Ex-president rails against ban on attacking key people connected to the trial; longtime Trump assistant asked whether boss distracted while signing checks
Trump defense attorney Emil Bove has resumed his cross-examination of Pecker.
“We were talking about Hope Hicks, right?” Bove asked, referring to the former campaign and White House aide to Trump. Pecker answered in the affirmative.
Continue reading...Investigators say man concealed iPhone to record bathroom video of 14-year-old girl, who used her phone to document evidence
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted on Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September. Authorities also alleged that Estes Carter Thompson III had four separate videos which showed girls using lavatories on an aircraft where he worked.
The 36-year-old Thompson of Charlotte, North Carolina, was indicted on one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor.
In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
Continue reading...Top health official gives no timeline for issuing rule, saying administration taking more time to consider feedback
For the second time in recent months, the Joe Biden White House has delayed a sweeping plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a decision that is certain to infuriate anti-smoking advocates but could avoid angering Black voters ahead of November elections.
In a statement on Friday, the president’s top health official gave no timeline for issuing the rule, saying only that the administration would take more time to consider feedback, including from civil rights groups.
Continue reading...Tower Hamlets criticised by its own mayor for taking down murals, while Redbridge reviews artwork after complaints
Council authorities have moved to take down pro-Palestine murals in east London, while another is being reviewed after complaints were made by pro-Israel lawyers.
The latter, which depicts four journalists standing against a backdrop of ruins and under the words “Heroes of Palestine”, went up last month in Redbridge, east London, as local authorities came under pressure over similar murals.
Continue reading...Federal transportation agency finds Tesla’s claims about feature don’t match their findings and opens second investigation
US auto-safety regulators said on Friday that their investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot had identified at least 13 fatal crashes in which the feature had been involved. The investigation also found the electric carmaker’s claims did not match up with reality.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) disclosed on Friday that during its three-year Autopilot safety investigation, which it launched in August 2021, it identified at least 13 Tesla crashes involving one or more death, and many more involving serious injuries, in which “foreseeable driver misuse of the system played an apparent role”.
Continue reading...US activist, 69, speaks to NBC amid growing effort to prevent I Am Ruby Bridges and other works being available to school students
Increasingly, the US civil rights icon Ruby Bridges – the first Black child to integrate a school in Louisiana – has seen some adults seek to prevent grade-school students from accessing the books and films that chronicle her story, saying the tale makes white children feel bad about themselves.
But that justification is “ridiculous” because “my biggest fans are kids all around the world”, Bridges told NBC’s Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker in an interview airing on Sunday morning’s episode of the show.
Continue reading...Judge coroner highlights failings that contributed to three victims being killed by Khairi Saadallah in 2020
The deaths of three people during a terror attack in Reading were avoidable, an inquest has determined.
A judge coroner sitting at the Old Bailey on Friday said failings in intelligence sharing and in providing psychiatric care contributed to the failure to prevent the attack that took the lives of James Furlong, Dr David Wails and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett in June 2020.
Continue reading...Research finds hormone that indicates fertility at lower levels in vapers and tobacco smokers
Women should give up vaping if they are hoping to get pregnant, according to a study that suggests it may affect fertility.
In the first research to demonstrate a link between fertility prospects and electronic cigarettes across a large population, analysis of blood samples from 8,340 women revealed that people who vape or smoke tobacco had lower levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), which indicates how many eggs women have left in their ovaries.
Continue reading...Over 100 firefighters, 30 lifeguards and 32 police officers called to help as flames tore through restaurant at end of California pier
A historic southern California pier caught fire on Thursday, burning for several hours until firefighters battling the blaze from boats were able to extinguish the flames.
Flames tore through a restaurant at the end of the Oceanside Pier, the longest wooden pier on the US west coast, and heavily damaged the closed diner and a neighboring business.
Continue reading...Two-year-old calf one step closer to reuniting with family group after tragic accident that left her stranded in remote lagoon
An orca calf, trapped for weeks in a remote lagoon in western Canada, has freed herself and is travelling towards open waters, hailed as “incredible news” by a growing body of human supporters.
The move puts her one step closer to reuniting with her family one month after a tragic accident left her stranded.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Research shows extent to which schools are struggling to provide qualified teachers for every class
Hundreds of thousands of pupils in England and Wales are being educated “on the cheap” by low-paid teaching assistants (TAs) covering lessons for teachers who are off sick or have quit, according to new research.
A desperate teacher recruitment crisis, compounded by inadequate funding, means schools across the country are struggling to put a qualified teacher at the front of every class, unions say.
Continue reading...Campaign Against Antisemitism, led by Gideon Falter, cites safety fears and promises more protests to come
Campaign Against Antisemitism has cancelled its planned counter-protest against a pro-Palestinian march through central London on Saturday.
The group, led by Gideon Falter, had said it wanted to use the “walk together” initiative to support its view that the area around the planned pro-Palestinian march was not safe for Jewish people.
Continue reading...Swift now has joint highest number of chart-toppers for a female artist, as The Tortured Poets Department earns biggest opening week in seven years
Taylor Swift has tied with Madonna to become the female artist with the most UK No 1 albums, earning her twelfth chart-topper with the global phenomenon that is The Tortured Poets Department.
Swift also dominates this week’s singles chart, with three songs in the Top Five including a No 1 for Fortnight, featuring Post Malone. It’s her fourth No 1 single, and her third chart double.
Continue reading...‘Misogynist influencer’ was indicted in June along with his brother and two Romanian female suspects
Andrew Tate’s trial on human trafficking charges can proceed, a Romanian court has ruled, 10 months after he was first indicted.
The self-professed “misogynist influencer” was indicted in June along with his brother, Tristan, and two Romanian female suspects for human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, allegations they have all denied.
Continue reading...Top UN demining official outlines scale of devastation as Egypt officials fly into Israel in attempt to revive ceasefire talks
Israel’s war in Gaza has created 37m tonnes of debris, much of it laced with unexploded bombs, which could take more than a decade to remove, a top UN demining official said.
Nearly seven months into the war, there is an average 300kg of rubble a square metre of land in Gaza, Pehr Lodhammar, the former United Nationals Mine Action Service chief for Iraq, told a news conference.
Continue reading...Secretary of state met Xi Jinping in Beijing and warned of sanctions over China’s support for Russian arms industry
Washington has seen evidence of attempts by Beijing to “influence and arguably interfere” in this year’s US elections, the secretary of state has said during a trip to China, also warning that Chinese companies face new sanctions if they do not stop supplying material and equipment to the Russian arms industry.
Antony Blinken told CNN that he had reiterated Joe Biden’s message to Xi Jinping not to interfere in November’s vote – a warning that reportedly received assurances from the Chinese president that he would not do so. Asked whether China was keeping to its promise, Blinken said: “We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence, and arguably interfere, and we want to make sure that that’s cut off as quickly as possible.
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