Nobel-winning lithium battery inventor John Goodenough dies at 100
John Goodenough, who shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the lithium-ion battery that revolutionized modern life, has died at the age of...
2023-06-27 16:57
Three victims slashed in string of connected attacks on Manhattan subway
Three women were attacked in a string of Manhattan subway slashings in New York on Sunday, 18 June. Police on 19 June said they believed the same man was responsible for all three attacks, and released Metropolitan Travel Authority (MTA) surveillance footage of the alleged perpetrator. According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), the man attacked two women at the 86th Street and Lexington Avenue station, before slashing the leg of a third woman while riding a southbound 4 train. The first attack took place shortly after 4pm on Sunday, when a man wearing a Boston Red Sox cap approached 19-year-old Bianchelli Diplan and slashed her right leg with a sharp object. “I started up the steps and then I felt something [on] the back of my leg. So I like, hold on to it. And I saw there was blood.” Ms Diplan, who was on her way to buy a Father’s Day cake, told ABC7. “So I turned around I saw him and, like, he just stared at me and I was crying. And he just walked away.” She reportedly needed 19 stitches and is recovering at home. The NYPD believes he also attacked a 48-year-old woman at the same station before riding the 4 train to Brooklyn Bridge Station where he slashed a 26-year-old woman’s left leg at around 4.32pm. The cut was so deep that a tourniquet had to be applied on her leg before she was rushed to Bellevue Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to the New York Post. Surveillance footage shows the suspect jumping the turnstile at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station after slashing his third victim. During a briefing on 19 June, NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said he was confident the perpetrator’s “identity will be obtained shortly”. “I’m also confident that he’ll be apprehended shortly,” Mr Kemper said. Ms Diplan urged commuters to “be aware of your surroundings” while travelling on the subway “because this could happen to anybody”. Anyone with information about the attacker, who is 5ft 8in and weighs 220 pounds, can send the NYPD a direct message on Twitter or call 800-577-TIPS. The attacks come one day after the death of a man who was found with fatal stab wounds on a 4 train at Union Square Station. Police have charged Claude White, a 33-year-old homeless man, with the murder of Tavon Silver. Charges against Mr White also include criminal possession of a weapon. While Mr White didn’t know the victim, police believe they became embroiled in a dispute which ultimately led to Mr Silver’s death. Read More Russia tried to kill ‘CIA informant’ in Florida, report says Missing Titanic submarine with five onboard may have 50 hours left as US accused of hampering rescue – live Inside Titan: Titanic-spotting submarine steered by video game controller Where is the Titanic wreckage? British Navy expert warns ‘timescale’ of missing Titanic sub is ‘very concerning’
2023-06-22 12:58
What's the Kennection? #64
All five answers to the questions below have something in common. Can you figure it out?
2023-05-29 00:26
UN hands over ship for oil transfer from rusting Yemen tanker
The United Nations on Monday handed over a vessel that will take on board oil from a decaying tanker in the Red Sea off war-torn Yemen, an operation...
2023-07-17 20:52
What are junk fees and how might Biden tackle them?
The president says airlines, banks, hotels and concert vendors are playing Americans "for suckers".
2023-06-16 10:20
Greece ‘like Africa’ as Europeans melt in deadly heatwave forecast to smash record
Conditions in Greece have been compared to those in Africa as southern Europeans suffer through a heatwave forecast to only worsen in the coming days. Europe’s highest ever recorded temperature – 48.8C (119.8F) – could be breached in Sicily and Sardinia next week and Spain is expected to reach 45C, experts say. Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Poland and Croatia have all been hit, and officials in several countries have been preparing emergency measures, including mobile phone heat alerts. “It’s like being in Africa,” said 24-year-old tourist Balint Jolan, from Hungary. “It’s not that much hotter than it is currently at home, but yes, it is difficult.” Officials in Athens shut the ancient Acropolis for several hours on Friday to protect visitors as the Greek meteorological service forecast temperatures peaking at 41C in the city. Read live updates on Europe’s heatwave here Hellenic Red Cross workers handed out bottled water to tourists in long queues fanning themselves, and paramedics gave first aid to tourists fainting and suffering dehydration. The mercury on Acropolis Hill is usually even higher due to its altitude and lack of shade, but the last-minute decision left some people frustrated. “I even bought a €50 ticket to skip the line to enter and I couldn’t enter the place,” one said. Elsewhere in Athens, tourists huddled under mist machines. There and in other Greek cities, working hours were changed for the public sector and many businesses to avoid the midday heat, while air-conditioned areas were opened to the public. In the Spanish capital, Madrid, zoo animals were fed fruit ice pops, while authorities in Cyprus urged residents to avoid forest areas where wildfires could be sparked accidentally. Swathes of the Balkans also sweltered. In Croatia, the village of Grebastica near the Adriatic coast was devastated by a wildfire that destroyed cars and homes. Dozens of firefighters and three aircraft struggled to contain the blaze that spread rapidly due to strong southerly winds. The Earth steamed to its hottest June on record, smashing the previous global mark by nearly a quarter of a degree, with global oceans setting temperature records for the third month running, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – considered the gold standard for record-keeping. Europe’s monster heatwave, called Cerberus, has already claimed at least one life as it brought temperatures surpassing 104F (40C) across the continent this week. On Tuesday, the land surface temperature in parts of Spanish region Extremadura exceeded 140F (60C). A 44-year-old man painting road markings in northern Italy collapsed and died. Many people are worried about next week, when the heat in the country is expected to intensify, and temperatures are forecast to climb to above 45C (113F) in the centre and south, under a new heatwave named Cheron. According to La Repubblica, the heat this weekend could be trumped by 12C in the following days, particularly in Tuscany and Lazio. If so, it would break Europe’s current record of 48.8 Celsius recorded in Sicily in August 2021. The impact of such extremities has been brought into focus by a new study that found up to 61,000 people died in Europe’s sweltering heat last summer. The forecast has also raised fears about the impact on crops and animals. The European Space Agency said: “Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland are all facing a major heatwave, with temperatures expected to climb to 48 degrees Celsius on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia – potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe.” Emergency services in Turkey have been grappling with both fires and floods, in which three people have died. “While there are heat and fires on one side of the country, there are floods and deluges on the other,” said deputy agriculture minister Veysel Tiryaki. Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald said: “We are just getting a small taste for the types of impacts that we expect to worsen under climate change.” Climate scientist Friederike Otto of the Imperial College of London said: “Until we stop burning fossil fuels, this will only get worse. Heat records will keep getting broken, people and ecosystems are already in many cases beyond what they are able to deal with.” Additional reporting by agencies Read More Why is there no UK heatwave as Europe swelters during Cerberus? Earth sets its hottest day record for third time in a week Cities in the US are sinking due to the climate crisis
2023-07-15 01:16
Who is Enrique Tarrio? Ex-Proud Boys leader faces longest prison sentence yet for January 6
Two days before a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol, the now-former leader of a neo-fascist gang was arrested in Washington DC shortly after stepping off a plane from Miami. Enrique Tarrio was wanted by police after he admitted to tearing down and burning a Black Lives Matter flag outside a historically Black church in the nation’s capital during December riots connected to a protest supporting then-President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. On 6 January, 2021, Tarrio watched the insurrection unfold from a hotel in Baltimore. Before his arrest two days earlier, Tarrio wrote to his lieutenant: “Whatever happens … make it a spectacle.” Tarrio is now among four members of the self-described “Western chauvinist” gang facing decades in prison after they were found guilty in May of seditious conspiracy and other charges in connection with the mob’s assault. Tarrio’s verdict marked the first successful seditious conspiracy conviction against a January 6 defendant who was not physically at the Capitol that day. Federal prosecutors are now asking a judge to sentence convicted Proud Boys members to decades behind bars. Tarrio could face up to 33 years in prison, the longest sentence yet in connection with the attack. In a sentencing memo, prosecutors said the men “organized and directed a force of nearly 200 to attack the heart of our democracy” and “intentionally positioned themselves at the vanguard of political violence in this country.” “The defendants understood the stakes, and they embraced their role in bringing about a ‘revolution.’ They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election,” prosecutors wrote. “They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals.” During the trial, prosecutors presented hundreds of internal messages revealing the group’s toxic rhetoric and culture of violence depicting a gang “that came together to use force against its enemies” in the weeks leading up to January 6, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors argued that the Proud Boys were not merely obedient followers of the former president’s commands but were preparing for “all-out war” to undermine millions of Americans’ votes and upend a democratic election to preserve his presidency. Tarrio, as the leader of the gang, along with his four co-defendants, “directed, mobilized and led” a crowd of 200 supporters towards the Capitol on January 6, “leading to dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property, breaching of the Capitol building, and assaults on law enforcement,” then bragged about their actions on social media and in group chat messages that were later shared with jurors, according to prosecutors. Defence attorneys have placed the blame on the words and actions of then-President Trump, who directed his supporters to “fight like hell” the morning of the attack and – in a message from a debate stage heard loud and clear by members of the Proud Boys and their allies – “stand by.” “It was Donald Trump’s words. It was his motivation,” Tarrio’s attorney Nayib Hassan told jurors in closing arguments. “It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J Trump and those in power.” Proud Boys emerged in cities across the US as a violent response to antifascists organizing in the wake of the 2016 election, exploiting white, right-wing male rage and relying on semi-ironic posturing and barroom culture to launder far-right, anti-immigrant and anti-LGBT+ views. Tarrio, who assumed the role of group “chairman” in 2018, previously was a “prolific” cooperator with local and federal law enforcement agencies, according to court records and testimony from a former attorney. His own lawyer and an FBI investigator said Tarrio helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling between 2012 and 2014. Tarrio has denied his involvement. During a televised presidential debate on 29 September, 2020, debate moderator Chris Wallace repeatedly asked then-President Trump whether he would denounce white supremacism. Mr Trump asked for a name to reference. Joe Biden, standing on the opposite side of the stage, suggested the Proud Boys. “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” Mr Trump said. “But I’ll tell you what somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem. This is a left-wing problem.” Almost immediately, Proud Boys members and their allies celebrated what they heard as a call to action. “Trump basically said to go f*** them up!” Tarrio’s future co-defendant Joe Biggs wrote on Parler at the time. “This makes me so happy.” Accounts also circulated a meme illustrating the president wearing a Fred Perry shirt – a part of the group’s unofficial uniform – and a peaked cap bearing the Proud Boys logo with the text “standing by for your orders general, sir.” Another image included an incorrect version of the president’s remarks that more acutely resembled a call to arms: “Proud Boys can stand back and stand by, because someone has to take care of antifa and these people.” “Although I am excited about our mention on the debate stage … I am not taking this as a direct endorsement from the President,” Tarrio wrote on Telegram. “Him telling the Proud Boys to stand back and standby is what we have ALWAYS done,” he added. On Parler, Tarrio said: “Standing by, sir.” Following Mr Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, Tarrio and hundreds of members of the Proud Boys and other far-right groups marched through Washington DC, where they set fire to a Black Lives Matter banner seized from historic Black church Asbury United Methodist. The group also attacked Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, another historic Black church. During his arrest after his arrival in Washington on 4 January, 2021, police found Tarrio was carrying two high-capacity magazines compatible with high-powered rifles. Both were empty. He faced a misdemeanor charge of destruction of property for burning the church’s sign and two subsequent felony charges for possessing a high-capacity feeding device. Tarrio had previously admitted in comments on Parler and on a Proud Boys-affiliated podcast that he was responsible for burning a church’s sign. “In the burning of the BLM sign, I was the one that lit it on fire,” he said. “I was the person that went ahead and put the lighter to it and engulfed it in flames, and I am damn proud that I did.” Later that year, he announced he was stepping down from his leadership role with the Proud Boys, as other members “start getting more involved in local politics, running our guys for office from local seats, whether it’s a simple GOP seat or a city council seat.” But in the wake of January 6, as the group decentralized, members have harassed drag queen story-telling events at libraries and amplified “groomer” smears aimed at LGBT+ people. The group has been central to a wave of attacks and threats against drag performers and the people and venues that host them, according to a recent report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Proud Boys chapters targeted 60 such events, with more than half resulting in physical and verbal clashes, the report found. In July 2021, as part of a plea agreement dropping the felony charges against him, Tarrio pleaded guilty to destruction of property and to a misdemeanor count of attempted possession of a high-capacity magazine. He was released in January 2022 after serving four months in jail. Five months later, a federal grand jury indicted Tarrio and four other men – Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Dominic Pezzola and Zachary Rehl – for seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol attack. US District Judge Timothy Kelly barred prosecutors from discussing Tarrio’s prior arrest during the Proud Boys trial, but jurors were exposed to dozens of messages revealing members’ hateful rhetoric and calls for violence in private messages and across social media platforms and in public statements – and in a video showing them burning the Black Lives Matter banner. In the weeks leading up to January 6, Tarrio had assembled a “Ministry of Self-Defense” with his co-defendants and Jeremy Bertino, a former Proud Boy who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and served as a key government witness at trial. Bertino’s testimony implicated Tarrio and the other men in a conspiracy to what he said was “anything that was necessary to save the country” – including breaking into the Capitol to block the certification of an American election. Days before the attack, Tarrio exchanged messages with another person who shared a plan called “1776 Returns” that included plans to occupy “crucial buildings” with “as many people as possible,” including the House and Senate. That person wrote that “revolution is [sic] important than anything,” to which Tarrio replied: “That’s what every waking moment consists of … I’m not playing games.” On January 6, Tarrio told followers on social media that day to “do what must be done” and, in a group chat with other Proud Boys members, “do it again.” “Make no mistake,” he wrote in another message. “We did this.” Enrique "Henry" Tarrio, 39, was born in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents. He was initially reluctant to join the Proud Boys until he was courted by members at a party for far-right activist Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017; Tarrio was there working security. Tarrio rose through the ranks of the burgeoning neo-fascist gang, attending events for Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka, rallying alongside members at 2017's so-called Unite the Right event in Charlottesville, Virginia that exploded into lethal violence, and broadening his Florida chapter into a national operation. "Before me – and they hate it when I say this – they were the Gavin McInnes fan club," he told the Miami New Times. "We weren't really political." In 2013, he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a healthcare fraud case involving diabetic test strips, then assisted federal prosecutors to identify a dozen other suspects, according to court records. He served one year and four months in prison. Read More ‘Donald Trump’s army’: Proud Boys members face decades in prison for January 6 sedition Trump news – live: Trump makes sinister threat to Democrats over indictments Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election: The federal investigation, explained When is Donald Trump going on trial? Here are all the court dates
2023-08-30 08:57
Biden trips, tumbles on Air Force stage
President Joe Biden took a face-first tumble on Thursday after tripping over an obstacle on stage at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, but he appeared unhurt...
2023-06-02 07:49
Sunak’s Courting of Business Can’t Hide Shift to Labour
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pulled out all the stops on Monday to plug the UK as a place
2023-11-27 23:48
A rare, endangered seal named Yulia basks on Tel Aviv beach
An unexpected visitor spotted sunbathing on a beach in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv is turning heads and causing a media buzz
2023-05-16 18:56
Manson family member Leslie Van Houten is another step closer to parole as governor won't try to block her release
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office on Friday announced it will not challenge a May state appellate court's panel ruling that opened the possibility of parole for Leslie Van Houten, a former Charles Manson follower and convicted murderer.
2023-07-08 10:20
Hong Kong closes schools as torrential rain floods streets, subway station
Hong Kong has closed schools and halted trading on the stock exchange as torrential rain lashed the city overnight, flooding streets in parts of the city and an underground subway station
2023-09-08 10:50
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