ReportWire

Tag: jsnd

  • The ancient jar smashed by a 4-year-old has been fixed. It’s back on display at an Israeli museum

    The ancient jar smashed by a 4-year-old has been fixed. It’s back on display at an Israeli museum

    [ad_1]

    The ancient jar smashed by a 4-year-old has been fixed. It’s back on display at an Israeli museum

    A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,” said Rivlin.Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”

    TEL AVIV —

    A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.

    Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.

    Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.

    The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.

    The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.

    It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.

    Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.

    Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,” said Rivlin.

    Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.

    Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.

    Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.

    The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Man charged with murder in connection with the deaths of a couple at a nudist resort

    Man charged with murder in connection with the deaths of a couple at a nudist resort

    [ad_1]

    A man was charged with murder on suspicion of killing his neighbors at a California nudist resort, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson announced Tuesday afternoon in a news conference.Michael Royce Sparks, 62, is facing two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of missing couple Daniel and Stephanie Menard, who are 79 and 73, authorities said.The couple was last seen on Aug. 24 at their home in the Olive Dell Ranch resort in San Bernardino County. Human remains were found underneath Sparks’ home after he was arrested last week, following a tense and lengthy standoff.Police have said they believe the remains are those of the Menards, who lived next door.“We know they’re dead, and we know there’s two victims,” Anderson said about the reasoning for the charges.Sparks is set to appear in court Wednesday and is ineligible for bail, jail records show. CNN has been unable to identify an attorney for Sparks or locate family members.Redlands Police Chief Rachel Tolber said one of Sparks’ relatives led them to him. Hours prior to his arrest last week, a family member called police saying he was involved in the Menards’ disappearance.He “had admitted to killing two people and was threatening suicide,” Tolber said about Sparks.“I believe that there may have been other people that were texted, but the initial call that started our focus on him was from the family,” Tolber added.Officials couldn’t discuss a potential motive for the killings and Anderson said it did not appear to be planned.A couple vanishesPolice had been looking for the couple in the hills and canyon area around Olive Dell Ranch. The resort is between the southern California cities of Redlands and Colton, about 65 miles east of Los Angeles.The search began after a friend who lives in the resort became worried for the Menards when they didn’t attend Sunday church service as usual. Their dog Cuddles, a white shih tzu, remains missing, police said on Tuesday.Irene Engkraf, who identified herself as the person who contacted police about the Menards, told reporters last week that she saw the their car sitting “abandoned” down the road from their home.When she entered the couple’s home using a spare key, Engkraf said she saw Stephanie’s purse and both of the Menards’ phones. Then she called 911 and hospitals in the area, searching for news of her friends.A tip led to suspect’s arrestAfter receiving a tip from Sparks’ family, police locked down the resort because they learned that he could be armed and barricaded, Tolber said.Officers had been looking for him for several hours when they used a battering ram and a drone to search Sparks’ home, police said. They located him with a camera used to evaluate sewer blockages, Redlands Police Department spokesman Carl Baker said Friday.He had been hiding inside a 5-foot deep concrete space under the home, which forced officers to remove the front wall of the house, Baker said.Anderson, the district attorney, described the space as similar to a “homemade basement” area underneath the mobile home.When officers discovered him, Sparks, who was armed and barricaded, attempted to shoot himself but his weapon misfired, police said. After “lengthy negotiations” with officers, Sparks surrendered voluntarily, Baker said.A day after Sparks was arrested, firefighters and cadaver dogs found human remains under his home and spent several days searching the site, police said.The search took days because of the state of the property, its potential collapse and the need to remove debris with heavy equipment.Tolber declined to discuss more details about the remains and noted that police don’t have a reason to believe there are other victims.

    A man was charged with murder on suspicion of killing his neighbors at a California nudist resort, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson announced Tuesday afternoon in a news conference.

    Michael Royce Sparks, 62, is facing two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of missing couple Daniel and Stephanie Menard, who are 79 and 73, authorities said.

    The couple was last seen on Aug. 24 at their home in the Olive Dell Ranch resort in San Bernardino County. Human remains were found underneath Sparks’ home after he was arrested last week, following a tense and lengthy standoff.

    Police have said they believe the remains are those of the Menards, who lived next door.

    “We know they’re dead, and we know there’s two victims,” Anderson said about the reasoning for the charges.

    Sparks is set to appear in court Wednesday and is ineligible for bail, jail records show. CNN has been unable to identify an attorney for Sparks or locate family members.

    Redlands Police Chief Rachel Tolber said one of Sparks’ relatives led them to him. Hours prior to his arrest last week, a family member called police saying he was involved in the Menards’ disappearance.

    He “had admitted to killing two people and was threatening suicide,” Tolber said about Sparks.

    “I believe that there may have been other people that were texted, but the initial call that started our focus on him was from the family,” Tolber added.

    Officials couldn’t discuss a potential motive for the killings and Anderson said it did not appear to be planned.

    A couple vanishes

    Police had been looking for the couple in the hills and canyon area around Olive Dell Ranch. The resort is between the southern California cities of Redlands and Colton, about 65 miles east of Los Angeles.

    Redlands Police Department via CNN Newsource

    Dan and Stephanie Menard were reported missing on August 25.

    The search began after a friend who lives in the resort became worried for the Menards when they didn’t attend Sunday church service as usual. Their dog Cuddles, a white shih tzu, remains missing, police said on Tuesday.

    Irene Engkraf, who identified herself as the person who contacted police about the Menards, told reporters last week that she saw the their car sitting “abandoned” down the road from their home.

    When she entered the couple’s home using a spare key, Engkraf said she saw Stephanie’s purse and both of the Menards’ phones. Then she called 911 and hospitals in the area, searching for news of her friends.

    A tip led to suspect’s arrest

    After receiving a tip from Sparks’ family, police locked down the resort because they learned that he could be armed and barricaded, Tolber said.

    Officers had been looking for him for several hours when they used a battering ram and a drone to search Sparks’ home, police said. They located him with a camera used to evaluate sewer blockages, Redlands Police Department spokesman Carl Baker said Friday.

    He had been hiding inside a 5-foot deep concrete space under the home, which forced officers to remove the front wall of the house, Baker said.

    Anderson, the district attorney, described the space as similar to a “homemade basement” area underneath the mobile home.

    When officers discovered him, Sparks, who was armed and barricaded, attempted to shoot himself but his weapon misfired, police said. After “lengthy negotiations” with officers, Sparks surrendered voluntarily, Baker said.

    A day after Sparks was arrested, firefighters and cadaver dogs found human remains under his home and spent several days searching the site, police said.

    The search took days because of the state of the property, its potential collapse and the need to remove debris with heavy equipment.

    Tolber declined to discuss more details about the remains and noted that police don’t have a reason to believe there are other victims.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Press vans following VP nominee Tim Walz crash on Wisconsin interstate ahead of Labor Day speech

    Press vans following VP nominee Tim Walz crash on Wisconsin interstate ahead of Labor Day speech

    [ad_1]

    Press pool vans following Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz were involved in a crash on the interstate in Wisconsin. They were en route to speak at a Labor Day Laborfest event at the grounds of Summerfest, a large music festival in Milwaukee.Related video above: Walz comments on the crash during remarks at the Labor Day eventThe motorcade transporting Walz and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore continued towards the Summerfest venue despite the incident. The crash involved three vans carrying press and staff members who were accompanying the vice presidential nominee.”Passengers reported injuries considered to be non-life-threatening and were treated by medical personnel prior to transport to an area hospital,” Secret Service Public Affairs Specialist Joe Biesk said. “There was no impact to the protectee and the traffic incident is being investigated by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.”According to a White House official, VP Kamala Harris was briefed on the collision involving Walz’s motorcade and spoke with Gov. Walz prior to takeoff from Detroit to check on him and the staff.President Joe Biden called from Air Force One and spoke to Walz a short time later, as the president was traveling to a separate campaign stop in Pittsburgh with Vice President Kamala Harris. Upon arriving at his event, Walz spoke briefly about the crash saying “some of my staff and members of the press that were traveling up with us were involved in a traffic accident on the way here today.”“We’ve spoken with the staff. I’m relieved to say that with a few minor injuries, everybody’s going to be okay,” Walz said. “President Biden and Vice President Harris called to check in, and we certainly appreciate their concern, and I want to express my sincere thanks to the US Secret Service and all the local first responders for their quick reaction.”It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the crash, which occurred shortly before 1 p.m. local time and caused some minor injuries.A member of the traveling pool staff, who was in a van carrying reporters, had an injured arm and was treated by medics, according to a pool report from a reporter traveling in Walz’s motorcade, who wrote that passengers were “violently thrown forward, as our van slammed into the one in front of us and was hit from behind.” Some reporters had scrapes and bruises and one had a bloody nose. Another feared having suffered a concussion and was initially looking to be taken to urgent care — but eventually climbed aboard a new van to accompany the rest of the press to the event.All who wanted to be checked out by paramedics were assessed, according to the pool report. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    MILWAUKEE —

    Press pool vans following Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz were involved in a crash on the interstate in Wisconsin. They were en route to speak at a Labor Day Laborfest event at the grounds of Summerfest, a large music festival in Milwaukee.

    Related video above: Walz comments on the crash during remarks at the Labor Day event

    The motorcade transporting Walz and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore continued towards the Summerfest venue despite the incident.

    The crash involved three vans carrying press and staff members who were accompanying the vice presidential nominee.

    “Passengers reported injuries considered to be non-life-threatening and were treated by medical personnel prior to transport to an area hospital,” Secret Service Public Affairs Specialist Joe Biesk said. “There was no impact to the protectee and the traffic incident is being investigated by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.”

    According to a White House official, VP Kamala Harris was briefed on the collision involving Walz’s motorcade and spoke with Gov. Walz prior to takeoff from Detroit to check on him and the staff.

    President Joe Biden called from Air Force One and spoke to Walz a short time later, as the president was traveling to a separate campaign stop in Pittsburgh with Vice President Kamala Harris.

    Upon arriving at his event, Walz spoke briefly about the crash saying “some of my staff and members of the press that were traveling up with us were involved in a traffic accident on the way here today.”

    “We’ve spoken with the staff. I’m relieved to say that with a few minor injuries, everybody’s going to be okay,” Walz said. “President Biden and Vice President Harris called to check in, and we certainly appreciate their concern, and I want to express my sincere thanks to the US Secret Service and all the local first responders for their quick reaction.”

    It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the crash, which occurred shortly before 1 p.m. local time and caused some minor injuries.

    A member of the traveling pool staff, who was in a van carrying reporters, had an injured arm and was treated by medics, according to a pool report from a reporter traveling in Walz’s motorcade, who wrote that passengers were “violently thrown forward, as our van slammed into the one in front of us and was hit from behind.”

    Some reporters had scrapes and bruises and one had a bloody nose. Another feared having suffered a concussion and was initially looking to be taken to urgent care — but eventually climbed aboard a new van to accompany the rest of the press to the event.

    All who wanted to be checked out by paramedics were assessed, according to the pool report.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Cows trapped as barn in Pennsylvania collapses

    Cows trapped as barn in Pennsylvania collapses

    [ad_1]

    A barn collapsed and another was heavily damaged in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, as severe weather swept through the area Thursday night into Friday morning. The collapse happened at Reinford-Frymoyer Farm in Walker Township, which is near Tuscarora Village.”We had quite a devastating scene that we had to face,” owner Dara Reinford-Frymoyer said.Strong winds took down the barn that housed 150 dairy cows.”About 100 of the cows were out running around all over, on the road, everywhere, in the cornfield. There was another 50 that was still trapped inside the rubble, so we worked as fast as we could to get them out of there,” Brett Reinford said.More cows called the barn on the hill their home. That structure was also damaged.”The barn was just kind of lifted up and tossed into the pasture, so they (the cows) were just kind of wandering around,” Reinford-Frymoyer said.A neighbor has taken in many of the animals for now.The family is grateful for the outpouring of community support. Volunteers quickly started clearing debris.”I had tears in my eyes today thinking about all of the people that have offered to help,” Reinford said. The Reinfords are relieved that the animals are safe and no one was hurt, even after some very scary moments.”It sounded like a train outside. And then we moved to a closet inside the laundry room under a stairway until it all passed,” Reinford-Frymoyer said.The National Weather Service is expected to send a representative to assess the damage and determine a cause.

    JUNIATA COUNTY, Pa. —

    A barn collapsed and another was heavily damaged in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, as severe weather swept through the area Thursday night into Friday morning.

    The collapse happened at Reinford-Frymoyer Farm in Walker Township, which is near Tuscarora Village.

    “We had quite a devastating scene that we had to face,” owner Dara Reinford-Frymoyer said.

    Strong winds took down the barn that housed 150 dairy cows.

    “About 100 of the cows were out running around all over, on the road, everywhere, in the cornfield. There was another 50 that was still trapped inside the rubble, so we worked as fast as we could to get them out of there,” Brett Reinford said.

    More cows called the barn on the hill their home. That structure was also damaged.

    “The barn was just kind of lifted up and tossed into the pasture, so they (the cows) were just kind of wandering around,” Reinford-Frymoyer said.

    A neighbor has taken in many of the animals for now.

    The family is grateful for the outpouring of community support. Volunteers quickly started clearing debris.

    “I had tears in my eyes today thinking about all of the people that have offered to help,” Reinford said.

    A barn collapsed in Juniata County as severe weather swept through the area Thursday night into Friday morning.

    The Reinfords are relieved that the animals are safe and no one was hurt, even after some very scary moments.

    “It sounded like a train outside. And then we moved to a closet inside the laundry room under a stairway until it all passed,” Reinford-Frymoyer said.

    The National Weather Service is expected to send a representative to assess the damage and determine a cause.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • DNC Day 4: Kamala Harris to give acceptance speech at DNC

    DNC Day 4: Kamala Harris to give acceptance speech at DNC

    [ad_1]

    DNC Day 4: Kamala Harris to give acceptance speech on final night of DNC

    The Democratic National Convention has kicked off its fourth and final night.After a week of Democrats’ most prominent figures rallying the party faithful, Vice President Kamala Harris will accept her party’s nomination during a speech in which she is widely expected to offer her vision and policy agenda to the American people.The theme of the final night is “For Our Future.”Elizabeth Warren gets a standing ovationAs she was welcomed to the stage Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts received a standing ovation.After wiping a tear from her face, Warren, who competed against Harris when they each unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic party’s nomination in the 2020 election cycle, spoke about her experience working with Harris when she was California’s attorney general. At the time, Warren was working to set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Pennsylvania senator takes aim at ‘greedflation’U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who is running to be reelected to his seat representing Pennsylvania, discussed “shrinkflation,” which he, Harris and President Joe Biden have talked about this election cycle.Casey, in February, introduced legislation to “crack down” on big corporations “shrinking products without reducing prices.”Biden, on more than one occasion, has endorsed the bill in public.”Most companies are good companies. It’s the food conglomerates that sit behind the supermarkets. The faceless wholesalers, they’re the ones who are extorting families at the checkout counter. This is greedflation. I’ve been fighting it a long time. So is Kamala Harris. And finally, we’re starting to win.”Congressman makes AI crowd-size jokeWith artificial intelligence continuing to be a popular topic — and with former President Donald Trump frequently commenting on and comparing crowd sizes, a U.S. congressman who spoke on Thursday made a joke about AI and the crowd.“As a computer science major, I am so impressed with how large this AI-generated crowd looks tonight,” U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu said as he was met with laughter from the crowd.Lieu, of California, then talked about his experience working with Harris during the 2008 recession and housing crisis.Female delegates are wearing white to honor women’s suffrage on the night of Harris’ speechIf you think you’re seeing a lot of women wearing white tonight, you don’t need to adjust your television set.There appeared to be a coordinated effort among female delegates and Democratic supporters as they arrived at the United Center on Thursday afternoon, with security lines and convention floor seats filling up with women clad in white suits, dresses and other attire.When Harris takes the stage to accept the Democratic presidential nomination — becoming the first Black woman, and only the second woman overall, to do so — she will be looking out across a sea filled with the color of women’s suffrage, the movement that culminated with American women securing the right to vote in 1920.The homage is a couture callback to other momentous political events in which women wearing white have played a role, particularly for other glass ceiling moments.Video highlights Harris’ life, professional achievementsA video, which is narrated by actor Morgan Freeman, played at the DNC. It focused on Harris’ life, from childhood through the current day.The video featured childhood friends, as well as family members and people Harris has worked with in her many roles over the years. Harris, prior to becoming President Joe Biden’s vice president, was a U.S. Senator, California’s attorney general, and a prosecutor before that.The final night of the DNC is underwayConvention chairwoman Minyon Moore and Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat, took the stage to welcome the delegates for the last session.Thursday night’s program is packed with members of Congress and other Democratic leaders and will conclude with Vice President Harris formally accepting her party’s nomination.The arena is also buzzing about the possibility of a secret special guest making an appearance. But, so far at least, the secret is holding and who the guest might be — if it’s actually anyone at all — remains a mystery.Day 4 of the DNC has begunThe fourth and final night of the convention has officially been gaveled in.Day 4 speakers and performersChair of the 2024 Democratic National Convention Committee Minyon MooreU.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of TexasNational President of the American Federation of Government Employees Everett KellyImam Muhammad Abdul-Aleem of Masjidullah Mosque of West Oak Lane, Pennsylvania Luna Maring, 6th Grader from Oakland, California (Pledge of Allegiance)President of the National Education Association Becky Pringle and President of the American Federation of Teachers Randi WeingartenU.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of CaliforniaFormer United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia L. FudgeU.S. Rep. Ted W. Lieu of CaliforniaU.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of WisconsinU.S. House of Representatives Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts U.S. House of Representatives Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse of Colorado Mayor Leonardo Williams of Durham, North Carolina U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of IllinoisU.S. Sen. Bob Casey of PennsylvaniaU.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of MassachusettsU.S. Rep. Jason Crow of ColoradoU.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of MichiganU.S. Rep. Pat Ryan of New YorkThe Rev. Al Sharpton Representatives of “the Central Park Five” Council Member Dr. Yusef Salaam of New York CityActivist Korey Wise Activist Raymond Santana Activist Kevin RichardsonFormer prosecutor and friend of Vice President Harris Amy Resner Director of Federal Affairs at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network Karrie Delaney Former Attorney General of Illinois Lisa Madigan President of the National Urban League Marc H. Morial Former student at Corinthian Colleges Nathan Hornes Former New York State Assistant Attorney General Tristan SnellGov. Maura Healey of MassachusettsYouth organizer and human trafficking survivor Courtney BaldwinSecretary of the Interior Deb HaalandContent creator John RussellU.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost of FloridaU.S. Rep. Colin Allred of TexasAnya Cook of Florida Craig Sicknick of New Jersey Gail DeVore of Colorado Juanny Romero of Nevada Eric, Christian, and Carter Fitts of North CarolinaThe Chicks (National Anthem)Actress Kerry Washington (host)Meena Harris, Ella Emhoff and Helena HudlinComedian and actor D.L. HughleySheriff Chris Swanson of Genesee County, MichiganA Conversation on Gun Violence with U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia and joined by Abbey Clements of Connecticut, Kim Rubio of Texas, Melody McFadden of South Carolina, Edgar Vilchez of IllinoisFormer U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of ArizonaP!NK (performance)U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of ArizonaFormer United States Secretary of Defense Leon E. PanettaU.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego of ArizonaGov. Gretchen Whitmer of MichiganEva Longoria Former Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of IllinoisMaya HarrisGov. Roy Cooper of North CarolinaVice President Kamala Harris

    CHICAGO —

    The Democratic National Convention has kicked off its fourth and final night.

    After a week of Democrats’ most prominent figures rallying the party faithful, Vice President Kamala Harris will accept her party’s nomination during a speech in which she is widely expected to offer her vision and policy agenda to the American people.

    The theme of the final night is “For Our Future.”

    Elizabeth Warren gets a standing ovation

    As she was welcomed to the stage Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts received a standing ovation.

    After wiping a tear from her face, Warren, who competed against Harris when they each unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic party’s nomination in the 2020 election cycle, spoke about her experience working with Harris when she was California’s attorney general. At the time, Warren was working to set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

    Pennsylvania senator takes aim at ‘greedflation’

    U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who is running to be reelected to his seat representing Pennsylvania, discussed “shrinkflation,” which he, Harris and President Joe Biden have talked about this election cycle.

    Casey, in February, introduced legislation to “crack down” on big corporations “shrinking products without reducing prices.”

    Biden, on more than one occasion, has endorsed the bill in public.

    “Most companies are good companies. It’s the food conglomerates that sit behind the supermarkets. The faceless wholesalers, they’re the ones who are extorting families at the checkout counter. This is greedflation. I’ve been fighting it a long time. So is Kamala Harris. And finally, we’re starting to win.”

    Congressman makes AI crowd-size joke

    With artificial intelligence continuing to be a popular topic — and with former President Donald Trump frequently commenting on and comparing crowd sizes, a U.S. congressman who spoke on Thursday made a joke about AI and the crowd.

    “As a computer science major, I am so impressed with how large this AI-generated crowd looks tonight,” U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu said as he was met with laughter from the crowd.
    Lieu, of California, then talked about his experience working with Harris during the 2008 recession and housing crisis.

    Female delegates are wearing white to honor women’s suffrage on the night of Harris’ speech

    If you think you’re seeing a lot of women wearing white tonight, you don’t need to adjust your television set.

    There appeared to be a coordinated effort among female delegates and Democratic supporters as they arrived at the United Center on Thursday afternoon, with security lines and convention floor seats filling up with women clad in white suits, dresses and other attire.

    When Harris takes the stage to accept the Democratic presidential nomination — becoming the first Black woman, and only the second woman overall, to do so — she will be looking out across a sea filled with the color of women’s suffrage, the movement that culminated with American women securing the right to vote in 1920.

    The homage is a couture callback to other momentous political events in which women wearing white have played a role, particularly for other glass ceiling moments.

    Video highlights Harris’ life, professional achievements

    A video, which is narrated by actor Morgan Freeman, played at the DNC. It focused on Harris’ life, from childhood through the current day.
    The video featured childhood friends, as well as family members and people Harris has worked with in her many roles over the years. Harris, prior to becoming President Joe Biden’s vice president, was a U.S. Senator, California’s attorney general, and a prosecutor before that.

    The final night of the DNC is underway

    Convention chairwoman Minyon Moore and Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat, took the stage to welcome the delegates for the last session.

    Thursday night’s program is packed with members of Congress and other Democratic leaders and will conclude with Vice President Harris formally accepting her party’s nomination.

    The arena is also buzzing about the possibility of a secret special guest making an appearance. But, so far at least, the secret is holding and who the guest might be — if it’s actually anyone at all — remains a mystery.

    Day 4 of the DNC has begun

    The fourth and final night of the convention has officially been gaveled in.

    Day 4 speakers and performers

    • Chair of the 2024 Democratic National Convention Committee Minyon Moore
    • U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas
    • National President of the American Federation of Government Employees Everett Kelly
    • Imam Muhammad Abdul-Aleem of Masjidullah Mosque of West Oak Lane, Pennsylvania
    • Luna Maring, 6th Grader from Oakland, California (Pledge of Allegiance)
    • President of the National Education Association Becky Pringle and President of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten
    • U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California
    • Former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia L. Fudge
    • U.S. Rep. Ted W. Lieu of California
    • U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin
    • U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts
    • U.S. House of Representatives Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse of Colorado
    • Mayor Leonardo Williams of Durham, North Carolina
    • U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois
    • U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania
    • U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
    • U.S. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado
    • U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan
    • U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan of New York
    • The Rev. Al Sharpton
    • Representatives of “the Central Park Five”
    • Council Member Dr. Yusef Salaam of New York City
    • Activist Korey Wise
    • Activist Raymond Santana
    • Activist Kevin Richardson
    • Former prosecutor and friend of Vice President Harris Amy Resner
    • Director of Federal Affairs at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network Karrie Delaney
    • Former Attorney General of Illinois Lisa Madigan
    • President of the National Urban League Marc H. Morial
    • Former student at Corinthian Colleges Nathan Hornes
    • Former New York State Assistant Attorney General Tristan Snell
    • Gov. Maura Healey of Massachusetts
    • Youth organizer and human trafficking survivor Courtney Baldwin
    • Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland
    • Content creator John Russell
    • U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida
    • U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Texas
    • Anya Cook of Florida
    • Craig Sicknick of New Jersey
    • Gail DeVore of Colorado
    • Juanny Romero of Nevada
    • Eric, Christian, and Carter Fitts of North Carolina
    • The Chicks (National Anthem)
    • Actress Kerry Washington (host)
    • Meena Harris, Ella Emhoff and Helena Hudlin
    • Comedian and actor D.L. Hughley
    • Sheriff Chris Swanson of Genesee County, Michigan
    • A Conversation on Gun Violence with U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia and joined by Abbey Clements of Connecticut, Kim Rubio of Texas, Melody McFadden of South Carolina, Edgar Vilchez of Illinois
    • Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona
    • P!NK (performance)
    • U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona
    • Former United States Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta
    • U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona
    • Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
    • Eva Longoria
    • Former Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
    • Maya Harris
    • Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina
    • Vice President Kamala Harris

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • DNC Day 3: Tim Walz accepts party vice presidential nomination, Bill Clinton tears into Trump

    DNC Day 3: Tim Walz accepts party vice presidential nomination, Bill Clinton tears into Trump

    [ad_1]

    The Democratic National Convention’s third night is underway.After receiving the blessing of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, the focus on the second to last day of the DNC shifts to Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The former school teacher and football coach accepted the Democratic nomination as the party makes the case that Americans’ fundamental freedoms are at risk if Donald Trump returns to the White House.According to convention organizers, the theme for Wednesday’s events is “A fight for our freedoms,” a message that has become the centerpiece of Harris’ campaign as the Democrat has sought to paint a second Trump presidency as a threat to Americans’ ability to make choices about their own lives. Read live updates from Day 3 of the DNC below. Tim Walz speaks at DNC, accepts party vice presidential nominationGov. Tim Walz officially accepted the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nomination on Wednesday.He used his Democratic National Convention address to thank the packed arena for “bringing the joy” to an election transformed by the elevation of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.“We’re all here tonight for one simple, beautiful reason: We love this country,” Walz said.Walz had been working on his DNC speech for about a week, according to a person familiar with the matter, and has made edits in recent days to make it sound more authentic to his voice.Walz also practiced using a teleprompter for the first time since he was selected as Harris’ running mate as he was looking to use the speech to introduce himself to the American people. John Legend and Sheila E. go crazyJohn Legend and Sheila E. celebrated Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz with a rendition of son-of-the-state Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” at the Democratic convention.Legend started at the piano and the onetime Prince collaborator Sheila E. started at her signature standing percussion set before each grabbed a mic and rocked with a band at the center of the stage, tearing through the purple tune for an audience of blue delegates.Walz has gushed about the music of Minnesota, expressing his affection for Bob Dylan, the Replacements, Hüsker Dü and Prince, who died in 2016.Legend told The Associated Press before the convention, “I’m trying to do what I can to help protect our democracy and have someone with a really positive vision for the future elected. And I think Kamala is the right person.”He added, “I’m so excited that she’s infused so much energy into the campaign and that young people and so many people that I think felt concerned that they had to pick between two choices they weren’t excited about.”Buttigieg reflects on progress for American LGBTQ+ familiesButtigieg marveled at the pace of change in the country for LGBTQ+ families, saying it was “impossible” for him to believe 25 years ago that, as a gay man, he could be married with two children.“This kind of life went from impossible to possible — from possible to real — from real to almost ordinary, in less than half a lifetime,” he told the Democratic National Convention. He said it came about because of “the right kind of politics” and encouraged Americans to “choose a better politics. One of hope, of promise, of freedom, of trust. This is what Kamala Harris and Tim Walz represent.”Buttigieg: ‘At least Mike Pence was polite!’Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is taking shots at Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, saying, “At least Mike Pence was polite!” Speaking at the Democratic National Convention, Buttigieg, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020, said, “JD Vance is one of those guys who thinks if you don’t live the life he has in mind for you, then you don’t count.”Buttigieg said Trump’s selection of Vance shows he’s “doubling down on negativity and grievance. A concept of campaigning best summed up in one word: darkness. Darkness is what they are selling.”Oprah directs part of her remarks at independent and undecided votersOprah Winfrey returned to the DNC stage on Wednesday night. Winfrey delivered a famous endorsement to then-Sen. Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign.The legendary talk show host, on Wednesday, encouraged voters to vote for Kamala Harris and said she was “fired up” about the election after listening to speeches on Wednesday by former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. Without actually saying his name, Oprah Winfrey, at multiple points, made no-so-subtle jabs at Trump while also trying to appeal to independent and undecided voters.“We are beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and foolery,” she said of Trump, before referencing a recent comment he made to supporters about only having to vote once more — for him — and never again.”There’s a certain candidate that says if we just go to the polls this one time, we’ll never have to do it again,” Winfrey later said. ” Well, you know what? You’re looking at a registered independent who is proud to vote again and again and again because I’m an American and that’s what Americans do. Voting is the best of America.”Winfrey said she has “always voted my values,” and specifically called on independent and undecided voters to do the same. Winfrey, who long hosted her signature talk show from Chicago, also picked up on one of Democrats’ favorite themes of late, scoffing at Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance having once derided “childless cat ladies” as he argued that Americans should be having more children.Winfrey said that if a burning house belonged to a “childless cat lady,” neighbors would still help and “try to get that cat out too.”Poet Amanda Gorman recites original work ‘The Sacred Scene’“A people that cannot stand together cannot stand at all,” poet Amanda Gorman declared from the Democratic convention stage as she recited an original piece of verse penned for the occasion, “This Sacred Scene.”“While we all love freedom, it is love that frees us all,” Gorman’s poem said. “Empathy emancipates, making us greater than hate or vanity, that is the American promise powerful and pure.”The 26-year-old earned rare national fame for a modern poet when she read another poem she wrote, “The Hill We Climb,” at the inauguration of President Joe Biden 3 ½ years ago.Gov. Josh Shapiro takes the stagePennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was among Harris’ finalists to be her running mate, is speaking ahead of Walz Wednesday night after the convention rejiggered its schedule. Shapiro says, “We are the party of real freedom,” criticizing Republicans for trying to undermine elections and roll back abortion access.Democrats veer from their prepared scheduleDemocrats appear to be ditching their prepared schedule, passing over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and adding former Harris staffer Lateefah Simon, now an Oakland congressional candidate, and the vice president’s brother-in-law Tony West to talk about Harris’s biography.It remains to be seen if the convention will cut additional speakers to avoid running well over time like it did on Monday night when President Joe Biden’s address was pushed past 11:30 p.m. Eastern time.‘Uncommitted’ delegates say officials denied their request for a Palestinian to address the conventionDelegates of the “uncommitted” movement, which was sparked by dissatisfaction with President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, announced to reporters at the DNC late Wednesday that officials denied their request for a Palestinian to speak during the convention.The group of 36 delegates have outsized influence as they stem from pivotal battleground states like Michigan.“I have asked for the vice president to call us back and tell us that the suppression of Palestinian Americans does not belong in the Democratic party and a Palestinian speaker will speak on this stage,” Uncommitted National Movement co-founder Abbas Alawieh said. “I’m waiting for the call.”The development comes shortly after the parents of an American who is being kept hostage in Gaza by Hamas spoke at the DNC, urging the release of the hostages and the need for a cease-fire.Pelosi recalls Jan. 6The rest of Pelosi’s time on stage has focused on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, where many rioters were targeting the then-speaker and, when they couldn’t find her, ended up trashing her congressional office.“The parable of January 6 reminds us that our democracy is only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with its care,” she said, adding that America must choose leaders who believe in free and fair elections. “The choice couldn’t be clearer. Those leaders are Vice President Harris and Governor Walz.”Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi greeted at the DNC with a standing ovationPelosi, who has been seen as the architect behind Biden’s decision to step down as the nominee, spoke about the president’s achievements before quickly pivoting to the woman who stood by him for the last three and a half years.“Personally, I know her as a person of deep faith, reflected in her community, care and service,” the California Democrat said.Clinton says Trump is fighting for ‘me, myself and I’He told the Democratic convention: “The next time you hear him, don’t count the lies — count the I’s.” Adding some corny humor, Clinton said, “He’s like one of those tenors opening up before he walks out on stage trying to get his lungs open by saying: me, me, me, me. When Kamala Harris is president, every day will begin with you, you, you.”Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and first daughter Chelsea Clinton watched from the arena was the former president spoke.Former Secretary of State and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, who once secured the Democratic nomination for president in a race against Donald Trump, spoke on the convention’s stage on Monday.Clinton’s a fan of the Golden ArchesClinton is emphasizing Harris’ time working at McDonald’s to emphasize that she’s working to help people like them.“When she was a student, she worked at McDonald’s,” Clinton said. “She greeted every person with that thousand-watt smile and said, ‘How can I help you?’ And now, she’s at the pinnacle of power, she’s still asking ‘How can I help you?’”Clinton added: “I’ll be so happy when she actually enters the White House because, at last, she’ll break my record as the president who has spent the most time at McDonald’s.”Former President Donald Trump is also a frequent consumer of the golden arches’ food.Former President Clinton returns to the DNCFormer President Bill Clinton said President Joe Biden has, like George Washington, enhanced his legacy by deciding to leave office. Praising Biden at the start of his Democratic National Convention speech, Clinton said of Biden, “He healed our sick and put the rest of us back to work.”Clinton, who left office more than 23 years ago, also cracked jokes about former President Donald Trump’s age — and his own.“I actually turned 78 two days ago,” Clinton said. “The only personal vanity I want to assert is that I’m still younger than Donald Trump.”He did not mention that Biden, 81, is older than both of them.Clinton, the nation’s 42nd president and a veteran of his party’s political convention going back decades, drew a contrast between Harris and Trump.“In 2024, we got a pretty clear choice, it seems to me: Kamala Harris for The People, and the other guy who’s proved even more than the first go around that he’s about me, myself and I,” Clinton said. “I know which one like better for our country.” Hakeem Jeffries casts Trump as ‘an old boyfriend’ who ‘won’t go away’House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries began his speech Wednesday night with a nod to President Biden, saying he would go down as one of the “most consequential presidents of all time.” But Jeffries, who if Democrats win back the House in November would become the first Black speaker, quickly pivoted to the new nominee, saying Harris is a “courageous leader, a compassionate leader and common-sense leader.”Jeffries then spoke on Trump, saying the former president is like “an old boyfriend who you broke up with, but he just won’t go away.”“He has spent the last four years spinning around the block, trying to get back into a relationship with the American people,” the New York Democrat said. “Bro, we broke up with you for a reason.”Mindy Kaling steps in to host as the DNC enters prime timeMindy Kaling is the celebrity host of the prime-time hours of night three of the Democratic convention, and she touted her ties to Vice President Kamala Harris as she introduced herself.“For those of you who don’t know me I am an incredibly famous Gen Z actress who you might recognize from “The Office,” “The Mindy Project” or as the woman who courageously outed Kamala Harris as Indian in an Instagram cooking video,” Kaling said.The actor, comedian and screenwriter from Massachusetts is the daughter of immigrants from India, and she and Harris made masala dosa together in a video four years ago.Democrats keep hammering Republicans about Project 2025Project 2025, the policy document that some conservatives had hoped would serve as a blueprint for a future Trump administration, keeps getting lots of camera time at the Democratic convention.On Wednesday, it was comedian Kenan Thompson who toted the book on stage.“Ever seen a document that can kill a small animal and democracy at the same time? Here it is,” said Thompson, a Saturday Night Live star, who got his start on the Nickelodeon kids comedy show “All That.”Trump and his campaign have repeatedly sought to distance themselves from Project 2025. But the document, which is hundreds of pages long and written by Trump allies and officials in his administration, has continued to dog him.And Democrats aren’t about to stop.Among the proposals included in the document are far more stringent abortion restrictions. The authors also want to dramatically downsize the federal government and give the president the authority to replace tens of thousands of workers with loyalists.“Everything we just talked about is very real. It is in this book,” Thompson said.“You can stop it from ever happening by electing Kamala Harris,” he concluded.Kenan Thompson pokes fun at Project 2025 Comedian Kenan Thompson brought back the huge “Project 2025” tome as he introduced a bit talking to various Americans who would be impacted by the book’s policies. “You ever see a document that can kill a small animal and democracy at the same time?” he said.But as he began, tech issues prevented Thompson from going through with the bit with a Nevada delegate named Matt. After several seconds of trying to fix the problem, Thompson moved on to the next delegate, saying, “Sorry, Matt!” and the bit continued.Stevie Wonder performs ‘Higher Ground’Stevie Wonder used his keyboard as a podium on the stage of the Democratic convention, giving a brief speech before breaking into “Higher Ground.”“We must choose courage over complacency, it is time to get UP! And go vote.”He asked the audience, “Are y’all ready to reach a higher ground? Because you know we need Kamala Harris.”The 74-year-old musical luminary then broke into his 1973 classic from the album “Innervisions,” accompanied by a DJ and dancers clad in white.Wonder also sang at the 2008 convention in Denver that brought the nomination of Barack Obama.Former Jan. 6 committee chairman says Trump ‘would rather subvert democracy than submit to it’Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., spoke Wednesday night about the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The former chairman of the Jan. 6 committee warned at the convention “about going back to the dark history,” of political violence and racial segregation. “They wanted to stop the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history,” he said. “Thank God they failed.”Thompson warned of what would happen if Trump would once again lose and refuse to accept the results of the election. “He would rather subvert democracy than submit to it. Now he’s plotting to do it again,” he added.Georgia’s former lieutenant governor urges fellow Republicans to ‘dump Trump’Geoff Duncan, the former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, is eliciting a raucous response from Democrats in the convention hall as he lays into Donald Trump.“Our party is not civil and conservative. It’s chaotic and crazy,” he said of Republicans before urging others to “dump Trump.”Addressing his fellow Republicans, Duncan said, “If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 you’re not a Democrat, you’re a patriot.”Another former Trump White House official backs HarrisA former Trump administration White House official said she made the right decision when she quit her job.Olivia Troye told the Democratic National Convention that being in Trump’s White House was “terrifying” but what truly keeps her up at night is the possibility of the former president reclaiming the office.Troye said the traditional values that she says made her a Republican growing up are the same values that have led her to support Harris for president.Turning to her fellow Republicans, she said a vote for Harris is not a vote for a Democrat but rather a vote for democracy. ‘This is a vision for America that Donald Trump will never understand,’ congressman says on stageRep. Pete Aguilar, the highest-ranking Latino in Congress, said that Trump is a threat to the values his immigrant family grew up with in Southern California.“Only Kamala Harris and Tim Walls will protect the American dream so that every family can earn a living, own a home, and reach their full potential,” Aguilar said. “This is a vision for America that Donald Trump will never understand. All he knows is chaos and division.” Democrats turn their attention to the borderRep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, who served as a surrogate to the then-Biden campaign, kicked off what will be a series of speeches Wednesday night focused on immigration and security at the U.S. border with Mexico.Video below: Hear some of Escobar’s remarks After a video played showing Republican opposition to a bipartisan border deal earlier this year, Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut took the stage. Murphy was the top Democrat negotiating the proposal with conservative senators.“I just want to let you know that everything you just saw in that video, that’s exactly what happened,” Murphy said. “It would have had unanimous support if it weren’t for Donald Trump.”Singer Maren Morris performs ‘Better Than We Found It’Singer Maren Morris brought her plea for progress “Better Than We Found It” to the convention.The Grammy winner from Arlington, Texas, has been leaning more toward pop recently but struck a decidedly country tone on the stage at the United Center.“God save us all from ourselves and the hell that we’ve built for our kids,” she sang. “America, America, We’re better than this.” The song was released in 2020 in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and was viewed as an implicit rejection of former President Trump’s rhetoric.Morris has been a vocal supporter of liberal causes and has publicly sparred with other country music figures on issues including trans rights.She’s also set to be among the performers at a 100th birthday celebration for former President Jimmy Carter next month. Also expected onstage are music icon Stevie Wonder and legendary talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who gave a critical endorsement of then-Sen. Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. Poet Amanda Gorman was also set to take the stage.Family of hostage in Gaza calls for a cease-fire and hostage releaseJon Polin thanked Biden and Harris for their work trying to secure a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza. Acknowledging the “agony” of civilians in Gaza as well, he said, “In a competition of pain there are no winners” and called for a swift agreement to free the hostages and stop the fighting in Gaza.Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has been a staunch critic of Israel as it has responded to the Oct. 7 attack, was seen at the convention clapping as the parents of the Israeli hostage spoke about the need to not only bring back hostages but to end the “civilian suffering” in Gaza.Halie Soifer, the head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and former national security advisor to Harris when she was senator, said in a statement Wednesday after the Polins’ speech that “Jewish Americans are proud to stand with Vice President Harris because she stands with us on every issue, including strong support of the US-Israel relationship.”The parents of an American hostage in Gaza receive a standing ovationSen. Cory Booker of New Jersey introduced his constituents, Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who has been held hostage in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.They were among the family members of six American hostages in attendance in Chicago to raise awareness about their family members’ plight.Polin and Goldberg-Polin, wearing a notation that it’s been 320 days since their son was taken captive, received a standing ovation from conventiongoers, who chanted “Bring them home.”While the Polins spoke, the camera cut to the various people in the room who were shedding tears for the parents.It comes after Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of Omer Neutra, were given a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention last month. After Hersh’s mother talked about her son’s love of travel, geography, music and music festivals, she described the events of Oct. 7 and the injuries her son sustained before being taken hostage.As he spoke, Hersh’s father told listeners that while he was speaking at the DNC, he doesn’t think releasing the hostages should be a matter of politics.“This is a political convention, but needing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home, is not a political issue,” he said. “It is a humanitarian issue.”“In a competition of pain there are no winners,” Polin added.Both Polin and Goldberg-Polin spoke of the other hostages and hostage families.In an emotional moment, Goldberg-Polin closed the speech with a message for her son.“Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you. Stay strong. Survive,” she said.A record number of DNC delegates identify as LGBTQ+According to the Human Rights Campaign, over 800 DNC delegates identify as LGBTQ+ — a record — and over 50 identify as trans or nonbinary. During her speech, Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general and an openly gay woman, spoke about LGBTQ+ rights. In addition to other remarks, Nessel declared, “I got a message for the Republicans and the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: You can pry this wedding band from my cold, dead, gay hand.”Voters reminded to pay attention to Congressional races in addition to presidential raceDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rep. Suzan DelBene told party faithful it’s not enough to win the White House.“A Democratic Congress is how we turn promises into progress,” she says, which would enable Harris and Walz to enact their policy agenda. Democrats only need to pick up a handful of seats to retake the majority in the House from Republicans.Wasserman Schultz talks about the repercussions of the Dobbs decisionFlorida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was also bumped from the program on Monday, is getting a chance to address the convention Wednesday night.The former DNC chair is using her remarks to highlight the story of a Florida woman who, because of the state’s restrictions on abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, was forced to carry to term a child with a fatal illness, only to watch the newborn die just hours after birth.“This is Project 2025 in practice,” she says. “It’s what Donald Trump and JD Vance want for the whole country.”The big book is back as Democrats again take aim at Project 2025Prop-politics is back as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is taking a page from an oversized printed copy of the conservative Project 2025, saying he wants to share it with undecided voters. Polis says the plan would jeopardize IVF and only values heterosexual couples where the man holds a job. Project 2025 was developed by Trump supporters but has been formally disavowed by the GOP nominee.Minnesota connections abound ahead of Walz’s DNC speechIt’s Walz’s night at the DNC, and there are lots of touchstones to the Minnesota governor sprinkled throughout the programming.Harris-Walz campaign officials note that elementary students from Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet School in St. Paul, Minnesota, were tasked with leading the Pledge of Allegiance. According to the campaign, those students benefited from the free breakfast and lunch program that Walz signed into law as Minnesota governor.Also, the campaign says the national anthem was sung by Jess Davis, a mathematics teacher selected as Minnesota’s teacher of the year in 2019.Congressman compares Democrats’ immigration stances with that of RepublicansNew York Rep. Tom Suozzi is implicitly contrasting Democrats’ stance on immigration with Republicans.The Republican convention last month was dominated by calls to shut down the southern border and ratchet down admissions to the U.S. And though Republicans say they don’t oppose immigration — only those who enter the country illegally — Trump also tightly limited immigration during his presidency.Souzzi pointed out that the U.S. has long been a nation of immigrants, including his own relatives who came from Italy.“To be a nation of immigrants is hard,” he said. “You have to work for it.”Democrats appeal to former Trump votersThere are more videos of former Trump supporters no longer backing the GOP nominee being played at the DNC.It’s a theme to which convention programming has been returning throughout the week, perhaps aimed at other former Trump backers now looking for a new political home.Harris’ campaign, and Biden’s before that, has been angling to attract Republican support heading into what’s anticipated to be a tight general election campaign.Abortion-rights advocates praise HarrisReproductive justice leaders took the DNC stage to applaud Harris’ long history as an abortion rights advocate.Mini Timmaraju, president of the national reproductive rights group Reproductive Freedom for All, highlighted states where abortion rights will be on the ballot this year, including Arizona and Montana — the latest states where voters will be able to decide in November whether they want to protect the right to an abortion in their state constitutions.“The people will get to have their say this November,” she said.Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood, told the stories of a Georgia woman who drove to South Carolina for abortion care but arrived the day the state’s six-week ban went into effect, of Texas doctors who have sent patients “to wait in hospital parking lots rather than provide the emergency care they need,” and of Idaho hospitals airlifting patients to other states.“We cannot call ourselves a free nation when women are not free,” she said. Oprah Winfrey will make DNC appearanceannot call ourselves a free nation when women are not free,” she said.Talk show legend Oprah Winfrey will appear at the DNC on Wednesday night, according to a person familiar with the schedule who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans.Winfrey delivered a famous endorsement to then-Sen. Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign. It’s not yet clear whether she will endorse Harris, who is vying to become the first Black woman elected president. Day 3 of the DNC has begunThe third day of the convention has officially been gaveled in by Sen. Corey Booker of New Jersey. Day 3 speakers and performersMini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for AllAlexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action FundCecile Richards, reproductive rights activistKelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights CampaignJessica Mackler, president of EMILYs ListMaría Teresa Kumar, Founding President and CEO of Voto LatinoU.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi of New YorkSen. Cory BookerAftab Pureval, mayor of Cincinnati, OhioCavalier Johnson, mayor of Milwaukee, WisconsinRashawn Spivey and Deanna Branch, lead pipe removal advocatesU.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of DelawareU.S. Rep. Grace Meng of New YorkGov. Jared Polis of ColoradoU.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of FloridaSuzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota Dana Nessel, Attorney General of MichiganJon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of Hersh Goldberg-PolinMaren Morris (performance)U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of TexasU.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of ConnecticutJavier Salazar, sheriff of Bexar County, TexasPete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic CaucusCarlos Eduardo Espina, content creatorOlivia Troye, a former Trump administration national security officialGeoff Duncan, the former Lieutenant Governor of GeorgiaU.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of MississippiSgt. Aquilino Gonell, retired U.S. Capitol police officerU.S. Rep. Andy Kim of New JerseyOlivia Julianna, content creatorStevie Wonder (performance)Kenan Thompson and Guests on Project 2025Mindy KalingU.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem JeffriesFormer President Bill ClintonSpeaker Emerita of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy PelosiPennsylvania Gov. Josh ShapiroAlexander HudlinJasper EmhoffArden EmhoffU.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of NevadaAmanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate (performance)Gov. Wes Moore of MarylandU.S. Transportation Secretary Pete ButtigiegJohn Legend (performance)Sheila E. (performance)Sen. Amy Klobuchar of MinnesotaBenjamin C. Ingman, a former student of Gov. WalzTim Walz, the governor of Minnesota

    CHICAGO —

    The Democratic National Convention’s third night is underway.

    After receiving the blessing of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, the focus on the second to last day of the DNC shifts to Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The former school teacher and football coach accepted the Democratic nomination as the party makes the case that Americans’ fundamental freedoms are at risk if Donald Trump returns to the White House.

    According to convention organizers, the theme for Wednesday’s events is “A fight for our freedoms,” a message that has become the centerpiece of Harris’ campaign as the Democrat has sought to paint a second Trump presidency as a threat to Americans’ ability to make choices about their own lives.

    Read live updates from Day 3 of the DNC below.

    Tim Walz speaks at DNC, accepts party vice presidential nomination

    Gov. Tim Walz officially accepted the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nomination on Wednesday.

    He used his Democratic National Convention address to thank the packed arena for “bringing the joy” to an election transformed by the elevation of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.

    “We’re all here tonight for one simple, beautiful reason: We love this country,” Walz said.

    Walz had been working on his DNC speech for about a week, according to a person familiar with the matter, and has made edits in recent days to make it sound more authentic to his voice.

    Walz also practiced using a teleprompter for the first time since he was selected as Harris’ running mate as he was looking to use the speech to introduce himself to the American people.

    John Legend and Sheila E. go crazy

    John Legend and Sheila E. celebrated Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz with a rendition of son-of-the-state Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” at the Democratic convention.

    Legend started at the piano and the onetime Prince collaborator Sheila E. started at her signature standing percussion set before each grabbed a mic and rocked with a band at the center of the stage, tearing through the purple tune for an audience of blue delegates.

    Walz has gushed about the music of Minnesota, expressing his affection for Bob Dylan, the Replacements, Hüsker Dü and Prince, who died in 2016.

    Legend told The Associated Press before the convention, “I’m trying to do what I can to help protect our democracy and have someone with a really positive vision for the future elected. And I think Kamala is the right person.”

    He added, “I’m so excited that she’s infused so much energy into the campaign and that young people and so many people that I think felt concerned that they had to pick between two choices they weren’t excited about.”

    Buttigieg reflects on progress for American LGBTQ+ families

    Buttigieg marveled at the pace of change in the country for LGBTQ+ families, saying it was “impossible” for him to believe 25 years ago that, as a gay man, he could be married with two children.

    “This kind of life went from impossible to possible — from possible to real — from real to almost ordinary, in less than half a lifetime,” he told the Democratic National Convention. He said it came about because of “the right kind of politics” and encouraged Americans to “choose a better politics. One of hope, of promise, of freedom, of trust. This is what Kamala Harris and Tim Walz represent.”

    Buttigieg: ‘At least Mike Pence was polite!’

    Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is taking shots at Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, saying, “At least Mike Pence was polite!” Speaking at the Democratic National Convention, Buttigieg, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020, said, “JD Vance is one of those guys who thinks if you don’t live the life he has in mind for you, then you don’t count.”

    Buttigieg said Trump’s selection of Vance shows he’s “doubling down on negativity and grievance. A concept of campaigning best summed up in one word: darkness. Darkness is what they are selling.”

    Oprah directs part of her remarks at independent and undecided voters

    Oprah Winfrey returned to the DNC stage on Wednesday night. Winfrey delivered a famous endorsement to then-Sen. Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign.

    The legendary talk show host, on Wednesday, encouraged voters to vote for Kamala Harris and said she was “fired up” about the election after listening to speeches on Wednesday by former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama.

    Without actually saying his name, Oprah Winfrey, at multiple points, made no-so-subtle jabs at Trump while also trying to appeal to independent and undecided voters.

    “We are beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and foolery,” she said of Trump, before referencing a recent comment he made to supporters about only having to vote once more — for him — and never again.

    “There’s a certain candidate that says if we just go to the polls this one time, we’ll never have to do it again,” Winfrey later said. ” Well, you know what? You’re looking at a registered independent who is proud to vote again and again and again because I’m an American and that’s what Americans do. Voting is the best of America.”

    Winfrey said she has “always voted my values,” and specifically called on independent and undecided voters to do the same.

    Winfrey, who long hosted her signature talk show from Chicago, also picked up on one of Democrats’ favorite themes of late, scoffing at Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance having once derided “childless cat ladies” as he argued that Americans should be having more children.

    Winfrey said that if a burning house belonged to a “childless cat lady,” neighbors would still help and “try to get that cat out too.”

    Poet Amanda Gorman recites original work ‘The Sacred Scene’

    “A people that cannot stand together cannot stand at all,” poet Amanda Gorman declared from the Democratic convention stage as she recited an original piece of verse penned for the occasion, “This Sacred Scene.”

    “While we all love freedom, it is love that frees us all,” Gorman’s poem said. “Empathy emancipates, making us greater than hate or vanity, that is the American promise powerful and pure.”

    The 26-year-old earned rare national fame for a modern poet when she read another poem she wrote, “The Hill We Climb,” at the inauguration of President Joe Biden 3 ½ years ago.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro takes the stage

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was among Harris’ finalists to be her running mate, is speaking ahead of Walz Wednesday night after the convention rejiggered its schedule. Shapiro says, “We are the party of real freedom,” criticizing Republicans for trying to undermine elections and roll back abortion access.

    Democrats veer from their prepared schedule

    Democrats appear to be ditching their prepared schedule, passing over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and adding former Harris staffer Lateefah Simon, now an Oakland congressional candidate, and the vice president’s brother-in-law Tony West to talk about Harris’s biography.

    It remains to be seen if the convention will cut additional speakers to avoid running well over time like it did on Monday night when President Joe Biden’s address was pushed past 11:30 p.m. Eastern time.

    ‘Uncommitted’ delegates say officials denied their request for a Palestinian to address the convention

    Delegates of the “uncommitted” movement, which was sparked by dissatisfaction with President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, announced to reporters at the DNC late Wednesday that officials denied their request for a Palestinian to speak during the convention.

    The group of 36 delegates have outsized influence as they stem from pivotal battleground states like Michigan.

    “I have asked for the vice president to call us back and tell us that the suppression of Palestinian Americans does not belong in the Democratic party and a Palestinian speaker will speak on this stage,” Uncommitted National Movement co-founder Abbas Alawieh said. “I’m waiting for the call.”

    The development comes shortly after the parents of an American who is being kept hostage in Gaza by Hamas spoke at the DNC, urging the release of the hostages and the need for a cease-fire.

    Pelosi recalls Jan. 6

    The rest of Pelosi’s time on stage has focused on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, where many rioters were targeting the then-speaker and, when they couldn’t find her, ended up trashing her congressional office.

    “The parable of January 6 reminds us that our democracy is only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with its care,” she said, adding that America must choose leaders who believe in free and fair elections. “The choice couldn’t be clearer. Those leaders are Vice President Harris and Governor Walz.”

    Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi greeted at the DNC with a standing ovation

    Pelosi, who has been seen as the architect behind Biden’s decision to step down as the nominee, spoke about the president’s achievements before quickly pivoting to the woman who stood by him for the last three and a half years.

    “Personally, I know her as a person of deep faith, reflected in her community, care and service,” the California Democrat said.

    Clinton says Trump is fighting for ‘me, myself and I’

    He told the Democratic convention: “The next time you hear him, don’t count the lies — count the I’s.” Adding some corny humor, Clinton said, “He’s like one of those tenors opening up before he walks out on stage trying to get his lungs open by saying: me, me, me, me. When Kamala Harris is president, every day will begin with you, you, you.”

    Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and first daughter Chelsea Clinton watched from the arena was the former president spoke.

    Former Secretary of State and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, who once secured the Democratic nomination for president in a race against Donald Trump, spoke on the convention’s stage on Monday.

    Clinton’s a fan of the Golden Arches

    Clinton is emphasizing Harris’ time working at McDonald’s to emphasize that she’s working to help people like them.

    “When she was a student, she worked at McDonald’s,” Clinton said. “She greeted every person with that thousand-watt smile and said, ‘How can I help you?’ And now, she’s at the pinnacle of power, she’s still asking ‘How can I help you?’”

    Clinton added: “I’ll be so happy when she actually enters the White House because, at last, she’ll break my record as the president who has spent the most time at McDonald’s.”

    Former President Donald Trump is also a frequent consumer of the golden arches’ food.

    Former President Clinton returns to the DNC

    Former President Bill Clinton said President Joe Biden has, like George Washington, enhanced his legacy by deciding to leave office. Praising Biden at the start of his Democratic National Convention speech, Clinton said of Biden, “He healed our sick and put the rest of us back to work.”

    Clinton, who left office more than 23 years ago, also cracked jokes about former President Donald Trump’s age — and his own.

    “I actually turned 78 two days ago,” Clinton said. “The only personal vanity I want to assert is that I’m still younger than Donald Trump.”

    He did not mention that Biden, 81, is older than both of them.

    Clinton, the nation’s 42nd president and a veteran of his party’s political convention going back decades, drew a contrast between Harris and Trump.

    “In 2024, we got a pretty clear choice, it seems to me: Kamala Harris for The People, and the other guy who’s proved even more than the first go around that he’s about me, myself and I,” Clinton said. “I know which one like better for our country.”

    Hakeem Jeffries casts Trump as ‘an old boyfriend’ who ‘won’t go away’

    House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries began his speech Wednesday night with a nod to President Biden, saying he would go down as one of the “most consequential presidents of all time.” But Jeffries, who if Democrats win back the House in November would become the first Black speaker, quickly pivoted to the new nominee, saying Harris is a “courageous leader, a compassionate leader and common-sense leader.”

    Jeffries then spoke on Trump, saying the former president is like “an old boyfriend who you broke up with, but he just won’t go away.”

    “He has spent the last four years spinning around the block, trying to get back into a relationship with the American people,” the New York Democrat said. “Bro, we broke up with you for a reason.”

    Mindy Kaling steps in to host as the DNC enters prime time

    Mindy Kaling is the celebrity host of the prime-time hours of night three of the Democratic convention, and she touted her ties to Vice President Kamala Harris as she introduced herself.

    “For those of you who don’t know me I am an incredibly famous Gen Z actress who you might recognize from “The Office,” “The Mindy Project” or as the woman who courageously outed Kamala Harris as Indian in an Instagram cooking video,” Kaling said.

    The actor, comedian and screenwriter from Massachusetts is the daughter of immigrants from India, and she and Harris made masala dosa together in a video four years ago.

    Democrats keep hammering Republicans about Project 2025

    Project 2025, the policy document that some conservatives had hoped would serve as a blueprint for a future Trump administration, keeps getting lots of camera time at the Democratic convention.

    On Wednesday, it was comedian Kenan Thompson who toted the book on stage.

    “Ever seen a document that can kill a small animal and democracy at the same time? Here it is,” said Thompson, a Saturday Night Live star, who got his start on the Nickelodeon kids comedy show “All That.”

    Trump and his campaign have repeatedly sought to distance themselves from Project 2025. But the document, which is hundreds of pages long and written by Trump allies and officials in his administration, has continued to dog him.

    And Democrats aren’t about to stop.

    Among the proposals included in the document are far more stringent abortion restrictions. The authors also want to dramatically downsize the federal government and give the president the authority to replace tens of thousands of workers with loyalists.

    “Everything we just talked about is very real. It is in this book,” Thompson said.

    “You can stop it from ever happening by electing Kamala Harris,” he concluded.

    Kenan Thompson pokes fun at Project 2025

    Comedian Kenan Thompson brought back the huge “Project 2025” tome as he introduced a bit talking to various Americans who would be impacted by the book’s policies. “You ever see a document that can kill a small animal and democracy at the same time?” he said.

    But as he began, tech issues prevented Thompson from going through with the bit with a Nevada delegate named Matt. After several seconds of trying to fix the problem, Thompson moved on to the next delegate, saying, “Sorry, Matt!” and the bit continued.

    Stevie Wonder performs ‘Higher Ground’

    Stevie Wonder used his keyboard as a podium on the stage of the Democratic convention, giving a brief speech before breaking into “Higher Ground.”

    “We must choose courage over complacency, it is time to get UP! And go vote.”

    He asked the audience, “Are y’all ready to reach a higher ground? Because you know we need Kamala Harris.”

    The 74-year-old musical luminary then broke into his 1973 classic from the album “Innervisions,” accompanied by a DJ and dancers clad in white.

    Wonder also sang at the 2008 convention in Denver that brought the nomination of Barack Obama.

    Former Jan. 6 committee chairman says Trump ‘would rather subvert democracy than submit to it’

    Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., spoke Wednesday night about the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The former chairman of the Jan. 6 committee warned at the convention “about going back to the dark history,” of political violence and racial segregation. “They wanted to stop the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history,” he said. “Thank God they failed.”

    Thompson warned of what would happen if Trump would once again lose and refuse to accept the results of the election. “He would rather subvert democracy than submit to it. Now he’s plotting to do it again,” he added.

    Georgia’s former lieutenant governor urges fellow Republicans to ‘dump Trump’

    Geoff Duncan, the former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, is eliciting a raucous response from Democrats in the convention hall as he lays into Donald Trump.

    “Our party is not civil and conservative. It’s chaotic and crazy,” he said of Republicans before urging others to “dump Trump.”

    Addressing his fellow Republicans, Duncan said, “If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 you’re not a Democrat, you’re a patriot.”

    Another former Trump White House official backs Harris

    A former Trump administration White House official said she made the right decision when she quit her job.

    Olivia Troye told the Democratic National Convention that being in Trump’s White House was “terrifying” but what truly keeps her up at night is the possibility of the former president reclaiming the office.

    Troye said the traditional values that she says made her a Republican growing up are the same values that have led her to support Harris for president.

    Turning to her fellow Republicans, she said a vote for Harris is not a vote for a Democrat but rather a vote for democracy.

    ‘This is a vision for America that Donald Trump will never understand,’ congressman says on stage

    Rep. Pete Aguilar, the highest-ranking Latino in Congress, said that Trump is a threat to the values his immigrant family grew up with in Southern California.

    “Only Kamala Harris and Tim Walls will protect the American dream so that every family can earn a living, own a home, and reach their full potential,” Aguilar said. “This is a vision for America that Donald Trump will never understand. All he knows is chaos and division.”

    Democrats turn their attention to the border

    Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, who served as a surrogate to the then-Biden campaign, kicked off what will be a series of speeches Wednesday night focused on immigration and security at the U.S. border with Mexico.

    Video below: Hear some of Escobar’s remarks

    After a video played showing Republican opposition to a bipartisan border deal earlier this year, Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut took the stage. Murphy was the top Democrat negotiating the proposal with conservative senators.

    “I just want to let you know that everything you just saw in that video, that’s exactly what happened,” Murphy said. “It would have had unanimous support if it weren’t for Donald Trump.”

    Singer Maren Morris performs ‘Better Than We Found It’

    Singer Maren Morris brought her plea for progress “Better Than We Found It” to the convention.

    The Grammy winner from Arlington, Texas, has been leaning more toward pop recently but struck a decidedly country tone on the stage at the United Center.

    “God save us all from ourselves and the hell that we’ve built for our kids,” she sang. “America, America, We’re better than this.” The song was released in 2020 in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and was viewed as an implicit rejection of former President Trump’s rhetoric.

    Morris has been a vocal supporter of liberal causes and has publicly sparred with other country music figures on issues including trans rights.

    She’s also set to be among the performers at a 100th birthday celebration for former President Jimmy Carter next month.

    Also expected onstage are music icon Stevie Wonder and legendary talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who gave a critical endorsement of then-Sen. Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. Poet Amanda Gorman was also set to take the stage.

    Family of hostage in Gaza calls for a cease-fire and hostage release

    Jon Polin thanked Biden and Harris for their work trying to secure a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza. Acknowledging the “agony” of civilians in Gaza as well, he said, “In a competition of pain there are no winners” and called for a swift agreement to free the hostages and stop the fighting in Gaza.

    Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has been a staunch critic of Israel as it has responded to the Oct. 7 attack, was seen at the convention clapping as the parents of the Israeli hostage spoke about the need to not only bring back hostages but to end the “civilian suffering” in Gaza.

    Halie Soifer, the head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and former national security advisor to Harris when she was senator, said in a statement Wednesday after the Polins’ speech that “Jewish Americans are proud to stand with Vice President Harris because she stands with us on every issue, including strong support of the US-Israel relationship.”

    The parents of an American hostage in Gaza receive a standing ovation

    Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey introduced his constituents, Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who has been held hostage in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

    They were among the family members of six American hostages in attendance in Chicago to raise awareness about their family members’ plight.

    Polin and Goldberg-Polin, wearing a notation that it’s been 320 days since their son was taken captive, received a standing ovation from conventiongoers, who chanted “Bring them home.”

    While the Polins spoke, the camera cut to the various people in the room who were shedding tears for the parents.

    It comes after Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of Omer Neutra, were given a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention last month.

    After Hersh’s mother talked about her son’s love of travel, geography, music and music festivals, she described the events of Oct. 7 and the injuries her son sustained before being taken hostage.

    As he spoke, Hersh’s father told listeners that while he was speaking at the DNC, he doesn’t think releasing the hostages should be a matter of politics.

    “This is a political convention, but needing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home, is not a political issue,” he said. “It is a humanitarian issue.”

    “In a competition of pain there are no winners,” Polin added.

    Both Polin and Goldberg-Polin spoke of the other hostages and hostage families.

    In an emotional moment, Goldberg-Polin closed the speech with a message for her son.
    “Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you. Stay strong. Survive,” she said.

    A record number of DNC delegates identify as LGBTQ+

    According to the Human Rights Campaign, over 800 DNC delegates identify as LGBTQ+ — a record — and over 50 identify as trans or nonbinary.

    During her speech, Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general and an openly gay woman, spoke about LGBTQ+ rights. In addition to other remarks, Nessel declared, “I got a message for the Republicans and the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: You can pry this wedding band from my cold, dead, gay hand.”

    Voters reminded to pay attention to Congressional races in addition to presidential race

    Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rep. Suzan DelBene told party faithful it’s not enough to win the White House.

    “A Democratic Congress is how we turn promises into progress,” she says, which would enable Harris and Walz to enact their policy agenda. Democrats only need to pick up a handful of seats to retake the majority in the House from Republicans.

    Wasserman Schultz talks about the repercussions of the Dobbs decision

    Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was also bumped from the program on Monday, is getting a chance to address the convention Wednesday night.

    The former DNC chair is using her remarks to highlight the story of a Florida woman who, because of the state’s restrictions on abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, was forced to carry to term a child with a fatal illness, only to watch the newborn die just hours after birth.

    “This is Project 2025 in practice,” she says. “It’s what Donald Trump and JD Vance want for the whole country.”

    The big book is back as Democrats again take aim at Project 2025

    Prop-politics is back as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is taking a page from an oversized printed copy of the conservative Project 2025, saying he wants to share it with undecided voters. Polis says the plan would jeopardize IVF and only values heterosexual couples where the man holds a job. Project 2025 was developed by Trump supporters but has been formally disavowed by the GOP nominee.

    Minnesota connections abound ahead of Walz’s DNC speech

    It’s Walz’s night at the DNC, and there are lots of touchstones to the Minnesota governor sprinkled throughout the programming.

    Harris-Walz campaign officials note that elementary students from Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet School in St. Paul, Minnesota, were tasked with leading the Pledge of Allegiance. According to the campaign, those students benefited from the free breakfast and lunch program that Walz signed into law as Minnesota governor.

    Also, the campaign says the national anthem was sung by Jess Davis, a mathematics teacher selected as Minnesota’s teacher of the year in 2019.

    Congressman compares Democrats’ immigration stances with that of Republicans

    New York Rep. Tom Suozzi is implicitly contrasting Democrats’ stance on immigration with Republicans.

    The Republican convention last month was dominated by calls to shut down the southern border and ratchet down admissions to the U.S. And though Republicans say they don’t oppose immigration — only those who enter the country illegally — Trump also tightly limited immigration during his presidency.

    Souzzi pointed out that the U.S. has long been a nation of immigrants, including his own relatives who came from Italy.

    “To be a nation of immigrants is hard,” he said. “You have to work for it.”

    Democrats appeal to former Trump voters

    There are more videos of former Trump supporters no longer backing the GOP nominee being played at the DNC.

    It’s a theme to which convention programming has been returning throughout the week, perhaps aimed at other former Trump backers now looking for a new political home.

    Harris’ campaign, and Biden’s before that, has been angling to attract Republican support heading into what’s anticipated to be a tight general election campaign.

    Abortion-rights advocates praise Harris

    Reproductive justice leaders took the DNC stage to applaud Harris’ long history as an abortion rights advocate.

    Mini Timmaraju, president of the national reproductive rights group Reproductive Freedom for All, highlighted states where abortion rights will be on the ballot this year, including Arizona and Montana — the latest states where voters will be able to decide in November whether they want to protect the right to an abortion in their state constitutions.

    “The people will get to have their say this November,” she said.

    Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood, told the stories of a Georgia woman who drove to South Carolina for abortion care but arrived the day the state’s six-week ban went into effect, of Texas doctors who have sent patients “to wait in hospital parking lots rather than provide the emergency care they need,” and of Idaho hospitals airlifting patients to other states.

    “We cannot call ourselves a free nation when women are not free,” she said.

    Oprah Winfrey will make DNC appearanceannot call ourselves a free nation when women are not free,” she said.

    Talk show legend Oprah Winfrey will appear at the DNC on Wednesday night, according to a person familiar with the schedule who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans.

    Winfrey delivered a famous endorsement to then-Sen. Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign. It’s not yet clear whether she will endorse Harris, who is vying to become the first Black woman elected president.

    Day 3 of the DNC has begun

    The third day of the convention has officially been gaveled in by Sen. Corey Booker of New Jersey.

    Day 3 speakers and performers

    • Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All
    • Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund
    • Cecile Richards, reproductive rights activist
    • Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign
    • Jessica Mackler, president of EMILYs List
    • María Teresa Kumar, Founding President and CEO of Voto Latino
    • U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York
    • Sen. Cory Booker
    • Aftab Pureval, mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio
    • Cavalier Johnson, mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    • Rashawn Spivey and Deanna Branch, lead pipe removal advocates
    • U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware
    • U.S. Rep. Grace Meng of New York
    • Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado
    • U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida
    • Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
    • Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota
    • Dana Nessel, Attorney General of Michigan
    • Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin
    • Maren Morris (performance)
    • U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas
    • U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut
    • Javier Salazar, sheriff of Bexar County, Texas
    • Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus
    • Carlos Eduardo Espina, content creator
    • Olivia Troye, a former Trump administration national security official
    • Geoff Duncan, the former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
    • U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi
    • Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, retired U.S. Capitol police officer
    • U.S. Rep. Andy Kim of New Jersey
    • Olivia Julianna, content creator
    • Stevie Wonder (performance)
    • Kenan Thompson and Guests on Project 2025
    • Mindy Kaling
    • U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries
    • Former President Bill Clinton
    • Speaker Emerita of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi
    • Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro
    • Alexander Hudlin
    • Jasper Emhoff
    • Arden Emhoff
    • U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada
    • Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate (performance)
    • Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland
    • U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
    • John Legend (performance)
    • Sheila E. (performance)
    • Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
    • Benjamin C. Ingman, a former student of Gov. Walz
    • Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Bus crashes into Pittsburgh home after being hit by vehicle involved in police chase

    Bus crashes into Pittsburgh home after being hit by vehicle involved in police chase

    [ad_1]

    A Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus crashed into a home in the city’s Homewood South neighborhood after a police chase involving another vehicle Tuesday afternoon.The homeowner, Dennis Williams, told sister station WTAE that his home is structurally safe, but his front porch which caught the force of the bus is condemned. He was inside his home at the time of the crash but was unharmed.”I was on my second floor in my TV room. I heard a loud crash and bang,” Williams said. “Basically the porch absorbed the energy from the bus crashing into it, and when I looked out of the window, I saw the top of the bus where my porch used to be.”WTAE’s Sky 4 news chopper captured a large, accordion-style bus that had crashed through the front porch of a house near an intersection. PRT said in a statement posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the bus crashed into the home after it was hit by a vehicle fleeing from police. Two people, the driver of the bus and a passenger, were taken to a nearby hospital, PRT said. Those injuries are “not thought to be serious.” About eight passengers were on board at the time of the crash.According to PRT, officers from the Monroeville Police Department were reportedly chasing a vehicle that hit the bus. The bus then went off the road and into the house. Monroeville, a Pittsburgh suburb, is located around 14 miles outside of the city.”I had to come out of my back door, and this is what I was presented with, so it’s been a long tedious day here,” Williams said. Witnesses on the scene told WTAE that police were chasing a vehicle that ran a red light. It then hit the bus before the bus crashed into the home. The suspect who police were pursuing fled the scene. Officials have not yet said what led up to the pursuit.Sources tell WTAE that a Monroeville police officer involved in the chase was also taken to the hospital with a broken leg.

    PITTSBURGH —

    A Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus crashed into a home in the city’s Homewood South neighborhood after a police chase involving another vehicle Tuesday afternoon.

    The homeowner, Dennis Williams, told sister station WTAE that his home is structurally safe, but his front porch which caught the force of the bus is condemned. He was inside his home at the time of the crash but was unharmed.

    “I was on my second floor in my TV room. I heard a loud crash and bang,” Williams said. “Basically the porch absorbed the energy from the bus crashing into it, and when I looked out of the window, I saw the top of the bus where my porch used to be.”

    WTAE’s Sky 4 news chopper captured a large, accordion-style bus that had crashed through the front porch of a house near an intersection.

    Sky 4

    A bus goes into the porch of a Homewood home.

    PRT said in a statement posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the bus crashed into the home after it was hit by a vehicle fleeing from police.

    Two people, the driver of the bus and a passenger, were taken to a nearby hospital, PRT said. Those injuries are “not thought to be serious.” About eight passengers were on board at the time of the crash.

    According to PRT, officers from the Monroeville Police Department were reportedly chasing a vehicle that hit the bus. The bus then went off the road and into the house. Monroeville, a Pittsburgh suburb, is located around 14 miles outside of the city.

    “I had to come out of my back door, and this is what I was presented with, so it’s been a long tedious day here,” Williams said.

    Witnesses on the scene told WTAE that police were chasing a vehicle that ran a red light. It then hit the bus before the bus crashed into the home.

    The suspect who police were pursuing fled the scene. Officials have not yet said what led up to the pursuit.

    Sources tell WTAE that a Monroeville police officer involved in the chase was also taken to the hospital with a broken leg.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Department of Justice sues TikTok, accusing the company of illegally collecting children’s data

    Department of Justice sues TikTok, accusing the company of illegally collecting children’s data

    [ad_1]

    The Justice Department sued TikTok on Friday, accusing the company of violating children’s online privacy law and running afoul of a settlement it had reached with another federal agency. The complaint, filed together with the Federal Trade Commission in a California federal court, comes as the U.S. and the prominent social media company are embroiled in yet another legal battle that will determine if – or how – TikTok will continue to operate in the country. Related video above: About 3 in 5 Americans View TikTok as a Threat to National Security, PEW Research Center study findsThe latest lawsuit focuses on allegations that TikTok, a trend-setting platform popular among young users, and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated a federal law that requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13.TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “This action is necessary to prevent the defendants, who are repeat offenders and operate on a massive scale, from collecting and using young children’s private information without any parental consent or control,” Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement.The U.S. decided to file the lawsuit following an investigation by the FTC that looked into whether the companies were complying with a previous settlement involving TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly.In 2019, the federal government sued Musical.ly, alleging it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, by failing to notify parents about its collection and use of personal information for kids under 13.That same year, Musical.ly — acquired by ByteDance in 2017 and merged with TikTok — agreed to pay $5.7 million to resolve those allegations. The two companies were also subject to a court order requiring them to comply with COPPA, which the government says hasn’t happened. In the complaint, the Justice Department and the FTC allege TikTok has knowingly allowed children to create accounts and retained their personal information without notifying their parents. This practice extends to accounts created in “Kids Mode,” a version of TikTok for children under 13, Justice said in a press release explaining the lawsuit. The two agencies allege the information collected included activities on the app and other identifiers used to build user profiles. They also accuse TikTok of sharing the data with other companies – such as Meta’s Facebook and an analytics company called AppsFlyer – to persuade “Kids Mode” users to be on the platform more, a practice TikTok called “re-targeting less active users.” The complaint says TikTok also allowed children to create accounts without having to provide their age, or obtain parental approval, by using credentials from third-party services. It classified these as “age unknown” accounts, which the agencies say have grown into millions.After parents discovered some of their children’s accounts and asked for them to be deleted, federal officials said their requests were not honored. In a press release explaining the lawsuit, Justice said the alleged violations have resulted in millions of children under 13 using the regular TikTok app, allowing them to interact with adults and access adult content. In March, a person with the matter had told the AP the FTC’s investigation was also looking into whether TikTok violated a portion of federal law that prohibits “unfair and deceptive” business practices by denying that individuals in China had access to U.S. user data. Those allegations were not included in the complaint, which is seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief.

    The Justice Department sued TikTok on Friday, accusing the company of violating children’s online privacy law and running afoul of a settlement it had reached with another federal agency.

    The complaint, filed together with the Federal Trade Commission in a California federal court, comes as the U.S. and the prominent social media company are embroiled in yet another legal battle that will determine if – or how – TikTok will continue to operate in the country.

    Related video above: About 3 in 5 Americans View TikTok as a Threat to National Security, PEW Research Center study finds

    The latest lawsuit focuses on allegations that TikTok, a trend-setting platform popular among young users, and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated a federal law that requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13.

    TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    “This action is necessary to prevent the defendants, who are repeat offenders and operate on a massive scale, from collecting and using young children’s private information without any parental consent or control,” Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement.

    The U.S. decided to file the lawsuit following an investigation by the FTC that looked into whether the companies were complying with a previous settlement involving TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly.

    In 2019, the federal government sued Musical.ly, alleging it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, by failing to notify parents about its collection and use of personal information for kids under 13.

    That same year, Musical.ly — acquired by ByteDance in 2017 and merged with TikTok — agreed to pay $5.7 million to resolve those allegations. The two companies were also subject to a court order requiring them to comply with COPPA, which the government says hasn’t happened.

    In the complaint, the Justice Department and the FTC allege TikTok has knowingly allowed children to create accounts and retained their personal information without notifying their parents. This practice extends to accounts created in “Kids Mode,” a version of TikTok for children under 13, Justice said in a press release explaining the lawsuit.

    The two agencies allege the information collected included activities on the app and other identifiers used to build user profiles. They also accuse TikTok of sharing the data with other companies – such as Meta’s Facebook and an analytics company called AppsFlyer – to persuade “Kids Mode” users to be on the platform more, a practice TikTok called “re-targeting less active users.”

    The complaint says TikTok also allowed children to create accounts without having to provide their age, or obtain parental approval, by using credentials from third-party services. It classified these as “age unknown” accounts, which the agencies say have grown into millions.

    After parents discovered some of their children’s accounts and asked for them to be deleted, federal officials said their requests were not honored. In a press release explaining the lawsuit, Justice said the alleged violations have resulted in millions of children under 13 using the regular TikTok app, allowing them to interact with adults and access adult content.

    In March, a person with the matter had told the AP the FTC’s investigation was also looking into whether TikTok violated a portion of federal law that prohibits “unfair and deceptive” business practices by denying that individuals in China had access to U.S. user data.

    Those allegations were not included in the complaint, which is seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • US Army Captain becomes first female nurse to graduate from the Army’s elite Ranger Course

    US Army Captain becomes first female nurse to graduate from the Army’s elite Ranger Course

    [ad_1]

    For U.S. Army Capt. Molly Murphy, the hardest part of the Army’s grueling Ranger Course was the very first day.”I did not sleep at all the night before, I was so scared, way in over my head,” she told CNN.Murphy, who currently works as a pediatric intensive care unit nurse at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, graduated from Ranger School on July 19, becoming the first female Army nurse to ever complete the course.Over roughly 60 days of the school the Army hails as its “toughest course,” students “train to exhaustion,” completing arduous physical and mental exercises across three intense phases, taking them from the mountainous terrain of Georgia to the swampy conditions in Florida.As of Wednesday, 143 women have graduated from the US Army Ranger Course, also called Ranger School, since the first women graduated in 2015, the Army told CNN. Murphy’s accomplishment is all the more notable given her nursing background, which stood in stark contrast to the majority of her Ranger School counterparts who served in combat.”I was like, ‘I did these tactics eight years ago at ROTC, and I thought I would never hear the word “ambush” ever again, I am so lost,’” Murphy recalled, laughing. “But I’m a very good note taker, super type-A, you know, like any critical care nurse is. And so I was just writing everything anyone said down, and I had this, like, crazy notebook that the boys would flip through whenever they were freaking out.”The first women to graduate Ranger School were Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, just two years after many combat roles in the military were opened up to women. Just months after their graduation, in December 2015, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced he was clearing the way for women to serve in the roughly 220,000 remaining military jobs that were limited to men, including some in special operations.Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, commander of US Army Special Operations Command, said last year that having women in special operations is “not a nice to have, it’s a must.””If you just take the protection of United States and the most critical threats we have out there, we need everybody when you talk about defense of our nation, not just in the Army but at a macro scale. … It’s critical to our mission,” he said.Murphy told CNN it was clear what kind of advantages women can bring to the table. For example, she excelled at the combat techniques training involving operational orders — what unit commanders send down to subordinate units outlining the mission they’re undertaking — so she would take on the brunt of that task while her teammates got a little more sleep.Men and women working together “complement each other,” she said, “and that’s what makes us such a good team.”‘Keeping up with the boys’Murphy’s journey to Ranger School began when she was a child, she said. Her mother died in an accident when she was young, leaving her and her two brothers to be raised by their father, who served in the National Guard. Her whole life, she said, she was “keeping up with the boys,” constantly competing and carving out a place for herself.That also led her to go into the ROTC program at the University of Nebraska, after her father encouraged her to serve as an officer to help pay for school.From there, she continued to excel. While working as a nurse at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, she attended the Army’s Air Assault and Jungle Schools, and at the end of the latter she was encouraged to go to Ranger School for the first time by a teammate.”I was like ‘No, that’s crazy!’ A girl like me, I’m a nurse, Jungle School is the furthest I’ll ever go,” Murphy recalled saying.She was again told to consider it while competing in the Army’s Best Medic Competition last year, which tests competitors not just on their medical prowess but physical fitness and endurance, land navigation and more. As one of two women there, she said, more senior officers were regularly talking to her about her career. While she didn’t win the competition, she recalled that multiple colonels told her after watching her compete that she “needed to go to Ranger School,” she said, even going so far as to tell her leadership back in Hawaii to send her.Her biggest hesitation, she joked to CNN, was knowing she’d have to shave her head. But just months later, her former Jungle School teammate began helping her train.The first phase of Ranger School, called the Darby Phase, focuses on physical and mental stamina. It takes soldiers on ground patrols, foot marches, physical assessments and requires them to receive positive peer evaluations. It’s the phase where roughly half of students will drop out, according to the Army.It’s not uncommon for students to recycle, or repeat, phases in Ranger School. And at first, Murphy was one of them — she had to repeat Darby Phase. Not having experience in combat arms like her teammates originally had her at a disadvantage, but she poured herself into studying and training for the 10 days in between retrying the Darby Phase, which she successfully completed.Just hours after completing the first phase, soldiers move to the second — Mountain Phase — where they train on leading platoons on combat patrol operations across rugged terrain where the “stamina and commitment of the Ranger student is stressed to the maximum,” according to the Army.Finally, in the Florida Phase, students continue training on leading small units during things like airborne and dismounted patrol operations, conducting 10 days of patrols during “a fast paced, highly stressful, challenging field exercise.”While Murphy said she was surprised by how little medical training played a role in the course, being a nurse prepared her in different ways. Being on her feet for 12 hours a day, often skipping meals and having to be “100% sharp at all times, because someone’s life is in your hands … definitely gave me a one-up,” she said.Because of a worsening infection in her foot, Murphy was forced to leave the competition on the last two days for surgery at a hospital in Florida. She traveled back to Georgia for graduation afterward but was hospitalized again for pain the day before. She begged her doctors to let her attend graduation and they eventually agreed — sending her on crutches, with nerve blocks to try to limit the pain.”I was just so excited about how many of us from my platoon made it. … It’s just so exciting to be able to celebrate with them, that we were all able to pull each other there,” she said, emphasizing repeatedly that being able to lean on one another throughout the course made all the difference.Now, going back to nursing, her biggest takeaway has been the leadership skills she learned, particularly how to keep pushing in the midst of chaos.”It is so hard to lead in an environment where everyone is starving, and everyone is tired,” she said, “and my goal was to see if I could stay positive in those moments where you are at your lowest. … And I want to help people understand that your most difficult times are where you grow the most.”

    For U.S. Army Capt. Molly Murphy, the hardest part of the Army’s grueling Ranger Course was the very first day.

    “I did not sleep at all the night before, I was so scared, way in over my head,” she told CNN.

    Murphy, who currently works as a pediatric intensive care unit nurse at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, graduated from Ranger School on July 19, becoming the first female Army nurse to ever complete the course.

    Over roughly 60 days of the school the Army hails as its “toughest course,” students “train to exhaustion,” completing arduous physical and mental exercises across three intense phases, taking them from the mountainous terrain of Georgia to the swampy conditions in Florida.

    As of Wednesday, 143 women have graduated from the US Army Ranger Course, also called Ranger School, since the first women graduated in 2015, the Army told CNN. Murphy’s accomplishment is all the more notable given her nursing background, which stood in stark contrast to the majority of her Ranger School counterparts who served in combat.

    “I was like, ‘I did these tactics eight years ago at ROTC, and I thought I would never hear the word “ambush” ever again, I am so lost,’” Murphy recalled, laughing. “But I’m a very good note taker, super type-A, you know, like any critical care nurse is. And so I was just writing everything anyone said down, and I had this, like, crazy notebook that the boys would flip through whenever they were freaking out.”

    undefinedCourtesy Capt. Molly Murphy/Courtesy Capt. Molly Murphy via CNN Newsource

    Capt. Molly Murphy at Ranger School graduation, July 19, 2024.

    The first women to graduate Ranger School were Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, just two years after many combat roles in the military were opened up to women. Just months after their graduation, in December 2015, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced he was clearing the way for women to serve in the roughly 220,000 remaining military jobs that were limited to men, including some in special operations.

    Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, commander of US Army Special Operations Command, said last year that having women in special operations is “not a nice to have, it’s a must.”

    “If you just take the protection of United States and the most critical threats we have out there, we need everybody when you talk about defense of our nation, not just in the Army but at a macro scale. … It’s critical to our mission,” he said.

    Murphy told CNN it was clear what kind of advantages women can bring to the table. For example, she excelled at the combat techniques training involving operational orders — what unit commanders send down to subordinate units outlining the mission they’re undertaking — so she would take on the brunt of that task while her teammates got a little more sleep.

    Men and women working together “complement each other,” she said, “and that’s what makes us such a good team.”

    ‘Keeping up with the boys’

    Murphy’s journey to Ranger School began when she was a child, she said. Her mother died in an accident when she was young, leaving her and her two brothers to be raised by their father, who served in the National Guard. Her whole life, she said, she was “keeping up with the boys,” constantly competing and carving out a place for herself.

    That also led her to go into the ROTC program at the University of Nebraska, after her father encouraged her to serve as an officer to help pay for school.

    From there, she continued to excel. While working as a nurse at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, she attended the Army’s Air Assault and Jungle Schools, and at the end of the latter she was encouraged to go to Ranger School for the first time by a teammate.

    “I was like ‘No, that’s crazy!’ A girl like me, I’m a nurse, Jungle School is the furthest I’ll ever go,” Murphy recalled saying.

    She was again told to consider it while competing in the Army’s Best Medic Competition last year, which tests competitors not just on their medical prowess but physical fitness and endurance, land navigation and more. As one of two women there, she said, more senior officers were regularly talking to her about her career. While she didn’t win the competition, she recalled that multiple colonels told her after watching her compete that she “needed to go to Ranger School,” she said, even going so far as to tell her leadership back in Hawaii to send her.

    Her biggest hesitation, she joked to CNN, was knowing she’d have to shave her head. But just months later, her former Jungle School teammate began helping her train.

    The first phase of Ranger School, called the Darby Phase, focuses on physical and mental stamina. It takes soldiers on ground patrols, foot marches, physical assessments and requires them to receive positive peer evaluations. It’s the phase where roughly half of students will drop out, according to the Army.

    It’s not uncommon for students to recycle, or repeat, phases in Ranger School. And at first, Murphy was one of them — she had to repeat Darby Phase. Not having experience in combat arms like her teammates originally had her at a disadvantage, but she poured herself into studying and training for the 10 days in between retrying the Darby Phase, which she successfully completed.

    Just hours after completing the first phase, soldiers move to the second — Mountain Phase — where they train on leading platoons on combat patrol operations across rugged terrain where the “stamina and commitment of the Ranger student is stressed to the maximum,” according to the Army.

    Finally, in the Florida Phase, students continue training on leading small units during things like airborne and dismounted patrol operations, conducting 10 days of patrols during “a fast paced, highly stressful, challenging field exercise.”

    While Murphy said she was surprised by how little medical training played a role in the course, being a nurse prepared her in different ways. Being on her feet for 12 hours a day, often skipping meals and having to be “100% sharp at all times, because someone’s life is in your hands … definitely gave me a one-up,” she said.

    Because of a worsening infection in her foot, Murphy was forced to leave the competition on the last two days for surgery at a hospital in Florida. She traveled back to Georgia for graduation afterward but was hospitalized again for pain the day before. She begged her doctors to let her attend graduation and they eventually agreed — sending her on crutches, with nerve blocks to try to limit the pain.

    “I was just so excited about how many of us from my platoon made it. … It’s just so exciting to be able to celebrate with them, that we were all able to pull each other there,” she said, emphasizing repeatedly that being able to lean on one another throughout the course made all the difference.

    Now, going back to nursing, her biggest takeaway has been the leadership skills she learned, particularly how to keep pushing in the midst of chaos.

    “It is so hard to lead in an environment where everyone is starving, and everyone is tired,” she said, “and my goal was to see if I could stay positive in those moments where you are at your lowest. … And I want to help people understand that your most difficult times are where you grow the most.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is killed in Iran by an alleged Israeli strike, threatening escalation

    Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is killed in Iran by an alleged Israeli strike, threatening escalation

    [ad_1]

    Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Wednesday, Iran and the militant group said, blaming Israel for a shock assassination that risks escalating the conflict even as the U.S. and other nations were scrambling to prevent an all-out regional war.There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has vowed to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. The strike came just after Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president in Tehran, Iran said.The dramatic predawn killing of Hamas’s top political leader threatened to reverberate on multiple fronts. The blow of striking Haniyeh in Tehran could trigger direct retaliation against Israel by Iran. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed his country would “defend its territory” and make the attackers “regret their cowardly action.”The two bitter regional rivals had an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each other’s soil in April after Israel hit Iran’s embassy in Damascus, but international efforts succeeded in containing that cycle of retaliation before it spun out of control. An influential Iranian parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy was to hold an emergency meeting on the strike later Wednesday.Hamas could pull out of negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in the 10-month-old war in Gaza, which U.S. mediators had said were making progress.And the killing could enflame already heightening tensions between Israel and Iran’s powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah — which international diplomats were trying to contain after a weekend rocket attack that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.Hours before the Tehran strike, Israel carried out a rare strike in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday that it said killed a top Hezbollah commander allegedly behind the rocket strike. Hezbollah, which denied any role in the Golan strike, said Wednesday that it was still searching for the body of Fouad Shukur in the rubble of the building that was hit in a Beirut suburb that is the group’s stronghold.There was no immediate reaction from the White House to the killing of Haniyeh.Asked by reporters in Manila about the Tehran strike, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he had no “additional information to provide.” But he expressed hope for a diplomatic solution on the Israeli-Lebanon border.“I don’t think that war is inevitable,” he said. “I maintain that. I think there’s always room and opportunity for diplomacy, and I’d like to see parties pursue those opportunities.”An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment. Israel often doesn’t comment on assassinations carried out by its Mossad intelligence agency or strikes on other countries. It has repeatedly vowed to eliminate Hamas leaders wherever they are for the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage.Iranian media showed videos of Haniyeh and the Iranian president hugging after Pezeshkian’s inauguration ceremony Tuesday. Hours later, the strike hit a residence Haniyeh uses in Tehran, killing him, Hamas said in a statement.It quoted a past speech by Haniyeh in which he said the Palestinian cause has “costs” and “we are ready for these costs: martyrdom for the sake of Palestine, and for the sake of God Almighty, and for the sake of the dignity of this nation.”Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, said Haniyeh’s killing won’t impact the group, saying Israel was “spreading chaos and evil” in the region.“The occupation will not succeed in achieving its goals,” he told The Associated Press, adding that Hamas emerged stronger after past crises and assassinations of its leaders.Haniyeh left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and had lived in exile in Qatar. The top Hamas leader in Gaza is Yehya Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attack.Taher al-Nounou, Haniyeh’s press adviser, told Al-Jazeera TV, “This is a turning point for the conflict.” He said Israel and “those who stand with it — and by this we mean the United States” will bear responsibility.In the West Bank, the internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniyeh’s killing, calling it a “cowardly act and dangerous development.” Political factions in the occupied territory called for strikes in protest at the killing.In April, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed three of Haniyeh’s sons and four of his grandchildren.In an interview with the Al Jazeera satellite channel at the time, Haniyeh said the killings would not pressure Hamas into softening its positions amid ongoing cease-fire negotiations with Israel.Meanwhile, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias, said that a strike Tuesday night on a base southwest of Baghdad killed four members of the Kataib Hezbollah militia.The group accused the United States of being behind the strike. Kataib Hezbollah, along with some of the other militias, has in recent months carried out attacks against bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Washington’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza. U.S. officials did not immediately comment.Israel is suspected of running a yearslong assassination campaign targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and others associated with its atomic program. In 2020, a top Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside Tehran.In Israel’s war against Hamas since the October attack, more than 39,360 Palestinians have been killed and more than 90,900 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.___Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, David Rising in Bangkok, and Jon Gambrell in Ubud, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

    BEIRUT —

    Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Wednesday, Iran and the militant group said, blaming Israel for a shock assassination that risks escalating the conflict even as the U.S. and other nations were scrambling to prevent an all-out regional war.

    There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has vowed to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. The strike came just after Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president in Tehran, Iran said.

    The dramatic predawn killing of Hamas’s top political leader threatened to reverberate on multiple fronts. The blow of striking Haniyeh in Tehran could trigger direct retaliation against Israel by Iran. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed his country would “defend its territory” and make the attackers “regret their cowardly action.”

    The two bitter regional rivals had an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each other’s soil in April after Israel hit Iran’s embassy in Damascus, but international efforts succeeded in containing that cycle of retaliation before it spun out of control. An influential Iranian parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy was to hold an emergency meeting on the strike later Wednesday.

    Hamas could pull out of negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in the 10-month-old war in Gaza, which U.S. mediators had said were making progress.

    And the killing could enflame already heightening tensions between Israel and Iran’s powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah — which international diplomats were trying to contain after a weekend rocket attack that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

    Hours before the Tehran strike, Israel carried out a rare strike in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday that it said killed a top Hezbollah commander allegedly behind the rocket strike. Hezbollah, which denied any role in the Golan strike, said Wednesday that it was still searching for the body of Fouad Shukur in the rubble of the building that was hit in a Beirut suburb that is the group’s stronghold.

    There was no immediate reaction from the White House to the killing of Haniyeh.

    Asked by reporters in Manila about the Tehran strike, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he had no “additional information to provide.” But he expressed hope for a diplomatic solution on the Israeli-Lebanon border.

    “I don’t think that war is inevitable,” he said. “I maintain that. I think there’s always room and opportunity for diplomacy, and I’d like to see parties pursue those opportunities.”

    An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment. Israel often doesn’t comment on assassinations carried out by its Mossad intelligence agency or strikes on other countries. It has repeatedly vowed to eliminate Hamas leaders wherever they are for the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage.

    Iranian media showed videos of Haniyeh and the Iranian president hugging after Pezeshkian’s inauguration ceremony Tuesday. Hours later, the strike hit a residence Haniyeh uses in Tehran, killing him, Hamas said in a statement.

    It quoted a past speech by Haniyeh in which he said the Palestinian cause has “costs” and “we are ready for these costs: martyrdom for the sake of Palestine, and for the sake of God Almighty, and for the sake of the dignity of this nation.”

    Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, said Haniyeh’s killing won’t impact the group, saying Israel was “spreading chaos and evil” in the region.

    “The occupation will not succeed in achieving its goals,” he told The Associated Press, adding that Hamas emerged stronger after past crises and assassinations of its leaders.

    Haniyeh left the Gaza Strip in 2019 and had lived in exile in Qatar. The top Hamas leader in Gaza is Yehya Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attack.

    Taher al-Nounou, Haniyeh’s press adviser, told Al-Jazeera TV, “This is a turning point for the conflict.” He said Israel and “those who stand with it — and by this we mean the United States” will bear responsibility.

    In the West Bank, the internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Haniyeh’s killing, calling it a “cowardly act and dangerous development.” Political factions in the occupied territory called for strikes in protest at the killing.

    In April, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed three of Haniyeh’s sons and four of his grandchildren.

    In an interview with the Al Jazeera satellite channel at the time, Haniyeh said the killings would not pressure Hamas into softening its positions amid ongoing cease-fire negotiations with Israel.

    Meanwhile, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias, said that a strike Tuesday night on a base southwest of Baghdad killed four members of the Kataib Hezbollah militia.

    The group accused the United States of being behind the strike. Kataib Hezbollah, along with some of the other militias, has in recent months carried out attacks against bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Washington’s support for Israel in the war in Gaza. U.S. officials did not immediately comment.

    Israel is suspected of running a yearslong assassination campaign targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and others associated with its atomic program. In 2020, a top Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside Tehran.

    In Israel’s war against Hamas since the October attack, more than 39,360 Palestinians have been killed and more than 90,900 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, David Rising in Bangkok, and Jon Gambrell in Ubud, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • As he was about to go free, Missouri Supreme Court halts release of man with overturned conviction

    As he was about to go free, Missouri Supreme Court halts release of man with overturned conviction

    [ad_1]

    The Missouri Supreme Court halted the immediate release Wednesday of a man whose murder conviction was overturned — just as the man was about to walk free.A St. Louis Circuit Court judge had ordered Christopher Dunn, now 52, to be released by 6 p.m. CDT Wednesday and threatened the prison warden with contempt if Dunn remained imprisoned. But Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been fighting Dunn’s release.The situation was chaotic as the deadline set by the judge approached. Corrections Department spokesperson Karen Pojmann told The Associated Press that Dunn was out of the prison facility and waiting for a ride. His wife told the AP she was on his way to pick him up. Minutes later, Pojmann corrected herself and said that while Dunn was signing paperwork to be released, the Missouri Supreme Court issued a ruling that put his freedom on hold.St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser overturned Dunn’s murder conviction Monday, citing evidence of “actual innocence” in the 1990 killing. He ordered Dunn’s immediate release then, but Bailey appealed, and the state Department of Corrections declined to release Dunn.St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore had filed a motion Wednesday urging the judge to immediately order Dunn’s freedom.“The Attorney General cannot unilaterally decide to ignore this Court’s Order,” Gore wrote.An attorney for the Department of Corrections told a lawyer in Gore’s office that Bailey advised the agency not to release Dunn until the appeal plays out, according to a court filing. When told it was improper to ignore a court order, the Department of Corrections attorney “responded that the Attorney General’s Office is legal counsel to the DOC and the DOC would be following the advice of counsel.”Dunn’s attorney, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, the executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, expressed her frustration.“What is this bringing to taxpayers in Missouri? What is this use of our resources and our state’s time getting us?” she said. “All it’s doing is keeping innocent people in prison.”Dunn’s wife said while driving to the prison that they were numb when he didn’t get out earlier this week.“If you know a little about the story, you know we’ve had a lot of disappointments where we thought we’d finally get his freedom and it was snatched away,” Kira Dunn said. “So we were just bracing ourselves.”Dunn’s situation is similar to what happened to Sandra Hemme.The 64-year-old woman spent 43 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a woman in St. Joseph in 1980. A judge on June 14 cited evidence of “actual innocence” and overturned her conviction. She had been the longest held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to the National Innocence Project, which worked to free Hemme.Appeals by Bailey — all the way up to the Missouri Supreme Court — kept Hemme imprisoned at the Chillicothe Correctional Center. During a court hearing Friday, Judge Ryan Horsman said that if Hemme wasn’t released within hours, Bailey himself would have to appear in court with contempt of court on the table. Hemme was released later that day.The judge also scolded Bailey’s office for calling the warden and telling prison officials not to release Hemme after he ordered her to be freed on her own recognizance.Dunn, who is Black, was 18 in 1990 when 15-year-old Ricco Rogers was killed. Among the key evidence used to convict him of first-degree murder was testimony from two boys who were at the scene of the shooting. Both later recanted their testimony, saying they had been coerced by police and prosecutors.At an evidentiary hearing in 2020, another judge agreed that a jury would likely find Dunn not guilty based on new evidence. But that judge, William Hickle, declined to exonerate Dunn, citing a 2016 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that only death row inmates — not those like Dunn sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole — could make a “freestanding” claim of actual innocence.A 2021 law now allows prosecutors to seek court hearings in cases with new evidence of a wrongful conviction.Although Bailey’s office is not required to oppose such efforts, lawyers for his office said at the hearing that initial testimony from two boys at the scene who identified Dunn as the shooter was correct, even though they recanted as adults.He also raised opposition at a hearing for Lamar Johnson, who spent 28 years in prison for murder. Another St. Louis judge ruled in February 2023 that Johnson was wrongfully convicted, and he was freed.Another hearing begins Aug. 21 for death row inmate Marcellus Williams. Bailey’s office is opposing the challenge to Williams’ conviction, too. Timing is of the essence: Williams is scheduled to be executed Sept. 24.Steven Puro, professor emeritus of political science at St. Louis University, said Bailey is in a highly competitive race for the attorney general position with the primary quickly approaching on Aug. 6.“Bailey is trying to show that he is, quote, ‘tough on crime,’ which is a very important Republican conservative position,” he said. “Clearly, he’s angering members of the judicial system that he will have to argue before in the future. But he’s making the strategic notion that he needs to get his name before the voters and try to use that to win the primary election.”Michael Wolff, a former Missouri Supreme Court judge and chief justice, agreed, saying it seems this has become political for Bailey.“But one of the things is that no matter what your beliefs are, if a court orders something to happen, it’s not your purview to say no,” he said. “The court has to be obeyed.”___Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas; Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine contributed from Columbia, Missouri.

    ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Video from: KSDK, KIRA DUNN, CNN via CNN Newsource) —

    The Missouri Supreme Court halted the immediate release Wednesday of a man whose murder conviction was overturned — just as the man was about to walk free.

    A St. Louis Circuit Court judge had ordered Christopher Dunn, now 52, to be released by 6 p.m. CDT Wednesday and threatened the prison warden with contempt if Dunn remained imprisoned. But Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been fighting Dunn’s release.

    The situation was chaotic as the deadline set by the judge approached. Corrections Department spokesperson Karen Pojmann told The Associated Press that Dunn was out of the prison facility and waiting for a ride. His wife told the AP she was on his way to pick him up. Minutes later, Pojmann corrected herself and said that while Dunn was signing paperwork to be released, the Missouri Supreme Court issued a ruling that put his freedom on hold.

    St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser overturned Dunn’s murder conviction Monday, citing evidence of “actual innocence” in the 1990 killing. He ordered Dunn’s immediate release then, but Bailey appealed, and the state Department of Corrections declined to release Dunn.

    St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore had filed a motion Wednesday urging the judge to immediately order Dunn’s freedom.

    “The Attorney General cannot unilaterally decide to ignore this Court’s Order,” Gore wrote.

    An attorney for the Department of Corrections told a lawyer in Gore’s office that Bailey advised the agency not to release Dunn until the appeal plays out, according to a court filing. When told it was improper to ignore a court order, the Department of Corrections attorney “responded that the Attorney General’s Office is legal counsel to the DOC and the DOC would be following the advice of counsel.”

    Dunn’s attorney, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, the executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, expressed her frustration.

    “What is this bringing to taxpayers in Missouri? What is this use of our resources and our state’s time getting us?” she said. “All it’s doing is keeping innocent people in prison.”

    Dunn’s wife said while driving to the prison that they were numb when he didn’t get out earlier this week.

    “If you know a little about the story, you know we’ve had a lot of disappointments where we thought we’d finally get his freedom and it was snatched away,” Kira Dunn said. “So we were just bracing ourselves.”

    Dunn’s situation is similar to what happened to Sandra Hemme.

    The 64-year-old woman spent 43 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a woman in St. Joseph in 1980. A judge on June 14 cited evidence of “actual innocence” and overturned her conviction. She had been the longest held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to the National Innocence Project, which worked to free Hemme.

    Appeals by Bailey — all the way up to the Missouri Supreme Court — kept Hemme imprisoned at the Chillicothe Correctional Center. During a court hearing Friday, Judge Ryan Horsman said that if Hemme wasn’t released within hours, Bailey himself would have to appear in court with contempt of court on the table. Hemme was released later that day.

    The judge also scolded Bailey’s office for calling the warden and telling prison officials not to release Hemme after he ordered her to be freed on her own recognizance.

    Dunn, who is Black, was 18 in 1990 when 15-year-old Ricco Rogers was killed. Among the key evidence used to convict him of first-degree murder was testimony from two boys who were at the scene of the shooting. Both later recanted their testimony, saying they had been coerced by police and prosecutors.

    At an evidentiary hearing in 2020, another judge agreed that a jury would likely find Dunn not guilty based on new evidence. But that judge, William Hickle, declined to exonerate Dunn, citing a 2016 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that only death row inmates — not those like Dunn sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole — could make a “freestanding” claim of actual innocence.

    A 2021 law now allows prosecutors to seek court hearings in cases with new evidence of a wrongful conviction.

    Although Bailey’s office is not required to oppose such efforts, lawyers for his office said at the hearing that initial testimony from two boys at the scene who identified Dunn as the shooter was correct, even though they recanted as adults.

    He also raised opposition at a hearing for Lamar Johnson, who spent 28 years in prison for murder. Another St. Louis judge ruled in February 2023 that Johnson was wrongfully convicted, and he was freed.

    Another hearing begins Aug. 21 for death row inmate Marcellus Williams. Bailey’s office is opposing the challenge to Williams’ conviction, too. Timing is of the essence: Williams is scheduled to be executed Sept. 24.

    Steven Puro, professor emeritus of political science at St. Louis University, said Bailey is in a highly competitive race for the attorney general position with the primary quickly approaching on Aug. 6.

    “Bailey is trying to show that he is, quote, ‘tough on crime,’ which is a very important Republican conservative position,” he said. “Clearly, he’s angering members of the judicial system that he will have to argue before in the future. But he’s making the strategic notion that he needs to get his name before the voters and try to use that to win the primary election.”

    Michael Wolff, a former Missouri Supreme Court judge and chief justice, agreed, saying it seems this has become political for Bailey.

    “But one of the things is that no matter what your beliefs are, if a court orders something to happen, it’s not your purview to say no,” he said. “The court has to be obeyed.”

    ___

    Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas; Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine contributed from Columbia, Missouri.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • The stepped-up security around Trump is apparent, with agents walling him off from RNC crowds

    The stepped-up security around Trump is apparent, with agents walling him off from RNC crowds

    [ad_1]

    On the floor of the Republican National Convention Tuesday evening, vice presidential candidate JD Vance greeted and shook hands with excited delegates as he walked toward his seat.Video above: See former President Donald Trump’s entrance at Day 2 of the RNCIt was a marked contrast from former President Donald Trump, who entered the hall a few minutes later and was separated from supporters by a column of Secret Service agents. His ear still bandaged after an attempted assassination, Trump closely hugged the wall. Instead of handshakes or hellos for those gathered, he offered fist pumps to the cameras.The contrast underscores the new reality facing Trump after a gunman opened fire at his rally in Pennsylvania Saturday, raising serious questions about the agency that is tasked with protecting the president, former presidents and major-party candidates. Trump’s campaign must also adjust to a new reality after he came millimeters from death or serious injury — and as law enforcement warns of the potential for more political violence. Trump campaign officials declined to comment on the stepped-up security and how it might impact his interactions going forward. “We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. All questions should be directed to the United States Secret Service,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose agency oversees the Secret Service, said Monday that he could not discuss “specifics of the protection or the enhancements made, as they involve sensitive tactics and procedures. I can say, however, that personnel and other protective resources, technology, and capabilities have been added.”Video below: Get the Facts: Verifying claims made about security at Trump rallyThe Secret Service had already stepped up Trump’s protection in the days before the attack following an unrelated threat from Iran, two U.S. officials said Tuesday. But that extra security didn’t stop the gunman, who fired from an adjacent roof, from killing one audience member and injuring two others along with Trump.The FBI and Homeland Security officials remain “concerned about the potential for follow-on or retaliatory acts of violence following this attack,” according to a joint intelligence bulletin by Homeland Security and the FBI and obtained by The Associated Press. The bulletin warned that lone actors and small groups will “continue to see rallies and campaign events as attractive targets.”Underscoring the security risks, a man armed with an AK-47 pistol, wearing a ski mask and carrying a tactical backpack was taken into custody Monday near the Fiserv Forum, where the convention is being held.The attack has led to stepped-up security not only for Trump. President Joe Biden’s security has also been bolstered, with more agents surrounding him as he boarded Air Force One to Las Vegas on Monday night. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also received Secret Service protection in the shooting’s wake.Related video below: Biden orders Secret Service for RFK Jr.Trump’s campaign has also responded in other ways, including placing armed security at all hours outside their offices in Florida and Washington, D.C.Trump has already scheduled his next rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday. That’s where he will appear with Vance for their first event as a presidential ticket. But the new posture complicates, at least for now, the interactions Trump regularly has with supporters as he signs autographs, shakes hands and poses for selfies at events and on airplane tarmacs.In many cities he visits, the campaign assembles enthusiastic supporters in public spaces like restaurants and fast food joints. Sometimes Trump stops by unannounced. The images and video of his reception and interactions — circulated online by his campaign staffers and conservative media — have been fundamental to his 2024 campaign.During the GOP primaries, in particular, his easy interactions served as a contrast to his more awkward top rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But those events can get rowdy and chaotic. While he was in New York during his criminal hush money trial, Trump aides arranged a series of visits to a local bodega, a local firehouse and a construction site. Before his arrival at the bodega in Harlem, thousands of supporters and onlookers gathered behind metal barricades for blocks to watch his motorcade arrive and cheer. But others in the neighborhood were frustrated by the visit, including people being dropped off at a bus stop just in front of the store, and others trying to enter their apartments after work. At one point, an individual who lived in the building started shouting from a window that was just above the entrance where Trump would eventually stand and give remarks to the cameras and answer reporters’ questions.Long before the shooting, convention organizers had clashed with the Secret Service over the location of protest zones at the convention. RNC leaders repeatedly asked officials to keep protesters farther back than had been originally planned, arguing that an existing plan “creates an elevated and untenable safety risk to the attending public.”One person familiar with the dispute said that the original plan would have put protesters “a softball throw away” from delegates and close enough to throw projectiles over the fence.The protest area was eventually moved, but the episode still raises frustrations and suspicions among some Trump allies.___Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.

    MILWAUKEE —

    On the floor of the Republican National Convention Tuesday evening, vice presidential candidate JD Vance greeted and shook hands with excited delegates as he walked toward his seat.

    Video above: See former President Donald Trump’s entrance at Day 2 of the RNC

    It was a marked contrast from former President Donald Trump, who entered the hall a few minutes later and was separated from supporters by a column of Secret Service agents. His ear still bandaged after an attempted assassination, Trump closely hugged the wall. Instead of handshakes or hellos for those gathered, he offered fist pumps to the cameras.

    The contrast underscores the new reality facing Trump after a gunman opened fire at his rally in Pennsylvania Saturday, raising serious questions about the agency that is tasked with protecting the president, former presidents and major-party candidates. Trump’s campaign must also adjust to a new reality after he came millimeters from death or serious injury — and as law enforcement warns of the potential for more political violence.

    Trump campaign officials declined to comment on the stepped-up security and how it might impact his interactions going forward.

    “We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. All questions should be directed to the United States Secret Service,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.

    Evan Vucci

    Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives during the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

    Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose agency oversees the Secret Service, said Monday that he could not discuss “specifics of the protection or the enhancements made, as they involve sensitive tactics and procedures. I can say, however, that personnel and other protective resources, technology, and capabilities have been added.”

    Video below: Get the Facts: Verifying claims made about security at Trump rally

    The Secret Service had already stepped up Trump’s protection in the days before the attack following an unrelated threat from Iran, two U.S. officials said Tuesday. But that extra security didn’t stop the gunman, who fired from an adjacent roof, from killing one audience member and injuring two others along with Trump.

    The FBI and Homeland Security officials remain “concerned about the potential for follow-on or retaliatory acts of violence following this attack,” according to a joint intelligence bulletin by Homeland Security and the FBI and obtained by The Associated Press. The bulletin warned that lone actors and small groups will “continue to see rallies and campaign events as attractive targets.”

    Underscoring the security risks, a man armed with an AK-47 pistol, wearing a ski mask and carrying a tactical backpack was taken into custody Monday near the Fiserv Forum, where the convention is being held.

    The attack has led to stepped-up security not only for Trump. President Joe Biden’s security has also been bolstered, with more agents surrounding him as he boarded Air Force One to Las Vegas on Monday night. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also received Secret Service protection in the shooting’s wake.

    Related video below: Biden orders Secret Service for RFK Jr.

    Trump’s campaign has also responded in other ways, including placing armed security at all hours outside their offices in Florida and Washington, D.C.

    Trump has already scheduled his next rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday. That’s where he will appear with Vance for their first event as a presidential ticket.

    But the new posture complicates, at least for now, the interactions Trump regularly has with supporters as he signs autographs, shakes hands and poses for selfies at events and on airplane tarmacs.

    In many cities he visits, the campaign assembles enthusiastic supporters in public spaces like restaurants and fast food joints. Sometimes Trump stops by unannounced. The images and video of his reception and interactions — circulated online by his campaign staffers and conservative media — have been fundamental to his 2024 campaign.

    During the GOP primaries, in particular, his easy interactions served as a contrast to his more awkward top rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

    But those events can get rowdy and chaotic. While he was in New York during his criminal hush money trial, Trump aides arranged a series of visits to a local bodega, a local firehouse and a construction site.

    Before his arrival at the bodega in Harlem, thousands of supporters and onlookers gathered behind metal barricades for blocks to watch his motorcade arrive and cheer. But others in the neighborhood were frustrated by the visit, including people being dropped off at a bus stop just in front of the store, and others trying to enter their apartments after work.

    At one point, an individual who lived in the building started shouting from a window that was just above the entrance where Trump would eventually stand and give remarks to the cameras and answer reporters’ questions.

    Long before the shooting, convention organizers had clashed with the Secret Service over the location of protest zones at the convention. RNC leaders repeatedly asked officials to keep protesters farther back than had been originally planned, arguing that an existing plan “creates an elevated and untenable safety risk to the attending public.”

    One person familiar with the dispute said that the original plan would have put protesters “a softball throw away” from delegates and close enough to throw projectiles over the fence.

    The protest area was eventually moved, but the episode still raises frustrations and suspicions among some Trump allies.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Boeing accepts a plea deal to avoid a criminal trial over 737 Max crashes, Justice Department says

    Boeing accepts a plea deal to avoid a criminal trial over 737 Max crashes, Justice Department says

    [ad_1]

    Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two deadly crashes of 737 Max jetliners after the government determined the company violated an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years, the Justice Department said Sunday night.Federal prosecutors gave Boeing the choice this week of entering a guilty plea and paying a fine as part of its sentence or facing a trial on the felony criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States.Prosecutors accused the American aerospace giant of deceiving regulators who approved the airplane and pilot-training requirements for it.The plea deal, which still must receive the approval of a federal judge to take effect, calls for Boeing to pay an additional $243.6 million fine. That was the same amount it paid under the 2021 settlement that the Justice Department said the company breached. An independent monitor would be named to oversee Boeing’s safety and quality procedures for three years.The plea deal covers only wrongdoing by Boeing before the crashes, which killed all 346 passengers and crew members aboard two new Max jets. It does not give Boeing immunity for other incidents, including a panel that blew off a Max jetliner during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, a Justice Department official said.The deal also does not cover any current or former Boeing officials, only the corporation.Federal prosecutors alleged Boeing committed conspiracy to defraud the government by misleading regulators about a flight-control system that was implicated in the crashes, which took place in Indonesia in October 2018 and in Ethiopia less five months later.As part of the January 2021 settlement, the Justice Department said it would not prosecute Boeing on the charge if the company complied with certain conditions for three years. Prosecutors last month alleged Boeing had breached the terms of that agreement.The company’s guilty plea will be entered in U.S. District Court in Texas. The judge overseeing the case, who has criticized what he called “Boeing’s egregious criminal conduct,” could accept the plea and the sentence that prosecutors offered with it or he could reject the agreement, likely leading to new negotiations between the Justice Department and Boeing.Relatives of the people who died in the crashes were briefed on the plea offer a week ago and at the time said they would ask the judge to reject it.U.S. agencies can use a criminal conviction as grounds to exclude companies from doing business with the government for a set amount of time. Boeing is an important contractor of the Defense Department and NASA.

    Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two deadly crashes of 737 Max jetliners after the government determined the company violated an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years, the Justice Department said Sunday night.

    Federal prosecutors gave Boeing the choice this week of entering a guilty plea and paying a fine as part of its sentence or facing a trial on the felony criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

    Prosecutors accused the American aerospace giant of deceiving regulators who approved the airplane and pilot-training requirements for it.

    The plea deal, which still must receive the approval of a federal judge to take effect, calls for Boeing to pay an additional $243.6 million fine. That was the same amount it paid under the 2021 settlement that the Justice Department said the company breached. An independent monitor would be named to oversee Boeing’s safety and quality procedures for three years.

    The plea deal covers only wrongdoing by Boeing before the crashes, which killed all 346 passengers and crew members aboard two new Max jets. It does not give Boeing immunity for other incidents, including a panel that blew off a Max jetliner during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, a Justice Department official said.

    The deal also does not cover any current or former Boeing officials, only the corporation.

    Federal prosecutors alleged Boeing committed conspiracy to defraud the government by misleading regulators about a flight-control system that was implicated in the crashes, which took place in Indonesia in October 2018 and in Ethiopia less five months later.

    As part of the January 2021 settlement, the Justice Department said it would not prosecute Boeing on the charge if the company complied with certain conditions for three years. Prosecutors last month alleged Boeing had breached the terms of that agreement.

    The company’s guilty plea will be entered in U.S. District Court in Texas. The judge overseeing the case, who has criticized what he called “Boeing’s egregious criminal conduct,” could accept the plea and the sentence that prosecutors offered with it or he could reject the agreement, likely leading to new negotiations between the Justice Department and Boeing.

    Relatives of the people who died in the crashes were briefed on the plea offer a week ago and at the time said they would ask the judge to reject it.

    U.S. agencies can use a criminal conviction as grounds to exclude companies from doing business with the government for a set amount of time. Boeing is an important contractor of the Defense Department and NASA.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • ‘Lab-grown’ meat maker hosts Miami tasting party as Florida ban goes into effect

    ‘Lab-grown’ meat maker hosts Miami tasting party as Florida ban goes into effect

    [ad_1]

    As Florida’s ban on “lab-grown” meat is set to go into effect next week, one manufacturer hosted a last hurrah — at least for now — with a cultivated meat-tasting party in Miami.California-based Upside Foods hosted dozens of guests Thursday evening at a rooftop reception in the city’s Wynwood neighborhood, known for its street art, breweries, nightclubs and trendy restaurants.”This is delicious meat,” Upside Foods CEO and founder Uma Valeti said. “And we just fundamentally believe that people should have a choice to choose what they want to put on their plate.”The U.S. approved the sale of what’s now being called “cell-cultivated” or “cell-cultured” meat for the first time in June 2023, allowing Upside Foods and another California company, Good Meat, to sell cultivated chicken. Earlier this year, Florida and Alabama banned the sale of cultivated meat and seafood, which is grown from animal cells. Other states and federal lawmakers also are looking to restrict it, arguing the product could hurt farmers and pose a safety risk to the public. While Florida cattle ranchers joined Gov. Ron DeSantis when he signed the ban into law in May, Valeti said Florida officials never reached out to his company before passing the legislation.”It’s pretty clear to us that the governor and the government have been misinformed,” Valeti said. “And all we’re asking for is a chance to have a direct conversation and say, ‘this is proven science, this is proven safety.’”Cultivated products are grown in steel tanks using cells from a living animal, a fertilized egg or a storage bank. The cells are fed with special blends of water, sugar, fats and vitamins. Once they’ve grown, they’re formed into cutlets, nuggets and other shapes.Video below: UC Davis in California grows cells to create a meat alternativeChef Mika Leon, owner of Caja Caliente in Coral Gables, prepared the cultivated chicken for Thursday’s event, which invited members of the South Florida public to get their first, and possibly last, taste of cultivated meat before Florida’s ban begins Monday. Leon served chicken tostadas with avocado, chipotle crema and beet sprouts.”When you cook it, it sizzles and cooks just like chicken, which was insane,” Leon said. “And then when you go to eat it, it’s juicy.”Reception guest Alexa Arteaga said she could imagine cultivated meat being a more ethical alternative.”The texture itself is a little bit different, but the taste was really, really good,” Arteaga said. “Like way better than I was expecting.” Another guest, Skyler Myers, agreed about the texture being different when eating a piece of meat by itself but said it just seemed like normal chicken when he ate the tostada.”There’s no difference,” Myers said. “I mean, there’s no way you would ever know.”Besides the ethical issues surrounding the killing of animals, Valeti said cultivated meat avoids many of the health and environmental problems created by the meat industry, such as deforestation, pollution and the spread of disease. He also noted that the meat his company produces is not coming from a lab but from a facility more closely resembling a brewery or a dairy processing plant.”We don’t have any confined animals,” Valeti said. “We just have healthy animal cells that are growing in cultivators.”Video below: Lab-grown meat could have a worse carbon footprint than animal agriculture, UC Davis study from 2023 saysThe restrictions come despite cultivated meat and seafood still being too expensive to reach the market in a meaningful way. Two high-end U.S. restaurants briefly added the products to their menus, but it hasn’t been available at any U.S. grocery stores. Companies have been working to bring down costs by scaling up production, but now they’re also trying to respond to bans with petitions and possible legal action.Sean Edgett, Upside Foods chief legal officer, said the company went through a yearslong process with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration before receiving approval. He said those federal regulations should supersede any state bans, which he believes are unconstitutional.”We’re hopeful that if lawmakers can’t change their mind and turn things around back to an avenue of progress that the courts will step in and make that clear,” Edgett said.Backers of the bans say they want to protect farmers and consumers from a product that only has been around for about a decade.State Sen. Jay Collins, a Republican who sponsored the Florida bill, noted the legislation doesn’t ban research, just the manufacturing and sale of cultivated meat. Collins said safety was his primary motivator, but he also wants to protect Florida agriculture.”Let’s not be in a rush to replace something,” Collins said earlier this year. “It’s a billion-dollar industry. We feed a ton of people across the country with our cattle, beef, pork, poultry and fish industries.”Valeti isn’t trying to replace any industry, just give people more options, he said.”We want to have multiple choices that feed us,” Valeti said. “Some of those choices are conventional farming. Some of those choices are coming from plant-based foods. And cultivated meat is another solid choice.”

    MIAMI —

    As Florida’s ban on “lab-grown” meat is set to go into effect next week, one manufacturer hosted a last hurrah — at least for now — with a cultivated meat-tasting party in Miami.

    California-based Upside Foods hosted dozens of guests Thursday evening at a rooftop reception in the city’s Wynwood neighborhood, known for its street art, breweries, nightclubs and trendy restaurants.

    “This is delicious meat,” Upside Foods CEO and founder Uma Valeti said. “And we just fundamentally believe that people should have a choice to choose what they want to put on their plate.”

    The U.S. approved the sale of what’s now being called “cell-cultivated” or “cell-cultured” meat for the first time in June 2023, allowing Upside Foods and another California company, Good Meat, to sell cultivated chicken.

    Earlier this year, Florida and Alabama banned the sale of cultivated meat and seafood, which is grown from animal cells. Other states and federal lawmakers also are looking to restrict it, arguing the product could hurt farmers and pose a safety risk to the public.

    While Florida cattle ranchers joined Gov. Ron DeSantis when he signed the ban into law in May, Valeti said Florida officials never reached out to his company before passing the legislation.

    “It’s pretty clear to us that the governor and the government have been misinformed,” Valeti said. “And all we’re asking for is a chance to have a direct conversation and say, ‘this is proven science, this is proven safety.’”

    Cultivated products are grown in steel tanks using cells from a living animal, a fertilized egg or a storage bank. The cells are fed with special blends of water, sugar, fats and vitamins. Once they’ve grown, they’re formed into cutlets, nuggets and other shapes.

    Video below: UC Davis in California grows cells to create a meat alternative

    Chef Mika Leon, owner of Caja Caliente in Coral Gables, prepared the cultivated chicken for Thursday’s event, which invited members of the South Florida public to get their first, and possibly last, taste of cultivated meat before Florida’s ban begins Monday. Leon served chicken tostadas with avocado, chipotle crema and beet sprouts.

    “When you cook it, it sizzles and cooks just like chicken, which was insane,” Leon said. “And then when you go to eat it, it’s juicy.”

    Reception guest Alexa Arteaga said she could imagine cultivated meat being a more ethical alternative.

    “The texture itself is a little bit different, but the taste was really, really good,” Arteaga said. “Like way better than I was expecting.”

    Another guest, Skyler Myers, agreed about the texture being different when eating a piece of meat by itself but said it just seemed like normal chicken when he ate the tostada.

    “There’s no difference,” Myers said. “I mean, there’s no way you would ever know.”

    Besides the ethical issues surrounding the killing of animals, Valeti said cultivated meat avoids many of the health and environmental problems created by the meat industry, such as deforestation, pollution and the spread of disease. He also noted that the meat his company produces is not coming from a lab but from a facility more closely resembling a brewery or a dairy processing plant.

    “We don’t have any confined animals,” Valeti said. “We just have healthy animal cells that are growing in cultivators.”

    Video below: Lab-grown meat could have a worse carbon footprint than animal agriculture, UC Davis study from 2023 says

    The restrictions come despite cultivated meat and seafood still being too expensive to reach the market in a meaningful way. Two high-end U.S. restaurants briefly added the products to their menus, but it hasn’t been available at any U.S. grocery stores. Companies have been working to bring down costs by scaling up production, but now they’re also trying to respond to bans with petitions and possible legal action.

    Sean Edgett, Upside Foods chief legal officer, said the company went through a yearslong process with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration before receiving approval. He said those federal regulations should supersede any state bans, which he believes are unconstitutional.

    “We’re hopeful that if lawmakers can’t change their mind and turn things around back to an avenue of progress that the courts will step in and make that clear,” Edgett said.

    Backers of the bans say they want to protect farmers and consumers from a product that only has been around for about a decade.

    State Sen. Jay Collins, a Republican who sponsored the Florida bill, noted the legislation doesn’t ban research, just the manufacturing and sale of cultivated meat. Collins said safety was his primary motivator, but he also wants to protect Florida agriculture.

    “Let’s not be in a rush to replace something,” Collins said earlier this year. “It’s a billion-dollar industry. We feed a ton of people across the country with our cattle, beef, pork, poultry and fish industries.”

    Valeti isn’t trying to replace any industry, just give people more options, he said.

    “We want to have multiple choices that feed us,” Valeti said. “Some of those choices are conventional farming. Some of those choices are coming from plant-based foods. And cultivated meat is another solid choice.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Snapchat is rolling out new safety tools aimed at protecting teens from sextortion

    Snapchat is rolling out new safety tools aimed at protecting teens from sextortion

    [ad_1]

    Snapchat is working to make it harder for teenagers to be contacted on the app by people they don’t know, its latest effort to stop the sexual and financial exploitation scam known as sextortion.The company on Tuesday announced a set of new safety features, including expanded warning pop-ups that appear when a teen receives a message from someone they don’t share mutual friends with or have in their contacts. Now, teens will also receive a warning message if they receive a chat from a user who has been blocked or reported by others or who is from a region where the teen’s other contacts aren’t located, “signs that the person may be a scammer,” Snapchat said in a blog post Tuesday.Related video above: FBI warns of growing sextortion threat targeting young peopleAnd Snapchat will now prevent the delivery of friend requests for teens to or from an account that they don’t share mutual friends with that is also located in regions often associated with scammers.In addition to expanding Snapchat’s broader suite of youth safety measures, the new features are aimed specifically at preventing financial sextortion, a worrying and growing type of scam across social media where bad actors gain the trust of young users, convince them to send sexual or explicit photos and then demand payment in exchange for keeping the pictures a secret.”These features were designed to better protect teens from potential online harms and to enhance the real-friend connections that make Snapchat so unique,” Snap’s Global Head of Platform Safety Jacqueline Beauchere said in an exclusive statement to CNN ahead of the announcement.Video below: FBI agent shares tips for parents to prevent sextortionLaw enforcement officials have in recent years warned of an uptick in online sextortion scams, in which bad actors, typically located overseas, target children and teens, often with profiles that appear to belong to friendly fellow teenagers. In some cases, sextortion has resulted in suicides.Meta in April also announced new features aimed at combating sextortion, including informing users when they’ve interacted with someone who engaged in financial sextortion. And the chief executives of Meta and Snap, along with other social media leaders, were called to testify earlier this year in a Senate subcommittee hearing about their efforts to protect young people from online exploitation.Also among Snapchat’s announcements on Tuesday are improvements to the app’s blocking tools, which will prevent users from simply creating new accounts to get around a block. Now, when a user blocks another account, any new accounts created on the same device will also automatically be blocked.Snapchat is also introducing more frequent reminders to all users, including teens, about their location settings on the app’s “Snap Map” feature, which is toggled off by default but which users can update to share their location live with friends. The company said it will make it possible for users to update their location settings, remove their location from the map and customize which friends they share their location with – all in one spot on the app.The updates build on Snapchat’s existing teen safety features, which include a “Family Center” where parents can supervise the behavior of 13- to 17-year-old users, and mechanisms for removing age-inappropriate content.Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 (or 800-273-8255) to connect with a trained counselor or visit the NSPL site.

    Snapchat is working to make it harder for teenagers to be contacted on the app by people they don’t know, its latest effort to stop the sexual and financial exploitation scam known as sextortion.

    The company on Tuesday announced a set of new safety features, including expanded warning pop-ups that appear when a teen receives a message from someone they don’t share mutual friends with or have in their contacts. Now, teens will also receive a warning message if they receive a chat from a user who has been blocked or reported by others or who is from a region where the teen’s other contacts aren’t located, “signs that the person may be a scammer,” Snapchat said in a blog post Tuesday.

    Related video above: FBI warns of growing sextortion threat targeting young people

    And Snapchat will now prevent the delivery of friend requests for teens to or from an account that they don’t share mutual friends with that is also located in regions often associated with scammers.

    In addition to expanding Snapchat’s broader suite of youth safety measures, the new features are aimed specifically at preventing financial sextortion, a worrying and growing type of scam across social media where bad actors gain the trust of young users, convince them to send sexual or explicit photos and then demand payment in exchange for keeping the pictures a secret.

    “These features were designed to better protect teens from potential online harms and to enhance the real-friend connections that make Snapchat so unique,” Snap’s Global Head of Platform Safety Jacqueline Beauchere said in an exclusive statement to CNN ahead of the announcement.

    Video below: FBI agent shares tips for parents to prevent sextortion

    Law enforcement officials have in recent years warned of an uptick in online sextortion scams, in which bad actors, typically located overseas, target children and teens, often with profiles that appear to belong to friendly fellow teenagers. In some cases, sextortion has resulted in suicides.

    Meta in April also announced new features aimed at combating sextortion, including informing users when they’ve interacted with someone who engaged in financial sextortion. And the chief executives of Meta and Snap, along with other social media leaders, were called to testify earlier this year in a Senate subcommittee hearing about their efforts to protect young people from online exploitation.

    Also among Snapchat’s announcements on Tuesday are improvements to the app’s blocking tools, which will prevent users from simply creating new accounts to get around a block. Now, when a user blocks another account, any new accounts created on the same device will also automatically be blocked.

    Snapchat is also introducing more frequent reminders to all users, including teens, about their location settings on the app’s “Snap Map” feature, which is toggled off by default but which users can update to share their location live with friends. The company said it will make it possible for users to update their location settings, remove their location from the map and customize which friends they share their location with – all in one spot on the app.

    The updates build on Snapchat’s existing teen safety features, which include a “Family Center” where parents can supervise the behavior of 13- to 17-year-old users, and mechanisms for removing age-inappropriate content.

    Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 (or 800-273-8255) to connect with a trained counselor or visit the NSPL site.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • College students team up with NASA for innovative water quality research

    College students team up with NASA for innovative water quality research

    [ad_1]

    NASA is working with students at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Meyers, Florida. They are using technology to work with future scientists to analyze water quality.”We are looking for people to make an impact on the whole ecosystem that uses NASA’s earth science information,” NASA DEVELOP program manager Kenton Ross said. Dr. Rachel Rotz, a professor in the FGCU Department of Marine and Earth Sciences, will have the water school host this research team. NASA DEVELOP selected five future scientists to participate. Nathan Hewitt is one of them. He is working on getting his master’s degree right now at FGCU. He heard about this research opportunity and wanted to apply.”My main goal for this was to learn more coding,” Ross said. “So the coding workshops have been fantastic. Even some of the stuff I didn’t really think about the project, but kind of working as a team, but utilizing our strengths and learning about the different kind of personality types and how they best built the team has been really interesting.”Over the next 10 weeks, Hewitt and the four other researchers will spend part of their day at the water school looking under a microscope.”They’re looking into cyanobacteria and understanding how organisms do their thing on a microscopic scale,” Ross said.They are analyzing water quality near Seminole tribes in Southwest Florida.”They’re really testing out if this information from NASA is relevant to the tribe,” Ross said. “So is the tribe is thinking about water quality in the area in their location, in and around them. They’re interested in how nutrients are flowing through those natural systems.”They are looking at different types of algae, seeing where it is located. Then they take a look from a wider scope, up in space!”Our purpose is to help them rise in their career, and that’s going to happen when they are energized about the knowledge they can gain and about the skills they can apply to problems like this,” Ross said.Hewitt said he will take what he has learned from this research program and apply it to his future, maybe even working for NASA one day.To learn more about NASA DEVELOP and how to apply for the next research study, visit this website.

    FORT MYERS, Fla. —

    NASA is working with students at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Meyers, Florida. They are using technology to work with future scientists to analyze water quality.

    “We are looking for people to make an impact on the whole ecosystem that uses NASA’s earth science information,” NASA DEVELOP program manager Kenton Ross said.

    Dr. Rachel Rotz, a professor in the FGCU Department of Marine and Earth Sciences, will
    have the water school host this research team. NASA DEVELOP selected five future scientists to participate. Nathan Hewitt is one of them. He is working on getting his master’s degree right now at FGCU. He heard about this research opportunity and wanted to apply.

    “My main goal for this was to learn more coding,” Ross said. “So the coding workshops have been fantastic. Even some of the stuff I didn’t really think about the project, but kind of working as a team, but utilizing our strengths and learning about the different kind of personality types and how they best built the team has been really interesting.”

    Over the next 10 weeks, Hewitt and the four other researchers will spend part of their day at the water school looking under a microscope.

    “They’re looking into cyanobacteria and understanding how organisms do their thing on a microscopic scale,” Ross said.

    They are analyzing water quality near Seminole tribes in Southwest Florida.

    “They’re really testing out if this information from NASA is relevant to the tribe,” Ross said. “So is the tribe is thinking about water quality in the area in their location, in and around them. They’re interested in how nutrients are flowing through those natural systems.”

    They are looking at different types of algae, seeing where it is located. Then they take a look from a wider scope, up in space!

    “Our purpose is to help them rise in their career, and that’s going to happen when they are energized about the knowledge they can gain and about the skills they can apply to problems like this,” Ross said.

    Hewitt said he will take what he has learned from this research program and apply it to his future, maybe even working for NASA one day.

    To learn more about NASA DEVELOP and how to apply for the next research study, visit this website.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Michigan splash pad shooting: Police identify Michigan splash pad shooter but there’s still no word on a motive

    Michigan splash pad shooting: Police identify Michigan splash pad shooter but there’s still no word on a motive

    [ad_1]

    Authorities on Sunday identified the man who opened fire at a splash pad in suburban Detroit before taking his own life, but his motives remained unknown as investigators worked to determine if he left behind any hint of his plans.Oakland County Sheriff’s spokesperson Stephen Huber said the shooter was 42-year-old Michael William Nash of Shelby Township. Sheriff Mike Bouchard said Saturday evening that the gunman had no prior criminal history but apparently suffered privately from what the sheriff called “mental health challenges.”“It’s our understanding that he was undergoing some mental health challenges, but no one that we know of was notified,” Bouchard said during an evening news conference.The splash pad shooting was one of at least four mass shootings that took place around the country Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Six people were shot in a residential neighborhood in Lathrup Village, another Detroit suburb. Seven people were shot at a party in Methuen, Massachusetts, and eight people were shot during a Juneteenth celebration in Round Rock, Texas. Two people were killed in that shooting.Authorities said Nash drove to suburban Rochester Hills on Saturday and opened fire at a splash pad in a city park around 5 p.m. A splash pad is a recreational area with a nonslip surface where people can play in fountains and water sprays.The sheriff said Nash fired as many as 28 times, stopping several times to reload.In the chaos, “people were falling, getting hit, trying to run,” Bouchard said. “Terrible things that unfortunately all of us in our law enforcement business have seen way too much.”The gunman was “apparently in no rush. Just calmly walked back to his car,” the sheriff said.Nine people were injured, including an 8-year-old boy who was shot in the head; his 4-year-old brother, who was shot in the leg; and the boys’ mother, who was wounded in the abdomen and leg.The 8-year-old boy and the mother were both listed in critical condition on Saturday evening. The 4-year-old was in stable condition. The six other victims, all at least 30 years old, were in stable condition on Saturday night. Huber, the sheriff’s spokesperson, said all the victims’ conditions were unchanged as of Sunday morning.Nash eventually fled but apparently left his gun behind. Investigators were able to use the weapon’s registration information to track him back to the home in Shelby Township he shared with his mother. When police arrived, they found a car that matched the gunman’s vehicle.Deputies surrounded the home and eventually entered to find the suspect was dead. Bouchard said the man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Deputies discovered a handgun next to the body and a semiautomatic rifle on the kitchen table. Bouchard said Saturday that Nash may have been planning a “second chapter” to the shooting.Nash’s neighbors told the Detroit News that Nash’s father died two years ago and he lived with his mother, who has been traveling the United States.“He’s a loner. The blinds are always pulled over there,” neighbor Kyleen Duchene told the newspaper.Nash’s mother was “super friendly and nice” but Nash himself rarely left the house, neighbor Alex Roser said.“And when he did, he didn’t even say ‘hi’ back to us when we would acknowledge him,” Roser said. “He was very quiet and didn’t want to be a part of our community.”Bouchard said that Nash had no connections to the splash pad or any of the victims. Investigators will try to determine if he left behind any writings and examine his electronic devices in hopes of shedding light on his motive.“In terms of the ‘why,’ I don’t know,” Bouchard said.Rochester Hills is about 15 miles south of Oxford, where in 2021 a 15-year-old fatally shot four high school students. Saturday’s shooting came at the end of the first full week of summer vacation for students attending Rochester Community schools.“I love my community and my heart breaks today,” Rochester Mayor Bryan Barnett said. “When I got on scene I started to cry because I know what a splash pad is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a place where people gather, where families make memories, where people have fun.”Bouchard called the attack “a gut punch” for the county.“We’ve gone through so many tragedies,” the sheriff said. “We’re not even fully comprehending what happened at Oxford. And, you know, now we have another complete tragedy that we’re dealing with.”

    ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. —

    Authorities on Sunday identified the man who opened fire at a splash pad in suburban Detroit before taking his own life, but his motives remained unknown as investigators worked to determine if he left behind any hint of his plans.

    Oakland County Sheriff’s spokesperson Stephen Huber said the shooter was 42-year-old Michael William Nash of Shelby Township. Sheriff Mike Bouchard said Saturday evening that the gunman had no prior criminal history but apparently suffered privately from what the sheriff called “mental health challenges.”

    “It’s our understanding that he was undergoing some mental health challenges, but no one that we know of was notified,” Bouchard said during an evening news conference.

    The splash pad shooting was one of at least four mass shootings that took place around the country Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Six people were shot in a residential neighborhood in Lathrup Village, another Detroit suburb. Seven people were shot at a party in Methuen, Massachusetts, and eight people were shot during a Juneteenth celebration in Round Rock, Texas. Two people were killed in that shooting.

    Authorities said Nash drove to suburban Rochester Hills on Saturday and opened fire at a splash pad in a city park around 5 p.m. A splash pad is a recreational area with a nonslip surface where people can play in fountains and water sprays.

    The sheriff said Nash fired as many as 28 times, stopping several times to reload.

    In the chaos, “people were falling, getting hit, trying to run,” Bouchard said. “Terrible things that unfortunately all of us in our law enforcement business have seen way too much.”

    The gunman was “apparently in no rush. Just calmly walked back to his car,” the sheriff said.

    Nine people were injured, including an 8-year-old boy who was shot in the head; his 4-year-old brother, who was shot in the leg; and the boys’ mother, who was wounded in the abdomen and leg.

    The 8-year-old boy and the mother were both listed in critical condition on Saturday evening. The 4-year-old was in stable condition. The six other victims, all at least 30 years old, were in stable condition on Saturday night. Huber, the sheriff’s spokesperson, said all the victims’ conditions were unchanged as of Sunday morning.

    Nash eventually fled but apparently left his gun behind. Investigators were able to use the weapon’s registration information to track him back to the home in Shelby Township he shared with his mother. When police arrived, they found a car that matched the gunman’s vehicle.

    Deputies surrounded the home and eventually entered to find the suspect was dead. Bouchard said the man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Deputies discovered a handgun next to the body and a semiautomatic rifle on the kitchen table. Bouchard said Saturday that Nash may have been planning a “second chapter” to the shooting.

    Nash’s neighbors told the Detroit News that Nash’s father died two years ago and he lived with his mother, who has been traveling the United States.

    “He’s a loner. The blinds are always pulled over there,” neighbor Kyleen Duchene told the newspaper.

    Nash’s mother was “super friendly and nice” but Nash himself rarely left the house, neighbor Alex Roser said.

    “And when he did, he didn’t even say ‘hi’ back to us when we would acknowledge him,” Roser said. “He was very quiet and didn’t want to be a part of our community.”

    Bouchard said that Nash had no connections to the splash pad or any of the victims. Investigators will try to determine if he left behind any writings and examine his electronic devices in hopes of shedding light on his motive.

    “In terms of the ‘why,’ I don’t know,” Bouchard said.

    Rochester Hills is about 15 miles south of Oxford, where in 2021 a 15-year-old fatally shot four high school students. Saturday’s shooting came at the end of the first full week of summer vacation for students attending Rochester Community schools.

    “I love my community and my heart breaks today,” Rochester Mayor Bryan Barnett said. “When I got on scene I started to cry because I know what a splash pad is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a place where people gather, where families make memories, where people have fun.”

    Bouchard called the attack “a gut punch” for the county.

    “We’ve gone through so many tragedies,” the sheriff said. “We’re not even fully comprehending what happened at Oxford. And, you know, now we have another complete tragedy that we’re dealing with.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Expert explains the science behind dog zoomies

    Expert explains the science behind dog zoomies

    [ad_1]

    Folks who have a dog in their family — or have previously had a dog as a pet — likely know the experience of their dog getting excited and hyper out of nowhere. Before you know it, they’re on the move — zooming around, running in circles and making your home or yard feel something like an obstacle course. Many dog lovers refer to this as “the zoomies,” but an expert explained to KSDK that there’s actually some science behind the behavior. Elsa Stuart, an associate veterinarian at Millis Animal Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, said the scientific term for the zoomies is a “frenetic random activity period.” It’s also known as a “FRAP.””Typically we see FRAPs happen at times of transition through the day, so it might be like when their owner gets home from work, or a guest is coming over,” Stuart said, adding that there are other times the zoomies can occur. “They seem random to us but I think if you think about what’s going on in your dog’s head, what they’ve encountered during that day it might make a little more sense that they need to blow off some steam,” Stuart told KSDK’s Kelly Jackson.The expert explained that having FRAPs are normal, but it’s important to know the difference between zoomies and anxiety. “Usually if they’re really loose and wiggly and carefree, that is a happy zoomie,” Stuart said.There are movements a dog can make that may seem like the zoomies, but could actually indicate anxiety and/or pain. “If their ears are pinned back. If their eyes are really wide and worried-looking. Or if their body seems tense,” Stuart said. See more in the video player above.

    ST. LOUIS (Video: KSDK, DR. ELSA STUART, CNN via CNN Newsource) —

    Folks who have a dog in their family — or have previously had a dog as a pet — likely know the experience of their dog getting excited and hyper out of nowhere.

    Before you know it, they’re on the move — zooming around, running in circles and making your home or yard feel something like an obstacle course.

    Many dog lovers refer to this as “the zoomies,” but an expert explained to KSDK that there’s actually some science behind the behavior.

    Elsa Stuart, an associate veterinarian at Millis Animal Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, said the scientific term for the zoomies is a “frenetic random activity period.” It’s also known as a “FRAP.”

    “Typically we see FRAPs happen at times of transition through the day, so it might be like when their owner gets home from work, or a guest is coming over,” Stuart said, adding that there are other times the zoomies can occur.

    “They seem random to us but I think if you think about what’s going on in your dog’s head, what they’ve encountered during that day it might make a little more sense that they need to blow off some steam,” Stuart told KSDK’s Kelly Jackson.

    The expert explained that having FRAPs are normal, but it’s important to know the difference between zoomies and anxiety.

    “Usually if they’re really loose and wiggly and carefree, that is a happy zoomie,” Stuart said.

    There are movements a dog can make that may seem like the zoomies, but could actually indicate anxiety and/or pain.

    “If their ears are pinned back. If their eyes are really wide and worried-looking. Or if their body seems tense,” Stuart said.

    See more in the video player above.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, a study finds

    Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, a study finds

    [ad_1]

    Reassuring new evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.Compared with avoiding peanuts, starting peanut consumption in infancy – as early as around 4 months of age, as a soft pureed paste, for instance – and continuing regularly to around 5 years old was associated with a 71% reduced rate of peanut allergy among adolescents in the United Kingdom, according to a new study published Tuesday in the journal NEJM Evidence.”I was not entirely surprised because infants in Israel are exposed to peanuts very early and allergy does not appear to emerge in adolescence or adults. This suggests the protection is long-term,” Gideon Lack, professor of pediatric allergy at King’s College London and an author of the study, said in an email about the new findings.Related video above: FDA recently approved asthma drug to mitigate fatal food allergy reactions”Peanut allergy develops very early in most children between six and 12 months of life. If you want to prevent a disease this needs to be done before the disease develops,” Lack said about exposing children to peanuts. “This biological phenomenon is based on an immunological principle known as oral tolerance induction. We have known for many decades that young mice or other experimental animals who are fed foods such as egg or milk or peanut cannot develop these allergies later.”Starting in 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended delaying the introduction of peanuts until 3 years but then ended that recommendation in 2008.About a decade later, in 2019, the AAP updated its guidance to say that delaying the introduction of allergenic foods doesn’t prevent disease and “there is now evidence that early introduction of peanuts may prevent peanut allergy.”Food allergies have become a growing public health concern in the United States and peanut allergy is estimated to affect about 2% of children in the United States, or nearly 1.5 million people younger than 18. Peanuts are among the food types that can cause the most serious allergic reactions, including the risk of the life-threatening reaction anaphylaxis.”Today’s findings should reinforce parents’ and caregivers’ confidence that feeding their young children peanut products beginning in infancy according to established guidelines can provide lasting protection from peanut allergy,” Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a news release Tuesday. “If widely implemented, this safe, simple strategy could prevent tens of thousands of cases of peanut allergy among the 3.6 million children born in the United States each year.”Related video below: Drug to treat severe food allergies based on Johns Hopkins researchThe new study, called the LEAP-Trio trial, included data on children in the United Kingdom who previously participated as babies in the peanut allergy study called the LEAP trial.That previous study included infants with eczema and egg allergy who were followed through age 5, and it found that at age 5, the prevalence of peanut allergy was about 17% in the group of children who avoided peanuts compared with about 3% in the group that ate peanut products, representing an 81% relative reduction in peanut allergy.The LEAP-Trio trial set out to examine whether that reduced risk of peanut allergy would last into adolescence.About 500 children were assessed again for the LEAP-Trio trial, which looked at the rate of peanut allergy at around age 12.At that age, peanut allergy remained “significantly more prevalent” among the children who originally avoided peanuts, with about 15% having a peanut allergy. Among those who originally consumed peanuts, about 4% had a peanut allergy, the researchers found. They wrote that represents “a 71% reduction in the prevalence of peanut allergy at the LEAP-Trio time point.”But overall, when children started to consume peanuts in infancy and continued to around age 5, this appeared to provide “lasting tolerance” to peanuts into adolescence, according to the researchers, based in the United Kingdom and the United States.The new study findings are “a great reassurance” that early introduction of peanuts not only reduced peanut allergies from developing but that the protection lasted until adolescence even when children stopped eating peanuts consistently after age 5, Dr. Purvi Parikh, an allergist and immunologist at NYU Langone in New York and a spokesperson for the Allergy & Asthma Network, who was not involved in the new research, said in an email Tuesday.”So ideally if there’s no other risk factors we should continue to introduce these allergens early at 4-6 months and continue them consistently until age 5 but after that we don’t need to be as consistent,” Parikh said.She added that introducing peanuts for children at low risk for allergies can be done around 4 to 6 months old under the guidance of a pediatrician, but children with severe eczema and pre-existing egg allergy should see an allergist before early introduction.”Since babies cannot have solids yet it is recommended for it to be a thin consistency similar to breast milk or formula and can be mixed into it to avoid any choking and can start with a small amount and slowly increase as tolerated every 3-4 days,” Parikh said.When introducing peanuts into an infant’s diet, it’s recommended to use smooth peanut butter mixed into a puree and avoid chunks of peanuts that could be choking hazards.”It can generally be said ‘the sooner the better’ for parents, especially in babies with eczema,” Lack said, adding that babies with eczema are at much higher risk of developing food allergies and develop these allergies much earlier in the first year of life.”However, the child needs to be developmentally and neurologically ready to eat solid foods and be able to coordinate chewing and swallowing without a risk of choking. Most babies will be able to start weaning between four and six months of age but each baby is an individual and needs to be assessed individually,” he said. “Also, the foods should be given as a soft puree to facilitate swallowing and reduce the risk of choking. We do not recommend introducing solids before three months of age.”The finding that early peanut introduction induces tolerance has been support by other previous studies, too, but introducing your child to peanuts should be a shared decision with your pediatrician, according to Dr. Daniel DiGiacomo, a pediatric immunologist at K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey, who was not involved in the new study.”The current expert opinion is to utilize a shared-decision making approach for food introduction once the infant is developmentally ready, and has tolerated a couple of other complementary foods without issue,” DiGiacomo said in an email Tuesday.”I usually start off slowly introducing a pea sized amount, doubling the amount every day until you get to an age appropriate serving size (or at least 2 teaspoons). Then continue this in the diet several times per week,” he said. “I typically have the family mix the nut butter in a tolerated puree to the correct consistency, they can also dissolve peanut puffs (if doing peanut) in water, or make a peanut sauce out of powdered peanut butter or peanut flour. Again, we review the proper consistency and start slow with instructions to stop and contact your allergist if there are any concerns.”

    Reassuring new evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.

    Compared with avoiding peanuts, starting peanut consumption in infancy – as early as around 4 months of age, as a soft pureed paste, for instance – and continuing regularly to around 5 years old was associated with a 71% reduced rate of peanut allergy among adolescents in the United Kingdom, according to a new study published Tuesday in the journal NEJM Evidence.

    “I was not entirely surprised because infants in Israel are exposed to peanuts very early and allergy does not appear to emerge in adolescence or adults. This suggests the protection is long-term,” Gideon Lack, professor of pediatric allergy at King’s College London and an author of the study, said in an email about the new findings.

    Related video above: FDA recently approved asthma drug to mitigate fatal food allergy reactions

    “Peanut allergy develops very early in most children between six and 12 months of life. If you want to prevent a disease this needs to be done before the disease develops,” Lack said about exposing children to peanuts. “This biological phenomenon is based on an immunological principle known as oral tolerance induction. We have known for many decades that young mice or other experimental animals who are fed foods such as egg or milk or peanut cannot develop these allergies later.”

    Starting in 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended delaying the introduction of peanuts until 3 years but then ended that recommendation in 2008.

    About a decade later, in 2019, the AAP updated its guidance to say that delaying the introduction of allergenic foods doesn’t prevent disease and “there is now evidence that early introduction of peanuts may prevent peanut allergy.”

    Food allergies have become a growing public health concern in the United States and peanut allergy is estimated to affect about 2% of children in the United States, or nearly 1.5 million people younger than 18. Peanuts are among the food types that can cause the most serious allergic reactions, including the risk of the life-threatening reaction anaphylaxis.

    “Today’s findings should reinforce parents’ and caregivers’ confidence that feeding their young children peanut products beginning in infancy according to established guidelines can provide lasting protection from peanut allergy,” Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a news release Tuesday. “If widely implemented, this safe, simple strategy could prevent tens of thousands of cases of peanut allergy among the 3.6 million children born in the United States each year.”

    Related video below: Drug to treat severe food allergies based on Johns Hopkins research

    The new study, called the LEAP-Trio trial, included data on children in the United Kingdom who previously participated as babies in the peanut allergy study called the LEAP trial.

    That previous study included infants with eczema and egg allergy who were followed through age 5, and it found that at age 5, the prevalence of peanut allergy was about 17% in the group of children who avoided peanuts compared with about 3% in the group that ate peanut products, representing an 81% relative reduction in peanut allergy.

    The LEAP-Trio trial set out to examine whether that reduced risk of peanut allergy would last into adolescence.

    About 500 children were assessed again for the LEAP-Trio trial, which looked at the rate of peanut allergy at around age 12.

    At that age, peanut allergy remained “significantly more prevalent” among the children who originally avoided peanuts, with about 15% having a peanut allergy. Among those who originally consumed peanuts, about 4% had a peanut allergy, the researchers found. They wrote that represents “a 71% reduction in the prevalence of peanut allergy at the LEAP-Trio time point.”

    But overall, when children started to consume peanuts in infancy and continued to around age 5, this appeared to provide “lasting tolerance” to peanuts into adolescence, according to the researchers, based in the United Kingdom and the United States.

    The new study findings are “a great reassurance” that early introduction of peanuts not only reduced peanut allergies from developing but that the protection lasted until adolescence even when children stopped eating peanuts consistently after age 5, Dr. Purvi Parikh, an allergist and immunologist at NYU Langone in New York and a spokesperson for the Allergy & Asthma Network, who was not involved in the new research, said in an email Tuesday.

    “So ideally if there’s no other risk factors we should continue to introduce these allergens early at 4-6 months and continue them consistently until age 5 but after that we don’t need to be as consistent,” Parikh said.

    She added that introducing peanuts for children at low risk for allergies can be done around 4 to 6 months old under the guidance of a pediatrician, but children with severe eczema and pre-existing egg allergy should see an allergist before early introduction.

    “Since babies cannot have solids yet it is recommended for it to be a thin consistency similar to breast milk or formula and can be mixed into it to avoid any choking and can start with a small amount and slowly increase as tolerated every 3-4 days,” Parikh said.

    When introducing peanuts into an infant’s diet, it’s recommended to use smooth peanut butter mixed into a puree and avoid chunks of peanuts that could be choking hazards.

    “It can generally be said ‘the sooner the better’ for parents, especially in babies with eczema,” Lack said, adding that babies with eczema are at much higher risk of developing food allergies and develop these allergies much earlier in the first year of life.

    “However, the child needs to be developmentally and neurologically ready to eat solid foods and be able to coordinate chewing and swallowing without a risk of choking. Most babies will be able to start weaning between four and six months of age but each baby is an individual and needs to be assessed individually,” he said. “Also, the foods should be given as a soft puree to facilitate swallowing and reduce the risk of choking. We do not recommend introducing solids before three months of age.”

    The finding that early peanut introduction induces tolerance has been support by other previous studies, too, but introducing your child to peanuts should be a shared decision with your pediatrician, according to Dr. Daniel DiGiacomo, a pediatric immunologist at K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey, who was not involved in the new study.

    “The current expert opinion is to utilize a shared-decision making approach for food introduction once the infant is developmentally ready, and has tolerated a couple of other complementary foods without issue,” DiGiacomo said in an email Tuesday.

    “I usually start off slowly introducing a pea sized amount, doubling the amount every day until you get to an age appropriate serving size (or at least 2 teaspoons). Then continue this in the diet several times per week,” he said. “I typically have the family mix the nut butter in a tolerated puree to the correct consistency, they can also dissolve peanut puffs (if doing peanut) in water, or make a peanut sauce out of powdered peanut butter or peanut flour. Again, we review the proper consistency and start slow with instructions to stop and contact your allergist if there are any concerns.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 14-year-old graduates from community college

    14-year-old graduates from community college

    [ad_1]

    SHE WAS ARRAIGNED THIS MORNING AND IS DUE BACK IN COURT ON DECEMBER 9TH. ONE NORTHWEST ARKANSAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE GRADUATE WILL BE CONTINUING HER HIGHER EDUCATION NEXT YEAR – – BEFORE SHE’S EVEN ABLE TO VOTE. 40-29’S VALERIE ZHANG IS LIVE AT THE WALMART AMP TONIGHT WHERE SHE CAUGHT UP WITH MANY EXCITED GRADUATES. VALERIE? YES, MANY AND…. THE YOUNGEST OF THE CLASS. WALKING ACROSS THE STAGE AT 14 YEARS OLD… SHE’LL BE CONTINUING HER STUDIES INTO NEUROSCIENCE. áYou started NWACC when you were… 11á <> “I moved here. In August of 2020 and shortly after 2020 and shortly after I began taking classes here and work before I started high school.” RAYANA HOLIKOVA SAYS SHE STARTED OUT WITH CLASSES LIKE COLLEGE ALGEBRA AND COMP. <> “I have a younger brother. He’s a genetic disorder, and he was born when I was seven years old, so I wasn’t quite old enough to just grasp the realities of the condition he had. But as I got older and as my education progressed, I kind of realized, like, how much gravity his condition had. And that just kind of like inspired me to pursue a path that was consistent with what I was interested in as a child.” “honestly graduating with an associate’s in with in as a child.” “honestly I just woke up one morning and I was in the car on my way to take the placer test. I didn’t really understand what was happening at the moment other than like online classes. And then I guess like last year, I began to realize that this is like an associate’s degree and be graduating with an associate’s in with my high school degree” HOLIKOVA IS ALSO A STUDENT AT BENTONVILLE HIGH. <> “the individualized self- paced nature of this college is so incredibly important and it taught me a lot about how to regulate like my own study habits.” SHE’LL BE GOING TO GEORGIA TECH THIS FALL TO GET HER BACHELORS DEGREE IN NEUROSCIENCE. <> “when I graduate college, I think it would be nice to know that there are a there’s a whole community of people that are just like watching you grow and that want you to succeed.” THIS WAS THE SECOND YEAR FOR THE NURSING PINNING, BUT THE FIRST TIME THE COMMENCEMENT WAS AT THE AM

    14-year-old graduates from community college

    14-year-old becomes youngest NWACC graduate this spring

    The 14-year-old graduate from Northwest Arkansas Community College started taking classes at 11. Rayana Holikova moved to Northwest Arkansas in August 2020. Shortly after, she started taking classes at the community college. “I have a younger brother. He has a genetic disorder. He was born when I was 7 years old, so I wasn’t quite old enough to just grasp the realities of the condition he had, but as I got older and as my education progressed, I kind of realized how much gravity his condition had. And that just kind of like inspired me to pursue a path that was consistent with what I was interested in as a child,” Holikova said. Holikova will also be graduating from Bentonville High School. She’ll continue her studies into neuroscience at Georgia Tech University in the fall. “When I graduate college, I think it would be nice to know that there’s a whole community of people that are just like watching you grow and that want you to succeed,” Holikova said.It was the first time the nurse pinning was at the Walmart Amp and the second time for the commencement ceremony.

    ROGERS, Ark. —

    The 14-year-old graduate from Northwest Arkansas Community College started taking classes at 11.

    Rayana Holikova moved to Northwest Arkansas in August 2020. Shortly after, she started taking classes at the community college.

    “I have a younger brother. He has a genetic disorder. He was born when I was 7 years old, so I wasn’t quite old enough to just grasp the realities of the condition he had, but as I got older and as my education progressed, I kind of realized how much gravity his condition had. And that just kind of like inspired me to pursue a path that was consistent with what I was interested in as a child,” Holikova said.

    Holikova will also be graduating from Bentonville High School. She’ll continue her studies into neuroscience at Georgia Tech University in the fall.

    “When I graduate college, I think it would be nice to know that there’s a whole community of people that are just like watching you grow and that want you to succeed,” Holikova said.

    It was the first time the nurse pinning was at the Walmart Amp and the second time for the commencement ceremony.

    [ad_2]

    Source link