News of the World

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Wagner could pose as migrants to enter EU, PM Morawiecki warns

Wagner could also facilitate illegal migration from Belarus, which Poland describes as "hybrid warfare", he says.

About 100 Wagner troops have moved near the city of Grodno, close to the Polish and Lithuanian borders, the PM added.

Some Wagner troops have moved to Belarus under a deal to end a brief mutiny in Russia in June.

Warsaw says it sees Wagner's presence in Belarus as a potential threat and is seeking to shore up its eastern flank.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has previously denied provoking a migrant crisis in Europe by luring would-be migrants to its borders with EU nations.

But Mr Morawiecki said on Saturday that more than 100 members of the Wagner group had moved to north-western Belarus near the Suwalki gap - Poland's 60-mile (95km) border with fellow EU state Lithuania, which separates Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

He claimed the mercenaries might pose as Belarusian border guards in order to help migrants cross into the EU, or even pretend to be migrants themselves to enter the bloc.

Colombian president's son arrested in money laundering probe

The son of Colombian President Gustavo Petro has been arrested for money laundering and illicit enrichment by the country's attorney general.

Nicolas Petro, a politician in Atlantico province, was detained over allegations he was paid by drug traffickers to fund his father's peace efforts and election campaign.

He has denied the claims and welcomed the inquiry when it was launched.

The younger Mr Petro's ex-wife has also been arrested as part of the probe.

President Petro, the country's first left-wing leader, has denied taking money from Colombia's drug traffickers and ordered prosecutors to investigate his son in March.

Writing on social media on Saturday, he said it was painful for one of his children to be sent to prison, but also that he would not interfere with the investigation.
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The attorney general's office said the allegations against Nicolas related to illegal contributions diverted from his father's election campaign last year.

Nicolas and his former wife, Daysuris del Carmen Vásquez, are being transferred from the Caribbean coast to Colombia's capital Bogotá.

How incredible it is to read that Colombia could do what the US DOJ has been unable to accomplish for years in Hunter Biden's probe.

US heatwave: Scorching heat strains US air conditioning capacity

Energy providers are warning Americans to be frugal with air-conditioning this weekend, as intense heat and increased demand could lead to blackouts.

Nearly 200 million Americans are under "dangerously hot conditions" alerts with temperatures expected to soar past 100F (38C) in several major cities.

The country's biggest power grid declared a level one energy emergency alert.

July is expected to be Earth's hottest month since record keeping began.

PJM Interconnection, the company in charge of power supply in 13 states and Washington DC, warned that "extreme heat and/or humidity may cause capacity problems on the grid".

"Temperatures are expected to go above 90F (32°C) across the footprint, which drives up the demand for electricity," the company said in a statement.

In New York, where the heat index is expected to climb as high as 110F, energy provider Con Edison is telling residents to reduce energy usage at home to help avert shutoffs.

Judge dismisses Donald Trump's 'Big Lie' lawsuit against CNN

A federal judge has thrown out a $475m (£369m) defamation lawsuit brought by Donald Trump against CNN for allegedly likening him to Adolf Hitler.

The US cable network described Mr Trump's unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him as the "Big Lie".

Mr Trump argued the phrase referred to a Nazi propaganda campaign used to justify the persecution of Jews.

US District Judge Raag Singhal ruled CNN's comments were not defamatory.

In his ruling dismissing the lawsuit, Mr Singhal - who was appointed by Mr Trump - said the comments constituted opinion, and so Mr Trump could not legally sue the network for defamation.

"There is no question that the statements made by CNN meet the publication requirement for defamation under Florida law. The next question is whether the statements were false statements of fact. This is where Trump's defamation claims fail," wrote Mr Singhal in his verdict.

‘Need Every Rocket We Can Get’ — Ukraine Using North Korean-Made Missiles Against Russian Forces

The Ukrainian armed forces have been using missiles made in North Korea to fire against the Russians despite their notorious unreliability, a report from the Financial Times has claimed.

Ukrainian artillery crews are utilising missiles for the Soviet-era Grad multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) produced in the communist nation of North Korea, according to the Financial Times.

The paper claimed that Ukrainian forces showed off their North Korean military kit to one of its reporters near the heavily damaged city of Bakhmut. The missiles were also photographed by Getty Images and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia region late last month, however, they were not identified as having been produced in North Korea.

Speaking to the FT, a Ukrainian artillery commander identified as Ruslan said that his troops were not inclined to use the missiles from North Korea, which were likely produced in the 1980s and 1990s, as they are unreliable, with a high dud rate, but said: “We need every rocket we can get.”

A soldier in the Grad artillery unit is said to have told the paper’s reporter to not get too close to the launcher as the North Korean missiles “are very unreliable and do crazy things sometimes”. The Soviet-era Grad rockets have also been described by Human Rights Watch as “notoriously indiscriminate”.

The Grad artillery system is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The truck-mounted launcher is capable of firing up to 40 missiles within 20 seconds. Due to its simplicity and ubiquity, Grad systems have been widely produced outside of Russia and have been a staple of the fighting in Ukraine since 2014.

The paper noted that it was unlikely for Pyongyang to have supplied the missiles directly to Kyiv given North Korea’s support of Moscow during the invasion

The Emmy Awards Postponed Due to the Hollywood Actors and Writers Strike

The 75th Emmy Awards are the latest production to be put on pause due the Hollywood strikes and will not air as planned in September.

A person familiar with the postponement plans but not authorized to speak publicly pending an official announcement confirmed the delay Friday. No information about a new date was immediately available.

The Emmy Awards were scheduled to be broadcast on Fox on Sept. 18. Rules laid out by the actors’ union, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, say stars cannot campaign for the Emmys or attend awards shows while on strike.

Writers are also not permitted from working on awards shows until the strike ends.