Category: World

Prada, Crocs and Birkenstock are in the news in India over legal rows and cultural backlash — from counterfeits and copyright battles to criticism over using Kolhapuri chappals designs.

Three global footwear giants – Prada, Crocs, and Birkenstock – have found themselves making headlines in India, though not for the reasons they might have intended. From legal crackdowns on counterfeits to cultural backlash over design appropriation, these brands have found themselves at the centre of courtrooms, cultural conversations, and crackdowns.

BIRKENSTOCK CRACKS DOWN ON COUNTERFEITS
German footwear brand Birkenstock has launched a major legal offensive in India to tackle the sale and manufacture of counterfeit products. According to a report in Reuters, court-appointed lawyers recently inspected several small-scale factories in and around Agra and New Delhi, seizing products allegedly mimicking the brand’s popular sandals.

The raids stem from a lawsuit Birkenstock filed in May at the Delhi High Court, naming four footwear traders, four factories, and two unnamed individuals. The company claimed that fake versions of its products were being produced and distributed both locally and abroad.

On May 26, Justice Saurabh Banerjee issued a confidential order – made public only last week – appointing 10 local lawyers as commissioners to visit the suspected sites. The judge allowed the seizure of suspected counterfeit goods and noted that the samples shown in court appeared to be “cheap knock-offs” that could easily mislead customers.

“There is all likelihood of the public getting deceived… The differences, hardly if any, are not something which can be discernable to the naked eyes,” the order read.

Birkenstock, once popular among hippies and medical professionals, has surged back into pop culture – especially after Margot Robbie wore a pair of pink Birkenstocks in the final scene of the 2023 blockbuster Barbie. In India, the brand’s women’s footwear is priced between $46 (Rs 3950) and $233 (Rs 20,010), making it a premium choice in a mostly non-luxury market.

The case is scheduled for its next hearing on October 6. Reuters reported that Birkenstock and its legal team declined to comment, citing the ongoing proceedings.

CROCS REVIVES 9-YEAR-OLD LEGAL BATTLE
Meanwhile, Crocs Inc. is making a return to the courtroom as well. On July 2, a court revived a nine-year-old lawsuit that the US-based company filed against several Indian shoemakers – including Bata India, Relaxo, and Liberty – over alleged design infringement.

Crocs accused these companies of copying the distinctive shape of its rubber clogs, which have developed a cult following globally since the brand’s launch in 2002. While the suit was dismissed in 2019 on technical grounds, a recent appeal saw the Delhi High Court ruling that “the dismissal… cannot sustain in law”, allowing Crocs to proceed with its challenge.

Crocs had originally asked the court to stop its rivals from manufacturing and selling what it called “obvious imitations” of its design. Liberty, one of the defendants, has argued that Crocs itself is not the originator of the clog style, claiming the design existed long before.

The revival of the case highlights the increasingly contested nature of intellectual property in India’s $33.86 billion (Rs. 2.83 lakh crore) footwear market, where 97% of sales come from the non-luxury segment.

PRADA-KOLHAPURI CONTROVERSY
While Birkenstock and Crocs are navigating courts, Italian luxury house Prada is battling criticism on cultural grounds.

The brand triggered a storm last week after showcasing open-toe leather sandals at its Milan fashion show that bore a striking resemblance to Kolhapuri chappals – traditional Indian footwear with centuries-old heritage. Critics on social media and lawmakers accused Prada of failing to acknowledge the Indian origins of the design.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/prada-crocs-birkenstock-shoemakers-legal-battles-kolhapuri-chappal-2752163-2025-07-07

The price of the rare earth metals the world buys from China

When you stand on the edge of Bayan Obo, all you see is an expanse of scarred grey earth carved into the grasslands of Inner Mongolia in northern China.

Dark dust clouds rise from deep craters where the earth’s crust has been sliced away over decades in a search of modern treasure.

You may not have heard of this town – but life as we know it could grind to a halt without Bayan Obo.

The town gets its name from the district it sits in, which is home to half of the world’s supply of a group of metals known as rare earths. They are key components in nearly everything that we switch on: smartphones, bluetooth speakers, computers, TV screens, even electric vehicles.

And one country, above all others, has leapt ahead in mining them and refining them: China.

This dominance gives Beijing huge leverage – both economically, and politically, such as when it negotiates with US President Donald Trump over tariffs. But China has paid a steep price for it.

To find out more, we travelled to the country’s two main rare earth mining hubs – Bayan Obo in the north and Ganzhou in the province of Jiangxi in the south.

We found man-made lakes full of radioactive sludge and heard claims of polluted water and contaminated soil, which, in the past, have been linked to clusters of cancer and birth defects. These journeys were challenging.

Beijing appears sensitive to criticism of its environmental record. We were pulled over by police, questioned by them and stuck in a three-hour standoff with an unidentified mining boss who refused to let us leave unless we deleted our footage.

Our calls for an interview or a statement have gone unanswered, but the government has published new regulations to try to strengthen its supervision of the industry.

Authorities have been making an effort to clean up these mining sites, scientists told the BBC. Still, China’s mining operations in the north just keep growing.

Machines are constantly on the hunt for rare earths called neodymium and dysprosium that go into making powerful magnets for a variety of modern technology, from electric vehicles to computer hard drives.

To find these rare earths, the machines strip away the topsoil layer-by-layer, kicking up harmful dust, some of which contains high levels of heavy metals and radioactive material.

Satellite images from the last few decades show how the Bayan Obo mine has spread.

The mine sits in the vast, aridness of Inner Mongolia, a nine-hour drive from the capital, Beijing.

Further south, in the mining hub of Ganzhou, small, circular concrete ponds full of toxic waste sit on top of steep, eroded hilltops – many of the pools are uncovered and open to the elements.

These are “leaching ponds”, where miners inject tonnes of ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, and other chemicals into the earth to separate the rare earth metals from the surrounding soil.

There were once more than a thousand mining sites, some of them illegal, dotted throughout this one county. Companies got what they needed from one mine, and then moved to another.

Then in 2012, the Chinese government stepped in to regulate, dramatically reducing the number of mining licences they issued.

But significant damage had been done to the area already. Research going back decades has linked the rare earth mines to deforestation, soil erosion and chemical leaks into rivers and farmland.

Local farmer Huang Xiaocong, whose land is surrounded by four rare earth sites, believes landslides are still being triggered by improper mining practices.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-66cdf862-5e96-4e6e-90b8-a407b597c8d9

The number of reported measles cases in the US has reached a 33-year high, with nearly 1,300 confirmed infections across the country as of Friday.

The data, released by John Hopkins University, marks a new milestone in an ongoing outbreak of the highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease that was once thought to be eliminated in the US.

Measles cases have been reported in 38 states and the District of Columbia this year. At least three people have died from the illness, and 155 others were in hospital.

A vast majority of the measles cases – 92% – were in people who were either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, according to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC).

The worst hit state is Texas, CDC data shows, where more than 700 cases have been reported. Other states with dozens of cases include Kansas and New Mexico.

Health officials say that measles spread is occurring mostly in neighbourhoods where vaccination rates are lower, such as Mennonite communities in Texas that opt out of modern medicine.

The outbreak comes as anti-vaccine sentiment in the US and elsewhere has grown in recent years.

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr had previously spread misinformation about childhood vaccinations and had minimised the outbreak. He later endorsed the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine as illness spread, saying in a post on X that it is “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles”.

Measles cases in the US were at their highest in recent memory in 1990, with nearly 28,000 reported infections, according to CDC data.

The illness was later declared eliminated around the year 2000, when cases sharply declined to less than 90 thanks to high vaccination rates and rapid outbreak response.

Cases started ticking up slightly in 2014 and again in 2019, when 1,274 confirmed infections were reported. But cases in 2025 have just surpassed that figure, with 1,277 infections now reported across the US.

Public health experts have said that the US will lose measles elimination status if there is continued spread of measles at the current rate for more than 12 months.

As a result of the current outbreak, more people are now getting the measles vaccine in the US. Between 1 January and 16 March, Texas gave at least 173, 000 measles doses compared to 158,000 in the same time period last year, state health department data shows.

The MMR vaccine is the most effective way to fight off the dangerous virus, which can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling and death. The jabs are 97% effective and also immunise against mumps and rubella.

 

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98jng7j1llo

As US student visa season begins, applications are open for Indian students. But a revived Trump-era rule proposing fixed-term visas could alter stay durations, sparking debate over its impact on academic journeys.

As student visa season kicks off, the United States has once again opened its doors to aspiring international students, including thousands from India. But while the State Department is welcoming applications, a parallel discussion in Washington may soon reshape how long those students can stay.

Speaking to ANI last week, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mignon Houston confirmed that student visa applications are now open and encouraged students to begin the process. She struck a supportive tone, but also emphasised the importance of aligning visa usage with the original purpose of study.

“We want students to understand that we want to see a use of that visa that is in line with their application. Students come to the United States to study — not to obstruct classrooms or vandalise campuses,” said Houston. She also added that national security remains a key factor in all visa-related decisions, not only to protect American citizens but also international students themselves.

But just as students begin to plan their journeys, a policy from the past is making a quiet return.

According to a Bloomberg report, the Trump administration is revisiting a 2020-era proposal that sought to replace the current “duration of status” policy with fixed-term student visas. That draft rule is now under final review by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Under the current policy, students on F-1 and exchange visitors on J-1 visas can stay in the U.S. for as long as their program lasts, with no need to reapply midway. The flexibility has long been credited with making the U.S. a top choice for international education.

The earlier Trump-era proposal, however, pushed for fixed visa durations — typically two or four years — based on the student’s country of origin or field of study. The plan was widely criticised by universities and education advocates who feared that added bureaucracy could interrupt students’ academic paths. Eventually, the proposal was shelved in 2021 by the Biden administration.

Now, a draft bearing the same title is back on the table and while details remain under wraps, the potential for similar limits has stirred concern.

Karan Gupta, an education consultant and career counsellor, believes the renewed discussion reflects a desire to tighten immigration oversight, but notes it doesn’t necessarily have to be a setback.

“A fixed-term visa brings clarity. It defines the student’s timeline and can encourage better planning,” Gupta said. “While the “duration of status” model has its flexibility, it also leaves room for ambiguity and potential overstays. A fixed-term approach, if implemented with provisions for legitimate extensions, can promote responsible planning without disadvantaging international students.”

He added that Indian students remain highly interested in studying in the U.S., drawn by its academic reputation and post-study job opportunities. “As long as the process is transparent, it shouldn’t be a dealbreaker. In fact, clearer timelines might help families make stronger financial and logistical plans,” he said.

Source: https://www.freepressjournal.in/education/us-student-visa-applications-open-amid-fresh-talks-on-fixed-term-visa-limits

Mark Rutte warned Russia is rearming at a speed ‘which is unparalleled in recent history’

A CHILLING forecast of how World War Three will start has been revealed by Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte.

The alliance chief has warned of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin launching simultaneous invasions – putting the planet under threat of nuclear Armageddon.

China would start by seeking to grab Taiwan – while ensuring the Kremlin dictator simultaneously attacks Nato territory.

Stressing the urgent need to re-arm and boost military budgets, Rutte chillingly told the New York Times: “Let’s not be naive about this: If Xi Jinping would attack Taiwan, he would first make sure that he makes a call to his very junior partner in all of this, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, residing in Moscow, and telling him, ‘Hey, I’m going to do this, and I need you to to keep them busy in Europe by attacking Nato territory’.

“That is most likely the way this will progress.”

Rutte explained that in order to “deter” the two powerful nations, there are two things that must be done.

He said: “One is that Nato, collectively, being so strong that the Russians will never do this.

“And second, working together with the Indo-Pacific – something President [Donald] Trump is very much promoting.

“Because we have this close interconnectedness, working together on defence industry, innovation between Nato and the Indo-Pacific.”

Russia could rebuild its military to a worrying capacity as early as 2027, according to a report by a top security think tank.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies said Putin may deploy his army onto a “war footing” and try to test Nato by evoking Article 5.

This may see the Kremlin decide to leave Ukraine alone as it continues to recover from Russia’s three-and-a-half year onslaught.

Instead, Putin could commit to an attack on Nato states in the Baltics.

Fears are already looming that the Russian dictator is eyeing the Baltic republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, formerly part of the USSR.

Acknowledging how Putin is rearming at a speed “which is unparalleled in recent history,” Rutte has insisted that Western countries increase defence spending.

He said: “We have an enormous geopolitical challenge on our hands.

“They are now producing three times as much ammunition in three months as the whole of Nato is doing in a year.

“This is unsustainable, but the Russians are working together with the North Koreans, with the Chinese and Iranians, the mullahs, in fighting this unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.

“So here, the Indo-Pacific and your Atlantic are getting more and more interconnected. We know that China has its eye on Taiwan.”

Russia today hit back at ex-Netherlands premier Rutte, claiming he had “gorged on too many of the magic mushrooms beloved by the Dutch”, while warning he should look forward to a future in a hellish Siberian labour camp.

Senior Putin puppet and security official Dmitry Medvedev lashed out on X: “He sees collusion between China & Russia over Taiwan, and then a Russian attack on Europe.

“But he’s right about one thing: he should learn Russian. It might come in handy in a Siberian camp.”

The warnings came as Russia continued its onslaught on Ukraine – days after Putin informed US President Donald Trump by telephone that he had no intention of halting his war of invasion.

Mad Vlad pummelled Ukraine with four S-300 missiles and 157 drones, with 127 of the UAVs shot down or suppressed by electronic warfare.

Explosions hit Kyiv and the surrounding region, with multiple people wounded and residential buildings damaged.

 

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/14638541/nato-chief-ww3-prediction/

Staff have a fascinating theory about why the foam extinguishers went off

A FLEET of passenger planes got an unplanned clean after dodgy fire extinguishers drenched them in foam.

At least four Spirit Airline jets were doused with the bubbles in farcical scenes at the company’s maintenance hangar in Detroit – and techies think they know why.

Footage shot from another plane passing overhead shows a giant puddle of foam oozing from the yellow hangar onto the tarmac.

Two planes are completely surrounded by the bright white substance.

Photos from inside the hangar show the multi-million-pound planes buried in meters of foam to halfway up the fuselage.

Subs are slipping down their sides – after foam evidently filled the air.

The huge foam discharge is an automatic fire extinguisher feature.

When a blaze is detected, the dispensers are programmed to spurt huge volumes of foam both inside and outside the hangar.

But in the incident on July 4, there was no fire.

Technicians believe that a powerful lightening bolt which struck in the area was to blame.

Happily, neither were there any injuries associated with the foam spill.

The mess was promptly cleared according to protocol to avoid any further bubble-based chaos.

The mishap led to a delay in some maintenance work, but passengers and company stakeholders were reassured that there would be no major disruption to flight services.

Spirit Airlines explained what happened: “On July 4, the fire suppression system at our Detroit (DTW) maintenance facility was inadvertently activated, which we believe was caused by lightning nearby.

“There was no fire, and no injuries were reported. Two aircraft parked inside the facility and one aircraft parked outside the facility were removed from service for inspection by our maintenance team.

“We have engaged a contractor to assist with cleanup efforts, and we thank first responders for their quick response and assistance.

“There is no impact to our flight operations.”

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/14639915/passenger-planes-buried-foam-hanger-fire-extinguishers/

Frustrated police chiefs from multiple districts have issued stern warnings as they struggle against troubled teens

AT least nine people have died and 93 are injured after violence broke out across the country during Fourth of July celebrations.

Children and teens make up many of the victims and are some of the perpetrators, in the deadly gun and knife violence.

The various skirmishes saw angry police chiefs issue stern warnings and curfews saying they are “tired” of having to parent troubled juveniles and deal with dead kids.

Various mass casualty events linked to Independence Day festivities broke out from Friday night and spilled into the rest of the weekend.

This again sees the Fourth of July marked as one of the deadliest days of the year for the US, with the following incidents being just a fraction of the deaths and injuries that occurred this weekend.

Charlottesville children shot
Violence broke out just after 11 pm in Charlottesville, Virginia, when shots rang out on Orangedale Avenue.

Five people were shot including three children aged 9, 11 and 17, in what cops say was a gang-related shootout as the sound of fireworks was exchanged by gunshots.

The other two victims were 18 years old and 52 years old – none of those shot were the intended targets, police told WCAV.

Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis called footage of the incident disturbing as it captured terrified children crying and screaming.

“You shot a 9-year-old kid. Think about that for a second,” he told those responsible as authorities continue their investigation to track down the shooters.

10 injured in Albany
Albany, New York, saw a spate of shootings and a house fire sparked by a teenager firing a flare gun on Friday night and the early hours of Saturday morning.

In total, 10 people were injured with four people shot in Madison Avenue just before 10 pm as the Empire State Plaza fireworks came to an end.

A 17-year-old boy was shot in the head and is still in a critical condition while the three others are expected to survive their injuries.

Police Chief Brendan Cox said there was a skirmish between a group of teenagers with one firing a flare gun and another firing a handgun.

Another shooting took place after 1 am on Saturday when a group of teenagers fired a handgun at people gathered at a home there – five people were shot.

The victims were made up of two 16-year-old girls, a 15-year-old girl, a 14-year-old boy, and a 41-year-old woman – all were taken to hospital and their conditions are not life-threatening.

I am tired of youth who feel violence is their only answer to conflict.

Meanwhile, a 17-year-old was shot in the foot in a third incident around 5:30 pm as officials warn of an “uptick in violence” especially among teenagers.

“Obviously there is a clear uptick in violence, specifically gun violence, both with handguns and flare guns with our teen population,” Chief Cox said.

“We continue to have teens walking around our streets and just indiscriminately firing rounds at people.”

“We cannot have that. That has to stop. And we need help to do that.”

Double shooting in North Carolina
A double shooting took place in North Carolina on Friday night and Saturday, injuring three in total – one critically.

Just after 10:15 pm after a July 4 celebration at the Truist Stadium in Winston-Salem, gun fire broke out in the parking lot injuring a juvenile.

A 16-year-old has been arrested in connection to the shooting.

Meanwhile, two people were shot at Center City Park in downtown Greensboro during festivities, causing families to run for cover.

One of the victims is in critical condition.

Winston-Salem Police Chief William H. Penn, Jr echoed the sentiments of his counterparts in other regions of the county, slamming parents and the behavior of “undisciplined and unattended juveniles”.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/14639737/dead-injured-fourth-of-july-violence-mass-shootings/

A lawyer spoke to The U.S. Sun about Diddy’s options once he’s released from prison

SEAN ‘Diddy’ Combs may not have to deal with life in prison after being acquitted on multiple charges, but he could run into financial difficulties when he is released from jail, an expert has claimed.

The controversial music mogul was sitting on a fortune of almost a billion dollars at one point in his career before it imploded.

But his net worth reportedly dwindled to $400 million months before his arrest in 2024.

He has since had to pay a growing mountain of legal fees for his criminal trial, several civil cases, and a $20 million settlement to his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

Combs, 55, was acquitted of the most serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking this week after a weeks-long trial in Manhattan, New York.

But he was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and remains behind bars ahead of his sentencing hearing.

Despite each count carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years, he is likely to be a free man in the coming months, according to experts.

But he may struggle to get his career back on track as his business empire has significantly declined due to his legal troubles and the public fallout from the allegations.

Eric Faddis, a former felony prosecutor and founding partner at Varner Faddis Elite Legal, spoke to The U.S. Sun to give his opinion on what is next for Combs.

He said, “One thing that’s clear is that his resources have been depleted. He still appears to have some wealth. But there’s going to be a collectability issue when it comes to these civil cases.

“If they all get judgments, he’s not going to have enough personal assets to make them whole.

“There is no legal mechanism of which I’m aware by which he could try to take back the twenty million or so dollars that he paid to Cassie in a civil judgment. That’s over and done with.

“There are murmurs about … is he going to try to go after other folks who are involved in this trial for defamation, or malicious prosecution, or something like that?

“Anything is possible, but I think he would be better off kind of letting sleeping dogs lie, moving on with his life, and undertaking this herculean effort of dealing with the other civil cases.”

Asked if he believes he could go broke, Faddis claimed, “Oh, 100 per cent. I think there’s a substantial chance that his assets are going to be dwindling if they’re not already dwindling.

“There’s no insurance policy that’s going to kick in and pay out these plaintiffs.

“If these plaintiffs prevail in the civil claims, he himself is going to be financially responsible.

“I’m sure he paid gobs and gobs of money to his criminal attorneys for this two-month trial.

“On top of that, a lot of his endorsements and contractual support is likely gone. And so I think he’s going to run into financial issues real soon.”

There’s no insurance policy that’s going to kick in and pay out these plaintiffs.”

Attorney Eric Faddis told The U.S. Sun
Combs paid off a $18.8 million mortgage on his lavish $48.5 million Star Island mansion in Miami, Florida, before his arrest.

To try and secure bail, his defense team previously proposed a $50 million bond package, which included the property that was raided by the feds.

He also listed his $61.5 million Beverly Hills home for sale, but it remains on the market.

BUSINESS EMPIRE
The star was running multiple businesses before his scandal, including Revolt TV, which he founded, and his fashion brand Sean John, which vanished from Macy’s.

Combs relinquished control of his lucrative spirits brands, Ciroc and DeLeón, and also reportedly lost a Hulu reality series deal.

However, his music catalog remains intact for the time being.

Combs kept his label Bad Boy Records relevant before he was arrested and backed the likes of Machine Gun Kelly’s ‘Mainstream Sellout’ in 2022.

In 2023, he also dropped The Love Album: Off the Grid, his first solo album in nearly two decades.

The same year, singer Janelle Monae also released her celebrated record The Age of Pleasure through Bad Boy.

Asked if he thinks he could build his empire back up, Faddis said, “It’s not unheard of in America for folks who have, you know, been formerly disgraced to kind of make a comeback.

“I think he’s going to try [but] whether America has the stomach for that at this point is an open question.

“I think, legally speaking, it is certainly a victory for Diddy, but I think we [have] to be careful, because there are a lot of sensitive issues at play here, just because the jury found that he was not guilty. That’s not the same as finding that he was innocent.

“What the jury found was that the Government couldn’t meet its burden with respect to those charges. That’s not the same as saying those things didn’t happen.”

Combs was previously forced to apologize to fans after previously denying physically assaulting ex Ventura when CNN published exclusive hotel surveillance video from 2016.

The footage showed Combs appearing to grab, shove, drag, and kick the singer in a hotel hallway.

“My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” he said in a video statement posted on Instagram.

“I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now,” he added. “I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/14621797/diddy-faces-financial-hit-cassie-payout-civil-suits/

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his wife Dr. Dana Blumberg threw a starry Fourth of July party in the Hamptons where “Philadelphia Freedom” singer Elton John performed.

Sources said that John played an hour set of his greatest hits and dedicated his 1974 smash “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” to the couple.

We hear that Sir Elton flew in from London just for the private show — and had a special red piano shipped from the West Coast. He performed in an eye-catching canary yellow suit.

(John also played the couple’s wedding in 2022, we’d exclusively reported at the time.)

The patriotic party also featured a jaw-dropping drone show creating images in the sky of a Patriots logo, an American flag, Kraft’s dog, Heisman, an image of John, the Statue of Liberty and a football, we hear.

Said a source of the bash, “This was all about building bridges and bringing people together.”

Kraft and other attendees wore blue square pins — the symbol created by Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism as part of a $25 million awareness-building campaign as a “symbol of standing up to Jewish hate and all hate.”

Guests were welcomed by a 16-foot high American flag made from over a million crystals.

The pins have been worn by stars including Tom Brady, Mike Tyson, Jon Bon Jovi and Dave Matthews.

Guests at the party included Howard and Beth Stern, Jon Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesney, Mike Tyson and his wife Kiki, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg, Rob Gronkowski and Camille Kostek, Van Jones, Michael Rubin and Camille Fishel and JPMorgan executive Mary Erdoes and John’s husband, David Furnish, among others.

People magazine reported that Jerry Seinfeld and Sylvester Stallone also attended the bash.

In 2023, Dave Matthews — who played the old Foxboro Stadium the year the Patriots won their first of six Super Bowls — played Kraft’s Fourth of July party, we previously reported. Grandmaster Flash DJ’d the previous bash.

Source: https://pagesix.com/2025/07/06/society/elton-john-plays-robert-krafts-july-fourth-bash/

Kelly Osbourne got engaged to Sid Wilson at her father Ozzy Osbourne’s Black Sabbath farewell concert.

The TV personality took to Instagram Sunday to share a sweet clip of the proposal, which occurred the night before backstage at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.

While surrounded by their family and friends, the Slipknot member said, “Kelly, you know I love you more than anything in the world.”

Ozzy, 76, then jokingly interrupted, saying, “F–k off, you’re not marrying my daughter.”

Laughter erupted from the room, including from Kelly, 40, and her mom, Sharon Osbourne, 76, who was sitting next to her husband.

“Nothing would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life with you,” Wilson, 48, continued.

“So in front of your family and all of our friends, Kelly, will you marry me?” the keyboardist added.

Kelly looked around the room in shock, nodding, “Yes.”

Wilson then slipped the ring on her finger before they hugged.

“Oh and this happened yesterday!” she captioned the post on Instagram.

Kelly and Wilson became friends in 1999 when the latter’s band toured on her parents’ music festival, Ozzfest, per People.

The couple took their relationship to the next level in January 2022 and hard-launched their romance the following month.

 

Source: https://pagesix.com/2025/07/06/celebrity-news/kelly-osbourne-and-sid-wilson-get-engaged-at-black-sabbath-farewell/

He’s sweating it out.

Justin Bieber received support from fans after he shared sweaty selfies as he detoxed.

“Detoxxxxxxxxxxx,” he captioned the post on Instagram Sunday, alongside a carousel of close-up selfies, showing off the sweat on his forehead and his red face.

Though the pop star didn’t give more context on how or why he was ridding his body of toxins, several Instagram users offered kind words to Bieber.

“The good one for you, partner! We all want to see you well ❤️🥹,” wrote one supporter.

“please stay healthy and happy,” added another.

“Love you dude keep pushin,” wrote a third person.

“You can do this. Keep going,” added a fourth netizen.

Bieber’s detox comes five months after his rep denied “harmful” allegations of drug use following concerns about his behavior.

The publicist told TMZ at the time that the ongoing rumors about the “Baby” singer’s physical and mental health were “exhausting and pitiful” and showed that “despite the obvious truth, people are committed to keeping negative, salacious, harmful narratives alive.”

The two-time Grammy winner’s spokesperson said Justin, 31, has been in a good place with his wife, Hailey Bieber, after they welcomed their son, Jack Blues, in August 2024.

The “Never Say Never” singer’s rep added that this year has been “very transformative for him as he ended several close friendships and business relationships that no longer served him.”

Despite the publicist’s denial, Justin has been seen smoking joints on multiple occasions, including at Coachella and while on a snowboarding trip with his pals.

Justin has also reportedly been dealing with financial and marital issues.

Last month, a source told “Entertainment Tonight” that the dad of one has been “irritated” by the Rhode founder, 28.

He “feels like Hailey can be superficial about the way their relationship looks in the public eye,” the insider said.

The source also claimed that “Justin’s lack of motivation has been upsetting for [Hailey].”

 

Source: https://pagesix.com/2025/07/06/celebrity-news/justin-bieber-shares-sweaty-detox-selfies-after-fan-concern/

A 90-day pause on Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs plan is about to expire on Wednesday, which could upend US trading relationships with the rest of the world. But the uncertainty of the last few months has already forced several companies to rethink their supply lines in radical ways.

When an Illinois toymaker heard that Trump was introducing tariffs on Chinese imports, he was so incensed that he decided to sue the US government.

“I’m inclined to stand up when my company is in genuine peril,” says Rick Woldenberg, who is the CEO of educational toy firm Learning Resources.

The majority of his company’s products are made in China, so the tariffs, which US importers have to pay, not Chinese exporters, are now costing him a fortune.

He says his import taxes bill leapt from around $2.5m (£1.5m) a year to more than $100m in April when Trump temporarily increased tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%. That would have “devastated” the company, he says.

“This kind of impact on my business is just a little bit hard to wrap my mind around,” he says.

With US tariffs on Chinese imports now at 30%, that’s still unaffordable for many American companies such as Learning Resources.

So in addition to its continuing legal fight, it is changing its global supply chain, moving production from China to Vietnam and India.

These two countries, like most others around the world, have seen the US hit them with general 10% tariffs, two-thirds lower than those on China. Although these 10% tariffs are due to run out on Wednesday, 9 July, uncertainly remains over what they may be replaced by.

Meanwhile, many Canadian companies, who often trade in both their home country and in the US, are now facing a double hit to their supply chains.

These hits are the 25% tariffs put in place by Trump on many Canadian imports, and the reciprocal ones of the same level that Canada has placed on a host of American exports.

And other businesses around the world are looking at exporting less to the US, because their American import partners are having to put up prices to cover the tariffs they now have to pay, which makes their products more expensive on US shelves.

At Learning Resources, Mr Woldenberg has now moved about 16% of manufacturing to Vietnam and India. “We have gone through the process of vetting the new factories, training them on what we needed, making sure that things could flow easily, and developing relationships.”

Yet he admits that there are uncertainties: “We don’t know if they can handle the capacity of our business. Much less the whole world moving in there at the same time.”

He also points out that switching production to another country is expensive to organise.

In the meantime, his legal case against the US tariffs, called “Learning Resources et al v Donald Trump et al” is continuing its way through the US court system.

In May a judge at the US District Court in Washington DC ruled that the tariffs against it were unlawful. But the US government immediately appealed, and Learning Resources still has to pay the tariffs for the time being.

So the firm is continuing to move production away from China.

Global supply chain expert Les Brand says that it is both expensive and difficult for companies to switch manufacturing to different countries.

“Trying to find new sources for critical components of whatever you are doing – that’s a lot of research,” says Mr Brand, who is CEO of advisory firm Supply Chain Logistics.

“There’s a lot of quality testing to do it right. You have to spend the time, and that really takes away from the business focus.”

He adds: “The knowledge transfer to train a whole new bunch of people on how to make your product takes a lot of time and money. And that effects already razor-thin margins businesses have right now.”

For Canadian fried chicken chain Cluck Clucks, its supply chain has been significantly impacted by Canada’s revenge tariffs on US imports. This is because while its chicken is Canadian, it imports both specialist catering fridges and pressure fryers from the US.

While it can’t live without the fridges, it has decided to stop buying any more of the fryers. Yet with no Canadian company making alternative ones, it is having to limit its menus at its new stores.

This is because it needs these pressure fryers to cook its bone-in chicken pieces. The new stores will instead only be able to sell boneless chicken, as that is cooked differently.

“This was a substantial decision for us, but we believe it’s the right strategic move,” says Raza Hashim, Cluck Clucks CEO.

“It’s important to note that we do plan to retain the necessary kitchen space in new locations to reintroduce these fryers should the tariff uncertainty be completely resolved in the future.”

He also warns that with the US fridges now more expensive for the company to buy, the price it charges for its food may have to go up. “There is a certain amount of costs we cannot absorb as brands, and we may have to pass those on to consumers. And that is not something we want to do.”

Mr Hashim adds that the business is continuing with its US expansion plans, and it has set up local supply chains to source American chicken. It currently has one US outlet, in Houston, Texas.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93l6n32ne5o

Carlos Alcaraz’s latest up-and-down Wimbledon performance began with a dropped set. Later Sunday, he was in danger of getting broken to fall further behind in the third. And then, as he so often does, Alcaraz seized the moment, produced some magic and moved closer to a third consecutive title at the All England Club.

Alcaraz stretched his winning streak in the grass-court Grand Slam tournament to 18 matches — and his current unbeaten run across all events to 22 — by coming back to beat No. 14 seed Andrey Rublev 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 at Centre Court to return to the quarterfinals.

In this fortnight’s first matchup between two men ranked in the top 20, No. 2 Alcaraz brought out his best while down 3-2 in the third set. First, he needed to fend off a break chance for Rublev, doing so with a forehand passing winner.

After eventually holding to 3-all, Alcaraz earned his own break opportunity and didn’t let Rublev escape. On an eight-stroke exchange, Alcaraz sprinted from one corner of the court to the other and, with a stomp of his right foot and a bit of a slide, he flicked a cross-court forehand winner.

Oh, did he relish that one. Alcaraz spread his arms wide, pointed to his right ear and basked in the crowd’s loud adulation, the noise bouncing off the underside of the stadium’s closed roof.

Rublev sat in his sideline chair, looked up at his guest box and made a sarcastic “OK” hand signal. Just 10 minutes later, that set belong to Alcaraz, who will face 2022 semifinalist Cam Norrie — the last British player in singles — on Tuesday for a berth in the final four.

“I always said that it’s just about belief in yourself. It doesn’t matter that you are one-set-to-love down,” Alcaraz said. “Tennis is a sport that can change in just one point. One point can change the match completely, turn around everything.”

The 61st-ranked Norrie, who played college tennis at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over qualifier Nicolas Jarry, who hit 46 aces. Norrie had a chance to close things out much earlier than he did but failed to convert a match point while ahead 6-5 in the third-set tiebreaker.

The other men’s quarterfinal Tuesday will be No. 5 Taylor Fritz vs. No. 17 Karen Khachanov. Fritz, last year’s U.S. Open runner-up, had a short day because his opponent, Jordan Thompson, quit after about 40 minutes with back and leg injuries that he’d been dealing with throughout the tournament.

Alcaraz is just 22 and already owns five Grand Slam trophies, the latest arriving in June at the French Open. He hasn’t lost a match anywhere since April 20 against Holger Rune in the final at Barcelona.

There have been lapses, of course, including when Alcaraz fell behind by two sets against No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final at Roland-Garros. Or when the Spaniard lost four points in a row after going up 5-3 in the opening tiebreaker against Rublev.

He hasn’t been as close-to-perfect as others over the past week: Sinner, No. 10 Ben Shelton and No. 22 Flavio Cobolli haven’t dropped a set heading into their fourth-round contests.

So, sure, Alcaraz has ceded five sets already, but all that matters is that he hasn’t lost a match.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/wimbledon-results-7-6-2025-57f720f2214cf843386265640d9f9f91

A Coast Guard rescue swimmer is already being hailed as an “American hero” after his very first mission — helping to save the lives of 165 Texas flash-flood victims.

“This is what it’s all about, right? Like, this is why we do the job,” said Scott Ruskan, 26, a New Jersey native and former KPMG accountant, to The Post after his work in central Texas.

“This is why we take those risks all time. This is why like Coast Guard men and women, are risking their lives every day,” said Petty Officer Ruskan — who was in charge of triage at Camp Mystic, the Christian girls’ summer camp that saw some of the worst of the flooding.

Raised in Oxford, NJ, Ruskan enlisted in the US Coast Guard in 2021, and after completing basic training, went to Aviation Survival Technician school in Petaluma, Calif., before being stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas.

He had been on call since November after completing all of his training, familiarizing himself with the Coast Guard’s iconic MH-65 helicopter and enrolling in additional rescue swimming classes as he waited to be called into action.

That fateful call came on the Fourth of July as a massive summer rainstorm led to catastrophic flash flooding in the Lone Star State that has so far claimed at least 80 lives.

Bryan Winchell, a helicopter search and rescue technician with Texas Task Force 1 — a joint partnership between the Texas Army National Guard and the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service — called the Coast Guard looking to get boots on the ground and in the air for an emergency rapid response near central Texas.

“That’s a little bit outside our area of operation normally, but people were in danger, and we’re a good asset to try and help people out, and these guys were asking for help, so that’s kind of what we do,” Ruskan said.

By 7 a.m. Friday, crews loaded into Blackhawk 60 and Coast Guard MH-65 choppers and took to the skies.

It was “literally the best aircrew we could possibly have,” Ruskan said.

Their destination was Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ summer camp just off the banks of the Guadalupe River, which saw some of the worst of the flooding.

Five campers ages 8 and 9 have been confirmed dead, with a counselor and 11 more girls still missing, officials said.

When the crew arrived, they were racing against sundown to rescue as many stranded flood victims as possible. All roads were impassable, and the currents were too strong for any boats to get in, leaving helicopter evacuation as the only hope for the nearly 200 survivors.

As the crews evaluated the operational logistics, their goal was to move as many people out of harm’s way as possible, but they were bound by the weight limits of the helicopters. During a briefing, they decided to leave Ruskan on the ground to triage the rescue mission.

“I was like, sweet, sounds great, I’ll be more helpful on the ground than I will be in the air right now, so that’s kind of what we went with,” he said.

The rescuers loaded the first four to five survivors into the MH-65, and Ruskan set out to take a closer look at the scene of the camp, which was on higher ground than the flood-ravaged surrounding areas, where trees were snapped like twigs and twisted metal of cars littered the muddy ground.

While on the ground, Ruskan tended to terrified and injured campers, many of them shoeless and still wearing pajamas from their mad dash out of their bunks in the middle of the night.

In between comforting the “cold, wet and miserable” survivors, both kids and adults, Ruskan directed Army Blackhawk 60s and MH-65s to pockets of survivors to begin painstakingly bringing them to safety.

Source: https://nypost.com/2025/07/06/us-news/coast-guard-american-hero-scott-ruskan-helps-save-texas-flood-victims/

Families sifted through waterlogged debris Sunday and stepped inside empty cabins at Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp ripped apart by flash floods that washed homes off their foundations and killed at least 82 people in central Texas.

Rescuers maneuvering through challenging terrain, high waters and snakes including water moccasins continued their desperate search for the missing, including 10 girls and a counselor from the camp. For the first time since the storms began pounding Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing.

In Kerr County, home to Camp Mystic and other youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said in the afternoon.

He pledged to keep searching until “everybody is found” from Friday’s flash floods. Ten other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, according to local officials. The death toll is certain to rise over the next few days, said Col. Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The governor warned that additional rounds of heavy rains lasting into Tuesday could produce more life-threatening flooding, especially in places already saturated. As he spoke at a news conference in Austin, emergency alerts lit up mobile phones in Kerr County that warned of “High confidence of river flooding” and a loudspeaker near Camp Mystic urged people to leave. Minutes later, however, authorities on the scene said there was no risk.

Families were allowed to look around the camp beginning Sunday morning. One girl walked out of a building carrying a large bell. A man, who said his daughter was rescued from a cabin on the highest point in the camp, walked a riverbank, looking in clumps of trees and under big rocks.

A woman and a teenage girl, both wearing rubber waders, briefly went inside one of the cabins, which stood next to a pile of soaked mattresses, a storage trunk and clothes. At one point, the pair doubled over, sobbing before they embraced.

One family left with a blue footlocker. A teenage girl had tears running down her face looking out the open window, gazing at the wreckage as they slowly drove away.

Searching the disaster zone
While the families saw the devastation for the first time, nearby crews operating heavy equipment pulled tree trunks and tangled branches from the water as they searched the river.

With each passing hour, the outlook of finding more survivors became even more bleak. Volunteers and some families of the missing who drove to the disaster zone searched the riverbanks despite being asked not to do so.

Authorities faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding and whether enough preparations were made.

President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration Sunday for Kerr County, activating the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Texas.

The president said he would likely visit Friday. “I would have done it today, but we’d just be in their way,” he told reporters before boarding Air Force One back to Washington after spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. “It’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible.”

The destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the river in only 45 minutes before daybreak Friday, washing away homes and vehicles. The danger was not over as flash flood watches remained in effect and more rain fell in central Texas on Sunday.

Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads. Officials said more than 850 people were rescued in the first 36 hours.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/flash-flood-texas-missing-girls-hill-country-0ea97b27df4cb30339a0a938539c7125

 

Voicing “serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff” measures, BRICS members said the tariffs risked hurting the global economy, according to a summit joint statement.

BRICS leaders at a summit on Sunday (Jul 6) took aim at US President Donald Trump’s “indiscriminate” import tariffs and recent Israeli-US strikes on Iran.

The 11 emerging nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, represent about half the world’s population and 40 per cent of global economic output.

The bloc is divided about much, but found common cause when it comes to the mercurial US leader and his stop-start tariff wars – even if they avoided naming him directly.

Voicing “serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff” measures, BRICS members said the tariffs risked hurting the global economy, according to a summit joint statement.

They also offered symbolic backing to fellow member Iran, condemning a series of military strikes on nuclear and other targets carried out by Israel and the United States.

In April, Trump threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive duties, before offering a months-long reprieve in the face of a fierce market sell-off.

Trump has now warned he will impose unilateral levies on partners unless they reach “deals” by Aug 1.

In an apparent concession to US allies such as Brazil, India and Saudi Arabia, the summit declaration did not criticise the United States or its president by name at any point.

NO SHOW
Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to US and Western European power.

But as the group has expanded to include Iran, Saudi Arabia and others, it has struggled to reach meaningful consensus on issues from the Gaza war to challenging US global dominance.

BRICS nations, for example, collectively called for a peaceful two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict – despite Tehran’s long-standing position that Israel should be destroyed.

An Iranian diplomatic source said his government’s “reservations” had been conveyed to Brazilian hosts. Still, Iran stopped short of rejecting the statement outright.

In perhaps a further sign of the diplomatic sensitivities, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister skipped Sunday’s discussions entirely, according to a Brazilian government source.

Saudi Arabia is among the world’s leading beneficiaries of high-tech US military exports and is a long-standing US partner.

The political punch of this year’s summit has been depleted by the absence of China’s Xi Jinping, who skipped the meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/brics-nations-slam-trump-tariffs-condemn-strikes-iran-5223401

As Tokyo seeks to avert the US’ threat to impose tariffs of up to 35 per cent on Japanese goods, Prime Minister Ishiba stressed that Japan, as the biggest investor nation in the US economy, should be treated differently from other countries.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Sunday (Jul 6) that he won’t “easily compromise” in talks with Washington as Tokyo seeks to avert United States President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs of up to 35 per cent on Japanese goods.

“We will not easily compromise. That’s why it is taking time and why it is tough,” Ishiba told a television talk show.

His comments came as Japan rushes to negotiate with the Trump administration before the Wednesday deadline for trade deals.

While Trump imposed a sweeping 10 per cent tariff on imports from most trading partners in April, he unveiled – then paused – higher rates on dozens of economies, including Japan, to allow room for negotiations.

Trump has said he was going to write a letter to Japan, asking it to “pay a 30 per cent, 35 per cent or whatever the number is that we determine,” and called the bilateral trade relation “unfair”.

He has particularly pressed Japan to accept more US automobiles and rice.

Ryosei Akazawa, Tokyo’s trade envoy, held telephone calls with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday and Saturday.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/japan-pm-says-wont-easily-compromise-trump-tariffs-5222901

DONALD Trump has signed a disaster declaration in response to the “unimaginable tragedy” in Texas as officials say at least 82 people have died.

Rescuers are still searching for 10 children and one counselor from Camp Mystic, after at least 82 people – including 28 children – were killed in flash floods.

Searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, in Kerr County – home to Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp – Sheriff Larry Leitha said in the afternoon.

He pledged to keep searching until everybody is found from Friday’s flash floods.

10 other deaths have been reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, officials said.

Rescuers are now scouring the devastated landscape as they search for the missing – including 10 girls and a counsellor from the camp.

A total of 41 people are confirmed missing across the state, according to Governor Greg Abbott, who warned that the number could still rise.

Donald Trump announced he signed a Major Disaster Declaration for Kerr County to help search efforts.

Taking to Truth Social, the US president said the declaration will “ensure that our Brave First Responders immediately have the resources they need”.

“These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy, with many lives lost, and many still missing,” he added, noting that the administration is working closely with state and local officials.

Heartbreaking photos from the wrecked site show sodden mattresses and teddies strewn across dormitories.

Meanwhile, outside, trucks and heavy machinery were swept away -evidence of the floods’ deadly force.

Teams working tirelessly in harsh conditions to find victims have witnessed the atrocities first-hand, with dozens of bodies discovered.

Officials said more than 850 people had been rescued in the last 36 hours.

Bobby Templeton, superintendent of Ingram Independent School District, said: “We still have people coming here looking for their loved ones. We’ve had a little success, but not much.”

Worst-hit was Kerr County, particularly areas around the Guadeloupe River where waters rose by 26ft in 45 minutes following a freak dump of rainfall.

The danger was not over as rains continued pounding communities outside San Antonio on Saturday and flash flood warnings and watches remained in effect.

About a third of a year’s worth of rain fell in a few short hours, completely overwhelming the waterways and creating an “extraordinary catastrophe”.

Dalton Rice, Kerville city manager, said on Saturday: “We’ve been rescuing people out of these camps by the hundreds. There’s a lot of folks that are shelter in place, so we leave them in place to make sure that we get them food, water.”

Multiple people lost their lives in other counties, bringing the current confirmed death toll to 59 – though this is sadly expected to rise.

The parents of all the missing children have been notified – and many turned to social media to share desperate pleas for information about their girls.

Local reports suggest that up to six girls have been confirmed dead, citing their families.

Janie Hunt, 9, was among the dead, her distraught mother told CNN.

A relative of nine-year-old Renee Smajstrla revealed on Facebook that the girls’s body had been found.

Shawna Salta wrote: “We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday.”

Lila Bonner’s family also released a statement confirming her death.

They wrote: “In the midst of our unimaginable grief, we ask for privacy and are unable to confirm any details at this time.

“We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly.”

Lila shared a cabin with her best friend Eloise Peck, 8, who also lost her life.

Her mom, Missy Peck, told Fox4: “Eloise was literally friends with everyone. She loved spaghetti but not more than she loved dogs and animals.

“She passed away with her cabinmate and best friend Lila Bonner who also died.

“Eloise had a family who loved her fiercely for the 8 years she was with us. Especially her Mommy.”

Sarah Marsh, from Mountain Brook, Alabama, has also been confirmed dead.

Stewart Welch, the Mayor of Mountain Brook, wrote on social media: “This is an unimaginable loss for her family, her school and our entire community,”

He added: “Sarah’s passing is a sorrow shared by all of us, and our hearts are with those who knew her and loved her.”

Camp Mystic’s owner and director Dick Eastland is amongst those confirmed to have died.

 

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/14637855/texas-flood-death-toll-climbs-children-camp-mystic/

Govt sources earlier said that no action was taken against either outlet while the IT Ministry hinted at confusion from X’s side.

The X accounts of UK-based news agency Reuters and Turkish broadcaster TRT World appeared to have been restored in India late Sunday evening, a day after users noticed they were being withheld in the country. Government sources speaking to CNN-News18 earlier in the day had clarified that India did not instruct X (formerly Twitter) to block either handle and said both outlets are free to operate in the country.

The blockade of the X account in India “seems like a technical issue or confusion from the X side”, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said.

Source: https://www.news18.com/india/reuters-trt-world-x-accounts-restored-in-india-after-brief-outage-ws-kl-9424665.html

THIS is the shocking moment a three-car pile-up caused a burning SUV to smash into a Domino’s pizza store causing a devastating explosion.

Three people were injured and evacuation orders were issued after the terrifying incident at a strip mall in Herriman, Utah, on Saturday night.

The explosion tore through the building occupied by several businesses after the vehicle hit a gas line, a Unified Fire Authority spokesperson said.

As well as damaging a Domino’s, a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop and a Supercuts barber shop were also impacted.

Crews were called to the scene around 10:15 pm local time to a three-vehicle accident that caused one to smash into the strip mall.

Shocking footage shows the moment the explosion tore the roof off the building, lighting up the night sky and sending debris into the air before plunging everything back into darkness.

Taking to X, locals who captured the incident were left stunned.

“Crazy night! I pray everybody got out but we witnessed this as the car slammed into the Domino’s pizza and the whole damn building blew up!” resident Dave Young wrote.

“I was maybe 100 feet away and it took my breath away as the mushroom cloud exploded! Unreal,” he added.

Alongside the post he shared videos taken seconds after impact showing the extent of the horrifying blaze.

Over 60 firefighters from Unified Fire, South Jordan, West Jordan, West Valley City, Sandy and Draper Fire Departments were dispatched to the scene, a spokesperson told The Salt Lake Tribune.

They continued working through the night into Sunday morning to quash the blaze.

Those who were injured in the incident were taken to nearby hospitals with their conditions currently unknown.

According to ABC News affiliate KTVX-TV, the three injured were the drivers of each of the vehicles with the conditions of their passengers not released.

One vehicle had a 70-year-old driver and a 72-year-old male passenger, per the outlet.

Another reportedly had a teenage learner driver with several passengers and the third had a single 26-year-old male driver.

No members of law enforcement or the fire services were harmed, officials have said.

A spokesperson from Unified Fire shared on X how two heroic witnesses rushed to help those trapped in the burning SUV.

“Two courageous bystanders risked their lives to rescue the driver and passenger from the burning vehicle just moments before it was engulfed in flames,” they wrote on X.

Josh Lee with Riverton City told KTVX-TV that all occupants of the businesses were able to flee the building before the explosion.

Officials evacuated nearby residents after the incident sparked a gas leak which has now been contained.

The cause of the crash is under investigation and all evacuation orders have been lifted.

The U.S. Sun has reached to the Herriman Police Department for an update.

SENDING PRAYERS
Herriman City Mayor Lorin Palmer wrote the following statement on Facebook:

“Our thoughts are with all of those affected by the tragedy on 134th South tonight.

“To those involved in the accident, to those businesses affected by the fire, and to the employees that were on scene…we are thinking of you!

“Thank you to those first responders that handled such a crazy scene with such professionalism!

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/14639196/shocking-moment-dominos-explosion-herriman-utah-suv-crash/

Israel will send a delegation to Qatar on Sunday (Jul 6) for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the changes requested by Hamas to a ceasefire proposal were unacceptable.

Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit”, a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalise” a 60-day truce.

But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.

“The changes that Hamas seeks to make to the Qatari proposal were conveyed to us last night and are not acceptable to Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement late on Saturday.

The prime minister’s office added that the delegation will still fly to Qatar for talks over a possible deal to “continue the efforts to secure the return of our hostages based on the Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to”.

Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/israel-gaza-ceasefire-talks-qatar-hamas-demands-netanyahu-hostages-5222396

U.S. President Donald Trump drew criticism for using the antisemitic term “Shylock” to describe some bankers during remarks on his signature tax-cut and spending legislation that just passed Congress.
“Think of that: No death tax. No estate tax. No going to the banks and borrowing from, in some cases, a fine banker – and in some cases, Shylocks and bad people,” he said during remarks in Iowa late on Thursday.

Shylock is an unscrupulous Jewish money lender in Shakespeare’s 16th century play “The Merchant of Venice” and the term, shorthand for loan shark, has long been considered offensive.
“The term ‘Shylock’ evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous,” the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement. “President Trump’s use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible.”
U.S. Representative Dan Goldman of New York, a Jewish Democrat, said, “This is blatant and vile antisemitism, and Trump knows exactly what he’s doing.”
Asked about his use of the term on his return to Washington, Trump said he did not know its connotations.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/trump-criticized-using-antisemitic-shylock-describe-bankers-2025-07-04/

U.S. President Donald Trump said Ukraine would need Patriot missiles for its defenses, after speaking with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday, and voiced frustration over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s failure to end the fighting.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had a good call with Zelenskiy, repeating that he was “very unhappy” about his call with Putin a day earlier, given what he called the Russian leader’s refusal to work on a ceasefire.

Asked whether the United States would agree to supply more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, as requested by Zelenskiy, Trump said: “They’re going to need them for defense… They’re going to need something because they’re being hit pretty hard.”
Trump touted the efficacy of the Patriot missiles, calling the weapon “pretty amazing.”
Asked about the prospects for a ceasefire, Trump said, “It’s a very tough situation… I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people – it’s no good.”
Zelenskiy said he had agreed to work on increasing Kyiv’s capability to “defend the sky” as Russian attacks escalate, adding in a message on Telegram that he discussed joint defense production, as well as joint purchases and investments with the U.S. leader.

Ukraine has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities from intensifying Russian air strikes.
A decision by Washington to halt some shipments of weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv that the move would weaken its ability to defend against Russia’s airstrikes and battlefield advances. Germany said it is in talks on buying Patriot air defense systems to bridge the gap.
A source briefed on the Trump-Zelenskiy call told Reuters they were optimistic that supplies of Patriot missiles could resume after what they called a “very good” conversation between the presidents.

RUSSIA PUMMELS KYIV

Trump said he also spoke with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about Ukraine’s request for Patriot missiles but that no decision had been made to supply the advanced missiles.

U.S. news outlet Axios reported, citing unnamed sources, that the call lasted around 40 minutes and that Trump told Zelenskiy he would check what U.S. weapons due to be sent to Ukraine, if any, had been put on hold.
Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said he and Trump had agreed to “arrange a meeting between our teams to strengthen air defenses.
“We had a very detailed discussion on joint production. We need it, America needs it.”
The conversation came a day after Trump said he had a disappointing call with Putin.
Russia pummeled Kyiv with the largest drone attack of the war across the capital hours after Trump’s conversation with Putin on Thursday.
Zelenskiy called the attack “deliberately massive and cynical.”
Kyiv in the past received Patriot batteries and ammunition from the U.S. in the form of aid under then-President Joe Biden.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/trump-zelesnkiy-discuss-weapons-escalating-russian-strikes-2025-07-04/

Asked last month whether he was planning to join Israel in attacking Iran, US President Donald Trump said “I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m going to do”.

He let the world believe he had agreed a two-week pause to allow Iran to resume negotiations. And then he bombed anyway.

A pattern is emerging: The most predictable thing about Trump is his unpredictability. He changes his mind. He contradicts himself. He is inconsistent.

“[Trump] has put together a highly centralised policy-making operation, arguably the most centralised, at least in the area of foreign policy, since Richard Nixon,” says Peter Trubowitz, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics.

“And that makes policy decisions more dependent on Trump’s character, his preferences, his temperament.”

Trump has put this to political use; he has made his own unpredictability a key strategic and political asset. He has elevated unpredictability to the status of a doctrine. And now the personality trait he brought to the White House is driving foreign and security policy.

It is changing the shape of the world.

Political scientists call this the Madman Theory, in which a world leader seeks to persuade his adversary that he is temperamentally capable of anything, to extract concessions. Used successfully it can be a form of coercion and Trump believes it is paying dividends, getting the US’s allies where he wants them.

But is it an approach that can work against enemies? And could its flaw be that rather than being a sleight of hand designed to fool adversaries, it is in fact based on well established and clearly documented character traits, with the effect that his behaviour becomes easier to predict?

Bilawal Bhutto said Pakistan would be willing to arrest any “individual of concern” if India is willing to participate in the process and present evidence of the same.

Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said his country had no objection to extraditing “individuals of concern” to India as a confidence-building measure, as long as India shows willingness to cooperate with its neighbour.

In an interview with Al Jazeera on Friday, Bilawal responded to a question about extraditing Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as possible concessions and good-faith gestures to India.

“As part of a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan, where terrorism is one of the issues that we discuss, I am sure Pakistan would not be opposed to any of these things,” he said, while accusing India of not complying with Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism.

‘If India Cooperates…’

“India is refusing to comply with certain basic elements that require that conviction to take place. It’s important … to present evidence within these courts, for people to come over from India to testify, to put up with whatever the counter-accusations will be,” said Bilawal. “If India is willing to be cooperative in that process, I am sure there will be no hurdle in extraditing any individual of concern.”

Masood Azhar, who has been linked to a string of terror attacks in India- including the 2001 Parliament attack, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2016 Pathankot airbase assault and the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing- was designated a UN global terrorist in 2019. Meanwhile, Saeed – the mastermind of the 26/11 attack – is currently serving a 33-year sentence for terror financing.

Bilawal also stressed that Pakistan had no knowledge of the location of Azhar and said he would be arrested if New Delhi provides credible evidence that he is on Pakistani soil. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman also suggested that Azhar may be in Afghanistan.

‘New Abnormal’

Furthermore, Bilawal expressed concern about India’s renewed policy to pursue terrorists, saying it does not serve the interests of either country and termed it a “new abnormal”.

India said any further discussions with Pakistan would only be on terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), after ties deteriorated sharply following a terror attack by Lashkar-linked terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/bilawal-bhutto-says-pakistan-has-no-objection-to-extraditing-individuals-of-concern-to-india-ws-kl-9422949.html

 

EIGHTEEN people were injured after a fire alert onboard a Ryanair plane bound for Manchester sent passengers into panic in Majorca.

The alarm went off just after midnight on the runway of Palma Airport and passengers were forced to evacuate.

Passengers were filmed clambering out of the plane onto one of its wings before jumping to the tarmac as firefighters and police rushed to the scene.

Local emergency teams said 18 people needed treatment for injuries, with six being taken to hospital.

Footage uploaded to social media shows terrified passengers leaping from the plane’s wing down onto the tarmac, before sprinting away.

In the clip, an airport worker can be heard saying: “Do you know the plane has emergency exits?

“Now the people are jumping from the wing onto the ground.

“Something’s happening, something’s happening, they’re evacuating the plane. Now the firefighters are coming.”

The video shows other passengers using an emergency exit slide on the other side of the plane, which is the usual procedure.

The mother of one passenger on the flight said her daughter, who had been on a mini-break with her boyfriend, said flight attendants “froze” after the alert.

She said: “People were falling over each other to get off, running all over the place.

“One attendant shouted, ‘Get off’, the other froze and she didn’t know what was going on.

“She looked as shocked as the passengers.”
The shell-shocked mother added: “My daughter called me and said,

‘Mum, I’m trying to get down the slide, I might not survive this and I love you’.”

“It was horrible. I couldn’t sleep all night, even after I knew she was safe. They got no support when she got in the airport.”

It was confirmed this morning the plane was about to leave the airport for Manchester.

Airline staff onboard the plane are said to have alerted the emergency services with a call at 12.35am this morning.

Four ambulances were sent to the scene along with airport-based firefighters and police.

A spokesman for a Majorca’s emergency response crews said this morning: “We received an alert about a fire on a plane on the ground at Palma airport at 00.36am today.

“Four ambulances were sent to the scene which were two basic life support units and two advanced life support unit.

“Eighteen people were injured and received medical assistance of whom six were taken to hospital.

“They were all minor. Three went to the Clinica Rotger and three to the Palmaplanas Hospital.”

A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “This flight from Palma to Manchester discontinued take-off due to a false fire warning light indication.

“Passengers were disembarked using the inflatable slides and returned to the terminal.

“While disembarking, a small number of passengers encountered very minor injuries (ankle sprains, etc.) and crew requested immediate medical assistance.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14634206/people-injured-fire-ryanair-plane-majorca-airport/

ASTRONAUTS visiting Mars could unearth a museum of alien fossils that may have belonged to an intelligent civilisation.

Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe backed NASA’s plan to send humans to Mars in the 2030s and Elon Musk’s bid to colonise the planet.

The Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology astrobiologist thinks alien life “unquestionably” existed on the Red Planet.

And he’s even suggested explorers could unearth fossils pointing to alien life, possibly more intelligent than us.

Prof Wickramasinghe told The Sun: “I think it is entirely plausible that Mars, sometime in the past, was a green planet full of life.

“Then something happened that made it a virtually dead planet or nearly a dead planet.

“This could have happened after impact. An episode of comet asteroid impacts could have destroyed all life that existed on it if it did exist on Mars. It could have destroyed it just as on the Earth.

“If there was a huge protracted episode of asteroid comet impacts, then this planet would be a dead planet.

“The fact that Mars and Earth are very similar, geologically very similar, have seasons and they have very similar patterns of oscillation of temperature and so on makes it entirely possible that, in the past, Mars was the home of life.

“I don’t rule out intelligent life.

He added: “I think astronauts will explore all those fossils discussed by Barry DiGregorio, examine them more carefully and decide whether they’re artifacts or real fossils.

“They would encounter bacteria and I think they would find a planet that is very easy to terraform, to make it a living planet like the earth.

“If you go with enough resources, you could build houses and build a civilisation on Mars, and I don’t think that’s impossible.

“I can’t rule out an intelligent civilisation.”

Asked what that life may have looked like, he said: “It’s speculation. It could have been as intelligent as you or I or maybe even more intelligent.

“Who knows? I think evidence has been virtually stamped out of existence possibly through an impact episode, if it did exist.”

DiGregorio had claimed alien fossils had been discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover in 2018.

He accused NASA of failing to investigate properly so it could boost publicity for a manned mission to Mars.

NASA said it believed the images likely showed signs of crystal growth, not alien fossils.

Billionaire Musk has long signalled his intent to colonise Mars through his SpaceX company.

Last year, the X owner even suggested humans could land there in four years and be living in a self-sustaining city in 20.

NASA says on its website it intends to send humans to Mars in the 1930s.

In 1976, NASA landed two Viking landers on Mars.

NASA scientist Gilbert Levin ran an experiment to test the soil and concluded there were positive signs of life through the presence of radioactive gas.

NASA and its other scientists disagreed, and separate experiments from Viking concluded the soil did not show signs of life.

But Levin spent the rest of his life claiming he’d found signs of alien life until his death in 2021.

Prof Wickramasinghe said: “We have unquestionably found microbial life on Mars, the most secure discovery was the Gilbert Levin discovery in the 1970s when they did the Viking land experiments.”

He added: “That result was overwhelmingly positive. They got the result that they wanted.

“So almost immediately Levin, who I’d known for a long time, made the announcement on behalf of NASA that we have discovered life on Mars.

“This was a step too far for the NASA establishment, and they then revoked that statement.”

On its website, NASA says: “Mars remains our horizon goal for human exploration because it is one of the only other places we know where life may have existed in the solar system.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/tech/14329268/aliens-live-mars-smarter-humans/

THE male escort “The Punisher” who participated in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged “freak-offs” has opened up about the battle against a storm of negativity since testifying at the music mogul’s trial.

The high-profile federal trial of Combs ended on Wednesday with the jury’s stunning verdict that acquitted the Bad Boy Records executive, 55, of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.

Throughout seven grueling weeks, the prosecution laid out their expansive case that consisted of testimony from 34 witnesses, including law enforcement officials, former employees of Combs, as well as two former girlfriends.

Cassandra Ventura, the singer who goes by Cassie, disclosed to jurors how Combs allegedly proposed a “freak-off” to her months into the start of their relationship in 2007, when she was 22.

An emotional Ventura told the court that the alleged drug-fueled sex marathons with paid male escorts became a weekly occurrence, describing how her music career took a backseat while her participation in the “freak-offs” became “her job.”

Ventura testified how she soon began organizing “freak-offs” at Combs’ direction and “because it was what was expected of her.”

She told the court she would at times hire the male escorts, book the hotel rooms, and ensure the rooms were set up with red lighting, towels, drugs, candles, and baby oil.

“I just felt pretty horrible about myself. I felt disgusting. I felt humiliated,” Ventura said on the stand.

Sharay Hayes, a male escort who goes by the nickname “The Punisher,” was among the dozens of escorts who participated in the sex marathons with Combs and Ventura.

Hayes described the “freak-offs” as choreographed encounters where Combs would always be hovering around him and Ventura.

“We started every interaction the same. It was a routine and there was a specific procedure to use baby oil,” Hayes told The U.S. Sun days before the jury delivered its verdicts in the trial.

“Me putting baby oil on myself, or her doing it to herself.

“That was the visual type of desire for the moment. So, it was very consistent every single time, every situation I interacted and involved in.”

‘DAMAGE CONTROL’

Hayes was the ninth witness called to the stand by the prosecution and since his testimony on May 20, the former escort turned author has been trying to navigate the “storm of negativity” that emerged from Combs’ federal trial.

“Honestly, my mindset now is all damage control,” Hayes, who authored the men’s self-help book In Search of FREEZER MEATS, said.

“When you’re thrust into this type of trial, especially under the umbrella as a male escort, you get a storm of negativity, negative perceptions.

“Listen, I’m not trying to sidestep. It’s a decision that I made in terms of a proposition, but doing these interviews and trying to at least control the narrative of who I am as a man, how I represent myself, what I’m trying to do to the best of my ability.

“If there’s going to be an opinion, at least let it be formulated off of someone actually seeing me speak and tell my side and put it out to the public to at least form whatever opinion you’re going.

“This stuff happened over a decade ago. So, the first thing from my mind is that it’s going to be in a public forum.

“And just the idea of these intimate details about yourself being basically broadcasted to the world that everybody can just form an opinion, embellish on that opinion.

“Then you being judged on these very intimate moments. It’s an unfortunate thing. I don’t I don’t wish it on anybody.

“It’s a tough thing to have your name synonymous with those type of acts and that type of atmosphere for the rest of your days.

“So, I don’t know what it’s going to look like in the future, but I’m just trying my best to manage it.”

COMBS STILL IN JAIL

Combs and his family’s post-verdict celebration was short-lived after the judge presiding over his case denied the music mogul bail.

Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead defense attorney, proposed a sprawling $1 million bail package to Judge Arun Subramanian that would have allowed his client to be on house arrest at his Star Island estate in Miami while he awaited sentencing.

Agnifilo said Combs would have willingly surrendered his passport and restrict his travels to New York, New Jersey, Miami, and Los Angeles.

Throughout the trial and during closing arguments, Combs and his defense team admitted to his violence behavior towards his staff and former girlfriends.

However, the strategy ended up backfiring and in his ruling, Judge Subramanian used the defense’s own admission against them in their effort to release Combs on bail.

“Even if the defendant was solely required to show that he is not a danger to the community, he could not meet that burden,” the judge told Agnifilo.

“The defense conceded the defendant’s violence. You full-throatedly in your closing arguments told the jury that there was violence here.”

The judge underscored the disturbing 2016 surveillance footage from the Inter-Continental hotel of Combs’ brutal assault on Ventura.

“There was the London Hotel incident. There was violence after the searches in this case,” Judge Subramanian added, referring to the raids on Combs’ properties in Beverly Hills and Miami.

“As to Jane, there was June 2024 after the searches of Combs’ residences. This evidences a disregard for the law and a propensity for violence.”

Agnifilo pushed back on the judge’s ruling, arguing that his client has been a “model prisoner” since his arrest in September 2024.

“I just think we should trust him. He’s not going to flee,” the defense attorney said.

At one point, Agnifilo brazenly told Judge Subramanian that Combs wished to speak with him, but the offer seemingly went unnoticed as the judge reaffirmed his position.

Combs hung his head as he was escorted out of the courtroom by US Marshals, who transported him back to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

“The defense conceded the defendant’s violence. You full-throatedly in your closing arguments told the jury that there was violence here.

Before he left the courtroom, Combs faced his family and told them, “We’re gonna make it through this. I’ll see you when I get out,” according to CNN.

“I love you all. Be strong.”

The judge tentatively set sentencing for October 3, but scheduled a July 8 hearing where he will rule on whether to push the date up per the defense’s request.

Hayes, the former male escort, said that despite all the alleged sex marathons he participated in with Combs and Ventura, he holds no ill will towards the music executive.

“I’m trying to steer strongly away from judgment. Certain things are undeniable to domestic violence and stuff like that,” Hayes told The U.S. Sun.

“But we do understand people have low moments, so I don’t want to categorize a man in his 50s solely based on his low moments and a lot of misinformation that’s being spread.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/14610212/diddy-witness-the-punisher-storm-of-negativity-battle/

TWO people have died and several are injured after a mass shooting in Indianapolis as Fourth of July violence spilled into the weekend.

The horror shooting broke out in the early hours of Saturday morning where “hundreds” of juveniles had gathered near South Illinois Street and West Washington Street.

Cops had already been dealing with an incident in the area when they were called to another skirmish and heard gunfire as they approached the scene just before 1:30 am.

When they arrived, six people had been shot and one was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cops later confirmed that the fatality was a 16-year-old boy.

The six injured victims were transported to local hospitals where one later died – later confirmed to be a 15-year-old male.

A seventh shooting victim ended up walking to an area hospital and is said to be in a stable condition.

The identities of those who died and were injured have not been released.

But police said in a press conference that of those shot, one was 16, one was 17, two were 19 and one was 21.

A number of firearms were taken from the scene by cops and several people were detained for questioning as an investigation continues.

It is not known if the weapons seized and those being questioned were involved in the shooting.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Chris Bailey issued a stern warning to parents at a press conference from the scene on Friday night as he gave initial details about the night of violence.

As thousands of people gathered to celebrate Fourth of July by watching the organized fireworks displays, others including “hundreds of kids” gathered to cause trouble, Bailey said.

“This kind of violence, whether downtown or in any of our neighborhoods is completely unacceptable and unnecessary,” he told reporters.

“Thousands of people came downtown tonight, enjoyed the fireworks and went home.

“Thousands more chose to come down here and all night cause trouble.”

‘WAKE UP’

All night long, he spoke of how he and his officers “dealt with the disturbances, dealt with the utter disrespect for our city, for our laws, and for law enforcement.”

“Hundreds of unsupervised kids down here. I don’t know how many times I have to say it – We are not your children’s keepers. You are.

“Parents and guardians have got to step up.

“A kid is dead tonight. And we just don’t know the age of the young man down the street still here. Dead. He looks young. It’s unacceptable.”

Chief Bailey spoke of how around 20 arrests were made on Friday night alone and with guns seized from children before the mass shooting broke out.

One of the kids he referred to had an assault rifle in the front of his pants as the police chief called for the community to “wake up” to the state of its youth.

“We’re going to find out who did it and we are going to hold them accountable and if I can convince the prosecutor to hold parents accountable I’m going to do that too,” he vowed.

“I’m going to seek some kind of accountability to parents. There has to be more than just ‘what are the police doing?'”

“They ran toward the gunfire as they were working another fight,” he added of the officers who responded to the shooting.

The IMPD is set to release more information as the investigation continues.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14635126/indianapolis-mass-shooting-fourth-july-weekend-violence/

India has consistently refused to fully open its agriculture sector, particularly around genetically modified crops and dairy products

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he has signed letters to 12 countries outlining tariff levels they will face in what he described as “take it or leave it” offers, with the communications set to go out on Monday.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump declined to name the countries involved. He also raised the stakes, saying tariffs could now reach as high as 70% – up from previously threatened levels of 50% – with most set to take effect August 1.

“I signed some letters and they’ll go out on Monday, probably twelve,” Trump said, according to news agency Reuters. “Different amounts of money, different amounts of tariffs.”

India appears likely to be among the 12 countries receiving the letters, according to officials familiar with the matter in New Delhi, after intensive negotiations failed to produce a complete breakthrough that would have averted higher tariffs.

“It may not be surprising if India figures in the list because outcomes of the bilateral trade negotiations since March this year until middle of current week were not as per Trump’s expectations,” said one person aware of the matter, speaking anonymously.

“Had it been so [if Trump accepted the terms], both Washington and New Delhi would have announced a deal by now.”

Trump’s announcement came immediately after India’s negotiating team returned from Washington following week-long talks that began June 26 – the fourth face-to-face negotiating round since March. The team, led by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, had been pursuing what officials called an “early harvest” or mini trade deal.

Fundamental disagreements remain over market access, with “the US wanting unfettered access for American agriculture goods in the Indian market, a highly sensitive area for New Delhi as it involves the livelihood of millions of subsistence farmers,” the person said.

India has consistently refused to fully open its agriculture sector, particularly around genetically modified crops and dairy products. The country remains unwilling to allow items like soybean and corn unless certified as non-GM, since such crops are banned domestically.

Another major sticking point is “duty-free access in the Indian automobile sector,” the person added. “The Trump administration wants all without committing to withdraw the Liberation Day tariff, and other punitive tariffs on Indian steel, aluminium, automobiles and auto parts.”

Faced with the deadlock, India escalated the dispute beyond bilateral channels, the person added.

“Hence on return of its negotiating team from Washington, India on July 3 put the US on 30-day notice at the WTO before suspending concessions or other obligations on American imports,” the person explained.

Officials of the commerce ministry did not respond to requests for a comment on the matter.

A second person said bilateral discussions continue through virtual channels and a breakthrough remains possible.

“If India’s interest is served, an initial deal can still be achieved by July 9,” this person added, requesting anonymity. He added that “irrespective of deadlines, India will not sign any deal that is not balanced, equitable and a win-win.”

“Both countries remain committed to reaching the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement by October 2025, as directed by Modi and Trump during their February 13 meeting”. That broader deal would include services and investment provisions beyond the current focus on goods.

New Delhi and Washington have been attempting to thrash out a trade deal since Trump’s February 13 summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where both leaders agreed to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

Despite the ambitious target, tensions escalated as Trump reimposed and expanded tariffs.

In March, the US imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from all countries, ending exemptions that had protected some trading partners. On March 26, Trump added 25% duties on passenger vehicles, light trucks and certain automobile parts, specifically targeting imports from countries including India.

The situation deteriorated further when Trump declared April 2 as “Liberation Day,” announcing a global 10% baseline tariff plus additional country-specific levies. India faced a combined 26% tariff – the 10% baseline plus an additional 16% reciprocal tariff.

Trump suspended the additional tariffs for 90 days to allow negotiations, but that reprieve expires July 9. India had initially demanded complete withdrawal of all punitive tariffs but softened its position to focus on partial relief in exchange for limited agricultural concessions.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday defended India’s approach, saying the country “negotiates from a position of strength and not under deadlines.”

He reiterated this position on Saturday when he rebutted opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s charge that the Modi government would “meekly bow” to Trump’s tariff deadline.

Goyal accused the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of “negotiating and signing agreements that were not in the national interest.”

The day before, Goyal had emphasised that “India never negotiates trade deals with a deadline” and would announce any agreement only when it is “fully finalised, properly concluded and in the national interest.”

Trump’s ultimatum strategy reflects broader challenges in completing complex trade agreements on an accelerated timeline. Most traditional trade deals take years to negotiate, but Trump’s administration has sought to compress that process into months.

To date, Trump has reached agreements with only Britain and Vietnam. Britain secured a deal in May but accepted a pact to keep tariffs at 10% with preferential treatment for sectors including autos and aircraft engines. Vietnam, threatened with a 46% combined rate, negotiated a reduction to 20% with many US products allowed to enter duty-free.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/take-it-or-leave-it-tariff-letters-ready-us-prez-101751740934876.html

Reuters has not given a statement yet on what led to the blocking of its main account on X in India

The official X handle of the international news agency Reuters has been withheld in India due to a “legal demand”.

Reuters has not given a statement yet on what led to the blocking of its main account on X in India.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/reuters-x-account-in-india-withheld-in-response-to-legal-demand-8831016

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has attended a religious ceremony in Tehran, making his first public appearance since the 12 days of conflict between Israel and Iran.

The 85-year-old leader appeared in a video aired by state media on Saturday, which showed dozens of people attending an event at a mosque to mark Ashura, the holiest day of the Shia Muslim calendar.

In the footage, Khamenei is seen waving and nodding to the chanting crowd, which rose to its feet as he entered the mosque.

State TV said the clip was filmed at the Imam Khomeini Mosque in central Tehran.

Khamenei has avoided public appearances since the start of the fighting on June 13, and his speeches have all been prerecorded.

The United States, which joined in the Israeli attacks by bombing three key nuclear sites in Iran on June 22, had sent warnings to Khamenei, with US President Donald Trump saying on social media that Washington knew where the Iranian leader was, but had no plans to kill him, “at least for now”.

On June 26, in prerecorded remarks aired on state television, Khamenei rejected Trump’s calls for Iran’s surrender, and said Tehran had delivered a “slap to America’s face” by striking a US airbase in Qatar

Trump replied, in remarks to reporters and on social media: “Look, you’re a man of great faith. A man who’s highly respected in his country. You have to tell the truth. You got beat to hell.”

Iran has acknowledged that more than 900 people were killed in the war, as well as thousands injured. Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks on Israel killed at least 28 people there.

The ceasefire between the two countries took hold on June 24.

Since then, Iran has confirmed serious damage to its nuclear facilities, and denied access to them for inspectors from the United Nations’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The IAEA’s inspectors had stayed in the Iranian capital throughout the fighting, even as Israel attacked Iranian military sites and killed several of the country’s most senior commanders and top scientists, as well as hundreds of civilians.

However, they left after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA on Wednesday.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi on Friday stressed “the crucial importance” of dialogue with Iran to resume monitoring and verification work of its nuclear programme as soon as possible.

Iran was holding talks with the US on its nuclear programme when Israel launched its attacks. The US has been seeking a new agreement after Trump pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which Tehran signed with world powers in 2015.

Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/6/irans-supreme-leader-makes-first-public-appearance-since-war-with-israel

It comes as The U.S. Sun exclusively revealed the fate of the Kelly Clarkson Show during the singer’s Sin City residency

KELLY Clarkson shocked fans when she canceled her first live Vegas shows – just minutes before she was due to go on stage.

The much-loved singer, 43, announced earlier this year that she’ll perform a multi-month residency at Caesars Palace in Sin City.

Kelly Clarkson: Studio Sessions – The Las Vegas Residency was due to kick of yesterday and was promising to “bring the studio experience” to the stage.

But, with just an hour and a half until show time, she broke the bad news to fans.

Taking to Instagram, Kelly penned: “We have been working 24/7 to make Studio Sessions the most intimate and extraordinary experience with and for my incredible fans.

“I am beyond grateful that you always show up for me and I am devastated to have to postpone tonight and tomorrow’s opening at Caesars.”

Kelly said that both “prep and rehearsals” had “taken a toll” on her voice, and that she wanted “the shows to be perfect for y’all.”

The Because Of You singer added: “I need to protect myself from doing serious damage so I am taking this weekend and next week to rest up so that we can deliver what you all deserve.

“The show is truly incredible. The musicians and singers are outstanding, and I want us all to start out strong.”

She concluded the heartfelt post with: “I can’t wait to be back next weekend and show y’all what we’ve been working on.”

The announcement came just hours after she got fans going to the show excited with behind-the-scenes snaps, and wrote: “TONIGHT!!”

After news of Kelly cancelling this weekend’s shows, fans commented with one saying: “‘Totally bummed that we flew all the way to Vegas only to find out that the show was cancelled 1 1/2 hours prior to show time. So so sad!!”

While this one added: “‘I’m outside the doors”, followed by crying face emojis.

Kelly will now start her Vegas show later this month, with dates in August as well.

The residency will then take a break and resume in November.

FUTURE OF TALK SHOW

Last month, there was concern from fans that her Vegas residency could put Kelly’s talk show in jeopardy of being canceled.

However, an insider recently assured The U.S. Sun that this wasn’t the case,

In fact, the team at NBCUniversal worked to make sure the residency did not interfere with the talk show.

“NBCUni worked with the Caesars group to make sure filming didn’t overlap. Kelly’s show won’t be impacted by the residency,” the source told us.

“Everyone walked away from it happy. Caesars gets their show, NBC gets their show, and they’ll cross-promote, respectively.”

The source then added: “The Kelly Show is NBC’s number one daytime priority and is in no way in any danger of being canceled.

“There are big plans for the future of the franchise and the network encourages Kelly to take gigs outside of the show because it only helps her talk show’s viewership too.”

Her NBC daytime show is on hiatus for the summer, so it will not be impacted by the July and August Vegas dates.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/14634275/kelly-clarkson-las-vegas-residency-first-shows-cancelled/

A YOUNG woman was miraculously rescued after being swept 20 miles downriver in floods that have killed at least 27 and left dozens of young girls missing.

The 22-year-old was scooped up by fast-moving water from her campsite in Kerr County, Texas by deadly flash floods at 4am, and found clinging to a tree four hours later, reports KENS 5.

A third of a year’s worth of rain fell in a few hours in the area, creating an “extraordinary disaster”, with an enormous search-and-rescue mission still underway.

A Center Point resident, Carl, heard screaming when he stepped into his yard at around 8am on Friday morning.

He spotted the woman clinging to a huge Cyprus tree near Lion’s Park Dam as the river thundered beneath her.

She had for been holding on for several hours after a terrifying 20-mile journey down dams and dodging debris.

Emergency calls weren’t connecting, so the local resident desperately flagged down a police car for help.

Two rescue boats were scrambled and battled perilous currents to rescue the stranded camper.

By this time, the water level had receded considerably, so the woman was stranded 12ft above the water’s surface.

She was forced to drop into the rescue boat, and was finally brought to safety.

Carl said: “It was a true miracle. There’s no other way to explain it.

“We bought her into our house and gave her clothes and something to drink. We had a long talk with her.”

Carl’s family members told KENS 5 that the woman had been with her parents, sister, aunt and uncle at the campsite.

She reportedly was washed from her car with both of her parents, and became separated from the two of them.

Their condition is not yet clear.

The woman had suffered only minor injuries during her hellish journey downstream.

She recounted plunging down four dams and fighting refrigerators, vehicle and other debris along the way.

There are hopes that others missing after floods will be found clinging on somewhere like this woman.

On Saturday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Our Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, will be there shortly.

“Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy.

“Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!

Rescue teams were working through Friday night in a desperate bid to locate two dozens girls who were swept away from Camp Mystic – and all-girls summer camp by the Guadeloupe River.

The camp said on Friday morning that the parents of missing children had been notified, but that most of the 750 kids were safe.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said on Friday afternoon of the missing girls: “That does not mean they’ve been lost. They could be in a tree or out of communication.”

Frantic parents and families posted photos of missing loved ones and pleas for information.

Local media has confirmed that among the missing girls are 9-year-old Laiey Landry, friends Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner, and Renee Smajstrla from the same cabin

The authorities have drafted in helicopters, specialised swimmers, drones and military vehicles in the hope of finding the girls alive.

Elinor Lester, 13, who was at the camp when the flood hit said it had been completely destroyed.

She said: “A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.”

Addressing the floods, President Trump said: “It’s terrible, the floods. It’s shocking.”

Asked if Texas would received federal aid, he said: “Oh yeah, sure, we’ll take care of it. We’re working with the governor.”

The flooding in the middle of the night on the Fourth of July holiday caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise.

The Texas Hill Country, which sits northwest of San Antonio, is a popular spot for camping and swimming, especially around the summertime holiday.

Questions have been raised about whether enough warnings and preparations were made.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14635426/woman-swept-miles-texas-floods-clinging-tree-rescue/

CITIES across the US have canceled their July 4 festivities – just weeks after protesters took to the streets demonstrating against Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown.

Firework displays in some locations have been axed while other celebrations have been scaled back.

Last month, Los Angeles saw six days of protests with some rioters clashing with law enforcement.

Since June 6, around 2,000 migrants have been arrested in Los Angeles County as immigration agents executed raids.

National Guard personnel and hundreds of Marines were deployed in a bid to quell the unrest.

Los Angeles officials have since taken the decision to cancel some events across the county and city.

Bell Gardens’ July 4 event has been axed as chiefs decided to cancel all events scheduled between June 24 and July 10.

The concert, starring the Latin music group Gabrielito Y La Verdad, scheduled for July 3 was subsequently axed.

Officials revealed why they took the decision to pull events and said it was made “out of an abundance of caution.”

Chiefs alluded to concerns for the safety of locals, according to an Instagram post.

But, local officials have slammed the immigration raids.

Jorgel Chavez, the Bell Gardens mayor, labeled the raids in California un-American.

He claimed the presence of masked agents sparked fear among some.

The East Los Angeles Rock’in 4th of July celebration will not take place this year.

Officials at the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation alluded to safety concerns.

On social media, they explained the decision to cancel the event was made with a “heavy heart.”

The Gloria Molina Grand Park’s Summer Block Party has also been shelved.

But in a boost to revelers, organizers said the party, which is a free event, will take place later in the summer.

Independence Day celebrations have been toned down in Cudahy, also located in Los Angeles County.

On June 25, city officials canceled a gig and firework show that was scheduled for July 3.

In Cudahy, 97% of the population identify themselves as Latino or Hispanic, according to US Census Bureau data.

It’s not just across Los Angeles County where July 4 festivities have been canceled or watered down.

Independence Day celebrations in SeaTac will not take place this year, or in 2026, as per the city.

The city’s Angle Lake Park will close at 6pm local time.

DRONE DEBACLE

Last year, around 10,000 revelers flocked to the park despite it only having a capacity of 3,200.

And, a drone show that cost $40,000 appeared to turn into a shabby spectacle.

Fifty out of the 200 flying machines fell into the lake, as reported by the local Fox affiliate KCPQ-TV.

However, there will still be firework displays across Washington on Friday.

Revelers will be treated to bursts of color in cities such as Federal Way, Kent, and Seattle.

But, a spectacle that has previously been labeled the largest in Illinois will not take place.

Itasca’s display has been canceled for the first time in almost three decades, as revealed by city officials.

Construction plans in the village had scuppered plans for the annual show.

Officials at the American Automobile Association estimate that 72.2 million people will travel at least 50 miles away from their home across this week.

“With the holiday falling on a Friday, travelers have the option of making it a long weekend or taking the entire week to make memories with family and friends,” Stacey Barber, the vice president of AAA Travel, said.

Transport officials estimate that the hours between 12pm and 7pm are the worst times to travel.

Last month, protests erupted in Los Angeles and other major cities.

The flare-up in violence saw Waymo robotaxis set alight and other motors vandalized.

Almost 5,000 National Guard personnel and Marines combined were deployed to Los Angeles.

Demonstrations against ICE were reported in New York, Austin, Charlotte, and Chicago.

Protests and rallies also occurred in cities such as Memphis, Detroit and Oklahoma City.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14629077/july-4-celebrations-canceled-ice-raids-protests-arrests/

DONALD Trump has revealed plans to host the UFC title fight at the White House next year to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.

The “championship” punch up could take place on the presidential lawn and draw over 20,000 fans.

Trump, 79, who is pally with UFC president Dana White and a big UFC fan, announced his ambitious plan at an event in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday.

It comes just weeks after the president was pictured at the UFC 316 in New Jersey.

Speaking emphatically to the crowd, he called on White to help organise the fight, which he said could take place at the White House because there is “a lot of land”.

He said: “Does anybody watch UFC? The great Dana White?

“We’re going to have a UFC fight. We’re going to have a UFC fight – think of this – on the grounds of the White House.

“We have a lot of land there, we’re going to build a little — we’re not, Dana is going to do it.

“Dana is great, one of a kind — going to be UFC fight, championship fight, full fight, like 20,000 to 25,000 people, and we’re going to do that as part of ‘250.'”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed the plans on X, adding that the president is “dead serious”.

The announcement marks the start of a whole year’s worth of festivities to celebrate 250 years since American gained independence from the British.

Trump’s connections with the UFC date back over two decades, while his relationship with White has always been strong.

The UFC boss backed the president’s political career from the start, calling Trump a “fighter” and endorsing his presidential bid in 2016.

When Trump survived a failed assassination attempt the White declared the president a “tough guy”.

He later called the 79-year-old “the legitimate, ultimate, American badass of all time”.

Later, in an interview with Tucker Carlson at Fox News, he touched on the pair’s strong relationship, calling Trump “great” and a “good friend”.

He said: “This guy has been so good to me it’s unexplainable.

“He’s been a very good friend to me since the day I met him.

“When we bought this company it had such a bad stigma attached to it and the sport that we couldn’t even get into venues, they didn’t want us.

“Donald Trump saw that this thing could possibly be big.

“Plus he’s a sports guy who loves sports, and he offered us to come do the event at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/sport/14627683/trump-ufc-white-house-fight/

RUSSIA last night blitzed Ukraine with the heaviest air strikes since the beginning of the war – pounding capital Kyiv with 550 drones and 11 missiles.

The overnight strikes came just moments after Donald Trump had a phone call with Vladimir Putin.

Fires broke out in multiple locations as almost every district in the capital city was struck, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration.

Dozens of Ukrainians were injured as toxic smoke engulfed the city.

The Svyatoshynskyi and Solomanskyi districts were among the hardest hit, with blazes on rooftops and in courtyards.

Short on air defence systems, Ukraine could only down two of 11 missiles.

Another nine missiles – one Kinzhal [Dagger], two Iskander-K, and six Iskander-M – wreaked havoc in the city.

The barrage came hot on the heels of Trump’s phone conversation with Putin, which ended in “no progress at all”, according to the US president.

“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” the US President told reporters outside a Washington air base on Thursday.

The nearly hour-long call appeared to achieve little as Moscow stood firm on its war ambitions.

While Trump emphasised the need to end military hostilities, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Putin was firm, stating: “Russia will continue to pursue its goals.”

He added that Moscow “will not back down” and is focused on addressing what it calls the “root causes” of the war.

It is a thinly veiled reference to Nato expansion and Western military support for Ukraine.

The call took place amid a growing outcry over the US decision to halt some critical arms shipments to Ukraine.

This includes the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system (SAM), which is used to stop incoming missiles, precision-guided GMLRS missiles and thousands of high-explosive Howitzer rounds.

Trump defended the pause, blaming his predecessor, Joe Biden.

He said: “Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped to speak with Trump about the weapons pause, warning that the delay could embolden Moscow.

Speaking from Denmark on Thursday, he said: “In Russia, only Putin makes decisions, which is why we need a meeting at the leadership level if we want to have peace.”

But peace seemed more distant than ever as the death toll mounted.

In Poltava on Thursday, two people were killed and 47 injured in a Russian airstrike that also ignited a fire at a military draft office — part of what Ukraine called a targeted effort to disrupt its mobilisation efforts.

Another drone attack earlier in the week struck near a recruitment centre in Kryvyi Rih.

Meanwhile, Russia claimed to have captured the border village of Milove in Kharkiv region, opening a new front in the northeast. Ukraine has not confirmed the report.

Kyiv has ramped up its defences as it seeks to thwart Vladimir Putin’s final killer summer offensive, which military analysts say could start as early as July.

Some 125,000 Russian soldiers are reportedly massing along the Sumy and Kharkiv frontiers, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence.

Last week, Ukraine’s fierce resistance forced Russian troops to stop in the Sumy region’s border area, Kyiv’s military Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky revealed.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14624773/trump-putin-kyiv-russia-attack/

PRINCE Harry is totally “whipped” by his wife Meghan Markle and even King Charles know it, a royal expert has claimed.

Writer and broadcaster Esther Krauke also added that the Duchess of Sussex, 43, will also hate her reduced status among the Royal Family.

Ms Krauke made the comments while appearing on the Royal Exclusive show with The Sun’s Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson, alongside co-guest royal biographer Phil Dampier.

She said: “We know that King Charles said something about him being whipped.

“We keep hearing things consistently coming out from courtiers and people that are close to the Royal Family.”

She implied Harry was under the thumb of his wife.

Ms Krauke added that both the late Queen’s and the country’s opinion of Meghan Markle had evolved over time.

She said: “The Queen’s opinion of Meghan involved, and it’s much like how the country’s opinion evolved.

“And much like the public, I think the Queen thought Meghan was a breath of fresh air.

“Very intelligent, very well-spoken, obviously from her acting background.

“And she worked, she welcomed her. I think, like much of the country with open arms, I think where things went wrong was clearly the cultural clash.”

She added: “And I think in some ways Meghan thought she was marrying a billionaire, but was marrying a millionaire with like sort of a reduced status.

“So that might have been not appealing eventually.

“But also I just I don’t think she fully understood or was even interested in what the role was supposed to become.

“She hadn’t earned enough brownie points to actually be able to choose the tools she wanted to go on in the way that she wanted to do or curate her image in the same way, you know, most people would just be like, oh, you have to kind of have skin in the game.

“You have to have, I’m sorry.

“Open schools in Wales on a rainy day for a number of years before you ingratiate yourself and garner that goodwill.

“But I don’t think she had that approach or attitude. And you could say it’s very American, you know, very can-do spirit.”

Mr Dampier previously gave his opinions on the views expressed by royal biographer Bedell Smith that Queen Elizabeth II had shared her alleged doubts over the new Duchess, and feared Harry was “weak”.

Mr Dampier said the author was extremely close to Lady Elizabeth Anson, who was a confidante and a cousin of the Queen.

“And Liza Shockley, as Sally Smith likes to call her, she was speaking to the Queen on a regular basis right up until her death, spoke to her every day, even in lockdown,” he continued.

Mr Dampier claimed, therefore, this meant information had come “right from the horse’s mouth”.

He also alleged “we can trust this information”, which is “very, very telling”.

In harsh comments, the expert shared his thoughts: “And to be honest, it confirms what we’d already suspected that you know, that at first the Queen was very keen on Meghan.”

Mr Dampier further alleged the Queen’s reported “doubts” about Meghan “ruined her close relationship with Harry”.

Bedell Smith also claimed Meghan was rude to the late Queen for 10 minutes over wedding details.

“She remarked that Harry was perhaps a little bit too much in love, was possibly besotted and a bit weak and being manipulated by Meghan,” he continued.

Sharing his own opinions, Mr Dampier added: “I think, unfortunately, that confirms what I’ve been saying or thought for the last few years that, sadly, Meghan never really had any intention of staying in the royal family.

“She saw as a stepping stone getting married to to Harry to to to new fame and fortune.

“And I think that’s what initially Prince William was concerned about. And that’s why they fell out. And now we are where we are. But to have this confirmed by somebody so close to the Queen is, is is really dynamite.”

This comes as for the first time, the Queen’s private concerns have been made public in heartbreaking detail — showing just how perceptive she proved to be.

This week Sally published “explosive” revelations made to her by one of Her Majesty’s closest confidantes, her first cousin once removed, Lady Elizabeth Anson, in several conversations in 2018 and 2019.

Lady Elizabeth claimed there were serious concerns in the upper echelons of the Palace, long before Harry and Meghan made themselves royal pariahs.

Just days before the wedding, she had told Sally: “We hope but don’t quite think [Meghan] is in love.

“We think she engineered it all.”

She added: “It’s worrying that so many people are questioning whether Meghan is right for Harry.

“The problem, bless his heart, is that Harry is neither bright nor strong, and she is both.”

The observations by Lady Elizabeth, who died from lung cancer in November 2020 aged 79, show the warning signs were there from the start — and proved well-founded.

She said Meghan had initially appeared “natural, intelligent and thoughtful” after getting engaged to Harry in 2017.

But as their wedding approached, they both caused a stir with their poor behaviour — and blatant disrespect for the Queen.

Harry was reportedly “rude to her for ten minutes” in one meeting and upset her by asking the Archbishop of Canterbury to perform the wedding service in May 2018, without first seeking permission from the Dean of Windsor.

In January 2020, Harry and Meghan announced they had chosen to “transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution”.

At first, it seemed they wanted to keep one foot in the royal fold, while pursuing financial opportunities on the outside.

But after months of negotiations, the Queen and the then Prince Charles laid down the law — they were either fully in or fully out.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/royals/14631605/prince-harry-meghan-markle-whipped-king/

JULIAN McMahon is dead at the age of 56 following a ‘private battle’ with cancer, his family announced in an emotional statement on the 4th of July.

It was not publicly known that the actor, best known for his starring roles on Nip/Tuck, Fantastic Four, Charmed and FBI: Most Wanted, was sick prior to his death.

On Friday, Julian’s family announced that he passed away on Wednesday, July 2nd, in Clearwater, Florida, after a private cancer battle.

His wife, Kelly McMahon, said in a statement: “With an open heart, I wish to share with the world that my beloved husband, Julian McMahon, died peacefully this week after a valiant effort to overcome cancer.

“Julian loved life. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his work, and he loved his fans.

“His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible. We ask for support during this time to allow our family to grieve in privacy.”

Kelly concluded in the heartfelt message she first shared with Deadline: “And we wish for all of those to whom Julian brought joy, to continue to find joy in life. We are grateful for the memories.”

Julian and his third wife, Kelly, tied the knot in 2014 and shared no kids together – although he has a daughter from his second marriage.

He was married to Baywatch star Brooke Burns from 1999 until 2001 and welcomed daughter Madison McMahon in 2000.

His first marriage was to singer and actress Dannii Minogue, sister of Kylie Minogue, whom he wed in 1994 after meeting on the set of their film, Home and Away, in 1991.

Their marriage lasted just a year and a half as he resided in LA to pursue his acting career while she was living in England for music.

HIS FINAL POST

Julian’s last social media post celebrated what would end up being his final film.

The actor boasted about his psychological thriller, The Surfer, which co-starred Nicolas Cage and was released earlier this year.

He posted a series of promos for the movie after taking a year-long break from Instagram.

Before his February posts, Julian last updated his Instagram page back in July 2024.

He also recently appeared on TV screens alongside Uzo Aduba in the Netflix series, The Residence.

Julian starred in six episodes of the show, which premiered on March 30 this year.

ROAD TO HOLLYWOOD

The Australian actor was born in Sydney on July 27, 1968 and his father, Billy McMahon, served as Prime Minister of Australia from 1971 to 1972.

He started his career in entertainment as a model but quickly transitioned to acting when he starred in the Australian soap opera, The Power, The Passion, in 1989.

Julian’s feature film acting debut came when he was cast as a lead opposite Elliott Gould in the 1992 Australian-American movie, Wet and Wild Summer!

Following the success of the fan-favorite movie, Julian had his eyes set on Hollywood and moved to Los Angeles.

He found early success by becoming a series regular on NBC’s primetime crime drama, Profiler, for its four-season run.

It wasn’t until he got the starring role as charmer-turned-demon Cole Turner in WB’s iconic series, Charmed, that would catapult him to TV stardom.

Following his three-season run on the show alongside love interest Alyssa Milano, he went on to star on a hit series of his own.

Julian was tapped by Ryan Murphy to star in the 2003 plastic surgery drama, Nip/Tuck.

He scored a Golden Globe nomination during his six years of starring as the provocative Dr. Christian Troy.

The role established Julian’s star power as a leading man, which helped him nab one of his more recent roles – a starring spot on CBS’ FBI: Most Wanted.

He played team leader Jess LaCroix for three seasons until his shocking and abrupt exit from the show in 2022.

Although fans were not given a solid reason for the departure, Julian mentioned pursuing other career options at the time.

“Over the past few months, the producers of FBI: Most Wanted and I have had discussions about my departure from the show in favor of additional creative pursuits and the transition of my character Jess LaCroix.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/14633438/julian-mcmahon-dead-cancer-nip-tuck-fantastic-four-charmed/

SWIMMERS should double check before heading to the beach this July 4 weekend as a disgusting problem has washed up on more than 100 shores.

The closures and advisories are affecting coastlines and lakes in at least 12 US states.

Officials are warning beachgoers of a growing and dangerous health threat lurking in the water.

The issue stems from alarming levels of fecal bacteria found in swimming areas, with experts linking the surge to sewage, storm runoff, and warm temperatures.

At least 12 states have issued alerts, shutting down more than 100 beaches or flagging them with warnings.

Massachusetts has the highest number of impacted sites, with 26 closures or advisories in effect.

Illinois comes next, flagging at least 24 beaches for above-safe bacteria levels.

Vermont has closed 19 beaches, while Wisconsin has reported 14 closures or advisories.

New York, New Jersey, Michigan, California, Oregon, Missouri, New Hampshire and Washington have also issued alerts.

Most alerts are triggered when E. coli levels exceed 235 colonies per 100 milliliters of water.

The bacteria can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and serious infections, especially in children and the elderly.

Edward Dudley, director of the E. Coli Reference Center at Penn State University, told NBC News that testing is standard, and closures are common.

The Environmental Protection Agency sets the threshold, but states decide how often to test and how quickly to act.

Illinois, for example, monitors public beaches every two weeks.

Experts say bacteria levels rise in the summer due to increased human activity, heat, and heavy rainfall.

But the danger doesn’t stop at E. coli.

Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria that thrives in warm saltwater, is also on the radar.

“It’s a rare thing right now with increasing trends in the entire country, but that’s something that we are really concerned about — what is going to be present in the coastal waters,” said Antarpreet Jutla, a University of Florida researcher.

The bug can enter the body through small cuts and kills one in five infected patients.

One Florida woman, Debbie King, needed her leg amputated after a minor scrape led to a vibrio infection in 2023.

She initially thought it was sunburn but ended up in the emergency room days later, the Daily Mail reported.

Another deadly microbe, Naegleria fowleri, is found in freshwater and attacks the brain through the nose.

It has a 97 percent fatality rate, with only five known US survivors.

Maryland resident Ryan Perry was one of them, infected after jet skiing on a river in 2019.

He was hospitalized for weeks and had to relearn basic movements during recovery.

New York officials warned in Suffolk County that contaminated water can also lead to ear, eye, nose, and throat infections.

North Carolina officials flagged Lake Norman for a different threat – toxic algae blooms that look green or scummy.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/travel/14631479/dozens-us-beaches-shut-down-before-holiday-weekend/

China spared major cognac producers Pernod Ricard, LVMH and Remy Cointreau from hefty duties on EU brandy on Friday, a rare bright spot at a time of trade tensions between Brussels and Beijing as the two sides row over tariffs on Chinese-made EVs.
China will from Saturday levy duties of up to 34.9% for five years on brandy originating in the European Union, most of it cognac from France, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a final ruling of an investigation lasting more than a year.

But most of France’s cognac industry, including big brands LVMH-owned Hennessy and Remy Martin, will be exempt from the duties provided they sell at a minimum price, the ministry said in a statement. It did not disclose the minimum prices.
Beijing launched its anti-dumping probe on EU brandy in January last year, in what was widely viewed as retaliation for the EU’s decision to impose big import tariffs on China-made electric vehicles.
French cognac makers generate global exports of $3 billion a year combined. With premium aged bottles of the liquor selling for hundreds of dollars, they have complained they are collateral damage in the broader trade row between Brussels and Beijing.

In addition to the reprieve, China’s commerce ministry will give back deposits made by brandy makers since October, when provisional duties were imposed. The refund issue, which weighed particularly heavily on smaller producers, was one of the sticking points in months-long negotiations, two industry sources said.
China is the world’s biggest market for cognac in value terms. China’s commerce ministry said in a statement on Saturday that 34 firms secured agreements for minimum price commitments instead of tariffs.
Remy Martin owner Remy Cointreau (RCOP.PA), said in a statement that the deal on minimum price commitments constituted “a substantially less punitive alternative”, enabling “the strengthening of some investments in China”.
Pernod Ricard (PERP.PA), said it regrets the increase in the cost of operating in China, but additional costs are significantly less than would be the case if tariffs had been made permanent.

LVMH (LVMH.PA), and Campari (CPRI.MI), did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
There was little sign that the rift between China and the EU was easing.
Olof Gill, the European Commission’s spokesperson for trade, said the tariffs were unfair and unjustified.

WANG AND MACRON

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting Europe this week, seeking to lay the groundwork for a summit between EU and Chinese leaders later this month, with the EV dispute and China’s curbs on the export of rare earths high on the agenda.
At a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, Wang said China and Europe have resolved the brandy issue via friendly consultations, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Wang said he hoped France, as a core power in the European Union, will urge the EU to properly address China-EU trade and economic disputes and actively respond to China’s concerns, the report said.
Asked about media reports that China was poised to shorten the summit to a single day instead of two, a European Commission spokesperson said the programme was still being finalised.
“Nothing has been cancelled because nothing has been announced and no final programme has been agreed yet,” the spokesperson added.
Last week, Reuters reported that French cognac makers had reached a tentative deal on minimum import prices for the Chinese market but that China would only finalise the deal if progress was made regarding EU tariffs on Chinese-made EVs.

INVESTOR RELIEF

Shares of French spirits makers were mixed as investors digested the ruling, with many relieved Beijing had agreed to drop tariffs in return for price commitments, likely reviving sales that have suffered due to the tariffs.
Remy Cointreau shares were up 0.54% and Pernod was down 0.3%, having regained some ground lost earlier in the day. LVMH was down 1.5%.
Monthly cognac exports to China have fallen by as much as 70% due to the trade dispute, according to data from the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac, a French industry group.
Citi analysts said they expected upgrades to earnings forecasts for Pernod and Remy.
Remy, which makes 70% of its sales from cognac, mostly in the U.S. and China, said it would update its annual guidance when it releases quarterly numbers on July 25.
European spirits makers have also been grappling with a downturn in sales in the United States where inflation has deterred drinkers from pricier spirits. President Donald Trump has also threatened tariffs on imports from the EU.
The minimum price pledges could translate into some price increases, but they will likely be small and it is too early to tell whether there could be an impact on shelf prices, a senior industry source with knowledge of the China negotiations said.
“The French government has been raising this repeatedly with the Chinese government and saying this is a major bone of contention,” said a senior French industry source with knowledge of the China negotiations, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
“I think both sides, France and China, did not want this to get out of hand. They wanted to find a resolution.”
The cognac industry association said the deal for minimum price commitments will be “less unfavourable” than anti-dumping duties but still worse for its members than the historical pre-investigation norm.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-impose-duties-up-349-eu-brandy-starting-july-5-2025-07-04/

It’s only a matter of time before disgraced rappers Kanye West and Sean “Diddy” Combs release a full song — potentially even an album — a source close to the rapper told Page Six.

“I’ll Be Missing You” rapper Diddy, who was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution on Wednesday — but acquitted of more serious charges — will likely fully collaborate with the equalled-canceled West, who now goes by Ye.

“Music was a salvation for him, Diddy, like it was for Ye. Diddy’s looking to make amends. I think a song would be the best way to communicate a change,” said one source who regularly works with Kanye.

“Be on the lookout for the song,” the source added.

“Ye is brave enough to touch a hot [rod like] Diddy right now. I don’t think any other artists would,” the source added.

In fact, their collaboration has already started. In March, West released a snippet of a new track he was working on which featured Combs, 55, recorded in jail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he was then being held while awaiting his trial on sex trafficking charges. He had been holed up there since his September 2024 arrest.

A source close to Combs at the time told The Post he was not aware the call was being recorded on video and Combs thought West was simply “checking in” on his kids.

In the call, which could be heard on West’s track, Bad Boy Records founder Diddy urged him to be careful of people trying to “end” them both.

“You be careful out there ’cause they definitely trying to end us,” Combs told West.

“They can’t do it and they ain’t gonna do it. I’m going to beat this s–t and get next to you,” Combs added, referring, to his then-upcoming federal trial over sex trafficking and racketeering charges, which could have seen him sent to prison for life.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/07/04/celebrity-news/kanye-and-diddy-full-song-potential-album-collaboration-may-well-happen-source/

Ukraine has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities from intensifying Russian attacks. A decision by Washington to halt some shipments of weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv that the move would weaken its ability to defend against Russia’s airstrikes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed air defences in a conversation with US President Donald Trump on Friday (Jul 4), and agreed to work on increasing Kyiv’s capability to “defend the sky” as Russian attacks escalate.

He added in a message on Telegram that he discussed joint defence production, as well as joint purchases and investments with the US leader.

Ukraine has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities from intensifying Russian airstrikes.

A decision by Washington to halt some shipments of weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv that the move would weaken its ability to defend against Russia’s airstrikes and battlefield advances. Germany said it is in talks on buying Patriot air defence systems to bridge the gap.

One source briefed on the call told Reuters they were optimistic that supplies of Patriot missiles could resume after what they called a “very good” conversation between the presidents.

US outlet Axios reported, citing unnamed sources, that the call lasted around 40 minutes, and that Trump told Zelenskyy he would check what US weapons due to be sent to Ukraine, if any, had been put on hold.

Zelenskyy, speaking later in his nightly video address, said he and Trump had agreed to “arrange a meeting between our teams to strengthen air defences.

“We had a very detailed discussion on joint production. We need it, America needs it.”

The conversation came a day after Trump said he had a disappointing call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia pummelled Kyiv with the largest drone attack of the war across the capital, hours after Trump’s conversation with Putin on Thursday.

Zelenskyy called the attack “deliberately massive and cynical.”

Trump spoke with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday, according to Spiegel magazine, citing government sources. The two leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine, including strengthening its air defences, as well as trade issues, Spiegel reported on Friday.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/trump-zelenskyy-discuss-weapons-and-escalating-russian-strikes-5221081

Dutch and German intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, they said on Friday.
Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.

“The main conclusion is that we can confirm Russia is intensifying its use of chemical weapons,” he told Reuters.

“This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia’s use of chemical weapons in this war is becoming more normalized, standardized, and widespread.”
Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency confirmed the findings, saying in a statement that it had obtained the evidence alongside its Dutch counterparts. Reuters was first to report on the intelligence.
The head of the Dutch Military Intelligence Agency (MIVD), Peter Reesink, said the conclusions followed “our own independent intelligence, so we have observed it ourselves based on our own investigations.”

Reuters has not been able to independently verify the use of banned chemical substances by either side in the Ukraine war.
The United States first accused Russia of using chloropicrin, a chemical compound more toxic than riot control agents and first used by Germany during World War One, in May last year.
Ukraine alleges thousands of instances of Russian chemical weapons use.
Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article. Russia has denied using illegal munitions and it has accused Ukraine of doing so.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said on Wednesday that the Federal Security Service discovered a Ukrainian cache of explosive devices in the east of the country containing chloropicrin.
Ukraine has consistently denied such accusations.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a disarmament agency in The Hague with 193 member states, said last year that initial accusations levelled by both countries at each other were “insufficiently substantiated”.
It has not been asked to conduct a full investigation, which must be initiated by member states.
At least three Ukrainian deaths have been tied to chemical weapons use, Brekelmans said, while more than 2,500 people injured on the battlefield reported chemical weapons-related symptoms to Ukrainian health authorities.
Increased use of chemical weapons by Russia poses a threat not only to Ukraine but to other countries, Brekelmans added.
“We must further increase the pressure. This means looking at more sanctions and specifically not allowing them (Russia) to participate in international bodies like the Executive Council of the OPCW,” he said.

Reesink spoke of “thousands of instances” of chemical weapons use, while also citing a Ukrainian figure of 9,000.
Rotating two-year seats on the OPCW council will be up for negotiation in the coming months.
The intelligence findings were presented in a letter to the Dutch parliament on Friday.

LARGE-SCALE PROGRAM

Russia is a member of the OPCW and, like the United States, has destroyed its declared chemical weapons stockpiles.
Increased sanctions could happen in conjunction with the European Commission, which has proposed listing 15 additional new entities and individuals to its sanctions framework, including for suspected use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.
The Dutch military and general intelligence agencies, working with foreign partners, say they have uncovered concrete evidence of intensified Russian chemical weapons production.
This includes heightened research capabilities and the recruitment of scientists for chemical weapons development, Reesink said. He added that Russian officials have given instructions to soldiers on the use of poisonous warfare agents.
“This isn’t just some ad-hoc tinkering at the frontline; it is truly part of a large-scale program. And that is, of course, also concerning because if we don’t clarify and publicize what Russia is doing, it’s highly likely these trends will continue,” Reesink said.
He called the use of chemical weapons by Russian armed forces “almost standing operating procedure.”
“We specifically linked the use of chloropicrin to improvised munitions, such as filled light bulbs and empty bottles that are hung from a drone. When it comes to teargas, we see that they are also misusing and converting existing munitions to act as the carrier for the gas,” he said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-use-chemical-weapons-against-ukraine-widespread-dutch-defence-minister-2025-07-04/

The Western Indian town of Kolhapur has found itself in an unlikely global spotlight, as thousands of local artisans who hand-craft traditional leather footwear are mounting a collective attack on luxury fashion label Prada for plagiarising their designs without credit.

The rhythmic pounding of the hammer in 58-year-old Sadashiv Sanake’s dimly lit workshop bears witness to the hard grind behind handcrafting the iconic Kolhapuri leather sandals.

“I learnt the craft as a child,” he tells the BBC. A day’s toil goes into making just “eight to 10 pairs” of these sandals he says, that retail at a modest $8-10

Barely 5,000 artisans in Kolhapur are still in the profession – a cottage industry that struggles to compete in a mechanised world, caught in the funk of dismal working conditions and low wages.

It’s no surprise then that when Italian luxury brand Prada released a new line of footwear that bore a striking resemblance to the Kolhapuri sandals – but didn’t mention the design origins – local artisans were up in arms.

The backlash was swift. Social media was flooded with accusations of cultural appropriation, prompting Prada to issue a statement acknowledging the sandals’ roots.

Now local politicians and industry associations have thrown their weight behind the artisans who want better recognition of the craft and its cultural legacy.

Mr Sanake was not aware of Prada’s show until the BBC showed him a video of it. When told that that the sandals could retail for hundreds of pounds in luxury markets, he scoffed. “Do they have gold in them?” he asked.

Prada hasn’t revealed the price tag but its other sandals retail at between £600 to £1,000 in the UK as per its website.

The earliest records of Kolhapur sandals date back to the 12th Century.

“These sandals were originally crafted by members of the marginalised Charmakar (cobbler) community, also known as chamars,” said Kavita Gagrani, a history professor at the New College in Kolhapur.

Chamar is a pejorative caste term used to describe Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) who work with animal hides.

“But in the early 20th Century, the craft flourished when the then ruler of Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj granted royal patronage to this community,” Ms Gagrani said.

Today, nearly 100,000 artisans across India are engaged in the trade with an industry worth over $200m, according to the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (MACCIA), a prominent industry trade group.

Yet, most of them continue to work in unorganised setups under dismal conditions.

“I was never educated. This is all I know, and I earn about $4-5 a day, depending on the number of orders,” said 60-year-old Sunita Satpute.

Women like her play a critical role, particularly in engraving fine patterns by hand, but are not compensated fairly for their long hours of labour, she said.

That’s why Sunita’s children don’t want to continue the craft.

A short distance away from her workshop lies Kolhapur’s famous chappal gully, or sandal lane, a cluster of storefronts – many of them struggling to stay afloat.

“Leather has become very expensive and has pushed up our costs,” said Anil Doipode, one of the first sellers to open a shop here.

Traditionally, artisans would use cow and buffalo hide to make these sandals. But since 2014, when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, there have been several reports of vigilantes – self-appointed protesters or activists – cracking down on alleged cow slaughter, sometimes with physical violence. The cow is considered sacred by Hindus.

In 2015, Maharashtra state banned the slaughter of cows and the sale and consumption of beef, forcing artisans to rely on buffalo leather sourced from neighbouring states, pushing up their production costs.

Traditional sellers are also struggling to compete with synthetic copies flooding the market.

“Customers want cheaper sandals and can’t always tell the difference,” said Rohit Balkrishna Gavali, a second-generation Kolhapuri sandal seller.

Industry experts say the controversy highlights the need for a better institutional framework to protect the rights of artisans.

In 2019, the Indian government had awarded Kolhapuri sandals the Geographical Indication (GI) – a mark of authenticity which protects its name and design within India, preventing unauthorised use by outsiders.

Globally, however, there is no binding law that stops other countries or brands from aesthetic imitation.

Aishwarya Sandeep, a Mumbai-based advocate, says that India could raise the issue at the World Trade Organization under its TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement, of which it is a signatory.

But the system is cumbersome, expensive and often lacks enforceability, both in India and abroad, she adds.

Lalit Gandhi, the president of MCCIA, says his organisation is planning to patent the Kolhapuri sandal design, hoping to create a legal precedent for future cases.

But some say real change can only happen when India starts seeing its traditional heritage in a different light.

“It’s about ethical recognition. India must push for royalty-sharing and co-branding,” says Ritu Beri, a renowned designer. “The more we take pride in our culture, the less we will be exploited.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time a global fashion brand has been accused of appropriating Indian handicrafts.

Many big labels have featured Indian fabrics and embroidery work with little to no artist collaboration. “Take Chikankari (a delicate hand-embroidery style from the northern Indian city of Lucknow), Ikat (a cloth-dyeing technique), mirror work; they’ve all been used repeatedly. The artisans remain invisible while brands profit from their inspiration,” Ms Beri says.

Mr Gandhi, however, says that Prada’s endorsement of Kolhapuri sandals could also be beneficial for artisans.

“Under their label, the value [of Kolhapuri sandals] is going to increase manifold,” he says. “But we want some share of that profit to be passed on to artisans for their betterment.”

Rohit Balkrishna Gavali, a sandal-seller in Kolhapur, agrees – he has already begun to see the difference.

“The design Prada used wasn’t even very popular, but now people are asking for it, with clients from Dubai, the US and Qatar” placing orders, he says.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly801q2pw7o

A tiny, obscure animal often sold as aquarium food has been quietly protecting our planet from global warming by undertaking an epic migration, according to new research.

These “unsung heroes” called zooplankton gorge themselves and grow fat in spring before sinking hundreds of metres into the deep ocean in Antarctica where they burn the fat.

This locks away as much planet-warming carbon as the annual emissions of roughly 55 million petrol cars, stopping it from further warming our atmosphere, according to researchers.

This is much more than scientists expected. But just as researchers uncover this service to our planet, threats to the zooplankton are growing.

Scientists have spent years probing the animal’s annual migration in Antarctic waters, or the Southern Ocean, and what it means for climate change.

The findings are “remarkable”, says lead author Dr Guang Yang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, adding that it forces a re-think about how much carbon the Southern Ocean stores.

“The animals are an unsung hero because they have such a cool way of life,” says co-author Dr Jennifer Freer from British Antarctic Survey.

But compared to the most popular Antarctic animals like the whale or penguin, the small but mighty zooplankton are overlooked and under-appreciated.

If anyone has heard of them, it’s probably as a type of fish food available to buy online.

But their life cycle is odd and fascinating. Take the copepod, a type of zooplankton that is a distant relative of crabs and lobsters.

Just 1-10mm in size, they spend most of their lives asleep between 500m to 2km deep in the ocean.

In pictures taken under a microscope, you can see long sausages of fat inside their bodies, and fat bubbles in their heads, explains Prof Daniel Mayor who photographed them in Antarctica.

Without them, our planet’s atmosphere would be significantly warmer.

Globally the oceans have absorbed 90% of the excess heat humans have created by burning fossil fuels. Of that figure, the Southern Ocean is responsible for about 40%, and a lot of that is down to zooplankton.

Millions of pounds is being spent globally to understand how exactly they store carbon.

Scientists were already aware that the zooplankton contributed to carbon storage in a daily process when the animals carbon-rich waste sinks to the deep ocean.

But what happened when the animals migrate in the Southern Ocean had not been quantified.

The latest research focussed on copepods, as well as other types of zooplankton called krill, and salps.

The creatures eat phytoplankton on the ocean surface which grow by transforming carbon dioxide into living matter through photosynthesis. This turns into fat in the zooplankton.

“Their fat is like a battery pack. When they spend the winter deep in the ocean, they just sit and slowly burn off this fat or carbon,” explains Prof Daniel Mayor at University of Exeter, who was not part of the study.

“This releases carbon dioxide. Because of the way the oceans work, if you put carbon really deep down, it takes decades or even centuries for that CO2 to come out and contribute to atmospheric warming,” he says.

The research team calculated that this process – called the seasonal vertical migration pump – transports 65 million tonnes of carbon annually to at least 500m below the ocean surface.

Of that, it found that copepods contribute the most, followed by krill and salps.

That is roughly equivalent to the emissions from driving 55 million diesel cars for a year, according to a greenhouse gas emissions calculator by the US EPA.

The latest research looked at data stretching back to the 1920s to quantify this carbon storage, also called carbon sequestration.

But the scientific discovery is ongoing as researchers seek to understand more details about the migration cycle.

Earlier this year, Dr Freer and Prof Mayor spent two months on the Sir David Attenborough polar research ship near the South Orkney island and South Georgia.

Using large nets the scientists caught zooplankton and brought the animals onboard.

“We worked in complete darkness under red light so we didn’t disturb them,” says Dr Freer.

“Others worked in rooms kept at 3-4C. You wear a lot of protection to stay there for hours at a time looking down the microscope,” she adds.

But warming waters as well as commercial harvesting of krill could threaten the future of zooplankton.

“Climate change, disturbance to ocean layers and extreme weather are all threats,” explains Prof Atkinson.

This could reduce the amount of zooplankton in Antarctica and limit the carbon stored in the deep ocean.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c628nnz3rp9o

 

Fifty years ago Arthur Ashe pulled off an amazing feat, upsetting the odds and becoming the first black man to win the Wimbledon Men’s final when he beat fellow American Jimmy Connors – but it was not something he wanted to define his life.

His fight to break down barriers around racial discrimination was closer to his heart – and apartheid South Africa became one of his battle grounds.

“I don’t want to be remembered in the final analysis for having won Wimbledon… I take applause for having done it, but it’s not the most important thing in my life – not even close,” he said in a BBC interview a year before his death in 1993.

Nonetheless his Centre Court victory on 5 July 1975 was hailed as one of those spine-tingling sporting moments that stopped everyone in their tracks, whether a tennis fan or not, and it is being commemorated with a special display at the Wimbledon museum.

Ashe was already in his 30s, tall, serene and with a quiet and even-tempered demeanour. Connors, 10 years younger and the defending champion, was an aggressive player and often described as “brattish”.

Ashe’s achievements and the skills and courage he displayed on the court were certainly matched by his actions off it.

In the early 1970s, South Africa repeatedly refused to issue a visa for him to travel to the country alongside other US players.

The white-minority government there had legalised an extreme system of racial segregation, known as apartheid – or apartness – in 1948.

The authorities said the decision to bar him was based on his “general antagonism” and outspoken remarks about South Africa.

However, in 1973, the government relented and granted Ashe a visa to play in the South African Open, which was one of the top tournaments in the world at the time.

It was Ashe’s first visit to South Africa, and although he stipulated he would only play on condition that the stadium be open to both black and white spectators, it sparked anger among anti-apartheid activists in the US and strong opposition from sections of the black community in South Africa.

British journalist and tennis historian Richard Evans, who became a life-long friend of Ashe, was a member of the press corps on that South Africa tour.

He says that Ashe was “painfully aware” of the criticism and the accusation that he was in some way giving legitimacy to the South African government – but he was determined to see for himself how people lived there.

“He felt that he was always being asked about South Africa, but he’d never been. He said: ‘How can I comment on a place I don’t know? I need to see it and make a judgment. And until I go, I can’t do that.'”

Evans recalls that during the tour, the South African writer and poet Don Mattera had organised for Ashe to meet a group of black journalists, but the atmosphere was tense and hostile.

“As I passed someone,” Evans told the BBC, “I heard someone say: ‘Uncle Tom'” – a slur used to disparage a black person considered servile towards white people.

“And then one or two very vociferous journalists stood up and said: ‘Arthur, go home. We don’t want you here. You’re just making it easier for the government to be able to show that they allow someone like you in.'”

But not all black South Africans were so vehemently opposed to Ashe’s presence in the country.

The South African author and academic Mark Mathabane grew up in the Alexandra township – popularly known as Alex – in the north of Johannesburg. Such townships were set up under apartheid on the outskirts of cities for non-white people to live.

He first became aware of Ashe as a boy while accompanying his grandmother to her gardening job at a British family’s mansion in a whites-only suburb.

The lady of the house gifted him a September 1968 edition of Life magazine from her collection, and there, on the front cover, was a bespectacled Arthur Ashe at the net.

Mathabane was mesmerised by the image and its cover line “The Icy Elegance of Arthur Ashe” – and he set out to emulate him.

When Ashe went on the 1973 tour, Mathabane had only one mission – to meet Ashe, or at least get close to him.

The opportunity came when Ashe took time off from competing to hold a tennis clinic in Soweto, a southern Johannesburg township.

The 13-year-old Mathabane made the train journey to get there and join scores of other black – and mostly young – people who had turned out to see the tennis star, who they had given the nickname “Sipho”.

“He may have been honorary white to white people, but to us black people he was Sipho. It’s a Zulu word for gift,” Mathabane, now aged 64, told the BBC.

“You know, a gift from God, from the ancestors, meaning that this is very priceless, take care of it. Sipho is here, Sipho from America is here.”

The excitement generated at the Soweto clinic was not just contained to that township but had spread across the country, he said.

From rural reservations to shebeens or speakeasies (bars) – wherever black people gathered, they were talking about Ashe’s visit.

“For me, he was literally the first free black man I’d ever seen,” said Mathabane.

After the 1973 tour, Ashe went back to South Africa a few more times. In early 1976 he helped to establish the Arthur Ashe Soweto Tennis Centre (AASTC) for budding players in the township.

But not long after it opened, the centre was vandalised in the student-led uprisings against the apartheid regime that broke out in June of that year.

It remained neglected and in disrepair for several years before undergoing a major refurbishment in 2007, and was reopened by Ashe’s widow Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe.

The complex now has 16 courts, and hosts a library and skills development centre.

The ambition is to produce a tennis star and Grand Slam champion from the township – and legends such as Serena and Venus Williams have since run clinics there.

For Mothobi Seseli and Masodi Xaba, who were once both South African national junior champions and now sit on the AASTC board, the centre goes beyond tennis.

They feel that fundamentally it is about instilling a work ethic that embraces a range of life skills and self-belief.

“We’re building young leaders,” Ms Xaba, a successful businesswoman, told the BBC.

Mr Seseli, an entrepreneur born and raised in Soweto, agrees that this would be Ashe’s vision too: “When I think about what his legacy is, it is believing that we can, at the smallest of scales, move the dial in very big ways.”

Ashe was initially inclined to challenge apartheid through conversations and participation, believing that by being visible and winning matches in the country he could undermine the very foundation of the regime.

But his experience within South Africa, and international pressure from the anti-apartheid movement, persuaded him that isolation rather than engagement would be the most effective way to bring about change in South Africa.

He became a powerful advocate and supporter of an international sporting boycott of South Africa, speaking before the United Nations and the US Congress.

In 1983, at a joint press conference set up by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and UN, he spoke about the aims of the Artists and Athletes Against Apartheid, which he had just co-founded with the American singer Harry Belafonte.

The organisation lobbied for sanctions against the South African government, and at its height had more than 500 members.

Ashe joined many protests and rallies, and when he was arrested outside the South African embassy in Washington DC in 1985, it drew more international attention to the cause and helped to amplify global condemnation of the South African regime.

He was the captain of the US Davis Cup team at the time, and always felt that the arrest cost him his job.

Ashe used his platform to confront social injustice wherever he saw it, not just in Africa and South Africa, but also in the US and Haiti.

He was also an educator on many issues, and specifically HIV/Aids, which he succumbed to, after contracting the disease from a blood transfusion during heart surgery in the early 1980s.

But he had a particular affinity with South Africa’s black population living under a repressive regime.

He said that he identified with them because of his upbringing in racially segregated Richmond in the US state of Virginia.

No wonder then that Ashe was one of the key figures that South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was keen to meet on a trip to New York, inviting him to a historic townhall gathering in 1990 shortly after his release from 27 years in prison.

The pair met on a few occasions, however Ashe did not live to see Mandela become president of South Africa following the 1994 election, which brought in democratic rule and the dismantling of apartheid.

But like Ashe, Mandela was able to use sport to push for change – by helping unify South Africa – notably during the 1995 Rugby World Cup when he famously wore the Springbok jersey, once a hated symbol of apartheid.

To celebrate this year’s anniversary of Ashe’s victory, the Wimbledon Championships have an installation in the International Tennis Centre tunnel and a new museum display about him. They are also taking a trailblazer workshop on the road to mark his achievement.

His Wimbledon title was the third of his Grand Slam crowns, having previously won the US and Australian Opens.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgdy59ey59o

As Donald Trump cheered the passage of his self-styled, and officially named, Big Beautiful Budget Bill through Congress this week, long-sown seeds of doubt about the scale and sustainability of US borrowing from the rest of the world sprouted anew.

Trump’s tax-cutting budget bill is expected to add at least $3 trillion (£2.2 trillion) to the US’s already eye-watering $37tn (£27tn) debt pile. There is no shortage of critics of the plan, not least Trump’s former ally Elon Musk, who has called it a “disgusting abomination”.

The growing debt pile leaves some to wonder whether there is a limit to how much the rest of the world will lend Uncle Sam.

Those doubts have been showing up recently in the weaker value of the dollar and the higher interest rate investors are demanding to lend money to America.

It needs to borrow this money to make up the difference between what it earns and what it spends every year.

Since the beginning of this year, the dollar has fallen 10% against the pound and 15% against the euro.

Although US borrowing costs have been steady overall, the difference between the interest rates paid on longer-term loans versus shorter-term loans – what’s known as the yield curve – has increased, or steepened, signalling increased doubts about the long-term sustainability of US borrowing.

And that is despite the fact that the US has lowered interest rates more slowly than the EU and the UK, which would normally make the dollar stronger because investors can get higher interest rates on bank deposits.

The founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund, Ray Dalio, believes that US borrowing is at a crossroads.

On its current trajectory he estimates the US will soon be spending $10tn a year in loan and interest repayments.

“I am confident that the [US] government’s financial condition is at an inflection point because, if this is not dealt with now, the debts will build up to levels where they can’t be managed without great trauma,” he says.

So what might that trauma look like?

The first option is a drastic reduction in government spending, a big increase in taxes or both.

Ray Dalio suggests that cutting the budget deficit from its current 6% to 3% soon could head off trouble in the future.

Trump’s new budget bill did cut some spending, but it also cut taxes more, and so the current political trajectory is going the other way.

Secondly, as in previous crises, the US central bank could print more money and use it to buy up government debt – as we saw after the great financial crisis of 2008.

But that can end up fuelling inflation and inequality as the owners of assets like houses and shares do much better than those who rely on the value of labour.

The third is a straightforward US default. Can’t pay won’t pay. Given that the “full faith and credit of the US Treasury” underpins the entire global financial system, that would make the great financial crisis look like a picnic.

Bilawal Bhutto, in an interview with Al Jazeera, said that Masood Azhar may be in Afghanistan, and denied that Hafiz Saeed is free. He also said that Pakistan is willing to act if India shares evidence.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Islamabad has no knowledge of the whereabouts of Masood Azhar, chief of terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and claimed the country would arrest him if India provided credible evidence that he was on Pakistani soil.

Bhutto claimed that, given Azhar’s involvement in the Afghan jihad, Pakistan believes he may be in Afghanistan. “It’s not possible for Pakistan to do what NATO couldn’t do in Afghanistan. There is no reason for us to want anyone of concern to be active,” he said, referencing the Western withdrawal and the Taliban’s return to power in the nation.

Bhutto, whose party is part of the ruling coalition in Pakistan, said, “If and when the Indian government shares information with us that he is on Pakistani soil, we would be more than happy to arrest him.” He added that so far, New Delhi had not done so.

Azhar, one of India’s most-wanted terrorists, has been linked to several major attacks in India, including the 2001 Parliament attack, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2016 Pathankot airbase assault, and the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing.

He was designated a global terrorist by the United Nations in 2019 and was released from Indian custody in 1999 as part of the Kandahar hijacking hostage exchange.

When asked why Pakistan was waiting for India to act, Bhutto pointed to international counterterrorism cooperation, where countries exchange lists of suspects. “That’s how we’ve thwarted attacks in London, New York, and Pakistan,” he said.

He also responded to a report by The New York Times, claiming that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed was roaming free. “That’s factually not correct. Hafiz Saeed is in the custody of the Pakistani state,” Bhutto said.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/may-be-in-afghanistan-bilawal-bhutto-says-pakistan-doesnt-know-where-masood-azhar-is-2751079-2025-07-05

Several sharks were spotted prowling the waters at Rockaway Beach on the Fourth of July, prompting a stretch of the popular summer destination to close on the busy holiday weekend.

Chilling video shared on social media captured one of the beasts swimming “very close to beachgoers,” in the shallow waters off the Rockaways, officials said.

Two sharks were seen near Beach 32nd Street at about 11:30 a.m., another sighting was reported at Beach 144th Street and a third at Beach 30th Street, according to Kaz Daughtry, the Deputy Mayor of New York City for Public Safety.

The Beach 30th Street entrance was closed for an hour due to the scare.

Hamas said it had responded on Friday (Jul 4) in “a positive spirit” to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal and was prepared to enter into talks on implementing the deal which envisages a release of hostages and negotiations on ending the conflict.

US President Donald Trump earlier announced a “final proposal” for a 60-day ceasefire in the nearly 21-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, stating he anticipated a reply from the parties in coming hours.

Hamas wrote on its official website: “The Hamas movement has completed its internal consultations as well as discussions with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the latest proposal by the mediators to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza.

“The movement has delivered its response to the brotherly mediators, which was characterized by a positive spirit. Hamas is fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework,” the statement said.

In a sign of potential challenges still facing the sides, a Palestinian official of a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remain over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing to Egypt and clarity over a timetable of Israeli troop withdrawals.

Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalise” a 60-day ceasefire, during which efforts would be made to end the US ally’s war in the Palestinian enclave.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement and in their public statements, the two sides remain far apart. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.

Netanyahu is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday.

Trump has said he would be “very firm” with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza ceasefire while noting that the Israeli leader wants one as well.

“We hope it’s going to happen. And we’re looking forward to it happening sometime next week,” he told reporters earlier this week. “We want to get the hostages out.”

‘STOP THIS WAR’

Israeli attacks have killed at least 138 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, local health officials said.

Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an airstrike on a tent encampment west of the city around 2am (7am, Singapore time), killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war.

The Israeli military said troops operating in the Khan Younis area had eliminated militants, confiscated weapons and dismantled Hamas outposts in the last 24 hours, while striking 100 targets across Gaza, including military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers.

Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight.

“There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother,” said 13-year-old Mayar Al Farr as she wept. Her brother, Mahmoud, was shot dead in another incident, she said.

“He went to get aid, so he can get a bag of flour for us to eat. He got a bullet in his neck. It killed him on the spot,” she said.

Adlar Mouamar said her nephew, Ashraf, was also killed in Gaza. “Our hearts are broken. We ask the world, we don’t want food…We want them to end the bloodshed. We want them to stop this war.”

‘MAKE THE DEAL’

In Tel Aviv, families and friends of hostages held in Gaza were among demonstrators who gathered outside a US Embassy building on US Independence Day, calling on Trump to secure a deal for all of the captives.

Demonstrators set up a symbolic Sabbath dinner table, placing 50 empty chairs to represent those who are still held in Gaza. Banners hung nearby displaying a post by Trump from his Truth Social platform that read, “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”

The Sabbath, or Shabbat, observed from Friday evening to Saturday nightfall, is often marked by Jewish families with a traditional Friday night dinner.

“Only you can make the deal. We want one beautiful deal. One beautiful hostage deal,” said Gideon Rosenberg, 48, from Tel Aviv.

Rosenberg was wearing a shirt with the image of hostage Avinatan Or, one of his employees who was abducted by Palestinian militants from the Nova musical festival on Oct 7, 2023. He is among the 20 hostages who are believed to be alive after more than 600 days of captivity.

Ruby Chen, 55, the father of 19-year-old American-Israeli Itay, who is believed to have been killed after being taken captive, urged Netanyahu to return from meeting with Trump in Washington on Monday with a deal that brings back all hostages.

“Let this United States Independence Day mark the beginning of a lasting peace… one that secures the sacred value of human life and one that bestows dignity to the deceased hostages by ensuring their return to proper burial,” he said, also appealing to Trump.

Itay Chen, also a German national, was serving as an Israeli soldier when Hamas carried out its surprise attack on Oct 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/hamas-says-it-responds-gaza-ceasefire-proposal-positive-spirit-5221456

President Donald Trump on Friday signed the tax and spending cut bill Republicans muscled through Congress this week, turning it into law by his own self-imposed Fourth of July deadline.

At nearly 900 pages, the legislation is a sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending cuts and other Republican priorities, including new money for national defense and deportations.

Democrats united against the legislation, but were powerless to stop it as long as Republicans stayed united. The Senate passed the bill Tuesday, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaking vote. The House passed an earlier iteration of the bill in May with just one vote to spare. It passed the final version Thursday 218-214.

Here’s the latest on what’s in the bill and when some of its provisions go into effect.

GOP bill includes reductions for businesses and new tax breaks

Republicans say the bill is crucial because there would be a massive tax increase after December when tax breaks from Trump’s first term expire. The legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.

The existing tax rates and brackets would become permanent under the bill, solidifying the tax cuts approved in Trump’s first term.

It temporarily would add new tax deductions on tip, overtime and auto loans. There’s also a $6,000 deduction for older adults who earn no more than $75,000 a year, a nod to his pledge to end taxes on Social Security benefits.

It would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200. Millions of families at lower income levels would not get the full credit.

A cap on state and local deductions, called SALT, would quadruple to $40,000 for five years. It’s a provision important to New York and other high tax states, though the House wanted it to last for 10 years.

There are scores of business-related tax cuts, including allowing businesses to immediately write off 100% of the cost of equipment and research. Proponents say this will boost economic growth.

The wealthiest households would see a $12,000 increase from the legislation, and the bill would cost the poorest people $1,600 a year, mainly due to reductions in Medicaid and food aid, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of the House’s version.

GOP bill funds the border wall, deportations and a missile shield

The senior superintendent of police said following an input, a search operation was carried out during which the assault rifle and cartridges were recovered.

An assault rifle AK-47 along with 37 live cartridges were recovered from an agricultural field near Ghoda Chakk village in the Mamdot area of Ferozepur along the India-Pakistan border, an official said on Thursday.

The police suspected that the weapon and cartridges were dropped by a drone from across the border.

With hundreds of civilians shot and killed near aid distribution centers in Gaza in recent weeks, allegations mount over Israeli military tactics.

A little over a week ago, Mahmoud Qassem lost his son, Khader. The 19-year-old had been trying to reach a food distribution center run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in central Gaza.

“The last time his mother and I heard from him was at 11 p.m. that night. He told me he was in a safe place — he had gone to the Netzarim distribution center — and I told him to take care,” Qassem told DW from a tent in Gaza City, where the family has been displaced.

“At 1 a.m., I tried calling him again, but his phone wasn’t receiving calls. I started to feel anxious. There was no word the whole time, and I waited until 2 p.m. on Friday. I felt like a fire was burning inside me,” said the 50-year-old.

On Friday, Qassem went to central Gaza and checked the hospitals until he discovered that Khader had been killed. When the body was eventually recovered, after coordination with the Israeli military, it showed that his son had died from several gunshot wounds.

“A 19-year-old boy who hadn’t even begun to live his life, all for fetching a box,” he said, barely holding back tears. He added that he hadn’t wanted Khader to go, but his son had felt that he needed to provide for his family.

“The situation here is beyond description. People are sacrificing themselves to make it. Only God knows what we are going through. No one feels for us — not Hamas, not Israel, not the Arab countries, not anyone.”

Malaysia’s top two judiciary positions are vacant after Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat retired as Chief Justice on Wednesday (Jul 2), and Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim retired as the President of the Court of Appeal a day later.

Malaysia’s third-ranked judge, Chief Judge of Malaya Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, will take on the duties of the Chief Justice following Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat’s retirement on Wednesday (Jul 2).

Judge Hasnah will exercise the powers of the Chief Justice “until that position is filled”, said the Chief Registrar’s Office of the Federal Court of Malaysia on Thursday.

Malaysia’s top two judiciary positions are vacant after Tengku Maimun retired as Chief Justice when she turned 66 on Wednesday, and Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim retired as the President of the Court of Appeal when he turned 66 a day later.

Judge Hasnah reached the mandatory retirement age of 66 in May, but her term was extended by six months until mid-November by Malaysia’s king.

The Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Abdul Rahman Sebli, will retire this month when his six-month extension ends.

The statement by the Chief Registrar’s Office did not mention the role of the Court of Appeal president, but it added: “The Malaysian Judiciary remains steadfast in carrying out its responsibility as the guardian of justice and will continue to serve the people and the nation with utmost dedication.”

The judicial vacancies at the highest level have caused disquiet in Malaysia’s legal and political circles.

On Monday, the Malaysian Bar slammed the “silence and indecision on matters concerning the highest level of the judiciary”, calling it “indefensible” and a “failure in institutional responsibility”.

“A breakdown in governance risks damaging public confidence in the judiciary and opens the door to speculation and unhealthy conjecture,” said Malaysian Bar president Mohamad Ezri Abdul Wahab, whose body comprises the country’s 21,400 advocates and solicitors.

The Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s governing coalition, on Tuesday called for a six-month extension for Tengku Maimun and Abang Iskandar “given their contributions and performances”.

There will be “many vacancies left in the Federal Court due to the recent and impending retirements of Federal Court judges”, the DAP’s central working committee said in a statement.

CNA reported in February that nine of the 14 judges of the Federal Court, the country’s apex judicial body, are reaching the retirement age within months of each other.

Extending Tengku Maimun and Abang Iskandar’s terms would “ensure a smooth transition of new appointees to the Federal Court in due course”, the DAP committee added.

However, Communications Minister and government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil said the Cabinet did not deliberate in detail on the appointment of a new Chief Justice during its meeting on Wednesday.

The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as Anwar is currently on a week-long working visit to Italy, France and Brazil, Fahmi said, as reported by news outlet Malay Mail.

PRIME MINISTER’S ROLE IN APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES
The Chief Justice is appointed by the king, also known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, on the prime minister’s advice and after consultation with the Conference of Rulers made up of the heads of the country’s royal households.

Malaysia established a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) in 2009 that proposes qualified judicial candidates to the prime minister.

The JAC Act was meant to ensure that the selection process of judges would be unbiased, but lawyers told CNA previously that, in practice, new appointments often attract intense lobbying by politicians and segments in Malaysia’s royal households.

There has been talk that Terrirudin Mohd Salleh – Malaysia’s former Attorney General who was appointed to the Federal Court in November 2024 with the backing of Anwar –is being promoted by politicians and segments of the royal households to be the next Chief Justice, CNA reported in February.

In April, then-Chief Justice Tengku Maimun said removing the prime minister’s role in the appointment of judges could free it from any perception of political influence.

There have been proposals to amend the JAC Act 2009 and the Federal Constitution to remove the role of the prime minister in the appointment of judges, she said in a speech at the 24th Commonwealth Law conference in Malta, as reported by news site Free Malaysia Today.

“Such changes, in my view, would reinforce the impartiality of the selection process, ensuring that judicial appointments remain firmly grounded on merit and free from any perception of political influence,” she said.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-chief-justice-vacancy-retirements-chief-judge-malaya-hasnah-mohammed-hashim-5218091

Jennifer Lopez is looking back on her short-lived marriage to Ben Affleck.

The “Hustlers” star debuted six new songs for 30 fans at an exclusive listening party in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, and one song in particular — “Wreckage of You” — seems to be about her “very difficult” split from the actor.

“‘Wreckage of You’ is a pop ballad that she told us she cowrote and recorded two weeks ago,” said attendee Edgardo Luis Rivera, per Us Weekly.

“She said she was lying in bed after a long day of tour rehearsals when the idea of the song came to her. She mentioned how last year was a very difficult time for her both personally and professionally. She had to cancel her tour and really focus on herself,” the fan further told the outlet.

“Fast-forward to one year later, and she feels better and stronger than ever, so she wanted to write a song about coming out of a bad situation much stronger.”

Lopez “kept thinking of the word ‘wreck’ because it means destruction, but she wasn’t destroyed,” Rivera told the outlet. “In fact, the lyrics of the song are, ‘I’m stronger after the wreckage of you.’”

A second partygoer echoed Riviera’s comments, telling the outlet that the new ballad is a “very emotional, empowering song about walking away from a relationship and coming out a stronger person.”

The other songs played — “Up All Night,” “Regular,” “Free,” “Save Me Tonight” and “Birthday” — were all reportedly upbeat songs that have “a real vibe to them,” according to Rivera.

Reps for Affleck and Lopez did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.

Lopez, 55, made headlines in August 2024 when she shockingly filed for divorce from Affleck after two years of marriage.

The split came months after it was reported that they had been separated since April of that year.

Their divorce was finalized in January. However, the terms of their dissolution agreement wouldn’t go into effect until Feb. 21 — at which point, Lopez and the “Gone Girl” star, 52, were officially declared single.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/07/03/entertainment/jennifer-lopez-sings-about-ben-affleck-relationship-wreckage-after-very-difficult-year/

Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island, mansion has become synonymous with the singer’s star-studded gatherings, especially on the Fourth of July.

Dozens of A-list celebrities — including Blake Lively, Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez and more — have partied in the $17 million estate, which has gotten heavy use since Swift purchased it in 2013.

Keep reading for a peek inside the coastal manse where all the Independence Day magic happens.

Melania Trump praises Taylor Swift after Donald says singer is ‘no longer hot’

The First Lady loves Miss Americana.

Melania Trump praised Taylor Swift’s talent while visiting a Washington, DC, children’s hospital on Wednesday.

When one young patient told Trump that Swift was the best singer, the former model diplomatically agreed, calling the “Karma” hitmaker “very talented.”

The First Lady’s husband, President Donald Trump, has been outspoken about his disdain for the Grammy winner since she endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

The president later criticized Swift’s appearance, writing on Truth Social in May, “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?'”

Taylor Swift teased Travis Kelce’s NFL pals in hilarious post-concert photo op: ‘More muscles than us!’

Call the amateurs and cut ’em from the team.

After Taylor Swift’s impromptu performance at boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Tight Ends and Friends concert last week, the superstar was playfully “talking s–t” to Kelce and two retired NFL stars, according to one of them.

“The Man” singer, 35, told former Tennessee Titans linebacker Will Compton and tackle Taylor Lewan, and her beau that she had “more muscles” than the pro athletes.

“Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast hosts Compton and Lewan went up to Kelce after a “historic week for the boys” to ask for a photo with him and his Grammy-winning girlfriend.

In a clip from their podcast, Compton, 35, details how he leaned over to Travis, also 35, and said, “Hey buddy, you know I’m not leaving this place without a flex… without a pose with you and your girl.”

“You got it,” he said Travis replied before asking the “Cruel Summer” singer to pose for the pic.

“The flex photo,” as Compton calls it, is one of the most-liked posts on their podcast’s Instagram account.

Compton shared that after they snapped the shot, “Taylor [was] talking s–t afterward saying she’s got more muscles than us!”

“It was a great night,” he added.

Taylor took the stage June 24 in Nashville for an impromptu performance of “Shake It Off” during the “Tight Ends and Friends” concert where country stars Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Chase Rice and more had scheduled sets.

Swift worked out “six days a week for sometimes two hours a day,” throughout her nearly two-year-long Eras Tour from March 2023 to December 2024, according to her trainer.

The “Lover” songstress previously revealed that she also trained for shows by singing her entire 44-song setlist while running on a treadmill “fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/07/03/celebrity-news/taylor-swift-live-updates-7-3-4-2025/

Michael Madsen, an actor who appeared in dozens of films including “Reservoir Dogs” and “Thelma & Louise,” has died at age 67, his representatives said on Thursday.
Madsen died of cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, California, his manager, Ron Smith, said.

Born in Chicago, Madsen began acting in the early 1980s in projects that included the TV show “St. Elsewhere” and the movie “The Natural” on his way to racking up more than 300 on-screen credits.

He played Mr. Blonde in 1992 film “Reservoir Dogs” and appeared in several other movies from director Quentin Tarantino including “Kill Bill,” “The Hateful Eight” and “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”
“In the last two years Michael Madsen has been doing some incredible work with independent film,” said a statement from Smith along with fellow manager Susan Ferris and publicist Liz Rodriguez.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/reservoir-dogs-kill-bill-actor-michael-madsen-dies-67-2025-07-03/

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a phone call earlier in the day with Vladimir Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, while a Kremlin aide said the Russian president reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes.”
The two leaders did not discuss a recent pause in some U.S. weapons shipments to Kyiv during the nearly hour-long conversation, according to a readout provided by Putin aide Yuri Ushakov.

U.S. attempts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine through diplomacy have largely stalled, and Trump has faced growing calls – including from some Republicans – to increase pressure on Putin to negotiate in earnest.
Within hours of the call’s conclusion, an apparent Russian drone attack sparked a fire in an apartment building in a northern suburb of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said, indicating little change in the trajectory of the conflict.
In Kyiv itself, Reuters witnesses reported explosions and sustained heavy machine-gun fire as air defense units battled drones over the capital, while Russian shelling killed five people in the eastern part of the country.

“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump told reporters in brief comments at an air base outside Washington, before departing for a campaign-style event in Iowa.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, meanwhile, told reporters in Denmark earlier in the day that he hopes to speak to Trump as soon as Friday about the ongoing pause in some weapons shipments, which was first disclosed earlier this week.
Trump, speaking to reporters as he left Washington for Iowa, said “we haven’t” completely paused the weapons flow but blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for sending so many weapons that it risked weakening U.S. defenses.
“We’re giving weapons, but we’ve given so many weapons. But we are giving weapons. And we’re working with them and trying to help them, but we haven’t. You know, Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves,” he said.

The diplomatic back-and-forth comes as the U.S. has paused shipments of certain critical weapons to Ukraine due to low stockpiles, sources earlier told Reuters, just as Ukraine faces a Russian summer offensive and increasingly frequent attacks on civilian targets.
Putin, for his part, has continued to assert he will stop his invasion only if the conflict’s “root causes” have been addressed – Russian shorthand for the issue of NATO enlargement and Western support for Ukraine, including the rejection of any notion of Ukraine joining the NATO alliance.
Russian leaders are also angling to establish greater control over political decisions made in Kyiv and other Eastern European capitals, NATO leaders have said.
The pause in U.S. weapons shipments caught Ukraine off-guard and has generated widespread confusion about Trump’s current views on the conflict, given his statement just last week that he would try to free up a Patriot missile defense system for use by Kyiv.

Ukrainian leaders called in the acting U.S. envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington, and caution that the pause in U.S. weapons shipments would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend against intensifying Russian air strikes and battlefield advances.
The Pentagon’s move has meant a cut in deliveries of the Patriot defense missiles that Ukraine relies on to destroy fast-moving ballistic missiles, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/trump-zelenskiy-discuss-pause-us-arms-deliveries-call-ft-reports-2025-07-03/

Chinese automaker Chery ordered engineers and suppliers to travel on short notice to proving grounds in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province.
Over a weekend, they planned an overhaul of the suspension and steering on the Chinese version of Chery’s Omoda 5 SUV for Europe, a key market in its global expansion. The problem: The car had been designed for China’s smooth streets and slower speeds. Now, it had to withstand Europe’s winding, bumpy roads.
Just six weeks later, Chery started shipping the European-spec Omoda 5 to dealers, complete with new steering, traction control, brakes, vibration dampers and tires.
“You can forget doing something that fast with a European automaker,” said Riccardo Tonelli, Chery’s senior vehicle-dynamics expert, who led the overhaul. “It’s impossible.”
Tonelli, who previously worked at an Italian carmaker and a Korean tire maker, estimated Western manufacturers would take well over a year to push similar improvements through their comparatively bureaucratic organizations.

Chery’s Omoda makeover exemplifies the disruptive speed and flexibility of Chinese automakers, which have seized control of their home market, the world’s largest, from once-dominant foreign competitors. Now, China’s rising auto giants are racing to expand globally, with Chery as the leading exporter. EV giant BYD, China’s largest automaker, poses a bigger long-term competitive threat, industry executives say.
China’s emerging automotive dominance owes largely to a singular manufacturing achievement – slashing vehicle-development time by more than half, to as little as 18 months for an all-new or redesigned model. The average age of a Chinese-brand electric or plug-in hybrid model on sale domestically is 1.6 years, versus 5.4 years for foreign brands, consultancy AlixPartners found.

That speed has rattled legacy automakers, which have historically redesigned vehicles about once every five years, or once a decade for pickups.
This account of how Chinese automakers outmaneuvered global rivals is based on interviews with more than 40 people, including current and former executives, employees and investors at five Chinese and seven global automakers and more than a dozen industry experts. Reuters visited BYD’s Shenzhen headquarters, factories of Chinese EV brands Zeekr and Nio, and European R&D centers of Zeekr and Chery.

The U.S. and Europe have imposed tariffs to shield their car industries, alleging China unfairly subsidizes EVs. But Chinese automakers’ development speed has emerged as the biggest factor in their cost and technological advantages over foreign competitors, Reuters found. Shaving years off vehicle-development cycles saves capital, lowers prices and ensures Chinese players have the freshest models during a technological revolution, executives and industry experts said.
The urgent pace is baked into BYD’s structure. Taking advantage of China’s lower labor costs, BYD deploys about 900,000 employees, nearly as many as the combined workforces of Toyota and Volkswagen, to accelerate design and manufacturing. At its headquarters, BYD promotes a work-focused life through company-subsidized housing, transportation and schools. Unlike most automakers, BYD makes most of its own parts rather than relying on suppliers, another factor that speeds development and lowers costs.

“The survivors will be hugely powerful. But it’s a very cruel and competitive process.”

Chinese automakers’ employees often work six 12-hour days a week, said Peter Matkin, Chery’s chief international-brands engineer. “Global automakers have no idea what they’re up against,” he said.
BYD and Chery each increased sales by about 40% globally in 2024, as U.S. EV pioneer Tesla saw its first annual sales decline, due largely to its aging model lineup. This year, Tesla’s sales are falling as CEO Elon Musk alienates many customers with his right-wing political activities.

Neither Tesla nor Musk commented for this report. Musk said last year that Chinese carmakers could “demolish” competitors.

Chinese automakers’ gains have come at the expense of global rivals. From 2020 to 2024, the top five foreign automakers in China — Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, General Motors and Nissan — collectively saw their passenger-car sales in that market plunge from 9.4 million annually to 6.4 million, according to data provided to Reuters by consultancy Automobility. Today’s top five Chinese automakers saw sales more than double to 9.5 million last year from 4.6 million vehicles in 2020.

China’s leading foreign automaker, Volkswagen, now develops vehicles with China’s Xpeng, a fast-growing EV maker. Other global automakers, including Toyota and Stellantis, have pursued similar partnerships with Chinese counterparts to learn how they operate.
CEOs and other executives at global automakers including Ford, VW, Stellantis, GM, Renault and others have openly acknowledged the fierce competitive threat posed by Chinese rivals, often citing their development speed. VW’s China chief Ralf Brandstaetter, at April’s Shanghai auto show, touted efforts to speed development of models to compete with Chinese EVs and hybrids, saying it aimed to “be as fast and as competitive as a Chinese startup.”

That’s a reversal: Until about a decade ago, China’s automakers often copied foreign rivals. Chery once made Chevy lookalikes. BYD made Toyota knockoffs.
After mimicking foreign vehicles, China’s industry started scrutinizing competitors’ engineering processes and devising their own different — and faster — paths to product launches, said Allen Han, a professor of automotive studies at Shanghai’s Tongji University and a veteran of Ford and two Chinese automakers.
Chinese engineers have essentially concluded that global industry-standard vetting processes are a wasteful pursuit of “excessive quality,” Han said.
Instead, Chinese automakers release good-enough vehicles quickly, with far fewer prototypes and a fail-fast philosophy mirroring Silicon Valley tech startups, industry executives and experts said. They lean more on simulations and artificial intelligence than real-world testing for safety and durability. They treat model launches more like the start than the end of development, adding frequent upgrades based on consumer feedback.
This urgency stems in part from fierce competition that’s creating more losers than winners: 93 of 169 automakers operating in China have market shares below 0.1%, according to research firm JATO Dynamics. Few make a profit, a struggle exacerbated by overcapacity. China’s assembly lines can produce 54 million cars annually, almost double the 27.5 million the factories produced last year, according to consultancy Gasgoo Research Institute. With supply exceeding demand, automakers are slashing prices.

“The survivors will be hugely powerful,” said Xpeng President Brian Gu. “But it’s a very cruel and competitive process.”
China’s EV-price war sparked alarm after BYD in May discounted 20 models, including its entry-level Seagull, which was selling for 55,800 yuan ($7,789), opens new tab. Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun called the industry “unhealthy,” citing an increasingly common industry practice of dumping surplus new-vehicle inventory by selling zero-mileage cars as “used” at steep discounts in China.

To offset losses, China automakers are racing to boost exports globally. In many countries, their vehicles fetch prices on par with comparable models from global automakers – and about double the retail prices the Chinese-brand cars sell for at home.

“Traditional automakers can’t compete on price because the Chinese will always win,” said Phil Dunne, managing director of Stax consulting, who has worked with global and Chinese automakers. But in markets such as Europe, established global automakers “still have a better understanding of the customer; they have invested heavily in new models and their products are getting better.”

COMPANY TOWN

At BYD’s Shenzhen headquarters, cars and buses carrying workers traverse a dozen gates into the campus, a warren of low-rise buildings. Laundry hangs on balconies of employee-housing blocks. Youthful employees busy themselves inside offices and product-testing warehouses, many wearing blue uniforms, untucked shirts and tennis shoes.
“We’re into that kind of young energy, young talent,” said spokesperson Delilah Zhou, who lives in one of many company-subsidized apartments.
The vibe is glitzier at a BYD museum on the campus. Visitors including Reuters journalists recently test-drove two top-of-the-range BYD electric vehicles, the Yangwang U8 SUV and the U9 supercar – a $233,000, 1,300-horsepower two-seater that dances and jumps.

The scene underscored BYD’s ambition to compete in every global market and segment. The automaker increased its China sales from about 400,000 cars in 2020 to more than 3.7 million last year with a dizzying array of models. BYD said it added 200,000 employees – more than General Motors’ entire workforce – in one hiring binge between August and October 2024.
BYD’s market capitalization is $141 billion, almost triple that of VW but still a fraction of Tesla’s near-$1 trillion value, by far the highest of any automaker.

BYD’s product-launch pace, however, leaves Tesla’s in the dust, and BYD sells more than double the number of cars annually. Tesla has five models, only two of which sell in volume. Since Tesla launched its best-selling Model Y in 2020, BYD has rolled out more than 40 all-new vehicles and more than 139 updated or refreshed models, according to JATO data.
Unlike Tesla, BYD also has a thriving gas-electric hybrid business. BYD offers so many models and variants, under four brands, that spokesperson Zhou struggled to recall them all.
“So many,” she said with a laugh. “We have a different strategy than Tesla.”
BYD’s founder and chairman, Wang Chuanfu, has been as pivotal to BYD as Musk has been to Tesla. Yet he is more focused on cars than Musk, the brash South African-born tycoon with a sprawling portfolio of other industrial ventures.
Wang spends many nights in Shenzhen employee housing, eats simple meals and works long days, sometimes in a BYD uniform, two BYD investors and others who know him told Reuters. Unlike many Chinese executives, who are chauffeured around, he often drives himself, said Zhang Wei, a former top-10 stakeholder.

“His life is all about BYD – nothing else,” said Zhang. “This guy is cheap. He’s saving money for you.”
Wang has built BYD’s immense workforce in part by paying modest salaries and recruiting from second-tier colleges, the investors told Reuters. Wang operates with a flat leadership structure with many direct reports, said Mark Blundell, BYD’s UK marketing manager.
“There are few layers between us and the chairman,” he said. “You get decisions quickly, giving us agility and speed.”
Another factor in BYD’s efficiency: its ability to make most components itself rather than buying from suppliers. The Seal electric sedan, for instance, contains 75% in-house parts, compared with 46% for Tesla’s Model 3 and 35% for VW’s electric ID.3, according to an AlixPartners analysis.
Engineers at BYD and other Chinese automakers are willing to change designs and components later in the model-development process than foreign competitors, which employ strict timelines and vetting milestones.
That contrast was evident when Toyota entered a joint venture with BYD to develop Toyota’s bZ3 electric sedan, a China-only EV released in early 2023, according to two Toyota employees. Toyota’s team, one of the people said, was “flabbergasted” by BYD’s willingness to make design and part changes late in development.

Toyota, renowned for vehicle reliability and exacting manufacturing processes, rarely makes significant changes once it has fixed a model’s specifications at the beginning of a four-year development process, the Toyota employees said. Unlike most Chinese automakers, Toyota typically builds six different prototype versions of a model and bulletproofs its reliability in tens of thousands of miles of test-driving.
Toyota engineers came away impressed with BYD’s go-fast approach but wary of risks to long-term reliability, the Toyota staffers said. BYD, one said, offers a “bag full of lessons” but few that Toyota would adopt. Skipping prototypes and road-testing and embarking on late-stage design changes, the person said, amount to “a big no-no in our world” because of worries about “an impact on quality.”
The automaker continues to question and monitor BYD’s long-term durability, the person said.
Toyota declined to comment on the differences between its approach and BYD’s.
Wang told reporters as early as 2008 that BYD would one day outsell Toyota, the world’s largest automaker. Recently, BYD told investors, it plans to sell half its vehicles outside China by 2030 – a goal that, if achieved, could mean BYD takes Toyota’s crown.
But BYD could struggle to sustain its breakneck sales-growth pace outside China – especially if other major markets erect trade barriers like the United States, where Chinese-brand vehicles are all but banned.
“It will be pretty challenging for BYD to reach that goal without access to the U.S. market,” said Tu Le, founder of consultancy Sino Auto Insights, of BYD’s global sales target.

LEGACY AUTOMAKERS ‘CAN’T DO SPEED’

Zeekr, a premium brand of Chinese giant Geely, has worked to perfect its flexible manufacturing approach – a process originally developed by Japanese automakers that allows building a variety of models on one line. On a Reuters visit to its factory in the eastern city of Ningbo, one line shifted without pause between models including Zeekr’s 001 sedan, 009 minivan and the Polestar 4, an electric sedan from another Geely brand.
The vehicles’ journey from idea to assembly is accelerated by round-the-clock engineering. Zeekr engineers in Shanghai and Hangzhou pass work at the end of each day to colleagues at its design center in Gothenburg, Sweden, enabling up to 20 uninterrupted hours of development, said Zeekr Vice President Yun Xu, a project manager for several models.
All major automakers have embraced digital design, virtual reality and artificial intelligence to varying degrees. But Chinese automakers such as Zeekr have pushed further into such technologies to slash development time, industry experts said.

Gothenburg engineers run high-speed digital simulations by plugging individual components into a “hardware-in-the-loop” system, which tests basic parts such as turn signals in a half-hour and gives feedback. Tests on more-critical components, such as brakes or suspension, take several days. Zeekr also has a simulator – shaped like a car – where a human driver tests vehicle systems by running them through digital driving scenarios that replace real-world product-testing.
Legacy automakers tend to work in a linear fashion, with departments waiting their turn to work on parts or systems. Chinese automakers deploy teams in parallel. Zeekr’s Xu estimated that using “old processes” would “double or triple” Zeekr’s development time.
Chinese automakers also save time and money by using standardized vehicle platforms and components across model lines to a greater degree than many global automakers. Mingji Fang, a technical and commercial feasibility specialist at Zeekr, said the EV maker uses artificial intelligence to mine a digital library containing 20 years of Geely designs and tell engineers which existing parts will work best and cost least.
At April’s Shanghai auto show, Matt Noone, design executive at GM’s Buick brand, didn’t hesitate when asked to name the toughest aspect of competing in China.

“Being able to match their speed is the continuous challenge,” said Noone. Buick aims to cut model development time from four years to two, he said.
The Buick GL8, a premium minivan, remains a strong seller in the market for GM, which in recent years has seen a rapid China-sales decline.
GM told Reuters it has been taking steps to improve its product competitiveness in China.
Volkswagen is leaning on Xpeng and joint-venture partner FAW in China, opens new tab as part of its plans to launch 30 EVs and hybrids by 2030. VW didn’t respond to questions about its China operation or development process.
Christian Hering, Zeekr’s chief platform architect for Europe, previously developed navigation software at a Volkswagen supplier for three years starting in 2017. VW’s real-world testing protocols were rigid, he said: Even slight software tweaks were treated like physical-component changes – each requiring 25,000 kilometers (15,534 miles) of road-testing. Hering said he once changed the color of the trees depicted in a Volkswagen navigation system. That simple switch required 75,000 kilometers of tests because it was for three markets – North America, China and Europe.
“That’s why traditional carmakers can’t do speed,” Hering said.
Despite their short-cutting of vetting processes, China-brand models have consistently won top five-star safety ratings from Euro New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP), a leading crash-tester.
“Forget what you might think – that Chinese means lower quality or lower safety performance,” said Matthew Avery, Euro NCAP’s director of strategic development. The quality of modern Chinese-brand vehicles, he said, is “better than others.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/investigations/how-chinas-new-auto-giants-left-gm-vw-tesla-dust-2025-07-03/

U.S. immigration authorities have arrested Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Los Angeles and plan to deport him, they said on Thursday, just days after he lost a high-profile bout to American rival Jake Paul.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Chavez was determined to be in the country illegally last week after he made fraudulent statements on a 2024 application for permanent residence. He is married to a U.S. citizen, it said.

Michael Goldstein, a lawyer for Chavez, said more than two dozen immigration agents arrested the boxer at his home in the Studio City area of Los Angeles on Wednesday.
“The current allegations are outrageous and appear to be designed as a headline to terrorize the community,” Goldstein said.
Homeland Security said that the 39-year-old boxer, son of Mexican world champion fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, is suspected of ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, which Washington has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
His wife, Frida Munoz Chavez, was previously married to the son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison. The son, Edgar, was assassinated in 2008.

Chavez is the target of a Mexican arrest warrant on allegations of involvement in organized crime and firearms trafficking, DHS said.

In Mexico, Chavez’ family said in a statement they “fully trust in his innocence.”
Chavez lost to influencer-turned-boxer Paul, 28, last weekend before a sold-out crowd in Anaheim, California, in a unanimous decision after 10 rounds.
He was allowed to enter the United States temporarily in early January under former President Joe Biden, DHS said. He had previously overstayed a tourist visa, it said.
The agency said Chavez was convicted in Los Angeles in 2024 on weapons charges. Goldstein denied he was convicted, saying he pleaded not guilty and was granted mental health diversion which will result in dismissal of the charges.
Chavez won the WBC middleweight championship in 2011, but lost the title the next year.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mexican-boxer-chavez-jr-arrested-by-us-immigration-officers-dhs-says-2025-07-03/

The El Rancho Unified School District released video that allegedly shows ICE and Border Patrol agents urinating at a school campus in Pico Rivera.

The incident happened the morning of June 17. The school district says that 10 marked and unmarked cars with federal agents pulled into Salazar High School at 9115 Balfour Street. Campus cameras captured some of those agents urinating on school grounds, school district leaders said.

School board leaders called the federal agents’ actions “deeply disturbing.”

“This occurred in broad daylight, commencing at approximately 8:54 a.m. to approximately 9:04 a.m.,” said ERUSD Board President John Contreras.

The District says the agents were from both ICE and CBP, and they urinated behind storage boxes right near a playground. The storage containers are also visible from a neighboring public park and nearby Valencia Elementary School.

Salazar High School was not in session at the time, but district leaders say summer classes were going on at the elementary school.

The district also says the agents came without a warrant and left once they were asked to.

“They also did not exercise sound and respectful judgment, with the risk of exposing themselves to minors and committing a public offense under California law,” Contreras said.

On the same day as the high school incident, federal immigration agents were captured on video aggressively detaining a 20-year-old at a nearby Pico Rivera shopping center.

Adrian Martinez is a U.S. citizen but now faces a felony charge of conspiracy to interfere or impede a federal agent. He tried to intervene as agents detained a janitor. But now, with this new video released Wednesday by El Rancho Unified, the actions of federal agents in Pico Rivera are again causing concerns.

A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security sent Eyewitness News the following comment:

“This matter is under investigation.”

Meanwhile, school district leaders are calling for a federal investigation into what agents did near those storage containers on the campus.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents Pico Rivera, issued the following statement:

Source : https://abc7.com/post/immigration-agents-caught-video-urinating-high-school-pico-rivera-el-rancho-unified-district-says/16926163/

The U.S. government is preparing to breed billions of flies and dump them out of airplanes over Mexico and southern Texas to fight a flesh-eating maggot.

That sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government’s plans for protecting the U.S. from a bug that could devastate its beef industry, decimate wildlife and even kill household pets. This weird science has worked well before.

“It’s an exceptionally good technology,” said Edwin Burgess, an assistant professor at the University of Florida who studies parasites in animals, particularly livestock. “It’s an all-time great in terms of translating science to solve some kind of large problem.”

The targeted pest is the flesh-eating larva of the New World Screwworm fly. The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to ramp up the breeding and distribution of adult male flies — sterilizing them with radiation before releasing them. They mate with females in the wild, and the eggs laid by the female aren’t fertilized and don’t hatch. There are fewer larvae, and over time, the fly population dies out.

It is more effective and environmentally friendly than spraying the pest into oblivion, and it is how the U.S. and other nations north of Panama eradicated the same pest decades ago. Sterile flies from a factory in Panama kept the flies contained there for years, but the pest appeared in southern Mexico late last year.

The USDA expects a new screwworm fly factory to be up and running in southern Mexico by July 2026. It plans to open a fly distribution center in southern Texas by the end of the year so that it can import and distribute flies from Panama if necessary.

Fly feeds on live flesh

Most fly larvae feed on dead flesh, making the New World screwworm fly and its Old World counterpart in Asia and Africa outliers — and for the American beef industry, a serious threat. Females lay their eggs in wounds and, sometimes, exposed mucus.

“A thousand-pound bovine can be dead from this in two weeks,” said Michael Bailey, president elect of the American Veterinary Medicine Association.

Veterinarians have effective treatments for infested animals, but an infestation can still be unpleasant — and cripple an animal with pain.

Don Hineman, a retired western Kansas rancher, recalled infected cattle as a youngster on his family’s farm.

“It smelled nasty,” he said. “Like rotting meat.”

How scientists will use the fly’s biology against it

The New World screwworm fly is a tropical species, unable to survive Midwestern or Great Plains winters, so it was a seasonal scourge. Still, the U.S. and Mexico bred and released more than 94 billion sterile flies from 1962 through 1975 to eradicate the pest, according to the USDA.

The numbers need to be large enough that females in the wild can’t help but hook up with sterile males for mating.

One biological trait gives fly fighters a crucial wing up: Females mate only once in their weekslong adult lives.

Why the US wants to breed more flies

Alarmed about the fly’s migration north, the U.S. temporarily closed its southern border in May to imports of live cattle, horses and bison and it won’t be fully open again at least until mid-September.

But female flies can lay their eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal, and that includes humans.

Decades ago, the U.S. had fly factories in Florida and Texas, but they closed as the pest was eradicated.

The Panama fly factory can breed up to 117 million a week, but the USDA wants the capacity to breed at least 400 million a week. It plans to spend $8.5 million on the Texas site and $21 million to convert a facility in southern Mexico for breeding sterile fruit flies into one for screwworm flies.

How to raise hundreds of millions of flies

In one sense, raising a large colony of flies is relatively easy, said Cassandra Olds, an assistant professor of entomology at Kansas State University.

But, she added, “You’ve got to give the female the cues that she needs to lay her eggs, and then the larvae have to have enough nutrients.”

Fly factories once fed larvae horse meat and honey and then moved to a mix of dried eggs and either honey or molasses, according to past USDA research. Later, the Panama factory used a mix that included egg powder and red blood cells and plasma from cattle.

In the wild, larvae ready for the equivalent of a butterfly’s cocoon stage drop off their hosts and onto the ground, burrow just below the surface and grow to adulthood inside a protective casing making them resemble a dark brown Tic Tac mint. In the Panama factory, workers drop them into trays of sawdust.

Security is an issue. Sonja Swiger, an entomologist with Texas A&M University’s Extension Service, said a breeding facility must prevent any fertile adults kept for breeding stock from escaping.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/fly-factories-cattle-screwworm-texas-baf01b846d38e34d9ff1c1414cd752a4

They’re flushing millions down the toilets.

The city dumped a whopping $5 million to install five new stainless steel toilets at public parks — even though the futuristic pods sell at a relatively cheap retail value of about $185,000.

The “Portland Loos” cost $1 million each with “additional site specific costs” that included related plumbing, electrical and pavement work that went along with the installation, officials said — but some Big Apple residents said the price tag is totally loo-dicrous.

“That frustrates me,” said Bushwick resident Tiv Adler, 29, at Irving Square Park in Brooklyn on Thursday. “I wish we could reallocate that money to more resources for the public.”

But others said when you gotta go, you gotta have somewhere to go — even though the pod at Hoyt Playground was locked Thursday afternoon.

“At this point, I feel like we should actually be able to use it,” said Valeria Martinez, 23, who called the initiative a “waste of money.”

“I think it’ll probably take around a month or two for it to be gross, and be locked again probably,” she added.

The new toilets are part of a long-awaited $6 million pilot program, according to City Hall. Other spots where the facilities have been installed are Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, Thomas Jefferson Park in Manhattan and Father Macris Park in Staten Island.

“Let’s be honest, when nature calls, New Yorkers shouldn’t have to cut their fun short,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

“We’re proud to be rolling out our new, sleek bathrooms across all five boroughs, which will ensure New Yorkers across our city can soak up more of the sun this summer with friends and loved ones without having to worry about where to go when they have to go.”

The new locations were chosen in neighborhoods that needed some relief with more options for restrooms and many saw the cost as worth it.

“I think public restrooms are a huge issue,” said Williamsburg resident Mike Graffiti, 27. “Does a million sound a little steep? Yeah … there’s a lot of other factors that come into it, where it’s just expensive to do things in New York City because that’s how it is.”

But even the most optimistic New Yorkers were concerned about the cleanliness of the Portland Loos, first used in 2008 by the city in Oregon.

“Will it stay clean? We don’t know,” said Bushwick local Elise Verstraete, 39. “If they lock it at night, it may be, and as long as they maintain it.

“No one [bathroom] is ever that clean,” Verstraete added. “Plus, with the amount of homeless people that trickle in here in the evening, I believe they close [the park] down at night so that might be a good preventative measure, but I don’t think that’s going to stop it.”

The “deluxe” pods include a baby changing station, anti-graffiti walls, and angled louvers for officials to monitor criminal activity.

The facilities can also be connected to full utilities for year-round use, are ADA-accessible and are designed to last decades, if maintained properly.

The new potties are part of Adams’ June 2024 “Ur In Luck” initiative, which aims to expand public bathroom access citywide with nearly 50 new public bathrooms slated to be built and an additional 36 existing facilities set to be renovated through 2029.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/07/03/us-news/five-futuristic-new-toilets-debut-at-nyc-parks-costing-city-1m-a-pop-a-little-steep/

India has signed a Quad joint statement that condemned the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir but refrained from criticising Pakistan.

A meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quad ended with a joint statement condemning the carnage “in the strongest terms” but kept mum on the links of the terrorists with Pakistan and even refrained from identifying the scene of the attack as within the territory of India.

The Quad is a four-nation coalition forged by India, Australia, Japan, and the United States to counter China’s expansionist and hegemonic aspirations in the Indo-Pacific region. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar joined US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Australian and Japanese foreign ministers, Penny Wong and Takeshi Iwaya, at the meeting of the Quad foreign ministers in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.

India recently declined to sign a joint communiqué that was proposed to be issued at the end of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Qingdao in China. The draft joint statement had taken note of the SCO’s concerns over the situation in Baluchistan in Pakistan, but had been silent on the terrorist attack in J&K of India. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who had attended the meeting, had refused to sign the document, and, as a result, it had not been issued by the SCO, which comprised India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Iran, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The Quad, unlike the SCO, however, did not completely omit any reference to the terrorist attack in J&K. The four-nation coalition unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and renewed it commitment to counterterrorism cooperation. “We condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025, which claimed the lives of 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen, while injuring several others. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and extend our heartfelt wishes for a swift and full recovery to all those injured,” the four-nation coalition stated. “We call for the perpetrators, organisers, and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay and urge all UN Member States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant UN Security Council resolution, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard,” stated the foreign ministers of the Quad.

After the April 22 carnage, The Resistance Force (TRF) – a proxy of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba – claimed responsibility for the attack.

The LeT has its headquarters in Pakistan and has been carrying out attacks in India.

Though many nations condemned the latest carnage in J&K, most of them refrained from calling out Pakistan for persistently sponsoring terrorism against India. During the May 7-10 cross-border military offensive and counter-offensive between India and Pakistan, several nations urged New Delhi to exercise restraint or work with Islamabad to diffuse tensions.

President Donald Trump of the US and his administration re-hyphenated India and Pakistan and, despite New Delhi’s rebuttals, claimed credit for brokering a ceasefire between the two South Asian neighbours. Trump said after the terrorist attack in J&K that he was close to both India and Pakistan, and the two nations had been fighting over Kashmir for 1000 years.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/india/india-signs-quad-statement-that-condemns-pahalgam-terror-attack-but-refrains-from-blaming-pakistan-3613273

SEAN “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail as the disgraced mogul’s admission of violence during closing arguments comes back to bite him in his quest for freedom.

Judge Arun Subramaniam denied Combs’ defense team’s sprawling $1 million bail package that would have required the Bad Boy Records executive, 55, to surrender his passport, be on an ankle monitor, and restrict his travel.

Combs’ upbeat demeanour darkened, his mouth dropped, and his eyes widened after learning that he will remain in federal custody until his sentencing.

The judge tentatively set sentencing for October 3, but scheduled a July 8 hearing where he will rule on whether to push the date up per the defense’s request.

In his ruling, Judge Subramanian cited his past bail denial rulings and also underscored Combs and his defense team’s confession of domestic violence throughout the trial.

“Even if the defendant was solely required to show that he is not a danger to the community, he could not meet that burden,” the judge said.

“The defense conceded the defendant’s violence. You full-throatedly in your closing arguments told the jury that there was violence here.”

The judge outlined the disturbing 2016 surveillance footage from the Inter-Continental hotel involving Combs’ brutal assault on Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura.

“There was the London Hotel incident. There was violence after the searches in this case,” Judge Subramanian added, referring to the raids on Combs’ properties in Beverly Hills and Miami.

“As to Jane, there was June 2024 after the searches of Combs’ residences. This evidences a disregard for the law and a propensity for violence.”

Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead defense attorney, urged the judge to reconsider his ruling, saying his client had been working to “better himself” before he was arrested in September 2024.

“He is a man who’s in the process of working on himself,” Agnifilo said, adding that Combs has been a “model prisoner” since his arrest.

“I just think we should trust him. He’s not going to flee.”

Agnifilo told the judge that Combs would wish to speak with him, but the offer seemingly went unnoticed.

Judge Subramanian rejected the defense’s pleas to release their client and reaffirmed that the bail application was denied.

Combs hung his head as he was escorted out of the courtroom by US Marshals, who will transport him back to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Before he left the courtroom, Combs faced his family and told them “We’re gonna make it through this. I’ll see you when I get out,” according to CNN.

“I love you all. Be strong.”

SPLIT VERDICT

A jury acquitted Combs on Wednesday of the most serious charges he faced – racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking in regards to Ventura and “Jane,” a pseudonym used for one of Combs’ ex-girlfriends.

The verdict came minutes into the start of the third day of deliberations and less than 24 hours after jurors initially reached a split verdict on Tuesday afternoon.

The charges Combs was convicted of, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, carry a maximum 10-year prison sentence each and no minimum, meaning he could potentially walk free.

Racketeering conspiracy carried a life sentence.

Combs pumped his right fist in celebration and embraced his family and defense counsel after the jury acquitted him of the most serious charges.

He smiled, put his hands together in prayer, and mouthed to the jury, “Thank you. Thank you,” according to The New York Times.

Agnifilo, Combs’ lead defense attorney, had asked Judge Subramanian to release his client today ahead of his sentencing as he is now acquitted of the most serious crimes.

Lead US Attorney Maurene Comey vehemently opposed the defense’s proposal, arguing “A person found guilty shall be detained until the judicial officer finds he is not likely to flee or be a danger.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/14592626/sean-diddy-combs-sex-trafficking-trial-verdict/

A POPULAR canned food manufacturer has faced increasing pressure over the years, culminating in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing earlier this week.

The nearly 140-year-old company, which has been a staple on the shelves of retailers including Walmart and Target, officially filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday.

Del Monte Foods is one of the largest producers, distributors, and marketers of branded processed food in the country.

The iconic brand, known for its canned fruits and vegetables, is working to restructure its operations and seek a buyer following years of struggles.

Shifting consumer behavior, supply chain troubles, and increasing operational costs, among other factors, have hit Del Monte Foods hard.

These struggles pushed the company to begin voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey earlier this week, Del Monte Foods shared in a Tuesday press release.

“This is a strategic step forward for Del Monte Foods,” said company CEO Greg Longstreet.

“After a thorough evaluation of all available options, we determined a court-supervised sale process is the most effective way to accelerate our turnaround and create a stronger and enduring Del Monte Foods.

“With an improved capital structure, enhanced financial position and new ownership, we will be better positioned for long-term success.”

As part of the bankruptcy process, Del Monte Foods will secure $912.5 million from its lenders to help fund the brand and keep it operational throughout its sale process.

The Company also filed several customary “first day” motions that will allow Del Monte Foods to continue to deliver high-quality, healthy, and convenient food products to shoppers.

“While we have faced challenges intensified by a dynamic macroeconomic environment, Del Monte Foods has nourished families for nearly 140 years, and we remain committed to our mission of expanding access to nutritious, great-tasting food for all,” said the CEO.

GROCERY GIANT

Del Monte Foods was established in 1886 in California, growing to become one of the largest packaged fruit and vegetable sellers in the country.

The company, however, has struggled over the years under mounting challenges.

Del Monte has accumulated excessive debt – estimated at between $1 billion and $10 billion – while also struggling with a declining private label business and rising costs from inflation, per a court filing.

The company also faced especially tough sales years in 2023 and 2024 that have driven up its debt.

As sales failed to meet expectations, Del Monte Foods was left with “outsized production commitments” as well as greater costs and higher promotional spending, according to Jonathan Goulding, chief restructuring officer of the company.

The trade war has also taken a toll on Del Monte Foods, as retailers focus their efforts on their store brands to increase their sales and retain low prices in the face of tariffs.

At the same time, the tariff turmoil has weighed down on the canned good industry in particular.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order early last month that doubled tariffs to 50% on steel and aluminum imports.

Del Monte Foods has previously made efforts to turn around its business outlook, including layoffs, shutting down certain production facilities, and beginning a debt overhaul last year.

However, its troubles have outweighed its efforts, with Del Monte Foods becoming the fourth company in the food and beverage sector to file for bankruptcy this year, according to data analytics firm Debtwire.

Outside of the consumables sector, other companies have resorted to Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/money/14611562/del-monte-canned-food-company-walmart-target-bankruptcy/

A TRUCK crash left a grim mess on a major highway after it spilled chicken carcasses across the asphalt.

The accident shut down traffic for nearly half a day.

The semi overturned on Interstate 26, completely blocking the westbound lanes.

It happened Tuesday morning at mile marker 26 near Dorman High School in Spartanburg, South Carolina, about 35 miles northeast of Greenville.

The driver fell asleep at the wheel and ran into a cable barrier, according to South Carolina Highway Patrol.

The impact caused the truck to flip, dumping its load of dead chickens onto the interstate.

Photos shared by the South Spartanburg Fire District show the truck on its side with animal remains scattered across the road.

Crews from the fire district and the South Carolina Department of Transportation responded to the wreck.

Cleanup took hours due to the amount of material on the road, CBS local affiliate WNCN reported.

South Spartanburg Fire District said DOT responded with “sand trucks for a preliminary application” as part of an “extensive cleanup” effort.

No one was injured in the crash, though it resulted in standstill traffic as crews worked to clean up the mess.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol cited the truck driver for driving too fast for the conditions.

All westbound lanes remained closed for almost 12 hours following the crash, which is still under investigation by state troopers.

SPILLS HAPPEN

Strange highway spills like this aren’t a new phenomenon.

Over the years, roads have been covered in all kinds of bizarre cargo, from bees and beer to sex toys and cash.

One Oklahoma crash in 2022 turned Interstate 40 into a slippery scene after a truck dumped adult toys and lubricant across the lanes.

The items belonged to CamSoda, an adult entertainment brand, which lost a large shipment in the crash.

Another wreck in Florida last year spilled Coors Light all over I-75 when a semi clipped another vehicle.

Cans of beer littered the highway and caused a boozy mess that took hours to clear.

In May, millions of bees were released after a truck carrying over 200 hives overturned on I-80 in Utah.

Nearby trails had to be closed as stings sent people to the hospital.

MONEY GRAB

The bizarre spills extend to California, where cash spilled from an armored truck brought traffic to a standstill.

Drivers rushed to grab flying bills and two people were arrested for taking the money.

A weed spill in Missouri saw 500 pounds of marijuana dumped across I-70 in 2022.

Police had said the truck lost control and hit a semi, sparking a chain-reaction crash.

And in Pennsylvania the same year, 100 monkeys were thrown across a highway after a truck transporting them crashed.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/motors/14614547/interstate-closed-truck-overturned-chicken-carcasses-south-carolina/

A SECRET underground facility has been at the heart of one of the wildest alien conspiracies in America, and believers say it’s still active.

For nearly 50 years, the base has been tied to chilling claims of genetic experiments, UFOs, and a deadly firefight between aliens and humans.

Some conspiracy theorists say the government is hiding a war that broke out after workers accidentally drilled into an alien domain.

They believe the hidden base is located inside Archuleta Mesa, near the remote town of Dulce, New Mexico.

The area has been dubbed “Alien Mountain” by locals who claim to have seen strange creatures, glowing crafts, and mutilated cattle.

Although no hard evidence has ever confirmed the existence of a facility inside the mesa, researchers and residents remain convinced it’s real.

“The whole town of Dulce, whoever you want to talk to, they’ll tell you what they’ve seen, a lot of them,” resident Geraldine Julian told the Santa Fe New Mexican in 2016.

She said she once saw a creature with the lower half of a goat and the upper body of a human, a supposed product of an alien experimentation.

Other locals say they have seen steam rising from the mountain, and even claim to have photos of UFOs flying nearby.

Dory Vigil, who snapped one of the eerie photos, said he would take a lie detector test to prove he is telling the truth.

“It’s not just a fairy tale,” Julian said.

“All the things are true, and I believe every last one of them, too, because I’ve seen it myself.”

Much of the modern conspiracy theory centers around author, ex-government employee, and conspiracy theorist Phil Schneider, who claimed he helped build the base, per the Daily Mail.

Schneider, who died in 1996, alleged that during construction, his team accidentally breached an alien section and triggered a deadly shootout underground.

He said 66 people were killed, including military personnel and scientists, and showed off missing fingers as proof of his injuries.

He also described a seven-level facility with sections devoted to alien housing, mind control, and advanced tech.

Before his death, Schneider toured UFO conventions with a piece of metal he said came from the base, allegedly used today in stealth aircraft.

While skeptics dismissed him, newly declassified documents have sparked fresh interest in whether such a base could be real.

Government records show that in the 1970s, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory developed a nuclear-powered tunneling machine called the Subterrene.

The device was designed to melt rock and carve smooth tunnels underground.

Los Alamos is located just 100 miles from Dulce.

Though there’s no official record linking the Subterrene to the mesa, conspiracy research says it shows the tech may have existed to build such a base.

The first rumors began in the mid-1970s, when New Mexico State Police officer Gabe Valdez investigated mutilated cattle near the area.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14609837/underground-base-ufo-alien-new-mexico-conspiracy-dulce/

Mercosur, South America’s largest trade bloc, on Wednesday signed a trade deal with the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

The EFTA is made up of Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, while Mercosur comprises full members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, as well as associate members Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname.

The deal, which has been a decade in the making, will establish a free trade area between the two blocs that covers nearly 300 million people and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $4.3 trillion (€3.64 trillion).

“Both sides will benefit from improved market access for more than 97% of their exports, which will boost bilateral trade and bring benefits to businesses and people,” the organizations said in a joint statement.

What else do we know about the trade deal?

The “comprehensive and broad-based” Free Trade Agreement (FTA) covers trade of goods, services, investment, and intellectual property rights, among a range of other sectors.

The FTA will also see the removal of customs duties, which is designed to boost trade between the two blocs.

The agreement, which was announced as Mercosur leaders gathered for a summit hosted by Argentine President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, still needs to be approved by parliaments from countries in both blocs.

Exploratory talks between EFTA and Mercosur began in 2015, with negotiations formally opening two years later. Fourteen rounds of talks have been held since.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/south-americas-mercosur-europes-efta-bloc-seal-trade-deal/a-73134998

 

With large parts of Europe gripped in a record-breaking heat wave, the European Commission has proposed that the bloc reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2040. That’s in comparison to levels back in 1990, and on track to meet the target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

The binding emissions reduction target was first proposed last year, and came after months of tough negotiations among member states. The existing target requires the EU to reduce net emissions by at least 55% by 2030; in May, the Commission said the bloc had already cut climate-warming emissions by 37%.

The new target will give certainty to investors, “strengthen industrial leadership of our businesses, and increase Europe’s energy security,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday.

But not all member states are on board with the plan, and a controversial flexibility clause on buying carbon credits on international markets has activists crying foul.

‘Carbon credits is simply magical thinking’

Under the proposal, EU member states could purchase international carbon credits on green projects in third countries from 2036 onward, using them to offset up to 3% of the benchmark 1990 emissions.

“This can provide a safety-net to ensure a 90% target is achievable as we are closing on climate neutrality,” the commission said.

But climate activists have said the flexibility clause was included due to pressure from member states like France and Germany, along with major industry lobbyists, at the cost of reduced investments at home.

Mathieu Mal, a climate and agriculture expert at the European Environment Bureau, said the 3% flexibility clause was a “bad idea” for a variety of reasons.

“What this means is that the EU would be investing in other countries outside the bloc to reduce their emissions, and that’s problematic because we need these investments within the EU. We also have our sectors to decarbonize and we need funds for energy transformation here,” he said.

“Every country across the world needs to commit to climate action. If the EU counts these carbon credits towards its own goals, then what about the countries who also need to reduce their emissions and achieve their own targets?”

In May, the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change advised against outsourcing part of the bloc’s climate efforts, saying it “risk[s] diverting resources from domestic investments and could undermine environmental integrity.” It called on all reduction toward net zero to be “achieved through domestic action.”

Critics of the clause have called it a ruse for heavy polluters who find it cost intensive to decarbonize in Europe and easier to invest in projects abroad that lack sufficient oversight.

“The use of carbon credits is simply magical thinking for a bloc unwilling to live up to its responsibility for causing the climate catastrophe we’re already living through,” said Friends of the Earth Europe. “Carbon credits have a long record of failure and ultimately do not stop Europe emitting more than its fair share of carbon emissions.”

Speaking with DW, Mal highlighted previous concerns about green investments in third nations. “There have been lots of issues in the past. Projects carried out in some countries often don’t have high standards, they often remain just on paper. There are questions if they were ever materialized,” he said.

Is 90% emissions reduction by 2040 too ambitious?

The Commission’s new target has the backing of at least some of the EU member states.

As Denmark takes over the EU’s rotating presidency this week, it has listed the 2040 target as one of its top priorities. “Anyone who says that the green transformation cannot be achieved with high ambition and social justice at the same time should come to Denmark,” said Villy Sövndal, a lawmaker with the European Greens group and Denmark’s former foreign minister.

“Competitiveness in the 21st century is not linked to fossil fuels but to the advancement of the energy transition,” Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s socialist prime minister, said last week at the EU summit in Brussels.

But other countries consider the 2040 target to be too ambitious. Italy has said an 80-85% target for 2040 would be more realistic, and the Czech Republic said Wednesday it disagreed with the commission’s proposal.

Speaking at the EU summit, French President Emmanuel Macron also indicated it was still too early to agree to setting the target for 2040. “The reality is that I want to get my 2030 target right first,” he said, “and take the democratic and political time to convince others to get to 2040.”

While Germany and France both back the 3% flexibility clause, France expects an even higher percentage of the overall goal to be met by purchasing international carbon credits, with some reports suggesting up to 10%.

85% of Europeans believe climate change is serious

According to Teresa Ribera, the EU’s green transition chief, some political groups in the EU continue to deny climate change whereas others lack courage in confronting their constituents about steps required to combat the problem.

“Political courage is needed to understand that there is a difficulty,” she said in an interview with The Guardian on Wednesday. “You need to face it with honesty.”

The EU’s climate plans have raised concerns around the costs of green transition and disruption to industrial growth and livelihood, if decarbonization is carried out without adequate support. However, Ribera believes there is no time to waste.

“Sorry, but it’ll be much more expensive if we don’t act,” she said.

A Eurobarometer survey released this week showed that 85% of Europeans believe climate change is a serious problem and tackling it should be a priority, while 77% agreed that the cost of damage due to climate change is much higher than the investment needed for a net-zero transition.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/amid-severe-heat-wave-eu-pitches-flexible-2040-climate-goal/a-73125560

Three Indian nationals were abducted from Diamond Cement Factory in Mali on July 1 during a terrorist attack.

Three Indian nationals working at a cement factory in Mali were abducted on July 1 after armed assailants carried out a coordinated attack on the facility, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Tuesday. The incident took place at the Diamond Cement Factory located in Kayes, in the western part of the West African nation.

The MEA confirmed that the attack was part of a broader wave of violence on July 1, during which multiple military and government installations across western and central Mali were targeted by terrorists. The identities of the abducted Indian nationals have not yet been made public.

India’s embassy in Bamako, the capital of Mali, is in constant contact with local authorities, law enforcement agencies, and the management of the cement factory. Officials are also in touch with the families of the kidnapped individuals and are providing regular updates.

The government has strongly condemned the incident, calling it a “deplorable act of violence,” and urged Malian authorities to take all necessary steps to ensure the safe and swift release of the hostages. Senior officials in the Ministry of External Affairs are closely monitoring the situation and remain engaged through diplomatic and security channels.

Reiterating that the safety of Indian nationals abroad remains a top priority, the MEA has advised all Indian citizens in Mali to exercise extreme caution, remain vigilant, and stay in close contact with the Indian embassy for further assistance.

Source : https://www.news18.com/world/three-indians-abducted-in-terror-strike-on-cement-plant-govt-says-rescue-efforts-underway-ws-kl-9417513.html

The United States will place a lower-than-promised 20 per cent tariff on many Vietnamese exports, Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Jul 2), cooling tensions with its tenth-biggest trading partner days before the US president could raise levies on most imports.

Vietnamese goods would face a 20 per cent tariff and trans-shipments from third countries through Vietnam will face a 40 per cent levy, he said. Vietnam could import US products with a zero per cent tariff, he added.

“It is my Great Honor to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” Trump said on Truth Social after speaking with Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam.

Trump’s announcement comes just days before a Jul 9 deadline before he ramps up tariffs on most imports, one of the Republican’s signature economic policies.

Under that plan, announced in April, US importers of Vietnamese goods would have had to pay a 46 per cent tariff.

Details were scant. It was not clear which products Trump’s 20 per cent tariff would apply to, or whether some would qualify for lower or higher total duties.

Also left to later discussion was how the new trans-shipment provision, aimed at products largely made in China and then labelled “Made in Vietnam”, would be implemented and enforced.

The Vietnamese government did not confirm the specific tariff levels in a statement celebrating what it described as an agreement on a joint statement about a trade framework.

Vietnam would commit to “providing preferential market access for US goods, including large-engine cars,” the government in Hanoi said.

A deal between the two countries would be a political boost for Trump, whose team has struggled to quickly close deals with Washington’s biggest trading partners ahead of the deadline.

While the administration has teased a forthcoming deal with India, truces reached earlier with Britain and China were limited in scope. Talks with Japan, the US’ sixth-largest trading partner and closest ally in Asia, appeared to hit roadblocks.

The US is Vietnam’s largest export market and the two countries’ growing economic, diplomatic and military ties are a hedge against Washington’s biggest strategic rival, China. Vietnam has worked to retain close relations with both superpowers.

Shares of major US apparel and sportswear makers including Nike, Under Armour and North Face maker VF Corp closed higher on Wednesday on the news.

Lam also asked Trump for the US to recognise Vietnam as a market economy and remove restrictions on the exports of high-tech products to the country, Vietnam said. Those changes have long been sought by Hanoi.

The White House and the Vietnamese trade ministry did not respond to requests for additional comment.

GROWING TRADE TIES

Since Trump imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese goods in his 2017-2021 term, US trade with Vietnam has exploded, though almost all of it in the form of goods to the US from Vietnam as importers sought workarounds for the China levies.

Since 2018, Vietnam’s exports are up nearly threefold from less than US$50 billion that year to about US$137 billion in 2024, Census Bureau data shows. US exports to Vietnam are up only about 30 per cent in that time – to just over US$13 billion last year from less than US$10 billion in 2018.

“‘Transshipping’ is a vague and often politicised term in trade enforcement,” said Dan Martin, business adviser at Dezan Shira & Associates, on LinkedIn.

“How it’s defined and how it’s applied in practice will shape the future of US-Vietnam trade relations.”

Trump announced a wave of tariffs for countries around the world on Apr 2, before pausing the implementation of most duties until Jul 9. More than a dozen countries are actively negotiating with the Trump administration to avoid a steep spike in tariffs on their exports.

Britain accepted a 10 per cent US tariff on many goods, including autos, in exchange for special access for aircraft engines and British beef.

Like the agreement struck with Britain in May, the one with Vietnam resembles a framework rather than a finalised trade pact.

China and the US also came to a truce in a tit-for-tat tariff battle in which Beijing restored American access to some rare-earth minerals, but the two sides left most of their disagreements to later negotiations.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/trump-vietnam-trade-deal-lower-tariffs-5216671

The elderly Dalai Lama assured followers on Wednesday that upon his death he would be reincarnated as the next spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and spelt out a succession process that sets up a renewed clash with China.
The eagerly awaited statement, made days before the frail Nobel peace laureate turns 90, put to rest speculation, started by the Dalai Lama himself, that he may be the last of Tibet’s spiritual leaders, ending a line that stretches back centuries.

Speaking during a week of celebrations in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala to mark his birthday, the Dalai Lama said a non-profit institution he has set up will have sole authority to identify his reincarnation, countering China’s insistence that it will choose his successor.
Beijing reiterated on Wednesday that it had to approve the reincarnation and that it had to be done in China through a centuries-old ritual. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said it would continue calling on China to cease interference in the succession and respect freedom of religion.
Beijing views the Dalai Lama, who fled to India from Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, as a separatist. The Dalai Lama has said his successor will be born outside China and urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing. In previous years, he had also said it was possible that there might be no successor at all.

“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the Dalai Lama said in a video message, setting off claps and cheers from more than 100 monks in maroon robes who had gathered in a library in Dharamshala.
The event was attended by journalists from around the world and an audience of long-time supporters including Hollywood star Richard Gere, sitting in a hall whose walls displayed ornate paintings of the Buddha and photographs of the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama added that the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the non-profit organisation he set up to maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama, has sole authority to recognise his reincarnation in consultation with the heads of Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
“They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition … no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” he said.

Tibetan tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child upon his death.
Born as Lhamo Dhondup on July 6, 1935, to a farming family in what is now Qinghai province, the 14th Dalai Lama was identified as such a reincarnation at age two by a search party based on several signs, such as a vision revealed to a senior monk, the Dalai Lama’s website says.
He is now regarded as one of the world’s most influential religious figures, with a following extending well beyond Buddhism, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

‘OPEN TO VISITING TIBET’

The Dalai Lama was in good health and has not given any written instructions yet on the succession, said Samdhong Rinpoche, a senior official of the Gaden Phodrang Trust.
He told reporters the successor can be of any gender and their nationality would not be restricted to Tibet
Penpa Tsering, leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, said the Dalai Lama would be open to visiting Tibet if his health permits and if there were no restrictions from China. It would be his first visit to the country since 1959.
“It’s entirely dependent on China and the Chinese government,” he said, adding that Beijing had put a condition that if the Dalai Lama visits, he should stay.
“His holiness’ response is ‘If I get to go to Tibet and China, I will go, but I will not live there, because there is no freedom there’. This is also connected with the reincarnation where his holiness says ‘I will be born in a free world'”, Tsering said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China had the right to approve the Dalai Lama’s successor, as a legacy from imperial times, and that Beijing practices a policy of freedom of religious belief.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said it would continue to call on China to return to direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama, his representatives, or democratically elected Tibetan leaders, without preconditions, to “achieve meaningful autonomy for Tibetans.”
“ We will also continue to call on China to cease its interference in the succession of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist lamas and to respect the freedom of religion or belief of individuals of all faiths,” the spokesperson said.
Tsering, leader of the government-in-exile, said the U.S. had lifted some restrictions on funds for Tibetans in exile and that the Tibetan government was also looking for alternate sources of funding.
A selection ritual, in which the names of possible reincarnations are drawn from a golden urn, dates to 1793, during the Qing dynasty.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/china/dalai-lama-says-institution-dalai-lama-will-continue-2025-07-02/

High-level insiders at Paramount Global — the parent company of CBS News — tell Page Six there’s shock following reports that Skydance Media made their own deal with President Trump’s team as part of a settlement over Trump’s “60 Minutes” lawsuit against the media company.

Following news that Paramount settled with Trump for $16 million, Fox Business Network senior correspondent Charles Gasparino posted via X on Wednesday alleging that Skydance boss David Ellison — who’s behind a multibillion dollar merger with Paramount — additionally promised “to run public service announcements as part of the deal, which will bring the all-in settlement to close to $30 million.”

The report is causing turmoil over at Paramount, with a source telling us those with knowledge of the deal are shocked to hear there was any alleged backchanneling.

A source close to the situation tells Page Six that the $16 million was the only settlement sanctioned by an official mediator, and that Paramount knew nothing of an alleged deal between Trump and Ellison for the PSAs.

We hear there was disbelief inside the company when execs learned of the additional commitments alleged in the X post.

A source further claims that PSAs were never approved by the Paramount board, or sanctioned by the mediator.

The Post reported that PSAs were on the negotiating table back in May.

Paramount released a statement on Tuesday night saying: “Paramount will pay $16M in total, which includes plaintiffs’ fees and costs, and except for fees and costs, will be allocated to the future presidential library.”

As part of the deal, CBS is not acknowledging any journalistic wrongdoing with the settlement.

Ellison — whose studio has produced the Tom Cruise blockbusters “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” — has been working on an $8 billion merger with Paramount.

Gasparino reported last month in The Post’s “On the Money” column that Trump regulators were stalling approval of the deal as they investigated whether CBS News violated Federal Communications Commission guidelines that its content must be free of political bias as part of his lawsuit.

Trump had accused the network of election interference over its editing of a “60 Minutes” interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The president was initially seeking $20 billion in the suit.

Paramount’s controlling owner Shari Redstone will reportedly receive a nearly $2 billion payout if the merger between the media conglomerate and Skydance goes through.

There has already been plenty of unrest at the company over Trump’s lawsuit.

“60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens abruptly quit in April — citing a loss of journalistic independence.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/07/02/entertainment/paramount-insider-shock-over-reported-side-deal-with-trump/

Kate Middleton made an emotional admission about her life post-cancer treatment.

While visiting Colchester Hospital on Wednesday, the Princess of Wales described the “really, really difficult” period of her life.

“You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment,” she explained. “Treatment’s done, then it’s like, ‘I can crack on, get back to normal,’ but actually [that’s not the case].”

The 43-year-old noted that despite “not necessarily [being] under the clinical team any longer,” she was unable “to function normally at home as [she] perhaps once used to.”

Middleton added, “[Having] someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment … is really valuable.”

Finding a “new normal … takes time,” the royal continued.

The 43-year-old noted that despite “not necessarily [being] under the clinical team any longer,” she was unable “to function normally at home as [she] perhaps once used to.”

Middleton added, “[Having] someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment … is really valuable.”

Finding a “new normal … takes time,” the royal continued.

She completed her chemotherapy treatment in September 2024, and four months later, revealed her cancer-free status in a lengthy statement.

“I remain focused on recovery,” she wrote in January.

“As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust.”

Middleton has been slowly resuming her royal roles in the last couple of months, most recently attending Trooping the Colour in June.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/07/02/royal-family/kate-middleton-admits-shes-not-able-to-function-normally-after-cancer-treatment/

Meghan Markle’s lifestyle company, As Ever, was forced to issue refunds and offer free food to customers after one of their newly released items was oversold.

Some unlucky customers who purchased the Duchess of Sussex’s apricot spread on June 20 received an email from the company, advising them that their orders could not be fulfilled.

“Due to high demand, we are unable to fulfill your order of the apricot spread at this time,” the email read. “We are refunding the purchase of this item by the end of this week.”

The As Ever team also told the consumers that when the apricot spread was “back in stock,” they would “be the first to receive it, free of charge.”

Several customers shared that they were disappointed with the sales blunder but happy that Markle and her team are rectifying the situation.

“Great news!! I’m getting my two jars of jam!! Unfortunately, I’m only getting one jar of the apricot jam, but I’m getting refunded and they will send a jar the next time!! I can’t wait! #AsEver,” one costumer on X wrote.

“Just received a message from AsEver. They cannot fill my order of 1 jam but are refunding me and sending me a free jar in the next order. I like the way they take care of customers,” another praised.

“😢😢😢😢 Has anyone else received this? I’m so bummed. But at the same time…WOW, they’ll send me a FREE jar once it becomes available,” a third fan tweeted alongside a screenshot of the email from As Ever.

“Shout out to #AsEver! I got my order today sans the apricot spread. BUT I had an email that because they couldn’t fullfill it not only are they refunding me they promised me a freebie when it’s back in stock! That’s over & above but I’d expect nothing less from Meghan & the team,” a fourth person gushed.

In April, Markle, 43, was forced to apologize for being unable to fulfill customers’ orders after As Ever’s limited-edition honey sold out.

In addition to receiving refunds, the unlucky shoppers were also promised they would receive her next limited-edition item in the mail “as a gift from [Markle].”

In February, the mom of two announced on Instagram that her company, American Riviera Orchard, would be renamed as As Ever after her original brand name faced several trademark snags.

Since the rebrand, the former “Suits” actress has faced criticism.

Most recently, jam guru Donna Collins slammed Markle’s new apricot spread after it quickly sold out online.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/07/02/celebrity-news/meghan-markle-forced-to-issue-refunds-after-her-latest-stock-issue/

Guests attending Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s days-long, $50 million wedding lineup in Venice were allegedly left exhausted halfway through the extravagant affair.

“What people won’t know from the pictures is how exhausting and full-on it was for the guests,” a source told the Daily Mail on Tuesday.

The insider noted that the summer heat — as well as the constant back and forth between venues —made the entire over-the-top itinerary difficult for attendees to get through.

“The heat didn’t help but people were forever needing to get around Venice, which means by boat, and that was a hassle and took ages,” the source said.

“And there were a lot of people who all needed to get to the same place at the same time,” the source added.

A-list invitees were allegedly grumbling about the less-than-restful schedule of events.

“People were complaining about being completely tired by the time of the wedding day, never mind the day after,” the source alleged.

Festivities kicked off last Thursday night with a welcome dinner at the Madonna dell’Orto Church in Cannaregio, as guests were spotted arriving via water taxis and boats, including the bride and groom.

Sánchez stunned in a structured gold Schiaparelli haute couture gown with floral embellishments for the first lavish soirée.

The next day, the Amazon founder, 61, and Sánchez, 55, said “I do” at the breathtaking basilica on San Giorgio Maggiore island. The “Fly Who Flew to Space” author looked glam in a corseted, long-sleeve lace gown by Dolce & Gabbana for their nuptials.

The celebrations continued into Saturday with a luxurious pajama party where performers included Usher and DJ Cassidy.

A slew of celebrities were present at the three-day affair, including Mick Jagger, Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sydney Sweeney, Jerry Seinfeld, Orlando Bloom, Jessica Alba, Bill Gates, Brooks Nader and Ivanka Trump.

Also present were Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Kendall Kenner, Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner.

A source told Page Six last week that Kris allegedly pushed for Khloé, Kendall and Kylie to be invited to the wedding.

“Originally, the quintet was going to be a duo of just Kim [Kardashian] and Kris,” our source said, adding, “But Mama Kris asked Lauren if she could bring the other three when they were in Paris for the bachelorette party.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/07/02/celebrity-news/jeff-bezos-and-lauren-sanchez-exhausted-guests-during-their-50m-days-long-wedding-extravaganza/

American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Associated Press.

Two U.S. contractors, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were revealing their employers’ internal operations, said they were coming forward because they were disturbed by what they considered dangerous and irresponsible practices. They said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open license to do whatever they wished.

They said their colleagues regularly lobbed stun grenades and pepper spray in the direction of the Palestinians. One contractor said bullets were fired in all directions — in the air, into the ground and at times toward the Palestinians, recalling at least one instance where he thought someone had been hit.

“There are innocent people being hurt. Badly. Needlessly,” the contractor said.

He said American staff on the sites monitor those coming to seek food and document anyone considered “suspicious.” He said they share such information with the Israeli military.

Videos provided by one of the contractors and taken at the sites show hundreds of Palestinians crowded between metal gates, jostling for aid amid the sound of bullets, stun grenades and the sting of pepper spray. Other videos include conversation between English-speaking men discussing how to disperse crowds and encouraging each other after bursts of gunfire.

The testimonies from the contractors — combined with the videos, internal reports and text messages obtained by the AP — offer a rare glimpse inside the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the newly created, secretive American organization backed by Israel to feed the Gaza Strip’s population. Last month, the U.S. government pledged $30 million for the group to continue operations — the first known U.S. donation to the group, whose other funding sources remain opaque.

Journalists have been unable to access the GHF sites, located in Israeli military-controlled zones. The AP cannot independently verify the contractors’ stories.

A spokesperson for Safe Reach Solutions, the logistics company subcontracted by GHF, told the AP that there have been no serious injuries at any of their sites to date. In scattered incidents, security professionals fired live rounds into the ground and away from civilians to get their attention. That happened in the early days at the “the height of desperation where crowd control measures were necessary for the safety and security of civilians,” the spokesperson said.

Aid operation is controversial

Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, setting off the 21-month war, Israel has bombarded and laid siege to the strip, leaving many teetering on the edge of famine, according to food security experts.

For 2 1/2 months before GHF’s opening in May, Israel blocked all food, water and medicine from entering Gaza, claiming Hamas was stealing the aid being transported under a preexisting system coordinated by the United Nations. It now wants GHF to replace that U.N. system. The U.N. says its Gaza aid operations do not involve armed guards.

Over 57,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since the war erupted, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants.

GHF is an American organization, registered in Delaware and established in February to distribute humanitarian aid during the ongoing Gaza humanitarian crisis. Since the GHF sites began operating more than a month ago, Palestinians say Israeli troops open fire almost every day toward crowds on roads heading to the distribution points, through Israeli military zones. Several hundred people have been killed and hundreds more wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and witnesses.

In response, Israel’s military says it fires only warning shots and is investigating reports of civilian harm. It denies deliberately shooting at any innocent civilians and says it’s examining how to reduce “friction with the population” in the areas surrounding the distribution centers.

AP’s reporting for this article focuses on what is happening at the sites themselves. Palestinians arriving at the sites say they are caught between Israeli and American fire, said the contractor who shared videos with the AP.

“We have come here to get food for our families. We have nothing,” he recounted Palestinians telling him. “Why does the (Israeli) army shoot at us? Why do you shoot at us?”

A spokesperson for the GHF said there are people with a “vested interest” in seeing it fail and are willing to do or say almost anything to make that happen. The spokesperson said the team is composed of seasoned humanitarian, logistics and security professionals with deep experience on the ground. The group says it has distributed the equivalent of more than 50 million meals in Gaza in its food boxes of staples.

GHF says that it has consistently shown compassionate engagement with the people of Gaza.

Throughout the war, aid distribution has been marred by chaos. Gangs have looted trucks of aid traveling to distribution centers and mobs of desperate people have also offloaded trucks before they’ve reached their destination. Earlier this month, at least 51 Palestinians were killed and more than 200 wounded while waiting for the U.N. and commercial trucks to enter the territory, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and a local hospital. Israel’s military acknowledged several casualties as soldiers opened fire on the approaching crowd and said authorities would investigate.

Videos, texts, internal reports document havoc at food sites

AP spoke to the two contractors for UG Solutions, an American outfit subcontracted to hire security personnel for the distribution sites. They said bullets, stun grenades and pepper spray were used at nearly every distribution, even if there was no threat.

Videos of aid being dispensed at the sites seen by the AP appear to back up the frenetic scenes the contractors described. The footage was taken within the first two weeks of its distributions — about halfway into the operations.

In one video, what appear to be heavily armed American security contractors at one of the sites in Gaza discuss how to disperse Palestinians nearby. One is heard saying he has arranged for a “show of force” by Israeli tanks.

“I don’t want this to be too aggressive,” he adds, “because this is calming down.”

At that moment, bursts of gunfire erupt close by, at least 15 shots. “Whoo! Whoo!” one contractor yelps.

“I think you hit one,” one says.

Then comes a shout: “Hell, yeah, boy!”

The camera’s view is obscured by a large dirt mound.

The contractor who took the video told AP that he saw other contractors shooting in the direction of Palestinians who had just collected their food and were departing. The men shot both from a tower above the site and from atop the mound, he said. The shooting began because contractors wanted to disperse the crowd, he said, but it was unclear why they continued shooting as people were walking away.

The camera does not show who was shooting or what was being shot at. But the contractor who filmed it said he watched another contractor fire at the Palestinians and then saw a man about 60 yards (meters) away — in the same direction where the bullets were fired — drop to the ground.

This happened at the same time the men were heard talking — effectively egging each other on, he said.

In other videos furnished by the contractor, men in grey uniforms — colleagues, he said — can be seen trying to clear Palestinians who are squeezed into a narrow, fenced-in passage leading to one of the centers. The men fire pepper spray and throw stun grenades that detonate amid the crowd. The sound of gunfire can be heard. The contractor who took the video said the security personnel usually fire at the ground near the crowds or from nearby towers over their heads.

During a single distribution in June, contractors used 37 stun grenades, 27 rubber-and-smoke “scat shell” projectiles and 60 cans of pepper spray, according to internal text communications shared with the AP.

That count does not include live ammunition, the contractor who provided the videos said.

One photo shared by that contractor shows a woman lying in a donkey cart after he said she was hit in the head with part of a stun grenade.

An internal report by Safe Reach Solutions, the logistics company subcontracted by GHF to run the sites, found that aid seekers were injured during 31% of the distributions that took place in a two-week period in June. The report did not specify the number of injuries or the cause. SRS told the AP the report refers to non-serious injuries.

More videos show frenzied scenes of Palestinians running to collect leftover food boxes at one site. Hundreds of young men crowd near low metal barriers, transferring food from boxes to bags while contractors on the other side of the barriers tell them to stay back.

Some Palestinians wince and cough from pepper spray. “You tasting that pepper spray? Yuck,” one man close to the camera can be heard saying in English.

SRS acknowledged that it’s dealing with large, hungry populations, but said the environment is secure, controlled, and ensures people can get the aid they need safely.

Verifying the videos with audio analysis
To confirm the footage is from the sites, AP geolocated the videos using aerial imagery. The AP also had the videos analyzed by two audio forensic experts who said they could identify live ammunition — including machine-gun fire — coming from the sites, in most cases within 50 to 60 meters of the camera’s microphone.

In the video where the men are heard egging each other on, the echo and acoustics of the shots indicate they’re fired from a position close to the microphone, said Rob Maher, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Montana State University and an author and research expert in audio forensic analysis. Maher and the other analyst, Steven Beck, owner of Beck Audio Forensics, said there was no indication that the videos’ audio had been tampered with.

The analysts said that the bursts of gunfire and the pop sequences in some of the videos indicated that guns were panning in different directions and were not repeatedly aimed at a single target. They could not pinpoint exactly where the shots were coming from nor who was shooting.

GHF says the Israeli military is not deployed at the aid distribution sites. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said the army is not stationed at the sites or within their immediate proximity, especially during operating hours. He said they’re run by an American company and have their own security.

One of the contractors who had been on the sites said he’d never felt a real or perceived threat by Hamas there.

SRS says that Hamas has openly threatened its aid workers and civilians receiving aid. It did not specify where people were threatened.

American analysts and Israeli soldiers work side by side, contractors say

According to the contractor who took the videos, the Israeli army is leveraging the distribution system to access information.

Both contractors said that cameras monitor distributions at each site and that American analysts and Israeli soldiers sit in a control room where the footage is screened in real time. The control room, they said, is housed in a shipping container on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.

The contractor who took the videos said some cameras are equipped with facial recognition software. In live shots of the sites seen by the AP, some videos streams are labeled “analytics” — those were the ones that had the facial recognition software, said the contractor.

If a person of interest is seen on camera — and their information is already in the system — their name and age pops up on the computer screen, said the contractor. Israeli soldiers watching the screens take notes and cross-check the analysts’ information with their own drone footage from the sites, he said.

The contractor said he did not know the source of the data in the facial recognition system. The AP could not independently verify his information.

An internal SRS report from June seen by the AP said that its intel team would circulate to staff a “POI Mugs Card,” that showed photos of Palestinians taken at the sites who were deemed persons of interest.

The contractor said he and other staff were told by SRS to photograph anyone who looked “out of place.” But the criteria were not specified, he said. The contractor said the photos were also added to the facial recognition database. He did not know what was done with the information.

SRS said accusations that it gathers intelligence are false and that it has never used biometrics. It said it coordinates movements with Israeli authorities, a requirement for any aid group in Gaza.

An Israeli security official who was not named in line with the army’s protocol, said there are no security screening systems developed or operated by the army within the aid sites.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/palestinians-israel-gaza-contractors-aid-distribution-fe27f3ea83e06a09d66424eed7a5d56f

US airstrikes on Iran set back the regime’s nuclear program between one to two years, but likely “closer to two,” the Pentagon’s top spokesperson said Wednesday.

“Our assessment of the battle damage around Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan remains unchanged,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told reporters during a press briefing.

“We believe, and certainly all of the intelligence that we’ve seen has led us to believe, that those facilities, especially, have been completely obliterated.”

US allies share the Department of Defense’s internal intelligence assessments of the effectiveness of last month’s military operation on Iran’s uranium enrichment sites, Parnell noted, including how long the Pentagon expects it will now take the Islamic Republic to build a nuclear weapon.

“We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least,” Parnell said.

Last month, President Trump and several top administration officials slammed a leaked preliminary assessment of Operation Midnight Hammer, which reportedly indicated Iran could bring its nuclear program back online in as quickly as one to two months.

The classified Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) bomb damage assessment — reported by the New York Times and CNN — estimated that on the high end, Iran could restart uranium enrichment within a year, according to those who viewed the report.

Multiple B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropped 14, 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear sites as part of Operation Midnight Hammer on June 22.

The attack was complemented by a barrage of dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles fired by a US submarine.

Trump ordered the airstrike after intelligence pointed to Iran getting close to developing a nuclear weapon and after more than a week of back-and-forth strikes between Tehran and Israel.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/07/02/us-news/pentagon-says-iran-nuclear-program-set-back-closer-to-2-years-after-us-strikes/

The family of the Colorado terror suspect who injured 8 Israeli hostage supporters with homemade firebombs last month can be deported, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

US District Court Judge Orlando Garcia dismissed Mohamed Sabry Soliman family’s legal challenge to their deportation — stating that the Trump administration has conducted normal and legal removal proceedings.

Soliman’s wife and five children had sued to prevent expedited removal proceedings, but the judge ruled he “lacks jurisdiction to grant Petitioners the relief they seek.”

Garcia’s decision superseded another court’s ruling last month, when Biden-appointed US District Court Judge Gordon Gallagher slammed the brakes on the Trump administration’s attempt to deport Soliman’s family.

Soliman, 45, and his family moved to the US from Egypt in 2022 but both his work authorization and tourist visas have expired.

Charges against the madman include 12 federal hate crime charges and state charges including two counts of first degree murder.

Disturbing video footage of the June 1 attack in Boulder, Colorado, showed the 45-year-old screaming “Free Palestine” and calling for death to “Zionists” as he tossed Molotov cocktails and sprayed homemade flamethrowers.

Eight victims, four men and four women between 52 and 88 years old, were hospitalized with burn injuries as a result of Soliman’s heartless attack; 21 others suffered injuries but were not hospitalized.

Those victims were supporting “Run for Their Lives” in support of Israeli hostages captured by terror group Hamas.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/07/02/us-news/boulder-terror-suspect-mohamed-solimans-family-can-be-deported-judge-rules-reversing-decision-that-paused-proceedings/

Kyiv has warned that an interruption of US weapons shipments will encourage Russia to prolong the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.

On Tuesday the White House said it had cut off some weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

The decision was taken “to put America’s interests first” following a defence department review of US “military support and assistance to other countries”, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the two countries were now “clarifying all the details on supplies”, while the foreign ministry warned any delays “would only encourage the aggressor to continue war and terror, rather than seek peace”.

The ministry particularly emphasised the need for Kyiv to strengthen its air defences – as Russia continues to pummel the country with missiles and drones on a near-nightly basis.

A Kyiv-based US diplomat was invited to the foreign ministry for talks on Wednesday.

However, Ukraine’s defence ministry said it had not received any official notification from the US about the “suspension or revision” of the weapons deliveries, and urged people not to speculate on the basis of partial information.

But in a statement the defence ministry also said the path to ending the war was “through consistent and joint pressure on the aggressor”.

At the weekend Ukraine endured its biggest aerial attack since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with more than 500 drones and ballistic and cruise missiles launched at its cities.

US officials did not immediately say which shipments were being halted.

According to American broadcaster NBC, the weapons being delayed could include Patriot interceptors, Howitzer munitions, missiles and grenade launchers.

The US has sent tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, leading some in the Trump administration to voice concerns that US stockpiles are too low.

The Kremlin, for its part, welcomed news of the reduction in weapons shipments, saying reducing the flow of weapons to Kyiv will help end the conflict faster.

“The fewer the number of weapons that are delivered to Ukraine, the closer the end of the special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Fedir Venislavskyi, an MP for Ukraine’s ruling party, said the decision was “painful, and against the background of the terrorist attacks which Russia commits against Ukraine… it’s a very unpleasant situation”.

A Ukrainian military source quoted by the AFP news agency said Kyiv was “seriously dependent on American arms supplies, although Europe is doing its best, but it will be difficult for us without American ammunition”.

Ukraine’s European allies have spent billions in military aid over the last three-and-a-half years.

However, military support for Kyiv is not endorsed by everyone on the political spectrum.

Czech President and former top Nato official, Petr Pavel, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine – but he told BBC Russian he could “not guarantee” continued ammunition support for Kyiv, as that was dependent on the result of forthcoming Czech elections.

“I don’t know what will be the priorities of a new government,” he said.

The Pentagon’s move is based on concerns that US military stockpiles are falling too low, a source told CBS News, although Anna Kelly stressed “the strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned – just ask Iran”.

Separately, the US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby, said in a statement the Pentagon “continues to provide the President with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine”.

However, he added “the department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving US forces’ readiness for Administration defence priorities”.

The pause comes less than a week after President Donald Trump discussed air defences with Volodymyr Zelensky at the Nato summit in the Netherlands.

Trump said US officials “are going to see if we can make some of them available” when asked by the BBC about providing extra Patriot anti-missile systems to Ukraine.

Referring to his conversation with Zelensky, Trump said: “We had a little rough times sometimes, but he couldn’t have been nicer.”

The two had a heated confrontation in the Oval Office in February. Afterwards, Trump said he was pausing military aid to Ukraine that had been earmarked by the previous Biden administration. Intelligence sharing with Ukraine was also suspended.

But both pauses were subsequently lifted.

In late April, the US and Ukraine signed a deal that would give the US access to Ukraine’s mineral reserves in exchange for military assistance.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday – the first time in over two-and-a-half years.

They spoke on the phone for more than two hours, Macron’s office said, adding the French president had urged a ceasefire in Ukraine and for talks to start on a “solid and lasting settlement of the conflict”.

The Kremlin said Putin had “reminded Macron” that the West’s policy was to blame for the war, because it had “for many years ignored Russia’s security interests”.

Last month, Russia’s long-time leader told a forum in St Petersburg that he saw Russians and Ukrainians as one people and “in that sense the whole of Ukraine is ours”.

Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgk33k204ddo

US President Trump said Hamas should accept truce terms and that the situation would “only get worse.” The call came after dozens of charities have called for an Israeli and US-backed Gaza aid group to be disbanded.

A SPLIT verdict has been reached in the federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The courtroom received a letter from the jury at around 4:05 pm on Tuesday, informing the judge that jurors had reached a verdict on four of the five counts.

The note said the jury reached a verdict on counts 2-5, which are the sex trafficking and transportation for engaging in prostitution charges.

However, it also indicated that jurors were unable to agree unanimously on count 1 – the racketeering conspiracy charge.

Combs faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence if convicted of either prostitution charge, and a minimum of 15 years if convicted of either sex trafficking count.

He faces a life sentence if convicted on the racketeering conspiracy charge.

Judge Arun Subramanian ruled to give the jury more time to deliberate over the deadlocked charge after receiving proposals from the prosecution and the defense on how to move forward with the split verdict.

Moments later, the judge dismissed the jury for the day and instructed them to continue their deliberation on count 1 on Wednesday morning.

BLISTERING CLOSING ARGUMENTS

In closing arguments, prosecutors described Combs as the “leader of a criminal enterprise” who used his expansive “wealth, power, violence, and fear to get what he wanted.”

“He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law,” Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik said.

“It was his kingdom. Everyone was there to serve him.”

The core evidence of the prosecution’s case was the disturbing and graphic nature of the drug-fueled “freak-offs” that at times Combs allegedly coerced his ex-girlfriends to participate in with male escorts.

Slavik described to jurors how Combs forced his former lovers Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura and “Jane” into participating in the punishing sex marathons and with the help of an inner circle of “loyal lieutenants” covered up the alleged crimes.

Ventura and Jane were sometimes required to perform the lewd acts, which were also called “hotel nights and wild king nights,” while they were hurting from urinary tract infections (UTIs), according to prosecutors.

Ventura testified that the choreographed encounters, which she said were directed by Combs, could last days, with the longest she ever participated in being four days.

On the other hand, Combs’ defense team slammed the prosecution’s case as an attack on “your bedroom” and one’s sex life.

“They go into the man’s bedroom. They go into the man’s most private life. Where is the crime scene? The crime scene is your private sex life. That’s the crime scene,” Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead defense attorney, said during closing arguments.

Agnifilo summarized the seven-week trial as a “tale of two trials,” arguing one side is the one told by the evidence of the case, by witnesses, videos, and text messages, and the other was a “badly, badly, exaggerated” story told by prosecutors.

The defense attorney argued the sexual encounters involving Combs, Ventura, “Jane,” and male escorts were consensual, and called the “freak-offs,” which were sometimes video recorded, “homemade porn.”

“You want to call it swingers, you want to call it threesomes, whatever you want to call it, that is what it is – that’s what the evidence shows,” Agnifilo told the jury.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/14592626/sean-diddy-combs-sex-trafficking-trial-verdict/

A SECRETIVE Russian “killer satellite” deployed in space was detected launching another mysterious flying object near a US spacecraft.

Kosmos-2558 is a Russian military satellite that is currently on an orbital path which is suspiciously close to USA-326 – an American spy satellite.

The 14F150 Nivelir-type satellite was deployed into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) – and has presumably been stalking the US space asset since 2022.

It is believed to have the capacity to constantly monitor enemy spy satellites and potentially shoot them down if needed.

Space program researchers have now detected a new object that appeared to have separated from the Russian inspector satellite on June 26.

The new flying object, named 2025-089C or simply Object C, appeared to be a subsatellite that was launched by Kosmos-2558.

It was filmed on 28 June 2025 from Leiden, the Netherlands, using a powerful astronomy camera.

The clip shows Kosmos 2558 passing through the frame.

Just 16 seconds later, Object C can be seen moving in the same direction but on a different orbit.

It is believed that Object C is a highly manoeuvrable sub-satellite with onboard high-speed kinetic anti-satellite weapons.

Two earlier Russian satellites of the same type, Kosmos-2519 and 2542, also released subsatellites, which were designated Cosmos-2521 and 2543.

Bart Hendrickx, a long-time space researcher and Russian space program expert, wrote in his blog: “Both of those [Russian] satellites showed significant manoeuvring capability and each fired a high-speed projectile that was interpreted by the Pentagon as an anti-satellite weapon.

“This happened when they were flying in the vicinity of other Russian satellites.”

Last year, Putin launched a terrifying weapon system into space capable of killing other satellites.

The Pentagon said that the Russian counter-space weapon was put into the “same orbit” as a US government satellite – and is likely tracking the space device already.

The Russian space object believed to be Cosmos-2576 was launched on May 16 on a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome, some 497 miles north of Moscow.

It is now following American spy satellite USA 314, operated by the US National Reconnaissance Office.

An unofficial Russian source claimed the launch carried a “secret military device”.

While it was previously reported as a Russian space satellite, the US has now warned it could be a counter-space weapon capable of attacking other such tech.

Pentagon spokesman Brig Gen Pat Ryder said: “Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we assess is likely a counter-space weapon.

“It was deployed into the same orbit as a US government satellite and assessments further indicate characteristics resembling previously deployed counter space payloads from 2019 and 2022.”

“We will continue to monitor the situation … we have a responsibility to be ready to protect and defend the space domain and ensure continuous and uninterrupted support to the joint and combined force.”

Russia’s Roskosmos state space agency said the launch was “in the interests of the defence ministry of the Russian Federation”.

In 2023, US intelligence chiefs warned that Russia is planning to launch nukes into space that would destroy satellites in a “grave” threat to the world’s security.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14598954/russian-killer-satellite-us-spacecraft/

 

SHOPPERS have been urged to check their pantries after a box of chocolates sold at a popular supermarket chain was recalled.

The candy was distributed to multiple US states before health officials uncovered a life-threatening ingredient hiding inside.

The Food and Drug Administration recalled Wegman’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Nonpareils this week, which were sold at the brand’s 112 stores.

That’s because the chocolates don’t warn of the potential presence of milk, which could cause a life-threatening reaction to those with allergies, the administration said.

The product comes in 18.5-ounce packages and was produced by Mellace Family Brands California in Ohio.

The company admitted to the mistake and said it “was caused by a temporary breakdown in the suppliers’ manufacturing process.”

No one has experienced health issues from the chocolates yet, according to the FDA.

The candies were distributed to stores in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington DC before they were recalled.

Shoppers should know that the items could be contaminated with the allergen even if the best-by date hasn’t passed.

The recalled chocolates have best-by dates from December 28 to April 12, according to the recall notice.

Anyone who has purchased any of the chocolate is urged to go back to the store and get a full refund.

The affected lot codes are 55021, 55031, 55491, 55501, 56061, and 56071.

MORE RECALLS

The chocolate candy is just the latest in a string of contaminated items that had to be yanked from shelves.

One snack sold at Trader Joe’s was found to have life-threatening bacteria lurking inside.

The item that was affected was the Face Rock Creamery Vampire Slayer Cheddar Curds.

Health experts said that the cheese could contain listeria, a potentially deadly bacterium.

Listeria can cause people to fall ill with listeriosis, which is a dangerous infection that puts younger children and older adults at risk.

Common side effects of the infection include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, diarrhea, and convulsions.

The bacteria can even cause pregnant women to have stillbirths or miscarriages, and newborns can be killed.

Listeria is often found in soft cheeses, milk, deli foods, and prepared meats.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14605392/wegmans-semi-sweet-chocolate-nonpareils-recalled/

TRAGIC backpacker Juliana Marins told her family “I’m not afraid” in a final text before her death on an Indonesian volcano.

The 26-year-old’s mum, Estela Marins, revealed it was written at the start of her daughter’s doomed Southeast Asia trip.

In a message shown to Brazilian programme Fantastico, Juliana said: “Mami, I love you so much. I was heartbroken when we said goodbye.

“In fact, that’s the only thing that worries me: letting you, papi or my sister be disappointed. Other than that, I’m not afraid of much, much less trouble.

“I was raised by a woman who can solve any problem and who is not afraid to take the plunge and go after her dreams. I am like that too. I have different desires and dreams.

“I love you all very much! And I will always be grateful for all the support, care and affection. That is what makes me not afraid.”

Juliana died after falling more than 1,600 feet from a cliff on a hike up Mount Rinjani, an active volcano in Indonesia, on June 21.

Her body was only recovered three days later, after a complex and delayed rescue operation.

New autopsy ordered

Her body is due to arrive in Brazil today, Globo reports.

There, a second autopsy will be carried out to determine whether she could have survived the fall with timely help.

The request for the new examination was made by the Public Defender’s Office and fast-tracked by President Lula da Silva.

Authorities say the autopsy must be done within six hours of her return to preserve evidence.

The first autopsy, conducted in Bali, found that she died from trauma within 20 minutes – but drone footage and witness accounts have cast doubt on that timeline.

‘Left behind’ on the trail

Juliana, from Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, had been hiking with six tourists and two local guides when she became exhausted and stopped to rest.

The publicist and dancer’s family has since blasted the “botched” rescue mission and claimed her tour guide abandoned her.

“Juliana was in this group, but she got very tired and asked to stop for a while. They kept going, and the guide didn’t stay with her,” said her sister, Mariana Marins.

Guide Ali Musthofa claimed he was only “three minutes” ahead and returned when Juliana didn’t show up — only to find she had fallen.

“I saw the light of a flashlight on a ravine about 150 meters deep and heard Juliana’s voice calling for help,” he said.

Rescue drones later spotted the Brazilian alive on the cliff, but poor weather and lack of equipment delayed efforts to reach her.

She was officially confirmed dead on June 24, and her family has accused Indonesian authorities of failing to provide assistance.

Initial reports claimed rescuers had reached Juliana and provided food and water. The Brazilian embassy repeated this — but it turned out to be false.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14601800/backpacker-indonesia-volcano-final-text-juliana-marins/

A wild weather system pummelled Sydney for a second day on Wednesday (Jul 2), with the storm forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights, bringing down trees and taking out power to thousands of homes in Australia’s southeast.

Qantas Airways and Virgin Australia, Australia’s biggest airlines, have together cancelled at least 55 domestic flights in and out of Sydney on Wednesday, the airport’s website showed. Some international flights have been delayed.

Sydney’s train services have also been disrupted, with authorities urging people to avoid non-essential travel.

“Be really careful. It’s really wild out there, if you can delay travel, please do so,” New South Wales state Emergency Services Chief Superintendent Dallas Burnes told ABC News.

“As people wake today and see the damage from last night, we’re expecting a very busy day.”

A coastal low-pressure system, described by meteorologists as a “bomb cyclone”, smashed Australia’s southeast coast overnight with wind gusts of more than 100 kph, uprooting trees and damaging power lines. Roughly one month’s worth of rain fell over six hours in some regions.

The weather phenomenon forms quickly and causes air pressure to drop significantly within a short period of time.

More than 35,000 properties are without power in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, after the storm overnight, outage data showed.

Several roads in the state’s Illawara region south of Sydney have been closed due to flooding and fallen trees. Evacuation orders were issued due to coastal erosion in the Central Coast region, while dozens of warnings remain for wind damage and flash flooding.

Conditions are expected to worsen through Wednesday before the system eases and move into the Tasman Sea, and then track toward New Zealand on Thursday.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/australia-sydney-airport-wild-storms-disrupts-flights-power-5215126