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UK Oil And Gas Giant Cuts Investments And Defers Projects Over Windfall Tax
Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,
Ithaca Energy, one of the largest oil and gas producers in the UK, has reduced investments and is deferring some projects this year and next, due to the burden of the windfall tax Britain has levied on the industry.
The windfall tax, the so-called Energy Profits Levy, has prompted many companies operating offshore the UK to cut investments and review projects.
After the UK raised the windfall tax to 35% at the end of last year, Harbour Energy, the biggest oil and gas producer in the UK North Sea, backed out of the latest licensing round aimed at awarding more than 100 new licenses. Shell has said it would be re-evaluating each project comprising its $30.5 billion (25 billion pounds) planned investment in the UK energy system, and TotalEnergies has said it would slash its investment in the UK by 25%.
In its first-half results release, Ithaca Energy said this week that “until the fiscal regime is improved, as a direct result of the Energy Profits Levy, investment across our operated and non-operated portfolio has and will reduce, including the deferral and cancellation of certain 2023 and 2024 projects, impacting medium-term production outlook, with production in 2024 expected to be lower than 2023 levels.”
“As part of the Group's strategy, we continue to leverage our M&A capabilities evaluating potential inorganic opportunities with the clear intention to increase our production in the medium-term.”
Gilad Myerson, Ithaca Energy’s Executive Chairman, said,
“The Energy Profits Levy continues to have a direct impact on investment in the UK North Sea and Ithaca Energy’s own investment program across its diverse high-quality operated and non-operated asset base. We continue to constructively engage with the UK government to highlight the impact of the current fiscal regime to the industry’s outlook and to the UK government’s stated energy security and Net Zero ambitions.”
Also, this week, Harbour Energy said it booked an $8-million loss for the first six months of this year – weighed down by the higher UK windfall tax rate and falling fossil fuel prices. For the same period of 2022, the firm reported nearly $1 billion in post-tax profit.
-Tyler Durden, ZeroHedge
Fast-food chains under Yum! Brands to go CASHLESS soon: Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC to REJECT cash
Yum! Brands, the parent company of many well-known fast-food chains like Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, is planning to eventually move to 100 percent digital sales at its restaurants.
This is according to Yum! Brands Chief Financial Officer Chris Turner, who noted during an earnings call the corporation's goal to gradually shift to full cashless transactions at its restaurants. Turner added in a separate interview that more customers would end up ordering through apps, websites or automated kiosks in the stores. He also revealed that the company is already testing use of artificial intelligence to take drive-thru orders. (Related: Businesses in major U.S. cities refusing to take cash payments due to "brutal" series of robberies.)
"Our ability to get to 100 percent [cashless transactions] will depend on new innovations," said Turner.
The company claims that switching to 100 percent digital transactions will make it easier for customers to make impulse transactions with the click of a button. Going cashless and making customers order through screens is also an efficient way for the company to suggest that customers spend more by tacking on additional items to supplement their orders.
"Time and time again, when we shift sales into the digital channels, we see sales acceleration," said Turner. "It really demonstrates how this is such a high return on investment for our franchisees and for us."
Turner noted that the company is using a new customer data platform to survey customer behaviors, and he hopes that the data taken from this survey can be used to increase customer visits.
"Eventually, this and other internal programs will provide the infrastructure to unlock personalized marketing, joint branding and future automation," said Turner.
Fully digital transaction push could be unpopular, cost the company more
Yum! Brands' digital offerings have come after a series of acquisitions of tech startups and the funding of in-house efforts to expand the conglomerate's digital abilities. These research and acquisition efforts have been very expensive.
One of its most costly acquisitions, for example, came in 2021 when the company acquired Dragontail Systems – a provider of AI-powered tools for managing restaurant delivery systems – for $66 million. These incremental costs may end up being unsustainable for the company in the long term.
"It's probably expensive to upkeep that … it's not cheap obviously," said Andrew Charles, managing director and restaurant analyst at investment bank TD Cowen.
Yum! currently has no immediate plans for any additional tech acquisitions. Andy Barish, managing director for investment bank Jefferies, noted that the company will likely continue "building, acquiring and integrating all of that to create their Yum commerce platform" and to keep supporting the back-end systems of the company's most notable brands.
"We're not big fans of forcing people to go cashless when dining out," wrote Dennis Lee for The Takeout. "It's one thing to tout the ease and convenience of paying with a card or via digital wallet, but to deny people service because the infrastructure only accepts digital currency means that these businesses wall off those who can only deal in cash … and even if you have a bank account, paying by card is not always preferable."
Yum! Brands currently has not provided a definitive timeline for when their fast food joints plan to go cashless. But the transition may already be ongoing. All Taco Bell stores already have digital ordering kiosks, for example. These kiosks have led to a 35 percent year-over-year increase in digital transactions for Taco Bell.
"Don't be surprised if someday in the not-too-distant future, your Nachos Bell Grande can only be ordered by tapping a cold, hard touchscreen," warned Lee.
-Arsenio Toledo, News Target
Biden Tries to Explain 'Bidenomics' with a Giant Whiteboard, But It Backfires Immediately
It might work, if American memories can’t last three years.
President Joe Biden is trying his hand as Professor Joe Biden, with a whiteboard video from the White House aimed at trying to convince voters “Bidenomics” is making them better off, despite the evidence of their bank accounts.
But like every other aspect of the Biden presidency, it’s backfiring — badly.
In a three-minute video released to social media on Friday, the president used magic markers, a whiteboard and some cute technology tricks to explain that the disastrous economic policies of the Biden administration have done more than create the ruinous inflation that’s brutalizing American pocketbooks. It didn’t work.
For anyone with three minutes to burn listening to sugar-coated lies about the state of the nation, the video is here:
But what his team apparently didn’t reckon on was that reality has a way of intruding on even the most grandiose leftist fantasies — and that standing in front of a blank whiteboard in the age of easily edited social media images is a recipe for self-destruction.
After all, social media, like nature itself, abhors a vacuum.
The second lesson is a lot more fun than the first.
It’s a good bet this will be the last time Biden’s team puts him in front of a blank space that can be filled so easily. And it’s an even better bet that these mocking memes are going to get more attention than the nonsense the president was spewing:
Now, mockery aside and to get Biden’s more egregious brags out of the way, his claim about the administration “creating” 13 million jobs is bunk beyond even Biden’s normal penchant for lies.
As even a CNN “fact check” when Biden made a similar claim during his State of the Union address in February noted, the economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of jobs recovered are not millions of jobs “created.”
His claim that, under his policies, “Americans are already saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year” is belied by the simple experience of everyday citizens going to the grocery store or the gas station.
As CNN, again, reported Aug. 11, an analysis by Moody’s Analytics showed Americans are spending $709 more a month to buy the same things in 2023 that they were when Biden took office.
That’s $709 most Americans don’t have in their couch cushions.
And even if Moody’s economist Mark Zandi wrote in a social media post on Aug. 10 that he thought inflation was “set to moderate further,” that’s not the same as saying anything’s going to go back to what it was when Donald Trump was president three short years ago.
In 2020, inflation was 1.4 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. in 2020 was $2.38 before the COVID pandemic hit its full force and drove gas prices to historic lows, according to the Energy Information Agency.
Trump can’t get credit for the low gas prices of the COVID-lockdown era, of course. But is there an American on the road driving a traditional gas-powered vehicle who wouldn’t trade $2.38 for the numbers on gas station signs now?
(Don’t forget the pre-COVID stock market going gangbusters, record-low levels of unemployment for black Americans and other minorities liberals claim to care about, not to mention peace efforts abroad between Israel and historic enemies and the fact that Russia didn’t invade anyone when Trump was in charge.)
In short, a three-minute spiel from a doddering, almost certainly corrupt figurehead in the Oval Office is no substitute for the lived experience (as liberals like to say) of ordinary Americans going about their business in the era of “Bidenomics.”
Life in the United States doesn’t have to be this way.
Americans who can remember only three years ago, when there was an American in charge of the White House who actually cared about the country, know it.
And three years isn’t too long to remember at all.
That’s the “Bidenomics” lesson Biden needs to learn.
-Joe Saunders, The Western Journal
Trump Vows to Appeal March 4 Trial Date for Federal Elections Case
WASHINGTON—Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan has set the trial date for the case dealing with former President Donald Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results for March 4, 2024.
She declared that both trial dates offered by the former president’s lawyers and special counsel Jack Smith were unacceptable, though her decision put the date just two months beyond what Mr. Smith proposed and more than tow years ahead of what the defense wanted.
She said she took into account other trials that President Trump is facing, but wouldn’t consider his personal or professional circumstances, i.e., the campaign schedule of his 2024 presidential run.
President Trump later blasted the decision as “election interference” in a statement, vowing to bring up the issue with the D.C. Circuit Appeals Court.
“Today a biased, Trump Hating Judge gave me only a two month extension, just what our corrupt government wanted, SUPER TUESDAY. I will APPEAL!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Mr. Smith on Aug. 1 brought four charges against the former president, including a conspiracy to obstruct the collection and counting of electoral votes as well as a conspiracy against Americans’ right to vote.
The indictment relies on the assumption that President Trump didn’t genuinely believe that the election victory was unlawfully taken from him and that his attempts to challenge the results were unlawful.
The timing of the trial bears political implications. President Trump may have an interest in delaying it beyond the election, while his opponents would like to see him sentenced during election season. The date selected by the judge happens to be one day before the “Super Tuesday” slew of primary elections in 16 states.
Mr. Smith previously asked for a January 2024 trial date with jury selection as early as Dec. 11. The defense proposed April 2026.
The case appears to be exceptionally complex. As part of the discovery process, the prosecutors are almost done handing over to the defense some 12.8 million documents and files, federal prosecutor Molly Gaston said during the hearing.
She noted that more than 60 percent of the discovery came from entities affiliated with the former president, the implication being that the defense doesn’t need to review all the material because it might have seen some of it previously.
President Trump’s lawyer John Lauro called such a line of reasoning “ridiculous,” accusing the prosecutors of trying to turn the case into a “show trial.”
It was “absurd,” he said, for the prosecutors to suggest that he could review the discovery in just four months.
The judge retorted that the former president has resources available that other defendants don’t, but she didn’t explain what resources or why he should be forced to expend them if other defendants aren’t.
She pointed out that lawyers would be reviewing available materials even before the charges were brought.
There will be a number of pre-trial legal issues that will need to be litigated, including subpoenas and some questions regarding Mr. Smith’s novel use of criminal law, Mr. Lauro said.
The judge laughed at his comment that he would be standing before her to argue those issues many times before the trial.
Ms. Gaston noted that President Trump and his lawyers have made public comments regarding the case as well as the work of the congressional Jan. 6 Committee. The defense can’t claim that its research started from scratch on the day of the indictment, she suggested, arguing that there’s a strong public interest in speedy resolution of the case.
The former president’s social media posts, she said, could prejudice the jury pool.
President Trump is already facing a May 2024 trial in another case brought by Mr. Smith in Florida that deals with his retention of national defense documents from his term in office. Another trial, scheduled for March 2024 in New York, relates to alleged false bookkeeping entries. Yet another trial is in the works in Georgia, also targeting the former president’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. The date hasn’t been set, but the prosecutor, District Attorney Fani Willis, first proposed March 2024 and then October 2023 when one of the co-defendants asked for a speedy trial. A number of lawyers have opined that even the March 2024 date was unrealistic.
-Petr Svab and Jackson Richman, [your]News
Donald Trump Rakes In $7.1 Million From Supporters After Georgia Arrest
Since his arrest in Georgia on August 24, 2023, former President Donald Trump has raised $7.1 million in funds from his supporters. Trump’s campaign has taken advantage of the former president’s mugshot taken at Fulton County jail to rally his supporters and get them to pitch in to his campaign.
According to a source aware of Trump’s latest fundraising effort, Trump raked in $4.18 million on August 25 alone. Over the past three weeks, Trump has brought in nearly $20 million – a time frame that covers his most recent indictments in Georgia and Washington.
Fundraising for Trump took off after he came back to X, formerly known as Twitter, for the first time since January 2021. The former president posted his mug shot and a link to a landing page for his presidential campaign in that instance.
The $7 million Trump raised is nearly a fifth of the over $35 million he obtained in the second quarter via the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee.
In the immediate aftermath of a Manhattan grand jury indicting Trump on March 30 on charges connected to hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniel, his campaign announced that it raked in $15.4 million in donations. On top of that, the Trump campaign raised $6.6 “in a few short days” after Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump in federal court on 37 felony counts connected to mishandling classified materials and conspiring to impede efforts by US functionaries to get their hands on them.
In being arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, Trump became the first US president in history to have a mugshot taken of him. The Trump campaign has exploited this incident by using the mugshot image to sell products, which includes t-shirts, posters, coffee mugs, among other items. Hours after Trump turned himself in at the Fulton County jail, his campaign began sending out multiple fundraising emails.
Trump is at the front of the pack of Republican presidential candidates who are vying for the party nomination in 2024. The Republican party establishment is still in denial about this, but the poll numbers don’t lie.
For the Republican Party to remain politically relevant, they must nominate the likes of Trump in 2024 and subsequent presidential election cycles. Moreover, the party must embrace Trumpian candidates at all levels of government for this nationalist agenda to be consolidated.
The days of neoconservatism are over. The quicker Republican leaders grasp this, the easier it will be for the party to compete with their Democratic rivals.
-Jose Nino, Big League Politics
DHS hides monthly number of illegal migrants released into U.S after interacting with border agents
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is deliberately not releasing the monthly totals of all illegal migrants who wind up getting released into the U.S. after they are encountered by U.S. authorities at the border, a former U.S. immigration judge says.
Andrew Arthur, who served for eight years as an immigration judge at the now-closed immigration court in York, Pennsylvania, told Just the News that DHS does track the total number of migrants released after an encounter with border agents, but making that data available to the public would paint the Biden Administration in a negative light.
"The only reason why ICE and OFO [Office of Field Operations] would refuse to disclose that information is to hide the fact that it is releasing more than 100,000 aliens per month into the United States, and to conceal the effects of those migrant releases on communities across the United States," he said.
Arthur also said that DHS should be required to release the information the same way that the monthly data on encounters of illegal immigrants is posted online.
Arthur also said the "monthly court-ordered disclosures in Texas v. Biden," the lawsuit over the Remain in Mexico policy, demonstrated DHS "can provide the American people with statistics on the tens of thousands of illegal entrants that CBP encounters at the southwest border whom DHS releases" into the U.S. The agency has "refused to do so since those orders were vacated in August 2022," Arthur explained.
U.S. immigration judges, formerly called "special inquiry officers'" are not part of the federal judiciary, but rather are employees of the United States Department of Justice and report to the Attorney General.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which describes itself as "a non-partisan, public interest organization" with more than three million diverse members and supporters, said that the Biden administration is not being transparent with the public about how many migrants without U.S. legal status are being released into the U.S.
DHS should be "required to release all pertinent information to the public," a spokesperson for FAIR told Just the News. "It should be done as a matter of course because the public has a right to know. But if it requires an act of Congress, then so be it."
The office of Rep. Darrell Issa, (R-Cal.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said the total number of migrants DHS is releasing should be reported to Congress on a daily basis. A spokesperson for Issa told Just the News that it's "obvious why the Biden Admin does everything it can to minimize transparency."
Arthur further elaborated on the obscurity of the data gathering process, explaining that OFO "publishes statistics on the number of aliens its officers encounter at the ports monthly who are placed into removal proceedings with the filing of a 'Notice to Appear' (NTA), but separate monthly disclosure lines on the number of those aliens who are released or alternatively are detained are blank—reading '0' across the months. That is a legal and factual impossibility, because those aliens are either released or detained—there is no third option."
ICE publishes monthly statistics on the number of migrants CBP transfers to its custody as well as the number of aliens ICE itself releases monthly, "but it fails to disclose how many of the aliens it releases monthly" were originally encountered at the southwest border and "transferred to ICE are released monthly," Arthur also said.
"When ICE was under a court order in Texas, it did release that information, so it plainly keeps the statistics," he added.
In June, FAIR estimated that at least 2.3 million illegal migrants had entered the U.S. "either because they were released by CBP, or they eluded apprehension," according to a spokesperson for the group.
"This is a conservative estimate on FAIR’s part based on verifiable data. The report does not speculate about numbers that cannot be verified," the spokesperson said.
The impact of those immigrants released into the U.S. -- both illegal and illegal -- has itself been the subject of debate.
Senators Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) and Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) reintroduced "Kate's Law", legislation that increases criminal penalties for illegal immigrants who commit a felony. The law was named after Kate Steinle, a young woman shot to death in 2015 at a popular San Francisco tourist spot. The gunman, José Inez García Zárate, was acquitted of murder in California state court, but later pleaded guilty to federal gun charges in connection with Steinle's murder.
The Cato Institute released a Texas-based study in 2021 showing that "as a percentage of their respective populations, illegal immigrants were more than 37.1 percent less likely to be convicted of a crime than native‐born Americans. Legal immigrants were about 57.2 percent less likely to be convicted of a crime than native‐born Americans."
-Nicholas Ballasy, Just the News
Pope Francis Declares U.S. Catholic Conservatives ‘Backward’ Over Politics.
Pope Francis has called American Catholic Conservatives ‘backward,’ suggesting they have replaced faith with ideology and that the correct interpretation of Catholicism and Christian doctrine is to allow for change over time.
The pontiff made the remarks earlier this month during a private meeting with Portuguese members of his Jesuit religious order in Lisbon. The comments were released on Monday after being vetted by the Vatican’s secretariat of state.
He further suggested that the U.S. Catholic church has a “very strong, organized, reactionary attitude” after he himself has faced increased criticism for his overemphasis on political issues, including his support for the green agenda, vaccines, and left-wing economics.
“I want to remind these people that backwardness is useless, and they must understand that there’s a correct evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals,” he added.
The Pope has made increasingly bizarre comments in recent weeks. Last week, he urged a gathering of young Russian Catholics to follow in the path of the country’s expansionist monarchs such as Peter the Great – whom President Putin idolizes –and Catherine the Great, referring to them as having ruled over a “great, enlightened empire of great culture and great humanity.”
-Jake Welch, The National Pulse
China's 'aggressive behaviour' in South China Sea must be challenged, US Navy official says
MANILA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - China's "aggressive behaviour" in the South China Sea, including the use of water canon by its coast guard against a Philippine vessel, must be challenged and checked, the commander of the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet said on Sunday.
Vice Admiral Karl Thomas assured the Philippines of U.S. backing in the face of "shared challenges" in the region, saying: "My forces are out here for a reason."
The largest of the U.S. Navy's forward-deployed fleets, the Seventh Fleet, headquartered in Japan, operates as many as 70 ships, has around 150 aircraft and more than 27,000 sailors.
It operates over an area of 124 million square km (48 million square miles) from bases in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
"You have to challenge people I would say operating in a grey zone. When they're taking a little bit more and more and pushing you, you've got to push back, you have to sail and operate," Thomas told Reuters.
"There's really no better example of aggressive behaviour than the activity on 5 August on the shoal," he added.
On Aug. 5, a Chinese coast guard ship used water cannon against a Philippine boat carrying supplies to troops aboard a warship Manila intentionally grounded on a shoal in the South China sea, a fault line in the rivalry between the U.S. and Beijing in the region.
Thomas said he had had discussions with Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, the head of the Philippine Western Command overseeing the South China Sea, "to understand what his challenges are to find opportunities to be able to help him".
"We certainly shared challenges. So I wanted to better understand how he views the operations that he's responsible for. And I want to make sure that he understood what I had available," said Thomas who was in Manila for a port call.
On Saturday, Thomas said he joined a flight from Manila "to go out and check out the South China Sea".
The Philippines won an international arbitration award against China in 2016, after a tribunal said Beijing's sweeping claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea had no legal basis.
China has built militarised, manmade islands in the South China Sea and its claim of historic sovereignty overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
-Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Nick Macfie, Reuters
Ukraine considers elections to boost Zelensky’s popularity – El Pais
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky may call elections next year in order to shore up his democratic bona fides, several anonymous sources told El Pais on Monday.
Ukraine is currently under martial law, meaning elections are prohibited, but Zelensky himself spoke about the possibility of holding them in a television interview on Sunday. “The logic is that if you are protecting democracy, you must also protect it during the war. And one way to protect it is elections,” he said.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, the president of the Rada, also hinted last month that an “update of the law would take place soon” because “democracy cannot stop.” The Zelensky ally, whose term expires in October with the rest of his parliamentary colleagues, acknowledged the message had been passed down from “Europe and others.”
According to El Pais, this was a reference to Kiev’s American backers in the Republican and Democratic parties. A bipartisan contingent of US senators consisting of Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal and Republican Lindsey Graham visited Kiev last week to push for elections as “necessary for democracy,” with some critics of Washington’s open-checkbook policy apparently having commented that Ukraine was “not so different from Russia” because it had abandoned the pretense of democracy in wartime.
Internal issues may also push Zelensky to call a vote, according to some Ukrainian analysts. Commentator Mark Savchuk told El Pais that the anti-corruption platform Zelensky ran on (which memorably catapulted his television alter-ego to political stardom in ‘Servant of the People’) has not become reality and that this is impossible to conceal from the average Ukrainian.
The real purpose of holding elections in 2024 would be to give Zelensky the best possible position for negotiating to end the conflict with Russia, anonymous sources close to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry told the news outlet. Kiev’s counteroffensive, launched in June, is increasingly considered a dismal failure among its Western allies, with minimal territorial gains despite serious personnel and equipment losses.
The outcome of any election is almost certainly a foregone conclusion, as Zelensky banned all opposition political parties less than a month into Russia’s military operation and consolidated all potentially adversarial media outlets into one state-backed platform. No potential challengers have come forward, and none are likely to, according to El Pais.
Despite this certainty, it is unclear how an election could fortify Zelensky’s appearance as a popular candidate. More than six million Ukrainians have fled the country, making vote-counting all but impossible, and some 700,000 are involved in defense-related tasks they cannot easily abandon to vote. Concerns about attacks on voting sites may also keep voters away. Zelensky himself acknowledged on Sunday that he has seen no plans to facilitate safe voting for those on the front lines.
-RT News
Zelensky demands Western money to hold elections
Westerners calling for Ukraine to hold elections during the conflict with Russia should be prepared to pay millions of dollars and “take risks” on the front line to ensure that ballots are legitimate, President Vladimir Zelensky has said.
Speaking during a TV interview on Sunday, Zelensky addressed criticism in the West over the suspension of democratic processes in Ukraine and suggested a price tag for holding a presidential election next year. The Ukrainian leader specifically referenced comments by US Senator Lindsey Graham during his visit to Kiev last week.
“I asked him: are you prepared to give me five billion?” Zelensky said, describing his conversation with the US politician.
Zelensky did not clarify the currency he was referring to, but the value in Ukrainian hryvnia would equate to around $135 million. The amount would also tally with a recent estimate by the Ukrainian authorities on how much it would cost to hold a presidential election next year. Zelensky further suggested that the level of assistance required may be even higher.
“I am not asking for anything. I will not conduct an election on credit. Neither will I take money out of [funding for] arms and hand it out for an election,” the Ukrainian leader insisted.
“The most important thing is: let us take risks together then, how else? Observers [of the election] will have to be in the trenches,” he added.
Ukraine cannot legally hold elections under martial law. Graham discussed the situation during a press briefing in Kiev, saying: “I want to see this country have a free and fair election even while it is under assault.”
Zelensky claimed he had explained the situation to the US senator, who supposedly agreed with his reasoning. The Republican is a vocal advocate of arming and funding Kiev, and stated last year that with support, Ukraine “will fight to the last person” against Russia, describing it as the right “structural path.”
Zelensky said he would not oppose an election, provided that Western nations are willing to extend the necessary funding and risk lives, and if the Ukrainian parliament amends the law accordingly.
Ukraine faced accusations that its democratic institutions were being eroded long before hostilities with Russia broke out in February 2022. Zelensky’s government has cracked down on opposition parties and media, claiming the steps were necessary to curb Moscow’s influence inside the country.
During his TV interview on Sunday, the Ukrainian leader suggested that criticism over the absence of elections was a ploy to undermine US support for Kiev.
-RT News
Senior Ukrainian intelligence officer commits suicide
Colonel Dmitry Bakaev, the deputy head of the special communications department of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), has apparently killed himself at his workplace in Kiev.
The news was first reported on Monday by Ukrainian media outlet Strana.ua, which cited sources within the security agency.
“The incident happened on August 25. Dmitry Bakaev … was found in his office with a gunshot wound to the head. The SBU officer shot himself with a Makarov pistol; it was his service weapon,” the source stated.
The outlet also circulated a suicide note left behind by Bakaev to SBU boss Vassily Malyuk. The late colonel blamed his death on his superiors, claiming he had been systematically mistreated and had had his “human dignity” repeatedly violated.
According to the source, several SBU officers have already been questioned about the allegations raised by Bakaev.
Later in the day, the incident was also acknowledged by the service itself, which claimed it was investigating Bakaev’s death, but refrained from calling it a suicide.
“The circumstances of the death of the SBU officer are being investigated as part of criminal proceedings, conducted by investigators of the National Police. The Security Service of Ukraine expresses sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased employee,” the agency told Strana.ua in a statement, pledging to provide “maximum assistance” to the investigators working on the case.
-RT News
Putin will go abroad in the fall – Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to make foreign visits this autumn but the details of his destinations and itinerary will not yet be revealed, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has announced.
Journalists asked Peskov on Monday if Putin was planning to make any trips abroad soon, considering the arrest warrant issued for him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Such visits have been “planned, yes – for the fall,” the spokesman replied.
However, he declined to name any specific destinations, saying that “we will inform you about it in due time. For obvious reasons, we don’t want to announce this in advance.”
Peskov also confirmed that a meeting between Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was in the works and would take place “soon.” The official announcement on its date and venue should be expected shortly, he added.
In early August, Erdogan’s office stated that the Russian leader was going to arrive in Türkiye for the talks. However, Turkish media outlets later reported that the meeting would likely take place in Russia. A diplomatic source told Tass last week that the two leaders were going to get together in the Russian resort of Sochi on September 4.
On Monday, Bloomberg reported, citing Turkish officials, that the talks between Putin and Erdogan could be staged in Moscow on September 8, focusing on the revival of the Black Sea grain deal.
Putin participated in the BRICS summit, which took place in South Africa last week, via a video link. The Russian delegation in Johannesburg was headed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. On Friday, the Kremlin announced that the Russian leader did not plan on personally attending a meeting of G20 leaders to be held in New Delhi on September 9-10.
In March, the ICC formally accused Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights of “forcible transfer of the population,” referring to evacuations of minors from combat zones amid the fighting in Ukraine.
Moscow has dismissed those allegations as false, while accusing the Hague-based court of being politically compromised. Russia, which never ratified the 1998 Rome Statute that established the ICC, also pointed out that the body had no authority over it.
-RT News
Shock Video: Gunfire, Stabbing as Hundreds of Rowdy Teens Swarm California Mall
One person was stabbed and a firearm was discharged during mayhem involving hundreds of juveniles at a shopping center in California over the weekend, according to reports.
The incident unfolded after 5 p.m. on Sunday evening in Emeryville, a city in the Bay Area between Oakland and Berkeley.
Approximately 300 to 400 young people gathered at the Bay Street Mall in response to a “link up” promoted on social media, authorities say.
Chaos broke out, as large groups began fighting outside an AMC theater and terrified shoppers fled the scene.
“There were just these throngs of kids — I want to say 300, 400 kids,” one woman who was present with her young son told ABC7.
“Things were fine. It was just a little strange, and then all of a sudden, they started running towards us. We thought there was like gunfire or a knife or something happened.”
Footage has been circulating on social media.
“At about 5:50 p.m., a report of a single gunshot fired was received, near Bay St and Ohlone Way. Officers responded and did not locate any victims or suspects or that incident,” the Emeryville Police Department (EPD) explained in a press release.
“At about 7:00 p.m., a caller reported a person was stabbed near Elm Dr. Officers responded to that location and found a juvenile victim who had been stabbed. Emergency medical responders were called to the scene to render aid. The juvenile victim was treated and transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.”
The mobs eventually dispersed by around 8:30 p.m.
EPD says they will “work diligently to hold those responsible accountable for their actions,” but it is unclear if any suspects have been identified or apprehended at the time of this writing.
-Dan Lyman, Infowars
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WATCH: Nevada Rangers Ram Through Climate Protest Blockade
Nevada Rangers rammed through a “climate change” protest that was blocking traffic near the Burning Man festival in Nevada.
The now-viral footage begins with a Tribal Ranger warning the protesters to get off the road before another ranger drives through the blockade.
“Get off the highway, this is a state route,” said the Tribal Ranger Sunday. “Everybody will be arrested if not. 30 seconds, send your leader to my vehicle, let’s talk, get off the fucking road.”
After ramming through the barrier, the ranger gave them one last warning before making multiple arrests.
“I’m gonna take all of you out!” Said the ranger. “You better move!”
Before law enforcement arrived, drivers were demanding the protestors to move:
The congestion caused by the protesters was extensive. It was reportedly the only route to the Burning Man festival.
More photos of the congestion:
One of the many reasons this encounter became viral is the general public’s fatigue with “climate change” protestors shutting down their way of life.
The group that shut down the road is reportedly called “Seven Circles.”
Social media critics tore into the group:
“Praying for you guys to all get multiple felonies with no plea deal,” said one X user.
-Ben Warren, Infowars
Barron Trump's Life Threatened, Former Social Studies Teacher Arrested
Well, here’s a surprise:
After years of the establishment media dismissing talk of violence against Donald Trump and his family as mere idle threats behind a microphone or a keyboard, police arrested a woman for behavior a prosecutor said was “not idle threats from behind a keyboard.”
According to the Chicago Tribune, a former social studies teacher accused of threatening to kill Trump and his son, Barron, had traveled from Illinois to Florida and stalked the former president’s teenage son at his school months before the teacher’s arrest.
Tracy Marie Fiorenza, a 41-year-old resident of Plainfield, Illinois, who is facing federal charges of transmitting threats to kill another person, had allegedly been questioned by law enforcement outside Barron’s school, according to records from the court and police.
Prosecutors told a federal court in Chicago that Fiorenza “had an encounter with a sheriff” in March outside the elite Oxbridge Academy Barron attends in Palm Beach County.
The encounter, Northern District of Illinois prosecutor Adam Rosenbloom said, demonstrated “these are not idle threats from a behind a keyboard.”
The threats alone, idle or not, were disturbing enough.
A May 21 email to the headmaster at Oxbridge Academy, for example, threatened that “I will shoot Donald Trump Sr. AND Barron Trump straight in the face at any opportunity that I get.”
Several days later came another, similar electronic threat: “I am going to slam a bullet in Baron Trump’s head with his father IN SELF DEFENSE!” the email declared.
The Secret Service interviewed her on June 14. According to CBS News, agents said she admitted to sending the messages.
Furthermore, the U.K. Daily Mail reported that Fiorenza’s social media accounts were filled with anti-Trump memes, including one showing the former president in an orange jumpsuit and in handcuffs.
“I have a dream…” the meme was captioned.
Yes, well, she’s hardly the only one who entertained certain dreams about Donald Trump and/or his family:
And let’s not forget the late actor Peter Fonda’s unhinged, all upper-case rant in 2018, proposing liberals “RIP BARRON TRUMP FROM HIS MOTHER’S ARMS AND PUT HIM IN A CAGE WITH PEDOPHILES.” That was a classic in American political history.
Oh, but they were just celebrities, right? They were just being ironic or jocund. (Or, in Depp’s case, visibly inebriated.) This was just hyperbole being used to express the visceral rage that Donald Trump’s election engendered, we were told. Don’t take it literally.
I mean, of course, until someone did.
Now, to be clear, Fiorenza, from what we know thus far, appears to be a first-class nutter. In a court appearance Wednesday, the 41-year-old defendant — against the repeated entreaties of her attorney, according to the Daily Mail — claimed that “I have been contacting the school for years trying to get them to follow mandated reporting protocol.”
“People are not trained in the technology involved … I was going to pass out flyers to parents warning them before school started because no one was listening to me.”
And what technology might this be? According to the Daily Mail: “She also claimed Donald Trump is the leader of a pedophile ring and that the government followed her former students in Chicago and used ‘remote sexual stimulation’ on them.”
However, it’s worth noting that dangerously unbalanced people often gravitate toward targets they’re aimed toward by high-profile individuals. Lest we forget, Trump is routinely blamed for the Capitol incursion — including the ghastly crimes of sitting at Nancy Pelosi’s desk and, well, whatever the “QAnon Shaman” did — for merely saying, at the end of his Jan. 6 speech, that his supporters should peacefully march to the Capitol and make their voices heard.
These celebs actively wished death upon the then-president — but, you know, J/K, right? It’s not like Jack Smith or Fani Willis is going to swoop in and file an indictment against Madonna for encouraging a threat against Barron Trump’s life.
It’s also worth noting that Fiorenza was apparently taken into custody months after these threats occurred with little to no incident. While it’s unclear how she was taken into custody, I’m going to assume it didn’t involve the kind of pre-dawn raid the FBI conducted earlier this month against a Provo, Utah man accused of threatening President Joe Biden that ended in his death.
Funny how that works. And if you think the threats against the Trump family are bad now, just wait until 2024.
-C. Douglas Golden, The Western Journal
Government Overreach: Virginia Amish Farmer’s Livelihood on the Line Following Government Raid and Seizure of Property – Please Help and Donate
Image Credit: Fisher’s kids (Source: Golden Valley Farms)
The Fisher family farm, a source of healthy food for local consumers in Virginia, was raided by the Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (VDACS).
Samuel B. Fisher, who runs Golden Valley Farms, lost his livestock and meat-processing facility as the state condemned and seized his property. The act has resulted in not just loss of income but also a crisis of trust in a community that prides itself on independence and sustainable farming.
Golden Valley Farms has been serving around 500 consumers through its farm’s membership program.
From their website:
We are a family farm located in Farmville, Virginia in Cumberland County. Although we hail from generations of dairy and cattle farmers, our program was established in 2019. Our young children help gather, wipe & pack the chicken and duck eggs for you.
We produce 100% Grassfed Raw Milk from Golden Guernsey Cows & Goats. Our dairy herd comprises 100% registered and A2 Beta-Casein Guernsey Cows and LaMancha & Nubian Goats.
Golden Valley Farms operates a herd-share program. A herd share is a contractual agreement between a farmer and an owner of livestock – the shareholder or member – through which the shareholder is able to obtain raw milk, meat, or other profits of the livestock proportionate to the shareholder’s interest in the herd.
All of our products are organic, non-GMO, and soy free. The farmer produces food following Weston Price principles, including rotational grazing, no antibiotics or growth hormones, and farming beyond organic standards. We belong to a limited number of milk producers that do not resort to feeding grain to our cows. We believe in providing them with fresh pasture to graze on and chemical-free hay during winter.
The ordeal began on June 14 when a VDACS inspector made an unannounced visit to Fisher’s 100-acre farm. Fisher claims he had “no idea” what prompted the inspection.
Why a Veteran-Owned Freeze-Dried Beef Company Unabashedly Embraces an America First Worldview
“They came with a search warrant,” Fisher told Townhall, who later found himself embroiled in a legal battle for processing his meat onsite rather than using a USDA-inspected facility.
The next day, officials returned with a sheriff’s deputy to conduct a thorough search of the farm. Fisher’s meat was tagged under “administrative detention,” leaving him unable to sell or even consume his produce.
Fisher estimates that about $10,000 worth of products were seized and dumped.
More from Townhall:
What was clear: The state sought to penalize Fisher for selling meat that was not processed by a USDA-inspected facility (U.S. Department of Agriculture). Fisher processes—an industry euphemism for butchering—his farm-raised meat on-site and sells it directly to his customers, feeding about 500 consumers and their families, who are part of a buying club. As members enrolled in the Golden Valley Farms membership program, they’ve bought into Fisher’s herd of 100% grass-fed golden Guernsey cows.
“They own part of the business. They own some of the herd,” Fisher explained. “My thinking was […] We can butcher their cows, process it, and sell it to them. I told the state all of this, but they said, ‘No, there’s no way around that. You can’t do that.’ They asked permission to get in here” to search the farm, a request Fisher denied. “And, they told me, ‘We’ll be back,’ and left.”
The next day, on June 15, the VDACS inspector did, indeed, return—this time with a Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy to serve Fisher a search warrant. “They went through everything, house, every building, in the barn. They just raided through everything, put their nose in everything, and wanted to know every detail of everything. They went out back, trying to find all the failure they can find on a farm, which, of course, some of their stuff, which they think is wrong, is just normal stuff on a farm,” Fisher stated.
“I wasn’t on the farm at the time” of the full-scale raid that lasted approximately three to four hours, Fisher added.
Then, the state slapped a tag on Fisher’s walk-in freezer, placing the meat under “administrative detention” and declaring that he wasn’t supposed to take any meat out of his own storage room. By the weekend, his kids were crying for scrapple, a mush of pork scraps and trimmings characteristic of Amish country, that sat behind the door on Fisher’s property that should, otherwise, be open and easily accessible. The following Monday, Fisher “even made a special phone call,” asking again, “if that’s the way it is.” And, as Fisher recounted, the VDACS inspector replied, “Yes, cannot feed your family with it, cannot do anything with it.”
In July, the Commonwealth of Virginia took Fisher to court, resulting in a judge-authorized seizure of his meat products, a move that Fisher described as an immediate blow to his income. On August 3, Fisher was criminally charged and found guilty of “unlawfully possessing, selling, and/or transporting animals,” a Class 3 misdemeanor, and was ordered to pay a fine.
The case has struck a nerve with advocates for small farms and food sovereignty. A customer survey conducted by Fisher showed that 92% prefer to have the meat processed on the farm without USDA inspection. Fisher’s situation parallels that of Amos Miller in Pennsylvania, another Amish farmer targeted by authorities for similar practices.
Mindy Hartbecke, the farm’s office manager, pointed out the irony. “Amish people—They don’t follow the rules. That’s the point. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise to somebody that an Amish person is not following the rules. They opt out of everything. They don’t send their kids to school. They don’t have to be involved in the [military] draft. They don’t pay into the Social Security system and they don’t receive money from the Social Security system. Why would anybody think it’d be a stretch that he wasn’t getting his meat inspected by the government, too?”
Supporters of Fisher argue that consumers should have the right to decide where their meat comes from. They stress that traditional, small-scale farming practices are not just a way of life but also a form of resistance against industrial food systems known for their questionable health impacts.
As Fisher considers his next steps, which could include legal appeals, one thing is clear: this incident has ignited a broader debate about government overreach and interference, the rights of small farmers, and the choices consumers should be allowed to make about their food.
-Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit
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DEATH CAPSULE Inventor dubbed Dr Death unveils grisly ‘suicide booth’ the Sarco Pod that asks three questions before suffocating user
Image Credit: Doctor Philip Nitschke has been dubbed "Dr Death", Source: Alamy
Doctor Philip Nitschke has been dubbed "Dr Death" and "the Elon Musk of assisted suicide" for his work in the controversial medical area.
He made headlines after claiming his Sarco capsule could be used in Switzerland soon.
The 3D-printed coffin-like pod is filled with nitrogen, quickly bringing oxygen down from 21 per cent to only 1 per cent in about 30 seconds.
A "disorientated" and "euphoric" feeling then follows, before users eventually lose consciousness.
Death takes places due to hypoxia (low oxygen in the body's tissues) and hypocapnia (reduced carbon dioxide in the blood), followed by critical oxygen and carbon dioxide deprivation.
"We're ready to use it... we're talking to a number of people who are wanting to be the first to use it," Netherlands-based Dr Nitschke told MailOnline.
He continued: "The person will climb into the machine, they will be asked three questions and they will answer verbally - 'Who are you?', 'Where are you?' and 'Do you know what happens if you press the button?'
"And if they answer those questions verbally, the software then switches the power on so that the button can then be pressed.
"And if they press the button they will die very quickly."
Dr Nitschke, whose Exit International organisation came up with the capsule, told local media there is "no panic, no choking feeling".
"The machine can be towed anywhere for the death," he said.
Around 1,300 people ended their life using assisted suicide in Switzerland last year.
The Swiss government is yet to make clear whether it intends to allow use of the capsule.
Both assisted suicide and euthanasia are illegal in the UK.
For anyone struggling to cope, call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or contact other sources of support, such as those listed on the NHS’s help for suicidal thoughts webpage.
-Jonathan Rose, The Sun
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UK air traffic issue fixed but flight disruption to continue
LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Britain's National Air Traffic Service (NATS) was hit by a technical problem for several hours on Monday, causing widespread disruption to flights in UK airspace that it said would continue for some time even though the issue was fixed.
The air traffic control agency earlier had to restrict the flow of aircraft when its automatic processing of flight plans malfunctioned, requiring them to be handled manually and causing flight delays and cancellations.
"It was fixed earlier on this afternoon. However, it will take some time for flights to return to normal, and we will continue to work with the airlines and the airports to recover the situation," NATS Operations Director Juliet Kennedy said in a video posted on its website.
"Our absolute priority is safety and we will be investigating very thoroughly what happened today."
British Transport Minister Mark Harper said he was working with NATS to help it manage affected flights and support passengers.
Irish air traffic control provider AirNav Ireland earlier said the issue, which struck during a public holiday in parts of Britain, was resulting in "significant delays for flights across Europe that are travelling to, from or through UK airspace".
A spokesperson for London Heathrow, the busiest hub in western Europe, said schedules would remain significantly disrupted for the rest of the day.
"We ask passengers to only travel to the airport if their flight is confirmed as still operating. Teams across Heathrow are working as hard as they can to minimise the knock-on impacts and assist those whose journeys have been affected," the spokesperson said.
British Airways said its flights were severely disrupted and it had made "significant changes" to its schedule, while other airlines, including Ryanair, said some flights to and from the UK would be delayed or cancelled.
Manchester Airport, London Stansted and London Gatwick were among the many UK airports that warned of delays and cancellations, while Dublin Airport said the problem affected some flights into and out of the Irish capital.
Many passengers earlier took to social media to say they were stuck on planes on the tarmac waiting to take off, or being held in airport buildings in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Israel and elsewhere on what is a traditionally busy travel day as the school holidays draw to a close.
-Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, additional reporting by Mitch Phillips; Editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely, Alison Williams, Alex Richardson and Cynthia Osterman, Reuters
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Dozens Arrested for Arson in Connection With Greek Wildfires
Image Credit: Wildfire near Alexandroupolis, AP Images
While wildfires are not uncommon in Greece, the 2023 fire season has been unusually destructive, with more than 20 deaths reported and hundreds of square miles of grassland and forests reduced to ash in the Southern European country. While many are quick to blame man-made global warming for creating hot, dry conditions for such fires to occur, there appears to be another man-made reason for the overabundance of flames this year — arson.
BBC reports that at least 79 people have been arrested for allegedly setting fires. At least nine fires were set in only four hours on Thursday in the northern foothills of Mount Parnitha, which is just northwest of Athens.
Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias called out the arsonists on Thursday.
“Arsonist scum are setting fires that threaten forests, property and, most of all, human lives,” Kikilias said. “You are committing a crime against the country. You will not get away with it. We will find you and you will be held accountable.”
“Some … arsonists are setting fires, endangering forests, property and above all human lives,” Kikilias added. “What is happening is not just unacceptable, but despicable and criminal.”
On Tuesday, firefighters discovered the charred corpses of 19 people, many of them children, near the northeastern port city of Alexandroupolis. The 19 victims are believed to be migrants. The bodies were found huddled together in what appeared to something of a last embrace.
“They realized, at the last moment, that the end was coming,” said coroner Pavlos Pavlidis, who examined the grizzly scene. “It was a desperate attempt to protect themselves.”
With Greece’s Mediterranean climate, wildfires are always a concern during the hot, dry summer months, but according to Kikilias, who also serves as the nation’s climate minister, this year has been “the worst since meteorological data have been gathered and the fire risk map has been issued in the country.”
Especially with dozens of arsonists roaming the countryside with lighters.
Even with those dozens of arsonists in custody, climate zealots can’t resist the opportunity to blame so-called climate change for the tragedy.
“The role of climate change in heightening the risk of wildfires cannot be ignored. The world is, on average, 1.2°C warmer than in the pre-industrial climate, and this extra heat is bringing more frequent heatwaves and droughts. These weather conditions make the environment more fire-prone, and their increasing frequency has exposed already fire-susceptible regions such as the Mediterranean to greater risk of disaster,” The Conversation reported.
“Greece’s recent bout of extreme fire weather emerged from a heatwave that would have been at least 50 times less likely in the pre-industrial climate. Days with extreme fire weather are set to increase through to 2100 if emissions are not reduced,” the news source added.
Novelist Christy Lefteri was chagrined to find that, during a recent trip to Greece, locals were unwilling to blame climate change for the wildfires that ravage the region annually.
“What surprised me, however, was that any mention of the bigger issue, of the climate crisis and global heating, was shut down immediately and completely,” Lefteri wrote in The Guardian.
“But when it comes to climate breakdown, attributing blame to just one person, one corporation, one country, is impossible. In Mati, the fire didn’t rage so hard because someone had set off a spark — it raged so hard because years of global heating had dried up the land, part of a cascading set of unsustainable practices and inaction that had set our planet on fire,” Lefteri added.
Even with dozens of arsonists in custody, climate zealots will continue to blame climate change instead of the far more reasonable and observable cause of these wildfires — arson.
-James Murphy, The New American
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NFL Player Collapses on the Field During Practice
New York Giants tight end Tommy Sweeney received significant medical attention after collapsing on the field during practice.
“Scary scene as TE Tommy Sweeney received significant medical attention while working on a side field for rehabbing players. Unclear what happened, but Daboll and Schoen came over and stayed there until Sweeney was put on a cart. He was shirtless, sitting up on the cart,” said Dan Duggan, Giants beat reporter for The Athletic.
“TE Tommy Sweeney had a medical event and is under the care of medical professionals in the Giants athletic training room. He is stable, alert and conversant,” Duggan said in an update.
“Daboll said Sweeney is still being evaluated and declined to divulge specifics about what happened, but said he was in the facility this morning and is in ‘good spirits.'”
“He suffered a foot injury in July 2020 and was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. He moved to the reserve/COVID-19 list in October 2020 before he eventually returned to the PUP list following a myocarditis diagnosis,” Fox News reports.
More from Fox News:
Sweeney was cleared to resume playing the following offseason and appeared in 18 games, including three starts, with the Bills over 2021 and 2022 before signing with the Giants in free agency in March.
In New York, he’s been reunited with Giants coach Brian Daboll. Daboll was the Bills offensive coordinator before he took over the Giants head coaching duties.
It was not immediately clear whether there’s a connection between Sweeney’s health history and Wednesday’s episode.
ESPN reported Sweeney’s myocarditis diagnosis in November 2020.
Per ESPN:
Buffalo Bills tight end Tommy Sweeney will miss the remainder of the season after a cardiologist discovered he has myocarditis, a heart condition.
Sweeney began the year on the PUP list with a foot injury, but coach Sean McDermott said the second-year tight end was nearing a return when a cardiologist discovered the condition during an NFL-mandated checkup.
The Bills placed Sweeney on the reserve/COVID-19 list in Week 7 because he was a close contact to teammate Dawson Knox, who tested positive for the virus before the team traveled to play the New York Jets.
Sweeney is the first NFL player known to have been diagnosed with myocarditis this season. Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez was diagnosed with the condition earlier in the year after contracting COVID-19.
-Danielle, 100 Percent Fed Up
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The Mugshot Heard Around the World