News of the World
Yesterday, 07:20 AM
USA
Quote:The Trump administration released a revised list of tariff rates against nearly 70 countries set to take effect next week.
The announcement follows a four-month negotiating sprint with dozens of US trading partners to lock in one-for-one agreements — some of which are reflected in the new list.
Among the notable rates which will be charged at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 7 — rather than on the Friday deadline initially announced by the White House — are 15% for Iceland and Israel, 30% for South Africa, 39% for Switzerland and 20% for Taiwan and Vietnam.
Brazil, the largest economic power in South America, will see its rate balloon to 50% on Aug. 6, President Trump announced Wednesday.
The president previously threatened Vietnam with a 46% tariff in his April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement but the country was able to reach a tentative trade deal with the US earlier this month, which lowered its rate.
Israel’s new rate is 2 percentage points lower than the 17% duty unveiled in April — despite not having made a formal agreement with the White House.
Trump noted in his executive order modifying reciprocal rates Wednesday that some nations “have agreed to, or are on the verge of agreeing to, meaningful trade and security commitments with the United States,” while others either have not tried to strike a deal or “despite having engaged in negotiations, have offered terms that, in my judgment, do not sufficiently address imbalances in our trading relationship or have failed to align sufficiently with the United States on economic and national-security matters.”
The steepest tariff rates will be carried by Syria (41%), Laos and Myanmar (40%), Switzerland (39%) and Iraq and Serbia (35%).
The list also denotes a 35% rate on imports from Canada after Trump signed an order upping the current tariff by 10 percentage points.
Countries not listed in the announcement will be subject to a 10% tariff, according to the White House.
Quote:President Trump, flanked by star athletes, signed an executive order Thursday re-establishing the Presidential Fitness Test for public schoolchildren after the Obama administration shifted the program’s focus away from athletic feats.
“We’re officially restoring the Presidential Fitness Test and the Presidential Fitness Award – and it’s going to be a very big thing,” Trump said in remarks from the White House.
“It was a big deal,” the president said of the competition the test fostered in schools.
“This was a wonderful tradition, and we’re bringing it back.”
The fitness test was introduced by former President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 and had required students to perform situps, pullups or pushups, a sit-and-reach test and a one-mile run until it was altered in 2012.
Members of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, including professional golfers Bryson DeChambeau and Annika Sorenstam, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor and former WWE wrestler Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who is the son-in-law of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, joined Trump at the signing ceremony.
“We have an opportunity … to literally change the fabric of kids lives,” DeChambeau, a two-time major winner and frequent Trump golfing partner, said.
At one point, Trump grabbed ahold of 56-year-old Triple H’s bicep and noted: “He is still very strong. He’s a strong guy.”
Triple H, now a WWE executive, noted that health, fitness, sports and nutrition “has been such an important part of my life” since his teenage years.
“I think learning that at a young age sets you up for success in life,” the 14-time WWE champion said. “And without it, you’re at a lesser place for it. So I look forward to the opportunity to do this.”
Quote:The Trump administration will erect a privately funded, $200 million White House ballroom starting in September, with the venue ready for use before the president’s term ends in early 2029.
“We’ve been planning it for a long time,” Trump told reporters at the executive mansion. “They’ve wanted a ballroom at the White House for more than 150 years.”
The president emphasized that “no government dollars” would be used to pay for the first structural change to the White House since the addition of the Truman Balcony in 1948.
The Trump administration will erect a privately funded, $200 million White House ballroom starting in September, with the venue ready for use before the president’s term ends in early 2029.
“We’ve been planning it for a long time,” Trump told reporters at the executive mansion. “They’ve wanted a ballroom at the White House for more than 150 years.”
The president emphasized that “no government dollars” would be used to pay for the first structural change to the White House since the addition of the Truman Balcony in 1948.
“It’s a private thing. I’ll do it. And we’ll probably have some donors,” said Trump, 79.
The 90,000-square-foot “White House State Ballroom,” as it’s being officially called, will be situated in the East Wing and be able to fit 650 people when construction is completed.
“President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail,” White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in a statement.
“The President and the Trump White House are fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserving the special history of the White House while building a beautiful ballroom that can be enjoyed by future Administrations and generations of Americans to come,” Wiles added.
Trump vowed to “get it built quickly and on time.”
Quote:The Cincinnati police chief has slammed social media posts about the viral mass brawl that occurred in the city, saying that the outrage lacked 'context.'
Police Chief Terri Theetge gave an update at a press conference on Monday after footage emerged showing a man and woman being attacked over the weekend in the downtown area of the Ohio city.
Chief Theetge also took aim at the media for only showing 'one version' of what occurred - without giving any more context about the fight herself.
She said: 'Social media and journalism and the role it plays in this incident, the posts that we have seen does not depict the entire incident.
'That is one version of what occurred. At times social media and mainstream media and their commentaries are a misrepresentation of the circumstances surrounding any given event.
'That causes us some difficulties in thoroughly investigating the activity and enforcing the law. Social media posts and your coverage of it distort the context of what actually happened, and that makes it more difficult.'
Chief Theetge confirmed in her update that five people have since been charged, but their records remain sealed at this time.
The female victim was identified by her first name, Holly, but the other victim has not yet been identified. Police are yet to provide details on what led up to the fight.
She added: 'I will say if individuals were down there and participated in this event, it would be in their best interest to turn themselves in.'
According to Theetge, she believes that alcohol had played a 'significant part' in the brawl, while saying police only received one 911 call about it.
'Nobody called the police. Nobody got us there as quickly as we could get there. They waited until they saw it on social media.
'That is unacceptable to not call the police when you view this. Traffic was horrendous. People saw this, they were fighting in front of traffic', she added.
Chief Theetge was unable to give an update on the victims' conditions, but Cincinnati FOP President Ken Sober said they suffered 'pretty serious injuries.'
Former presidential candidate and now Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy had identified the woman in the clip as 'Holly.'
He said on social media: 'I spoke to Holly earlier today (the woman tragically assaulted in Cincinnati this weekend).
'She's a single working mom who went to a friend's birthday party. It's unconscionable that there were no police present in that area of Cincinnati on a Friday night, or even an ambulance to take her to the hospital.'
Even if it's self evident that it was a dangerous aggression where people could have died before the police arrived, some people refuse to acknowledge the truth and seek to rewrite the story for convenience sake.
Anyway, who got arrested in Cincinnati? 
Quote:Three people have been arrested in connection with a brawl in Cincinnati after footage of the incident went viral.
Police in the US city earlier said they were searching for a total of five people in connection with the fight, which sparked reaction by Vice-President JD Vance, Elon Musk and others.
Montianez Merriweather, 34; Dekyra Vernon, 24; and Jermaine Matthews, 39, have been charged with assault and aggravated riot.
According to police records, Mr Merriweather and Ms Vernon were additionally charged with felonious assault, which is punishable by up to eight years in prison.
The melee broke out just after 03:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Saturday, according to Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge. Footage went viral after being posted online, including to a local crime-focused Facebook page.
Mr Merriweather was indicted earlier in July on weapons charges and a count of receiving stolen property, but was released on bail after paying 10% of a $4,000 (£3,000) bond.
Police union officials criticised the judge in the previous case. Ken Kober, president of the city's Fraternal Order of Police lodge, told the Cincinnati Enquirer that Mr Merriweather "never should have been out" of jail.
Records indicate Mr Merriweather is now being held on $500,000 bond. Bond has been set at $200,000 for Ms Vernon and $100,000 for Mr Matthews. Lawyers for the three could not immediately be identified.
Fox News and other US media reported that the FBI is also investigating the incident.
Quote:A New Mexico judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by actor Alec Baldwin for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations in the 2021 fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western movie “Rust.”
The judge in a ruling made public Wednesday dismissed the case without prejudice for lack of any significant action with the claim, which was filed in state district court earlier this year. Baldwin’s attorneys will have 30 days to file a motion seeking reinstatement.
Luke Nikas, Baldwin’s lead attorney, told The Associated Press in an email that the dismissal amounted to a nonevent since his team has been waiting to prosecute the case.
“We have been in good-faith settlement discussions with the parties to the lawsuit and will be refiling promptly if those discussions are not promptly and favorably resolved,” he said.
Defendants include special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, along with three investigators from the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office and the county board of commissioners.
A charge of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin was dismissed at trial last year on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense. The trial was upended by revelations that ammunition was brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office months earlier by a man who said it could be related to the killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The allegations in Baldwin’s tort claim include defamation, with his attorneys saying that prosecutors and investigators targeted the actor and coproducer for professional or political gain.
Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during a rehearsal for the movie “Rust” in October 2021 at a film-set ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Quote:Break out the floaties!
Torrential summer storms battered the Big Apple on Thursday, trapping a LIRR train filled with passengers and submerging cars on a Queens highway in a travel nightmare that hampered the evening rush.
Floodwater soaked the iconic Grand Central Station’s platform, cascaded in dramatic waterfalls inside Brooklyn’s Jay Street-MetroTech and burst from the walls in the Seventh Avenue station in Park Slope, wild video showed.
A LIRR train got stuck on the tracks for several hours near Bayside station in Queens, forcing firefighters to use ladders to help travel-weary commuters evacuate, according to separate footage.
“I was scared at first. About like 15 minutes after we stopped on the tracks, all the lights went off. That’s when I got a little scared and went ‘oh boy, something’s going on’,” recalled Jessica Grant, a Stony Brook resident who was heading home after a trip to Lake George.
Grant was sitting in the second car and was able to trek to the front of the train and see the track covered by water, she said.
Another passenger added that the crew kept promising a “rescue engine” that never came.
A third passenger, who said she experienced claustrophobia and had double-vision, started to panic once the cars started to heat up.
“It’s still scary. I don’t have depth perception and I have double vision. It’s scary, and it was getting hot,” she said.
Quote:A Minnesota maniac laughed while admitting to stabbing a homeless woman “around 20 times” Sunday morning and claimed he’s had the urge to kill an innocent, random person since he was 10 years old, according to police.
Logan Anthony Seitz, 20, shamelessly admitted to the near-fatal attack in Hennepin County’s Willow Lane Park and noted that he “enjoyed it,” police said in a criminal complaint obtained by CBS News.
He also said he was “wondering what the outcome of the stabbing was” and became agitated during the police interrogation when a cop informed him that his victim was in critical condition but expected to survive, according to the complaint.
First responders discovered the badly bloodied woman with “stab wounds on her arms, torso, chest, hands, shoulders and stomach” in the park and rushed her to the hospital.
Police then tracked Seitz down to his home, and found him soaked in blood, which he allegedly said belonged to the victim. He added that he’d gone home to change his clothes and wash up “because her blood smelled,” according to the complaint.
Seitz — who reportedly had “homicidal ideations” for a decade — walked authorities through his twisted act step-by-step, the document alleges.
He said he snuck out of his home with a knife, fully intending to kill a random person — something he allegedly said he’d wanted to do since he was 10 years old — and wound up at the park, cops said.
Seitz said he spotted the homeless woman in the park, struck up a seemingly friendly conversation and walked with her before the pair sat together on the bench. They continued to chat before he randomly and chillingly told her he wanted to kill her, according to the complaint.
He then assaulted her, kicked her in the head and stabbed her repeatedly until she fell silent, the doc alleges.
The sicko only stopped wailing on her because he grew “tired from stabbing her so many times,” according to the complaint.
He then tossed the knife, asserting that he didn’t want to be shot by authorities if he were seen walking around with it, and headed back home, according to the complaint.
Seitz was previously charged with making threats of violence, criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct while in the ER, where he was a “psychiatric patient”, FergusNow reported in January.
He allegedly said he hoped to commit a mass murder on his upcoming birthday, according to the report.
Quote:The Virginia city councilman who was torched in a targeted attack suffered severe burns across more than half his body at the hands of a maniac who allegedly set out to kill him, according to police and reports.
The chilling attack — which police said was personal — left Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler with burns covering up to 60% of his body, mostly on his torso, Andrew Brooks, publisher of Showcase Magazine, the local outlet where the pol works and was set ablaze, told the New York Times Thursday.
The married father of two was expected to undergo surgery at a North Carolina hospital that he was airlifted to following the horrific attack Wednesday morning, Brooks said.
Vogler’s wife, Blair, said that her “fighter” husband is healing.
“As anyone who knows him would expect, he is facing this challenge the same way he’s faced every obstacle in his life — with courage, determination, and an unbreakable spirit. Lee is a fighter,” she said in a statement to Southside News Today.
“Lee has dedicated over a decade of his life to serving the people of Danville. As his wife, I’ve stood beside him through the highs and lows, and I can attest to the integrity with which he serves. Beyond the headlines and the public comments, there is a man who deeply loves his family, city, and its people.”
Crazed assailant Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, allegedly admitted to police he doused the 38-year-old Republican lawmaker with five gallons of gasoline and set him on fire because “it was his intention to kill” him, according to a criminal complaint obtained by ABC.
Quote:A monster Texas dad murdered his 7-year-old adopted son and stuffed his lifeless little body in a washing machine because the child ate his donut sticks.
Jemaine Thomas, 45, will now spend 50 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the gruesome killing of little Troy Koehler on July 28, 2022.
“I need to get the [locks]. I’m going to end up kill[ing] him,” Thomas fumed in text messages before acting upon his threats, according to prosecutors.
The little boy’s dead body was found in a bloodied top-load washing machine, according to KPRC 2.
Koehler suffered from asphyxiation, blunt-force trauma and possible drowning.
He was also bruised and had injuries to his face.
Koehler’s “beloved” first-grade teacher, Sheryl Reed, delivered a heartbreaking account of her former student in a Harris County court on Wednesday.
“Now, we will never know what he could have become. His future, his dreams, his life — were stolen by someone who was supposed to love, protect, and nurture him,” Reed said.
“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader. That was always Troy. He loved reading. If he finished early, he’d head straight to our class library. Then he’d go right back to share those stories with classmates…always lifting others up with the joy he carried,” she added.
“But Troy wasn’t just leading his classmates — he led me, too. He led me to become a better teacher, a better mentor, and a better person. His energy, his smile, and his love for learning reminded me daily why I chose this path.”
Koehler’s adoptive mother Tiffany Thomas, 38, also pleaded guilty to her lesser charge of injury to a child in connection with the little boy’s death. Her sentencing hearing is slated for Sept. 10.
Thomas threatened to shove Koehler in an oven if he didn’t confess to eating some of her oatmeal cream pies, according to KPRC 2.
The couple adopted Koehler in 2019 and the family had a history with Child Protective Services, according to the local media outlet.
Quote:Zohran Mamdani skipped the vote on the one bill he passed this year as a state lawmaker, The Post has learned.
The chronically-absent Mamdani didn’t bother visiting the state Capitol after New York’s budget was approved in May, The Post previously reported — as he cast aside his duties as an elected state Assembly member to campaign for New York City mayor.
While on the trail he missed the June 13 vote for his only piece of legislation that passed the Assembly this year, as first reported by the Albany Times Union on Thursday.
Instead, Mamdani was in the Big Apple announcing a cross endorsement in the primary race with city Comptroller Brad Lander as both Democrats angled for a boost from each other’s voters in a ranked-choice primary election.
The following day, he hosted a rally with fellow socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Mandani’s legislation, a non-controversial bill that would extend enhanced public input requirements for certain regulatory decisions made by state agencies, was approved with only one vote against it in both the Assembly and state Senate.
The socialist pol missed more than half of the Assembly’s roll call votes this year, a feat made even worse given that the chamber allows members to vote remotely during situations such as “disability, illness, caregiving responsibilities, or any other significant or unexpected factor.”
His lone bill was sponsored in the upper chamber by state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris (D-Queens).
Mandani’s campaign did not return a request for comment.
“Zohran became a top tier candidate for NYC mayor while maintaining a near perfect attendance record through the conclusion of the weeks-delayed New York State Budget,” a spokesperson for his campaign told The Post asked about his voting record in Albany earlier this year.
Quote:Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain triggered flash flood warnings across the New York City Metro area on Thursday as NYC is inundated by storms.
Videos and pictures have gone viral showing subway stations, roads and even Grand Central Station inundated with rain water.
The Queens-Clearview express way has also been shutdown as motorists were caught in the sudden flooding.
LIRR train stuck in Queens after being overwhelmed by flooding
By Caitlin McCormack
A Long Island Railroad train filled with passengers was halted in Queens after the tracks were consumed by floodwater from Thursday's ongoing storm.
Emergency responders with the FDNY were down on the tracks, including parts that weren't even visible because of the murky water from the flood, as they tried to help clear the tracks and assist passengers to safety.
Officers with the MTA police responded alongside FDNY emergency responders to help load the passengers off of the halted train after the downpour let up.
Jessica Grant, a Stony Brook resident who was taking the train home after a trip to Lake George, said she could see the water covering the tracks while she was on the train.
“I was scared at first. About like 15 minutes after we stopped on the tracks, all the lights went off. That’s when I got a little scared and went ‘oh boy, something’s going on’,” she said.
One claustrophobic passenger started to panic once the cars started to heat up.
“It’s still scary. I don’t have depth perception and I have double vision. It’s scary, and it was getting hot,” she said.
Quote:Where in the world is Jimmy Hoffa?
More than 50 years after the mobbed-up Teamster boss disappeared, the FBI is still trying to figure it out — and is asking for tips to solve one of the country’s most notorious and puzzling cases.
Calling it “one of the most well-known missing person investigations in FBI history,” the federal agency’s Detroit field office said in a press release Thursday it “remains committed to following all credible leads” to “assist in moving this case forward.”
“As the 50th anniversary of Mr. Hoffa’s disappearance approaches, the FBI Detroit Field office remains steadfast in its commitment to pursuing all credible leads,” Cheyvoryea Gibson, the special agent in charge of the office, said in a statement.
Hoffa, 62, was trying to regain the leadership of the union when he left his cottage on July 30, 1975, for a meeting at the Machus Red Fox Restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
He was never heard from again.
Hoffa’s disappearance has since been the subject of folklore, most recently in the hit flick “The Irishman,” in which actor Robert DeNiro portrayed mob hitman Frank Sheeran, who fires the fatal shots.
But his body has never been found, with the hard-nosed union boss presumably buried anywhere from the Florida Everglades to the endzone of the former New Jersey Meadowlands stadium.
Quote:Two high-ranking employees of liberal billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations held “confidential conversations” with the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign team in 2016 to push the narrative of collusion between Russia and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, newly declassified intelligence files show.
The documents revealed that Leonard Benardo and Jeffrey Goldstein — Open Society’s regional director and senior policy adviser for Eurasia, respectively — held talks with then-DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in early 2016 about smearing Trump as well as distracting from the “growing scandal” surround Clinton’s “possible corruption” as secretary of state.
In a January 2016 memo, the Soros operatives discussed with Wasserman Schultz the negative fallout from Clinton Foundation donors getting preferential access to Hillary and the “timely deletion of relevant data from mail servers.”
The year before, the former secretary of state had nixed more than 30,000 emails from a private server. The FBI confirmed in a subsequent investigation that the messages included “very sensitive, highly classified information,” but no charges were brought.
According to another memo, this one from March 2016, President Barack Obama didn’t want the controversy to “darken the final part of his presidency” and apparently tried to pressure his attorney general, Loretta Lynch, to meddle in FBI Director James Comey’s investigation of the Clinton emails.
“Barack Obama sanctioned the use of all administrative levers to remove possibly negative effects from the FBI investigation of cases related to the Clinton Foundation and the email correspondence in the State Department,” the memo declared.
As a result, the DNC saw the scandals’ threat to Clinton’s campaign as “minimal” and worked on developing a two-pronged counter-attack “focused on discrediting Trump through debates and propaganda activities” — with the help of “special services.”
Those included either the direct involvement of intelligence agencies or the use of a now-discredited dossier compiled by ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele, alleging that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had blackmail material on Trump.
At the time, the files also disclosed, Lynch was communicating with Clinton campaign political director Amanda Renteria and the Democratic candidate was in the process of discussing a plan with adviser Julianne Smith that Benardo described as “a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump.”
Quote:Barnard College has made a “painful” announcement that it will lay off nearly 80 full-time employees as part of a “college-wide staff restructuring,” school officials said Thursday.
The layoffs come about three weeks after Barnard leaders agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by Jewish students claiming the Columbia University-affiliated school failed to properly address campus antisemitism.
“As part of a one-time, college-wide restructuring, we’ve made the hard but necessary decision to eliminate multiple staff positions across departments,” Barnard President Laura Rosenbury wrote in a letter on the college’s website.
In all, 77 staff members were culled, none of them faculty or from instructional services.
“This restructuring is part of our broader strategy to ensure Barnard remains strong, focused, and fully prepared to meet the needs of our community and the evolving landscape of higher education.”
The all-women’s school was facing a $252 million debt crunch at the end of fiscal year 2024, and a ballooning deficit that had doubled over the past decade.
To dig itself out, Barnard implemented several belt-tightening measures, including contributing less to staff and faculty benefits, introducing limits on business and travel expenses and the elimination of 40 unfilled staff positions, the Columbia Spectator wrote at the time.
As part of the settlement agreement earlier this month, the college agreed to several sweeping changes, including prohibiting masks, no longer engaging with the anti-Israel student protest group Columbia University Apartheid Divest and establishing a dedicated Title VI coordinator to oversee compliance with antidiscrimination laws, officials said.
“Antisemitism, discrimination, and harassment in any form are antithetical to the values Barnard College champions,” Rosenbury said in a statement when the settlement was announced.
Barnard had been the site of numerous virulent anti-Israel student protests, including the takeover of the campus’ Milstein Library by about 200 people, most of them hiding their identities with keffiyeh headscarves.
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US is considering additional levers to put pressure on Russia as peace talks have failed to make meaningful progress.
In an interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade, Rubio said ongoing conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle have yet to bear fruit.
“Earlier this week, on Monday or Tuesday, we had a whole conversation with some of Putin’s top people in hopes of arriving at some understanding on a path forward that would lead to peace. And we’ve not seen any progress on that,” the secretary said.
A third round of peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia earlier this month ended after less than an hour, with the sides failing to establish a cease-fire but instead agreeing to a prisoner swap involving around 1,200 people.
The talks were held in Istanbul a little more than a week after President Trump threatened “very severe tariffs” against Putin if he fails to commit to a cease-fire within 50 days in the Ukraine war — which has raged for more than three-and-a-half years.
Rubio alluded to what kinds of measures the US could impose on Russia should peace talks continue to stall, including secondary sanctions on the country’s oil sales — which he said constitute “a huge part of their revenue,” as well as “powerful” new banking sanctions.
“Again, I think our hope is to avoid that and to sort of figure out a way that we get the fighting to stop. We think that’s the best path forward,” Rubio said.
“We’re open to some different paths, but the best path forward is to have the shooting stop and the talking start. But so far, there’s not been, what we feel at least, a sincere interest on the Russian side in achieving that objective.”
On July 14, Trump announced the US would be sending “billions” of dollars worth of equipment to Ukraine via NATO as an additional means of pushing Putin to work toward ending the war.
“So, we’ll continue to be available and willing to participate in something like that if it becomes available. But, obviously, the president is not going to wait forever,” Rubio said.
Quote:Russia fired more than 300 drones and missiles into Ukraine overnight, killing at least nine people, including a 6-year-old boy, and injuring more than 100 others, officials said.
The deadly attack targeted the Kyiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions, with Ukraine’s capital being the primary target, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as he condemned the civilian casualties.
“Today, the world once again saw Russia’s answer to our desire for peace with America and Europe,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “New demonstrative killings. That is why peace without strength is impossible.”
The latest Russian bombardment saw Moscow launch 309 suicide and decoy drones over the border, along with eight Iskander-K cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian air force.
While Kyiv’s defenses were able to intercept and jam 288 drones and three missiles, five missiles and 21 drones still made it to their targets.
At least 27 locations across Kyiv were targeted by the attack, Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said.
Along with the deaths, 124 people were wounded, including 10 children, the youngest of whom was a 5-month-old girl, Tkachenko added.
More than 100 buildings were damaged in the assault, which also took out a large part of a nine-story residential building, city officials said.
The heaviest damage was seen in the Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts, where homes, schools, kindergartens, medical facilities and universities were hit, Tkachenko said.
Yana Zhabborova, 35, a mother of two young children, said she was stunned by the destruction all around her as explosions woke up her family and blew off the doors and windows to her home during the attack.
Quote:President Trump warned Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev that he risks entering “dangerous territory” after he slammed the US deadline for a cease-fire in Ukraine as “a step towards war.”
“Tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!” Trump said on Truth Social Thursday morning regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top ally.
Trump announced Monday to reporters in Scotland that he was pushing up a 50-day deadline he gave Russia to end the war, now calling for the three-year invasion of Ukraine to end within 10 to 12 days.
He gave Putin the original 50-day target time on July 14 and called for a peace agreement to be made between the two neighboring countries, or Russia would face economic punishment.
Medvedev, Russia’s Security Council deputy chairman, claimed the two superpowers were heading toward a war of their own if the US commander-in-chief continued his push to end the fighting.
“Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10 … He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war,” Medvedev, 59, wrote to X on July 28.
The 78-year-old president invoked India in his response to Medvedev hours after he imposed a 25 percent tariff plus “penalty” on the country, which is set to begin on August 1.
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way,” he added.
Trump says he has been disappointed with his Russian adversary, who has failed to end the deadly incursion.
“I’m disappointed in him, I must be honest with you,” the commander-in-chief told The Post’s Miranda Devine, on the newest episode of “Pod Force One,” released Wednesday.
“We’ve had great conversations, but it hasn’t been followed up with, you know, just some very bad things have happened. Very, very bad things have happened after we’ve had conversations. And I’d leave and I’d say, ‘Well, I really thought we had it settled’ three or four times.”
Quote:Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is ready to move on a bill sanctioning Russia if a cease-fire with Ukraine isn’t reached by the end of next week — if President Trump gives him “the green light.”
Thune told The Post in an exclusive interview Wednesday that he’s “hopeful” the legislation — introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and sponsored by more than 80 senators — would give Trump more leverage to wind down the 41-month-old war.
Thune, 64, admitted that the commander-in-chief may decide to take “unilateral action” to impose those sanctions, but the House and Senate were “ready to move” if asked to apply harsher penalties.
“He’s somebody who is animated largely by trying to get to a peaceful solution,” the Republican leader said of Trump. “I think the president genuinely believes in that. We want to be a good partner in that and so like I said, we’ve been, I made it clear we’re available to move on that whenever they’re ready to have us do it.”
On Tuesday, Trump shortened a 50-day window before slapping sanctions on Vladimir Putin down to just 10 days, as the Russian strongman shows no signs of letting up on nightly bombings against Ukraine and merciless drone strikes on civilians.
...
Trump said Monday he hadn’t determined whether to impose additional sanctions on Russia or slap secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian energy, while repeating that the US hasn’t seen “any progress being made” toward ending Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
At least three summits have been held between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey in recent months with a cease-fire no closer, though there have been some prisoner swaps.
LATIN AMERICA
Quote:A flesh-eating parasite spreading across Mexico and Central America has placed the U.S. on high alert, but government officials say several key steps have been taken in case an outbreak occurs here.
According to a June report from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the New World screwworm (NWS) is a fly larva that infests the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, including humans, that causes a painful condition known as myiasis.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the name screwworm refers to the feeding behavior of the larvae, known as maggots, as they burrow, or “screw,” into healthy tissue.
When that happens, the CDC says extensive damage could occur as the maggots tear into their host’s tissue with sharp mouth hooks. That wound can then become larger and deeper as more larvae hatch and feed on the tissue.
The USDA said those infestations of NWS can be fatal if left untreated.
Where is the New World screwworm now?
According to the APHIS, the NWS is currently known to exist in parts of every country in South America except Chile, as well as in parts of the Caribbean.
The APHIS said Panama reported a dramatic increase in the number of NWS cases in 2023, and since then has spread northward through Central America.
And in November 2024, the NWS reached the southern state of Mexico.
As of the June report, the APHIS said the NWS has not been spotted in the U.S.
What’s being done to prevent the New World screwworm from entering the U.S.?
The APHIS said there are two ways officials can try and prevent the spread of the NWS inside the United States.
One of the ways is by preventing contact between NWS flies and non-infested animals, including the prevention and treatment of wounds in non-infected hosts, as well as by quarantining and treating infested livestock.
Another way to try and prevent the spread of NWS is by stopping the reproduction cycle altogether.
This can be done through the detection and treatment of infested animals, and with the use of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT).
That technique exposes NWS pupae to gamma radiation to create sterile NWS flies. These are then released into the wild from either ground level or the air, with sterile males overwhelmingly mating with wild female flies that then lay unfertilized eggs.
Quote:Panama’s Darien Gap, once a hotbed for US-bound migrants, is now completely deserted as President Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown has been in full swing.
Migrant crossings in the dangerous jungle path connecting Colombia to Panama have plummeted to almost zero, according to Panama’s migration agency.
Only 10 migrants traversed the Darien Gap in June, according to the data.
Under President Joe Biden, crossings peaked at 37,166 in February 2024, according to data provided by the Department of Homeland Security.
In 2023, human smugglers helped more than 530,000 migrants navigate the 2,600-mile trek on their way to the US.
And in 2022, Panamanian authorities were seeing an average of 16,400 migrants crossing each week, according to DHS.
The Trump administration attributes the massive drop to its border crackdown and mass deportation campaign.
Under President Trump’s watch, illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border have dropped to record lows. In June, border agents caught roughly 6,000 illegal migrants — the lowest level yet — and none of them were released into the US, according to ‘border czar’ Tom Homan.
More than 83,000 migrants traversed the southern border in June 2024, 99,000 in June 2023 and 192,000 in June 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection.
“In Panama’s Darien Gap, migrants are turning BACK before they even reach our border— only 10 migrants crossed in June,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Axios.
“The world is hearing our message that America’s borders are closed to lawbreakers,” she added.
Panama’s right-wing President José Raúl Mulino pledged to shutter the migrant pathway, leading crossings to drop by 40% in 2024.
“Effectively, the border with Darien is closed,” Mulino declared in May.
MIDDLE EAST
Quote:US officials will visit Gaza’s aid distribution sites this week amid stepped-up international efforts to ensure more food and key medical supplies make it to those most in need, the White House confirmed Thursday.
President Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff held a “very productive meeting” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on delivering additional humanitarian assistance to Gaza — which has been beset by a spiraling hunger crisis as supply points are choked off by continued military conflict.
“The Special Envoy and the ambassador will brief the president immediately after their visit to approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region, and we will provide more details for all of you once that plan is approved and agreed upon by the President of the United States,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters following the meeting.
The Aug 1. visit, to be joined by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, follows Trump calling for the US and other nations to “get some food” to Gaza’s refugee population as reports of famine grow more dire in the Palestinian enclave.
On Wednesday, 48 people were reportedly killed while waiting for food in Gaza, as calls from international humanitarian agencies for Israel to allow aid to more freely flow into the region have spiked.
Israel has blamed the UN for the lack of food deliveries, officials sharing images showing tons of aid piled up inside the Gaza Strip, which they said is ready and waiting to be distributed to hungry Palestinians.
Last week, Israel announced it would cease military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza to ensure more food and medicine could be delivered after images of starving Palestinian children sparked outcry around the world.
The images even prompted President Trump to contradict Netanyahu, who claimed there was “no starvation” happening in Gaza.
Asked by reporters in Scotland whether he agrees with the PM’s assessment, Trump said, “not particularly, because those children look very hungry,” he said in reference to images he’s seen on TV showing emaciated and crying children.
Trump later hit out at Hamas for its role in slowing aid deliveries, writing on Truth Social that, “The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!”
Witkoff is likely to meet with Netanyahu during his visit to continue talks on topics including the Gaza cease-fire and the release of Hamas hostages.
Quote:Israel’s top two ministers said Thursday that the time is ripe for the Jewish state to fully annex the West Bank, touting that the groundwork has already been laid out.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Defense Minister Israel Katz called for the controversial move to deploy Israel’s military across the Palestinian territory to claim the biblical cities of Judea and Samaria, the term Israel uses when referring to the West Bank, the Times of Israel reported.
“Ministers Katz and Levin have been working for many years to implement Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” their offices said in a joint statement.
The ministers claimed that the preparations for annexing the West Bank began during President Trump’s first term, when his administration backed a plan for Israel to take control of the majority of the territory.
“This was expressed, among other things, in the work done by Minister Levin during President Trump’s first term, in which all the necessary things were prepared for the important move – from a proposal for resolutions to precise maps, and Defense Minister Katz led a series of unprecedented decisions to strengthen settlement and pave the way for Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” the statement added.
The West Bank, a large stretch of land that lies west of the River Jordan, stands as the home of some 3 million people and is surrounded on three sides by Israel.
Israel claims historical and religious rights to the West Bank, describing it as the ancestral land of the Jewish people and the sites of the ancient kingdoms of Judah and Samaria.
The territory was ruled by Jordan until the 1967 Six-Day War, when it fell under Israeli occupation, leaving more than 2 million Palestinian Arabs living under both Israeli military rule and limited self-rule, currently under the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Since then, Israelis began building settlements along the West Bank, which the majority of the international community has deemed illegal.
Israel’s call to annex the West Bank comes as Canada and France announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state before the United Nations, with the United Kingdom threatening to do the same if the Jewish state does not end the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
And in case you're wondering who would locally support this move in Judea and Samaria, here's a reminder of what the sheiks said earlier this month.
Quote:President Trump insisted Thursday that the fastest way to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was for Hamas to finally agree to a ceasefire with Israel.
“The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” he wrote in an early Truth Social post.
Trump’s remark came as his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, was slated to touch down in Israel in a bid to salvage the cease-fire talks — as starvation continues to grip the Palestinian enclave.
Witkoff is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his stop.
The cease-fire talks between the Jewish state and terror group ended in a deadlock last week after both sides pointed the finger at each other over the delays in bringing an end to the fighting.
Israel on Wednesday had fired back a response to Hamas’ latest amendments to a US proposal that would see a 60-day truce and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a source told Reuters.
Israeli officials have in recent days suggested that Israel annex parts of Gaza if the stalemate continues.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said he won’t end the war until Hamas no longer rules the enclave and lays down its arms.
Hamas, however, has rejected the calls to disarm.
Quote:President Trump warned that it’ll be “very hard” to make a deal with Canada before Friday’s trade deadline after it recognized Palestine’s statehood.
“Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday morning.
The commander in chief’s post comes hours after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada will recognize a Palestinian state at the 80th General Assembly of the United Nations in September.
“Canada has long been committed to a two-state solution — an independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian state living side by side with the State of Israel in peace and security,” Carney wrote in a statement Wednesday.
The Canadian prime minister said that the decision was reached after Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas assured him he was “committed to lead much needed reform” and to “hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarize the Palestinian state.”
“Canada will increase its efforts in supporting strong, democratic governance in Palestine and the contributions of its people to a more peaceful and hopeful future,” he wrote — emphasizing that Hamas “must disarm” and that Canada “will always steadfastly support Israel’s existence.”
Israel quickly criticized Carney’s announcement, calling the recognition a “reward for Hamas.”
“The change in the position of the Canadian government at this time is a reward for Hamas and harms the efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of the hostages,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Canada is now the third of the US’s allies to announce its intention to recognize the State of Palestine.
Last week, France became the first major Western power to reveal plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September.
On Tuesday, the UK followed France’s lead to recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza, allows aid to be brought in, and takes other steps toward long-term peace.
NUCLEAR CHINA
Quote:China—which possesses the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal—is using its rapid nuclear development to deter adversaries, namely the United States and its Asian allies, and gain a strategic advantage without resorting to war, a think tank reported on Wednesday.
"China has consistently adhered to a nuclear strategy of self-defense, always maintaining its nuclear forces at the minimum level required for national security, and does not engage in an arms race," China's Embassy in Washington, D.C., said in a statement to Newsweek.
...
Estimated figures from the U.S. Defense Department and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show that China has built a nuclear stockpile of at least 600 warheads—an increase of 100 in one year. While the East Asian power is set to possess more than 1,000 warheads by 2030, this would still place Beijing far behind Moscow and Washington.
As part of China's ongoing military modernization, President Xi Jinping has ordered the acceleration of strategic deterrence force development. Beijing has also said it was "forced" to join the exclusive nuclear club—which currently includes nine nations—in response to nuclear threats, to end nuclear monopoly and to prevent a nuclear war.
What To Know
In a report titled "Implications of Chinese Nuclear Weapons Modernization for the United States and Regional Allies," the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., said China's rapid nuclear modernization seeks to create political and psychological effects that lead to "enormously important strategic and military effects" rather than to win a nuclear exchange.
The authors—John Lee, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and Lavina Lee, a senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University in Australia—argued that these effects were fully aligned with what they described as China's "evolving notions" of strategic stability, strategic deterrence and strategic capabilities.
According to the report, Beijing views strategic stability as a condition that supports the advancement of China's geopolitical and development objectives. Strategic deterrence, meanwhile, involves not only dissuading an adversary from pursuing specific actions or policies but also constraining that adversary while China advances its own objectives.
"The modernizing nuclear arsenal exists to enable China to attack the adversary's plans (strategies) and allies, bringing China one step closer to subduing the enemy and winning without fighting," the authors cited the Philippines, Japan and South Korea as examples.
IRELAND
Quote:Only one stone wall remains of the old mother and baby home in this town, but it has cast a shadow over all of Ireland.
A mass grave that could hold up to nearly 800 infants and young children — some of it in a defunct septic tank — is being excavated on the grounds of the former home run by the Bon Secours Sisters, an order of nuns.
The burial site has forced Ireland and the Catholic Church — long central to its identity — to reckon with a legacy of having shunned unmarried mothers and separated them from their children left at the mercy of a cruel system.
The grave was accidentally discovered by two boys a half century ago. But the true horror of the place was not known until a local historian began digging into the home’s history.
Catherine Corless revealed that the site was atop a septic tank and that 796 deceased infants were unaccounted for. Her findings caused a scandal when the international news media wrote about her work in 2014.
When test excavations later confirmed an untold number of tiny skeletons were in the sewage pit, then-Prime Minister Enda Kenny called it a “chamber of horrors.”
Pope Francis later apologized for the church’s “crimes” that included forced separations of unwed mothers and children. The nuns apologized for not living up to their Christianity.
A cold, cramped and deadly place
The homes were not unique to Ireland and followed a Victorian-era practice of institutionalizing the poor, troubled and neglected children, and unmarried mothers.
The Tuam home was cold, crowded and deadly. Mothers worked there for up to a year before being cast out — almost always without their children.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
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My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
