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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An escalating dispute over a gas field in the Persian Gulf poses an early challenge to a Chinese-brokered agreement to reconcile regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Saudi Arabia and neighboring Kuwait jointly claim the offshore Al-Durra gas field. Iran says it has rights to the field, which it refers to as Arash. The two sides held talks in Iran in March but were unable to agree on a border demarcation.
A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, said the country would not tolerate any infringement on its rights, echoing remarks by the country’s oil minister the previous day.
“We have expressed our readiness to engage in dialogue with the Kuwaiti side,” Kanaani told reporters Monday. “But if there is no interest in mutual utilization of this joint field, the Islamic Republic of Iran has naturally put the exploration and utilization of the resources on its agenda.”
Kuwait’s oil minister told Sky News Arabia last week that his country would commence drilling and production without waiting for a deal.
Saudi Arabia has sided with Kuwait, saying the two countries have exclusive ownership of the field, and has called on Iran to return to negotiations.
Saudi Arabia and Iran, which have backed opposite sides in conflicts across the Middle East and accused each other of destabilizing the region, formally restored diplomatic relations in April following a seven-year freeze. They have since reopened embassies and welcomed senior officials on visits.
But they continue to back opposite sides in Yemen’s civil war, which is ongoing despite a 15-month cease-fire. Saudi Arabia is also in negotiations with the United States over potentially normalizing relations with Israel, which Iran’s leaders have said should be wiped off the map.
“Any step in the direction toward normalization of ties with this aggressive regime will only serve to give it more leeway to commit more atrocities against the Palestinian nation,” Kanaani, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said.
It’s unclear whether the dispute over the gas field, which goes back to the 1960s, will escalate beyond rhetoric. But tensions are already high in the Persian Gulf, where the U.S. is building up military forces in response to what it says is Iran’s unlawful seizure of oil tankers and harassment of commercial vessels.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait agreed last year to jointly develop the gas field. Kuwait said at the time that they aimed to produce 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 84,000 barrels of liquefied gas per day. Iran denounced the agreement as illegal and said it should be included in any such plans.
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https://who13.com/business/ap-business/ap-dispute-over-persian-gulf-gas-field-poses-early-challenge-to-saudi-iranian-rapprochement/
| 2023-07-31T23:45:24
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https://who13.com/business/ap-business/ap-dispute-over-persian-gulf-gas-field-poses-early-challenge-to-saudi-iranian-rapprochement/
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Tommie Broadwater Jr., the late “godfather” of Prince George’s County whose grip on power endured long after his political star had faded, exited public life on Monday as he had entered it nearly 50 years ago: making history.
Broadwater (D), who died July 11 at his home, was the first Black state senator and power broker from Prince George’s, elected at the vanguard of Black political power in what was then a predominantly White county. He rose from poverty to the halls of Annapolis in 1974. While his ascension was stunted nearly a decade later upon his conviction on fraud-related charges, he continued to exert influence and command respect — building a legacy the county marked weeks ago with a lifetime achievement celebration.
“He was the voice of the people,” said Alexander Williams Jr., a former U.S. court district judge and county state’s attorney who helped with Monday’s arrangements. “He carried a lot of our issues and concerns to Annapolis, and he interacted with other elected officials to bring back the goods and the bacon here in Prince George’s County.”
Broadwater had a reputation for getting things done — with loans, with advice, with strategy. And though his impropriety loomed over him for some years, for those who stopped by to say goodbye on Monday, it was far outweighed by a legacy of mentorship, championship for his constituents and profound love of his family.
His friendship with Williams spanned decades. Broadwater offered advice as Williams ran for office in the 1980s. During Broadwater’s time as a bondsman, some of the people he helped out would become Williams’s clients when Williams was a young attorney.
Family members, friends and current and past county leaders stopped by to pay their respects ahead of a public funeral on Tuesday. Williams said he was heartened to see what he estimated to be hundreds of people pass before the casket, which was draped with a Maryland flag.
Among those who came to offer condolences was Leslie Johnson, a former county council member who said she and her husband, Jack Johnson, counted Broadwater among their cherished friends. The Johnsons, like Broadwater, had their own brush with scandal that led to federal charges and prison time.
“He helped to raise the next generation of leaders,” Johnson said. “He mentored a lot of folks. He gave them sage advice. That unfortunately, is unique also. It’s wonderful that he did that. But I wish more of our people would do that: raise and help and mentor the next group because we’re not going to be here forever.”
Prince George’s County Council Vice Chair Wala Blegay (D-District 6) said the county’s leaders are standing on the shoulders of people like Broadwater, who paved the way for successive generations.
“When people talk about Black leadership, [and say] ‘We can’t wait to get there.’ We’ve gone there. And that’s because of him,” she told Broadwater’s family Monday. “You realize just how instrumental that was in a place that did not accept us.”
Broadwater’s campaigns and tenure created a space where being Black was not a barrier for public office in the county, she said. His contributions should be remembered, she said, just as Marion Barry is still fondly remembered by generations of Washingtonians.
“In Prince George’s County, we have an even more unique story. You go to a majority White county where people called us names. Now it’s one of the richest African American communities in the country. That’s history,” she said. “He opened that door.”
Born in D.C. to a father who worked construction and a mother who worked as a cook, Broadwater was the second of 10 children. He grew up in Prince George’s County and attended segregated public schools. Focused as a child on his future, he earned the nickname Rocky — like Rockefeller — stacking play money and dreaming of a life he would later build.
A successful entrepreneur, Broadwater built his empire in the county, owning businesses over the years that included a bail bond agency, a drive-through liquor store, a barbecue rib restaurant, a nightspot and a grocery store.
“Uncle Rocky” as his niece, Kwakwea Stripling, called him, retained his trademark humor through his last days.
He was the man who taught her as a child to act like she had $10 even if she had earned $20. And at the celebration in June, she was the one schooling him — with a poem detailing his outsize impact on her life.
“It was almost like he had his funeral, but he was alive,” Stripling said. “He was so happy he was crying.”
The day before his last, Stripling took her uncle out for clothes that would be easier to put on and remove for his many appointments — a serious task for a man who preferred slacks and button-downs to leisure wear.
They patronized a few stores and ate at a hibachi restaurant, laughing along the way.
“He was bragging about how much fun we had,” she said, remembering a joke he made about a new denim jacket. “He said, ‘Uh oh! Y’all trying to make the ladies run me down.’ I told him you still got it going on.”
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/07/31/tommie-broadwater-prince-george/
| 2023-07-31T23:45:25
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Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo Nation in a landmark water rights case.
The Nation had called on the federal government under its treaty obligations to the tribe to assess Navajo water needs and make a plan to fulfill them if necessary, but the court's decision was that the government had no obligation to do that.
It was a blow to a place where nearly a third of people don't have reliable access to clean water.
But as the Navajo Nation Council celebrated 100 years of governance earlier this month, President Buu Nygren raised the Supreme Court ruling in his opening speech.
"Many feel this 5-4 ruling was a loss for us, but it wasn't," he said.
That is because, according to President Nygren: "Both the majority and dissenting opinions noted correctly that the Navajo Nation has a claim to the water rights in the mainstream Colorado River."
And the majority opinion notes that the Navajo, “may be able to assert the interests they claim in water rights litigation, including by seeking to intervene in cases that affect their claimed interests.”
The dissenting opinion, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, included this note:
"After today, it is hard to see how this Court (or any court) could ever again fairly deny a request from the Navajo to intervene in litigation over the Colorado River or other water sources to which they might have a claim."
Michelle Brown-Yazzie is the Assistant Attorney General for the Navajo Nation Department of Justice Water Rights Unit. She sat down with KUNM to expand on what the ruling means for the future of the fight for water rights on Navajo.
"I grew up with my grandmother, my grandfather, my parents, all of my aunts and uncles being advocates for our community," she said. "And that's something that we all have to do, in order to ensure that our children, our children's children, have a future as Navajos. And so water is life. And water is so important to ensure our future and to continue to thrive, our nation to thrive. And so, that's why I do what I do."
Brown-Yazzie said that contained in the court's majority opinion were the seeds of optimism for her work.
"Well, the court did recognize that the US government does hold water in trust for the Navajo Nation," she said. "And the majority opinion stated that Congress and the President have the authority to enact laws to assist the nation in pursuing its water needs.
"So to us, what this means is that the Nation can explore the pursuit of legislation, and it is our intent to urge Congress and the administration to make good on their treaty obligations with the Navajo Nation."
She said that the minority opinion, in which Justice Gorsuch stated that a future request from the Navajo Nation to intervene on cases related to water rights in the Colorado river was likely to succeed, was important.
"Because our rights in the Colorado River have never been adjudicated, our water rights have not been quantified. And we know that we do have water rights in the Colorado River," she said.
"Back when there was the Colorado River Compact, that was established in 1922, tribes were not invited to be a part of that decision-making," she said. "And then you also have Arizona v. California, the big case over the Colorado River for the upper basin states and the lower basin states, tribes were not really included. In fact, the Navajo Nation had attempted to intervene, and was denied. "
That case was settled in 1963. But Brown-Yazzie said it is possible the Nation will try again.
"We are weighing our options," she said. "This is a very important time for the Navajo Nation to make these big decisions."
For the moment, her focus is a lawsuit in Arizona over rights to a tributary of the Colorado, the Little Colorado River. Although the case has dragged on for decades, Brown-Yazzie said a first phase of the trial began in April this year.
"I do not think that the Supreme Court affects our Little Colorado River adjudication in any negative way," she said. "I think that what the Supreme Court opinion does is just show that there's more litigation ahead of us unless we can come to some sort of an agreement."
And she thinks it would be better to come to a settlement, as the Navajo Nation did over use of the San Juan river about 20 years ago. That settlement ultimately led not just to legal rights to water, but to the building of infrastructure to get water to people on the reservation.
"In the past couple of years, we're starting to see the infrastructure to deliver water to Navajo communities where there hadn't been water delivered before," said Brown-Yazzie. "We're starting to see it come to fruition. And it really is changing communities, and it's changing the lives of Navajo people."
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https://www.kunm.org/2023-07-31/navajo-nation-water-attorney-sees-seeds-of-optimism-in-scotus-defeat
| 2023-07-31T23:45:25
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https://www.kunm.org/2023-07-31/navajo-nation-water-attorney-sees-seeds-of-optimism-in-scotus-defeat
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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s economy has grown modestly after months of stagnation, but higher interest rates designed to fight inflation are casting a shadow as they make it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow, invest and spend.
The 20 countries that use the euro currency and their 346 million people saw 0.3% growth in the April-to-June period, compared with the first three months of the year, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Monday.
That’s an improvement over zero growth in the first quarter and a slight decline in fourth quarter of last year — but not by much. Plus, one-time factors and an outsized bump from Ireland made things look better than they really were.
The eurozone got a boost by 0.5% growth in France and 0.4% in Spain, where lower inflation has helped lift consumer spending power.
Yet the French figure was increased by the delivery of one very large manufactured item — a cruise ship. That statistical quirk flattered French growth but does little to disguise weak demand for goods in the eurozone’s second-largest economy.
Ireland’s growth of 3.3%, largest in the eurozone, also distorted the overall picture. Its growth figures often show large swings due to major international companies housing their headquarters there, including tech giants like Meta, Google and Apple.
Without Ireland, euro-area growth would have been only 0.1%, said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics.
The overall figure “was driven by a few country idiosyncrasies and masks an underlying momentum that is likely much closer to stagnation,” said Marc de Muizon, senior European analyst at Deutsche Bank Research.
Europe’s largest economy, Germany, struggled in the second quarter, recording zero growth after two straight quarters of falling output as it grappled with high energy costs tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Italy, the No. 3 economy, shrank by 0.3%.
The eurozone growth figures for the first quarter were revised from a decline of 0.1%, statistically erasing what had been two straight quarters of contraction — one definition of recession.
Inflation in the eurozone, meanwhile, continued its gradual decline, falling to 5.3% in July from 5.5% in June.
Europe is still struggling with the aftershocks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including Moscow cutting off most of its natural gas to the continent that sharply raised prices for the fuel and the electricity it generates.
In Germany, Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse, Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck has proposed capping energy prices for industry with government help.
The worst of the price spike is over, but costs are still higher than before the war began. Energy has faded as a main driver of inflation, but price rises are hitting Europeans when they shop for groceries, clothes and more, and the rebound for services companies — such as hotels and restaurants that suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic — has mostly run its course.
Food prices rose 10.8% in July from a year earlier, an improvement from June and previous months but still a pain point for households. Energy, meanwhile, kept dropping, falling 6.1%. Stripping out volatile food and energy prices, core inflation held steady at 5.5% — a key indicator that has not fallen as much as central bankers want.
In a bright spot for Europe, rebounding travel, especially in the Mediterranean countries that heavily rely on tourism, is expected to support growth in the upcoming third quarter as people flock to the beach for their summer holidays in Greece, Spain and Italy, despite recent heat waves and wildfires.
Other than that, prospects for the rest of the year are muted. Another drag on the economy is the rapid series of interest rate increases that the European Central Bank has unleashed to knock down inflation.
The ECB made its ninth straight hike Thursday, bringing its key deposit rate from minus 0.5% to 3.75% in just one year, a record pace since the creation of the euro in 1999. The result has been higher mortgage rates and canceled construction plans due to expensive or unavailable credit.
The central bank’s lending survey shows the lowest level of business loans and credit lines since the statistics started in 2003.
Bank President Christine Lagarde left open whether the bank will keep hiking rates at its next meeting on Sept. 14, saying the decision will depend on incoming inflation data.
Since the rate hikes began, inflation has steadily fallen from a peak of 10.6% in October, but July’s figure of 5.3% is still well above the ECB’s 2% target.
Bank officials say tough action now will spare even more painful restriction of credit later if inflation gets completely out of control.
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https://who13.com/business/ap-business/ap-europes-economy-shows-modest-growth-after-months-of-stagnation-as-rate-hikes-weigh-on-businesses/
| 2023-07-31T23:45:31
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https://who13.com/business/ap-business/ap-europes-economy-shows-modest-growth-after-months-of-stagnation-as-rate-hikes-weigh-on-businesses/
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The moon will seem extra big and bright and thus be quite a sight this August, with a sturgeon supermoon visible on Tuesday and then a rare blue supermoon coming at the end of the month.
Two of the four supermoon events of 2023 will take place in August, with the first happening on Tuesday. On Aug. 30, there will be a blue supermoon, which won't happen again until 2032. Here's what you need to know so you can catch this summer's lunar double feature.
What is a supermoon?
A perigean full moon, better known as a supermoon, happens when the moon is full during the closest point in its orbit around Earth. This gives its appearance an extra pop, making it look up to 8% bigger and 16% brighter than a typical full moon, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.
According to NASA, the moon's typical orbit ranges between 226,000 and 251,000 miles from Earth, but variances can bring it a bit closer or farther away. Only the closest three or four approaches each year qualify as supermoons. The last one was on July 3.
Up first is the sturgeon supermoon on Tuesday
The sturgeon moon got its name from Native American tribes that found that the giant sturgeons from the Great Lakes were "most readily caught" at this time of the summer, according to Farmer's Almanac. It's also known as a green corn moon, grain moon, flying-up moon, harvest moon, ricing moon, black cherries moon and mountain shadow moon.
This spectacle will hit peak illumination at 2:32 p.m. ET. "That evening, look toward the southeast after sunset to catch a glimpse of the Sturgeon Moon rising," Farmer's Almanac says.
A sturgeon, for non-anglers, is an enormous fish with roots in the Jurassic Period that spends its life — up to 150 years — in both fresh and salt water. The white sturgeon is the largest freshwater fish in North America, reaching as long as 20 feet and nearly 2,000 pounds, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. But most of the sturgeons inhabiting the Great Lakes measure about 6 feet in length and weigh approximately 200 pounds.
The second show is a rare blue supermoon
While the term "supermoon" references the moon's orbit in relation to Earth, a blue moon has to do with frequency, referring to when there's a second full moon in a single calendar month, NASA says. "Blue moon" is also used to describe the third of four full moons in an astrological season.
The moon takes 27.3 days to orbit the Earth, but because of how the sun's light hits the satellite, it takes 29.5 days to complete its lunar cycle from one new moon to the next.
The term "once in a blue moon" is an idiom used to describe a rare but nonetheless recurring event. But according to NASA, blue moons aren't actually all that rare, recurring every two and a half years or so.
A blue supermoon, however, happens far less frequently. According to the website Time and Date, the last blue supermoon was in December 2009, and the next one won't be until August 2032.
This year's blue supermoon will peak at 9:36 p.m. ET on Aug. 30, Farmer's Almanac says, but you can use its moonrise calculator to see when the blue supermoon will be visible in your area.
The end-of-August supermoon will be the biggest and brightest of 2023 because the moon will be "exceptionally close" to Earth at 222,043 miles, according to Farmer's Almanac, nearly 17,000 miles closer than average.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/if-you-miss-augusts-super-blue-moon-youll-have-to-wait-9-years-for-your-next-chance
| 2023-07-31T23:45:31
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/if-you-miss-augusts-super-blue-moon-youll-have-to-wait-9-years-for-your-next-chance
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The anthropomorphic cattle dog has been captivating her target audience and then some. We spoke to parents about how the show has provided comfort and guidance in the wild world of parenting.
Who is she? Bluey Heeler is a six-year-old Australian blue heeler that is the protagonist of her eponymous children's show — as well as several toy collections, an album, books and a popular stage show.
What's the big deal? Aside from her name dominating the search bar suggestions on YouTube as soon as you begin typing the word "blue..."?
Want more on the entertainment industry? Listen to Consider This on the future of Black owned media.
What are people saying? Pretty good stuff! NPR's Scott Detrow spoke to some Bluey viewers on why they're drawn to the program from down under.
Linda McGee, a Chicago area mom of two, on why she first got into it:
It's taught me to really just play along and just tap into my childlike innocence and sense of wonder. There's so many things that I've done that I probably would never do if I wasn't watching Bluey. I probably would not be, like, a horsey ride or, like, a car driving to the grocery store for some reason.
Joseph Peterson, a Frederick, Md. dad of one, on which episode first caught his attention:
For me, I think that episode is Sleepytime.
It's just so heartwarming and empathetic, I think both for the difficulty it is for children — it really sees them in kind of the struggles to stay in their own bed at night — and also, it's really empathetic towards the parents' point of view, right? What that struggle can mean, going back and forth from bedroom to bedroom to the bathroom, to sharing space on the bed or on the floor.
And Mari Brisco, a mother of one in New Orleans on how she found herself totally engrossed with the show:
So my daughter was born eight weeks early. So I've always worried, in the back of my head like, "Oh, my God, is she hitting the right milestones at this age and everything?" And even watching that episode [Baby Race] I was like, "It's OK. You know, she's going to crawl when she crawls. She's going to talk when she talks."
So, what now?
Learn more:
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/parents-share-what-they-learned-from-watching-bluey
| 2023-07-31T23:45:38
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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Greece’s prime minister said Monday that his government wants to take full advantage of a developing positive political climate with neighboring Turkey in order to improve bilateral relations despite a string of decades-old disputes.
But Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that doesn’t mean Turkey has “substantially changed” its stance on key differences between the two countries and needs to “decisively abandon its aggressive and unlawful conduct” against Greece’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Turkey and Greece remain at odds over maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, a dispute that affects irregular migration into the European Union, mineral rights and the projection of military power.
Mitsotakis said that he agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12 to initiate new “lines of communication” and to maintain “a period of calm.”
High-level talks between the the two countries are expected to take place in the Greek city of Thessaloniki later this year.
However, the Greek prime minister said that Erdogan’s outreach to the EU can’t come at the expense of efforts to heal Cyprus’ nearly half-century ethnic division.
Speaking after talks with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, Mitsotakis said that he told Erdogan that improved European-Turkish ties can’t exclude a Cyprus peace accord and that the issue can’t be “left by the wayside.”
Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriots have insisted on a two-state solution since July 2017 when the most recent round of U.N.-facilitated peace talks collapsed.
That position overturned a long-standing agreement sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council in numerous resolutions that any peace deal would aim for a reunified Cyprus as a federation made up of Greek and Turkish speaking zones.
Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the island’s northern third, where more than 35,000 Turkish troops are stationed.
On Friday, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar repeated that peace talks could resume only if Greek Cypriots recognize the Turkish Cypriots’ “sovereign equality.”
Christodoulides said Monday that any improvement in European-Turkish relations should be based on reciprocal action by Turkey, adding that the EU prioritizes a Cyprus peace deal in line with U.N. resolutions.
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https://who13.com/business/ap-business/ap-greek-prime-minister-seeks-improved-relations-with-turkey-but-says-ankara-needs-to-drop-aggression/
| 2023-07-31T23:45:37
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https://who13.com/business/ap-business/ap-greek-prime-minister-seeks-improved-relations-with-turkey-but-says-ankara-needs-to-drop-aggression/
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Updated July 31, 2023 at 6:26 PM ET
Twitter's new "X" sign was taken down on Monday after the city of San Francisco reprimanded the company for installing a giant, flashing sign above its building without a permit.
The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection said it received 24 complaints about the sign, including "concerns about its structural safety and illumination."
A building permit is technically required to dismantle the sign too, but the removal was allowed to proceed "duty to safety concerns," Patrick Hannan, a spokesperson for the department, told NPR.
The signage was the latest effort in the social media platform's rebranding since the sweeping changes were announced last week.
The removal comes less than three days after a city inspector went to Twitter's headquarters on Friday to alert the company of its permit violation and to evaluate the sign located on the roof, according to the city's complaint.
A Twitter representative denied access but explained that the structure is "a temporary lighted sign for an event." The inspector clarified that any signage without a permit must be removed.
The inspector came to the headquarters again on Saturday to visit the roof. But upon arrival, "access was denied again by tenant," the complaint said.
Twitter did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment. But to a tweet alleging that San Francisco authorities were trying to force Musk to remove the "X" sign, the Twitter owner replied on Saturday with a laughing-crying emoji.
Twitter was already in hot waters with the city of San Francisco last Monday for removing Twitter's original sign, which includes its name and iconic blue bird, without proper permits or taping off the sidewalk as part of pedestrian safety measures.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/twitters-x-sign-is-taken-down-in-san-francisco-after-neighbors-filed-24-complaints
| 2023-07-31T23:45:44
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https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/twitters-x-sign-is-taken-down-in-san-francisco-after-neighbors-filed-24-complaints
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WASHINGTON (AP) — For more than a year, the U.S. economy has defied predictions of a forthcoming recession. It has withstood 10 interest rate hikes in 16 months from an inflation-fighting Federal Reserve. In June, America’s employers added a healthy 209,000 jobs.
Will the economy remain resilient? Can the Fed achieve a notoriously difficult “soft landing” — slowing growth just enough to tame inflation without causing a recession?
The Associated Press spoke recently with Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: The job market is cooling but remains strong. Does that suggest a soft landing?
A: What we have seen in the job market so far in 2023 is consistent with a soft landing. Over the past three months, we’ve added 244,000 jobs per month. That’s still too high from the Fed’s perspective but much better than what we had at the end of last year. Although it’s consistent with a soft landing, it’s also consistent with a story where job growth continues to slow, the economy continues to weaken and we get a recession at the end of 2023. We don’t know what the outcome will be. It’s more likely than not that we get a recession.
Q: When would a downturn begin?
A: A few months ago, we were seeing it starting in the second half of 2023. Now we’re seeing late 2023 or early 2024. The labor market is still holding up. Consumers are still in decent shape. But I do think we will continue to feel the impact of the Fed’s monetary tightening. By the end of this year or sometime early next year, those higher rates will be a significant drag on economic activity and lead to recession. But the economy has held up somewhat better than we were expecting.
The economy just can’t continue to add this many jobs per month. We just don’t have the labor force out there.
Q: Where is inflation headed?
A: We will see slowing inflation. If you go back to 2021, 2022, a lot of that inflation was coming on the goods side. Now, the inflation is coming on the services side. Services inflation tends to be stickier, and it tends to be more driven by what’s going on in the labor market. So the tight labor market is contributing to high services inflation. That will contribute to inflation remaining higher than the Fed would like in the near term. By the end of this year, early next year, we will see a significant softening in the labor market that will help bring inflation down to the Fed’s 2% target.
Q: Will the job market continue to favor workers over the longer term?
A: We have seen structural changes. The pandemic pushed forward a lot of retirements. You had people who were close to retirement in 2020 and planning on working a few more years. But when the pandemic came along, they decided to retire. The remaining workers have more bargaining power. Businesses are going to need to rethink a lot of things about pay, about benefits, about workplace flexibility.
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https://who13.com/business/ap-business/ap-insider-qa-an-economist-who-sees-a-recession-coming-despite-economys-resilience-so-far/
| 2023-07-31T23:45:44
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https://who13.com/business/ap-business/ap-insider-qa-an-economist-who-sees-a-recession-coming-despite-economys-resilience-so-far/
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Michelle Brown-Yazzie
Local News
Navajo Nation water attorney sees seeds of optimism in SCOTUS defeat
Alice Fordham
The ruling was a blow to a place where nearly a third of people don't have clean, reliable water access, but the legal opinions left open avenues for litigation.
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| 2023-07-31T23:45:50
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PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s journalists on Monday protested against the government’s decision to suspend a private television station’s operations.
Authorities made the move last week because they said there were irregularities concerning the registration of Klan Kosova’s business license that violated the country’s constitution.
Scores of journalists and members of civil society organizations gathered in downtown Pristina in front of the main government building to protest the suspension of the broadcaster’s operations.
The demonstrators said it was a “politically motivated” action taken by the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti. It was the first closure of a media outlet since the end of Kosovo’s 1998-1999 war, they said, holding a banner that read “Democracy dies in darkness.”
Last week, Kosovo’s Ministry of Industry and Trade suspended Klan Kosova’s license, after the documentation of its business registration in neighboring North Macedonia showed that its owners had named Kosovo’s municipalities as if belonging to Serbia, “which is a violation of our constitution,” according to a statement released Monday.
The journalist accused the government’s decision as “an open and unprecedented war … against the media,” urging owners of Klan Kosova to continue its legal fight at the court.
Klan Kosova’s editor-in-chief, Gazmend, Syla called the suspension “unfair.”
“We consider this a kind of pressure to stop us doing of what we are doing,” he told The Associated Press, adding they would challenge the government’s decision in court.
Last month, Kosovo’s Agency of Business Registration found the alleged fault and decided to suspend the operations of the television station, a move supported last week by the ministry.
The station has said it had already fixed the problems as requested.
Klan Kosova was launched in 2009 to become the country’s biggest private television station.
The embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, and the European Union in Kosovo, expressed “their deep concern” about the suspension of Klan Kosova’s business license considering it “a disproportionate decision that will have repercussions on media plurality in Kosovo.”
Kosovo is a former province in Serbia, which doesn’t recognize Pristina’s 2008 declaration of independence. Kosovo’s sovereignty is backed by the U.S. and most EU nations, but not by Russia and China.
Serbia pulled out of Kosovo in 1999 after NATO bombed the country to stop the onslaught against ethnic Albanian separatists. At least 10,000 civilians, most of them ethnic Albanians, were killed in the conflict.
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Llazar Semini reported from Tirana, Albania.
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https://who13.com/business/ap-business/ap-kosovo-journalists-protest-governments-suspension-of-private-television-station/
| 2023-07-31T23:45:50
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DETROIT (AP) — Major changes in Michigan’s car insurance system don’t apply to people who were catastrophically injured before a 2019 law kicked in, the state Supreme Court said Monday in a decision that delivers critical relief to thousands of people counting on long-term benefits.
But the 5-2 opinion didn’t come soon enough for Brian Woodward, who was paralyzed in the 1980s and had frequently talked about the law’s drastic impact on his care. He died Monday at age 64, his family said.
For decades, crash survivors were entitled to lifetime payment for “all reasonable charges” related to care and rehabilitation. But a new state law set a fee schedule and a cap on reimbursements. Suddenly, 18,000 people already receiving benefits were forced to scramble as some care providers dropped out.
The Supreme Court, however, said a “vested contractual right” to ongoing benefits “cannot be stripped away or diminished,” especially when lawmakers failed to declare an intent to do so when they changed the law.
“This is an enormous victory for the rights of crash survivors, and we want to thank all the advocates who fought along with us to make this day a reality,” said Tim Hoste, president of CPAN, a coalition of medical organizations and consumer groups.
The decision was written by Justice Elizabeth Welch, a Democrat, and joined by other Democratic justices and by Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement, a Republican.
In an effort to lower Michigan’s insurance rates, which were among the highest in the U.S., the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer agreed to sweeping changes in 2019. Drivers can save money by choosing certain injury-coverage options. But payments for certain care were also slashed.
The catastrophically injured include hockey star Vladimir Konstantinov, a former member of the Detroit Red Wings, who requires 24/7 care. He suffered severe brain damage in 1997 when a drunken limousine driver crashed the car he was traveling in, following the team’s NHL championship.
Konstantinov had an outstanding balance of $250,000 for home care at one point due to the change in law, said Theresa Ruedisueli of Arcadia Home Care & Staffing, which continues to provide care.
“He can’t eat, he can’t cook, he can’t drive,” Ruedisueli said. “All of the things that you and I take for granted, just getting ready for work in the morning, he can’t do without help.”
Woodward suffered devastating spinal injuries in a crash but was able to get in-home care and even hold a job through insurance. When the law changed, and care rates were reduced, he said he lost caregivers and was shuttled from facility to facility.
“I’m dying,” Woodward told The Detroit News last week. “My body is breaking down because I’m not getting enough exercise.”
Hoste said the law led to the “spiritual, emotional and physical decline of many people, including Brian.”
An industry trade group, the Insurance Alliance of Michigan, said the Supreme Court decision will open the door to overcharging for medical care. The lower reimbursement schedule, however, remains intact for injuries since the law was overhauled.
In a dissent, Justice David Viviano said the Supreme Court majority crafted an opinion based on “vague and disputed concepts” to provide cover for those who simply believe it would be unfair to reduce future benefits for the long-term injured.
“As a result, the efforts of the Legislature and the governor to reduce costs and make insurance more affordable for all the residents of our state will not come to fruition for many decades,” said Viviano, who was joined by fellow Republican Justice Brian Zahra.
“If courts cannot be trusted to faithfully interpret and apply the laws, especially those involving such significant and contested topics, then the democratic process is in peril,” Viviano said.
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Associated Press reporter Mike Householder contributed to this story.
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Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
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| 2023-07-31T23:45:57
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BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Two pipeline operators have agreed to pay a $12.5 million civil penalty related to crude oil spills in Montana and North Dakota.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced the settlement in a 2022 federal court lawsuit. Belle Fourche Pipeline Company and Bridger Pipeline LLC will pay the $12.5 million to resolve the claims made under the Clean Water Act and Pipeline Safety Laws, the EPA said. The affiliated companies own and operate oil pipelines in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.
In 2015, Bridger’s Poplar Pipeline broke and spilled more than 50,000 gallons (about 190,000 liters) of crude into the Yellowstone River near Glendive, Montana. Bridger has completed cleanup of the site, and in 2021 settled a lawsuit with federal and Montana authorities for $2 million. Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality previously fined Bridger $1 million in the case.
In 2016, Belle Fourche’s Bicentennial Pipeline in Billings County, North Dakota, broke due to a landslide and spilled over 600,000 gallons (about 2.3 million liters) of oil, impacting an unnamed tributary, Ash Coulee Creek and the Little Missouri River. Belle Fourche’s cleanup is ongoing with oversight from North Dakota’s Department of Environmental Quality, according to the EPA.
The agreement announced Monday does not resolve all issues with the Ash Coulee spill and reserves the government’s right to bring future legal claims.
The $12.5 million civil penalty includes a nearly $4.6 million portion for North Dakota’s Department of Environmental Quality. Belle Fourche also will pay the state’s past response costs, totaling over $98,000, according to court documents filed Monday.
“Oil pipeline spills can cause enormous and long-lasting damage to the environment,” Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield of the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said in a statement. “This settlement holds Belle Fourche and Bridger Pipeline accountable for their significant oil spills and requires them to take meaningful measures to prevent future spills from their oil pipelines.”
The operators also are required to implement specified compliance measures, in addition to the civil penalty.
Belle Fourche and Bridger are owned by Wyoming-based True Companies.
Bridger spokesman Bill Salvin said the operators have completed all remediation actions “to date” required by North Dakota’s Department of Environmental Quality and “will work closely” with the department if further action is required. Future soil testing remains, Salvin said.
He said the operators have made upgrades to their pipeline network to enhance safety, including a new control center at their Casper, Wyoming, headquarters and a new leak detection system powered by artificial intelligence.
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| 2023-07-31T23:46:04
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NEW YORK (AP) — Troubled trucking company Yellow Corp. is shutting down and headed for a bankruptcy, the Teamsters said Monday.
An official bankruptcy filing is expected any day for Yellow, after years of financial struggles and growing debt. Its expected liquidation would mark a significant shift for the U.S. transportation industry and shippers nationwide.
“Today’s news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said, in an announcement saying the union had been served with legal notice for the bankruptcy filing. “This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry.”
Yellow did not have a comment when reached by The Associated Press Monday. As of Monday afternoon, no bankruptcy filings from the company could be found on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website.
The company’s collapse arrives just three years after Yellow, formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., received $700 million in pandemic-era loans from the federal government. But the company was in financial trouble long before that — with industry analysts pointing to poor management and strategic decisions dating back decades.
Former Yellow customers and shippers will face higher prices as they take their business to competitors, including FedEx or ABF Freight, experts say — noting that Yellow historically offered the cheapest price points in the industry.
Yellow is one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carriers. The closure of the 99-year-old Nashville, Tennessee-based company risks a loss of 30,000 jobs.
Safety vests that appeared to belong to former Yellow workers were zip-tied to the fence of a closed YRC Freight terminal in St. Louis, Missouri on Monday. Names and years worked at the company were written on them.
“Ron Fisher 2017-2023 was here,” one vest read.
Reports of Yellow preparing for bankruptcy emerged last week — as the Nashville, Tennessee-based trucker saw customers leave in large numbers, per The Wall Street Journal and FreightWaves. And the company reportedly stopped freight pickups earlier in the week.
Yellow shut down operations on Sunday, according to The Journal, following the layoffs of hundreds of nonunion employees on Friday.
The bankruptcy preparation reports arrived just days after Yellow averted a strike from the Teamsters, which represents Yellow’s 22,000 unionized workers, amid heated contract negotiations. On July 23, a pension fund agreed to extend health benefits for workers at two Yellow Corp. operating companies, avoiding a planned walkout. The fund gave Yellow “30 days to pay its bills,” notably $50 million that Yellow failed to pay the Central States Health and Welfare Fund earlier in the month.
Yellow has racked up hefty bills over the years. As of late March, Yellow had an outstanding debt of about $1.5 billion. Of that, $729.2 million was owed to the federal government.
In 2020, under the Trump administration, the Treasury Department granted the company a $700 million pandemic-era loan on national security grounds. Last month, a congressional probe concluded that the Treasury and Defense departments “made missteps” in this decision — and noted that Yellow’s “precarious financial position at the time of the loan, and continued struggles, expose taxpayers to a significant risk of loss.”
The government loan is due in September 2024. As of March, Yellow had made $54.8 million in interest payments and repaid just $230 million of the principal owed, according to government documents.
The current financial chaos at Yellow “is probably two decades in the making,” said Stifel research director Bruce Chan, pointing to poor management and strategic decisions dating back to the early 2000s. “At this point, after each party has bailed them out so many times, there is a limited appetite to do that anymore.”
A Wednesday investors note from financial service firm Stephens estimated that Yellow was burning daily amounts of $9 million to $10 million in recent days.
Yellow handled an average of 49,000 shipments per day in 2022 according to Satish Jindel, president of transportation and logistics firm SJ Consulting. On Friday, he estimated that number was down to between 10,000 and 15,000 daily shipments.
Yellow’s prices have historically been the cheapest compared to other carriers, Jindel said. “That’s why they obviously were not making money,” he added. “And while there is capacity with the other LTL carriers to handle the diversions from Yellow, it will come at a high price for (current shippers and customers) of Yellow.”
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AP Business Writer Matt Ott contributed to this report.
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| 2023-07-31T23:46:11
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NEW YORK (AP) — Trucking company Yellow Corp. has shut down operations and is headed for a bankruptcy filing, according to the Teamsters Union and multiple media reports.
After years of financial struggles, reports of Yellow preparing for bankruptcy emerged last week — as the Nashville, Tennessee-based trucker saw customers leave in large numbers. Yellow shut down operations on Sunday, according to the Wall Street Journal, following the layoffs of hundreds of nonunion employees on Friday.
In an announcement early Monday, the Teamsters said that the union received legal notice confirming Yellow was ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
“Today’s news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government,” Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry.”
The Associated Press reached out to Yellow for comment on Monday. No bankruptcy filings had gone live as of the early morning.
The bankruptcy reports have renewed attention around Yellow’s ongoing negotiations with unionized workers, a $700 million pandemic-era loan from the government and other bills the trucker has racked up over time. Yellow, formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., is one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carriers. The company’s reported closure puts 30,000 jobs at risk.
Here’s what you need to know.
According to Satish Jindel, president of transportation and logistics firm SJ Consulting, Yellow handled an average of 49,000 shipments per day in 2022. Last week, he estimated that number was down to between 10,000 and 15,000 daily shipments.
With customers leaving — as well reports of Yellow stopping freight pickups last week — bankruptcy would “be the end of Yellow,” Jindel told The Associated Press, noting increased risk for liquidation.
“The likelihood of them surviving and remaining solvent diminishes really by the day,” added Bruce Chan, a research director at investment banking firm Stifel.
Yellow declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Friday. In a Wednesday statement to The Journal, the company said it was continuing “to prepare for a range of contingencies.” On Thursday, Yellow said it was in talks with multiple parties about selling its third-party logistics organization.
Even if Yellow was able to sell its logistics firm, it would “not generate a sufficient amount of cash to keep them operational on any sort of permanent basis,” Chan said. “Without a major equity injection, it would be very difficult for them to survive.”
As of late March, Yellow had an outstanding debt of about $1.5 billion. Of that, $729.2 million was owed to the federal government.
In 2020, under the Trump administration, the Treasury Department granted the company a $700 million pandemic-era loan on national security grounds. Last month, a congressional probe concluded that the Treasury and Defense Departments “made missteps” in this decision — and noted that Yellow’s “precarious financial position at the time of the loan, and continued struggles, expose taxpayers to a significant risk of loss.”
The government loan is due in September 2024. As of March, Yellow had made $54.8 million in interest payments and repaid just $230 million of the principal owed, according to government documents.
Yellow’s current finances and prospect of bankruptcy “is probably two decades in the making,” Chan said, pointing to poor management and strategic decisions dating back to the early 2000s. “At this point, after each party has bailed them out so many times, there is a limited appetite to do that anymore.”
In May, Yellow reported a loss of $54.6 million, a decline of $1.06 per share, for its first quarter of 2023. Operating revenue was about $1.16 billion in the period.
A Wednesday investors note from financial service firm Stephens estimated that Yellow could be burning between $9 million and $10 million each day. Using a liquidity disclosure from earlier this month, Yellow had roughly $100 million in cash at the end of June, the note added — estimating that the company has been burning through increasing amounts of money through July.
“It is reasonable to believe that the Company could breach its $35 mil. liquidity requirement at any moment,” Stephens analyst Jack Atkins and associate Grant Smith wrote.
Last week’s reports of bankruptcy preparations arrived just days after a strike from the Teamsters, which represents Yellow’s 22,000 unionized workers, was averted.
A series of heated exchanges have built up between the Teamsters and Yellow, who sued the union in June after alleging it was “unjustifiably blocking” restructuring plans needed for the company’s survival. The Teamsters called the litigation “baseless” — with O’Brien pointing to Yellow’s “decades of gross mismanagement,” which included exhausting the $700 million federal loan.
On July 23, a pension fund agreed to extend health benefits for workers at two Yellow Corp. operating companies, averting a strike — and giving Yellow “30 days to pay its bills,” notably $50 million that Yellow failed to pay the Central States Health and Welfare Fund on July 15, the union said. While the strike didn’t occur, talks of a walkout may have caused some Yellow customers to pull back, Chan said.
“The financial struggles of Yellow are not related to the union and the contracts,” Jindel said, pointing to management’s responsibility around its services and prices. He added the union wages from Yellow are “lower than any competitor.”
As Yellow customers take their shipments to other carriers, like FedEx or ABF Freight, prices will go up.
Yellow’s prices have historically been the cheapest compared to other carriers, Jindel said. “That’s why they obviously were not making money,” he added. “And while there is capacity with the other LTL carriers to handle the diversions from Yellow, it will come at a high price for (current shippers and customers) of Yellow.”
Chan adds that we’re in an interesting time for the LTL marketplace — noting that, if Yellow liquidates, “the freight would find a home” with other carriers, which may not have been true in recent years.
“It may take time, but there’s room for it to be absorbed,” he said.
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| 2023-07-31T23:46:18
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Saving the lives of homeless animals is something many of us are passionate about, including us at NBCUniversal with our 9th annual “Clear The Shelters” nationwide pet adoption and donation campaign.
But for 16-year-old Sir Darius Brown, it’s become his life’s mission, or as he calls it, his PAW-SOME mission.
Sir Darius got his start after learning about hundreds of dogs displaced from their homes in Texas and Puerto Rico that were transferred to shelters in the northeast after hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017. He knew right then he needed to do something to help.
So he turned his passion for sewing, which he learned from his sister, to create bow ties for shelter pets. His creation quickly turned into a thriving company he founded called “Beaux & Paws,” where he is also CEO.
“Beaux & Paws” is the company where I handcraft bow ties for dogs and cats to help them be noticeable and adoptable and find everlasting homes,” Sir Darius said. “I believe a bow tie is a symbol. It gives them a form of importance. It’s going to attract people to want to adopt a dog or a cat.”
“What a wonderful young man,” said Liz Morgan, director of Montclair Township Animal Shelter in New Jersey. “People might walk past a dog that’s middle-aged, but with a bow tie, you have to look at her.”
For every bow tie that is purchased, Sir Darius donates a bow tie to a shelter pet.
“Every single bow tie that I make is personal,” Sir Darius said. “It’s not just any bow tie you can buy at a local store. When it’s handmade, it creates that bond.”
This year, Sir Darius was selected as an ambassador for Clear The Shelters to further his goal of finding loving, forever homes for every shelter pet. In fact, he’s so dedicated to his mission that he created a special bow tie just for Clear The Shelters.
“I created this bow tie for Clear the Shelters because not only is it really cute, but I wanted to spread the word,” he said.
Since its inception in 2015, Clear The Shelters has helped more than 860,000 pets find new homes. For 2023 Clear The Shelters, which runs Aug. 1 through Aug. 31, we want to reach a new milestone with the help of Sir Darius.
“For this year’s Clear the Shelters, we want to help adopt our one-millionth pet,” Sir Darius said. “People should want to come together to uplift and inspire others to adopt and to really help us reach our goal.”
To date, Sir Darius has donated over 5,000 bow ties and helped raise more than $800,000 for animal shelters.
“I don’t think any of us ever thought that it would get to the magnitude that it currently is,” sister and co-founder, Dazhai Brown said. “I’m so glad that it is Sir Darius that has been able to be an advocate for shelter animals and to promote adopting, not shopping.”
“My mom and my sister are very proud of me,” he said. “If it wasn’t for them, this initiative wouldn’t have come close to being possible.”
If you would like to purchase a “Clear The Shelters” bow tie, check out his website.
To learn more about Clear The Shelters 2023 and search for adoptable pets in your area, visit cleartheshelters.com. You can also donate to your local animal shelters and rescue groups by visiting clearthesheltersfund.org.
Follow Clear The Shelters on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on this year’s pet adoption and donation news:
- Twitter @ClearTheShelter
- Instagram: @cleartheshelters
- Hashtags: #ClearTheShelters & #DesocuparLosAlbergues
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| 2023-07-31T23:46:25
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Angus Cloud, the actor who starred as the drug dealer Fezco “Fez” O’Neill on the HBO series “Euphoria,” has died. He was 25.
Cloud’s publicist, Cait Bailey, said Cloud died Monday at his family home in Oakland, California. No cause of death was given.
In a statement, Cloud’s family said goodbye to “an artist, a friend, a brother and a son.
“Last week he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss,” the family said. “The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend. Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence.”
“We hope the world remembers him for his humor, laughter and love for everyone,” his family added.
Cloud hadn’t acted before he was cast in “Euphoria.” He was walking down the street in New York when casting scout Eléonore Hendricks noticed him. Cloud was resistant at first, suspecting a scam. Then casting director Jennifer Venditti met with him and series creator Sam Levinson eventually made him a co-star in the series alongside Zendaya for its first two seasons.
To some, Cloud seemed so natural as Fez that they suspected he was identical to the character — a notion that Cloud pushed back against.
“It does bother me when people are like, ‘It must be so easy! You get to go in and be yourself.’ I’m like, ‘Why don’t you go and do that?’ It’s not that simple,” Cloud told Variety. “I brought a lot to the character. You can believe what you want. It ain’t got nothing to do with me.”
The part made Cloud the breakout star of one the buzziest shows in television. He had a supporting role in his first film, “The Line,” a college drama starring Alex Wolff and John Malkovich that premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Festival. Cloud was recently cast to co-star in “Scream 6.” He’s also made cameos in music videos for Juice WRLD, Becky G and Karol G.
The third season of “Euphoria” hasn’t yet begun filming.
“We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Angus Cloud,” HBO said in a statement. “He was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and ‘Euphoria’ family. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time.”
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| 2023-07-31T23:46:32
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Huard: Seahawks’ Smith-Njigba a ‘blend’ of 2 legendary WRs
Jul 31, 2023, 9:58 AM | Updated: 10:08 am
(Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
Player comparisons are a natural part of sports, and that’s especially true for younger players. Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard has quite the comparison for one of the Seattle Seahawks’ rookies.
Seattle Seahawks Injury Update: RBs Walker, Charbonnet hurt
With star Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf not wanting to do a player comp for Smith-Njigba – “I really don’t like comparing and contrasting people because I think Jaxon is his own person and he’s gonna make his own lane to be his own great receiver,” Metcalf told Brock and Salk last week – that got Huard thinking about who Smith-Njigba reminds him of, and he turned to two of his former NFL teammates.
“He is actually a blend of the two guys I played with in Indianapolis. If you blended Reggie Wayne’s body type with Marvin Harrison’s movement skills and probably Reggie’s speed – Reggie was not a blazer and Jaxon in a 40-yard dash is not going to be a blazer. But his body control and his short-area quickness is off the charts. I think if you blended those two guys together, you might come out with a Jaxon Smith-Njigba,” Huard said.
Well that’s not a bad place to start, is it?
Harrison finished his 13-year NFL career with 14,580 receiving yards (ninth all-time) and 128 receiving touchdowns (fifth all-time). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2016, and Smith-Njigba played alongside his son Marvin Harrison Jr. at Ohio State.
As for Wayne, his 14-year career was also a great one, as his 14,345 receiving yards are 10th all-time and his 82 touchdown receptions are 28th all-time.
One play that Smith-Njigba made in 2020 for the Buckeyes reminds Huard a lot of Harrison.
First, here’s a story from Huard about something Harrison did during a practice.
“I will never forget my first minicamp with Indianapolis … I threw a comeback (route) on that first practice, and I’m like ‘crap’ when it leaves my hand. … You know, ‘Crap, that’s not in play. That’s out of bounds.’ It leaves my hand and I’m like, ‘Uh oh, that’s way overthrown,’ especially to Marvin, who’s not the biggest guy,” Huard said. “And then he goes up and just snags it and makes it look good and gets his feet down and I’m like, ‘What was that? That was amazing. That was like Gumby plus Michael Jordan.’ His body movement and athleticism and flexibility were off the charts.”
That kind of movement is “what this kid has,” Huard said of Smith-Njigba.
The aforementioned play Smith-Njigba made was in his first college game in 2020 against Nebraska, where he somehow made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone and just barely stayed in bounds.
Jaxson Smith-Njigba might've just made the TD catch of the year in Ohio State's first game 🤯 @jaxon_smith1 @OhioStateFB
(via @CFBONFOX)pic.twitter.com/OkVYQ138hz
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 24, 2020
“We saw it at Ohio State, the first game he ever played. You and I were watching it,” Huard recalled to his co-host, Mike Salk. “… I think you texted me like … ‘Did you just see that?’ I’m like, ‘I did. I’ve never seen that.’ He was totally going out of bounds. His whole body was going to the Ohio State band. The best band in the land was ready to catch him. And then somehow, some way, how did he put a foot down? How did Spidey-Sense do that?”
Comparing Smith-Njigba to one Hall of Famer and another receiver who may wind up in Canton some day is “a lot of hype,” Huard said, but that’s what he sees out of the young receiver.
“Just body movement, feet, short-area quickness, balance,” Huard said.
Listen to the full second hour of Friday’s Brock and Salk at this link or in the player earlier in this story.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Stacy Rost’s observations from opening of Seattle Seahawks training camp
• Mark Schlereth shares what he thinks of Seahawks entering 2023
• What does Uchenna Nwosu’s Seahawks deal mean for Darrell Taylor?
• Seahawks’ DK Metcalf likes how people ‘keep disrespecting us’
• ‘I’m just the guy to do it’: Seattle Seahawks’ Dre Jones on stopping the run
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| 2023-07-31T23:46:36
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HONG KONG (AP) — Fans of singer and songwriter Coco Lee, who was known for her powerful voice and live performances, gathered with flowers to pay their respects to their idol at her funeral in Hong Kong on Monday.
The memorial service was attended by her family and friends, including singers Elva Hsiao and Jenny Tseng, as well as other supporters. Lee died July 5 at age 48.
She was born in Hong Kong and attended school in San Francisco before releasing her first album in 1994 at age 19. She began her career as a Mandopop singer but branched out to release albums in Cantonese and English.
She was the first Chinese singer to break into the American market, and her English song “Do You Want My Love” climbed to #4 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Breakouts chart in December 1999. In 2001, she sang “A Love Before Time” from Ang Lee’s movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” at the Academy Awards, becoming the first Chinese American to perform at the Oscars.
Lee was also the voice of heroine Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney’s “Mulan,” and sang the Mandarin version of the movie’s theme song “Reflection.”
Lee was married to Bruce Rockowitz, former CEO of Hong Kong supply chain company Li & Fung. She had two stepdaughters.
Her death had shocked fans. Her siblings posted on Facebook that she had depression for years and had attempted suicide at home on July 2. She died a few days later.
On Monday afternoon, more than 100 fans dressed in black were waiting outside the funeral home.
Lin Jing, a fan from Fujian province in the southeast, said she admired Lee’s smile and appearance, adding: “She was really talented. She always tried to improve and she inspired women to feel independent.”
Inside the funeral hall, three pink hearts made of flowers and other floral decorations were displayed below Lee’s photo.
Her close friend, Hsiao, said during the ceremony that she remembered watching Lee’s performances as a student and thinking of her as a perfect idol. After they became friends in the entertainment industry, Lee encouraged Hsiao when she was lost and treated her as “a little sister.”
“She brightened my life with her happiness and bravery. I will keep preserving her spirit,” Hsiao said in a quavering voice.
In a video for the memorial service, actors and singers from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan recalled their memories with Lee and mourned her death.
Action star Jackie Chan said in the video that everyone was proud of her when she sang at the Oscars.
“To friends like us, Coco was a passionate and kind friend who showed care to us. She was really a good person. That’s why we are so reluctant to accept she has left us,” he said.
Award-winning director Ang Lee recalled his exchanges with the late singer before the Oscars and said it was a pity she died so young. “We miss her very much. Coco, rest in peace,” he said in the video.
Coco Lee had sounded notes of positivity in social media posts during the months before her death. In March, she posted about recuperating from surgery for an old leg injury.
“Successful surgery. Even though I’m in a lot of pain and I have to re-learn how to walk again, I know I can do it,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Yes I can and I will!”
___
Associated Press video journalist Alice Fung and news assistant Annie Cheung contributed to this report.
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| 2023-07-31T23:46:39
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Seahawks Breakdown: Confidence level for each position on offense
Jul 31, 2023, 11:26 AM
(Justin Berl/Getty Images)
Seattle Seahawks training camp is officially in full swing, and we have a pretty good idea for the most part what the team’s roster is going to look like in 2023.
Mark Schlereth shares what he thinks of Seattle Seahawks entering ’23 season
Dave Wyman and Bob Stelton of Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob have been down at training camp since it began, and they took a close look at each position group on the Seahawks’ offense and shared their confidence level in each unit last Thursday on a scale of 1-5 (1 being the lowest and 5 the highest).
Here’s what they had to say.
Confidence level in Seattle Seahawks’ offensive positions
Quarterback
• Dave Wyman: 5
“That’s a 5. Sorry. I mean, look, I think Geno (Smith) is going to do it again next year. The one knock on him is that he doesn’t have the track record. This time last year, he didn’t know if he was going to be the starter or not. Now he knows. And going into the season knowing that you’re the starter makes a huge difference … He has to do it for more than one year in a row. That’s the thing that I think is the only nick in that whole thing. And then Drew Lock, he’s got a lot of potential … I think he’s a good backup. There’s not very many good backups in the NFL.”
• Bob Stelton: 4
“I’m gonna go 4 on the quarterbacks … It’s not an absolute for me. Five for me is absolute, I go in with zero doubt. It’s not doubt in Geno, but I think I fall in line with the people who are acknowledging last season was amazing and totally unexpected. Is that who he is? Is is it fair to expect that that’s just who he is moving forward? And it’s not a knock on him. I think we’ve talked about this a million times: You’ve got a resume that’s a decade long and nine years of it tells one story and one year tells another. So for me, I’ll go 4 because I believe he can get it done again, I think he has obviously proven to be a very good quarterback. Does he do it to the level he did last year? That’s the question.”
Running back
• Dave Wyman: 3
“I’m gonna go 3, and the reason why is health.”
Wyman noted there was a recent season where Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry was the lone NFL running back to rush for over 1,000 yards and play in every game.
“It just doesn’t happen,” he said. ” … (And) Zach Charbonnet is a rookie. You just don’t know.”
• Bob Stelton: 4
“I’m gonna go 4 because of Ken Walker,” Stelton said, referring to Seattle’s starting running back who rushed for over 1,000 yards last year as a rookie. “And you’re right. The attrition rate that spot is (high). I mean, nobody knows it better than the Seahawks … But just in terms of the competence and the talent, I think Ken Walker is underappreciated. I hope Zach Charbonnet is everything we’ve read about him. We’ll wait and see. But DeeJay (Dallas), we know what we’re getting (with him), and (rookie) Kenny McIntosh is another unknown. That’s the only thing that keeps it from a five because I think Ken Walker deserves a lot more pub and a lot more praise than he seemed to receive.”
Seattle Seahawks Injury Update: RBs Walker, Charbonnet hurt
Wide receivers
• Dave Wyman: 5
Wyman said that even though he feels Charbonnet is an unknown because he’s a rookie, he’s very bullish on what rookie first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba does for a wide receiver room that’s already led by two stars.
“Talking to (Seahawks general manager) John Schneider, he talked about how (Smith-Njigba) could have been like the seventh or eighth pick in the draft if he had stayed healthy his entire senior year (at Ohio State). That’s pretty high praise. And then you’ve got DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett who are two of the best … If you look at those three right there, the only thing I worry about is how do you work the tight ends in with the three-tight end set because that worked so well last year. But now you’ve got that third receiver that we really haven’t had since David Moore.”
• Bob Stelton: 5
“It’s a hard 5. I’ve got a lot of optimism about Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Dee Eskridge is a massive question mark … And then we saw a little bit of Dareke Young (as a rookie last year). They didn’t lose a ton. They lost Marquise Goodwin and Penny Hart and Laquon Treadwell. So you lost guys at the at the lower end of your depth (chart). I just think with (Metcalf and Lockett) as your starters, who are just as consistent as it gets, you’re amongst the best tandems in the league. So I go 5 with the receivers, and then if the other guys kick in, the rookie, it’s just nothing but great.”
Huard: Seahawks’ Smith-Njigba a ‘blend’ of two legendary WRs
Offensive line
• Dave Wyman: 4
“I’m a 4 there. With (2022 rookie left tackle) Charles Cross, it’s not so much the sophomore slump – that doesn’t really happen in the NFL. And maybe it’s just my own personal experience, but when I came back my second year, there were so many things that were just taken care of … Because really, when you come out of college, you have to pay bills, you have to find a place to live, you have to be out on your own … So there’s all kinds of things that are taken care of your second year. I’d like to see Charles Cross and (2022 rookie right tackle) Abe Lucas do it again. So (the Seahawks have) those two guys and then you’ve got the big question at center. We’re not even talking about (guards) Phil Haynes and Damien Lewis – and they think a lot about Phil Haynes because they just re-signed him to a big deal. But the big question mark is at center (between) Evan Brown and Olu Oluwatimi.”
• Bob Stelton: 4
“I’m right there with you. I’m very bullish on the line. Very bullish, feeling very good about their potential and that potentially we could be looking at one of the best lines they’ve had one through five in a number of years. I’m very optimistic about what these guys can be. And I’m rooting for Oluwatimi (at center).”
Ray Roberts: Pros and cons of Seahawks having a young O-line
Tight ends
• Dave Wyman: 4
“It’s a 4 just because we don’t have Pro Bowl-types of guys, but they could be. Noah Fant is a great pass catcher, man. How many times was he open in the back of the end zone, it seemed? You know what we think about Will Dissly. It’s always whether he can stay healthy. Colby Parkinson took a huge jump last year. He really did. He got his body much bigger, much stronger, he was a better blocker. He might have been a better blocker than pass catcher last year. And I’ve always liked Tyler Mabry. I feel like he has the potential and he can explode at any time.”
• Bob Stelton: 3
“I probably go 3 on tight ends only because Dissly, who I think is the best of the bunch there if everything’s equal in terms of health, has just had such a hard time staying healthy … I like Noah Fant … and you’ve said as much that he’s a great pass catcher. What happens after he catches the ball? It’s not the most dynamic element of his game, perhaps. Colby, we’ll see what he does. It was a huge step for him last year. Does that continue this year? I’ve got a little more questions about the group as a whole, so I’ll go 3 there on the tight end group.”
Listen to the first hour of Thursday’s Wyman and Bob at this link or in the player near the top of this story.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Seahawks Observations: What Stacy Rost saw and heard at open of camp
• What does Uchenna Nwosu’s Seahawks deal mean for Darrell Taylor?
• Seahawks WR DK Metcalf likes how people ‘keep disrespecting us’
• ‘I’m just the guy to do it’: Seahawks’ Dre Jones on stopping the run
• What early Seattle Seahawks camp highlight is worth getting excited about?
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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A legal advocacy group for journalists wants to get involved in Disney’s free speech lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press says a win by the Florida governor could embolden other governments across the U.S. to take actions against journalists and other media when they exercise their First Amendment rights.
The group on Friday asked a judge for permission to file a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the claims brought by Disney against DeSantis, his appointees to a special district board governing Disney World and a state economic development agency. The lawsuit claims the Florida governor violated the company’s free speech rights by taking control over the district in retaliation for Disney’s public opposition to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
The committee said that the impact of a DeSantis win would be felt beyond the 39 square miles (101 square kilometers) of the Disney World property governed by the new appointees picked by the Florida governor to the governing district’s board.
“If Defendants prevail in this case, those on whose behalf the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press advocates will be first in the line of fire given the nature of reporting and the press’s role in our constitutional system,” the committee said in its request to file the supporting brief in federal court in Tallahassee. “As such, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press’s proposed brief provides a voice to those not directly involved, but undoubtedly impacted by this case.”
DeSantis and Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity have argued that Disney’s case should be dismissed because of sovereign immunity protection against being sued for conducting government business, and that Disney hasn’t shown how it has been hurt so it lacks standing to sue the state government defendants.
DeSantis has used the fight with Disney to burnish his “anti-woke” credentials and demonstrate his ability to push a conservative agenda during his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
The DeSantis appointees took over the Disney World governing board earlier this year following a yearlong feud between the company and DeSantis. The fight began last year after Disney, beset by significant pressure internally and externally, publicly opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, a policy critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”
As punishment, DeSantis took over the district through legislation passed by Florida lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors to oversee municipal services for the sprawling theme parks and hotels.
If the retaliatory actions by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers are left unchecked, it poses a threat to watchdog journalism and press coverage of public issues “to the detriment to the free flow of information on matters of public concern that has long been the hallmark of our democratic system of government,” the committee said.
Before the new board came in, Disney made agreements with previous oversight board members who were Disney supporters that stripped the new supervisors of their authority over design and development. The DeSantis-appointed members of the governing district have sued Disney in state court in a second lawsuit stemming from the district’s takeover, seeking to invalidate those agreements.
Disney had asked for the case be dismissed or delayed pending the outcome of the federal lawsuit. However, Circuit Judge Margaret Schreiber in Orlando on Friday refused to toss or postpone the case, saying among other reasons that to do so would have created “an undue delay” for the district, which still must continue governing. ___
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at @MikeSchneiderAP
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| 2023-07-31T23:46:46
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3 siblings killed after vehicle clips car, smashes into tree, catches fire, family says
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. (WANF/Gray News) - Three siblings were among four people killed in a crash early Friday morning in Georgia, according to officials.
The three siblings were identified by a family member in a GoFundMe account set up to help pay for funeral expenses.
According to the GoFundMe, 14-year-old Jovany, 18-year-old Brenda, and 21-year-old Carl Pamphile were all killed just after 1 a.m. Friday on I-75 South near the I-285 exit after their vehicle clipped another car, crashed into a tree, and caught fire.
The family’s beloved dog Zoe also died in the crash, according to the GoFundMe.
The fourth person killed in the crash was in the same vehicle as the three other victims but has not yet been identified by officials. According to WANF, the unidentified victim was female.
Donations can be made to the Pamphile family’s GoFundMe account to help support memorial costs for the siblings.
Officials said the person in the clipped car was taken to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. No further information has been released on their condition.
The crash remains under investigation.
Copyright 2023 WANF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T23:46:50
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BAYREUTH, Germany (AP) — Two years after the debut of the Bayreuth Festival’s first female conductor, Nathalie Stutzmann became the second to lead a Richard Wagner opera in the Festpielhaus’ famous covered pit.
The 58-year-old former contralto, fresh off her first season as Atlanta Symphony Orchestra music director, drew a luminous performance of “Tannhäuser” on Friday night in a revival of the Tobias Kratzer 2019 production — the one featuring the title character in a clown suit and a murder in a Burger King parking lot.
“It’s good news to be second,” Stutzmann said. “It proves that things are moving.”
Launched by Richard Wagner in 1876 and currently run by great-granddaughter Katharina Wagner, the festival broke its conductor gender barrier when Oksana Lyniv led a new staging of “Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)” in 2021. The 45-year-old returned this summer to preside over the Dmitri Tcherniakov production for the third straight year.
“They are very highly accepted,” Katharina Wagner said. “I hope that this question would disappear with time, that we are just talking about good conductors and not female and male conductors anymore.”
Stutzmann’s year so far has also included debuts with the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, where she provoked the orchestra when she alleged in a New York Times interview that musicians were bored playing while not being able to see onstage activity. The orchestra criticized her in a statement, prompting Stutzmann to apologize.
At Bayreuth, conductors must adjust to a pit Richard Wagner designed to keep the orchestra hidden from the audience, arranged in nine rows that descend toward the stage: violins in the first two, followed by violas, cellos, double basses, woodwinds, brass and percussion. The instrumental sound mixes with voices before traveling out to 30 rows of seats and three tiers of boxes.
“I had done a lot of research, so I knew the experience would be new and unexpected and tricky,” Stutzmann said in a response to an emailed question. “We hear the sound completely different from what the audience hears, that’s why we have to rely on our assistants. … You hardly hear the singers on stage and they sound always late even when we are perfectly together!”
Stutzmann’s performance, using the original Dresden score, featured unusual clarity when the overture slowed and the volume lowered during a pilgrims’ chorus repeat in the overture. She was greeted with boisterous applause and foot-stomping during 14 minutes of curtain calls.
Stutzmann has been invited back to conduct the 2024 revival of the sold-out “Tannhäuser” staging, notorious for the director adding the drag queen Le Gateau Chocolat and dwarf actor Manni Laudenbach, who combine with the title character and the goddess Venus to form a counterculture clique Richard Wagner never could have envisioned for a work that premiered in 1845.
During an interview in New York before heading to Germany, Stutzmann said “Tannhäuser” was the perfect vehicle for her Bayreuth debut, given her quarter-century as a contralto and the opera’s full title, which translates to “Tannhäuser and the Minstrels’ Contest at Wartburg.”
She winked.
“It’s a singer competition, after all,” she said with a laugh.
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| 2023-07-31T23:46:53
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Angus Cloud, breakout star of ‘Euphoria,’ is dead at 25
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Angus Cloud, the actor who starred as the drug dealer Fezco “Fez” O’Neill on the HBO series “Euphoria,” has died. He was 25.
Cloud’s publicist, Cait Bailey, said Cloud died Monday at his family home in Oakland, California. No cause of death was given.
In a statement, Cloud’s family said goodbye to “an artist, a friend, a brother and a son.
“Last week he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss,” the family said. “The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend. Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence.”
“We hope the world remembers him for his humor, laughter and love for everyone,” his family added.
Cloud hadn’t acted before he was cast in “Euphoria.” He was walking down the street in New York when casting scout Eléonore Hendricks noticed him. Cloud was resistant at first, suspecting a scam. Then casting director Jennifer Venditti met with him and series creator Sam Levinson eventually made him a co-star in the series alongside Zendaya for its first two seasons.
To some, Cloud seemed so natural as Fez that they suspected he was identical to the character — a notion that Cloud pushed back against.
“It does bother me when people are like, ‘It must be so easy! You get to go in and be yourself.’ I’m like, ‘Why don’t you go and do that?’ It’s not that simple,” Cloud told Variety. “I brought a lot to the character. You can believe what you want. It ain’t got nothing to do with me.”
The part made Cloud the breakout star of one the buzziest shows in television. He had a supporting role in his first film, “The Line,” a college drama starring Alex Wolff and John Malkovich that premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Festival. Cloud was recently cast to co-star in “Scream 6.” He’s also made cameos in music videos for Juice WRLD, Becky G and Karol G.
The third season of “Euphoria” hasn’t yet begun filming.
“We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Angus Cloud,” HBO said in a statement. “He was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and ‘Euphoria’ family. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time.”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian whose Pee-wee Herman character — an overgrown child with a tight gray suit and an unforgettable laugh — became a 1980s pop cultural phenomenon, has died at 70.
Reubens, who’s character delighted fans in the film “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and on the TV series “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” died Sunday night after a six-year struggle with cancer that he kept private, his publicist said in a statement.
“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” Reubens said in a statement released Monday with the announcement of his death. “I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”
Created for the stage, Pee-wee with his white chunky loafers and red bow tie would become a cultural constant in both adult and children’s entertainment for much of the 1980s, though an indecent exposure arrest in 1991 would send the character into entertainment exile for years.
The staccato giggle that punctuated every sentence, catch phrases like “I know you are but what am I” and a tabletop dance to the Champs’ song “Tequila” in a biker bar in “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” were often imitated by fans, to the joy of some and the annoyance of others.
Reubens created Pee-wee when he was part of the Los Angeles improv group The Groundlings in the late 1970s. The live “Pee-wee Herman Show” debuted at a Los Angeles theater in 1981 and was a success with both kids during matinees and adults at a midnight show.
The show closely resembled the format the Saturday morning TV “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” would follow years later, with Herman living in a wild and wacky home with a series of stock-character visitors, including one, Captain Karl, played by the late “Saturday Night Live” star Phil Hartman.
HBO would air the show as a special.
Reubens took Pee-wee to the big screen with 1985’s “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” which takes the character outside for a nationwide escapade. The film, in which Pee-wee’s cherished bike is stolen, was said to be loosely based on Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neo-realist classic, “The Bicycle Thief.” Directed by Tim Burton and co-written by Hartman, the movie was a success, grossing $40 million, and continued to spawn a cult following for its oddball whimsy.
A sequel followed three years later in the less well-received “Big Top Pee-wee,” in which Pee-wee seeks to join a circus. Reubens’ character wouldn’t get another movie starring role until 2016’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday,” for Netflix. Judd Apatow produced Pee-wee’s big-screen revival.
His television series, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” ran for five seasons, earned 22 Emmys and attracted not only children but adults to Saturday-morning TV.
Jimmy Kimmel posted on Instagram that “Paul Reubens was like no one else — a brilliant and original comedian who made kids and their parents laugh at the same time. He never forgot a birthday and shared his genuine delight for silliness with everyone he met.”
Both silly and subversive and championing nonconformity, the Pee-wee universe was a trippy place, populated by things like a talking armchair and a friendly pterodactyl.
Director Guillermo del Toro tweeted Monday that Reubens was “one of the patron saints of all misfitted, weird, maladjusted, wonderful, miraculous oddities.”
The act was a hit because it worked on multiple levels, even though Reubens insists that wasn’t the plan.
“It’s for kids,” Reubens told The Associated Press in 2010. “People have tried to get me for years to go, ‘It wasn’t really for kids, right?’ Even the original show was for kids. I always censored myself to have it be kid-friendly.
“The whole thing has been just a gut feeling from the beginning,” Reubens told the AP. “That’s all it ever is and I think always ever be. Much as people want me to dissect it and explain it, I can’t. One, I don’t know, and two, I don’t want to know, and three, I feel like I’ll hex myself if I know.”
Reubens’ career was derailed when he was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult movie theater in Sarasota, Florida, the city where he grew up. He was handed a small fine but the damage was incalculable.
He became the frequent butt of late-night talk show jokes and the perception of Reubens immediately changed.
“The moment that I realized my name was going to be said in the same sentence as children and sex, that’s really intense,” Reubens told NBC in 2004. “That’s something I knew from that very moment, whatever happens past that point, something’s out there in the air that is really bad.”
Reubens said he got plenty of offers to work, but told the AP that most of them wanted to take “advantage of the luridness of my situation”,” and he didn’t want to do them.
“It just changed,” he said. “Everything changed.”
He did take advantage of one chance to poke fun at his tarnished image. Just weeks after his arrest, he would open the MTV Video Music Awards, walking on to the stage alone and saying, “Heard any good jokes lately?” (Herman appearances on MTV had fueled Pee-wee’s popularity in the early 1980s.)
In 2001, Reubens was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography after police seized images from his computer and photography collection, but the allegation was reduced to an obscenity charge and he was given three years probation.
Born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, in 1952, the eldest of three kids, he grew up in Sarasota where his parents ran a lamp store and he put on comedy shows for neighbor kids.
After high school he sought to study acting. He spent a year at Boston University, and was then turned down by the Juilliard School and Carnegie-Mellon University. So he enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts. That would lead to appearances at local comedy clubs and theaters and joining the Groundlings.
“Paul’s contributions to comedy and entertainment have left a lasting impact on the world, and he will be greatly missed by all in the Groundlings community,” the group said in a statement.
After the 1991 arrest, he would spend the decade playing primarily non-Pee-wee characters, including roles in Burton’s 1992 movie “Batman Returns,” the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” film and a guest-star run on the TV series “Murphy Brown.”
He also appeared in the 1999 comedy film “Mystery Men” and Johnny Depp’s 2001 drug-dealer drama “Blow.”
Reubens — who never lost his boyish appearance even in his 60s, would slowly re-introduce Pee-wee, eventually doing a Broadway adaptation of “The Pee-wee Herman Show” in 2010, and the 2016 Netflix movie.
Reubens was beloved by his fellow comedians, and fans of Pee-wee spanned the culture.
“His surreal comedy and unrelenting kindness were a gift to us all,” Conan O’Brien tweeted. “Damn, this hurts.”
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Associated Press Writer Alicia Rancilio and Film Writer Jake Coyle contributed to this report.
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| 2023-07-31T23:47:00
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Trump attempt to derail Georgia election investigation rejected by judge
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge on Monday rejected an attempt by former President Donald Trump to keep a Georgia district attorney from prosecuting him and from using certain evidence gathered in her investigation into potential illegal meddling in the 2020 election in the state.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney didn’t mince words in his nine-page ruling, which said Trump lacked the legal grounds to bring the challenge before any indictment has been filed in the case. Any harm alleged by Trump and by Cathy Latham, a Republican fake elector from Georgia who had joined his motion, is “either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized,” the judge wrote.
The alleged harms “are insufficient because, while being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation,” McBurney wrote.
In a caustic footnote, seemingly nodding to Trump’s status as the dominant frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination for president despite having been indicted twice already, the judge added: “And for some, being the subject of a criminal investigation can, à la Rumpelstiltskin, be turned into golden political capital, making it seem more providential than problematic.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat, has strongly suggested that she is likely to seek charges in the case in the coming weeks. While she has not directly said she plans to seek charges against the Republican former president, she has repeatedly said no one is above the law.
Monday’s ruling came in response to a motion filed in March by Trump’s Georgia-based legal team that said a special grand jury seated to help Willis investigate “involved a constant lack of clarity as to the law, inconsistent applications of basic constitutional protections for individuals being brought before it, and a prosecutor’s office that was found to have an actual conflict, yet continued to pursue the investigation.”
The special grand jury did not have the power to indict, but it did issue subpoenas and heard from some 75 witnesses while meeting from May to December last year and issued a final report with recommendations for Willis.
Trump attorney Drew Findling did not immediately respond Monday to text and voicemail messages seeking comment.
Latham was one of 16 Georgia Republicans who met at the state Capitol in December 2020 and signed a certificate declaring falsely that Trump had won the presidential election and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. Willis last year informed them that they were targets of her investigation, though some have since reached immunity deals with her team.
McBurney said there are no grounds to disqualify Willis from pursuing her investigation and likely prosecution, saying she had not acted improperly.
“The drumbeat from the District Attorney has been neither partisan (in the political sense) nor personal, in marked and refreshing contrast to the stream of personal invective flowing from one of the movants,” he wrote, no doubt referring to Trump.
Trump’s attorneys several weeks ago took another stab at barring Willis from prosecuting him and getting the special grand jury’s report tossed out with twin filings against Willis and McBurney in Fulton County Superior Court and the Georgia Supreme Court. Explaining this extraordinary action, they cited the fact that McBurney had yet to rule on their earlier motion and Willis’ indication that she would soon seek charges in the case.
The state Supreme Court unanimously declined to intervene, dismissing the petition.
A judge from neighboring Cobb County was assigned to consider the other petition after the chief judge of the Fulton County Superior Court recused himself and the other judges on that bench from hearing the matter involving McBurney. He has set a hearing for Aug. 10.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — If you believe Janelle Monae ’s hyper-sexual expression is a front, think again.
These days, Monae is unapologetically living her truth in a bold manner while trying to avoid negativity. The star, once known for sporting custom-made suits, has shed that attire (at least for now) to nearly bare all, like on the cover of her latest studio album, “The Age of Pleasure,” where she’s seen swimming topless in a pool. It’s her first release since 2018’s “Dirty Computer,” which was nominated for album of the year at the Grammys.
In recent months, Monae hasn’t been afraid of risque looks and nudity. She revealed herself during an event celebrating the release of her single “Lipstick Lover” and again onstage at an Essence Music Festival set — which drew some social media criticism including from singer India Arie and rapper Uncle Luke. She also attended the 2023 Met Gala in a barely-there outfit.
For Monae, this is her time to be free.
Monae spoke recently with The Associated Press about her supportive mother, side-stepping criticism and teasing her upcoming North American tour, which kicks off Aug. 30 in Seattle. Other tour stops include New York and Nashville and she’ll wrap in Los Angeles in mid-October.
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AP: Since you haven’t toured since 2019, was your recent Essence Festival performance a tune up for your upcoming tour?
MONAE: Yeah, we’re testing out the songs. You‘re getting them in your body. Right now, we don’t have a lot of muscle memory with the new songs. We haven’t toured them. I know if you come into the show, you’ll love the songs. But hearing them live is a different experience, especially when you’re putting them with songs from previous work. We’re basically just putting a show together based on what we feel is good. Sometimes you just don’t know until you get on stage.
AP: What do you want people to take away from your show?
MONAE: Tap into your free (expletive) energy. That’s rooted in self-love — not arrogance. Tap into that space and then take care of each other. That’s what I hope. With the shows that I do, and when I look out, it’s an experience. It’s like our own church. You want to take care of each other.
Even if your freedom doesn’t look like that person’s freedom, you understand that we’re fighting against something much bigger than us. We’re systemically fighting against something much bigger than us, so we got to band together, we got to stick together. We have to make sure that we’re showing up for each other. If we have privilege in certain areas, making sure that we’re lending a hand, lending a voice, amplifying a message.
AP: How has it been to walk in your truth while facing criticism about your racy performances from people like Arie and Uncle Luke?
MONAE: That has absolutely nothing to do with me. I love everybody. I’m in the age of pleasure.
AP: When did you feel comfortable with living life the way you want without caring about others’ opinions?
MONAE: It’s not like I don’t care what people think. I care what some people think. I don’t care what everybody thinks. That’s the same when it comes to music. When you make a new song, I can’t go soliciting everybody’s opinions about the song. By the time I get back to the second pass of it, it’s all over the place. Everybody’s going to have an opinion. For me, it’s like, whose voice do I trust? Who do I know that loves me, cares about me, whose taste do I like, who actually is evolved enough to even understand what it is that I’m doing? Who understands nuance?
You shouldn’t care what anybody has to say. You just care what the right people have to say and everything else is muted.
AP: Who are those right people for you?
MONAE: Family. Close friends.
AP: In your journey, your mother has been a huge supporter. Whenever you have fallen under certain criticisms, how has she helped you navigate the critics?
MONAE: My mom is like ride or die. I have to tell her like “Mom, you don’t need to defend me. You don’t need to defend my life or my decisions.” For her, I’m her baby. Like any mama bear, you might get punched in the eye if you say something. You might. But I’ve calmed her down over the years. For the most part, we mostly respond to love. It’s a lot of people that love where I am and who I am and what I’m doing, and they feel really empowered and inspired by it, and that makes my mom proud, and it makes me happy.
AP: How do you avoid the naysayers?
MONAE: I’m too busy living life to be distracted. The positive things are always amazing too, but I also don’t go fishing for that. One of the things about being in the age of pleasure is being present and making sure that I’m dipping in on social media, saying what I need to say, showing love, saying “thank you,” putting up my art and leaving, going to go create more things and make more memories and more experiences.
I’m in the middle of putting together a tour for North America. We haven’t been on tour since 2019. For me, I have a lot of things that keep me busy. I’m practicing guitar. I’m having the best sex of my life. I’m happy. Even in the middle of all that’s going on in this world, I’m finding time to steal joy and to center joy and to stay surrounded by the people that bring me joy and that I can bring joy too.
AP: How did “Age of Pleasure” define where you are in life?
MONAE: I wanted to create a soundtrack to our lifestyle. I think this album like all my albums reflect exactly where I am at that time. Each album will let you know where I was in my evolution process, what things I had to unlearn, what things I learned. I love that. I love that you can always look at an artist working, sort of see what they were on at that time.
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NEW YORK (AP) — When actor Casey Likes watched “Back to the Future” growing up, his mom would always say he reminded her a lot of the film’s star, Michael J. Fox. Something in the universe agrees: He’s taken on Fox’s classic movie role on Broadway.
The rising stage star plays Marty McFly for a musical adaptation of the beloved 1985 sci-fi comedy about a time-traveling duo who go back to the 1950s in a souped-up, gull-winged DeLorean.
“I remember growing up and just really, really loving the film. It kind of sat in that realm of like ‘E.T.’ and ‘Close Encounters’ — movies that came at a time when film was magical,” says Likes, 21. “I hope we accomplish something kind of similar with Broadway.”
The show, which won the Olivier Award for best new musical last year in London, arrives at the Winter Garden Theatre this summer with a story by Bob Gale, who previously co-created and co-wrote the movie with Robert Zemeckis. It hews very closely to the original, including having a DeLorean onstage and the shout “Great Scott!”
Broadway veteran and Tony Award-winner Roger Bart takes on Christopher Lloyd’s role of Doc Brown, the oddball scientist with a knack for inventions. Bart recalls seeing “Back to the Future” in his early 20s when it first appeared in movie theaters. He watched with three friends from theater school and they were all secretly jealous of Fox.
“None of my friends — even knowing each other as well as we did — none of them, including my mother, ever nudged me and said, ‘No, no, kid. You’re Doc Brown. Just be patient,’” the Tony-winner says laughing.
Like the film, the musical centers on Marty McFly traveling back to his hometown in 1955. Once there, he gets caught up in the soap opera lives of his own teenage parents, including his mom, who develops a crush on her future son. He must reconnect mom and dad or he risks disappearing from history.
“We feel like it’s very important – I’m sure Casey would agree — for the public to come to the show and recognize that they are seeing that story in a different form but with all of its charms very deeply intact,” says Bart, whose Broadway credits include “The Producers,” “Disaster!” and “Young Frankenstein.”
New songs have been crafted by the film’s composer Alan Silvestri and songwriter and producer Glen Ballard. Some Huey Lewis and the News songs from the movie also have been included, like the theme tune “The Power of Love” and “Back in Time,” as well as Marty McFly’s futuristic rendition of “Johnny B. Goode.”
“We go back to the ‘50s, you get some songs that sound like ’Grease,’ like ‘Bye Bye Birdie.’ And then we have some ‘80s moments in there that are very ’Footloose,’” says Likes. “It feels kind of like the greatest hits of not only rock ‘n’ roll, but of musical theater.”
While both men are fans of the films — and both got to meet the original stars at a gala last week — neither Bart nor Likes want to straightjacket themselves into the way Fox and Lloyd performed their roles.
“I don’t want to impersonate the movie. I want to remind you of the movie,” says Likes, who made his Broadway debut last year as the Cameron Crowe-inspired lead character of the musical “Almost Famous.”
“There’s a lot of things that Roger is doing that are similar, and there’s a lot of things that I’m doing that hopefully are similar to Michael. But we’re really just reminding you of their brilliance. Hopefully, at the same time, you’re able to kind of go along the journey with our Marty and Doc.”
In addition to being a cultural touchstone, “Back to the Future” was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry and the American Film Institute listed it as the No. 10 best science-fiction film. Bart thinks the movie’s staying power is because it manages to straddle many worlds.
There’s a time travel story and one about getting to know your parents as peers. There’s a love story between Marty’s parents and there’s also a buddy movie — Marty and Doc putting their friendship on the line.
“Between all of these elements, it answers so many of the things that we love about that era of moviemaking and storytelling,” says Bart. “I think that’s one of the reasons why it is has sort of stuck around so long.”
Not to mention the fact that audiences can appreciate the story at different parts of their lives. Kids can enjoy the thrills and special effects; adults can be moved by the notion of meeting their own moms and dads. “Part of its sustaining power is the fact that it can mean one thing at one age and another at another,” says Bart.
Likes also adds another reason: Marty initially only wants to get back to his own time period to reconnect with his girlfriend. But his reasons start to change — save Doc, save his family, save the world.
“As the show goes on, there’s more stacked up reasons as to why he has to get back. And I think that’s a really interesting thing to think about in our own life,” he says. “What would be our reasons to to get back to our current life?”
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Mark Kennedy can be reached at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
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| 2023-07-31T23:47:14
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — This year Whitney Houston would have turned 60, and a special celebration to raise money for a good cause is being planned for her birthday.
Houston’s estate, Sony and Primary Wave Music will host the 2nd annual Whitney Houston Legacy of Love on Aug. 9, which will benefit the late singer’s foundation aimed at helping young people.
Houston’s close friends BeBe Winans and Kim Burrell will perform at the gala at Atlanta’s St. Regis Hotel, as will Whitney’s brother, Gary, who toured with her for three decades.
“When I turned 50, Whitney gave me two celebrations — one in Ireland and one in London. I always tell everyone now that one of them was for her,” says Pat Houston, Whitney Houston’s sister-in-law and the executor of her estate. Houston died in February 2012 at age 48. “This year is Whitney at 60 — we’re all looking forward to being a part of the power of love in that room.”
Houston found the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children in 1989 with the goal of empowering youth, providing resources to unhoused children, giving out college scholarships, and raising funds for charities like the Children’s Defense Fund and St. Jude Children’s Research.
A charity auction will raise money for the foundation, which is now called the Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation.
“We’re going to auction off a beautiful lavender dress Dolly Parton wore when she sang ‘I Will Always Love You’ at Country Music Television’s ‘100 Greatest Love Songs of Country Music’ special in 2004,” says Pat Houston. “This dress is particularly special because it’s lavender, and lavender is Whitney’s favorite color.”
The song, originally written by Parton, was recorded by Houston and became one of her great, everlasting hits. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it diamond early last year, which means the track has sold and streamed 10 million equivalent units in the United States. It became her first diamond single, and made Houston the third woman to ever achieve diamond-status with both a single and an album, following Mariah Carey and Taylor Swift.
Clive Davis will serve as honorary chairman. Recording Academy President Harvey Mason jr. is scheduled to attend. Also expected are Gamma’s Larry Jackson and Whitney Houston’s musical director Rickey Minor.
“I always tell people, Whitney is the star,” Pat Houston said. “Everybody in that room is royalty, but she’s loyalty — and she’s still showing that.”
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| 2023-07-31T23:47:21
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Health care providers in Alabama, where abortion is almost entirely illegal, filed a lawsuit Monday against the state’s attorney general that seeks to prevent him from prosecuting people who help women travel outside the state to receive an abortion.
The providers say Attorney General Steve Marshall has made statements suggesting that anti-conspiracy laws could be used against groups that provide assistance for Alabama women to travel to states where abortion is legal. The lawsuit, filed in federal court by two former abortion clinics and an obstetrician, seeks a legal ruling that state laws can’t be used to prosecute people who provide referrals and appointment help.
A similar lawsuit filed Monday by Yellowhammer Fund, a group that once provided financial assistance to women seeking abortions, seeks to clarify it can’t be prosecuted for providing monetary help.
“What the attorney general has tried to do via these threats is to effectively extend Alabama’s abortion ban outside of its borders for Alabama residents,” Meagan Burrows, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the providers in the lawsuit.
The lawsuits seek to block Alabama from using prosecution, or the threat of it, to hinder efforts to help state residents obtain abortions where it remains legal. In a separate case, advocacy groups and an attorney sued Idaho earlier this month over a law that makes it illegal to help minors to travel to another state to get an abortion without their parents’ consent.
Marshall has not prosecuted anyone for providing abortion assistance, but he has made statements saying that his office would “look at” groups that provide help.
“Attorney General Marshall will continue to vigorously enforce Alabama laws protecting unborn life which include the Human Life Protection Act. That includes abortion providers conspiring to violate the Act,” Marshall’s office said in an emailed response to the lawsuit. His office did not respond to an email asking to clarify if actions such as providing financial assistance could be prosecuted.
Those statement have had a chilling effect on abortion rights advocates, who already feel like they live with a legal target on their back, providers said.
The suit was filed by the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa, the Alabama Women’s Center in Huntsville, and Dr. Yashica Robinson, an obstetrician. Robinson said she once made referrals for patients seeking abortions, coordinating health history information for medically complex patients, but no longer does so because of the fear of prosecution.
“Tragically, banning abortion in Alabama seems to not have been enough,” Robinson said in a statement. “Those in power want to muzzle providers like me to prevent us from sharing information with our pregnant patients about the options they have.”
The phone rings at least once a day at the former clinic in Tuscaloosa as women — sometimes crying and often desperate — try to find where they can go in other states to end an unwanted pregnancy, the clinic director said.
“We get a lot of the anger — and we know that it’s not us that they are angry at,” said Robin Marty, operations director for the West Alabama Women’s Center. “It’s the situation, but it is very, very hard for my staff. They want to be able to help them.”
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and handed authority on abortion law to the states, the Deep South quickly became an area of limited abortion access.
Alabama bans abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape and incest. The only exemption is if it’s needed because pregnancy seriously threatens the health of the woman. Nineteen states have enacted restrictions and many southern states have near complete bans. Marty said that means women often have to travel long distances to receive care, which can bring financial and logistical hardship.
Marty said most people who reach out to the clinic know “there is no abortion in Alabama. What they aren’t aware of is how far that extends.”
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| 2023-07-31T23:47:27
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Institutes of Health is beginning a handful of studies to test possible treatments for long COVID, an anxiously awaited step in U.S. efforts against the mysterious condition that afflicts millions.
Monday’s announcement from the NIH’s $1.15 billion RECOVER project comes amid frustration from patients who’ve struggled for months or even years with sometimes-disabling health problems — with no proven treatments and only a smattering of rigorous studies to test potential ones.
“This is a year or two late and smaller in scope than one would hope but nevertheless it’s a step in the right direction,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly of Washington University in St. Louis, who isn’t involved with NIH’s project but whose own research highlighted long COVID’s toll. Getting answers is critical, he added, because “there’s a lot of people out there exploiting patients’ vulnerability” with unproven therapies.
Scientists don’t yet know what causes long COVID, the catchall term for about 200 widely varying symptoms. Between 10% and 30% of people are estimated to have experienced some form of long COVID after recovering from a coronavirus infection, a risk that has dropped somewhat since early in the pandemic.
“If I get 10 people, I get 10 answers of what long COVID really is,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
That’s why so far the RECOVER initiative has tracked 24,000 patients in observational studies to help define the most common and burdensome symptoms –- findings that now are shaping multipronged treatment trials. The first two will look at:
— Whether taking up to 25 days of Pfizer’s antiviral drug Paxlovid could ease long COVID, because of a theory that some live coronavirus, or its remnants, may hide in the body and trigger the disorder. Normally Paxlovid is used when people first get infected and for just five days.
— Treatments for “brain fog” and other cognitive problems. They include Posit Science Corp.’s BrainHQ cognitive training program, another called PASC-Cognitive Recovery by New York City’s Mount Sinai Health System, and a Soterix Medical device that electrically stimulates brain circuits.
Two additional studies will open in the coming months. One will test treatments for sleep problems. The other will target problems with the autonomic nervous system — which controls unconscious functions like breathing and heartbeat — including the disorder called POTS.
A more controversial study of exercise intolerance and fatigue also is planned, with NIH seeking input from some patient groups worried that exercise may do more harm than good for certain long COVID sufferers.
The trials are enrolling 300 to 900 adult participants for now but have the potential to grow. Unlike typical experiments that test one treatment at a time, these more flexible “platform studies” will let NIH add additional potential therapies on a rolling basis.
“We can rapidly pivot,” Dr. Amy Patterson with the NIH explained. A failing treatment can be dropped without ending the entire trial and “if something promising comes on the horizon, we can plug it in.”
The flexibility could be key, according to Dr. Anthony Komaroff, a Harvard researcher who isn’t involved with the NIH program but has long studied a similarly mysterious disorder known as chronic fatigue syndrome or ME/CFS. For example, he said, the Paxlovid study “makes all sorts of sense,” but if a 25-day dose shows only hints of working, researchers could extend the test to a longer course instead of starting from scratch.
Komaroff also said that he understands people’s frustration over the wait for these treatment trials, but believes NIH appropriately waited “until some clues came in about the underlying biology,” adding: “You’ve got to have targets.”
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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| 2023-07-31T23:47:29
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Democrats and Republicans are offering clashing interpretations of the significance of former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer’s closed-door testimony, which lawmakers said included assertions that Hunter Biden was selling the “illusion of access” to his father and that Hunter Biden sometimes put the President Biden on speakerphone to talk to his business associates.
The revelations are fueling Republican attempts to link the president to his son’s business dealings. Republicans, including Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), say the testimony shows that President Biden “lied” when he made campaign-trail statements that he had never talked to his son about his foreign business dealings.
But Democrats say Archer’s testimony to the House Oversight Committee on Monday actually shows the president was not involved in Hunter Biden’s foreign business affairs.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), who attended the hours-long transcribed interview, said Archer testified that because Hunter Biden was under pressure from Ukrainian energy company Burisma, “he had to give the illusion – and he used that term, the illusion – of access to his father, and he tried to get credit for things that he – that Mr. Archer testified Hunter had nothing to do with, such as when Vice President Biden went to Ukraine on his own.”
Lawmakers clash over whether testimony implicates president
Archer was on the board of Burisma with Hunter Biden. Republicans have said then-Vice President Biden’s call to remove Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, whose office was investigating Burisma was directly related to his son’s involvement with, and sizable payments from, the company.
But the investigation in Burisma had been opened before Shokin took the position, and Shokin was widely criticized for failure to prosecute corruption, with his ouster supported by numerous U.S. officials.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement that Archer testified that “President Biden was not involved in his son’s business affairs, and that President Biden was never asked to, nor did he, take any official actions in relation to those business matters.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week that the president “was never in business with his son.”
On the other end of the partisan spectrum, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who also attended the transcribed interview, said he thought Archer’s testimony “implicate[s] the president.”
Reading from his notes of the transcribed interview, Biggs said Archer testified that “Burisma would have gone out of business sooner if the Biden brand had not been invoked. People would be intimidated to legally mess with Burisma because of the Biden family brand.”
According to Biggs, Archer said the Biden “brand” referred to President Biden. But Goldman later said that Archer clarified the “brand” was based on a “D.C. brand based on his own experience in lobbying” and “in conjunction with the fact that his last name was Biden.”
Burisma bribery allegations
Both Biggs and Goldman said that Archer had no knowledge of an alleged $5 million payment to Biden from Burisma, an allegation relayed by a confidential FBI source in a form released by Republicans earlier in June.
Goldman argued that Archer’s testimony undercut the premise of the Biden-Burisma bribery allegations.
“Even though it was perceived by Burisma that they had the Prosecutor General Shokin ‘under control,’ quote unquote, that Joe Biden advocated for his firing – which of course, was not coveted or desired by Burisma, and would potentially be bad for Burisma,” Goldman said.
Raskin said that Republicans appeared to be “chasing” the bribery allegations, and pointed to a recent letter to Comer from Lev Parnas, who was involved in an effort to dig up dirt about the Bidens in Ukraine ahead of the 2020 election, Comer to abandon efforts to chase the “conspiracy theories.”
Comer, on the other hand, took issue with Hunter Biden’s work with Burisma.
“When Burisma’s owner was facing pressure from the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating the company for corruption, Archer testified that Burisma executives asked Hunter to ‘call D.C.’ after a Burisma board meeting in Dubai,” he said in a statement, which a press release said raised concerns that Hunter Biden was in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Phone calls with the president
Archer’s testimony did appear to partially back up Comer’s statement to the New York Post last week that he expected Archer to discuss the times he witnessed Hunter Biden’s putting then-vice President Biden on speakerphone with foreign business partners when he was vice president.
Democrats downplayed that concern.
“The witness indicated that Hunter spoke to his father every day, and approximately 20 times over the course of 10 year relationship, Hunter may have put his father on the phone with any number of different people, and they never once spoke about any business dealings,” Goldman said.
“As he described it, it was all casual conversation, niceties, the weather, ‘What’s going on?’” Goldman said, adding that “There wasn’t a single conversation about any of the business dealings that Hunter had.”
Democrats also stressed that there were especially frequent conversations between Hunter Biden and his father after his brother, Beau Biden, died from brain cancer in 2015.
Biggs pushed back on Goldman’s characterization.
“He probably forgot to tell you that Devon Archer himself said that was an implication of who the ‘big guy’ is,” Biggs said, referring to communications drawn from a laptop hard drive that purportedly belonged to Hunter Biden.
The House Oversight GOP also said in a tweet that President Biden attended a 2014 dinner with Hunter Biden and some of his foreign business associates at Cafe Milano in Washington, D.C.
White House slams GOP after ‘much-hyped witness’ testimony
Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for Oversight and Investigations, also argued that the Archer interview poked holes in the GOP attempts to directly link President Biden to his family’s foreign business dealings.
“It appears that the House Republicans’ own much-hyped witness today testified that he never heard of President Biden discussing business with his son or his son’s associates, or doing anything wrong,” Sams said. “House Republicans keep promising bombshell evidence to support their ridiculous attacks against the President, but time after time, they keep failing to produce any. In fact, even their own witnesses appear to be debunking their allegations.”
Raskin said that the Biden family investigation is a “desperate effort to distract everyone from former President Donald Trump’s mounting criminal indictments and deepening legal morass.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who was also in the interview, told reporters that Archer had revealed new information, but declined to elaborate further.
Abbe Lowell, counsel for Hunter Biden, said in a statement that House Republicans “keep swinging and keep striking out in their obsessive pursuit of the President through his son, Hunter.”
“Mr. Archer confirmed one more time that Hunter Biden did not involve his father in, nor did his father assist him in, his business. It’s well known that Hunter and his father speak daily, and what Mr. Archer confirmed today was that when those calls occurred during Hunter’s business meetings, if there was any interaction between his father and his business associates, it was simply to exchange small talk,” Lowell said. “Like the relatives of Donald Trump, Senators Ron Johnson, and Ted Cruz, Rep. Lauren Boebert, and many others, family members of elected representatives meet people and may get opportunities because of those connections. Congress would be busy investigating many of their own if that’s their idea of an offense.”
Archer did not answer shouted questions when entering or leaving the transcribed interview, and his attorney declined to take a side in the debate over his testimony.
“We are aware that all sides are claiming victory following Mr. Archer’s voluntary interview today. But all Devon Archer did was exactly what we said he would: show up and answer the questions put to him honestly and completely. Mr. Archer shared the truth with the Committee, and we will leave to them and others to decide what to do with it,” said Matthew L. Schwartz, a managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP.
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| 2023-07-31T23:47:36
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A trio of top House Republicans are demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) hand over information pertaining to Hunter Biden’s plea deal, which has been on hold for days after a judge raised concerns about the agreement.
GOP lawmakers have railed for weeks against the plea agreement, calling it a “sweetheart deal” and arguing Hunter Biden was given preferential treatment because he is the son of President Biden.
The three Republicans escalated those attacks in a Monday letter, asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to answer a list of questions and provide documents and communications about Hunter Biden’s “unusual” plea agreement — the first request from Congress parsing the particulars of the deal.
“The Department’s unusual plea and pretrial diversion agreements with Mr. Biden raise serious concerns — especially when combined with recent whistleblower allegations—that the Department has provided preferential treatment toward Mr. Biden in the course of its investigation and proposed resolution of his alleged criminal conduct,” the letter reads.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) all signed the letter. The House GOP for months has been investigating the Biden family’s foreign business dealings and its associates. Lawmakers have previously made requests regarding the investigation into Hunter Biden led by U.S. attorney for Delaware David Weiss.
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
Hunter Biden’s plea deal was put on hold last week after the judge overseeing the case questioned the parameters of the agreement. As part of the deal, Biden was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay income taxes. He also reached a diversion agreement relating to an unlawful possession of a weapon charge.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee, raised concerns about the setup of the two-part deal and the scope of Biden’s immunity, and she ultimately gave both parties more time to explain why the deal — which she has to greenlight — should be accepted.
The three House Republicans pointed to some of Noreika’s concerns in their letter, including provisions in the pretrial diversion agreement that would shield Hunter Biden from future criminal charges on the gun charge or other federal charges within the scope of the agreement.
“Taken individually, each of the provisions discussed above raises serious concerns about how the Department has handled this matter. But when considered together, the provisions appear to be even more troubling,” the GOP chairmen wrote.
They claimed the Justice Department “shifted a broad immunity provision, which benefits Mr. Biden, from the plea agreement to the pretrial diversion agreement apparently to prevent the District Court from being able to scrutinize and reject that immunity provision.”
“And then, the Department has benefitted Mr. Biden by giving up its unilateral ability to bring charges against him if it concludes that he has breached the pretrial diversion agreement. Instead, it has placed upon itself the burden of getting the District Court’s permission to bring charges even though the District Court normally has no role in policing a pretrial diversion agreement in that manner,” they continued. “So, the District Court is apparently removed from the equation when it helps Mr. Biden and inserted into the equation when it helps Mr. Biden.”
The trio of Republicans also voiced concerns about the DOJ saying the investigations into Hunter Biden are “ongoing,” arguing it is an effort to shield the DOJ from congressional oversight. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) raised a similar claim last month.
“How can Hunter Biden plead guilty, no jail time, and the DOJ say there’s still an investigation, try to withhold information to the House? That’s unacceptable and will not stand,” McCarthy told reporters at the time.
The committee chairmen are asking Garland to provide information on other pretrial diversion agreements similar to Biden’s, in addition to “a generalized description of the nature of the Department’s ongoing investigation(s) concerning Hunter Biden.”
The letter from Jordan, Comer and Smith came the same day lawmakers heard testimony from former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer behind closed doors. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) told reporters Archer said Hunter Biden included President Biden on a number of phone calls that presumably included business associates, a detail that Republicans will likely use in their attempts to link the president to his son’s business dealings.
Goldman said the testimony did not prove President Biden was involved in his son’s business dealings. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), however, said he thought Archer’s testimony “implicate[s] the president.”
That testimony came nearly two weeks after two IRS whistleblowers testified publicly, claiming that authorities slow-walked the case into Hunter Biden. The two whistleblowers previously spoke to the Ways and Means Committee behind closed doors, and those transcripts were released shortly after Hunter Biden’s plea agreement was announced.
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https://who13.com/hill-politics/republicans-demand-information-from-doj-on-hunter-biden-plea-deal/
| 2023-07-31T23:47:42
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Former President Trump’s dominance of the GOP field was underscored by a new poll released Monday.
The New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump leading his closest rival for the nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by a massive 37 points.
In the poll, Trump drew 54 percent support and DeSantis 17 percent. No other candidate registered higher than 3 percent support.
The poll was far from an outlier. Trump has maintained a lead of roughly 30 points over DeSantis in national polling averages for some time. There is no convincing evidence that any other contender is acquiring real momentum.
Given that Trump is showing such strength even while he has been indicted in two criminal cases, the question arises as to whether he is all but inevitable as the GOP nominee.
Here are the main arguments for and against that idea.
Trump is the inevitable nominee because…
His support looks rock-solid
Trump’s biggest political asset has been clear for years. His base voters are avid in their support and near-impervious to any negative information about him.
It’s more than seven years since then-candidate Trump told a crowd in Iowa, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?”
Today, he stands accused of obstruction of justice and a series of other serious offenses in the Mar-a-Lago documents case. He is also charged with falsifying business records in a separate New York case.
Among Republicans, it hasn’t mattered.
In the New York Times poll, 71 percent of potential Republican primary voters said the GOP needed “to stand behind Trump” amid his charges, whereas only 22 percent argued there was no obligation to do so.
The exact same share — 71 percent — asserted that Trump was innocent of any “serious federal crimes.”
A general election would be a very different matter. But, within the GOP, there is every reason to think Trump has a lock on enough voters to carry him to the nomination.
His main rival is doing very poorly
DeSantis’s weakness has been a bigger surprise than Trump’s strength so far.
The Florida governor launched his campaign May 24 with a Twitter Spaces event marred by technical glitches. It was a sign of things to come.
DeSantis’s poll ratings have eroded over the two months-plus of his campaign to date. The national polling average maintained by data site FiveThirtyEight showed him drawing roughly 21 percent support on the day of his launch. He is now at roughly 16 percent.
The polling slide has been accompanied by broader campaign troubles. A recent series of staffing cuts has reduced his team by about one-third.
DeSantis’s backers publicly evince confidence that they are building a campaign for the long haul and that it will all come right in the end. The governor laid out an economic agenda in a New Hampshire speech Monday.
But as of today, DeSantis has seriously underperformed.
That’s very good news for Trump.
GOP voters don’t buy the argument that Trump is unelectable
Trump-skeptical GOP insiders coalesce around one central argument — that the former president would be a weak general election candidate, likely losing a winnable election.
As evidence they cite the 2020 election, when Trump lost the popular vote by more than 7 million votes to President Biden; his false claims of election fraud and the way they fueled the Capitol Riot of Jan. 6, 2021; his many legal challenges; and his low poll ratings among the general public.
In an Economist/YouGov poll released last week, Trump was seen favorably by 40 percent of the general public, and unfavorably by 57 percent. Self-professed independent voters broke against him on that question by almost 2-to-1.
But the GOP primary electorate, by and large, just doesn’t buy it. They believe Trump can defy the polls and pundits again, just as he did when defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The New York Times poll asked Republican voters whether Trump or DeSantis was better “able to beat Joe Biden.”
Fifty-eight percent went for Trump compared to 28 percent for DeSantis.
Unless those figures change drastically, it’s tough to see how Trump loses the nomination battle.
Trump is not the inevitable nominee because….
The campaign has barely begun
Today’s intense media coverage of every step of every campaign tends to lead to sweeping predications.
Many of those forecasts might seem premature.
The Iowa caucuses are more than five months away — an eternity in politics. The Republican National Convention, at which the nominee will be formally crowned, is almost a year away.
For the moment, Trump likely accrues some benefit from his near-universal name recognition.
In another Economist/YouGov poll earlier this month, the proportion of Republicans who said they didn’t know enough to express an opinion of a particular candidate stood at 9 percent for DeSantis, 21 percent for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and 27 percent for former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
That gives those candidates room to grow, at least in theory, in a way that isn’t true for Trump.
Trump’s rivals could also hold out hope of game-changing moments during debate season, which is soon to begin. The first clash is set for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee.
Early polls are misleading
Trump’s rivals emphasize that predictions based on early polls in previous years were wrong.
That’s true — sort of. But it’s not quite so hard-and-fast a rule as the Trump skeptics claim.
In fact, in two of the last three contested Republican presidential primaries, the eventual winner was already leading the RealClearPolitics average at this point.
Trump had just burst into the lead in 2016, never to surrender it; and in 2012, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had already established a lead, which he would lose and regain. Romney is now a senator representing Utah.
The sole exception came in 2008, when Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) was in third place and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was leading the field. McCain went on to claim the nomination and Giuliani’s campaign sputtered into oblivion.
It’s not just a matter of polls. Campaigns can sometimes shift on a dime, as happened for the Democrats in 2020.
Then, Biden looked like a busted flush after trailing in fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire. A win in South Carolina — and a collective quiver of fear among moderate Democrats over the possibility of nominating Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — delivered the nomination to Biden.
Trump’s legal problems are getting worse
Even if Trump’s support has remained solid so far, it may not be destined to remain so.
What happens when the GOP has to focus fully on whether to nominate a candidate who could be convicted of serious offenses by the time Election Day rolls around?
Trump’s trial in the Mar-a-Lago matter has been set for May 20 next year.
Then there is the likelihood of Trump’s other troubles deepening.
An indictment is widely expected soon over Jan. 6. Trump himself wrote on Truth Social on Monday that he expected an indictment “any day now.”
In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) is wrapping up her probe into attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in that state. Decisions on charges are expected in the next few weeks.
Every one of those cases, regardless of the verdicts, will put unflattering details of Trump’s behavior back in the spotlight — and could, perhaps, give some Republican voters second thoughts about nominating him.
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https://who13.com/hill-politics/will-trump-inevitably-be-the-gop-nominee-heres-the-case-for-and-against/
| 2023-07-31T23:47:48
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Churchill Downs will implement safety measures for its September meet including new track surface maintenance equipment and additional monitoring and equine care following 12 horse deaths before and after the Kentucky Derby that spurred suspension of its spring meet.
Racing is scheduled to resume Sept. 14 and run through Oct. 1 at the historic track, which paused racing operations on June 7 to conduct an internal safety review following the spate of horse deaths from racing or training injuries. Seven died in the days leading up to the 149th Derby on May 6, including two in races preceding the premier event.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority recommended suspending the remainder of the meet, which moved to Ellis Park in western Kentucky. Training continued at Churchill Downs during the investigation, and a release on Monday stated that while industry experts found no issues with the racing surfaces, the track invested in new maintenance equipment. It will also double the frequency of surface testing among infrastructure upgrades.
Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said the track’s commitment to safety “remains paramount” in the release and added, “our participants, fans and the public can be assured that we will continue to investigate, evaluate and improve upon every policy and protocol.”
The announcement comes days after Carstanjen said racing would resume this fall with no changes and called the deaths “a series of unfortunate circumstances” in an earnings call with CDI investors.
Churchill Downs veterinarians will receive additional resources for specialized horse care and to assist in pre-race inspections and entry screening, the release added. The track will work with HISA and industry experts to predict at-risk horses through advanced analytic techniques.
A safety management committee including horsemen, track employees and veterinarians will also be created.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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https://who13.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-churchill-downs-to-improve-track-maintenance-veterinary-resources-for-fall-meet-after-horse-deaths/
| 2023-07-31T23:47:49
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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell has been sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday in the murders of her two youngest children and a woman she saw as a romantic rival in a case that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess tasked with ushering in an apocalypse.
Vallow Daybell, 50, was found guilty in May of killing her two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, her fifth husband’s previous wife. Vallow Daybell will serve three life sentences one after the other, the judge said.
The husband, Chad Daybell, is awaiting trial on the same murder charges. Vallow Daybell also faces two other cases in Arizona — one on a charge of conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and one of conspiring to kill her niece’s ex-husband. Charles Vallow was shot and killed in 2019, but her niece’s ex survived an attempt later that year. Vallow Daybell has not yet entered a plea on the Arizona charges.
At the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho, Judge Steven W. Boyce said the search for the missing children, the discovery of their bodies and the evidence photos shown in court left law enforcement and jurors traumatized, and he would never be able to get images of the slain children out of his head.
A parent killing their own children “is the most shocking thing really that I can imagine,” Boyce said.
Vallow Daybell justified the murders by “going down a bizarre religious rabbit hole, and clearly you are still down there,” the judge said.
“I don’t think to this day you have any remorse for the effort and heartache you caused,” he said.
Boyce heard testimony from several representatives of the victims, including Vallow Daybell’s only surviving son, Colby Ryan.
“Tylee will never have the opportunity to become a mother, wife or have the career she was destined to have. JJ will never be able to grow and spread his light with the world the way he did,” Ryan wrote in a statement read by prosecuting attorney Rob Wood. “My siblings and father deserve so much more than this. I want them to be remembered for who they were, not just a spectacle.”
JJ’s grandmother Kay Woodcock, who first raised the alarm about the missing children in 2019, told the judge that it has been 1,536 days since she was last able to hug and kiss her grandson.
JJ was a preemie and had autism, and his biological parents weren’t able to care for him so he was adopted by Woodcock’s brother Charles and Lori Vallow.
Vallow Daybell appeared stoic through most of the testimony, but wiped her eyes when Woodcock talked about how confident she had been that Vallow Daybell would be a good mom.
“I knew she would be 1,000% involved in his care,” Woodcock said.
The Woodcocks frequently visited JJ, cooking and playing together and patting his back as he fell asleep at night. Now they have only memories and “immeasurable grief,” Woodcock said.
“Lori is a monster that has not taken any responsibility or shown an ounce of remorse for her vile actions,” she said.
The murder scheme and Tammy Daybell’s death left a deep rift in her family, Tammy’s sister Samantha Gwilliam told the court.
“Why? Why plan something so heinous? You are not exalted beings, and your behavior makes you ineligible to be one,” Gwilliam said, referring to a religious belief that Vallow Daybell purportedly incorporated into her claims. “Because of the choices you made, my family lost a beloved mother, sister and daughter.”
Tammy Daybell’s mother was fighting cancer, and spent the last months of her life watching the murder trial, Gwilliam said. “I miss my sister every day. I will grieve her, and the loss of my mother, every single day of my life,” Gwilliam said.
Boyce also heard from Vallow Daybell before handing down the sentence. She quoted Bible verses about how people should not judge each other.
“I mourn with all of you who mourn my children and Tammy,” Vallow Daybell said, crying and calling Tammy Daybell her “eternal friend.”
“Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case,” she said. “Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medication happen.”
She also claimed that she regularly is visited by the spirits of the three victims, and that the children’s spirits had told her to “stop worrying” and that she “didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Because of these communications, I know for a fact that my children are happy and busy in the spirit world,” Vallow Daybell said. “Because of my communications with my friend Tammy Daybell I know that she is also very happy and extremely busy.”
Wood pointed to the two Arizona cases as well as the three murders in six weeks in Idaho.
“A defendant who is willing to murder her own children is willing to murder anyone,” Wood said. “Society can only be protected from this defendant by a sentence of life in prison without parole.”
Vallow Daybell was committed multiple times for treatment to make her mentally competent for the court proceedings. But Wood said there is no evidence that her crimes were impacted by her “alleged mental illness,” which includes a diagnosis of a delusional disorder featuring bizarre content and hyper-religiosity, as well as a personality disorder with narcissistic features, according to a doctor’s report provided to the court.
“The evidence is overwhelming that she did know right from wrong,” Wood said, noting testimony from several people who said she lied to them about the deaths.
In July 2019, Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in a suburban Phoenix home. Cox told police he acted in self-defense. He was never charged and later died of natural causes.
Vallow Daybell was already in a relationship with Chad Daybell, a self-published writer of doomsday-focused fiction loosely based on Mormon teachings. She moved to Idaho with her kids and brother to be closer to him.
The children were last seen alive in September 2019. A few weeks later Tammy Daybell was killed. Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow married just two weeks after Tammy’s death in November 2019.
The childrens’ bodies were found buried in Chad Daybell’s yard the following summer.
Defense attorney Jim Archibald argued during the trial that there was no evidence tying Vallow Daybell to the killings, but plenty showing she was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met Chad Daybell and fell for his “weird” apocalyptic religious claims. He suggested that Daybell and Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, were responsible for the deaths.
Daybell told her they had been married in several previous lives and she was a “sexual goddess” who was supposed to help him save the world by gathering 144,000 followers so Jesus could return, Archibald said.
Vallow Daybell’s former friend Melanie Gibb testified during the trial that Vallow Daybell believed people in her life had been taken over by evil spirits and turned into “zombies,” including JJ and Tylee.
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| 2023-07-31T23:47:56
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JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Supreme Court said Monday that a full panel of 15 justices would hear petitions in September against a contentious law that was passed last week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and which has spurred mass protests.
The law was one of a series of proposed changes to Israel’s judiciary put forward by Netanyahu’s government earlier this year that seek to curb the power of the Supreme Court. The judicial overhaul plan has been met with months of sustained mass protest against the legislation and drawn criticism from the White House.
Critics of the overhaul say that the package of laws would concentrate power in the hands of the ruling coalition and erode the system of checks and balances between branches of government. Proponents say the measures are necessary to limit the power of unelected judges who they say are overly activist.
Netanyahu and his allies passed a law last week that removes the high court’s ability to annul government decisions considered “unreasonable.” The “reasonableness standard” was implemented by the Supreme Court earlier this year to thwart the appointment of a Netanyahu ally as interior minister after he had recently pleaded guilty to tax offenses.
The court said the hearing concerning the law striking down the “reasonableness standard” would take place on Sept. 12 with a full bench of 15 justices. The Supreme Court typically hears cases with smaller panels of justices, but appears to have opted for a full complement of judges because of the highly delicate nature of the matter.
The Netanyahu administration’s push to overhaul the judiciary has deeply divided an already highly polarized country and sparked the longest sustained protests in the country’s history.
Netanyahu and his allies took office in December after the country’s fifth election in under four years, most of them referendums on the longtime leader’s fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.
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https://who13.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-israels-full-high-court-to-hear-petitions-against-judiciary-law-in-september-that-spurred-protests/
| 2023-07-31T23:48:03
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Anna Soulek
April 20, 1928 - July 28, 2023
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Anna Soulek, 95, Corsica, S.D., died Friday, July 28, in Ava’s House.
A celebration of life will be from 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at the 4-H Building in Armour, S.D.
Arrangements by Koehn Bros Funeral Home.
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https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/obituaries/obits/anna-soulek-5d124a5367a60618cb3c76c5-64c7fb4492d49e4652d067f2
| 2023-07-31T23:48:10
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https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/obituaries/obits/anna-soulek-5d124a5367a60618cb3c76c5-64c7fb4492d49e4652d067f2
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3 siblings killed after vehicle clips car, smashes into tree, catches fire, family says
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. (WANF/Gray News) - Three siblings were among four people killed in a crash early Friday morning in Georgia, according to officials.
The three siblings were identified by a family member in a GoFundMe account set up to help pay for funeral expenses.
According to the GoFundMe, 14-year-old Jovany, 18-year-old Brenda, and 21-year-old Carl Pamphile were all killed just after 1 a.m. Friday on I-75 South near the I-285 exit after their vehicle clipped another car, crashed into a tree, and caught fire.
The family’s beloved dog Zoe also died in the crash, according to the GoFundMe.
The fourth person killed in the crash was in the same vehicle as the three other victims but has not yet been identified by officials. According to WANF, the unidentified victim was female.
Donations can be made to the Pamphile family’s GoFundMe account to help support memorial costs for the siblings.
Officials said the person in the clipped car was taken to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. No further information has been released on their condition.
The crash remains under investigation.
Copyright 2023 WANF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wbtv.com/2023/07/31/3-siblings-killed-after-vehicle-clips-car-smashes-into-tree-catches-fire-family-says/
| 2023-07-31T23:48:10
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KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — An Afghan branch of the Islamic State group on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Pakistan that killed at least 54 people at a pro-Taliban party’s election rally, in one of the region’s worst attacks in recent years.
Islamic State in Khorasan Province made the claim in a statement posted on its Amaq website. It said the attacker detonated an explosive vest, and that the bombing Sunday in the northwestern town of Bajur was part of the group’s continuing war against forms of democracy it deems to be against Islam.
Hours earlier, hundreds of mourners in Bajur carried caskets draped in colorful cloths to burial sites following the previous day’s attack at the election rally for the Jamiat Ulema Islam party. Officials said the bombing killed 54 people, including at least five children, and wounded nearly 200.
The attack appeared to reflect divisions between Islamist groups, which have a strong presence in the district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan. The Jamiat Ulema Islam party has ties to the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban.
At least 1,000 people were crowded into a tent near a market for the rally ahead of fall elections, according to police.
“People were chanting God is Great as the leaders arrived,” said Khan Mohammad, a local resident who said he was standing outside the tent, “and that was when I heard the deafening sound of the bomb.”
Mohammad said he heard people crying for help, and minutes later ambulances arrived and began taking the wounded away.
Police had suggested in their initial investigation that Islamic State in Khorasan Province was a suspect. The group is based in neighboring Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida.
Pakistan security analyst Mahmood Shah also previously had said that breakaway factions of the Pakistani Taliban could be possible suspects, though the group distanced itself from the attack.
The Pakistani military spent years fighting the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, in Bajur before declaring the district clear of militants in 2016. But the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman, has remained a potent political force.
On Monday, police recorded statements from some of the wounded at a hospital in Khar, the district’s principal town.
Female relatives and children wailed and beat their chests at family homes Monday as the dead were taken for funerals, following local customs. Hundreds of men followed the caskets to mosques and open areas for special funeral prayers and then into the hills for burial.
As condolences continued to pour in from across the country, dozens of people who had lesser injuries were discharged from hospital, while the critically wounded were taken to the provincial capital of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll continued to rise as some critically wounded people died in hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Gul Akbar, the father of an 11-year-old boy who was wounded in the attack, told The Associated Press that his entire family was in a state of shock after hearing about the bombing Sunday. He said he first went to the scene of the attack, and later found his son Taslim Khan being treated in a hospital in Khar.
“What would I have done if he had also been martyred? Five children died in this barbaric attack, and we want to know what our children did wrong,” he said.
Rehman’s party is preparing to contest elections, which are expected in October or November. Abdul Rasheed, one of the party’s senior leaders, said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that “such attacks cannot deter our resolve.”
Rehman’s party is part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. Khan condemned the bombing Sunday, as did the U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad.
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the bombing, saying that it was intended to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, wrote in a tweet that “such crimes cannot be justified in any way.”
The bombing came hours before Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng arrived in Islamabad, where he signed new agreements to boost trade and economic ties to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which China has invested $10 billion in Pakistan over 10 years, according to Sharif.
“We will not tolerate any obstacles in the way of friendship with China,” Sharif said, as he stood next to He.
But the government canceled a cultural event that had been arranged in honor of He, according to Sharif, while the nation mourns.
Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Rehman, who has long supported Afghanistan’s Taliban government, survived at least two known bomb attacks in 2011 and 2014, when bombings damaged his car at rallies.
Sunday’s bombing was one of the worst in northwestern Pakistan in the last decade. In 2014, 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
___
Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed contributed to this story from Islamabad.
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Ruth Buchholz
Oct. 11, 1936 - July 29, 2023
TRIPP, S.D. - Ruth Buchholz, 86, Tripp, S.D., died Saturday, July 29, in her home.
A celebration of life will be 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3, at Danzig Baptist Church near Avon, S.D. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
Arrangements by Peters Funeral Home in Avon.
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https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/obituaries/obits/ruth-buchholz-5d124a5367a60618cb3c76c5-64c8228092d49e4652d10c67
| 2023-07-31T23:48:11
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‘I trusted him’: Sun Fun Pools owner misses deadline - again
STATESVILLE, N.C. (WBTV) - After a WBTV investigation revealed dozens of outstanding pool contracts, the owner of Sun Fun Pools in Iredell County promised he would finish all projects by the end of July. By Monday, none of the projects WBTV asked about were finished.
Related: Contractor promises to finish outstanding jobs after WBTV investigation
“I believe the man’s words (are) his bond, and, you know, I trusted him,” said former Sun Fun Pools customer Harold Freeze, who said he paid the company $4,000 up front.
Freeze signed a contract with Sun Fun Pools in June 2017 for $28,000 with an agreement the pool would be finished by September. As the summer continued without the project starting, Freeze realized there was an issue with the owner, Tim Reid, keeping his word.
“He never showed up. He never called. We tried to communicate with him with phone call, text. And, finally, I went up to ... his business (storefront) and, just nothing,” he said.
After the deadline came and went, Freeze decided to file a lawsuit.
“I told him, ‘We want to cancel it because you didn’t do what you said,’” Freeze said. “And he, he called and he seemed almost frantic in a way. He (said), ‘You really need to think about it.’ And I said to him, ‘We thought about it. I’m not gonna do it because you didn’t do what you said.’”
When the court date came, Reid did not show up in court but sent his office manager instead.
“The judge told Tim’s office manager, ‘He threw you under the bus.’ And they ruled in our favor. He was to pay the $4,000 back, plus $600 court fees, and we haven’t received anything,” Freeze said.
Since then, Freeze decided not to pursue a pool and got a kiddie pool for his grandkids.
“I’m not thinking about it anymore,” he said, “because, you know, I’m 5 years older, I just, you know, I’ve wasted $4,000. And I have nothing for it. And I’m just not going that way.”
Freeze said he wishes Reid would just pay him back.
“I’d say, ‘Tim, I’d like to have my money back. I don’t hate you. I don’t do anything. I just want my money back and just you leave me alone? I’ll leave you alone,’” Freez e said.
When WBTV spoke to Reid on Monday, he said it has been hard finding people to work and parts were back ordered. He also said the project WBTV reported on July 17 would be finished by Aug. 1.
Copyright 2023 WBTV. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T23:48:12
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MITCHELL — As Alex Kretzschmar inherits play-calling duties for the Dakota Wesleyan University football program this fall in his role as the new offensive coordinator, there's ground to be made up.
Last season, the Tigers averaged 17.9 points per game, which ranked ninth of 11 teams in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and 79th of 99 squads nationally in the NAIA. Fortunately for Kretzschmar, a second-year DWU assistant and former Dakota State offensive coordinator, he has plenty of returning weapons at his disposal.
Arguably the Tigers' two biggest playmakers from a year ago, fifth-year running back Jamin Arend and fifth-year wide receiver Kiel Nelson, are back. Both 2022 all-GPAC players, the two local talents will be heavily relied upon to produce.
Arend, a 2022 first-team all-conference player and Emery native, rushed for 1,201 yards and a team-high 12 touchdowns, caught 33 passes for 189 yards, returned nine kicks for 234 yards and finished third in NAIA with 1,624 all-purpose yards last season.
With a lengthy career resume, Arend is considered one of the top running backs returning to the NAIA ranks this season.
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“He doesn't fly under the radar anymore,” head coach Ross Cimpl said. “Everybody's aware of him. Everybody knows what he's capable of. Obviously, it takes linemen and tight ends and receivers blocking, but Jamin's a special guy, and a lot of things that we're going to do offensively, we're going to go through him.”
Complimenting Arend’s rushing attack is Nelson, the quarterback-turned-receiver who excelled in his first season as a wideout. The Mitchell native found instant success with the change last season, leading the team with 51 receptions for 711 yards and seven touchdowns to earn himself honorable mention all-conference status.
Now, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Nelson looks to make his final mark at DWU, exercising his fifth year of eligibility to produce on the field while also providing leadership for a receivers room full of returning producers that include Preston Medved, Cole Holden, Logan Feuerbach and Wyatt VenDenTop.
“(Nelson) is just one of those guys that has had a lot of experience, a lot of playing time in his time here,” Cimpl said.
Calling the signals
Both quarterbacks that took in-game snaps last season return. In his first year as the starter, redshirt junior Austin Lee played in nine games last season, going 123 of 215 passing for 1,309 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Lee was “banged up” through the middle of the season and true freshman Connor Drake took over, starting four games and finishing 52 of 82 passing for 643 yards and two touchdowns. Having two quarterbacks with in-game experience provides two “anchors” for the offense, according to Cimpl.
Other quarterbacks on the roster are freshman Jed Jenson, a Rapid City native, and Braeden Wulf, a freshman from Lennox.
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Big up front
A noticeable void on the offensive line is TJ Benton, the multi-year, all-conference left tackle who lifted the team’s rushing attack last season as a senior.
But when fall practice begins on Aug. 2, there will be plenty of returning starters and other game-experience guys vying for starting roles.
Cimpl expects growth from returning producers such as redshirt sophomore Andrew Kortemeyer, senior Jarien Montgomery, sophomore Trent Suckut, redshirt freshman Ethan Rogich and redshirt senior Parker Grotjohn. Redshirt sophomore Justin Becker, a White Lake product, will also transition from tight end to offensive line.
“There's a lot of returning guys in that mix, where last year most of those guys were new guys as freshmen or more inexperienced players,” Cimpl said.
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https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/sports/college/dfw-football-notebook
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Trump attempt to derail Georgia election investigation rejected by judge
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge on Monday rejected an attempt by former President Donald Trump to keep a Georgia district attorney from prosecuting him and from using certain evidence gathered in her investigation into potential illegal meddling in the 2020 election in the state.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney didn’t mince words in his nine-page ruling, which said Trump lacked the legal grounds to bring the challenge before any indictment has been filed in the case. Any harm alleged by Trump and by Cathy Latham, a Republican fake elector from Georgia who had joined his motion, is “either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized,” the judge wrote.
The alleged harms “are insufficient because, while being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation,” McBurney wrote.
In a caustic footnote, seemingly nodding to Trump’s status as the dominant frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination for president despite having been indicted twice already, the judge added: “And for some, being the subject of a criminal investigation can, à la Rumpelstiltskin, be turned into golden political capital, making it seem more providential than problematic.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat, has strongly suggested that she is likely to seek charges in the case in the coming weeks. While she has not directly said she plans to seek charges against the Republican former president, she has repeatedly said no one is above the law.
Monday’s ruling came in response to a motion filed in March by Trump’s Georgia-based legal team that said a special grand jury seated to help Willis investigate “involved a constant lack of clarity as to the law, inconsistent applications of basic constitutional protections for individuals being brought before it, and a prosecutor’s office that was found to have an actual conflict, yet continued to pursue the investigation.”
The special grand jury did not have the power to indict, but it did issue subpoenas and heard from some 75 witnesses while meeting from May to December last year and issued a final report with recommendations for Willis.
Trump attorney Drew Findling did not immediately respond Monday to text and voicemail messages seeking comment.
Latham was one of 16 Georgia Republicans who met at the state Capitol in December 2020 and signed a certificate declaring falsely that Trump had won the presidential election and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. Willis last year informed them that they were targets of her investigation, though some have since reached immunity deals with her team.
McBurney said there are no grounds to disqualify Willis from pursuing her investigation and likely prosecution, saying she had not acted improperly.
“The drumbeat from the District Attorney has been neither partisan (in the political sense) nor personal, in marked and refreshing contrast to the stream of personal invective flowing from one of the movants,” he wrote, no doubt referring to Trump.
Trump’s attorneys several weeks ago took another stab at barring Willis from prosecuting him and getting the special grand jury’s report tossed out with twin filings against Willis and McBurney in Fulton County Superior Court and the Georgia Supreme Court. Explaining this extraordinary action, they cited the fact that McBurney had yet to rule on their earlier motion and Willis’ indication that she would soon seek charges in the case.
The state Supreme Court unanimously declined to intervene, dismissing the petition.
A judge from neighboring Cobb County was assigned to consider the other petition after the chief judge of the Fulton County Superior Court recused himself and the other judges on that bench from hearing the matter involving McBurney. He has set a hearing for Aug. 10.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as a Democrat against President Joe Biden, tells many stories on the campaign trail about himself, his life’s work and what he stands for that are the opposite of what his record actually shows.
The Associated Press found that Kennedy’s insistence that he is not anti-vaccine doesn’t square with his long record of opposition to vaccines. His claims that he is a true Democrat inheriting the mantle of his famous family are contradicted by his alignment with far right figures and support from Republicans. And despite listing the environment as a campaign priority, he has pushed bitcoin — a cryptocurrency that requires massive amounts of electricity from supercomputers to generate new coins, prompting most environmental advocates to loudly oppose it.
Kennedy’s campaign is widely considered a long shot, but it’s gained media attention due to his famous name and the possibility that his run could weaken Biden ahead of what is expected to be a close general election in 2024.
The campaign didn’t return emails seeking comment about the contradictions in his candidacy.
Here are the key takeaways from the AP’s reporting:
KENNEDY’S ANTI-VACCINE RECORD
Kennedy told a congressional committee this month: “I have never been anti-vaxx. I have never told the public to avoid vaccination.” But Kennedy has a long record of anti-vaccine comments and rose to public prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic through the work of his anti-vaccine group, Children’s Health Defense.
Just this month, Kennedy said in a podcast interview that “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective” and told FOX News that he still believes in the long-ago debunked idea that vaccines can cause autism. In a 2021 podcast, he recalled telling people on hiking trails not to get their children vaccinated.
That same year, Kennedy appeared in a video promoting an anti-vaccine sticker campaign by his nonprofit. A sticker shown beside him declared “IF YOU’RE NOT AN ANTI-VAXXER YOU AREN’T PAYING ATTENTION.”
The AP found that anti-vaccine activists are at the heart of Kennedy’s campaign. FEC records show several people paid to work on the campaign previously worked for Children’s Health Defense.
Kennedy has also received substantial support from the anti-vaccine community.
Children’s Health Defense currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines.
ASSOCIATION WITH FAR RIGHT HAS RAISED KENNEDY’S PROFILE
Kennedy is running as a Democrat, yet he has aligned himself with far right figures who have worked to subvert American democracy.
He has appeared on Infowars, the channel run by Sandy Hook conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. He has granted interviews to former President Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson. After he headlined a stop on the ReAwaken America Tour, the Christian nationalist road show put together by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, he was photographed backstage with Flynn and Trump ally Roger Stone.
Those appearances have led to goodwill on the right. Trump supporters have floated a Trump-Kennedy unity ticket.
Kennedy’s run is also getting financial support from the right. A super PAC supporting Kennedy’s presidential run, called Heal the Divide PAC, has deep ties to Republicans, Federal Election Commission records show.
Kennedy denied knowing the PAC when it came up at a recent congressional hearing, but video available online shows he was a guest speaker at a Heal the Divide event just two days earlier.
SUPPORT FOR BITCOIN RUNS COUNTER TO ENVIRONMENTAL STANCE
Kennedy lists the environment as one of six top priorities on his campaign website and has spent many years speaking against pollution and climate change as an environmental lawyer. Yet he has made supporting the energy-intensive cryptocurrency bitcoin a key part of his platform.
Bitcoin mining, the process of generating new coins, uses massive amounts of electricity — more than some entire countries, experts say.
Kennedy has acknowledged the environmental downsides, but says he wouldn’t let them hinder its use. He promotes the argument that demand for the cryptocurrency will boost investment in renewable energy projects.
Kennedy has invested between $100,001 and $250,000 in bitcoin, his financial disclosure documents show.
KENNEDY INVOKES HIS FAMOUS FAMILY, WHILE RELATIVES DENOUNCE HIM
Though Kennedy peppers his speeches, podcast appearances and campaign materials with invocations of the Democratic Party legacies of his uncle President John F. Kennedy and his father Robert F. Kennedy, his relatives have distanced themselves from him and even denounced him.
“He’s trading in on Camelot, celebrity, conspiracy theories and conflict for personal gain and fame,” Jack Schlossberg, President Kennedy’s grandson, said of his cousin in an Instagram video earlier this month. “I’ve listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president. What I do know is, his candidacy is an embarrassment.”
Kennedy’s recent comments that COVID-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people — which he denies were antisemitic but concedes he should have worded more carefully — also drew a condemnation from his sister, Kerry Kennedy.
___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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| 2023-07-31T23:48:16
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Deal strengthens Bain's global ML, cloud, data & app engineering capabilities
BOSTON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bain & Company today announced that it has acquired Max Kelsen's consulting and managed services divisions (collectively referred to as "Max Kelsen Consulting"), a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions, to offer enhanced ML and AI capabilities to clients across the globe.
Based in Australia and founded in 2015, Max Kelsen Consulting's team of full stack ML engineers deliver ML systems, AI-powered applications, and advisory services for clients. Now, as one unified and integrated team under Bain's Advanced Analytics Group (AAG), Max Kelsen Consulting and Bain will together help enterprises develop and operationalize high-impact AI and ML enabled use cases.
"We are delighted to welcome the Max Kelsen Consulting team to Bain, and to bring their industry-leading machine learning expertise to bear to deliver even more powerful solutions to our clients," said Roy Singh, global head of Bain's Advanced Analytics Group. "We are seeing growing demand from clients for AI-related services and engineering capabilities that will enable them to be early movers in shaping how this generational shift in technology could transform their respective industries."
"We are very excited about the quality of the Max Kelsen Consulting team and the innovative work they have done for clients in Australia and globally. This acquisition will strengthen the suite of AI and ML capabilities we offer to our clients regionally and globally," said Richard Fleming, leader of Bain's Advanced Analytics Group in Asia Pacific.
Max Kelsen has worked with Australian and global companies to build and deploy ML solutions including real-time prediction, forecasting, computer vision, industrial control optimization, robotics and more, as well as working with clients to establish best practice operational machine learning (MLOps) capabilities. The company has served a wide range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, and has partnered with market-leading cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform. While Max Kelsen applies its ML and AI expertise across industries, such as mining, financial services and retail, the company has particularly deep experience serving the healthcare & life sciences sector.
"We are excited to join Bain at a time when businesses are starting to navigate the disruptions brought on by generative AI," said Nicholas Therkelsen-Terry, co-founder and CEO of Max Kelsen. "In a rapidly evolving business climate, companies that understand how to use these tools to their advantage will come out on top. By joining Bain, we are thrilled to be working with an even larger pool of global clients and supporting Bain to strengthen their global ML capabilities."
Max Kelsen also operates a products division (SAVI Surgical and PROPeL Health AI) and a research division, which are not part of the acquisition by Bain.
Media contacts
To arrange an interview or for any questions, please contact:
Bain & Company:
Ann Lee (Singapore) — Email: ann.lee@bain.com
Navigate Communication:
Peter Witts (Sydney) – peter@navigatecommunication.com.au; +61 477 274 412
About Bain & Company
Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world's most ambitious change makers define the future.
Across 65 cities in 40 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Our 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings our talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today's urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. We earned a platinum rating from EcoVadis, the leading platform for environmental, social, and ethical performance ratings for global supply chains, putting us in the top 1% of all companies. Since our founding in 1973, we have measured our success by the success of our clients, and we proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry.
About Max Kelsen
Founded in Brisbane in 2015, Max Kelsen is one of Australia's leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) solutions businesses. The company delivers innovation, directly linked to the generation of business value and competitive advantage to customers in Australia and globally, including Fortune 500 companies. Max Kelsen is also dedicated to reinvesting our expertise and profits to solve the challenges of humankind, focusing on Cancer Genomics, AI Safety, and Quantum Computing.
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SOURCE Bain & Company
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https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/bain-amp-company-acquires-max-kelsens-consulting-managed-services-divisions-bring-enhanced-machine-learning-ai-services-clients-globally/
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MITCHELL — The Mitchell Tennis Association held its 17th annual Take The Cake tennis tournament on July 29-30 at Hitchcock Park, with winners decided in seven divisions across singles and doubles play.
Winners of each bracket earned a cake or cupcake as an award. There were 47 participants in this year’s event and for the second year in a row, the event included singles play, making it a two-day tournament.
Here's a look at the results:
Singles
Chocolate Cake Bracket
Semifinals: Jacob Dahme def. Dah Moo, 8-0; Eh Dah def. Jager Juracek, 8-4
Championship: Jacob Dahme def. Eh Dah, 8-5
Third place: Jager Juracek def. Dah Moo, 8-6
Fifth place: Moo Sher Say def. Tyler McEntee.
Marble Cake Bracket
Semifinals: Lincoln Bottum def. Elly Clement, 8-0; Katie Morgan def. Maddie Childs, 8-4
Championship: Lincoln Bottum def. Katie Morgan, 8-2
Third place: Elly Clement def. Maddie Childs, 8-1
Fifth place: Kiersten Bathke def. Matteah Graves, 8-5
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Red Velvet Cake Bracket
Semifinals: Elliot Smith def. Mitchell Crothers, 8-2; Clay Bathke def. Nicholas Crothers, 8-5
Championship: Elliot Smith def. Clay Bathke, 8-6
Third place: Nicholas Crothers def. Mitchell Crothers, 8-2
Fifth place: Will Mullenmeister def. Idella Meyer, 8-4
Angel Food Cake round robin
Carsyn Weich def. Sutton Thompson, 8-4
Delaney Degen def. Carsyn Weich, 8-6
Jade Miller def. Delaney Degen, 9-8(1)
Jade Miller def. Carsyn Weich, 8-5
Sutton Thompson def. Delaney Degen, 9-8(4)
Sutton Thompson def. Jade Miller, 8-5
Final placement: 1. Sutton Thompson (2-1); 2. Jade Miller (2-1); 3. Delaney Degen (1-2); 4. Carsyn Weich (1-2)
Doubles
German Chocolate Cake
Semifinals: Owen Raml/Sutton Thompson def. Skyler Mickelson/Jade Miller, 8-6; Chad Larson/Betty McNeil def. Matt Biggerstaff/Cooper Star, 8-3.
Championship: Owen Raml/Sutton Thompson def. Chad Larson/Betty McNeil, 9-8(2)
Third place: Skyler Mickelson/Jade Miller def. Matt Biggerstaff/Cooper Star, 8-3
Fifth place: Trent Dean/Trevor Dean def. Kiersten Bathke/Pat Moller, 8-1
Carrot Cake Division
Finals — First-place playoff: Jacob Dahme/Tyler McEntee def. Eh Dah/Moo Sher Say, 8-3; Second-place playoff: Chris Carlson/Matt Judson def. Blake Judson/Grant Judson; Third-place playoff: Augustine Hendrickson/Dah Moo def. Delaney Degen/Jager Juracek, 8-5.
Bundt Cake Division
Finals — First-place playoff: Ava Prunty/Elliot Smith def. Clay Bathke/Will Mullenmeister, 8-6; Second-place playoff: Harbor Blindauer/Jordyn Wilson def. Xander Herman/Patrick Morgan, 8-1; Third-place playoff: Mitchell Crothers/Nicholas Crothers def. Elise Bowers/Sydney Carlson, 8-3.
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NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Neighboring nations are levying economic sanctions over a coup last week that toppled one of the West’s last democratic partners against West African extremists, and families in one of the world’s poorest nations could pay the price.
In the capital of Niger, many people live in makeshift shelters tied together with slats of wood, sheets and plastic tarps because they can’t pay rent. They scramble daily to make enough money to feed their children.
Salou Hassan and his family live in a two-room hut on the side of the road, along with some 140 people. The family sleeps on wooden slats close to the floor, with no electricity or running water, and they bathe in public showers.
“The most difficult part is finding food for my children,“ Hassan, whose sons are 5 and 6 years old, said Monday.
Hassan, 30, sells water door to door, earning about $6 a day when things go well. His wheelbarrow’s been broken and he doesn’t have the nearly $70 he needs to fix it. His wife sweeps stalls at the central market, making less than half what Hassan does.
Hassan has hardly been aware that the country’s president was overthrown.
“I’m looking for money for food for my family,” he said.
Meanwhile, Niger’s neighbors are threatening armed intervention against the junta run by the head of the presidential guard, although analysts say there is only a slim chance of the regional body successfully sending troops.
Both the United States and France have sent forces and hundreds of millions of dollars of military and humanitarian aid in recent years to Niger, which was a French colony until 1960. The French and the US train Nigerien forces, and the French military carries out joint operations in the north.
Since the coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, people have been toting Russian flags and praising that country in pro-junta demonstrations.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Niger in March to strengthen ties and announce $150 million in direct assistance, calling the country “a model of democracy.” France sent troops to Mali as part of an initiative to take on Islamic extremists across the region, but pulled out of Mali last year following tensions with the ruling junta. France has had some 1,500 troops in Niger.
The West African regional body known as ECOWAS announced travel and economic sanctions against Niger on Sunday over the coup, and said it would use force if the coup leaders don’t reinstate Bazoum within one week.
Since the 1990s, the 15-nation bloc has tried to protect democracies against the threat of coups, with mixed success.
Niger relies heavily on foreign aid and sanctions could further impoverish its more than 25 million people. ECOWAS suspended all commercial and financial transactions between its member states and Niger, as well as freezing Nigerien assets held in regional central banks.
The sanctions could be disastrous and Niger needs to find a solution to avoid them, the country’s Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou told French media outlet Radio France Internationale on Sunday.
“When people say there’s an embargo, land borders are closed, air borders are closed, it’s extremely difficult for people … Niger is a country that relies heavily on the international community,” he said.
Four nations are run by military governments in West and Central Africa, where there have been nine successful or attempted coups since 2020.
In the 1990s, ECOWAS intervened in Liberia during its civil war, one of the bloodiest conflicts in Africa and one that left many wary of intervening in internal conflicts. In 2017, ECOWAS intervened in The Gambia to prevent the new president’s predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, from disrupting the handover of power. Around 7,000 troops from Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal entered the country, according to the Global Observatory, which provides analysis on peace and security issues. The intervention was largely seen as accomplishing its mission.
If the regional bloc uses force, it could trigger violence not only between Niger and ECOWAS forces but also between civilians supporting the coup and those against it, Niger analysts say.
While unlikely, “the consequences on civilians of such an approach if putschists chose confrontation would be catastrophic,” said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank.
Lyammouri does not see a “military intervention happening because of the violence that could trigger,” he said.
Blinken on Sunday commended the resolve of the ECOWAS leadership to “defend constitutional order in Niger” after the sanctions announcement, and joined the bloc in calling for the immediate release of Bazoum and his family.
The military junta, which seized power on Wednesday when members of the presidential guard surrounded Bazoum’s house and detained him, is already cracking down on the government and civil liberties.
On Sunday evening it arrested four government officials, including the minister of petroleum and son of a former president; the minister of education; the minister of mines; and the president of the ruling party. The arrests were recounted to The Associated Press by a person close to the president, who was not authorized to speak about the situation, and a Nigerien analyst who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal.
Also Sunday, junta spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane banned the use of social media to put out messages he describe as harmful to state security. He also claimed without evidence that Bazoum’s government had authorized the French to carry out strikes to free Bazoum.
Observers believe Bazoum is being held at his house in the capital, Niamey. The first photos of him since the coup appeared Sunday evening, sitting on a couch smiling beside Chad’s President Mahamat Deby, who had flown in to mediate between the government and the junta.
In anticipation of the ECOWAS decision Sunday, thousands of pro-junta supporters took to the streets in Niamey, denouncing France, waving Russian flags along with signs reading “Down with France” and supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and telling the international community to stay away. There has been no clear explanation of the Russian symbols, but the country seems to have become a symbol of anti-Western feelings for demonstrators. Protesters also burned down a door and smashed windows of the French Embassy, before the Nigerien army dispersed them.
France said Monday that President Emmanuel Macron is closely monitoring the situation in Niger and has discussed the crisis with regional leaders and European and international partners.
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TOKYO, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Naoki Okamura, "Astellas") today announced that the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has accepted the Biologics License Application (BLA) for zolbetuximab, a first-in-class investigational Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2)-targeted monoclonal antibody, for first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma whose tumors are CLDN18.2-positive. If approved, zolbetuximab would be the first CLDN18.2-targeted therapy available in China for these patients.
Moitreyee Chatterjee-Kishore, PhD, MBA, Senior Vice President and Head of Immuno-Oncology Development, Astellas
"China accounts for nearly half of the world's new cases of gastric cancer, with more than 478,000 new cases diagnosed and more than 373,000 deaths in 2020. The CDE's acceptance of our BLA for zolbetuximab brings us one step closer to having a new therapy available for Chinese patients with advanced-stage disease and in need of treatment options."
The BLA is based on results from the Phase 3 GLOW and SPOTLIGHT clinical trials. The GLOW study evaluated zolbetuximab plus CAPOX (a combination chemotherapy regimen that includes capecitabine and oxaliplatin) compared to placebo plus CAPOX. In the GLOW study, 145 patients were randomized in mainland China. The SPOTLIGHT study evaluated zolbetuximab plus mFOLFOX6 (a combination regimen that includes oxaliplatin, leucovorin and fluorouracil) compared to placebo plus mFOLFOX6. In the SPOTLIGHT study, 36 patients were randomized in mainland China.
In both GLOW and SPOTLIGHT, approximately 38% of patients screened for the trials had tumors that were CLDN18.2-positive (≥75% of tumor cells with moderate-to-strong membranous CLDN18 staining intensity), as determined by a validated immunohistochemistry assay.1,2
Astellas has already reflected the impact from this acceptance in its financial forecast of the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2024.
About Locally Advanced Unresectable or Metastatic Gastric and Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer
Gastric cancer, also commonly known as stomach cancer, is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide.3 In China, gastric cancer ranks third among incidences of all cancer, with more than 478,000 cases diagnosed and more than 373,000 deaths in 2020.4 Signs and symptoms can include indigestion or heartburn, pain or discomfort in the abdomen, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, bloating of the stomach after meals, loss of appetite, and sensation of food getting stuck in the throat while eating.5 Signs of more advanced gastric cancer can include unexplained weight loss, weakness and fatigue and vomiting blood or having blood in the stool.6 Risk factors associated with gastric cancer can include older age, male gender, family history, H. pylori infection, smoking and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).5,7 Because early-stage gastric cancer symptoms frequently overlap with more common stomach-related conditions, gastric cancer is often diagnosed in the advanced or metastatic stage, or once it has spread from the tumor's origin to other body tissues or organs.5 The five-year relative survival rate for patients at the metastatic stage is 6.6%.8 Gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma is a cancer that starts at the area where the esophagus joins the stomach.9
About Zolbetuximab
Zolbetuximab is an investigational, first-in-class chimeric IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) that targets and binds to Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2), a transmembrane protein. Zolbetuximab acts by binding to CLDN18.2 on the cancer cell surface of gastric epithelial cells. In pre-clinical studies, this binding interaction then induces cancer cell death by activating two distinct immune system pathways — antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC).10 Zolbetuximab has not been approved by any regulatory bodies for the treatment of patients with gastric and GEJ cancers, and there is no guarantee the agent will receive regulatory approval or become commercially available for the uses being investigated.
INVESTIGATIONAL STUDIES
About GLOW Phase 3 Clinical Trial
GLOW is a Phase 3, global, multi-center, double-blind, randomized study, assessing the efficacy and safety of zolbetuximab (IMAB362) plus CAPOX (a combination chemotherapy regimen that includes capecitabine and oxaliplatin) compared to placebo plus CAPOX as a first-line treatment in patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-negative gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma whose tumors were CLDN18.2-positive. The study enrolled 507 patients at 166 study locations in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, South America and Asia, including China. The primary endpoint is progression-free survival (PFS) in participants treated with the combination of zolbetuximab plus CAPOX compared to those treated with placebo plus CAPOX. Secondary endpoints include overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DOR), safety and tolerability and quality-of-life parameters.
Data from the GLOW study were initially presented at the March 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Plenary Series with an updated oral presentation at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting on June 3.1
For more information, please visit clinicaltrials.gov under Identifier NCT03653507.
About SPOTLIGHT Phase 3 Clinical Trial
SPOTLIGHT is a Phase 3, global, multi-center, double-blind, randomized study, assessing the efficacy and safety of zolbetuximab (IMAB362) plus mFOLFOX6 (a combination regimen that includes oxaliplatin, leucovorin and fluorouracil) compared to placebo plus mFOLFOX6 as a first-line treatment in patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-negative gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma whose tumors were CLDN18.2-positive. The study enrolled 565 patients at 215 study locations in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Europe, South America and Asia, including China. The primary endpoint is PFS in participants treated with the combination of zolbetuximab plus mFOLFOX6 compared to those treated with placebo plus mFOLFOX6. Secondary endpoints include OS, ORR, DOR, safety and tolerability and quality-of-life parameters.
Data from the SPOTLIGHT clinical trial were presented during the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancers Symposium in an oral presentation on January 19 and were subsequently published in The Lancet on April 14.2
For more information, please visit clinicaltrials.gov under Identifier NCT03504397.
Investigational Pipeline in CLDN18.2
An expanded Phase 2 trial in metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma is in progress. The trial is a randomized, multi-center, open-label study, evaluating the safety and efficacy of investigational zolbetuximab in combination with gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel as a first-line treatment in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma with CLDN18.2-positive tumors (defined as ≥75% of tumor cells demonstrating moderate-to-strong membranous CLDN18 staining based on a validated immunohistochemistry assay). For more information, please visit clinicaltrials.gov under Identifier NCT03816163.
In addition to zolbetuximab, ASP2138 is under development in our Primary Focus Immuno-Oncology. ASP2138 is a bispecific monoclonal antibody that binds to CD3 and CLDN18.2, and it is currently in a Phase 1 trial for people with gastric, GEJ or pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The safety and efficacy of the agent under investigation have not been established for the uses being considered. For more information, please visit clinicaltrials.gov under Identifier NCT05365581.
There is no guarantee that the agent will receive regulatory approval and become commercially available for the uses being investigated.
About Astellas
Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are promoting the Focus Area Approach that is designed to identify opportunities for the continuous creation of new drugs to address diseases with high unmet medical needs by focusing on Biology and Modality. Furthermore, we are also looking beyond our foundational Rx focus to create Rx+® healthcare solutions that combine our expertise and knowledge with cutting-edge technology in different fields of external partners. Through these efforts, Astellas stands on the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into VALUE for patients. For more information, please visit our website at https://www.astellas.com/en.
Cautionary Notes
In this press release, statements made with respect to current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future performance of Astellas. These statements are based on management's current assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (i) changes in general economic conditions and in laws and regulations, relating to pharmaceutical markets, (ii) currency exchange rate fluctuations, (iii) delays in new product launches, (iv) the inability of Astellas to market existing and new products effectively, (v) the inability of Astellas to continue to effectively research and develop products accepted by customers in highly competitive markets, and (vi) infringements of Astellas' intellectual property rights by third parties.
Information about pharmaceutical products (including products currently in development) which is included in this press release is not intended to constitute an advertisement or medical advice.
References
1 Xu RH, Shitara K, Ajani JA, et al. Updates on Abstract 405736: Zolbetuximab + CAPOX in 1L claudin-18.2+ (CLDN18.2+)/HER2− locally advanced (LA) or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction (mG/GEJ) adenocarcinoma: Primary phase 3 results from GLOW. Presented at: 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting. Abstract 405736.
2 Shitara K, et al. Zolbetuximab plus mFOLFOX6 in patients with claudin-18 isoform 2-positive, HER2-negative, untreated, locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric or gastrooesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (SPOTLIGHT): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trial. The Lancet. Published online April 14, 2023; S0140-6736(23)00620-7.
3 Sung H, et al. Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021;71(3):209-49.
4 World Health Organization. Cancer Today. Available at: https://gco.iarc.fr/today/. Last accessed July 18, 2023.
5 American Cancer Society. Signs and symptoms of stomach cancer (01-22-2021). Available at https://www.cancer.org/cancer/stomach-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/signs-symptoms.html. Last accessed July 18, 2023.
6 National Cancer Institute. Gastric cancer treatment (PDQ®): patient version (08-24-2021). Available at https://www.cancer.gov/types/stomach/patient/stomach-treatment-pdq. Last accessed July 18, 2023.
7 American Cancer Society. Esophageal cancer risk factors (06-09-2020). Available at https://www.cancer.org/cancer/esophagus-cancer/causes-risks-prevention/risk-factors.html. Last accessed July 18, 2023.
8 National Cancer Institute. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. Cancer stat facts: stomach cancer. Available at https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/stomach.html. Last accessed July 18, 2023.
9 American Cancer Society. About esophagus cancer (03-20-2020). Available at https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/CRC/PDF/Public/8614.00.pdf. Last accessed July 18, 2023.
10 Sahin U, et al. FAST: a randomised phase II study of zolbetuximab (IMAB362) plus EOX versus EOX alone for first-line treatment of advanced CLDN18.2-positive gastric and gastro-oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Ann Oncol. 2021;32(5):609-19.
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A trio of top House Republicans are demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) hand over information pertaining to Hunter Biden’s plea deal, which has been on hold for days after a judge raised concerns about the agreement.
GOP lawmakers have railed for weeks against the plea agreement, calling it a “sweetheart deal” and arguing Hunter Biden was given preferential treatment because he is the son of President Biden.
The three Republicans escalated those attacks in a Monday letter, asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to answer a list of questions and provide documents and communications about Hunter Biden’s “unusual” plea agreement — the first request from Congress parsing the particulars of the deal.
“The Department’s unusual plea and pretrial diversion agreements with Mr. Biden raise serious concerns — especially when combined with recent whistleblower allegations—that the Department has provided preferential treatment toward Mr. Biden in the course of its investigation and proposed resolution of his alleged criminal conduct,” the letter reads.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) all signed the letter. The House GOP for months has been investigating the Biden family’s foreign business dealings and its associates. Lawmakers have previously made requests regarding the investigation into Hunter Biden led by U.S. attorney for Delaware David Weiss.
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
Hunter Biden’s plea deal was put on hold last week after the judge overseeing the case questioned the parameters of the agreement. As part of the deal, Biden was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay income taxes. He also reached a diversion agreement relating to an unlawful possession of a weapon charge.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee, raised concerns about the setup of the two-part deal and the scope of Biden’s immunity, and she ultimately gave both parties more time to explain why the deal — which she has to greenlight — should be accepted.
The three House Republicans pointed to some of Noreika’s concerns in their letter, including provisions in the pretrial diversion agreement that would shield Hunter Biden from future criminal charges on the gun charge or other federal charges within the scope of the agreement.
“Taken individually, each of the provisions discussed above raises serious concerns about how the Department has handled this matter. But when considered together, the provisions appear to be even more troubling,” the GOP chairmen wrote.
They claimed the Justice Department “shifted a broad immunity provision, which benefits Mr. Biden, from the plea agreement to the pretrial diversion agreement apparently to prevent the District Court from being able to scrutinize and reject that immunity provision.”
“And then, the Department has benefitted Mr. Biden by giving up its unilateral ability to bring charges against him if it concludes that he has breached the pretrial diversion agreement. Instead, it has placed upon itself the burden of getting the District Court’s permission to bring charges even though the District Court normally has no role in policing a pretrial diversion agreement in that manner,” they continued. “So, the District Court is apparently removed from the equation when it helps Mr. Biden and inserted into the equation when it helps Mr. Biden.”
The trio of Republicans also voiced concerns about the DOJ saying the investigations into Hunter Biden are “ongoing,” arguing it is an effort to shield the DOJ from congressional oversight. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) raised a similar claim last month.
“How can Hunter Biden plead guilty, no jail time, and the DOJ say there’s still an investigation, try to withhold information to the House? That’s unacceptable and will not stand,” McCarthy told reporters at the time.
The committee chairmen are asking Garland to provide information on other pretrial diversion agreements similar to Biden’s, in addition to “a generalized description of the nature of the Department’s ongoing investigation(s) concerning Hunter Biden.”
The letter from Jordan, Comer and Smith came the same day lawmakers heard testimony from former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer behind closed doors. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) told reporters Archer said Hunter Biden included President Biden on a number of phone calls that presumably included business associates, a detail that Republicans will likely use in their attempts to link the president to his son’s business dealings.
Goldman said the testimony did not prove President Biden was involved in his son’s business dealings. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), however, said he thought Archer’s testimony “implicate[s] the president.”
That testimony came nearly two weeks after two IRS whistleblowers testified publicly, claiming that authorities slow-walked the case into Hunter Biden. The two whistleblowers previously spoke to the Ways and Means Committee behind closed doors, and those transcripts were released shortly after Hunter Biden’s plea agreement was announced.
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3 siblings killed after vehicle clips car, smashes into tree, catches fire, family says
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. (WANF/Gray News) - Three siblings were among four people killed in a crash early Friday morning in Georgia, according to officials.
The three siblings were identified by a family member in a GoFundMe account set up to help pay for funeral expenses.
According to the GoFundMe, 14-year-old Jovany, 18-year-old Brenda, and 21-year-old Carl Pamphile were all killed just after 1 a.m. Friday on I-75 South near the I-285 exit after their vehicle clipped another car, crashed into a tree, and caught fire.
The family’s beloved dog Zoe also died in the crash, according to the GoFundMe.
The fourth person killed in the crash was in the same vehicle as the three other victims but has not yet been identified by officials. According to WANF, the unidentified victim was female.
Donations can be made to the Pamphile family’s GoFundMe account to help support memorial costs for the siblings.
Officials said the person in the clipped car was taken to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. No further information has been released on their condition.
The crash remains under investigation.
Copyright 2023 WANF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Results Show an Alternative Twice as Effective Compared to Antidepressant Medications
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Flow Neuroscience, the creators of the Flow tDCS headset that provides at-home non-invasive brain stimulation to treat depression, today announced the results of its FDA pivotal clinical trial. The trial results show that the Flow headset was twice as effective as the most commonly-prescribed antidepressants in the treatment of depression.*
In July 2022, Flow received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, demonstrating the innovative nature of the platform and the significant advantages it offers over existing approved or cleared alternatives. It was the first medical device in the category to achieve this status. Flow is now being reviewed for full FDA approval, which would make this device available as an at-home treatment option in the U.S.
In a study of patients in the US and the UK, the largest-ever clinical trial of its kind, 56% of the participants using the Flow tDCS headset were relieved of all depressive symptoms within 10 weeks**. Daily use of Flow was confirmed to be safe with minimal side effects.
Flow has already been granted regulatory approval in Europe where it is available over the counter via Flow's website and in major UK pharmacies. More than 12,000 people and 100 clinics/hospitals in Europe use Flow today, including NHS partnerships.
Preliminary results include:
- The trial sites at the University of Texas and the University of East London measured the effectiveness and safety of the tDCS headset designed by Flow Neuroscience.
- 173 patients were taken through the at-home treatment program, completely remotely and with minimal supervision, over a 10-week period. This was the largest ever US/UK tDCS study for the treatment of depression.
- 56% of patients in the treatment group went into remission (complete relief from depression symptoms), and 62% had a clinical response (more than 50% improvement in depressive symptoms.)**
- The study showed that participants had greater than three times higher odds of getting substantially better if they got the active treatment vs if they got placebo/sham stimulation, approximately double the average effect size witnessed in the trials for the 21 best-selling antidepressants reviewed by the FDA.
- No major side effects were reported from the treatment group.
Flow's study results come at a time when depression is at an all-time high among U.S. adults, but with nearly half of Americans in 2021 reporting they did not seek help for clinical-level mental health issues, citing an increased desire for self-help options. The Flow tDCS headset and treatment is conveniently administered at home five times a week, creating an effective, safe, and accessible treatment option for depression.
How Flow works:
- The Flow headset uses a brain-stimulation technique called tDCS to target the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain associated with depression.
- Depression is associated with lowered activity in the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC). This area of the brain helps regulate mood, and focus, and can even impact sleep and appetite. When this area of the brain has lower activity, these functions are affected.
- By delivering a weak electrical current (2 mA) to the DLPFC via electrodes placed on the forehead, activity increases in this part of the brain. This addresses what some researchers believe is one of the physical causes of depression.
- Since Flow can target specific brain areas involved in depression directly, users experience little to no side effects compared to antidepressants.
Allan Young (Chair of Mood Disorders, Director of Centre for Affective Disorders in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King's College London) said: "These exciting and encouraging new data raise the prospect of a real advance in the treatment of depression. Major depression is undertreated throughout the world, and all of the currently widely used treatment modalities have significant limitations. The nature of this treatment, being both effective and well tolerated, means that it is a treatment which may be widely adopted and should be a helpful intervention for many people suffering from major depression."
Azhar Zafar (GPA Director of Research, NHS GP, and Senior Lecturer at the University of Buckingham) said: "These findings are incredibly promising and align with the valuable insights gained from utilizing Flow in primary care. Flow has gained significant popularity among our NHS patients, and a considerable number of them willingly opt for Flow when presented with the choice for the treatment of depression with or without pharmacotherapy. This positive reception speaks volumes about the effectiveness and patient satisfaction associated with Flow."
Flow Neuroscience co-founder Daniel Månsson said: "Depression is one of the most common mood disorders, and unfortunately, it is also one of the hardest to treat. Our core mission was to create a treatment that is effective and accessible to as many people as possible in their own homes, with little to no side effects. The results of this clinical trial show how effective this treatment has become and how breakthroughs are still possible in the treatment of depression."
Corey Keller (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University) said: 'These results show clear separation of active and sham treatment arms in a large, multisite, randomized controlled trial for at-home low-intensity brain stimulation for depression. Flow's novel brain stimulation approach could offer valuable opportunities for individuals to manage their depression from home effectively, signaling a very promising development in mental health treatment.'
Visit www.flowneuroscience.com to find out more information about Flow's first at-home depression treatment.
Key Stats about Flow Neuroscience:
- 12,000+ real-world users in UK and Europe
- Live in 100+ clinics and hospitals in UK and Europe
- 8 million minutes of stimulation using the Flow headset and over 260,000 stimulation sessions
- Flow attracts users from all ages and walks of life, with over one-third of users above 50 years of age
More About Flow Neuroscience
Founded in 2016, Flow Neuroscience's mission is to develop new ways to combat mental health issues with science and technology. The Flow headset is a medication-free treatment for depression, the leading cause of disability in the world. It combines a brain stimulation wearable and an app-based therapy program to create a new effective, safe, and affordable way to treat depression, at home. The Flow headset offers a treatment you can take with you from your home to your office to your everyday. On average, the majority of Flow headset users see significant improvements within 4 to 6 weeks of treatment.
Notes to Editors:
*Based on a comparison of odds ratios, a standardized way of comparing clinical trials and a form of measurement for the difference in effect between treatment and placebo. The study showed that participants had greater than three times higher odds of getting substantially better if they got the active treatment vs if they got placebo/sham stimulation, approximately double the average effect size witnessed in the trials for the 21 best-selling antidepressants reviewed by the FDA.
**Measured by the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). The trial was also measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17), and results demonstrated 45% clinical remission and 55% had an improvement of at least 50%.
Media Contact: flowneuroscience@greenbrier.partners
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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian army helicopter that crashed Friday during a multinational exercise hit the water with a “catastrophic impact” and there is no chance its four crew members survived, officials said Monday.
Australia’s fleet of more than 40 of the MRH-90 Taipan helicopters, made by French Airbus, has been grounded since the crash and there are doubts any will fly again.
They will be grounded until crash investigators determine what caused the tragedy. The government announced in January it plans to replace them with 40 U.S. Black Hawks. The Taipans’ retirement date of December 2024 would be 13 years earlier than Australia had initially planned.
Defense Minister Richard Marles said the search and rescue effort changed Monday to a victim recovery operation with no chance that Capt. Danniel Lyon, Lt. Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Joseph Laycock or Cpl. Alexander Naggs had survived.
“There was a catastrophic incident and with every passing hour, it is now clear that any hope of finding (the four crew) alive has been lost,” Marles told reporters.
The helicopter crashed during a nighttime exercise with the United States and other nations near the Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef.
Marles had said on Saturday the helicopter “ditched,” which refers to an emergency landing. But on Monday he would not rule our pilot error or disorientation in the dark causing the crash into the water. He urged against speculation about potential causes.
“There was a catastrophic impact on the helicopter when it hit the water,” Marles said.
“We will move through the process of putting the Black Hawks into service as quickly as we can … and we will not be flying MRH90s until we understand what has happened,” Marles added.
The lost Taipan had been taking part in Talisman Sabre, a biennial U.S.-Australian military exercise that is largely based in Queensland state. This year’s exercise involves 13 nations and more than 30,000 military personnel.
The exercise was continuing on Monday with some changes near the recovery operation, Australian Defense Force Chief Gen. Angus Campbell said.
Campbell thanked the United States and Canada for their help in the search and recovery efforts, which he said was “not an easy operation.”
The wreckage lay in the path of strong currents and tidal movements. It was too deep for standard diving operations.
Part of the airframe had been retrieved by Monday but most of the helicopter remained on the seabed, Campbell said.
It was the second emergency involving an Australian Taipan since March. The fleet was grounded after one ditched into the sea off the New South Wales state coast near the naval base at Jervis Bay during a nighttime counterterrorism training exercise. All 10 passengers and crew members were rescued.
Retired Maj. Gen. Fergus McLachlan was involved in integrating the Taipan into the Australian army when they arrived in 2007 and had been responsible for keeping them airworthy. He said the Taipan did not have the proven record of the Lockheed Martin-designed Black Hawks.
“We bought into an unproven system. In real terms, it was a developmental aircraft and it has never really matured,” McLachlan told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“It was always a battle to maintain it and keep it flying,” McLachlan added.
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https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-4-crew-members-on-australian-army-helicopter-that-crashed-off-coast-didnt-survive-officials-say/
| 2023-07-31T23:48:30
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Former President Trump’s dominance of the GOP field was underscored by a new poll released Monday.
The New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump leading his closest rival for the nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by a massive 37 points.
In the poll, Trump drew 54 percent support and DeSantis 17 percent. No other candidate registered higher than 3 percent support.
The poll was far from an outlier. Trump has maintained a lead of roughly 30 points over DeSantis in national polling averages for some time. There is no convincing evidence that any other contender is acquiring real momentum.
Given that Trump is showing such strength even while he has been indicted in two criminal cases, the question arises as to whether he is all but inevitable as the GOP nominee.
Here are the main arguments for and against that idea.
Trump is the inevitable nominee because…
His support looks rock-solid
Trump’s biggest political asset has been clear for years. His base voters are avid in their support and near-impervious to any negative information about him.
It’s more than seven years since then-candidate Trump told a crowd in Iowa, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?”
Today, he stands accused of obstruction of justice and a series of other serious offenses in the Mar-a-Lago documents case. He is also charged with falsifying business records in a separate New York case.
Among Republicans, it hasn’t mattered.
In the New York Times poll, 71 percent of potential Republican primary voters said the GOP needed “to stand behind Trump” amid his charges, whereas only 22 percent argued there was no obligation to do so.
The exact same share — 71 percent — asserted that Trump was innocent of any “serious federal crimes.”
A general election would be a very different matter. But, within the GOP, there is every reason to think Trump has a lock on enough voters to carry him to the nomination.
His main rival is doing very poorly
DeSantis’s weakness has been a bigger surprise than Trump’s strength so far.
The Florida governor launched his campaign May 24 with a Twitter Spaces event marred by technical glitches. It was a sign of things to come.
DeSantis’s poll ratings have eroded over the two months-plus of his campaign to date. The national polling average maintained by data site FiveThirtyEight showed him drawing roughly 21 percent support on the day of his launch. He is now at roughly 16 percent.
The polling slide has been accompanied by broader campaign troubles. A recent series of staffing cuts has reduced his team by about one-third.
DeSantis’s backers publicly evince confidence that they are building a campaign for the long haul and that it will all come right in the end. The governor laid out an economic agenda in a New Hampshire speech Monday.
But as of today, DeSantis has seriously underperformed.
That’s very good news for Trump.
GOP voters don’t buy the argument that Trump is unelectable
Trump-skeptical GOP insiders coalesce around one central argument — that the former president would be a weak general election candidate, likely losing a winnable election.
As evidence they cite the 2020 election, when Trump lost the popular vote by more than 7 million votes to President Biden; his false claims of election fraud and the way they fueled the Capitol Riot of Jan. 6, 2021; his many legal challenges; and his low poll ratings among the general public.
In an Economist/YouGov poll released last week, Trump was seen favorably by 40 percent of the general public, and unfavorably by 57 percent. Self-professed independent voters broke against him on that question by almost 2-to-1.
But the GOP primary electorate, by and large, just doesn’t buy it. They believe Trump can defy the polls and pundits again, just as he did when defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The New York Times poll asked Republican voters whether Trump or DeSantis was better “able to beat Joe Biden.”
Fifty-eight percent went for Trump compared to 28 percent for DeSantis.
Unless those figures change drastically, it’s tough to see how Trump loses the nomination battle.
Trump is not the inevitable nominee because….
The campaign has barely begun
Today’s intense media coverage of every step of every campaign tends to lead to sweeping predications.
Many of those forecasts might seem premature.
The Iowa caucuses are more than five months away — an eternity in politics. The Republican National Convention, at which the nominee will be formally crowned, is almost a year away.
For the moment, Trump likely accrues some benefit from his near-universal name recognition.
In another Economist/YouGov poll earlier this month, the proportion of Republicans who said they didn’t know enough to express an opinion of a particular candidate stood at 9 percent for DeSantis, 21 percent for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and 27 percent for former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
That gives those candidates room to grow, at least in theory, in a way that isn’t true for Trump.
Trump’s rivals could also hold out hope of game-changing moments during debate season, which is soon to begin. The first clash is set for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee.
Early polls are misleading
Trump’s rivals emphasize that predictions based on early polls in previous years were wrong.
That’s true — sort of. But it’s not quite so hard-and-fast a rule as the Trump skeptics claim.
In fact, in two of the last three contested Republican presidential primaries, the eventual winner was already leading the RealClearPolitics average at this point.
Trump had just burst into the lead in 2016, never to surrender it; and in 2012, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had already established a lead, which he would lose and regain. Romney is now a senator representing Utah.
The sole exception came in 2008, when Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) was in third place and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was leading the field. McCain went on to claim the nomination and Giuliani’s campaign sputtered into oblivion.
It’s not just a matter of polls. Campaigns can sometimes shift on a dime, as happened for the Democrats in 2020.
Then, Biden looked like a busted flush after trailing in fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire. A win in South Carolina — and a collective quiver of fear among moderate Democrats over the possibility of nominating Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — delivered the nomination to Biden.
Trump’s legal problems are getting worse
Even if Trump’s support has remained solid so far, it may not be destined to remain so.
What happens when the GOP has to focus fully on whether to nominate a candidate who could be convicted of serious offenses by the time Election Day rolls around?
Trump’s trial in the Mar-a-Lago matter has been set for May 20 next year.
Then there is the likelihood of Trump’s other troubles deepening.
An indictment is widely expected soon over Jan. 6. Trump himself wrote on Truth Social on Monday that he expected an indictment “any day now.”
In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) is wrapping up her probe into attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in that state. Decisions on charges are expected in the next few weeks.
Every one of those cases, regardless of the verdicts, will put unflattering details of Trump’s behavior back in the spotlight — and could, perhaps, give some Republican voters second thoughts about nominating him.
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| 2023-07-31T23:48:36
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Angus Cloud, breakout star of ‘Euphoria,’ is dead at 25
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Angus Cloud, the actor who starred as the drug dealer Fezco “Fez” O’Neill on the HBO series “Euphoria,” has died. He was 25.
Cloud’s publicist, Cait Bailey, said Cloud died Monday at his family home in Oakland, California. No cause of death was given.
In a statement, Cloud’s family said goodbye to “an artist, a friend, a brother and a son.
“Last week he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss,” the family said. “The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend. Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence.”
“We hope the world remembers him for his humor, laughter and love for everyone,” his family added.
Cloud hadn’t acted before he was cast in “Euphoria.” He was walking down the street in New York when casting scout Eléonore Hendricks noticed him. Cloud was resistant at first, suspecting a scam. Then casting director Jennifer Venditti met with him and series creator Sam Levinson eventually made him a co-star in the series alongside Zendaya for its first two seasons.
To some, Cloud seemed so natural as Fez that they suspected he was identical to the character — a notion that Cloud pushed back against.
“It does bother me when people are like, ‘It must be so easy! You get to go in and be yourself.’ I’m like, ‘Why don’t you go and do that?’ It’s not that simple,” Cloud told Variety. “I brought a lot to the character. You can believe what you want. It ain’t got nothing to do with me.”
The part made Cloud the breakout star of one the buzziest shows in television. He had a supporting role in his first film, “The Line,” a college drama starring Alex Wolff and John Malkovich that premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Festival. Cloud was recently cast to co-star in “Scream 6.” He’s also made cameos in music videos for Juice WRLD, Becky G and Karol G.
The third season of “Euphoria” hasn’t yet begun filming.
“We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Angus Cloud,” HBO said in a statement. “He was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and ‘Euphoria’ family. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time.”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T23:48:36
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Live call and webcast will occur on August 1 at 9:00 a.m. ET
SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TrueCar, Inc., (NASDAQ:TRUE) today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 in a stockholder letter, which is available HERE and on the TrueCar investor relations website at ir.truecar.com.
The company will host a call to discuss its second quarter results on Tuesday, August 1 at 9:00 a.m. ET/6:00 a.m. PT. A live webcast of the call will be available through TrueCar's Investor Relations website and the link below.
TrueCar Second Quarter 2023 Live Call and Webcast Details:
An archived version of the call will also be available upon completion on the Investor Relations section of TrueCar's website at ir.truecar.com.
TrueCar has used and intends to continue to use its Investor Relations website (ir.truecar.com), LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.
About TrueCar
TrueCar is a leading automotive digital marketplace that lets auto buyers and sellers connect to our nationwide network of Certified Dealers. With access to an expansive inventory provided by our Certified Dealers, we are building the industry's most personalized and efficient auto shopping experience as we seek to bring more of the process online. Consumers who visit our marketplace will find a suite of vehicle discovery tools, price ratings and market context on new, used and Certified Pre-Owned vehicles. When they are ready, shoppers in TrueCar's marketplace can connect with a Certified Dealer in our network, who shares our belief that truth, transparency and fairness are the foundation of a great auto shopping experience. As part of our marketplace, TrueCar powers auto-buying programs for over 250 leading brands, including AARP, Sam's Club, Navy Federal Credit Union and American Express.
TrueCar Investor Relations:
investors@truecar.com
TrueCar Public Relations:
Sara Morgan
Senior PR Manager
pr@truecar.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE TrueCar.com
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| 2023-07-31T23:48:37
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VATICAN CITY (AP) — When Pope Francis made the first foreign trip of his papacy, to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day in 2013, he urged young people to make a “mess” in their local churches, to shake things up even if it ruffled the feathers of their bishops.
As he embarks this week on another edition of World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, Francis in many ways has taken his own advice to heart. After 10 years as pope, Francis is accelerating his reform agenda and making revolutionary changes in personnel and policy that are definitely shaking things up.
Unencumbered by the shadow of Pope Benedict XVI, who died seven months ago, and despite recovering from a second intestinal surgery in as many years, the 86-year-old Francis is opening a frenetic second half of the year with his Portugal visit. He seems aware that he has a limited sweet spot of time to solidify the changes he believes are necessary for the 21st century church, and is looking to the next generation of faithful and leaders to execute them.
“The sense I get is that this is the consolidation phase of the pontificate,” said papal biographer Austen Ivereigh. “He’s laying the basis now, laying the ground, for the future.”
And no better place to put it on display than at a World Youth Day. The international rally, which St. John Paul II launched in 1986 to galvanize young Catholics in their faith, is expected to draw up to 1 million people for the first post-pandemic event of its kind. Francis’ perennial social justice concerns about climate change, social inequality and fraternity, as well as Russia’s war in Ukraine, are expected to be major themes.
Beyond Portugal, though, Francis’ multifold strategy for laying the groundwork for the future is coming together and will hit significant marks in the coming months.
His global canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics about their vision for the future comes to fruition this October with a big synod at the Vatican. The meeting is intended to give direction on such hot-button issues as the place of LGBTQ+ Catholics and women in the church, and for the first time will feature women and young people voting on proposals alongside bishops.
“I really think that for Pope Francis, he felt that ‘OK, now it’s mature’ and it would be good really to involve all the members, all the people in the synod as members” with the right to vote, said Sister Nathalie Becquart, who is one of the key synod organizers.
To then implement the vision that emerges from the synod, Francis has been naming a slew of unusually young bishops for key archdioceses — in his native Buenos Aires, Madrid and Brussels, among others. At the same time, he’s elevated several cardinals in their 50s — and in some cases their 40s — including the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon who is organizing World Youth Day.
Putting such young clerics in such important positions ensures a generation’s worth of likeminded leadership in the Vatican and archdioceses around the world. While not all are cookie-cutter proteges of Francis, many are seen as similarly pastorally minded and thus more game to implement his reforms, especially as the older generation of bishops and cardinals dies out.
After Francis is gone, the youngest of these new cardinals will have some three decades’ worth of local leadership and conclave votes to select future popes, suggesting a generational and ideological shift in the church leadership is very much underway.
Francis’ most important young “legacy” appointment was that of the Vatican’s new doctrinal czar, Argentine Cardinal-elect Victor Manuel Fernandez, 61. Francis’ theological ghostwriter ran into Vatican problems in the past over questions about his doctrinal orthodoxy, and his appointment sent shockwaves through the conservative and traditionalist wings of the church.
Fernandez sees his appointment as part of Francis’ longer-term agenda. “He is proposing a more inclusive church, more respectful of different ways of living, even of thinking,” Fernandez said in an interview.
Portuguese Cardinal-elect Americo Aguiar, who is in charge of World Youth Day, is another young churchman who also understands his appointment as part of a generational turning point for the Catholic hierarchy.
At age 49 he will become the second-youngest member of the College of Cardinals when he is installed Sept. 30. He is just six months older than the current youngest cardinal, whom Francis elevated this time last year: Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, head of the church in Mongolia where Francis will travel at the end of August.
“My reading of it is that this has to do with young people, it has to do with youth, it has to do with Portugal, it has to do with World Youth Day, it has to do with all of that,” Aguiar said in an interview. “I think that his objective and his underlining was exactly to send a signal to the young people, to every young person who is preparing the day, whether in Portugal or in the world, to feel identified with this decision.”
Francis said as much in his monthly prayer intentions for August, this time dedicated to the Lisbon event.
“In Lisbon, I would like to see a seed for the world’s future,” Francis said. “A world where love is at the center, where we can sense that we are sisters and brothers.”
His wish in many ways echoed his words at the 2013 World Youth Day in Rio, which now seem prescient in outlining many of the key pastoral messages Francis has emphasized over the past decade. Delivering a spontaneous, off-the-cuff exhortation to a gathering of Argentine pilgrims that was organized at the last minute, Francis urged the young to get out into the streets, spread their faith and “make a mess.”
“I want to see the church get closer to the people,” Francis said then, speaking in his native Spanish. “I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves, in our parishes, schools or structures.”
Realizing the radical nature of his message, Francis apologized to the bishops for what was about to come, even though in the 10 years since, he has only gone further than anyone could have imagined at the time.
“The true reform of the church, you know, is not a revolution bringing something completely from outside,” said Becquart, the French nun, as she reflected on Francis’ agenda. “It’s a path of change that is a way to unfold tradition, but in a very dynamic way.”
___
AP reporters Helena Alvez in Lisbon, Portugal, and Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires contributed.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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| 2023-07-31T23:48:37
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While the New York Mets are not undergoing a “fire sale,” they remain one of the most active sellers entering Tuesday’s trade deadline.
On Monday night, they sent outfielder Mark Canha and cash to the Milwaukee Brewers for pitching prospect Will Jarvis, the teams announced.
BUY METS TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETMASTER
Canha, who is in the second year of a two-year deal with a club option for 2024, had expressed anxiety over the Mets’ recent sell-off and what that meant for his status.
“The uncertainty is uncomfortable,” Canha said Sunday, according to the New York Post. “You want to know. It’s a helpless feeling because there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s always in the back of my mind. You compartmentalize things, but the worst part is not knowing. I try not to worry about it, but that’s not easy.”
Canha was signed prior to the 2022 season, and while it wasn’t a sexy move, he was a productive player who brought steadiness and a solid approach to the lineup, even in a downturn this year. He was batting .245/.343/.381 with six home runs and 29 RBI this season (102 OPS+) after a .266/.367/.403 line with 13 home runs and 61 RBI last year (123 OPS+). He has played all three outifield positions in his career, along with first base and third base. Milwaukee, which is a half-game ahead in the wild card, figures to use him in multiple spots as well.
Canha is earning $10.5 million this year and has an $11.5 million option and $2 million buyout for 2024.
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In Jarvis, the Mets get a pitcher who was recently called up to Triple-A. According to Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline, Jarvis moved into the Brewers’ top 30 prospects this year and was expected to be in the 16-20 range in the latest update. Baseball America ranked him 12th in the organization in its midseason update.
The 23-year-old fifth-round pick had a 3.63 ERA in 75 2/3 Double-A innings with 91 strikeouts and a 1.26 WHIP. “The caveat to Jarvis’ Double-A performance is the pre-tacked baseball the Southern League experimented with in the first half,” Baseball America said in its write-up. He has been hit hard in three Triple-A starts, giving up 17 hits, 14 earned runs, 12 walks against 11 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings
But the Mets get pitching that is close to major league ready, a need in the organization that recently has traded David Robertson and Max Scherzer for minor league hitters. Tommy Pham figures to soon join the departed Mets. But will Justin Verlander?
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Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Jimmy Hascup may be reached at jhascup@njadvancemedia.com.
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| 2023-07-31T23:48:41
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The moon will seem extra big and bright and thus be quite a sight this August, with a sturgeon supermoon visible on Tuesday and then a rare blue supermoon coming at the end of the month.
Two of the four supermoon events of 2023 will take place in August, with the first happening on Tuesday. On Aug. 30, there will be a blue supermoon, which won't happen again until 2032. Here's what you need to know so you can catch this summer's lunar double feature.
What is a supermoon?
A perigean full moon, better known as a supermoon, happens when the moon is full during the closest point in its orbit around Earth. This gives its appearance an extra pop, making it look up to 8% bigger and 16% brighter than a typical full moon, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.
According to NASA, the moon's typical orbit ranges between 226,000 and 251,000 miles from Earth, but variances can bring it a bit closer or farther away. Only the closest three or four approaches each year qualify as supermoons. The last one was on July 3.
Up first is the sturgeon supermoon on Tuesday
The sturgeon moon got its name from Native American tribes that found that the giant sturgeons from the Great Lakes were "most readily caught" at this time of the summer, according to Farmer's Almanac. It's also known as a green corn moon, grain moon, flying-up moon, harvest moon, ricing moon, black cherries moon and mountain shadow moon.
This spectacle will hit peak illumination at 2:32 p.m. ET. "That evening, look toward the southeast after sunset to catch a glimpse of the Sturgeon Moon rising," Farmer's Almanac says.
A sturgeon, for non-anglers, is an enormous fish with roots in the Jurassic Period that spends its life — up to 150 years — in both fresh and salt water. The white sturgeon is the largest freshwater fish in North America, reaching as long as 20 feet and nearly 2,000 pounds, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. But most of the sturgeons inhabiting the Great Lakes measure about 6 feet in length and weigh approximately 200 pounds.
The second show is a rare blue supermoon
While the term "supermoon" references the moon's orbit in relation to Earth, a blue moon has to do with frequency, referring to when there's a second full moon in a single calendar month, NASA says. "Blue moon" is also used to describe the third of four full moons in an astrological season.
The moon takes 27.3 days to orbit the Earth, but because of how the sun's light hits the satellite, it takes 29.5 days to complete its lunar cycle from one new moon to the next.
The term "once in a blue moon" is an idiom used to describe a rare but nonetheless recurring event. But according to NASA, blue moons aren't actually all that rare, recurring every two and a half years or so.
A blue supermoon, however, happens far less frequently. According to the website Time and Date, the last blue supermoon was in December 2009, and the next one won't be until August 2032.
This year's blue supermoon will peak at 9:36 p.m. ET on Aug. 30, Farmer's Almanac says, but you can use its moonrise calculator to see when the blue supermoon will be visible in your area.
The end-of-August supermoon will be the biggest and brightest of 2023 because the moon will be "exceptionally close" to Earth at 222,043 miles, according to Farmer's Almanac, nearly 17,000 miles closer than average.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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| 2023-07-31T23:48:41
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UNION COUNTY, Ark. (KTVE/KARD)–The Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee brought attention to two reportable findings in an audit of Union County’s financials in 2021.
The audit report states the purpose of the committee’s annual audits of every county and municipality in Arkansas is “to assist management in maintaining a satisfactory level of compliance with the state constitution, laws and regulation, and to improve internal control.”
One of the findings concerned a purchase made through the county judge’s office, of a truck for the county coroner. Loftin said the truck was purchased with funds from the highway budget, which was something that needed to be corrected.
“We bought a truck for the coroner. I paid for the truck out of the highway department and they didn’t like that. They wanted it paid for out of county general which funds the coroner’s budget so we just transferred the money back to the highway and that took care of that issue,” explained Loftin.
The second finding concerned Union County Tax Collector Karen Scott’s office. According to the audit, the collector voided a cash receipt on delinquent taxes, penalties and interest and issued a new receipt for a total of $1,710 less than the original. A deputy tax collector told auditors the receipt was voided so interest could be refunded via a cashier’s check, “however, documentation of a cashier’s check being issued could not be provided.”
“Later the same day, the Deputy Tax Collector deposited $1,710 in cash and maintained the cash was found in the Tax Collector’s vault,” the audit states.
Both entities have made corrections to their findings based on the audit’s recommendations.
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https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/finances-from-2021-corrected-after-legislative-audit/
| 2023-07-31T23:48:42
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‘Know that Adam did it’, unsealed documents detail new evidence in Kingsbury case
WINONA, Minn. (KTTC) – As the case of the murder of Madeline Kingsbury continues to unravel dozens of documents were unsealed by a judge. There are a number of statements from Madeline herself she made to friends.
One statement made by Madeline’s friend detailed that things between Fravel and Madeline had been rocky for years.
Months before her disappearance, Madeline paid a visit to her friend, Lauren Debois, in the hospital. During the visit, Madeline confided in Debois that “everything is bad with Adam at the house”. According to unsealed search warrants, Madeline asked for advice on how to get out of an abusive relationship. She told Debois “if anything happens to me, know that Adam did it. I would never leave my kids”.
Debois told investigators Fravel had been beating Madeline for years, and Madeline never reported it to avoid their children from getting involved. Her statement to police revealed Madeline applied for an apartment for her and the children and feared Fravel’s reaction.
These documents also name Madeline’s new boyfriend as Spencer Sullivan. The two met on Tinder in December of 2021, but only recently began talking again.
Sullivan stated that when Fravel discovered their relationship, Sullivan ended his contact with Madeline. According to Sullivan’s statement, when he and Madeline would get together, she would make her phone untraceable as Fravel would text her non-stop.
In a statement to investigators, Madeline’s close friend Katie Kolka said there have been issued with Fravel for a while. Madeline confided in Kolka about her relationship with Sullivan stating it was nice having someone who was finally nice to her.
Kolka was also told by members of the Fravel family to not get involved as Madeline’s disappearance was a family matter.
These statements led investigators to believe Madeline’s disappearance was involuntary and she was in great danger or potentially dead.
Copyright 2023 KTTC. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T23:48:42
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BEIJING (AP) — China imposed restrictions Monday on exports of long-range civilian drones, citing Russia’s war in Ukraine and concern that drones might be converted to military use.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government is friendly with Moscow but says it is neutral in the 17-month-old war. It has been stung by reports that both sides might be using Chinese-made drones for reconnaissance and possibly attacks.
Export controls will take effect Tuesday to prevent use of drones for “non-peaceful purposes,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. It said some drone exports still will be allowed.
China is a leading developer and exporter of drones. DJI Technology Co., one of the global industry’s top competitors, announced in April 2022 it was pulling out of Russia and Ukraine to prevent its drones from being used in combat.
“The risk of some high specification and high-performance civilian unmanned aerial vehicles being converted to military use is constantly increasing,” the Ministry of Commerce said.
Restrictions will apply to drones that can fly beyond the natural sight distance of operators or stay aloft more than 30 minutes, have attachments that can throw objects and weigh more than 7 kilograms (15½ pounds), according to the ministry.
“Since the crisis in Ukraine, some Chinese civilian drone companies have voluntarily suspended their operations in conflict areas,” the Ministry of Commerce said. It accused the United States and Western media of spreading “false information” about Chinese drone exports.
The government on Friday defended its dealings with Russia as “normal economic and trade cooperation” after a U.S. intelligence report said Beijing possibly provided equipment used in Ukraine that might have military applications.
The report cited Russian customs data that showed Chinese state-owned military contractors supplied drones, navigation equipment, fighter jet parts and other goods.
The Biden administration has warned Beijing of unspecified consequences if it supports the Kremlin’s war effort. Last week’s report didn’t say whether any of the trade cited might trigger U.S. retaliation.
Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared before the February 2022 invasion that their governments had a “no-limits” friendship. Beijing has blocked efforts to censure Moscow in the United Nations and has repeated Russian justifications for the attack.
China has “always opposed the use of civilian drones for military purposes,” the Ministry of Commerce said. “The moderate expansion of drone control by China this time is an important measure to demonstrate the responsibility of a responsible major country.”
The Ukrainian government appealed to DJI in March 2022 to stop selling drones it said the Russian ministry was using to target missile attacks. DJI rejected claims it leaked data on Ukraine’s military positions to Russia.
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https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-china-imposes-curbs-on-drone-exports-citing-ukraine-and-concern-about-military-use/
| 2023-07-31T23:48:44
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(KRON) – Angus Cloud, the actor best known for his role in the HBO series “Euphoria,” has been found dead at his family’s home in Oakland, according to his publicist, Cait Bailey.
In a statement sent to TMZ, the first outlet to report the death, Cloud’s family confirmed his passing:
“It is with the heaviest heart that we had to say goodbye to an incredible human today. As an artist, a friend, a brother and a son, Angus was special to all of us in so many ways,” the statement read. “Last week he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss. The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend. Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence.”
Variety also reported the actor’s death, citing his family.
A statement from HBO Monday read:
We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Angus Cloud. He was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and Euphoria family. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time.
Cloud hadn’t acted before he was cast in “Euphoria.” He was walking down the street in New York when casting director Jennifer Venditti noticed him. Series creator Sam Levinson made him the co-star of the series alongside Zendaya for its first two seasons.
The part made Cloud the breakout star of one the buzziest shows in television.
Cloud starred as Fezco on 16 episodes of the HBO show in addition to appearances in “North Hollywood,” “The Perfect Women” and music videos with Becky G and Juice WRLD.
He was recently cast to co-star in “Scream 6.”
Cloud was born in Oakland according to his IMDB page.
He was 25 years old. No cause of death was given
If you or anyone you know are struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by phone, chat or text.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/national-news/euphoria-actor-angus-cloud-found-dead-at-25/
| 2023-07-31T23:48:48
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Law on catalytic converters begins in August
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 6:15 PM CDT|Updated: 32 minutes ago
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – A law addressing issues related to catalytic converter theft will start on August 1, 2023.
It will charge people with criminal penalties if they own used catalytic converters that are not attached to a vehicle or supported identification information.
Owning one catalytic converter will be counted as a misdemeanor, two as a gross misdemeanor, and three or more as a felony.
The law will also make scrap metal dealers keep and check records of catalytic converters.
It will require sellers to prove that they own the catalytic converter along with their vehicle.
This is because reports of stolen converters have increased over the last several years.
Copyright 2023 KTTC. All rights reserved.
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https://www.kttc.com/2023/07/31/law-catalytic-converters-begins-august/
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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A Cyprus court on Monday sentenced a British man who killed his ailing wife in their retirement home to two years in prison, rejecting a defense request to hand down a suspended sentence after convicting him earlier of manslaughter.
State prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou said the three-judge bench imposed the prison term as a “deterrent,” although the judges had earlier ruled that David Hunter’s decision to suffocate his wife Janice in December 2021 was made on the spur of the moment because he could no longer stand seeing her weeping in pain.
Hadjikyrou told The Associated Press the court took into account that Hunter, 76, acted “out of love” to save his wife, who was suffering from a blood ailment when he closed her mouth and nose with his hands as she sat in a recliner in their Paphos home.
It also took into consideration Hunter’s advanced age and that he had no previous criminal record.
Justice Abroad, a group that defends Britons facing legal troubles in foreign countries, said in a statement that Hunter could be released by Aug. 18 after already having spent more than 18 months in custody.
“This has been a tragic case and difficult for all of those involved with it, but today’s decision was the right one and allows David and his family to grieve together,” said Michael Polak from Justice Abroad.
Hunter had faced a charge of premeditated murder, but the court found in its July 21 ruling that the prosecution didn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was premeditation in his actions.
The court had accepted witness testimony that Janice feared her blood ailment would develop into full-blown leukemia and had repeatedly pleaded with her husband to take her life because she didn’t want to share the fate of her sister, who died of the disease.
Hunter attempted to take his own life by consuming a large amount of pills after suffocating his wife, but medical staff saved his life.
The court cited expert testimony that Janice Hunter suffered from myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of blood cancer which “to a large degree” — as much as 45% — could turn into leukemia, although there was no proof that she had indeed developed the disease because no definitive tests were conducted.
But the court said both husband and wife believed that Janice would develop it because of her sister’s fate.
David Hunter’s earlier assurances to Janice that he would help her fulfill her wish to end her life and not suffer anymore didn’t indicate any premeditation, the court said.
Hadjikyrou said defense lawyers had rejected a plea deal in December 2022 for the defendant to plead guilty to manslaughter because they insisted the facts of the case include an agreement Hunter and his wife allegedly made for him to take her life.
The state prosecutor said the court didn’t accept that such an agreement had indeed been made. He said the Cyprus attorney-general has 10 days to decide whether to appeal the sentence.
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https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-cyprus-court-hands-british-man-a-2-year-prison-term-for-killing-his-ailing-wife-to-spare-her-pain/
| 2023-07-31T23:48:51
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida is seeing a rise in leprosy cases that could mean the disease has become endemic in the Sunshine State, according to a letter published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The letter, which was published in mid-July, said while leprosy is historically uncommon in the United States, cases more than doubled in the South over the last 10 years.
Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s Disease, is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae and is characterized by discolored patches of skin, ulcers, lumps and damage to the nerves.
The CDC said if untreated, the disease can progress to paralysis, blindness, the loss of one’s eyebrows, physical disfigurement, and even the “shortening of toes and fingers due to reabsorption.”
The Florida Department of Health said the disease first appeared in the state in 1921. The National Hansen’s Disease Program found that 159 cases of leprosy were reported in 2020. Florida was at the top of the list of states with the most new cases.
According to the Florida Health Charts, the state had 26 reported cases in 2019, 27 in 2020, and 14 in 2021.
“Central Florida, in particular, accounted for 81% of cases reported in Florida and almost one-fifth of nationally reported cases,” the letter said. “Whereas leprosy in the United States previously affected persons who had immigrated from leprosy-endemic areas, [about] 34% of new case-patients during 2015–2020 appeared to have locally acquired the disease.”
A disease becomes endemic when it occurs regularly within a certain community or area.
The CDC letter said multiple cases showed no sign of animal-to-human transmission or “traditionally known risk factors.”
One patient, a 54-year-old man in Central Florida, was treated at a dermatology clinic for a progressive rash caused by leprosy.
When asked, the man said he had lived in Central Florida his whole life, did not travel domestically or internationally, had no exposure to armadillos (which can carry the disease), had no contact with immigrants with endemic leprosy, and had no connection to someone with the disease.
Experts said there was some support for the theory that an increase in migration from other countries to the United States may have caused the disease to enter non-endemic areas. However, while leprosy cases are increasing in the U.S., the rate of new cases in people born outside of the U.S. had been on a decline since 2002.
“This information suggests that leprosy has become an endemic disease process in Florida, warranting further research into other methods of [local] transmission,” the letter said.
In the state of Florida, medical practitioners must report leprosy by the next business day so contact tracing can be done and reduce further infections.
“In our case, contact tracing was done by the National Hansen’s Disease Program and revealed no associated risk factors, including travel, zoonotic exposure, occupational association, or personal contacts,” the letter said. “The absence of traditional risk factors in many recent cases of leprosy in Florida, coupled with the high proportion of residents, like our patient, who spend a great deal of time outdoors, supports the investigation into environmental reservoirs as a potential source of transmission.”
The CDC said travel to Florida must now be considered when conducting contact tracing for leprosy in any state.
Leprosy, when contracted, can be treated by a combination of different antibiotics to prevent it from developing resistance to the medication, according to the CDC. Leprosy can be cured after one or two years of treatment.
However, even when cured, any nerve damage and disfigurement caused by the disease will be permanent.
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https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/national-news/leprosy-could-become-endemic-in-florida-as-cases-rise-cdc-says/
| 2023-07-31T23:48:54
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Local travel agency prepares for new visa travel requirements
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – If you’re looking to travel to Europe next year, there may be one more task to check off your list before you take off.
Starting sometime in 2024, nearly 1.5 billion people including Americans will have to apply for a travel visa when traveling to Europe.
Leaders with the European Travel Information and Authorization System say the new rule is part of an international effort to increase security.
Travel agencies in Rochester are gearing up for the switch. Some say they haven’t gotten too many questions on the visas.
They believe the process shouldn’t be too time consuming or difficult to complete.
“The application seems like it’s going to be very easy, but you need your passport, and you’ll need to know your trip dates and where you’re going. You have to put an application in online and they give it back to you in supposedly within a few hours,” Ed-Ventures Inc. Co-Owner Shannon Larsen said.
The travel visa is expected to cost around 7 Euros which translates about $7.70 USD. The visa lasts for 3 years.
Copyright 2023 KTTC. All rights reserved.
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https://www.kttc.com/2023/07/31/local-travel-agency-prepares-new-visa-travel-requirements/
| 2023-07-31T23:48:54
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HONG KONG (AP) — The discovery of a whale carcass in Hong Kong waters Monday sparked an outpouring of grief on social media, with many comments blaming the mammal’s death on sightseers.
Many residents speculated that the dead mammal was the same whale that had been attracting groups of sightseers since it was first spotted in the city’s waters in mid-July.
Compass Chan, scientific officer of Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong, didn’t confirm whether it was the same whale. But he said an initial check of the dead whale found a new wound on its back, in addition to two old wounds.
“It’s a pity,” Chan said at a media briefing. “I think it’s a good opportunity for everyone to think seriously about how we should get along with other species in nature.”
The whale’s cause of death would have to be confirmed by a necropsy, he said.
The carcass was in found in the waters in Sai Kung — a district known for its hiking trails, beaches and islands. Many residents blamed the death on sightseers who have flocked to those waters since a whale was spotted there about two weeks ago. Some posted a Canto-pop song whose title translates as “Whale Eater.”
The foundation had released a statement last week saying that crowds of people had been seen approaching the animal, which was believed to be a Bryde’s whale of about seven meters (23 feet) long. The foundation said at the time that the whale had propeller wounds and that nearby human activity could cause it stress and have life-threatening consequences.
The government said Monday night that the necropsy might take several days and that its results could help shape future policy for how to deal with whales in Hong Kong waters.
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https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-discovery-of-whale-carcass-in-hong-kong-sparks-anger-over-the-potential-damage-done-by-sightseers/
| 2023-07-31T23:48:58
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A man was shot by police after investigators say he fired shots outside a Jewish school in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday.
Police said the man, who has not yet been identified, was trying to get into the Margolin Hebrew Academy before fleeing the scene in a maroon pickup truck with California tags.
Officers spotted the vehicle in the Berclair area and initiated a traffic stop. Memphis Police said the man got out of the pickup truck with a gun in his hand and was shot by an officer.
The suspect was taken to Regional One in critical condition. No other injuries were reported.
The Margolin Hebrew Academy confirmed no one at the school was injured during the incident.
“We can confirm that no one has been hurt in any way, and everyone is now safe, thank G-d. Please look out for further communication with additional information to come. In the meantime, our campus is completely closed. We thank you for your understanding,” the academy said in a statement.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now investigating the situation.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools said all of their schools were on a precautionary lockdown as police investigated the situation.
Assistant Police Chief Don Crowe commended the Hebrew academy for their safety procedures and Memphis officers for finding the suspect so quickly.
“Today is a great example of very vigilant officers trying to protect the city. I personally believe that we have avoided a tragedy. I believe the suspect was going to harm somebody before the day was over,” he said.
MPD Chief CJ Davis also recognized the officers for their actions.
“I am proud of the vigilant and quick response of MPD officers who mitigated a potential mass shooting situation today. Many thanks to our neighboring jurisdictions for also providing critical information to stop the suspect’s actions,” she said.
Police said they cannot determine if the shooting at the Hebrew academy was a hate crime at this time.
Congressman Steve Cohen released a statement in response to the incident saying, “I am shocked to know of this senseless incident and relieved at report that no one at the school was injured. Antisemitism is on the rise in this country. I am saddened that an apparent act of violent antisemitism has come to Memphis. We all need to be on our guard against antisemitism and white nationalism.”
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https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/national-news/man-shot-by-police-after-he-fired-shots-outside-memphis-jewish-school-authorities/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:00
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Minnesota could provide a unique environment for a new cannabis industry
ST. PAUL, MN -- Cannabis becomes legal in Minnesota on Tuesday, August 1st, and while many are excited, experts say it’s important to remember the process will take some time.
“The first phase here in Minnesota, people are going to be able to grow eight plants at home for their individual use,” said Peter Morrell with the University of Minnesota. Morrell teaches a course on Cannabis.
The new law allows people to grow 8 plants at home; 4 of those can be mature.
While other states that have legalized the drug, like California, benefit from year-round nice weather, Minnesota winters will be hard on homegrown cannabis.
“There will be a growing season for marijuana in Minnesota,” said Morrell.
He said it’ll be similar to farming hemp. In the spring and summer, the plants will be easy to grow, but it’ll get tricky during the state’s long and cold winters.
“The rest of the cultivation of Minnesota is going to have to be indoors. And cannabis is a plant that likes relatively warm, moist environments,” said Morrell.
Providing the right temperature, lighting, and humidity could prove challenging—and expensive for home-growers.
“The energy usage of those things is going to be pretty high. And there’s a real concern if you just turn your basement into a marijuana grow operation. You’re setting up high humidity conditions and things that aren’t good for the house,” said Morrell.
Since marijuana is still federally illegal, it’s against the law to transport it across state lines, meaning imports won’t be an option.
Lawmakers believe it’ll take anywhere from 12-18 months for the first dispensaries to obtain licensing and begin to sell the product.
Copyright 2023 KTTC. All rights reserved.
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https://www.kttc.com/2023/07/31/minnesota-could-provide-unique-environment-new-cannabis-industry/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:01
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HONG KONG (AP) — A French man is believed to have fallen to his death from a high-rise residential building in Hong Kong last week, police said on Monday, with local media outlets identifying him as daredevil Remi Lucidi.
Police said a 30-year-old man’s body was found on a patio in the city’s upscale Mid-Levels area. He was believed to have engaged in extreme sports, police said, without identifying him.
Officers conducted an initial investigation and said he apparently fell from a rooftop. No suicide note was found at the scene, they said. The cause of his death would have to be verified by an autopsy, they added.
Local media, including the South China Morning Post, said the man was Lucidi, 30. The Post cited an unnamed source saying he was last seen alive knocking on a penthouse window on the 68th floor of a residential tower on Thursday evening. The Associated Press has not been able to verify his identity.
Lucidi, who used the name “Remi Enigma” on social media, last posted a photo of Hong Kong’s night view a week ago on Instagram and tagged the location as Times Square in shopping district Causeway Bay. The photo appeared to be taken from above.
Supporters mourned him on social media.
Lucidi posted to Instagram as he climbed various tall structures around the world and took selfies, including one he captioned, “Above the Sky, 425m” and tagged Dubai as the location.
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https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-french-daredevil-who-climbed-towers-around-world-believed-to-have-fallen-to-his-death-in-hong-kong/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:05
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WASHINGTON (AP) — X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has threatened to sue a group of independent researchers whose research documented an increase in hate speech on the site since it was purchased last year by Elon Musk.
An attorney representing the social media site wrote to the Center for Countering Digital Hate on July 20 threatening legal action over the nonprofit’s research into hate speech and content moderation. The letter alleged that CCDH’s research publications seem intended “to harm Twitter’s business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims.”
Musk is a self-professed free speech absolutist who has welcomed back white supremacists and election deniers to the platform, which he renamed X earlier this month. But the billionaire has at times proven sensitive about critical speech directed at him or his companies.
The center is a nonprofit with offices in the U.S. and United Kingdom. It regularly publishes reports on hate speech, extremism or harmful behavior on social media platforms like X, TikTok or Facebook.
The organization has published several reports critical of Musk’s leadership, detailing an increase in anti-LGBTQ hate speech as well as climate misinformation since his purchase. The letter from X’s attorney cited one specific report from June that found the platform failed to remove neo-Nazi and anti-LGBTQ content from verified users that violated the platform’s rules.
In the letter, attorney Alex Spiro questioned the expertise of the researchers and accused the center of trying to harm X’s reputation. The letter also suggested, without evidence, that the center received funds from some of X’s competitors, even though the center has also published critical reports about TikTok, Facebook and other large platforms.
“CCDH intends to harm Twitter’s business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims,” Spiro wrote, using the platform’s former name.
Imran Ahmed, the center’s founder and CEO, told the AP on Monday that his group has never received a similar response from any tech company, despite a history of studying the relationship between social media, hate speech and extremism. He said that typically, the targets of the center’s criticism have responded by defending their work or promising to address any problems that have been identified.
Ahmed said he worried X’s response to the center’s work could have a chilling effect if it frightens other researchers away from studying the platform. He said he also worried that other industries could take note of the strategy.
“This is an unprecedented escalation by a social media company against independent researchers. Musk has just declared open war,” Ahmed told the Associated Press. “If Musk succeeds in silencing us other researchers will be next in line.”
Messages left with Spiro and X were not immediately returned Monday.
It’s not the first time that Musk has fired back at critics. Last year, he suspended the accounts of several journalists who covered his takeover of Twitter. Another user was suspended for using publicly available flight data to track Musk’s private plane; Musk had initially pledged to keep the user on the platform but later changed his mind, citing his personal safety. He also threatened to sue the user before allowing him back on the platform under certain restrictions.
He initially had promised that he would allow any speech on his platform that wasn’t illegal. “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” Musk wrote in a tweet last year.
X’s recent threat of a lawsuit prompted concern from U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who said the billionaire was trying to use the threat of legal action to punish a nonprofit group trying to hold a powerful social media platform accountable.
“Instead of attacking them, he should be attacking the increasingly disturbing content on Twitter,” Schiff said in a statement.
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https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/national-news/musk-threatens-to-sue-researchers-who-documented-the-rise-in-hateful-tweets/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:06
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Old Kasson water tower will be removed
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 6:13 PM CDT|Updated: 33 minutes ago
KASSON, Minn. (KTTC) – A big project was underway in Kasson Monday morning as the Old Northeast water tower was being deconstructed.
City staff already drained the old water tower as the new one is operational.
A road closure was in effect on 7th Street Northeast, but residents were able to get through to access their driveways.
Copyright 2023 KTTC. All rights reserved.
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https://www.kttc.com/2023/07/31/old-kasson-water-tower-will-be-removed/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:07
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Hip-hop superstar Cardi B drew attention on social media over a video showing her lashing out during a Las Vegas performance after someone threw a drink at her while she was onstage.
Video circulated online over the weekend after a TikTok user posted footage of the incident at Drai’s Beachclub on the Las Vegas Strip.
The clip shows the hip-hop performer onstage during the event when someone in the audience hurls liquid, splashing the rapper. Cardi B can be seen retaliating by throwing her microphone into the audience in the direction from which the liquid was launched.
According to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, a woman came into a police station on Sunday to report a “battery.” She told officers that she had been struck by an item thrown from the stage on Saturday. Police said the incident had been documented, but no arrest or citations had been issued.
It’s unclear if that woman, who has not been identified, threw the drink at Cardi B.
The event made waves on social media as many excoriated the person who threw the liquid. They compared the situation to similar events that have happened in recent weeks: Bebe Rexha suffered a black eye after being struck by a cellphone, country singer Kelsea Ballerini was hit in the face by a bracelet, rapper Sexyy Red ended a show early when fans refused to stop throwing water bottles on stage, a fan threw their mother’s ashes at Pink while she was performing, Ava Max was slapped while performing in Los Angeles, and Harry Styles was hit in the eye with an object during a Houston performance.
Others noted humorously that although Cardi B had thrown her microphone, her song “Bodak Yellow” – and her recorded vocals – continued uninterrupted.
“The song didn’t stop. Y’all listening to an iPad,” said one X (formerly known as Twitter) user.
There was no indication if charges would be filed in the Cardi B incident.
Cardi B recently completed 15 days of community service in New York after pleading guilty to multiple charges filed against her following a 2018 fight at a strip club in Queens.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/national-news/woman-files-police-report-after-cardi-b-throws-microphone-into-las-vegas-crowd/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:12
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BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s embattled central bank governor stepped down on Monday under a cloud of investigation and blame for his country’s economic crisis as several European countries are probing his alleged financial crimes.
Riad Salameh, 73, ended his 30-year tenure as tearful employees took photos and a band played celebratory music with drums and trumpets as he left the building.
His four vice governors, led by incoming interim governor Wassim Mansouri, quickly pivoted to urge fiscal reforms for the cash-strapped country.
“We are at a crossroads,” Mansouri said at a news conference. “There is no choice, if we continue previous policy … the funds in the Central Bank will eventually dry up.”
Salameh kicked off his tenure as governor in 1993, three years after Lebanon’s 15-year civil war came to an end. It was a time when reconstruction loans and aid was pouring into the country, and Salameh was widely celebrated for his role in Lebanon’s recovery.
Now, he leaves his post a wanted man in Europe, accused by many in Lebanon of being responsible for the country’s financial downfall since late 2019.
It was a steep fall for a leader whose policies were once hailed for keeping the currency stable. Later, many financial experts saw him as setting up a house of cards that crumbled as the country’s supply of dollars dried up on top of decades of rampant and corruption and mismanagement from Lebanon’s ruling parties.
The crisis has pulverized the Lebanese pound and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese, as the banks ran dry of hard currency.
With the country’s banks crippled and public sector in ruins, Lebanon for years has run on a cash-based economy and relied primarily on tourism and remittances from millions in the diaspora.
Mansouri said previous policies that permitted the central bank to spend large sums on money to prop up the Lebanese state is no longer feasible. He cited years of spending billions of dollars to subsidize fuel, medicine, wheat and more to keep the value of the Lebanese pound stable.
He proposed a six-month reform plan that included passing long awaited reforms such as capital controls, a bank restructuring law, and the 2023 state budget.
“The country cannot continue without passing these laws,” Mansouri explained. “We don’t have time, and we paid a heavy price that we cannot pay anymore.”
The reforms Mansouri mentioned are among those the International Monetary Fund set as conditions on Lebanon in April 2022 for a bailout plan, though he did not mention the IMF. None have been passed.
France, Germany, and Luxembourg are investigating Salameh and his associates over myriad financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and the laundering of $330 million. Paris and Berlin issued Interpol notices to the central bank chief in May, though Lebanon does not hand over its citizens to foreign countries.
Salameh has repeatedly denied the allegations and insisted that his wealth comes from his previous job as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, inherited properties, and investments. He has criticized the probe and said it was part of a media and political campaign to scapegoat him.
In his final interview as governor, Salameh said on Lebanese television that the responsibility for reforms lies with the government.
“Everything I did for the past 30 years was to try to serve Lebanon and the Lebanese,” he said. “Some — the majority —- were grateful, even if they don’t want to say so. And there are other people, well, may God forgive them.”
Salameh’s departure adds another gap in crisis-hit Lebanon’s withering and paralyzed institutions. The tiny Mediterranean country has been without a president for nine months, while its government has been running in a limited caretaker capacity for a year. Lebanon has also been without a top spy chief to head its General Security Directorate since March.
Lebanese officials in recent months were divided over whether Salameh should stay in his post or whether he should step down immediately in the remaining months of his tenure.
Caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam wanted an immediate stepdown, given that the central bank chief had a “legal question mark.”
“I cannot explain anyone holding on to a person while a nation is failing unless there is something wrong or hidden,” Salam told The Associated Press.
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https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-lebanons-central-bank-governor-ends-30-year-tenure-under-investigation-during-dire-economic-crisis/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:12
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Ribbon-cutting and blessing ceremony held for new blood donor center
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – The Mayo Clinic Blood Donor Program hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new Blood Donor Center at Northwest Rochester.
The event celebrated the opening of the new facility and featured a sister from the Rochester Franciscan.
The sister gave blessings to the facility, the members of the blood donor program, and the event attendees.
The new blood donor center helps provide Mayo Clinic’s blood product needs and was first opened in June.
Mayo Clinic officials say the building is intended to increase access for people who wish to donate blood.
The facility currently has five donor chairs, but there are plans to double the amount.
”We are going to double that shortly, so our goal is to really provide many opportunities for our community members to donate. And right now we are accepting whole blood donations, but in the future we want to also expand to platelets and other blood products.”
The new facility is located on 4115 West Frontage Road in Northwest Rochester.
Copyright 2023 KTTC. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T23:49:13
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https://www.kttc.com/2023/07/31/ribbon-cutting-blessing-ceremony-held-new-blood-donor-center/
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All subjects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
OUACHITA PARISH (KTVE/KARD) — According to officials, a former employee of the Ouachita Parish School Board has been charged with Theft, which stems from misuse of funds allegations that totaled approximately $67,616.02.
On November 19, 2022, members of the Ouachita Parish School Board reported misuse of funds by an employee. According to court documents, the employee was identified as Jason A. Howze.
During the investigation, authorities learned that Howze allegedly used debit/credit cards that belonged to the School Board to make online purchases for items that were used at a family business and for personal use.
Authorities confirmed that the purchases were allegedly made at Amazon.com, and occurred from December 2020 through October 2022. Approximately $611.96 was used in 2020, $17,453.47 was used in 2021, and $49,550.59 was used in 2022.
According to court documents, Howze was accused of fabricating business invoices for work that was never performed at Ouachita Parish Schools. Records confirmed that checks were allegedly made payable to a local business, which is owned by a relative of Howze. According to officials, the checks were cashed through an account at a local bank.
Authorities went on to obtain a search warrant for financial records on the account.
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https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/ouachita-parish/former-employee-of-the-ouachita-parish-school-board-accused-of-misusing-nearly-70k-in-funds/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:18
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BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military-controlled government has extended the state of emergency it imposed when the army seized power from an elected government 2 1/2 years ago, state-run media said Monday, forcing a further delay in elections it promised when it took over.
MRTV television said the National Defense and Security Council met Monday in the capital, Naypyitaw, and extended the state of emergency for another six months starting Tuesday because time is needed to prepare for the elections. The NDSC is nominally a constitutional government body, but in practice is controlled by the military.
The announcement amounted to an admission that the army does not exercise enough control to stage the polls and has failed to subdue widespread opposition to military rule, which includes increasingly challenging armed resistance as well as nonviolent protests and civil disobedience, despite the army having a huge advantage in manpower and weapons.
The state of emergency was declared when troops arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and top officials from her government and members of her National League for Democracy party on Feb. 1, 2021. The takeover reversed years of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule in Myanmar.
The military said it seized power because of fraud in the last general election held in November 2020, in which Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory while the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party did poorly. Independent election observers said they did not find any major irregularities.
The army takeover was met with widespread peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with lethal force, triggering armed resistance that U.N. experts have described as a civil war.
As of Monday, 3,857 people have been killed by the security forces since the takeover, according to a tally kept by the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The army-enacted 2008 constitution allows the military to rule the country under a state of emergency for one year, with two possible six-month extensions if preparations are not yet completed for new polls, meaning that the time limit expired on Jan. 31 this year.
However, the NDSC allowed the military government to extend emergency rule for another six months in February, saying the country remained in an abnormal situation. The announcement on Monday is the fourth extension.
The state of emergency allows the military to assume all government functions, giving the head of the ruling military council, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, legislative, judicial and executive powers.
Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the National Unity Government, an underground group that calls itself the country’s legitimate government and serves as an opposition umbrella group, said the extension of emergency rule was expected because the military government hasn’t been able to annihilate the pro-democracy forces.
“The junta extended the state of emergency because the generals have a lust for power and don’t want to lose it. As for the revolutionary groups, we will continue to try to speed up our current revolutionary activities,” Nay Phone Latt said in a message Monday.
The military government labels the NUG and its armed wing, the People’s Defense Forces, as “terrorists.”
Monday’s report did not specify when the polls might be held, saying only that they would occur after the goals of the state of emergency are accomplished.
According to the constitution, the military must transfer government functions to the president, who heads the NDSC, six months before the polls. That would mean Acting President Myint Swe, a retired general.
The military originally announced that new polls would be held a year after its takeover and later said they would take place in August 2023. But the extension of the emergency in February made that timing impossible.
The MRTV report said Myint Swe told members of the NDSC that the government needs to do more to achieve stability and the rule of law to prepare for the election.
Critics say the polls will be neither free nor fair under the military-controlled government, which has shut independent media and arrested most of the leaders of Suu Kyi’s party.
Her party was dissolved along with 39 other parties by the election commission in March for failing to re-apply under a political party registration law enacted by the military government early this year. The law makes it difficult for opposition groups to mount a serious challenge to army-backed candidates.
Suu Kyi, 78, is serving prison sentences totaling 33 years after being convicted in a series of politically tainted cases brought mostly by the military government.
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https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-myanmars-military-led-government-extends-state-of-emergency-forcing-delay-in-promised-election/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:19
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Trump attempt to derail Georgia election investigation rejected by judge
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge on Monday rejected an attempt by former President Donald Trump to keep a Georgia district attorney from prosecuting him and from using certain evidence gathered in her investigation into potential illegal meddling in the 2020 election in the state.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney didn’t mince words in his nine-page ruling, which said Trump lacked the legal grounds to bring the challenge before any indictment has been filed in the case. Any harm alleged by Trump and by Cathy Latham, a Republican fake elector from Georgia who had joined his motion, is “either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized,” the judge wrote.
The alleged harms “are insufficient because, while being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation,” McBurney wrote.
In a caustic footnote, seemingly nodding to Trump’s status as the dominant frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination for president despite having been indicted twice already, the judge added: “And for some, being the subject of a criminal investigation can, à la Rumpelstiltskin, be turned into golden political capital, making it seem more providential than problematic.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat, has strongly suggested that she is likely to seek charges in the case in the coming weeks. While she has not directly said she plans to seek charges against the Republican former president, she has repeatedly said no one is above the law.
Monday’s ruling came in response to a motion filed in March by Trump’s Georgia-based legal team that said a special grand jury seated to help Willis investigate “involved a constant lack of clarity as to the law, inconsistent applications of basic constitutional protections for individuals being brought before it, and a prosecutor’s office that was found to have an actual conflict, yet continued to pursue the investigation.”
The special grand jury did not have the power to indict, but it did issue subpoenas and heard from some 75 witnesses while meeting from May to December last year and issued a final report with recommendations for Willis.
Trump attorney Drew Findling did not immediately respond Monday to text and voicemail messages seeking comment.
Latham was one of 16 Georgia Republicans who met at the state Capitol in December 2020 and signed a certificate declaring falsely that Trump had won the presidential election and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. Willis last year informed them that they were targets of her investigation, though some have since reached immunity deals with her team.
McBurney said there are no grounds to disqualify Willis from pursuing her investigation and likely prosecution, saying she had not acted improperly.
“The drumbeat from the District Attorney has been neither partisan (in the political sense) nor personal, in marked and refreshing contrast to the stream of personal invective flowing from one of the movants,” he wrote, no doubt referring to Trump.
Trump’s attorneys several weeks ago took another stab at barring Willis from prosecuting him and getting the special grand jury’s report tossed out with twin filings against Willis and McBurney in Fulton County Superior Court and the Georgia Supreme Court. Explaining this extraordinary action, they cited the fact that McBurney had yet to rule on their earlier motion and Willis’ indication that she would soon seek charges in the case.
The state Supreme Court unanimously declined to intervene, dismissing the petition.
A judge from neighboring Cobb County was assigned to consider the other petition after the chief judge of the Fulton County Superior Court recused himself and the other judges on that bench from hearing the matter involving McBurney. He has set a hearing for Aug. 10.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T23:49:19
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https://www.kttc.com/2023/07/31/trump-attempt-derail-georgia-election-investigation-rejected-by-judge/
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OUACHITA PARISH, La. (KTVE/KARD) — The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development informs the public that on US 165 Northbound Ouachita Parish at the railroad grade crossing will be closed and will have a lane shift to the Southbound side. The closure will begin on Friday, August 4, 2023, at 6:00 PM and will reopen on Sunday, August 6, 2023, at 6:00 PM. We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience.
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https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/ouachita-parish/road-closure-us-165-northbound-ouachita-parish-to-experience-road-closure-beginning-august-4th/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:24
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3 siblings killed after vehicle clips car, smashes into tree, catches fire, family says
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. (WANF/Gray News) - Three siblings were among four people killed in a crash early Friday morning in Georgia, according to officials.
The three siblings were identified by a family member in a GoFundMe account set up to help pay for funeral expenses.
According to the GoFundMe, 14-year-old Jovany, 18-year-old Brenda, and 21-year-old Carl Pamphile were all killed just after 1 a.m. Friday on I-75 South near the I-285 exit after their vehicle clipped another car, crashed into a tree, and caught fire.
The family’s beloved dog Zoe also died in the crash, according to the GoFundMe.
The fourth person killed in the crash was in the same vehicle as the three other victims but has not yet been identified by officials. According to WANF, the unidentified victim was female.
Donations can be made to the Pamphile family’s GoFundMe account to help support memorial costs for the siblings.
Officials said the person in the clipped car was taken to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. No further information has been released on their condition.
The crash remains under investigation.
Copyright 2023 WANF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/31/3-siblings-killed-after-vehicle-clips-car-smashes-into-tree-catches-fire-family-says/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:24
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3 siblings killed after vehicle clips car, smashes into tree, catches fire, family says
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. (WANF/Gray News) - Three siblings were among four people killed in a crash early Friday morning in Georgia, according to officials.
The three siblings were identified by a family member in a GoFundMe account set up to help pay for funeral expenses.
According to the GoFundMe, 14-year-old Jovany, 18-year-old Brenda, and 21-year-old Carl Pamphile were all killed just after 1 a.m. Friday on I-75 South near the I-285 exit after their vehicle clipped another car, crashed into a tree, and caught fire.
The family’s beloved dog Zoe also died in the crash, according to the GoFundMe.
The fourth person killed in the crash was in the same vehicle as the three other victims but has not yet been identified by officials. According to WANF, the unidentified victim was female.
Donations can be made to the Pamphile family’s GoFundMe account to help support memorial costs for the siblings.
Officials said the person in the clipped car was taken to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. No further information has been released on their condition.
The crash remains under investigation.
Copyright 2023 WANF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wagmtv.com/2023/07/31/3-siblings-killed-after-vehicle-clips-car-smashes-into-tree-catches-fire-family-says/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:24
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BEIJING (AP) — A zoo in eastern China is denying suggestions some of its bears might be people in costumes after photos of the animals standing like humans circulated online.
The sun bears from Malaysia are smaller than other bears and look different but are the real thing, the Hangzhou Zoo said Monday on its social media account.
“Some people think I stand like a person,” said the posting, written from the bear’s point of view. “It seems you don’t understand me very well.”
An employee who answered the phone at the zoo declined to talk about the bears but said visits were being arranged for reporters Monday to see them.
Internet users questioned whether the zoo’s bears were real after photos circulated showing one standing upright on slender hind legs.
“Because of the way they stand, some people online question whether they are ‘humans in disguise,’” the newspaper Hangzhou Daily said.
Sun bears are the size of large dogs, standing at most 1.3 meters (50 inches) tall on their hind legs, compared with up to 2.8 meters (9 feet) for grizzlies and other species, according to the zoo.
Other Chinese zoos have been accused of trying to pass off dogs dyed to look like wolves or African cats, and donkeys painted to look like zebras.
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https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-our-bears-are-real-a-chinese-zoo-says-denying-they-are-humans-in-disguise/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:25
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WEST MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — It’s Tuesday, July 31, 2023, and NBC 10 will be live at 6 PM, but here’s what’s happening in your Ark-La-Miss in 60 seconds.
Posted:
Updated:
WEST MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — It’s Tuesday, July 31, 2023, and NBC 10 will be live at 6 PM, but here’s what’s happening in your Ark-La-Miss in 60 seconds.
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https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/your-ark-la-miss-in-60-seconds/your-arklamiss-in-60-seconds-july-31-2023/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:30
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Strong, Ark. (KTVE/KARD) — A memorial ceremony was held on Saturday, July 29th, 2023 that honored two African American Civil War Veterans 158 years after their service. South Arkansas historical figure and Navy Ret. Carolyn Williams paid tribute to her great grandfathers, Private Daniel Tarlton Powell – Confederate Prisoner of War, and Private Wesley White – Declared Substitute in the Union Army.
A gripping tale of family divided serving different masters fighting the same war, Williams showcased artifacts from the war and shared heart-felt stories that her family endured during that time.
Attendees included legendary singer Coco York, guest speaker Rev. Jackson Iverson, LTC. Ret, and family members of Powell and White.
Let’s take a look at some behind-the-scenes footage of the memorial service.
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https://www.myarklamiss.com/www-myarklamiss-com-news-south-arkansas/nbc-10-news-first-at-4-happy-glad-african-american-civil-war-veterans-honored-after-158-years/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:30
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PYEONGTAEK, South Korea (AP) — The dogs bark and stare as Kim Jong-kil approaches the rusty cages housing the large, short-haired animals he sells for their meat. Kim opens a door and pets one dog’s neck and chest.
Kim says he’s proud of the dog meat farm that has supported his family for 27 years, but is upset over growing attempts by politicians and activists to outlaw the business, which he is turning over to his children.
“It’s more than just feeling bad. I absolutely oppose these moves, and we’ll mobilize all our means to resist it,” Kim, 57, said in an interview at his farm in Pyeongtaek city, just south of Seoul.
Dog meat consumption is a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula and has long been viewed as a source of stamina on hot summer days. It’s neither explicitly banned nor legalized in South Korea, but more and more people want it prohibited. There’s increasing public awareness of animal rights and worries about South Korea’s international image.
The anti-dog meat campaign recently received a big boost when the country’s first lady expressed her support for a ban and two lawmakers submitted bills to eliminate the dog meat trade.
“Foreigners think South Korea is a cultural powerhouse. But the more K-culture increases its international standing, the bigger shock foreigners experience over our dog meat consumption,” said Han Jeoungae, an opposition lawmaker who submitted legislation to outlaw the dog meat industry last month.
Prospects for passage of an anti-dog meat law are unclear because of protests by farmers, restaurant owners and others involved in the dog meat industry. Surveys suggest that one in three South Koreans opposes such a ban, though most people don’t eat dog meat anymore.
Dogs are also eaten in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, North Korea and some African countries, including Ghana, Cameroon, Congo and Nigeria.
Earlier this month, Indonesian authorities announced the end of dog and cat slaughter at an animal market on the island of Sulawesi following a yearslong campaign by local activists and world celebrities. The Tomohon Extreme Market will become the first such market in Indonesia to go dog and cat meat-free, according to the anti-animal cruelty group Humane Society International.
South Korea’s dog meat industry receives more international attention because of its reputation as a wealthy, ultra-modern democracy. It is also the only nation with industrial-scale farms. Most farms in South Korea have more than 500 dogs, according to a dog farmers’ association.
During a recent visit, Kim’s farm, one of the country’s largest with 7,000 dogs, appeared relatively clean but there was a strong stench in some areas. All dogs are kept in elevated cages and are fed with food waste and ground chicken. They are rarely released for exercise and typically are sold for meat one year after they are born.
Kim said two of his children, age 29 and 31, are running the farm with him, and that business has been going pretty well. He said the dogs bred for their meat are different from pets, an idea opposed by activists.
It’s difficult now to find dog meat restaurants in Seoul’s bustling downtown, though many still exit in the countryside.
“I only earn one-third of the money I used to make. Young people don’t come here. Only ailing old people come for lunch,” said Yoon Chu-wol, 77, the owner of a dog meat restaurant in Seoul’s Kyungdong traditional market. “I tell my elderly customers to come and eat my food more frequently before it’s banned.”
Farmers also face growing scrutiny from officials and increasingly negative public opinion. They complain that officials visit them repeatedly in response to complaints filed by activists and citizens over alleged animal abuse and other wrongdoing. Kim said more than 90 such petitions were filed against his farm during a recent four-month span.
Son Won Hak, general secretary of the dog farmers’ association, said many farms have collapsed in recent years because of falling dog meat prices and weaker demand. He thinks that’s a result of activist campaigns and unfair media reports focusing on farms with inferior conditions. Some observers, however, say consumption of dog meat was already declining, with younger people staying away from it.
“Quite honestly, I’d like to quit my job (as a farmer) tomorrow. We can’t confidently tell our children that we’re raising dogs,” Son said. “When my friends called me, they said ‘Hey, are you still running a dog meat farm? Isn’t it illegal?’”
The number of farms across South Korea has dropped by half from a few years ago to about 3,000 to 4,000, and about 700,000 to 1 million dogs are slaughtered each year, a decline from several million 10 to 20 years ago, according to the dog farmers’ association. Some activists argue that the farmers’ estimates are an exaggeration meant to show their industry is too big to destroy.
In late 2021, South Korea launched a government-civilian task force to consider outlawing dog meat at the suggestion of then-President Moon Jae-in, a pet lover. The committee, whose members include farmers and animal rights activists, has met more than 20 times but hasn’t reached any agreement, apparently because of disputes over compensation issues.
Agriculture officials refused to disclose the discussions in the closed-door meetings. They said the government wants to end dog meat consumption based on a public consensus.
In April, first lady Kim Keon Hee, the wife of current President Yoon Suk Yeol, said in a meeting with activists that she hopes for an end to dog meat consumption. Famers responded with rallies and formal complaints against Kim for allegedly hurting their livelihoods.
Han, the lawmaker, said she “highly positively appraises” influential figures speaking out against dog meat consumption.
Han said her bill offers support programs for farmers who agree to close their farms. They would be entitled to money to dismantle their facilities, vocational training, employment assistance and other benefits, she said.
Ju Yeongbong, an official of the farmers’ association, said farmers want to continue for about 20 more years until older people, their main customers, die, allowing the industry to naturally disappear. Observers say most farmers are also in their 60s to 70s.
Borami Seo, a director of the South Korea office of the Humane Society International, said she opposes the continued killing of millions of dogs for such a prolonged period. “Letting this silent cruelty to (dogs) be committed in South Korea doesn’t make sense,” Seo said.
“(Dog meat consumption) is too anachronistic, has elements of cruelty to animals and hinders our national growth,” said Cheon JinKyung, head of Korea Animal Rights Advocates in Seoul.
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https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-south-korean-dog-meat-farmers-push-back-against-growing-moves-to-outlaw-their-industry/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:31
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Angus Cloud, breakout star of ‘Euphoria,’ is dead at 25
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Angus Cloud, the actor who starred as the drug dealer Fezco “Fez” O’Neill on the HBO series “Euphoria,” has died. He was 25.
Cloud’s publicist, Cait Bailey, said Cloud died Monday at his family home in Oakland, California. No cause of death was given.
In a statement, Cloud’s family said goodbye to “an artist, a friend, a brother and a son.
“Last week he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss,” the family said. “The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend. Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence.”
“We hope the world remembers him for his humor, laughter and love for everyone,” his family added.
Cloud hadn’t acted before he was cast in “Euphoria.” He was walking down the street in New York when casting scout Eléonore Hendricks noticed him. Cloud was resistant at first, suspecting a scam. Then casting director Jennifer Venditti met with him and series creator Sam Levinson eventually made him a co-star in the series alongside Zendaya for its first two seasons.
To some, Cloud seemed so natural as Fez that they suspected he was identical to the character — a notion that Cloud pushed back against.
“It does bother me when people are like, ‘It must be so easy! You get to go in and be yourself.’ I’m like, ‘Why don’t you go and do that?’ It’s not that simple,” Cloud told Variety. “I brought a lot to the character. You can believe what you want. It ain’t got nothing to do with me.”
The part made Cloud the breakout star of one the buzziest shows in television. He had a supporting role in his first film, “The Line,” a college drama starring Alex Wolff and John Malkovich that premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Festival. Cloud was recently cast to co-star in “Scream 6.” He’s also made cameos in music videos for Juice WRLD, Becky G and Karol G.
The third season of “Euphoria” hasn’t yet begun filming.
“We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Angus Cloud,” HBO said in a statement. “He was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and ‘Euphoria’ family. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time.”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/31/angus-cloud-breakout-star-euphoria-is-dead-25/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:35
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Primary elections scheduled with only a few planned in the Northeast Kansas area
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Primary elections are set for Tuesday, August 1, but the Northeast Kansas region only has a few elections planned.
Shawnee Co. only has one race on the ballot for Topeka’s city council district six-seat. The candidates vying for the seat are Bob Beers, Marcus Miller, Zachary Surritt, and Craig Dunstan. The current district six representative, Hannah Naeger, is not seeking re-election.
The top two will advance to the November ballot, where all even-numbered council districts are up for vote. A primary election was also scheduled for Wabaunsee and Coffey counties. Both have one school board primary race on the ballot.
District six runs from SW 6th to 29th streets, between Gage and Washburn Ave (Displayed in the image below).
Click here to learn more about the primary elections or check your voter registration.
Copyright 2023 WIBW. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T23:49:36
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Topeka school installs structure aimed to protect threatened species
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Hundreds of chimney swifts fly through Northeast Kansas every year in search of roosting areas.
“Years ago there was a chimney at Randolph Elementary that the chimney swifts used and we would go watch them, but we never contacted the school or let them know that their chimney was being used. They put in a new HVAC system and capped the chimney,” said Sue Newland, president of the Topeka Audubon Society.
Newland said the small birds are in danger because they are losing their habitat.
“Chimney swifts, like most birds, are in decline because of loss of trees that they use to nest, loss of chimneys, and people cap them.”
So Newland and her organization partnered with Topeka Collegiate to help with the conservation efforts.
“We decided to try to build a chimney swift tower. It’s approximately 12 feet tall. Only one pair will nest in it, but during migration hundreds will come and roost there.”
Shelly Robinson is a teacher at Topeka Collegiate.
She hopes the chimney swift tower will serve as a refuge for the birds as well as a teaching tool for the students.
“Hopefully they’ll nest and we’ll have some young that are born here,” Robinson said. “It is one of my plans as a technology person to incorporate a camera inside that tower and we can livestream and the students can watch and see what’s happening inside that tower as well.”
Newland is optimistic the chimney swifts will find their way to their new home soon.
“We’re hoping that the chimney swifts will use it already. Sometimes it can take two or three years for the chimney swifts to decide to use a new location. So we don’t know for sure, but if they use it for roosting this year then they will definitely use it for nesting next year. As we have been standing here, some chimney swifts have flown over.”
Copyright 2023 WIBW. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/31/topeka-school-installs-structure-aimed-protect-threatened-species/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:37
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Trump attempt to derail Georgia election investigation rejected by judge
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge on Monday rejected an attempt by former President Donald Trump to keep a Georgia district attorney from prosecuting him and from using certain evidence gathered in her investigation into potential illegal meddling in the 2020 election in the state.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney didn’t mince words in his nine-page ruling, which said Trump lacked the legal grounds to bring the challenge before any indictment has been filed in the case. Any harm alleged by Trump and by Cathy Latham, a Republican fake elector from Georgia who had joined his motion, is “either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized,” the judge wrote.
The alleged harms “are insufficient because, while being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation,” McBurney wrote.
In a caustic footnote, seemingly nodding to Trump’s status as the dominant frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination for president despite having been indicted twice already, the judge added: “And for some, being the subject of a criminal investigation can, à la Rumpelstiltskin, be turned into golden political capital, making it seem more providential than problematic.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat, has strongly suggested that she is likely to seek charges in the case in the coming weeks. While she has not directly said she plans to seek charges against the Republican former president, she has repeatedly said no one is above the law.
Monday’s ruling came in response to a motion filed in March by Trump’s Georgia-based legal team that said a special grand jury seated to help Willis investigate “involved a constant lack of clarity as to the law, inconsistent applications of basic constitutional protections for individuals being brought before it, and a prosecutor’s office that was found to have an actual conflict, yet continued to pursue the investigation.”
The special grand jury did not have the power to indict, but it did issue subpoenas and heard from some 75 witnesses while meeting from May to December last year and issued a final report with recommendations for Willis.
Trump attorney Drew Findling did not immediately respond Monday to text and voicemail messages seeking comment.
Latham was one of 16 Georgia Republicans who met at the state Capitol in December 2020 and signed a certificate declaring falsely that Trump had won the presidential election and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. Willis last year informed them that they were targets of her investigation, though some have since reached immunity deals with her team.
McBurney said there are no grounds to disqualify Willis from pursuing her investigation and likely prosecution, saying she had not acted improperly.
“The drumbeat from the District Attorney has been neither partisan (in the political sense) nor personal, in marked and refreshing contrast to the stream of personal invective flowing from one of the movants,” he wrote, no doubt referring to Trump.
Trump’s attorneys several weeks ago took another stab at barring Willis from prosecuting him and getting the special grand jury’s report tossed out with twin filings against Willis and McBurney in Fulton County Superior Court and the Georgia Supreme Court. Explaining this extraordinary action, they cited the fact that McBurney had yet to rule on their earlier motion and Willis’ indication that she would soon seek charges in the case.
The state Supreme Court unanimously declined to intervene, dismissing the petition.
A judge from neighboring Cobb County was assigned to consider the other petition after the chief judge of the Fulton County Superior Court recused himself and the other judges on that bench from hearing the matter involving McBurney. He has set a hearing for Aug. 10.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/31/trump-attempt-derail-georgia-election-investigation-rejected-by-judge/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:38
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A state-run oil giant in the United Arab Emirates said Monday it has moved up its target for achieving net zero emissions in its operations to 2045, as the country prepares to host U.N. climate talks later this year.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, known as ADNOC, said it is also committed to acheiving zero methane emissions by 2030. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.
Earlier this year, ADNOC earmarked $15 billion for an array of green initiatives, including the development of hydrogen power, carbon capture facilities and the planting of mangroves.
The company had previously committed to net zero — the balancing of greenhouse gas emissions to the point that the amount removed from the atmosphere is equal to the amount emitted — by 2050.
The UAE, an OPEC member that produces over 3 million barrels of crude oil a day, will host the global climate talks known as COP28 from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in Dubai. It has appointed Sultan al-Jaber, the head of ADNOC, to chair the meeting, a move that drew criticism from some environmentalists.
Al-Jaber has emphasized the need to cut emissions, rather than end fossil fuel use itself. It’s prompted fears that he might seek loopholes for untested carbon-capture technologies and so-called offsets that experts say distract from the need to end the release of greenhouse gases.
Governments agreed eight years ago in Paris to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) — ideally no more than 1.5C (2.7F). With average global temperatures already about 1.2C (2.2F) above pre-industrial levels, experts say the window to meet the more ambitious target is closing fast and even the less stringent goal would be missed if emissions aren’t slashed sharply soon.
The UAE, a global hub for business and tourism, has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050 — a target that remains difficult to assess and one that authorities haven’t fully explained how they’ll reach. Analysts believe the Emirates is trying to maximize its profits as the world turns to renewables.
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https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-uae-state-oil-firm-moves-up-net-zero-climate-target-to-2045/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:38
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TSCPL prepares kids with the skills needed to tackle the first day of kindergarten
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - The Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library is getting young children prepared to show of their skills on the first day of school.
Courtney Stemler has been bringing her kids to the library’s events for years.
She said she appreciates the opportunities for her kids to be able to interact with other children.
“The pandemic was really rough for social skills and so we’ve tried to do as much of that as possible since things opened back up and it was safer to do that,” said Stemler. “So, he needed more social skills development than my youngest does, so this was a way to keep it going without school being in session.”
Encouraging the kids through play helps them to develop language, motor, and social skills.
Mother of three, Lindsay Allen said that her 5-yea-old is excited for kindergarten.
“I think the sharing and the taking turns aspect will be something that this helps him with for being in a class full of kids,” said Allen.
Youth Services Specialist, Kathy Ellison said programs such as Family Place Learn and Play provide education and fun combined to ease the kids into their elementary years.
“One of our impact goals here at the library, for the community, is for us to have children prepared for kindergarten,” said Ellison. This is one of the activities that we do to provide that.”
Parents said that sessions like this can set the state for success as children begin their educational journey.
“So, there’s a lot of social skill development and language development that comes with playgroups and playing with your kids and interacting with them,” said Stemler. “So, the library is a really good place to do that where they also get to play with other kids in age appropriate situations with age appropriate toys and then they also get to learn some problem solving skills along the way.”
Sessions continue through the end of August.
You can drop by the Lingo Story Room with your little ones anytime between 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. on Monday’s and Friday’s.
Copyright 2023 WIBW. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/31/tscpl-prepares-kids-with-skills-needed-tackle-first-day-kindergarten/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:44
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian ballistic missiles slammed into an apartment complex and a university building in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown Monday, killing six people and wounding 75 others as the blasts trapped residents beneath rubble, Ukrainian officials said.
One of the two missiles that hit the central city of Kryvyi Rih destroyed part of an apartment building between the fourth and ninth floors, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. Video showed black smoke billowing from corner units and burned out or damaged cars on a tree-lined street.
The dead included a 10-year-old girl and her mother, according to Zelenskyy. More than 350 people were involved in the rescue operation, he said in a Telegram post.
The morning attack also destroyed part of a four-story university building.
The strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown, which has been hit in the past, happened a day after the Ukrainian president seemed to warn of more attacks inside Russia.
“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia — to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” Zelenskyy said Sunday in his nightly video address.
It was not clear whether the missile strikes were in retaliation for his comments.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian artillery strike on the partially occupied Donetsk province killed two people and wounded six others in the regional capital, according to Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed leader of the illegally annexed province.
A bus was also hit as Ukrainian forces shelled the city of Donetsk multiple times Monday, Pushilin said.
Elsewhere, in the Russian-held part of the Zaporizhzhia region, three people were killed and 15 were wounded in Ukrainian shelling that hit a store in the village of Basan, according to the Russia-backed acting regional governor, Yevgeny Balitsky.
Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.
The ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive, deploying weaponry supplied by Western allies and aimed at driving Russian forces out of occupied areas, intensified last week. At the same time, Ukraine has sought to take the war deep into Russia, reportedly using drones to hit targets as far away as Moscow.
Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia and Moscow-annexed territory, especially Crimea, have become more frequent. The latest strike, on Sunday, damaged two office buildings a few miles (kilometers) from the Kremlin. Ukrainian officials did not acknowledge the attack.
Russia tightened security in the aftermath of that attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, describing the assault as an “act of desperation.”
“The Kyiv regime is in a very, very difficult situation,” Peskov said, “as the counteroffensive is not working out as planned.”
“It’s obvious that the multibillion-dollar resources that have been transferred by NATO countries to the Kyiv regime are actually being spent inefficiently,” Peskov said.
“This raises big questions in Western capitals and great discomfort among taxpayers in Western countries.”
Analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin is wagering that Western support for Kyiv will wane as the war drags on and costs mount.
Another Ukrainian drone targeted a district police department early Monday in Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, but there were no casualties, the local governor said.
Bombarding populated areas with missiles, artillery and drones has been a hallmark of Moscow’s military strategy throughout the war, and that approach has continued during the Ukrainian counteroffensive that started in June.
Russian officials insist they take aim only at legitimate military targets, but Ukraine and its supporters say mass civilian deaths during previous attacks are evidence of war crimes.
“In recent days, the enemy has been stubbornly attacking cities, city centers, shelling civilian objects and housing,” Zelenskyy said. “But this terror will not frighten us or break us.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Monday that his forces have increased the intensity of attacks on Ukrainian military facilities.
It was not immediately clear which military facilities he was referring to, as Russia’s recent missile strikes have hit civilian infrastructure.
In the southern city of Odesa, Russian strikes in recent weeks targeted port infrastructure and grain silos, after Moscow broke off an export agreement for Ukrainian grain. The Ukrainian foreign ministry estimated Monday that about 180,000 metric tons of grain have been destroyed by Russia in the past nine days.
Russian shelling Monday also killed four civilians and wounded 17 in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. A 70-year-old woman was killed by shelling in her home in a Kharkiv province village near Izyum, authorities said.
In eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province, one person was reported killed and seven people were wounded after Russia shelled 12 cities and villages, according to Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko.
In other developments Monday, China introduced restrictions on the export of long-range civilian drones. Authorities cited the war in Ukraine and concern that drones could be converted for military purposes.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government is friendly with Moscow, but says it’s neutral in the war. It has been stung by reports that both sides might be using Chinese-made drones for reconnaissance and possibly attacks.
Meanwhile, Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said Monday that his Wagner Group is not currently recruiting fighters.
In an audio message published on a Telegram channel associated with the Wagner chief, Prigozhin said the company had suspended recruitment as there is currently “no shortage of personnel.”
Prigozhin previously agreed with Western estimates that he lost more than 20,000 men in the long battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
Prigozhin last month led a short-lived mutiny against Moscow, demanding a leadership change in the Russian military. In an attempt to control him, Russian authorities insisted that Wagner fighters can only return to Ukraine if they join Russia’s regular army.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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| 2023-07-31T23:49:45
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"Euphoria" has lost a beloved star.
Actor Angus Cloud—who played Fezco on the HBO drama—died at his family's home in Oakland, California, his family told E! News July 31. He was 25.
"It is with the heaviest heart that we had to say goodbye to an incredible human today," his family shared. "As an artist, a friend, a brother and a son, Angus was special to all of us in so many ways."
His loved ones said Cloud had been mourning the recent death of his dad.
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"Last week, he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss," the statement continued. "The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend. Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence."
Celebrity Deaths: 2023's Fallen Stars
His family added, "We hope the world remembers him for his humor, laughter and love for everyone. We ask for privacy at this time as we are still processing this devastating loss."
Entertainment News
His cause of death was not shared.
In the wake of his death, HBO released a tribute to the star. "We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Angus Cloud," it read. "He was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and Euphoria family. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time."
Cloud was expected to star in season three, after his character Fez narrowly survived a shooting at the end of season two.
"I can't wait to get back to work with everyone," Cloud told E! News in October. "I feel like it's been way too long. I just can't wait to see everyone and working on set again. Definitely not sure what to expect for Fezco, but knowing ["Euphoria" creator] Sam [Levinson], it will be good."
After growing up in Oakland, Cloud was discovered on the streets of Brooklyn and cast in "Euphoria," his breakout role. "I was with some friends," he told Variety last year. "We were just hanging out."
While he quickly became a fan favorite on the high school-set show—which also stars Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Maude Apatow and more—he emphasized that he's not exactly like his stoner onscreen persona.
"It does bother me," Cloud said, "when people are like, ‘It must be so easy! You get to go in and be yourself.' I'm like, ‘Why don't you go and do that?' It's not that simple. I brought a lot to the character. You can believe what you want. It ain't got nothing to do with me."
He explained that acting was actually more difficult than he originally thought.
"It surprised me," he said, "because I'm not in there sweating and busting my ass, but mentally, I get off work, get in the car and go, ‘S--t! What the f--k? I'm tired as f--k, and not even doing s--t!' I'm a pretty easygoing, goofy guy. But Fezco doesn't laugh or smile too much."
A decade before his death, Cloud survived another near-death experience when he fell into a construction pit while he was walking at night. "I woke up 12 hours later at the bottom," he told Variety. "I was trapped."
Cloud, who was 15 at the time, eventually climbed out and took a bus to his mom's house.
"It was hella hard to climb out," he said, "because my skull was broken, but my skin wasn't, so all the bleeding was internal, pressing up against my brain."
The actor wanted to simply go to sleep when he got home, but he credits his mom for thinking on her feet.
"I would have died," he shared. "She gave me some water, and I started throwing up hella mouthfuls of crimson red blood. Shit was crazy. So then my mama took me to the children's hospital, and they saved my life. That's what the scar's from. They cut my head open, they put some screws and a plate over where I broke my skull and—s--t, sealed me back up, and that was that."
In addition to "Euphoria," Cloud appeared on "North Hollywood" and "The Line," as well as music videos for Becky G, Karol G and Juice WRLD.
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https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/euphoria-actor-angus-cloud-dead-at-25/3615259/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:47
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3 siblings killed after vehicle clips car, smashes into tree, catches fire, family says
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. (WANF/Gray News) - Three siblings were among four people killed in a crash early Friday morning in Georgia, according to officials.
The three siblings were identified by a family member in a GoFundMe account set up to help pay for funeral expenses.
According to the GoFundMe, 14-year-old Jovany, 18-year-old Brenda, and 21-year-old Carl Pamphile were all killed just after 1 a.m. Friday on I-75 South near the I-285 exit after their vehicle clipped another car, crashed into a tree, and caught fire.
The family’s beloved dog Zoe also died in the crash, according to the GoFundMe.
The fourth person killed in the crash was in the same vehicle as the three other victims but has not yet been identified by officials. According to WANF, the unidentified victim was female.
Donations can be made to the Pamphile family’s GoFundMe account to help support memorial costs for the siblings.
Officials said the person in the clipped car was taken to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. No further information has been released on their condition.
The crash remains under investigation.
Copyright 2023 WANF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/31/3-siblings-killed-after-vehicle-clips-car-smashes-into-tree-catches-fire-family-says/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:47
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief on Monday welcomed Kenya’s offer to “positively consider” leading a multinational police force to help combat Haiti’s gangs and improve security in the violence-wracked Caribbean nation.
Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry sent an urgent appeal last October for “the immediate deployment of a specialized armed force, in sufficient quantity” to stop the gangs. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has been appealing unsuccessfully since then for a lead nation to help restore order to Latin America’s most impoverished country.
Kenya’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday said its offer includes a commitment to send 1,000 police to help train and assist the Haitian National Police “restore normalcy in the country and protect strategic installations.” The ministry said it was responding to a request from the Friends of Haiti group of nations.
“Kenya stands with persons of African descent across the world, including those in the Caribbean, and aligns with the African Union’s diaspora policy and our own commitment to Pan Africanism, and in this case to `reclaiming of the Atlantic crossing,’” the ministry said.
Haiti’s gangs have grown in power since the July 7, 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and are now estimated to control up to 80% of the capital. The surge in killings, rapes and kidnappings has led to a violent uprising by civilian vigilante groups.
U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Guterres “welcomes Kenya’s positive response to his call” and expresses gratitude to Kenya for its “solidarity.”
The secretary-general calls on the U.N. Security Council to support a non-U.N. multinational operation in Haiti “and encourages member states, particularly from the region, to join forces from Kenya” in supporting the country’s police, Haq said.
Kenya’s Foreign Ministry said its proposed deployment will crystalize once the Security Council adopts a resolution giving a mandate for the force, and other Kenyan constitutional processes are undertaken.
A Kenyan task force plans to undertake an assessment mission to Haiti within the next few weeks which “will inform and guide the mandate and operational requirements of the mission,” it said.
Guterres, who visited Haiti in early July, called afterward for a robust international force to help the Haitian National Police “defeat and dismantle the gangs.”
He said the estimate by the U.N. independent expert for Haiti, William O’Neill, that up to 2,000 additional anti-gang police officers are needed is no exaggeration. O’Neill, who concluded a 10-day trip to Haiti in July, is an American lawyer who has been working on Haiti for over 30 years and helped establish the Haitian National Police in 1995.
The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on July 14 asking Guterres to come up with “a full range of options” within 30 days to help combat Haiti’s armed gangs, including a non-U.N. multinational force, a possible U.N. peacekeeping force, additional training for the Haitian National Police and providing support to combat illegal arms trafficking to the country.
Compounding the gang warfare, which has spread outside the capital, is the country’s political crisis: Haiti was stripped of all democratically elected institutions when the terms of the country’s remaining 10 senators expired in early January.
The Security Council resolution, co-sponsored by the United States and Ecuador, “strongly urges” all countries to prohibit the supply, sale or transfer of weapons to anyone supporting gang violence and criminal activities.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Kenyan President William Ruto on Monday including about Kenya’s positive consideration to leading a multinational force in Haiti, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
The United States takes over the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council for August on Tuesday, and Miller said the U.S. and Ecuador, as a first step, are going to introduce a resolution to authorize a non-U.N. multinational mission.
The second step is an assessment mission by Kenya, “which they plan to do in the coming days,” and then there will be talks with other countries about what additional assistance is needed, he said.
“We are committed to finding the resources to support this multinational force,” Miller said. “We’ve been a large humanitarian donor to relief efforts in Haiti for some time, and we have worked behind the scenes to find the lead nation to run this multinational force and are pleased that that has been successful.”
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Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report from Washington and Evelyne Musambi from Nairobi
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| 2023-07-31T23:49:49
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Washburn Rural Marching Band prepares for upcoming exhibition in the summer heat
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - A local marching band prepares to host an upcoming exhibition in the blazing summer heat.
Over the next two weeks, the Washburn Rural Junior Blues Marching Band will hold their yearly band camp.
Weather permitting, the 170-plus member band will practice outside in the mornings — focusing on marching. As the day heats up in the afternoon, the band will practice inside — primarily focusing on musical performance.
“We are outside in the mornings only. Sometimes we go in a little ahead of noon if it’s really hot or humid,” said Washburn Rural band director Luke Chaffee. “We are inside all afternoon. So it’s an eight-hour day. Four hours outside in the morning, four hours inside in the afternoon.”
The summer heat is expected to get worse this week.
“Especially when there are no clouds out — the sun — it really, really beams on you,” said Washburn Rural senior Max Gutierrez. “The heat really gets you. The turf gets hot too.”
But the Junior Blues are prepared. Hydration stations and shaded areas are available.
“For me, I just drink a lot of water,” said Washburn Rural senior Nick Chaffee. “And honestly, if you are focused enough, you really don’t think about how hot it is.”
On Thursday, August 10, rehearsals will conclude when the band hosts an exhibition performance at 6:00 p.m. Attendees will also have the opportunity to grab a bite before the show. Food trucks will be available around 5:00 p.m.
Copyright 2023 WIBW. All rights reserved.
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| 2023-07-31T23:49:50
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A trio of top House Republicans are demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) hand over information pertaining to Hunter Biden’s plea deal, which has been on hold for days after a judge raised concerns about the agreement.
GOP lawmakers have railed for weeks against the plea agreement, calling it a “sweetheart deal” and arguing Hunter Biden was given preferential treatment because he is the son of President Biden.
The three Republicans escalated those attacks in a Monday letter, asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to answer a list of questions and provide documents and communications about Hunter Biden’s “unusual” plea agreement — the first request from Congress parsing the particulars of the deal.
“The Department’s unusual plea and pretrial diversion agreements with Mr. Biden raise serious concerns — especially when combined with recent whistleblower allegations—that the Department has provided preferential treatment toward Mr. Biden in the course of its investigation and proposed resolution of his alleged criminal conduct,” the letter reads.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) all signed the letter. The House GOP for months has been investigating the Biden family’s foreign business dealings and its associates. Lawmakers have previously made requests regarding the investigation into Hunter Biden led by U.S. attorney for Delaware David Weiss.
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
Hunter Biden’s plea deal was put on hold last week after the judge overseeing the case questioned the parameters of the agreement. As part of the deal, Biden was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay income taxes. He also reached a diversion agreement relating to an unlawful possession of a weapon charge.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee, raised concerns about the setup of the two-part deal and the scope of Biden’s immunity, and she ultimately gave both parties more time to explain why the deal — which she has to greenlight — should be accepted.
The three House Republicans pointed to some of Noreika’s concerns in their letter, including provisions in the pretrial diversion agreement that would shield Hunter Biden from future criminal charges on the gun charge or other federal charges within the scope of the agreement.
“Taken individually, each of the provisions discussed above raises serious concerns about how the Department has handled this matter. But when considered together, the provisions appear to be even more troubling,” the GOP chairmen wrote.
They claimed the Justice Department “shifted a broad immunity provision, which benefits Mr. Biden, from the plea agreement to the pretrial diversion agreement apparently to prevent the District Court from being able to scrutinize and reject that immunity provision.”
“And then, the Department has benefitted Mr. Biden by giving up its unilateral ability to bring charges against him if it concludes that he has breached the pretrial diversion agreement. Instead, it has placed upon itself the burden of getting the District Court’s permission to bring charges even though the District Court normally has no role in policing a pretrial diversion agreement in that manner,” they continued. “So, the District Court is apparently removed from the equation when it helps Mr. Biden and inserted into the equation when it helps Mr. Biden.”
The trio of Republicans also voiced concerns about the DOJ saying the investigations into Hunter Biden are “ongoing,” arguing it is an effort to shield the DOJ from congressional oversight. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) raised a similar claim last month.
“How can Hunter Biden plead guilty, no jail time, and the DOJ say there’s still an investigation, try to withhold information to the House? That’s unacceptable and will not stand,” McCarthy told reporters at the time.
The committee chairmen are asking Garland to provide information on other pretrial diversion agreements similar to Biden’s, in addition to “a generalized description of the nature of the Department’s ongoing investigation(s) concerning Hunter Biden.”
The letter from Jordan, Comer and Smith came the same day lawmakers heard testimony from former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer behind closed doors. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) told reporters Archer said Hunter Biden included President Biden on a number of phone calls that presumably included business associates, a detail that Republicans will likely use in their attempts to link the president to his son’s business dealings.
Goldman said the testimony did not prove President Biden was involved in his son’s business dealings. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), however, said he thought Archer’s testimony “implicate[s] the president.”
That testimony came nearly two weeks after two IRS whistleblowers testified publicly, claiming that authorities slow-walked the case into Hunter Biden. The two whistleblowers previously spoke to the Ways and Means Committee behind closed doors, and those transcripts were released shortly after Hunter Biden’s plea agreement was announced.
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https://www.yourbasin.com/hill-politics/republicans-demand-information-from-doj-on-hunter-biden-plea-deal/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:51
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https://www.yourbasin.com/hill-politics/republicans-demand-information-from-doj-on-hunter-biden-plea-deal/
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https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/camden-county-police-receive-major-upgrade-in-camera-technology/3615230/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:53
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Fannin County searches for new commissioner
BONHAM, Texas (KXII) - The search is on for a new Fannin County Commissioner after the previous one left her term early for a new county position.
The vacant seat is for prescient one, which covers the northwest parts of the county.
Fannin County Judge, Newt Cunningham, said the position is complex and requires a special person.
“We set budgets, we agree on contracts, we agree on ordinances and it takes a lot of understanding of law,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham said he is looking for someone who has those skills while also being a good administrator. The applicant must also meet the 12-month Texas and six-month county residency requirements.
Cunningham solely controls the selection process.
“I nominate the person appoint them, and then if they are desiring to hold the position, continue in the position they’re going to need to run in the elections,” Cunningham said.
The term of the vacated seat expires at the end of 2024. The person appointed would fill the position for about 16 months.
Cunningham said it will be a difficult decision because it will impact the future of Fannin County. To help, he has selected a panel of 36 community leaders to help review applications.
“I want to make certain I get all the input to pick the right one,” Cunningham.
Applications can be found online and are due this Thursday. Cunningham aims to have the position filled next month.
Copyright 2023 KXII. All rights reserved.
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https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/31/fannin-county-searches-new-commissioner/
| 2023-07-31T23:49:54
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https://www.kxii.com/2023/07/31/fannin-county-searches-new-commissioner/
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