Exclusive: Satellite images show increased activity at nuclear test sites in Russia, China and US
Russia, the United States and China have all built new facilities and dug new tunnels at their nuclear test sites in recent years, satellite images obtained exclusively by CNN show, at a time when tensions between the three major nuclear powers have risen to their highest in decades.
2023-09-22 12:42
Business Travel Prices Seen Climbing Even Higher to New Normal
The soaring cost of business travel is projected to climb even higher this year and in 2024 as
2023-08-10 15:00
Mobico Slumps After Cutting Guidance, Scrapping Final Dividend
Mobico Plc lost a third of its market value after cutting its full-year operating profit outlook, citing higher-than-expected
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Joe Burrow Doesn't Like Country Music, But Some People Do
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2023-06-14 21:54
Alex Murdaugh accuses ‘fame seeking’ court clerk of jury tampering at his murder trial
Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has accused a South Carolina court clerk of tampering with the jury at his high-profile double murder trial – because she was driven by fame and a desire to secure a book deal. The disgraced legal scion and double murderer filed a motion on Tuesday requesting a new trial on the basis that Walterboro Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill allegedly pressured jurors on the case. In the motion, Murdaugh’s attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin claim that Ms Hill “tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense”. Specifically, they claim that the clerk instructed jurors not to be “misled” by evidence presented by the defence and told jurors not to be “fooled by” his testimony. The motion also claims that Ms Hill had frequent private conversations with the jury foreperson – with the pair often disappearing to private rooms for five to 10 minutes at a time. “During the trial, Ms Hill asked jurors for their opinions about Mr. Murdaugh’s guilt or innocence,” the motion reads. “Ms Hill invented a story about a Facebook post to remove a juror she believed might not vote guilty. “Ms Hill pressured the jurors to reach a quick verdict, telling them from the outset of their deliberations that it ‘shouldn’t take them long.’” Murdaugh’s attorneys claim that she “betrayed her oath of office for money and fame” and, off the back of her work on the case, secured a deal for a book titled “Behind the Doors of Justice”. “She did these things to secure for herself a book deal and media appearances that would not happen in the event of a mistrial,” the motion claims. Just hours after they returned a guilty verdict, his attorneys allege Ms Hill flew with jurors to New York as some of the panellists waived their anonymity to appear on NBC’s Today show. In conclusion, they claim that the court clerk’s actions violated “Murdaugh’s constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury”. Further details are expected to be shared by Murdaugh’s attorneys at a press conference on the grounds of the South Carolina State House in Columbia at 2.30pm local time on Tuesday afternoon. The duo – who are longtime friends of the killer and represented him at his high-profile murder trial – had announced on Monday that new evidence had come to light since his March conviction over the brutal 7 June 2021 slayings. Murdaugh is currently behind bars at the McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina where he is serving two life sentences for his wife and son’s murders. Last week, it emerged that Murdaugh had lost some of his prison privileges after he fed information to a Fox Nation documentary without permission. South Carolina Corrections Department officials said on Wednesday that, during a jailhouse phone call on 10 June, Mr Griffin had recorded him reading aloud entries from the journal he had kept during his double murder trial. Mr Griffin had then handed over the recordings to producers working on the new Fox Nation documentary about his high-profile case titled “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh”. Prison policy prohibits inmates from talking to the media without permission because the agency “believes that victims of crime should not have to see or hear the person who victimized them or their family member on the news,” state prisons spokesperson Chrysti Shain said in a statement. The media interview violation, along with another violation for using a different inmate’s password to make a telephone call, are prison discipline issues and not a crime, Ms Shain said. As a result, the disgraced legal scion has had his phone privileges revoked and his prison tablet computer confiscated. Murdaugh also lost his ability to buy items in the prison canteen for a month. He will now have to get permission from prison officials to get another tablet, which can be used to make monitored phone calls, watch approved entertainment, read books or take video classes, the prison spokesperson said. Mr Griffin was also issued a warning from prison officials that if he knowingly or unknowingly helps Murdaugh violate rules again, he could lose his ability to talk to his client. Phone calls between lawyers and prisoners are not recorded or reviewed because their conversations are considered confidential. But prison officials said they began investigating Murdaugh after a warden reviewing other phone calls heard Murdaugh’s voice on a call made in a different inmate’s account. Murdaugh claimed that his phone password had not been working. He also told the prison investigators about the recorded journal entries, according to prison records. Murdaugh’s use of a jailhouse tablet previously hit headlines when selfie images he took on the device were obtained in a Freedom of Information request by FITS News. In many of the images, the convicted family killer appeared topless. South Carolina prison officials later clarified that the photos are automatically taken as an inmate uses their tablet that is individually assigned to them – as part of inmate monitoring. Now, Murdaugh has lost the use of his tablet indefinitely due to his unauthorised communication with the documentarymakers – which marks his first media interview of sorts since his conviction. His eldest – and now only surviving – son Buster Murdaugh also broke his silence speaking out in his first TV interview as part of the three-part series. In the interview, Buster insisted that he still believes his father is innocent of the murders of his mother and brother – but admitted that he may be a psychopath. Maggie and Paul were found shot dead on the family’s 1,700-acre Moselle estate back on 7 June 2021. Alex Murdaugh had called 911 claiming to have found their bodies. During his high-profile murder trial, jurors heard how Paul was shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun while he stood in the feed room of the dog kennels on the affluent family’s 1,700-acre Moselle estate. The second shot to his head blew his brain almost entirely out of his skull. After killing Paul, prosecutors said Murdaugh then grabbed a .300 Blackout semiautomatic rifle and opened fire on Maggie as she tried to flee from her husband. During the dramatic six-week trial, Murdaugh confessed to lying about his alibi on the night of the murders but continued to claim his innocence of the killings. The jury didn’t agree and the disgraced legal scion was convicted in March of the brutal murders. Beyond the murder charges, Murdaugh, 55, is also facing a slew of financial fraud charges for stealing millions of dollars from his law firm clients and his dead housekeeper’s family. He is expected to plead guilty on 21 September to federal charges – marking the first time he has pleaded guilty to a crime in court. Murdaugh is also facing around 100 financial charges in state court as well as charges over a botched hitman plot where he claims he paid an accomplice to shoot him dead. Murdaugh’s high-profile conviction also shone a spotlight on some other mystery deaths tied to the South Carolina legal dynasty. Following Maggie and Paul’s murders, investigations were reopened into the 2018 death of the Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield and the 2015 homicide of gay teenager Stephen Smith. Meanwhile, at the time of his murder, Paul was also awaiting trial for the 2019 boat crash death of Mallory Beach. Read More Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys to unveil ‘mystery evidence’ as he demands new murder trial – live updates Buster Murdaugh breaks silence on Stephen Smith killing – and calls father Alex a ‘psychopath’ Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh loses prison privileges over recorded phone call for documentary
2023-09-05 23:38
Experience the Great Outdoors in Hong Kong This Season with the Ultimate Thrill Seeker’s Itinerary
HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 31, 2023--
2023-08-31 23:24
California sues district that requires parents be notified if their kids change pronouns
California's attorney general has sued a Southern California school district over its new policy that requires schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns
2023-08-29 02:32
Viral French football ad makes powerful gender statement as Matildas call for equal prizes in Women's World Cup
Days out from the start of the Women's World Cup, teams are turning up the pressure on the sport's governing body and spectators to give women players equal pay and respect.
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Former Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham player Chris Bart-Williams dead at 49
Former Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest midfielder Chris Bart-Williams has died at the age of 49, Sheffield Wednesday has announced. The club said he died in the US where he was a mentor and a coach. “Bart-Williams’ untimely passing mirrors that of his manager at Hillsborough Trevor Francis, who also died on this, one of the darkest days in our long history,” a statement from the club said. “Our thoughts are with Chris’ and Trevor’s families and friends at this devastating time.” The news came as the Owls and Forest were coming to terms with the death of former striker Trevor Francis, who was 69. Sierra Leone-born Bart-Williams, who began his career as a trainee at Leyton Orient, made more than 150 appearances for Wednesday, for whom he played in the Premier League as a teenager, before earning a £2.5million move to the City Ground in July 1995. He played 248 games for Forest and later had spells with Charlton and Ipswich before moving into coaching in the United States following his retirement as a player, initially working in women’s college football. Describing himself on his social media accounts as “coach, college recruiter, former footballer”, Bart-Williams was owner and chief executive officer of US College Soccer recruiting agency CBW Soccer Elite, working with college-bound players. His LinkedIn profile reads: “As a retired athlete with 35 years of international playing and coaching experience, I’m passionate about developing young adults into highly successful soccer players. “My goal is to empower kids to have the confidence and technical ability to excel in soccer while learning valuable lessons in responsibility and teamwork that will prepare them for a lifetime of success. Everything I do is designed to maximize athletes’ unique potential and propel them to their personal best in soccer and in life.” In February last year, Florida-based Dade County announced Bart-Williams had been appointed as its head coach to oversee all its football programmes. News of his death was greeted with shock by former team-mate Mark Crossley. The goalkeeper, who played with Bart-Williams at Forest, tweeted: “Devastating and I’m so upset to hear the news of Trevor Francis passing and my former team mate Chris Bart Williams, both so young, it is so sad , RIP Trevor and Chris.” Ipswich also offered their condolences, posting: “The club is saddened to learn of the passing of former player Chris Bart-Williams. Once a Blue, always a Blue.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live ‘Beyond legendary’ – Jude Bellingham pays heartfelt tribute to Trevor Francis Football remembers Trevor Francis – Monday’s sporting social James Anderson could play until he’s 50, says Saqib Mahmood
2023-07-25 11:44
Reddit CEO says people will get over outrage as it threatens to replace mods behind protests
Reddit is not backing down from its controversial new fees, its chief executive has said as protests against the decision continue. Those behind the protests could be removed from the forums they administer, even in cases where the communities inside of them have supported the action, the company has suggested. Reddit has fallen into chaos in recent days after the moderators of many of its most popular communities took those subreddits “dark” in protest. It has meant that users have been unable to see posts from those communities for days. The action was a response to new plans from Reddit to charge for access to its API, which allows developers such as those behind third-party apps to see data from Reddit. Many developers have said those charges would make their apps unsustainable, and the most popular ones including Apollo have announced they will shut down. Even before that happened, moderators on the site had committed to take their forums offline in protest against the changes, which they said would make Reddit harder to use. Reddit is largely administered by unpaid volunteer moderators, who are able to make changes to those forums without needing permission from Reddit’s staff or management. Since the changes were announced, Reddit’s chief executive Steve Huffman has stayed committed to them. He has repeatedly claimed that it is unfair for developers to have access to that data for free since it costs Reddit money to host the site. Now Mr Huffman has undertaken another round of interviews in which he has shrugged off the protest, argued that it will pass, and claimed that only a small group of users are upset about the change. “It’s a small group that’s very upset, and there’s no way around that. We made a business decision that upset them,” he told NPR. “But I think the greater Reddit community just wants to participate with their fellow community members.” He said that the protest was affecting “everyday users” but that most of them were not involved in the changes. He also indicated that the protest had not cost much in financial terms, but had created “a fair amount of trouble”. He said that 80 per cent of the top 5,000 subreddits have gone back online. But many other communities have committed to continuing the protests indefinitely, and may go back offline if Reddit does not respond to their complaints. Reddit has also suggested that moderators who are involved in the protest could be removed from their position, and presumably replaced with new users who would bring the forums back online. In a post on Reddit’s support forum for moderators, an administer pointed to “rule 4”, which requires that moderators are active in the communities that they run. While the company refused to explicitly link its mention of that rule with the protest, it has also refused to rule out the fact that it could be used to remove those protestors from their position. Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told The Vergethat such a move would not be to do with the protest – but that those involved in it could be breaking the rule nonetheless. Read More Reddit hit by more outages as the fight over its future escalates Reddit just went ‘dark’, and the site is in chaos Reddit is in chaos – and it’s CEO has finally responded Reddit’s blackout protest is set to continue indefinitely Reddit down amid major protest Popular Reddit app Apollo shuts down as site’s users revolt against it
2023-06-17 00:14
Get a 2018 Chromebook for just $107
TL;DR: As of October 14, get this refurbished HP Chromebook 14 G5 for only $106.99
2023-10-14 17:00
Key Thai Party Won’t Join Pita’s Coalition Over Monarchy Stance
The bid of Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Thailand’s opposition group Move Forward, to form a coalition government hit
2023-05-18 11:29
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