NOJOR MAMA ONLINE WEBSITE HACKES boost rapid reaction force, Ukraine military Dems challenge GOP to

 Prince Charles’ office has denied there was any wrongdoing in the heir of the British throne accepting bags full of cash as charity donations from a Qatari politician.

The Sunday Times reported that the 73-year-old was given a total of 3 million euros, or $3.2 million, by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar. The outlet alleged that the money was handed over to the British prince during private meetings between 2011 and 2015 — on one occasion in a suitcase and another in shopping bags from London’s Fortnum & Mason department store.

The newspaper also reported that the money was deposited into the accounts of the Prince of Wales’ Charitable Fund, which gives grants to other non-profit groups that support the royal’s causes and interests. It did not allege that anything illegal was done.

Charles’ office, Clarence House, said in a statement that the donations "were passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities who carried out the appropriate governance and have assured us that all the correct processes were followed."

PRINCE CHARLES TOLD BY UK LEADERS TO STOP MEDDLING IN POLITICS AMID IMMIGRATION COMMENT BACKLASH: REPORT

Prince Charles' office, Clarence House, said in a statement that the donations "were passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities who carried out the appropriate governance and have assured us that all the correct processes were followed." (Photo by Luke Dray/Getty Images)

His charitable fund also told the outlet it had verified "that the donor was a legitimate and verified counterparty… and our auditors signed off on the donation after a specific enquiry during the audit. There was no failure of governance."

Qatar’s government communications office did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment. Hamad has not publicly commented.

As Qatar’s prime minister between 2007 and 2013, Hamad oversaw the oil-rich state’s sovereign wealth fund, which has major property investments around the world, including London’s Shard skyscraper, Heathrow Airport and Harrods department store.

Charles, who is Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son, faces the possibility of an investigation by The Charity Commission, known as the governing body of charities in Britain.

ATO allies will decide at a summit this week to increase the strength of their rapid reaction force nearly eightfold to 300,000 troops as part of their response to an “era of strategic competition," the military alliance's secretary-general said Monday.

The NATO response force (NRF) currently numbers around 40,000 soldiers which can deploy quickly when needed.

Coupled with other measures including the deployment of forces to defend specific allies, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the move is part of the “biggest overhaul of collective defense and deterrence since the Cold War."

Lasso, whose adversarial relationship with the national assembly has worsened during the protests, has also withdrawn security measures and announced subsidized fertilizers and debt forgiveness.

Indigenous groups led by organization Conaie said in a statement earlier on Monday that the price reduction to $2.45 a gallon for gasoline extra and $1.80 a gallon for diesel was not enough.

But in the afternoon the groups said they would attend a meeting with government officials set for 2pm local time (1900 GMT), even as backers marched in Quito in rejection of the new prices.

Lasso said on Twitter the measures he has announced, including the gas price cut, will cost about $600m.

People in the capital, Quito, awoke on Monday to some road blockades. Residents have complained of shortages of domestic gas and food. Other cities have also reported shortages of fuel and medical supplies for hospitals.

The public oil sector, private producers of flowers and dairy products, tourism and other businesses have lost about $500m, the government has said.

Conaie tallies five protester deaths, while the government says three civilians died during marches, two more were killed in accidents and two died in ambulances delayed by blockades.

Lawmakers are set to continue debate on Tuesday on an effort to remove Lasso from office, though it appears opposition groups do not have the necessary support for the measure to succeed.

“These troops will exercise together with home defense forces,” Stoltenberg said. “And they will become familiar with local terrain, facilities, and our new pre-positioned stocks. So that they can respond smoothly and swiftly to any emergency."

In response to the Kremlin’s decision to start the war, U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts agreed in February to send thousands of troops, backed by air and naval support, to protect allies near Russia and Ukraine. The 30-nation organization decided at the time to send parts of the NRF and elements of a quickly deployable spearhead unit to the alliance’s eastern flank, marking the first time the force had been used in a defense role

Stoltenberg made the remarks at a press conference ahead of a NATO summit this week in Madrid when the 30 allies are expected to also agree on further support to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Stoltenberg said he expects allies to make clear they consider Russia “as the most significant and direct threat to our security." At the summit, allies will also decide to strengthen their battlegroups on NATO's eastern flanks, he said.

In NATO's new strategic concept, the alliance is also set to address for the first time the security challenges posed by China, Stoltenberg said. In Madrid, allies will discuss how to respond to the growing influence of Russia and China in their “southern neighborhood," he added.

Stoltenberg said allies will agree to deliver further military support to Ukraine when they convene in Spain, with NATO members set to adopt a “strengthened comprehensive assistance package,” including deliveries of secure communication and anti-drone systems.

Over the long term, Stoltenberg said allies aim to help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era armaments to modern NATO equipment. The world's seven leading economic powers underscored Monday their commitment to Ukraine for “as long as it takes.”

Kazol multiple injured after Amtrak train KOtha Online Covid Update Raj Bari Natore

 At least three people were killed Monday after an Amtrak train hit a dump truck and derailed in Missouri, officials said. It's not yet clear how many were injuraed, though at least two hospitals said they had received patients. 

Officials said Southwest Chief Train 4, which was carrying 275 passengers and 12 crew members from Los Angeles to Chicago, hit a truck near Mendon, Missouri, at approximately 12:43 p.m. local time. An official from the Missouri State Highway Patrol said the crossing was "uncontrolled" and had no lights or crossing rails, which is common in more rural areas. 

 Americans disapprove of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll conducted Friday and Saturday in the immediate wake of the ruling.

A 59% majority of US adults disapprove, with 41% approving. About half (52%) call the decision a step backward for America, with 31% calling it a step forward and 17% saying it's neither.

Among women, two-thirds (67%) disapprove of the ruling, with just 33% approving. A 56% majority of women say that the decision will make the lives of most American women worse.

 

 

Protests spread across the US after the Supreme Court overturns the constitutional right to abortion

A 58% majority of Americans say they'd favor a federal law making abortion legal nationwide, while 42% would oppose this. And 64% say they'd like abortion in their states to be legal in most or all cases.

Most Americans now say they believe it's at least somewhat likely that the Supreme Court will eventually end or limit same-sex marriage (57%) and access to birth control and contraception (55%). Only 33% say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the Supreme Court, with 23% saying they have just some confidence and 44% that they have very little confidence in the Supreme Court.

The CBS News/YouGov poll surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,591 adults on June 24-25 after the Supreme Court decision was released. While this is a relatively short field period for a poll, the results provide an initial look at public reaction. The margin of sampling error for the poll is ±3.0 points.

Seven of the train's eight cars derailed, Missouri State Highway Patrol Corporal Justin Dunn said at a press conference.

SAN ANTONIO – Forty-six people were found dead in a tractor-trailer on the Southwest Side, and 16 have been transported to area hospitals, according to San Antonio police and fire officials.

“It’s tragic,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “They had families... and were likely trying to find a better life. It’s nothing short of a horrific human tragedy.”

Authorities said it was the largest mass casualty event they’ve seen in San Antonio.

“We hope that those responsible for putting these people through such inhumane conditions are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Nirenberg said.

 least 46 people were found dead inside of a semi-truck in San Antonio Monday, according to authorities, in a scene that Mayor Ron Nirenberg called a "horrific human tragedy."

Earlier on Monday night, city councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia referred to the victims as migrants, after she was briefed on the situation by the San Antonio police chief.

Authorities were alerted to the scene just before 6 p.m., when a worker in a nearby building heard a cry for help, San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus said at a news conference Monday night. The worker found a trailer with doors partially opened and saw a number of people deceased inside, McManus said.

Sixteen people -- 12 adults and four children -- have been taken to nearby medical facilities for further care, according to San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood.

Those who were found alive were hot to the touch and suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion, Hood said, and were conscious when transported for care. There was no sign of water in the refrigerated tractor trailer and no visible working air conditioning unit, he said.

High temperatures in the San Antonio area ranged from the high 90s to low 100s on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

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Officials said they are hopeful that those transported for treatment will recover. Three of the migrants found were taken to Methodist Hospital Metropolitan and are in stable condition, according to a spokesperson for Methodist Healthcare.

Three people are in police custody, McManus said, but added it's unclear if they are connected to the situation.

The 60 firefighters that were on scene are being put through a critical incident stress debriefing, Hood said.

"We're not supposed to open up a truck and see stacks of bodies in there. None of us come to work imagining that," the fire chief said.

"It's tragic," Mayor Nirenberg said Monday. "There are, that we know of, 46 individuals who are no longer with us, who had families, who were likely trying to find a better life. And we have 16 folks who are fighting for their lives in the hospital."

The US Department of Homeland Security's investigation unit was alerted by San Antonio police to "an alleged human smuggling event" and is leading the investigation, a spokesperson from Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Monday.

Russian airstrike struck a bustling shopping mall in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine on Monday, setting the building ablaze and prompting concerns of mass casualties.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the strike that up to 1,000 people were in the mall before the air raid was announced.

"Fortunately, as far as we know, at that time, many people managed to get out, they managed to get out, but there were still people inside -- workers and some visitors," he said.

 

 

At least 15 people were killed, according to a Telegram post from Dmytro Lunin, the head of the Poltava region military administration, who said earlier that the death toll could rise. At least 58 people were injured, Ukraine's State Emergency Services said.

Zelensky said in his nightly video address Monday that the rescue operation was ongoing and that "we must be aware that the losses can be significant."

Video from the scene showed heavy smoke billowing from the building, which was engulfed by fire. The mall measures about one hectare -- roughly the size of two football fields -- and the strike occurred around 4 p.m. local time, Solohub said.

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"We don't know how many more people might be under the rubble," said Volodymyr Solohub, a regional official in the Poltava Oblast local administration.

 

 

Zelensky called the strike "one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history," in his evening video address.

"A peaceful city, an ordinary shopping mall with women inside, children, ordinary civilians inside."

"Only totally insane terrorists, who should have no place on earth, can strike missiles at such an object. And this is not an off-target missile strike, this is a calculated Russian strike -- exactly at this shopping mall," he said.

The attack targeted a site in central Ukraine far away from the epicenter of Russia's war, which has recently been focused in the east of the country.

 

Footage showed fire and smoke pouring from the building.

 

It came as G7 leaders met at a summit in Germany that was mostly geared toward coordinating the Western response to Russia's invasion.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said from that meeting that the attack showed the "depths of cruelty and barbarism" of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the UK's PA news agency reported.

"This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink," Johnson said, according to PA.

In a tweet Monday, US President Joe Biden condemned the attack, saying, "Russia's attack on civilians at a shopping mall is cruel. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people."

"As demonstrated at the G7 Summit, the U.S. along with our allies and partners will continue to hold Russia accountable for such atrocities and support Ukraine's defense," Biden added.

French President Emmanuel Macron called the attack an "abomination," in a tweet that included video of the burning shopping mall. "The Russian people have to see the truth," he said.

And Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmitro Kuleba, said on Twitter: "Russia is a disgrace to humanity and it must face consequences. The response should be more heavy arms for Ukraine, more sanctions on Russia, and more businesses leaving Russia."

Those issues were on the table at the summit in Germany. The G7 vowed to continue providing support for Ukraine "for as long as it takes" in a joint statement, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told CNN on Monday that she would not "bet on Russia" winning the war.

RAZA BABAU KOTHA ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF DR. ANTHONY DHAKA 2022

 VANCOUVER, BC, June 27, 2022 /CNW/ - Kadestone Capital Corp. ("Kadestone" or the "Company") (TSX-V: KDSX) (OTCB: KDCCF), a vertically integrated property company, is pleased to announce that the board of directors (the "Board") has appointed Dr. Anthony Holler as Chair of Board  following the  Company's annual general meeting of shareholders of the Company (the "Shareholders") held on June 24, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia (the "Meeting").

Dr. Holler was CEO of ID Biomedical from 1999 until 2005 when the company was sold to GlaxoSmithKline for $1.7 billion. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Perimeter Medical Imaging AI Inc. and CEO and Chairman of the Board for Sunniva Inc. Previously, Dr.  Holler was Chairman of the Board of Directors of CRH Medical from December 2005 to March 2020. Dr. Holler was also Chairman of Corriente Resources Inc., which sold for approximately $700 million to CRCC-Tongguan Investment Co. in 2010. Before his involvement in public markets, Dr. Holler served as an Emergency Physician at University Hospital at the University of British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Medical Degree from the University of British Columbia.

 

At the Meeting, the Shareholders elected to the Board, by ordinary resolution, Brent Billey, David Negrin, Norm Mayr, Jacqueline Tucker and Dr. Anthony Holler, to serve in office until the next annual meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are duly elected or appointed.

In addition, at the Meeting, the Shareholders approved: (i) the re-appointment of Davidson & Company LLP as auditors of the Company; and (ii) the Company's amended and restated stock option plan.

About Kadestone

Kadestone was established to pursue the investment in, development, acquisition, and management of residential and commercial income producing properties and procurement and sale of building materials within major urban centres and high-growth, emerging markets in Canada. The Company operates five complimentary business lines spanning building materials procurement and supply, property development and construction, construction finance, asset ownership, and property management. These synergistic business lines have solidified Kades

AGerman court will give its verdict on Tuesday in the trial of a 101-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard, the oldest person so far to be charged with complicity in war crimes during the Holocaust.

© Tobias SchwarzJosef Schuetz is accused of involvement in the murders of 3,518 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp

Josef Schuetz is accused of involvement in the murders of 3,518 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, between 1942 and 1945.

The pensioner, who now lives in Brandenburg state, has pleaded innocent, saying he did "absolutely nothing" and was not aware of the gruesome crimes being carried out at the camp.

"I don't know why I am here," he said at the close of his trial on Monday.

But prosecutors say he "knowingly and willingly" participated in the crimes as a guard at the camp and are seeking to punish him with five years behind bars. 

More than 200,000 people including Jews, Roma, regime opponents and gay people were detained at the Sachsenhausen camp between 1936 and 1945.

Tens of thousands of inmates died from forced labour, murder, medical experiments, hunger or disease before the camp was liberated by Soviet troops, according to the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum. 

The allegations against Schuetz include aiding and abetting the "execution by firing squad of Soviet prisoners of war in 1942" and the murder of prisoners "using the poisonous gas Zyklon B".

He was 21 years old at the time.

A fire official said 16 people including four children had also been taken to hospital.

The survivors were "hot to the touch" and suffering from heat stroke and heat exhaustion.

San Antonio, which is 250km (150 miles) from the US-Mexican border, is a major transit route for people smugglers.

Human traffickers often use lorries to transport undocumented migrants after meeting them in remote areas once they have managed to cross into the United States.

"They had families...and were likely trying to find a better life," San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. "It's nothing short of a horrific, human tragedy."

 

Emergency responders initially arrived at the scene at about 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT) after responding to reports of a dead body, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told reporters.

"We're not supposed to open up a truck and see stacks of bodies in there. None of us come to work imagining that," he said.

He added that the vehicle, which had been abandoned by its driver, had no working air conditioning and there was no drinking water inside it.

Mexico's Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said that two Guatemalans were among those taken to hospital. The nationalities of the other victims was not immediately clear.

Three people are being held in custody and the investigation has been handed over to federal agents.

A former SS guard, Bruno Dey, was found guilty at the age of 93 in 2020 and was given a two-year suspended sentence.

Separately in the northern German town of Itzehoe, a 96-year-old former secretary in a Nazi death camp is on trial for complicity in murder.

She dramatically fled before the start of her trial, but was caught several hours later.

While some have questioned the wisdom of chasing convictions related to Nazi crimes so long after the events, Guillaume Mouralis, a research professor at France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), said such trials send an important signal.

"It is a question of reaffirming the political and moral responsibility of individuals in an authoritarian context (and in a criminal regime) at a time when the neo-fascist far right is strengthening everywhere in Europe," he told AFP.

But as the group forge ahead week-long 'mass disruptions' to traffic, Australian Lawyers Alliance national criminal justice spokesman Greg Barns SC has warned the sanctions will not curb protest activity.

'People who are engaging in protest generally are happy to take the risk of being jailed or fined large sums of money because they're motivated by the cause,' he told ABC News.

'You've got to ask the question: 'Why do you pass this legislation? Is it going to have a deterrent effect?' And the evidence seems to be that it won't have a deterrent effect.'

Ten people were arrested during the 'unauthorised protests' on Monday, including one woman who chained herself to a car steering wheel with a bicycle lock in North Sydney.

Another 12 arrests were made on Tuesday as Blockade Australia launched a second march through the CBD to Hyde Park.

Police have said they will use the new laws to prosecute those charged and have vowed to be out in force through to July 2 to stamp out planned protest activity.

COVID UPDATE USA AND INDIA Americans captured by Russian forces FIREOJ KAKA NATORE

 Russia targeted the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv with a series of missile attacks Sunday, as leaders of the G7 nations gather in Germany for the first day of their annual summit.

The chief of Ukraine's national police force, Ihor Klymenko, said one person died and five were wounded in a Russian missile strike that hit a residential apartment block in Kyiv.

The injured included a 7-year-old girl, he said. Her mother, a 35-year-old woman named Katerina, was rescued from the rubble and put into an ambulance. She is a citizen of Russia, but had lived in Kyiv for a long time.

The man, whom police have described as a radicalised Islamist with a history of mental illness, is accused of killing two and injuring 21 early on Saturday, when Oslo was due to hold its Pride parade.

© Reuters/NTB Memorial service after the shooting in OsloSpeaking at a special service held at Oslo's cathedral, Stoere said the attack may have put an end to the official Pride parade, which was called off after the attack, but it did not stop the fight "against discrimination, prejudices and hate".

The premier, dressed in black, talked about the thousands of people that spontaneously demonstrated on Saturday in the streets of Oslo, waving rainbow flags and laying flowers at the crime scene to honour the victims.

© Reuters/NTB Memorial service after the shooting in Oslo"During the day, the city was full of people who wanted to speak out, about sorrow and anger, but also about support and solidarity and the will to continue on fighting, for the right of every individual to live a free life, a safe life," he said.

© Reuters/NTB Shooting in Oslo"These misdeeds remind us of this. This fight is not over. It is not safe from dangers. But we are going to win it, together," he told the audience - which included mourners, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, ministers and Church of Norway leaders - in the cathedral which was decorated with rainbow flags.

Authorities have said they had been aware of the suspect since 2015 and that he had been part of a network of Islamist extremists in Norway.

The suspect's lawyer, John Christian Elden, was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

 

A CNN team on the ground spoke to the injured girl's grandmother, Natalia Nikitina, who found out about the attack online and rushed to the apartment block, where she cried as she watched teams trying to rescue her daughter-in-law.

"There is nothing worse than losing loved ones. Why do we deserve this?" she said. A huge plume of smoke continued to billow from the building two hours after the strike, while nearly every window was blown out on the top floor, and the ground was covered in debris and twisted metal.

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said "strategic bombers" were used to hit the capital, with "four to six missiles" launched. He added that on Saturday, Russia had used Tu22M3 long-range bombers from the airspace of Belarus for the first time in a Ukrainian air strike.

The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said on Telegram there had been several explosions in the city's Shevchenkivskyi district, and that search and rescue operations were launched after a fire broke out when a residential building was hit by a rocket.

 

 

 

Rescue workers evacuate a person from a residential building damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, June 26, 2022.

"There are people are trapped under the rubble. Some residents have been evacuated, with two victims hospitalized. Rescuers are continuing their work," he said.

Speaking to CNN onsite, Klitschko said Russia's war on Ukraine was "senseless" and thousands of civilians had died, and added, "We have to do everything to stop this war."

The Ukrainian State Emergency Service said the fire was caused by "enemy shelling" and was over an area of 300 square meters, in "a 9-storey residential building with partial destruction of the 7th, 9th and 9th floors."

The same neighborhood was hit by a missile strike in early May, and was also targeted in March.

Vadym Denysenko, an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs, said on Ukrainian television that there are "a number of military infrastructure facilities located in the Shevchenkivskyi district of the Ukrainian capital. This is the reason why the Russians are shelling this district."

US President Joe Biden called Sunday's attack "more of [Russian] barbarism." He declined to respond when asked whether the strikes were a deliberate provocation during the G7 summit.

Russian offensive continues in eastern Ukraine

After the key city of Severodonetsk was confirmed by Ukraine to be "completely under Russian occupation" on Saturday, the country's eastern Luhansk region is now almost entirely under Russian control. However, Ukrainian forces continue to defend the neighboring city of Lysychansk, which is coming under growing Russian artillery and rocket attacks.

 

The fight for Sloviansk may be 'the next pivotal battle' of Russia's war in Ukraine

On Sunday, the head of the neighboring Donetsk region's military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said Russian forces were gathering for fresh assaults in the region, nearly half of which is under Ukrainian control.

"We are now witnessing the accumulation of manpower, heavy armored vehicles and artillery in the direction of Sloviansk," Kyrylenko said on Ukrainian television.

"The enemy is using its well-known tactics, trying to move closer to our line of defense in order to fire artillery at the cities. Enemy artillery is already reaching certain parts of Sloviansk. This is another confirmation that people should evacuate."

Throughout the offensive in the east, Russian forces have used intense artillery and rocket bombardment ahead of trying to take ground. They are attacking areas of Donetsk from three directions.

Kyrylenko said there had been a missile strike and rocket attacks on Kurakhove, a town on the southern front line in Donetsk that has been a target of Russian attacks for more than two months. Avdiivka had also been hit by rockets, he said.

The three top advisers to President Joe Biden arrived 13 minutes late for a meeting with the caucus on, according to the invitation sent to members, "messaging on the economy." The presentation and question-and-answer period that followed only served to exacerbate their frustration.

"Give us a plan or give us someone to blame," one House Democrat, describing the group's reaction to the White House's mid-June presentation. "They've been vacillating somewhere in between and that's not helpful to any of us."

 

 

It's a view -- and readout of the tone of briefing -- White House officials strongly dispute, noting Biden has laid out a plan and the oft-used "Putin's price hike" that reflects the direct correlation between Russia's invasion of Ukraine and energy price spikes. Speaker Nancy Pelosi later told reporters she was "very pleased and honored by their presentation." But the frustration that briefly spilled out during the briefing in the basement of the US Capitol encapsulates the Gordian knot Biden and his top advisers currently confront just five months before the midterm elections.

CNN spoke to more than a dozen senior administration officials, lawmakers and congressional aides over the course of several weeks as the White House has grappled with a convergence of factors that has come to consume Biden's second year in office. It's not the first time Biden's economic team as grappled with unexpected developments that one senior White House official categorized as "uncertainties that were very much unknown," and they point to a record of steady, if in their view underappreciated, success in confronting those challenges each step of the way.

"Over the last 18 months, as we have confronted a range of unanticipated global challenges -- from Covid variants to Putin's war -- the President's economic strategy has helped drive strong, shared growth and position the US to confront economic challenges from a position of economic strength," National Economic Council Director Brian Deese told CNN. "Throughout, the President has directed his team to approach each challenge with urgency, creativity, and focus, using every tool we can to resolve economic disruptions and mitigate their impact."

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But for an administration that ended last year forecasting a leveling off of 40-year high inflation and eager to tout a historically rapid recovery from the pandemic-driven economic crisis, there is a level of frustration that comes with an acutely perilous moment. Asked by CNN about progress on a seemingly intractable challenge, another senior White House official responded flatly: "Which one?"

 

 

America is on edge, and that's bad news for the White House

Instead of managing an economy in the midst of a natural rotation away from recovery and into a stable period of growth, economic officials are analyzing and modeling worst-case scenarios like what the shock of gas prices hitting $200 per barrel may mean for the economy.

Soaring prices, teetering poll numbers and congressional majorities that appear to be on the brink have created no shortage of reasons for unease. Gas prices are hovering at or around $5 per gallon, plastered on signs and billboards across the country as a symbolic daily reminder of the reality -- one in which White House officials are extremely aware -- that the country's view of the economy is growing darker and taking Biden's political future with it.

"You don't have to be a very sophisticated person to know how lines of presidential approval and gas prices go historically in the United States," a senior White House official told CNN.

A CNN Poll of Polls average of ratings for Biden's handling of the presidency finds that 39% of Americans approve of the job he's doing. His numbers on the economy, gas prices and inflation specifically are even worse in recent polls.

But the last two days have provided a clear public window into a moment that has driven increasingly urgent deliberations and debates inside the White House.

Biden, after months of weighing the idea, threw his support behind a federal gas tax holiday. A day later, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and senior White House advisers held a high-profile emergency meeting with oil and gas executives.

It was a period that attempted to demonstrate proactive administration action at a moment when White House officials are grappling with a challenge that is as devoid of clear-cut federal policy solutions as it is politically toxic.

"There's no silver bullet here," a senior White House official said of the broad effort inside the West Wing. "Yes, it would be great if Russia could withdraw from Ukraine and global energy supplies went back to normal."

And no, the official acknowledged, nobody in the administration is expecting that any time soon.

Biden and his administration are confronting a series of challenges that are straining the White House's ability to convince the public they're able to keep the country on the right track. The first major land war in Europe in 80 years has sent energy prices soaring. A global economy still emerging from a once-in-a-century pandemic has continued to rattle the supply chain. And, yes, a major and sustained surge in US consumer spending has continued to create pressures.

Taken together, those crises represent overarching problem that simply can't be resolved by the federal government in the short term.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi officially received Al-Kadhimi, who was slated to also meet with other officials in Tehran, according to the report. He was the first foreign leader to visit Iran after Raisi took power in August.

Al-Kadhimi’s office said Saturday he arrived in the Saudi city of Jiddah for an official visit to meet with Saudi officials. It was his second visit to Saudi Arabia since he took the post of prime minister in May 2020.

Iran, the largest Shiite Muslim country in the world, and Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties in 2016 after Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Angry Iranians protesting the execution stormed two Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran, fueling years of animosity between the nations.

Kalu Onair Covid Update Commonwealth's strength Rajshahi Bangladesh 2022

 

The Prince of Wales met Rwanda President Paul Kagame during his visit

The Prince of Wales is expected to tell Commonwealth leaders their diversity is a "strength" at the opening of a global summit in Rwanda.

The Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting begins in Kigali later, with Prince Charles representing the Queen.

He will tell leaders their differences are a positive they can use to "speak up for the values which bind us".

The prince will also meet Boris Johnson later following reports he criticised the UK's Rwanda asylum seeker plan.

The heir to the throne is reported to have described the plan as "appalling", but a Clarence House spokesperson said the "prince is politically neutral".

Downing Street has said it is "unlikely" the UK's Rwanda asylum policy will come up when the pair meet.

 

Mr Johnson has said he would defend the scheme if it was raised, but his spokesperson said it would not be at the forefront of his mind.

The prime minister, who travelled to Rwanda with his wife Carrie Johnson, has said "people need to keep an open mind about the policy".

 

Prince Charles will be making an opening address at the summit on Friday, where Commonwealth leaders will discuss trade, health and the climate.

He is expected to say: "In the diversity of the 2.6 billion people on whose behalf you speak, comes great strength, which you can use, for instance, to speak up for the values which bind us, to invest in a rapid transition to a sustainable future and to create opportunities for our young people."

The summit of Commonwealth leaders was postponed in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic and has not been held for four years.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

Image caption,

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attended the Kigali Fashion Week during their visit to Rwanda

Before the summit, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will meet the Rwandan president Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeanette Kagame, Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Scotland and Mr Johnson and his wife.

 

The three topics on the summit's agenda include sustainability, youth and the history and values of the Commonwealth.

Following the opening ceremony, leaders and representatives from most member countries will hold two days of talks behind closed doors.

One topic to be discussed will be the applications by former French colonies Togo and Gabon to join the Commonwealth.

Some 54 countries are members of the Commonwealth, which the Queen is the head of.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservatives lost the parliamentary seat of Wakefield in northern England on Friday, with voters dealing a blow to the party after months of scandals and a growing cost of living crisis.

Opposition Labour Party candidate Simon Lightwood won the Wakefield by-election by a majority of 4,925 votes, winning back a seat that Labour had lost in 2019 for the first time in 90 years.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

Fifteen Republicans voted late Thursday to pass gun safety legislation, the first of its kind in three decades.

Ten Republicans were part of initial negotiations over the bill in May, following mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas that put pressure on lawmakers to come together on legislation. 

The bill, known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, includes billions of dollars in funding for state mental health services and school security. It also targets the “boyfriend loophole” that allows dating partners to own guns after being convicted of domestic abuse, unlike federal law against spouses. The bill also provides grants to states to adopt “red flag” laws, which allow courts to remove firearms from those deemed a threat to themselves or others. 

 

Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed his tentative support of the measure last week and voted in favor of the bill on Thursday.

Only two of the 15 Senate Republicans who voted in to support are facing re-election this year: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana. 

Four of the senators are set to leave office this year: Senators Rob Portman of Ohio, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Richard M. Burr of North Carolina and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

 

The rest of the Republican senators aren't up for re-election until 2026, with the exception of Mitt Romney of Utah, whose election is in 2024.

The bill now moves to the House; if it passes, it will then be sent to President Joe Biden for signature. Biden has already expressed his support for the bill. 

White House:Biden wants action on guns even if he doesn't get everything he asked for

A group of teenage boys was live-streaming their joyride in a stolen car moments before they the vehicle crashed, killing one of them and injuring three others, Texas police said.

The boys, who are between the ages of 13 and 15, stole a 2018 Audi S5 Coupe from a home in Abilene in the early morning on Wednesday, according to the Abilene Police Department.

At 3:40 a.m., police received a 911 call from a “concerned parent” who said their son and others were live-streaming on social media from inside of the stolen car and believed to be heading towards Dallas. By 3:50, the car owner reported the vehicle as stolen.

Less than 20 minutes later, the Callahan County Sheriff’s Department received a call for a theft at a convenience store in Clyde at 3:57 a.m., which cops believe was committed by the teenagers.

Police spotted the car at 4:07 a.m. in a parking lot of a hotel near Highway 351 and Interstate 20.

The Audi collided with an unoccupied police cruiser at the scene, prompting an officer to flash his lights and try to stop the teens. The car sped away from the hotel parking lot, and police said they “did not actively” pursue the vehicle.

Police at the scene of the fatal crash in Texas.

KTSX

Just moments later at 4:09, the Audi, traveling at a high rate of speed, crashed into a telephone pole and caught on fire.

A 13-year-old passenger was pronounced dead at a hospital from his injuries, cops said.

The 13-year-old driver, a 14-year-old passenger and a 15-year-old passenger were also injured and taken to local hospitals for treatment.

The 14-year-old suffered burns on his body and was taken to a hospital in Lubbock. The 15-year-old suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was treated in Hendrick.

MD Israel to dissolve parliament, call 5th election Covid Update Bangladesh Dhaka Barisal

  Israel’s weakened coalition government announced Monday that it would dissolve parliament and call new elections, setting the stage for the possible return to power of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or another period of prolonged political gridlock.

The election will be Israel's fifth in three years, and it will put the polarizing Netanyahu, who has been the opposition leader for the past year, back at the center of the political universe.

“I think the winds have changed. I feel it,” Netanyahu declared.

The previous four elections, focused on Netanyahu’s fitness to rule while facing a corruption investigation, ended in deadlock. While opinion polls project Netanyahu, who is now on trial, as the front-runner, it is far from certain that his Likud party can secure the required parliamentary majority to form a new government.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former ally and aide of Netanyahu, formed his government a year ago with the aim of halting the never-ending cycle of elections. But the fragile coalition government, which includes parties from across the political spectrum, lost its majority earlier this year and has faced rebellions from different lawmakers in recent weeks.

Autumn Adeigbo has some new investors — including Cameron Diaz, Mila Kunis and Gabrielle Union — bringing the designer’s total funding for her nameplate brand to approximately $4.2 million.

The designer and founder of the women’s ready-to-wear, accessories and footwear brand first met Diaz and Kunis at a retreat hosted by Gwyneth Paltrow and Brit Morin. There, the trio bonded over shared interests, such as entrepreneurship and technology, before Adeigbo brought the actresses on board as investors.

 

“If you would have told me years ago that Cameron and I would become friends let alone business allies I would have never believed you,” Adeigbo said. “I have been a fan of Cameron for so long and her light transcends what America fell in love with on screen. I am so excited she is shining her kindness, humor, beauty and intelligence my way.

It is the first time that new nations have joined in more than a decade, and the first time since 1995 that two have joined at once.

The two west African countries will follow Rwanda and Mozambique as the third and fourth countries to join the Commonwealth's ranks without having ever been under Britain’s rule. Gabon is a former French colony while Togo used to be under German rule.

Their admission is due to be formally announced this week at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Rwanda.

The Prince of Wales arrived in Kigali, the capital city, on Tuesday where he will represent the Queen, who is head of the Commonwealth.

 

Prince Charles spent a full day visiting the Genocide Memorial in Rwanda where he toured the museum CREDIT: Chris Jackson

He will be joined by the Prime Minister on Thursday morning at the summit, which will feature a series of events and discussions between the leaders of the 54 Commonwealth members.

But the Government’s flagship migrant policy - under which illegal immigrants are forcibly deported to Rwanda - threatens to overshadow the event.

The Prince of Wales reportedly told friends privately he was “appalled” by the plan and said that he was “more than disappointed” by it.

Mr Johnson and Prince Charles are due to hold a "bilateral discussion" during the summit, which will be their first exchange since the future king's remarks on the policy were leaked to the press.

 

Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie will also visit Rwanda this week, and he will join Prince Charles at Thursday's summit CREDIT: Frank Augustein

Clarence House has confirmed that the Prince has no plans to visit the accommodation centre in Kigali which will house immigrants when they arrive from the UK.

Instead, he spent a full day visiting the Genocide Memorial where he toured the museum and lay a wreath, followed by a trip to the Mbyo reconciliation village where he met survivors and perpetrators of the Genocide.

During his time in Kigali he will also attend the Chogm opening ceremony and host a dinner for the heads of Government.

It is understood that his programme has been drawn up to reflect the wishes of the Rwandan government and he is also obliged to steer clear of anything that could be perceived as party political.

Prince could be asked about migrant policy

Clarence House has not completely ruled out the Prince making a reference to the controversial policy and is aware he could be asked about it during a series of private bilateral meetings.

And the Prime Minister, who will be accompanied on the trip by his wife Carrie Johnson, will not visit the centre either, with his official spokesman explaining that his "time is limited".

 

Prince Charles and Camilla laid a wreath during a visit to the Kigali Memorial for Victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide CREDIT: Chris Jackson

"We think that the best use of his time for this short period he is in Rwanda is to dedicate himself to some of the issues or be raised at the summit," Downing Street said.

Last week the European Court of Human Rights intervened to block the first flight of migrants from taking off to Rwanda.

In a last-minute intervention, the European court halted the flight with four of the seven asylum seekers already having boarded after it backed a legal challenge by one of them, a 54-year-old Iraqi, known as KN, who came to Britain by small boat less than a month ago.

The court’s injunction blocked the deportation until at least three weeks after a judicial review next month had decided whether the Government’s Rwanda policy was lawful. His case had previously been rejected by the UK’s high court, court of appeal and supreme court.

 

Announcing his plan to disband the government during a nationally televised news conference, Bennett said he had made “the right decision” in difficult circumstances.

“Together, we got Israel out of the pit. We accomplished many things in this year. First and foremost, we brought to center stage the values of fairness and trust,” Bennett said, standing alongside his main partner, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. “We shifted to a culture of ‘we,’ ‘together.’”

Under their coalition deal, Lapid, who heads the large centrist party Yesh Atid, now becomes the interim prime minister until the election, in which he is expected to be the main rival to Netanyahu.

Standing together with Bennett, he thanked his partner for his hard work and for putting the country ahead of his personal interests.

“Even if we’re going to elections in a few months, our challenges as a state cannot wait,” Lapid said. “What we need to do today is go back to the concept of Israeli unity. Not to let dark forces tear us apart from within.”