
Venture capital funding plunges globally in first half despite AI frenzy
By Krystal Hu Venture capital funding globally almost halved in the first six months of 2023, data from
1970-01-01 08:00

Tesla and Chinese Rivals Signal Truce After Brutal EV Price War
Tesla Inc. and China’s top electric-vehicle makers including BYD Co. pledged to maintain fair competition and avoid “abnormal
1970-01-01 08:00

Thief breaks into California wine shop through its roof and steals rare, expensive bottles, store says
Police in Southern California are investigating a theft at a high-end wine shop where, according to the store, a burglar drilled a hole into its roof, descended via rope and stole around 600 bottles of wine and liquor worth over $500,000.
1970-01-01 08:00

Captured Russian soldiers tell of low morale, disarray and horrors of trench warfare
For three days, shells and mortars were "flying and whistling overhead, exploding around us," Anton, a Russian soldier positioned south of Bakhmut, tells CNN. "We were jumping like rabbits under mortar rounds and bombs."
1970-01-01 08:00

Abortion numbers in Indiana drop amid ‘fear and uncertainty’ of possible state ban
The number of abortions being performed in Indiana has fallen significantly in advance of the implementation of the state’s abortion ban at the beginning of August, state reports showed. Indiana, for now, remains one of a handful of states in the Midwest that does not have any major restrictions on abortion. But that is about to change, following a state Supreme Court ruling that the ban passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature last year does not violate the state constitution. That ban is now set to take effect on the first day of next month, at which point abortion will be almost completely banned in the state. The Associated Press first reported on the falling abortion numbers. It’s a seismic shift from last year, when the number of abortions performed in Indiana increased by 22 per cent – the numbers were boosted by patients from states like Kentucky and Ohio who travelled to the state to receive care after their home states passed bans. Of the 9,529 abortions performed in Indiana in 2022, 1,827 people came from other states to receive care. But the month-by-month numbers tell a somewhat different story. The monthly abortion rate dropped by a third or more in the final months of last year as the state’s abortion ban briefly took effect before it was blocked by a court order. This year, in advance of the looming ban, the number of abortions being performed in the state has continued to fall off. Observers believe that decline has happened in part due to the fact that people are fearful and anxious about the looming ban. “We have seen a lot of fear and a lot of misunderstanding of patients who believe that abortion access has been restricted and isn’t available in Indiana,” Dr Amy Caldwell, an Indianapolis obstetrician who performs abortions for Planned Parenthood, said last week. She said anxiety has increased among those who do not understand the legal battle taking place in the state. Two of the seven clinics that provide abortions in Indiana, a Planned Parenthood facility in Indianapolis and a Whole Woman’s Health Center in South Bend, also reported performing no abortions during the first three months of the year. The Whole Woman’s Health Center has closed, while Planned Parenthood cited staff training issues for its gap in care. That facility told the Associated Press that it is now performing abortions again. Indiana residents may soon, however, have to travel to other states to receive abortion care. Abortion remains legal in neighbouring Illinois and Michigan as well as Minnesota and Pennsylvania further afield. It also remains legal for the time being in Iowa, though a possible special session of the state legislature could change that later this year. The splintering of the abortion landscape following the reversal of Roe v Wade by the Supreme Court last year has created a scenario in which certain areas of the country lack access to abortion care while the status quo in other areas has remained largely unchanged. Every state in the southeast, for instance, has passed an abortion ban – though South Carolina’s ban for now remains blocked in court. Read More Iowa's Republican governor calls a special legislative session to revive abortion restrictions Ohio man guilty of raping a 9-year-old who traveled for legal abortion gets life sentence US prepares for potential end of Roe v Wade - live When will there be a Roe v Wade decision? Why these prosecutors are refusing to enforce anti-abortion laws
1970-01-01 08:00

Authorities are on the hunt for a Humvee stolen from a National Guard armory in Northern California
California Highway Patrol officers are on the hunt for a green military vehicle stolen from a National Guard armory north of San Francisco on Monday.
1970-01-01 08:00

Man accused of raping and impregnating child in Ohio is sentenced to life in prison after guilty plea
A man accused of impregnating an Ohio child -- a girl who then went to Indiana for an abortion in a case that became a flashpoint in debates about post-Roe v. Wade abortion rights -- was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to rape, according to court documents.
1970-01-01 08:00

France riots: Fuelled by everyday discrimination
Algerian journalist Maher Mezahi writes about the riots that swept through France.
1970-01-01 08:00

Trump fundraising doubles to $35m amid growing legal woes, report says
Donald Trump’s increasingly serious legal problems are translating into a cash boom for his third presidential campaign, a staffer told Politico this week. The campaign is due to release official fundraising numbers by the end of the month, per an upcoming Federal Election Commission (FEC) deadline. But a campaign official familiar with the matter provided the eye-popping sum to Politico: $34m, a haul that puts him firmly on top of the GOP primary field, dollars-wise, and depicts a campaign picking up steam as Mr Trump apparently solidifies his support base within the GOP primary voter population. In the first quarter of 2023, Mr Trump’s campaign had presented a fundraising total of $18.8m — impressive, but not nearly as high as his latest quarter. However, a greater share of donations is now being diverted to the Save America PAC, the twice-indicted former president’s vessel for outside spending that has fronted the bulk of his legal costs in recent months. Previous news reports indictated that the donation levers were pulled on Mr Trump’s WinRed donation page to divert as much as 10 per cent of every donation to the Save America PAC, up from just 1 per cent of every gift earlier this year. The total is likely to bolster Mr Trump’s argument against Republican candidates like primary rival Will Hurd who have argued that Mr Trump’s legal problems will jeopardise his chances of winning a general election against President Joe Biden. While polling backs up Mr Hurd’s assertion at present, the Trump campaign’s war chest will prove a counter-argument that paints the former president as the candidate with GOP voter enthusiasm and the funding necessary to wage an effective general election campaign. Mr Trump faces a growing field of GOP rivals, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, and his former vice president, Mike Pence. But he has remained dominant across polling of the field for months, even amid his two criminal indictments for allegedly falsifying business records in New York and the alleged illegal retention of classfied materials at Mar-a-Lago. The legal pressure mounting against the former president is likely to escalate in the coming weeks, given the two investigations known to be currently ongoing involving him and his closest advisers. Officials in Fulton County, Georgia are weighing whether to bring criminal indictments against Mr Trump and members of his legal team over their efforts to alter the lawful election results in that state, while the Department of Justice has been reported by The Independent to be weighing a superceding indictment charging Mr Trump with dozens of offences related to the January 6 attack and his related efforts to block Joe Biden’s election victory. Read More Judge's order limits government contact with social media operators, raises disinformation questions Special counsel Jack Smith subpoenas Arizona Secretary of State’s office in January 6 probe Trump attorney who was key to election conspiracies retires from legal practice
1970-01-01 08:00

South Africa: Suspected gas leak leaves 16 dead
The leak in a shanty town near Johannesburg is linked to illegal gold mining in the area.
1970-01-01 08:00

Tennessee lawmaker raised $860k in campaign donations after Republican expulsion over gun control protest
State Representative Justin Pearson of Tennessee said he raised $860,000 after he was expelled from the state legislature after participating in a gun control protest on the House floor. Mr Pearson, who represents a district in Memphis, was one of three Democratic legislators who faced expolsion from the chamber after their participation in a protest sparked by a mass shooting that claimed six lives at a Nashville school in March. But the explosion of Mr Pearson and Rep Justin Jones seems to have backfired on the Republican majority in several ways. Mr Pearson and Mr Jones were both re-appointed to their seats, and now Mr Pearson has revealed the effect his brief expolsion from the chamber had on his fundraising. Mr Pearson recieved donations from more than 31,000 people, the majority of whom donated in the week between his expulsion and his reinstatement by a unanimous vote of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners. The amount of money Mr Pearson recieved is all the more notable because Tennessee legislators are barred from fundraising during legislative sessions. “To see so much support, particularly from these tens of thousands of small-dollar donations, is a testament to what I believe is a people-powered movement, which is that we all have something to contribute, and our little bits of contribution makes a lot,” Mr Pearson told the Associated Press. Now, however, Mr Pearson has the kind of money in his campaign coffers that some state legislators never amass. The 28-year-old graduate of Bowdoin College, only raised around $144,000 during his successful campaign for the state House earlier this year. The Associated Press reported that the entire Tennessee House Democratic Caucus only raised around $233,000 during the 2022 election year. But that was a long time ago. When Republicans singled out Mr Pearson, Mr Jones, and Rep Gloria Johnson for their participation in the gun control protest, they quickly elevated them to national stardom. Mr Pearson, Mr Jones, and Ms Johnson became consistent presences on national television, visited the White House, and made appearances outside of Tennessee. National Democrats like Sen Chris Murphy of Connecticut helped fundraise. Now, given his considerable profile and youth, Mr Pearson has been mentioned as a potential rising star in a Tennessee Democratic Party that has fallen on hard times in recent years. It’s a remarkable rise for an environmental activist who wasn’t even in elected office until January. Read More After expulsion and reinstatement, Tennessee Reps. Pearson, Jones advance past Democratic primaries In Tennessee, expulsions echo a decades-old protest movement
1970-01-01 08:00

Can 'good cop' Janet Yellen help fix US-China relations?
The US Treasury secretary's trip to Beijing comes as tensions between the two countries remain high.
1970-01-01 08:00