South African officials: 22 teenagers found dead in a bar. No one knows how they died.
South African authorities are investigating after 22 teenagers celebrating end-of-school exams died in a mysterious incident at a nightclub.
The teens' bodies were found with no visible wounds or signs of injury at the Enyobeni Tavern in East London, a city in the country's Eastern Cape.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa posted on Twitter that the teen's bodies were discovered at the bar in the Scenery Park area early Sunday.
"My deepest condolences go to the families of the 22 teenagers who lost their lives," Ramaphosa wrote. "This tragedy is made even more grave by its occurrence during Youth Month â a time during which we celebrate young people."
Police discovered most of the victims, ages 13-17, lying on tables, slumped over chairs and sprawled on the floor of the club. The cause of their deaths remained under investigation Monday, police spokesperson Col. Athlenda Mathe said.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said forensic samples taken from the victims were sent to a toxicology laboratory in Cape Town, indicating that police were investigating whether the victims ingested a poison or toxin.
Toxicology test results are pending, Cele said.
Provincial safety official Unathi Binqose told the Daily Maverick newspaper that the victims may have ingested a toxic substance through alcohol they were drinking or through hookah pipes smoked at the party.
Police said they went to the nightclub around 4 a.m. after receiving a report that there were âlifeless bodiesâ there.
Officers found most of the teenagers dead. Two others died at a clinic, one died on the way to a hospital and one at the hospital.
Gun violence is relatively rare in Denmark.
âIt is incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. Pointless,â she said. âOur beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second.â
Protest outside 'Drag Queen Story Hour' in Westport, Ireland
A protest against a Drag Queen Story hour for children took place outside a Westport Bookshop on Friday. Tertulia Books was the venue for a Drag Queen Story Hour for children in association with Mayo Pride . The event entitled "Story Time with Aunt Annie" was described by organisers as "a special family event to contribute to a positive change in the way the world thinks". A number of protesters carrying banners inscribed "let kids by kids","why sexualize children" and "drag queens are adult entertainment" gathered outside the bookshop and were met by some counter protesters.
While Drag Queen Story Hours are relatively new to Ireland, Protests have been growing in the USA after a number of Child Abuse incidents involving Drag Queens were brought to light.
In 2018 , A Drag Queen reading to children at a Houston Public Library was found to be a convicted child molester. Albert Alfonso Garza age 32 was charged with child sexual assault involving an 8 yr old in 2008, while last month, a Pennsylvania Drag Queen (Brice Williams) who worked as a child counsellor was charged with 25 counts of child pornography
Former NHL Defenseman Bryan Marchment Dies Unexpectedly During Montreal Trip
Long-time NHL Defenseman and current San Jose Sharks Scout Bryan Marchment died unexpectedly on Wednesday during a trip to Montreal, his agent confirmed to AP. He was 53 years old.
âLongtime agent Rick Curran confirmed Marchmentâs death to The Associated Press. Marchment was attending the NHL draft in Montreal as a scout for the San Jose Sharks,â the news outlet reported.
His death was unexpected. There was no immediate information about the cause of his death.
Shinzo Abe, Japanâs former prime minister, dies after being shot
The former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has died after being shot while making a campaign speech, plunging the country into grief as it comes to terms with the loss of its longest-serving leader.
The 67-year-old, who resigned in 2020, was flown to hospital by helicopter after the attack in the western city of Nara, and pronounced dead about five and a half hours later.
The first assassination of a sitting or former Japanese premier since the days of prewar militarism in the 1930s sent shockwaves through Japan, where political violence is rare and guns are tightly controlled.
âThis attack is an act of brutality that happened during the elections â the very foundation of our democracy â and is absolutely unforgivable,â said the current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, Abeâs protege, struggling to keep his emotions in check.
Footage broadcast by Japanese media showed Abeâs speech interrupted by two loud bangs and smoke, with Abe stumbling to the ground after the second shot.
The hospital that tried to save him said he died at 5.03pm (8.03am GMT). He bled to death from deep wounds to the heart and the right side of his neck, despite receiving more than 100 units of blood in transfusions over four hours, Hidetada Fukushima, the professor in charge of emergency medicine at Nara Medical University hospital, told a televised news conference.
Police said a 41-year-old unemployed man, Tetsuya Yamagami, was apprehended at the site and had admitted to shooting the former prime minister with a homemade weapon. The public broadcaster NHK quoted Yamagami as telling police he was dissatisfied with Abe and wanted to kill him.
Police said at a press conference Yamagami had said he had a grudge against what was described as a specific organisation he believed Abe to be a part of, but officers could not say whether the organisation actually existed.
Yamagami told police he had made multiple handmade explosives and guns in the past, NHK reported. Police discovered several possible explosive devices during a search of his home, according to local media. NHK reported that bomb disposal technicians were preparing to carry out a controlled explosion on the premises.
A photograph showed two cylindrical metal parts that appeared to have been heavily bound with black tape lying on the road near the scene. Police said they were investigating if the bullets used in the attack were also homemade.
Abe, who had been in Nara to make a campaign speech ahead of this Sundayâs upper house elections, was a conservative politician known for his âAbenomicsâ policy to lift the worldâs third-biggest economy out of deflation and for supporting a more prominent role for Japanâs military to counter growing threats from North Korea and a more assertive China.
Having quit abruptly as premier in 2007 after one year in the post, Abe swept back for a rare second stint in 2012, pledging to revive a stagnant economy, loosen the limits of a post-second world war pacifist constitution and restore conservative values.
He was instrumental in winning the 2020 Olympics for Tokyo, cherishing a wish to preside over the Games and even appeared as the Nintendo video game character Mario during the Olympic handover at Rio 2016.
While in office, Abe failed to realise his main political ambition â to revise Japanâs âpacifistâ constitution, which prohibits the country from using force to resolve international disputes. In recent weeks, he had voiced support for significant rises in Japanâs defence budget, citing Russiaâs invasion of Ukraine as proof that Japan should stay vigilant in case of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Abe became Japanâs longest-serving premier in November 2019, but by the summer of 2020 public support had been eroded by his handling of the Covid-19 outbreak as well as a series of scandals, including the arrest of his former justice minister. Citing the return of a chronic bowel complaint that had contributed to the premature end to his first term in office, Abe resigned without presiding over the Games, which was postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic.
Japan has close to âzero-toleranceâ of gun ownership â an approach that experts say contributes to its extremely low rate of gun crime. There were six reported gun deaths in 2014, according to the National Police Agency, and the number rarely exceeds 10, in a country of 126 million people.
Airo Hino, a political science professor at Waseda University, told Reuters such a shooting was unprecedented in Japan. âThere has never been anything like this,â he said.
Senior Japanese politicians are accompanied by armed security agents but often get close to the public, especially during political campaigns when they make roadside speeches and shake hands with passersby.
In 2007, the mayor of Nagasaki was shot and killed by a yakuza gangster. The head of the Japan Socialist party was assassinated during a speech in 1960 by a rightwing youth with a samurai short sword. A few other prominent postwar politicians were attacked but not injured.
Utah wildfire updates: Fire sparks in Parleys Canyon; 4 accused of starting blaze near Fillmore
One of the largest weekend wildfires sparked south of Fillmore, called the Halfway Hill fire. At last report, it had burned 10,141 acres and forced the evacuation of the Virginia Hills subdivision.
Four people were arrested and accused of starting the Halfway Hill blaze, police said. According to a probable cause statement, the four started a fire at a campsite â which investigators determined was where the wildfire began â then âleft abruptly.â
When the campers were contacted by investigators, they said they had attempted to extinguish the fire before they left the area. They told police that after seeing the fire erupt and spread rapidly, âthey were concerned that their fire may have been the cause.â
EU Plans Now to Actually Pay Companies to Slow Down Production. Where Will the Madness End?
There is a clash of ideas and objectives as the West is stuck in an echo chamber of its own making, where the message âfight to the last man no matter how long it takesâ is repeated over and over again like the torture scene in the Ipcress File. Western leaders have basically brain washed themselves into thinking there is only one route to follow without seeing the consequences of prolonging the war, which will just cost the West more and more, in the end. For the EU itself, the Ukraine war may well be the fire which the moth flies into as the level of rank stupidity led mainly by Ursula von der Leyen, is breathtaking. Soon there will be revolt on the streets in many EU countries and again, like lunatics repeating the same mantra that their doctors have forced them to repeat while under sedation, EU and EU leaders will keep on blaming Putin. In the coming weeks African countriesâ governments will start to beg for wheat from European Union countries and the EU itself. Watch how the EU sidesteps away from this story and how journalists in the Belgian capital fail to report on it and how their requests have been denied. As the Russian rouble continues to climb and our economies in the West continue to tumble, donât expect western media to frame the story in the sobering light of plain truth and harsh realities. The culpability from newsrooms and their call centre journalists is staggering also although soon, very soon, we will see the first EU member state to break away from the pack and say âno moreâŚnegotiate or elseâ. But who will it be? And what will be the harsh payback which a petulant EU will fire back?
Europe on edge as Nord Stream Russian gas link enters shutdown
- Nord Stream 1 maintenance to run from July 11-21
- Fears outage could be extended
- Kremlin says shutdown is regular event
- Extended halt would hurt economies, increase prices
The biggest single pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany began annual maintenance on Monday, with flows expected to stop for 10 days, but governments, markets and companies are worried the shutdown might be extended because of the war in Ukraine.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline transports 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year of gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Maintenance lasts from July 11 to 21.
Operator Nord Stream AG confirmed the shutdown started as planned at 0600 CET and that gas flows would drop to zero a few hours later.
Last month, Russia cut flows to 40% of the pipeline's total capacity, citing the delayed return of equipment being serviced by Germany's Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) in Canada. read more
Canada said at the weekend it would return a repaired turbine, but it also said it would expand sanctions against Russia's energy sector. read more
Europe fears Russia could extend scheduled maintenance to restrict European gas supply further, throwing plans to fill storage for winter into disarray and heightening a gas crisis that has prompted emergency measures from governments and painfully high bills for consumers.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has said the country should confront the possibility that Russia will suspend gas flows through Nord Stream 1 beyond the scheduled maintenance period.
"Based on the pattern we've seen, it would not be very surprising now if some small, technical detail is found and then they could say 'now we can't turn it on any more'," he said at an event at the end of June.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed claims that Russia was using oil and gas to exert political pressure, saying the maintenance shutdown was a regular, scheduled event and that no one was "inventing" any repairs. read more
There are other big pipelines from Russia to Europe, but flows have been declining gradually and Ukraine halted one gas transit route in May, blaming interference by occupying Russian forces.
Russia has cut off gas supplies to several European countries that did not comply with its demand for payment in roubles.
"The last few months have shown one thing: Putin knows no taboos. A complete halt to gas supplies through the Nord Stream pipeline cannot therefore be ruled out," said Timm Kehler, managing director of German industry association Zukunft Gas.
TURBINE TROUBLE
Germany at the weekend welcomed Canada's decision to issue a "time-limited and revocable permit" to allow equipment to be returned for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
But Ukraine's energy and foreign ministries said they were "deeply disappointed" and urged Canada to reverse a decision that they said amounted to adjusting the sanctions imposed on Moscow "to the whims of Russia".
Siemens Energy said it was working on further formal approvals and logistics to have the equipment in place as soon as possible. read more
Zongqiang Luo, gas analyst at consultancy Rystad Energy, said it was "not impossible" Gazprom could use any delay as a justification to extend the maintenance period.
In previous years the annual maintenance period on Nord Stream 1 has lasted about 10-12 days and has finished on time.
It is not uncommon for additional faults to be detected during routine maintenance at pipelines or gas infrastructure and operators can prolong outages if necessary.
While a complete halt of gas is considered unlikely, Gazprom has not been re-routing flows via other pipelines, meaning a prolonged reduced flow rate is probable, analysts at Goldman Sachs said.
ECONOMIC BLOW
Germany has moved to stage two of a three-tier emergency gas plan, which is one step before the government rations fuel consumption.
It has also warned of recession if Russian gas flows are halted. The blow to the economy could be 193 billion euros ($195 billion) in the second half of this year, data from the vbw industry association of the state of Bavaria showed last month.
"The abrupt end of Russian gas imports would also have a significant impact on the workforce in Germany ... Around 5.6 million jobs would be affected by the consequences," said Bertram Brossardt, vwb's managing director. read more
The effects would be wider still. A complete halt would keep European gas prices higher for longer, having already stung industry and households.
Wholesale Dutch gas prices, the European benchmark, have risen more than 400% since last July.
"If Nord Stream gets cut off, or if Germany loses all its Russian imports, then the effect will be felt on the whole of north-western Europe," said Dutch energy minister Rob Jetten.
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, he said the Dutch Groningen gas field could still be called upon to help neighbouring countries in the event of a complete cut off in Russian supplies, but ramping up production would risk causing earthquakes. read more
A halt of supply through Nord Stream 1 would hurt Russia as well as western Europe.
Russia's finance ministry had said in June that it expected to receive 393 billion roubles ($6.4 billion) more oil and gas revenue than forecast in its budget planning. read more
For July it expects 259 billion roubles more than its budget plan projected.
Extended maintenance could also result in more Russian gas production shut-ins, relative to the 9% year-on-year decline in Gazprom production reported so far this year, Goldman Sachs said.
($1 = 0.9898 euros)
($1 = 61.5000 roubles)
Ivana Trump dead: Former President Trumpâs ex-wife found at bottom of staircase in NYC home
Ivana Trump, the Czech American ex-wife of former President Donald Trump and mother of Ivanka, Eric and Don Jr., died Thursday. She was 73.
Trump was discovered at the bottom of a staircase in her home on 10 E. 64th St. in Manhattan at 12:40 p.m., police sources told The Post. Authorities believe she suffered cardiac arrest, but the official cause of death has yet to be determined. She was found by cops who were called to her home for a wellness check, police said.
âOur mother was an incredible woman â a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend,â Eric Trump said in a statement announcing her death. âShe will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and ten grandchildren.â
A source close to Ivanka Trump told The Post the former first daughter is in âshockâ over her motherâs death.
âThey were super close,â the source said, adding that Ivana Trump had spent her last days with family in New York City.
âHer health has been in decline over the past few years,â the source added.
Court awards $5.3M to Southwest Airlines flight attendant who was fired for pro-life Facebook posts
A win for free speech.
A jury in a district court in Dallas, TX, awarded a former Southwest Airlines flight attendant $5.3 million in damages for getting fired for expressing pro-life views on social media. If the verdict stands, Charlene Carter will get $950,000 from her union and $4.1 million from the airline.
Carter was fired in March 2017 for complaining to the unionâs president that some flight attendants had attended the pro-abortion Womenâs March in DC in January 2017. She sent multiple Facebook messages to then-president of the union Audrey Stone.
âThis is what you supported during your paid leave with others at the Womenâs March in D.C.,â she wrote in one Message to Stone. âYou truly are despicable in so many ways.â
Carterâs lawsuit argued that the union unfairly represented her and retaliated against her for her opinions.
In court documents, the airline said it fired her because her pro-life Facebook posts were âhighly offensiveâ and she could be easily identified as a Southwest Airlines employee. The airline also said that her posts and messages violated its policies on the use of social media and bullying.
Read the original lawsuit here.
Following the ruling, the airline said that it âhas a demonstrated history of supportingâ its employeesâ ârights to express their opinions when done in a respectful mannerâ and that it plans to appeal the ruling.
The union also plans to appeal.
BIDEN REVERSES TRUMPâS RECOGNITION OF JERUSALEM AS ISRAELâS CAPITAL â REPORT
A report in the Washington Free Beacon cited sources in the State Department confirming that the Biden administration will move forward with establishing a new Office of Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem that will act independently of the US ambassador to Israelâs office there. This move goes against the expressed wishes of the Israeli government. Still, the Biden State Department is going even further, opening an official Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem wholly independent of the US embassy in Israel. This consulate will act as a de facto embassy to the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem, a move that violates international law.
âBy establishing an office dedicated to the Palestinian government in the city, the administration is reopening the possibility of allowing that government to assume control of portions of the city,â The Free Beacon wrote, quoting David Milstein. He served as special assistant to former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
âOpening a diplomatic office to the Palestinians in Jerusalem after the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israelâs capital, making it clear Jerusalem is part of Israel, has the same disastrous consequences as opening a formal consulate,â Milstein told the Free Beacon . âThis decision is a blatant effort to unravel the implementation of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and circumvent Israelâs clear opposition to a formal consulate, especially since the Biden administration admits this step is part of its plan to open a consulate still.â
The Israeli government strongly opposes the plan saying that it could be understood as de facto approval of a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem and a unilateral move by the Biden administration to implement that aspect of the Two-State Solution without the consent of the Israeli government. Israeli authorities proposed that the US reopen the mission in Ramallah or Abu Dis, but the PA rejected these ideas.
The Jerusalem Embassy Act was passed into law by Congress in October 1995. The Act recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city, setting aside funds for the relocation of the embassy in Israel from to be relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by May 1999. The law allowed the President to invoke a six-month waiver of the application of the law and reissue the waiver every six months on ânational securityâ grounds. Every president did so until President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017.
The Free Beacon quoted Sen. Bill Hagerty (R., Tenn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who said the State Department is circumventing the Israeli government to create âan unofficial U.S. consulateâ to the Palestinians, in violation of the law.
âI unequivocally oppose this plan for what appears to be a new unofficial U.S. diplomatic mission in Israelâs capital,â Hagerty said. âThis plan is inconsistent with the full and faithful implementation of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and suggests that the administration is once again trying to undermine Americaâs recognition of Jerusalem as Israelâs eternal and undivided capital.â
The purpose behind this move âis to walk back the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israelâs capital, erode Israelâs sovereignty over its capital city, and signal support for dividing Jerusalem. It is outrageous and shameful,â Milstein said. âMembers of Congress should use every tool at their disposal to block implementation of this decision.â
The Palestinian Affairs Department operated independently from the embassy. It served effectively as a diplomatic mission to the Palestinian Authority from inside Jerusalem until President Trump closed that department in 2019 and moved it to the new embassy, placing it under the auspices of the US Ambassador to Israel.
Jason Greenblatt, the former White House envoy to the Middle East, slammed the move.
âBy trying to appease the Palestinian leadership with this empty gesture, we hurt our critical ally Israel, and we hurt the United Statesâwe hurt our national security, our diplomatic efforts, and we waste precious U.S. taxpayer money,â he said.
âThey are careful not to undo the move of the embassy to Jerusalem,â Zell explained. âThe embassy act pointedly does not mention a consulate, leaving a loophole that the Biden administration is exploiting. In addition to moving the embassy and recognizing Jerusalem, Trump closed the consulate and put the office of Palestinian Affairs under the Ambassador. And this is what Biden is doing.â
âClosing the embassy in Jerusalem would appease the Palestinians, and the Biden administration may want to do that, but it would probably run afoul of the Embassy Act,â Zell said. âThe more interesting question might be if opening the consulate violates international conventions concerning opening international missions without the host countryâs consent. I could make this case, but we need someone who has the standing to bring a suit.â
âPart of the problem is that there isnât really an Israeli government now that could bring a strong objection,â Zell noted.
âThe State Department is trying to use a back door loophole to establish a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem which is something they couldnât do through the front door by negotiating with the Israeli government,â Zell concluded. âOpening a consulate may not violate the Embassy Actâs explicit conditions, but it is violating the spirit of the law. It is not illegal but hugely disrespectful to Israel. It is certainly not the way you treat an ally.â
âA possible continuation of this would be if the Republicans retake Congress in November, they could pass a law to undo this. Biden would veto it, of course. If it gets bipartisan support, the veto could be overturned, and the consulate closed. It should be remembered that no Democrat attended the embassy opening in Jerusalem. Given the political environment, it is unlikely that a move in Congress to close Bidenâs consulate would get any Democratic support.â
Divers Find 1600s Warship Wreck That Carried King James II, Revealing Cannons, Wine Bottles, Other Artifacts
A prestigious English shipwreck was discovered by a pair of brothers 28 miles off the coast of Norfolk. Itâs a ship whose sinking could have quite literally changed the course of British history.
The brothers, Julian and Lincoln Barnwell, spent decades diving and exploring World War I and II shipwrecks; but later set their sights on a new challenge, one that took four years to complete: to find the 17th-century warship the Gloucester, which sank carrying the Duke of York and Albany, James Stuart, Britainâs then future king.
Amidst white sand, sunshine, and perfect visibility one fine day in 2007, beneath the waves, they spotted cannons.
The find would also yield countless more artifacts, including the personal possessions of possibly hundreds of passengers who drowned, wine bottles, and a bell which helped identify the vessel.
âBecause of the circumstances of its sinking, this can be claimed as the single most significant historic maritime discovery since the raising of the Mary Rose in 1982,â said maritime history expert Professor Claire Jowitt, of the University of East Anglia (UEA). âThe discovery promises to fundamentally change understanding of 17th-century social, maritime, and political history.
âIt is an outstanding example of underwater cultural heritage of national and international importance. A tragedy of considerable proportions in terms of loss of life, both privileged and ordinary, the full story of the Gloucesterâs last voyage and the impact of its aftermath needs re-telling, including its cultural and political importance, and legacy. We will also try to establish who else died and tell their stories, as the identities of a fraction of the victims are currently known.â
The warship sank during a time of particular historical significance when political and religious turmoil and division plagued the nation. It was a critical juncture in Britain, leading up to a transfer of power from the monarchy to parliament during the nationâs âGlorious Revolutionâ in 1688. Aboard Gloucester was the future King James II of England and Ireland (James VII of Scotland). Had he drowned, British history would have looked much different.
The shipâs sinking, at the time, was submitted by critics as evidence of Jamesâs unfitness to be king. He was later to be removed and replaced by his daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange, who then assumed the throne.
The Gloucester, commissioned in 1652, was chosen to be Jamesâs vessel on a voyage to Edinburgh to collect his wife, then heavily pregnant, and their households. The object was to bring them back to London to King Charles IIâs court in time, it was hoped, for the birth of a legitimate male heir.
Setting sail from Portsmouth, the warship rendezvoused with James and his entourage, who had traveled by yacht from London, at Margate. Along the journey, so the story goes, James and the pilot had a dispute as to what the shipâs proper course should be while navigating the treacherous Norfolk sandbanks.
Then, at 5:30 a.m., on May 6, 1682, the Gloucester ran aground 28 miles off the coast of Great Yarmouth. The vessel split down the keel and within an hour sank, resulting in the loss of 130 to 250 passengers and crew. James reportedly refused to abandon ship until the last minute, for which he was blamed, as others could not leave until he did. But he was rescued aboard one of the Gloucesterâs small boats with his close friend John Churchill, later the first duke of Marlborough.
Passengers of both high and low caste perished, though no human remains have yet been recovered. As there was almost no time to collect the shipâs cargo and personal belongings, the wreckage today remains rife with artifacts as well as insights into how people lived in those times.
After the discovery, the Barnwell brothers undertook an underwater archaeology course with the Nautical Archaeology Society.
Among the items rescued from the wreck were clothes, shoes, professional naval equipment, personal possessions, and many wine bottles. Some were found sealed and still filled with wine, offering possibility for further research. One wine bottle bears a glass seal with iconography linking it to Colonel George Legge, the son of Elizabeth Washington.
The Washington family crest depicted on the bottle, a shield design bearing stars and stripes, links it and the ship with perhaps the most famous Washington in that line: Americaâs first president, George Washington.
And a bell found aboard the Gloucester enabled researchers in 2012 to positively identify the vessel.
Due to the time required to determine the shipâs identity, and the fact that it was discovered in an âat riskâ site in international waters, only now is it being made public. Though its exact location is withheld, the site was declared to the UKâs Receiver of Wreck, Historic England, and Ministry of Defence.
âWhen we decided to search for the Gloucester, we had no idea how significant she was in history,â Julian told the UEA. âWe had read that the Duke of York was onboard but that was it. We were confident it was the Gloucester, but there are other wreck sites out there with cannons, so it still needed to be confirmed.
âThere is still a huge amount of knowledge to be gained from the wreck, which will benefit Norfolk and the nation. We hope this discovery and the stories that are uncovered will inform and inspire future generations.â
The shipwreckâs artifacts will be displayed in spring 2023 in an exhibition called âThe Last Voyage of the Gloucester: Norfolkâs Royal Shipwreck,â jointly curated by UEA and Norfolk Museums Service, at the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, where the discoveries will be staged for five months, from February to July 2023.
The news story was also published on the Daily Mail, 10 June 2022:
Historic: Health care workers win $10.3 million settlement over COVID mandates
Chicago-based NorthShore University HealthSystem has agreed to pay more than 500 current and former health workers.
The first settlement in the U.S. has been reached in a class action lawsuit filed by health care workers over a university systemâs COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Chicago-based NorthShore University HealthSystem has agreed to pay more than 500 current and former health-care workers a total of $10,337,500 as part of the terms of the settlement. Itâs also changing its policy to accommodate religious exemption requests and rehiring former employees who were fired or forced to resign whose exemption requests were denied.
Represented by the nonprofit religious freedom organization Liberty Counsel, NorthShore employees sued, alleging they were discriminated against because they were denied religious exemptions from the companyâs vaccine mandate. The settlement was filed Friday in the federal Northern District Court of Illinois.
The is the âfirst-of-its-kind class action settlement against a private employer who unlawfully denied hundreds of religious exemption requests to COVID-19 shots,â Liberty Counsel said. Its founder and chairman, Mat Staver, said it âshould be a wake-up call to every employer that did not accommodate or exempt employees who opposed the COVID shots for religious reasons. Let this case be a warning to employers that violated Title VII.â
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
The settlement nearly concludes a conflict that began after NorthShore rejected employeesâ religious accommodation requests to its âMandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy.â Last October, Liberty Counsel sent a demand letter on behalf of the impacted employees but NorthShore didnât change its policy. As a result, Liberty Counsel filed a class action lawsuit.
âIf NorthShore had agreed then to follow the law and grant religious exemptions, the matter would have been quickly resolved and it would have cost it nothing,â Liberty Counsel said.
While the parties have agreed to the settlement, it still has to be approved by the court. Employees of NorthShore who were denied religious exemptions will receive notice of the settlement and be given an opportunity to comment, object, request to opt out, or submit a claim form for payment within deadlines yet to be established by the court.
The settlement requires NorthShore to change its âno religious accommodationsâ policy, which it has agreed to do, and provide religious accommodations in every position throughout its company.
Employees who were terminated because their religious exemption requests were denied are now eligible to be rehired, according to the terms of the settlement. They can apply for positions at their previously held seniority level within 90 days of the court approving the final settlement.
NorthShoreâs director of PR, Colette Urban, told The Center Square, âWe continue to support system-wide, evidence-based vaccination requirements for everyone who works at NorthShore â Edward-Elmhurst Health and thank our team members for helping to keep our communities safe.
âThe settlement reflects implementation of a new system-wide vaccine policy which will include accommodation for team members with approved exemptions, including former employees who are rehired.â
The amount individuals will receive in payments will depend on how many valid and timely claim forms are submitted. If all, or nearly all, affected employees file valid and timely claims, itâs estimated that those who were fired or forced to resign after their religious exemption requests were denied will receive approximately $25,000 each. Those who were vaccinated under duress in order to keep their jobs and against their religious beliefs will receive about $3,000 each.
The 13 employees who were the lead plaintiffs will receive an additional payment of roughly $20,000 each. Liberty Counsel will receive 20% of the settlement amount of $2,061,500 to cover attorney fees and costs.
Liberty Counselâs VP of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel Horatio G. Mihet said, âThe drastic policy change and substantial monetary relief required by the settlement will bring a strong measure of justice to NorthShoreâs employees who were callously forced to choose between their conscience and their jobs. This settlement should also serve as a strong warning to employers across the nation that they cannot refuse to accommodate those with sincere religious objections to forced vaccination mandates.â
Staver added that it was âespecially significant and gratifying that this first classwide COVID settlement protects health care workers. Health care workers are heroes who daily give their lives to protect and treat their patients. They are needed now more than ever.â
Joshua 19:49 When they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts, the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them:
19:50 According to the word of the "I AM" they gave him the city which he asked, [even] Timnathserah in mount Ephraim: and he built the city, and dwelt therein.
Dig at possible site of Joshuaâs tomb is underway
A dig in northern Samaria has begun at the site believed to be the burial place of Joshua.
Working under the direction of Dr. Dvir Raviv, students from the Bar-Ilan University Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology and volunteers from Israel and abroad have begun digging at Khirbet Tibnah, located on a hill in the southwest area of Samaria, east of Shoham near Halamish.
This region was populated from as early as the Bronze Age up until the start of the Ottoman era â about 4,000 years. It is believed that Joshua â the biblical Israelite leader and successor of Moses â lived and was buried at this site.
The possible presence of Joshuaâs body at this site is supported by the fact that it is also referred to as Timnath-heres or Timnath-serah, a town mentioned in the Bible as having been given by the Israelites to the prophet and in which he is believed to have lived and been buried. Caleb â the other biblical spy who is said to have delivered a good report along with Joshua â is also believed to have lived here.
The following is a report by CNN. Interesting because American patriots have been waiting for a legitimate EAS (Emergency Alert System) to occur since 2020 (after the stolen election in America). Expect some fake-news EAS reports instead?
FEMA warns emergency alert systems could be hacked to transmit fake messages unless software is updated
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/03/politics/fema-emergency-alert-software-warning/index.html
Vulnerabilities in software that TV and radio networks around the country use to transmit emergency alerts could allow a hacker to broadcast fake messages over the alert system, a Federal Emergency Management Agency official tells CNN.
A cybersecurity researcher provided FEMA with "compelling evidence to suggest certain unpatched and unsecured EAS [Emergency Alert System] devices are indeed vulnerable," said Mark Lucero, the chief engineer for Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, the national system that state and local officials use to send urgent alerts about natural disasters or child abductions.
The agency this week urged operators of the devices to update their software to address the issue, saying that the false alerts could in theory be issued over TV, radio and cable networks. The advisory did not say that alerts sent over text messages were affected. There is no evidence that malicious hackers have exploited the vulnerabilities, Lucero said.
Jim Jordan: 14 FBI whistleblowers have come forward
A key Republican working on investigations of corruption in the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Joe Biden administration says 14 whistleblowers already have contacted members of Congress with details about what's been happening.
"Fourteen FBI agents have come to our office as whistleblowers, and they are good people," said U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. "There are lots of good people in the FBI. It's the top that is the problem. Some of these good agents are coming to us, telling us what is baloney, whatâs going on â the political nature now of the Justice Department â God bless them for doing it â talking about the school-board issue, about a whole host of issues."