate change has challenged their continued existence. Overall rainfall in the Gansu region has decreased since 2000, but that has been replaced with increased instances of extreme rainfall. Rainwater has seeped into some of the structures, damaging them. Murals have begun to crack and even flake and detach from the foundation, according to Greenpeace.
During a meeting in Beijing earlier this week, climate scientists and conservation experts from the Dunhuang Research Academy discussed how weather shifts caused by climate change in Gansu were hurting the historic sites.
“Gansu is famous for its caves and the art stored inside them for centuries. Increased bouts of rainfall in the desert pose an acute risk. Spikes in humidity, flash floods, and cave-ins are already happening,” said Li Zhao, a senior researcher in the Greenpeace Beijing office.
Researchers in China are conducting a cultural heritage survey throughout the country to protect important historical sites from further damage. But Li has warned that some could already disappear by the time the ongoing survey is completed. “They’re dissolved before our very eyes. This is a painful reality of the impact of climate change,” Li said, according to Greenpeace.
Sadly, climate change is threatening historical sites all over the world. Peatlands throughout the United Kingdom, which are waterlogged ecosystems that have little oxygen, naturally preserve different types of organic materials. The lack of oxygen has stopped leather, textiles, and even human remains from decomposing for hundreds or even thousands of years. Some of the preserved sites hail back from before the Roman era. But as the UK becomes hotter, and weather around the world changes, some of the peatlands are drying out and exposing heritage sites that were once protected from the elements.
Other human history sites are in danger of disappearing due to the climate crisis. The frozen body of a Iñupiat girl that is about 800 years old in what is now Alaska, was once preserved in the permafrost. But as global temperatures continue to rise, that permafrost is now melting and unveiling what were once protected archeological sites.
Want more climate and environment stories? Check out Earther’s guides to decarbonizing your home, divesting from fossil fuels, packing a disaster go bag, and overcoming climate dread. And don’t miss our coverage of the latest IPCC climate report, the future of carbon dioxide removal, and the un-greenwashed facts on bioplastics and plastic recycling.",Not_Explicit
"Almost 72 hours after 23-year-old U.S. Army Private 2nd Class Travis King entered North Korea, American officials say they have not been able to gain clarity on his location or condition -- and even the circumstances that led him to cross the border remain a mystery.
The Pentagon announced on Thursday that Army counterintelligence officials were investigating what prompted King to separate from a tour group visiting the Demilitarized Zone dividing South and North Korea, where witnesses say he sprinted across the border sometime on Tuesday.
He was originally supposed to fly out of Seoul after being taken to the airport on Monday, officials have said. Back in Texas, he was set to face a ""pending administrative separation actions for foreign conviction,"" one U.S. official has said. He had been in detention for more than a month after an altercation with locals, according to an official.
So far, efforts to gather information have been hamstrung by Pyongyang's stonewalling. Although various agencies and intermediaries have attempted to communicate with the North Korean government about King, none say they have received any response and the country's state media has also remained uncharacteristically silent.
""We're still doing everything we can to try to find out his whereabouts, his well-being and condition and making it clear that we want to see him safely and quickly returned to the United States and to his family,"" White House spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.
""Not for lack of trying, we just don't have anything,"" he said.
One U.S. official said that after King entered North Korea, he was immediately taken away in a van. But the Pentagon says they see no reason to suspect the soldier pre-planned his crossing with the North Korean government.
Asked whether the State Department feared for King's safety, its spokesperson Matthew Miller said Thursday that Pyongyang's past treatment of American nationals held in its custody was cause for worry.
""Certainly, I think we would always have concern given the treatment by North Koreans of past detained individuals -- we would have that concern and that's why, one of the reasons why, we are reaching out to ask for more information about his well-being,"" he said.
But those asks continue to go unanswered -- illustrating just how much communication between the countries has deteriorated under the Biden administration.
Although the U.S. government has made multiple attempts to engage with Pyongyang on issues like nuclear proliferation, those efforts have yet to elicit any response from the hermit kingdom.
""There is no regular contact. I will say communications between our two countries are limited,"" Miller said.
Anthony Ruggiero, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program and the former deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs, said North Korea may just be biding its time.
""They're probably taking the time to speak with [King] and see what to do next,"" Ruggiero said.
In prior cases involving Americans held in North Korea, Pyongyang has ignored outreach from the U.S. and Sweden -- America's diplomatic liaison in North Korea -- for weeks on end.
Ruggiero said that Pyongyang could seek to turn the latest incident into ""a benefit"" if it senses having the American soldier in its custody is a source of diplomatic pull.
If that's the case, Ruggiero explained, its reticence to engage with U.S. officials could evaporate.
""I think you're likely to see that the North Koreans want to talk to an American official directly as possible,"" he predicted.
Kim Jong Il, the former supreme leader of North Korea and father of its current ruler, Kim Jong Un, approved the release of American detainees after visits from former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
But even if there is direct contact between the U.S and North Korea, Ruggiero and other experts expect that the Biden administration will be reluctant to expend any significant political capital to secure the freedom of a soldier who fled while facing disciplinary action.
If that's the case, North Korea may elect to release King, Ruggiero said, as they did with Bruce Byron Lowrance -- a U.S. national who entered North Korea in 2018 and was freed a month later -- a move that helped set the stage for the first summit between then-President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.
""The North Koreans may believe that this is more headache than it's worth,"" Ruggiero said.
ABC News' Ben Gittleson, Luis Martinez, Martha Raddatz and Matt Seyler contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Melbourne, Australia -- Alexandra Popp scored twice in the first half and Germany added four more in the second in a 6-0 rout of Morocco in its Women’s World Cup opener on Monday.
The margin of victory is the largest of the tournament so far, with the two-time champions against a Moroccan team on debut at the tournament.
Popp scored her 63rd and 64th international goals, moving to third on Germany’s all-time list.
The Wolfsburg player quickly made her mark on the tournament after missing out on the final of the 2022 European Championship against England because of injury.
The second half featured two Morocco own-goals sandwiched between goals from Klara Bühl and Lea Schüller. Morocco is the first Arab and North African country to qualify for the tournament
KEY MOMENTS
In the 11th minute, Popp scored with a header off a cross from Kathrin Hendrich. She doubled her tally with another header in the 39th off Klara Bühl's corner kick.
Bühl scored the third goal with a right-foot strike just 23 seconds into the second half. For the fourth goal in the 54th, Svenja Huth served a ball in off a rebound from a corner. The ball then bounced off Morocco defender Hanane Aït El Haj for an own goal.
Another own goal by Yasmin Mrabet followed before Lea Schüller rounded out the scoring for Germany in the 90th minute.
WHY IT MATTERS
After losing to Zambia and Brazil in recent friendlies, Germany announced itself as a contender to win the tournament with the comfortable victory. The 2003 and 2007 World Cup winners have advanced to at least the quarterfinals in each of its eight previous World Cup appearances. Germany is on top of Group H, with Colombia and South Korea set to play their opening match on Tuesday.
Morocco's lopsided loss on debut adds pressure to its remaining group-stage matches. The first Arab and North African nation to compete in the Women's World Cup will be aiming to improve on this performance in order to keep its hopes alive of advancing to the tournament's knockout stage.
WHAT’S NEXT
Germany will travel to Sydney for its next game against Colombia, who advanced to the round of 16 in its last World Cup appearance. Morocco will play South Korea at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium. Both games are scheduled for Sunday.
___
Savannah Hernandez is a student at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
___
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup",Not_Explicit
"Washington — Israeli President Isaac Herzog sought to reassure U.S. allies Wednesday on the state of Israel's democracy and the strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship, in a speech to Congress acknowledging ""intense and painful debate"" at home over actions of.
Herzog, whose post in Israel is largely symbolic, became the second Israeli president, after his father, Chaim Herzog, to address Congress. While his speech officially marked modern Israel's celebration of its 75th year, he also indirectly addressed deep unease in the Biden administration and among Democratic lawmakers over the Netanyahu government'sof Israel's judicial system, in the occupied West Bank and other matters.
The divide was reflected in the audience of House and Senate members Wednesday. While lawmakers in attendance repeatedly rose to their feet in thundering applause of Herzog's recounting of Israel's founding, a handful of leading young progressive Democrats boycotted his speech.
On the eve of the address to the joint meeting of Congress, the House passed a Republican-led resolution reaffirming its support for Israel with strong bipartisan approval — an implicit rebuke of Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who over the weekend called the country a ""racist state"" but later apologized.
""Mr. Speaker, I am not oblivious to criticism among friends, including some expressed by respected members of this House. I respect criticism, especially from friends, although one does not always have to accept it,"" Herzog said.
""But criticism of Israel must not cross the line into negation of the state of Israel's right to exist. Questioning the Jewish people's right to self-determination, is not legitimate diplomacy, it is antisemitism.""
The House resolution, introduced by Republican Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, passed with more than 400 lawmakers backing the measure. It did not mention Jayapal by name but was clearly a response to her recent remarks about Israel. The measure was drafted soon after she criticized Israel and its treatment of Palestinians at a conference on Saturday.
Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, walked back the comments the next day, insisting they were aimed at Netanyahu and not at Israel.
""I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist,"" Jayapal said in a statement. ""I do, however, believe that Netanyahu's extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government.""
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat of Michigan and the only Palestinian-American in Congress, boycotted Herzog's speech and criticized the resolution as normalizing violence against those living in the occupied West Bank, given the Netanyahu government's approval of expanded Jewish settlements there.
""We're here again reaffirming Congress' support for apartheid,"" Tlaib said during floor debate Tuesday on the Republican measure. ""Policing the words of women of color who dare to speak up about truths, about oppression.""
After the speech to Congress, Herzog was to return to the White House on Wednesday to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris. Her office said the leaders will announce that both governments intend to spend $70 million over five years to support climate-smart agriculture programs.
During anwith President Biden on Tuesday, Herzog sought to assure Mr. Biden that Israel remains committed to democracy amid deepening U.S. concerns over Netanyahu's plans to overhaul his country's judicial system.
Netanyahu and his allies say the overhaul is needed to rein in the powers of unelected judges. Opponents say the plan will destroy Israel's fragile system of checks and balances and move the country toward authoritarian rule.
Herzog has appealed for a compromise that has thus far proven elusive. Many American Jewish groups and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about the plan.
Herzog's visit comes weeks after Israeli forces carried out one of their most intensive operations in the occupied West Bank in two decades, with ain Jenin, a militant stronghold. Senior members of Netanyahu's government have been pushing for increased construction and other measures to cement Israel's control over the occupied West Bank in response to a more than yearlong wave of violence with the Palestinians.
U.S. officials have broadly supported Israel's right to defend itself from militant attacks but have also urged restraint to minimize harm to civilians and have lobbied against additional settlements that would further diminish the chances of securing a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
Just before Herzog's visit, Mr. Biden spoke with Netanyahu by phone and invited him to meet in the U.S. this fall, although the president expressed reservations about several of the policies from Netanyahu's hard-right coalition.
The Biden administration declined to say whether Mr. Biden would host Netanyahu at the White House — as the Israeli leader has hoped — or in New York on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in September.
White House visits are typically standard protocol for Israeli prime ministers, and the delay in Netanyahu receiving one has become an issue in Israel, with opponents citing it as a reflection of deteriorating relations with the U.S.
On Wednesday, Herzog evoked what are now 28 weeks of large grassroots protests at home against the proposed judicial overhaul by Netanyahu's government, a mix of ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist parties.
""Dear friends, it's no secret that over the past few months, the Israeli people have engaged in a heated and painful debate"" while ""renegotiating the balance of our institutional powers,"" he said.
""In practice, the intense debate going on back home, even as we speak, is the clearest tribute to the fortitude of Israel's democracy,"" Herzog said.
for more features.",Not_Explicit
"- Ukraine's use of HIMARS against Russia has earned the US-made rocket-artillery system high praise.
- Other European countries are pursuing their own rocket artillery, buying HIMARS or building new systems.
Impressed with the success of the US-made M142 HIMARS multiple rocket launcher in Ukraine, more European nations want to buy HIMARS — or develop their own version of it.
German defense contractor Rheinmetall and US defense firm Lockheed Martin have partnered to offer GMARS, a replacement for Germany's aging MARS 2 multiple launch rocket system, according to Defense News.
The acronym ""GMARS"" seems to reflect HIMARS as much as MARS 2, of which Germany has delivered several to Ukraine. MARS 2 is the European version of the US-made M270 multiple launch rocket system.
GMARS would be similar to HIMARS but bigger, with a larger chassis based on Rheinmetall's HX 8x8 truck, and would have 80% commonality with HIMARS munitions and logistics, a Lockheed Martin official told Defense News. The GMARS vehicle would be about 39 feet long vs. the 23-foot length of a HIMARS truck and carry two rocket pods instead of HIMARS' one.
Meanwhile, the US State Department approved a $10 billion sale of 18 HIMARS for Poland in February. Significantly, the sale includes 45 M57 Army Tactical Missile Systems — long-range guided rockets that Ukraine has repeatedly requested but which the US has declined to provide for fear of escalating the conflict.
HIMARS will help Poland ""deter regional threats,"" the department said in an announcement. ""The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.""
HIMARS has a range of about 50 miles. An ATACMS projectile can reach up to 190 miles and can be fired from a HIMARS launcher, though that feature reportedly has been disabled in HIMARS systems supplied to Ukraine.
The Biden administration is now debating whether to send ATACMS to Ukraine after the UK gave Ukraine its Storm Shadow missile, which has a range of more than 150 miles. (France is also sending its version of the missile.)
Multiple launch rocket systems have been around since World War II, when the legendary Soviet Katyusha battered Nazi forces.
Until the 1980s, the US and its allies favored howitzers rather than MLRS, which were considered inaccurate weapons suited for firing over a large area. For the Soviets, who preferred massed firepower, and for dictators and warlords unconcerned about collateral damage, rockets were just fine.
But rocket artillery has changed. A new generation of GPS-guided rockets, such as HIMARS and Russia's Smerch and Tornado-S systems, combine the accuracy of a howitzer with the range of a rocket and have the ability to fire salvoes quickly. What was once a blunt-force weapon that pulverized city blocks and the civilians living there is now a smart weapon.
That ""smartness"" explains the buzz around modern MLRS at least as much as their actual military effectiveness, which is often overstated.
HIMARS initially proved devastating against Russian forces that placed their command posts and ammunitions dumps too close to the front line. But Russia adapted and moved its command and supply centers out of HIMARS range, though at the price of compromising some efficiency.
Russian GPS jammers have also hampered HIMARS and the Joint Direct Attack Munition glide bombs that the US has given Ukraine.
Rocket artillery can't replace howitzers, which offer some advantages, such as the ability to fire barrages continuously for hours. Still, rocket artillery is certain to join howitzers as the backbone of Western artillery.
Modern MLRS rockets have greater range than howitzer shells — although long-range rocket-propelled howitzer shells are being developed — and in an era when battlefield footage is spread wide, far, and fast, there will always be something impressive about the fiery trail of a rocket heading toward its target.
Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds a master's in political science. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.",Not_Explicit
"Donald Trump faced a deadline of midnight on Thursday to say if he would appear before a Washington grand jury convened by the special counsel Jack Smith to consider federal charges over his election subversion and incitement of the attack on Congress on 6 January 2021.
Late on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the matter, the Guardian reported that prosecutors had assembled evidence to charge Trump with three crimes.
They were: obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and an unusual statute that makes it unlawful to conspire to violate civil rights.
Obstruction of an official proceeding is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Conspiracy to defraud the United States carries a maximum five-year sentence. The civil rights charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
By Thursday afternoon, all indications were that Trump would not agree to testify.
Indictments regarding Trump’s attempted election subversion are expected soon – not only at the federal level but also in Fulton county, Georgia, where a grand jury to consider charges was recently formed. Elsewhere, this week brought charges against 16 people in a “false electors” scheme in Michigan, another battleground state.
On Thursday morning, meanwhile, Politico reported that Trump had extracted a promise from the Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, to hold votes on expunging Trump’s two impeachments.
Trump was impeached first for withholding military aid in an attempt to extract political dirt from Ukraine, then for inciting the Capitol attack. In both cases, Senate Republicans ensured his acquittal at trial.
Trump reportedly got the promise of an expungement vote, which Politico said McCarthy “made reflexively to save his own skin”, after the speaker provoked outrage from Trump allies after declining to endorse the former president in the Republican presidential primary for the 2024 election, citing an obligation to remain neutral.
An expungement vote would not be guaranteed to succeed. Republicans control the House by a very slim majority. Two sitting GOP congressmen, David Valadao of California and Dan Newhouse of Washington state, voted to impeach Trump over the Capitol riot. Republicans in swing districts, particularly in heavily Democratic north-eastern states, already face uphill fights to keep their seats.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, McCarthy denied making a promise, saying “There’s no deal” with Trump, but added: “I’ve been very clear from long before – when I voted against impeachments – that [Democrats] put them in for purely political purposes. I support expungement but there’s no deal out there.”
In polling averages for the Republican primary, Trump leads by about 30 points. He has maintained that lead even while facing 34 criminal charges in New York, over hush-money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels; 37 federal charges over his retention of classified documents; the prospect of state and federal indictments over his election subversion; a $5m fine after being held liable for sexual abuse and defamation against the writer E Jean Carroll; and ongoing investigations of his business affairs.
Denying all wrongdoing, Trump has pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges.
Nonetheless, polling regarding a notional general election shows him in a close race with Joe Biden. Earlier this week, Miles Taylor, who was a US homeland security official when in 2018 he wrote a famous anonymous New York Times column warning of Trump’s unfitness for office, told the Guardian Trump could yet return to the White House.
“There’s been a number of polls that show the ex-president beating Joe Biden by several points,” Taylor said. “It would be hubris to say, ‘Oh, no, we would beat him again a second time.’ Actually, I don’t think that. If the election was held today, I think Donald Trump would defeat Joe Biden, and that really concerns me.”
Taylor also pointed to the supine nature of the Republican party, saying McCarthy, the House speaker, “thought Trump was a buffoon and a danger and I’m sure Kevin still thinks that privately” but is unwilling, or unable, to move in any way against him.
Taylor said: “Those people publicly, because they’re afraid, are still supporting the man. That collective anonymity is putting us in pretty seriously great danger.”
Trump revealed on Tuesday that Smith had told him he faced potential charges. According to the New York Times, since then Trump has consulted with Washington allies including McCarthy and the New Yorker Elise Stefanik, chair of the Republican House conference and a staunch supporter who many observers think is eyeing selection as Trump’s running mate next year.
Trump’s closest challenger for the Republican nomination, Ron DeSantis, this week mildly criticised Trump for his inaction on 6 January 2021, as the Capitol was attacked, but also said charges against the former president over his election subversion would not “be good for the country”.
Court dates are set to clash with the Republican primary calendar. Trump faces three civil trials in New York, one to begin in October and two in January.
In the criminal cases, Smith, the special counsel, has asked for trial over the classified documents charges to begin later this year. In the hush-money case, the trial is scheduled for March – in the thick of the Republican primary. Lawyers for Trump are attempting to delay both trials until after the general election next year, when Trump or another Republican president could order all cases dropped.
On Thursday, Benjamin Ginsberg, a Republican elections lawyer, told the Washington Post the US was “in as precarious a situation as we’ve ever been”.
“I don’t know what the chances are of things really going off the rails,” Ginsberg said, “but no question that there is a toxic mix unprecedented in the American experiment.”",Not_Explicit
"TALLINN, Estonia -- Russian prosecutors asked a court to sentence imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 20 years in prison on extremism charges, his ally Ivan Zhdanov said Thursday.
According to Zhdanov, the trial against Navalny, which went on behind closed doors in the prison where the politician is serving another lengthy sentence, is scheduled to conclude with a verdict on Aug. 4.
Navalny, 47, is President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe who exposed official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests. He was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
The authorities sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in prison for parole violations and then to another nine years on charges of fraud and contempt of court. The politician is currently serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison east of Moscow.
The new charges relate to the activities of Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation and statements by his top associates. His allies said the charges retroactively criminalize all the foundation's activities since its creation in 2011.
Navalny has rejected all the charges against him as politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of seeking to keep him behind bars for life.",Not_Explicit
"Held for the first time in its home country of Korea, this summer’s Samsung Unpacked event is happening July 26 in Seoul, with expected new iterations of the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Flip foldable phones, among other devices.
It’s no surprise that Samsung plans to unveil its most ambitious phones at this event, held roughly two months before Apple’s singular annual phone launch, where we expect to see the iPhone 15 (maybe even with a USB-C port).
The livestream is presented above, and will kick off at 7am ET. As new products are revealed, we’ll add details below.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory.",Not_Explicit
"A Labour MP last night distanced himself from a documentary which pushes a vile conspiracy theory that Boris Johnson lied about nearly dying from Covid.

Chris Bryant, an outspoken critic of Mr Johnson's, is set to appear in the programme and features in an online trailer for it.

But last night he claimed he had no idea it would make the baseless claim about Mr Johnson's health when he agreed to take part, and insisted he does not subscribe to the theory.

It came a day after the BBC's highest-paid presenter Gary Lineker, who also features in the trailer, demanded that his contribution be removed after being approached by The Mail on Sunday.

Mr Bryant said: 'I took part in an interview about lying in politics. We talked about whether there should be a new offence of lying to Parliament.

'But we never discussed this kind of conspiracy theory, which I would have immediately dismissed.'

When asked if he had been told the documentary would feature claims that Mr Johnson lied about the severity of his Covid in 2020, he said: 'That was never even mentioned to me. I don't subscribe to such a theory.'

Mr Bryant said he was under the impression the film was being made by Netflix, but it is not involved.

Instead, the film is being crowd-funded and made by arch-Remainer Marcus Ball, who once tried to prosecute Mr Johnson over Brexit.

Mr Johnson was taken to hospital with Covid in April 2020. He spent three days in intensive care and required 'litres and litres of oxygen' to stay alive.

Mr Ball started casting doubt on the legitimacy of his illness on April 14, 2020 – two days after he was released from hospital. He tweeted: 'The PR timing is just too perfect. I fear that he may be dodging responsibility by becoming a victim.'

The first trailer features celebrities including Lineker, who says 'the public deserve the truth'.

After being contacted by The Mail on Sunday, he refused to endorse the film.

The trailer was taken down from YouTube but can be viewed elsewhere online. Barbara Rich, a barrister who specialises in crowdfunding law, said Lineker should have known what he was getting himself into.

She said: 'Three minutes of Googling would have revealed what Marcus Ball is all about – his conspiracy theories, misuse of crowdfunded money and disastrous private prosecution of Boris Johnson.

'One has to take Lineker's denial at face value, but did he really not know about this theory or was he turning a blind eye?

'He has a history of stepping into things which are a hell of a long way from football commentary and using his likeable, centrist-dad persona to carry his political views far and wide.'

Mr Bryant refused to comment on whether he will ask for his interview to be removed from the film.

Lineker and Mr Ball failed to respond to requests for comment.",Not_Explicit
"Havells Q1 Result Review - Net Profit Missed On Lower Margin; Rebound Likely In H2: Systematix
Lloyd, sustains strong growth momentum but losses continue.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Systematix Research Report
Havells India Ltd.’s ~6% profit after tax miss in Q1 FY24 was driven by weak Ebit margins in Lloyd (-4.5%), lighting (14.3%, down 209 basis points YoY), electrical consumer durable (10.9%, down 220 bps YoY) and others (3.5%, down 184 bps YoY), despite the 7% beat in revenue (up 14% YoY, Lloyd up 20%, cables up 24%) versus our estimate.
Demand in April and May was quite soft, prior to recovery in June. Management is hopeful consumer sentiment would revive and boost revenue and margins in H2.
A rebound in the fans category (15% BLDC portfolio) and easing raw material prices should aid margins; management aims for 13-15% Ebitda margin in the core business.
Lloyd focused on market share (revenue up 20% YoY at Rs 13.1 billion) over margins (Rs 608 million Ebit loss in 1Q; Rs 2.2 billion loss in FY23) and maintained its top three status as an room air conditioner player.
After having doubled its RAC capacity to two million units, Havells now plans to export white-label products to global brands to achieve a quick breakeven.
We maintain our estimates post 1Q and estimate 13%/28%/32% compound annual growth rate in revenue/Ebitda/profit after tax over FY23-25E (16%/9%/10% CAGR in over FY18-23).
Robust operating cash flow will likely be utilised to fund future capex and help generate strong 22% return on equity and 46% return on invested capital in FY25E.
While we remain upbeat on Havells’ healthy long-term prospects, at 45 times FY25E price/earning the stock seems fairly valued, which is why we reiterate our 'Hold' rating, with a revised target price of Rs 1,341, based on 45 times FY25E price/earning (earlier Rs 1,359 at 45 times FY25E).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
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This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"Marseille have signed Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The 34-year-old Gabon forward scored just three goals in 22 appearances for Chelsea after joining from Barcelona in a £10.3m deal last September.
Neither club have revealed whether Marseille have paid a fee for the France-born player.
Aubameyang exits the Premier League for the second time in 18 months, having spent four years at Arsenal from 2018 before joining Barca in January 2022.
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He scored 13 goals in 23 matches in his six months in Spain, but was unable to replicate that form under three different managers during a season-long stay at Stamford Bridge.
The 2015 African footballer of the year arrived at the end of the summer transfer window and made just one appearance under Thomas Tuchel, his former boss at Borussia Dortmund, before the German was sacked and replaced by Graham Potter.
A run of three goals in three appearances in October signalled a potential return to form, but Aubameyang failed to make the scoresheet again.
He was left out of Chelsea's Champions League squad for the knockout rounds after a slew of new signings arrived in January, including forwards Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke.
Potter's departure in April saw caretaker boss Frank Lampard restore Aubameyang to the first team, culminating in a poor display in a 3-1 defeat at former club Arsenal in early May.
After touching the ball just nine times in the opening 45 minutes - including four from kick-offs - Aubameyang was substituted at half-time and never played for the West London club again.
A return to Ligue 1 follows spells in France at the start of his career at Dijon, Lille, Monaco and St Etienne, where he won the Coupe de la Ligue in 2013.
Aubameyang is the latest departure during what has been a summer of change for Chelsea under new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic has signed for Manchester City, Kai Havertz has joined Arsenal and Mason Mount has moved to Manchester United, while goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and defender Kalidou Koulibaly have made the switch to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli.
N'Golo Kante has also moved to Saudi Arabia, joining Al-Ittihad, while midfielders Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic have joined AC Milan and former captain Cesar Azpilicueta is now an Atletico Madrid player.
The Blues have made just three signings - Brazilian winger Angelo Gabriel, 18, from Santos, France forward Christopher Nkunku, 25, from RB Leipzig, and 22-year-old Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal.
- Our coverage of Chelsea is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment
- Everything Chelsea - go straight to all the best content",Not_Explicit
"The leader of Spain's opposition conservative party Alberto Núñez Feijóo has claimed victory in a snap election, but without the result he needed.
Even with the support of the far right, his Popular Party has fallen short of a majority in parliament.
The cheers at the rival Socialist camp were just as loud as Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared: ""The reactionary bloc has failed.""
While both can claim success, Spain is left with an inconclusive result.
Mr Sánchez has been vindicated in his controversial decision to call elections in the searing heat of a Spanish summer, when temperatures reached 40C in some parts of the country.
""No pasarán,"" his supporters chanted - they shall not pass - referring both to far-right party Vox and the anti-fascist slogan of the Spanish civil war.
But it was Mr Feijóo who told cheering supporters that it was now his duty to try to form a government. ""Spaniards know we have gone from being the second force to the party with the most votes,"" he said.
But with Vox on 33 seats and his PP on 136, they would be seven seats short of an absolute majority in parliament, so the most likely result of this election is another poll by the end of the year. That is why Mr Sánchez's Socialists and his far-left allies Sumar can feel happy.
The 70% turnout was remarkably higher than in 2019, despite the summer heat. That was partly due to almost 2.5 million postal votes being cast, but polling stations were busiest in the morning before the heat took hold.
Vox remains the third biggest party, with the support of three million of Spain's 37 million voters, but not significantly ahead of Sumar and with a big drop in seat numbers.
Voting numbers were buoyed by 1.6 million young voters having the right to take part in the election for the first time.
An estimated 10 million Spaniards are already on holiday and some voters turned up at coastal polling stations carrying their beach chairs while one man made a point of wearing a snorkel and flippers.
A couple called Pilar and Luis who got married in Granada on Saturday headed out to vote in their wedding clothes hours after their party ended the night before.
Many voters said they felt there was too much at stake in this election, even if it was being held in mid-summer. One father of three, called Sergio, told the BBC that many people he knew were anxious and angry that an extreme-right party might end up in government.
But Vox voters came out in force too, backing leader Santiago Abascal's platform of anti-immigration and anti-feminism.
I support Vox because I see it as the only party that can radically change all the left-wing policies that have been approved little by little",Not_Explicit
"'Barbenheimer' fever took hold in the UK as Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig's Barbie took £30m on their opening box office weekend.
According to the UK Cinema Association, that makes it the most successful weekend for UK cinema-going since 2019.
That year, Disney blockbuster Avengers: Endgame opened with takings of £43.7m.
The Vue cinema chain said this weekend marked the second biggest in its history by admissions.
Barbie is now on track to become the biggest film of 2023, ahead of Super Mario Bros.
A more detailed breakdown of the weekend's UK box office figures will be published later on Monday.
Barbie's marketing campaign has been huge - and hugely successful - with debut takings worldwide of $337m (£293m).
US and Canada takings were enough to make it the biggest opener of 2023 so far in that region.
The film took an estimated $155m (£120m) according to distributor Warner Bros, while Oppenheimer made $93.7m (£72m), Universal Pictures said.
The North American box office figure broke the opening weekend record for a female director, easily overtaking the $103.3m opening of Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman.
Both films have been a welcome relief for cinemas who are battling against the juggernaut of streaming.
Oppenheimer's plot is centred on the development of the first atomic bomb, starring Cillian Murphy and directed by Christopher Nolan.
Barbie tells a coming-of-age story of the children's character where she explores her identity and encourages friend Ken to establish individuality.
According to Billboard, film polling service PostTrak reported that women made up 65% of the Barbie audience, while 40% of ticket-buyers were under the age of 25.
It wasn't all plain sailing for Barbie, however. In China, the world's second biggest movie market, the film opened in fifth place.
It took just $8.2 million in its opening three days, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway, although it's not unusual for Chinese audiences to favour homegrown cinema over Hollywood and some analysts considered that hitting the $8m mark was above expectations.
Meanwhile, Indian cinemagoers were in for a surprise at one screening of Nolan's film, which was reportedly accompanied by Barbie subtitles.
""Friend of my cousin posted on insta that a cinema played Oppenheimer with Barbie subtitles,"" wrote Twitter user Sapun.
Barbie's release was delayed in Pakistan's Punjab province on Friday over ""objectionable content"", officials said.",Not_Explicit
"BEIJING: It is China's ""priority"" to stop Taiwan's vice president and presidential frontrunner William Lai from visiting the United States next month, the country's ambassador in Washington said on Wednesday (Jul 19), as Beijing steps up its warnings against the trip.
China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up military and political pressure over the past three years to try and force the island to accept Beijing's sovereignty claims, which the government in Taipei strongly rejects.
Taiwan will hold presidential and parliamentary elections in January, with Lai, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential candidate, the frontrunner in most opinion polls.
Lai is making what are officially stop overs in the United States on his way to and from Paraguay for the Aug 15 inauguration of its new president, drawing anger from Beijing which slammed Lai as a separatist.
Chinese ambassador Xie Feng told the Aspen Security Forum that ""Taiwan is China's Taiwan"" and that the country wanted a peaceful ""reunification"", but Taiwanese ""separatists"" were advancing their agenda, seeking US support.
""They even do not admit they are Chinese. So this is a very dangerous path they are taking,"" Xie said. Provocative moves by Taiwan ""separatists"" should be contained, he added.
""Now the priority for us is to stop Lai Ching-te from visiting the United States, which is like a grey rhino charging at us,"" Xie said, using Lai's Chinese language name.
A ""grey rhino"" event refers to a highly obvious yet ignored threat.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and her government have repeatedly offered talks with China but been rejected, as Beijing views them as separatists. Both Tsai and Lai say only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
The top US diplomat in Taipei said on Wednesday that there was no reason for China to take ""provocative"" action in response to Lai's stop overs in the United States and that such transits have happened for many years and are routine.
In August and then again in April, China staged large-scale war games around Taiwan, angered by the August visit to Taiwan of then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and in April by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen meeting current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles, while she was transitting back from a visit to Central America.",Not_Explicit
"SII Manufactured BCG Vaccine To Treat Bladder Cancer Gets Export Nod
The government has approved the export of BCG vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India to Canada for immunotherapy to treat bladder cancer, official sources said on Monday.
The government has approved the export of BCG vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India to Canada for immunotherapy to treat bladder cancer, official sources said on Monday.
The permission was granted after Prakash Kumar Singh, director of Serum Institute, wrote to the Drugs Controller of India (DCGI) seeking approval to export BCG for immunotherapy to Canada, they said.
BCG as immunotherapy is a live freeze-dried preparation derived from attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis (Bacillus Calmette Guerin).
The product is for intravesical instillation and is available from the Serum Institute in 40 mg and 80 mg presentations, the sources said.
As part of the therapy, the vaccine is administered into the bladder through a catheter where it stays in the lining of the bladder for a specific duration affecting the cells and fighting cancer without impacting other body parts.",Not_Explicit
"A U.S. watchdog says it has disclosed to Congress information about diversion and control of international humanitarian assistance by de facto Taliban authorities in Afghanistan.
“We have just uncovered, as part of our response to the House Foreign Relations Committee, some really horrific information about the problems with the U.N. operations in Afghanistan,” John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), told an event at King’s College London on Thursday.
Sopko did not offer more details about his findings saying the foreign relations committee had tasked SIGAR to investigate and report to it whether U.S. aid to Afghanistan benefited the Taliban.
“A lot of congressmen are torn in this conundrum between giving humanitarian assistance to Afghans who are suffering versus how much of that [aid] is going to a regime which we hate,” said Sopko.
United Nations officials have not yet responded to VOA questions sent Thursday about what they know about diverted aid.
The Taliban are under U.S. sanctions that date back decades when the group was first in power over much of Afghanistan in the 1990s.
After spending over $146 billion on reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2022, the United States government suspended all development aid to the country following Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
The Taliban deny they are interfering in humanitarian programs and accuse the U.S. and other Western donors of politicizing aid to Afghanistan.
However, the Islamist regime has imposed gender-based restrictions on aid activities denying Afghan women’s work for the U.N. and other non-government organizations – a move globally condemned as misogynistic.
Meanwhile, the U.N. says there continue to be many incidents of interference involving U.N. aid workers.
“118 gender-related incidents were recorded, with some 97 percent attributed to the de facto authorities and involving, inter alia, interference with programming, incidents at checkpoints, threats against humanitarian workers, assets and facilities, and mahrams [male escorts] required for movement of female staff,” the U.N. Special Representative for Afghanistan reported to the Security Council last month.
The U.N. has reported progress in reducing risks of fraud and diversion of funds in Afghanistan but has not given more details.
Robust funding
The United States, even while enforcing sanctions on the Taliban, has maintained humanitarian funding to Afghanistan amounting to about $2 billion since August 2021.
Despite a reported drop in donors’ response to the U.N. humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan, the United States remains at the top of the donors’ list with over $336 million contribution so far this year. Last year, the United States contributed over $1.26 billion to the U.N. appeal.
As of July 20, only 23% of this year’s Afghanistan appeal has been funded, according to the U.N.
Aid agencies have warned that a lack of funding to the appeal will force millions of vulnerable Afghan households into extreme poverty.
Citing North Korea and Syria, among other countries, John Sopko said in the past “we in the United States held our nose and delivered assistance to people around the world who live under governments we hate.”
Last month, the U.S. Department of States announced an additional $920 million in humanitarian assistance for the people of Syria taking the total U.S. assistance to the country since 2011 to $16.8 billion.
SIGAR said a new proposed draft law, which was passed by the House and under consideration by the Senate, will prohibit any U.S. assistance going “directly or indirectly” to the Taliban. Sopko predicted the bill, if passed, would have “serious implications” for aid to Afghanistan.",Not_Explicit
"Murkowski: If 2024 matchup is between Biden, Trump then ‘I would go with Joe Manchin’
Sen. Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska) said Thursday if the 2024 presidential matchup is between President Biden and former President Trump, she would go with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who so far has not launched a presidential bid.
“If it’s a matchup between Biden and Trump, I know exactly where I’d go. I would go with Joe Manchin,” Murkowski said in an interview with PBS’s Margaret Hoover on “Firing Line.” “I am one who doesn’t like to use my vote for the lesser of two evils. I want to be proactive in who I think could do the job.”
Murkowski said people are hungry for an independent or someone who’s “offering something in the middle,” noting she is “very close” with Manchin.
Manchin appeared earlier this week at a town hall in New Hampshire that was sponsored by political organization No Labels, sparking conversation of a possible third-party bid for the West Virginia senator.
Some Democratic senators have expressed concern a third-party presidential run could take votes away from Biden and boost Trump.
“I have no qualms, no qualms providing my endorsement to a Democrat who I think has been not only extraordinarily helpful to me and Alaskan issues, but in the Senate as well,” Murkowski said, pointing to her and Manchin’s past endorsements of one another.
The Alaska senator said her constituents have asked her to talk Manchin into running, to which she said, “That’s not for me to do.” She said she does think about what a third party could “bring to the equation.”
“If we go into a 2024 scenario, where it’s basically a redo of 2020 between Trump and Biden, what does that say? That we have nobody better than these two?” Murkowski said.
Manchin is also up for reelection in 2024, meaning his key Senate seat and potentially the majority in the chamber could go to the GOP if he runs for president instead.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Gaetz says he’ll offer bill to defund Jack Smith investigations of Trump
Gaetz made the announcement hours after Trump said he’d been notified he is a target of the Justice Department’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Smith is leading the investigation.
“They are attacking our democracy and engaging in election interference right now,” said Gaetz, who vowed to “defund the Jack Smith investigation.”
He also alleged the investigation lacks transparency, saying the Justice Department has been nonresponsive to his request for information about who is on Smith’s team.
Gaetz sits on the House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the committee’s chairman, has threatened to cut funding for the Justice Department and FBI, alleging those agencies have been “weaponized” for political purposes.
After Trump was indicted in the investigation into documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home — another investigation Smith is leading — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called for defunding Smith’s office.
Gaetz said he knows President Biden (D) would not sign his proposal into law and that Senate Majority Leader “Chuck Schumer [D-N.Y.] would never bring such a thing up.”
“But you deserve to know where your members of Congress are counted. Will they cosponsor my legislation? I certainly hope they will,” he said.
If Trump is indicted in the Jan. 6 investigation, it would be his third indictment this year and his second on federal charges. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the other indictments. One stemmed from charges in Manhattan related to an alleged hush money scheme, and the other was in the Smith-led case related to Trump’s holding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump said in a statement Tuesday the various investigations are a “witch hunt” and “all about election interference” in all caps.
A spokesman for Smith’s office declined to comment.
This story was updated at 11:10 a.m.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"CreditAccess Grameen Q1 Review - Margin Expansion, Opex Efficiencies Led To A Strong Quarter: Motilal Oswal
Earnings performance typical of the leader within the NBFC-MFI sector.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
CreditAccess Grameen Ltd. is primed to dominate the segment by:
providing the lowest-cost organised financing,
improving operational efficiency through continuous technology enhancement, and
integrating risk management in every process to drive superior asset quality and lower credit costs.
CreditAccess Grameen’s robust execution has been vindicated by its resilience across various credit cycles and external disturbances.
With strong capital position (tier-I of ~23.5%), the company can very well navigate any potential disruptions in the future and also capitalise on the growth opportunity over the medium term.
We reiterate our 'Buy' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,660 (based on 3.2 times FY25E price/book value).
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"TAIPEI -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said it will push back the start of mass production at its plant in Arizona to 2025 due to a shortage of skilled workers and technicians needed to move equipment into the facility.
TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said the world's biggest contract chipmaker is entering a critical phase of handling and installing some of the ""most advanced equipment"" at the plant, its advanced first chip facility in the U.S. in more than 20 years. Mass production was previously slated to begin late next year.",Not_Explicit
"Brace yourselves, travel agents of Britain! People have been watching those hysterical chaps with their flapping arms and their weather maps like a homicidal pizza on the telly. Last week, Europe was burning in the hellish heat of Cerberus, this week it’s Charon.
“Sharon who?”
“Oh, Neville, do keep up. It’s Charon. You know, the man who ferried the dead to the underworld in Greek mythology.”
“What’s that got to do with our fortnight in La Palma, Mary?”
“It’s unbearably hot there, wildfires and everything, according to the BBC. Better cancel, Nev.”
Brrrring brrring, brrring brrrrring.
Neville: Hi there, I’d like to cancel our holiday in La Palma. They say on the news it’s very hot.”
Travel agent (sighing audibly): It’s the summer, Sir. It’s always hot in the Med.”
Neville: I know, but they say it’s dangerously hot in La Palma.”
Agent: Actually, the temperature in La Palma has been in the 20s and it’s forecast to remain below 30. Very pleasant, actually, for the time of year.
Neville: What about the wildfires?
Agent: The fires have nothing to with the heat, Sir. I think you’ll find the BBC spliced clips of the fires in La Palma into its heatwave report to make it look like it was happening in Spain.”
Neville: La Palma isn’t in Spain?”
Agent: Er, no, its 1500 kilometres away, Sir.
Neville: So we shouldn’t bother to cancel?
Agent: I’m afraid your travel insurance doesn’t have a clause covering Nervous Nellies scared half to death by the weather forecast on the TV. Sorry, Sir, it’s non-refundable. You won’t get your money back.”
Neville: Ah, okay. I’ll be glad to get away from this awful weather to be honest with you. Not exactly summer, is it?”
You may have noticed that climate catastrophism has gone nuclear over the past week, as if on cue (we’ll come back to that), but the good old British weather refuses to co-operate. Disappointingly for the We’re All Gonna Fry brigade, it’s cool, rainy and sullen here with fitful gusts of wind; almost autumnal at times. As a July baby, I can tell you this is not unusual for July. (Prince George will have to get used to having his parties in the cloudy drizzle on our mutual birthday.) Still, reporters scour the rest of Europe for better (ie bad) news. Tourists at the Trevi Fountain in Rome are invited to agree that the weather is “unbearable”. If it’s unbearable, why aren’t they back in their hotel rooms with a wet towel on their heads instead of happily licking their pistachio gelato and soaking up the rays? Why are reports of wildfires in La Palma being linked to soaring temperatures, when the weather on the island is in fact unusually mild, and set to be in the mid-20s all week?
Really not very unusual weather events have suddenly acquired important, scary names drawn from the mythological flames of hell. After Cerberus and Charon, get ready for Heatwave Hades. If the current weather in the UK had a name it would be Colin.
Are Brits really “cancelling their holiday plans” because of the “truly terrifying conditions”? Or are they, like me, stocking up on Hawaiian Tropic (used to be sniffy about it, now addicted) from Boots and crawling through the final fortnight of work before I can replenish my stocks of Vitamin D on a Turkish sunlounger.
There is something horribly familiar about all these apocalyptic warnings of catastrophic consequences if people don’t act. “Temperatures across the Mediterranean are nearing the highest ever recorded in Europe with travellers being warned that local medical and health services are strained in some areas.”
Ah, yes, that’s it. Knew we’d heard it before: Stay At Home, Save on Sunscreen, Support Net Zero.
It’s almost as if the same people who scared the pants off us during the pandemic, terrorising people into obeying often idiotic rules, were at it again. The Behavioural Insights Team (aka the Nudge Unit) – spun out of the Cabinet Office, and now working many large corporates, global institutions and national governments – is teaming up with broadcasters to drive messages about climate change.
A report by the BIT in collaboration with Sky TV called ‘The Power of TV: Nudging Viewers to Decarbonise their Lifestyles’ says that “behavioural change on climate can be driven by TV... It comes at a critical time as experts now widely accept that we must shift the behaviour of millions of people to deliver our collective net zero goals”.
You don’t have to be a climate sceptic to find something sinister in the idea of broadcasters plotting to manipulate the public into reaching “our collective goals”. Whose goals are they? Why no questioning of whether this is in the population’s best interest or not? Where are the alternative points of view?
After the disastrous impact of its Covid propaganda on the nation’s mental and physical health, a period of embarrassed silence would be welcome from the Nudge Unit. Yet, here they go again with their sly tricks, their cold calculation of human weakness, their sneaky sleight of hand. What is the betting that the sudden change in TV weather maps, from pastoral greens and shy yellows to diabolical reds, even bruised purples and black, was suggested by the Nudge Unit?
And why has the Foreign Office weighed in, updating the Greece and Spain sections of its website, adding an ‘Extreme Weather’ section detailing how to stay safe during the heatwave as well as “important resources to take note of if heading to the holiday hotspots in the near future”? For heaven’s sake, has no one at the FO heard of this excellent thing called “a siesta”?
None of this is to deny that it looks like a very hot summer for southern Europe – although we must wait for the full statistics to properly assess how it compares with previous heatwaves. But if you were being cynical, and after two years of the entire population being professionally frightened by our own government it’s hard to be otherwise, you would conclude that sunshine is being weaponised in a bid to get the British people to adjust their ways to hit an unattainable and self-harming net zero target.
No. No. We have been shamefully mistreated by our masters, criminally misled by “models”, controlled and horribly hurt by unseen forces, and now the wily bunch think because they got away with it last time we will roll over again and do as we’re told. No.
By happy chance, I’ve just read an important new book, Free Your Mind: The New World of Manipulation and How to Resist It. Authors Laura Dodsworth and Patrick Fagan have some great ideas how to recognise Nudge Unit tactics and how to fight back because “there is a war on for your mind”.
They have over-reached this time, I think, with their lurid weather maps and their brazen attempt to get us to cancel our summer hols. Rebellion is stirring. People are mocking. “In Cyprus, we’re just about holding out,” reports one laconic reader, “Locals simply call it ‘summer’, but what would they know?”
We shall fight the Nudgers on the beaches. We shall fight in the seas and swimming pools. We shall revel in the heat and defend our fortnight in the sun. We shall never surrender our minds to them, for our minds are ours and ours alone.",Not_Explicit
"Many readers still fondly recall its print edition because The Independent offered a different kind of quality newspaper, from its campaigning frontpages to its innovative design and format.
However, The Independent is not what it used to be.
It’s not a broadsheet with a print edition. It’s now entirely online, sustained by clicks rather than sales. But this was an early sign of where many media organisations would later turn.
The Independent’s print edition was phased out in 2016.
This was a sad moment for readers who had come to trust it as one of the nicer, more humane and generally less vile national newspapers.
Before leaving Downing Street, Tony Blair called The Independent “a viewspaper”. He wasn’t wrong in a way. It ran on news analysis, commentary and opinion more than anything else.
Blair was taking issue with the paper’s scathing criticisms of his foreign policy.
He had courted news media for many years but now viewed the industry as a haven of ‘feral beasts’ baying for his blood.
It was a great compliment to The Independent’s coverage that the prime minister was so agitated by it.
So the newspaper decided to own this label and made it a sticker on its home page for a while.
While the tabloids used football and soft porn to sell copies, The Independent relied on commentary to keep readers interested, which it came to avow.
Views could sell on the days when the news couldn’t. It’s not hard to see where The Huffington Post’s initial all-opinion editorial approach came from.
The truth is that the newspaper industry has long not been the source of news for most people, and newspapers have had to find other ways to appeal to readers.
This was the case whether it was celebrity gossip, cricket coverage or pictures of topless girls.
You can tell a lot about a person by what newspaper they read, and The Independent tended to be the choice of liberals who fancied themselves sophisticated.
Breakthrough Years
Established in 1986, The Independent was first launched as a centre-left newspaper.
Initially, it was a broadsheet targeted at people who might pick up The Guardian or The Times but wanted something different.
The newspaper was launched against the backdrop of the Wapping dispute.
Rupert Murdoch was battling with print unions to move production from Fleet Street to the East London plant and cut jobs to streamline costs.
This was an ambitious, uphill battle, but the newspaper drew away talent.
The Independent brought in two brilliant Middle East correspondents: Robert Fisk and Patrick Cockburn.
Between them, Fisk and Cockburn covered the 1991 Gulf War, interviewed Osama bin Laden and criticised the US sanctions on Iraq and the War on Terror.
A crucial part of its URP (unique readership point) was that it was not an organ of the media establishment.
It was not owned by any of the usual suspects. It wasn’t owned by Murdoch or his rivals Conrad Black and Robert Maxwell.
Originally the newspaper was owned by Newspaper Publishing PLC, and its first chairman was Baron Marcus Sieff, former chairman of Marks & Spencer.
Meanwhile, the editorial agenda was set by the former Telegraph journalists Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds.
Whittam Smith edited the newspaper from 1986 until 1994. He saw The Independent amass a readership of 400,000 by 1989. This was still small compared to many national titles at the time, but it was a respectable feat in just three years.
In 1990, The Independent on Sunday was launched with Stephen Glover as its editor. It had joined the ranks of the Sunday papers, alongside The Sunday Times, The Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Telegraph.
At the time, The Observer had been in decline for several years under the reign of corrupt tycoon Tiny Rowland, and there was an opening for a new centre-left Sunday newspaper.
Three years later, The Independent would attempt to buy out The Observer, but its efforts faltered, and The Guardian snapped up the rival Sunday paper. Nevertheless, it was clear that The Independent had serious ambitions.
These titles would define the market for liberal opinion consumption for years to come. Soon enough, the paper became a place for rising stars rather than just an alternative for established journalists.
Andrew Marr became editor of The Independent in 1996. He would edit the paper for two years before joining the BBC, though he later returned to team up with Rosie Boycott as co-editors.
Belgian publishing company Independent News & Media (Mediahuis today) bought The Independent in 1997.
This ownership still made it stand out in a media business where dynasties prevailed.
Long Decline
By 2000, The Independent had become a part of the press establishment, with its writers and editors jumping back and forth between it and other platforms.
However, its readership had dwindled to around 222,000.
It was never quite able to outflank The Guardian for liberal readers, just as it couldn’t win a price war with Murdoch titles.
The Independent may have earned a reputation for supporting noble causes, but some lacked a popular reach in a country gripped by conservative media.
Critical coverage of the British royal family was unpopular with a large swathe of readers, while support for electoral reform was, unfortunately, more a cause of the middle classes.
In 2003, The Independent adopted a new style: running the same quality content as a broadsheet but in a tabloid format. This was the so-called ‘compact’ style, named as such to distance it from the red-top form.
Other newspapers followed its example, but The Independent was not expanding its readership and losing £5 million a year by 2004.
The paper had already undergone restructuring and refinancing more than once in its brief history.
By 2006, The Independent was increasing its readership to 258,000, but it wasn’t enough to prevent staff cuts and production changes just two years later.
The newspaper eliminated 25% of the company’s 230 editorial staff in 2008.
The Independent had 250,000 readers then, but its circulation would continue to contract. It would never return to the heights of its early years when it seemed like 200,000 readers was a start, and 400,000 was a sign of things to come.
By the end of the 2000s, The Independent looked like its best days were behind it, even though it had an outstanding editorial team.
Good journalism doesn’t always make a profit, and the newspaper needed a solution.
Saved By the Oligarch
The Independent had long marketed itself as one of the few newspapers not owned by an oligarch or a dynasty.
So it was a strange twist for this paper to be rescued by an oligarch looking to establish a media dynasty.
Russian billionaire and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev bought The Independent for just £1 in 2010 in a deal pledging to invest millions. His son Evgeny was parachuted in to oversee the media interests.
It looked like The Independent may have finally found a generous patron to back its quality journalism. The paper continued its viewspaper strategy of running young, upcoming political commentators.
Under the new ownership, The Independent launched a sister paper called the i , styled as a smarter version of the Metro targeted at a young, liberal audience. Millennial journalist Oliver Duff was appointed editor.
Like its sibling, the i was designed as compact-style paper, but it was intended to reach an audience that The Independent couldn’t. Selling for 20p, the i was more likely to be bought by people who would never buy a broadsheet.
During this period, The Independent helped launch the media career of Owen Jones after he published his much-praised book Chavs in 2011. Jones would make a name for himself as a straight-talking proponent of democratic socialism.
However, there was trouble ahead. One of the newspaper’s best-known columnists Johann Hari was embroiled in a scandal over falsifying stories and plagiarising the work of others.
Hari was caught not just falsifying quotes and key facts but he had misled readers about people he didn’t much like.
Once the star columnist at The Independent, Hari lost his Orwell Prize and left the newspaper for good.
This would have been a serious loss for any newspaper. Fortunately, The Independent still had many high-profile correspondents on its staff, and it could easily move on without Hari.
Former Lebedev media adviser Amol Rajan took over as editor in 2013. He was just 29 years old and the first non-white person to edit a national British newspaper in more than a century.
Even though The Independent continued to run articles taking apart government policy, notably austerity, there was a shift underway.
It happened gradually from the top, and few readers had any sense of it until the 2015 general election.
Although the newspaper did not formally endorse any party in 2015, The Independent ran an editorial arguing that the Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition should continue.
This is after years of publishing critical coverage of austerity. Many loyal readers were baffled and appalled by this endorsement.
Though more than 40% of Independent readers had voted Lib Dem in 2010, 32% of them had also voted Labour. By 2015, the Lib Dems were set to face the merciless wrath of their 2010 voters.
The newspaper had supported the Liberal Democrats in 2010 and the Green candidate in the 2008 London mayoral election.
Though lukewarm on Labour, The Independent had never been a Tory media.
Far from it, The Independent was supposed to be the paper for people who didn’t accept the status quo and its conventional wisdom.
Much like its liberal rivals, The Independent did not capitalise on the left turn in Labour under Jeremy Corbyn.
Following The Guardian and The Observer, The Independent clung to establishment hopes during the Brexit crisis and declared itself ‘neutral’ in the next two elections.
It couldn’t bring itself to fully oppose the Tories after a decade of austerity.
Its readership had fallen to just 55,000 in 2016 when Lebedev decided to phase out the print edition and disband the Sunday title. Rajan stayed to oversee this painful transition, which cost a lot of jobs.
As part of the plan, the i was flogged off to Johnston Press and later became an asset of the Daily Mail and General Trust. It had outgrown the newspaper that nurtured it.
Many readers felt the end of The Independent’s print run was the death of the newspaper they had once loved.
It was certainly the end of an era: The Independent was no longer the go-to paper for people who loathed the Murdoch press.
Today, The Independent may just be another app, but it did escape the print race before the cost of paper skyrocketed.
Photograph courtesy of Steve Rhodes. Published under a Creative Commons license.",Not_Explicit
"Leaders of 26 opposition political parties in India have united to form an alliance in an attempt to oust the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, in next year’s general election.
During a conclave of opposition parties held this week, it was decided that the coalition will be called the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance: otherwise known as India.
The meeting of the leaders marked a significant step forward in the relationship between the country’s main national and regional opposition parties, who have previously struggled to unite due to power struggles, personality clashes and ideological differences.
However, a consensus was reached earlier this year that unless they formed a united front, no single party stood a viable chance against Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government, which will be seeking a third term in the election, to be held in May 2024.
Included in the coalition are India’s largest national opposition, the Congress party, as well as powerful regional parties such as Trinamool Congress, which governs the state of West Bengal under the popular chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, and the Aam Aadmi party, which governs Delhi and Punjab.
“This was a very important meeting to save democracy and the constitution in the interest of the people of the country,” Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, told reporters.
Kharge emphasised that, unlike in the past, Congress would not be asserting its dominance in the opposition alliance and was not interested in the prime ministerial post.
In a document drawn up at the leaders’ meeting, which was held in Bengalaru in the southern state of Karnataka, the India coalition said it had “come together to defeat the hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities” under the Hindu nationalist politics of the BJP government.
A full election strategy will be decided by the coalition at meetings due to be held over the next few months but its tagline will be “Jeetega Bharat”, meaning “India will win”.
Even as a united alliance, the opposition parties face an uphill battle in taking on Modi, who still commands huge popularity across India, even among voters who do not consider themselves supporters of the BJP’s politics on a state level.
Between the 26 parties, the alliance governs 11 states while the BJP governs 15. The BJP also holds an overwhelming parliamentary majority after the 2019 election, in which it won 303 seats out of 543.
During his nine years in power, Modi has consolidated his power as prime minister, while the opposition parties have been the targets of raids and investigations by state agencies and several opposition leaders have been jailed, which has systematically weakened the opposition.
The former leader of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, who lost the last two elections to Modi, was in March disqualified from parliament and from running in next year’s election, and sentenced to two years in jail, over a court case that critics alleged was politically motivated. Speaking at the opposition gathering, Gandhi said the election battle was between “Narendra Modi and India [the alliance], his ideology and India. India always wins all fights.”
While opposition parties such as Congress and Trinamool Congress have been emboldened by state election results in which they beat the BJP, overall the BJP’s funds, resources and power far outstretch those of any other political party.
On the same day as the coalition was announced, the BJP held a meeting of representatives from its own 38 political allies. Modi launched a scathing attack on their alliance, calling it a “hardcore corruption convention”. He added that “alliances built on negativity have never won”.",Not_Explicit
"Trump’s GOP primary rivals ramp up pressure on him to debate
Former President Donald Trump’s rivals are upping the pressure on him to take part in next month’s GOP primary debate, seeking to draw the front-runner onto a crowded stage as they look to put a dent in his polling lead.
Trump has repeatedly signaled he is leaning against attending the first debate, scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, arguing there’s no reason for him to stand on stage and absorb attacks given his comfortable lead in national polls.
But several other candidates, some of them in need of a signature moment or a way to contrast themselves directly with Trump, have publicly chided the former president for suggesting he may duck the debate.
Their arguments have included accusing Trump of cowardice if he does not show up, contending the former president has to earn the nomination in part through the debates, and, in the case of the Republican National Committee (RNC), maintaining that voters deserve to hear from all candidates at party-sponsored events.
“The other candidates want him to be there because, for one thing, it juices interest and ratings in the debate itself if Trump is participating, and they are hoping to attract some attention to themselves, and they won’t be able to attract as much if fewer people are watching,” said David Hopkins, an associate professor of political science at Boston College.
“Without Trump on the stage then it underscores the extent to which the rest of the candidates are in some sense in competition with each other to become the main alternative to Trump,” Hopkins added.
While Republicans running against Trump have at times been reluctant to criticize the former president, fearful of upsetting his loyal base of supporters, they have shown no such qualms about swiping at Trump for his threat to duck the event.
“Nobody’s entitled to be nominated. You gotta earn it. And I think he should show up and make his case and answer questions like the rest of us,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has typically polled in second behind Trump, said in a Wednesday night interview with Newsmax.
Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur who has gained momentum in recent polling, has embraced Trump at nearly every turn of the campaign. But when asked in recent weeks about the potential for Trump to sit out the debate, Ramaswamy told NBC News, “I’m not going to let him get away with that.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who has positioned himself as Trump’s chief antagonist, has repeatedly gone after the former president for the suggestion that he may sit out the first debate.
Christie has asked if Trump is a “coward” in response to his suggestion that he will skip the debate, while at other times suggesting Trump’s own ego will not allow the former president to miss the chance to be at the center of attention.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has said he would “relish” the opportunity to debate Trump, while Nikki Haley, who previously served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, said this week that Trump owes it to voters to get on stage and address his mounting legal problems.
“In every campaign ever, the trailing candidates want to debate the front-runner,” said Alex Conant, who worked on Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) 2016 presidential bid. “The status quo is not great for any candidate not named Trump. Their hope is he shows up at the debate, does poorly and creates an opening for his challengers.”
Trump has for months threatened to skip at least the first two GOP debates. As recently as last weekend, he indicated he was still inclined not to attend.
“When you have a big lead, you don’t do it,” Trump told Fox News. “Why would you let somebody that’s at zero or at one or two or three be popping you with questions?”
But there are risks for Trump in sitting out the debate. It would allow his competitors a chance at the spotlight without the former president dominating the proceedings, and candidates would be able to take free swings at Trump without fear of an immediate counterpunch.
Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the RNC, said Wednesday she’s made the case directly to Trump that he should participate in the first debate, which is sponsored by the party and will air on Fox News.
While it’s in the party’s interest to have Trump on stage, both because he’s the front-runner and because it would boost ratings, McDaniel argued there are also short- and long-term benefits for the former president himself.
“One, short-term, you want to win the nomination. You’ve got to get in front of those primary voters,” McDaniel said on Fox News. “But for me, it’s another part of it, which is if you end up getting the nomination for any of these candidates, this is an audience of 20 million people plus.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Mphasis Q1 Results Review - Growth Recovery Already Factored Into Valuation: Motilal Oswal
Margins to remain within the guided range; maintain Neutral.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
Mphasis Ltd.’s Q1 FY24 revenue performance (-3.5% QoQ constant currency) was weaker than our estimate (-1.2% QoQ CC) on account of persistent headwinds in the direct business (including mortgage) and the ongoing moderation in the DXC vertical (- 10.5% QoQ CC).
But the company delivered record deal closures in Q1 at $707 million (twice of average run rate).
Despite a weak revenue performance in Q1, the management is confident that growth will rebound in Q2 FY24, driven by the bottoming out of its mortgage processing business (Digital Risk) in Q1 and scale-up of large deals as clients resume spending.
With the interest rate hike cycle coming to an end, Mphasis is seeing early signs of revival in DR amid a pickup in volumes and capacity commitments. Additionally, the management indicated improvement in revenue conversion, which was impacted by slow decisionmaking and cuts in discretionary spends over the last few quarters.
We believe that although the commentary was good, it was not a positive surprise as it was in line with our expectation. Given the Q1 miss, we trim our FY24/FY25 U.S. dollar revenue growth estimates by 2.4%/2.1% YoY.
Despite a strong pickup expected in FY25, revenue is expected to clock a muted 4.9% compound annual growth rate over FY23-25 due to a 4.6% YoY CC decline in FY24E.
The Q1 margin performance (inline) was positive given the steep revenue decline. The management has demonstrated its ability to maintain margins in a tight range.
We see FY24 margins at 15.5% (lower end of the guided rage of 15.25%-16.25%) before improving to 16.5% in FY25. This should result in Indian rupee profit after tax growth of 11.4% over FY23-25E.
We lower our FY24-25 earnings per share estimates by ~2% each on account of a Q1 FY24 miss. We believe that the current valuation of 22 times FY25E EPS fairly factors in near-term earnings growth. Our target price of Rs 2,250 implies 21 times FY25E EPS.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"Genya Savilov /AFP via Getty Images
toggle caption
Anti-tank obstacles on a wheat field at a farm in southern Ukraine's Mykolaiv region. The country's grain exports were curtailed this week when Russia pulled out of a deal that allowed grain-laden ships to sail out of Ukrainian ports.
Genya Savilov /AFP via Getty Images
Anti-tank obstacles on a wheat field at a farm in southern Ukraine's Mykolaiv region. The country's grain exports were curtailed this week when Russia pulled out of a deal that allowed grain-laden ships to sail out of Ukrainian ports.
Genya Savilov /AFP via Getty Images
On July 17 the Russian government announced that it was pulling out of a deal to facilitate the export of millions of tons of grain from Ukrainian ports. The arrangement had been in place since July 2022. The Kremlin's move immediately sparked concern, particularly in food insecure countries. The Kenyan government was quick to denounce the withdrawal as a ""stab in the back"" for drought-hit nations in the Horn of Africa. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Russia's withdrawal ""will strike a blow to people in need everywhere.""
Grain prices have been fluctuating since. On Monday morning after the announcement, Chicago wheat futures – a global benchmark for prices – briefly jumped around 3% before falling later in the day. By Wednesday afternoon Russia announced that all ships in the Black Sea bound for Ukrainian ports will be considered potential military cargo starting Wednesday. Wheat futures jumped 9%.
Monday's withdrawal announcement came hours after explosions damaged a bridge connecting Russia with the annexed Crimean peninsula. Moscow blamed the incident on Ukraine but said the attack was unconnected to the termination of the grain deal. On Tuesday, Moscow launched a barrage of missiles against the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, a key export point for grain.
The Ukraine grain crisis unfolded in March 2022, when Russia invaded its neighbor. Ukraine had been one of the world's largest exporters of grain and sunflower oil, which reached hundreds of millions of people in low-resource countries. Russian forces imposed a naval blockade on Ukrainian ports, immediately engulfing the world in a food security crisis. Food prices soared as millions of tons of grain exports were stranded for five months.
Hope arrived in July 2022: Turkey and the U.N. negotiated the Black Sea Grain Initiative, enabling cargo ships to pass safely out of Ukrainian ports to the Bosporus Strait. From there a joint inspection by Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and U.N. officials – checking to see that no weapons are on board — and vessels proceed to their destinations around the world. According to the World Food Programme, the initiative allowed over 725,000 tons of wheat to be shipped to Afghanistan, Yemen, and east Africa.
But the deal was far from perfect. Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), says Russia has been criticized for dragging their heels on inspections and repeatedly threatening to pull out of the deal.
""Having said that,"" he added, ""you're still talking about 33.5 million tons of agricultural product going out last year, which is remarkable.""
Glauber says that the suspension of the deal is ""unfortunate"" and exacerbates an already difficult situation. Export costs have been rising since the war, storage capacity has been tight and with some fields now in occupied areas, Ukrainian production is down 35-40%.
""The reality is that there is less grain to ship. If Ukraine will be producing half the amount it usually does over the next year or so, that's a deficit the world has to make up.""
International aid charities are keen to point out that for people living in low resource countries, the situation was already perilous before the war in Ukraine.
Elise Nalbandian, regional hunger crisis advocacy manager for Oxfam in Africa, says that food, fuel, and fertilizer in east Africa were already expensive due to regional conflicts and the climate crisis.
""(The grain deal) was an important diplomatic solution for a conflict that is affecting the whole world, but the bigger issue is that the food system globally is inconvertibly broken,"" she told NPR from Nairobi. ""It is only when something like the Black Sea grain initiative stops, then everyone pays attention to how unfortunate the situation has become.""
Of particular concern is the Horn of Africa, where years of insufficient rainfall have caused the worst drought in forty years, threatening millions with famine. According to the World Health Organization, last year's drought claimed 40,000 lives in Somalia alone due to malnutrition.
Nalbandian says that the new blockage of Ukraine's grain should be seen in the wider context of poor access to food for countries in need
""Africa has 60% of world's cultivatable land, and the fact it is a net importer of food is a scandal. We must diversify production and invest in small-scale farmers, specifically women farmers in low-income countries.""
Nana Ndeda, who is the humanitarian, advocacy and policy lead for Save the Children International, told NPR that the halting of the deal ""worries us.""
""We predict there will be another spike in hunger,"" said Ndeda, who added that food disruptions are contributing to increased pressures on national health systems in the neediest places.
""Areas like the Horn of Africa and the Sahel have suffered from chronic food insecurity for a long time. Families skip meals and eat less nutritious food. This leads to an increase in malnutrition, which harms immune systems and causes outbreaks of fast-spreading diseases like measles and cholera.""
Ndeda points to the need to provide relief to stricken countries' hamstrung economies, who owe billions of dollars to China and private western lenders.
""One way to address the future resilience of these countries is the renegotiation of debts, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, to allow them to have more resources to strengthen food security systems.""
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that despite Russia's curtailment of the deal, he believes that Vladimir Putin wants the grain deal to continue. Some speculate that Russia may demand relief from sanctions imposed by the West in exchange for its resumption. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that the arrangement can continue without Russian participation, though it is unclear who would provide security guarantees for the grain-carrying ships.
Joseph Glauber from IFPRI says that the situation last year was helped by bumper harvests in Canada and Australia, as well as other producers like India and Brazil experiencing a good crop, but stocks worldwide are still not replenishing at significant levels to withstand the unexpected.
""There's not a lot of buffer to absorb another big exporting region having a serious drought. That's the main concern,"" he warned.
Andrew Connelly is a British freelance journalist focusing on politics, migration and conflict.",Not_Explicit
"Ashneer Grover Reveals He Invested Rs 2.95 Crores In Shark Tank Season 1; Details Here
The former BharatPe co-founder also slammed a couple of media houses for publishing "" incorrect and invalidated stories""
Former BharatPe Co-founder Ashneer Grover, who was a judge in first season of Shark Tank India has revealed that he invested Rs 2.95 crores in 11 details on the show.
Taking to Twitter, Grover said that this makes him the second highest investor, only after Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, who was the highest both in terms of absolute and % closure.
""No surprises - Namita is a great pay master ! Both Namita and I are the top 2 in terms of absolute, % deals completed and % commitment invested,"" the founder of Third Unicorn tweeted.
Read Ashneer Grover's Tweet
I, Ashneer Grover, invested â¹2.95 crores | 11 deals in Shark Tank Season 1.— Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) July 19, 2023
This makes me second highest deployer, only after @namitathapar who was highest both in terms of absolute and % closure. No surprises - Namita is a great pay master ! Both Namita and I are the top 2 in⦠pic.twitter.com/Ot16kHOrpc
In the same tweet, Ashneer Grover hit out at two media publications for publishing ""incorrect and invalidated stories"" on Shark Tank Season 1.
""No surprises how blatantly wrong they were - ‘press is opposite of maths’. Putting my investments by date in public - what Shark Tank should’ve done in the first place,"" the tweet said.
Grover reacted after media outlets published a report by PrivateCircle Research, a private market intelligence company which stated that the sharks (investors) completed only 27 of the 65 soft commitments that they had agreed to deploy in startups on the show. The report claimed that Grover invested Rs 1.99 crore after committing to invest Rs 5.54 crore.
Aman Gupta on Funding Controversy
Meanwhile, Shark Tank India judge and boAt co-founder Aman Gupta asserted that due diligence is and will continue to be an integral part of funding startups amid the controversy and allegations of delayed funding even after deals are struck on the show.
Gupta said it is important for people to understand that there will not be quick money and that proper procedures and checks will be followed before actual funding.
'If someone thinks it's easy money…that rich businessmen are cutting cheques, this was a misconception that has been cleared,' Gupta told PTI in an interview.
He said that he and other 'sharks' earned their money through hard work and grit, and asserted that proper procedures of checks will be followed.
'We have earned the money with hard work and we will not just give our money without due diligence,' Gupta said.",Not_Explicit
"Former Trump deputy AG: Special counsel ‘not an agent of the deep state’
A former Trump deputy attorney general defended special counsel Jack Smith after the former president revealed he was the target of the Jan. 6 federal investigation looking into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
NewsNation’s Dan Abrams asked Richard Donoghue, who served in Trump’s Justice Department from December 2020 to January 2021, what he thought of remarks made by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Tuesday accusing President Biden of weaponizing the government to go after his opponent.
“I think nothing could be further from the truth,” Donoghue said. “For some people, Donald Trump will always be a man who was targeted because he stands up to corrupt elites, and for others he will always be Benedict Donald, a leader who puts his own interests above the country’s.”
“I don’t think he’s political. He’s not left-wing, he is not an agent of the deep state,” he said said of Smith. “His politics would put him right of center, I believe, and look, he secured the first capital sentence in New York in more than 50 years. He’s not a bleeding heart liberal.”
Abrams asked Donoghue if he believed it was unfair for those to describe Smith as a “tool of the left wing.”
“Absolutely, I don’t believe that for a minute,” he said. “I’ve known Jack for decades. I’ve seen and worked many, many cases over the years up close. I’ve seen him work incredibly hard at doing that and what he’s always done is follow the facts and apply the law.”
Trump revealed Tuesday that he received a letter informing him that he is a target of Smith’s investigation looking into the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Legal experts say that means the former president will likely be indicted for a third time this year.
Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal counts of mishandling classified documents and attempting to keep them from the government in a separate case last month. And he has pleaded not guilty to all charges in a hush money case in New York City.
Donoghue was one of several former Trump Justice Department officials who testified before the House Jan. 6 select committee last year. He is also a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Both NewsNation and The Hill are owned and operated by Nexstar Media Group.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"A bipartisan pair of senators unveiled a bill Wednesday to ban stock ownership by lawmakers and administration officials. The Hill reports: The bill, introduced by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), would establish firmer stock trading bans and disclosure requirements for lawmakers, senior executive branch officials and their spouses and dependents. The bill would ban congressional members, the president, vice president, senior executive branch members, and their spouses and dependents from holding or trading stocks, with no exception to blind trusts. Congressional members who violate this ban would be required to pay at least 10 percent of the banned investments.
The legislation also establishes harsh penalties for executive branch stock trading, requiring executive branch officials to give up profits from covered finance interests to the Department of Treasury, while also facing a fine from the Automatic Special Counsel. Congressional members, senior congressional staff and senior executive branch employees would also be required to report if they, a spouse or a dependent applies for or receives a ""benefit of value"" from the federal government, including loans, contracts, grants, agreements and payments. If they fail to file, they will face a $500 penalty.
The bill aims to increase transparency, requiring public databases of personal financial disclosures and financial transaction filings required by the STOCK Act, which prohibits members of Congress from using insider information when buying and selling stocks. The penalty for the failing to file STOCK Act transaction reports would also increase from $200 to $500.
The legislation also establishes harsh penalties for executive branch stock trading, requiring executive branch officials to give up profits from covered finance interests to the Department of Treasury, while also facing a fine from the Automatic Special Counsel. Congressional members, senior congressional staff and senior executive branch employees would also be required to report if they, a spouse or a dependent applies for or receives a ""benefit of value"" from the federal government, including loans, contracts, grants, agreements and payments. If they fail to file, they will face a $500 penalty.
The bill aims to increase transparency, requiring public databases of personal financial disclosures and financial transaction filings required by the STOCK Act, which prohibits members of Congress from using insider information when buying and selling stocks. The penalty for the failing to file STOCK Act transaction reports would also increase from $200 to $500.",Not_Explicit
"EXCLUSIVE: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy revealed Republicans' red line for possible impeachment proceedings against President Biden, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that his party would, for now, continue seeking information related to the Biden family finances unless that information began being withheld.
""What I've said is if they withhold information, the impeachment inquiry allows Congress to have the apex of power to get all the information they need. All this information people are finding out now is only because Republicans have investigated,"" McCarthy told Fox.
""The people of America have a right to know what went on. They have a president who lied to the American public and said they didn't get any money from China. We know that's true. We've had whistleblowers from the IRS come say the Biden family is treated differently and that other things were going on. And then you have a[n] informant with the FBI saying there was a bribe. We need to know the answer to this,"" he said.
McCarthy added that if ""at any time"" he felt they weren't going to be able to get the information they needed to progress through the investigation, then they ""would have to rise to the level of impeachment inquiry.""
""That's not happening today. But what I'm explaining to everybody that if we don't get the information, I will go to impeachment inquiry to make sure we get all the answers,"" he said.
When asked whether he thought a sitting U.S. president could be impeached based off actions that occurred before they took office, McCarthy dismissed dealing in hypotheticals.
""What we're looking right now is getting an answer to the questions and seeing, did [Attorney General Merrick] Garland lie to the American public or not? We know what has been said in these meetings, and we're going to get the answers,"" he said.
McCarthy predicted during a Monday appearance on Fox News' ""Hannity"" that House Republicans would soon have enough evidence gathered to mount an impeachment inquiry against Biden as the corruption scandal enveloping him and his son Hunter continues to grow.
During the interview, McCarthy said that 16 of the 17 payments the Bidens allegedly received from a Romanian national went to what he described as ""Biden shell companies"" while Biden was vice president. According to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., the elder Biden had been ""lecturing Romania on anti-corruption policies"" while instead being a ""walking billboard for his… family to collect money.""
""When President Biden was running for office, he told the American public that he's never talked about [Hunter's] business. He said his family has never received a dollar from China, which we now prove is not true,"" McCarthy said during the interview.
Biden has long denied discussion or involvement in Hunter's business deals, recently rebuffing a New York Post reporter who asked why he is reportedly referred to as the ""big guy"" in the FBI form – which is the same nickname purportedly used as a pseudonym in a message gleaned from previously released documentation connected to Hunter.
McCarthy's comments have riled up members of the House Freedom Caucus, who appeared eager Tuesday for him to make good on his veiled impeachment threats, with one saying the leader's words marked a ""paradigm shift.""
""When he does speak to … impeachment, it carries a tremendous amount of weight. And that's why I think the ground shifted on that a little bit when he opened up the door,"" Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said after the group's Tuesday press conference. ""I don't think there's any question that him speaking to that has caused a paradigm shift.""
Fox News' Charles Creitz and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Japan’s new restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductor production equipment went into effect on Sunday. Drawn up at the instigation of the United States and formally announced three months ago, they are couched in broad terms but are aimed primarily at China.
At this stage, it is difficult to predict their impact on Japanese equipment makers or Japan-China relations, but a group of Japanese politicians are already questioning the wisdom of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s seeming eagerness to side with the US in a trade war with China.
These politicians are followers of Ishibashi Tanzan, a journalist-turned-politician who advocated for an independent foreign policy and good relations with the People’s Republic of China in the years after World War II.
Individual export licenses are now required to export 23 specific types of semiconductor production equipment, including cleaning (three items), deposition (11 items), annealing (one item), lithography (four items), etching (three items) and inspection (one item).
Cleaning: Tokyo Electron, Screen Holdings
Deposition: Tokyo Electron, Kokusai
Annealing: Screen Holdings
Lithography: Nikon, Canon
Etching: Tokyo Electron, Hitachi
Inspection: Hitachi, Lasertec
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, nanoimprint lithography, photomasks, epitaxial wafers and high-speed valves are specifically mentioned, indicating that restrictions may also affect a few other companies such as Hoya, Toppan and Horiba.
This equipment now falls into the category of items that can be used for military purposes, the export of which is regulated under Japan’s Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law.
In a broad sense, they do (through the use of semiconductors in weapons systems, computing and artificial intelligence), but so do other types of semiconductor production equipment that are not on the list.
The vagueness appears to be deliberate, giving the government a free hand to grant or deny export licenses while supporting the US.
In theory, equipment used at process nodes as large as 45 nanometers might be affected. In practice, the controls might be quite limited. Optimistic and pessimistic views of the restrictions compete, but their actual impact won’t be known until quarterly sales trends emerge and the companies involved provide commentary.
In a worst-case scenario, the impact could be quite severe, putting billions of dollars’ worth of sales at risk and inviting retaliation in the form of Chinese restrictions on exports of critical materials such as gallium nitride, germanium and rare-earth metals.
According to the International Trade Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan accounted for 30% of China’s imports of semiconductor production equipment in 2022. In the fiscal year ending March 2023, 23% of Tokyo Electron’s sales were made in China. Japan’s total trade with China in 2022 was 61% greater than its total trade with the US. There is a lot to lose.
This has not escaped the attention of the Ishibashi Tanzan Study Group, a cross-party association of Diet members founded to discuss policies that promote Japan’s interests as a trading nation and do not simply follow those of the US.
The group is led by Iwaya Takeshi, a former minister of defense from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Shinohara Takashi from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, and Furukawa Motohisa from the Democratic Party for the People.
Furukawa Yoshihisa, a former minister of justice from the LDP, serves as chief secretary. He was quoted by Toyo Keizai (The Oriental Economist) as saying, “Tanzan emphasized that ‘just following America is not good for either Japan or America. We will partner with America, but we will not subordinate ourselves to America.'”
Group’s inspiration
Ishibashi Tanzan was born in Tokyo in 1884. The son of a Buddhist priest named Sugita, he took his mother’s surname, Ishibashi, but later became a priest himself.
After graduating from Waseda University, where he studied philosophy, he went to work as a journalist, first for the Mainichi newspaper and then for the Toyo Keizai magazine, rising to the positions of chief editor and, in 1941, president of the company. Waseda is one of the top two private universities in Japan.
Ishibashi opposed Japanese militarism and colonialism and, after the war, the policies of the US occupation. He was appointed minister of finance by prime minister Yoshida Shigeru in May 1946. Elected to the Diet in April 1947, he was purged a month later for his independent views.
After returning to politics in 1951, he supported the revision of Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, which renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation, and the rebuilding of Japan’s armed forces.
Ishibashi was appointed minister of international trade and industry by prime minister Yukio Hatoyama in 1954 and succeeded him as prime minister in 1956. Forced to resign for health reasons after only two months in office, he remained in politics, visiting the People’s Republic of China in 1959 and opposing the revision of the US-Japan Security Treaty in 1960.
The revised Security Treaty formalized the right of the US to maintain military bases in Japan in return for a commitment by the US to defend Japan from attack. It remains the cornerstone of US-Japan relations today.
In China, Ishibashi met with premier Zhou Enlai. The joint communiqué they issued after the meeting stated:
“Both sides believed that the peoples of China and Japan should hold hands and contribute to peace in [the] Far East and the world.… Mr Ishibashi stated that the Chinese and Japanese peoples should make efforts, based on their actual situations, for exchanges and developments in the political, economic and cultural spheres.
“Premier Zhou concurred with his statement, and pointed out the development of political and economic relations between the two countries should be integrated rather than separated. Mr Ishibashi concurred with this.”
Ishibashi died in 1973, but his ideas lived on as an alternative to the US-centric policies of successive LDP governments. They are enjoying a resurgence now due to concerns about the reliability of the US generated by former president Donald Trump, and the rise of protectionism and escalation of tensions with China under President Joe Biden.
Even if there is no outward change in Kishida’s foreign policy, the Ishibashi Tanzan Study Group can be regarded as an exercise in contingency planning and a signal to China that Japan is not pursuing a single-minded policy – that is, risk hedging from the standpoint of a nation dependent on international trade as opposed to the “de-risking” now touted by the US, which interferes with that trade.
In an opinion piece carried by the Nikkei newspaper under a pseudonym this month, the author wrote that the link between the formation of economic blocs and war is one of the lessons of history and that if Japan is to live as a trading nation, it should not worry about choosing between the US and China but be more focused on taking the market.
A delegation from the study group is reportedly planning to visit China in August.
Follow this writer on Twitter @ScottFo83517667.",Not_Explicit
"Will climate change hit Mediterranean tourism?
Destructive fires, temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and tourists dodging possible catastrophe by staying home. Will climate change end up transforming tourism—not least in the Mediterranean?
State of play
Regions which welcome a sizeable share of holidaymakers are also those hardest hit by climate change. In Greece, thousands of tourists have been evacuated in recent days from the islands of Rhodes and Corfu which have been ravaged by fires touched off by suffocatingly hot weather.
Rhodes' international airport has morphed into an improvised campsite flooded by disorientated tourists.
Other countries around the Mediterranean have also been hit.
In Spain, the thermometer has shot 15 degrees above normal summer season levels. Italy has also labored under heatwaves with the island of Sardinia melting under 48 Celsius while, on Monday, Tunis endured 49C.
Tourism plays a key role in the region's economies—the sector accounts for nearly a quarter of GDP in Greece and 12 percent in Spain.
Economic consequences
The soaring temperatures could turn off visitors.
For Jean-François Rial, who heads French travel firm Voyageurs du Monde, ""global warming is going to render some destinations less and less visitable. The whole of the Mediterranean is concerned and yet it is the main destination of European travelers.""
In Spain, ""we're starting to hear tourists ask themselves"" if they should be looking to spend their summer break on the Mediterranean coast, said Joantxo Llantada, professor at Madrid's IE Business School.
According to a recent note from Moody's, ""heatwaves may reduce Southern Europe's attractiveness as a tourist destination in the longer term or at the very least reduce demand in summer, which will have negative economic consequences given the importance of the sector.""
No more sunworshipping?
Not so fast, suggests Hamit Kuk, who heads the association of Turkish travel operators.
""This issue is very important for the tourism industry—but it is not a problem if temperatures are very hot in Antalya because European tourists mostly prefer to see the sun,"" Kuk told AFP.
""We can look at the examples of Egypt and Dubai. In July-August there are temperatures of 45C and tourists still prefer to go there.
The president of Tunisia's hotel federation, Dora Miled, told AFP that to date ""the heat has had no impact on tourism.
""If we have yet to return to 2019 activity levels ... that's above all mainly due to the high cost of air travel,"" said Miled.
Didier Arino, who heads the Protourisme travel consultancy in France, said, ""When it comes to their holidays, people don't dream of a cool destination, they want good weather.""
Even in Greece it is not certain that the fires will dissuade tourists from coming.
Kostas Chryssohoides, vice prefect of Dodecanese, an island group in the southeastern Aegean Sea that includes Rhodes, observed that ""24,000 tourists arrived on Rhodes"" between Sunday and Monday, fires notwithstanding. Only a handful canceled ""as a precaution"", he said.
Picking up the slack
Should it become next to impossible to visit a destination sweltering under abnormal temperatures holidaymakers could look further afield, suggests Jean-Francois Rial, who said ""northern European destinations are on the rise.""
He suggested that Britain and Ireland could both gain in tourist traction.
Alternatives
One thing sector professionals agree on is that tourism will change. They anticipate that total visitors to the Mediterranean could rise—but reserve in seasons outside summer, boosted by increasing demand from pensioners.
""For now we have no worries about domestic market demand, but if the global climate crisis continues to escalate, we will have to review the summer and winter seasons,"" said Kuk.
In Rial's view, ""that could perhaps be a chance to reduce 'over-tourism'... losing some clients in summertime but gaining more in the other nine months of the year.""
For Protourisme's Arino, climate change will force tourism to evolve.
""We must conceive our cities somewhat differently, our resorts, the range of activities on offer.""
© 2023 AFP",Not_Explicit
"Bisexual men are more masculine-sounding than both straight and gay men, a new study has claimed.

Researchers from the University of Sydney asked 70 Australians to guess the sexuality and rank the 'femininity' of 60 men reciting lines of the national anthem.

While participants could distinguish between gay and straight men's voices with 62 per cent accuracy, they often struggled to identify bisexual men.

'Naïve listeners can distinguish the voices of gay and straight men at rates greater than chance rates, although this was not the case for bisexual men,' the authors wrote.

'Along with the finding that bisexual men were judged to be the most exclusively female attracted, they were also judged to be the most masculine.

'These findings provide further support that perceptions of male vocal masculinity and heterosexuality go hand-in-hand regardless of the speaker’s sexual orientation.'

Differences between the way in which straight and gay men speak have previously been identified in previous studies.

In Italy, Germany and the US, analysis shows that gay men typically speak in a higher pitch and often pronounce words more precisely than straight men.

This was often viewed as more 'feminine' because it deviates from the rigidly enforced 'masculine' norms of a deep, low pitch voice.

It's unclear what exactly causes this but many suggest that biological processes in the brain and even internalised stereotypes could be at play.

In the latest research, experts initially thought that bisexual men would fit somewhere in between these perceptions - being seen as 'more feminine' than straight men but 'less masculine' than gay men.

Although bisexual men created a 'unique impression' in the study, researchers say this was an impression that listeners did not associate with bisexuality.

Scientists believe this phenomenon may actually cause bisexual men to be more commonly misidentified as straight, contributing to 'bisexual erasure'.

First coined in 2000, this refers to a lack of acknowledgment that bisexuals exist despite clear scientific evidence they do.

Many believe this comes from a pervasive tendency to view sexual orientation on a very black and white basis in which people can be either gay or straight.

This norm renders any other sexuality, including bisexuality and pansexuality, as just a phase or illegitimate feelings.

'Erasure represents a pressing dilemma for bisexuals day-to-day, with bisexuals reporting less connection to other sexual minority people than their gay and lesbian peers, and also greater concealment of their sexual identity,' the researchers said.

'Future studies should strive to understand the complex relationship between sexual identity and speech patterns.'",Not_Explicit
"2023 Women's World Cup odds: Bettors cash in on New Zealand upsetting Norway
It didn’t take long for an upset to register in the Women’s World Cup odds market. In fact, it took only two matches to get a surprise result, coming on the 32-team tournament’s first day.
Adam Pullen, assistant director of trading for Caesars Sports, and BetMGM sports trader Seamus Magee, discuss how the Day 1 upset impacted World Cup betting.
Underdog day
Norway entered the Group A match as a -250 favorite (bet $10 to win $14 total) on BetMGM’s three-way moneyline, on which bettors can wager on either team to win in 90 minutes plus injury time or wager on the game ending in a draw. On the flip side, New Zealand was a sizable +650 underdog (bet $10 to win $75 total).
""It was quite a shock to start the tournament,"" Magee said. ""It feels like upsets of this magnitude in the tournament are few and far between.""
The first half brought no scoring, but it didn’t take long into the second half for the host Football Ferns — Team Norway’s nickname — to tally the match’s only goal. Hannah Wilkinson took a perfectly placed Jacqui Hand cross and buried the ball into the back of the net in the 48th minute.
New Zealand’s 1-0 lead held up the rest of the way, with Norway’s best chance — a Tuva Hansen shot in the 83rd minute — deflecting off the crossbar.
No place like home
Home-country fans reveled in the upset, as did any savvy bettors who took New Zealand. Caesars Sports apparently had quite a few customers banking on the big underdog.
When Caesars first posted moneyline odds, New Zealand was +950 to win the match, meaning a $100 bet would win $950. By the time the match began, Caesars customers had helped shorten New Zealand’s price to +650, with Norway a -250 favorite and draw +333.
""As is normal in a major soccer competition, the underdog winning the match is not a great outcome for sportsbooks,"" Pullen said. ""People are enamored with the huge price on the underdog and love that return on investment. It was a small loss [for us] with the Ferns’ win over Norway. Nothing major, but a good win for the bettors indeed.""
WynnBet trader Dominick DeBonis echoed Pullen's comments.
""We got whacked pretty good on the result, relative to the handle. That's to be expected on big ‘dogs who are playing a team that isn’t the U.S. Women's National Team,"" DeBonis said.
BetMGM beats the bettors
Likewise, BetMGM’s odds prior to kickoff had New Zealand a +650 underdog. But the result worked out much better behind the counter for BetMGM, with the large majority of tickets and dollars on favored Norway.
""New Zealand was a big winner for us in this match,"" Magee said. ""Lots of money came in on Norway. New Zealand [winning] broke up a ton of parlays.""
Indeed, throwing Norway into a parlay likely seemed reasonable for most bettors. In the 2019 World Cup, Norway reached the quarterfinals before losing to England. Prior to Thursday’s opening match, BetMGM had Norway as the +5000 12th choice in odds to win the World Cup, while New Zealand was a distant +200000 (200-1) to win the tournament.
Now, Norway will have to scramble just to advance from Group A, while New Zealand, for the moment, is favored to win the group. New Zealand is playing in its sixth Women’s World Cup, but Thursday’s upset marked the team’s first-ever World Cup victory.
""This is definitely a pleasant surprise for the book on this one,"" Magee said.
Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas
Play FOX Super 6 every week for your chance to win thousands of dollars every week. Just download the Super 6 app and make your picks today!
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
How Lionel Messi's Miami arrival mirrors the Beckham Experiment
Meet the 'badass' OG soccer moms who blazed a trail for USWNT
-
World Cup Daily: Australia, New Zealand hoping for inspiring starts
New Zealand-Norway, Australia-Ireland predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup roundtable: Who is the USWNT's most important player?
-
Women’s World Cup opener to proceed as scheduled after shooting in New Zealand
Women's World Cup power rankings: New Zealand moves up with statement win
USWNT embracing pressure of chase for historic three-peat
-
2023 Women's World Cup schedule: How to watch, TV channel, dates, results
How Lionel Messi's Miami arrival mirrors the Beckham Experiment
Meet the 'badass' OG soccer moms who blazed a trail for USWNT
-
World Cup Daily: Australia, New Zealand hoping for inspiring starts
New Zealand-Norway, Australia-Ireland predictions, picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
Women's World Cup roundtable: Who is the USWNT's most important player?
-
Women’s World Cup opener to proceed as scheduled after shooting in New Zealand
Women's World Cup power rankings: New Zealand moves up with statement win
USWNT embracing pressure of chase for historic three-peat",Not_Explicit
"Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday cautioned that deliveries of the F-16s that Ukraine has long sought in its fight against Russia could take ""months and months"" once it's determined the fighter jets are appropriate, but America's support hasn't wavered.
In an interview on CNN, America's top diplomat defended U.S. assistance to Ukraine so far, insisting Kyiv had consistently been given the equipment it needs to try and repel Russia's invasion.
""At every step along the way, in fact, going back before the Russian aggression when we saw the storm rising ... we made sure, going back to Labor Day before the war, Christmas before the war, that they started to get in their hands the equipment they would need if the Russians went forward,"" Blinken told CNN's Fareed Zakaria. ""Every step along the way ever since, we've worked to try to get them what they need, when they need it.""
""But it's not just the equipment itself. It's the training, it's the maintenance, it's the ability to use it in combined arms operations. All of that takes time,"" Blinken said. ""If a decision were made to actually move forward on the F-16s tomorrow, it would be months and months before they were actually operational.""
The Biden administration previously resisted helping provide F-16s to Ukraine amid concerns of escalation, though supporters of supplying the jets have defended their value and argued that sending them wouldn't risk provoking broader Russian aggression.
In a sit-down interview earlier this month with ABC News' Martha Raddatz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that while he was grateful for international support, more munitions would improve the chance of his country's success.
""F-16 or any other equipment that we do need will give us an opportunity to move faster, to save more lives, to stand our ground for a longer time,"" Zelenskyy said then. ""Well, some weapons have been provided, on the other hand, helps us save lives and we appreciate that. Of course, foot dragging will lead to more lives lost.""
Appearing on ABC's ""This Week"" in July, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that sending F-16s was the goal -- as was making sure Ukrainian forces could utilize them.
""We're going to be working with some allies and partners to get the F-16 pilots the pilot training going very, very soon,"" Kirby said then. ""And we're going to work to get those jets to Ukraine just as quickly as possible.""
Earlier this summer, Ukraine began its latest counteroffensive to continue retaking land from Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion last year after taking over the Crimea Peninsula in 2014.
On CNN, Blinken recognized that Ukraine was clamoring for whatever equipment it could get its hands on but expressed faith in the U.S.-led coalition to keep arming Ukraine.
""If I were in the shoes of our Ukrainian friends and partners, I'd probably be saying exactly the same thing. And President Zelenskyy's been extraordinary as a leader and in trying to galvanize the international community, along with us, to provide them what they need,"" he said.
""Our military leaders are using their best expertise possible to help determine what it is that can be most effective for the Ukrainians. How quickly can it be deployed? How effectively can they use it? That will continue and the process on the F-16s is moving,"" Blinken said.
He acknowledged challenges in the ongoing counteroffensive but said Ukraine was resilient.
""[Russia's] objective was to erase Ukraine from the map, to eliminate its independence, its sovereignty, to subsume it into Russia. That failed a long time ago,"" Blinken said. ""Now Ukraine is in a battle to get back more of the land that Russia seized from it. It's already taken back about 50% of what was initially seized. Now they're in a very hard fight to take back more. These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough.""",Not_Explicit
"The group stage at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is in full swing, which means it's time for FOX Sports soccer analyst Alexi Lalas to share his first batch of power rankings for the tournament.
Three favored powerhouse teams that had impressive debuts took the top three spots — but none are the two-time defending champion United States, which slipped to No. 4 despite a solid 3-0 victory over Vietnam to start its campaign.
""This is just a snapshot,"" Lalas said. ""This is not that these are the best teams in the world forever, just as we stand right now. Just because you score goals doesn't mean that you're automatically at the top, even though we have some teams that scored a lot of goals.""
That said, here are Lalas's top 10 teams in the World Cup so far, along with each's squads' opener result.",Not_Explicit
"DES MOINES, Iowa -- Gov. Kim Reynolds can proceed with an appeal on a temporary block on the state’s new, restrictive abortion law, the Iowa Supreme Court said Tuesday.
Reynolds announced her intentions to appeal last week and said it was “just a matter of time” before lawyers for the state filed the request, which they did Friday. The Iowa Supreme Court had to say whether the request could move forward.
The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy during a July 11 special session, and the law went into effect days later, immediately after Reynolds signed it. The ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic launched a legal challenge and Judge Joseph Seidlin on July 17 granted their request to pause the law as the courts assess its constitutionality.
Abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy while the new law is on hold.
Reynolds is asking the state Supreme Court to override the lower court’s ruling and allow the law to go back into effect.
The state Supreme Court can rule on the temporary injunction alone, or it can decide to fast-forward a decision on merits of the law itself.",Not_Explicit
"Children aged 10 and 11 will be able to use passport e-gates at the UK border from Monday, after the government announced a change to the rules.
Currently, only eligible children aged 12 and above can use the e-gates, which are at 15 air and rail ports.
The change comes after successful trials at Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow, the government said.
It comes as families embarking on summer holiday getaways were hit by traffic jams and delays on Friday.
Passenger volumes are expected to return to 2019 levels this summer - with some ports exceeding those volumes, the government said. Border Force expects to see over 34 million air arrivals coming through UK passport control over the coming months, it added.
More than 400,000 children aged 10 and 11 are expected to use e-gates this year.
The gates are installed at 13 airports in the UK - Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City, Luton, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle. They are also in use at the UK border controls at the Eurostar terminals in Brussels and Paris.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said the rollout ""will make travelling easier for passengers and strengthens the security of the UK border.""
""The UK processes more passengers through e-gates than any other country - and today's announcement ensures we remain at the forefront of technology,"" he added.
But the e-gate service has run into difficulties in the past, with airports across England and Scotland caught in lengthy queues when the gates stopped working at the end of May.
The disruption, which lasted for over a day, was caused by an IT issue, the Home Office told the BBC. It saw travellers waiting in long queues for hours.
On Friday, the Port of Dover said it had been a ""popular day"" with travellers heading to France. Earlier it had warned holidaymakers to expect delays to pass border controls, with processing times given of up to 90 minutes.
Families were also hit by traffic jams and delays at the Dartford Crossing.
National Highways closed part of the River Thames crossing because of a crash on Friday, causing long tailbacks.
The smash forced the closure of one of the crossing's two tunnels, which are used for northbound traffic, shortly before 07:00 BST.
The tunnel was later reopened but National Highways said the incident caused five miles of congestion.
An estimated 12.6 million car journeys will be made for a day trip or holiday between Friday and Monday as the majority of schools in England and Wales finish for the summer, the RAC said.
Earlier this week, the first passports were issued in King Charles's name.
Passports will now use the wording ""His Majesty"", with the era finally ending for passports using ""Her Majesty"", for the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The updated passports are the latest stage in the gradual transition in reigns, with stamps and some coins now carrying the King's head. Banknotes will begin to change next year.",Not_Explicit
"Not once has Donald Trump veered from his core campaign theme.
Recall the first rally of his 2024 election campaign on 25 March in Waco, Texas – exactly 30 years after a deadly siege between law enforcement and the Branch Davidians resulted in the deaths of more than 80 members of that religious cult and four federal agents.
He opened with a choir of men imprisoned for their role in the January 6 insurrection singing “Justice for All”, intercut with the national anthem and with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with his hand on his heart. Behind, on big screens, was footage from the Capitol riot.
Trump then repeated his bogus claim that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged”. He praised the rioters of January 6.
He raged against the prosecutors overseeing multiple investigations into his conduct as “absolute human scum”. He told the crowd that “the thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced.”
He then declared:
“Our enemies are desperate to stop us and our opponents have done everything they can to crush our spirit and to break our will. But they failed. They’ve only made us stronger. And 2024 is the final battle, it’s going to be the big one. You put me back in the White House, their reign will be over and America will be a free nation once again.”
Since then, as indictments have piled up against him and his poll numbers among Republicans have risen, Trump’s “final battle” comes into ever sharper focus: it is a battle against the rule of law and democracy.
The mega indictment we have all been waiting for – the indictment against Trump for his attempted coup against the United States – will be announced very soon.
Trump is prepared to use it in his final battle.
Tuesday, on an Iowa radio show, he warned it would be “very dangerous” if Special Counsel Jack Smith put him in jail, since his supporters have “much more passion than they had in 2020”.
Unfortunately for the nation, the Republican party is uniting behind Trump’s side of this battle line.
If not defending the January 6 rioters outright, Republican lawmakers are attacking Special Counsel Jack Smith, the justice department, the Manhattan district attorney, and other current and prospective prosecutors seeking to hold Trump accountable.
A Trump indictment for attempting the overthrow of the constitutional order and the verdict of the electorate will guarantee that 2024 will be more of a referendum on Trump than a referendum on Biden, as was the 2020 election.
It will make it harder for Republican candidates across the nation to focus on their fake nemeses – “woke” teachers and corporations, trans youth, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants and “socialism” – and force them instead to defend Trump’s side in the final battle.
Trump and the Republicans will lose this battle. Even if they win Republican primaries, they will lose the general election.
Recall that last November, virtually every 2020-election-denying Republican who sought office in a truly contested election went down to defeat.
Those who care about democracy and the rule of law should welcome the battle, and not just because it will help Biden and the Democrats.
It will also help clarify what’s at stake for the nation in 2024 and beyond.
It will show how eager Trump and the Republican party are to abandon democracy and the rule of law in order to gain power. It will show that the vast majority of Americans reject their position.
Americans hold different views about many things, but most of us oppose authoritarianism. We reject fascism.
We value the constitution and the Bill of Rights. We are committed to democracy, even with its many flaws. We support the rule of law.
We want to live in a nation where no one is above the law. We want to be able to sleep at night without worrying that a president might unleash armed lackeys to drag us out of our homes because he considers us to be his enemy.
The pustule of Trump has been growing since 2016, and the authoritarian impulses underlying this infection have been allowed to fester for decades.
Folks, it is finally time to lance this boil. It is time to decidedly rescue democracy and the rule of law. It is time to defeat Trump and his enablers who are determined to defy the core values of America.
Let the battle begin.
Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com",Not_Explicit
"Republican Paul Melotik defeated Democrat Bob Tatterson in a special election Tuesday for a vacant Assembly seat representing Milwaukee's north suburbs, keeping the district in GOP hands.
Melotik's win keeps the Republican majority in the Assembly at 64-35. That is two seats short of a supermajority, which would be enough to override a governor's veto. But Republicans could have a supermajority if two or more Democrats are absent.
The seat was open after Republican Dan Knodl won a special election and is now serving in the state Senate. His win in that race this spring gave Republicans a 22-11 supermajority in the Senate, a power that allows them to remove state officials impeached in the Assembly.
Melotik co-owns and operated several businesses and served in Ozaukee County and Town of Grafton government, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Tatterson, a retired engineer and adviser to start-up businesses, conceded the race after results were tallied.
Before winning a seat in the Senate, Knodl defeated Tatterson in a reelection bid for his Assembly seat in November.
Melotik, who chairs the finance committee in Ozaukee County, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he is interested in a spot on the Legislature's budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, a sought-after position for state lawmakers.",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON – The two IRS whistleblowers who alleged the Justice Department meddled in an investigation into President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, were not convincing, Democrats told Fox News.
""I believe that they believe themselves. Whether they're right or wrong, really is in their mind and the determination of other people,"" Rep. Kweisi Mfume said. ""I happen to believe that they're wasting time on this.""
Rep. Daniel Goldman told Fox News, ""They are good-faith actors who misconstrue the third-hand information that they received.
""I think they were frustrated that the case didn't move forward as they had hoped after all their hours,"" the New York Democrat continued. ""They were frustrated that they were removed from the case after there were significant leaks to The Washington Post, and they're expressing their frustration in this way.""
Hunter Biden's legal team alleged the whistleblowers leaked investigation information to The Washington Post, but the whistleblowers' lawyers have pushed back against that claim.
REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS SPLIT ON WHETHER IRS WHISTLEBLOWERS ARE TRUSTWORTHY:
Joseph Ziegler, a 13-year special agent for the IRS whose identity was revealed Wednesday, and Greg Shapley, a former IRS investigation supervisor, claimed the Justice Department did not handle the investigation into Hunter Biden in an ordinary way.
The two were invited to testify at a hearing before leaders of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability and Ways and Means committees.
The whistleblowers claimed there was a pattern of ""slow-walking investigative steps"" into the president's son before the 2020 presidential election and efforts to tip off Hunter before investigative actions.
In one case, Shapely recalled that an assistant U.S. attorney told Hunter Biden's lawyers the IRS was readying to execute a search warrant on a storage unit used by the president's son.
The tip destroyed ""our chance to get to evidence before being destroyed, manipulated or concealed,"" Shapely said.
House Republicans believed the whistleblowers.
""I think they're very credible,"" Republican Rep. Russell Fry told Fox News. ""Their testimony has been corroborated by the FBI, who just was in here this week.""
Ziegler, a Democrat, ""doesn't fit the mold of a partisan hack"" Fry said.
Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican, agreed.
""They're absolutely credible,"" Smith said. ""Their facts are lining up. No one has countered anything that they have said.""
Lawmakers noted the personal risks taken by the whistleblowers to come forward.
""They're showing tremendous courage to come forward,"" Republican Rep. Gary Palmer told Fox News. ""And it shows something that I think has been sorely lacking in the Biden administration, and that is fidelity to uphold the laws of the United States.""
Fry agreed. ""They are putting their own careers and their families at risk by being here,"" he said.
To watch full interviews with lawmakers, click here.
Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"The Defense Department has no plans to stop covering the travel costs of female troops who seek abortions across state lines, despite protests from a Republican senator who has blocked hundreds of military promotions over the issue, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said on Thursday.
“I see this, and I think the (defense secretary) does as well, as taking care of our soldiers, and it’s the right thing to do, and I don’t think we’re going to change it,” Wormuth told NBC News’ Courtney Kube at an event at the Aspen Security Forum.
Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision removed the constitutional right to abortion last year, more than 40% of female service members stationed in the United States have no access, or severely restricted access, to abortion services, according to the Rand Corporation think tank.
Wormuth said the policy also was important to ensure that the Army can retain female troops who might leave the military if they cannot get access to abortion services. “I see this as a retention issue,” Wormuth said.
The policy also ensures women in the military have access to in vitro fertilization, since it is not necessarily available in the areas where troops are posted, Wormuth said.
Wormuth said she had not seen data on how many female troops had traveled across state lines for abortion services or the amount of Defense Department funds spent on it so far.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has held up the promotions of more than 250 military officers for months in order to force an end to the policy.
Tuberville says he wants a vote on a bill introduced by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., that would codify the Pentagon abortion policy into law, and that he will end his blockade if it passes. In return, Tuberville says that he wants the Defense Department to agree to cancel the policy if the measure fails.
Defense Department officials held a closed-door briefing Wednesday with senators on the Armed Services Committee, including Tuberville, regarding the department’s abortion travel policy, NBC News has previously reported.
The issue has complicated the normally bipartisan politics that surround the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual defense policy bill. Republicans in the House have inserted an amendment into their version of the bill that would force the Pentagon to end the policy.
Wormuth, echoing comments by other Pentagon officials and senior officers, said the blockade is having ripple effects on troops and families that could jeopardize readiness and prompt some service members to quit.
“Basically what’s happening is our whole system is getting kind of constipated,” Wormuth said.
About a dozen three- and four-star generals have had to put off their retirements for two or three months, and the officers selected to replace them are not in their new positions, she said.
The biggest concern, she said, is that junior officers may conclude that it’s not worth remaining in the military given the uncertainty and delays affecting their families.
“I really worry that we’re going to have a brain and talent drain as a result of this really unprecedented step that Sen. Tuberville has chosen,” she said.
The blockade on promotions is just the latest example of the military being drawn into Washington’s polarized politics and turned into a “political football,” Wormuth said.
“I think our military is being dragged into the political space in ways that are very unproductive,” she said. “But I want to be clear that I do not see our officers becoming politicized, that is the last thing most officers that I’ve worked with want to happen.”
She said younger officers might think twice about pursuing high-ranking positions having seen the polarized atmosphere at congressional hearings where generals face partisan questioning.
“I do think they look at our general officers who testify in hearings and see the kinds of interactions that our general officers are having each and every week and they ask themselves, ‘Do I want to be on the receiving end of that type of interaction?’”",Not_Explicit
"A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Biden administration’s controversial new asylum plan, which allowed immigration officials to deny asylum to most migrants if they arrived at the border without a scheduled appointment or seeking legal protection in another country before arriving in the U.S.
U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar in the Northern District of California ruled against President Joe Biden’s ban but delayed the ruling from taking effect for 14 days — giving the administration time to appeal the decision.
“The Rule — which has been in effect for two months — cannot remain in place,” Tigar wrote, siding with immigration rights advocates who slammed the order as “unlawful and inhumane.”
The Justice Department said it plans to appeal the judge’s decision.
Biden’s asylum plan was seen by immigration advocates as a continuation of Trump-era policies that allowed the federal government to turn away asylum seekers under the premise of increased COVID-19 precautions.
Breaking News
The new rule had room for exceptions and didn’t apply to children traveling alone.
But the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups challenged the ban, saying it violated a law granting the right to asylum regardless of how a person enters the country and made “a mockery of our asylum system.”
The groups argued that the plan forced migrants to seek refuge in countries that can’t offer the same human rights protections as the U.S. They also said the mobile app the government wants migrants to use to schedule appointments — CBP One — was not a viable option.
Tigar agreed, writing that while asylum applicants wait for an adjudication, they “must remain in Mexico, where migrants are generally at heightened risk of violence by both state and non-state actors.”
Immigrant groups applauded the judge’s decision, calling the ruling a “victory.”
“The promise of America is to serve as a beacon of freedom and hope, and the administration can and should do better to fulfill this promise, rather than perpetuate cruel and ineffective policies that betray it,” Katrina Eiland, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in a statement shared with Daily News.
With News Wire Services",Not_Explicit
"Fulton County prosecutors are asking the public to wait a little longer to review the final report issued by a special grand jury that investigated interference in Georgia’s 2020 election.
With just weeks until Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to seek indictments against former President Donald Trump and others, her office asked the Georgia Court of Appeals on Monday to block release of the report “at least until final charging decisions have been made.” In their report, the grand jurors recommended multiple people be criminally charged, several members previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Donald Wakeford, one of Willis’s deputies, wrote, “if a special purpose grand jury’s report, requested by and intended for a district attorney’s evaluation, became a presumptively public court record with immediate effect, a prosecutor’s use of a special purpose grand jury would risk revealing information which would otherwise remain protected until the termination of the case in any other criminal investigatory context.”
The filing came in response to an appeal filed by a coalition of media organizations, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which argued that the report was a court record subject to disclosure and that the public interest demanded that the full document be released. The outlets asked the court to overturn a February decision from Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney in which he ruled that the rights of future defendants needed to be protected, even though grand jurors had requested that their recommendations be made public.
“There was very limited due process in this process for those who might now be named as indictment-worthy in the final report,” McBurney wrote.
The special grand jury met for nearly eight months between May 2022 and January 2023, hearing testimony from about 75 witnesses and collecting evidence for Willis. The investigative body did not have the power to issue indictments.
In February, McBurney released a redacted portion of the final report, which excluded the special grand jury’s list for who should be charged with various state crimes.
The redacted version of the report did include a few notable disclosures, including that jurors were in unanimous agreement that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in Georgia’s 2020 elections. It also stated that a majority of jurors had recommended that prosecutors pursue perjury charges against at least one witness they believe lied under oath in their testimony.
Willis has heavily implied she will indict Trump and others next month and urged law enforcement to prepare because her decision could “provoke a significant public reaction.” Two regular grand juries were seated earlier this month that are expected to consider any would-be charges.
Joining the AJC in the media coalition are: The Associated Press; Bloomberg; CMG Media Group and its station WSB-TV; CNN; Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal; The E.W. Scripps Co. on behalf of Scripps News; Gray Media Group and its station WANF; The New York Times; and Tegna and its station WXIA-TV.",Not_Explicit
"The White House has doubled down on the widely scrutinized ""lie"" that Florida's new history curriculum is attempting to re-write the history of slavery in the U.S. and how it's taught to students despite pushback from one of its Black creators.
During Monday's daily White House press briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre went off on the new curriculum, echoing Vice President Kamala Harris' heavily panned comments during a speech in Jacksonville, Florida last week claiming it was going to be used to teach students ""that enslaved people benefited from slavery.""
""Let's not forget what we have seen these past several months as we witness extreme officials in Florida and across the country lie about American history. The most recent example, shamefully, shamefully promoting a lie that enslaved people actually benefited from slavery,"" Jean-Pierre said during her opening remarks.
""It's inaccurate, insulting, it's hurtful, and prevents an honest account, an honest account of our nation's history,"" she added. ""The Biden-Harris administration will continue to speak out against hateful attempts to rewrite our history and strongly oppose any actions that threaten to divide us and take our country backwards.""
The new curriculum, which was partially developed by Black scholar Dr. William B. Allen, actually states, ""Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit. This lead to countless critics accusing Harris of ""brazenly lying,"" and ""misleading"" the American people following her speech.
""This is a brazen lie. It’s an astonishing lie. It’s an evil lie. It is so untrue — so deliberately and cynically misleading — that, in a sensible political culture, Harris would be obligated to issue an apology,"" one critic said.
Allen slammed Harris' criticism as ""categorically false,"" telling ABC News in an interview that ""it was never said [in the curriculum] that slavery was beneficial to Africans.""
""The only criticism I’ve encountered so far [on the new curriculum] is a single one that was articulated by the vice president, and which was an error,"" he said.
Other critics of Harris called her claims ""a brazen lie.""
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ripped Harris ahead of her Friday speech, accusing her of being ""obsessed"" with Florida, and described the Biden administration of trying to indoctrinate students.
""Florida stands in their way, and we will continue to expose their agenda and their lies,"" DeSantis said in a statement on social media.",Not_Explicit
"The 2023 Women's World Cup is in full swing, and these daily files will give you the latest reporting from around the 2023 World Cup as well as betting lines, what-to-watch-for information and best reads. Check in with ESPN throughout the tournament as we bring you the latest from Australia and New Zealand.
The lead: Jamaica hold France but lose Shaw
Jamaica made history Sunday by picking up their first point in a Women's World Cup -- after three defeats in their 2019 debut -- as they put up a great fight against France to frustrate them 0-0 in Sydney.
However, the sending-off of captain and best player Khadija ""Bunny"" Shaw right at the end of the game for a harsh second yellow card will sour the celebrations a bit for the Reggae Girlz. The Manchester City striker, who led by example against Les Bleues by causing them all sort of problems in the first half, will miss the next game against Panama on Saturday, but will be back for the potentially decisive clash with Brazil on Aug. 2.
Shaw, like the rest of Lorne Donaldson's squad, put in a lot of intensity and physicality in the first half to disturb France's rhythm and forced them to make errors with sloppy passing. It was a spirited performance from Jamaica and they will draw a lot of confidence from the game as they bid to do better against Brazil than the 3-0 defeat they managed four years ago.
For new France head coach Hervé Renard, it was not the debut he wanted. For his second World Cup of the season (after managing Saudi Arabia at the men's one in Qatar), he got his tactics wrong with a wonky 4-4-2 to start the game and the choice of Amel Majri over Kenza Dali, who had been Les Bleues' best player in their friendly matches before the competition.
Dali made a huge difference when she came on after 66 minutes. France created enough chances to score, but Kadidiatou Diani hitting the bar and the post with the same header right at the end of the game perfectly summed up their frustrating evening. Now the game against Brazil on Saturday will be huge for Renard and his players.
News of the day
The New Zealand national women's soccer team is safe and accounted for after they had to be temporarily evacuated from their hotel Saturday night due to a fire. A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesperson confirmed to ESPN that at around 8 p.m. on Saturday, emergency crews, including eight trucks, were called to the Pullman Hotel due to a fire alarm being triggered, forcing guests to be evacuated. The fire has been extinguished, and control of the hotel returned to the hotel staff. New Zealand Police said that a 34-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the fire.
The Matildas returned to training following Thursday's 1-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland in their opening Women's World Cup match and, as expected, injured skipper Sam Kerr did not participate in the warmup. But she looked to be walking unencumbered and without strapping around her leg as she greeted fans at an official FIFA training session.
Rachel Daly admitted she was frustrated to start England's World Cup campaign on the bench, a 1-0 win over Haiti on Saturday in Brisbane, but says will continue pushing her case and is ready to step up if given the chance. When asked if she was frustrated to begin among the replacements, Daly said: ""I think anyone would be. No one is happy to sit on the bench. If you are, then you are not in the right place, not in the right career. It's a tough place for Sarina [Wiegman] to be, to pick the team. I respect her decisions and I will support Alessia [Russo] all the way and obviously I know Beth [England] will do the same.""
Today in USWNT camp
For U.S Women's National Team defender Naomi Girma, the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants, her path to a soccer career, let alone the national team, has been anything but standard.
With a staff of around 10 dedicated just to prepping meals and feeding the players around the clock here, a motto inside the camp of viewing ""food as fuel"" has taken root.
""The meals provide all the fuel needed to all the players to perform at each practice, recovery after each practice, and sleep through the night,"" USWNT sports dietician Lindsay Langford told ESPN.
With a highly structured and regimented schedule during this camp, players look forward to meal times as a highlight for their days. Since arriving in New Zealand, several players have mentioned it as being a key time to socialize with teammates and relax -- each night, the players and staff even do a ""cheers"" together with a juice shot.
-- Caitlin Murray, in Auckland, New Zealand, reports on how important food is to the USWNT's preparations for their World Cup games.
Sights and sounds
Sam Marsden reacts to Sweden's 2-1 win over South Africa in the 2023 World Cup.
Sweden break South Africa's hearts with late win
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Sweden were made to toil in the Wellington wind and rain before breaking South African hearts in the final minute in the first World Cup match to feature goals for both teams.
South Africa sit 51 places behind Sweden, who are ranked third, in FIFA's world rankings but that difference was not on show here. While Sweden enjoyed most of the possession, the African champions were dangerous on the break.
The electric Thembi Kgatlana posed the biggest threat and it was her deflected shot which created a tap in for Hildah Magaia, who injured herself bundling the ball into the net in the 48th minute. It was only South Africa's second-ever goal at a World Cup, which was a good reason for the bench to charge into the corner of the pitch to celebrate.
However, they were not able to celebrate their first win at a finals -- or even a first point. Fridolina Rolfo pulled Sweden level in a slightly fortunate manner, turning home a cross with a touch she knew little about. And as the Sweden corner count racked up late on, reaching 13, the pressure eventually paid off when Amanda Ilestedt nodded home in the 90th minute. -- Sam Marsden.
Lawson: A game of football that matched the weather Sophie Lawson reports from Netherlands' 1-0 win over Portugal in a wet and windy Dunedin evening.
Netherlands do enough
DUNEDIN, New Zealand -- At the 2019 World Cup, Netherlands threatened to move through the gears yet never quite found top speed. They did, however, do enough in first gear to reach the final, but their team has drastically changed since then. As has the global landscape of women's football. Now, if you want to go far in a tournament, it's not enough merely threaten a bit without delivering on that threat.
Against Portugal, a team making their World Cup debut, the Dutch did enough and little more than that. The veterans in the team who had not just been there and done it, but had picked up silverware as well, mostly provided the brighter moments. But they would still need to go back to the playbook to break the deadlock.
Reminiscent of a goal scored against Portugal at the Euros last year, Stefanie van der Gragt nodded home in the first half to decide the tie. Portugal improved as the match went on but struggled to harness their attacking threats, barely able to get into the Dutch box or test goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar.
The match was a damp squib to match the dreary weather in Dunedin, with neither team looking overly prepared to deal with the world champions -- Sophie Lawson.
Will Germany prove to be contenders?
DUNEDIN, New Zealand -- Coming into this World Cup, Germany were once again rated among the favourites (next to the U.S., France, etc.) and although they have their flaws, they're still hopeful of lifting the trophy on Aug. 20 ... something they haven't managed since 2007.
It would be easy to dismiss the buzz around Germany by looking at their recent history, but there is something more to this team. A strong domestic league and firmly defined pathways for players to graduate through the youth ranks and move into the senior team provides the foundations for Germany's longevity.
Although nowhere near able to rival the U.S. for sheer depth of registered girls and women playing football, Germany nevertheless continues to bring through talented generation after talented generation, which is what keeps them in the conversation at youth tournaments (with the likes of Japan and Spain).
The story heading into this World Cup is a familiar one: after fizzling out in 2019 and falling just short at last summer's Euros, Germany looked unconvincing in warm-up games. There has been a lack of cohesion in the side and the attackers that coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg has called upon often look rushed and struggle with the basics. However, there's an expectation that the pieces will magically fall into place once the ball gets rolling against Morocco in Melbourne. -- Sophie Lawson.
Morocco look to inspire
MELBOURNE/NAARM, Australia -- In an appealing piece of synchronicity, Morocco's first-ever appearance at the Women's World Cup comes against Germany on Monday evening, mirroring the debut of its men's side on football's biggest stage at Mexico 1970. Then, a squad featuring just 19 players and led by Yugoslavian coach Blagoje Vidinic, played their first men's World Cup game against West Germany, going down 2-1.
Now 53 years on, the Atlas Lionesses' status as the first-ever Arab nation to qualify for a WWC ensures their place in history regardless of what happens in the coming weeks, but their opening game against the two-time world champions has the potential to set the tone for the rest of the tournament.
Expecting Reynald Pedros' side to upset the Germans is an unrealistic proposition, but the likely absence of Marina Hegering and Lena Oberdorf as well as Germany's problems with defending transition in warm-up fixtures against Vietnam and Zambia could augur opportunities for the likes of Rosella Ayane, Fatima Tagnaout and Sakina Ouzraoui on the counter.
Keeping it tight against the Europeans would place Morocco in good stead heading into more manageable contests with South Korea and Colombia, where they can look to continue their nation's recent magical footballing run. -- Joey Lynch.
Match previews
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook.
Odds: Italy -180, Draw +275, Argentina +490
On paper, you would be forgiven for thinking Italy ought to be the favorite. Italy, ranked 16 in the world, sits 12 spots higher than Argentina in FIFA's world rankings. Argentina has never advanced out of the group stage in a Women's World Cup while Italy reached the quarterfinals in the previous edition in 2019. And Oddsmakers have also picked Italy to win with their betting lines.
If form matters though, Argentina clearly has the edge. They've seemingly found their footing under manager German Portanova and they will be entering this tournament with plenty of confidence, going without a loss in six games in 2023. If Argentina has a vulnerability, it's their leaky defense but fortunately for them, Italy is a team that lacks firepower.
Midfielder Manuela Giugliano is a special player but Le Azzurre lack a clinical finisher ahead of her. After crashing out in the group stage of last summer's Euros, the Italians are still stumbling. Their losses to England (ranked No. 4) and Belgium (No. 19) earlier this year showed an Italy that is not ready to take on top teams. But a draw to 72nd-ranked Morocco earlier this month suggests Italy might not be ready for any of the other teams in their group, Argentina included. -- Caitlin Murray.
Group H: Germany vs Morocco, Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, 6.30 p.m. local / 9.30 a.m. ET / 4.30 a.m. BST
Odds: Germany -5000, Draw +1300, Morocco +4000
Of the various storylines that have emerged across the first days of the World Cup, one that has caught the eye of German coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg has been the challenge that football's old guard has faced in the first-ever 32-nation tournament.
Established powers such as Sweden, England, United States and host nation Australia have all been challenged by less-heralded opposition in their opening matches, while Norway fell to an upset against an emotionally-charged New Zealand.
Now, two-time champions Germany will face a Morocco that coach Reynald Pedros has declared is ""ready to fight"" in their debut tournament -- the Atlas Lionesses are the first-ever Arab nation to qualify for a WWC -- and Voss-Tecklenburg is appropriately wary.
""All the games are tight, women's football teams have come ever closer,"" she said on Sunday. ""All the countries coming here are not only proud to be at the World Cup, but they absolutely have the quality to play here and to pose problems."" -- Joey Lynch.
Pia Sundhage has a long story in football, with the Swedish veteran manager now hoping to lead Brazil to World Cup glory.
Odds: Brazil -10000, Draw +1900, Panama +8000
In a World Cup of few guarantees, one of the most reliable predictions is that we'll see a different Brazil line up in each of the three group-stage matches. Coach Pia Sundhage has garnered a reputation as someone who likes to chop and change her starting XI, but it'll be fascinating to see who gets the nod up front for the Selecao when they face Panama on Monday.
Debinha should start, but who will Sundhage pair with her? Will she go with the in-form Geyse, or go for someone a little different with Bia Zaneratto? Marta, 37, is unlikely to feature against Panama as she continues her comeback from a hamstring injury, but her presence will still be indispensable to this group as they start to prepare for life after the legend as she embarks in her final World Cup. This is also a group without Nycole, with the Benfica midfielder ruled out on the eve of the tournament due to an ankle injury and replaced in the squad by Angelina.
Panama are massive underdogs. Ranked No. 52 in the world, they were the last team to secure their spot in the tournament but will look to midfielder Marta Cox and Washington Spirit forward Riley Tanner for inspiration. -- Tom Hamilton.
Features of the day
England's Earps steps up as goal-scoring struggles continue
You can't buy the jersey of England goalkeeper Mary Earps but she stepped up when it mattered against Haiti as their goal-scoring issues continued.
Crystal Dunn playing with freedom and fury
Motherhood and finding her voice have helped the U.S. women's national team veteran liberate herself from the pressure to perform.
Why are so many Women's World Cup stars missing due to torn ACLs?
The list of absentees is depressingly long. Why is this long-term injury so much more prevalent in the women's game?
And finally ...
At the Sports Bra in Portland, the only thing playing is women's sports. It's a simple, yet seemingly unprecedented idea. Owner Jenny Nguyen believes the bar might have been the first of its kind when it opened in 2022. She envisioned a welcoming spot for people of all backgrounds, a haven for her group of queer and diverse friends who had always felt a bit like outsiders in traditional sports bars. Once the name -- The Sports Bra -- popped into her head, Nguyen said there was no turning back.
She still had no clue, however, whether the community would buy-in. Jamie Goldberg went to visit the bar to watch the USWNT's first match.",Not_Explicit
"The heatwaves battering Europe and the US in July would have been ""virtually impossible"" without human-induced climate change, a scientific study says.
Global warming from burning fossil fuels also made the heatwave affecting parts of China 50 times more likely.
Climate change meant the heatwave in southern Europe was 2.5C hotter, the study finds.
Almost all societies remain unprepared for deadly extreme heat, experts warn.
The study's authors say its findings highlight the importance of the world adapting to higher temperatures because they are no longer ""rare"".
""Heat is among the deadliest types of disaster,"" says Julie Arrighi from the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, and also one of the authors.
Countries must build heat-resistant homes, create ""cool centres"" for people to find shelter, and find ways to cool cities including planting more trees, she says.
In July, temperature records were broken in parts of China, the southern US and Spain. Millions of people spent days under red alerts for extreme heat.
Experts say extreme heat can be a very serious threat to life, especially among the elderly. According to one study, more than 61,000 people were estimated to have died from heat-related causes during last year's heatwaves in Europe.
""This study confirms what we knew before. It shows again just how much climate change plays a role in what we are currently experiencing,"" said Friederike Otto from Imperial College London.
Climate scientists say decades of humans pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere are causing global temperatures to rise.
But not all extreme weather events can immediately be linked directly to climate change because natural weather patterns can also play a part.
Scientists in the UK, US and Netherlands in the World Weather Attribution group studied the recent heatwaves to identify the fingerprint of climate change.
Using computer models, they simulated a world without the effects of emissions pumped into the atmosphere to the real-world temperatures seen during the heatwaves.
The North American heatwave was 2°C (3.6°F) hotter and the heatwave in China was 1°C hotter because of climate change, the scientists concluded.
The world has warmed 1.1C compared to the pre-industrial period before humans began burning fossil fuels.
If temperature rise reaches 2C, which many experts warn is very likely as countries fail to reduce their emissions quickly enough, these events will occur every two to five years, the scientists say.
The study also considered the role of El Niño, a naturally occurring powerful climate fluctuation that began in June. It leads to higher global temperatures as warm waters rise to the surface in the tropical Pacific ocean and push heat into the air.
The study concluded that El Niño probably played a small part but that increased temperatures from burning fossil fuels was the main driver in the more intense heatwaves.
A run of climate records have fallen in recent weeks, including global average temperatures and sea surface temperatures particularly in the North Atlantic.
Experts say the speed and timing is ""unprecedented"" and warn that more records could tumble in the coming weeks and months.
Dangerous wildfires in Greece forced thousands of people to evacuate hotels at the weekend. Experts say that the hot and dry weather created favourable conditions for fire to spread more easily.",Not_Explicit
"Autoliv (ALV) underpins that shared goal. The Sweden-based safety products and systems supplier to many global automakers reported Friday that earnings per share more than doubled in the second quarter, after doubling in Q1. Autoliv stock soared.
Autoliv No. 1 Auto Safety Supplier
Autoliv, the world's biggest air bag and seat belt maker, says it benefits from higher vehicle safety standards and stricter regulations.
Other factors driving its markets include ""the premium vehicle trend and the increasing focus on safety in emerging markets,"" the company said in its 2022 Annual Report.
In China, Autoliv customers include EV startups Nio, Li Auto (LI) and XPeng (XPEV). Its customers also include Ford and General Motors (GM) in the U.S., and Volkswagen (VWAGY) in Europe. Autoliv supplies the Nio ES6 SUV and Ford Lightning truck, for example, both premium, new electric vehicles.
The global shift to electric vehicles continues to gather pace. Autoliv also makes EV safety products, such as battery cutoff switches.
Autoliv Earnings
In Q2, Autoliv revenue jumped 27% to $2.635 billion, it said Friday. Earnings grew 115% per share to $1.93, crushing estimates for $1.41, FactSet shows. That marked accelerating growth from a 17% revenue gain and 100% earnings surge in the first quarter.
The company tied Q2 gains to new product launches, higher prices and cost-cutting measures. ""We achieved the price compensations from customers we planned for,"" the earning release said.
Autoliv Stock, Ford, Nio
In stock market action Friday, Autoliv stock surged 11.1% to 103.58. Shares pegged a 52-week high of 102.30 intraday. The move scored a breakaway gap breakout above a buy point at 98. The breakaway gap rules put the buy point at 99.68.
Nio also rose Friday, but Ford stock fell.
Cost Inflation
On Friday, Autoliv reiterated full-year guidance after beating estimates.
In 2022, the auto safety products maker's earnings fell 12% amid the chip shortage and Covid-19 lockdowns in China. Analysts expect a 48% earnings rebound for full-year 2023, FactSet shows.
Lingering challenges include cost inflation tied to raw materials, labor and logistics.
Year to date, ALV stock is up 32.6%.
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"Bright injured her knee in Chelsea’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg with Lyon in March, limiting her preparation time for the tournament being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
“I’m grateful that I’m able to play and super excited to be here,” she said Friday. “I was surrounded by the best people, so I was very confident in my recovery. I’ve been given absolutely everything that I needed to be in this position.”
Injuries have plagued the Lionesses, who won the European Championship last year, in their lead up to the Women’s World Cup. Beth Mead, Fran Kirby and Leah Wiliamson, who were all projected starters for the team, have been ruled out.
“Unfortunately, injuries are a part of football,” said Bright, who replaced Williamson as captain for the tournament. “We have to look forward and move forward. We have an amazing group of players and staff, and everyone has stepped up. We’re ready to go.”
While injuries have been a disruption to preparations, a dispute with the English Football Association regarding bonus payments and commercial arrangements has also hung over the squad.
This week, England's players released a collective statement saying negotiations had been paused in order to concentrate on the tournament. But they said they would still seek a resolution over an issue that was “key for the growth of women's football in England.”
“Obviously it’s not a situation everyone wants to be in, but I think as players we are not just programmed to play football,” said Bright. “Sometimes we have to have these conversations, but we have a very professional group and football is always at the front of everything.
""We’ve accepted everything is on hold with those discussions and we will address the situation at a later date. For now it is all about the tournament.”
Her comments were echoed by Wiegman, who guided England to victory at the Euros last year and is aiming to complete a trophy double at the World Cup.
“When on the pitch, we are on the pitch and everyone is aligned and everyone is focused on football,” she said. “I haven’t seen any other behavior.”
___
Taft Gantt is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
___
More AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup",Not_Explicit
"Margot Robbie meets a deaf fan and is so excited to speak with him in sign language
Here's another reason to love the 'Barbie' star.
It would be hard to choose anyone to be the ""person of the moment"" right now other than actress Margot Robbie. Her new film, “Barbie,” which she also produced, is currently at the top of the box office, well on its way to becoming the summer's biggest film.
The publicity and excitement surrounding the “Barbie” star has caused a video to resurface showing that the A-list actress has a sweet side and knows a bit of sign language.
In September of 2022, at the London premiere of “Amsterdam,” Robbie was interacting with fans when a deaf man handed her a piece of paper, which appeared to be a sign language cheat sheet. “For me?” the actress asked before exclaiming, “I know it!”
Then she frantically looked for a place to set down the cheat sheet and some pens to free up her hands so she could show off her finger alphabet skills.
In another angle of the same interaction, you can get a better glimpse of Robbie’s hand gestures and see how genuinely enthused she was to share this touching moment with the man. ""Nice to meet you,"" she appears to say to him after rifling through the alphabet.
If you’re familiar with American Sign Language (ASL), you may have noticed that the signs Robbie and the fan use are a bit different. In the video, Robbie uses Auslan or Australian sign language, which is related to British Sign Language (BSL) and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). These three signed languages descended from the same parent language and are part of the BANZSL language family.",Not_Explicit
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BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping told former top U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger on Thursday that relations between the two countries are at a crossroads and both sides need to “make new decisions” that could result in stable ties and “joint success and prosperity.”
The 100-year-old Kissinger is revered in China for having engineered the opening of relations between the ruling Communist Party and Washington under former President Richard Nixon during the Cold War in the early 1970s.
Xi, who is head of state, party general secretary and commander of the world’s largest standing military, met with Kissinger in the relatively informal setting of Beijing’s park-like Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, with Chinese senior diplomat Wang Yi also in attendance.
READ MORE: Blinken heads to Tonga, New Zealand, Australia as U.S. aims to counter China’s influence in the region
“China and the United States are once again at the crossroads of where to go, and the two sides need to make new decisions,” Xi said, according to a statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“Looking into the future, China and the United States can achieve joint success and prosperity,” Xi said.
Kissinger’s visit coincided with one by Biden’s top climate envoy, John Kerry, the third senior Biden administration official in recent weeks to travel to China for meetings following Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The flurry of diplomacy aims to restore dialogue suspended by Beijing, mainly over U.S. support for the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan that China claims as its own territory.
Referring to Kissinger’s role in initiating China-U.S. relations while serving as national security adviser during the Nixon administration, Wang said he had played an “irreplaceable role in enhancing mutual understanding between the two countries.”
“The U.S. policy toward China requires the diplomatic wisdom like that of Kissinger and political courage like Nixon’s,” Wang said, according to the Foreign Ministry. Kissinger also served as secretary of state under Nixon.
The ministry said the two sides also discussed the war in Ukraine, in which China has largely sided with Moscow, as well as artificial intelligence and other economic issues. Wang told Kissinger that it was “impossible” to transform, encircle or contain China, which Chinese leaders say the U.S. is trying to do in disputes over trade, technology, Taiwan and China’s human rights record.
On Tuesday, Kissinger held talks with Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who is barred from visiting the U.S. over arms sales he oversaw with Russia.
China’s Defense Ministry quoted Li as praising the role Kissinger played in opening up China-U.S. relations in the early 1970s, but said bilateral ties had hit a low point because of “some people on the American side who are not willing to meet China halfway.”
WATCH: Henry Kissinger reflects on leadership, global crises and the state of U.S. politics
U.S. leaders say they have no such intentions and only seek frank dialogue and fair competition.
China broke off many contacts with the Biden administration last August, including over climate issues, to show its anger with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. China claims the island as its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, threatening to draw the U.S. into a major conflict in a region crucial to the global economy.
Contacts have only slowly been restored and China continues to refuse to restart dialogue between the People’s Liberation Army, the party’s military branch, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Even before Pelosi’s visit, the U.S. says China declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for top-level dialogues since 2021.
The wave of U.S. diplomacy has yet to be reciprocated by China, which has its own list of concessions it wants from Washington. U.S. officials, including Kerry, have said they will not offer Beijing any such deals.
Kissinger did not meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who has been out of public sight for more than three weeks. Despite speculation about political rivalries and personal scandals, the ministry has provided no information about his status in keeping with the party’s standard approach to personnel matters in a highly opaque political system in which the media and free speech are severely restricted.
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"A longtime friend and ally of Hunter Biden and the Biden family served as a prosecutor in the Delaware U.S. Attorney's office when that office led the federal investigation into Hunter Biden and has visited the White House at least five times during the Biden administration, a Fox News Digital investigation has found.
Alexander Snyder Mackler, a former legal counsel to Joe Biden when he was vice president and a prior campaign manager in 2010, served as an assistant United States attorney in the Delaware U.S. Attorney's office under David Weiss from August 2016 to May 2019. During that time, Weiss was leading the federal investigation into Hunter Biden for tax fraud and illegal foreign business dealings.
According to emails from Hunter’s abandoned laptop, which were reviewed and verified by Fox News Digital, Mackler and Hunter Biden remained in close contact, with Mackler once signing off an email saying, ""Love you brother.""
It's unclear what, if any, role Mackler played in the probe. Even if Mackler played no role in the Hunter Biden investigation, his professional closeness with Weiss' team is sure to lead to conflict of interest questions from Republicans on Capitol Hill. Fox News Digital has reached out to Weiss and Mackler for comment.
Hunter Biden had been under federal investigation since 2018. That investigation into his ""tax affairs"" began amid the discovery of suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding funds from ""China and other foreign nations.""
Mackler, who also worked for Joe Biden in 2008 as his press secretary during his time in the U.S. Senate, previously told The Washington Times he did not know about the case when he was a federal prosecutor and only learned about it with the rest of the world through Hunter Biden’s press statement Dec. 9, 2020, which came a month after his father's presidential win.
Last month, Biden agreed to a deal with the Justice Department to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax and entered a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
Mackler has been the Deputy Attorney General of Delaware since May 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile.
According to visitor logs reviewed by Fox News Digital, he visited the White House five times last year, including a one-on-one meeting with President Biden.
On March 28, 2022, Mackler met with White House counsel Steve Ricchetti for a one-on-one meeting. On April 11, he met with President Biden in a one-on-one meeting. On Aug. 28, he met with Biden's 2024 campaign manager, Julie Rodriguez, who was also serving as Biden's senior adviser, for a one-on-one meeting. And on Sept. 21, he met one on one with Claudia Marconi, senior adviser for congressional engagement. Mackler also attended a White House event in December.
Fox News Digital reviewed emails and text messages that reveal Mackler has maintained relatively frequent contact with the younger Biden for many years.
In a text message dated March 10, 2019, well after the federal investigation was underway, Mackler texted Hunter Biden, saying he was ""in the car for a long drive"" and ""just wanted to say hi.""
On Oct. 16, 2018, Mackler emailed Biden ""wondering how life is on [his] end"" before signing off, ""Love you brother.""
Two years earlier, in August 2016, when he first started working under Weiss, Mackler emailed Hunter Biden and Eric Schwerin, president of Hunter Biden’s now-dissolved Rosemont Seneca Partners, boasting about his ""first day at the new job,"" according to an Aug. 22, 2016, email.
One week later, Mackler gave his two cents on a drafted statement regarding the launch of the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware, writing to Hunter Biden and others, ""Looks good to me.""
Mackler also frequently vented to Hunter Biden and Schwerin following Hillary Clinton’s upset defeat to former President Donald Trump later that November.
""I'm trying very hard to take solace in the fact that more people in this country feel like us than like Trump's people,"" Mackler said.
""It's hard,"" he wrote to Hunter Biden and Schwerin Nov. 9, 2016, one day after the election.
The next day, he wrote to Hunter Biden and Schwerin, ""I truly hope he picks all these clowns,"" referring to Trump’s potential cabinet picks at the time, including former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
A few days later, he blasted the Democrats backing Hillary Clinton at the time as ""pompous … a--holes.""
Six months later, Mackler was still perceivably upset about the election after Schwerin shared a story about David Axelrod, who had criticized Clinton for blaming her loss on virtually everything but her own campaign.
""I'm old enough to remember when he took a whole afternoon of JRB's [Joseph Robinette Biden] time in the West Wing, arguing that he needed to get out of HRC's [Hillary Rodham Clinton] way because she was the better candidate and would win,"" Mackler fumed.
Weiss has repeatedly denied claims by two IRS whistleblowers who alleged officials at the Justice Department, FBI and IRS interfered with Weiss’ five-year investigation into President Biden’s son.
The House Oversight Committee, House Judiciary Committee and House Ways and Means Committee are conducting a joint investigation into the federal probe into Hunter Biden and whether prosecutorial decisions were influenced by politics.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in June that Weiss, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in November 2017, ""was given complete authority"" in the prosecutorial decisions concerning Hunter Biden.
In June, House Republicans demanded testimony from Weiss and more than a dozen federal officials, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf, who allegedly blocked lines of questioning in the investigation related to President Biden.
A source close to the Delaware Biden probe told the Daily Mail this month that Mackler worked with Wolf on at least one Delaware federal case and that the two were friends.
""The source said there were concerns about Wolf's ties to the ex-Biden advisor while she was investigating Hunter and that their collegiate relationship was even allegedly referred to the 'Designated Agency Ethics Officer' for Weiss's office,"" the Daily Mail reported July 14.",Not_Explicit
"A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
Defenders of former President Donald Trump have responded to news of his indictment by the US Department of Justice with deflection: Why is Trump being charged but not President Joe Biden’s son Hunter?
“The two standards of justice under Biden’s DOJ is appalling. When will Hunter Biden be charged?” tweeted Rep. Steve Daines of Montana, who has already endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign and who is in charge of coordinating Republicans’ strategy for keeping control of the House of Representatives.
The facts, however, are much less clear.
Fueling Republicans’ frustration this week is a standoff on Capitol Hill over a document detailing an interview conducted years ago based on a tip given to the DOJ by former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani, you might recall, had been tasked with digging up dirt on the Bidens. House Republicans are convinced the interview with the confidential informant, based on Giuliani’s allegations, implicates both the president and his son.
There’s an awkward circularity in there. Republicans are alleging the FBI under the Biden administration tried to cover up an investigation of a tip given to the FBI by Giuliani during the Trump administration, and which even Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, treated with extreme care.
Here’s what to know:
What do Republicans allege?
That the FBI has been hiding evidence of a bribery allegation that could involve the president and his son receiving $5 million from someone with ties to Ukraine.
Republicans say the evidence comes from an internal law enforcement document, known as an FD-1023, which details an interview conducted with a confidential informant.
It is the one and only allegation that the president has been involved in something illegal. However, it is based on a tip the FBI has not been able to verify.
What’s their basis for this allegation?
Someone Republicans view as a whistleblower told lawmakers on Capitol Hill in May about the form detailing the interview and has alleged the FBI tried to bury it.
Why didn’t the FBI want to hand over the document?
It contains what the FBI calls “unverified” information.
Essentially, anything could lead to an FD-1023 form, which does nothing more than acknowledge an interview took place.
While Republicans are assuming there is a coverup, it does make some sense that if the FBI had gotten a wild claim that it could in no way substantiate, it would not want to give oxygen to that information.
After all, much of Republicans’ gripe with the Russia investigation is that it stemmed from allegations about Trump that could not be verified. For more on that, read about the recently released report from special counsel John Durham, a Trump-administration appointee.
Will lawmakers get to see the document?
Yes. After House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress, the FBI agreed to let all lawmakers on the committee view the FD-1023 form.
Comer and the ranking Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin, had already been given access.
After being given that access, Raskin said this whole affair is “part of the effort to smear President Biden and help Mr. Trump’s reelection campaign.”
What are Republicans saying after seeing the document?
After viewing the document, lawmakers confirmed the allegations have to do with Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, and the document details conversations over a few years about the allegations and payments made.
Members who viewed the document said the alleged payments to the Bidens are intentionally difficult to be traced.
“If the information contained in this document is true, then there will be absolutely bank records to back it up. And that should be the next phase of the Oversight Committee is to go find and extract those bank records, go back and look at the suspicious activity reports,” said Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
Republicans have an ongoing investigation into the finances of Hunter Biden and other Biden relatives. Read more about that.
How long has the FBI had this document?
For years. In fact, it dates back to the Trump administration.
CNN’s Evan Perez has reported that the document has origins in a tranche of documents that Giuliani provided to the Justice Department in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.
What has the FBI been doing with the information from the informant?
Barr, when he was Trump’s attorney general, directed then-Pittsburgh US Attorney Scott Brady to oversee the FBI investigation of the Giuliani claims.
According to Perez’s reporting, Barr was worried the unsubstantiated claim could taint the work being done by the US attorney in Delaware who is overseeing a longtime and ongoing investigation of Hunter Biden on numerous fronts.
Brady’s team interviewed the confidential informant on June 30, 2020, which generated the FD-1023. Barr recently told The Federalist the information was ultimately forwarded to the US attorney in Delaware.
Republicans have questioned whether the US attorney there followed up on the allegations made in the interview.
Will Hunter Biden be charged with a crime?
It is definitely possible. Investigations into his business dealings with foreign clients, his failure to pay taxes on time and his purchase of a gun when he was addicted to drugs have all been ongoing. His attorneys met with officials in the Justice Department’s tax division in Washington, DC, in April.
From CNN’s report at the time: According to sources familiar with the investigation, prosecutors are still weighing whether to bring two misdemeanor charges for failure to file taxes, one count of felony tax evasion related to the overreporting of expenses, and a false statement charge regarding a gun purchase.
About Hunter Biden
He has been a top target for Republican investigations for years on multiple fronts. His lifestyle as a drug addict trading on his father’s name to do business overseas is not a good reflection on his father. The money he and other Bidens made from foreign companies is just as uncomfortable for the president.
There are other Hunter Biden-related threads. He has been ordered to appear next month in an Arkansas courtroom to explain why he should not be held in contempt for stonewalling attempts to obtain his financial data. He denies wrongdoing. The court proceedings are underway because his attorneys say he can no longer afford to pay $20,000 in monthly child support.
But there’s a false equivalence between comparing his affairs, which still ultimately rely on unverified claims forwarded to the FBI by Giuliani, and Trump’s treatment of classified data, which the Department of Justice apparently feels confident it can prosecute.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misidentified the whistleblower who made Republican lawmakers aware of the FD-1023 form.",Not_Explicit
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel’s president speaks to Congress on Wednesday in an appearance aimed at demonstrating what he calls the “unbreakable bond” between Israel and the United States, despite U.S. concerns over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul and settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
Herzog’s address is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET. Watch the event live in the player above.
Isaac Herzog becomes the second Israeli president, after his father, Chaim Herzog, to address Congress. His speech will mark modern Israel’s celebration of its 75th year.
But the visit by Israel’s figurehead president also is exposing the difficulties that Democrats face in balancing longstanding U.S. support for ally Israel with disapproval of some actions by Netanyahu’s government, a coalition of ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties.
The House on Tuesday passed a Republican-led resolution reaffirming its support for Israel with strong bipartisan approval — an implicit rebuke of a leading Democrat who over the weekend called the country a “racist state” but later apologized.
The resolution, introduced by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, passed with more than 400 lawmakers backing the measure. It did not mention Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., by name but was clearly a response to her recent remarks about Israel. The measure was drafted soon after she criticized Israel and its treatment of Palestinians at a conference on Saturday.
Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, walked back the comments the next day, insisting her comments were aimed at Netanyahu and not at Israel.
“I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist,” Jayapal said in a statement. “I do, however, believe that Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government.”
The GOP-led effort highlighted the divide among House Democrats over Israel, with younger progressives adopting a more critical stance toward the longtime U.S. ally than party leaders.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., the only Palestinian-American in Congress, is boycotting Herzog’s speech Wednesday and criticized the resolution as normalizing violence against those living in the occupied West Bank, given the Netanyahu government’s approval of expanded Jewish settlements there.
“We’re here again reaffirming Congress’ support for apartheid,” Tlaib said during floor debate Tuesday on the Republican measure. “Policing the words of women of color who dare to speak up about truths, about oppression.”
Over at the White House on Tuesday, Herzog sought to assure Biden that Israel remains committed to democracy amid deepening U.S. concerns over Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul his country’s judicial system.
READ MORE: Israeli protesters block highways and military headquarters in response to judicial overhaul plan
Netanyahu and his allies say the overhaul is needed to rein in the powers of unelected judges. Opponents say the plan will destroy Israel’s fragile system of checks and balances and move the country toward authoritarian rule.
Herzog has appealed for a compromise that has thus far proven elusive. Many American Jewish groups and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about the plan.
Herzog’s visit comes weeks after Israeli forces carried out one of their most intensive operations in the occupied West Bank in two decades, with a two-day air and ground offensive in Jenin, a militant stronghold. Senior members of Netanyahu’s government have been pushing for increased construction and other measures to cement Israel’s control over the occupied West Bank in response to a more than yearlong wave of violence with the Palestinians.
U.S. officials have broadly supported Israel’s right to defend itself from militant attacks but have also urged restraint to minimize harm to civilians and have lobbied against additional settlements that would further diminish the chances of securing a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
With differences in plain view, Biden sought to stress the importance of the U.S.-Israeli relationship in his brief remarks before reporters Tuesday.
“This is a friendship I believe is just simply unbreakable,” Biden said. “As I confirmed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, America’s commitment to Israel is firm and it is ironclad.”
Ahead of Herzog’s visit, Biden spoke with Netanyahu by phone and invited him to meet in the U.S. this fall, although the president expressed reservations about several of the Netanyahu hard-right coalition’s policies.
Herzog said the Biden-Netanyahu conversation sent an important message to the region.
“I was pleased to hear about your conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu in which you focused on our ironclad military and security cooperation because there are some enemies of ours that sometimes mistake the fact that we may have some differences as impacting our unbreakable bond,” Herzog said.
The Biden administration declined to say whether Biden would host Netanyahu at the White House — as the Israeli leader has hoped — or in New York on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly.
White House visits are typically standard protocol for Israeli prime ministers, and the delay in Netanyahu receiving one has become an issue in Israel, with opponents citing it as a reflection of deteriorating relations with the U.S.
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"Las calabacitas son un ingrediente que nunca debe de faltar en las recetas de la comida mexicana. Y cómo no, si es que las calabacitas son un vegetal muy mexicano; originaria de la Milpa, muy saludable, con precios accesibles y muy versátiles, que se pueden preparar de muchas formas: desde calabacitas a la mexicana, hasta horneadas y rellenas.
En particular, esta receta de calabacitas a la mexicana es un platillo ganador: ligero, muy saludable y las podemos preparar con ingredientes que normalmente tenemos en nuestras casa (se trata de la clásica mezcla de ‘a la mexicana’ con jitomate, cebolla y una pizca de chile que no puede faltar en nuestras despensas).
Es una receta económica de preparar, pero la mejor parte del asunto es que es ligera, baja en grasas y muy rápida. Básicamente, esta receta reúne todo lo que buscamos en un platillo: es saludable, es rica y es fácil de preparar. ¿Necesitábamos algo más? No dejes de probar estas calabacitas a la mexicana, idénticas a las que preparaba mi mamá en casa.
Cómo hacer Calabacitas a la Mexicana, receta de las mamás mexicanas
Foto: Guajillo sutdio
Ingredientes:
3 calabacitas, picadas
2 jitomates, picados
1/4 de cebolla blanca, finamente picada
1 diente de ajo, picado
1 chile jalapeño o serrano (opcional)
1 taza de granos de elote amarillo
Mantequilla o aceite al gusto
1 cucharadita de orégano seco
Sal y pimienta al gusto
Procedimiento:
En una sartén mediana, derrite la mantequilla o calienta el aceite. Sofríe la cebolla y el ajo durante unos 3 minutos o hasta que cambien de color.
Agrega el chile en rodajas (opcional) y el jitomate. Cocina por otros 4 minutos o hasta que el jitomate se suavice y desintegre ligeramente.
Añade las calabacitas y los granos de elote. Sazona con sal, pimienta y una pizca de orégano.
Tapa la sartén y cocina a fuego bajo por unos 8 minutos más. Si prefieres que queden más caldosas, puedes agregar media taza de agua, caldo de pollo o caldillo de jitomate.
Opcionalmente, al final, puedes agregar un poco de queso fresco o queso oaxaca deshebrado y tapar nuevamente para que gratinen bien. También puedes añadir un poco de crema agria si lo deseas.
Sirve las calabacitas a la mexicana como plato principal o acompáñalas con tortillas de maíz para una deliciosa cena. ¡Disfruta!
Esta es una receta muy versátil y deliciosa, perfecta para adaptarse a tus gustos y preferencias culinarias. Si deseas volverla más sustanciosa y enriquecer su sabor, puedes experimentar añadiéndole algunos ingredientes:
Calabacitas a la Mexicana con Carne de Puerco: Añade trozos de carne de puerco previamente cocida a la receta tradicional de calabacitas a la mexicana para una opción más sustanciosa y llena de sabor.
Calabacitas a la Mexicana con Tocino: Agrega tocino cortado en trozos pequeños junto con la cebolla y el ajo para un toque ahumado y delicioso en cada bocado.
Calabacitas a la Mexicana con Pollo: Incorpora trozos de pollo cocido a la mezcla para una versión con proteína adicional y un sabor suave y reconfortante.
Calabacitas a la Mexicana con Crema: Añade un toque cremoso a la receta original al verter crema en la sartén junto con los ingredientes, para obtener una textura más rica y suave.
Calabacitas a la Mexicana con Queso Panela: Agrega cubos de queso panela a las calabacitas una vez que estén cocidas para una opción vegetariana con un toque de cremosidad y proteína.
Experimenta con estas variaciones y disfruta de diferentes sabores y combinaciones en tu platillo de calabacitas a la mexicana. ¡Seguro encontrarás una opción que se adapte a tus gustos. Las posibilidades son infinitas y te aseguro que cada versión será igual de deliciosa y reconfortante!
Si te gustó esta receta, no olvides suscribirte a nuestro canal de YouTube. Cada semana tenemos una receta nueva para ti.",Not_Explicit
"Vedanta Q1 Results Review - Revenue Inline; Marginal Miss On Ebitda: Motilal Oswal
Vedanta’s net debt stood at ~Rs 592 billion and net debt/Ebitda stood at 1.88 times in Q1 FY24.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
Vedanta Ltd.’s consolidated net sales stood at Rs 337 billion (down 12% YoY), in line with our estimate of Rs 334 billion. Revenue was adversely impacted by the reduction in commodity prices and lower volumes, which was partially offset by higher premiums and favorable exchange rate movement.
Vedanta’s consolidated Ebitda stood at Rs 64 billion (down 37% YoY), 6% miss to our estimate of Rs 68 billion. The aluminum vertical was down 19% YoY to Rs 18 billion; Hindustan Zinc Ltd. was down 35% QoQ to Rs 33 billion and the oil and gas vertical was down 45% YoY to Rs 11 billion. All the verticals (except copper) were profitable during the quarter.
Vedanta’s adjusted profit after tax stood at Rs 9 billion (down 81% YoY) against our estimate of Rs 16 billion. The miss was led by higher finance cost, lower other income, and higher normalised effective tax rate.
London Metal Exchange prices across the non-ferrous portfolio were down QoQ. Zinc/Lead/ Copper/Aluminum prices were down 19%/1%/5%/6% on a QoQ basis, whereas silver was up 7% QoQ.
Vedanta’s net debt stood at ~Rs 592 billion and net debt/Ebitda stood at 1.88 times in Q1 FY24 as against 1.28 times as on March 2023.
Vedanta paid out Rs 18.5 as the first interim dividend for FY24.
Click on the attachment to read the full report:
DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - Russia warned that from Thursday any ships traveling to Ukraine's Black Sea ports will be seen as possibly carrying military cargoes after Ukraine said it was setting up a temporary shipping route to try and continue its grain exports.
The moves by both countries on Wednesday came just days after Russia quit a deal - brokered by the United Nations and Turkey - that allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain for the past year, and revoked its guarantees of safe navigation.
Ukraine has made clear that it wants to try and continue its Black Sea grain shipments and told the U.N. shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), that it had ""decided to establish on a temporary basis a recommended maritime route.""
But Russia's Defence Ministry then said it would deem all ships travelling to Ukraine to be potentially carrying military cargo and ""the flag countries of such ships will be considered parties to the Ukrainian conflict"".
In a statement on the Telegram messaging app, it said the move would start at midnight Moscow time (2100 GMT Wednesday).
The Defence Ministry did not say what actions it might take.
Russia was also declaring southeastern and northwestern parts of the Black Sea's international waters to be temporarily unsafe for navigation, the ministry said, without giving details about the parts of the sea which would be affected.
Ukraine accused Russia on Wednesday of damaging grain export infrastructure in ""hellish"" overnight strikes focused on two of its Black Sea ports.
In a televised meeting with senior officials on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Western countries he said ""completely distorted"" the expired grain deal, but that Russia would ""immediately"" return to the agreement if all its conditions for doing so were met.
WARY INSURERS
Insurers were already reviewing their appetite for covering ships into Ukraine.
A cargo insurance facility providing cover for Ukraine grain shipments traveling under the Black Sea deal has been suspended, the policy's broker told Reuters on Tuesday. The marine cargo and war facility provided cover of up to $50 million per cargo.
Norwegian shipping insurance group DNK, which provides war risk policies, told Reuters on Wednesday it was currently unable to provide cover for Ukraine.
The U.N. said on Tuesday there are a ""number of ideas being floated"" to help get Ukrainian and Russian grain and fertilizer to global markets after Moscow quit the Black Sea deal.
The Black Sea pact was brokered to combat a global food crisis worsened by Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia are among the world's top grain exporters.
Russia's withdrawal on Monday also ended a pact between the United Nations and Moscow in which U.N. officials agreed to help Russian food and fertilizer exports reach world markets.
Moscow has suggested that if demands to improve exports of its own grain and fertilizer were met, it would consider resurrecting the Black Sea agreement. It quit because it said those demands had not been met and it complained not enough Ukrainian grain was reaching poor countries under the deal.
But the U.N. argued the arrangement has benefited those states by helping lower food prices more than 20% globally. Ukraine has also been a key supplier of grain for the U.N. World Food Programme's efforts to fight hunger.
(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Michelle Nichols; editing by Jonathan Oatis)",Not_Explicit
"TSMC Cuts 2023 Outlook Ahead Of Delay To Marquee US Project
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. cut its annual outlook for revenue and postponed the start of production at its signature Arizona project to 2025, twin setbacks for a chipmaking linchpin struggling with geopolitical tensions and a deep market slump.
(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. cut its annual outlook for revenue and postponed the start of production at its signature Arizona project to 2025, twin setbacks for a chipmaking linchpin struggling with geopolitical tensions and a deep market slump.
TSMC’s surprise cut in 2023 revenue projections sent a warning to investors that the global electronics slump may persist for some time despite a boom in AI development. And the delay in the US — a consequence of both a lack of skilled American workers and ballooning costs — underscores the difficulties in making chips there despite Washington’s insistence to reduce a global reliance on Asian facilities.
The main chipmaker for Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp. projected a 10% fall in sales this year, versus previous guidance for a single-digit decline. Executives also warned investors to temper their expectations for a boom in chips for training AI models, saying it was uncertain whether the surge in demand in the wake of ChatGPT was long-term or sustainable. Shares in chip firms including ASML Holding NV, one of TSMC’s primary gear suppliers, slid in Europe.
“The short-term frenzy about AI demand definitely cannot be extrapolated for the long term,” Chairman Mark Liu told analysts on a conference call. “Neither can we predict for next year how the sudden demand will continue or flatten out.”
Read more: TSMC Delays Arizona Chip Output to 2025 on Worker Shortages
TSMC delivered the outlook after posting its first quarterly profit decline in four years, underscoring the extent of a global slide in smartphone and PC demand. It reported a 23% slide in net income to NT$181.8 billion ($5.85 billion). Executives said capital intensity — a measure of the pace at which TSMC buys or invests in capital equipment — to slow in coming years.
Executives on Thursday said they were also pushing back the anticipated start of output from its new Arizona plant to 2025. President Joe Biden’s administration has made development of domestic chip production a top strategic priority, backed by subsidies in the Chips and Science Act that may top $50 billion. As the US clashes with China, American politicians have been concerned about the vulnerability of Taiwan, which Beijing has claimed as its own territory.
To mitigate concerns from customers over geopolitical uncertainties in the Taiwan Strait, TSMC has been diversifying its manufacturing footprint. It is investing $40 billion to create two fabs in Arizona and constructing a $8.6 billion facility in Japan with financial support from the government. The company remains in discussions with Tokyo over subsidies for a second facility, which might be located alongside its current plant in Kumamoto.
The hiccups in Arizona however call into question whether TSMC can make chips abroad as efficiently as back home.
“We are working on improving this by sending skilled technical workers from Taiwan to the US,” Liu said.
Investors are still betting on TSMC becoming a heavyweight in the global race to develop next-generation AI.
Top customer Nvidia’s chips are essential to ChatGPT, autonomous driving and a new generation of AI products. The US firm’s valuation briefly surpassed $1 trillion this year thanks to Wall Street’s obsession with generative AI, propping up the fortunes of TSMC and other electronics firms that supply the infrastructure needed to train AI models.
“Although its lower revenue guidance and its Arizona fab push-out were some of the negatives, we think earnings have generally bottomed as the firm looks ready to ramp up 3nm node lines aggressively,” said Amir Anvarzadeh at Asymmetric Advisors. “Given that TSMC is the only viable producer of AI chips as well as having the right packaging technology, we see huge upside in both revenues and earnings, especially from next term.”
More immediately, the iPhone chipmaker is struggling to sustain margins and growth in its smartphone and consumer-oriented business, which has shrunk alongside a global post-Covid economic downturn.
Signs are mixed as to when that slump might end. TSMC projected sales of $16.7 billion to $17.5 billion this quarter, weaker versus expectations. Executives said the Chinese post-Covid economic recovery has been slower and soften than anticipated. And the company reaffirmed that 2023 capital expenditure should come in toward the lower end of a previously forecast range of $32 billion to $36 billion.
Samsung Electronics Co. this month reported its worst decline in quarterly revenue since at least 2009. Global smartphone shipments plunged 11% in the April to June period, the sixth successive quarterly decline, research firm Canalys estimates.
But backlogs of unsold phones are shrinking. And this week, ASML revealed orders rose in the second quarter after demand for its chip-making machines picked up.
“The smartphone market is sending early signals of recovery,” said Le Xuan Chiew, an analyst at Canalys. “Smartphone inventory has begun to clear up as smartphone vendors prioritized cutting inventory of old models to make room for new launches.”
Click here for a rundown of TSMC’s numbers.
--With assistance from Cindy Wang, Gao Yuan, Betty Hou and Olivia Tam.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.",Not_Explicit
"MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama lawmakers say they're trying to satisfy a landmark Supreme Court order to draw a new district giving a voice to Black voters, but with hours to go before a court-ordered deadline Friday, experts say Republican proposals fall far short of what the law requires.
The Republican-controlled state House and Senate will meet Friday and could advance separate plans increasing the share of Black voters in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District. Legislative leaders say they intend to meet the deadline, meaning the two chambers must compromise on one plan.
Both plans preserve the current Black majority of the 7th District. But neither plan comes close to creating a second Black majority district in a state that is 27% Black.
A three-judge panel ruled in 2022 that the current legislative map likely violates the federal Voting Rights Act and said any map should include two districts where “Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.” This June, the Supreme Court upheld that decision.
“I think this is another good example, maybe the latest and perhaps the most brazen, of a legislature that didn’t want to take the hint,” said Kareem Crayton, senior director for voting and representation at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice.
“They have pretended as though the court didn’t say what it said,” Crayton said.
The Brennan Center filed a brief supporting the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court.
An analysis by The Associated Press, using redistricting software, shows the 2nd District proposed by state senators, with a Black voting-age population of 38%, has been routinely and easily won by Republicans in recent elections. The House proposal, with a Black voting-age population of 42%, is closely split between Democrats and Republicans, but could still shut out Black voter preferences.
The plaintiffs who won the Supreme Court case have vowed to fight either proposal if enacted. They say it's crucial that Blacks have more representation in Alabama and other states if their votes are to be meaningful.
The debate in Alabama could be mirrored in fights in Louisiana, Georgia, Texas and other states.
Republican leaders on Thursday emphasized that they are trying to draw districts that are compact in size and keep together communities of interest. One issue has been whether to carve up the Mobile and Dothan areas to add their Black voters to a second Black-dominated district, as those who sued Alabama proposed.
Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, a Jasper Republican, said the Senate plan focuses more on keeping communities together and keeping districts as compact as possible, and less on Black voting-age population.
“How do we keep those communities together, how do they wind up being recognized as communities of interest? That’s a big decision,"" Reed said.
Reed said the House's map, with 42% Black voters in a second district, is probably as high as lawmakers are willing to go.
But those who study redistricting say that’s simply not enough, considering how sharply Alabama voters divide along racial lines.
“I would think at 38 or 42 that the court isn’t going to sign off,” said Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist who wrote a book about redistricting. He predicted the three-judge panel will end up drawing its own map.
Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, a Greensboro Democrat, said the Senate's 2nd District ""just doesn't work as an opportunity district that I believe that the court had in mind in terms of the numbers.”
Republican lawmakers hope to showcase the issues of compactness and unified communities in court. They're hoping a second round of litigation, or even another trip to the Supreme Court, will let them avoid creating giving a second of Alabama’s seven congressional districts to a Democrat.
Bullock and Crayton were skeptical that the high court would immediately backtrack on its ruling and said federal courts discount compactness and preserving communities in redistricting.
“It can’t take a front seat to matters that are entrenched in federal law,"" Crayton said, calling those arguments “silly.”
Bullock said appeal might not make it back to the Supreme Court in time for the 2024 election, and it could be that Republicans anticipate losing the case but won't vote for a plan that sacrifices a sitting Republican congressman.
“Another interpretation would be they couldn’t bring themselves to do in one of their friends,"" Bullock said. “Let somebody else take the blame. Let the courts take the blame.”
___
Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.",Not_Explicit
"Bipartisan senators unveiling measure to ban stock ownership by lawmakers, administration officials
A bipartisan pair of senators unveiled a bill Wednesday to ban stock ownership by lawmakers and administration officials, in what they are calling the “most substantial bipartisan effort to ban stock trading.”
The bill, introduced by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Josh Hawley, (R-M.O. would establish firmer stock trading bans and disclosure requirements for lawmakers, senior executive branch officials and their spouses and dependents.
The Bank Stock Trading for Government Officials Act is the latest bipartisan effort to enact a stock trading ban for members of Congress, an issue that has been pushed for in the past few cycles of Congress.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the legislation introduced by Gillibrand and Hawley.
“It is critical that the American people know that their elected leaders are putting the public first – not looking for ways to line their own pockets,” said Gillibrand in a statement.
The bill would ban Congressional members, the president, vice president, senior executive branch members, and their spouses and dependents from holding or trading stocks, with no exception to blind trusts. Congressional members who violate this ban would be required to pay at least 10 percent of the banned investments.
“Politicians and civil servants shouldn’t spend their time day-trading and trying to make a profit at the expense of the American public, but that’s exactly what so many are doing,” Hawley said.
The legislation also establishes harsh penalties for executive branch stock trading, requiring executive branch officials to give up profits from covered finance interests to the Department of Treasury, while also facing a fine from the Automatic Special Counsel.
Congressional members, senior Congressional staff, and senior executive branch employees would also be required to report if they, a spouse or a dependent applies for or receives a “benefit of value” from the federal government, including loans, contracts, grants, agreements, and payments. If they fail to file, they will face a $500 penalty.
The bill aims to increase transparency, requiring public databases of personal financial disclosures and financial transaction filings required by the STOCK Act, which prohibits members of Congress from using insider information when buying and selling stocks. The penalty for the failing to file STOCK Act transaction reports would also increase from $200 to $500.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"PVR-INOX - A Dominant Force In The Cinema Space: Motilal Oswal
Growing scale of OTT platforms could dilute footfalls.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Motilal Oswal Report
The merged entity PVR-INOX Ltd., with a revenue scale of Rs 82.3 billion as of FY25E and expected Ebitda margins of 18.6%, is currently trading at 10 times FY25E enterprise value/Ebitda, which is lower than its historical average.
However, weak occupancy poses risk to earnings. Moreover, the lack of visibility in occupancy improvement, increasing threat from the digital (over-the top) segment and the lower return on capital employed profile may keep valuations inexpensive.
We believe key factors that could drive profitability include:
a strong release pipeline from June 2023 onward; and
recent initiatives like increasing average ticket prices and optimising revenue through spends per head and ad revenues.
We value the merged entity at 10 times FY25E enterprise value/Ebitda to arrive at a target price of Rs 1,495. Maintain 'Neutral'.
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DISCLAIMER
This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner.",Not_Explicit
"The unpleasant realities behind the self-praise at the NATO summit
Despite the flood of positive and negative commentary on NATO’s recent Vilnius summit, a careful perusal of what actually happened there cannot but raise concern.
On the positive side, the obstacles to Swedish membership fell away and virtually everyone reaffirmed their support for Ukraine and pledged material contributions to it and NATO. But on the negative side, NATO conceded it is divided over Ukrainian membership, there is little sign that the alliance, rather than its individual members, will be able to produce or willing to give Ukraine the weapons it needs to win, which it has persistently requested for months.
Moreover, NATO once again attached conditions to Ukrainian membership even though nobody knows or can define what those conditions are. Even though Ukraine is defending not only itself, but also European security, at an immense cost, not only is the door to NATO still closed but nobody knows what the key to unlocking it is, where it is, or if it will fit when found.
Worse yet, NATO revealed here that it has no strategy for ending this war or for what comes after it. This can be gleaned simply by closely examining statements and actions by leading members of the Biden administration.
First, despite months of supposedly close and rigorous interaction with our European allies, Washington apparently failed to take full account of the fact that the majority of our European allies supported a timetable for Ukrainian membership in NATO.
Nevertheless, as any fundraiser knows, pledges are meaningless unless acted upon. And in NATO’s case, and as many other instances in world affairs tell us, actual commitments are generally not forthcoming. Furthermore, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is now expressing confidence that Ukraine will join NATO after the war. If the administration is confident now, why weren’t they before and during the Vilnius summit?
Second, the stated reason for postponing membership is that doing so would place NATO at war with Russia. While this concern to avoid war with Russia is understandable, this contention overlooks the fact that Moscow would be vastly outmatched in a war with NATO and likely wants to avoid one. Therefore, Ukrainian membership would not only negate Moscow’s reason for going to war, but it also constitutes a huge threat to Putin that he can reduce or avoid only by getting out of Ukraine. Beyond that, Ukrainian membership in NATO would also send an electric shock through the already fragmenting high command, government and society.
Finally, membership, in and of itself does not commit the rest of NATO to send troops, something Ukraine has not asked for, even as it upsets all of Russia’s strategy.
The failure of the U.S. and other governments to think these questions through highlights the fact that neither the administration nor NATO has proclaimed any definitive strategy, leading many observers to wonder if there is one. Thus, there is fear that the administration does not want a full Ukrainian victory or a decisive Russian defeat. Possibly, the administration believes it still needs to have a dialogue with Moscow over arms control and that additional support for Kyiv’s victory precludes that option from being realized.
Compounding this absence of a U.S. or NATO strategy is the fact that someone must make the case to the American people as to why it is in our interest to either resist Russia or go to war with it to defend Ukraine if it joins NATO. On the contrary, the president has made the opposite case, stressing that despite a proxy-war-type situation in Ukraine, his core concern is avoiding a direct clash with Russia. Yet, here too, he has publicly contradicted himself in ways that can only add to the concern that the airline pilot has no flight plan.
On the one hand, he has invoked a credible Russian nuclear threat of “armageddon.” Yet now, he says Putin cannot win the war and there’s “no real prospect” of him launching nuclear weapons. If that is the case, then what holds NATO back from granting Ukraine the membership and weapons it knows would help them defeat and deter Russia? Given Secretary Austin’s expressed confidence about membership following the war, what conditions must Kyiv fulfill and what is the NATO or U.S. strategy for this war? The electorate, Congress and our allies, if not Ukraine, have a vital interest in knowing the answer.
The failure to address these questions in Vilinus reveals that the self-satisfaction evinced by NATO during and after the summit is unjustified. The failure to grapple with these issues and offer Ukraine a clear path to NATO or commit to a decisive defeat of Russia will only encourage Putin in his delusions that Russia can somehow prevail and outlast the allied coalition.
It should, thus, be made clear that Ukraine will get the weapons it needs for victory and NATO membership, which alone, will ensure its security. After all, to paraphrase British Adm. Horatio Nelson during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Ukraine is saving itself by her exertions and Europe by her example.
Stephen Blank, Ph.D., is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is a former professor of Russian national security studies and national security affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College and a former MacArthur fellow at the U.S. Army War College. Blank is an independent consultant focused on the geopolitics and geostrategy of the former Soviet Union, Russia and Eurasia.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Rat complaints to New York City’s 311 line are down 20% over the last month and a half, Mayor Adams and his cadre of anti-rat crusaders revealed Tuesday.
The reduction in calls to the helpline is being measured by comparing rat complaints from this May to mid-July with calls within the same timeframe last year.
Adams, Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Citywide Rodent Mitigation Director Kathleen Corradi, who’s also known as the rat czar, also announced Tuesday that calls on rat sightings to 311 from the city’s four so-called rat mitigation zones dipped by more than 45% on average within the same timeframe.
Adams loves to tell reporters — and anyone else within earshot — how much he hates rats. Tuesday was no different.
“It’s still early, but these numbers show what we’re doing is working and that we are moving in the right direction,” the mayor said in a written statement Tuesday. “Every food scrap that we keep out of the trash and every black bag that we keep off the street is a meal that we’re taking out of a hungry rodent’s stomach.”
Inside NYC Politics
Since becoming mayor last year, Adams has unveiled several policies aimed at fighting rats. In October, he and Tisch rolled out a new set of garbage collection rules aimed at curbing the rodent population’s food options. And in May and June, he announced that all food-related establishments and many chain businesses would be required to put their trash in secure containers under new rules.
But Adams has weathered his own personal travails to when it comes to the cheese-eaters. In December, he was ticketed for a rat infestation at his Brooklyn townhouse, and in January, he was slapped with fines again.
Two months later, he paid off a $300 ticket for failing to adequately address the infestation.
But the 20% reduction in complaints citywide appears to indicate a broader victory against his four-legged foes of choice.
Adams and his municipal rat killers also plan to step up their efforts next month.
Currently, there are four rat mitigation zones citywide: on the Bronx’s Grand Concourse, in Harlem, in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick, and in the East Village and Chinatown.
Adams also announced on Tuesday that in August the city will host its “first Anti-Rat Community Day of Action” in the Harlem zone “to share best practices and take action on street tree care.”",Not_Explicit
"Mellman: America’s racial relapse continues from coast to coast
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, pundits and prognosticators seemed certain America was in store for a racial reckoning, that the next wave of civil rights legislation would be passed and that white Americans’ thinking would be transformed.
Of course, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed the then-Democratic-controlled House twice, only to die an ignominious death in the Senate both times.
The bill did not defund the police, though some advocates tainted it with that damaging slogan.
But disparate headlines this weekend, far afield from policing, demonstrate just how short a distance we’ve traveled toward that hoped-for reckoning.
Alabama, whose population is 26 percent Black, appeared twice in the news.
Channeling their former governor, George Wallace, who shouted, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” and took his oath of office on the very spot where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederacy, Alabama’s state legislature openly defied a Supreme Court decision requiring them to give more congressional representation to African Americans.
Wallace literally blocked the door when John F. Kennedy’s deputy attorney general came to desegregate the state’s schools, but even Wallace relented in the face of a Supreme Court decision.
Not so for Alabama’s Legislature, which defied the nation’s highest court in a blatant effort to minimize the political representation of Black Alabamians.
The town of Newbern, Ala., also made headlines.
Although 85 percent of its residents are Black, the town elected its first Black mayor in 165 years. In response, some white leaders changed the locks on city hall and hid away basic information, including the town’s finances, effectively preventing the mayor from taking office.
It’s unimaginable that such things happen in America, but whites in Newbern are just echoing the racism they are hearing from the state’s legislature.
Sadly, this-week-in-racism extends far beyond Alabama.
In a story some details of which remain unclear, even to those intimately involved in creating them, the president of Texas A&M, the state’s second largest university, announced her departure over a botched hiring effort.
For our purposes, the key point is that an offer to helm the university’s journalism program, extended to a Black Ph.D. who was an alumna, a professor at the University of Texas and had been an editor at The New York Times, was in effect rescinded because she had written about race and had, well, worked at the New York Times.
By the way, Blacks comprise more than 13 percent of Texas’s population, but less than 3 percent of A&M’s students and faculty.
An original offer of tenure with the position was apparently withdrawn, and an A&M dean explained the change to the prospective hire saying, “You’re a Black woman who was at The New York Times and, to these folks, that’s like working for Pravda.”
Imagine how Texas would react if companies like the New York Times, Disney and Google announced they wouldn’t hire white A&M graduates.
All three of these headlines come from former slave states. Political cultures, even racist ones, die hard.
However, the fourth story in this set comes from where you might least expect it, supposedly progressive media and tech companies.
The Wall Street Journal reported that “companies including Netflix, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery have said that high profile diversity, equity and inclusion officers will be leaving their jobs. Thousands of diversity-focused workers have been laid off since last year and some companies are reducing racial-justice commitments.”
In line with this broader pattern, the Journal quoted the leader of an executive search firm who maintained that demand for diversity executives is the lowest he’s seen in 30 years.
I won’t even mention Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s slavery-helped-the-enslaved curriculum.
Instead of benefiting from a racial reckoning, recent news seems to suggest America has suffered a racial relapse.
Things everyone seemed to know should not be said or done are said and done daily. Academia and business have decided to pay less attention to it.
When will the reckoning arrive?
Mellman is president of The Mellman Group and has helped elect 30 U.S. senators, 12 governors and dozens of House members. Mellman served as pollster to Senate Democratic leaders for over 20 years, as president of the American Association of Political Consultants, a member of the Association’s Hall of Fame, and is president of Democratic Majority for Israel.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"GST Of 28% Will Write-Off $2.5 Billion Investment In Online Gaming: Investors To PM
Investors said the GST Council's decision has caused shock and dismay and will substantially and meaningfully erode investor confidence in the backing of this or any other sunrise sector in the Indian tech ecosystem.
The Goods and Services Tax Council's decision to levy a 28% tax on real money online gaming industry will lead to an impairment of $2.5 billion of investment made in the segment, a group of 30 Indian and foreign Investors said in a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a letter dated July 21, leading Investors Including Peak XV Capital, Tiger Global, DST Global, Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited, Alpha Wave Global, Chrys Capital, Lumikai etc have sought the Prime Minister's intervention in the decision of GST Council which is expected to hit prospective investment to the tune of $4 billion in the next 3-4 years.
""The current GST proposal will set up the most onerous tax regime for the gaming sector globally, which will lead to a potential write-off of the $2.5 billion capital invested in this sector,"" the letter said.
Investors said the GST Council's decision has caused shock and dismay and will substantially and meaningfully erode investor confidence in the backing of this or any other sunrise sector in the Indian tech ecosystem.
""This will also adversely impact prospective investments to the tune of at least $4 billion in the next 3-4 years and hence the growth of the gaming sector in India,"" the letter said.
Investors said if “full value of bets” is understood in a manner where GST is levied on every contest played every time with fully taxed winnings, the GST burden will increase by 1,100%.
Further, on account of taxation of redeployed player winnings, the same money will get taxed repeatedly resulting in a scenario where over 50-70% of every rupee will go towards GST, thereby making the online real money skill gaming business model unviable the letter said.
Investors said that levying of 28% GST on the Gross Gaming Revenue or Platform fees will lead to a 55% increase in GST quantum which would make it feasible for Indian online gaming operators to survive and be a key contributor to the Indian economy.
""However, in light of the decision by the GST Council, we humbly request your kind and urgent attention to this matter,"" the letter said.",Not_Explicit
"Jason DeRose/NPR
toggle caption
Rev. Glen Haworth has been pastor of The Fount Church in Fountain Valley, Calif. for 9 years. His congregation voted unanimously to leave the United Methodist Church, primarily due to LGBTQ issues.
Jason DeRose/NPR
Rev. Glen Haworth has been pastor of The Fount Church in Fountain Valley, Calif. for 9 years. His congregation voted unanimously to leave the United Methodist Church, primarily due to LGBTQ issues.
Jason DeRose/NPR
A blue and white banner hangs behind the altar table at The Fount Church in Fountain Valley, Calif.
""Come thou fount of every blessing,"" reads Glen Haworth as he gestures toward the front of the sanctuary. ""That's where we get our name.""
He wants to make clear what the banner means.
""The fount is Jesus of course. Not us,"" he says. ""So when we say we're the church, we're referring to our Lord and not ourselves.""
The United Methodist congregation was founded in 1964, during boom times in Southern California.
Haworth, a lifelong United Methodist who's been a pastor his entire professional life, came to The Fount nine years ago. He says that when he arrived, the 50 member congregation was already unhappy with the direction of the denomination.
More recently, the congregation voted unanimously to leave the United Methodist Church because of what Haworth describes as a drift from traditional biblical teachings on morality.
""Most recent and probably most prominent is the differences of opinion we have with regard to homosexuality, marriage in general, the sexual ethic,"" he says. ""And we believe, as do many Christians, that the Bible is very specific in that teaching.""
And he believes that teaching is accurately reflected in the United Methodist Church's official rule book, called the Book of Discipline. It states, ""Homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.""
The problem, as Haworth sees it, is that church leaders openly defy this official teaching and other rules that flow from it such as bans on ordaining LGBTQ clergy and blessing of same-sex marriages.
Some church leaders defy church rules
In 2019, the United Methodist General Conference voted to uphold those bans. But, a number of bishops and other church leaders – mostly in the U.S. – said that would openly not enforce these policies as a matter of justice for LGBTQ people.
Around the world, there are more than 12 million United Methodists, with about half of them living in the United States. In this country, the larger and often more conservative congregations tend to be in the South and Midwest.
A recent accounting by the United Methodist News Service shows that about 20% of United Methodist congregations – more than 6,000 – have left the denomination in recent years.
But disaffiliating isn't necessarily easy. The denomination allows congregations to leave if they pay two years of church dues plus fund pension obligations. Local geographic regions can also set additional requirements. And that's the rub for The Fount.
The California Pacific Annual Conference, the local division of the United Methodist Church, also requires congregations choosing to leave to pay 50 cents on the dollar to keep their property. The Conference says it needs that money to fund new United Methodist ministries in the area.
Jason DeRose/NPR
toggle caption
The Fount Church in Fountain Valley, Calif. was founded in 1964, when property values in Orange County were considerably lower than they are today.
Jason DeRose/NPR
The Fount Church in Fountain Valley, Calif. was founded in 1964, when property values in Orange County were considerably lower than they are today.
Jason DeRose/NPR
The Fount's multi-acre campus in Orange County was recently assessed at more than $6 million.
""In 1964, this property didn't cost $6 million,"" Haworth says, ""and to pay $3 million now to the annual conference with 50 members is impossible.""
He views the situation as patently unfair, especially since conservatives like himself actually won the vote over LGBTQ clergy and same-sex weddings back in 2019. Haworth says he'll try to negotiate a lower price. But if that fails, The Fount's only options may be walking away with no building at all or going to civil court to try and keep it.
Big tents are getting smaller for many religious groups
The United Methodist Church has long wanted to hold together both conservative and progressive readings of the Bible and interpretations of Christian doctrine. But the many congregations disaffiliating reveal the limits of that desire.
""The sorrow for me is that at the root of Methodism has always been this concept of the big tent,"" says Sandra Olewine, a Methodist minister and the local superintendent who oversees the geographic area in which The Fount is located.
She says that capacious tent has been a stabilizing factor for the church and serves as a witness to the larger society, polarized over so many issues. ""There has always been a sense of grace about differences in our theological perspectives,"" she says, ""with commitment to trying to continue to love our neighbors.""
That love-beyond-difference, Olewine says, bears fruit in the way very different congregations find common ground, do ministry together and serve their communities.
But LGBTQ issues have become a shibboleth in the United Methodist Church, as they have been for many other mainline Protestant denominations in recent decades. Episcopal, Lutheran and Presbyterian churches have all taken a decidedly more progressive stands on human sexuality. And each of those denominations has lost membership.
Yet these divisions aren't new and aren't exclusively related to the LGBTQ issues, says Grant Hagiya, president of Claremont School of Theology, the Methodist seminary based in Southern California.
""It hasn't been healthy for the denomination to be at odds with each other over this issue,"" he says.
The retired bishop says he understands The Fount's dissatisfaction, as well as that of the other congregations wanting to leave. But Hagiya says what's really at stake here is justice for LGBTQ people.
And he believes thinking about the church's rules in that context is something even a medieval theologian could support.
""Aquinas would say that if a law is unjust, it's not a law. Our laws are human made and they can be wrong, immoral,"" Hagiya says.
While Thomas Aquinas certainly wasn't referring specifically to bans on LGBTQ clergy or same-sex marriage, Hagiya says the idea of the just versus the unjust law is applicable here. That's why he and others believe it's theologically acceptable to not enforce the rules in the Book of Discipline.
Some choose to stay, hoping for broader change
Given that traditionalists won the vote in 2019, one might expect those departing the denomination to be people such as Kimberly Scott, a queer Black woman and lifelong United Methodist. But rather, she was recently installed as pastor at Grace United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles.
""Where people see schism happening in the Methodist church,"" Scott says, ""I see walls tumbling down – walls of oppression, walls of hatred, walls of intolerance tumbling down.""
She's a second-career minister, who left her longtime job as a school guidance counselor and P.E. teacher to follow her call to the pulpit a decade ago.
Jason DeRose/NPR
toggle caption
Rev. Kimberly Scott is the newly-installed pastor at Grace United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles. She decided to stay in the church, believing a change for greater LGBTQ acceptance is coming.
Jason DeRose/NPR
Rev. Kimberly Scott is the newly-installed pastor at Grace United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles. She decided to stay in the church, believing a change for greater LGBTQ acceptance is coming.
Jason DeRose/NPR
Scott says she has seen enormous change in her lifetime. In fact, she's not the first LGBTQ person to be the pastor of this 250-member, predominantly Black congregation. A gay male predecessor of hers now serves as a bishop in the United Methodist Church.
Scott is grateful for the bishops and other church leaders who are willing to break the rules so she can live out her vocation. She says that those rules continue to exist at all is heartbreaking. Yet, she's decided to stay in the church and be a living protest against injustice.
""My family came from Methodists in the South,"" she says. ""So we were Methodist when members were OK with slavery. Right? And my family never left. And so I was like, I can't leave over this. If my grandparents stayed, then I can stay to see this to the end.""
That end, Scott believes, will eventually be an official change to the rules against LGBTQ clergy and same-sex weddings when representatives from around the world gather for the United Methodist Church's General Conference next year.
She says a smaller church not divided by issues of sexuality could use its energy fighting the sins of misogyny and systemic racism. The goal, she says, it to make disciples for Christ.
While Scott is disappointed that her denomination isn't able to remain quite as big a tent as it once was, she's hopeful that something new is happening in the church, given the departures of those who are more conservative on LGBTQ issues. And she says she holds no ill-will toward those who want to leave.
""Their faith is their faith. The only thing I say to them is this: Please don't destroy the church as you're going,"" Scott says. ""Go in peace.""",Not_Explicit
"A third Democratic candidate has entered the race for Delaware’s sole House seat, setting the stage for what is likely to be a competitive primary election to replace Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE).
Eugene Young, widely viewed as a rising star in Delaware politics, launched his House bid on Monday after months of hinting at a congressional run. He joins two other candidates who have already announced their campaigns, including state Sen. Sarah McBride and state Treasurer Colleen Davis.
“We need to build a bridge to bring people and resources together. Neighbors who aren't afraid to stand up and fight for each other,” Young wrote in a statement. “And that’s why I’m running.”
Rochester announced in late June she would not seek reelection in the House, instead vying to replace Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), who is retiring from the seat he’s held since 2001. Rochester’s absence opens the state’s at-large House seat for the first time since she was elected in 2016, becoming the first woman and first black House member to represent Delaware.
Young first hinted earlier this summer that he would be interested in running for Congress. If elected, he would become the first black man to represent Delaware in Congress.
Young has been viewed as a rising star in the Diamond State, particularly after being nominated to Gov. John Carney’s Cabinet as the director of the state Housing Authority earlier this year. In that position, Young says he’s been able to increase the state’s investment in affordable housing from $10 million to $122 million.
“I am making good on my promise to keep fighting for us,” he said. “Our fight starts here with each and every one of you.”",Not_Explicit
"Frustrated lawmakers demand answers on UFOs
Senior lawmakers are increasingly demanding that military and other government officials provide them with information about intelligence on unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs).
The demands reflect frustrations on the part of some lawmakers that they are being kept in the dark about what’s known about UFOs and UAPs.
The lawmakers do not necessarily believe the government is hiding signs of extraterrestrial life from the public and congressional oversight. But they are frustrated they are not learning more about unknown objects flying in restricted U.S. air space.
“My primary interest in this topic is if there are … object[s] operating over restricted air space, it’s not ours and we don’t know whose it is, that’s a problem that we need to get to the bottom of,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“If there’s an explanation for it that’s being kept from Congress, then we need to force the issue. We’re not getting answers,” Rubio told The Hill.
The Senate has adopted an amendment to an annual defense bill that would require the federal government to collect and disclose all records related to UFOs and UAPs unless a special review board determines they must be kept classified.
The amendment was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, and is backed by Rubio and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats, as well as Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), a former Marine intelligence officer, and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).
Rubio, the top-ranking Republican on the intelligence committee, has more access to classified information than the vast majority of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. He said he suspects there are records related to unidentified aerial phenomena that are being kept secret from congressional oversight.
“Right now, what I know is reliable people tell us that and we’ve seen objects operating over restricted military and national security airspace. They claim it’s not ours. They claim they don’t know whose it is. That’s like the definition of a national security threat,” he said.
“Either there’s an answer that exists and is not being provided, or there is no answer. Beyond that, I don’t want to speculate anything,” he added.
Rubio said he was familiar with the claims of David Grusch, a career intelligence officer who worked for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He claims the federal government has retrieved “non-human origin technical vehicles” that have landed or crashed on Earth.
“We have a number of people including that gentleman who have come forward both publicly and privately to make claims,” Rubio said.
“One of two things are true. Either A, they’re telling the truth or some version of the truth or B, we have a bunch of people with high clearances and really important jobs in our government are nuts. Both are a problem. And I’m not accusing these people of being nuts. That said, that’s something we’ll look at and continue to look at seriously,” he said.
Interest in the subject is also reflected by this week’s House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday on UAPs and UFOs.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who is chairing the hearing, says lawmakers will hear testimony from Grusch, as well as former Navy Cmdr. David Fravor and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves.
Burchett claimed on a podcast this month that the federal government has known about UFOs for decades and “they can fly underwater and don’t show a heat trail,” appearing to defy the laws of physics.
Congressional sources familiar with efforts to gain more information from the Defense Department and intelligence agencies say UAPs and UFOs are being detected more frequently because of improvements in military sensor technology.
The Department of Defense released three Navy videos in 2020 that show objects flying in extraordinary ways and capturing confused and awe-struck comments of Naval aviators who witnessed the phenomena.
Grusch, who describes himself as a whistleblower, says senior intelligence officers have told him they participated in a secret UAP task force, though he says he has not personally witnessed nonhuman intelligence. He says he was retaliated against when he tried to gain more information about the program.
Rubio said “we don’t know” if such a program exists and what evidence it might have collected.
“Without speculating or adding to intrigue about this whole topic, there’s no doubt that in this field, generally, there’s more than what we know,” he said. “We’re trying to get to a process where at least some people in Congress do know.”
Asked why he suspects there’s more for Congress to know about UAPs, Rubio said “there’s pieces of puzzles that don’t fit.”
“Most certainly there are elements of things, whether historic or current, that potentially Congress has not been kept fully informed of — and that would be a problem,” he said. “There’s really no function of the executive that shouldn’t require congressional oversight at some level.”
The language in the Senate defense bill would require the National Archives and Records Administration to create a collection of records related to UAPs across government agencies that would be declassified for public use.
“UAPs generate a lot of curiosity for many Americans, and with that curiosity sometimes comes misinformation,” Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor.
Most lawmakers are extremely reluctant to say they suspect aliens from other solar systems are visiting Earth because there isn’t any undisputable evidence of such visits in the public domain.
Also, the nearest star to planet Earth is 40,000 billion kilometers away, making it seem impossible that any alien craft could travel the distance necessary to span solar systems. The nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is so far away that it would take the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which travels at 17.3 km per second, 73,000 years to reach it, according to NASA.
It’s also hard to fathom that a foreign adversary such as China possesses such advanced technology that it can fly aerial vehicles in ways that appear to defy the laws of physics, as U.S. military personnel have observed of UFOs or UAPs.
Rounds said he has seen “no evidence personally” that extraterrestrial craft are visiting the planet but said, “I know that there’s a lot of people that have questions about it.”
“It’s just like with JFK and the [1963] assassination. We set up separate archive for that or central collection place for all that data, which I think gave the American people a sense of security that there was a location where it was being held. This is following that same approach,” he said.
The White House announced late last month that the National Archives had concluded its review of documents related to the assassination of former President Kennedy and that 99 percent of the relevant records had been made publicly available.
Asked about whether he personally believes military personnel and sensors are encountering extraterrestrial visitors, Rounds said: “I don’t think you can discount the possibility just simply because of the size of the universe.”
“I don’t think anybody should say that they know for certain either way,” he said. “If we simply refuse to acknowledge there’s even a remote possibility, then we’re probably not being honest.”
“Some of the items we simply can’t explain,” he said of the Naval videos of UAPs.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"A yellow rain warning has been issued for Sunday across most of northern England and Wales, with travel disruption possible and major outdoor events affected.
The Met Office said the region would widely see 20-30mm of rain, while places over higher ground could see up to 50-70mm as wet weather persists across the entire weekend.
It follows heavy and persistent rainfall on Saturday throughout the country, with Wales, south-west and north-west England all seeing substantial downpours.
Both The Open Championship and The Ashes, taking place in Merseyside and Manchester respectively, were plagued by showers throughout the day that affected play.
Here is your Sunday morning forecast 👇
Sunny spells and showers for some 🌦️Rain, heavy at times across northern England and Wales 🌧️ pic.twitter.com/rrU31Xoky5
— Met Office (@metoffice) July 22, 2023
The UK’s poor weather is due to the position of the jet stream, which is also pushing high pressure to the south where parts of Europe have a heatwave.
Jonathan Vautrey, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “The band of rain that we’ve currently got from Northern Ireland down to Wales and parts of central and southern England, such as Oxfordshire and Hampshire, will continue to push its way northwards overnight.
“By tomorrow morning, it’s going to stall across the central swathe of the UK in Northern Ireland, northern England and parts of north Wales.
“It primarily sits there for a fair amount of Sunday, particularly in England and Wales, which is why the Met Office has issued a yellow rain warning for that area.
“We have had a relatively wet Saturday, so topping up with the rainfall expected quite persistently throughout Sunday does have the potential to cause some travel disruption and issues with any outdoor events taking place through there.”
Elsewhere, parts of south-west, central and south-eastern England will see a slightly better day with a few brighter spells trying to emerge but still a scattering of showers around, with one or two possibly on the heavier side.
The best of the sunny spells will continue to be across Scotland, with temperatures rising above 22C on Saturday, the forecaster added.
Temperatures in southern England will be about average for the time of year, but northern England will be feeling “particularly cool” with the rain and cloud meaning it will be “three degrees or so below the average”.",Not_Explicit
"Michael Gove has warned against ""treating the cause of the environment as a religious crusade"" and called for a relaxation of some net zero measures.

The housing secretary told The Sunday Telegraph he wants to ""relax"" the deadline for landlords in the private rented sector to make energy improvements to their properties.

He said the proposal to ban landlords from renting out their homes unless they pay to increase the energy performance certificate rating of their properties should be pushed back past 2028.

The upgrade required to increase a property's energy performance could include fitting a heat pump, providing insulation or installing solar panels, which the newspaper suggested could cost thousands of pounds.

Mr Gove said: ""My own strong view is that we're asking too much too quickly... I think we should relax the pace.""

Mr Gove, who was environment secretary when the 2050 net zero pledge was made under Theresa May's premiership, warned about ""treating the cause of the environment as a religious crusade"" as he called for ""thoughtful environmentalism"".

He also said he did not know whether the car-ban deadline was ""perfectly calibrated"" but said it was ""achievable"".

It comes as both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have been urged not to drop their parties' green policies after London mayor Sadiq Khan's expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has been blamed for Labour failing to take Boris Johnson's old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

After Uxbridge became the Tories' sole victory in a set of three by-elections on Thursday the prime minister has come under renewed pressure to dilute pledges designed to help the UK meet its pledge of having a net zero carbon economy by 2050.

Meanwhile Labour leader Sir Keir has vowed to stick with his green pledges, but said his party would need to reflect and ""learn the lesson"" over how they are implemented.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

Mr Khan's team have defended his ULEZ plan, saying only one out of 10 cars driving in outer London would face the charge, with a £110m scrappage scheme available to help lower earners upgrade their vehicles.",Not_Explicit
"Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tightened restrictions on firearms access by decree Friday.
Lula's decree reduces the number of guns civilians can possess for personal safety from four to two, and reduces the allowed ammunition for each gun from 200 rounds to 50.
It asks civilians for documentation to prove their need for guns and bars them from owning 9 mm pistols, restricting them to members of the police and military.
'We will continue to fight for fewer weapons,' says Lula
""It's one thing for the regular citizen to have a gun at home for his protection, as a guarantee, because some people think this is safety. Let them have it,"" Lula said Friday.
""But we cannot allow gun arsenals to be in people's hands,"" Lula said. ""We will continue to fight for fewer weapons in our country. Only the police and the army must be well-armed,"" he added.
The right to bear arms is not a constitutional guarantee in Brazil as it is in the United States, though Bolsonaro, a far right politician, greatly loosed restrictions during his time in office between 2019 and 2022.
Tens of thousands applied for gun permits during Bolsonaro years
The number of gun permits issued during Bolsonaro's presidency sharply increased to 2.9 million in a country of 214 million, according to Instituto Sou da Paz, a non-profit that monitors public security.
The high numbers of new guns did not lead to a feared rise in violent crime, as the country has one of the world's highest homicide rates.
The number of homicides during Bolsonaro's last year in office, in 2022, was at about 47,500 and roughly even with the 2019 rate, a report released by the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety (FBSP) on Thursday said.
Lula's government is encouraging citizens to sell firearms not allowed under new rules before the end of the year. If people don't, their guns will be confiscated by police.
rm/wd (AP, AFP)",Not_Explicit
"Football Australia announced Kerr's injury moments after submitting their official teamsheet for the opening game of their tournament against the Republic of Ireland on Thursday, saying Kerr suffered a calf injury during the team's final training session. She will be unavailable for the Ireland clash, as well as their second Group B match against Nigeria on July 27.
""Unfortunately I sustained a calf injury yesterday in training,"" Kerr wrote on Instagram before the Ireland match.
""I wanted to share this with everyone so there is no distraction from us doing what we came here to achieve.
""Of course, I would have loved to have been out there tonight but I can't wait to be a part of this amazing journey which starts now.""",Not_Explicit
"The police investigation into the funding and finances of the SNP has expanded to look at “potential embezzlement”, the Chief Constable of Police Scotland has suggested.
All three have been questioned by officers investigating the party’s funding and finances, before being released without charge pending further inquiries.
Ms Sturgeon has insisted she is “innocent of any wrongdoing” and has “committed no offence”, describing her arrest as “both a shock and deeply distressing”.
Appearing on the BBC’s Today programme on Wednesday, Sir Iain was asked why the investigation – which was formally launched two years ago – was taking so long.
In his reply, he suggested that it had become increasingly complex as officers examined not just the SNP’s finances but other connected matters.
“Investigations into the finances of an organisation, the finances of an individual, are often complex,” he said.
“Investigations around fraud or investigations around potential embezzlement or investigations around the misuse of funds take time.
“You need to go and obtain information from banks and other financial institutions. We can’t just do that automatically.
“We need to go and seek judicial warrants for that. There needs to be a process around that.
“So the time that’s been taken, in my judgement, is absolutely necessary.
“There’s been a prudent, thorough and proportionate investigation carried out. I have been aware of this investigation since the outset.
“It has got a dedicated team of specialists who are involved in it and they are working very closely with our prosecutors, the Crown Office in Scotland, in terms of the steps that are taken.
“What I would say is that had we not carried out this investigation in the manner we have, I would rightly have been accused of a significant dereliction and neglect of duty.
“That’s not the case. We’ve done the right thing. The rule of law and the interests of justice must prevail.”
Asked whether the investigation had expanded from the original allegation – that funds raised to support efforts to secure a second independence referendum had been spent on other things instead – Sir Iain confirmed that this was the case.
“It’s moved beyond what some of the initial reports were, and that’s not uncommon in investigations such as this,” he said.
The Chief Constable also defended the police’s controversial decision to erect a forensic tent in front of Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell’s house in Glasgow.
“It absolutely was [proportionate] given the circumstances of that search,” he said. “The tent was there, as were all the other measures, to protect the interests of justice and to protect the individuals involved. So it was a proportionate and necessary step.”
Asked when the investigation was expected to conclude, he said: “I can’t put any absolute timeframe on it, but matters will progress in a proportionate and timeous manner.”
The SNP was approached for comment.",Not_Explicit
"Welsh independence poll boost with surge amongst young people
The latest polling figures for Welsh independence has shown a majority of young people in favour of leaving the Union.
The poll by Redfield and Wilton Strategies revealed that the majority of 18 to 24-year-olds (53%) said they would vote for independence. With don’t knows removed, this stands at 55%.
The majority of 25 to 34-year-olds (52%) also said they would vote ‘yes’ to self-determination.
🚨BREAKING 🚨
55% of 18-24yr olds would vote ‘Yes’ to a Welsh independence referendum tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/lYEpOP6F6l
— YesCymru 🏴 (@YesCymru) July 19, 2023
In an overall vote the results were 58% for No, 32% for Yes – up to two percentage points from last month – with 10% saying Don’t Know.
However, with Don’t Knows removed, 36% of people would vote Yes if there were to be a referendum tomorrow on the question “Should Wales be an independent country?”.
The majorities of those aged 35 to 44 (55%), 45 to 54 (66%), 55 to 64 (55%), and 65+ (70%) would vote No in a referendum.
🚨BREAKING🚨 pic.twitter.com/6K1De3KAq6
— YesCymru 🏴 (@YesCymru) July 19, 2023
On the question of whether an independence referendum should take place—and if so, when – 39% would oppose a referendum on Welsh independence being held in the next year, while 33% – up three percentage points – would support one being held in this timeframe.
There was a split on whether a referendum should be held if the UK Government does not agree to it. A total of 35% said a poll should only be held if Westminster gives the green light, but 34% disagreed with this condition.
🚨BREAKING 🚨
52% of 25-34yr olds would vote ‘Yes’ to a Welsh independence referendum tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/ouuykN3WPd
— YesCymru 🏴 (@YesCymru) July 19, 2023
YesCymru has said support for independence is now consistently at 1 in 3, without “a proper national conversation having occurred”.
CEO Gwern Gwynfil said: “Recent polls show a consistent and deepening move towards independence for Wales.
“In June and July we’ve seen a majority of 18-34 year olds in favour of independence. They are the future. Time for the older generation to also be ambitious, brave and confident. Time to look to a brighter, better, bolder future as an independent nation.”
Meanwhile, approval ratings in Wales for both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer were down.
The Prime Minister has an approval rating of -26% (down 9%) while the Labour leader has fallen into minus figures, with his rating now at -5% (down 4%).
The poll was conducted by Redfield and Wilton Strategies between July 14 and 18.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.",Not_Explicit
"The Florida Board of Education approved a new set of standards for how Black history should be taught in the state’s public schools, sparking criticism from education and civil rights advocates who said students should be allowed to learn the “full truth” of American history.
The curriculum was approved at the board’s meeting Wednesday in Orlando.
It is the latest development in the state’s ongoing debate over African American history, including the education department’s rejection of a preliminary pilot version of an Advanced Placement African American Studies course for high school students, which it claimed lacked educational value.
The new standards come after the state passed new legislation under Gov. Ron DeSantis that bars instruction in schools that suggests anyone is privileged or oppressed based on their race or skin color. DeSantis has used his fight against “wokeness” to boost his national profile amid a national discussion of how racism and history should be taught in schools.
The new standards require instruction for middle school students to include “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit,” a document listing the standards and posted in the Florida Department of Education website said.
When high school students learn about events such as the 1920 Ocoee massacre, the new rules require that instruction include “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.” The massacre is considered the deadliest Election Day violence in US history and, according to several histories of the incident, it started when Moses Norman, a prominent Black landowner in the Ocoee, Florida, community, attempted to cast his ballot and was turned away by White poll workers.
“Our children deserve nothing less than truth, justice, and the equity our ancestors shed blood, sweat, and tears for,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement condemning the new standards. “It is imperative that we understand that the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow were a violation of human rights and represent the darkest period in American history.”
“We are proud of the rigorous process that the Department took to develop these standards,” Alex Lanfranconi, director of communications for the Florida Department of Education, said in a statement, noting the standards were created by a group of 13 educators and academics.
“It’s sad to see critics attempt to discredit what any unbiased observer would conclude to be in-depth and comprehensive African American History standards. They incorporate all components of African American History: the good, the bad and the ugly. These standards will further cement Florida as a national leader in education, as we continue to provide true and accurate instruction in African American History,” Lanfranconi said.
The Florida Education Association, a statewide teachers union, called the new standards a disservice to students and “a big step backward for a state that has required teaching African American history since 1994.”
“How can our students ever be equipped for the future if they don’t have a full, honest picture of where we’ve come from? Florida’s students deserve a world-class education that equips them to be successful adults who can help heal our nation’s divisions rather than deepen them,” Andrew Spar, the association’s president, said in a statement. “Gov. DeSantis is pursuing a political agenda guaranteed to set good people against one another, and in the process he’s cheating our kids. They deserve the full truth of American history, the good and the bad,” Spar added.",Not_Explicit
"Democratic memo takes aim at GOP-released FBI form with Biden-Burisma allegations
Democrats on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee are poking holes in GOP arguments that President Biden is corrupt, claims that are founded on unverified allegations from an FBI form released in controversial fashion last week.
The uncorroborated allegations of Biden corruption and bribery are related to his son Hunter’s business relationship with Ukrainian energy company Burisma and were part of an FBI form released by by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) last week.
The form documents information that a confidential human source relayed to an FBI agent, but does not assess that information.
While the GOP sees the document as key to its investigation of the Biden family’s business dealings, Democrats view the release as a stunning move that jeopardizes the FBI’s ability to work with confidential sources while offering no proof of any wrongdoing.
The FBI last week admonished Comer and Grassley for releasing the form.
“Chairman Comer’s and Senator Grassley’s decision to publicly release the form is in brazen disregard of the safety of FBI human sources and the integrity of its investigations,” House Oversight Committee Democratic staff wrote to Democratic lawmakers in a memo obtained by The Hill.
“Contrary to Republican messaging, the form provides no new or additional support for their corruption allegations against the President or Hunter Biden. Instead, its release merely seeks to breathe new life into years-old conspiracy theories, initially peddled by Rudy Giuliani, that have been thoroughly debunked.”
The tipster, dubbed CHS as short for confidential human source, relayed conversations he had with Mykola Zlochevsky, the CEO of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Zlochevsky thought that having Hunter Biden on the board could help insulate the company from its problems with being investigated by Ukrainian authorities.
The crux of the unproven bribery allegation has been pushed by allies of former President Trump for years: that then-Vice President Biden threatened to withhold funding to Ukraine unless Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was removed in order to help Burisma, which was paying his son.
But Democrats point to numerous facts and comments — including from the FBI source, from congressional Republicans and from a man who was involved in pushing these theories — that severely undercut that theory.
Some reports say that the investigation into Burisma was, in fact, dormant by the time Biden called for Shokin’s ouster. Shokin was also criticized for failure to prosecute corruption, and his ouster was supported by numerous U.S. officials as well as other European allies far beyond Biden.
The Democratic memo also quoted numerous Republicans — including Grassley — casting doubt on the veracity of the claims in the memo.
“Last month, Senator Johnson, who led Senate Republicans’ 2020 investigation into the allegations involving Burisma, conceded the issues with the Form FD-1023: ‘That’s what this person says, but again, take that with a grain of salt. This could be coming from a very corrupt oligarch who could be making this stuff up,’” the Democratic memo said, citing a June podcast.
“Senator Grassley also tacitly questioned the truthfulness of the allegations in the Form FD-1023 when he admitted he was ‘not interested’ in whether the accusations in the form ‘are accurate or not,’” the memo continued, pointing to a Fox News interview in June.
Grassley has argued that his interest in the FBI form rests more with whether the FBI and Department of Justice adequately investigated the tip rather than in the bribery allegations themselves.
“What did the Justice Department and FBI do with the detailed information in the document? And why have they tried to conceal it from Congress and the American people for so long?” Grassley said in a statement alongside the memo’s release last week.
But Democrats push back on that reasoning.
“Under U.S. Attorney Brady, the DOJ and FBI thoroughly investigated the allegations as part of an eight-month formal assessment, which included interviewing Mr. Giuliani and the CHS, and reviewing suspicious activity reports (SARs) from banks,” the memo said. “The FBI also confirmed to Chairman Comer and Ranking Member Raskin during the June 5, 2023, briefing that Mr. Brady’s assessment was closed in August 2020 because his team found insufficient evidence to warrant escalating the probe from an assessment to a preliminary or full investigation.”
The memo also notes that the FBI source could verify the veracity of Zlochevsky’s claims, explaining that “it is extremely common for businessmen in post-Soviet countries to brag or show off” and to make “bribe” payments to government officials.
Democrats focus heavily on a recent letter to Comer from Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian who was later convicted of making illegal campaign contributions to Trump, and whom Guiliani relied on to dig up dirt about the Bidens in Ukraine ahead of the 2020 election. Parnas urged Comer to abandon efforts to uncover wrongdoing by the Biden family in Ukraine.
“Never, during any of my communications with Ukrainian officials or connections to Burisma, did any of them confirm or provide concrete facts linking the Bidens to illegal activities. In fact, they asked me multiple times why our team was so concerned with this idea,” Parnas wrote in the letter to Comer last week. “The truth is that everyone [involved in this effort to discredit the Bidens] knew that these allegations against the Bidens were false. There has never been any actual evidence, only conspiracy theories spread by people who knew exactly what they were doing.”
The memo also points to information collected during the first impeachment effort, including a conversation purported to be with Zlochevsky that contradicts the FD-1023 claims of communications with President Biden.
“No one from Burisma ever had any contacts with VP Biden or people working for him during Hunter Biden’s engagement,” Zlochevsky says in the exchange, which appears to be with Vitaly Pruss, whom the letter describes as “another long-time associate of Mr. [Rudy] Giuliani, who was a close friend of Mr. Zlochevsky.”
Democrats also take the Republicans to task for sharing information the FBI expressly asked them not to release publicly.
Raskin (D-Md.) says the publicly released form does not include all the same redactions as the version first shared with lawmakers, disclosing names of individuals in Ukraine as well as some specific locations referenced during the conversation.
“Chairman Comer and Senator Grassley chose to expose those additional details despite repeated cautioning from the FBI about the critical need to protect the safety of its human sources and its ability to conduct investigations effectively,” Raskin wrote.
Indeed, a June 9 letter obtained by The Hill shows the FBI warned Comer about GOP members’ handling of the record just the day after offering a briefing to the full committee.
“The Committee and its Members were specifically told that ‘wider distribution could pose a risk of physical harm to FBI sources or others.’ The full text of this admonishment is included below for your reference. We are concerned that Members disregarded the Committee’s agreement that information from the document should not be further disclosed. Several Committee Members publicized specific details regarding their recollection of confidential source reporting purportedly referenced in the document,” the bureau wrote in the letter.
Despite the Democratic pushback, Republicans signal that the FBI form will fuel its investigations; Comer said in a statement last week that the form backs up his committee’s investigation of the Biden family’s business dealings.
“That sounds an awful lot like how the Bidens conduct business: using multiple bank accounts to hide the source and total amount of the money,” Comer said.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"The millions of dollars President Biden's State Department has put toward ""pet project"" is coming under a microscope as delays plague areas of the department.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday demanding answers regarding large amounts of money the department has dropped into the likes of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and environmental funding abroad as his constituents face ""unprecedented delays"" in passport processing times.
""Ridiculous expenditures by the Biden State Department on pet projects of little or no value to the American taxpayer underscores how misplaced Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, and this entire Administration's priorities are,"" Schmitt said in a statement.
""I intend to get to the bottom of this irresponsible spending, and stop this administration from wasting American's time, money, and degrading trust in our government institutions,"" Schmitt added.
Within the letter, Schmitt noted that instead of hiring additional employees to help with backlogged passport applications, the department chose to ""spend tens of millions of dollars on useless pet projects with little to no benefit to American citizens.""
Schmitt, in particular, listed a handful of department expenditures that includes $120,000 for ""Gastrodiplomacy."" $1,565,000 for foreign sports or Esports-Adjacent Projects, $400,000 on Chinese efforts to combat wildlife trafficking and $30,699,850 for DEI or environmental funding abroad.
""Due to the Department of State's commitment to these pet projects rather than improving the processing times for Americans' passport applications, my Office has received an abundance of requests for help with processing their applications,"" Schmitt wrote.
""Since I took office in January, my team has received over 500 requests regarding delays with receiving their passports. That is unconscionable, and the State Department should be doing everything in its power to speed up processing times in order for American citizens to get the service they deserve,"" he added.
Schmitt concluded by asking a series of questions, including what efforts the State Department is taking to hire for passport processing, if there is currently a shortage of individuals to process passport applications and what specific initiatives receive appropriation from the $30 million toward DEI initiatives and international environmental funding.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fox News Digital's Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.",Not_Explicit
"Un nuevo paro de subtes está programado para el próximo miércoles 26 de julio. La medida, que afectará el servicio de este transporte público y del Premetro durante tres horas, fue anunciada el sábado pasado por la Asociación Gremial de Trabajadores del Subte y Premetro (AGTSyP). Desde el gremio reclaman un día más de franco en la semana para reducir, de ese modo, la exposición al asbesto presente en distintas formaciones.
Según el cronograma informado, la medida de fuera comenzará con la apertura de molinetes en determinadas estaciones de las diferentes líneas del subte y continuará con la interrupción total del servicio por tres horas.
Cómo se desarrollará el paro de subtes del miércoles 26 de julio
Según se informó en un comunicado, las medidas de protesta consistirán en aperturas de molinete de 12 a 13 horas en las siguientes estaciones cabeceras:
San Pedrito, de la línea A
Rosas, de la línea B
Constitución, de la línea C
Congreso de Tucumán, de la línea D
Facultad de Derecho, de la línea H
Virreyes, de la línea E
Luego, de 13 a 16 horas, se llevará a cabo la interrupción total de todas las líneas de Subte y Premetro, por lo que en esa franja horaria no circulará ninguna formación en todo el territorio de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires.
Cuál es el principal reclamo que impulsa el paro de subtes
Además, los trabajadores agregaron que “en el transcurso de los últimos cinco años” hicieron “todo lo humanamente posible” para que el gobierno de la Ciudad y la empresa Emova solucionaran la “crisis sanitaria provocada por la presencia del asbesto”. El comunicado lleva la firma del secretario general de la asociación, Roberto Pianelli y del secretario adjunto Néstor Segovia.
”Hemos hecho todo lo humanamente posible para que solucionaran la crisis sanitaria provocada por la presencia de asbesto cancerígeno y para que dejen de poner en riesgo la vida de millones de usuarios y trabajadores del subte, sin obtener aún respuesta, al contrario, han cerrado todos los canales de diálogo”, afirmaron desde la agrupación.
Por esto, desde AGTSyP indicaron que se ven “obligados” a realizar medidas que afectan al servicio y alertaron que, de no tener avances en relación a las exigencias de desasbestización y la reducción de la jornada laboral, “profundizarán las medidas en los próximos días”.
El reclamo apunta a la empresa concesionaria del servicio (Emova) y al Gobierno de la Ciudad. “Denunciamos que siguen negándose a dar respuestas a la crisis sanitaria provocada por este mineral dañino, prohibido desde 2003 y que, sin embargo, no han retirado del ámbito del subterráneo de Buenos Aires”, manifestaron. Desde la organización llamaron al público a “exigir junto a los trabajadores una solución inmediata” a “un verdadero ataque a la salud pública”.
Cuándo es el paro de subtes
La medida de fuerza será entre las 13 y las 16 de este miércoles 26 de julio.
A qué líneas afecta el paro de subtes
El paro de subtes de este miércoles 26 de julio afecta todas las líneas de subte y el Premetro.",Not_Explicit
"GOP seeks to step in to Hunter Biden’s court case ahead of plea hearing
A House committee chair and a conservative think tank attempted to get involved in Hunter Biden’s federal criminal case just ahead of his plea hearing on Wednesday, raising concerns that the prosecution showed preferential treatment to President Biden’s son.
Hunter Biden will make his first court appearance in Wilmington, Del., at 10 a.m. ET in front of U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee who is poised to decide whether to accept the plea agreement reached with the Justice Department.
The president’s son has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay taxes and avoid prosecution for possessing a gun while being an unlawful user of a controlled substance.
Republicans have levied accusations that it was a “sweetheart deal.” Adding to the pushback, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and the Heritage Foundation in unusual moves on Tuesday filed separate motions to submit amicus briefs in the Justice Department’s case.
Smith’s brief cites recent testimony from two IRS whistleblowers — IRS special agent Joseph Ziegler and his supervisor, Gary Shapley — who testified before Congress privately and publicly alleging that prosecutors slow-walked the case and showed preferential treatment to Hunter Biden.
“Given the abruptness of the announcement of the Plea Agreement shortly after Whistleblowers’ testimony before Congress, and in light of the seriousness of the Whistleblower’ allegations, it is critical that the Court consider the Whistleblower Materials before determining whether to accept the Plea Agreement,” Smith wrote in the brief.
The brief led to a bizarre series of events.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys accused Smith of including in the document confidential tax information and other details that should not have been posted on the public court docket, including his social security number. In response, an employee at Latham & Watkins — a law firm representing the president’s son, apparently called the court’s clerk office to have the personal information redacted, court documents indicate.
But in an order issued later in the day, Noreika said the Latham employee had only gotten it removed after misrepresenting herself to be associated with the law firm representing the Republican committee chair.
“It appears that the caller misrepresented her identity and who she worked for in an attempt to improperly convince the Clerk’s Office to remove the amicus materials from the docket,” Noreika wrote, ordering Biden’s attorneys to submit in writing why they shouldn’t be sanctioned.
In court filings on Tuesday night, Biden’s attorneys called the debacle an “unintentional miscommunication.” They said the call was placed by an experienced administrative staff member at the firm, who is not a practicing attorney, and that they introduced themselves when making the call.
“We have no idea how the misunderstanding occurred, but our understanding is there was no misrepresentation,” wrote Matthew Salerno, an attorney part of Biden’s legal team.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie ripped Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Sunday over his defense of his state adapting a curriculum that teaches students that slaves developed skills that could be used for their ""personal benefit.""
DeSantis, who is also running in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, is facing criticism over the Florida Department of Education's (DOE) new standards for the upcoming school year regarding the instruction of African American history in public schools. The new standards state that middle schoolers will be instructed about ""how slaves developed skills which, in some infsistances, could be applied for their personal benefit,"" according to a document from the DOE's website. The state board of education approved the new standards on Wednesday.
Debate over the new standards in Florida schools comes amid a broader debate about how students should learn about identities such as race, sexual orientation and gender identity. DeSantis, an opponent of ""woke education,"" has signed into law requirements about how race can be taught in schools. Proponents of this sort of legislation say educators should be obligated to present all sides of historical and political debates when teaching these sorts of topics. Critics, however, have accused conservatives' efforts to restrict discussion of racism as an attempt to whitewash the history of slavery and racial discrimination in the United States.
The Florida governor defended the standards during a press conference last week, saying, ""I didn't do it, and I wasn't involved in it.""
""I think what they're doing, is I think that they're probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith, into doing things later in life,"" DeSantis added. ""But the reality is all of that is rooted in whatever is factual.""
Christie, the former Republican governor of New Jersey who has been increasingly critical of the GOP's direction, criticized DeSantis's defense of the curriculum during an appearance on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday morning.
""First of all, 'I didn't do it' and 'I'm not involved in it' are not the words of leadership,"" he said. ""Governor DeSantis started this fire, with the bill that he signed. And now he doesn't want to take responsibility for whatever is done in the aftermath of it. And from listening and watching his comments, he's also uncomfortable.""
Newsweek reached out to the DeSantis campaign for comment via email.
Meanwhile, others have also criticized DeSantis over the curriculum, including another Republican presidential candidate. Former Representative Will Hurd, a moderate who represented Texas' 23rd Congressional District from 2015 to 2021, rebuked the policy in a Friday tweet.
""Unfortunately, it has to be said – slavery wasn't a jobs program that taught beneficial skills. It was literally dehumanizing and subjugated people as property because they lacked any rights or freedoms,"" Hurd tweeted.
Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, accused DeSantis of being ""pro-slavery"" over the educational policy.
""Please keep this simple: If you require schools to teach the 'personal benefits' of slavery you are pro-slavery. Ron DeSantis is pro-slavery,"" the Democratic lawmaker tweeted on Saturday.",Not_Explicit
"VICTORIA, British Columbia — The Canadian government has increased the number of strategic tanker transport aircraft it is ordering from Airbus as it shores up its contribution to the defense of North America.
Last year, Canadian officials said they were committing to the purchase of four new A330 Multi Role Tanker Transports for its fleet, and negotiations were underway with Airbus. Meanwhile, the country acquired two used A330s from International Airfinance Corp., a global aircraft leasing company.
But on July 25, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand announced the government is buying three more used A330s from International Airfinance, and that it selected Airbus Defence and Space to convert the now-five used aircraft into strategic tankers.
Canada’s contract with Airbus, which covers delivery of the four new A330s and conversion of the five used aircraft, is worth about CA$3.6 billion (U.S. $2.7 billion). The used aircraft are currently configured for long-haul commercial use.
Anand noted that the initiative will allow the Royal Canadian Air Force to enhance its sovereignty operations, including in the Arctic. It will also strengthen Canada’s air-to-air refueling support for North American Aerospace Defense Command operations and NATO, she added.
“The additional air-to-air refueling initiative is an integral part of Canada’s investments in NORAD modernization,” Defence Department spokesman Dan LeBouthillier said.
Last year, the Canadian military found the Airbus A330 was the only aircraft that met its requirements. As a result, the nation issued a formal request for proposal for the planes to Airbus on May 13, 2022, and negotiations began.
The aircraft will be able to refuel current Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter jets as well as the F-35 aircraft on order, Le Bouthillier said. The tankers will also be able to refuel various U.S. military aircraft.
The new planes are expected by 2027.
Canada is also buying a new simulator as part of the same program, but the government did not release further details.
“The A330 MRTT perfectly matches Canada’s needs to protect its sovereignty as well as to enhance operations both in the North American Aerospace Defence Command as well as in NATO,” Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, said in a July 25 statement.
The new fleet will replace the existing CC-150 Polaris aircraft, which have been in operation since 1992.
David Pugliese is the Canada correspondent for Defense News.",Not_Explicit
"Pragmatic Europe rolls out the red carpet for Latin America’s despots
Given the strong political and commercial influence of China in Latin America and in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, Europe has announced a “new beginning” in its relationship with the region — even with the dictatorships of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) held the third EU-CELAC Summit in Brussels this week after an eight-year hiatus. This time, the focus was on Latin America and its supply chains, trade, investment, climate change and renewable energy. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced a $50 billion investment plan for Latin America and the Caribbean through the Global Gateway program. The initiative sounds like a retread of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
But most importantly, the meeting completely avoided the human rights violations and the 1,400 political prisoners currently being held in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The three longstanding dictatorships were further legitimized by this meeting. They forced their own nations’ democratic crises off the radar. The participating countries prioritized the trade agenda and even allowed the dictatorships to veto participation by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, despite the overwhelming overall support for Ukraine at the summit.
Nicolas Maduro’s regime in Venezuela has committed a record 8,900 crimes against humanity. It holds 300 known political prisoners. It has produced 7.2 million refugees, and thousands more have disappeared. Despite this, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez arrived in Brussels with a smile and a special travel permit exempting her from the sanctions issued by the EU in 2018.
Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, a cold war dinosaur, has also restored his relationship with Europe. Nicaragua sent a delegation to the summit, received the approval of its ambassador, and removed the regime’s 355 murders from the agenda. To Ortega’s discomfort, more than 160 exiled Nicaraguans and twenty international organizations asked the EU-CELAC to create a Group of Friends of Nicaragua. It was an uphill but commendable effort.
As for Cuba, the 64-year-old communist dictatorship currently holding more than 1,000 political prisoners also attended the EU-CELAC meeting. Nobody questions the regime’s crimes against humanity. Miguel Díaz Canel, Raúl Castro’s puppet, wants more euros and less democracy.
According to reports by Human Rights Watch the Cuban authorities have refused to allow EU and member state diplomats, international media or human rights organizations to monitor the trials of those detained over the protests of July 11, 2021. Family members and detainees report various due process violations, while artists, intellectuals and others with alternative ideas are subjected to alarming levels of surveillance and restrictions on their freedom of movement.
The EU-CELAC Summit issued a final declaration in which condemned the alleged U.S. blockade of Cuba and questioned its inclusion on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism. Not a single word about political prisoners, the death penalty or religious freedom in Havana.
The declaration also expressed concern about the situation in Haiti and called for renewing the fruitless talks between the Venezuelan regime and the opposition. The EU-CELAC did not condemn the ban against Maria Corina Machado and a dozen opposition leaders who were illegally disqualified by the dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro from running in the 2024 elections.
Eight years after the last EU-CELAC Summit, the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine, there are more dictatorships and fewer democracies in Latin America. The political and commercial influence of the Chinese and Russian tyrannies in the Americas has increased significantly.
The Russian invasion in Ukraine has apparently created a desperate and disproportionate interest in rebuilding the relationship with Latin America, even if it means sacrificing human rights on the altar of pragmatism. Europe has been forced to reset its foreign policy, and it has yielded too much.
The dictatorships of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are already salivating over the $50 billion investment announced by the EU. The tyrants have won impunity, legitimacy, and a juicy slice of the financial pie.
Will this fresh start in the EU foreign policy toward Latin America bring new times of prosperity and democracy come? Or will new dictatorships emerge?
You already know the answer.
Arturo McFields Yescas is an exiled journalist, former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States and former member of the Peace Corps of Norway.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"- Summary
- Russian defence minister, China Politburo member visit
- First such foreign delegations since COVID pandemic began
- Visits may signal resumption of shuttle diplomacy
- Korean War holiday commemorates 'defeat' of 'U.S. imperialists'
- Events to include parade, possibly with nuclear missiles
SEOUL, July 26 (Reuters) - After years of pandemic isolation, North Korea has invited its friends back this week, hosting senior Chinese and Russian delegations for 70th anniversary commemorations of the Korean War and the struggle against the United States and its allies.
The visiting dignitaries, which include Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong, are expected to be presented with one of North Korea's signature events: a massive military parade showcasing its latest weaponry.
Analysts say the spectacle will likely include the North's nuclear-tipped missiles banned by the United Nations Security Council, where Russia and China are permanent members.
The visits are the first known foreign delegations to visit North Korea since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and come as Pyongyang has looked to deepen its ties with Beijing and Moscow, finding common ground in their rivalries with Washington and the West.
Thursday's holiday, in which North Korea celebrates what it sees as a victory over U.S.-led allied forces in the 1950-1953 Korean War, provides a chance for Pyongyang to highlight the Cold War days when North Korean troops fought with Chinese and Russian support.
North Korea is still technically at war with the U.S.-led alliance after fighting ended in an armistice, rather than a formal peace treaty.
""North Korea inviting delegations from both countries seems to be a case of history rhyming, whereby Pyongyang is gearing up to stand up against the West, but perceives the need to maintain relatively balanced ties with both China and Russia,"" said Anthony Rinna, a specialist in Korea-Russia relations at Sino-NK, a website that analyses the region.
Only time will tell if the visits signal a broader easing in North Korea's bans on international travel, which could in theory provide an opening for U.S. officials to negotiate the release of U.S. soldier Travis King, who crossed into North Korea last week, Rinna said.
However, it seems unlikely that Pyongyang will seek to engage with Washington any time soon, and may consider itself to be in a full-scale New Cold War with the United States, he added.
MILITARY DISPLAYS
Images from Russia's defence ministry and North Korean media showed Shoigu being greeted by North Korean defence minister Kang Sun Nam and Russian ambassador Alexander Matsegora at the airport, and rows of North Korean and Russia troops.
The United States has accused North Korea of providing weapons to Russia during the war in Ukraine, including an arms delivery of infantry rockets and missiles to the Kremlin-backed Wagner mercenary group in November 2022.
Pyongyang and Moscow have denied those claims, but Kim has vowed to bolster strategic cooperation between the nations.
The military parade in Pyongyang is likely to include as many as 15,000 personnel, and possibly feature new designs of nuclear-capable weapons, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
Commercial satellite imagery over recent weeks have shown participants practicing, including in downtown Kim Il Sung Square where the event will take place, with large formations showing the number ""70"" and other slogans, said Dave Schmerler, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS).
At a training ground outside Pyongyang, military units appeared to be practicing marching around the square track with vehicles behind them, Schmerler added, citing imagery provided to Reuters by U.S.-based firm Umbra, which used radar imaging satellites to peer through cloud cover.
'SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY'
Leader Kim Jong Un kicked off commemorations this week with visits to a cemetery for Chinese soldiers who fought in the war, known as the Fatherland Liberation War, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday. The only defence treaty China and North Korea have is with each other.
Kim also visited the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery on Monday, KCNA reported, as he praised the soldiers for ""inflicting defeat"" on U.S. imperialism.
Amid international sanctions over North Korea's missile and nuclear programmes - which both Moscow and Beijing voted to impose - China has become by far North Korea's largest trading partner. China's exports to its secretive neighbour in June were eight times higher than a year before.
Beijing asserted on Monday that it ""strictly"" implements U.N. sanctions on North Korea.
Russia and China have rebuffed recent attempts by the United States and some European countries to impose new sanctions on North Korea.
They have instead pushed for existing measures to be eased for humanitarian purposes and to entice Pyongyang back to denuclearisation talks, which broke down in 2019.
Yang said the delegations could signal that long-stalled diplomatic visits could resume.
""If North Korea also sends a high-level delegation to China for the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games, it means the resumption of high-level 'shuttle diplomacy' between North Korea and China since the COVID-19 pandemic,"" he said.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"- Minimum Service Levels balance the ability of workers to strike with the rights of the public, who expect essential services they pay for to be there when they need them.
- Government will now launch a public consultation on the reasonable steps unions should take to ensure their members comply with a work notice given by an employer.
The Strikes (Minimum Service Level) Act has today [Thursday 20 July] received Royal Assent in Parliament, ensuring workers maintain the ability to strike whilst giving the public access to the essential services they need.
Government will now proceed with plans to implement minimum service levels for passenger rail services, ambulance services and fire and rescue services.
Minimum service levels will ensure a minimum service operates in specified services during periods of strike action.
This will help protect the safety of the general public and ensure essential services are there when they need them – whether getting the train to work or being able to call an ambulance in times of emergency.
This will follow public consultations on the most appropriate approach for delivering Minimum Service Levels in passenger rail and blue light services. The Government is currently analysing responses and will respond in due course.
A public consultation will also be launched this Summer on the reasonable steps unions must take to comply with a work notice issued by employers under minimum service levels legislation.
This Government firmly believes that the ability to strike is an important part of industrial relations in the UK, rightly protected by law, and understands that an element of disruption is inherent to any strike. But the public expects government to act when their essential services are put at risk.
Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said:
This legislation is an appropriate balance between the ability to strike, and protecting lives and livelihoods.
The UK remains a world leader for workers’ rights and these new laws will not prevent a union from organising industrial action.
Industrial action has had a strong impact on access to emergency services and the UK economy, resulting in over 600,000 rescheduled medical appointments since December 2022 and at least £1.2 billion lost in the period June 2022-23 according to analysis by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR).
Following public consultation and approval by both Houses of Parliament, the Government will be able to set minimum service levels within key sectors, including emergency services, border security, education, passenger rail and the nuclear sector.
Rail Minister Huw Merriman said:
The ability of workers to take strike action is an integral part of industrial relations, however, this should not be at the expense of members of the public.
The passing of this Bill will help give passengers certainty that they will be able to make important journeys on a strike day.
When minimum service levels are in force for a specified service, if the relevant trade union gives notice of strike action, employers can issue a work notice ahead of the strike, to specify the workforce required to maintain necessary and safe levels of service. They must consult with the relevant unions on the number of persons and the work to be specified in the work notice and take their views into account before issuing the work notice.",Not_Explicit
"“Thank goodness for the Americans.” The sigh of relief from Juliana Delaney, the boss of Continuum Attractions, came last week just a few breaths after she warned that Britons were cutting back.
Continuum, which runs tourist attractions from the shores to the seafront at Portsmouth, said Americans were bucking a trend of squeezed incomes and less spending.
Delaney’s comments were telling. The world’s biggest economy has pulled ahead of the UK and the rest of Europe on an array of economic measures since the financial crisis of 2008.
What began as a small disparity has become a chasm that has left Britain facing questions about whether it has the work ethic to close the gap.
Trailing not leading
Jeremy Hunt wanted to start the New Year talking about growth. “Declinism about Britain is just wrong,” the Chancellor told an audience of tech bosses and journalists in January.
A few moments later he was celebrating the UK being the “middle of the pack” of the G7 growth league table. Output per hour worked is higher than pre-pandemic, he boasted. At 1.6pc above pre-covid levels, economist Sam Bowman says it’s hardly something to celebrate. “We aren’t leading the world. We’re trying to catch up”.
Leading author and economist Daron Acemoglu, whose book ‘Why Nations Fail’ made waves a decade ago, says the consequences of being “okay with mediocrity” and dire productivity are huge.
Getting more from less has always been the key to rising living standards. The ability to increase the amount of output per hour worked tells us how much the economy can grow without generating too much inflation.
When productivity grows, so do company profits and staff wages. This leads to stronger growth, a bigger economy, rising tax revenues and smaller borrowing bills.
“The UK’s productivity problem is a disaster,” says Acemoglu. “This is an amazing economy that should be growing much faster, and not doing anything about it is the biggest risk.”
But Bowman’s concern is that the UK has now fallen so far behind the frontier in terms of economic development that worrying about technological progress “doesn’t make much sense”. At worst, he adds, it’s “a serious distraction”.
And the economic outlook is far from rosy. Living standards are on course for their biggest two-year fall since records began. The tax burden is also on course to hit a post-war high. The UK’s long-term growth potential is diminishing. Economists are warning of another decade of lost pay growth, while the Bank of England is set to inflict more pain on borrowers with further interest rate rises.
Ben Ansell, a political scientist at Oxford University, says all of this matters at the polls.
Take Selby and Ainsty, located 90 minutes away by car from Rishi Sunak’s Richmond constituency in North Yorkshire. Many factors turned the former mining constituency red in last week’s by-election, including the economic backdrop, says Ansell.
Selby is in the top 40 constituencies in England and Wales for the number of mortgage-holders, with 35.9pc of households still paying theirs off, according to latest census data.
That puts rising interest rates at the forefront of many constituents’ minds, along with the rising cost of living and fuel prices (this is an area of high car ownership and where the proportion of people aged between 30 and 64 is above the national average).
The UK-wide shift to Labour among homeowners has been huge, particularly among those with big mortgages, says Ansell. Back in 2019, the Tories had a comfortable lead over Labour among anyone who owned a home.
Today, that’s all been erased. Labour has a 15 point lead over the Tories among people who have less than 50pc left on their mortgage. Among those who own less than half, the lead is 43 percentage points, he says, citing recent polling.
“Big, big gaps are opening up by age,” he adds. “It’s younger working people who have veered further away from the Conservative Party. And that’s a problem because traditionally the Conservative Party always does well with these groups – these were the Yuppies in the 1980s. So when Conservatives have been worrying about losing millennial homeowners, they’re right. And it’s that group of people who are most affected by interest rates.”
As politicians begin their pre-election strategies, economists worry that the gap between the UK and US continues to widen.
The differences on paper are already stark. Bowman highlights that in the decade before the pandemic, productivity growth of 8pc was twice as fast in the US as the UK. America’s economy has also grown much faster overall.
In 2021, an American worker was 26pc more productive than their British counterpart, producing $74.80 (£58.30) per hour worker versus $59.20 per hour for a British worker.
A more productive workforce means better pay, with the average American worker paid $77,500 in 2022, compared with $54,000 in the UK, according to one OECD measure that adjusts for buying power in each country.
For some professions the differential is stark. A nurse in America can expect a pay packet of $85,000, compared to the $48,500 for a nurse working in the UK. During the pandemic, stark shortages and a more mobile US workforce meant many commanded much higher salaries.
“In other words, Americans can stop working each year in September and they’d still be richer than Britons working for the whole year,” says Bowman.
These differences add up. A study published this month by the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) think tank highlights that the difference between 2pc and 3pc annual economic growth is not one per cent, it’s fifty.
“While it’s common to compare levels of growth between countries in a single year, the reality is that it is the long-term trend that matters,” the paper says. “An economy that grows at 3pc per year will double in 24 years but an economy that grows at 1pc will double only in 48 years. For a long time now, the average growth rate in mature and developed European economies has been closer to 1pc than 3pc.”
Oscar Guinea, senior economist at ECIPE, says this divergence in economic fortunes between the UK and US has created a growing prosperity gap. ECIPE says if European countries were US states, many of them would be at the bottom of the league table in terms of GDP per person – including the UK. Every country in Europe is poorer per head than every state except Idaho and Mississippi. The UK languishes near the bottom between France and the Gem State.
It wasn’t always this way. Back in 2000, GDP per capita was higher than 14 US states and similar to that of Ohio or South Carolina. Two decades later and the UK has dropped 11 positions to have a GDP per capita that is closer to Arkansas.
If these trends continue, by 2035 the gap between output per person in the US and EU will be as large as that between Japan and Ecuador today.
Guinea says the gap between the US and UK will be more like the one between Spain and Gaza.
Made in America
There’s no free lunch. And in the world’s largest economy, there aren’t many long ones either.
Americans spend 20pc more of their time working than their British counterparts, working an average of 1,811 hours per year, compared with 1,532 hours, according to the OECD. The UK is often singled out as having one of the most flexible job markets in Europe. But America’s “at will” system of employment makes two weeks’ notice a courtesy, rather than a requirement.
Paid leave is also not a legal requirement, though many companies offer 10 days as standard. Ansell, who spent a decade working in the US, says he’s still internalised the idea that taking too much time off is a bad thing.
“I think the longest holiday I’ve had since 2000 is about eight days. The idea of taking two whole weeks off is still a bit strange for me.”
When Covid hit, America preferred firings to furlough, albeit with government stimulus cheques helping to soften the blow of unemployment. More than 20 million people lost their jobs in April 2020 alone, pushing the unemployment rate to 14.7pc – the highest since the Great Depression. But it also shifted workers to more productive areas of the economy on their return. By contrast, UK policymakers largely pressed the pause button, funding wage bills for staff in existing jobs.
The pandemic had a huge impact on both the US and UK workforces, but while America saw a bigger increase in unemployment, many Britons gave up looking for work altogether.
Inactivity grew twice as much in the UK than in the US between the end of 2019 and the start of 2023, especially among older workers aged between 50 and 64 years-old, according to the International Monetary Fund. “High inactivity due to illness has been a distinctive feature of the UK, despite a relatively low inactivity rate in level terms,” it said. “If inactivity becomes structural, it could reduce labour supply and affect medium-term growth. In such a scenario, even if productivity grew twice as fast as in the pre-pandemic decade, medium term potential output will mechanically be lower than otherwise.”
A new report by the Institute of Employment Studies that will be published this week goes further, blaming the UK’s job centres for failing people who want to work. The share of jobseekers who contacted Jobcentre Plus to look for employment in 2020 is the lowest in Europe. The IES says its use has “dropped precipitously” in the last two decades as its focus has narrowed to people claiming certain types of benefits. People also feel discouraged by the “any job” mindset, which fuels turnover and disempowers jobseekers.
As a result, jobseekers in other European countries are three times as likely to use employment services and four times as much in Germany. The IES think tank notes that this avoidance of job centres cannot be explained by higher use of private recruitment services in the UK. On average, 24pc of British jobseekers in both the EU and the UK say they have used private recruiters.
It adds that there is “little or no support available for people in low-paid work who may want help to increase their hours or progress, nor for (potential) second earners in households where a partner is working”. There is also very little help for the self-employed or those who became economically inactive during the pandemic.
The Government’s own tax and spending watchdog warned this month that changes to the benefits system mean people are more likely to seek benefits where they don’t have to look for work.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said that “tightening conditionality in other parts of the system can lead to rising claims for unconditional incapacity benefits”, including a surge in mental health-related claims.
Getting rid of face-to-face benefit assessments during the pandemic has not helped. “Various Covid easements” sent the approval rate for incapacity benefits in the early part of the pandemic to “close to 100pc”, up from 55pc in 2016-17. The OBR notes that if incapacity benefit claims had remained at 2016-17 levels “there would have been 670,000 fewer approved claimants”.
Tom Pursglove, minister for disabled people, health and work, says changes will take time. “I do know that there is a structural problem with our benefits system, where we’ve got considerable numbers of disabled people and people with health conditions who would like to try to work,” he says. “They regularly say to me, we would like to try. In fact, we may have even spotted an opportunity. But the structural problem we have in the benefit system is someone may try that role but it doesn’t work out, and then they lose their benefit entitlement and have to be reassessed in order to access support again. The jeopardy of all that gets in the way.”
The Government has set in train plans to change the focus of handouts to focus on the things people can do, rather than what they can’t. However, the Department for Work and Pensions admits that no changes will be seen before the end of the decade. “We need to fundamentally rework the benefit system to get rid of that structural problem which we’ve committed to, but there needs to be that intensive employment support too,” says Mr Pursglove.
Health and wealth
One area where the US isn’t as attractive as the UK is healthcare. Life expectancy in the US is lower, even though health spending is much higher. One reason is because healthcare is much more expensive, and while US employers often cover the cost of insurance, it isn’t universal. While 90pc of people in America have some form of healthcare insurance, the NHS means the share in the UK is 100pc. ECIPE recognises some of these differences in its analysis. “It is the case that the EU distributes its resources more equally than the US and has more generous welfare policies,” it says. “In the EU, the richest 10pc hold 36pc of pre-tax national income and the bottom half hold 19pc. In the US, these numbers were 45pc for the richest 10pc and 13pc for the poorest half.”
But, the US has “become more European” in recent years, closing the gap on social spending with the EU from six to four percentage points over the past two decades.
Oscar Guinea at ECIPE says this is a message for people who argue that America is a richer but more ruthless place to live.
“This is a ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ type of moment where the differences are too large to ignore. They can’t just be dismissed by people who say ‘this is because the Americans work longer’ or ‘This is because Americans are willing to accept more inequality’ or ‘because the Americans spend less on social security and social spending’. They’re all true, but they haven’t been getting worse over time. Inequality has been stable, the difference in working hours is stable. The US is actually spending more on social security. But this growth gap is there for everyone to see.”
Guinea urges policymakers to look at regulation, which is far more heavy-handed in Brussels than Washington DC. He says the bloc also needs to be more ambitious. He uses the example of the Lisbon Strategy announced at the start of the millennium with much fanfare. Its aim was for the EU to become the “most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion”. Yet little has been done since.
Bowman says policymakers must get back to basics because even worthy goals like net zero have become a distraction, he adds. Policymakers must spend less time being devoted to tackling issues such as obesity, gender and racial pay gaps and more on growing the overall pie that will enable more spending to achieve these goals.
“Economic growth is being neglected,” he says. “I am very pro-decarbonisation and I acknowledge that this is a really important problem that we need to solve. But what I don’t know is that the way we’re trying to solve it is particularly mindful of its impact on economic growth. And I think that if we did acknowledge that there is a trade-off between the way we approach net zero and economic growth, we might approach it in a different way.”
He uses net-zero as an example where “every level of government has been tasked with having a plan for its own little area”. Even the Bank of England has its own 51-page climate transition plan where Governor Andrew Bailey will oversee the installation of heat pumps at Threadneedle Street.
But Bowman argues that these plans do not take into account even basic questions such as will net zero homes be nice places to live in. A recent viral photo showed how new safety and net-zero related rules on buildings governing ventilation, energy efficiency and heating have distorted the way windows are installed in houses because glass areas cannot exceed 25pc of the overall floor areas. The Government’s Committee on Climate Change recently recommended that roads which make emissions worse should be banned. Bowman says this is a disaster for growth.
“I find it a bit crazy that windows have to be a certain size basically to maximise net-zero benefits. The problem from a housing point of view is if you’re building houses that people don’t want to live in, then you limit the benefits of building them in the first place.”
Bowman and Ansell say improving mobility and housing provision is key. Ansell says: “Some of the productivity gap we have is linked to the fact that when there’s a booming area in the UK, it’s really hard to move to that area – unlike in the US. People can’t move to where the jobs are because there aren’t houses there.”
Guinea says all of these policy proposals suggest the answer to Europe’s woes remains higher growth. “One of the reasons why we compared Japan and Ecuador is because which country do you think is better prepared to fight climate change? Is it Japan or is it Ecuador? Economic prosperity matters if you want to face the challenges of climate change or an ageing society. It will also enable you to transition to an ageing society and devote more resources to public services.”
Of course, there are pros and cons of living on either side of the pond, as one person recently commented on the internet forum Reddit. “Over simplified, but: on a scale of 1-10, life in America is a one if you’re poor and a ten if you’re rich,” they observed. “In England it’s a four-to-six no matter what. I’ll take the security of that.”
But as we are learning, there is little security in mediocrity.",Not_Explicit
"WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - Israeli President Isaac Herzog will address Congress on Wednesday, completing a visit aimed at reassuring the United States that Israel's democracy remains strong despite government attempts to overhaul the country's judicial system.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden met Herzog, whose position is largely ceremonial, and stressed their countries' close ties despite U.S. tensions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
""Israeli democracy is tough and resilient and we should definitely see the current debate in Israel with all facets as a tribute to the strength of Israeli democracy,"" Herzog told reporters at the White House grounds after meeting Biden.
Herzog follows his father, Chaim Herzog, who as president in 1987 was accorded the same rare honor of addressing a joint meeting of the U.S. House and Senate, one of the highest marks of esteem Washington affords foreign dignitaries.
The invitation was extended by the leaders of Congress last year to mark the 75th anniversary of Israel's founding.
The speech is not without controversy.
Ties have been strained over Israeli settlement expansion on the occupied West Bank and what Washington sees as dimming prospects for a two-state solution to relations with the Palestinians as well as a judicial overhaul.
The proposed overhaul, which has drawn street protests across Israel from critics who decry it as anti-democratic, included curbs on the Supreme Court's authority while granting the government decisive powers in appointing judges.
A handful of the most progressive Democrats in Congress said they would boycott Herzog's remarks.
Representative Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, said on Twitter she would not attend. ""I urge all Members of Congress who stand for human rights for all to join me,"" she said, with a picture of herself holding a ""Boycott Apartheid"" sign on the Capitol steps.
Representatives Ilhan Omar, Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also did not plan to attend.
Omar said on Twitter ""there is no way in hell"" she would be at the speech.
""Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address comes on behalf of the most right wing government in Israel’s history, at a time when the government is openly promising to 'crush' Palestinian hopes of statehood — essentially putting a nail in the coffin of peace and a two-state solution,"" Omar said.
It is not unusual for members of Congress to miss foreign leaders' addresses. Several skipped Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech to Congress in June, citing issues including rights concerns.
More than 50 Democrats stayed away from a 2015 speech to Congress by Netanyahu that was seen as an embrace of congressional Republicans and snub of then-Democratic President Barack Obama's Iran policy. Biden, who was vice president and thus president of the Senate, also did not attend.
Herzog will meet with Vice President Kamala Harris in the afternoon, when a White House official said they will announce a joint five-year, $70 million initiative to support climate-smart agriculture to improve the use of critical water resources in the Middle East and Africa.
Biden and Herzog last met at the White House in October. Netanyahu returned to office in December.
On Monday, Biden invited Netanyahu to the United States for an official visit later this year.
Proponents of the Israeli government's judicial overhaul say the country's Supreme Court has become too interventionist and that the change will facilitate effective governance.
Opponents say the change will weaken the Supreme Court, which in a country that has no constitution and a one-chamber parliament that is dominated by the government - has a critical role in protecting civil rights and liberties.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.",Not_Explicit
"MIAMI -- After two diagnosed concussions derailed an MVP-caliber season in 2022, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's priority entering this offseason was learning how to better protect himself.
So he made an interesting choice.
""I've been falling a lot this offseason,"" Tagovailoa said.
But it's by design. One day each week, Tagovailoa trains in jiu-jitsu. From learning how to fall to making contact less of a shock to his system, jiu-jitsu has become an important part of Tagovailoa's regimen as he looks to reduce the possibility of future head injuries.
""For guys at my position, we barely get hit throughout practices, throughout the offseason, even going into training camp,"" Tagovailoa said. ""We don't even get touched until the season starts.
""So I mean, with jiu-jitsu, I've been thrown airborne, I've been put in many uncomfortable positions for me to learn how to fall and try to react throughout those positions that I'm getting thrown around in.""
As the Dolphins surged to an 8-3 record last season, Tagovailoa was running one of the league's top offenses. But injuries, including the concussions and an apparent head injury in Week 3 that ultimately prompted the NFL to change its policy on evaluating concussions, caused him to miss the better part of six games, including the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills. It inspired an unconventional approach to this offseason by a team that again has Super Bowl aspirations.
""It's really hard sometimes for me to even remember [who came up with the idea of jiu-jitsu],"" Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. ""I know [quarterbacks] coach [Darrell] Bevell was spitballing some problem-solving things that we could do. [Strength and conditioning coach] Dave Puloka and [head athletic trainer] Kyle Johnston were very involved in all this stuff.""
Regardless of whose idea it was, Tagovailoa is following through. And it makes sense to at least one world-class fighter whose talents helped her become an MMA champion.
""When you're in a specific sport, you're using the same muscles over and over and over again,"" said Kayla Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo. ""You're breaking those [muscles] down and wearing those down. So in the offseason, to train and use your brain in a different way, to use different muscles is I think super beneficial to athletes, and I think science shows that as well.
""MMA is a really tough one to pick ... but I love it. I love that they want to get in there, get beat up a little bit and learn how to fight, I think that's awesome. And I do think it's beneficial for football, for sure.""
'Why haven't we detailed this before?'
Some fighters don't watch videos of themselves getting knocked out, but for Tagovailoa, it was important.
He rewatched the hits he took during the 2022 season, including the one in Week 4 that resulted in him being taken off the field via stretcher and having a brief stay in a Cincinnati hospital.
""It wasn't tough to watch,"" Tagovailoa said. ""I want to get better at everything that I can do to help the team win games, and I know the biggest one is my health, staying out on the field. And so looking at the film, I was able to watch that with my jiu-jitsu coach, and we were able to kind of relive the scenario in how I got tackled, how I fell.
""And it wasn't just one particular game. It was multiple ways that I got taken down and how I could have prevented that.""
The training included Tagovailoa being placed in recreated scenarios that mirrored situations he faced last season.
""It's a lot of strategic falling that is patterned after things that happened to our quarterbacks during the season,"" McDaniel said. ""So kind of recreating those things, because the master of jiu-jitsu had to study some game tape to understand how he was falling, where the impact points were, and what we could do to help correct it.""
Tagovailoa strengthened his neck and core muscles through his jiu-jitsu training, to a point where a source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN he is ""the strongest he's ever been.""
Initially, Tagovailoa told USA Today he was training in judo, before McDaniel publicly corrected him a few weeks later. The two forms of martial arts are fairly similar -- they're ""sisters,"" even, according to Harrison.
""They both have some of the same moves,"" she said. ""In judo, you can choke, you can armbar; and in jiu-jitsu, you do chokes, armbars, heel hooks. You can also do takedowns in jiu-jitsu, but the focus is really different.
""Where in judo the focus is a lot on throws -- big, exciting throws. The focus in jiu-jitsu is more on submission.""
Tagovailoa said his training has focused on grappling and dispersing energy while falling, while also remembering to tuck his chin on his way to the ground.
""It kind of looks like bullying,"" McDaniel said. ""Like it's just a guy being attacked and going to the ground. And then how to transfer energy to disperse it and not have a central impact focus. It's something that makes you think, 'Hey, why haven't we detailed this before?'""
'Excited to see his progress'
With pads popping and fighters grunting, Harrison extended an invitation to Tagovailoa to train at her gym, American Top Team, in Coconut Creek, Florida. South Florida is a hotbed for mixed martial arts, and ATT has produced some of the top MMA fighters in the world.
""If he wants to come by American Top Team and get a lesson from a two-time Olympic champion, I'm more than willing to help him,"" Harrison said. ""He's always welcome here.
""I'm excited to see his progress.""
Tagovailoa should be in the area for a while. After the Dolphins picked up his fifth-year option in March, Tagovailoa is expected to remain in Miami for at least the next two seasons. Meanwhile, McDaniel is entering his second season in Miami, which means Tagovailoa will have the same playcaller in back-to-back years for the first time since Miami drafted him in 2020.
If he remains healthy, there's little reason to believe the Dolphins won't again possess one of the NFL's most potent offenses. But Tagovailoa wasn't the only Dolphins quarterback to sustain injuries last season. All three of their quarterbacks were injured at some point in 2022, so McDaniel said the team has incorporated jiu-jitsu training into its drill work with the quarterbacks, although he didn't go into specifics.
""As a quarterback, September starts and then you get tackled,"" McDaniel said. ""And then you get tackled for six months, and then you don't again until September. So how can we help train quarterbacks to stay healthy? And that's something that that whole offseason training has really helped us try to take a good step in the right direction for how to best prepare players for an NFL season.
""By and large, you find out that core strength is very much important when you're talking about the transfer of energy of the human body going to the ground, and different things that you can do to minimize that are strategic, but then strengthening of the core so that when you're going to the ground, the top of your torso isn't just a leverage whipping device.""
Tagovailoa has bulked up from 217 to 225 pounds this offseason while maintaining his mobility. The quarterback is focused on preparing for a pivotal season, after which he could sign a sizable contract extension.
""I've seen a guy that has followed through on his words as much as any young man I've come across in my career,"" McDaniel said. ""You talk about going above and beyond.""",Not_Explicit
"Georgia commit Dylan Raiola is changing high schools for senior season
Quarterback Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 college football prospect in the 247 Composite rankings for the class of 2024, is switching high schools.
Raiola, who recently committed to the University of Georgia after changing his initial commitment from Ohio State in December, is moving from Pinnacle High School in Arizona to Buford High School in Buford, Georgia, sources told ESPN.
At Buford, Raiola will have the privilege of teaming up with other exceptional athletes, including five-star prospects Khalil Bolden (ranked 15th overall) and Eddrick Houston (ranked 30th overall).
Raiola had previously transferred from Chandler High School in Arizona to Pinnacle following the previous season. This move triggered scrutiny from the Arizona Interscholastic Association due to their transfer policy, which could have resulted in a potential five-game suspension.
In this regard, Raiola's father, Dominic, a former NFL offensive lineman, shared with ESPN that the timing of the hardship case review by the AIA would not align with Pinnacle High School's first game scheduled for August 23.
""After meeting with the head coach at Pinnacle High School, he was very confident that Dylan would have to sit games and Dylan didn't want to sit games,"" Dominic Raiola told ESPN. ""He wanted to play right away. And I think for our family, where we are, it just made total sense. Let's get him in a program because you can say he is moving to another high school, this, that, and the other. But I think people would rather see Dylan play than sit. And so we're excited about it.""
In his junior year at Chandler High School, Raiola passed for 2,435 yards, 22 touchdowns, and only five interceptions.
-
Nick Saban in Joel Klatt interview series: 'We need to create some balance'
Prepping for the NFL: How ACC coaches compare at developing offensive stars
Elite 11 Finals takeaways: Alabama commit Julian Sayin steals the show
-
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders faces possible foot amputation
College football rankings: Our post-spring football top 25
Did Big Ten nail it? Big wins, potential pitfalls in new schedule format
-
College football stars following in the footsteps of NFL dads
Ohio State's QB race: Spring game leads to more questions than answers
Ranking the 10 most successful seasons by first-year college football coaches
-
Nick Saban in Joel Klatt interview series: 'We need to create some balance'
Prepping for the NFL: How ACC coaches compare at developing offensive stars
Elite 11 Finals takeaways: Alabama commit Julian Sayin steals the show
-
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders faces possible foot amputation
College football rankings: Our post-spring football top 25
Did Big Ten nail it? Big wins, potential pitfalls in new schedule format
-
College football stars following in the footsteps of NFL dads
Ohio State's QB race: Spring game leads to more questions than answers
Ranking the 10 most successful seasons by first-year college football coaches",Not_Explicit
"Editor’s Note: This is issue 94 of Ukrainian State-Owned Enterprises Weekly, covering events from June 17-23, 2023. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission.
Ukrainian SOE Weekly is an independent weekly digest based on a compilation of the most important news related to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and state-owned banks in Ukraine. This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union within the project “Supporting Ukraine in rebuilding and recovery” implemented by the KSE Institute. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the editorial team of the Ukrainian SOE Weekly and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Corporate governance of SOEs
State Property Fund to liquidate over 1,200 loss-making SOEs. On June 16, the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) reported that it had analyzed 2,364 enterprises currently managed by the SPFU:
- 134 are strategic assets that will remain under the management of the SPFU;
- 288 are to be privatized and are looking for investors;
- 664 are in occupied territories; and
- 1,278 are slated for liquidation or bankruptcy.
The assets that remain under the SPFU’s management are strategic enterprises and enterprises important for social policy, such as the operating and profitable prosthetic and orthopaedic producers or defense companies, the SPFU added. The SPFU did not specify the names of companies.
By the end of 2023, the SPFU plans to take over the management of about 1,200 more SOEs.
According to the SPFU, the liquidation of non-performing assets would allow it to reduce the debt burden on the state budget, pay wage arrears to employees, create new businesses using the property of unprofitable enterprises, and develop the Ukrainian economy.
Liquidation of enterprises can take from four months to 1.5 years. The SPFU plans to liquidate 347 companies in 2023, 400 companies in 2024, and another 141 in 2025.
In SOE Weekly (Issue 90), we reported that since September 2022, the SPFU has replaced 89 CEOs and 53 supervisory board members at enterprises that it manages. The fund was awaiting appointment approvals at another 26 enterprises.
In Issue 83, we reported that the Verkhovna Rada approved a mechanism for liquidating more than 1,200 non-performing SOEs.
In Issue 79, we reported that the SPFU announced that it planned to replace chief executives at 65 SOEs. The decision was based on the analysis of those enterprises’ financial indicators.
In Issue 75, we reported that the SPFU announced that it began dismissing SOE managers found to be lacking integrity.
Ukroboronprom’s supervisory board approves its strategic development priorities until 2034. On June 21, Ukroboronprom reported that its supervisory board approved the strategy that sets priorities for Ukroboronprom itself and the companies that it oversees for 2023-2034.
SOEs, particularly those overseen by Ukroboronprom, were responsible for delivering 36% of the State Defense Order in 2020.
According to Ukroboronprom’s release, its primary objective is to ensure the sustainable development of production and technology infrastructure. This includes serial production and supply of products and services to meet the needs of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Forces.
The strategic priorities of Ukroboronprom and its enterprises include:
- preserving the existing scientific, technical, and production competence;
- developing new competence through technology transfers from leading Western companies; and
- supporting the entire life cycle of state-of-the-art weapons and military equipment models.
Ukroboronprom aims to ensure that weapons and military equipment used by the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine and NATO member states are interoperable and interchangeable. To achieve this, Ukroboronprom will cooperate with defence companies from the United States, as well as other NATO and EU member states.
Note that it is important for the SOEs’ strategy to be in line with the expectations set by the state as the owner. These expectations are typically outlined in the state ownership policy.
The concept of corporate governance reform of Ukroboronprom, including its ownership policy, was drafted by Andriy Boytsun, Oleksandr Lysenko, and Dmytro Yablonovskyi, members of the SOE Weekly team, as well as the international law firm Kinstellar, in early 2020.
However, no public information is available on whether any changes have been contemplated to that policy since the full-scale invasion of Russia. We are also unaware of how Ukroboronprom’s recently approved strategy reflects its ownership policy.
In SOE Weekly (Issue 59), we reported that in July 2021, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law 1630-IX (previously known as Draft Law No. 3822) which laid the groundwork for Ukroboronprom’s transformation.
On Dec. 9, 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers approved resolutions and ordinances to convert Ukroboronprom into a joint-stock company. The Cabinet also approved the conversion of Ukroboronprom’s 43 uncorporatized enterprises into joint-stock companies or limited liability companies fully controlled by the state.
As we reported in Issue 80, the Cabinet said in a press release that it approved the corporatization of Ukroboronprom on March 21.
In Issue 83, we reported that the corporatization had not yet begun: The government resolution to convert the State Concern Ukroboronprom into a joint-stock company called Ukrainian Defense Industry was not public yet.
On May 4, the Cabinet of Ministers published the resolution. (See Issue 87 for detail.)
However, the conversion of Ukroboronprom, as required by that resolution, remained blocked (see Issue 92).
Among other things, the corporatization of Ukroboronprom implies setting up a new supervisory board that will include independent members. This board will have yet to develop a strategic view for the newly corporatized company, including updating the current strategic priorities or developing new ones.
Energy
EBRD to provide 600 million euros to support Ukraine’s energy sector – funds would go to Ukrenergo, Naftogaz, and Ukrhydroenergo. On June 21, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) would support the Ukrainian energy sector with a 600 million euro aid package in 2023.
According to Shmyhal, the relevant memorandums were signed on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London. Each company would receive 200 million euro in the form of loans and grants from international partners.
The EBRD’s memorandum with Naftogaz envisages three main areas of cooperation: building strategic natural gas reserves, investments to decarbonise and reduce methane emissions, and investments to improve energy efficiency, the Prime Minister added.
According to Ukrhydroenergo, the EBRD will also support the restoration and modernisation of its hydroelectric power plants.
The EBRD stated that the financing package would be provided in response to the recent flooding in the Kherson region caused by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam. State-owned Ukrhydroenergo holds the assets of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (Kakhovka HPP).
Fifty million euro would be liquidity financing to support the company’s resilience, while the remaining 150 million euro is earmarked for the restoration of two hydroelectric power plants near the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the EBRD explained.
As SOE Weekly wrote in Issue 91, Ukrhydroenergo reported that the Kakhovka HPP was destroyed beyond restoration after the Russians set off a massive explosion in the engine room.
The memorandum with Ukrenergo lays out the goal to ensure stable and uninterrupted transmission and dispatch of electricity, Shmyhal said. According to Ukrenergo’s CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, this is not the first investment in the stability of the Ukrainian energy sector by international partners.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrenergo has attracted financial support from the EBRD in the form of loans and grants worth more than 500 million euro. About 300 million euro of that amount strengthened the company’s liquidity and allowed it to make payments to market participants for 2022 and 2023, Kudrytskyi wrote.
Naftogaz sues Russia in US court, seeking $5 billion in compensation for Crimean assets. On June 23, Naftogaz reported that it filed a motion to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as it tries to claim an earlier $5 billion award by the Arbitral Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.
The tribunal ordered Russia to pay $5 billion plus interest, in compensation for the damages and lost property in Crimea. Russia never paid it.
According to the Naftogaz statement, the company has the right to initiate enforcement under the 1958 New York Convention in countries hosting Russian assets.
Under U.S. laws, confirmation of the award is mandatory unless the court establishes the existence of causes to refuse or delay recognition or enforcement of the award set out in the New York Convention. Interest will continue to accrue until Russia pays in full, Naftogaz explained.
In SOE Weekly (Issue 83), we reported that The Hague’s Arbitral Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration ordered Russia to pay $5 billion to cover Naftogaz Group’s losses in Crimea when Russia seized them in 2014.
Defense
Ukroboronprom reports successful use of a new drone. On June 20, Ukroboronprom reported about the successful use of a Ukraine-produced drone with a 1,000 km range.
According to Ukrainska Pravda’s (UP) sources, the drone was efficiently used on May 3. A Russian oil depot reportedly caught fire on the same day in the village of Volna in Krasnodar Krai in Russia, not far from the Crimean Bridge.
Confiscation of the aggressor state’s assets, nationalization, and asset seizure
The law on nationalization of Sense Bank comes into force; ABHH threatens litigation. On June 16, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law that allows the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to nationalize banks of sanctioned owners.
In particular, this applies to the last major Russia-linked bank in Ukraine, Sense Bank (which had operated under the name Alfa-Bank until Dec. 1). The bank’s ultimate beneficial owners are sanctioned Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, and Andrey Kosogov.
According to Ekonomichna Pravda (EP), the most likely dates for nationalization are June 23 or 30.
Meanwhile, ABH Holdings S.A. (ABHH), the nominal owner of Sense Bank’s shares, said that it was seriously concerned that the NBU would nationalize Sense Bank and only give a nominal amount to ABHH in compensation. ABHH said that it would complain to an international court in that case.
Earlier, the company appealed to the National Security and Defense Council, asking for permission for the bank’s shares to be sold to a European investor. ABHH claimed that the proceeds from the sale would not go to the sanctioned owners.
In SOE Weekly (Issue 91), we reported that the Verkhovna Rada adopted Draft Law No. 9107-1, which allows the NBU to nationalize Sense Bank.
HACC Appeals Chamber rules to nationalize Deripaska’s quarries; rejects the request to nationalize two quarries saying they are not Deripaska’s. On June 16, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) considered the challenges of companies owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska against the HACC’s Feb. 16 decision to confiscate his assets.
The HACC Appeals Chamber decided to uphold the decision of the HACC to impose sanctions and confiscate 100% of the corporate rights of the following companies: Aluminium Company of Ukraine LLC, Metallurg Service Centre LLC, Mykolaiv Alumina Plant LLC, Hlukhiv Quartzite Quarry LLC, and Zaporizhzhia Lumintorh LLC.
At the same time, the HACC Appeals Chamber denied the Ministry of Justice’s request to confiscate Khust Quarry PJSC and Zhezheliv Quarry PJSC, finding that the evidence of their connection to Deripaska was insufficient. The ruling cannot be appealed.
Ihor Mazepa, CEO of Concorde Capital, previously stated that Khust and Zhezheliv quarries belong to him, Vitaliy Antonov, Vasyl Danylyak, and a German national, Florian Guth. He claimed that none of the investors are related to the Russian oligarchy.
“We bought these assets from Strabag, an Austrian building materials manufacturer, where Deripaska had a 27% stake. That is, these assets have nothing to do with Strabag or its minority shareholder Deripaska,” Mazepa said.
Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko expressed disappointment with the decision, saying that it did “not fully comply with the one we sought and fought for,” but Deripaska’s primary assets would be recovered by the state.
In SOE Weekly (Issue 75), we reported that, on Feb. 16, the HACC satisfied the claim of the Ministry of Justice and ruled to transfer companies owned by Deripaska to Ukrainian state ownership.
In Issue 70, we reported that the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit with the HACC, seeking to seize assets belonging to Deripaska.",Not_Explicit
"A pair of tornadoes travelling side by side in Colorado made for “one of the most incredible tornado sights” AccuWeather storm chaser Tony Laubach has ever seen.
Video of the weather phenomenon that happened 100 miles east of Denver, Colo., Wednesday shows the sister twisters simultaneously sweeping over a field roughly two hours from where heavy hail injured dozens of Louis Tomlinson fans at the Red Rocks Amphitheater that same night.
The tornadoes, a large one and a smaller one, were nearly joined by a third twister that dissipated, according to AccuWeather.
“[It was] one of the most incredible tornado sights I have witnessed, especially in the state of Colorado,” Laubach reported.
He’s been “chasing weather” for more than two decades, according to his Twitter profile.
Laubach said the whirling winds didn’t appear to damage any structures, though winds produced by the thunderstorm that created the tornadoes knocked down power lines and flipped over an RV.
Such tornadoes are rarely seen in Colorado due to the state’s relatively dry temperatures, according to AccuWeather. The Coloradoan reports that Colorado averages fewer than 50 funnels annually. They’ve claimed five lives since 1950.
In comparison, Texas averages 133 tornadoes per year, according to USA Today, making it the nation’s most heavily hit state by far. In second place to the Lone State State, Kansas averages 85 annual twisters. Meanwhile, New York averages 10 tornadoes per year, according to Spectrum News. Only six were confirmed in 2022.
A powerful tornado ripped through Matador, Texas Wednesday night killing four people and leaving several more injured. Storms in west Texas are blamed for unleashing at least three twisters and tennis-ball sized hail.",Not_Explicit
"HONOLULU -- Authorities have arrested a man and woman they say supplied the fentanyl in a mass overdose that left two people dead in a room at an oceanfront Hawaii hotel.
Avery Garrard and Keina Drageset were taken into custody Friday and are charged with conspiring with each other and others to distribute fentanyl that resulted in death, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.
Honolulu police and paramedics found five people who were either unresponsive or needed medical help at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort on June 4. One man was pronounced dead at the scene, and another later died at a hospital.
As of Tuesday, the Honolulu medical examiner's office hadn't determined a cause of death for either man.
The three who survived told Drug Enforcement Administration investigators they had believed the drugs, which were acquired by one of the dead men, were cocaine or MDMA.
“All three did not know the substance possibly contained fentanyl,” a DEA agent wrote in the complaint.
Two people named in the document as sources who have not yet been charged but are cooperating with law enforcement identified Garrard and Drageset as the suppliers of the fentanyl.
A search of the couple’s apartment last week in a Honolulu luxury building turned up approximately $100,000 in cash in a safe, along with drugs that tested positive for fentanyl, the complaint said. They were arrested later that day in a white Tesla.
Neal Kugiya, an attorney representing Garrard, declined to comment before an initial appearance for the pair scheduled for Tuesday.
Jacquelyn Esser, Drageset’s attorney, said she would respond to a request for comment after meeting with her client.
Fentanyl is an opioid many times more powerful than heroin and typically is prescribed to treat severe pain. It frequently appears as an illegal street drug mixed with other substances.
Experts say the growing prevalence of fentanyl in the illicit drug supply is a top driver of the increasing number of overdose deaths in the U.S.",Not_Explicit
"USFL South Division Championship live updates: Breakers vs. Stallions
The 2023 USFL postseason is in full swing, and we've got you covered with all of Sunday's must-see action on FOX!
All eyes are on the South Division, as the powerhouse Birmingham Stallions (8-2) host the tough New Orleans Breakers (7-3) at Protective Stadium (7 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app) in the weekend's final game.
The Stallions clinched their spot in the South Division title game with the win over Memphis in Week 10, eliminating the Showboats in the process. The Breakers secured a playoff spot with their Week 10 win over Houston, which in turn eliminated the Gamblers.
Here are the top moments!
Fire fits
Is your popcorn ready? The Breakers had the dazzling drip on full display as they dropped in to Protective Stadium for the game.
Get. Ready.
The Stallions were pumped and ready for game action as they approached their biggest matchup of the season, and our cameras captured the pregame scene inside a huddle.
Stay tuned for updates!
-
2023 USFL playoff predictions, expert picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
2023 USFL Playoffs: Schedule, how to watch, dates, times, TV
USFL North Division Championship highlights: Maulers win thriller
-
Defense takes center stage as Maulers, Panthers battle for USFL North Championship
USFL rules: 3-point conversions, two forward passes, biggest NFL differences
2023 USFL schedule: Dates, times, channel, full week-by-week matchups
-
After USFL's Maulers, some of sports' biggest recent worst-to-first turnarounds
Breakers vs. Stallions: USFL's best battle for South Division Championship
2023 USFL Division Championship odds: Betting lines, spreads, results
-
2023 USFL playoff predictions, expert picks by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica
2023 USFL Playoffs: Schedule, how to watch, dates, times, TV
USFL North Division Championship highlights: Maulers win thriller
-
Defense takes center stage as Maulers, Panthers battle for USFL North Championship
USFL rules: 3-point conversions, two forward passes, biggest NFL differences
2023 USFL schedule: Dates, times, channel, full week-by-week matchups
-
After USFL's Maulers, some of sports' biggest recent worst-to-first turnarounds
Breakers vs. Stallions: USFL's best battle for South Division Championship
2023 USFL Division Championship odds: Betting lines, spreads, results",Not_Explicit
"President Joe Biden’s $400 billion student loan forgiveness program survived a procedural challenge on Wednesday as the House couldn’t find the votes to override his veto of a bill aimed at killing the program.
The House passed a resolution in May to end what Republicans say is an illegal attempt by Biden to forgive billions in student loans, effectively throwing that debt on the backs of taxpayers. After the Senate approved the same resolution, Biden vetoed it in June.
On Wednesday, the House tried to override that veto but failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed. The House voted 221-206 to override Biden, dozens of votes short of the target thanks to Democrats who all voted to protect Biden’s veto – except for two who voted with the GOP.
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., argued on behalf of Democrats that 43 million Americans are eligible for ""loan relief"" under Biden’s plan, many of whom are low-income people who need such relief. But Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., argued that Americans know that the program unfairly shifts this debt to taxpayers.
""President Biden’s radical plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt via executive fiat is utter hogwash. The American people are not fooled by the deceptive, doctored-up talking points on student loans that the left has attempted to force-feed them over the past two years.""
The House vote effectively kills the attempt by Republicans in Congress to terminate Biden’s controversial loan program. But the Supreme Court may yet rule against it in an upcoming case and could issue that ruling in a matter of days.
The resolution was written under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to kill recent executive branch decisions. The House passed the resolution, 218-203, in May, and that was followed by a 52-46 vote in the Senate – neither of those margins were enough to override Biden’s veto.
When Biden vetoed the resolution, he argued that the COVID-19 pandemic was a reason to provide up to $20,000 in student loan debt relief to millions of Americans.
""The pandemic was devastating for families across the nation,"" Biden said. ""To give borrowers the essential relief they need as they recover from the economic strains associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Education created a program to provide up to $10,000 in debt relief – and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients – reaching more than 40 million hard-working Americans.""
While the COVID emergency is over, Biden and other Democrats say that relief is still needed.
""It is a shame for working families across the country that lawmakers continue to pursue this unprecedented attempt to deny critical relief to millions of their own constituents, even as several of these same lawmakers have had tens of thousands of dollars of their own business loans forgiven by the Federal Government,"" Biden said in his veto message.",Not_Explicit
"Additionally, Matos’ 11 runs through his first 10 career games match Willie McCovey for the most in franchise history through a Giants’ first 10 games.
Matos had one run in San Francisco’s 7-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday at Oracle Park, which came off the rookie’s first major league home run. Furthermore, that long ball created history for Matos.
LUIS MATOS FIRST CAREER HOME RUN ‼️ pic.twitter.com/lMkjY7eSMP
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 24, 2023
The outfielder hit a two-run shot to break a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning, allowing Matos to become the youngest Giant (21 years, 147 days old) to hit a home run since Matt Williams (21 years, 142 days old) on April 10, 1987.
The youngest Giant to homer since 1987 👀 pic.twitter.com/0Iv4eJyMMP
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 24, 2023
“Everything,” Matos told reporters with laughter about the postgame celebrational shower. “It was the coldest shower I’ve ever got in my life.”
""It was the coldest shower I've ever got in my life.""
Luis Matos on the postgame clubhouse celebrations 😂 pic.twitter.com/YYzskEz3MH
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 25, 2023
The Giants' budding young star likely isn’t done making history at the pace he’s currently playing this 2023 MLB season. San Francisco now sits 1 1/2 games out of first place in the NL West, thanks to the play of Matos and Co.",Not_Explicit
"The damaged portion of Philadelphia’s Interstate 95 will reopen six lanes of traffic at noon on Friday, according to a Thursday press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The announcement comes after construction crews have been working around the clock to repair the highway ahead of schedule.
During a Wednesday briefing, Governor Josh Shapiro and PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll stated the closed section would reopen sometime this weekend.
“Based on the tremendous progress these crews made over the weekend and the time it takes to complete the remaining steps, I can now say that we will have I-95 back open this weekend,” Shapiro said.
The updated press release claims that “temporary travel lanes ... three in each direction” will be opened Friday.
Meanwhile, work continues “to rebuild the outer sections of the permanent bridge. Throughout the day [Wednesday], crews placed the final outside and median barriers for the new roadway,” the release states.
The reconstruction has been in response to a June 11 incident, in which a raised section of the roadway collapsed after a tanker truck carrying gasoline crashed and went up in flames underneath.
Roughly 2,000 tons of lightweight glass nuggets were transported in for a speedy and innovative rebuild of the interstate that President Joe Biden called “critical to our economy and it’s critical to our quality of life.”
Upon touring the damage site with Gov. Shapiro, Biden stated, “There’s no more important project right now in the country as far as I’m concerned.”",Not_Explicit
"It seemed as if the age of cheap money would never end. The Bank of England’s base interest rate was cut to 0.5 per cent in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and it would remain below 1 per cent for the next 13 years. A succession of economic shocks – the 2016 Brexit vote, the Covid-19 pandemic – led Threadneedle Street to adopt ever-looser monetary policy.
But the return of “the beast of inflation” – the phrase used by the Bank’s former chief economist Andy Haldane in a prescient essay published in the New Statesman in 2021 – has forced a reckoning. As this issue went to press, the Bank of England was expected to raise its base rate to at least 4.75 per cent – a level not seen since October 2008, just after the crash. A typical two-year mortgage now has an interest rate of more than 6 per cent. As a consequence, 800,000 households due to remortgage will pay an average of £2,900 a year more.
The new era of monetary tightening will have dramatic economic and political consequences. In their quest to return inflation to 2 per cent, both the Bank of England and the government appear prepared to accept a potential recession. The former has announced an external review of its forecasting model after being humiliated by the inflation it promised would be temporary.
Questions should also be asked about the Bank’s decision to expand quantitative easing (QE) – digitally created money used to buy government bonds – by £450bn in 2020-21. This, as Mr Haldane foresaw, inevitably had inflationary consequences (he voted in June 2021 to reduce the eventual stock of QE by £50bn).
The Bank is racing to catch the beast of inflation but it is losing credibility by the day. As mortgage rates surge, there are calls for the state to intervene, as it did to cap energy bills last year. The Liberal Democrats, bidding for middle-class voters in the Conservative Blue Wall, have demanded a £3bn “mortgage protection fund” to protect families falling into arrears.
But such a policy would have predictably inflationary consequences. Rather than intervening yet again to subsidise the housing market, the state needs to end its addiction to doing so.
The pain faced by borrowers is a consequence of successive housing booms: while house prices are 65 times higher now than in 1970, average wages are only 35 times higher. Over the decade that followed the 2008 financial crisis, ultra-low interest rates sustained a form of zombie capitalism and created an illusion of prosperity. But this bargain is unravelling. The only long-term solution is for the UK to evolve an economic model no longer based on hyper-financialisation, one in which productive investment trumps rent extraction.
The Conservatives, the party that championed a “property-owning democracy”, now face a political crisis as well as an economic one. There are just three Tory seats – Chelsea and Fulham, Kensington and Cities of London and Westminster – where home ownership is below 50 per cent. The rise of new-build suburbs and a decade of cheap credit was an underrated factor in the Conservatives’ march across the Red Wall in 2019.
But Labour must face its own reckoning. The end of cheap money has prompted the party to delay its pledge to spend £28bn a year on green investment, and to rule out universal childcare. Shadow cabinet ministers face an increasingly Hobbesian struggle as they bid for scarcer financial resources.
Yet Labour has choices available to it. The party has to date focused on uncontentious tax rises, such as abolishing the non-domiciled tax status and levying VAT on private-school fees. But it could raise far more by taxing wealth and unearned income such as capital gains.
The problem is not, as both Labour and Conservative politicians sometimes suggest, that “there is no money left”. Rather, it is concentrated at the top and increasingly absent at the bottom.
A world of higher interest rates will force politicians to confront choices they avoided during a decade of delusion. No government can credibly rely on growth or borrowing to fund its priorities. Who then will pay as the age of cheap money ends?
[See also: Austerity on trial]
This article appears in the 21 Jun 2023 issue of the New Statesman, The AI wars",Not_Explicit
"|Cinch Championships|
|Venue: Queen's Club, London Dates: 17-25 June|
|Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two, Red Button, the BBC Sport website and app, with live text commentary of selected matches online.|
British number one Cameron Norrie's run at Queen's ended with a disappointing 6-4 7-6 (7-1) quarter-final defeat by American Sebastian Korda.
World number 13 Norrie, the 2021 Queen's finalist, made too many errors in a subdued first-set performance.
Norrie, 27, improved in the second set but some poor shots and a double fault resulted in a one-sided tie-break.
World number 32 Korda will face top seed Carlos Alcaraz after the Spaniard beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4.
- Britons Hewett and Reid set up Queen's semi-final
- Dart beaten in Birmingham quarter-finals
- Live scores, results and order of play
Norrie, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, was broken in the fifth game but had three break points of his own in the following game.
However, he was unable to take advantage as Korda's serve got him out of trouble.
Norrie needed back-to-back aces to hold his next service game, but could not make inroads on Korda's serve as he lost the opening set.
Norrie trailed early in the second set but hauled himself back to 3-3, the first time he was able to get near Korda's serve.
But Korda, the son of former Australian Open winner Petr and brother of major champion golfer Nelly, raced away with the tie-break to reach the last four on his Queen's debut.
Korda, 22, said: ""It's massive. I'm playing really well on grass, I feel comfortable and I'm really enjoying myself here.
""Everything is clicking right now.""
Meanwhile, Britain's Neal Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof lost 6-3 7-6 (7-4) in the semi-finals of the men's doubles to American Taylor Fritz and Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic.
'It gave me fire in the belly to beat him'
Second seed Holger Rune of Denmark will face Alex de Minaur in the other singles semi-final after overcoming Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 7-5 in a match spiced up when the Italian smashed an overhead straight at him.
""He can do what he wants,"" said Rune. ""I mean, it's not the best thing to do, for sure. But again, it is legal. He can hit the ball where he wants to.
""It just gave me fire in the belly to beat him even more. I'm super happy to manage to beat him in two sets. It feels good. I'm in the semi-final, he's not. So I'm happy.""
Australian De Minaur, who beat Andy Murray in his opening match, defeated Adrian Mannarino of France 6-4 4-6 6-4.
Medvedev loses in Halle while Sinner suffers injury
Russian top seed Daniil Medvedev lost 7-5 7-6 (7-3) to Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut in the Halle Open quarter-finals.
Third seed Andrey Rublev came from behind to defeat Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 3-6 6-3 6-4 and set up a meeting with Bautista Agut.
Germany's Alexander Zverev also progressed with a 7-5 6-3 win over Chile's Nicolas Jarry.
Zverev will play Kazakh Alexander Bublik in the last four after Bublik advanced when Italian fourth seed Jannik Sinner withdrew with a right leg injury.
Bublik won the first set 7-5 and was up 2-0 in the second when Sinner pulled out.
Sinner, the world number nine, will hope to be fit for Wimbledon, which starts on 3 July.
World number 11 Karen Khachanov has withdrawn from Wimbledon because of a stress fracture in his back.
The 27-year-old revealed he suffered the injury at the French Open, where he reached the quarter-finals before losing to Novak Djokovic.",Not_Explicit
"Snoop Dogg takes a potshot at Biden with his new ‘Sleepy Joe OG’ cannabis strain
So you’ve got to expect that anytime you get your hands on a Snoop-endorsed strain of cannabis, you’re in for a wild ride.
If you smoke Snoop Dogg’s latest pack, though, you’ll do more than just fall asleep.
The rapper, who employs a full-time blunt roller, posted a photo of a bag of weed on his Instagram Sunday, proudly featuring a sketch of President Joe Biden above the words “Sleepy Joe OG.”
“You won’t even remember what country you are in!,” the packaging boasts, next to flags for Ukraine, China and Russia. “Where am I???” it reads under Biden’s image.
Rap legend Snoop Dogg knows the cost of living is rising, and he’s doing his part to keep his personal blunt roller happy.
As is tradition, commenters flooded the rap mogul’s comment section with laughing emojis.
“Do I hit it and get my vote back?” quipped rapper Nhale, son of the late West Coast legend Nate Dogg.
Of course, the “Sleepy Joe” moniker has dogged the president for years, beginning in 2020 when former President Donald Trump used it to slight his then-opponent. And Snoop has trolled Biden before, photoshopping the 79-year-old politician using a stairlift to board Air Force One after Biden stumbled and fell on the stairs in March.
‘It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career,’ Snoop Dogg said in a statement.
Snoop isn’t the biggest Trump fan, either. In 2017, he pulled a toy gun on a clown dressed as Trump in his BadBadNotGood-assisted music video for a remix of “Lavender.” (He did celebrate Trump for pardoning his friend and Death Row co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris in 2021.)
For Snoop, though, the roasts are nonpartisan; if you slip up, he’s likely to come and find you.
It's a date
Get our L.A. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.",Not_Explicit
"Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged an additional $1.3 billion in assistance to help Ukraine rebuild following the Russian invasion.
Most of the funds will be directed to restoring the country’s battered energy grid and critical infrastructure ranging from ports to rail lines and border crossings.
The top US diplomat announced the new funds in London, where he is attending the Ukraine Recovery conference, hosted by the UK government. The meeting aims to unite allies behind an organized effort to help Kyiv sustain its economy as it presses forward with a counteroffensive to reclaim territory from Russian forces.
“Recovery is about more than just ensuring people have what they need to survive — food to eat, water to drink,” Blinken told the conference, which was also attended by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and featured a video address from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Recovery is about laying the foundation for Ukraine to thrive as a secure, independent country fully integrated with Europe, connected to markets around the world.”
The new financing brings the total of US funding for Ukraine to around $64 billion, according to a State Department statement.
The US money will add to a much bigger financial aid package from the European Commission, which has proposed $55 billion to help finance the Ukrainian government’s current expenditures and urgent reconstruction priorities.
Speaking at the conference, Blinken said the US is sending $520 million toward repairing and modernizing Ukraine’s energy grid, half of which has been destroyed — and $657 will go toward devastated critical infrastructure including rail lines, ports and border crossings. Another $100 million will help digitize Ukraine’s customs systems to “boost speed and cut corruption, Blinken said.
Read more:
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State Secretary Blinken, Xi pledge to stabilize ties between both countriesThe United States and China have pledged to stabilize their badly deteriorated ties during a critical visit to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony ... World News
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State Secretary Blinken says China spy balloon incident ‘should be closed’US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the spy balloon incident with China “should be closed” in an interview with MSNBC posted online on ... World News",Not_Explicit
"The next version of the prompt-based AI image generator, Stable Diffusion, will produce more photorealistic images and be better at making hands. SDXL 0.9, a follow-up to Stable Diffusion XL, “produces massively improved image and composition detail over its predecessor” according to Stability AI. The announcement appeared in a since-deleted blog post and was reported by Bloomberg.
Stability AI describes the new model as providing “a leap in creative use cases for generative AI imagery.” Sample images included in the blog post revealed advancements when using the same prompts in Stable Diffusion XL beta and SDXL 0.9. The images generated with the newer model — including aliens, a wolf and a person holding a coffee cup — appear to show finer detail and more convincing hands. Hands were an easy “tell” to spot AI-generated art — at least until Midjourney v5, a rival platform that runs on Discord, launched in March.
“Despite its ability to be run on a standard home computer, SDXL 0.9 presents a leap in creative use cases for generative AI imagery,” Stability AI said. “The ability to generate hyper-realistic creations for films, television, music, and instructional videos, as well as offering advancements for design and industrial use, places SDXL at the forefront of real world applications for AI imagery.”
Stability AI writes that the new model’s “significant increase in parameter count (the sum of all the weights and biases in the neural network that the model is trained on)” allows for the improved results. Running SDXL 0.9 locally on a PC will require a minimum of 16GB of RAM and a GeForce RTX 20 (or higher) graphics card with 8GB of VRAM. It supports Windows 11 / 10 and Linux.
According to the deleted blog post, the model will soon be available on Stability AI’s Clipdrop web tool and will be added to the startup’s DreamStudio app. The startup says the open-source version of SDXL 1.0 will arrive in mid-July.",Not_Explicit
"Sports collectibles like trading cards, autographs and other memorabilia have been big business for decades. With MMA, it’s no different.
From signed Bellator gloves and UFC posters to fight-worn gear and an abundance of pricey trading cards, just about any MMA collectible fans are looking for has popped up for sale at some point.
Here’s a look at not only some of the priciest MMA collectibles sold on eBay in the past week, but some of the most fun and interesting, as well.
Also see:
$8,500: Khabib autographed card, 1/1
$4,350: Tom Aspinall rookie card, 1/1
Auction listing: 2022 Panini Prizm UFC Tom Aspinall RC Black 1/1 #134
$3,250: 5 unopened packs of UFC Panini Kaboom
Auction listing: (5) 2022 UFC Panini Kaboom Packs
$400: Su Madaerji rookie card, 1/1
Auction listing: 2022 Select MUDAERJI SU Rookie UFC BLACK FLASH PRIZM #73 1/1
$1,325: Jon Jones autographed card
$2,750: Nate Diaz Panini Kaboom PSA 10
Auction listing: 2022 1ST Panini Instant UFC #7 Nate Diaz Kaboom! SSP PSA 10 GEM MINT
$2,600: Khamzat Chimaev card, PSA 10
Auction listing: 2021 Select UFC Khazmat Chimaev Gold Disco Prizm Psa10 Rookie
$299.99: Fedor signed/framed glove, display
$289.99: Royce Gracie/Ken Shamrock signed canvas
$110: Signed glove with Felice Herrig, Patrcio Freire, Carla Esparza, more
$450: Ronda Rousey Panini Kaboom card
Auction listing: 2023 WWE REVOLUTION Ronda Rousey KABOOM 🔥🔥🔥
$171.59: Amanda Nunes, Miesha Tate signed glove
Auction listing: Miesha Tate Amanda Nunes Autograph Signed UFC Glove MMA JSA
$769: Ilia Topuria rookie card, PSA 10
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, that’s on you.",Not_Explicit
"The former head of the UK Armed Forces has warned all three services are ""too small"" and that the Royal Navy's Type 45 Destroyers are arguably Britain's only counter-missile systems that could defend against a multiple missile attack of the kind that Russia is deploying against Ukraine.
General Sir Nick Carter, speaking to a group of MPs examining the readiness of the UK's Armed Forces at the defence committee, warned Britain could struggle to win a lengthy state-on-state war.
He voiced repeated concerns about the size of Britain's Armed Forces, which according to Ministry of Defence (MOD) figures in January 2023, places the number at just over 143,560 regulars, saying: ""I think all of our Armed Forces have become too small.
""I don't think we have resilience in them to be able to be confident that if a peer-on-peer war broke out we would have any capability left after the first couple of months of the engagement.""
Gen Sir Nick warned that the UK has a particular vulnerability around air defence, explaining how a multiple missile attack such as the ones Russia has been using against Ukraine would pose a considerable challenge for Britain.
He said: ""The extent to which we've got a counter-missile system is debatable and arguably, the Type 45 is the only capability in the country that can deal with that sort of problem.
""So, a counter-missile defence, a sort of Patriot-type system, being used now in Kyiv – it's that sort of capability.""
The Patriot missile system is being used by Ukraine to counter the threat of Russian air strikes.
Three countries have sent the Patriot to Ukraine – the US, Netherlands and Germany. Created by the United States, the Patriot system is used to intercept and destroy incoming cruise missiles and aircraft.
Standing for the Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target, the Patriot's batteries consist of eight launchers, each with the capacity to fire four missiles.
The Royal Navy has six Type 45 Destroyers, considered to be the backbone of Britain's naval fleet, which it says are among the most advanced warships ever built, equipped with the Sea Viper missile.
Also known as PAAMS (Principle Anti Air Missile System), once airborne, the Sea Viper system can guide 16 missiles to targets that are as far away as 70 miles (113km), engaging multiple targets simultaneously.
Gen Sir Nick also recalled his concerns about the impact of the nuclear deterrent on defence finances during his time as the head of the Armed Forces.
He said: ""I always used to worry as the Chief of the Defence Staff that the nuclear programme was taking up so much of our resource that we were diminishing our conventional deterrence as a consequence.
""And what we absolutely see with Russia, if you look at their ability to be able to manage escalation up and down levels of effort, it's much better than what we in the West have got.""
The committee has set out to determine the main gaps in Armed Forces readiness and whether Government plans are sufficient to address these shortfalls.
MPs are continuing to hear from a range of witnesses for their report.",Not_Explicit
"Meet the kids of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Doctor Who set pictures reunite the Doctor with an old friend. Plus, get a look at this week’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. To me, my Spoilers!
Mortal Kombat 2 producer Todd Garner shared a behind-the-scenes photo of the upcoming sequel’s cast on Twitter.
Relatedly, another Twitter post teasing the Saw X logo suggests the first teaser will release later this week.
The cast and crew of Dial of Destiny discuss the film’s action sequences in a new featurette.
Elsewhere, Seth Rogen introduces each member of his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles voice cast in a new Mutant Mayhem featurette.
The Asylum’s Transmorphers franchise returns with a Rise of the Beasts mockbuster available on VOD this Friday.
During a recent interview with Yahoo! (via Redanian Intelligence), The Witcher producer Tomek Baginski stated Liam Hemsworth’s introduction as the new Geralt of Rivia will be “very, very close to the meta ideas which are deeply embedded in the books, especially book five.”
We have a very, very good plan to introduce our new Geralt and our new vision for Geralt with Liam. Not going deeply into those ideas because this will be a huge spoiler, [but] it’s also very, very close to the meta ideas which are deeply embedded in the books, especially in book five. It’s very lore accurate. It’s very close to what was set out in the books and I think this change will be quite flawless. But at the same time it will be a new Geralt, it will be a new face for this character and I think it will also be very, very exciting to see.
Meanwhile, new behind-the-scenes photos see Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor riding an orange vespa with Bonnie Langford as the returning companion, Melanie Bush.
Jamie is “pulled back into the Revolutionary War” in the synopsis for “A Most Uncomfortable Woman,” the fourth episode of season seven.
On the way to Scotland, Jamie is pulled back into the Revolutionary War. William is sent on a covert mission. Roger and Brianna struggle to adapt to life in the 1980s.
Paul Wesley’s James T. Kirk returns in photos from “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” this week’s episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Head over to Comic Book to see the rest.
Finally, Emma returns home in a clip from this week’s season finale of Unicorn: Warriors Eternal.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.",Not_Explicit
"San Francisco’s fire chief is fed up with robotaxis that mess with her firetrucks. And L.A. is next
Robotaxis keep tangling with firefighters on the streets of San Francisco, and the fire chief is fed up.
“They’re not ready for prime time,” Chief Jeanine Nicholson said.
Nicholson is talking about the driverless taxis from Waymo and Cruise that are picking up passengers and dropping them off in designated sections of the city. Now those companies want to rapidly expand service throughout the entire city, in unlimited numbers, in any kind of weather, day or night. And state regulators appear ready to approve their request.
City leaders are worried — not only in San Francisco, but in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, too, where Waymo and another robotaxi company, Motional, say they’re ready to deploy their AI-operated robotaxi service as soon as state regulators flash the green light.
The robotaxi industry is being allowed to move too fast and break things, these officials say, putting more robotaxis on public streets even as they prove inept at dealing with firetrucks, ambulances and police cars. And, they say, California state agencies have set up the rules so cities have little say in autonomous vehicle regulation.
“I’m not against the technology. I understand it’s important and it’s the way the industry is going,” Nicholson said. “But we need to fix what’s not working right now, before they are unleashed on the rest of the city.”
San Francisco officials want to delay a vote on robotaxi expansion while issues with emergency vehicles are sorted out.
State regulators track robotaxi collisions, but they don’t track data on traffic flow issues, such as street blockages or interference with firetrucks.
But the Fire Department does. Since Jan. 1, the Fire Department has logged at least 39 robotaxi incident reports.
Although, as the driverless industry notes, robot cars don’t get tired, don’t drive drunk or high, and aren’t distracted by their iPhones, they do often stop dead in traffic for no apparent reason. Sometimes these robo-roadblocks are brief, but sometimes the road obstructions last long enough to require a robotaxi company employee to travel to the scene and move the car out of the way.
The Fire Department incidents include reports of robotaxis:
- Running through yellow emergency tape and ignoring warning signs to enter a street strewn with storm-damaged electrical wires, then driving past emergency vehicles with some of those wires snarled around rooftop lidar sensors.
- Twice blocking firehouse driveways, requiring another firehouse to dispatch an ambulance to a medical emergency.
- Sitting motionless on a one-way street and forcing a firetruck to back up and take another route to a blazing building.
- Pulling up behind a firetruck that was flashing its emergency lights and parking there, interfering with firefighters unloading ladders.
- Entering an active fire scene, then parking with one of its tires on top of a fire hose.
After a mass shooting June 9 that wounded nine people, a robotaxi blocked a lane in front of emergency responders in the city’s Mission District. Another lane was open, but in a news release, the Fire Department said on a narrower street, the blockage could have been “catastrophic.”
To deal with a troublesome robotaxi, firefighters attempt to communicate with a remote robotaxi operator, who sometimes can move the car out of the way.
If that proves impossible, the robotaxi company must dispatch a human to the scene. In one case, a firefighter had to smash through a window to coax a robotaxi to move out of the way.
‘Dealing with life and death’
The fire chief said each robotaxi company offers training to help deal with “bricked” vehicles.
“We have 160,000 calls a year. We don’t have the time to personally take care of a car that’s in the way when we’re on the way to an emergency,” she said.
Hannah Lindow, spokesperson for Cruise, said the company is “proud of our publicly reported safety record which includes driving millions of miles in an extremely complex urban environment. Interacting properly with emergency personnel is important to us, which is why we maintain an open line of communication with first responders to receive feedback and discuss specific incidents to improve our response.”
While regulators investigate a spate of Teslas steering themselves into parked vehicles, Tesla owners have been reporting faulty collision-avoidance systems.
Waymo issued a prepared statement: “Safety is at the heart of our mission and we have consistently shared more detail than any other [autonomous vehicle] company regarding our methodologies and insights into our performance. We believe this transparency benefits our riders — who are enjoying a safe, accessible, and delightful mobility option tens of thousands of times per week — and encourages a richer conversation about safety in the industry.”
Nicholson acknowledged that no one has yet been killed or injured due to robotaxi misbehavior. “But I don’t want something bad to happen because we can’t get to a scene. A fire can double in size in a minute. We are dealing with life and death, and I’m not being dramatic in saying that.”
The robotaxi industry in California comes under the jurisdiction of two state agencies — the Department of Motor Vehicles, which issues permits and is responsible for safety, and the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates commercial passenger service, including buses, taxis and limousines.
The utilities commission is set to vote on robotaxi expansion June 29. The resolutions it will vote on make clear that, under the agency’s own rules, issues such as traffic flow and interference with emergency workers can’t be used to deny expansion permits. The resolutions list four “goals” to be considered: inclusion of people with disabilities; improved transportation options for the disadvantaged; reduction of greenhouse gases; and passenger safety.
Critics note that although the commission concerns itself with the safety of robotaxi passengers, it defers other safety issues to the DMV. The DMV collects data on collisions and has the power to suspend permits, but so far has taken no action or made any statements about robotaxi interference with firefighters.
The DMV declined to make its director, Steve Gordon, available for an interview, but issued a statement suggesting that its 4-year-old rules might be open to amendment at some point: “The DMV developed its autonomous vehicle regulations using a public process whereby stakeholders (e.g., local, state, federal government agencies, academia, interest groups, industry representatives) provided input in the development. Comments provided during this process were considered and addressed as part of the rulemaking in the Final Statement of Reasons. The DMV implemented the first set of regulations in 2014, the second in 2018 and the third in 2019. Any future regulations will use a similar process where members of the public and other stakeholders will be invited to participate and provide comments.”
Why doesn’t the DMV have anything to say about its investigation of Tesla’s autonomous driving claims after a full year? The agency isn’t talking, and lawmakers are getting impatient.
Robotaxi regulation issues go beyond robotaxi expansion: The entire way in which California regulates autonomous technology is being questioned.
The DMV has come under fire in the state Assembly, which passed a bill in May that would take away some of the agency’s power to regulate driverless big-rig trucks. Several legislators said they voted in favor of it in part because they believe the DMV has done a poor job of regulating driverless cars.
Safety data censored
In 2021, the DMV joined with Waymo on a court-approved deal to allow driverless car companies to censor not only trade secrets but basic information on safety performance, including most details of collision reports as well as information on how the company handles driverless car emergencies.
The industry is tight with the information it releases to the public about its operations on public roads.
Waymo won’t say how many cars it runs in San Francisco. Cruise said it operates 150 to 300 cars but won’t be more precise. Neither company will say how large its fleet will grow, or how quickly. Neither Waymo nor Motional will say how many robotaxis they’re testing in Santa Monica and L.A.
City officials in San Francisco, a notoriously fractious bunch, are united in opposing the expansion plan, from Mayor London Breed on down, until traffic flow, emergency scene problems and better communications between the companies and the city are worked out.
“Usually the mayor is on the side of corporations and the supervisors are on the other side,” said Board of Supervisors member Aaron Peskin. “We’re saying, don’t give them everything they want until these things are proven. Don’t make us the guinea pigs.”
Waymo, Google’s robotaxi spinoff, has come to Los Angeles. What happens when autonomous vehicles invade the traffic capital of the country?
The fire chief wonders why the ability to deal with emergency scenes was not made a high priority.
“If they can do all this stuff with AI, I’m sure they can figure this stuff out,” Nicholson said.
The utilities commission has gathered expressions of support from dozens of groups that include business organizations, such as the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and advocates for the disabled, such as the American Council for the Blind. The former argue that robotaxi development is essential to keep California at the forefront of innovation, the latter make the case that easy and equitable transportation for all people is a social good that will benefit everyone. No one on any side of the debate has disagreed with either assertion.
But agencies including the Los Angeles Department of Transportation and the city of Santa Monica have filed comments with the commission arguing that robotaxi service should be rolled out incrementally as problems are identified and addressed. Both also called for far more data transparency on robotaxi safety issues.
The industry countered with filings opposing any kind of incremental rollout.
What’s the rush? Robotaxi companies have spent enormous sums developing expensive artificial intelligence technology and want a return on investment.
Cruise, owned by General Motors, has deep pockets. Waymo, owned by Google’s Alphabet, deeper still. But the pressure’s on. In October, Ford and Volkswagen shut down Argo, their robotaxi joint venture, after concluding they’d see better returns investing that money in electric cars and driver-assistance and safety systems.
The utilities commission’s robotaxi expansion measure is slated to be considered as part of a June 29 “consent agenda” package that will gather 50 orders and resolutions on a wide variety of issues, to be passed or rejected by a single vote by the agency’s five commissioners. One of those commissioners, lawyer John Reynolds, was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. At the time, he served as general counsel for Cruise.",Not_Explicit
"Strike action by nurses at the Royal College of Nursing will not continue after the union's ballot of its members in England failed to achieve a mandate.
While the majority of members voted to continue to take industrial action, the numbers taking part in the vote were too low for it to count.
Just over 43% too part - below the 50% threshold required.
The RCN balloted its members after the previous six-month mandate for strike action had expired.
Its members were among a minority of health staff who rejected the government's pay deal of a 5% rise this and a lump sum of at least £1,655.
Members of Unison - the biggest NHS union - and those belonging to the bodies representing physios and midwives also backed the deal, which has now started to be paid.
It means only Unite in England has a mandate for strike action - and that is only for local strikes among some ambulance staff and support workers.
The Royal College of Radiographers is still balloting its members.
This pay deal and dispute is separate to the one involving members of the British Medical Association as doctors are on a different contract.
Junior doctors are due to take part in five-day strike next month, while the results of the strike ballot of consultants closed on Tuesday. An announcement on that is due soon.
Members of the RCN have taken part in eight days of strikes since the start of December.
They have involved around half of front-line services.
The RCN is continuing to take strike action in Wales where a different deal was rejected. The union is also seeking a new six-month mandate to continue the walkouts.
An offer by ministers in Scotland was accepted by RCN members earlier in the year.",Not_Explicit
"Story Highlights
- Church attendance down an average four points since before the pandemic
- Declines in attendance are seen among most key subgroups
- Churchgoers are mainly back in person, but 5% still attend virtually
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. church attendance has shown a small but noticeable decline compared with what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. In the four years before the pandemic, 2016 through 2019, an average of 34% of U.S. adults said they had attended church, synagogue, mosque or temple in the past seven days. From 2020 to the present, the average has been 30%, including a 31% reading in a May 1-24 survey.
The recent church attendance levels are about 10 percentage points lower than what Gallup measured in 2012 and most prior years.
The coronavirus pandemic caused millions of Americans to avoid public gatherings, and many houses of worship were closed to help limit the spread of COVID-19. Still, Americans were able to worship remotely through services broadcast over the internet, television or radio. Most of those who reported attending religious services in 2020 said they did so virtually. Even accounting for remote attendance, however, church attendance figures were lower than in prior years.
It is not clear if the pandemic is the cause of the reduced attendance or if the decline is a continuation of trends that were already in motion. However, the temporary closure of churches and ongoing COVID-19 avoidance activities did get many Americans out of the habit of attending religious services weekly.
Attendance rates since 2020 are lower among nearly every major subgroup. The main exceptions are groups that had low levels of church attendance before the pandemic, including adults with no religious affiliation and political liberals.
Church attendance is down four points among Protestants (from 44% to 40%) and seven points among Catholics (from 37% to 30%), the two largest faith groups in the U.S. Sample sizes for those in other religious groups are too small to provide reliable estimates for the period covered in this analysis.
Republicans, Democrats and independents show similar declines in church attendance since the pandemic began -- between three and five percentage points -- though Republicans (40%) remain much more likely than Democrats (25%) or independents (25%) to attend religious services.
Attendance Has Shifted From Virtual to In-Person
The first time Gallup asked about church attendance after the pandemic began, in April 2020, 31% of U.S. adults said they had attended religious services in the past seven days, with 27% doing so virtually and 4% in person. For much of 2020, far more attended virtually than in person, with overall attendance rates ranging from 25% to 31%.
In May 2021, after COVID-19 vaccines were widely available, overall church attendance was steady at 30%, with about twice as many attending in person as remotely.
Since then, the percentage attending in person has continued to grow, to 26% in the May 2023 survey. Now, just 5% say they attend virtually. Those numbers are essentially the reverse of what Gallup measured in the early months of the pandemic.
The current figures indicate that 84% of U.S. adults who recently attended religious services did so in person, while 16% did so remotely. The proportions of in-person and remote attendance are generally similar by subgroup.
Bottom Line
The pandemic had a profound effect on U.S. society, and it continues to have an impact in some ways. Americans have been less likely to attend religious services over the past three years, and at this point, it does not appear that church attendance will revert to pre-pandemic levels. These recent trends have added to the longer-term decline in religious participation that Gallup has documented over the past two decades.
To stay up to date with the latest Gallup News insights and updates, follow us on Twitter.
Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.",Not_Explicit
"Chris Paul and the Warriors were as close to a rivalry as we have seen in the Western Conference in a decade, and there were moments in their playoff showdowns where you thought there was zero chance they could ever be in the same room again, forget playing with each other.
Chris Paul’s fake laugh never gets old. pic.twitter.com/eMb4HHFuWZ
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) March 24, 2020
Yet here we are — Chris Paul is joining the Warriors .
Any time you get to play with a player who is one of the best of your generation it’s an honor. It’s a little weird because we’ve had so many battles in the past with Chris, and he’s led so many teams that nearly knocked us off or did knock us off all the way back in 2014. I think he’s just going to add such a calming presence and leadership component that we need.
Curry — who has North Carolina ties to Paul — echoed that idea.
If you asked us six months ago if this was something that could happen, the answer probably would’ve been no just based on where we were. Then you get to the summer and are trying to find ways to get better and put yourself in a position to chase another championship. Every team that CP has been on gets better. That’s the most consistent thing about him, and who he is and what he brings to the team. Everybody’s going to talk about the age. It’s on us to put that all together and figure out how all the pieces work.
Everyone with the Warriors is saying all the right things. And maybe they can figure out how to make it all work, these are veteran high IQ players who want to win and are willing to make the sacrifices to do it.
However, there are some monumental challenges for Paul to mesh into the Warriors' culture. Here are the two significant issues at the top of the list:
1) Chris Paul likes to play slow, the Warriors play uptempo and chaotic. CP3 is the NBA king of the walk-the-dog up the court, dribble out top to survey the defense, call up a player to set a pick and create a mismatch, and get the offense rolling. It's calculated and works, but it's deliberate and slow. The Warriors play with pace, space and controlled chaos that defenses scramble to adjust to. Paul talks about playing faster but it will be an adjustment for both sides. This ties into the next big question...
2) Who starts? Chris Paul has never come off the bench in his NBA career. Not one game. Ever. Well-connected Bay Area-based writer Marc Spears of ESPN’s Andscape said he doesn't expect that to change with his move to the Warriors. Starting Paul means center Kevon Looney would have to go to the bench, creating a small-ball starting five of CP3, Curry, Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green. Is that enough defense? Does that unsettle the team's rhythm, which historically has saved its small-ball lineups for clutch moments?
In a strictly basketball sense, one can argue Paul should accept the role as a sixth man and take charge of a second unit in need of direction — and he likely plays minutes with Curry and Thompson out — but that tends not to be how things work in the NBA. Asking a player of CP3s stature around the league to come off the bench means getting his sign-off on the idea, and that seems highly unlikely. At least to start the season. This isn't a Steve Kerr thing; when they traded for Chris Paul, the Warriors knew what this would mean for their rotations.
Adding Paul gives the Warriors another high-IQ star and someone with the competitive fire that can help them chase banner No. 5. Getting there will take some serious compromising.
At least Curry and Thompson seem up for the challenge.",Not_Explicit
"Some Russian internet providers made the Google News aggregator platform unavailable during a march by rebel Wagner mercenaries towards Moscow on June 24, the NetBlocks watchdog organization said on Twitter.
A NetBlocks analysis of visit metrics shows that at least five major Russian internet providers, including Rostelecom, U-LAN and Telpus, blocked the Google News service on June 23 and 24.
""Confirmed: Metrics show that the Google News aggregator platform has become unavailable for many users in Russia; the incident comes amid heightened tensions between the Wagner paramilitary group and Moscow,"" the message reads.
NetBlocks is an online open service that monitors cybersecurity and the digital governance of connectivity on the Internet.
Wagner mercenary company chief Yevgeny Prigozhin announced his ""march on Moscow"" and an armed rebellion against Russian Ministry of Defence in the evening on June 23, allegedly following a Russian Air Force attack on Wagner troops and ""civilians.""
The conflict had run its course by the evening of June 24, when Prigozhin left Rostov-on-Don, where his fighters had seized all main city military objects. Upon his agreement with Putin, he ordered to stop his mercenaries march on Moscow and all units were ordered to return to combat positions.
The self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko mediated in the talks between Putin and Prigozhin, according to the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
The Kremlin pledged to drop all charges against Prigozhin, whose whereabouts are now unknown.
He is thought to have left for Belarus, in line with the deal struck with the Kremlin.",Not_Explicit
"List of Democrats boycotting Modi’s address to Congress grows
The list of Democratic lawmakers boycotting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s joint address to Congress on Thursday is growing.
Progressive Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Summer Lee (D-Pa.) on Thursday said they wouldn’t attend the event. They join fellow progressive Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
“When it comes to standing up for human rights, actions speak louder than words,” Bush and Bowman said in a joint statement with Tlaib and Omar.
The statement blasted the decision to invite the Indian leader adding that “by bestowing Prime Minister Modi with the rare honor of a joint address, Congress undermines its ability to be a credible advocate for the rights of religious minorities and journalists around the world.”
The lawmakers added that they “stand in solidarity with the communities that have been harmed by Modi and his policies.”
“We must never sacrifice human rights at the altar of political expediency and we urge all Members of Congress who profess to stand for freedom and democracy to join us in boycotting this embarrassing spectacle.”
Lee, in a separate statement, said Modi’s government “has targeted journalists, emboldened violent Hindu nationalist groups, and jailed political opponents.”
“We are not true allies if we cannot push them to uphold basic human rights and religious freedoms,” she added.
The statements come just hours before the Indian prime minister was set to arrive at the Capitol.
Modi’s speech to the joint session of Congress comes hours after he met with President Biden and announced a slew of military, tech and health deals between the U.S. and India.
During the joint press conference at the White House, Modi brushed aside a question about human rights abuses and democratic backsliding in his country.
While Democrats in both the House and the Senate have urged Biden to address the issue of human rights in his meetings with Modi, the historic address is set to be a widely attended event.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"Teamsters strike with UPS could snarl commerce as labor flexes muscle
A strike authorized Friday by Teamsters working for shipping giant UPS is the latest flash point in a conflict between organized labor and global logistics companies that 40-year high inflation triggered.
The UPS Teamsters strike authorization is the latest sign of an emboldened U.S. labor coalition hoping to make gains following poor working conditions, low pay and the cost of living crisis set off by the pandemic.
It arrives on the heels of work stoppages on West Coast ports by longshoremen and port workers earlier this month, as well as a threatened strike last year by U.S. rail workers that prompted the White House to intervene despite the Biden administration’s strong ties to labor.
If the current Teamster negotiations break down, the authorization could lead to the largest U.S. strike in decades, involving some 340,000 warehousing, transportation and delivery workers bound by the largest single private sector bargaining agreement in the country.
“There are multiple scenarios for labor actions to be pretty heavy this year, and the Teamsters at UPS is certainly one of them,” Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) in Buffalo, N.Y., told The Hill.
“There are a lot of frustrations on the part of union workers where they’re feeling like they have not been receiving their fair share of the gains and profits made by different companies,” Wheaton said.
Workers want a larger share of company successes
“Teamsters are working in lockstep for a new five-year agreement that guarantees higher wages for all workers, more full-time jobs, [and] an end to forced overtime and harassment from management,” the union said in a Friday statement announcing their intention to strike if contract negotiations fail.
The Teamsters have said they are fighting for better working conditions and a larger share of soaring company profits.
A representative for the Teamsters, who requested to remain anonymous because of their participation in the ongoing bargaining process, told The Hill on Tuesday that negotiators have reached an agreement on 24 provisions in the national contract so far, but talks on the economics portion of the contract centered on wage levels and pay increases have yet to begin.
Union leaders want an end to what they call a “two-tiered” wage system that allows workers who have been with the company longer to make more money for doing the same job as those who have joined more recently.
This wage system was created during the last contract negotiation five years ago and involves a driver classification known as “22.4,” a job that was supposed to involve both outdoor and less strenuous indoor work. Union reps say that provision quickly turned into a traditional driving position, only for $5 less an hour.
Recently elected Teamsters president Sean O’Brien has been at the table across from UPS every day, establishing a new precedent for negotiations, the Teamsters representative said.
“[Our workers] are busting their butts, they are working hard. And so they deserve every bit of their share of how profitable this company has been,” the person said.
A backdrop of soaring profits
A quick look at UPS’s recent market cap shows just how remarkable those profits have become in the aftermath of the pandemic.
UPS’s trailing 12-month profits rose 30 percent between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2022, as measured by financial data company Macrotrends.
Since the last five-year contract negotiation between the Teamsters and UPS in 2018, company profits have risen to $11.5 billion.
The company felt a major windfall during the pandemic’s economic lockdowns, as people stayed inside and relied more on delivery services, with researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York noting “a significant growth in demand for online shopping.”
‘Greedflation’ pressures economy and revives labor
Even now, as the UPS profit surge has begun to subside, the company’s gains follow wider trends in the economy.
Dubbed “greedflation” by economists, many corporations have seen their profits soar as they’ve raised prices amid high inflation and regulators struggling to cool down the broader economy.
After hovering generally between $1.6 and $2 trillion annually in the decade before the pandemic, corporate profits shot up to more than $3 trillion in the second quarter of last year and have taken up a larger share of prices per unit of real value in the economy.
While profits are now falling back in the direction of pre-pandemic levels, a growing body of literature is blaming a tertiary wave of inflation on increased profits and the increased capacity of companies to charge more due to more tolerant consumer behavior.
“Profits across a broad range of industries have risen markedly. … This means that many firms have so far been able to increase their prices beyond the increase in nominal wages, and in many cases even beyond the increase in energy costs,” European Central Banker Isabel Schnabel noted in a speech last September.
“The rise in profits is strikingly different from previous crises that have all seen profits fall,” she said.
UPS sees labor contract negotiations as a ‘risk’
Asked about the company’s recent profit margins, a representative for UPS told The Hill that profitability at the company allows for increased capacity to hire more workers.
“A growing UPS is beneficial to Teamsters as much as it is to UPS,” Natasha Amadi, a public affairs representative for UPS, said. “We have proven that we are a growth engine for the Teamsters and we want to continue on being that.”
Earlier this month, UPS agreed to “equip all newly purchased U.S. small package delivery vehicles with air conditioning” in 2024.
The company also promised to install additional cab fans and heat shields in delivery trucks, after UPS came under fire for viral social media posts showing excessive temperatures putting drivers in uncomfortable and even dangerous working conditions.
In public filings, UPS lists the results of labor contract negotiations among the “risks” facing its business.
“We must attract, engage, develop and retain a large and diverse global workforce, while controlling labor costs,” the company said in its most recent annual Securities and Exchange Commission filing. “If we are unable to hire, properly train and retain qualified employees, we could experience higher labor costs, reduced revenues, [and] further increased workers’ compensation.”
An increasing number of high-profile labor activities
Across the American business landscape, strikes and work stoppages increased in 2022, with 26 new major strikes affecting more than 120,000 workers, according to Labor Department data.
Similar labor unrest has occurred in many countries, a natural consequence of inflation and a rising cost of living, labor experts say.
But as American approval ratings of labor unions have risen to the highest level since the 1960s and an increasing number of familiar brands, like Starbucks and Apple, are drawn into unionization and organizing campaigns, some experts see a new age of labor activation dawning.
“The United Auto Workers (UAW) have pretty much signaled an all-out war against the Detroit three: that’s Ford, GM and Stellantis, which used to be Chrysler,” Cornell ILR’s Wheaton said.
“If it was just one union rattling its saber and trying to make demands, that’s one thing. But if you’re having Starbucks, Amazon, Apple and all these major companies starting to unionize now, a lot of these pretty substantial bargaining demands become more realistic, especially with all these logistical dilemmas people are having,” he said.
Economists with the United Nations wrote last year that the interest rate tightening cycle that’s now near an end was actually geared more toward getting ahead of the sorts of labor market pressures that are now being realized in increased unionization and more aggressive contract disputes.
“Continued monetary tightening — through rising central bank rates and the normalization of their balance sheets — will have little direct impact on the supply sources of inflation and will instead work indirectly to re-anchor inflationary expectations by further reducing investment demand and pre-empting any incipient labour market pressures,” they wrote in 2022.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.",Not_Explicit
"In February 2010, Peter Turchin, a relatively obscure researcher at the University of Connecticut, wrote a letter to the distinguished journal Nature. He was responding to their “2020 visions” issue – an upbeat dawn-of-the-decade exercise that collected predictions of progress from across science and politics. Turchin assumed the role of Cassandra. “The next decade is likely to be a period of growing instability in the United States and western Europe,” he wrote, “which could undermine the sort of scientific progress you describe.” He pointed to waves of disruption that tend to recur every 50 years. “All these cycles look set to peak in the years around 2020.” There was still time to change course, though: with measures to improve wellbeing and reduce economic inequality, “records show that societies can avert disaster”.
Normally scientists enjoy being proved right, but for Turchin, the way the following decade panned out must have seemed a bit too on-the-nose. The response to the financial crisis wasn’t a New Deal-style rescue package as he’d recommended, but austerity and a widening of the gap between rich and poor. Frustration at the established order threw up Brexit in Britain and Trump in the US. Right on cue, 2020 delivered a pandemic, economic chaos and a president who refused to concede defeat at the polls. The following January saw the storming of the Capitol, and images of insurrection that seemed like a throwback to an earlier revolutionary era.
Now Turchin is having another go at explaining those cycles of disruption and what it might take to emerge unscathed (though he tells me that, unlike in 2010, it’s past time to avoid the consequences entirely: “We are in crisis – but it’s not too late to take a less bloody exit.”) His book’s title, End Times, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, but it does provide a clear theory about how we got into this mess, and how to get out of it. There are some familiar concepts here – falling living standards leading to mass discontent – but others, “elite overproduction” in particular, are much less widely recognised, and genuinely eye-opening.
For a global prophet of doom, Turchin cuts a surprisingly ordinary figure. He speaks to me over Zoom from the sofa in his modest living room in Storrs, Connecticut, essentially a village with a huge university campus attached. “We have a house in the woods,” he tells me, and praises the area’s “low population density” in a way that makes me wonder if he’s prepping for the apocalypse. The reality is less alarming. “You know, my wife has a garden, it’s very comfortable.” A bit like a dacha, he observes – a reminder, alongside his strong accent, that he was born in the USSR – “a country that doesn’t exist any more”. He emigrated with his dissident parents in 1977, when he was 20.
That background makes him less sanguine than others might be about the prospect of societal upheaval – even state collapse. “I went back for the first time since leaving in 1992, and I experienced a failed state. Now, when I’d moved to the United States in 1977, the [country] was really at the brink of several trends beginning to point downwards,” he says, tracing the path of a rollercoaster with his right hand. “I saw the end of the Golden Age – from the common people’s point of view – and it has been downhill since then. So I’m really worried about ending up in another failed state.”
I point out that this will seem like hyperbole to lots of people. “I don’t say that it’s 100% certain,” he counters – and notably refuses to be drawn on whether Trump will be re-elected in 2024. “The road out of crisis opens up a whole set of possibilities, from pretty mild instability all the way to collapse. At this point, pretty much anything is possible.”
What were those downward-pointing trends in the 1970s, then? That decade, Turchin argues, was when the social contract established in the 1930s – Roosevelt’s New Deal – began to disintegrate. For 40 years, America had effectively replicated the Nordic model under which the interests of workers, owners and the state were kept in balance (he’s careful to point out that a significant portion of the population – mostly Black Americans – were always shut out of this cosy arrangement). After that, things began to shift in favour of owners. The power of unions was eroded, as were labour rights. Typical wages started to lag behind economic growth, or even decrease. Quality of life suffered, and with it life expectancy. “Diseases of despair” such as opioid or alcohol abuse grew. Turchin even links the rise of mass shootings to a generalised hopelessness he refers to as “popular immiseration”.
At the same time, the rich got richer – far richer. A system of taxation that weighed most heavily on the highest earners, including a top rate of 90%, was dismantled. The number of decamillionaires, or households worth over $10m, increased from 66,000 in 1983 to 693,000 in 2019, accounting for inflation. The economy chugged along nicely, but the share of it controlled by the wealthiest got larger at the expense of the average earner. Turchin calls this the “wealth pump”. Things are now set up, he argues, so that money gushes away from workers and towards the elite, like a blowout from an oil well.
This has an interesting effect: so-called “elite overproduction”, a phrase coined by Turchin’s colleague, the sociologist Jack Goldstone. “The social pyramid has grown top heavy,” he explains, with rich families and top universities churning out more wealthy graduates than the system can accommodate. To illustrate this, Turchin describes a game of musical chairs with a twist. There’s always been a limited number of powerful positions, be they senator, governor, supreme court justice or media mogul. In an era of elite overproduction, rather than chairs being taken away whenever the music stops, the number of competitors increases instead. Before you know it, there are far more people than can realistically attain high office. Fights break out. Norms (and chairs) are overturned as “elite aspirants” – those who have been brought up in the expectation of a say in how things are run – turn into counter-elites, prepared to smash the system to get their way. This isn’t just a US problem, by the way; Turchin says that Britain is on a similar trajectory. In fact, among OECD countries, it’s next in line. Germany is further behind, but also on the same “slippery slope”.
Turchin, who was a mathematical ecologist before turning to history in the mid-2000s, brings a numbers approach to his adopted subject. He was able to predict the turbulent 2020s by looking at economic and social indicators from 100 historical crises, gathered together in a database called CrisisDB. They range from medieval France to 19th-century Britain, and show that periods of instability are pretty consistently preceded by a decline in wages, the emergence of a wealth pump, and most combustibly, elite overproduction.
Why is the latter so important? Well, the masses may be miserable, but without someone who has the status and resources to organise them, they’ll simply languish. Their revolutionary potential is only realised once a “political entrepreneur” – usually a frustrated elite aspirant – gets involved. Robespierre, Lenin and Castro are all examples of highly privileged individuals who felt excluded from existing power structures and led popular movements to overthrow them. In 19th-century China, a young man from a well-to-do family failed the exams that would have enabled him to become a top flight imperial administrator four times. Hong Xiuquan went on to lead a rebellion in which at least 20 million died.
Things may not be quite as bad as that yet, but it’s not hard to identify modern-day figures who fit the elite aspirant mould. Donald Trump is the most obvious, a beneficiary of the wealth pump whose only route to power was as a political entrepreneur stoking grievance. Nigel Farage? “He’s a good example. He’s personally wealthy, a member of the economic elite. And he has been channelling discontent.” Sometimes counter-elites mount their takeover from the inside. With Brexit, “there was a traditional segment of the Conservative party, but then there was an insurgent part. And they were [also] using this discontent. What we see in history is that one segment of the elite channels popular discontent to advance their political careers. This happened in Republican Rome 2,000 years ago, and it happens now.”
Another distinctive feature of elite overproduction is the fierce ideological competition it generates. Turchin believes we’ve transitioned from the pre-crisis period, where political entrepreneurs largely attacked the established order, to a phase in which newly powerful factions are fighting among themselves. This, he argues, is one of the mechanisms behind “cancel culture”. “Such vicious ideological struggles are a common phase in any revolution,” he writes. There is a race to the extremes, with denunciations becoming more and more intense. “In the struggle between rival factions, the ones willing to escalate accusations win over the moderate ones.”
So how do we fix things? It strikes me that there are some pretty obvious political conclusions to be drawn from Turchin’s research, but he’s reluctant to be led too far down the road of punditry. “I don’t want to enter into the political infighting,” he says. “One thing that we know about historical exits from crisis is that at some point the elites and population have to pull together … the different factions have to be reconciled. That’s why I try to stay away from taking sides.”
He will, however, admit to “several recommendations”, saying that “some of them will please liberals, others will please conservatives”. Liberals, presumably, will be heartened by the idea that “we need to give workers more power”. In order to turn off the wealth pump you have to increase labour’s share of the pie at the expense of business. Partly by redistribution, but partly by beefing up workers’ ability to demand higher pay.
What kind of thing would please conservatives? Here he seems to hesitate slightly. “Let’s say … massive immigration does depress the wages of common workers. Actually, this is a paleo-left position. It’s just now the new left is focusing more on cultural issues, and they are all for immigration, but conservatives are now against immigration.” He elaborates, saying it’s an “iron law” of economics that if you increase the supply of something – in this case, labour – then its price will decline. “But,” he points out, “it won’t happen if workers have enough social power, if there are good labour organisations and, also, if the elites internalise the need for dividing fairly the fruits of economic growth. So if you have those institutions, then immigration is not a problem.”
And what about those surplus elites? Well, if you happen to be one, look away now. Halfway through End Times Turchin remarks, somewhat blithely: “In order for stability to return, elite overproduction somehow needs to be taken care of – historically and typically by eliminating the surplus elites through massacre, imprisonment, emigration, or forced or voluntary downward social mobility.” In fact, CrisisDB allows us to be even more precise: in 40% of crises, rulers were assassinated; 75% ended in revolutions or civil wars (or both), and in 20%, those civil wars dragged on for a century or longer. Sixty percent of the time the state in question disappeared, either through conquest or disintegration.
It would be nice to avoid a century-long civil war. Perhaps instead we can select “voluntary downward social mobility” from Turchin’s grisly menu. This would require elites to be persuaded to give up some of their wealth, or to decide to do so off their own backs. Patriotic Millionaires, a pressure group made up of rich people, including members of the Disney family, who “share a profound concern about the destabilising level of economic and political inequality in America” is probably unrepresentative of the class as a whole. More likely, things will have to get so bad that a new social contract becomes the only alternative to levels of discontent that would threaten private fortunes in any case. That’s what happened in the 1930s. It also happened in Britain in the 1830s, when the prospect of a revolution like the ones sweeping Europe was kept at bay by the Great Reform Act and the repeal of the corn laws (it also helped that frustrated elite aspirants could try their hand at running distant parts of the empire).
In any case, it seems we’ll know what the denouement is before too long. “The nice thing about CrisisDB is that we now have statistics on how long these periods last,” Turchin tells me. “Roughly speaking, it’s 10 to 20 years. Very few shorter, some much longer. But for those who think that we’re [already] out of it in the United States? That’s not very likely.” I nod, and make a mental note to speak to him again in 2033.",Not_Explicit
"ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Miguel Rojas doubled and scored on Michael Busch's high-bouncing single in the eighth after Clayton Kershaw and Reid Detmers dueled through seven scoreless innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers opened the Freeway Series with a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.
Will Smith added an RBI single in the eighth for the Dodgers, who snapped their three-game skid with two fortunate breaks for a team that hasn't had many lately.
Four innings after the Angels' Brandon Drury was ruled out at the plate on a call overturned by video review, Busch's chopper off Chris Devenski (3-2) inexplicably leaped high over new Angels first baseman Kevin Padlo.
Kershaw (9-4) had another memorable night at Angel Stadium, where he has thrown 22 consecutive scoreless innings. The 35-year-old lefty yielded five hits, but escaped every jam and recorded five strikeouts.
The Dodgers' beleaguered bullpen then came through. Caleb Ferguson struck out Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout in the eighth, and Evan Phillips pitched the ninth for his eighth save.
Hunter Renfroe had two doubles for the Angels, who lost for only the fourth time in 15 games and were shut out for only the second time all season. The Halos have lost seven straight to the Dodgers in this rivalry series.
Ohtani's 15-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-4 performance that included two flyouts that left his bat at 102 mph. Trout also went 0 for 4.
Fans of both teams sold out Angel Stadium to watch the latest meeting of the clubs separated by 30 miles on the I-5 freeway. The Angels had a better record than the Dodgers at the start of the Freeway Series for the first time since 2014, but the rivalry went right back to its recent form.
Detmers yielded two hits and struck out eight in his third straight outstanding start for the Angels. Among the many highlights, he fanned Mookie Betts three times for the Dodgers star’s first three-strikeout game since April 15.
Kershaw retired the Angels' first eight batters, but gave up back-to-back hits in the fourth. Drury singled and was initially ruled safe when he attempted to score from first on Renfroe's double with a headfirst slide, but the call was overturned by a lengthy review.
The Angels then got two more runners in scoring position in the seventh with leadoff hits by Drury and Renfroe, but Kershaw eventually escaped a bases-loaded jam on a grounder by Andrew Velazquez.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: Chris Taylor flew out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth after having a cortisone injection in his right knee last weekend and missing two games. ... Urías (hamstring) threw a three-inning simulated game. He will make a minor league rehab start this week, and if it goes well, he will return June 30 at Kansas City. Urías has been out since May 18. ... Slugger Max Muncy participated in Urías' simulated game and felt no discomfort in his injured hamstring. He is expected to return Friday at Dodger Stadium against Houston.
Angels: Gio Urshela is still in significant pain after fracturing his pelvis last week, manager Phil Nevin said. Urshela will see a second specialist Wednesday. ... Anthony Rendon went on the 10-day injured list Monday with a bruised left wrist that remained sore longer than he expected. The club initially thought its $245 million third baseman wouldn't need yet another stint on the IL. Rendon is eligible to return Monday.
UP NEXT
For the first time in his six major league seasons, Ohtani (6-2, 3.29 ERA) pitches against the Dodgers, who are likely to be one of his top suitors in free agency. Michael Grove (0-2, 8.10) is expected to fill the latest hole in the Dodgers' rotation.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports",Not_Explicit
"Last year, it might have been Mitch Haninger, then the Mariners’ longest tenured player. Or later in the season, maybe Carlos Santana, who only spent a few months in Seattle after coming over at the deadline but who arrived with postseason experience and the personality to command a clubhouse while serving as a conduit from the coaches.
Both those guys are gone now, leaving behind a young team in Seattle with plenty of dynamic potential and players who could get there eventually, but no current clear leader in the locker room.
So when the Mariners lost a lackluster game to a short-handed Yankees club to fall to 35-37 and 10 back in the division, it wasn’t a player who finally decided enough was enough.
It was Mariners manager Scott Servais.
They eked out just three runs across the first two games of a series this week in the Bronx, indicative of an offense that was 29th out of 30 teams in batting average, 20th in runs scored, and seemingly never got a big hit at the right time.
So Servais called a team meeting to express his frustration with what he considered non competitive performances. The tone was stern. Some four-letter words were used.
“I think you've only got two or three bullets to fire throughout the course of the year,” Servais said the next afternoon about taking that kind of step to explicitly chastise his players. “I thought it was time to fire a bullet. I don't know. I don't know if it's going to resonate. You never know. We could go out tonight and do nothing again. But shame on me for not trying.”
That night, the Mariners scored 10 runs. A rookie starter, the team’s consistent strength last year and this one, no-hit the Yankees into the sixth inning. They won easily.
Seattle had magical 2022 behind Rodríguez
There’s a tendency in baseball to view the outcome of one-run games as kind of fluky. Sure, it’s the results that ultimately matter, but run differential is believed to be more reflective of true talent. Winning a bunch of games by just one run can seem like your team is a bad bounce or an untimely gust of wind away from having lost a bunch of games.
But winning close games is a hell of a lot more fun than losing them. And even if there isn’t science or stats to support this, having fun is helpful when it comes to surviving the six-month slog of slumps and streaks, bumps and bruises, mistakes and missed opportunities that constitutes even the best baseball seasons.
On June 20th last year, the Mariners were 29-39. Ten games under .500, 13 back of the division-leading Houston Astros, eight back of the newly-added third wild card spot. And playing in their 21st season since the team had last made the postseason. Then they won five in a row. A few weeks later, 14 in a row. There was a brawl in Anaheim that bonded the young club. The Mariners went 61-33 the rest of the season to end the drought and bring playoff baseball back to Seattle.
Ten of those wins were walk-offs (one, in particular, was even more memorable than most). Over the course of the whole season, the 2022 Mariners had nearly twice as many comeback wins as they did blown leads. They won 13 walk-offs and lost only three. They were .607 in one-run games. Instead of fluky, it felt charmed. They weren’t the best team in Major League Baseball, but they had something special brewing.
“Some things came together for us at the right time and that's what you need to get hot. Confidence grows with young players when you start winning games maybe you shouldn't win,” Servais said. “You win those close games, everybody feels like they had a hand in it. It helps.”
And every time they needed a big hit in a clutch situation, budding superstar Julio Rodríguez seemed to come through. He slugged .556 with runners on base, .518 in situations that Baseball Reference considers “late and close”. The 14-game win streak took the team right up to the All-Star break, which proved to be JRod’s ascension to the national stage. A month later, the team committed potentially record-setting money to Rodríguez and he committed to spend most if not all of his career in Seattle. In the span of less than a season, he had gone from slow start to the dynamic face of a franchise whose future looked bright in the glow of his megawatt smile. When the Mariners lost the Division Series to the eventual champion Astros in perhaps the hardest fought sweep of all time, the postgame clubhouse was bittersweet and full of optimism. A month after that, Rodríguez was named the American League Rookie of the Year. They were young and this was just the beginning.
Where did Seattle's close wins go?
On June 20, 2023, the Mariners opened a three-game series against the Yankees. They arrived in New York 35-35, nine games back of the division-leading Texas Rangers, three out of a wild card spot. The standings compared to last year should have given them hope that the deficit was surmountable. And yet, it was hard to shake the sense that, around the clubhouse, the season was already slipping into disappointment.
“I feel like we’re getting the hits, we’re getting the good pitching. But we're not, you know, getting the big ones,” said catcher Cal Raleigh, who had become a hero in his sophomore season.
It feels like they’re not getting clutch hits or winning those close games because they’re not. The Mariners’ winning percentage in one-run games this year is just .364, .400 in extra-inning games. They’ve already had as many walk-off losses as they did all last season, and have just two walk-off wins. And when they’ve needed him most, Rodríguez has come up short, slugging under .400 with runners on base and just .262 when the game is “late and close.”
On a macro level, Rodríguez has been a bit better than league average. But if you’re looking for statistical evidence of pressing at the plate, it might look like this: The league average for swinging at the first pitch of an at bat is 29.5%, Rodríguez has always been more aggressive than that, but this year he’s offering at 42.2% of first pitches.
“You don’t ever want to take players’ aggression away from them. That’s what makes him good,” Servais said. “Certainly, it’s what makes Julio special. But there are times seeing another pitch or two might be beneficial.”
He turned 22 in the offseason, and by the time he returned to Seattle a giant JRod mural had sprung up just outside the ballpark.
“It's hard, you know, the second year coming in and being the guy with so much hype,” Raleigh said of his superstar teammate. “So it's not easy for sure. Everybody knows who you are now.”
What Thursday night win in New York meant
I asked Servais if maybe what happened is this: Even the Mariners players who are only about as old as the drought itself felt like last year was the culmination of a long, slow climb. It ended just as things were getting good but with a clear sense that they would be back. They believed themselves to be better than a division series sweep and 2023 would be their chance to prove that. But, as is true for all teams, they showed up on Opening Day only to find themselves back at the bottom of the mountain — months away from where they feel like they left off — and without the sense that simply making the playoffs would be a heady accomplishment.
“It’s so true,” Servais said. “Everybody wants to just jump in; just get us back to that point. Whoa, you gotta earn it. You have to really earn it.”
Like Julio himself, the Mariners are finding that even the best rookie campaigns and magical seasons give way to a league that has adjusted around you — whether it’s in how you’re pitched at the plate or the expectations on a team.
“And you think okay, we went through those growing pains and maybe we don't have to go through again, and then quickly realize you do have to go through again, which isn't isn't fun,” Servais said. “But yeah, the expectations are just a little bit different. And you know, we haven't handled them that well.”
“Everything’s so magnified in the big leagues,” Raleigh said, “especially when there’s expectations and there does need to be a sense of urgency.”
The Mariners’ big win on Thursday night was offset in the standings by having dropped the first two in New York. And as clubhouse attendants packed bags with teal Ms on them for the flight to Baltimore, a new set of luggage was already waiting to be unloaded. On Friday, the Yankees welcome the Texas Rangers. A non-factor the last few seasons, suddenly it’s the ascendant Rangers leading an American League West division that has gotten a lot more crowded at the top.
Rodríguez was 1-for-5 in the victory, fine if not really a full breakout. But that doesn’t matter when you’re facing down a happy flight and leaving with a coveted souvenir. A clubbie brings Rodríguez an Aaron Judge jersey signed by the 2022 AL MVP himself with a note commending Julio on the start of his career and about how much is still to come. Rodríguez is giddy about it, he seems genuinely gobsmacked even though just last month he did the same, sending Judge one of his jerseys when the Yankees came to Seattle. Such is the paradox of JRod: He is already one of the most famous players in the game, this would be his first disappointing season if it goes that way.
But maybe it won’t. He considers whether Servais’ invective the night before was what motivated the team to double-digit runs and struggles to land on an answer.
“In a way, yes. But at the same time, I feel like this is a really good team,” Rodríguez says. “Literally, we know the team that we are, things are just not happening.”
I tell him the bit about being back at the bottom of the mountain, and wonder whether the momentum is gone. But he says he understands that nothing is guaranteed, they came back ready to put the work in again.
“Last year was last year. This year brings new challenges and things we will need to overcome as a team,” Rodríguez says. “And I feel like we still got time. I feel like we showed a really good sign today. And I know I know the team that we have, we can carry that on.”",Not_Explicit
"At least two of the fake Republican electors who were installed by former President Donald Trump to falsely declare him the winner of the 2020 election have testified before the federal grand jury investigating the former president's alleged attempt to overturn the last presidential election, according to CNN.
The exclusive report, which cites sources familiar with the situation, is the latest sign of activity with Special Counsel Jack Smith's probe into Trump's actions leading up to the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and could signal that decisions on charges are nearing.
It's also a sign that Smith ""continues to move forward on all fronts"" of his investigations against Trump, said former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, as the Department of Justice also moves steadily along in its case against the former president regarding his handling of classified documents.
Federal prosecutors have been investigating multiple avenues in which Trump and his allies allegedly attempted to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden, including the elaborate scheme to subvert the Electoral College process at the hands of fake electors who were pledged to Trump in seven key swing states that the former president lost.
According to CNN, at least two of those electors in question agreed to testify to the grand jury in Trump's case on a limited immunity deal. The grand jury has also heard from ""at least half a dozen witnesses"" in the past two weeks, read the report, and at least one other witness spoke to investigators outside of the grand jury on the agreement that they would not be prosecuted.
Kirschner, who spoke about the update in Trump's January 6 case on his Justice Matters podcast Friday, said that Smith's agreement with the fake electors is a ""tactical decision"" that it is more imperative to ""lock in their testimony that very likely will incriminate Donald Trump"" than worry about ""nobodies who committed crimes.""
""What are the odds that Republican operatives and officials in all seven battleground states simultaneously and coincidentally came up with the fake elector scheme?"" Kirschner posed.
""Come on, man. This was a Washington-conceived, Washington-implemented, Washington-controlled criminal operation from the top down.""
""That's a tactical decision that I certainly entrust Jack Smith to make,"" the legal analyst continued, speaking about the limited immunity deals. ""I'm sure he's making the right decisions, the best decisions based on the available evidence, and he has decided that it's better to grant some of these fake electors immunity and use their testimony against Trump and company than try to prosecute them all.""
""[Smith]'s going to wring the truth out of them upfront, and he's going to use that truth to make sure he brings the best, most complete, most compelling case he can bring against Donald Trump and his legal team,"" Kirschner added.
Newsweek emailed Trump's campaign on Friday for comment on CNN's report.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung has dismissed Kirschner as ""a notorious trafficker of wild conspiracy theories and dubious legal analysis"" in previous comments to Newsweek, alleging that he ""has been shunned by the legal community at large.""
The fake elector issue has also been a major part of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation of the former president's alleged attempts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results. Willis' office previously reached an immunity deal with eight of the 16 fake Republican electors in her state in exchange for their grand jury testimonies, and is expected to wrap up decisions on charges by summer's end.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has maintained that the legal investigations against him are part of a ""witch hunt"" intended to upset his reelection campaign.",Not_Explicit
"IPFS is a decentralized network that makes it possible to efficiently distribute high volumes of data between peers while avoiding downtime associated with regular hosting outages.
The IPFS project describes the system as a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed to preserve and grow humanity’s knowledge by making the web upgradeable, resilient, and more open. Anyone who values these qualities is invited to come along for the ride using free, open source tools.
IPFS Gateways
For those who prefer not to install software but would still like to access content stored on IPFS, web gateways provide streamlined access to IPFS with zero fuss. IPFS gateways tend to be run by supporters and enthusiasts who charge nothing for their time and usually pay all of the bills.
Examples can be found here but in broad terms, public gateways aren’t particularly numerous. As reported in March, Cloudflare offers a free IPFS gateway yet despite having nothing to do with the content hosted in the network, still received over 1,000 copyright complaints in the first half of 2022.
Figures for the second half are yet to be published but if recent events are anything to go by, those numbers could be significantly higher in the next report.
Avalanche of Copyright Complaints
UK-based programmer James Stanley has a project page to make any geek smile. It begins with SCAMP, a homemade 16-bit CPU with a homemade programming language, before moving on to a robotic chessboard (accessible via API), and a footwear-based chess computer that allows Stanley to cheat at chess “hands-free and without any third-party assistance.”
Stanley is also the brains behind Hardbin.com, an encrypted pastebin-type service that utilizes IPFS. Unfortunately, Stanley took Hardbin down this week after being targeted by an anti-piracy entity demanding the removal of thousands of allegedly-infringing URLs.
“I received 3 DMCA takedown emails today, covering 7350 URLs on my hardbin.com IPFS gateway. The URLs were allegedly serving infringing copies of books,” his blog post reads.
Stanley posted the complaints to GitHub, with all three following a similar format; a demand for the immediate takedown of thousands of pieces of content that have nothing to do with the programmer, that he has no ability to take down, even if he wanted to.
Who’s Behind The Takedown Demands?
Each notice claims to have been sent by ‘Gareth Young – Internet Investigator’ but where Young works isn’t made clear. Instead, the notices carry the names and addresses of three publishing companies; Wolters Kluwer Health (New York), Knovel, a subsidiary of Elsevier, Inc. (New York), and IEEE (new Jersey).
Stanley’s research turned up a ‘Gareth Young’ who apparently worked for law firm Covington & Burling LLP. Young is also the author of a slideshow that describes methods and tactics for taking infringing content down and making people’s lives more difficult.
The page above contains numerous options, and just as Mr Young suggested, the 5th option did indeed prove effective.
“I have now taken hardbin.com down completely because dealing with this sort of thing makes it less fun to run and more like hard work,” Stanley says.
IPFS: Technical Resilience Against Censorship
That Stanley’s work on Hardbin can’t be enjoyed by him or anyone else shows that it’s still possible to have a chilling effect on IPFS, despite its technical resilience to censorship.
It’s also worth noting that the DMCA takedown notices were sent directly to abuse addresses at the programmer’s host, rather than to him directly. It’s the kind of tactic that’s easily justified when dealing with an uncooperative pirate site but entirely unhelpful when dealing with innocent parties.
And then there’s the interesting evidence uncovered by Stanley when cross-referencing the 7,350 URLs against his reverse proxy logs.
“I did some bash-fu to extract the IPFS hashes from the emails and grep for them in my nginx logs, and was surprised to find not a single match,” Stanley explains. “None of them have ever been accessed, and of the ones that I checked, none even worked.”
Other IPFS Users Targeted
Sean Lang has been keeping records on the DMCA notices he’s received related to his gateway since February 2022.
“I currently operate an IPFS gateway on ipfs.slang.cx. I don’t publish or pin any content there, it’s only a resolver for content that’s available on the rest of the IPFS network,” Lang writes on GitHub.
“I get a lot of DMCA requests from running this. Currently I’m blocking 12367 files. They’re almost all books, although I don’t have nearly enough time to go through them manually.”
Lang says that the takedown notices are usually sent by a guy called Gareth Young and have at least one familiar quality.
“The weird thing is, [the system used] doesn’t actually verify that a given file is available through my server before sending a DMCA request. I’ve looked through the traffic logs, and the vast majority of the files listed in these takedown requests have never been requested in the history of my gateway. I haven’t checked all of them, but I’ve checked a lot,” Lang says.",Not_Explicit
"DOVER, Del. -- Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware’ s lone representative in the U.S. House, announced Wednesday that she is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Tom Carper.
Blunt Rochester’s announcement came as no surprise, given that Carper said in announcing his retirement last month that he favored her as his replacement.
Blunt Rochester, who once interned for Carper when he was in the House and also served in Carper’s Cabinet when he was governor, was reelected to a fourth term in Congress last November. In a campaign video, Blunt Rochester said she now wants to continue representing Delaware in the U.S. Senate.
“It’s been the greatest honor of my life to represent Delaware, to protect our seniors, our environment, our small businesses and women’s reproductive rights,” she said. “But we’ve got so much more to do.”
Rochester is the only woman and only person of color to represent Delaware in Washington. She is the first person to announce a bid to succeed Carper in the Senate.
The last time Delaware voters sent a Republican to Washington was 2008. Delaware remains a deeply blue state, with roughly 358,000 registered Democrats almost equaling the combined total of some 209,000 registered Republicans and 173,000 unaffiliated voters.
Blunt Rochester is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
According to the Congressional Record, she has sponsored 89 bills and resolutions during her House tenure, many aimed at improving or expanding access to health care, especially for women and minorities. The only measure sponsored by Blunt Rochester to become law is a resolution naming a Wilmington post office in honor of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, a 19th-century anti-slavery activist and publisher.
Before being elected to Congress, Blunt Rochester served as state personnel director in Delaware, as well as labor secretary. She also is a former Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League member.",Not_Explicit