Five charged in Texas over alleged $1m ring to certify unqualified teachers

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Prosecutors say impersonators took tests on behalf of applicants, and testing proctor was allegedly bribed

Five people in Texas have been charged in connection with an alleged fraudulent teacher certification scheme, which prosecutors say was used to improperly certify hundreds of unqualified teachers to work in local school districts throughout the state.

At a press conference on Monday led by the Harris county district attorney, Kim Ogg, prosecutors said the alleged scheme generated at least a million dollars and was used to certify more than 200 unqualified teachers who are currently or have previously worked in Texas public schools.

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Recent whale deaths highlight risks from Antarctica’s booming krill fishery – The Associated Press

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  1. Recent whale deaths highlight risks from Antarctica’s booming krill fishery  The Associated Press
  2. China-Russia cooperation blocks Antarctic conservation proposals  VOA Asia
  3. Fighting for the Rights of . . . Antarctica?  National Review
  4. Antarctica’s Fate Will Impact the World. Is It Time to Give The Region a Voice at Climate Talks?  InsideClimate News
  5. Antarctica-Whale Deaths  guardonline.com
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Paramedic gave Sergei Skripal novichok antidote by chance, inquiry hears

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Knocked-over bag led to unintended use of drug to counter nerve agents, which may have saved former Russian spy

A paramedic has described the extraordinary moment he knocked over a drugs bag as he treated the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and then by chance gave him a nerve agent antidote that may have saved his life.

Emergency services workers who went to help Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, after they were poisoned with the nerve agent novichok, initially suspected they may have been experiencing the effects of a recreational drugs overdose.

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Some US states have firearm death rates comparable to countries in conflict, report says

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Mississippi’s firearm-related violence rate nearly double that of Haiti, which is plagued by political and gang strife

A new report by the Commonwealth Fund finds some US states have firearm death rates comparable to countries in conflict, and even states with the fewest firearms deaths are far higher than peer developed democracies.

For instance, Mississippi’s rate of firearm-related violence (28.5 per 100,000 people) was nearly double that of Haiti (15.1 per 100,000) in 2021, when mercenaries assassinated the country’s president, unleashing a fresh round of gang warfare which pushed the country into a state of civil war.

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US sanctions 398 firms in more than a dozen countries, accusing them of helping Russia’s war effort – The Associated Press

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  1. US sanctions 398 firms in more than a dozen countries, accusing them of helping Russia's war effort  The Associated Press
  2. Putin’s cash crunch  POLITICO Europe
  3. US cracks down on Russia’s facilitators worldwide  Financial Times
  4. US Sanctions 398 Firms in Multiple Countries for Allegedly Aiding Russia  Newsweek
  5. US cracks down on Russia sanctions evasion in fresh action  Reuters
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Hundreds of damaged ballots saved following fire at drop box in Washington

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FBI is investigating and workers are contacting voters about new ballots after incendiary devices were put in drop box

Officials in south-west Washington were able to salvage almost 500 damaged ballots from a ballot box that was set on fire on Monday in what officials have called an attack on democracy ahead of a contentious US election.

An unknown number of ballots were destroyed when someone placed incendiary devices in a drop box in Vancouver, Washington, while three ballots were damaged in a fire at a box in nearby Portland, Oregon. Those fires and one other are linked, officials have said.

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Scientists discover oldest ever giant tadpole fossil in Argentina

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Tadpole that wriggled around 160m years ago surpasses previous record holder by about 20m years

Scientists have discovered the oldest-known fossil of a giant tadpole that wriggled around over 160m years ago.

The new fossil, found in Argentina, surpasses the previous ancient record holder by about 20m years.

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The world braces for the fallout of next week’s US election – Semafor

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  1. The world braces for the fallout of next week’s US election  Semafor
  2. US election: what a Trump victory would mean for the rest of the world  The Conversation
  3. As Election Nears, Foreign Leaders Fear ‘a Vacuum’ in American Leadership  The New York Times
  4. IR Experts See Glaring Differences Between Harris and Trump  Foreign Policy
  5. How this US election could change state of the world  BBC.com
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Israel cease-fire plan for Lebanon seeks to bypass UN, as US mediators travel to Jerusalem for talks – Fox News

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  1. Israel cease-fire plan for Lebanon seeks to bypass UN, as US mediators travel to Jerusalem for talks  Fox News
  2. New Hezbollah chief: We hit Netanyahu’s home, he ‘survived this time’ but may yet be killed  The Times of Israel
  3. Lebanon, Israel could agree to ceasefire within days, Lebanese prime minister says  Reuters
  4. Biden advisers to visit Israel to try to seal a deal to end war in Lebanon  Axios
  5. A new push to wind down the Middle East wars faces familiar challenges  The Associated Press
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Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses Kamala Harris: ‘I will always be an American before I am a Republican’

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The former Republican governor said that he was backing the Democrat because a Trump victory would mean ‘four more years of bullshit’

The former Republican governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he is backing Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in next week’s election.

In a long post on X, Schwarzenegger, 77, said that while he doesn’t “really do endorsements” … “hate[s] politics” and doesn’t “trust most politicians”, he felt compelled to formally endorse Harris and her pick for vice president Tim Walz.

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IDF official: Deadly Gaza strike targeted spotter, wasn’t aimed at collapsing building – The Times of Israel

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  1. IDF official: Deadly Gaza strike targeted spotter, wasn’t aimed at collapsing building  The Times of Israel
  2. More than 90 killed in north Gaza strike as Israel bans U.N. relief agency  The Washington Post
  3. Israeli strikes in northern Gaza kill at least 88, officials say  The Associated Press
  4. Updates: Deadly new Israel attack on north Gaza as south Lebanon targeted  Al Jazeera English
  5. ‘Who is going to take them out of here?': Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza kills over 90 people  CNN
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Fleet of 30 luxury cars taken to Thailand returned to UK, police say

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Detectives say cars including £220,000 Lamborghini were fraudulently bought on finance, shipped abroad and sold on

A fleet of 30 luxury cars worth £6.5m whisked out of the UK to Thailand after being fraudulently bought on finance have been recovered and returned, police have said.

The haul of vehicles included a £220,000 Lamborghini Huracán Spyder – a car described by the maker as “the pinnacle of Italian taste and hand craftsmanship” – along with Porsches, Mercedes and a Ford Mustang.

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Russian police charge woman in Crimea over daughter’s pro-Ukraine video

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Clip of Russian and Ukrainian flags with angry-face and heart emojis is alleged to have ‘discredited’ army

Police in Russian-annexed Crimea have charged a woman with child neglect after her 10-year-old daughter allegedly posted a video online that “discredited” the Russian army, authorities said on Wednesday.

The video, shared on Russian Telegram channels, showed a girl choosing between Russian and Ukrainian flags, with an angry-face emoji next to the Russian flag and a heart emoji next to the Ukrainian one.

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Nobel and Pulitzer winners denounce ‘dangerous’ Israel cultural boycott

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More than 1,000 well-known figures sign open letter in response to authors pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions over Gaza

More than 1,000 figures from the literary and entertainment industry – including several Nobel laureates, Pulitzer prize, and Booker prize winners – have signed an open letter against “illiberal and dangerous” cultural boycotts.

The letter was released by the nonprofit body Creative Community For Peace [CCFP], which campaigns against cultural boycotts of Israel, after more than 1,000 book industry figures pledged to boycott Israeli cultural institutions that “are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians”.

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Teen charged in UK dance class stabbings stays silent in court on new poison and terror charges – The Associated Press

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  1. Teen charged in UK dance class stabbings stays silent in court on new poison and terror charges  The Associated Press
  2. The strange silence around the Southport attacks  The Spectator
  3. Teen accused of deadly UK stabbing at Taylor Swift-themed event now faces terror charge: Police  ABC News
  4. Teen accused of girls’ murder at UK dance class faces terrorism charge  CNN
  5. Why is the Southport stabbing not being classed as a terror attack?  The Independent
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Spain’s deadly floods and droughts are two faces of the climate crisis coin

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Scientists say violent weather battering Mediterranean is a harbinger of what the rest of Europe can soon expect

Residents of Chiva, a small town on the outskirts of Valencia, can expect a grim future of worsening drought as the planet heats up and the country dries out. But on Tuesday, they also witnessed a year’s worth of rainfall in a matter of hours.

The torrential rains that flooded southern and eastern Spain on Tuesday night, ripping away bridges and tearing through towns, have killed scores of people. Fossil fuel pollution plays a role in warping both extremes of the water cycle: heat evaporates water, leaving people and plants parched, but hot air can hold more moisture, increasing the potential for catastrophic downpours.

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