Category: World

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will discuss a landmark economic and defence accord with German leaders on Wednesday, hoping to use a visit to pursue a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to reset relations with the rest of Europe.
At the beginning of a two-day visit to Germany and France, Starmer said he wants Britain to move beyond the previous Conservative government’s fractious relations with European allies and put improved ties at the heart of his efforts to boost Britain’s economic growth.

Jake Sullivan has been welcomed to China on his first visit as US national security adviser. He will hold talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi as the two countries try to stabilise relations.
Mr Sullivan and Mr Wang have met four times over 16 months in Vienna, Malta, Washington and Bangkok. Their last meeting in January was shortly after a high-stakes summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden that sought to reset frosty ties.
This week’s talks – scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday – signal that China is still a priority for the Biden administration, even as the retiring president enters his final months in office.
Both Mr Sullivan and Mr Wang have already acknowledged a need to find common ground after disagreements between their nations.
Could another presidential summit be on the cards?
The White House is trying not to explicitly link Mr Sullivan’s trip to the US presidential election. But it’s hard to ignore the timing.
If Mr Sullivan is able to lay the groundwork for a final Biden-Xi summit, his trip would tie up the ends of the US president’s most consequential – and fraught – foreign policy relationship.

Beijing’s view: A ‘critical juncture’
US and Chinese diplomats always acknowledge that talks between Washington and Beijing are never easy. And there is a lot to talk about.
With the unexpected turn the US election has taken with Biden bowing out in favour of Kamala Harris, China is watching closely for what the next presidency might have in store.
Donald Trump has made it clear he will raise tariffs further on Chinese goods, potentially deepening the trade war he kicked off in 2019.
While Mr Biden’s administration saw merit in diplomacy, he didn’t reverse Trump-era tariffs and has added more – in May he announced steep duties on Chinese-made electric cars, solar panels, and steel.
Mr Biden has also strengthened alliances across Asia to combat China’s rising influence and beefed up Washington’s military presence – which, in turn, has rattled Beijing.
So far, the Harris campaign has not given many clues about how she plans to manage the relationship with China.
And the White House has made clear that Mr Sullivan’s visit is meant to continue the work of the Biden administration, rather than set the tone for the next president.
But China is likely looking ahead anyway.

Beijing will use this opportunity with Mr Sullivan to clarify its own priorities. It will hope that all parties in America are listening – China’s ministry of foreign affairs has described this as a “critical juncture” between the world’s two biggest economies.
For China, the red line is and always will be Taiwan. It claims the self-governing island and has repeatedly said it will not tolerate any signs that Washington is encouraging Taiwanese independence.
High-profile diplomatic visits, such as a controversial one by then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022, or recognition of Taiwan’s elections or its elected leaders, fall into that category.
Chinese state media has said Beijing will focus on expressing grave concerns, stating its position, and making serious demands on matters such as the “Taiwan question”.
China will also have some strong words for Mr Sullivan on trade. Beijing has described US tariffs on Chinese goods as “unreasonable” and has urged Washington to “stop politicising and securitising economic and trade issues” and “take more measures to facilitate people-to-people exchanges between the two countries”.
Washington’s view: Stealth over bravado
When he came to power, Mr Biden wanted to set ties with China on an even keel after what he saw as the chaos and unpredictability of the Trump White House.
His administration has wanted to “responsibly manage” rivalry with Beijing; to demonstrate American power and competition with China through stealth not bravado.
But that strategy has been upended amid the turbulence of events.
Last year, crisis engulfed the direct relationship when an American fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over US territory.
The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have further sharpened the tone.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing in April with a warning – Washington would act if China did not stop supplying Russia with microchips and machine parts to build weapons used in its war in Ukraine.
He accused his Chinese counterparts of “helping to fuel the biggest threat” to European security since the Cold War.

A 3,500-year-old jar has been accidentally smashed into pieces by a four-year-old boy during a trip to a museum in Israel.
The Hecht Museum in Haifa told the BBC the crockery dated back to the Bronze Age between 2200 and 1500BC – and was a rare artefact because it was so intact.
It had been on display near the entrance of the museum without glass, as the museum believes there is “special charm” in showing archaeological finds “without obstructions”.
The boy’s father, Alex, said his son “pulled the jar slightly” because he was “curious about what was inside”, causing it to fall.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg2j2y20epo

Stunning new video shows what a proposed glitzy $12 billion casino complex in Hudson Yards will look like while walking the High Line.

The animated rendering of the ambitious Manhattan project by Related Companies and Wynn Resorts is partly aimed at countering opposition from advocates of the High Line park and other critics who claim the plan would be too intrusive and obstruct views.

The video tries to make the case that the proposed complex — including a 5.6 acre park and spacious greenery between and around the buildings — actually blends in well with the High Line and the waterfront.

The Related/Wynn project — Wynn New York City — would be erected atop a former graveyard for LIRR trains.

The plan features an 80-story tower overlooking the Hudson River that would house a gaming facility and hotel. Office buildings, apartment towers, and the spacious 5.6-acre park would surround the gleaming casino skyscraper.

Tourists walking along the High Line would wander directly past the site and could enter the massive resort between West 30th Street and 33rd streets and 11th and 12 avenues.

The tower housing the casino would include street-level shops and restaurants, with gaming facilities on the second and third floors. Plans call for a pool deck and green and then 1,700 hotel rooms.

The casino would make up just 3.6% of the square footage of the entire project but be its revenue generator and jobs creator.

Proponents say the centerpiece of the development would be the proposed Hudson Green, a 5.6-acre public green park designed by the award-winning teams of Hollander Design and Sasaki, as part of the a master plan devised by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

“The next phase of Hudson Yards is a $12 billion investment in New York’s future that, if approved by City and State officials, will create tens of thousands of jobs, 1,500 units of housing including hundreds of new affordable apartments, and billions in much-needed revenue for the City and State,” said Jeff Blau, CEO of Related Companies, in a statement.

“At the center of it all is Hudson Green, a 5.6-acre rolling green park with incredible river vistas, hundreds of trees for hot summer days, gardens, a playground and a dog park,” Blau said.

“We truly believe it will be an oasis that becomes the new calling card of the neighborhood. In the months ahead, we look forward to sharing more details of the extensive, long-term economic and community benefits our vision for Hudson Yards and Wynn New York City will bring to New York.”

The project complies with approved uses in the 2009 zoning plan for Hudson Yards, even with its office tower and casino, Related officials said.

“It’s easy for leaders to talk about wanting to create jobs and invest in the economy and infrastructure, but our proposal to develop Hudson Yards West would actually do it, which is why it continues to garner important support from unions, trade organizations and small businesses,” said Bruce Beal Jr., president of Related Companies.

“Finishing the undeveloped yards will not only create 35,000 unionized construction jobs during development, but 5,000 permanent union careers in the resort, which is the economic engine that supports all of these wonderful community benefits, including the affordable housing, public park and transportation improvements.”

The state is considering awarding up to three casino licenses in the downstate region, including New York City, Long Island and northern suburbs. The winning bidders would have to pay at least a $500 million upfront license fee for the privilege to run a casino.

Source: https://nypost.com/2024/08/27/us-news/stunning-video-reveals-what-proposed-12-billion-nyc-casino-would-look-like/

Donald Trump faced a revised federal indictment on Tuesday accusing him of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election loss, with prosecutors narrowing their approach after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team obtained the superseding indictment in the Washington case, though it was highly unlikely to proceed to trial ahead of the Nov. 5 election when the Republican Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

The revised indictment lays out the same four charges prosecutors brought against the former president last year, but this one focuses on Trump’s role as a political candidate seeking reelection, rather than as the president at the time.
The Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that Trump is at least presumptively immune from criminal prosecution for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to the initial charges, denouncing this case and the others he faces as politically motivated attempts to prevent him from returning to power.
Opinion polls have shown Harris opening up a narrow national lead over Trump since Democratic President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid last month.
This indictment, like the initial one, accuses Trump of a multi-part conspiracy to block the certification of his election defeat to Biden.

It retains allegations Trump pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to use his role presiding over the congressional certification of the election on Jan. 6, 2021, to reject electoral votes from battleground states Trump lost.
“The defendant had no official responsibilities related to the certification proceeding, but he did have a personal interest as a candidate in being named the winner of the election,” the revised indictment states, language that did not appear in the original charging document.
A mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on that Jan. 6 in an attempt to halt the congressional certification, which remains part of the case against Trump.
FOCUS ON CAMPAIGN
The revised indictment no longer includes allegations that Trump sought to pressure the U.S. Justice Department as he tried to overturn his election defeat, an apparent effort to keep the prosecution alive after the high court found that Trump could not be prosecuted for that conduct.
It excises a reference to Jeffrey Clark, a senior Trump administration Justice Department official who allegedly sought to aid his attempts to undermine the election results, as a co-conspirator, and to former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, who allegedly told Trump his claims of widespread voter fraud were not true.
Bradley Moss, an attorney who specializes in national security, said the revised indictment reflects “a clear effort by the Justice Department to narrow the scope of factual information” to address the Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-brings-new-indictment-against-trump-election-subversion-case-2024-08-27/

THE ultra-rich are building apocalypse-proof bunkers with White House-style medical suites, go-kart tracks and mammoth movie theatres.

Al Corbi, the founder of US-based firm SAFE, has been designing and building “unmatched protection” for 50 years.

Mr Corbi told The Sun the mega-wealthy have been installing nuclear bunkers for decades – ever since the Cold War days.

But recently, he says, there’s been a surge in demand for presidential health and wellness suites that complement huge entertainment spaces.

They are being designed to ensure people can maintain their health during an apocalyptic event – keeping them well and entertained for as long as 30 years.

Al explained the logic behind the medical suites, saying: “Think about it, you can have this $100million (£75million) bunker, but it would be useless if you’re bleeding out, or something is happening to you.”

He added that tools for longevity within the bunker were key, given there wouldn’t be a great deal of help outside in an event such as a nuclear catastrophe.

He said: “Let’s assume the worst. Nuclear holocaust. Zip, everything’s gone.

“You can come out pretty quick, but what are you coming out to?

“So that is your new home, at least for the foreseeable future.

“So you need a system that one – keeps you healthy, two – you can control the environment – tactical, extraction, whatever you have to do, and three – you want to be comfortable and safe for six days, two weeks, or 30 years.”

Wife Naomi, who runs the health side of the business, said their medical suites are “comparable to what the White House medical unit has”.

She added: “We provide them with the tools, the education, there are systems in there where if they’re by themselves, they can click a button where it’ll walk them through the process of whatever it is that they need.”

But aside from keeping healthy, the demand to keep entertained continues to surge – and there’s a clear frontrunner for entertainment space of choice.

Al said: “You know you want a theatre. If you could see the libraries in these theatres, it even amazes me.

“They’ve got more movies than any one major network has, they have a larger archive collection of entertainment than any one entertainment centre.”

There are also more bunkers being built for dual-use, so that they don’t sit below ground collecting cobwebs.

For example, Al said: “Escape tunnels wind up being great go-kart race tracks.”

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/12290133/worlds-most-luxurious-bunkers/

China spent about $15 billion, or 7% of its defence budget, on exercises in the Western Pacific in 2023, according to a previously unpublished Taiwanese estimate, showing Beijing’s investment in military activity around Taiwan and its neighbours.
The internal research by Taiwan’s armed forces, reviewed by Reuters, offers a rare look into a slice of China’s defence spending as Beijing has ramped up its military presence amid rising tensions in the region.

China claims Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring the democratically governed island under its control despite Taiwan’s strong objections. It is also locked in disputes with several countries over sovereignty of large parts of the South China Sea and the East China Sea.
“This reveals the logic of allocation of their resources,” said a senior Taiwan official briefed on the research. “They are spending a huge amount of resources trying to gain control of the west of the First Island Chain.” The official, and two other people briefed on the research, declined to be identified for this story because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 200 missiles and drones on Monday, killing seven people and striking energy facilities nationwide, Kyiv said, while neighbouring NATO member Poland reported a drone had probably entered its airspace.

Power cuts and water supply outages were reported in many areas, including parts of Kyiv, as officials said the attack – 2-1/2 years since the full-scale invasion – targeted power or other critical infrastructure across the country.

Russia stepped up its strikes on the Ukrainian power grid in March in what Kyiv has said looked like a concerted effort to degrade the system ahead of next winter when people need electricity and heating most.
The air force downed 102 out of 127 incoming missiles and 99 out of 109 drones, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram, describing the attack from the air, ground and sea as “the most massive” of the war.

According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, 15 regions sustained damage. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there was “a lot of damage in the energy sector”.
U.S. President Joe Biden condemned, opens new tab Russia’s strikes as “outrageous.” In a statement on Monday, he added that Washington will continue surging energy equipment to Ukraine to repair its systems and to support Ukraine’s energy grid.
Zelenskiy said he had discussed Ukraine’s response to the attack with his top commander: “We are preparing it.”

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces used high precision weapons to strike important energy infrastructure in Ukraine which it said supported the military-industrial complex. It listed power substations, gas compressor stations and storage sites for aircraft weapons.
Ukraine has claimed new ground in a major cross-border incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region while Russian forces steadily have inched forward in Ukraine’s east, closing in on the transport hub of Pokrovsk.
After meeting top officials, Zelenskiy said a decision had been taken “further strengthen” the Pokrovsk front, which saw at least 56 combat clashes on Monday, according to the military.
POLISH AIRSPACE
Poland said a search was underway after an “object” entered its airspace and possibly landed on Polish territory.
“Most likely it was a drone and we assume so, because the trajectory of the flight and the speed indicate that it was definitely not a missile,” Jacek Goryszewski, spokesperson for the Polish army’s operational command, told Reuters.
Two Russian drones crossed the border into Belarus, Ukraine’s air force commander said.
Top Kyiv officials again urged their allies and arms suppliers to allow long-range strikes into Russia.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-launches-drone-attack-kyiv-ukraines-military-says-2024-08-26/

Surging waters have burst through a dam, wiped out at least 20 villages and left at least 30 people dead but probably many more in eastern Sudan, the United Nations said on Monday, devastating a region already reeling from months of civil war.
Torrential rains caused floods that overwhelmed the Arbaat Dam on Sunday just 40 km (25 miles) north of Port Sudan, the de facto national capital and base for the government, diplomats, aid agencies and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
“The area is unrecognisable. The electricity and water pipes are destroyed,” Omar Eissa Haroun, head of the water authority for Red Sea state, said in a WhatsApp message to staff.
One first responder said that between 150 and 200 people were missing.
He said he had seen the bodies of gold miners and pieces of their equipment wrecked in the deluge, and likened the disaster to the devastation in the eastern Libyan city of Derna in September last year when storm waters burst dams, swept away buildings and killed thousands.

When asked the secret to his longevity, John Tinniswood – who has lived through both world wars – put it all down to “just luck”.

The world’s oldest living man has turned 112 – and revealed the British classic he eats every Friday.

John Tinniswood was born in Liverpool on 26 August 1912, the year the Titanic sank. He became the world’s oldest living man back in April.

When asked the secret to his longevity, Mr Tinniswood – who lives in a care home in Southport – put it all down to “just luck”.

“I can’t think of any special secrets I have,” he said.

“I was quite active as a youngster, I did a lot of walking. Whether that had something to do with it, I don’t know. But to me, I’m no different [to anyone]. No different at all.

“I just take it in my stride like anything else, why I’ve lived that long I have no idea at all.”

Mr Tinniswood added that apart from a portion of battered fish and chips every Friday, he does not follow any particular diet.

At 112, Mr Tinniswood has lived through both world wars and also holds the title as the world’s oldest surviving male Second World War veteran.

He worked in an administrative role for the Royal Army Pay Corps where his work involved logistical tasks such as locating stranded soldiers and organising food supplies as well as accounting and auditing.

After leaving the army he worked as an accountant for Shell and BP, before retiring in 1972.

He met his wife Blodwen at a dance in Liverpool and enjoyed 44 years of marriage before her death in 1986.

Their daughter Susan was born in 1943. Mr Tinniswood also has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

He is a lifelong Liverpool FC fan and has lived through all eight of his club’s FA Cup wins and 17 of their 19 league title wins.

Asked what the biggest differences in the world over the course of his life are, Mr Tinniswood said: “It’s no better in my opinion, or hardly any better, than it was then. Probably in some places it is, but in other places it’s worse.”

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/worlds-oldest-man-turns-112-in-southport-and-reveals-the-british-classic-he-eats-every-week-13203626

Three people were killed and eight more were injured when a suspected Islamic extremist went on a stabbing rampage at a festival in the western city of Solingen on Friday night.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed to step up deportations of rejected asylum seekers after it emerged the suspect in Friday’s knife attack was a Syrian who was due to be removed.

Mr Scholz made the remarks while visiting a makeshift memorial site for the victims of the attack in Solingen, which saw a suspected Islamic extremist stab three people to death and injure eight more.

The man, who turned himself in on Saturday night, was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria last year, as that was the first EU country in which he set foot.

But according to German media reports, the deportation never happened because he disappeared for a period.

The attack sparked a fierce debate about immigration in Germany, which in May was still recorded as the EU country receiving the highest amount of asylum applications, according to the European Union Agency for Asylum.

In 2023, it received nearly a third of all applications lodged to EU countries, Norway and Switzerland.

The chancellor said he was “furious” about the attack on Friday night, which happened as the western city celebrated its 650th anniversary.

He said of the attack: “We must do everything to ensure that such things never happen in our country, if possible.”

Mr Scholz said that would include toughening knife laws in particular “and this should and will happen very quickly”.

Interior minister Nancy Faeser earlier this month proposed allowing only knives with a blade measuring up to 6cm (nearly 2.4in) to be carried in public, rather than the length of 12cm (4.7in) that is allowed now.

“We will have to do everything so that those who aren’t allowed to stay in Germany are sent back and deported,” he said, adding that “we have massively expanded the possibilities to carry out such deportations”.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/german-chancellor-olaf-scholz-vows-to-increase-deportations-of-rejected-asylum-seekers-after-solingen-knife-attack-13203713

Page Three, reality TV, kids’ books, pop and perfume – you name it, Katie Price has done it. At the height of her fame in the 2000s, even Kim Kardashian revealed herself to be a fan of the star formerly known as Jordan.

“Instantly watchable,” “smart,” “underestimated” – all words used to describe the living brand that is Katie Price.

Estimated to be worth around £45m at the peak of her career, Price is at once in-your-face fake, yet utterly authentic.

If verification of her global celebrity status was needed, Kim Kardashian – a woman who has played the fame game to perfection – tweeted in April 2009: “OMG Katie Price aka Jordan and her husband Peter are on my flight home from NYC!”

Maximising her natural assets, and using them to propel and sustain her career, Price has ridden the wave of fame for nearly three decades – an impressive feat in the notoriously fickle world of showbiz.

‘Her body is a business’

Author and Times columnist Sarah Ditum told Sky News Price has always been a step ahead of the crowd.

“She’s fascinating for the way she used her body to become famous and successful. And because it always seems quite cynical and calculating the decisions she’s made, to have the biggest boobs and to make that her job.”

But the writer of Toxic, Women, Fame And The Noughties says there is a glass ceiling concealed within Price’s unconventional career choice.

“Over time you run up to the limits of what’s possible. You can’t get bigger and bigger and bigger indefinitely – eventually someone’s going to come along and be even bigger or have even more recklessly huge implants.”

Ditum says she’s long been intrigued by Price, who she first saw on a poster on a younger male relative’s bedroom wall.

“It was interesting that someone had worked out how to turn her body into a business and how to get longevity out of being a Page 3 girl, because this was a time when Page 3 was contentious.”

And she says Price was a rare victor in the cut-throat world of glamour modelling.

“Katie Price was almost unique in that she came up through Page 3, and she found longevity in her career. That was what Page 3 was meant to be – the sell was always ‘this is an opportunity for working-class girls to make their way in the world and use their assets’. That was the fig leaf of it. She was the only person who really achieved it and I found that compelling.”

Ditum goes on: “She’s obviously smart. If you look at what Page 3 does to girls, it was a machine for taking teenagers and getting naked pictures of them, and that’s it – then sifting them out when they got too old. The lifespan of a Page 3 girl was tiny, and the number of them who achieved any kind of ongoing success out of that was infinitesimal, and she was one of them.

“That does not happen if you are dumb. She’s very intelligent at seeking publicity, she’s very intelligent at shaping her profile, and she’s very intelligent at using her body and using the extremity of her body to attract attention.

“But the cost of doing that is personally and physically really unimaginably huge. And there’s no long-termism built into it.”

New Zealander James Cutfield, the captain of the British-flagged superyacht which sank off the coast of Sicily last Monday, spoke to magistrates for more than two hours.

The captain of the superyacht that sank off the coast of Italy has been questioned by prosecutors investigating the deaths of seven passengers.

The British-flagged superyacht sank in the early hours of last Monday after being struck by a tornado – and led to a five-day search for those missing.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, were among the seven who died.

The others included Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, American lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda, and the yacht’s on-board chef Recaldo Thomas.

Captain James Cutfield and 14 others managed to escape to safety as the yacht sank while at anchor off the coast of Porticello, Sicily.

The captain, 51, and originally from New Zealand, is under investigation for possible multiple manslaughter and shipwreck charges.

In Italian law a case at this stage means authorities will be question the captain and assess evidence before deciding whether or not he should face prosecution.

It may mean he is forbidden from leaving the country, although no such order has been issued yet.

Magistrates spoke to Mr Cutfield on Sunday for the second time in a week, questioning him for more than two hours.

Local media reports suggest prosecutors may also investigate a crew member who was on duty when the storm hit and survived the incident.

Post-mortems will start tomorrow.

It comes after prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said “behaviours that were not perfectly in order” may have been behind the number of deaths at a news conference on Saturday.

He said investigators would focus on “the extent all the people [on board] were warned” of safety procedures.

Responsibility could lie with “all members of the crew… the manufacturers… [or those who were] not surveying or supervising the ship”.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/captain-of-superyacht-that-sank-off-italian-coast-questioned-as-prosecutors-open-manslaughter-investigation-13203574

At least 50 people have been killed in the attacks and retaliatory operations by security forces.

At least 51 people – including 12 attackers – have been killed in southwest Pakistan after separatist militants targeted police stations, railway lines and motorways.

Vehicles, including buses and delivery trucks, were targeted on a major road in Musakhail, a district in Balochistan, killing at least 23 people, officials said, in the worst of the attacks.

Passengers were marched off vehicles and shot after attackers checked their identity cards, Ayub Achakzai, a senior police superintendent, told the Reuters news agency.

The attackers then set 35 vehicles on fire before fleeing the scene.

In a separate attack, gunmen killed at least 10 people, including six security personnel and four civilians after storming a police station, officials said.

Police said a further six bodies were found after a railway bridge linking Quetta – the provincial capital – to the rest of the country and a railway line between Pakistan and Iran were hit with explosives during the attacks, railway official Muhammad Kashif said.

The number of dead includes those killed and the 12 alleged attackers who were killed by security forces, home secretary Mohsin Naqvi, said.

He said: “These attacks are a well thought out plan to create anarchy in Pakistan.”

Meanwhile, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari called the attack in Musakhail “barbaric” and vowed that those who were behind it would not escape justice.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/barbaric-attacks-in-pakistan-by-balochistan-separatists-target-motorways-railways-and-police-stations-13203654

The 39-year-old singer said she has received “abhorrent messages” since she revealed she had returned the dog after “many months and much deliberation” because her family home wasn’t “the best fit” for the animal.

British pop star Lily Allen says she has received death threats after revealing she returned an adopted puppy because it ate her family’s passports.

Animal rights charity PETA published an open letter to Allen saying it was “appalled” to hear she returned the dog, adding, that the pets “should never be treated as accessories to be discarded when they become inconvenient”.

“It’s for this reason that we beg you, please, not to get another dog,” PETA added.

Allen was speaking on an episode of her Miss Me? podcast on Thursday when she revealed she had adopted the dog during the COVID pandemic, before adding: “But then it ate my passport and so I took her back to the home.”

Sharing an update in an Instagram story on Sunday, Allen said: “I have never been accused of mistreating an animal, and I’ve found this whole week very distressing.”

She also criticised the reactions of social media users as “furiously reacting to a deliberately distorted cobbling together of quotes designed to make people angry”.

Allen had mentioned on Thursday’s podcast that the pup, Mary, “was a very badly behaved dog, and I really tried very hard with her, but it just didn’t work out, and the passports was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.”

In her latest Instagram story, she wrote “this is the part of the podcast that the tabloids decided not to quote in their articles”.

She adds: “I’ve received some really abhorrent messages including death threats, some of the most disgusting comments have been all over my social media channels, and I’m really not surprised because this is exactly what those articles are designed to do,” Allen wrote.

“I’m OK but it has been a really tough few days that has impacted me and my family.”

The story originally came up when she told guest podcast co-host Steve Jones, a Welsh TV presenter, that her family might adopt a Chihuahua mix puppy.

She then told him about Mary after Jones asked whether she felt ready for the commitment of getting a dog with her husband, Stranger Things star David Harbour.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/lily-allen-says-she-has-received-death-threats-after-revealing-she-returned-puppy-that-ate-her-familys-passports-13203571

Jennifer Lopez is reportedly feeling “relieved” after filing for divorce from Ben Affleck, despite not wanting to pull the plug on their two-year marriage.

“It’s been incredibly difficult for her that Ben chose to pull away from their marriage and move on with his life, leaving her behind,” a source told People Monday.

“She didn’t want a divorce. She wanted to figure things out. They love each other. Jennifer is not the type to just give up. It’s been almost torture for her to wait around.”

The insider shared that the “On the Floor” singer “seems relieved” since submitting the divorce papers in Los Angeles last week.

“Her family and friends agree that it was the right decision,” the source continued, explaining that J.Lo is “surrounded by a lot of love and support” and will “be fine” because “she’s strong and always comes out on top.”

Lopez, 55, has not been publicly spotted since officially calling it quits with Affleck, 52, on the second anniversary of their Georgia wedding ceremony.

The singer filed for divorce without the help of a lawyer and listed their separation date as April 26.

Affleck, meanwhile, has been photographed around Los Angeles and appeared giddy while grabbing his Jack in the Box order from a delivery driver at his Brentwood, Calif., rental home on Saturday.

That same day, a source told Page Six that the “Argo” star has been spending time with Kick Kennedy.

We’re told Affleck and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 36-year-old daughter were spotted hanging out at the Beverly Hills Hotel Polo Lounge and other LA hotspots.

Affleck also appeared in good spirits while dining with close pal Matt Damon and the “Bourne Ultimatum” star’s wife, Luciana, at Italian restaurant Toscana Sunday, per photos obtained by TMZ.

According to “Entertainment Tonight,” the actor has been confiding in his “Good Will Hunting” co-star while navigating his split from Lopez.

Sources previously told Page Six that Affleck’s distaste for his ex’s public lifestyle was difficult for him.

Source: https://pagesix.com/2024/08/26/celebrity-news/jennifer-lopez-relieved-after-filing-for-divorce-from-ben-affleck-report/

Mariah Carey revealed mom Patricia and sister Alison both tragically died over the weekend.

“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend,” Mariah, 55, said in a statement shared with People Monday. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.”

Although the Grammy winner did not reveal either cause of death, she was able to spend time with her 87-year-old mother before her passing.

“I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed,” she added. “I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”

It’s unclear when she last saw Alison, who was 63 at the time of her death.

Patricia shared Mariah, Alison and son Morgan with ex-husband Alfred Roy Carey. The exes wed in 1960 and split when the “Obsessed” singer was 3.

Mariah inherited her vocal talents from her mother, who was a Juilliard-trained opera singer and vocal coach.

However, the mother-daughter duo had a very complex relationship, which Mariah once described as “a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration, and disappointment.”

The legendary singer opened up about the pair’s relationship in her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey.”

“Like many aspects of my life, my journey with my mother has been full of contradictions and competing realities. It’s never been only black-and-white — it’s been a whole rainbow of emotions,” she wrote.

Despite their ups and downs, the “Hero” singer dedicated the memoir in part to her mother.

“And to Pat, my mother, who, through it all, I do believe actually did the best she could,” she wrote. “I will love you the best I can, always.”

Source: https://pagesix.com/2024/08/26/celebrity-news/mariah-careys-mom-and-sister-tragically-die-on-the-same-day-my-heart-is-broken/

Russia battered much of Ukraine on Monday, firing scores of missiles and drones that killed four people, injured more than a dozen and damaged energy facilities in attacks that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as “vile.”

The barrage of over 100 missiles and a similar number of drones began around midnight and continued through daybreak in what appeared to be Russia’s biggest onslaught in weeks.

Ukraine’s air force said swarms of Russian drones fired at eastern, northern, southern, and central regions were followed by volleys of cruise and ballistic missiles.

“Like most previous Russian strikes, this one was just as vile, targeting critical civilian infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said, adding that most of the country was targeted — from the Kharkiv region and Kyiv to Odesa and the west.

Explosions were heard in the capital of Kyiv. Power and water supplies in the city were disrupted by the attack, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Russia fired drones, cruise missiles and hypersonic ballistic Kinzhal missiles at 15 Ukrainian regions — more than half the country.

“The energy infrastructure has once again become the target of Russian terrorists,” Shmyhal said, adding that the state-owned power grid operator, Ukrenergo, has been forced to implement emergency power cuts to stabilize the system.

He urged Ukraine’s allies to provide it with long-range weapons and permission to use them on targets inside Russia.

“In order to stop the barbaric shelling of Ukrainian cities, it is necessary to destroy the place from which the Russian missiles are launched,” Shmyhal said. “We count on the support of our allies and will definitely make Russia pay.”

U.S. President Joe Biden called the Russian attack on energy infrastructure “outrageous” and said he had “re-prioritized U.S. air defense exports so they are sent to Ukraine first.” He also said the U.S. was “surging energy equipment to Ukraine to repair its systems and strengthen the resilience of Ukraine’s energy grid.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said the attacks used “long-range precision air- and sea-based weapons and strike drones against critical energy infrastructure facilities that support the operation of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex. All designated targets were hit.”

At least four people were killed — one in the western city of Lutsk, one in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, one in Zhytomyr in the country’s center, and one in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast, local officials said. Thirteen others were wounded — one in the Kyiv region that surrounds the capital, five in Lutsk, three in the southern Mykolaiv region and four in the neighboring Odesa region.

Blackouts and damage to civilian infrastructure and residential buildings were reported from the region of Sumy in the east, to the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions in the south, to the region of Rivne in the west.

In Sumy, a province in the east that borders Russia, local administration said that 194 settlements lost power, while 19 others had a partial blackout.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-26-august-2024-25296eee7c9c394d07d806f44a2ec09e

The Kolkata Police has issued an advisory for August 27 in the wake of a massive protest call against the rape and murder of a 31-year-old PG trainee doctor in the city’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

The ‘Paschimbanga Chhatro Samaj’ has called for a major protest march on Tuesday – ‘Nabanno Abhiyaan (march to Secretariat)’, against the RG Kar incident. The protest will see thousands of students and activists marching from College Square to the state secretariat.

Kolkata Traffic Advisory Kolkata For August 27

• Vehicles coming from the Kolaghat side along NH 16, who intend to avail 2nd Hooghly Bridge, can take Nibedita Setu from Nibra to go towards Kolkata.
• Vehicles coming from the Dankuni side, who intend to avail 2nd Hooghly Bridge, can take Nibedita Setu for going towards Kolkata.
• Kolkata-bound vehicles from Howrah Railway Station, who intend to avail Howrah Bridge or 2nd Hooghly Bridge can move towards Kolkata through GT road and avail Nibedita Setu.
• Howrah-bound vehicles coming from Kolkata who intend to avail 2nd Hooghly Bridge or Howrah Bridge can take Nibedita Setu.

Vehicular movement will be restricted on the following roads:

1. Kona Expressway between Nibra and 2nd Hooghly Bridge

2. Andul Road between Alampur and Lakshmi Narayantala Mor

3. GT road between Mallick Fatak and Betaitala

Source: https://www.news18.com/india/kolkata-police-issues-traffic-advisory-in-wake-of-big-protest-against-rg-kar-rape-and-murder-case-check-details-9028814.html

More than 200 Republicans who previously worked for either former President George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in an open letter Monday obtained exclusively by USA TODAY.

The letter from alums of the three Republican presidential nominees prior to former President Donald Trump comes on the heels of a Democratic National Convention last week in Chicago that showcased Republican detractors of the GOP nominee. At least five former aides to former President George H.W. Bush also signed the letter, which has 238 signatures in all.

A similar group of about 150 anti-Trump former staffers of Bush, McCain and Romney pledged support for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

“We reunite today, joined by new George H.W. Bush alumni, to reinforce our 2020 statements and, for the first time, jointly declare that we’re voting for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz this November,” the letter reads. “Of course, we have plenty of honest, ideological disagreements with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz. That’s to be expected. The alternative, however, is simply untenable.”

Among those who signed the letter in support of Harris and her running-mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, include: former McCain chiefs of staff Mark Salter and Chris Koch; Joe Donoghue, former legislative director for McCain; Jennifer Lux, press secretary for McCain’s 2008 campaign, and Jean Becker, longtime chief of staff for George H.W. Bush.

Also backing Harris are David Nierenberg, Romney’s 2012 campaign finance chair; David Garman, under secretary of Energy for George W. Bush; and Olivia Troye, a former advisor to both George W. Bush and Vice President Mike Pence. Troye spoke from the stage of the DNC convention last week.

“At home, another four years of Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership, this time focused on advancing the dangerous goals of Project 2025, will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions,” the letter says, referring to the Heritage Foundation’s policy blueprint that the Trump campaign has sought to distance itself from.

“Abroad, democratic movements will be irreparably jeopardized as Trump and his acolyte JD Vance kowtow to dictators like Vladimir Putin while turning their backs on our allies. We can’t let that happen.”

The animosity between the camps of McCain, Romney, and Bush and Trump is well-documented.

Romney, who voted to impeach Trump as a senator, said he won’t support Trump in the 2024 election, but he hasn’t endorsed Harris either. Bush, whose family has long been at odds with Trump, did not attend last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, though has refrained form criticizing Trump publicly. As a candidate in 2015, Trump said McCain was “not a war hero.” Four years ago, McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, endorsed Biden over Trump.

Others who signed the letters include: Reed Galen, McCain’s deputy campaign manager and co-founder of the Lincoln Project; Jim Swift, a former Republican operative who is now senior editor of The Bulwark, an anti-Trump news and opinion site; and former McCain campaign strategist Mike Murphy.

Citing 2020 exit polling and other voter data, the group claims it was “moderate Republicans and conservative independents in key swing states” who were pivotal in Biden’s victory that ultimately delivered the presidency Biden − Americans who “put country far before party,” they write in the letter.

The group called on more moderate Republicans and independents to “take a brave stand once more” and support Harris over Trump in the fall.

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/26/bush-mccain-romney-trump-harris-2024/74947380007/

A British safety adviser working with a team of Reuters journalists was killed when a Russian missile struck a hotel in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the news agency confirmed.

Ryan Evans, 38, was staying at the Hotel Sapphire with colleagues in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region when it was hit by a Russian missile Saturday night.

Two other members of the six-person Reuters crew were hospitalized with injuries.

Local officials said the hotel was struck by an Iskander-M Russian ballistic missile, leaving the reporters with blast injuries, concussions and cuts on the body.

Associated Press reporters at the scene described the hotel as “rubble,” with excavators being used to clear debris hours after the attack.

Besides the hotel, a nearby multistory building was also destroyed, Donetsk regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said.

Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region also came under Russian fire, resulting in multiple civilian injuries, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote on the Telegram messaging app Sunday.

In Kharkiv’s Chuhuiv region, five people were injured, including a 4-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, after two houses were hit by a Russian strike.

In Kharkiv city, eight people were wounded when a two-story house was set on fire by a Russian attack.

In Russia, five people died in Ukrainian shelling in of the border region of Belgorod, officials said Sunday.

Twelve other people were wounded in the Russian village of Rakitone, 38 kilometers (23 miles) from the Ukrainian border, including a 16-year-old girl reported to be in critical condition, said regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov on Sunday. Another man also died in a separate drone attack on the border village of Solovevka, he wrote later on social media.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-08-25-2024-f7726e08a3da2eb2ac49b65d0e7d2014#

Is your boss texting you on the weekend? Work email pinging long after you’ve left for home?

Australian employees can now ignore those and other intrusions into home life thanks to a new “right to disconnect” law designed to curb the creep of work emails and calls into personal lives.

The new rule, which came into force on Monday, means employees, in most cases, cannot be punished for refusing to read or respond to contacts from their employers outside work hours.

Supporters say the law gives workers the confidence to stand up against the steady invasion of their personal lives by work emails, texts and calls, a trend that has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic scrambled the division between home and work.

“Before we had digital technology there was no encroachment, people would go home at the end of a shift and there would be no contact until they returned the following day,” said John Hopkins, an associate professor at Swinburne University of Technology.

“Now, globally it’s the norm to have emails, SMS, phone calls outside those hours, even when on holiday.”

Australians worked on average 281 hours of unpaid overtime in 2023, according to a survey, opens new tab last year by the Australia Institute, which estimated the monetary value of the labour at A$130 billion ($88 billion).

The changes add Australia to a group of roughly two dozen countries, mostly in Europe and Latin America, which have similar laws.

Pioneer France introduced the rules in 2017 and a year later fined pest control firm Rentokil Initial 60,000 euros ($66,700) for requiring an employee to always have his phone on.

Rachel Abdelnour, who works in advertising, said the changes would help her disconnect in an industry where clients often have different working hours.

“I think it’s actually really important that we have laws like this,” she told Reuters. “We spend so much of our time connected to our phones, connected to our emails all day, and I think that it’s really hard to switch off as it is.”

REFUSALS MUST BE REASONABLE

To cater for emergencies and jobs with irregular hours, the rule still allows employers to contact their workers, who can only refuse to respond where it is reasonable to do so.

Determining whether a refusal is reasonable will be up to Australia’s industrial umpire, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which must take into account an employee’s role, personal circumstances and how and why the contact was made.

It has the power to issue a cease and desist order and, failing that, levy fines of up A$19,000 for an employee or up to A$94,000 for a company.

But the Australian Industry Group, an employer group, says ambiguity about how the rule applies will create confusion for bosses and workers. Jobs will become less flexible and in doing so slow the economy, it added.

“The laws came literally and figuratively out of left field, were introduced with minimal consultation about their practical effect and have left little time for employers to prepare,” the group said on Thursday.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australian-employees-now-have-right-ignore-work-emails-calls-after-hours-2024-08-25

Russia launched attacks on northern, eastern and southern Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring 37, Ukrainian military and local authorities said on Sunday.

Overnight attacks targeted Ukraine’s frontline regions of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk, Ukraine’s air force said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia has been pummelling Ukrainian border regions with strikes, and Kyiv said its surprise incursion earlier this month into Russia’s Kursk region aimed to hinder Moscow’s ability to stage such attacks.

“Most of the missiles did not reach their targets,” the air force said, adding that Russia launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile, an Iskander-K cruise missile and six guided air missiles. It did not specify how many were destroyed.

A missile attack on the northern region of Sumy killed one person, injuring at least 16 more, including three children, local authorities said on Telegram.

Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region in the east, posted that at least 13 people were injured in the Russian attacks, including a 4-year-old child.

Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv city, said a gas pipeline was damaged in the city and at least two houses were destroyed and 10 damaged.

The air force said Russia launched nine attack drones, with Ukraine’s air defence systems destroying eight of them over the Mykolaiv region.

Russian attacks continued throughout the day in the southern region of Kherson, killing one person and injuring six more, according to Roman Mrochko, head of Kherson city’s military administration.

Regional prosecutors in Sumy said an aerial bomb attack on Sunday afternoon struck a residential neighbourhood in the Svesa village, killing two people and injuring two more.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-attacks-ukraine-with-missiles-drones-ukraine-military-says-2024-08-25

“When you are half-naked or even sometimes completely naked, it allows for deeper discussion,” said Mikko Hautala, the ambassador of Finland to the United States. “You talk in a way that doesn’t happen when you are sitting around a table with a tie on or at some formal thing.”

Diplomacy takes shape in different ways: formal meetings in the Oval Office and state dinners in the White House’s grand East Room; casual receptions at embassies; and one-on-one meetings over martinis in the lobbies of five-star hotels.

And then there is the way the Finnish government prefers to conduct business. They like for their networking and meetings to happen in the sauna and, for the most part, in the nude.

“We have a golden rule that whatever happens in the sauna stays in the sauna,” Ambassador Hautala said. “We try to make sure there is full trust and confidence.”

In Finland, the sauna is part of everyday life, the ambassador explained. “There are 5.5 million people and three million saunas,” he said. “Even a small flat has a sauna.”

The Finns use it multiple times a week in the evenings or mornings before their day begins, in a ritual that involves showering, sitting in extreme heat and cooling off in cold water. That practice, which is traditionally performed without a bathing suit, is repeated multiple times before saunagoers sit down for a healthy meal. It is a social experience.

Sixteen years ago the Finnish Embassy in Washington, D.C., decided to invite influential people — politicians, diplomats, journalists, civil servants and academics — to experience the sauna together as a means of networking.

The Diplomatic Sauna Society, as the gatherings are now called, is now a coveted invitation in the Beltway, thanks to Finland’s growing influence in international affairs and the desire of busy professionals to live healthier lives.

“There are a lot of people trying to get a ticket, and it is very sought after,” said Robbie Gramer, 33, who writes about diplomacy and national security for Foreign Policy magazine. After he wrote about his experience, “I got a flood of people from the state department, Pentagon, congressional staffers, other reporters all asking me how I got in and ‘Can you put in a good word for me?’”

“I get inquiries from congressmen or congresswomen to come to the sauna,” Ambassador Hautala said. The embassy estimated that it fielded several requests a week.

In Washington, there are two types of Diplomatic Sauna Society events. (Similar setups exist in Finnish embassies around the world, including in Berlin and London.) In the first, the Finnish delegation gathers a group of 15 to 20 people at the embassy about once a month. The evening starts in a dark downstairs bar, lit by a neon sign that reads “Sauna.” The attendees are separated by gender, and each group is taken into a fitting room stocked with Marimekko robes and Lumene bathing products.

Participants undress — nudity is encouraged, but bathing suits are allowed — and then go through the sauna ritual: shower, heat, cold, repeat. After a few rounds, everyone changes and heads back into the bar area. Drinks and traditional Finnish snacks are served, including salmon on rye bread with dill sauce and meatballs.

The ambassador also hosts weekly sauna diplomacy sessions in his private residence. His sauna is smaller (it can fit about 10 people), and it’s located outside, with a pool to cool off.

All attendees receive a diploma that says, “Membership in the Society is awarded only to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary sisu (grit) by conversing effortlessly and eloquently in the 180-degree Fahrenheit heat of the embassy’s diplomatic sauna.”

“I posted a photo of mine on Twitter. It was an honor,” said Marie Royce, who was an assistant secretary of state under the Trump administration.

Mr. Gramer, the journalist, said the sauna gatherings were a welcome change from other events in the nation’s capital. “Embassies in D.C. always have different events, and oftentimes they are buttoned-up and pretty boring,” he said. “The sauna is different,” he said. “It’s a lot warmer. It’s a lot more welcoming.”

Source: https://dnyuz.com/2024/08/25/whatever-happens-in-the-sauna-stays-in-the-sauna-diplomacy-conducted-in-the-nude/

San Francisco’s long relationship with X is nearly over — and city officials are far from heartbroken.

Elon Musk is shuttering his social media company’s headquarters in a gritty downtown neighborhood in the coming weeks and will move its last employees based there south to offices in Palo Alto and San Jose. New headquarters will be set up in Texas.

But city officials are not lamenting the exit. X bears little resemblance to the company that San Francisco wooed with a tax break more than a decade ago, when it was Twitter, to help anchor a budding tech hub in a downtrodden neighborhood near City Hall known as Mid-Market. The pandemic, and Mr. Musk’s 2022 acquisition of the company and subsequent gutting of its work force, reduced the headquarters to a ghost town.

“I share the perspective that most San Franciscans have, which is good riddance,” said City Attorney David Chiu, who as a member of the city’s Board of Supervisors backed the tax break that lured Twitter to Mid-Market in 2012.

Twitter once symbolized San Francisco’s status as a start-up capital. But the city’s nonchalant response to the move — amid public posts from Mr. Musk about San Francisco’s inflexible tax policies and liberal politics — shows officials are now less willing to cater to companies considering a move.

Mr. Musk and X did not respond to requests for comment.

Twitter was founded in San Francisco in 2006. In 2011, it threatened to forsake its hometown for tiny Brisbane, just over the city’s southern border, which wouldn’t levy payroll taxes.

San Francisco’s mayor then, Ed Lee, coping with the lingering effects of a recession and a nearly 10 percent unemployment rate, proposed a so-called Twitter tax break. The deal would erase the 1.5 percent payroll tax on new hires for certain companies in Mid-Market. Those companies would, in turn, create jobs and enliven a neighborhood that struggled with crime, vacancies and homelessness.

After Twitter moved into the new headquarters at 1355 Market Street, its payroll swelled from a few hundred to a few thousand people. The cavernous ground floor became home to upscale bars and restaurants — where people could eat antelope, elk and pig ears.

By 2017, 59 new companies had set up shop nearby, including Uber, Square and Zendesk. Several luxury apartment buildings went up. The boom helped expand the city budget, but also contributed to spiking housing costs.

Many of the tech companies also provided free food, so workers didn’t spend as much at local businesses as city leaders had hoped. The Twitter tax break ended in 2019, with politicians considering its success mixed.

Then came the pandemic. Offices emptied, and foot traffic dried up. Jack Dorsey, a Twitter co-founder and its chief executive at the time, announced that employees could work from home forever.

In October 2022, Mr. Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion and soon slashed jobs. Last year, he renamed the company and erected on the roof a giant “X” sign that flashed at night, upsetting neighbors and landing him in trouble with the city.

“It’s like a zombie version of the old Twitter, and I think what a lot of people are feeling is: Just put this bird out of its misery,” said Yao Yue, a software engineer who worked at Twitter for 12 years and was let go after Mr. Musk’s takeover.

Mr. Musk, who clashed with state regulators over pandemic stay-at-home orders and has increasingly enmeshed himself in right-wing politics, recently indicated that he was souring on San Francisco. In July, he posted online that he had been trapped in the company’s garage “because a gang was doing drugs in the street and wouldn’t move!”

Mr. Musk said last month that he would move X’s headquarters to Austin, Texas, after California passed a law that bans school districts from requiring teachers to notify parents if their children change their gender identification. He also blamed San Francisco’s gross receipts tax, which taxes local businesses for transactions that take place outside city limits.

He said the tax unfairly penalizes businesses that process payments — something he hopes X will do. “X could not remain in SF and launch payments, as it would immediately fail,” he posted in July.

Mayor London Breed said she met with Mr. Musk once several months ago and had texted with him. She said she had not offered X anything to stay, but wanted to maintain good relationships with all chief executives in her city.

Source: https://dnyuz.com/2024/08/24/elon-musks-x-is-leaving-san-francisco-city-officials-say-good-riddance/

OVER 100 people have been rescued by helicopter after they got trapped by flash floods near the Grand Canyon – but one hiker remains missing.

Searchers have been unable to find Chenoa Nickerson, 33, who is believed to have been swept away during monsoons in Havasuapi Indian Reservation in Arizona.

Nickerson was hiking about a half-mile from the Colorado River when flooding trapped her in the most remote area in the country on Thursday morning, ABC affiliate KNXV reported.

The National Guard managed to evacuate 104 other tourists and tribal members from the Grand Canyon area but are still searching for the hiker.

“My heart is with all of the people impacted by the flooding in Havasupai, including Tribal members and visitors to the area. I am closely monitoring the situation and we have deployed the Arizona National Guard to get people to safety,” Governor Katie Hobbs after the evacutaion.

“The safety and security of Arizonans and all those who visit our state is always my top concern, and I’ll continue working closely with leaders on the ground to protect the Havasupai community.”

Hobbs stated that the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs is coordinating with tribal, state, county, and federal agencies to help with evacuation efforts and to find Nickerson.

The Havasuapi Indian Reservation is one of the most desolate areas in the continental United States and is only accessible by mule, helicopter or foot, according to The Associated Press.

Nickerson’s sister Tamara Morales praised the efforts of the rescue crew for “navigating incredibly dangerous terrain with extremely limited methods of communication while leaving no stone unturned.”

“We are profoundly grateful for you and fully acknowledge that you are currently defying the impossible,” she posted on Facebook Saturday morning.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/12284103/grand-canyon-chenoa-nickerson-arizona/

He is one of the world’s richest people, often dubbed the “Russian Mark Zuckerberg” – following his arrest in France, here is everything you need to know about Telegram founder Pavel Durov.

Billionaire Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested after arriving in France on his private jet at the weekend.

He was reportedly the subject of a search warrant, with French news outlets suggesting an investigation focused on a lack of moderators on the encrypted messaging app and potential criminal activity by users.

Telegram is one of the most downloaded apps in the world.

But who is the man behind it – and how does the app work?

‘Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg’

Born in Russia, Pavel Durov is the founder and owner of Telegram – a free-to-use messaging app that competes with other platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and TikTok.

His fortune is currently estimated by Forbes at $15.5bn (£11.7bn) – making him the 120th richest person in the world – and he is sometimes dubbed “Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg”.

The 39-year-old left the country in 2014, a year after Telegram was launched, after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on VKontakte – an earlier social media platform he had founded with his brother, and later sold.

He moved to Dubai in 2017 and became a French citizen in August 2021.

Telegram’s popularity has led to rise in scrutiny

Bus accidents are common in Pakistan and these latest two come just days after another 28 Pakistani pilgrims died in neighbouring Iran after their bus overturned and caught fire.

At least 35 people have died, and dozens more injured, after two separate bus crashes took place just hours apart in Pakistan.

The first happened when a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims, returning from Iraq through Iran, fell from a highway into a ravine in southwest Pakistan killing at least 12 people and injuring 32 others, police and officials said.

It happened on the Makran coastal highway after the driver lost control of the bus when its brakes failed while passing through Lasbela district in Baluchistan province, local police chief Qazi Sabir said.

Hours later, dozens of people were killed when a bus fell into a ravine in Kahuta district in the eastern Punjab province, police and officials said.

Different figures are being reported by government officials and rescue coordinators, with the interior ministry saying 29 have died, while rescue works say 22 were killed and one critically injured.

Bus accidents are common in Pakistan and these latest two come just days after another 28 Pakistani pilgrims died in neighbouring Iran after their bus overturned and caught fire due to a faulty braking system.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/at-least-35-people-dead-after-two-separate-bus-crashes-in-pakistan-13202952

“Short and Sweet” might be Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth album, but even she says it feels more like her second. After the creative breakthrough of 2022’s “Emails I Can’t Send” — which we’ll call her “Disney-mancipation” after nearly a decade as a child star — “S n’ S” is the powerful next step in her evolution as an artist, person and persona.

You already know the persona from this album’s two lead singles, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” and their videos: A woman who’s pretty but tough, funny, sassy, confident, sexually up-front and with a fiery mean streak, but who’s not without insecurities and heartache. The songs here are nearly all about love, every kind of it: True love, stupid love, crushes, I-really-should-know-better love that’s actually lust, revenge, both sides of infidelity, and, especially on the last two songs, heartbreak. But mostly, along with the effervescent hooks the album’s lead singles have led fans to expect, there’s even more of the “Did she just say what I think she said?” in the lyrics, which are filled with f-bombs, sexual innuendos and hilarious put-downs that are even more withering because she sings nearly all of them so sweetly.

Like what? “Try to come off like you’re soft and well-spoken/ Jack off to lyrics by Leonard Cohen” (“Dumb and Poetic”); “Last week, you didn’t have any doubts/ This week, you’re holding space for her tongue in your mouth” (“Coincidence”); “I showed my friends, then we high-fived/ Sorry if you feel objеctified” (“Juno”); “Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?” (“Bed Chem”); “I heard you’re back together and if that’s true/ You’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissin’ you” (“Taste”); “Heartbreak is one thing, my ego’s another/ I beg you, don’t embarrass me, motherfucker” (“Please Please Please”); and, er, “I’m so fuckin’ horny” (“Juno”). Subtext: We can have fun but don’t mess with me.

Romanian authorities towed away a fleet of luxury vehicles Saturday from the home of the divisive social media personality Andrew Tate, days after he was placed under house arrest following new human trafficking allegations.

Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan Tate, 36, both former kickboxers and dual British-U.S. citizens with millions of followers on social media and known for their misogynistic views, are already awaiting trial in Romania, along with two women. They were charged with human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape in that case.

The luxury vehicles, impounded from their home near the capital, included a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Mercedes-Benz, McLaren and a more humble-looking classic red Lada. The seizure came two days after Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, raided four homes in Bucharest and nearby Ilfov county and detained six people, including the Tate brothers. Officers also confiscated thousands of dollars in cash, laptops and data storage drives.

One of the Tates’ lawyers, Georgiana Popa, told reporters outside the brothers’ home Saturday that the seizures are “legal, but unfounded” and said it has been contested.

“The cars are not (the brothers’) property,” she said, without providing additional information.

The Tate brothers appeared on Thursday at a Bucharest court as prosecutors sought to remand them in custody. But a judge denied that request and placed Andrew Tate under house and Tristan Tate under judicial control, which typically involves restricting contact with certain people and having to periodically report to the police. The brothers’ spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, said that the Tates firmly deny all allegations against them and “remain steadfast in proving their innocence.”

In the new case, DIICOT, said that it’s investigating allegations of human trafficking, including the trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, forming an organized criminal group, money laundering, and influencing statements.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/andrew-tate-luxury-vehicles-seized-human-trafficking-76457ce6c2e1e394114fed7c9a106221

A rare but deadly disease spread by mosquitoes has one town in Massachusetts closing its parks and fields each evening. Four other towns are urging people to avoid going outdoors at night.

They’re concerned about eastern equine encephalitis. State health officials announced last week a man in his 80s had caught the disease, the first human case found in Massachusetts since 2020.

The town of Plymouth, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of Boston, announced Friday that it’s closing public outdoor recreation facilities from dusk until dawn each day after a horse in the town was infected with the disease.

Meanwhile, state health officials warned that a cluster of four towns south of Worcester — Douglas, Oxford, Sutton and Webster — are at “critical risk” after a man from Oxford caught the virus.

State and local health officials urged people in those towns to avoid the peak mosquito biting times by finishing outdoor activities by 6 p.m. until Sept. 30 and then by 5 p.m. after that, until the first hard frost.

They also recommend that people across Massachusetts use mosquito repellents when outdoors and drain any standing water around their homes.

Jennifer Callahan, Oxford’s town manager, wrote in a memo that the family of the man who caught the virus in mid August had reached out to her office.

“They want people to be aware this is an extremely serious disease with terrible physical and emotional consequences, regardless if the person manages to live,” Callahan wrote.

Callahan said the family is urging people to take the public health advice seriously and to do their utmost to protect themselves.

While it’s her first time skydiving, Manette Baillie is no stranger to pushing herself to her limits – she celebrated her 100th birthday behind the wheel of a Ferrari racing car at Silverstone.

A woman from Suffolk plans to mark her 102nd birthday on Sunday with a record-breaking skydive.

Manette Baillie will become the oldest person in Britain to skydive when she jumps from a plane over East Anglia on Sunday.

The US presidential candidate is believed to have links to a town in County Antrim but whereas transatlantic ties are normally a cause for celebration, in the town of Ballymoney there is a strange unwillingness to embrace its most famous daughter.

In the heart of Ballymoney, a small town in Northern Ireland’s County Antrim, bike leather-clad tourists seek out a well-manicured memorial garden.

Astride his motorbike, a life-sized statue of champion racer Joey Dunlop leans back, arms folded, a victorious grin engraved for eternity. The late King of the Roads, a local legend, still commands pilgrimage from around the world.

There are statues too of his brother Robert, and nephew William, all three men taken before their time, snatched away by one of the world’s most dangerous sports.

Down the street, drinkers sip pints in the sunshine outside Joey’s Bar, beneath his smiling image. This place knows how to celebrate its sons.

Yet there is a strange reticence to embrace the ancestral ties that might see Ballymoney blood in the Oval Office. A reluctance to acknowledge the town’s most famous daughter. “You’ll not get them to talk on that,” one man told me. And I soon found out how right he was.

Five years ago, Donald J Harris, father of Kamala Harris, revealed his belief that he is descended from Hamilton Brown, born in Ballymoney around 1776. Brown emigrated to Jamaica and ran sugar plantations. He owned scores of slaves, some treated harshly.

In an essay by Harris, published by the Jamaica Global Online website, the Stanford University professor wrote: “My roots go back, within my lifetime, to my paternal grandmother Miss Chrishy (nee Christiana Brown, descendant of Hamilton Brown who is on record as plantation and slave owner and founder of Brown’s Town).” Donald J Harris emigrated to the US from Jamaica in 1961.

That story has been given fresh impetus since Joe Biden paved the way for Kamala Harris to become the Democratic presidential candidate. In recent weeks, a County Antrim historian said he had found documentation shedding further light on Hamilton Brown.

Stephen McCracken told the local newspaper, the Ballymoney Chronicle, that he had discovered letters connecting Brown to his birthplace in Bracough, a townland just outside Ballymoney. He told the newspaper that Brown was “a seriously bad man, who travelled to London a few times to campaign against the abolition of slavery”.

The Irish Times picked up on the story, as did the Belfast Telegraph and the Daily Mail.

“I’ve been getting a wee bit of abuse over it,” McCracken told the Irish Times. “People have been asking me why I’ve publicised it.”

When I asked him for an interview, he declined, citing an abusive backlash via social media, including Kamala Harris supporters accusing him of trying to wreck her campaign.

Right-wing and pro-Trump memes have circulated since 2019, painting the Harris family as “descended from slave owners”, without any context. These tropes deliberately ignore the ugly explanation that slave owners commonly raped their female slaves, explaining why many black Jamaicans have European genes.

In the ultra-polarised world of American politics, Kamala supporters were allegedly hitting out at those publicising her heritage, seeing it as ammunition for further MAGA propaganda.

Meanwhile, the Ballymoney Chronicle carried a follow-up piece practically debunking the original claim of lineage. A qualified genealogist told the paper that the links were “unproven”, and said Hamilton Brown was not recorded as getting married or having children.

When I asked that genealogist for an interview – they agreed. The next day they abruptly cancelled, calling the story “a pile of nonsense”.

I asked McCracken for further details of his research. He stopped replying.

A third historian told me he didn’t think existing documentation would ever prove the link. “You’d need DNA testing,” he said.

I felt like I was encountering a wall of silence from others in Ballymoney. Multiple phone calls, messages and emails to a high-profile local DUP councillor went unanswered. A Sinn Fein colleague seemed unaware of the story and not overly interested in an interview. Ballymoney business owners declined to arrange interviews, or were not returning calls.

Repeated attempts to visit Ballymoney were abandoned due to rioting in Belfast. Another journey was aborted after the Sky News satellite van suffered a blow-out on a particularly inhospitable stretch of road.

The story was starting to feel a bit cursed.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/the-curious-tale-of-kamala-harris-and-the-northern-irish-slave-owner-13201008

The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed three people at a festival marking the city of Solingen’s 650th anniversary.

Police have arrested the person suspected of carrying out a knife attack that left three people dead at a festival in Germany, an official has said.

The 26-year-old man handed himself in and his involvement is currently being “intensively investigated”.

A 56-year-old woman and two men, aged 56 and 67, died following the attack in the city of Solingen on Friday. Eight people were injured, four seriously, while “many other people have suffered mental stress”.

Police said the attacker appeared to have deliberately aimed for his victims’ throats.

As part of investigations, a municipal accommodation center has been searched and a person found there who is said to have been in contact with the perpetrator – this person is currently being treated as a witness.

The internal affairs minister of North Rhein Westphalia, Herbert Reul, told the German public television network ARD on Saturday night: “We have been following a hot lead all day.

“The person we have been searching for all day has been detained a short while ago.”

Mr Reul added police not only have “clues” but also have collected “pieces of evidence”.

An Austrian chef who suffered a serious injury that left him disabled has made a remarkable comeback in the kitchen with the aid of device that allows him to “float” around his workplace.
Peter Lammer thought his career was over when he remained unable to stand despite several surgeries and six years of physiotherapy to recover from a motorbike accident.
Then his friend Bernhard Tichy, a carpenter and mountaineer who runs a nearby zipline adventure centre, came to the rescue with a hanging kitchen seat that takes the weight off his injured leg.

Boeing is also struggling with quality issues on production of commercial planes, its most important products.

Two NASA astronauts who flew to the International Space Station in June aboard Boeing’s faulty Starliner capsule will need to return to Earth on a SpaceX vehicle early next year, NASA said on Saturday, deeming issues with Starliner’s propulsion system too risky to carry its first crew home.

The agency’s decision, tapping Boeing’s top space rival to return the astronauts, is one of NASA’s most consequential in years. Boeing had hoped the test mission would redeem the Starliner program after years of development problems and over $1.6 billion in budget overruns since 2016.

Boeing is also struggling with quality issues on production of commercial planes, its most important products.

Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, both former military test pilots, became the first crew to ride Starliner on June 5 when they were launched to the ISS for what was expected to be an eight-day test mission.

But Starliner’s propulsion system suffered a series of glitches beginning in the first 24 hours of its flight to the ISS, triggering months of cascading delays. Five of its 28 thrusters failed and it sprang several leaks of helium, which is used to pressurize the thrusters.

In a rare reshuffling of NASA’s astronaut operations, the two astronauts are now expected to return in February 2025 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft due to launch next month as part of a routine astronaut rotation mission. Two of the Crew Dragon’s four astronaut seats will be kept empty for Wilmore and Williams.

Starliner will undock from the ISS without a crew and attempt to return to Earth as it would have with astronauts aboard.

Boeing struggled for years to develop Starliner, a gumdrop-shaped capsule designed to compete with Crew Dragon as a second U.S. option for sending astronaut crews to and from Earth’s orbit.

Starliner failed a 2019 test to launch to the ISS uncrewed, but mostly succeeded in a 2022 do-over attempt where it also encountered thruster problems. Its June mission with its first crew was required before NASA can certify the capsule for routine flights, but now Starliner’s crew certification path has been upended.

Since Starliner docked to the ISS in June, Boeing has scrambled to investigate what caused its thruster mishaps and helium leaks. The company arranged tests and simulations on Earth to gather data that it has used to try and convince NASA officials that Starliner is safe to fly the crew back home.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/astronauts-sunita-williams-barry-butch-wilmore-in-space-for-80-days-will-return-february-next-year-says-nasa-6410618

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 24 (ANI): Social media users and freelancers have been facing difficulties in Pakistan due to disruption in Internet services, Pakistan-based ARY News reported. The Internet disruption has caused mental stress for many, especially youth who depend on the Internet for their livelihood, A significant number of Pakistani youth have been impacted by the slow internet speed, which has affected their work and resulted in clients not coming to them for work. In Karachi, a school student Ezhaan, who works online after school, is struggling to cope with the loss of his online clients due to slow internet speed.

He was working on a large project with 60 orders. However, he is now facing numerous hurdles due to the slow internet, according to ARY News report.

Another freelancer, Abdul Hai, who relies on the internet for his livelihood, is also facing problems. He stated that WhatsApp is not operating properly, making it difficult for him to communicate with his team.

According to the report, several firms that provide work to freelancers have stopped functioning in Pakistan due to the slow internet speed. In addition, Pakistan’s reputation in the international market has been affected due to slow internet.

Source : https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/pakistan-social-media-users-freelancers-face-problems-due-to-internet-disruption20240824192049

An Italian prosecutor has opened a manslaughter investigation into the deaths of British tech magnate Mike Lynch and six other people who were killed when a luxury yacht sank in stormy weather off Sicily this week.

The head of the public prosecutor’s office of Termini Imerese, Ambrogio Cartosio, said that while the yacht had been hit by a very sudden meteorological event, it was “plausible” that crimes of multiple manslaughter and causing a shipwreck through negligence had been committed.

So far the investigation was not aimed at any individual person, he told a news conference.

Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was also among those who died when the family’s 56-metre-long (184-foot) boat, the Bayesian, capsized during a fierce, pre-dawn storm on Monday off Porticello, near Palermo.

Fifteen people survived, including Lynch’s wife, whose company owned the Bayesian, and the yacht’s captain.

The disaster would be even more painful if the investigation showed it was caused “by behaviours that were not aligned to the responsibilities that everyone needs to take in shipping,” Cartosio said.

The captain James Cutfield and the other survivors have been questioned this week by authorities. None of them have commented publicly on how the ship went down.

Raffaele Cammarano, another prosecutor speaking at the same news conference, said that when authorities questioned Cutfield he had been “extremely cooperative”.

The sinking has puzzled naval marine experts who say a boat like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini, should have withstood the storm and in any case should not have sunk as quickly as it did.

Pulling the Bayesian out of the sea will help investigators determine what happened, but the operation is likely to be complex and costly. The wreck is lying apparently intact on its side at a depth of 50 metres (164 feet).

“It’s in the interests of the owners and managers of the ship to salvage it,” Cartosio said, adding “they have assured their full cooperation”.

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group (TISGR.MI), opens new tab, which owns Perini, told Reuters this week the shipwreck was the result of a string of “indescribable, unreasonable errors” made by the crew, and ruled out any design or construction failings.

Cammarano said the meteorological event that hit the vessel was most likely a “downburst”, a very strong downward wind that is an intense but relatively frequent event at sea, rather than a water spout which involves rotating winds like a whirlwind or tornado.

He said that the passengers were all probably asleep at the time of the storm which was why they failed to escape.

Palermo’s Coast Guard Chief Raffaele Macauda, who attended the press conference, said there was no specific ban for the ship to be anchored where it was struck by the storm, as weather bulletins at the time were not reporting a major storm alert for the wide area of the southwestern Tyrrhenian Sea.

SEARCH FOR BODIES

Cartosio did not rule out that someone could be put under investigation before the ship is salvaged, on the basis of other evidence.

He said there was no legal obligation for the captain, crew and passengers to remain in Italy but authorities expected them to cooperate with the probe.

The prosecutor said it had not been possible to carry out alcohol or drug tests on the survivors as they were in a state of shock and needed treatments for injuries.

In the yacht, the bodies of the dead were found in the cabins on the left-hand side of the boat, where the passengers may have tried to search for remaining bubbles of air, the head of Palermo’s Fire Brigade, Girolamo Bentivoglio Fiandra, said during Saturday’s news conference.

Divers scoured the submerged vessel all week to recover bodies, with Hannah Lynch’s the last to be recovered on Friday. The five other dead passengers were recovered on Wednesday and Thursday, while the body of the only crew member who died, onboard chef Recaldo Thomas, was found on Monday.

Mike Lynch, 59, was one of the UK’s best-known tech entrepreneurs and had invited friends to join him on the yacht to celebrate his acquittal in June in a U.S. fraud trial.

Source  : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italian-prosecutor-opens-manslaughter-inquiry-lynch-yacht-sinking-2024-08-24

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy touted a newly developed Ukrainian “drone missile” on Saturday that he said would take the war back to Russia and scornfully derided Russia’s Vladimir Putin as a “sick old man from Red Square”.

As Ukraine marked 33 years of post-Soviet independence, Zelenskiy said the new weapon, Palianytsia, was faster and more powerful than the domestically made drones that Kyiv has so far used to fight back against Russia, striking its oil refineries and military airfields.

“Our enemy will … know what the Ukrainian way for retaliation is. Worthy, symmetrical, long-ranged,” he said.

Zelenskiy said the new class of Ukrainian weapon had been used for a successful strike on a target in Russia, but did not say where.

He used derisive language to describe Russia’s 71-year-old president and the nuclear rhetoric coming out of Moscow.

“A sick old man from Red Square who constantly threatens everyone with the red button will not dictate any of his red lines to us,” he said in a video on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia, which has attacked Ukraine with many thousands of missiles and drones since it invaded in February 2022, has decried Ukraine’s drone attacks as terrorism. Moscow’s troops are advancing in Ukraine’s east and occupy 18% of the country.

Zelenskiy has been pressing Kyiv’s allies to allow him to use Western weapons deeper in Russian territory such as to strike airbases used by Russian warplanes that pound Ukraine with missiles and glide bombs.

“I want to stress once more that our new weapon decisions, including Palianytsia, is our realistic way to act while some of our partners are unfortunately delaying decisions,” Zelenskiy told a news conference.

Ukrainians say the word “Palianytsia”, a type of Ukrainian bread, is too difficult to pronounce for Russians and it has been used – sometimes humorously – during the war as a way to tell Ukrainians and Russians apart.

“It will be very difficult for Russia, difficult to even pronounce what exactly has hit it,” Zelenskiy said of the drone missile.

TOP COMMANDER PROMOTED

In a decree, Zelenskiy promoted his top commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, to the rank of general, a tacit gesture of praise after Ukraine’s lightning cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region launched on Aug. 6.

Slammed by Russia as an escalation and major provocation, Ukraine’s incursion has captured more than 90 settlements in the Kursk region according to Kyiv, the biggest invasion of Russia since World War Two.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Poland’s and Lithuania’s leaders, Zelenskiy told reporters the operation had in part been a preventive move to stop Russian plans to capture the northern city of Sumy.

Apart from capturing prisoners of war and creating a “buffer zone”, Zelenskiy said the operation had other objectives that he could not disclose publicly.

Polish president Andrzej Duda confirmed that Polish PT-91 Twardy tanks given to Kyiv by Warsaw were taking part in the fighting in Kursk region.

“We are touched to see how the PT-91 Twardy tanks, given by Poland (to Ukraine) more than one year ago, are defending today Ukraine on the battlefields, fighting in the Kursk region,” he said.

Russia has strongly condemned the use of western weapons for the incursion, which Putin has said will receive a “worthy response”.

Independence Day has surged in importance for Ukrainians during the invasion, which has spurred widespread patriotic sentiment.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zelenskiy-signs-law-ukraine-ratifying-rome-statute-2024-08-24

In the 18 months after Francine Milano was diagnosed with a recurrence of the ovarian cancer she thought she’d beaten 20 years ago, she traveled twice from her home in Pennsylvania to Vermont. She went not to ski, hike, or leaf-peep, but to arrange to die.

“I really wanted to take control over how I left this world,” said the 61-year-old who lives in Lancaster. “I decided that this was an option for me.”

Dying with medical assistance wasn’t an option when Milano learned in early 2023 that her disease was incurable. At that point, she would have had to travel to Switzerland — or live in the District of Columbia or one of the 10 states where medical aid in dying was legal.

But Vermont lifted its residency requirement in May 2023, followed by Oregon two months later. (Montana effectively allows aid in dying through a 2009 court decision, but that ruling doesn’t spell out rules around residency. And though New York and California recently considered legislation that would allow out-of-staters to secure aid in dying, neither provision passed.)

Despite the limited options and the challenges — such as finding doctors in a new state, figuring out where to die, and traveling when too sick to walk to the next room, let alone climb into a car — dozens have made the trek to the two states that have opened their doors to terminally ill nonresidents seeking aid in dying.

At least 26 people have traveled to Vermont to die, representing nearly 25% of the reported assisted deaths in the state from May 2023 through this June, according to the Vermont Department of Health. In Oregon, 23 out-of-state residents died using medical assistance in 2023, just over 6% of the state total, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

Oncologist Charles Blanke, whose clinic in Portland is devoted to end-of-life care, said he thinks that Oregon’s total is likely an undercount and he expects the numbers to grow. Over the past year, he said, he’s seen two to four out-of-state patients a week — about one-quarter of his practice — and fielded calls from across the U.S., including New York, the Carolinas, Florida, and “tons from Texas.” But just because patients are willing to travel doesn’t mean it’s easy or that they get their desired outcome.

“The law is pretty strict about what has to be done,” Blanke said.

As in other states that allow what some call physician-assisted death or assisted suicide, Oregon and Vermont require patients to be assessed by two doctors. Patients must have less than six months to live, be mentally and cognitively sound, and be physically able to ingest the drugs to end their lives. Charts and records must be reviewed in the state; neglecting to do so constitutes practicing medicine out of state, which violates medical licensing requirements. For the same reason, the patients must be in the state for the initial exam, when they request the drugs, and when they ingest them.

State legislatures impose those restrictions as safeguards — to balance the rights of patients seeking aid in dying with a legislative imperative not to pass laws that are harmful to anyone, said Peg Sandeen, CEO of the group Death With Dignity. Like many aid-in-dying advocates, however, she said such rules create undue burdens for people who are already suffering.

Diana Barnard, a Vermont palliative care physician, said some patients cannot even come for their appointments. “They end up being sick or not feeling like traveling, so there’s rescheduling involved,” she said. “It’s asking people to use a significant part of their energy to come here when they really deserve to have the option closer to home.”

Those opposed to aid in dying include religious groups that say taking a life is immoral, and medical practitioners who argue their job is to make people more comfortable at the end of life, not to end the life itself.

Anthropologist Anita Hannig, who interviewed dozens of terminally ill patients while researching her 2022 book, “The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America,” said she doesn’t expect federal legislation to settle the issue anytime soon. As the Supreme Court did with abortion in 2022, it ruled assisted dying to be a states’ rights issue in 1997.

During the 2023-24 legislative sessions, 19 states (including Milano’s home state of Pennsylvania) considered aid-in-dying legislation, according to the advocacy group Compassion & Choices. Delaware was the sole state to pass it, but the governor has yet to act on it.

Source : https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/23/health/assisted-death-medical-tourism-kff-health-news/index.html

Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her party’s nomination to lead the ticket.

The closing of the Democratic National Convention drew a big audience Thursday — topping both the final night of the party’s gathering four years ago and that of the Republican convention in July.

Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the party’s nomination to top the Democratic ticket and oppose Republican nominee Donald Trump. Coverage of the Democrats’ closing night averaged 26.2 million viewers across 15 broadcast and cable networks, according to Nielsen figures. That’s about 820,000 more people than the 25.38 million who watched the final night of the Republican National Convention.

Thursday’s total is up substantially over the first three days of the Democratic convention, which averaged 20.33 million viewers and were very consistent night to night: Monday averaged 20.03 million viewers, Tuesday brought in 20.78 million and Wednesday drew 20.18 million across broadcast and cable networks. Adding in Thursday’s total, the convention as a whole averaged 21.8 million viewers in primetime, a slight improvement the 2020 convention’s four-night average of 21.59 million viewers.

The DNC’s four-day average also topped the July Republican convention in TV viewers by a 14 percent margin; the RNC averaged 19.07 million viewers over four nights.

As it did throughout the week, MSNBC drew the biggest audience for any single network on Thursday. It averaged 6.53 million viewers from 9-11:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, well ahead of second-place ABC (4.23 million). CNN came in third with 3.94 million viewers, followed by NBC at 3.01 million. Fox News (2.45 million) narrowly beat CBS (2.42 million).

Those six networks made up about 86 percent of the total TV audience on Thursday; the remaining 3.62 million viewers were spread across PBS, Scripps News, Telemundo, Univision, BET, CNNe, Fox Business, Newsmax and NewsNation.

MSNBC also led all comers Thursday in the core news demographic of adults 25-54 with 1.28 million such viewers. CNN (1.13 million) grabbed second in the demo, and ABC was third with 1.05 million adults 25-54. NBC had 857,000 viewers in the demo, followed by CBS at 607,000 and Fox News at 358,000.

Source : https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/2024-democratic-convention-tv-ratings-beat-republicans-1235983406

Three people were killed and four others seriously wounded in a stabbing attack at a festival on Friday night in the western German city of Solingen, police said.

They said that at around 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) a single, unidentified man attacked multiple people and that the perpetrator was still at large.

“It tears my heart apart that there was an attack on our city. I have tears in my eyes when I think of those we have lost,” Solingen Mayor Tim-Oliver Kurzbach said in a statement. “I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives.”

Fatal stabbings and shootings in Germany are relatively uncommon.  The police said the attack occurred at a festival to honour the town’s 650th anniversary.

Solingen is in North Rhine-Westphalia state, Germany’s most populous and bordering the Netherlands.

The state’s interior minister, Herbert Reul, visited the scene, telling reporters it was a targeted attack on human life but declining to speculate on the motive.

The attack occurred at the Fronhof, the mayor’s statement said, a market square where live bands were playing.

The German government has been aiming to toughen rules on knives that can be carried in public by reducing the length allowed.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/several-people-dead-stabbing-incident-western-germany-bild-reports-2024-08-23

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday and announced a new military aid package ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day on Saturday, their offices said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who also spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov on Friday, said on social media the package was worth $125 million.

In the call with Zelenskiy, Biden reaffirmed Washington’s support, which the White House called “unwavering”, for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

The aid package includes air-defense missiles, counter-drone equipment, anti-armor missiles and ammunition, the White House said in its statement.

The calls came ahead of Ukraine’s independence day.

“Ukraine critically needs the supply of weapons from the announced packages, particularly additional air defence systems for the reliable protection of cities, communities, and critical infrastructure,” Zelenskiy said in a statement after call released by his office.

After seizing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. The United States has since provided military assistance and aid to Ukraine while also imposing sanctions on Moscow over the invasion.

Washington has provided Ukraine with more than $50 billion worth of military aid since 2022.

The war escalated on Aug. 6 when Ukraine sent thousands of soldiers over the border into Russia’s western Kursk region. Kyiv has since announced a string of battlefield successes, but Russian forces continue to steadily inch forward in eastern Ukraine.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-spoke-ukraines-zelenskiy-friday-2024-08-23

When a shell exploded near Oleksandr Budko, the 26-year-old found himself buried alive and in “terrible pain” from injuries that would lead to the amputation of both his legs.

The Ukrainian soldier was helping to defend the north-eastern Kharkiv region from invading Russian forces in August 2022, when his unit was attacked.

Two years on, he’s the star of a reality TV show in which multiple women battle for his affection.

One advert for the Ukrainian version of hit US series The Bachelor shows a smartly-dressed Oleksandr staring wistfully at a flower. In another, he answers questions in military fatigues before performing a series of pull-ups in a gym.

Speaking to me in a rose garden in Kyiv, the veteran-turned-celebrity is in good spirits despite being tired after a busy week.

Oleksandr says he’s hoping to find love on the show after breaking up with his girlfriend last January – but thinks it will be difficult to choose a partner with “millions of people watching”.

His motivations aren’t just romantic. He also wants to use his appearance on the show to raise awareness of the challenges facing disabled Ukrainians.

“This show is watched by millions of people, and it presents a huge opportunity to positively influence their outlook,” he says.

He wants to show that injured veterans are not “outsiders, but full members of society who are living a good life.
“In my case, my life is now even better than before the war, better than before I got injured.”

Oleksandr is always on the go, telling me he spent the previous night filming a music video.
His life wasn’t always like this. In the years before Russia’s full-scale invasion, he was working as a barista in a Kyiv restaurant while studying graphic design.

He says his dreams were “down to earth”: travelling, discovering the world, and growing professionally. He wanted to start a family.

But Oleksandr’s life was turned upside down two years ago, when he became one of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men to join the army.

In August 2022, he was stationed near Izyum, an occupied city on the front lines of the Russian advance. It was invaded in the early days of the war and used by Russia as a key military hub to supply its forces from the east.
The city was liberated by Kyiv just a month after Oleksandr was seriously injured while defending the nearby Ukrainian position.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clywj08d89no

Having a pet crocodile in the backyard sounds like a far-fetched Australian fable – like riding kangaroos to school or the existence of drop bears.

But in the Northern Territory (NT), it’s a reality.

And Trevor Sullivan has 11 of the reptiles sharing his tropical home in Batchelor, about an hour south of Darwin.
Among them is Big Jack, who is named after a Jack in the Box toy due to his alarming propensity for lunging. Despite his antics, the giant predator is adored, having joined Mr Sullivan’s household as a hatchling the same day his daughter was born 22 years ago.

“He’s been part of our family ever since… [my daughter] refers to him as brother.”

Also on the 80-acre property is Cricket, still a tiny critter, and Shah, who – at the complete other end of the scale – is more than a century old and has truly lived a life.

“He’s possibly seen two world wars and maybe federation in Australia [in 1901],” Mr Sullivan says of the 4.7m (15.4ft) beast.

He claims Shah once killed a man, has been used for scientific research, was almost poisoned to death at a bird park, and lost half his bottom jaw in a fight at a Queensland crocodile farm, all before joining Mr Sullivan a few years ago.
The 60-year-old lights up as he tells the BBC about his crocodiles: “There’s nothing like them… crocodiles are the Harley Davidson of pets.”

But as the famously quirky region heads to the polls on Saturday, the right to own a pet croc has turned into a somewhat unlikely – and very Territory – election issue.

The cost of living, housing and crime are the prime concerns for many voters, but Mr Sullivan is one of scores left heartbroken after the governing Labor Party moved to ban crocodiles as pets.

It is one of the last places in the country the practice is allowed, but the government says they’re concerned for the wellbeing of both humans and the reptiles. The Country Liberal Party opposition, however, has pledged its support for the practice and has promised a review of the “rushed” decision if elected.

About 250,000 people call the NT home, but relatively few of them own crocodiles. The environment minister’s office said they could not provide a figure because the government is in election caretaker mode, but previous estimates have put the number of permit holders at around 100.

Many of the captive crocs are raised from hatchlings, others rehomed from farms or after causing trouble in the wild.
Regulations have long dictated strict conditions about where, and under what conditions, the animals can be kept. For example, hatchlings can only live in urban areas until they are 60cm long – usually about a year old – at which point they must be handed over to authorities or moved to a property outside the town limits.

Under those rules, however, owners were not required to have any special training or knowledge to keep the beasts.
Tom Hayes says owning – or “saving” – a crocodile is part of the Territory’s appeal, and one of the factors which drew his young family to the Darwin region, from Queensland, earlier this year.

The 40-year-old grew up taking trips to the NT with his dad, fishing in the Mary River alongside giant crocodiles, instilling a love of predators and, eventually, a dream to have his own one day.

“I’m not just some dude that wants a crocodile [for] when I’m having a barbecue with my mates on the weekend,” the tattooist and self-styled conservationist told the BBC.

“I wanted to have somewhere I could bring these poor old buggers and they could just live their lives out – happy, fed… not having to worry about people shooting them.”

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8rxyz1p830o

Elon Musk sent an email to X staff overnight about their much-anticipated stock grants — but there’s a catch.

In an email to staff viewed by The Verge, the company is planning to award stock options based on the anticipated impact of employees. That means staff have to submit a one-page summary telling leadership their contributions to the company in order to get their stock.

These long-awaited stock grants add to the tensions between X leadership and staff after the promotions process was recently delayed without explanation, we previously reported. Given how the company formerly called Twitter has continued to struggle under Elon Musk’s ownership, employees have been bracing for more layoffs.

What’s more, a source at X told The Verge that the company still owes staff their annual equity refresher, which was supposed to be doled out in April. Musk previously assured employees that they could regularly cash out stock, similar to SpaceX staff, according to two employees. However, he has not yet followed through on this promise.

The most recent stock refresh for X employees was in October 2023, valuing the company at $19 billion — significantly less than the $44 billion Musk paid for it. During this refresh, employees received RSUs at a share price of $45, I previously reported.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/23/24226830/elon-musk-email-x-twitter-stock-grants

It will be a long time before we get answers as to exactly how the UK-flagged Bayesian yacht sank off the coast of Sicily.
The luxury superyacht was carrying 22 people when a heavy storm that created waterspouts struck early on Monday 19 August.
Seven bodies have been recovered from the wreck of the boat.
As Italian authorities continue to investigate the circumstances around the incident, speculation has swirled about what went wrong, with fingers being pointed at the captain, the crew, and faults with the yacht itself.
But experts have told the BBC that this was likely a “black swan” occurrence of freak weather – and that no-one is necessarily at fault.
Here are the key questions that investigators will be asking as they look into the tragedy.

The attack, which has also left seven police officers injured, was one of the deadliest on police in recent years.

At least 11 police officers have been killed during an ambush by armed attackers in eastern Pakistan, according to local officials.

The attackers were armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), police said, and seven other officers were injured.

The convoy of officers was targeted in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, in the Rahim Yar Khan district.

The convoy was passing through a deserted area as part of an operation targeting robbers in the region, Punjabi police said in a statement.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks by militants in recent years, but such a high number of police casualties in a single attack is rare.

Pakistani security forces often carry out operations against bandits in the eastern Punjab and southern Sindh provinces, where they hide in rural, forested areas.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/attackers-armed-with-guns-and-rpgs-kill-11-police-officers-in-pakistan-ambush-13201225

Tate and his brother Tristan are facing new allegations after Romania’s organised crime agency DIICOT said it was searching four properties in the counties of Bucharest and Ilfov. The brothers have previously denied all the claims against them.

Andrew Tate has been placed under house arrest in Romania.

Prosecutors in Romania have requested Tate be detained for 30 more days, while his brother Tristan has been placed under lighter restrictions by the country’s authorities.

It comes after Tate and Tristan were among six people taken into custody in an investigation into human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

The divisive influencer’s home was raided this week over new allegations made against him.

Romania’s anti-organised crime agency DIICOT searched four homes on Wednesday in Bucharest and nearby Ilfov county, over allegations of human trafficking, the trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements and money laundering, it said.

It’s not yet clear which of the individual charges apply to which of the six suspects.

Dozens of police officers and forensic personnel were seen scouring Tate’s large property on the edge of the capital Bucharest and the former professional kickboxer’s brothers were seen on video accompanying police out of the house.

Tate’s spokesperson Mateea Petrescu said yesterday in response to the raids that “although the charges in the search warrant are not yet fully clarified, they include suspicions of human trafficking and money laundering” and added that his legal team was present.

Ms Petrescu did not comment on the allegations involving minors.

Tate, 37, and Tristan, 36, grew up in Luton and have millions of social media followers. The older brother also appeared in the UK version of Big Brother in 2016.

Self-described misogynists, their views shared on social media platforms such as TikTok and X have been widely criticised, particularly as they have a predominately young, male audience.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/andrew-tate-under-house-arrest-over-fresh-allegations-after-home-raided-13200973

Doctor Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s Europe director, has urged EU countries to remember the lessons of COVID-19 and share mpox jabs with Africa as a means of protecting people globally.

Surveillance and the sharing of mpox vaccines with Africa will be integral to preventing a global outbreak of the virus, the World Health Organization’s Europe director has said.

Mpox was declared a global emergency by the WHO last week, with a new strain spreading across Africa at an alarming rate and causing more than 571 deaths on the continent this year.

Doctor Hans Kluge said while “there’s no need to panic”, people “always need to be vigilant” to ensure the world doesn’t suffer from yet another global health emergency just years after it was brought to a standstill by COVID-19.

“The key message from me to the countries is surveillance,” WHO’s Europe director told Sky News.

“Good surveillance, knowing what’s happening because you never know how a virus may behave in the future.”

Dr Kluge said he was “worried for the African region” and about cases spreading further, as more than 17,000 have already been recorded on the continent this year.

He called on European countries to send vaccines to Africa and “not sit” on them in order to prevent another global pandemic.

“This is the big test,” he said. “Just to see, did we as an international community learn from COVID-19 or not? Are we going to halt or to share the vaccines?”

Asked about measures such as airport screenings being introduced, Dr Kluge said people “may come easily into the country without any obvious symptoms”.

According to the UK government’s website, the incubation period for mpox is between five and 21 days. People usually recover from the “self-limiting” illness within a few weeks, it added.

Dr Kluge added: “Also, we have to be careful not to push people away because they will find alternative routes like we saw [during] COVID.

“So the key for now in Europe is good surveillance, particularly in high risk groups.”

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/dont-sit-on-mpox-vaccines-and-keep-up-surveillance-whos-europe-chief-says-13201175

We’ve all heard the warnings about superbugs, but a new study suggests we may be overlooking their most likely source: our dinner plates. Scientists are raising the alarm about antimicrobial resistance in food animals, warning that our current practices could be setting the stage for a global health catastrophe.

A recent review published in the International Journal of Food Science & Technology warns that the animals we eat could become the gateway for a devastating pandemic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This silent threat, brewing in farms across Southeast Asia, has the potential to render our most potent medicines useless and unleash a wave of untreatable infections.

“There is a big pandemic waiting to happen in the form of antimicrobial resistance,” says Professor Rajaraman Eri, a veterinarian and Associate Dean of Biosciences and Food Technology at RMIT University, in a media release. “We’re going to face a situation in the world where will run out of antibiotics. That means we will not be able to treat infections.”

The World Health Organization’s prognosis is equally grim, estimating that drug-resistant diseases could cause up to 10 million deaths each year by 2050. This looming crisis isn’t just a distant concern for Southeast Asia – it’s a global threat with far-reaching implications, including for countries like Australia that have strong ties to the region.

The review, co-authored by Eri along with microbiologist Dr. Charmaine Lloyd from RMIT University and public policy expert Dr. Pushpanathan Sundram from Thailand, sheds light on two interconnected issues plaguing the food animal industry in Southeast Asia: antimicrobial resistance and residue.

Southeast Asia, home to billions of farm animals, has become what the researchers call an “epicentre” of antimicrobial resistance in animals. The region’s livestock sector, dominated by smallholder farmers, is not just a cornerstone of food security and economic well-being – it’s also a potential breeding ground for superbugs.

“On the farm, the presence of antibiotics in food, soil, water run-off and animal waste can contribute to this resistance developing,” explains Dr. Lloyd. “The overuse and misuse of antimicrobial drugs, especially for growth promotion in healthy animals, have resulted in the increased rate of resistance.”

However, resistance is only part of the problem. The review also highlights the issue of residues – leftover traces of drugs and chemicals in animal products. These residues, while different from resistance, pose their own set of health risks to consumers.

“Veterinary drug residues commonly arise from overusing and improper use of antimicrobial agents, growth promoters and other veterinary drugs in animal husbandry practices,” Eri notes.

The researchers emphasize the critical need to differentiate between residue and resistance, as each requires distinct strategies to address. They call for a multifaceted approach, including improved surveillance, responsible antibiotic use, better farming practices, stronger regulations, and regional cooperation.

Central to their recommendations is the adoption of a “One Health” approach, which recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health. This holistic perspective is crucial for developing effective solutions to combat both residue and resistance.

“Efforts in the region to regulate antimicrobial use are underway, but there’s growing concern over consuming products with antimicrobial residues, which can impact human health due to the presence of antibiotic-resistant microbiota and pathogens in hosts,” Dr. Sundram points out.

The review offers a stark reminder that in our globalized world, health threats know no borders. What happens on farms in Southeast Asia can have ripple effects across the globe, potentially compromising the efficacy of our most important medicines.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/looming-pandemic-hiding-food/?nab=0

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

2025 Oscars Predictions: All Categories

Weekly Commentary (Updated Aug. 22, 2024): The Telluride and Venice Film Festivals are set to kick off next week, officially signaling the start of the fall awards season. While many films remain unseen, early buzz and industry rumors hint at a strong year ahead, featuring a mix of mainstream studio projects, musicals, and sequels that could dominate the conversation.

Leading the charge this week is Jacques Audiard’s musical “Emilia Pérez,” a Netflix production that has already garnered significant attention. The film’s unconventional narrative, coupled with Audiard’s distinctive directorial style, could position it as a serious contender in the race. Notably, this could be the streaming giant’s best shot yet at securing its first best picture Oscar after being the arguable “runner-up” for “Roma” (2018) and “The Power of the Dog” (2021). Despite Audiard’s impressive body of work, he has yet to receive his own Oscar nom, adding more juice to its chances.

Another highly anticipated film is Searchlight’s “A Complete Unknown,” a Bob Dylan biopic directed by James Mangold and still in the editing process. Timothée Chalamet takes on the lead role, with Monica Barbaro potentially delivering a breakout performance as Joan Baez. The film is set for a Christmas release, strategically bypassing the festival circuit. This could make it a late-breaking contender in the vein of past successes like “Million Dollar Baby” (2004). However, it will undoubtedly try to steer focus from an array of high-profile sequels, including Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux,” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two.”

Watch out for potential surprise category placements for several actors as the season unfolds. Among those that could call an “audible” during the season are Denzel Washington (“Gladiator II”), Lady Gaga (“Joker: Folie à Deux”), Danielle Deadwyler (“The Piano Lesson”), Saoirse Ronan (“Blitz”), and any of the ensemble cast members of “Emilia Pérez” and “His Three Daughters.” An added unexpected twist to the awards race would create an exciting and unpredictable season.

And let’s not forget potential acquisitions on the horizon, which could come for Pamela Anderson’s lead vehicle, “The Last Showgirl,” or Tim Fehlbaum’s “September 5, ” which looks at the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis from the sports broadcasting perspective.

With such a diverse slate of films and performances, the upcoming awards season promises to be one of the most competitive in recent memory. Stay tuned as the festival premieres begin, setting the stage for what could be a memorable year in cinema.

Overall updates are below. The charts will continue to be updated throughout the week.

Top 5 projected nomination leaders (films): “Emilia Pérez” (12); “A Complete Unknown” (11); “Gladiator II” (9); “Dune: Part Two” and “Joker: Folie à Deux” (7); “Blitz” (6)

Top 3 projected nomination leaders (studios): Netflix (20); Warner Bros. (16); Searchlight Pictures (12)

The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2. All movie listings, titles, distributors, and credited artisans are not final and are subject to change.

The body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch was retrieved on Thursday from the wreck of his family yacht that sank this week off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm, a senior Italian official said.
Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still unaccounted for, interior ministry official Massimo Mariani told Reuters after being briefed by the emergency services.
The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-foot) superyacht carrying 22 passengers and crew, was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it disappeared beneath the waves in minutes after bad weather struck early Monday.

The body of the onboard chef, Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, was recovered near the wreck on Monday.
Mariani said it was possible that Hannah Lynch’s body was not in the boat, but might have been swept out to sea.
Fire brigade spokesperson Luca Cari said if her body was still in the yacht it could take time to find, given the difficulty divers were having in accessing all areas of the boat, which is lying on its side at a depth of 50 metres (165 feet).

A judicial investigation has been opened into the disaster, which has baffled naval marine experts, who say a boat like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini, should have withstood the storm.

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the Italian Sea Group (TISGR.MI), opens new tab, which owns Perini, told Italian media the Bayesian was “one of the safest boats in the world” and blamed the crew for failing to follow correct safety procedures.
The captain, James Cutfield, and his eight surviving crew members, have made no public comment on the disaster. The prosecutor leading the investigation, Ambrogio Cartosio, has scheduled a press conference for Saturday.
CHALLENGING CONDITIONS
Specialist rescuers have been searching inside the hull of the sunken yacht for the past three days in what they said were extremely challenging conditions due to the depth and the narrowness of the places that the divers are scouring.
The fire brigade compared the efforts to those that were carried out, on a larger scale, for the Costa Concordia, a luxury cruise liner that capsized off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012, killing 32 people.
Once the final body is recovered, experts will have to decide whether, or how, to salvage the vessel.
The CEO of Italian Sea Group said the yacht’s automatic tracking system suggested that it took 16 minutes from the moment the storm first hit to the sinking.
He said it was clear the ship took in large amounts of water, adding that investigators would need to see what doorways or hatches might have been left open, focusing notably on a main door located on the left side of the yacht.
“A Perini boat survived the Category 5 Katrina hurricane. Do you think one couldn’t survive a waterspout here,” he told Corriere della Sera newspaper, referring to a type of tornado which is believed to have hit the Bayesian.
Under maritime law, a captain has full responsibility for the ship and the crew, as well as the safety of all those aboard.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/two-bodies-still-missing-mike-lynchs-sunken-yacht-sicily-2024-08-22/

A transgender woman from Australia has won a discrimination case against a women-only social media app, after she was denied access on the basis of being male.
The Federal Court found that although Roxanne Tickle had not been directly discriminated against, she was a victim of indirect discrimination – which refers to when a decision disadvantages a person with a particular attribute – and ordered the app to pay her A$10,000 ($6,700; £5,100) plus costs.
It’s a landmark ruling when it comes to gender identity, and at the very heart of the case was the ever more contentious question: what is a woman?
In 2021, Tickle downloaded “Giggle for Girls”, an app marketed as an online refuge where women could share their experiences in a safe space, and where men were not allowed.
In order to gain access, she had to upload a selfie to prove she was a woman, which was assessed by gender recognition software designed to screen out men.
However, seven months later – after successfully joining the platform – her membership was revoked.
As someone who identifies as a woman, Tickle claimed she was legally entitled to use services meant for women, and that she was discriminated against based on her gender identity.
She sued the social media platform, as well as its CEO Sall Grover, and sought damages amounting to A$200,000, claiming that “persistent misgendering” by Grover had prompted “constant anxiety and occasional suicidal thoughts”.
“Grover’s public statements about me and this case have been distressing, demoralising, embarrassing, draining and hurtful. This has led to individuals posting hateful comments towards me online and indirectly inciting others to do the same,” Tickle said in an affidavit.
Giggle’s legal team argued throughout the case that sex is a biological concept.
They freely concede that Tickle was discriminated against – but on the grounds of sex, rather than gender identity. Refusing to allow Tickle to use the app constituted lawful sex discrimination, they say. The app is designed to exclude men, and because its founder perceives Tickle to be male – she argues that denying her access to the app was lawful.
But Justice Robert Bromwich said in his decision on Friday that case law has consistently found sex is “changeable and not necessarily binary”, ultimately dismissing Giggle’s argument.
Tickle said the ruling “shows that all women are protected from discrimination” and that she hoped the case would be “healing for trans and gender diverse people”.
“Unfortunately, we got the judgement we anticipated. The fight for women’s rights continues,” Grover wrote on X, responding to the decision.
Known as “Tickle vs Giggle”, the case is the first time alleged gender identity discrimination has been heard by the federal court in Australia.
It encapsulates how one of the most acrimonious ideological debates – trans inclusion versus sex-based rights – can play out in court.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have issued a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public under new laws approved by the supreme leader in efforts to combat vice and promote virtue.

The laws were issued Wednesday after they were approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, a government spokesman said. The Taliban had set up a ministry for the “propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice” after seizing power in 2021.

The ministry published its vice and virtue laws on Wednesday that cover aspects of everyday life like public transportation, music, shaving and celebrations.

They are set out in a 114-page, 35-article document seen by The Associated Press and are the first formal declaration of vice and virtue laws in Afghanistan since the takeover.

“Inshallah we assure you that this Islamic law will be of great help in the promotion of virtue and the elimination of vice,” said ministry spokesman Maulvi Abdul Ghafar Farooq on Thursday.

The laws empower the ministry to be at the frontline of regulating personal conduct, administering punishments like warnings or arrest if enforcers allege that Afghans have broken the laws.

Article 13 relates to women. It says it is mandatory for a woman to veil her body at all times in public and that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation and tempting others. Clothing should not be thin, tight or short.

Women are obliged to cover themselves in front of non-Muslim males and females to avoid being corrupted. A woman’s voice is deemed intimate and so should not be heard singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public. It is forbidden for women to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.

Article 17 bans the publication of images of living beings, threatening an already fragile Afghan media landscape.

Article 19 bans the playing of music, the transportation of solo female travelers, and the mixing of men and women who are not related to each other. The law also obliges passengers and drivers to perform prayers at designated times.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-taliban-vice-virtue-laws-women-9626c24d8d5450d52d36356ebff20c83#

The largest diamond found in more than a century has been unearthed at a mine in Botswana, and the country’s president showed off the fist-sized stone to the world at a viewing ceremony Thursday.

The Botswana government says the huge 2,492-carat diamond is the second-biggest ever discovered in a mine. It’s the biggest diamond found since 1905.

The as-yet-unnamed diamond was presented to the world at the office of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi. It weighs approximately half a kilogram and Masisi was one of the first to get to hold it.

“It is overwhelming,” Masisi said. “I am lucky to have seen it in my time.” He gasped and said “wow” before calling senior government officials over to take a closer look.

Officials said it was too early to value the stone or decide how it would be sold. Another smaller diamond from the same mine in Botswana was sold for $63 million in 2016, a record for a rough gem.

“This is history in the making,” said Naseem Lahri, Botswana managing director for Lucara Diamond Corp., the Canadian mining company that found the diamond. “I am very proud. It is a product of Botswana.”

Lucara said in a statement Wednesday that it recovered the “exceptional” rough diamond from its Karowe Mine in central Botswana. Lucara said it was a “high-quality” stone and was found intact. It was located using X-ray technology designed to find large, high-value diamonds.

“We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” Lucara President and CEO William Lamb said in a statement.

The weight would make it the largest diamond found in 119 years and the second-largest ever dug out of a mine after the Cullinan Diamond that was discovered in South Africa in 1905. The famous Cullinan was 3,106 carats and was cut into gems, some of which form part of the British Crown Jewels.

A bigger, less pure black diamond was discovered in Brazil in the late 1800s, but it was found above ground and was believed to have been part of a meteorite.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/diamond-botswana-largest-carats-mining-0a736574d7cadaa8d9fe23c651ece97a#

Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman, became the world’s oldest living person at age 116, following the death of 117-year-old Maria Branyas, according to the Guinness World Records.

Her age and birthdate — May 23, 1908 — were confirmed by the Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, and put her at the top of its World Supercentenarian Rankings List.

Itooka lives in a nursing home in the city of Ashiya, a city in Hyogo Prefecture that also confirmed her birthdate. She assumed the title of world’s oldest person after Branyas’ family announced the 117-year-old’s death Tuesday. Guinness confirmed Itooka’s new status on Thursday.

When told about her becoming the oldest person, she replied, “Thank you,” a phrase she also relays often to the caretakers at her home.

Itooka celebrated her birthday three months ago, receiving flowers, a cake and a card from the mayor. Every morning, she has a popular yogurt-flavored drink called Calpis. Her favorite food is bananas.

Born in Osaka, Itooka was a volleyball player in high school. She married at 20, and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/oldest-person-japan-guinness-records-0ee529d0fe6490143cc878a85bdf05cc#

Ben Herskowitz stood on a hill overlooking the ancient archaeological landscape of Bamiyan, nestled among the high mountains of the Hindu Kush. In the distance, he could see white snow-capped mountains, greenery and blossoming trees spread across Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley.

It was “one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in my life,” Herskowitz said. “So many different diverse landscapes in one area. I’ve never seen contrast like that in one place.”

Herskowitz, a 22-year-old from Vermont in the United States, found himself thousands of miles from home in May, with Afghanistan’s spectacular landscapes nearly all to himself.

“You go to Rome or Greece to see ruins and there are thousands of tourists blocking your way all around you, but here you can sit up in these beautiful places that have so much history from so many periods, and you’re the only one there,” Herskowitz explained.

The conflict-ravaged country, not known as a vacation hot spot, has seen an increase in tourism since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 after the US withdrawal.

Visitors from around the world have been immersing themselves in Afghanistan’s scenic landscape and ancient history. They’ve been taking dips in the turquoise lakes of Band-e-Amir National Park, exploring Buddhist art and ruins in Bamiyan and shopping in the bustling bazaars of Kabul, all while experiencing the legendary hospitality of Afghans.

About 691 tourists visited Afghanistan in 2021, rising to 2,300 the following year and 7,000 in 2023, according to the Associated Press, citing Mohammad Saeed, head of the Tourism Directorate in Kabul. More than 10,179 have visited the country since August 2021, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Tourism told CNN.

While those figures seem low, the steady increase points to a new buzz around tourism in Afghanistan even while the country struggles with a humanitarian crisis and poverty following decades of war. Many countries have not formally recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, and the United Nations calls Afghanistan under the Taliban the most repressive country in the world for women’s rights.

“There’s a flow of tourists coming into the country since the fall of the republic,” says Khyber Khan, founder of Afghan tour company Unchartered Afghanistan. The country is known as a conflict zone, but “we have so many things to offer – culture, people, landscape,” Khan said. One now sees “a lot of tourists especially in Kabul, you always see a group of tourists,” Khan said.

Taliban officials say they are supporting tourism.

“The growth of the tourism industry has a positive effect on the country’s economy,” the spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture said. The country sees most tourists coming from the United States, the European Union, China, India, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, the spokesperson added.

A department has been created under the ministry to provide services to tourists and train students in the tourism industry and hotel management, the spokesperson said.

Bringing tourism money into a country largely isolated by international sanctions is seen by some as lending unwarranted legitimacy to the Taliban’s repressive regime at a time when it continues to deny many of its citizens basic human rights.

The UN’s special rapporteur for human rights, Richard Bennett, said this week that he had been barred from Afghanistan, a move that sent “a concerning signal about [the Taliban’s] engagement with the United Nations and the international community on human rights.”

‘Hospitality there is so welcoming’

Herskowitz, a part-time social media content creator and traveler, says he was intrigued to explore Afghanistan after hearing how “beautiful” and “hospitable” it is from other tourists who recently visited.

While many travelers have reported positive experiences, many Western governments warn against traveling to the country.

Afghanistan carries a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory from the US State Department, which cites “terrorism, risk of wrongful detention, civil unrest, kidnapping and crime” as reasons for its rating. The United Kingdom also “advises against all travel to Afghanistan.”

In May 2024, three Spanish tourists were among four people killed when gunmen opened fire on a group of international tourists and Afghans in Bamiyan. It was not clear who was behind the attack.

Despite being aware of the travel advisories warnings, Herskowitz still opted to go to Afghanistan after learning from his community of fellow “extreme travelers” that it’s a relatively safe place for tourists.

“I prefer to get my information from friends who have actually been to these places recently and give me an update on what it’s actually like to visit,” Herskowitz told CNN. “From my experience, I felt super safe the entire time.”

With his best friend from Vermont and two other UK travelers and content creators, Herskowitz embarked on a private eight-day tour across the country with two local Afghan tour guides.

Bamiyan, a central Afghanistan city and region that’s listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was Herskowitz’s favorite destination they visited.

“It’s an ancient city” and has “these amazing ruins that are really spectacular to see,” Herskowitz said. He described staying in a hotel with views of the remains of monumental sixth-century Buddha statues. Two of the standing Buddha statues in this area were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

Herskowtiz also explored Band-e-Amir’s series of six lakes by pedal boat amid picturesque red-hued cliffs and rocky natural dams. The park was “just out of this world,” Herskowitz said.

But experiencing Afghan hospitality is what really struck Herskowitz. The “hospitality there is so welcoming,” Herskowitz said.

“Locals were so happy to see a tourist in their country. You’re a guest in their country and so they want to invite you for something to show their hospitality.”

When shopping in Kabul, Herskowitz said shopkeepers constantly offered him and his friends tea, food and even safe lodging if they needed it.

Herskowitz also said he saw a “good amount” of other tourists during his time in Afghanistan. He said he came across three different 14-member tour groups from Italy, Greece and Indonesia.

‘Everyone is coming’

To accommodate the increase in tourists, tourism companies have popped up in Afghanistan.

“The presence of tourists has increased because it’s not an active war zone anymore,” Khan said. He started Unchartered Afghanistan in 2023.

Ehsan Barakzai, founder of Afghan tour company Destination Afghanistan, says the “gate (to Afghanistan) has just opened, so everyone is coming.”

Barakzai personally gave 130 people tours of Afghanistan in 2023, he said, adding that most of his customers come from China, Germany, Canada and the United States.

“A lot of tourists came from watching YouTubers and people on social documenting their travel to Afghanistan,” Barakzai explained.

Tourists can enter Afghanistan only after obtaining a tourist visa from one of Afghanistan’s consulates. A consulate will normally provide the visa if an individual has a letter of invitation from a tour company in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has consulates in the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan as well as embassies in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, among other countries.

Additionally, tour companies must be registered and licensed to operate with the Ministry of Culture for “better coordination,” the ministry spokesperson said.

Bookings for Afghanistan in 2023 were at the highest ever level for tour company Untamed Borders, founder James Wilcox told CNN. Untamed Borders has been offering tours in Afghanistan since 2007, Wilcox said.

“Since the Taliban took over, the security situation has changed. One of the biggest risks isn’t there anymore – before the risk was the Taliban,” Wilcox explained. A security risk for tourists traveling to Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover was the deadly fighting between the Taliban as an insurgency group against US forces and the previous US-backed government of Afghanistan.

“That major … risk has diminished,” he said, adding, “there are a lot of historical things to see. It’s culturally very rich.”

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/afghanistan-tourism-under-the-taliban/index.html

Thailand on Thursday confirmed Asia’s first known case of a new, deadlier strain of mpox in a patient who had travelled to the kingdom from Africa.

The patient landed in Bangkok on August 14 and was sent to hospital with mpox symptoms.

The Department of Disease Control said laboratory tests on the 66-year-old European confirmed he was infected with mpox Clade 1b.

“Thailand’s Department of Disease Control wishes to confirm the lab test result which shows mpox Clade 1b in a European patient,” the department said in a statement, adding that the World Health Organization (WHO) would be informed of the development.

“We have monitored 43 people who have been in close contact with the patient and so far they have shown no symptoms, but we must continue monitoring for a total of 21 days.”

Anyone travelling to Thailand from 42 “risk countries” must register and undergo testing on arrival, the department said.

Mpox cases and deaths are surging in Africa, where outbreaks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda since July.

The World Health Organization has declared a global public health emergency over the new variant of mpox, urging manufacturers to ramp up production of vaccines.

The disease — caused by a virus transmitted by infected animals but passed from human to human through close physical contact — causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.

While mpox has been known for decades, a new deadlier and more transmissible strain — known as Clade 1b — has driven the recent surge in cases.

Clade 1b causes death in about 3.6 percent of cases, with children more at risk, according to the WHO.

Source: https://www.barrons.com/news/thailand-confirms-asia-s-first-case-of-new-mpox-strain-2973c134

VIEWERS of the Democratic National Convention were left disappointed on the final night after Beyoncé didn’t show up ahead of Kamala Harris’ headlining speech.

The Grammy award-winning singer was rumored to be in Chicago and gearing up for a surprise performance before Vice President Harris was set to officially accept the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

TMZ reported that the rumored Beyoncé performance put the Chicago Police Department on high alert for night four of the event with tightened security at the United Center.

One political account on X, The Angry Staffer, which is run by a former White House staffer, alluded to the rumors in a post.

“I’ve been sworn to secrecy, but you don’t want to miss the DNC tonight,” they wrote, garnering nearly 17 million views on their post.

“If you thought the Oprah surprise was big, just wait.”

However, the Washington Post later reported that DNC organizers have denied any rumors of a special guest.

“A person who has spoken with convention organizers, including Ricky Kirchner, Stephanie Cutter, Minyon Moore, and Jen O’Malley Dillon, said there is no such special guest planned,” reported the Post.

Not to mention, a representative for Beyoncé told The Hollywood Reporter that the singer was not scheduled to attend the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

“The report of a performance is untrue.”

Even TMZ later admitted to sharing incorrect information.

“To quote the great Beyonce: We gotta lay our cards down, down, down … we got this one wrong,” the outlet wrote on X.

It was rumored that Beyoncé may perform her song, Freedom, before Harris’s speech.

The rumor garnered excitement since the singer recently sent Trump’s campaign a cease and desist for using the same song.

It comes as talks have swirled all week on whether Beyoncé or Taylor Swift would make an appearance at the event.

Viewers were left in a frenzy when White House Political Director Emmy Ruiz tweeted a bee emoji on X.

However, once Harris’ speech started and the DNC ultimately came to a close, fans were left disappointed and upset.

“Whoever started the Beyoncé at the DNC rumor better start running now,” one user wrote on X.

“Now why yall say Beyoncé was gone be at this damn convention,” said another.

“You don’t ever lie on Beyoncé ,” proclaimed someone else under TMZ’s post that said the singer was set to perform Thursday night.

Beyoncé, who is also known as Queen Bey, is often associated with a bee – her dedicated fanbase is even called the BeyHive.

“Sorry guys, my 6 year old took my phone,” Ruiz explained, however, many believe she was hinting at a possible appearance from Beyoncé.

Delaware Senator Chris Coons even said there would be an “unexpected musical guest” before Harris’ speech, according to White House correspondent Christian Datoc.

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, also has ties to the singer after declaring July 20, 2023, Beyoncé Day ahead of her performance at Huntington Bank Stadium last summer.

“I might be Governor of Minnesota, but we all know who runs the world,” Walz wrote on X at the time.

“Welcome to Minnesota, Beyoncé.”

CONSTANT RUMORS
The two singers were initially thought to be potential speakers who would introduce Harris, however, the official program revealed that North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper was given the spot.

Cooper and Harris, who both served as attorney generals of their respective states, have known each other for a long time.

The inside of the convention, however, is buzzing with anticipation of Beyoncé’s rumored appearance.

Several delegates at the United Center were seen wearing colorful cowboy hats with sashes that read “Cowboy Kamala,” a nod to Beyoncé’s latest album, Cowboy Carter.

“If the Queen Bee Beyoncé performs [Friday] it will be fitting, a gift from one queen to the other,” Harris’s former classmate Cramer Osaghae told the Daily Beast.

“But a democratic one.”

Oregon delegate Stephanie Newton-Azorr told The Hill that she heard the rumors of Beyoncé performing.

“I know she can also mobilize her fan base and help turn out the vote,” said Newton-Azorr.

“People listen to Beyoncé. They listen when she speaks.”

KHIVE
Online supporters drew comparisons to Harris and Beyoncé after creating a fanbase for the then-California senator called the KHive in 2017 – an obvious reference to the BeyHive.

Harris referred to the KHive by name in a 2020 post on X, thanking them for the support they’ve given her “during these difficult times.”

“Your support does not go unnoticed, so thank you.”

The KHive grew in popularity in 2019 during Harris’ unsuccessful presidential run before growing quiet after becoming Joe Biden’s running mate.

However, after Biden announced he would not seek reelection on July 21, the fandom became reinvigorated.

Many have associated Harris with the viral TikTok term Brat Summer, made famous by British singer Charli XCX who released her album of the same name.

After Biden dropped out of the race, Charli famously tweeted: “Kamala IS brat.”

‘GET IT RIGHT’
Night Four host Kerry Washington gave the audience the rundown on how to pronounce Harris’ first name with the help of the vice president’s nieces, Amara and Leela Ajagu.

“Confusion is understandable. Disrespect is not,” said Washington, best known for playing Olivia Pope in the drama series Scandal.

“Tonight, we’re gonna help everybody get it right.”

Washington, Amara, and Leela involved the crowd in an exercise to pronounce Harris’ first name – pronouncing it “Comma” and “La.”

Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly mispronounced Harris’ name on the campaign trail, even spelling it incorrectly on social media.

Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, appeared with Harris’ niece, Meena, and her goddaughter, Helena Hudlin.

“Kamala came into my life when I was 14,” said Ella, 25. “Famously, a very easy time for a teenager.

“Like a lot of young people, I didn’t always understand what I was feeling.

“But no matter what, Kamala was there for me. She was patient, caring, and always took me seriously.”

Helena, whose mother introduced Doug Emhoff to Harris back in 2013, said Harris’ advice means everything to her.

“She taught me that making a difference means giving your whole heart and taking action.”

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/12269726/beyonce-surprise-performance-dnc-final-night/

A Hollister, California, family is urging parents to be cautious after their 2-year-old daughter was mistakenly served alcohol at a Salinas restaurant, resulting in a trip to the emergency room.

According to KSBW 8, the family was at a large family dinner at a local Salinas restaurant, Fujiyama Japanese Restaurant, when their 2-year-old daughter was mistakenly served alcohol, resulting in a night at the emergency room.

The parents ordered apple juice for their daughter’s drink, but it was not until their daughter started showing signs of intoxication that they realized the juice cup she had been drinking had house-made cooking wine inside.

It was then served inside a normal juice cup with a lid. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until later, when the toddler’s behavior became alarming.

The parents immediately noticed something was wrong and smelled the drink themselves, realizing it was wine.

“She was swaying, she was falling over, she was leaning on walls, she couldn’t hold her head up, she was slurring her words,” mom Noemi Valencia said.

The parents spent the night at Salinas Valley ER. They said a blood test revealed an alcohol level of 0.12% in their daughter’s system.

They hope the restaurant has learned from the mistake.

KSBW 8 spoke to the manager of the restaurant who said it was a mistake. The wine was being stored inside a large container labeled “apple juice” when their server made the mistake.

Salinas police did confirm with KSBW 8 that there was a police report filed on Aug. 17, 2024, for the incident and that they are looking into the matter.

“Take proper precautions and how you store things or label things properly so that this doesn’t happen to anybody else,” Valencia said.

The little girl has since sobered up and fully recovered.

Source: https://6abc.com/post/toddler-mistakenly-served-alcohol-salinas-california-restaurant/15219869/

Elon Musk’s own AI system Grok has created videos of him committing armed robbery and it is surprisingly realistic.

Not long after the X/Twitter CEO Musk participated in a glitch-ridden talk with controversial former president Donald Trump, people have used his own AI tech to create a video of both of them committing crimes.

Musk alleges to be a proponent of free speech despite threatening to sue competitor platform Threads, the Anti-Defamation League and other critics of his. He has also reposted fake news posts with ring-wing sentiment to his 195 million followers.

Now, he has had his own beliefs thrown back at him after AI Visuals studio The Dor Brothers made an AI deepfake clip depicting him as a criminal.

They used Grok, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Musk’s company xAI, to create footage of Musk robbing a convenience store at gunpoint and also using a flaming gun. The AI-generated clip then showed Musk in handcuffs being perp-walked by police officers.

Captioning the clip, they wrote: “Somebody said uncensored? Thank you @grok for letting us all have some fun.”

Other generated clips showed Trump and Kamala Harris doing the same thing.

Some viewers seemed concerned by how good the images were and questioned whether we will soon be able to tell what is a deepfake and what is real.

“AI has gotten so crazy! Who knows what’s real anymore,” someone wrote.

Ben Affleck appeared stressed as he was seen puffing on a cigarette one day after his estranged wife, Jennifer Lopez, filed for divorce on their second wedding anniversary.

The “Argo” star smoked with his windows down as he drove to his Los Angeles office on Wednesday afternoon.

Affleck noticeably ditched his wedding ring as his arm dangled out the window.

The actor returned to work after arriving back on the West Coast Tuesday alongside his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.

The former couple have spent the past week helping their 18-year-old daughter, Violet, move into her dorm at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.

Affleck, 52, appeared in good spirits as he was photographed getting off a private jet with Garner, 52, and their 15-year-old child, Seraphina, hours before Lopez pulled a plug on their marriage.

Later that day, the “Gone Girl” star was spotted walking in a parking garage outside of his workplace amid the news the actress had filed for divorce.

Lopez, 55, submitted the papers in a Los Angeles court on the second anniversary of their Georgia wedding ceremony.

A source told Page Six that the “On the Floor” songstress initially filed the docs on the milestone date to show she is “a woman standing up in her own way.”

The former couple, who initially eloped in Las Vegas in July 2022, didn’t sign a prenup.

Lopez listed their split date as April 26.

Insiders previously told Page Six that the duo’s marriage has been over since March, as another added Affleck had “come to his senses” about his relationship with the pop star.

While the duo haven’t addressed their separation, they noticeably have spent time apart as Lopez attended the Met Gala solo and traveled to New York sans the actor.

Source: https://pagesix.com/2024/08/21/entertainment/ben-affleck-looks-stressed-puffs-on-cigarette-one-day-after-jennifer-lopezs-divorce-filing/

How long does it take a large desert tortoise to get to the other side of a southern Arizona highway?

It’s still a mystery, after a state Department of Public Safety trooper recently helped rescue an escaped sulcata tortoise that was attempting to cross Interstate 10 near Picacho.

A motorist contacted authorities on July 30 to report a tortoise trying to cross the busy highway that’s halfway between Casa Grande and Tucson in Pinal County.

The motorist and DPS Sgt. Steven Sekrecki managed to get the tortoise off the roadway unharmed.

Troopers saw the name “Stitch” labeled across the tortoise’s shell and contacted an ostrich ranch that was 3 miles away.

Source:https://apnews.com/article/escaped-desert-tortoise-highway-rescue-0ad2ec215fed38a7b898b45430d28e3f

The mugshot shows the man with the remnants of bandages on the back of his head and dried blood on his scalp.

A man bleeding after a hair transplant was arrested when he refused to leave a plane.

Eugenio Ernesto Hernandez-Garnier and a female companion were hauled off the aircraft at Miami airport on Tuesday, according to local media.

Staff were concerned about the state of his head and potential body fluid contamination, but the 27-year-old reportedly said he didn’t have any fresh bandages to clean up the wound.

The pair refused to leave with an arrest report stating the woman, Yusleydis Blanca Loyola, told crew “if they could not fly, no one else can either”.

Police were called on board and warned the pair they would be arrested.

The woman started live streaming the incident on TikTok and they were eventually handcuffed and taken off the American Airlines flight to Las Vegas.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/man-bleeding-after-hair-transplant-arrested-for-refusing-to-leave-plane-at-miami-airport-13200529

Just an hour away from where the Democratic National Convention is being held, it is clear the stakes of November’s election are not yet known.

In Woodstock, Illinois, they know all about the cycle of repetition.

The small town, around an hour’s drive from Chicago, where this week’s Democratic National Convention is being held, is actually where the movie Groundhog Day was filmed.

Its part in movie history is marked by a huge mural on the main street, a poster of the film’s star Bill Murray in the estate agent window and a plaque at the bed and breakfast which featured as one of the sets.

But in a place where a narrative of monotony is celebrated, the story now is about the upcoming presidential election and a new offer that goes beyond re-electing an incumbent. But for many here, Kamala Harris is an elusive candidate.

“It’s tough to make a decision on something where you were thinking one way and now you have to switch your gears because it’s a whole new person,” says Matt Drennan, who owns a shop on the main square selling model trains.

“I want to hear what she’s going to do, what’s going to be different than what’s already been done.”

Usually, by the time a national convention arrives, there is a clear sense of the policy platforms of the nominee.

When Hillary Clinton ran for president in 2016, she had more than 200 distinct policy proposals. Four years ago, Joe Biden had a 110-page policy document for his White House bid.

Now, Vice President Kamala Harris doesn’t even have a policy page on her campaign website, perhaps owing to her late entry into the race. Her campaign seems to be propelled at the moment by good vibes and the overall energy she brings.

“I mean, honestly, she just got into the race,” says Matt. “She was the vice president and if you look at the history – other than Al Gore – most of the vice presidents nobody knows much about.

“The big problem is you don’t totally know her policies yet,” he adds, “so I’m reading up on that to see what works, to see who is the best candidate for small business and the economy.

“I’m doing my research and my due diligence now. A lot of people take that instant 60-second sound bite and decide their lives on it.”

McHenry County, the district Woodstock is in, voted narrowly for Trump in 2020. It’s a community shaped by the railroads and home to the United States’ largest railway museum.

Linda is visiting with her grandsons. She believes the momentum in the 2024 race is now firmly with Harris.

“She’s smart and I believe she’s going to win,” Linda says. “I’m very excited about this. She just has that energy and that enthusiasm. I liked Joe Biden, but there’s a difference from being 80 to 60, there just is.”

In the nearby village of Island Lake, they’re celebrating the annual corn fest. Bands play, kids climb on inflatable slides and money is raised for local charities.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/therell-be-a-revolution-if-trump-loses-tensions-boil-10-weeks-before-us-election-as-kamala-harris-settles-into-the-race-13200453

Divers have continued to search for survivors off the coast of Sicily amid hopes some survivors might be trapped in air pockets inside the ship.

Five bodies have been found by divers searching the wreck of the superyacht that sunk off the coast of Sicily.

Four bodies have been brought ashore and efforts to recover the fifth will continue on Thursday.

The body of the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, had been recovered already, the Italian coastguard confirmed to Sky News on Tuesday. The discoveries bring the total number of confirmed dead to six.

Authorities are yet to confirm the identity of the bodies found on Wednesday. One person remains missing.

British tech billionaire Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter were among those missing after the Bayesian went down as a result of being hit by a tornado on Monday morning.

Six were missing in total – with Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and US lawyer Chris Morvillo also unaccounted for, along with their wives, Judy Bloomer and Neda Morvillo.

Twenty-two people were on board the vessel, 15 of whom were rescued – including Briton Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter Sofia.

Giovanni Costantino, the CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns the firm which built the yacht, said he had been left in “disbelief” at the news of the Bayesian sinking while anchored off the coast of Sicily.

“Being the manufacturer of Perini and knowing very well how the boats have always been designed and built,” he said, “and as Perini is a sailing ship… sailing ships are renowned to be the safest ever.”

He added their structure and keel made them “unsinkable”.

Divers involved in the search and rescue operation for the sunken Costa Concordia in 2013 have been called in to stretch the amount of time underwater to 20 minutes per dive. For the past two days, a major challenge for divers had been their limit of 12 minutes on each dive, including the time to go down and come back up.

But the Costa Concordia divers have cylinders containing particular micelles which allow for a longer dive.

Divers have been looking for survivors in the hope that some might be trapped in air pockets inside the ship, but experts believe the chances any are left alive are slim.

Divers from the local fire service have been entering the water with torches attached to their headgear at the site of the shipwreck on Wednesday afternoon.

A police boat was also at the scene, while a helicopter hovered overhead.

Ford Motor (F.N), opens new tab on Wednesday said it was killing a planned three-row electric SUV and pushing back a new electric version of its best-selling pickup, the F-150, the latest delay by the U.S. automaker as it focuses on cutting costs to stimulate demand.
Ford, General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab and other carmakers have delayed or cancelled new electric models to avoid spending heavily on vehicles that consumers are not buying as quickly as anticipated.

“With pricing and margin compression, we’ve made the decision to adjust our product and technology roadmap and industrial footprint to meet our goal of reaching positive EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) within the first 12 months of launch for all new models,” Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said in a statement.
Ford also said it is adding a new electric mid-sized pickup and van to its future lineup as it doubles down on a strategy it has used in recent years, focusing on segments where it is already strong: pickup trucks and commercial vehicles. Ford’s shares rose 1.1%.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker has instead thrown more investment into hybrid vehicles, which combine an electric motor with a gasoline engine. Hybrid sales by Ford, Toyota (7203.T), opens new tab and other carmakers have surged as consumers turn to the technology as a less costly halfway step between gas-powered cars and EVs.
“The criticism Ford will have to face is why its product plan was not more flexible from the beginning, why it has been slow to implement these changes, and why investors will need to wait for a comprehensive update until next year,” Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska said in a research note.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has said one of the main solutions to slowing EV sales growth is bringing the production costs around those models down. That is a key goal for the future health of the company, which is expected to lose up to $5.5 billion on EVs this year alone.
As Chinese competitors and Tesla(TSLA.O), opens new tab continue to drive down costs on EV production, Farley has said he is staking the future of Ford on its specialized team in California, which has been developing an architecture for affordable EVs. The first vehicle based on that new technology will be the mid-sized electric pickup released in 2027.
The automaker will take a special non-cash charge of about $400 million for the write-down of certain assets for the previously planned three-row SUVs, which may also result in additional expenses and cash expenditures of up to $1.5 billion.
Given the increasing emphasis on hybrids, Ford said its share of annual capital spending dedicated to pure EVs will decline to about 30% from 40%.

‘AFFORDABLE BATTERY’
Ford said it will start making an electric commercial van at its Ohio Assembly plant in 2026, hoping to capitalize on its success in the gas-engine commercial vehicle market.
Meanwhile, the long-awaited successor to Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric truck is again delayed, now to the second half of 2027 from an initially planned 2025 launch, a move the company said will allow it to take advantage of lower-cost battery technology.
While Ford is shelving plans to produce an electric three-row SUV, it is moving to hybrid vehicles in that segment, aiming to woo customers with longer-range vehicles for road trips.
Ford also said it will relocate some battery production to qualify for incentives under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and further drive down costs, a top priority for Farley.
The carmaker will move some production of the batteries it makes with South Korean battery partner LG Energy Solution (373220.KS), opens new tab for its Mustang Mach-E cars from Poland to Holland, Michigan.
“An affordable electric vehicle starts with an affordable battery,” Farley said in the statement.
Another battery joint venture, with SK Innovation (096770.KS), opens new tab in Kentucky, will begin manufacturing cells for the E-Transit van beginning in mid-2025 and batteries for Ford’s new electric commercial van in Tennessee in late 2025.
The automaker said lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery production is on track to begin in 2026 at its battery park in Michigan and will qualify for IRA benefits.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/ford-plans-new-low-cost-ev-pickup-truck-launching-2027-2024-08-21/

Some new Ukrainian soldiers refuse to fire at the enemy. Others, according to commanders and fellow fighters, struggle to assemble weapons or to coordinate basic combat movements. A few have even walked away from their posts, abandoning the battlefield altogether.

While Ukraine presses on with its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, its troops are still losing precious ground along the country’s eastern front — a grim erosion that military commanders blame in part on poorly trained recruits drawn from a recent mobilization drive, as well as Russia’s clear superiority in ammunition and air power.

“Some people don’t want to shoot. They see the enemy in the firing position in trenches but don’t open fire. … That is why our men are dying,” said a frustrated battalion commander in Ukraine’s 47th Brigade. “When they don’t use the weapon, they are ineffective.”

The accounts come from commanders and soldiers who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about sensitive military matters. Others spoke on the condition that they be identified only by their call signs in keeping with Ukrainian military protocol.

U.S. President Joe Biden, in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, stressed the urgent need to conclude a Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal and pointed to upcoming Cairo talks as crucial, the White House said.
Their call followed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s whirlwind trip to the Middle East that ended on Tuesday without an agreement between Israel and Hamas militants on a truce in the Palestinian enclave.

Day three of the Democratic National Convention has come to an end, with vice presidential candidate Tim Walz delivering his headline address. We’ve also heard from former house speaker Nancy Pelosi who took aim at Donald Trump.

What happened on day three of the Democratic convention?
Many of you will just be waking up to read about the third day of the Democratic National Convention.

We’ve been bringing you all the latest updates through the night, which you can read by scrolling through this blog – we’ll be doing the same again this evening for the convention’s finale.

If you’d prefer a quick recap, here are the key moments you might have missed…

Tim Walz delivers headline ‘pep talk’

Tim Walz accepted the nomination for vice president in a “pep talk” that vowed to “turn the page on Donald Trump”.

The Minnesota governor, little-known before his selection by Kamala Harris, gave the audience an overview of his career, starting with his work as a high school teacher and football coach.

“It was those players and my students who inspired me to run for Congress,” he said.

“Never underestimate a public school teacher,” he laughed. “I represented my neighbours in Congress for 12 years, and I learned an awful lot.”

He also spoke about his family’s struggle with infertility and, turning to gun control, bragged about having a “better shot than most Republicans”.

Warning about Project 2025 – a controversial right-wing set of policy proposals – he called it a “playbook” for the next Republican administration.

“Look, I coached high school football long enough to know and trust me on this – when somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re going to use it,” he said.

As he wrapped up his speech to wild applause, his walk-off song Rockin’ In The Free World played – Neil Young having signed off on its use after suing Mr Trump for using the song at campaign rallies without permission.

Bill Clinton urges people to vote for ‘president of joy’

Former president Bill Clinton used his convention speech to denounce Mr Trump as selfish and urged Democrats to back the “president of joy” Kamala Harris.

Slating Mr Trump, he compared him to a tenor who warms up by singing “me, me, me”.

“What does her opponent do with his voice? He mostly talks about himself,” he said. “So the next time you hear him, don’t count the lies, count the I’s.

“We need Kamala Harris, the president of joy, to lead us,” he said.

Looking forward, he said Ms Harris was a “clear choice” for president and praised her ‘McDonalds approach’ to public office.

“When she was a student, she worked at McDonald’s. She greeted every person with that thousand-watt smile and said, ‘How can I help you?’ And now, at the pinnacle of power, she’s still asking ‘How can I help you?'” he says.

“I’ll be so happy when she actually enters the White House because, at last, she’ll break my record as the president who has spent the most time at McDonald’s.”

Chris Martin gave a special performance in Vienna after Taylor Swift fans were unable to attend her Austria shows due to a last-minute cancellation.

The Coldplay frontman played a cover of “Love Story” for the crowd at Austria’s Ernst Happel Stadium during the band’s Wednesday show — two weeks after the pop star was forced to cancel her Eras Tour performances due to a violent threat.

“If this is not good, please, please don’t put it on YouTube because I don’t want to get in trouble with Taylor,” Martin told the audience, per a clip posted on X.

Martin was joined onstage by Maggie Rogers for the rousing rendition.

Swift had been scheduled to perform three nights in Vienna beginning on Aug. 8.

The day before, Barracuda Music announced that all three shows were canceled following the arrest of several people with ISIS connections.

“With confirmation from the government officials of a planned terrorist attack … we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” a statement shared on Instagram read.

The suspects, who were apprehended by authorities, reportedly planned to drive a car filled with bombs into the crowd.

On Wednesday, the “Bad Blood” singer, 34, broke her silence on the cancellation and terror plot, defending her decision to remain silent about the harrowing incident as she looked out for the safety of her fans.

“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating. The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows,” she posted on Instagram.

“But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”

Source: https://pagesix.com/2024/08/21/entertainment/chris-martin-covers-taylor-swifts-love-story-in-vienna-after-foiled-terror-plot/

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ election effort has raised around $500 million since she became the Democratic presidential candidate, sources told Reuters, an unprecedented money haul that reflects donor enthusiasm going into the Nov. 5 election.
Four sources familiar with the fundraising effort told Reuters that figure had been banked for Harris in the four weeks since she jumped into the race on July 21.

Campaign cash is critical for advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts that help bring people to the polls and persuade undecided voters to swing a candidate’s way.
Harris entered the fray after President Joe Biden stepped aside from the top of the Democratic ticket, unleashing floods of funding that had dried up in the weeks after Biden’s disastrous debate against Republican Donald Trump.
Harris raised $200 million in the first week of her campaign while she quickly wrapped up support to become the party’s nominee.

Harris’ team raised $310 million in July, bringing the total amount of money raised by her and Biden before he dropped out to more than $1 billion, the most rapid crossing of that fundraising threshold in history, according to the campaign.
Trump’s campaign said it raised $138.7 million in July and had cash on hand of $327 million. The former president’s campaign outraised Biden in the second quarter.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/harris-election-effort-raises-around-500-million-month-sources-say-2024-08-20/

A U.S. appeals court said Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab must face a revived lawsuit by Google Chrome users who said the company collected their personal information without permission, after they chose not to synchronize their browsers with their Google accounts.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the lower court judge who dismissed the proposed class action should have assessed whether reasonable Chrome users consented to letting Google collect their data when they browsed online.

Tuesday’s 3-0 decision followed Google’s agreement last year to destroy billions of records to settle a lawsuit claiming the Alphabet unit tracked people who thought they were browsing privately, including in Chrome’s “Incognito” mode.
Google said in a statement: “We disagree with this ruling and are confident the facts of the case are on our side. Chrome Sync helps people use Chrome seamlessly across their different devices and has clear privacy controls.”

Argentine authorities have quarantined a cargo ship in the Parana River over a suspected case of mpox onboard, the government said on Tuesday, as global public health authorities remain on alert for a new faster-spreading variant of the virus.
The quarantined Liberian-flagged ship was sailing from Santos, Brazil – also a major commodities hub – to pick up soy cargo, according to the health ministry and industry body the Argentine Naval League.

The World Health Organization (WHO) last week declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years as a new variant of the virus spread rapidly in Africa. A day later, a case of the clade 1b variant was confirmed in Sweden, the first sign of its spread outside Africa.
The ship near Argentina’s inland grains port of Rosario alerted authorities that “one of its crew members of Indian nationality showed cyst-like skin lesions predominantly on the chest and face,” the ministry said in a statement, adding the person had been isolated from the rest of the crew.

The ministry said public health emergency protocol was then activated and the ship, which had been bound for the San Lorenzo port in the Santa Fe province, had to drop anchor in the river.
Only medical personnel will be able to board the ship, while the whole crew will be required to quarantine pending test results, the ministry added.
Mpox, a viral infection that causes pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms, is usually mild but can kill. The clade 1b strain has caused concern because it seems to spread more easily through routine close contact.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/ship-argentinas-parana-river-is-quarantined-suspected-mpox-case-local-media-2024-08-20/

Around 25 people were believed to be stuck on the ride, according to reports. Police, fire and ambulance services attended.

A number of people were stuck mid-air for hours after an amusement park ride malfunctioned in Skegness.

Police attended the incident at Skegness Pleasure Beach after the ride broke down.

Fire and ambulance services were also pictured at the scene.

Around 25 people were believed to be stuck on the ride, called the Super Trooper, according to local reports.

At around 6pm, Lincolnshire Police said they were “attending an incident at Skegness Pleasure Beach where a ride has malfunctioned and remains suspended in the air with a number of people stuck on the ride”.

And at around 8pm they issued an update, saying “everyone has been safely rescued and there are no serious injuries”.

“Thank you for your patience whilst we worked through the incident,” the police added.

Officers had earlier asked the public to avoid the area to allow emergency services to “work together to ensure the safety of the people on the ride whilst they are being rescued”.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/people-stuck-mid-air-after-skegness-pleasure-beach-ride-malfunctions-13200358

The Russian president visited army volunteers in Chechnya and told them Russia will be “invincible” as long as it has men like them.

Vladimir Putin has paid his first visit to Chechnya in 13 years to visit military volunteers – who he hailed for making Russia “invincible”.

Mr Putin’s visit came against the backdrop of Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk region, which shows no signs of abating.

Vladimir Putin has paid his first visit to Chechnya in 13 years to visit military volunteers – who he hailed for making Russia “invincible”.

Mr Putin’s visit came against the backdrop of Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk region, which shows no signs of abating.

The Kremlin leader started his unscheduled visit to the Muslim-majority republic of the Russian Federation by saluting Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Mr Putin then visited a special forces academy bearing his own name and spoke to volunteer fighters who train there before being sent to Ukraine.

The 71-year-old praised the volunteers and said as long as Russia had men like them, it would be “invincible,” according to reports by Russian state agencies.

Mr Kadyrov said in a post on his official Telegram channels that more than 47,000 fighters, including volunteers, have trained at the facility since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.

The visit came a day after billionaire Elon Musk denied gifting the Chechen warlord a cybertruck after Mr Kadyrov filmed himself riding the vehicle.

Fighters from Chechnya, whose bid for independence after the Soviet Union’s collapse led to years of war with Russian government forces, are participating in both sides of the conflict in Ukraine.

Pro-Kyiv volunteers loyal to Dzhokhar Dudayev, the late Chechen pro-independence leader, are the sworn enemies of Chechen forces who back Mr Putin and Mr Kadyrov.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/vladimir-putin-visits-chechnya-for-the-first-time-in-13-years-and-praises-invincible-volunteers-for-ukraine-war-13200437

Maria Branyas Morera was listed by the Gerontology Research Group as the oldest known person in the world after the death of French nun Lucile Randon last year.

Maria Branyas Morera, an American-born Spaniard believed to be the world’s oldest person at 117, has died, her family said on Tuesday.

In a post on Ms Morera’s account on X, her family wrote: “Maria Branyas has left us. She has gone the way she wanted: in her sleep, at peace, and without pain.”

They then wrote that she had told them in the days before her death: “I don’t know when, but very soon this long journey will come to an end.

“Death will find me worn down from having lived so much, but I want to meet it with a smile, feeling free and satisfied.”

A search for six people, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter, who have been missing since a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily, continues. Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, Chris Morvillo, and his wife are also missing.

The mother of a crew member who survived the sinking of a superyacht off the coast of Sicily has said she is “beyond relieved that my daughter’s life was spared by the grace of God”.

Leah Randall, from South Africa, was among the crew members who survived the sinking of the British-flagged yacht, called Bayesian, which had 10 crew and 12 passengers on board when it sank at about 5am local time on Monday.

The vessel was struck by a tornado off the coast of Palermo.

While a huge search for six missing people – four of whom are British – continues, the body of the vessel’s Canadian-Antiguan chef, Recaldo Thomas, has been found, the Italian Coastguard confirmed on Tuesday evening.

Leah’s mum, Heidi, told Sky News she was “beyond relieved” to hear her “daughter’s life was spared by the grace of God”.

She added: “It doesn’t make it any easier living with the heartache of those who have lost their lives/missing.

“My very deepest condolences to the chef’s family as they formed a great friendship.”

The search also continues for Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at major firm Clifford Chance, and both of their wives – Judy Bloomer and Neda Morvillo.

A spokesperson for Morgan Stanley said they were “deeply shocked and saddened” and added: “Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular the Bloomer family, as we all wait for further news from this terrible situation.”

UK insurer Hiscox, which Mr Bloomer also chaired, confirmed his wife was also among the missing on Tuesday.

A Clifford Chance spokesperson added its priority was “providing support to the family as well as our colleague Ayla Ronald, who together with her partner, thankfully survived the incident”.

Meanwhile, crew members Katja Chicken and Leo Eppel have been confirmed as survivors.

Survivors have been seen at the Di Cristina hospital in Palermo, while the coastguard said it believes Mr Lynch and the five others missing may still be inside the sunken yacht.

Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency said: “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Mum held baby above water to save her

Among the survivors is a mother who held her one-year-old baby above the waves.

Charlotte Golunski, 35, told la Repubblica she lost her baby Sofia for “two seconds”, adding: “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.

“It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”

The baby’s father James Emsley also survived, Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency said. According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms Golunski is a partner at Mr Lynch’s firm, called Invoke Capital.

Lynch’s co-defendant killed in car accident

Mr Lynch, described as the British Bill Gates, was cleared earlier this year in a high-profile fraud case relating to the sale of software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.

His co-defendant in that trial, Stephen Chamberlain, was separately confirmed dead after he was hit by a car on Saturday.

Gary Lincenberg, his lawyer, said in a statement: “Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running.

“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity. We deeply miss him.

“Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family.”

Cambridgeshire Police said in a statement on Monday evening that the driver of the car, a 49-year-old woman from Haddenham, remained at the scene and is assisting with enquiries.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/sicily-superyacht-sinking-survivor-spared-by-grace-of-god-relieved-mum-says-as-search-for-missing-continues-13200332

Pakistan’s parliament has a problem – and it is nothing to do with the politicians.
No, the problem besieging the building – terrifying new starters and turning its offices into overnight “marathon” tracks – is rats. Big ones.
The scale of the problem came to light after an official committee asked to see the records of meetings from 2008. When the records were collected, it was found most had been badly gnawed by rats.
“The rats on this floor are so huge that even cats might be afraid of them,” National Assembly spokesman Zafar Sultan admitted to the BBC.

If you want the old Sonos app back, it’s not coming. In a Reddit AMA response posted Tuesday, Sonos CEO Spence says that he was hopeful “until very recently” that the company could rerelease the app, confirming a report from The Verge that the company was considering doing so. But after testing that option, rereleasing the old app would apparently make things worse, Spence says.

Since the new app was released on May 7th, Spence has issued a formal apology and announced in August that the company would be delaying the launch of two products “until our app experience meets the level of quality that we, our customers, and our partners expect from Sonos.”

Here’s Spence’s explanation as to why it can’t bring back the old app:

The trick of course is that Sonos is not just the mobile app, but software that runs on your speakers and in the cloud too. In the months since the new mobile app launched we’ve been updating the software that runs on our speakers and in the cloud to the point where today S2 is less reliable & less stable then what you remember. After doing extensive testing we’ve reluctantly concluded that re-releasing S2 would make the problems worse, not better. I’m sure this is disappointing. It was disappointing to me.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/20/24224754/sonos-ceo-old-s2-app-re-release-cant-be

Bennifer 2.0 is over.

Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck on Tuesday after two years of marriage, Page Six can confirm.

According to TMZ, who was first to report the news, Lopez filed pro per, meaning by herself and without an attorney.

Tuesday also marks the two-year anniversary of the pair’s lavish Georgia wedding ceremony, which they held after eloping in Las Vegas in July 2022.

The singer listed the date of separation as April 26, 2024.

Lopez did not say in her filing whether she and the actor have a prenuptial agreement in place, with sources telling the outlet that they do not have one.

She went on to waive spousal support and asked the judge to deny Affleck such support as well.

Lopez, 55, and Affleck, 52, first sparked breakup rumors in May 2024 amid reports that they started going to couples therapy.

Although neither Lopez nor Affleck addressed the speculation, the “Air” actor was spotted without his wedding ring a week later, seemingly confirming there was trouble in paradise.

TMZ also reported that Affleck no longer lived in their Beverly Hills mega-mansion.

According to the outlet, the Oscar winner had been seen staying at a house in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles for about a week — despite it being nearly 30 minutes from their Beverly Hills home.

He was photographed coming and going from the property without the “Jenny from the Block” singer on numerous occasions.

Attentive fans later realized the pair hadn’t been photographed together in over a month and a half.

Soon after, Page Six learned that Affleck was “house-hunting” in the area.

Meanwhile, the “Wedding Planner” actress was also photographed touring homes in Los Angeles alongside her longtime producing partner, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, in mid-May.

A source told us at the time that Affleck would “divorce on grounds of temporary insanity” if he could because he finally came “to his senses” following what felt like a “fever dream.”

In June, Lopez took a solo vacation to Italy, while her beau remained in Los Angeles.

She enjoyed time on a luxury yacht before traveling to Paris for the Dior fashion show.

While the mom of two was in Europe, Affleck reportedly moved all of his belongings out of their Beverly Hills home.

The divorce rumors ramped up when the couple listed their marital home on the market in July.

The couple listed the 38,000-square-foot new home, which features 12 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms and a full basketball court, for $68 million — nearly $8 million more than what they paid when they bought it in 2023.

The “On the Floor” singer and the “Good Will Hunting” star reportedly paid all cash for the pricey property — which was originally listed for $135 million in 2018.

Ahead of Fourth of July weekend, Lopez jetted off to the Hamptons to enjoy time with family — including Affleck’s daughter Violet.

The pop star and the teen were spotted walking with their arms wrapped around each other in Southampton, NY, on July 14 and were seen at the East Hampton Antiques & Design Show outside the Historic Mulford Farm Museum the day prior.

Lopez and Affleck also spent their second wedding anniversary apart.

On their special day, the “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” singer drove around with her longtime manager, Benny Medina, in the Hamptons while the “Argo” actor arrived at his LA office.

Affleck was not present for any of his wife’s 55th birthday activities, including her “Bridgerton”-themed party and her private lunch at Arthur & Sons in the Hamptons.

However, he did spend Lopez’s birthday purchasing a new $20 million LA mansion.

Source: https://pagesix.com/2024/08/20/entertainment/jennifer-lopez-and-ben-affleck-divorcing-after-2-years-of-marriage/