Joe Biden Cracks Down On Unlicensed Gun Dealers

The administration of President Joe Biden moved Thursday to close loopholes that allow people to sell guns without a dealer license, which would require them to perform background checks on purchasers.

The Justice Department released detailed rules that follow the Biden-backed Safer Communities Act passed by Congress in June 2022 in reaction to the large number of shooting deaths -- especially in mass shootings -- across the country.

The rules take aim at gaps in the law that have allowed gun sellers to avoid obtaining licenses by claiming not to make money from transactions or by saying their lack of a storefront or insignificant sales volume exempts them from dealer requirements.

It also tightens the rules on collectors who buy and sell guns, and on failed gun dealers selling their inventories.

The aim, the Justice Department said, is to force more firearms sellers to check the backgrounds of prospective purchasers in a national database in order to screen out felons and others forbidden from owning guns.

It also allows the government to better track registered firearms from owner to owner.

"An increasing number of individuals engaged in the business of selling firearms for profit have chosen not to register as federal firearms licensees, as required by law," said Steven Dettelbach, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"Instead, they have sought to make money through the off-book, illicit sale of firearms," he said in a statement.

The Justice Department said that unlicensed dealing undermines federal rules aimed at increasing gun safety.

According to NGO the Gun Violence Archive, 44,374 people were killed by guns across the United States last year.

Gun deaths have slowed slightly this year, at 28,793 for the first eight months, according to the Archive.

Suicides account for about 55 percent of all gun deaths.

 

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US Charges Man With Smuggling Military Tech To Russia

A Russian-German man arrested earlier this week in Cyprus was charged Thursday by US authorities with seeking to export American-made electronics to Russia for military use.

The US Department of Justice said Arthur Petrov, 33, violated export controls in a scheme to procure American microelectronics for a Russian firm which provides "critical electronics components" to the Russian military.

Petrov used a cover company in Cyprus, telling US vendors that the electronics were to be used in Cyprus or other authorized countries for fire security systems, the Justice Department said.

The things he sought to buy were microcontrollers and integrated circuits that cannot be lawfully exported to Russia, and Petrov was aware of that, it said.

The ultimate buyer, according to the Justice Department, was a Saint Petersburg company named Electrocom VPK, which supplies electronic components for Russian weapons makers.

Petrov was arrested in Cyprus on August 26, at the request of the United States, the department said.

It did not say if a formal extradition request had been submitted.

He is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, smuggling, wire fraud, and money laundering.

Several of the charges bring up to 20 years in prison.

The United States, along with European and other democratic countries, has imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered the devastating invasion of pro-Western Ukraine.

"Those who evade our export control restrictions to support Putin's brutal war machine will be held accountable," said Assistant US Secretary of Commerce Matthew Axelrod in a statement.

 

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US Army Doctor Charged With Sexual Misconduct

The US Army has charged a military doctor with sexual misconduct, a spokeswoman said Thursday, in a major case that reportedly involves more than 20 alleged victims.

Major Michael Stockin -- an anesthesiologist who joined the Army in May 2013 and is stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the state of Washington -- was charged earlier this week, Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer Bocanegra said.

"The general nature of the charges include abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice," she said.

"The charges will now be reviewed for legal sufficiency by an independent officer at a pretrial preliminary hearing pursuant to federal law."

The Washington Post, which first reported that Stockin was under investigation, said this could be one of the military's largest sexual abuse cases in years, and that it involves at least 23 alleged victims.

Stockin's attorney Robert Capovilla told the Post, prior to charges being filed, "I would simply ask that everyone simply reserve judgment until he has the right to be heard, until his defense team is given all of the evidence, and until due process plays its course."

According to Pentagon data, there were 8,942 reports of sexual assault involving military personnel as either perpetrators or victims in fiscal year 2022 -- an increase of one percent from the year before.

Last month, President Joe Biden signed an order changing the way the US military investigates sexual assault cases by shifting power away from unit commanders to independent prosecutors.

Among the powers that now fall exclusively to prosecutors is deciding whether or not to lodge charges of serious crimes.

The White House called it the "most significant transformation of the military justice system" since it was established in 1950, ensuring that cases will be "fully independent" from the chain of command.

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9 Soldiers Killed In Pakistan In Suicide Blast

Nine soldiers were killed in a restive western region of Pakistan on Thursday after a suicide bomber rammed his motorbike into their military convoy and detonated, the army and officials said.

Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic uptick in militancy since the Taliban returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan two years ago, with attacks spiking along border regions.

A "motorcycle borne suicide bomber exploded himself" in Pakistan's Bannu district, 61 kilometres (38 miles) from the border, the army's media wing said.

The rugged border region has long been a hive of militant activity, with hardline organizations such as Pakistan's home-grown Taliban group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), using the largely unpoliced border to evade detection and stage assaults.

"The suicide bomber was riding a motorcycle and he rammed his bike into a truck in a military convoy," provincial minister Feroze Jamal Shah told AFP.

Pakistan's army said a further five soldiers were injured in the attack near the town of Jani Khel, however Shah put the figure at 20.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar called the incident "a cowardly terrorist act".

The TTP is the largest threat in the region and Islamabad has claimed its fighters are finding safe haven in Afghanistan.

In recent months the group has waged a campaign against security officials, including police officers.

In January, a TTP-linked suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque inside a police compound in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing more than 80 officers.

The Islamic State group has also been active in the country, claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing last month that killed at least 54 people, including 23 children, at a political party gathering.

Pakistan was once plagued by almost daily bombings, but a major military clearance operation in the former tribal areas starting in 2014 largely restored order.

The seven remote districts that border Afghanistan, of which Bannu is one, were later brought under the control of Pakistani authorities after the passage of legislation in 2018.

Analysts say militants in the former tribal areas have become emboldened since the return of Taliban authorities in Afghanistan.

Pakistan meanwhile is facing a worsening security situation, an economic downturn and political turmoil with elections for a new government due in the coming months, but no date yet formally announced.

 

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"Adjusted" To Jail Life, Pak Ex-PM Imran Khan Tells His Legal Team: Report

Pakistan's former premier Imran Khan has told his legal team that he had "adjusted" himself in the environment of the high-security Attock District Jail, a media report said on Thursday.

Mr Khan, 70, in his interaction with his legal team, led by Salman Safdar, shared some interesting revelations, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The former premier is happy over the changing of his status after the suspension of his conviction in the Toshakhana corruption case and now he has been given some additional facilities. He was also happy to get a pencil and paper for writing for the first time, the paper reported.

For the first time, Mr Khan saw himself in the mirror during his imprisonment. He also shaved for the first time since his incarceration, it added.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief has completed reading his Islamic books and now he has asked his legal team to send him writings on political history. It has been learnt that he had been provided a TV set on which only the state-run PTV channel could be seen but he usually did not watch it.

Mr Khan also expressed his disappointment over the Supreme Court returning his petition -- challenging his 'political victimisation' and denial of 'right to fair trial' over rejected pre-arrest bail pleas -- by raising objections after five days of filing it. He believes that the top court should have taken up his petition.

His lawyer, Salman Safdar, has requested the special court to conduct his client's trial at a regular one with access given to the general public, enabling them to attend the proceedings to ensure fairness and dispensation of justice, the paper said.

The lawyer has also challenged the notification of the law ministry expressing "no objection" in conducting a jail trial.

He asked the court to set aside the notification and declare it as illegal, unlawful as well as against the principles of a fair trial and proceedings guaranteed under Article 10-A of the Constitution, according to the paper.

Mr Khan was sent to jail on August 5 after his conviction in the Toshakhana case but the Islamabad High Court suspended his sentence on August 29 and ordered his release. But he was not set free as a special court set up to try him in the violation of the official secret act decided to remand him in jail until September 13.

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North Korea Says It Conducted "Tactical Nuclear Strike Drill"

North Korea has said it fired two short-range ballistic missiles as part of a "tactical nuclear strike drill" prompted by US-South Korean military exercises, state media reported Thursday.

The missile launches -- first reported by the South Korean military -- came amid Washington and Seoul's annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which always infuriate Pyongyang.

The North's army said in a statement that the missiles were fired late Wednesday in a "tactical nuclear strike drill simulating scorched earth strikes at major command centers and operational airfields" across the border in South Korea.

The "tactical ballistic missiles" were fired towards the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, just before midnight, South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted Seoul's military as saying.

"The drill is aimed to send a clear message to the enemies," the army said in the statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Pyongyang has conducted a record number of weapons tests this year.

The North also staged its own command-level army drills on Tuesday in response to the US-South Korean exercises, during which the country's leader Kim Jong Un visited a training command post, KCNA said.  

"The drill is aimed at letting all the commanding officers and staff sections of the entire army make full preparations for war," KCNA said of the training exercise.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff meanwhile said the military south of the border was "maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the United States".

Their combined air drills involved at least one US B-1B strategic bomber flying above the Korean Peninsula earlier Wednesday, according to Yonhap -- a detail that particularly annoyed Pyongyang.

The North called the overflight "a serious threat" and "pursuant to the scenario for a pre-emptive nuclear strike at the DPRK," the official acronym for North Korea.

- 'Irreversible' nuclear power -

US national security spokesman John Kirby, who was giving a briefing when news of the launch broke, declined to comment to reporters in Washington.

On Tuesday, the United States, South Korea and Japan also held a trilateral naval missile defence exercise that enraged North Korea.

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have beefed up their defence cooperation in recent months in response to increasing missile provocations by the North.

Last week, Pyongyang carried out its second attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit, although it ended in failure.

Kim has declared North Korea an "irreversible" nuclear power and has called for ramped-up arms production, including tactical nuclear weapons.

He has also called for boosting North Korea's navy, saying the country's waters brimmed with "the danger of a nuclear war", state media reported.

"Owing to the reckless confrontational moves of the US and other hostile forces, the waters off the Korean Peninsula have been reduced into the world's biggest war hardware concentration spot," KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

"To achieve the successes in rapidly developing the naval force has become a very urgent issue in view of the enemies' recent aggressive attempts."

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Hurricane Idalia Grinds Into Georgia After Slamming Florida

Hurricane Idalia brought torrential rain and threats of flash flooding on Wednesday afternoon to southeast Georgia after slamming into Florida, where authorities feared a powerful storm surge may have inundated communities in the Big Bend region.

Authorities in Florida were still trying to carry out damage assessments in the hardest-hit areas as water rescues of trapped residents were under way in southern Georgia.

Video footage and photographs from the region showed ocean waters washing over highways and neighborhoods swamped by extensive flooding at midday.

More than 75 people have been rescued from flood waters in St. Petersburg, the city said on the X social media platform. A video showed two rescue workers in a small boat traveling through a flooded neighborhood in heavy rains.

In Valdosta, Georgia, about 80 miles (129 km) northeast of Tallahassee, emergency boat crews were carrying out rescues of residents trapped in homes, according to the city's Facebook page. No other details were immediately available.

Drawing strength from the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters, Idalia unleashed destructive winds and torrential downpours that were forecast to cause flooding up to 16 feet (5 m) deep along Florida's Gulf Coast.

By early Wednesday afternoon, the eye of Idalia had left Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis said at a press conference. He added that parts of the state, particularly in the north, were still being buffeted by storm bands.

Florida's Gulf Coast, southeastern Georgia and eastern parts of North and South Carolina could face 4 to 8 inches (10-20 cm) of rain through Thursday, with isolated areas seeing as much as a foot of rain, the National Hurricane Center warned.

Georgia authorities were monitoring the system as it entered the state. "Hopefully, it's out of the state by 8 p.m. this evening, maybe 10 o'clock, and then that we can begin to assess for those that were hit first," state Emergency Management Agency Director James C. Stallings said at a briefing on Wednesday.

Cedric King, a businessman from coastal Brunswick, Georgia, just south of Savannah, was not going to take chances.

"I packed up the family and headed north," he said after a 5-hour drive with his mother, wife and children. "We evacuated."

The storm's most dangerous feature is a powerful surge of wind-driven surf that is expected to flood low-lying areas, officials said.

Earlier on Wednesday, DeSantis warned that the chances of surviving a storm surge that approached 16 feet were "not great," and that "you would need to be in a three-story building because it is going to rise very, very high."

By midmorning, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration monitoring station in Steinhatchee, 20 miles (32 km) south of Keaton Beach where the storm came ashore, showed waters reaching 8 feet, well above the 6-foot flood stage. Stations in the more densely populated Tampa area showed "minor flooding" at 10 a.m.

In Hillsborough County, an area of 1.5 million people south of the Big Bend region that includes Tampa, crews were dealing with widespread damage and flooded streets, officials said in a news briefing.

"Folks, this storm is not over. If you are in a safe location, please remain there," said Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley, noting that local waterways would crest at high tide at 2:30 p.m.

Overnight, Idalia attained "an extremely dangerous Category 4 intensity" on the five-step Saffir-Simpson wind scale, but by 7 a.m. the storm weakened slightly into Category 3 with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (201 kph), the NHC said.

By 11 a.m. EDT, maximum sustained winds had ebbed to 90 mph (150 kph), reducing the tempest to a Category 1 storm as it entered southeastern Georgia, the NHC said.

TWO DEATHS REPORTED IN FLORIDA

Two motorists died in separate rain-related crashes on Wednesday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. In Wednesday afternoon's press briefing, DeSantis said he only knew of "unconfirmed" reports of storm-caused fatalities.

Florida Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue said at the briefing that the state's National Guard was conducting water rescues from vehicles in Hernando and Taylor counties.

About 1,000 bridges are expected to be inspected in northern Florida on Wednesday before they can reopen, Perdue added.

More than 280,000 homes and businesses were without power in Florida as of midday and 160,000 customers were similarly affected in Georgia, Poweroutage.us reported.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

U.S. President Joseph Biden on Wednesday said he discussed the storm with DeSantis, who is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Biden in the 2024 presidential election.

Biden said they shared a desire to help Floridians. "This is not about politics, it's about taking care of the people of the state," Biden told reporters.

Criswell said earlier that more than 1,000 personnel from FEMA's rapid assessment teams were ready to hit the ground to assess storm damage once Idalia passes.

It was the fourth major hurricane to strike Florida in the past seven years, following Irma in 2017, Michael in 2018 and Ian, which peaked at Category 5, last September.

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G20 Summit In Delhi To See "Biggest Participation In Forums History"

India will host the G20 summit next month which will see the "biggest participation" in the history of the grouping with arrangements in place for the mega event including that for the stay of leaders of member countries and the invited guest countries.

Delhi Police to be in charge of security and there will be 24/ 7 medical facilities in hotels, officials said.

The Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, US, UK and the European Union.

India has invited Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and UAE as guest countries for the mega event.

The White House had said earlier that US President Joe Biden will travel to India from September 7 to 10 to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office said he will visit India to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi from September 9,10.

The leaders will be given a rich glimpse into India's vast and diverse culinary traditions as well as its rich legacy in arts and crafts.  

There will be a symbolic tree plantation event at the Bharat Mandapam with tree saplings representing different countries.

Muktesh K Pardeshi, Special Secretary, G20 Operations told ANI in an exclusive interview that they have formed a large number of teams who will look after the entire range of operations, including the arrival of leaders at the airport, their bilateral meetings, hospitality and food. 

"The planning is at the final stage. We are giving final shape to the programme and different arrangements including traffic management, the hospitality arrangement, and who would be doing what. We have created a large number of teams, small but effective teams and these teams are looking after the entire range of operations, including from arrival at the airport to looking after delegations' requirements, their bilateral meetings, what kind of hospitality, food, etc will be provided. So the G20 Secretariat is here to provide end-to-end organizational support to all visiting delegations," he said.

The G20 members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Mann ki Baat programme earlier this month that India is fully prepared for the G-20 Leaders Summit.

Heads of 40 countries and many global organizations will be coming to Delhi to participate in this event.

“This will be the biggest participation ever in the history of the G20 Summit. During its presidency, India has made G-20 a more inclusive forum. The African Union also joined the G-20 on India's invitation and the voice of the people of Africa reached this important platform of the world,” he said.

The Prime Minister said about 200 meetings related to G20 have been organized in 60 cities across the country.

“Wherever the G20 Delegates went, people warmly welcomed them. These delegates were very impressed, seeing the diversity of our country and our vibrant democracy. They also realized that there are so many possibilities in India,” he said.

The 18th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit in New Delhi will be a culmination of all the G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials, and civil societies. A G20 Leaders' Declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the New Delhi Summit, stating Leaders' commitment towards the priorities discussed and agreed upon during the respective ministerial and working group meetings.

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UK Criminals To Be Forced To Attend Sentencing After "Killer Nurse" Case

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday proposed new legislative plans to hand power to judges to order "horrendous criminals" to attend their sentencing hearings and face justice, by force if necessary.

During a so-called crime week for the government, Mr Sunak announced that the power of custody officers to use reasonable force to make criminals appear in the dock, or via video link, will be enshrined in law to help victims and their loved ones feel justice is fully delivered.

If a criminal continues to resist attending their sentencing despite a judge's order, they will face an extra two years behind bars.

"It is unacceptable that some of the country's most horrendous criminals have refused to face their victims in court. They cannot and should not be allowed to take the coward's way out," said Rishi Sunak.

"That's why we are giving judges the power to order vile offenders to attend their sentencing hearings, with those who refuse facing being forced into the dock or spending longer behind bars," he said.

The change will mean victims can look offenders in the eye and tell them of the devastating consequences of their crime as they read out their impact statement, rather than addressing an empty dock. Most recently, nurse Lucy Letby had to be sentenced in absentia after being convicted of killing seven babies under her care.

"Our reforms will give judges the power to order offenders to come to court to hear the impact of their crimes directly from victims, so that they begin their sentences with society's condemnation ringing in their ears," said UK Justice Secretary Alex Chalk.

The new penalty of an extended punishment will apply in cases where the maximum sentence is life imprisonment, including serious sexual or violent crimes like murder, rape, and grievous bodily harm with intent.

Judges will have the discretion to use these new powers as they see fit to ensure justice is done. This could include not ordering offenders to attend in cases where it is expected that they will cause significant disruption which would distress victims and their families.

Meanwhile, the government's crime week has also led to a new ban on "zombie-style knives and machetes" that have no practical use.

Under the measures, machetes and knives that are designed to look intimidating and threatening, known as zombie-style knives, will be made illegal.

The maximum penalty for the importation, manufacturing, possession and sale of these newly proscribed weapons will also be increased from six months to two years, as will the maximum penalty for sales to under-18s.

In addition, the UK Home Office will introduce a new offence for possession of bladed articles with the intention to endanger life or cause fear of violence.

"Zombie-style knives and machetes serve no other purpose but to inflate criminal egos and endanger lives. There is no reason to own these types of weapons," said UK Policing Minister Chris Philp.

"That is why we are banning these knives and making sentencing more severe, so our communities can be reassured that this violent criminality will face the punishments they deserve, and lives will be saved," he said.

A zombie-style knife is defined as any bladed weapon over eight inches in length with a plain cutting edge and sharp pointed end that also has either a serrated cutting edge, more than one hole in the blade, or multiple sharp points like spikes.

The latest set of measures are expected to be tabled in the UK Parliament in the coming session, which resumes after its summer recess next week.

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Elon Musk's X To Allow Political Ads From Candidates Ahead Of US Elections

Elon Musk on Tuesday lifted a ban on political ads put in place at Twitter to thwart misinformation before the billionaire bought the platform now called X.

Welcoming back potentially misleading political messages at X came less than a week after former president Donald Trump posted there for the first time since January 2021.

Trump posted his police mugshot after his arrest in Georgia, signaling his return to a platform that was his favorite bullhorn during his years in the White House.

It was his first post since several days after the insurrection at the US Capitol that saw an enraged mob of his supporters attempt to block Joe Biden's certification as president.

The then-Twitter permanently suspended Trump after the January 6 riot, ruling he had violated the platform's policy on glorifying violence as he pressed his false claims that the election was stolen from him.

Musk, who bought the platform last year, reinstated the former president in November 2022, but Trump stayed away, choosing to reach his followers on his own platform, Truth Social, albeit with a much smaller audience.

X said in a blog post that allowing political ads, starting in the United States, was "building on our commitment to free expression."

X policies prohibit promotion of false or misleading information, including bogus claims intended to undermine confidence in an election, the blog contended.

Trump's recent mug shot post came with a caption reading "Election interference."

A judge on Monday set March 4, 2024, for Trump's election subversion conspiracy trial -- placing one of the biggest criminal cases in American history at the height of the next White House race.

X said it is expanding its safety and elections teams to focus on combating manipulation of the platform and will provide an online center where political ads can be reviewed.

Musk slashed staffing after buying Twitter, raising concerns about its ability to moderate content and reliably function.

X said it is updating its Civic Integrity Policy for safeguarding elections to tackle content meant to intimidate or deceive voters while aligning with a Musk's philosophy of letting people say what they want.

"X shouldn't determine the truthfulness of disputed information," the platform said in the blog post.

"Rather, we should empower our users to express their opinions and openly debate during elections, in line with our commitment to protecting freedom of expression."

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Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin Laid To Rest In Secret Ceremony

Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash two months after staging a short-lived mutiny, was on Tuesday laid to rest in a secret ceremony in his native Saint Petersburg.

He was believed to have been buried at the Porokhovskoye cemetery amid heightened security after his firm said a private ceremony had been held for the warlord "in a closed setting".

The cemetery was cordoned off and access was restricted, but an AFP photographer saw the back of what appeared to be Prigozhin's fresh grave, which was marked by a wooden cross.

At the burial site, mourners left a framed excerpt from "Nature Morte", a poem by Soviet poet and Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky, which contains the words "dead or alive?"

Prigozhin's press service only said that a private ceremony had been held for Prigozhin -- who held the title of the Hero of Russia, the country's top honour -- at the cemetery located on the northeastern outskirts of Saint Petersburg.

"Yevgeny Viktorovich's farewell was held in a closed setting. Those wishing to say goodbye can visit the Porokhovskoye cemetery," his firm said.

Ukrainian officials pointed to the secrecy surrounding the ceremony, suggesting the Kremlin feared possible protests.

"The secret funeral of Wagner ex-chief Prigozhin as an absolute symbol of Putin's genuine fear," Mykhailo Podolyak, a political adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on messaging app Telegram.

The funeral appears to draw a curtain on an extraordinary chapter in recent Russian history that saw Prigozhin help lead Moscow's assaults for cities and towns in eastern Ukraine and challenge Moscow's leadership.

- 'Shrouded in secrecy' -

"The funeral of Prigozhin marked the culmination of a covert operation aimed at his elimination," wrote political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya.

"Conducted under the strict oversight of the security agencies, the entire process was shrouded in secrecy and involved deceptive tactics."

Russian authorities said that Prigozhin died in a private jet crash along with nine other people last week.

The spectacular plane crash in the Tver region took place two months after Prigozhin ordered his troops to topple Russia's military leadership, in what was the most significant challenge to President Vladimir Putin's authority since he came to power in 2000.

Many military analysts said the downing of Prigozhin's plane appeared deliberate, with some suggesting it might have been blown out of the sky by a missile and others pointing to a possible bomb.

The Kremlin has dismissed suggestions that it orchestrated the crash in revenge for Wagner's march on Moscow in June.

But political commentators said that, with next year's presidential election in Russia approaching fast, Prigozhin had become a huge liability for the Kremlin.

Russian officials opened an investigation into air traffic violations after the crash but have not disclosed details about a possible cause.

- Questions over death -

After the mutiny, Putin accused Prigozhin of treason, but following the crash, the Russian president said that he had known Prigozhin since the early 1990s, describing him as a man who made mistakes but "achieved results".

Putin's comments did little to stem mounting questions over Prigozhin's death, with makeshift shrines to the Wagner chief springing up across Russian cities.

The Kremlin said earlier Tuesday that Putin would not attend Prigozhin's funeral.

"The president's presence is not envisaged," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The Wagner outfit had taken a prime role in Putin's offensive in Ukraine, taking on the most dangerous frontline work, as the regular army appeared to falter, while sustaining what Western sources have described as huge losses.

Unlike Russia's generals, who have been criticised for shirking the battles, the stocky and bald Prigozhin regularly posed for pictures alongside mercenaries allegedly on the front lines.

Prigozhin was allowed to openly recruit for new members in Russian prison camps and savaged Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Prigozhin has been described as a billionaire with a vast fortune built on state contracts, although the extent of his wealth is unknown.

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Greece Wildfire Scorches Area Bigger Than New York

A wildfire burning in northeastern Greece for 11 days has destroyed an area larger than New York City, the European Union-backed Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Tuesday.

Fuelled by gale force winds and hot weather, the fire that began near the city of Alexandroupolis quickly spread across the Evros region, killing at least 20 people last week in Europe's deadliest blaze this summer. It turned swathes of lush greenery into scorched earth and destroyed homes and livelihoods.

In a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service said the fire had ravaged at least 808.7 square kilometres (312.2 square miles). New York City takes up 778.2 square miles (300.5 square miles).

Copernicus said last week that the fire was the largest on European soil in years.

All but one of the dead are presumed to have been irregular migrants who crossed over from Turkey, evading police in the forest. Authorities fear more bodies may be found when the flames are put out, as Evros is a popular crossing into the EU for thousands of migrants and refugees each year.

Aircraft and hundreds of firefighters on the ground, including from Serbia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Albania were battling the flames, the fire brigade said.

Authorities warned that risks from the fire remained high on Tuesday.

Summer wildfires are common in Greece but the government says extreme weather conditions which scientists link to climate change have made them worse this year. Greece's deadliest fire on record killed 104 people outside Athens in 2018.

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US Man Shoots Through His Front Door To Fend Off Robbers

A video has surfaced on the internet which shows two men pretending to be maintenance workers trying to break in by kicking the front door. The two men were armed with handguns. However, the men were greeted by a barrage of bullets from the homeowner. The wild scene was captured by a doorbell camera.

The video starts with one of the suspects, Aaron Contreras, knocking on the apartment door of Ethan Rodriguez. He claimed to be a maintenance worker there to check on the filters in his air conditioner, according to the New York Post.

Mr Rodriguez answered the door via a digital doorbell app on his phone and said that no one was home. A few minutes later, the suspect came back with a handgun and tried to kick down the front door. Another man appears wearing a mask trying to kick in the door.

However, things soon took a dramatic turn when Mr. Rodriguez tried to fend them off by opening fire from inside his apartment through the front door. The footage shows the men running away from the door.

The resident fired off several rounds and the footage shows bullets striking the wall across the way.

See the video here:

#Texas : On Saturday August 19th, at a Dallas apartment complex a Ring camera captured the moment when a man posing as a maintenance worker is knocking on the door of an apartment claiming “he was there to check the air filters.”

• Once the suspect heard the homeowner wasn't… pic.twitter.com/UAofUdnf0f

— True Crime with Laura??‍♀️⚖️ (@Lauraonthecase) August 21, 2023

According to the media outlet, the resident fired 13 shots.

Speaking to WFAA, Mr Rodriguez said he decided to shoot at the suspects when saw that they were armed. "I was hoping I got 'em," he told the station. "That was mainly it, just hoping I got 'em."

The suspect, Aaron Contreras was arrested the same day on charges of aggravated assault, deadly conduct and attempted burglary of a habitation.

He is being held at the Dallas County jail on a $150,000 bond.

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North Korea's Kim Jong Un Calls For Strengthening Naval Forces

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for strengthening the country's naval forces, accusing the United States of turning waters near the Korean peninsula into "the most unstable waters with the danger of a nuclear war," state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.

In a speech to mark Navy Day, Kim said the "gang bosses" of the United States, Japan and South Korea announced regular joint military exercises, KCNA reported, apparently referring to their Aug. 18 summit at Camp David, Maryland.

In the first standalone meeting between the leaders of the U.S., South Korea and Japan, the three agreed to deepen military and economic cooperation as they seek to project unity in the face of China's growing power and the North's nuclear threats.

"Owing to the reckless confrontational moves of the U.S. and other hostile forces, the waters off the Korean Peninsula have been reduced into the world's biggest war hardware concentration spot, the most unstable waters with the danger of a nuclear war," Kim was quoted as saying.

South Korea and the United States last week began the Ulchi Freedom Shield summer exercises, designed to enhance their joint responses to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. Pyongyang has long denounced the drills as a rehearsal for war.

Kim said North Korea requires its Navy to maintain war readiness, a "constant combat alertness," and called for "radically" modernising its weapons and equipment.

"He stressed that the navy of the DPRK would become a component of the state nuclear deterrence carrying out the strategic duty," KCNA reported.

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Russia Says It Intercepted Two US Drones Near Crimea

Moscow said Monday that it had scrambled two fighter jets to intercept two US reconnaissance drones near Crimea.

The Russian defence ministry said on Telegram that it mobilised the two jets after it "detected a flight in the direction of the Russian state border".

According to the ministry, the two US drones, a Reaper and a Global Hawk, were "carrying out aerial reconnaissance in the region of the Crimean peninsula", near the Black Sea.

Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.

After the arrival of the Russian planes, the drones "changed their direction of flight and left the areas where aerial reconnaissance was being conducted," the ministry added.

Incidents involving Russian aircraft and US drones have increased in recent months.

On Sunday, Russia said it had scrambled a fighter plane to deter a US air force reconnaissance drone from crossing its borders over the Black Sea.

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14 Girls Tonsured In Indonesia School For Wearing Hijab "Incorrectly"

A school on Indonesia's main island has partially shaved the heads of more than a dozen girls, its headmaster said Monday, after they were accused of wearing their Islamic hijab headscarves incorrectly.

Activists say Muslim and non-Muslim girls have been forced for years to wear a hijab in conservative parts of the archipelago nation of 270 million people, which moved in 2021 to ban schools from such mandatory dress codes.

An unidentified teacher at state-owned junior high school SMPN 1 in the East Java town of Lamongan partially shaved the hair of 14 Muslim girls last Wednesday, headmaster Harto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said.

The headmaster said the school had apologised and the teacher had been suspended.

He said the schoolgirls did not wear inner caps under their headscarves, leaving their fringes visible. 

"There is no obligation for female students to wear hijab, but they were advised to wear the inner caps for neat appearance," Harto told AFP.

"We apologised to the parents and after mediation, we reached a common understanding."

The school has promised it would provide students with psychological assistance, he said.

Rights groups called for the teacher to be sacked. 

"The Lamongan case is probably the most intimidating ever in Indonesia," Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. 

"No teachers who have cut their students' hair have ever been sanctioned. The education office in Lamongan should sanction this teacher, at least removing her from the school and assign psychologists to deal with the trauma among the victims." 

The group said in a 2021 report that some schoolgirls have had their hijabs cut if not worn correctly, while others have had marks penalised or faced expulsion for not wearing hijabs.

Indonesia recognises six major religions but there have been concerns about growing religious intolerance in the Muslim-majority country. 

The headscarf issue grabbed headlines in 2021 after a Christian student in West Sumatra was pressured to wear a hijab in a case officials described as the "tip of the iceberg". 

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Vietnam's Iconic "Kissing Rocks" At Risk of Collapse, Say Experts

"Kissing rocks", a popular tourist spot in Vietnam's Ha Long Bay, are at risk of collapse, according to a report. Released in July, the report said that rising sea levels and fishing boats travelling too close are causing the rocks to erode, as per a BBC report. The twin rocks rise out of the bay facing each other and appear to touch - or "kiss" - which makes them popular among tourists. The Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province is home to hundreds of such tiny islets, attracting four million tourists in 2019, as per the outlet.

The research on these rocks was carried out by Vietnam's Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources. Ho Tien Chung, an expert working with the institute, said they observed one tourist boat stopping within just 19 metres of the islet.

There were also deep fissures, which make them prone to collapse.

"Tourists can see the rocks that are precarious at low tide," the BBC quoted Ho Tien Chung as saying.

"The water level then is low, exposing the supporting foot of the rocks which are gradually being eroded, causing a risk of collapse if no measures are taken to protect and reinforce them soon," the experts further said.

Straits Times said these rocks are around 1.39 metres tall, with the base more slender than the upper structure. Due to geological and tectonic movements, along with the influence of seawater levels, the rocks present as a single tilted structure with multiple fractures.

As an immediate measure, the experts from the institute have recommended limiting tourism activities and limiting the speed of boats passing through it.

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Japan Postpones Moon Mission Launch For 3rd Time Due To Bad Weather

Japan's space agency on Monday postponed for the third time the launch of its "Moon Sniper" lunar mission due to poor weather.

The H2-A rocket due to blast off from the southern island of Tanegashima was also carrying a research satellite developed with NASA and the European Space Agency.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) gave no new date for the start of the mission, which comes after India successfully landed a probe on the Moon last week.

MHI Launch Services, the rocket co-developer, said on the social media platform X that the mission was called off "because it was confirmed that the upper wind does not satisfy the constraints at launch".

Last week India landed a craft near the Moon's south pole, a historic triumph for the country and its low-cost space programme.

The "Smart Lander for Investigating Moon" (SLIM) by JAXA.

Previously, only the United States, Russia and China had managed to put a spacecraft on the lunar surface, and none on the south pole.

India's success came days after a Russian probe crashed in the same region, and four years after a previous Indian attempt failed at the last moment.

Japan has also tried before, attempting last year to land a lunar probe named Omotenashi, carried on NASA's Artemis 1, but the mission went wrong and communications were lost.

In April, Japanese start-up ispace failed in an ambitious attempt to become the first private company to land on the Moon, losing communication after what the firm called a "hard landing".

The "Moon Sniper" is so called because JAXA is aiming to land it within 100 metres (330 feet) of a specific target on the Moon, far less than the usual range of several kilometres.

Japan has also had problems with launch rockets, with failures after liftoff of the next-generation H3 model in March and the normally reliable solid-fuel Epsilon the previous October.

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US Presidential Hopefuls Threaten Military Strikes On Mexico Drug Cartels

As the Republican race for the White House in 2024 ramps up, threats by the party's presidential candidates to launch military strikes on Mexico's drug cartels are being taken increasingly seriously, sparking worries on both sides of the border.

In the party's election debate last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis -- a distant second in the polls to former president Donald Trump -- said that, if elected, he would send US forces in to dismantle Mexican drug labs "on day one."

Shortly after the debate, DeSantis doubled down: "When I talk about using the military to take on the drug cartels, because they're killing tens of thousands of our citizens, we have every right to do it."

Trump, who skipped the debate, has made some of the strongest calls for military strikes.

Rolling Stone reported recently that he asked advisors for military "battle plans" to unleash against Mexico if he is reelected next year.

Three other candidates, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, have also endorsed the idea.

In March, Haley -- a former US ambassador to the United Nations -- said that the US should address Mexican traffickers as it does the Islamic State jihadist group.

"We can do that by putting special ops in there... just like we dealt with ISIS, you do the same thing with the cartels," she said.

Foreign policy experts are warning that the calls need to be taken seriously, and that they comprise a dangerous threat to Washington's always tenuous relationship with its crucial southern neighbor.

"It's sheer lunacy," former Mexican ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan, now at the Brookings think tank in Washington, told AFP.

- Fentanyl surge -

It is not a new idea. During his 2017-2021 presidency, Trump expressed interest in undertaking cross-border strikes against the cartels.

But aides reportedly talked him out of it, and it was never considered a real policy option.

What has changed since then has been the surge in deadly fentanyl flowing across the border from Mexico, feeding an epidemic of American drug overdose deaths.

In addition, Sarukhan says that Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has curtailed cooperation with US authorities on the drug trade, illegal immigration and other issues.

As a result, Republicans are calling for the kind of surgical drone strikes and nighttime raids that US forces have undertaken against Islamic jihadist groups in countries such as Iraq, Syria and Somalia, with few diplomatic consequences.

Last year a Trump-aligned thinktank, The Center for Renewing America, issued a policy white paper saying that if Mexico City does not curtail the fentanyl trade, the president should mobilize the US military directly.

"The goal is to crush cartel networks with full military force," it said.

In January, Republicans in Congress proposed formal war powers for the president to order US troops to act unilaterally against Mexican drug gangs.

And in March, Republicans introduced legislation to designate nine cartel groups as "foreign terrorist organizations," a distinction that would enhance a president's ability to launch the US military against them.

- Bluster -

Brian Finucane, of the International Crisis Group, said the talk should not be dismissed as election bluster.

"The posturing carries real risks," Finucane wrote in July, including of a radical breakdown in cooperation between Mexico City and Washington that could further threaten US security.

"Such stunts in Congress and bellicosity on the campaign trail increase the likelihood that a future president may regard such an attack as a real option."

When talk of military action surged among Republicans earlier this year, Lopez Obrador called it "irresponsible" and "a lack of respect for our independence and sovereignty."

"We're not going to allow any foreign government to intervene, much less the armed forces of a foreign government," he said.

Sarukhan said the calls for US military action arise from a "perfect storm" -- the combination of a jingoistic surge in the buildup to next year's US election, and Lopez Obrador weakening cross-border collaboration.

The debate rhetoric was obviously "red meat" for voters, Sarukhan said.

However, he added, "I think that deep down, (the candidates) do believe in what they're saying."

A unilateral attack on Mexico would not be seen in the same way as a surgical counter-terror strike on the Islamic State group overseas, he said.

Instead, it would see Mexico do even less to stop the flow of migrants and drugs to the United States.

Mexico City would also likely cut intelligence sharing in battling militants, and basic bilateral issues like water-sharing pacts would be jeopardized, he said.

"It's an act of war, and it's a violation of international law," he said.

 

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''Sightseeing Not A Must'': Taliban Ban Afghan Women From National Park

In another regressive move, The Taliban have banned women from visiting one of Afghanistan's most popular national parks, BBC reported. Afghanistan's acting minister of virtue and vice, Mohammad Khaled Hanafi, said women have not been observing the proper way to wear the hijab while visiting the park.

“Going sightseeing is not a must for women,” said Hanafi as he urged security organizations and religious leaders to prohibit women from entering until a solution was found.

''There are complaints about lack of hijab or bad hijab, these are not Bamiyan residents. They come here from other places,'' Sayed Nasrullah Waezi, head of the Bamiyan Shia Ulema Council told Tolo news.

Established in April 2009, Band-e-Amir National Park is Afghanistan's first national park and remains a popular tourist spot. UNESCO describes the park as a "naturally created group of lakes with special geological formations and structure, as well as natural and unique beauty".

The decision has raised concerns among human rights advocates. ''Not content with depriving girls and women of education, employment, and free movement, the Taliban also want to take from them parks and sport and now even nature, as we see from this latest ban on women visiting Band-e-Amir,” said Heather Barr, the associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch.

“Step by step the walls are closing in on women as every home becomes a prison,'' she added. 

UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan wrote on X, ''Can someone please explain why this restriction on women visiting Band-e-Amir is necessary to comply with sharia and Afghan culture?''

Can someone please explain why this restriction on women visiting Bande Amir is necessary to comply with Sharia and Afghan culture? #womensrightsarenotnegotiable https://t.co/QbC6azYbmm

— UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett (@SR_Afghanistan) August 27, 2023

Despite promising a softer rule when they seized power, the Taliban have ratcheted up restrictions on all aspects of women's lives, ignoring international outrage. A few months back, they barred entry of families and women into restaurants with gardens or green spaces in Herat province, Afghanistan, reported Fox News.

Women in the country are also prohibited from leadership posts, banned from university and secondary education, and not allowed to work as well as travel unless accompanied by a male companion. Many public places, including bathhouses, gyms, and parks, have also been made off-limits for women.

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France To Ban Muslim Abaya Robes In State-Run Schools

France will ban children from wearing the abaya, the loose-fitting, full-length robes worn by some Muslim women, in state-run schools, its education minister said on Sunday ahead of the back-to-school season.

France, which has enforced a strict ban on religious signs in state schools since 19th century laws removed any traditional Catholic influence from public education, has struggled to update guidelines to deal with a growing Muslim minority.

In 2004, it banned headscarves in schools and passed a ban on full face veils in public in 2010, angering some in its five million-strong Muslim community.

Defending secularism is a rallying cry in France that resonates across the political spectrum, from left-wingers upholding the liberal values of the Enlightenment to far-right voters seeking a bulwark against the growing role of Islam in French society.

"I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools," Education Minister Gabriel Attal said in an interview with TV channel TF1.

"When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn't be able to identify the pupils' religion just by looking at them," he said.

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Days After UK "Killer Nurse" Case, Rishi Sunak Pushes For Tough New Laws

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has unveiled plans for tough new laws which would mean those convicted of heinous murders will face life behind bars for the rest of their lives, with no chance of being considered for parole or early release.

The 43-year-old British Indian leader said in a statement on Saturday that “life means life” and judges will be required to hand down mandatory whole-life orders to criminals who commit the most horrific types of murder.

The new law will place a legal expectation on judges to hand down whole-life orders, except in extremely limited circumstances.

“I have shared the public's horror at the cruelty of crimes we have seen recently. People rightly expect that in the most serious cases, there should be a guarantee that life will mean life. They expect honesty in sentencing,” said Sunak.

“By bringing in mandatory whole life orders for the heinous criminals who commit the most horrific types of murder, we will make sure they never walk free,” he said.

It comes in the days after nurse Lucy Letby was handed a whole-life order after being found guilty of killing seven newborn babies under her care at a hospital in northern England.

The UK's statutory provisions do not allow capital punishment and therefore the toughest sentence to be handed down is a whole-life term. By putting things on a legal footing, Downing Street said judges will have greater confidence to hand out whole-life orders without risk of challenge in the Courts of Appeal. Under the legal shake-up, whole-life orders will also be the default sentence for any sexually motivated murders.

“A whole-life order will now be the expectation for murderers where the killing involves sexual or sadistic conduct. This important law change will ensure that the worst of the worst can now expect to spend the rest of their lives in prison,” said UK Justice Secretary Alex Chalk.

The UK government said it will legislate for the changes announced in due course, as Parliament returns from its summer recess next month.

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"History Won't Judge You Kindly": UK MP's Resignation Letter To Rishi Sunak

A key ally of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson formally resigned Saturday, delivering a blistering attack on his successor in her resignation letter.

Former culture minister Nadine Dorries announced her intention to resign 11 weeks ago but had remained as member of parliament while she investigated why she was not given a seat in the upper house of parliament.

In her resignation letter, Dorries accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of abandoning "the fundamental principles of Conservatism" and said "history will not judge you kindly".

Dorries was unexpectedly not awarded a seat in the upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords, in Johnson's resignation honours list. He rewarded fellow Brexit die-hards and even those implicated in the "Partygate" scandal that contributed to his downfall last year.

The omission prompted accusations from Johnson's camp of meddling from Sunak and Downing Street.

In her letter, which she released on social media, Dorries accused Sunak of leading attacks on her resulting in "the police having to visit my home and contact me on a number of occasions due to threats to my person.

"The clearly orchestrated and almost daily personal attacks demonstrates the pitifully low level your government has descended to," she wrote.

She also attacked his record in Government.

"Since you took office a year ago, the country is run by a zombie parliament where nothing meaningful has happened," she wrote.

"You have no mandate from the people and the Government is adrift."

Resignation honours lists, in which key political allies of outgoing prime ministers are rewarded, are normally waved through by their successor.

Political revenge

Sunak's spokesman told reporters earlier it was "entirely untrue" that the prime minister or officials removed names from Johnson's list before it was sent to a House of Lords vetting committee.

The row in June over the honours prompted the resignation as MPs of both Nigel Adams, who was also omitted from the list, as well as Johnson himself.

At the same time Dorries announced her intention to resign.

Political observers have interpreted the resignations as Johnson's revenge on Sunak for forcing him out of office last July after "Partygate" and a string of other scandals.

Johnson resigned as an MP claiming a stitch-up by political opponents on a cross-party inquiry probing whether he lied to parliament over the Covid lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street.

The resignations meant Sunak's Tories had to face by-elections at a time when they were trailing in the polls to the main opposition Labour party and ahead of a general election next year.

The Conservatives lost Adams' seat but held on to Johnson's constituency, aided by Labour mayor Sadiq Khan's contentious expansion of a vehicle pollution tax to outer London.

The government now faces the prospect of another by-election, possibly within weeks, although Dorries' 24,000 majority in her constituency might prove more difficult for the Labour opposition party to overturn than Adams' 20,000 majority.

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2,000 Items Stolen From British Museum Found Online, Recovery Underway

The British Museum has begun recovering some items that were taken from it and sold online, museum chair George Osborne said on Saturday, CNN reported.

Osborne's comments follow revelations that the museum failed to properly heed warnings that items purportedly from its collection had been appearing for sale online.

Previously, the extent of the theft was unclear.

The museum had said that the majority of the missing items were "small pieces kept in a storeroom" of one collection. They include gold jewelry, gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD. None of the items had recently been on public display.

Osborne, the former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that about 2,000 artifacts went missing, some of which have already been recovered.

"We're dealing with lots of honest people who will return stolen items, others may not," Osborne said, as per CNN.

The scandal appears to date back to 2021, when a Danish art dealer got in touch with the British Museum to say he had spotted several items he believed to be from the museum's collection for a sale online. The British Museum initially claimed to have carried out a thorough investigation, but a follow up probe found the first response to be insufficient, Osborne said.

"We obviously have to improve security," Osborne said.

The British Museum, one of the world's most well-known and prestigious museum, was founded in 1753. Its display of impressive historic artifacts like the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon Sculptures regularly draws visitors from across the globe.

The scandal has proved deeply embarrassing for the museum, given both its stature and the repeated calls for the institution to return many of its artifacts that were themselves stolen under the British Empire.

Museum director Hartwig Fischer stepped down on Friday and an unidentified employee was fired on Wednesday.

"Yes, the museum has made mistakes. Yes, we've apologized for them. But we're cleaning up the mess and we're going to be that British museum that I think the nation and the world can be proud of," he said, as per CNN.

 

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Gunman Kills Three In Florida, Driven By Racial 'Hate': Police

A gunman driven by racial hate shot and killed three Black people in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday before fatally turning the gun on himself, authorities said.

The shooter, a white male in his early 20s, was outfitted with a tactical vest and armed with an AR-style rifle and a handgun when he started firing inside a Dollar General discount store, Sheriff TK Waters said.

"He targeted a certain group of people and that's Black people. That's what he said he wanted to kill. And that's very clear," the sheriff said, adding there were two male victims and one female victim.

Manifestos discovered by the gunman's family shortly before the attack "detail the shooter's disgusting ideology of hate," Sheriff Waters told a news conference.

The FBI would investigate the shooting as a hate crime, said Sherri Onks, the bureau's special agent for Jacksonville.

The shooting was the latest in a spate of gun violence this weekend in the United States, following deadly outbursts in Boston, Chicago and Oklahoma.

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Multiple Fatalities In Florida Shooting, Gunman Killed: Report

A gunman in Jacksonville, Florida, was dead following a standoff with police Saturday afternoon after killing "a number" of people, the latest in a spate of gun violence this weekend in the United States.

"One shooting is too much but these mass shootings are really hard to take," Mayor Donna Deegan told local news channel WJXT, saying there were a "number of fatalities" but did not specify how many.

The broadcaster reported that the gunman fired at cars passing by a Dollar General discount store. He then reportedly barricaded himself inside.

A local council member told the broadcaster that the shooter had been killed.

Earlier in the day at least seven people were hospitalized after a mass shooting at a Caribbean festival in the northeast city of Boston, police there said.

Meanwhile, two women were shot at a baseball game in Chicago the night before, authorities in the Midwestern city said.

And a 16-year-old was shot dead and four others injured after an argument erupted at a high school football game in Oklahoma, local police said.

Mass shootings have become disturbingly common across the United States, with easy access to firearms in most states and more guns in the country than citizens.

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1 Killed, 33 Injured After Explosions At Gas Station In Romania

One person died and 33 were injured after two explosions at a liquefied petroleum gas station in Crevedia, near Bucharest on Saturday.

After the first explosion, the fire spread to two tanks and a nearby house, causing evacuations within a radius of 300 meters and a blockage of road traffic, according the agency for emergency situations (IGSU).

Some 25 fire engines took part in extinguishing the fire, IGSU said. Four people were intubated after suffering severe burns, according to the health ministry.

A second explosion took place at the LPG station on Saturday evening injuring 26 firefighters, Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat who is in charge of the emergency response unit told reporters.

Raed Arafat said the fire had not yet been extinguished and more explosions could happen as a third tank at the site posed a risk.

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Hotel Owner Claims "Super Friendly" Guests Stole Everything In Room

A hotel owner in Wales was left stunned after a couple of her guests stole everything from their room, including electric appliances, before checking out. According to the BBC, the owner of the Dolphin Hotel in Pembroke Dock accused two of her guests of stealing 200 pounds of items after checking in their stay on Saturday. 

The 43-year-old landlady, Natalie Newton, said that the couple seemed "super friendly" while checking in, but she was still suspicious because they did not have any luggage with them. 

Ms Newton claimed that all in all, the guests made off the kettle, an electric fan, luxury towels, two lamps, the tea and coffee container, a charging tower and other stuff, the BBC reported. 

"This will cost at least 200 pounds to replace everything but it also meant I couldn't rent the room out again until it was all replenished," the 43-year-old said, as per Metro. 

She further stated that crime could not have come at a worse time for the business which has been in her family since 1999. "We're trying to run a boutique hotel and restaurant but first we had Covid and now we have the cost of living crisis - I don't know how much longer we can keep going," she said.

"I tried contacting the couple. I have phoned the number they left, I have messaged them but they haven't come back. I even tried charging their card but the payment was declined," Ms Newton claimed, as per the outlet. 

Also Read | "Call 911": How Note To Gas Station Customer Saved Kidnapped US Woman

According to the landlady, the only things the guests didn't take were the shampoo and soaps from the bathroom. She also said that the room was unusable for a number of days while everything was replaced. She said that the couple had south Wales accents and their card was declined. 

Ms Newton has now put out an appeal to identify the miscreants who used Booking.com to reserve the room. She is hoping the CCTV footage she provided to the cops will help identify the duo.

The Dyfed-Powys Police, on the other hand, said inquiries were ongoing into the incident.

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"Handsome Guy": Joe Biden Quips On Trump Mug Shot After Arrest

President Joe Biden told reporters he saw the mug shot photo from former President Donald Trump's arrest for felony charges in connection to his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“Handsome guy, wonderful guy,” Biden quipped to reporters after exiting an exercise class in Lake Tahoe.

Biden has largely avoided commenting on Trump's legal troubles, with White House officials saying they want to preserve judicial and prosecutorial independence.

In addition to his case in Georgia, Trump is facing federal felony charges related both to election interference and his handling of classified documents.

As Trump was being booked at the Fulton County jail on Thursday night, Biden sent a fundraising email to supporters saying that “apropos of nothing” he believed “today's a great day to give to my campaign.”

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New Pokemon Game Rewards Users For Sleeping, Becomes Instant Hit

Pokemon Go made billions of dollars getting people to roam the great outdoors. Now, the company behind the global game phenomenon is trying to get people to go to bed.

Pokemon Sleep records and rewards your sleep with Pokemon that you'd otherwise have to spend many waking hours catching. Developed by Japanese games studio Select Button Inc. and published by The Pokemon Co., Pokemon Sleep was the most downloaded game during the week starting July 16, according to mobile data analytics firm data.ai. The game celebrated hitting 10 million downloads Friday by offering some in-game items for free.

Users play by sleeping with their smartphones close to their heads, and the game keeps track of vibrations caught by the phones' sensors to estimate sleep quality. The better your sleep metrics, the more creatures you collect.

You can also speed things up in the free-to-play game by buying in-app items to befriend more Pokemon, or by paying for a premium subscription that comes with bonus sleep points.

"I really make an effort to go to sleep at my set bedtime, which I never did before," said Tomoki Toma, a 23-year-old from just outside Tokyo who's used Pokemon Sleep faithfully for more than four weeks.

I got Psyduck!!! ? (sorry for the lack of audio I got too excited and forgot to record it) pic.twitter.com/ENsrvVhex6

— Pokémon Sleep OUT NOW! (@PokemonSleep) July 21, 2023

Pokemon Sleep enters an arena crowded by health-oriented apps such as Calm, BetterSleep and Sleep Cycle. Pokemon, a joint venture owned by Nintendo Co., Creatures Inc. and Game Freak Inc., said it spent over four years on the game, trying out different game designs in an effort to add "an element of fun."

But interest is waning as more users voice boredom about a game whose outcome is determined while the player is asleep. What's more, users can't transfer creatures they find in Pokemon Sleep to other games. Searches for the title have sunk to about half their peak worldwide, according to Google Trends.

"It's a lot of fun collecting different Pokemon, but the game does get a little repetitive after a while," said 22-year-old Tokyo resident Reina Watanabe, who started playing three weeks ago.

There's also plenty of ways to cheat: you can tell the game you're going to bed when you're actually curling up with a book, leave the phone on your bed while you get coffee, or just manually enter false sleep data.

Whether Pokemon Sleep can keep users checking in every night depends both on the draw of the characters as well as the perceived health benefits. Game play is limited, but there's a long list of idle games that remain popular for years, running in the background on phones everywhere, such as AFK Arena, AdVenture Capitalist, Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector and Egg Inc.

Pokemon Go broke records and celebrated its seven-year anniversary last month in part because the augmented reality game designed by Niantic Inc. reinvented itself through updates. That title's success contrasts with Niantic's struggles on some other games, which prompted the San Francisco-based company to close its Los Angeles studio and cut 25% of its staff.

Pokemon is exploring ways to link its newest game to more devices in the future, according to the company's Pokemon Sleep producer Kaname Kosugi.

"Pokemon Sleep is fun, but without the quintessential Pokemon battles, it just doesn't feel like you're playing a game," said Masamitsu Takahashi, 30, a longtime Pokemon fan from Gifu Prefecture in central Japan. "But I'll wait to see if any major overhauls are in the works before I delete the app."

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Pilot Dead After US Navy Fighter Jet Crashes In San Diego: Report

The pilot of a US Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet that crashed on Thursday night near San Diego has been confirmed dead, according to a statement from the unit. The pilot was the only person aboard the aircraft, CNN reported.

Search and rescue teams sent out after the crash found the pilot at the scene and confirmed that he had been killed, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina said in a statement, as per CNN.

The statement said: "With a heavy heart, our condolences go to the Marine's family during this time."

The service member's identity will not be released "until 24 hours after all next-of-kin notifications have been completed," the Marines said.

The crash site is on US government property in the vicinity of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, "and there are no indications of damage to property on the ground," the Marines said earlier Friday.

As per the Marines, an investigation into the crash has begun.

The F/A-18 Hornet is the nation's first all-weather fighter and attack aircraft, and is considered "the workhorse of Marine Corps tactical aviation," according to Naval Air Systems Command.

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Niger Gives US, Germany, France Envoys 48 Hours To Leave Country

Niger's military rulers on Friday gave the French, German, Nigerian and US ambassadors 48 hours to quit the country, amid escalating tension over the threat of military action from the West African bloc ECOWAS to reverse the coup.

The ultimatum against the French envoy was quickly rejected by Paris, which repeated that it did not recognise the military rulers' authority.

The move by the officers now running the country was the latest escalation in deteriorating relations between the new regime in Niamey and several Western powers, as well as the West African bloc ECOWAS. Nigeria currently holds the presidency of ECOWAS.

Paris has repeatedly backed calls by ECOWAS for the reinstatement of president Mohamed Bazoum, who was overthrown on July 26.

In separate letters to their respective governments, Niger's foreign ministry said the French, German, Nigerian and US envoys should leave the country within 48 hours.

Each letter said it was in response to the refusal of the envoys to respond to an invitation from the ministry for a meeting Friday and other actions of their respective governments "contrary to the interests of Niger".

On Friday evening, the French foreign ministry said: "The putschists do not have the authority to make this request, the ambassador's approval coming solely from the legitimate elected Nigerien authorities."

France has 1,500 soldiers based in Niger who had been helping Bazoum in the fight against jihadist forces that have been active in the country for years, while the United States has around a thousand military personnel in the country.

- Pressure from ECOWAS -

Earlier Friday, West Africa's bloc ECOWAS urged Niger's coup leaders to reconsider their position and pushed for a return to civilian rule, with the threat of force still "very much on the table".

While the generals who ousted Bazoum have called for a three-year transition period, the Economic Community of West African States demands the immediate return to constitutional order.

With delegations shuttling into Niamey, ECOWAS said negotiations remained its priority as defence chiefs prepared a standby mission for a possible "legitimate use of force" to restore democracy if needed.

"Even now, it is not too late for the military to reconsider its action and listen to the voice of reason as the regional leaders will not condone a coup d'etat," ECOWAS commission president Omar Alieu Touray told reporters in Abuja.

"The real issue is the determination of the community to halt the spiral of coup d'etats in the region."

ECOWAS has already applied sanctions against Niger to pressure the new regime.

The Niger coup has heightened tensions in the Sahel region, where three other governments have fallen to military rebellions since 2020, and jihadists control swathes of territory.

ECOWAS leaders are already negotiating with military administrations in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea who are all working towards transitions to democracy after their own coups.

After initially balking, Niger's new rulers have said they remain open to negotiations.

But they have sent mixed messages, including a threat to charge Bazoum -- who remains detained at the official residence with his family -- with treason.

- Aggression -

Niger's military leaders have also warned against any intervention, accusing ECOWAS of preparing an occupying force in league with an unnamed foreign country.

Niger on Thursday agreed with the regimes in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso to let their troops into its territory in case of an aggression.

But Touray dismissed plans for ECOWAS "declaring war" or an "invasion" of Niger, insisting the standby mission would be a legitimate force allowed under ECOWAS statutes agreed by members.

"The instruments include the use of force. So it is very much on the table, as are other measures we are working on," he said.

"If peaceful means fail, ECOWAS cannot just fold its hands."

ECOWAS has intervened militarily in past crises, including in civil wars. Few details of the new standby force have emerged.

But preparations for any possible use of military force in Niger are risky and already face political resistance in northern Nigeria, a key player in ECOWAS and the region.

Niger's northern neighbour Algeria has also warned of disastrous consequences for the region from an intervention.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf this week toured West African countries to try to find a solution to a crisis in which Algiers firmly opposes any military option.

"There is a time for everything and we are currently in the time of finding peaceful solutions," he said on a visit to Benin.

"Let's put all our imagination into giving every chance to a political solution."

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Pakistan Says It Hasn't Made Any Formal Request To Join BRICS

Pakistan Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Friday said the country has not made any formal requests to join BRICS.

The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said the country will examine the latest developments and make a determination about its future engagement with BRICS, according to a press release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan.

"We have followed the BRICS related developments in Johannesburg. We have also noted its openness to inclusive multilateralism. Pakistan has said several times in the past that it is an ardent supporter of inclusive multilateralism," Baloch said during a media briefing on Friday.

She added: "Pakistan has not made any formal request to join BRICS. We will examine the latest developments and make a determination about our future engagement with BRICS. Pakistan is an ardent supporter of multilateralism and as a member of several multilateral organizations it has always played an important role for global peace and development."

She said that Pakistan is also an important developing country that has made many important contributions to promote peace, solidarity and cooperation among countries of the South. "We shall continue our efforts at the international fora for fostering the spirit of international cooperation and revitalization of inclusive multilateralism," she said.

On India's Chandrayaan-3 mission, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said: "I can only say that it is a great scientific achievement, for which ISRO scientists deserve appreciation."

BRICS group of nations on Thursday decided to include six new members- Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The new membership will be effective from January 1, 2024.

Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) supported the expansion of the grouping, the first such expansion since 2010 when South Africa was inducted into the group.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa said that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE have been invited to join the BRICS as part of the first phase of expansion.

With this expansion, six of the world's nine largest oil producers are now part of BRICS.

Ramaphosa made the announcement while issuing the Johannesburg Declaration of 15th BRICS Summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "India has always supported the expansion of BRICS and has always believed that adding new members will strengthen BRICS as an organisation."

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Russian Authorities Recover 10 Bodies, Flight Recorders From Wagner Crash

Russian investigators said Friday they had recovered flight recorders and ten bodies from the scene of a plane crash thought to have killed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin two days ago.

An investigation is underway into what caused Wednesday's crash, which came exactly two months after Wagner's short-lived rebellion against Moscow's military leadership.

"In the course of initial investigative work, the bodies of 10 victims were found at the site of the plane crash," Russia's Investigative Committee said on social media.

"Molecular genetic analyses are being carried out to establish their identities," it said, adding that "flight recorders" were also recovered from the scene.

Since the crash, which also claimed the lives of some of Prigozhin's close entourage, many Western countries and Kremlin critics have speculated the Wagner chief could have been assassinated.

The Kremlin has rejected suggestions it was involved, calling the incident "tragic" and dismissing rumours of possible foul play as an "absolute lie".

Russian officials said they had opened a probe into violations of air traffic rules, but have otherwise been silent about what may have caused the incident.

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Drought-Hit Panama Canal To Restrict Access For A Year

The drought-hit Panama Canal will maintain restrictions on the passage of ships for one year, a measure that has already led to a marine traffic jam as boats line up to enter the waterway linking two oceans.

The canal is facing a shortage of rainwater needed to transfer ships through locks that function like water elevators, an engineering marvel that moves six percent of the world's maritime commerce up and over the continent between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The canal's sub-administrator Ilya Espino, told AFP that unless heavy rains fall in the next three months, "we are looking at a period of one year" of restricted access.

That period will give clients "a year to plan" how to adapt, she said late Thursday.

Each ship moving through the canal requires 200 million liters of freshwater to move it through the locks, provided by two artificial lakes which also supply drinking water to half the country of about 4.2 million people.

However, Panama is facing a biting drought, made worse by the El Nino warming phenomenon, which has forced canal administrators to restrict the waterway to ships with a draft (water depth) of 13.11 meters (43 feet).

In 2022, an average of 40 ships crossed through the canal a day, a number which has now dropped to 32 to save water.

Traffic jam

The measures have caused a back-up of ships waiting to enter the 50-mile (80-kilometer) byway, which is mainly used by clients from the United States, China, and Japan.

On Thursday, some 130 boats were waiting, compared to around 90 usually in the queue.

Waiting times, usually between three and five days, have gone up to 19 days at times, although they currently stand at around 11 days.

Earlier this month canal operators said the restrictions were likely to result in a $200 million drop in earnings in 2024 compared to this year.

To pass through the canal, vessels can reserve a slot in advance, or try and buy one via an auction process. For those unable to secure a slot, there is a long wait.

"We easily handle a queue of 90 ships" waiting, but "130 or 140 ships cause us problems and delays," said Espino.

This week Panama President Laurentino Cortizo was forced to deny an assertion by his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro that the canal was closed.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also referred this week to the "special" situation facing the waterway.

"We have a restriction in Panama as we have had on other occasions, but it is not true that the Panama Canal is closed," said Cortizo.

Adapt or die

The canal opened in 1914 after a monumental construction project through dense jungles and mountains, with workers suffering tropical diseases, intense heat and rain.

Since then, more than a million vessels have transited through the canal, saving them a lengthy journey around the tip of South America.

"The big disadvantage that the Panama Canal has as a maritime route is that we operate with freshwater, while others use seawater," canal administrator Ricaurte Vasquez told AFP earlier this month.

"We have to find other solutions to remain a relevant route for international trade. If we don't adapt, we are going to die."

Due to the draft restrictions, some merchant ships are forced to unload their containers and send the lighter vessel through the canal, while the goods traverse Panama by rail before being reloaded.

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Fukushima Wastewater Released Into Ocean, China Bans All Japanese Seafood

Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, a polarising move that prompted China to announce an immediate blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan.

China is "highly concerned about the risk of radioactive contamination brought by... Japan's food and agricultural products," the customs bureau said in a statement.

The Japanese government signed off on the plan two years ago and it was given a green light by the U.N. nuclear watchdog last month. The discharge is a key step in decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi plant after it was destroyed by a tsunami in 2011.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said the release began at 1:03 p.m. local time (0403 GMT) and it had not identified any abnormalities.

However, China reiterated its firm opposition to the plan and said the Japanese government had not proved that the water discharged would be safe.

"The Japanese side should not cause secondary harm to the local people and even the people of the world out of its own selfish interests," its foreign ministry said in a statement.

Tokyo has in turn criticised China for spreading "scientifically unfounded claims."

It maintains the water release is safe, noting that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also concluded that the impact it would have on people and the environment was "negligible."

Japan has requested that China immediately lift its import ban on aquatic products and seeks a discussion on the impact of the water release based on science, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.

Japan exported about $600 million worth of aquatic products to China in 2022, making it the biggest market for Japanese exports, with Hong Kong second. Sales to China and Hong Kong accounted for 42% of all Japanese aquatic exports in 2022, according to government data.

China customs did not give details on the specific aquatic products impacted by the ban and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DECADES LONG PROCESS

The Fukushima Daiichi plant was destroyed in March 2011 after a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake generated powerful tsunami waves causing meltdowns in three reactors.

The first discharge totalling 7,800 cubic metres - the equivalent of about three Olympic swimming pools of water - will take place over about 17 days.

According to Tepco test results released on Thursday, that water contained about up to 63 becquerels of tritium per litre, below the World Health Organization drinking water limit of 10,000 becquerels per litre. A becquerel is a unit of radioactivity.

The IAEA also released a statement saying its independent on-site analysis had confirmed the tritium concentration was far below the limit.

"There are not going to be any health effects... There is no scientific reason to ban imports of Japanese food whatsoever," said Geraldine Thomas, former professor of molecular pathology at London's Imperial College.

But Japanese fishing groups, hit with years of reputational damage from radiation fears, still oppose the plan.

"All we want is to be able to continue fishing," the head of the Japan Fisheries Co-operative said in a statement that touched on the "mounting anxiety" of the community.

Separately from China, Hong Kong and Macau have announced their own ban starting Thursday, which covers Japanese seafood imports from 10 regions.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said import bans on Fukushima fisheries and food products will stay in place until public concerns were eased.

Japan will conduct monitoring around the water release area and publish results weekly starting on Sunday, Japan's environment minister said. The release is estimated to take about 30 years.

PROTESTS

In Hong Kong, Jacay Shum, a 73-year-old activist, held up a picture portraying IAEA head Rafael Grossi as the devil.

"Japan's actions in discharging contaminated water are very irresponsible, illegal, and immoral," said Shum, who was among a group of about 100 marchers. "No one can prove that the nuclear waste and materials are safe. They are completely unsafe."

South Korean police arrested at least 16 protesters who entered the Japanese embassy in Seoul, although South Korea's government has said its own assessment found no problems with the scientific and technical aspects of the release.

North Korea's foreign ministry demanded that the water discharge be immediately halted, calling it a "crime against humanity", state media reported.

A few dozen protesters gathered in front of Tepco's headquarters in Tokyo holding signs reading "Don't throw contaminated water into the sea!"

"The Fukushima nuclear disaster is not over. This time only around 1% of the water will be released," 71-year-old Jun Iizuka, who attended the protest, told Reuters. "From now on, we will keep fighting for a long time to stop the long-term discharge of contaminated water."
 

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US Sanctions Russians Over Ukraine Children Deportations

The United States on Thursday imposed new sanctions on Russian officials and groups over what rights organizations call the forced transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children since Moscow's invasion.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, announced the measures as she chaired a Security Council session that coincided with Ukrainian Independence Day.

"Russia's campaign of cruelty continues to this day," she said.

"The United States will not stand by as Russia carries out these war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The United States said it was imposing sanctions on 11 Russian individuals, including a number of "children's rights" regional commissioners, blocking any US assets and making US transactions with them a crime.

The sanctions also targeted the Artek "summer camp" in Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 and annexed in a move not recognized internationally, and an alleged re-education camp for children in Chechnya.

The State Department also said it would restrict visas to three Russians involved in the forcible transfer of children in Ukrainian territories under Moscow's control.

The International Criminal Court pointed to the transfer of children when it issued an arrest warrant in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia has denounced the allegations and imposed its own sanctions on the Hague-based court's prosecutor.

Russian authorities say they have been placing children from conflict-hit areas into foster care in safe areas.

But Ukrainian officials and rights groups say that Russia has deported thousands of children, including babies, against their families' will in a bid to brainwash them and, for older children, to enlist them in military training.

"You will hear Russian officials say that their transfers of children are part of 'humanitarian evacuations.' But this is a gross perversion of reality, and a futile attempt to justify the unjustifiable," Thomas-Greenfield said.

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