Mike Babcock has resigned as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets after word emerged of him asking players to show him photos on their phones

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Mexico seems set to elect its first female president in next year's election after the country's leading parties both unveiled women candidates.

'It’s Ringo and my Dad’s birthday so let’s have a great day to celebrate these two great people,' wrote Paul McCartney

FBI director Christopher Wray has rejected a far-reaching conspiracy theory that undercover federal agents orchestrated or encouraged rioters to storm the halls of Congress on January 6. In his sworn testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on 12 July, Mr Wray shot down claims that have been invoked by members of a far-right gang, pundit Tucker Carlson, Republican officials and right-wing conspiracy theorists who have alleged that a deadly riot at the US Capitol was instigated by federal informants and agents. More than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the riots, including more than a dozen people who have been found guilty on treason-related charges for conspiring their attack and 350 people who were convicted of assaulting or resisting law enforcement. “I will say this notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on January 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and agents is ludicrous and is a disservice to our brave, hardworking dedicated men and women,” Mr Wray told the committee. He also rejected allegations that a man named Ray Epps was working undercover to provoke a riot, a claim at the center of a brewing lawsuit from Mr Epps against Carlson and Fox News – accusations that are “demonstrably (and already proven to be) false,” his attorney wrote in a cease-and-desist letter to the network earlier this year. Though he joined the crowd on January 6, Mr Epps did not enter the Capitol, and he has not been charged with a crime – fuelling accusations from Carlson and others that federal prosecutors are protecting him. Carlson has said there is “no rational explanation” why this “mysterious figure” who “helped stage-manage the insurrection” had not yet been charged. Facing ongoing threats fuelled by baseless statements, Mr Epps has sued Fox News for defamation. “Fox repeatedly published defamatory falsehoods about Epps,including by broadcasting and rebroadcasting defamatory statements by Tucker Carlson who devoted over two dozen segments to Epps and by republishing those falsehoods” across Fox platforms, according to a lawsuit filed on the day of the hearing. During the hearing on Wednesday, Republican US Rep Andy Biggs of Arizona referenced a claim made by an attorney for a member of the neo-fascist group the Proud Boys who was convicted after assaulting police officers, breaking into the Capitol and smoking a celebratory cigar on January 6. Mr Biggs claimed that 40 undercover agents were at the scene, an allegation that was also made in a court filing from a Proud Boys attorney in a seditious conspiracy case earlier this year. “You don’t know whether there were undercover federal agents, FBI agents, in the crowd and at the Capitol on January 6?” Mr Biggs asked. “I want to be very careful because there have been a number of court filings related to some of these comments and I want to make sure I stick within that,” Mr Wray replied. “I do not believe there were undercover agents on scene.” A lawyer for Dominic Pezzola – a member of the Proud Boys who used a stolen police shield to bash through a window into the Capitol – claimed in court filings that at least 40 undercover agents were present. Earlier this year, when he testified in his own defense at trial, Pezzola repeatedly invoked the conspiracy theory, admitting that he did not have any evidence that Mr Epps was involved. Pezzola was found guilty by a jury of robbery and assaulting, resisting or impeding police. Read More Ray Epps sues Fox News and Tucker Carlson for ‘defamatory attacks’ after January 6 He claimed to have dirt on the Bidens. Now the DoJ say he’s a Chinese spy. Who is Gal Luft? Fox reaches $12m settlement with former producer who sued company over ‘toxic’ workplace Georgia grand jury sworn in to consider Trump charges over attempts to upend 2020 election

LONDON (Reuters) -The World Health Organization assembly passed a motion on Wednesday condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine, including attacks on

Volodymyr Zelensky posed the question of why Russia and Vladimir Putin continued to have representation at the United Nations to world leaders ahead of his UN security council speech. Mr Zelensky was speaking in the US after visiting wounded Ukrainian military members at a New York hospital shortly after arriving for his diplomatic tour on Monday. "For us, it’s very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners. And if in the United Nations still – it’s a pity, but still – there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me. I think it’s a question to all the members of the United Nations," he said. Follow latest live updates on coverage of Ukraine war here The Ukrainian president is likely to cross path with Russia’s top diplomat at the United Nations during the upcoming UN Security Council meeting. On being asked if he will stay in the room to listen to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov’s remarks at the meeting, Mr Zelensky said: “I don’t know how it will be, really”. Mr Lavrov had called Mr Zelensky a “b*****d” and walked out after a round of condemnation and accusations of war crimes aimed at Russia in last year’s UNSC meeting. “Such outrages remain unpunished because the United States and their allies with the connivance of international human rights institutes have been covering up the crimes of the Kyiv regime based on the policy of ‘Zelensky might be a b*****d, but he’s our b*****d’,” the foreign minister said. He walked out after his speech and remained absent for most of the session having already arrived 90 minutes late – missing UN chief Antonio Guterres’s briefing. The Ukrainian president had confronted the UN even before the war launched by neighbour Russia, who, as a Security Council member, is entrusted with maintaining international peace and security. In September last year, Mr Zelensky detailed the Russian atrocities in Ukraine and described a sweeping peace plan to end the war in his previous address to the UN General Assembly. “How can we allow the Russian army somewhere on Ukrainian soil, knowing that they are committing such mass murder everywhere?” Mr Zelensky asked. “We cannot. We must protect life. The world must protect life.” He also called on the international community to temporarily strip Russia of its UN powers, continue sanctions, and establish a special tribunal to oversee the peace process. He lamented at the General Assembly in 2021 that the UN was a “retired superhero who’s long forgotten how great they once were”. Mr Zelensky will be making a case for Ukraine’s protection and security assurances as the country continued to fight off a Russian full-scale invasion for nearly 600 days now. He will also seek help from Washington ahead of a looming winter. The US Congress is currently mulling over president Joe Biden’s request to provide Ukraine with as much as $24bn more in military and humanitarian aid. Mr Zelensky will spend some time at the Capitol Hill on Thursday and then proceed to meet with Mr Biden at the White House. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Kyiv commander says Russian defensive line breached near villages of Bakhmut Explosions shake Ukraine’s Lviv as western parts remain under air raid alerts Heading for UN, Ukraine's president questions why Russia still has a place there How Ukraine’s battle for the Black Sea is inflicting serious pain on Putin’s forces New explosions at Sevastopol as Ukraine launches fresh drone strikes on Crimea

The European Central Bank can’t declare victory over inflation just yet and will have to remain “attentive” until

LIMA President Dina Boluarte of Peru reshuffled six posts in her cabinet on Wednesday, the second partial reshuffle

Impact Your World has gathered ways you can help reject the pathology of racism and celebrate Juneteenth more thoughtfully through nonprofits that support Black health and wealth, joy, and overall empowerment.

Vladimir Putin, meet the Law of Unintended Consequences.

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 28, 2023--