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British MP arrested on suspicion of rape
A British Conservative MP has been arrested on suspicion of rape, police and the lawmaker said Thursday, in the latest damaging episode for the UK ruling party.
Surrey Police said the man was also detained on possession of controlled substances.
He was arrested on Wednesday morning before being released on conditional bail while the investigation continues.
Crispin Blunt, 63, posted a statement on X — formerly known as Twitter — confirming that it was he who had been arrested.
“I have now been interviewed twice in connection with this incident, the first time three weeks ago, when I initially reported my concern over extortion. The second time was earlier this morning under caution following arrest.
“The arrest was unnecessary as I remain ready to cooperate fully with the investigation that I am confident will end without charge,” added Blunt, a former junior minister.
He is the latest Tory MP to have been arrested in recent years, with the party beset by scandal.
In May last year, it was reported that a Tory lawmaker had been arrested on suspicion of rape and misconduct in public office, among other allegations.
A Conservative MP was also arrested over rape allegations in 2020. He was never identified, and police dropped the investigation without charge.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Tories trail the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls ahead of a general election expected next year.
The Conservatives suffered two heavy local election defeats to Labour last week, including one which was triggered when MP Chris Pincher quit after being found to have groped two men.
On Wednesday, Tory MP Peter Bone was suspended from parliament for six weeks for bullying and sexual misconduct against a staff member, a sanction that could trigger another by-election.
-Insider Paper
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US congressman fined for setting off fire alarm
A Democratic congressman admitted a misdemeanor charge of deliberately setting off a fire alarm at the US Capitol complex that forced the evacuation of an office building ahead of a crucial vote.
Jamaal Bowman appeared in DC Superior Court on Wednesday, where he agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and write an apology to police in return for the charges being withdrawn in three months, according to court documents and a statement from the New York lawmaker.
Bowman, 47, said he was rushing from his office to make the September 30 vote on a funding bill aimed at averting a government shutdown and pulled the alarm in an attempt open a door he couldn’t get through.
That caused Cannon House office block near the main Capitol building to be evacuated for an hour.
Republicans say the former school principle, who was captured on camera, was seeking to stall the vote and introduced a censure motion Wednesday to remove him from his committee assignments.
“Rep. Bowman’s excuse does not pass the sniff test,” House administration committee chairman Bryan Steil said in a statement.
“After pulling the fire alarm, Rep. Bowman fled the scene, passed by multiple Capitol Police officers and had every opportunity to alert USCP of his mistake.”
Bowman, a combative progressive who is unafraid to have public rows with his opponents in the halls of Congress, has become a favorite sparring partner for Republicans.
He said in a statement that he was grateful that police “agreed I did not obstruct nor intend to obstruct any House vote or proceedings.”
“I am responsible for activating a fire alarm, I will be paying the fine issued, and look forward to these charges being ultimately dropped,” he said.
The House approved the 45-day stop-gap funding bill — with a yes vote from Bowman — shortly after the drama came to an end.
-Insider Paper
Trump Ex-‘Fixer’ Michael Cohen Admits To Lying Under Oath—And Then Denies It—In Testy Fraud Trial Testimony
Attorneys for former President Donald Trump sparred with the ex-president’s former lawyer Michael Cohen as he testified for a second day Wednesday in the fraud trial against the former president and his company, seeking to discredit Cohen’s testimony—including by accusing him of perjury—after he implicated Trump in the allegedly fraudulent scheme to change the stated value of assets to give Trump the net worth figure he desired.
Imagine Credit: Michael Cohen arrives at New York Supreme Court on Oct. 25 in New York. COPYRIGHT 2023 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
KEY FACTS
Cohen, who served as Trump’s personal attorney and “fixer” prior to turning against the then-president after pleading guilty to criminal charges in 2018, took the stand Wednesday after giving damaging testimony Tuesday, in which he claimed Trump directed him and then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to change the valuation of assets on financial documents in order to reach whatever arbitrary net worth Trump wanted for himself.
Trump attorney Alina Habba sought to discredit Cohen as a witness in cross-examination Wednesday, questioning him after he said he was not actually guilty of tax evasion despite pleading guilty to it in 2018 and getting him to acknowledge it was the first time he had said that in open court.
Trump attorney Christopher Kise said Cohen “has now admitted to perjury,” and after lawyers for the attorney general objected to the line of questioning, calling it a “circus,” Kise said, “There's nothing wrong with calling a liar a liar.”
Later in Habba’s cross-examination, Cohen also said he was lying under oath in congressional testimony he gave in 2019, in which he denied any recollection of Trump ever asking him or Weisselberg to inflate numbers for financial statements.
After the court’s lunch break, however, Cohen reversed course and denied he had lied in that congressional testimony after all, saying he told the truth.
The about-face led Trump’s attorneys to ask the judge to issue a verdict in the ex-president’s favor—because it would suggest Trump did not play a role in fraudulently inflating assets, as Cohen claimed—which the judge denied, causing the former president to walk out of the courtroom.
-Alison Durkee, Forbes
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows cooperating with special counsel's Trump investigation
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows cooperating with special counsel's Trump investigation
BY ANALISA NOVAK
OCTOBER 25, 2023 / 2:19 PM / CBS NEWS
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is extensively cooperating with special counsel Jack Smith's election interference investigation of former President Donald Trump, CBS News has learned.
Meadows has provided lengthy and in-depth testimony several times in the past year before the grand jury, as well as providing prosecutors with reams of documents, including text messages, that have provided them with a roadmap of Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to sources familiar with the former Trump chief of staff's testimony.
On Tuesday, ABC News reported that Smith granted Meadows immunity to testify under oath, but Meadows's lawyer, George Terwilliger, told CBS News, "I told ABC that their story was largely inaccurate. People will have to judge for themselves the decision to run it anyway." He declined to discuss the investigation with CBS News.
CBS News has so far not confirmed that Meadows has received immunity in exchange for his testimony, but Trump allies and sources close to several witnesses are growing increasingly alarmed that Meadows is testifying in detail and without reservation because he might be seeking an immunity deal or may already have an understanding with prosecutors. These sources expect Meadows' testimony and his text messages to be pillars of the upcoming federal trial of the former president, with Meadows as a key witness.
Text messages and emails Meadows provided to the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, include messages from lawmakers, conservative TV hosts, Trump family members and exchanges with Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas about efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Thomas advised Meadows in one text that lawyer Sidney Powell, who promoted incendiary and unsupported claims about the election, should become "the lead and the face" of Trump's legal team. Powell pleaded guilty in the Georgia election interference case last week.
Trump, on Truth Social, contemplated the possibility of a Meadows immunity arrangement.
"I don't think Mark Meadows would lie about the Rigged and Stollen 2020 Presidential Election merely for getting IMMUNITY against Prosecution (PERSECUTION!) by Deranged Prosecutor, Jack Smith...," he wrote. "BUT, when you really think about it, after being hounded like a dog for three years, told you'll be going to jail for the rest of your life, your money and your family will be forever gone, and we're not at all interested in exposing those that did the RIGGING…Some people would make that deal, but they are weaklings and cowards, and so bad for the future our Failing Nation... I don't think that Mark Meadows is one of them, but who really knows?"
-Analisa Novak, CBS News
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Agency Overreach? Musk's Starship Rocket Launch Delayed Over Fish & Wildlife Service's 'Environmental Survey'
A reporter from rocket blog NASASpaceflight reveals Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, has been placed under review (again) by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, with consultation by the Federal Aviation Administration, about the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
This review process will take upwards of 135 days and delay any imminent rocket launch because the government wants to understand the environmental impacts of rocket launches.
We can't help but view this investigation by the government with great skepticism, as it appears like yet another effort by the Biden administration to weaponize governmental agencies to target Musk, who also owns the 'free speech' platform X.
Musk recently described the apparent 'beef' that the Biden administration has with him. In September, he told All-In Podcast host entrepreneur David Sacks:
"...there does seem to be some significant increase in the weaponization of government and really sort of misuse of prosecutorial discretion in many areas... I think this is really a dangerous thing for there to be partisan politics with government agencies."
Musk continued:
"I don't think the whole administration has it out for me," he added.
"But I think there's probably aspects of the administration... or aspects of interests aligned with President Biden who probably do not wish good things for me."
On Sept. 5, Musk said Starship was ready for launch.
"Starship is ready to launch, awaiting FAA license approval," Musk wrote on X, sharing a video of world's largest rocket at the SpaceX Starbase launch facility in south Texas.
-Tyler Durden, Zerohedge
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Hungary’s Orban proud of keeping contact with Russia
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Thursday he was proud to keep communications open with Moscow after angering fellow EU leaders by meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.
“We keep open all the communication lines to the Russians. Otherwise, there will be no chance for peace,” Orban told reporters ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels. “This is a strategy. So we are proud of it.”
The premier added: “We are the only one who is speaking on behalf and in favour of the peace, which would be in the interest of everybody in Europe.”
Orban, who has maintained ties with Moscow, shook hands with Putin during a meeting in Beijing on October 17 in which they discussed energy cooperation.
It was a rare meeting for Putin with a European leader since he launched the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which borders Hungary.
The Hungarian leader has previously spoken out against the Western sanctions on Moscow in response to its Ukraine offensive.
The meeting had also raised eyebrows among Hungary’s NATO partners.
Ambassadors of the military alliance’s member states and Sweden met in Budapest last week to discuss their growing concern about Hungary’s deepening relations with Russia, the US embassy told AFP.
-Insider Paper
Robert Fico Formally Appointed as Prime Minister of Slovakia – Immediately Ends Military Aid to Ukraine, Says Russia and the US Must Agree on Peace Terms
The international military support for Ukraine just suffered a tremendous blow in neighboring Slovakia.
Leftist Robert Fico has been appointed Slovakia’s prime minister for the fourth time by President Zuzana Čaputová.
Fico is set to attend an EU summit in Brussels this week, where his Slovakia-first populist’s policies will give the other European leaders an early indication of how obstructive the relationship is poised to be.
As soon as President Čaputová formally approved the new three-party coalition government led by Fico, Fico acted on his pledges to end military aid to Ukraine, slash immigration and defend Slovakian sovereignty.
The Guardian reported:
“’We will be a constructive government. You will see sovereign Slovak foreign policy, Fico said at the ceremony. Čaputová told the new prime minister he was ‘not just taking over power, but also responsibility for the republic and its citizens’.
Analysts expect the country to move closer to the unashamedly nationalist policies of Hungary, whose illiberal leader, Viktor Orbán, Fico has said he admires – although many question how far he will follow through on his campaign rhetoric.
Fico’s Smer party finished first in last month’s ballot, with 23% of the vote, and formed a coalition with Hlas, a breakaway party led by the prime minister’s former deputy, Peter Pellegrini, and the ultra-nationalist Slovak National party (SNS).”
Čaputová rejected the coalition’s first choice for environment minister, a climate skeptic – which is perhaps an indication of how disruptive they can get.
“Fico backs humanitarian and reconstruction help for Ukraine but no further military aid. He also opposes Western sanctions on Moscow and wants the EU to force peace talks, a line similar to Orbán’s that is rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies.”
Fico seems intent on tackling his campaign priorities: cutting Slovakia’s deficit, protecting national interests and cutting down illegal immigration.
-Paul Serran, The Gateway Pundit
US begins training Ukrainian F-16 pilots
The Arizona Air National Guard has started training pilots from Ukraine to fly F-16 fighter jets, US ambassador to Kiev Bridget Brink said on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced it would send another $150 million worth of weapons and equipment to the country.
Brink called the training “an essential part of building Ukraine’s air defense” and said the US was “proud” to work with “European partners” to support Kiev.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that Washington would “help lead the coalition” of countries providing F-16s to Ukraine, with “co-leaders” Denmark and the Netherlands. The two countries had launched the F-16 initiative in early July, and received permission from the US to donate their jets to Ukraine in August. Washington has said it would not send any of its own planes to Kiev.
Ukrainian pilots had to finish an English language course before starting flight training. Austin has estimated the first jets would be delivered to Ukraine sometime “next spring.”
The US and its allies are proceeding with the F-16 program despite repeated warnings from Russia calling it an unacceptable escalation, given that the jets can carry nuclear weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that any F-16s sent to Ukraine “will burn” just like the other Western hardware.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has revealed the contents of the newest package of “security assistance” to Kiev. The list consists mainly of ammunition, starting with rockets for the NASAMS air defense systems and HIMARS rocket artillery, rounds for the 105 and 155 tube artillery, as well as TOW and Javelin anti-tank rockets.
According to the Pentagon, this is the “forty-ninth tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021,” – six months prior to the February 2022 escalation of hostilities with Russia.
Thursday’s announcement contained the new White House talking points about how aid to Ukraine is “a smart investment” that strengthens the US military industrial base and creates “highly skilled jobs for the American people.” Since the munitions and equipment came from the Pentagon’s existing stockpiles, however, the purported economic impact would be derived entirely from contracting for their replacement.
-RT News
World is failing Gaza – UN
The international community has so far failed to fulfill its basic humanitarian duties and protect civilians in Gaza amid the continued Israeli bombing campaign, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths said on Thursday.
Humanitarian aid pledged by national governments and various relief organizations is barely reaching Gaza residents, he added.
Israel’s “heavy bombardments” are “getting worse,” even in parts of the enclave that were supposed to be safe, and aid “is barely trickling in,” Griffiths wrote in a statement published on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“The rules of war are clear: civilians must be protected and have the essentials to survive, wherever they are and whether they choose to move or stay,” the official stated, in an apparent reference to Israel’s call on Gaza residents to move south amid the continued air raids.
Griffiths, who is also the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, has previously criticized Israel’s order to evacuate, saying it “defies the rules of war and basic humanity.” Forcing “scared and traumatized civilians” out of their homes amid intense bombardments “without even a pause in the fighting and without humanitarian support, is dangerous and outrageous,” he said on October 13.
On Thursday, the UN official reiterated that “the world itself is failing to meet the bare entitlements of a part of humanity,” referring to Gaza.
His words came as the international body had to scale back its humanitarian aid operations in the Palestinian enclave due to a shortage of fuel. West Jerusalem has barred fuel from being imported into Gaza since the October 7 attack by Hamas, arguing that it could be used for offensive military purposes by the Palestinian militant group.
According to the BBC, fuel was expected to run out at some point on Tuesday, but some aid has managed to enter Gaza via Egypt, including food, water, and medical supplies.
In a post on X on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published a satellite photograph that it claims shows storage tanks containing 500,000 liters of fuel in Gaza. “Ask Hamas if you can have some,” the post said.
-RT News
New US House speaker won’t change anything – Kremlin
The election of a new speaker of the US House of Representatives will hardly affect Washington’s foreign policy, especially when it comes to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Thursday. His comments came a day after Republican Mike Johnson, who has been deemed a “Ukraine skeptic,” took over the role.
“No, I do not think so,” Peskov said, when asked about US policies possibly changing as a result of the reshuffle.
Johnson has emerged as a consistent opponent of US aid to Kiev, drawing criticism from both sides of the aisle. A total of 220 US House Republicans threw their support behind Johnson during the Wednesday vote on the House floor, with no Democrats endorsing his candidacy.
The new House speaker has previously voted against two packages of aid for Ukraine and raised concerns about the potential misuse of US funds by Kiev. The lawmaker has also questioned whether Ukraine has been “entirely forthcoming and transparent about the use of this massive sum of taxpayer resources.”
Johnson is a staunch supporter of former US President Donald Trump, having opposed the certification of the 2020 election results, under which Democrat Joe Biden received the most votes ever in US history.
Relations between Moscow and Washington have fallen to historic lows amid the continued conflict between Russia and Ukraine, in which the US sided with Kiev. The US has pledged about $45 billion in arms and military aid to Ukraine since the start of the conflict, while spearheading a major sanctions drive against Russia.
In April, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that relations between the two nations had essentially been “ruined” and could only be described as “collapsed.” He laid the blame for this on America, calling on the US to “review” its “destructive” course on Russia.
Later that month, Russian President Vladimir Putin also commented on what he described as a “deep crisis” in relations between Moscow and Washington. The president said that America’s policy of supporting “color revolutions,” including the 2014 Maidan coup in Kiev, was what put it on a collision course with Russia.
Moscow had always sought to build its relations with the US on the principles of equality and non-interference in internal affairs, he said at that time, adding that Russia would do so in the future as well.
-RT News
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Israeli blockade in Gaza threatens to unleash cholera, other infectious disease OUTBREAKS
Now that there is no more water, fuel, electricity, food, or medicine flowing into Gaza – Israel cut them off after the October 7 Hamas attack – humanitarian groups are warning that outbreaks of cholera and other infectious diseases are likely.
"Every day I fill a bottle of water for each one and I tell them: try to manage this," said Waseem Mushtaha to Al Jazeera about the new instructions he has given his four children, who instead of learning math and reading at school are now being taught how to ration water for their own survival.
"At the beginning, they struggled, but now they are coping."
Mushtaha and his family are among the 1.1 million Gazans who have fled the northern part of the territory after Israel ordered them to move south. They now reside in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis with extended family and friends who opened up their doors for shelter.
Mushtaha says he personally drove his wife and children, aged eight through 15, to his aunt's home. Meanwhile, he is continuing his work as a water and sanitation officer for the global nonprofit group Oxfam.
"People sleep on the streets, in shops, in mosques, in their cars or on the streets," Mushtaha says about the millions of refugees pouring into southern Gaza ever since the evacuation order.
(Related: Did you know that UN Security Council Resolution 2231 just expired, which means Iran is now free to trade missiles, drones, hypersonic weapons and other advanced weaponry?)
As you might expect in such a scenario, essentials like hygiene products are now in very short supply. All these new people living in an already densely populated southern Gaza are gobbling up all the supplies from local supermarkets, and prices for what remains are rising fast.
Gaza's desalinization facilities are selling clean drinking water for twice what it cost prior to the October 7 Hamas attack, and Mushtaha estimates that his own family could run out of water in as little as 24 hours depending on what resources are able to make it into Gaza despite the Israeli blockade.
"We will go to the market and purchase whatever is available," he told the media humbly. "We are looking to the future with bleak eyes."
Both Oxfam and the United Nations (UN) are warning that the collapse of water and sanitation services throughout Gaza will spark outbreaks of cholera and other deadly diseases – it is only a matter of time.
Most of Gaza's 65 sewage pumping stations, as well as all five of its wastewater treatment facilities, have been forced to stop operations because of Israel's actions. According to Oxfam, untreated sewage is now having to be released directly into the Mediterranean Sea, and some solid waste is even making its way into streets alongside dead bodies that still need to be retrieved.
"Desalination plants have stopped working and municipalities are unable to pump water to residential areas because of the power shortage," reports explain.
"Some people in Gaza are relying on salty tap water from the enclave's only aquifer, which is contaminated with sewage and seawater, or have resorted to drinking seawater. Others are being forced to drink from farm wells."
The UN says that in Gaza right now, only three liters of clean drinking water per day is available for each living person there. That meager amount of water must stretch to not just hydrate but also cook, wash and flush the toilet.
-Ethan Huff, Natural News
Panera Sued For Wrongful Death After 21 Year Old Suffers Cardiac Arrest After Drinking "Charged Lemonade"
Panera Bread is on the receiving end of a lawsuit after the parents of a University of Pennsylvania student claim that its "Charged Lemonade" drink led to the wrongful death of their daughter.
Their 21 year old daughter already had a heart condition, a report from 6ABC noted, but may have been led to believe that the chain's "heavily caffeinated energy drink" was just regularly lemonade.
Sara Katz experienced cardiac arrest while at the restaurant with friends in September 2022, the report says. She passed away after she was transported to the hospital, where she suffered a second arrest.
Panera said in a statement: "We were very saddened to learn this morning about the tragic passing of Sarah Katz, and our hearts go out to her family. At Panera, we strongly believe in transparency around our ingredients. We will work quickly to thoroughly investigate this matter."
The autopsy report said her cause of death was "cardiac arrhythmia due to long QT syndrome", which is a disorder that can cause fast and irregular heartbeats, which can be life-threatening.
Katz was diagnosed at age 5 and actively limited her caffeine intake. The Panera drink included" sugar, caffeine, coffee extract and guarana extract, which are both sources of caffeine," 6ABC wrote.
The lawsuit claims that Katz was "reasonably confident it was a traditional lemonade and/or electrolyte sports drink containing a reasonable amount of caffeine safe for her to drink." It charges that Panera misled consumers by not properly labeling the drink as an energy drink.
"Instead, Defendants market, advertise, and sell Panera Charged Lemonade as a product that is 'Plant-based and Clean with as much caffeine as our Dark Roast Coffee,'" the suit continues. Despite the comparison, the suit claims that because Panera doesn't say what size the coffee it's like, the comparison is vague and unhelpful.
The "Charged Lemonade" in a large 30-oz cup has nearly 390 mg of caffeine. The FDA considers 400 mg of caffeine daily as safe for adults. The lawsuit alleges that the drink's caffeine level is unregulated and could vary dangerously.
Elizabeth Crawford, the lawyer for Katz's parents, says Katz drank from the large cup, but due to a Panera membership offering free refills, the exact amount consumed is unknown. Crawford added: "We want to make sure that the drink includes a warning, or is taken off the shelf. It's a dangerous energy drink and it's not advertised that way. We want to make sure this does not happen to someone else."
-Tyler Durden, Zerohedge
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