A judge has dismissed a liberal watchdog group's claims that a panel researching the possible impeachment of a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice violated open meeting laws

It's a Saturday afternoon and I'm standing in line at a supermarket holding a lemon,

Christmas is almost upon us so that can mean only one thing… It’s time for some doomsday predictions, courtesy of Baba Vanga. The legendary blind Bulgarian mystic is credited with foreseeing many of the biggest events in history, including the Chernobyl disaster, 9/11, the Covid pandemic and the death of Princess Diana. And even though she’s been dead for 27 years, people still follow her prophesies with great dedication. Her loyal disciples claim that many of her forecasts came true long after her death, and there are still plenty more to come. So now, it’s time to look ahead to what’s on the cards for 2024. Assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin The Russian president is hardly the world’s most popular man, so he has to watch his own back. A lot. And, apparently next year he’ll face an assassination attempt, not by an international agent but by someone from his own country. Still, according to Astrofame, Vanga only predicted an “attempt” on Putin’s life. Perhaps the whole reason he manages to survive is the late clairvoyant’s warning… Terrorist attacks on Europe Russia’s leader isn’t alone in facing an existential threat. Next year, Europe is supposedly set for a terrorist attack by Islamic extremists and a “big country” will carry out biological weapons tests or assaults next year. Vanga, the so-called “Nostradamus of the Balkans,” didn’t say where exactly in Europe these strikes would take place so, if you believe her word, we’ll all need to be on guard. Major economic crisis Many of us have become inured to dire financial forecasts but it’s still unsettling to learn that Vanga predicted a massive global economic crisis. According to Astrofame, she envisaged a number of different factors converging, including rising debt levels, increasing geopolitical tensions, and economic power shifting from the West to the East. Tech revolution General artificial intelligence is the hot topic when it comes to tech, but next year will be all about quantum computing, according to the Bulgarian oracle. Vanga foresaw a major breakthrough in the realm, which harnesses the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that are too complex for classical computers. This will bring about an unprecedented technological revolution, which will touch all areas of life: from healthcare to cybersecurity. And hey, maybe it will help sort out all those economic issues. A surge in cyber attacks If biological and terrorist attacks weren’t enough to contend with, 2024 will also see a spike in cyber strikes, according to Vanga. And these won’t be under-the-radar hacks, these will be fully-blown onslaughts on critical infrastructure, including power grids and water treatment facilities. The question is, will those quantum computers cause the crises or help solve them? Medical breakthroughs Sure, disaster after disaster is on the horizon, but it’s not all bad. According to Sky History, the blind soothsayer predicted that humanity would shackle cancer “with iron chains”, and 2024 might be the year this happens. She apparently also foresaw a significant breakthrough in treatment for Alzheimer’s patients. But let’s be clear, Vanga was far from infallible. This year, we were supposed to see the explosion of a major nuclear power plant – causing toxic clouds to settle over Asia – and a new religion based on artificial intelligence was due to emerge. Still, 2023 isn’t over yet, and she was alarmingly close to the truth with some of her other prophecies. The mystic claimed that the Earth would be hit by a devastating solar storm and suffer a potentially apocalyptic shift in its orbit around the sun. And whilst, we’ve managed to evade the apocalypse so far, back in August, NASA detected a massive sunspot with the power to bring forth solar flares and “coronal mass ejections” of solar plasma and potentially wreak havoc on power grids and other infrastructure. Last week, it also emerged that the Earth’s axis is shifting. Nevertheless, it’s important to note that Vanga’s predictions are cryptic and impossible to verify. She was unable to write, so everything she said was documented by those around her, meaning there are no first-hand accounts of her visions on paper. Countless Bulgarian and Soviet scientists studied and tested Vanga throughout her life, ultimately concluding that she had an 85 per cent success rate with her predictions, Sky History reports. She even allegedly foresaw her own death on 11 August 1996 at the age of 85. All we can do now is hope that her doomsday visions for the rest of this year, and next, fall into that 15 per cent margin of error... Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

By Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir WASHINGTON Two Federal Reserve policymakers and an economist nominated to join them

Saudi Arabia is cutting output by one million barrels a day, and Opec+ is keeping past cuts in place

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SHANGHAI China's central bank has asked some of the country's biggest lenders to refrain from immediately squaring their

After seeing his Socialists take a drumming in local and regional elections in May, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stunned his buoyant rivals by bringing forward general elections from December to this Sunday

Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime has defended the levels of caffeine in its beverages after facing a backlash. It comes after health experts called on the US Food and Drug Administration to investigate the energy drink company. A 12 oz can of Prime, which was founded by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI, contains 200mg of caffeine, equivalent to about half a dozen Coke cans or nearly two Red Bulls. The brand released a statement to People on July 11, saying: “PRIME Energy, sold in a can, dropped in 2023 and contains a comparable amount of caffeine to other top selling energy drinks, all falling within the legal limit of the countries it’s sold in.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The spokesperson for the brand said that the drink “complied with all FDA guidelines” prior to hitting the market and indicated on the packaging that PRIME energy drinks are “not made for anyone under the age of 18.” “As a brand, our top priority is consumer safety, so we welcome discussions with the FDA or any other organisation regarding suggested industry changes they feel are necessary in order to protect consumers,” they added. Earlier this week, New York Senator Charles Schumer urged the FDA to launch a probe into Paul’s energy drink, which became an overnight sensation when it launched last year. “One of the summer’s hottest status symbols for kids is not an outfit, or a toy – it’s a beverage,” the Democratic senator said in a letter to the FDA. “But buyer and parents beware because it’s a serious health concern for the kids it so feverishly targets." Prime has become a phenomenon since being launched in 2022, to the extent it’s sold for ridiculous prices, made one shop in Wakefield go viral, and even been reviewed by foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay. The collaboration between Paul and KSI (real name Olajide “JJ” Olatunji) was announced back in January last year, with the pair just recently touring Munich, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Oslo to promote the drink. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Sean Lewis has been hired as head football coach by San Diego State to revitalize a program that dropped to the bottom of the Mountain West standings

As escaped murder convict Danelo Cavalcante was escorted out of the woods of a Pennsylvania town on Wednesday morning, his face bore the mark left by the four-legged hero who subdued him. Calvalcante was finally taken back into custody after a 14-day multi-agency manhunt that spanned more than 25 miles. For nearly two weeks, Cavalcante eluded hundreds of SWAT, FBI, state, federal and local enforcement officers in full combat gear, as well as tracking dogs, and police on horseback and on aircraft. It was a US Border Patrol’s tactical unit (BORTAC) that finally made the capture shortly after 8am. Dozens of agents in the special operations unit celebrated the major development with a victory photo next to a defeated, bloodied and handcuffed Cavalcante. The key participant in the imminent capture, a K-9 who surprised Cavalcante and tackled him to the ground, also posed front row next to its handler for the photo. A Border Patrol spokesperson told The Independent that the K-9 behind the heroic efforts is a four-year-old Belgian Malinois named Yoda. Pennsylvania State Police Lt Col George Bivens said that Cavalcante began to crawl through heavy underbrush as border patrol agents closed in on him. Yoda then set out to subdue Cavalcante and left the escaped killer with a gnarly scalp wound that bled onto his face. “K9s play a very important role, not only for tracking but also in a circumstance like this, safely capturing someone,” Mr Bivens said. “Far better than having a patrol dog subdue the individual and then have to use lethal force. Our intention is always to use other means.” Mr Bivens said the K9s that participated in the search are typically used to simply detain suspects without causing additional injuries. According to the Border Patrol’s website, the dogs are “trained in human detection, tracking and the physical apprehension of violent subjects is singularly suited for this need.” Border Patrol said that it worked together with state police and other local and federal agencies to corner Cavalcante and secure his arrest. Agents from Buffalo, Detroit, Washington and Vermont and Border Patrol’s Special Operations Group in El Paso, Texas, participated in the capture. “Today’s actions are the latest demonstration of how our agents and officers bring incredible capability, additional interagency communications technology, and dedication to keep our communities safe,” a spokesperson said. “Most importantly, all those involved in the search were able to return home safe following the end to this manhunt.” BORTAC agents are deployed to specialised missions across the country and are described as “highly skilled at tracking humans in all terrain and in all environments.” Cavalcante’s escape from a Pennsylvania prison on 31 August ensued a frantic manhunt for the convicted killer in the vast wooded terrains of Chester County. Residents gripped by fear followed pleas by police to secure their homes, as three school districts in the area and a large botanical garden were forced. Law enforcement faced criticism for Cavalcante’s success in eluding officers and sneaking past the search perimeter. The initial four-square-mile search area had to be expanded to 10 square miles and then dropped altogether after Cavalcante managed to steal a vehicle and drive more than 25 miles from his initial hiding spot. Then on Monday night, Cavalcante broke into a garage in South Coventry Township and stole a .22 rifle with a scope and a flashlight on it. The homeowner opened fire on Cavalcante with his pistol but the fugitive was not injured. Authorities blamed the vast wooded area and the weather for their failure to capture Cavalcante sooner, noting that no perimeter could be secured completely. Retired Las Vegas Police Lt Randy Sutton agreed that the biggest challenges law enforcement faced were weather and containment-related. Aircraft with thermal technology had been flying over Cavalcante’s hiding area, but high temperatures likely prevented human signals from being detected. “It is absolutely impossible to contain a subject within a perimeter if it has not been diminished to an area where the manpower could be completely surrounded,” Mr Sutton, founder of the nonprofit The Wounded Blue, told The Independent. “It is not unusual for individuals to escape from perimeters, and that is why there is flexibility [in] changing those parameters. Law enforcement did just that and is what eventually led to the capture of the suspect.” He added: “The suspect could’ve been captured earlier had additional resources in the terms of manpower and technology been employed but once again, there is no full-proof method when it comes to a manhunt. “This individual could’ve [held] up for many more days or even weeks, had he located an unoccupied structure and remained there.” The first possible sign of Cavalcante that alerted searchers shortly after midnight Tuesday was a burglar alarm. Law enforcement personnel investigated it and did not find Cavalcante. But the alarm attracted nearby search teams to the area and around 1am, a Drug Enforcement Administration plane with a thermal imaging camera picked up a heat signal that searchers on the ground began to track and encircle. Storms moving in with rain and lightning forced the plane to leave the area while search teams stayed put and tried to secure a perimeter around where the heat signal had been to prevent Cavalcante from slipping away once again. Later in the morning, the plane returned along with more search teams. Border patrol agents then moved in on Cavalcante in a wooded area, about a half-mile away from where the burglary alarm went off. Cavalcante was wearing an Eagles hoodie and what appeared to be his prison pants when he was apprehended. Officers cleaned his bloodied face and proceeded to cut off his clothing before he was escorted inside a tactical vehicle. “Folks, whoever had their Eagles’ hoodie stolen,” Gov Josh Shapiro joked at a press conference after the arrest. “If you could let us know, I’ll do my best to get you one of those new Kelly Green ones.” Cavalcante was transported to PSP’s Avondale barracks, where he will be interviewed. He is then expected to be moved to a state-run prison facility. The capture likely brought ease to members of the suburban community, especially the family of Cavalcante’s murder victim Deborah Brandao. Prosecutors said during his trial last month that Cavalcante stabbed Brandao roughly 40 times in April 2021 to prevent her from telling American authorities that he was wanted for murder in Brazil. “Our nightmare is finally over and the good guys won,” Chester County District Attorney Deborah Ryan said. “We never lost faith that this capture would take place and knew it was just a matter of time.” Read More Danelo Cavalcante capture details revealed as escaped prisoner treated for dog bite: Live updates Pennsylvania fugitive Danelo Cavalcante is captured hiding under logs in shed two weeks after prison escape Pennsylvania police take group photo with captured fugitive Danelo Cavalcante

By Pritam Biswas and Laura Matthews Intercontinental Exchange on Thursday reported second-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates as