“A federal court has ordered that a rare ancient artifact, known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, must be surrendered to authorities. The 3,500-year-old tablet, from what is now Iraq, bears text from the Epic of Gilgamesh - one of the world's oldest works of literature. Officials say it was illegally imported before being purchased by the Christian-owned brand Hobby Lobby. The rare item was bought to be put on display at the Museum of the Bible. The Washington DC museum, chaired and funded by the Hobby Lobby's president Steve Green, has been plagued by controversies involving its collection. Officials said the tablet was purchased by a US antiquities dealer in 2003 in London, who then shipped it to the US without declaring the contents and sold it on with false documentation. After changing hands several times, the tablet was eventually bought by Hobby Lobby from an auction house for more than $1.67m (£1.2m) in 2014. Acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Jacquelyn M Kasulis, described the development as "an important milestone on the path to returning this rare and ancient masterpiece of world literature to its country of origin". Hobby Lobby consented to the forfeiture, officials said in a Tuesday statement. Known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, the artifact features sections of a Sumerian poem - parts of the epic mirror stories from the Old Testament, such as the Garden of Eden. It was seized from the museum by homeland security agents in 2019. Hobby Lobby was previously fined $3m dollars and forced to hand over thousands of other ancient artifacts. Mr Green previously blamed his naivety for the errors involving item provenance and said he knew "little of the world of collecting" when he started to purchase antiquities. God’s justice is at last done.”
“China is building a nuclear missile silo field in the west of the country, US scientists say. Satellite images from Xinjiang province suggest the site could house about 110 silos when it is finished, says the report from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). US defense officials have expressed concern about China's nuclear build-up. It is the second new silo field reported to be under construction in western China in the last two months. Last month, the Washington Post newspaper reported 120 silos spotted at a site in a desert area in Yumen, in Gansu province. The FAS said in its report on Monday that the new site at Hami, about 380 km (240 miles) north-west of Yumen, was at a much earlier stage of development. In 2020 the Pentagon said China was set to double its stockpile of nuclear warheads, from a low base. The news comes as the US and Russia prepare for arms control talks. The talks, between US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, are being seen as a first step towards reviving stalled negotiations on reducing nuclear arms. But China has so far not taken part in arms control negotiations. The US Strategic Command, the part of the Department of Defense responsible for strategic deterrence, voiced its concern about the report in a tweet. "This is the second time in two months the public has discovered what we have been saying all along about the growing threat the world faces and the veil of secrecy that surrounds it," it said. The silo field in Xinjiang was detected using commercial satellite imagery, but higher-resolution pictures were later provided by Planet, a satellite imaging company. In 2020 China had a nuclear stockpile of more than 200 warheads and was aiming to at least double this amount, the Pentagon said. The US has approximately 3,800 warheads, analysts say. May God keep us in love and harmony. We must keep the peace.”
“A Roman Catholic cardinal who was once a close ally of Pope Francis is going on trial in the Vatican, accused of misusing Church funds in a ruinous London property venture. Cardinal Angelo Becciu, 73, is the most senior cleric in modern times to face trial for alleged financial crimes. He is charged with spending €350m (£299m; $412m) of church money on a botched deal to buy a property in Chelsea that incurred huge losses. He denies wrongdoing. Nine other defendants are also accused of charges including extortion, embezzlement and abuse of office. Cardinal Becciu was sacked by the Pope in September, as reports of financial misdeeds emerged. A two-year investigation exposed how the Vatican lost millions of euros, including donations from worshipers, after buying a prestigious former Harrods warehouse in Sloane Avenue, Chelsea, in 2014. The cardinal was formerly in charge of donations at the secretariat which handles Vatican funds. The charges against him include allegedly channeling money to businesses run by his brothers in their native Sardinia. The trial is expected to last for months. The two hearings this week - on technical matters - are likely to be adjourned until October.” At last, some light is being let into the dark recesses of the Vatican, were God’s name is abused by the immorality of those who uphold its negativity.”
“Two London hospitals have asked patients to stay away after their emergency departments were hit by flooding on Sunday. East London's Whipps Cross and Newham hospitals urged patients to use other A&Es for urgent care, and ambulances are being redirected. Torrential rain has caused severe flooding in homes, roads and stations. London Fire Brigade said it had taken about 300 flooding-related calls in the space of a few hours. Vehicles became stranded, and officials warned people not to travel in the hazardous conditions. Many of the capital's roads closed due to the flooding, including the Blackwall Tunnel, the A12 and parts of the North Circular. Stepney Green station remains closed although eight other Tube and London Overground stations have reopened. A yellow thunderstorm warning remains in place for parts of south-east England. On Twitter, Newham Hospital said: "We're still here if you need us but to help us while we fix things, please attend a neighboring hospital if possible." Whipps Cross hospital in Leytonstone issued a similar appeal, saying it was experiencing "operational issues due to the heavy rainfall". The reminders from God Almighty are to be seen everywhere as Climate Change becomes almost common place.”
"It's the best thing I've found in 31 years of diving," says Maurice Belgrave, pointing to the spot where a centuries-old shipwreck lay hidden under the water for more than 200 years. Here at the Antigua Naval Dockyard, historic anchors, cannons and capstans are on bountiful display, testimony to the pivotal role it played as a safe harbor for Royal Navy warships protecting Britain's valuable sugar-producing islands. The murky waters around it, however, conceal a wealth of secrets. Over the years, commercial diver Mr Belgrave has found everything from 18th Century tobacco pipes to live cannon balls deep in the sediment beneath. "Most of the real history is on the seabed," he tells the BBC. In 2013, a routine job cleaning an anchor chain unearthed his most impressive discovery to date: the remarkably well-preserved remains of a 250-year-old naval vessel. "Whenever I'm down there, I run my hands through the mud," he explains. "I saw the lumbers and realized it was the skeleton of a real big boat." God leaves us treasures to find in our past to explain how we got where we are and to learn how to live in the future.”
“The Cleveland Indians professional baseball team have dropped their controversial name for one aimed at being more inclusive: the Guardians. The Ohio-based team's original name - adopted in 1915 - had long been criticized as racist by Native American groups. The new name references a pair of well-known statues in the city of Cleveland. Plans to change the name were first announced last December, in the wake of widespread racial justice protests. Team owner Paul Dolan at the time said he had an "awakening or epiphany" about the name following the death of George Floyd, an African American man murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis last May. A year earlier, the team dropped their "Chief Wahoo" logo. That logo, first used in 1947, pictured a red-faced and smiling cartoon man wearing a single feather. Native American activists said it was an offensive racial caricature. The Cleveland Guardians owe their new moniker to the "Guardians of Traffic" statues on a local bridge. The Guardians have a new logo too - a baseball flanked with winged letter G's. Actor Tom Hanks narrated the team's Twitter video reveal of the changes. "It has always been Cleveland that has been the best part of our name," he said. "This is the city we love and the game we believe in and together we are all Cleveland Guardians." These changes come amid widespread pressure to drop racist and offensive team names across the country. Last July, amid pressure from lawmakers and activists, Washington DC's American football team announced it was dropping its "Redskins" name. They have since been called the Washington Football Team. God teaches those who listen however long it takes.”
“A man has been rescued in Alaska after desperately flagging down help having been attacked and harassed by a grizzly bear for a week. US Coast Guard officials were alerted by an SOS message on a shack roof and spotted a man waving his arms in the air calling for help. The man told them he had been attacked by a bear and hadn't slept for days after it kept coming back to his camp. He was found with chest bruising and an injured leg he had taped up. The helicopter crew had been on their way to fly a team of scientists on a wildlife research mission when they were diverted off-course by weather and spotted the distress message. According to the New York Times, the man had almost run out of ammunition for his gun and the door of the shack where he was staying had been ripped off. "At some point, a bear had dragged him down to the river," Lieutenant Commander Jared Carbajal told the newspaper. "He had a pistol. He said that the bear kept coming back every night and he hadn't slept in a few days." The pilots found the man stumbling out the shack waving a white flag. The man has not been named but officials said he is in his late 50s or early 60s and had been reported overdue home from the trip by friends. The US Coast Guard flew him to hospital in order to get medical attention, but say his injuries are not life-threatening. The Alaska Department for Fish and Game describe the state as "bear country" but emphasizes that aggressive encounters with the species are rare. May God keep us safe!
“Temperatures in the UK are soaring amid the current heatwave, with Saturday the hottest day of the year in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and Sunday taking that title in England and Wales. Temperatures reached over 30ºC in southern parts and are set to remain very high until at least Thursday. The hot weather has led to comparisons with a similar period of extreme heat in 1976 – one of the driest, sunniest and warmest summers in the twentieth century. Here’s how the 1970s heatwave compares to the current weather. What happened in the 1976 heatwave? The summer of 1976 is thought to be the hottest summer for more than 350 years, although the summer of 1995 is now regarded as the driest. It was so serious that the government of the day introduced a Drought Act and even appointed a Minister for Drought, Denis Howell, whose job was to encourage the public to use less water. Like the heatwave today, the one in 1976 involved the same type of lingering high pressure which prompted temperatures to soar. In 1976, a particular pattern formed in which there was cool water near Greenland, warm water further south and then more cool water closer to the British Isles – and research has shown how that pattern of sea temperatures can be linked to warmer drier summers in the UK. The high-pressure system was centered further to the east of the UK, drawing up hot humid air form the south, leading to stifling night-time temperatures similar to what we have seen in recent days. How long did it last? The summer of 1976 heatwave lasted for 15 consecutive days, from 23 June to 7 July in 1976 – with some areas having no rain for months. It prompted a famous T-shirt slogan – ‘Save Water. Bath With A Friend.’”
“A team of scientists from the Natural History Museum has unearthed tens of thousands of fossils during a three-day excavation at what’s been described as one of the most important Jurassic sites ever found in the UK. The fossils, thought to be from around 167 million years ago, were originally identified by two hobby paleontologists studying old research papers during lock-down. The secret Cotswold site was once a shallow tropical sea. Its inhabitants were probably caught in an underwater mudslide. This would explain their exquisite preservation. The finds are now being prepped and studied, with some being added to the Natural History Museum’s collections. God shows us what we need to know. Seek and you will find.”
“In the US state of Oregon, the nation's largest active wildfire has burned through more than 300,000 acres, prompting thousands of evacuations. Over 2,000 firefighters are tackling the so-called Bootleg Fire - one of the largest blazes in Oregon's history. Since starting on 6 July, it has already scorched an area larger than the city of Los Angeles. It is one of more than 80 major fires raging across 13 US states, spurred by heatwaves and high winds. Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires. The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions. The Bootleg Fire in Oregon, named after the nearby Bootleg Spring, has forced at least 2,000 residents from mostly rural areas to abandon their homes. At least 160 homes and buildings have been destroyed so far. Authorities said that a quarter of the fire's perimeter had been contained. "We are running firefighting operations through the day and all through the night," fire incident commander Joe Hessel said in a statement on Monday. This fire is a real challenge, and we are looking at a sustained battle for the foreseeable future." We must do God’s will and bring the Climate Change under our control before we are destroyed by our own foolishness.”
“When Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur hit global headlines for becoming the first North African woman to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals, another Tunisian woman also made the news but for all the wrong reasons. Abir Moussi, the outspoken leader of the opposition Al-Dustur al-Hurr party, was slapped and kicked as she was filming a parliamentary session on her mobile phone in June. The perpetrators were two male members of parliament from an Islamist coalition. They then threw water at her, followed by the empty bottles and the whole incident was caught on TV cameras - to the shock and bewilderment of many in the Arab world. Ms Moussi is a passionate 47-year-old lawyer and indefatigable campaigner against political Islam and Tunisia's version of it - known as the Nahda movement - which forms the biggest bloc in parliament. She was once a solid supporter of the ousted dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and regards herself and her small party as the guardians of the secular tradition laid down by the founder of modern Tunisia, Habib Bourgiba. He led the country to independence and became its first president, serving from1957 to 1987, and introducing women-friendly legislation such as banning polygamy. In parliament, Ms Moussi cuts an extraordinary figure. She attends sessions wearing a helmet and a flak jacket because, she says, she has received death threats from Islamists. We were all created equal in God’s eyes, but some men are not worthy of understanding the meaning of equality.”
“Temperatures in Northern Ireland reached record-breaking heights on Saturday as thermometers soared above 30C. It is the hottest day on record with Ballywatticock, near Newtownards in County Down, recording a temperature of 31.2C. The previous high was 30.8C set in the summers of 1976 and 1983. Record-breaking temperatures require a series of factors to line up, one after another, and today they did just that. The hottest day of the year so far has been provisionally recorded in the other three UK nations too, and it could be even warmer on Sunday. In England, 30.7C was recorded at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire; in Wales, Usk in Monmouthshire reached 29C, and in Scotland, 28.2C was recorded in Threave, in the Dumfries and Galloway region. A record-breaking day starts with a warm night. On Friday night, temperatures at Killowen on the County Down coast only briefly dipped below 15 degrees. It needs lots of sunshine. On Saturday we have barely seen more than the wisp of a cloud and we are only just past the longest day of the year, so the sun is still very powerful. We must be aware of the changes that are around us and work for the greater good in keeping us all safe.”
“Rescue crews have been racing to find survivors of floods that have wreaked havoc across western Europe, killing more than 150 people. Hundreds are still missing after record rainfall triggered severe floods in Germany and Belgium. Heavy rains also hit Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - where PM Mark Rutte has declared a national disaster in one southern province. European leaders have blamed the extreme weather on climate change. Experts say global warming makes torrential rainfall more likely. The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began. In Germany, where the death toll stands at over 100, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was stunned by the devastation ahead of a visit to a flood-hit region on Saturday. "Whole places are scarred by the disaster," Mr Steinmeier said at a news conference. "Many people have lost what they have built all their lives." Rescue teams in Germany were hampered by difficult conditions on Friday, leaving relatives of the missing waiting anxiously for news. Phone networks were down, roads were badly damaged, and more than 100,000 homes were without power. The states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland have been the worst affected by the rainfall. God continues to send us warnings of Climate Changes hoping we will take the hint. If we don’t, we will all be lost.!”
“If you have a habit of ordering stuff online, you're probably no stranger to a "your parcel has been delivered" text. That's why they're a good way for scammers to hook unsuspecting people in. Three in five of us have had fake delivery company texts over the past year, according to new figures from consumer group, Which? The messages often contain a link that brings you to a scam website. Adam French is a senior consumer rights editor at Which? and says there's no way you can really stop scammers from texting you. They track down your number using "potluck", he tells Radio 1 News-beat. "We set up four brand new mobile phones, phone numbers that had never been used anywhere before, and two of those phones still received these scam messages," he said. "They just send out these text messages to as many phone numbers as possible." Thankfully, 79% of those who had a scam delivery text in the past year said they immediately knew it was fake. But some still fall victim to the trick - and 3% of people said they ended up losing money because of one of these scams. One young couple lost all of their savings because of a scam Royal Mail text last year. Tom and Freyja Cuff, from Frome, Somerset, received a text about a parcel collection which eventually led to their bank account being emptied of £2,500. Which? wants it to become standard practice for certain types of companies, such as banks, not to include links or payment requests in texts generally. This, they say, would make the advice clearer - because, for example, if Royal Mail told customers, they never send external links in texts, the scams would be easy to spot. There are things you can do to make sure you're not one of the unlucky ones.
1. Take precautions
Quite simply, don't click links in texts. Adam says: "The best thing you can do is actually look at the URL within the text message. "If the domain name (that's the bit just before.co.uk or .com) doesn't match the business it says it is, that's a pretty sure sign that text is not legitimate. "But that can be quite fiddly to spot, and sometimes it can be cloned as well, so it's not foolproof. "The best way to stay safe is still to ignore any links in text and contact the business yourself."
2. Report it
If you do get one of these texts, Adam says you can help to protect others by reporting it. You can do this by forwarding the text to 7726, the network operator. "Until the network have that information, they don't know to shut it down," Adam says. An easy way to remember who to forward it to is that 7726 are the digits on a telephone keypad that spell out the word "spam".
3. Contact your bank, ASAP
If you've clicked the link and sent money before you realized it was a scam, try not to worry. You can report it to your bank, and you have "every chance" of getting your money back, Adam says. "There's a few different routes to go down to recover some money. The best thing to do is speak to your bank straightaway." If that doesn't work, try making a complaint to the bank. Failing that, the Financial Ombudsman Service might be able to help. You know it makes sense.”
“A city in the US state of Minnesota has urged residents not to release their unwanted pet fish into the wild after finding huge goldfish in a lake. The common household pets can grow far bigger in the wild and cause major disruption to ecosystems. The city of Burnsville shared images showing several monster goldfish caught during a survey of Keller Lake. It said goldfish could contribute to poor water quality by disturbing sediment and uprooting plants. "Please don't release your pet goldfish into ponds and lakes!" the city wrote in a tweet. In Minnesota, goldfish are a regulated invasive species, which means it is illegal to release them into public waters. A goldfish kept in a home aquarium typically grows to about 2in (5.1cm) in length. But once they are established in public waters, wildlife officials say, goldfish can grow far larger and be difficult to remove - reproducing rapidly and dominating native species. In its warning, the city of Burnsville advised pet owners to "please consider other options for finding them a new home". Wildlife officials have been dealing with a similar problem in nearby Carver County, where 50,000 goldfish were removed from a creek in October last year. The removal was part of a three-year plan to study and manage the species, which have caused problems across the US. But the US isn't the only country to suffer from marauding goldfish. In 2017, Munich city council in Germany said shoals of goldfish were starving out all rivals in local ponds and lakes. The problem got so bad; the council threatened to fine anyone caught releasing their pets into public waters. Large goldfish have been found in the UK's wild waters as well. In 2010, a British teenager pulled a 5lb (2.2kg), 16in fish from a lake in Dorset. Be careful of how you dispose of your unwanted assets, as you never know what chaos you are releasing.”
“A record number of manatees have died this year in the US state of Florida, primarily from starvation, wildlife authorities say. At least 841 of the marine mammals died in waters near the eastern state between 1 January and 2 July. That breaks the previous record set in 2013, when 830 manatees died after exposure to harmful algae. This year biologists say sea-grass beds manatees rely on for food are dying out because of rising water pollution. They say the main issue is the increasing waste contamination of Florida's waterways, which triggers the accumulation of algae and the loss of sea-grass. Florida's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute said most of the deaths had happened during the colder months, when manatees migrated to the Indian River Lagoon, where most sea-grass had died. As temperatures warmed and the animals dispersed along the Atlantic coast, boat strikes became a leading cause of death last month, official data show. At least 63 manatees, also known as sea cows, have been struck and killed by boats so far this year. Boat strikes "continue to be recognized as a concern for the population", the research institute said. The federal government changed the status of the manatee from endangered to threatened in 2017, but conservationists say greater protection is again needed. The manatee is a large, slow-moving mammal which has become an unofficial mascot for Florida. About 6,300 manatees currently live in Florida waters, according to the government. Come on Americans, take responsibility for your asserts. Don’t you remember how you so nearly lost the Bald Eagle?”
“For more than 15 years, Virgin Galactic has been working to begin carrying paying passengers to the edge of space and back. Here, we track the long, winding road to realizing Sir Richard Branson's dream. In the early 1990s, celebrated aeronautical engineer Burt Rutan set himself a challenge: designing a space-plane. "I'm going to give it a try, I'm going to go out and do it," Mr Rutan said in 2004, recalling his thoughts a decade earlier. Like many before and since, he was motivated by the lack of access to space for "ordinary" people - in other words, those who aren't government-funded astronauts. "Over the last 25 years it has become increasingly, increasingly obvious that the kids who dream - and I consider myself still a kid - that they can go up and see these views [of Earth from space] have diminishing hope, diminishing dreams," Rutan explained. The engineer thought the ride would have to feel like flying in a plane, rather than the more adventurous experience of being launched on a rocket and falling to the ground with parachutes. The outcome of his efforts was a vehicle named SpaceShipOne. Rutan took inspiration from the X-15 high-altitude experimental plane flown by test pilots in the 1950s and 60s. On 21 June 2004, his craft reached an historic milestone, performing the first privately funded human spaceflight. The 8.5m-long spacecraft began its flight from a runway in California's Mojave desert, slung under a plane called White Knight. At 14km up, SpaceShipOne detached from its "mother-ship" and immediately ignited its rocket engine. The vehicle, carrying test pilot Mike Melvill, then climbed steeply, eventually reaching an altitude of just over 100km - the official boundary of space. Melvill experienced weightlessness before the vehicle re-entered the atmosphere. On the way down, SpaceShipOne changed shape as planned, in a way designed to increase the drag - air resistance - while maintaining the craft's stability. This was known as the "feathering" system. Is this worth £200,000 a seat to experience latest ultimate big dipper for the very rich?”
“Extreme heat is building in the western United States, with forecasts of record-breaking temperatures in the states of California and Nevada. It comes just weeks after another dangerous heatwave hit North America, and the region has experienced the hottest June on record. California's Death Valley on Friday recorded a high of 54.4C (130F), with similar heat expected this weekend. Millions of people in the US are under warnings of excessive heat. The National Weather Service has advised those affected to drink plenty of water and stay in air-conditioned buildings. The temperature in Death Valley on Friday matched one recorded in August 2020 - which some argue is the highest temperature ever reliably recorded on Earth. A temperature of 56.7C (134F) was recorded in 1913, but this is contested by climate experts. Firefighters battling the many wildfires in the region say the air is so dry that much of the water dropped by aircraft to quell the flames evaporates before it reaches the ground. In Nevada, near the border with Northern California, people were evacuated from their homes as wildfires triggered by lightning strikes tore through parts of the Sierra Nevada forest region. Forecasters say Las Vegas's record of 47.2C (116F) could also be passed. In Oregon, more evacuation orders were issued when a wildfire fanned by strong winds in the Fremont-Wine-ma National Forest grew from nearly 26 sq. miles (67 sq. km) on Thursday to nearly 61 sq. miles on Friday. Climate change is burning away our world. God is showing us the consequences. Are we listening?”
“Giant pandas are no longer classified as endangered but are still vulnerable, Chinese officials say. The classification was downgraded as their number in the wild has reached 1,800. Experts say that the country managed to save its iconic animal through its long-term conservation efforts, including the expansion of habitats. China considers pandas a national treasure but have also loaned them to other countries as diplomatic tools. The latest classification upgrade "reflects their improved living conditions and China's efforts in keeping their habitats integrated", said Cui Shuhong, head of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment's Department of Nature and Ecology Conservation at a news conference. The new classification comes years after the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had already removed the animal from its endangered species list and re-labelled it as "vulnerable" in 2016. At the time, however, Chinese officials had disputed the decision, saying that it could mislead people into believing that conservation efforts could be relaxed. Well done to the Chinese for distracting attention from their human rights violations.”
“US President Joe Biden has defended his decision to withdraw military forces from Afghanistan, saying that US operations will end on 31 August. The fourth US president to oversee the war also defended the speed of the US withdrawal, saying it saved lives. Mr Biden's speech comes as the Taliban militant group continues to seize territory around the country. US forces have fought in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years, following the terror attacks of 11 September 2001. Earlier this year, Mr Biden set a 11 September 2021 goal of withdrawing all US troops. Donald Trump had agreed with the Taliban to pull out US troops by May 2021, but that deadline was pushed back by Mr Biden after he took office in January. "Just one more year of fighting in Afghanistan is not a solution," Mr Biden said in a White House speech, "but a recipe for fighting there indefinitely." He also denied that a Taliban takeover is "inevitable," saying that the Taliban force of approximately 75,000 fighters is no match for the 300,000 Afghan security forces. Even after the total pull out is complete, the US is expected to keep 650 to 1,000 troops in Afghanistan to guard the US embassy, Kabul airport, and other key government installations. Recent polls have shown broad US support for leaving Afghanistan, with Republican voters more skeptical of the decision to withdraw. First Russia and second America have torn this country to pieces. Their prize was the poppy fields of opium. May God forgive them.”
“Former US president Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against tech giants Google, Twitter and Facebook, claiming that he is the victim of censorship. The class action lawsuit also targets the three companies' CEOs. Mr Trump was suspended from his social accounts in January over public safety concerns in the wake of the Capitol riots, led by his supporters. On Wednesday, Mr Trump called the lawsuit "a very beautiful development for our freedom of speech". In a news conference from his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, Mr Trump railed against social media companies and Democrats, who he accused of espousing misinformation. "We are demanding an end to the shadow-banning, a stop to the silencing, and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing, and cancelling that you know so well," he said. The suit requests a court order to end alleged censorship. Mr Trump added if they could ban a president, "they can do it to anyone". None of the tech companies named have yet responded to the lawsuit, which was filed to a federal court in Florida. Mr Trump was joined at the announcement by former Trump officials who have since created the not-for-profit America First Policy Institute. The former president called the post that got him banned from Twitter, "the most loving sentence". According to Twitter, the tweets that resulted in Mr Trump's ban for "glorification of violence" were from 8 January, two days after the rioting in the nation's capital. The riot followed his repeated claims, without evidence, that the election was rigged in Joe Biden's favour. Mad dogs are usually put down. He was a failed President and a failed man and a disgrace to America.”
“North America experienced its warmest June on record, according to the EU's Earth observation programme. That will come as no surprise given the unprecedentedly high temperatures recently recorded during the heatwave that hit Canada and parts of the US. But UK residents may be startled to learn that despite the rain and cloud they experienced, it was the second warmest June on record for Europe. It was also the fourth warmest June ever recorded worldwide. Copernicus, the EU's Earth observation programme, produces its figures for world temperatures from computer-generated analyses using billions of measurements from satellites, aircraft and weather stations around the world. Climate experts say the findings point to a frightening escalation in temperature extremes. "We are getting used to record high temperatures being recorded somewhere around the world every year now," says Prof Peter Stott of the UK Met Office. He says what meteorologists like him find shocking is not that the world is experiencing more heatwaves but that temperature records are increasingly being broken by such large margins. In Canada and the north-western US, several cities recorded temperatures a full 5 degrees Celsius above previous records. A Siberian heatwave last year saw temperatures more than 5C above the previous record between January and June. A study by the Met Office on the extreme heat in the Russian region found that reaching such temperatures was almost impossible without human-caused climate change. It anticipates similar results from studies of the Canadian heatwave. These are caused by Mankind’s greed and not by God, but he can teach us a way out if we listen.”
“The population of a rare type of antelope has more than doubled since 2019, in a remarkable turnaround in fortunes. According to the first aerial survey in two years, the number of saiga in their Kazakhstan heartland has risen from 334,000 to 842,000. There were fears the animal was on the brink of extinction following a mass die-off in 2015. Distressing images of carcasses strewn over the steppes made world headlines. Following a series of conservation measures, including a government crackdown on poaching, and local and international conservation work, numbers have started to bounce back. That, together with the natural resilience of the species, gives hope for their future, said Albert Salemgareyev of the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK). "They give birth to twins every year, which gives high potential for the species to quickly recover," he told BBC News. The saiga has seen a dramatic turnaround in fortunes. But even with the current boom, numbers will never return to the millions estimated in Soviet times due to looming threats, including the impact of state infrastructure projects and oil and gas development, said Albert Salemgareyev. We must look after the natural wildlife that God has given us to care for.”
“Plans by Ukraine's defense ministry to have female soldiers march in high heels instead of army boots in a parade next month have caused angry reactions. Iryna Gerashchenko, an opposition member of parliament, said it was sexism, not equality. Ukraine is preparing to stage a military parade on 24 August to mark 30 years of independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The defense ministry say the shoes are part of regulation-dress uniform. Many in Ukraine expressed shock at the plan, with a group of lawmakers calling on Defense Minister Andriy Taran to offer an apology. "The story of a parade in heels is a real disgrace," commentator Vitaly Portnikov said on Facebook, arguing that some officials had a "medieval" mindset. Ms Gerashchenko said she initially thought the pictures of women soldiers rehearsing in combat trousers and black pumps with block heels was a hoax. She said it was sexism, not equality, and wondered why the ministry thought heels were more important than designing body armor tailored to women. Maria Berlinska, an army veteran, said a parade should demonstrate military prowess, but this one was to titillate senior officers in the grandstands. Olena Kondratyuk, the deputy parliamentary speaker, pointed out that more than 13,500 women had fought in the current conflict pitting Ukraine against Russian-backed separatists in the east. More than 31,000 women now serve in the country's armed forces, including more than 4,000 who are officers. God says that you shall not kill, not what you should wear.”
“A Vatican judge has ordered 10 people, including an Italian cardinal, to stand trial for alleged financial crimes. Cardinal Angelo Becciu has become the highest-ranked cleric in the Vatican to be indicted over charges that include embezzlement and abuse of office. The 73-year-old cardinal, who denies wrongdoing, was forced to resign last September, but retains his title. The charges relate to a multi-million-dollar property purchase with Church funds in London. Cardinal Becciu was a close aide to Pope Francis and previously had a key job in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, which manages the Church's donations. He will face questions over a controversial loss-making deal to invest in the luxury London building while he was in charge at the secretariat; the deal has since been the subject of a financial investigation. The $200m (£155m) paid for the apartment block in Sloane Avenue came out of Church money through offshore funds and companies - a deal the cardinal had defended in the past. If they listened to God they wouldn’t fail to live by His laws and not by the material greed and lust of men.”
“Former US President Donald Trump's company and its finance chief have been charged with tax-related crimes. Allen Weisselberg, 73, turned himself in to New York authorities on Thursday, where he was later charged with avoiding taxes on $1.7m (£1.2m) worth of income. The charges stem from what prosecutors described as a 15-year-long "sweeping and audacious illegal payment scheme." Lawyers for the firm and Mr Weisselberg have pleaded not guilty to tax fraud. No charges were brought against Mr Trump personally, although New York City has already cut business ties with the twice-impeached former president. The Trump Organization is a family holding company that owns hotels, golf clubs and other properties - and the cornerstone of a global brand that encompassed book deals, TV shows and Trump-emblazoned skyscrapers. The criminal charges are the first to arise from long-running investigations into alleged fraud by both the Manhattan district attorney and the state attorney general. At the hearing at Manhattan's criminal court, prosecutor Carey Dunne said: "This was a 15-year-long tax fraud scheme involving off-the-books payments. "It was orchestrated by the most senior executives who were financially benefiting themselves and the company, by getting secret pay raises at the expense of state and federal taxpayers," he said. You can’t coverup the truth. God will see to it that the truth will come out.”
“Dozens of people have died in Canada amid an unprecedented heatwave that has smashed temperature records. Police in the Vancouver area have responded to more than 130 sudden deaths since Friday. Most were elderly or had underlying health conditions, with heat often a contributing factor. Canada broke its temperature record for a third straight day on Tuesday - 49.6C (121.3F) in Lytton, British Columbia. The US north-west has also seen record highs - and a number of fatalities. Experts say climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves. However, linking any single event to global warming is complicated. The heat over western parts of Canada and the US has been caused by a dome of static high-pressure hot air stretching from California to the Arctic territories. Temperatures have been easing in coastal areas but there is little immediate respite for inland regions. Before Sunday, temperatures in Canada had never passed 45C. British Columbia Premier John Horgan said the hottest week the province had ever experienced had led to "disastrous consequences for families and for communities". The number of heat-related fatalities is likely to rise as some areas say they have responded to sudden death incidents but have yet to collate the numbers. In Vancouver alone, heat is believed to have been a contributing factor in the unexpected deaths of 65 people since Friday. We need to take care of our world before parts of it are lost to Climate Change.”
“One of British art's most famous paintings, The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough, is to return to the UK 100 years after it left. The 1770 masterpiece will be loaned to the National Gallery, where it will go on display on 25 January 2022. The London gallery's 1922 farewell show for the work attracted 90,000 visitors after it was sold to a US businessman. Current National Gallery director. Dr Gabriele Finaldi said the work showed Gainsborough at "his dazzling best". "The loan of Gainsborough's The Blue Boy to the National Gallery is truly exceptional and a unique opportunity for visitors," Dr Finaldi added. "Rich in historical resonances, a painting of supreme poise and elegance, The Blue Boy is without doubt a masterpiece of British art." The Blue Boy at the National Gallery in 1922 attracted 90,000 visitors over three weeks. The painting, which depicts a young man in a blue satin suit set against a moody country landscape, is thought to be of Jonathan Buttall, the son of a wealthy merchant. It was bought and taken to the US by the railway pioneer Henry Edwards Huntington. Since then, it has been on display at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. Before The Blue Boy left British soil, the then-National director Charles Holmes wrote "Au revoir" on the back of the painting in the hope it would one day return. The painting's popularity and cultural influence have seen it quoted by contemporary artists and depicted in Hollywood films including Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, in which one of Jamie Foxx's outfits was said to have been inspired by that worn by Gainsborough's young subject. Welcome home. Wish you could stay.”
