Eskom Slaps Conditions on Emergency Bidders to Stop Grid Hogging
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. has imposed conditions to access the national grid on 1,850 megawatts worth of projects
1970-01-01 08:00
Niger power blackouts blamed on coup sanctions
Nigeria reportedly cuts electricity supplies to increase pressure on the military junta.
1970-01-01 08:00
Italy announces special tourist trains and 'cruise' rail routes
FS Treni Turistici Italiani (Italian tourist trains) will offer services geared towards tourism, from vintage rides and fast tourist routes to "cruise trains" stopping at various destinations across a set period of time.
1970-01-01 08:00
Japanese social media users are posting 9/11 memes in response to Barbenheimer
The release of Barbie and Oppenheimer films on the same day sparked a "Barbenheimer" meme frenzy - but this has caused upset in Japan as people have responded by posting 9/11 memes. Social media has been flooded with the clashing pink aesthetic of Barbie and the dark aesthetic of Oppenheimer, along with edits that combine the two films which has also resulted in a load of new merchandise and brand collaborations. A US account for the Barbie movie even responded to a graphic of both Cillian Murphy carrying Margot Robbie through a burning city with the caption: “It’s going to be a summer to remember.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter However, some have expressed how this trend is insensitive to Japan as the memes created are based on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs that took place 77 years ago during World War II, killing an estimated 129,000 to 226,000 people. The Japanese people have since responded to Barbenheimer with their own hashtag #NoBarbenheimer and have now created edits of their own using photos from 9/11 and adding the Barbie aesthetic. "The atomic bomb should not be used as a meme and turned into a comedy," one person said. "Do you know how many people were brutally murdered by the atomic bomb? Will "Barbie" advertise the Holocaust as well? Shame on you." Another person wrote: "It is too gross and absolutely horrifying to find those people making fun of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki AND the official Barbie Movie account approves them. This is totally inhumane!" Warner Bros Japan also noted their disappointment at Barbenheimer tweets. “We find it extremely regrettable that the official account of the American headquarters for the movie Barbie reacted to the social media postings of ‘Barbenheimer’ fans," it wrote. "We take this situation very seriously. We are asking the US headquarters to take appropriate action. We apologise to those who were offended by this series of inconsiderate reactions.” This led Warner Bros US to issue an apology for engaging with the memes. “Warner Brothers regrets its recent insensitive social media engagement. The studio offers a sincere apology,” they wrote on their official account. 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.
1970-01-01 08:00
Sydney Sweeney shares sweet rare footage of Angus Cloud in tribute to co-star
Sydney Sweeney has shared rare camera roll footage of Angus Cloud as she paid tribute to her Euphoria co-star following the news of his passing. The clip, posted to Instagram, shows Cloud holding up a lighter and dancing to Alicia Keys' 'Empire State Of Mind'. "This heartache is real and I wish we could've had one more hug and 711 run. All my love is with you," she wrote. Cloud passed away on Monday (31 July) aged 25. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
1970-01-01 08:00
Island Boys claim kissing twin brother is ‘not that big of a deal’ following backlash
Island Boys, who went viral in 2021 for their catchy TikTok song, have said their make-out session is "really not disgusting" and not "that big of a deal" because they're twins. It comes after the pair shared a disturbing clip of them kissing last month to mark the arrival of their OnlyFans account. The pair, Kodiyakredd (Franky Venegas) and Flyysoulja (Alex Venegas), have now appeared on Adam22's podcast where they discussed the backlash. Adam asked whether the pair were disgusted by the idea, before sharing that the thought of kissing his friend is really unappealing to him. "We're twin brothers, we came out of the womb together, we grew up together. It's not really disgusting if it's twins," Kodiyakredd responded. "Your friend, you don't really know him like that." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter They continued: "We kind of just made out or whatever, we kissed and then we just like look the other way for a few minutes and couldn't like, look at each other, but it wasn't that big of a deal – just a kiss." The clip was inundated with comments from Instagram users, with one writing: "Florida does not claim or associate with this in any shape way or form…" "Instagram needs a dislike button asap," another added, while a third commented: "Clout is one hell of a drug is all ima say…" Meanwhile, one person penned: "This is what happens when attention and clout becomes more important than anything else to people, they’ll literally do anything to try and maintain the spotlight. If they hadn’t done that Adam wouldn’t even be interviewing them right now." He went on to say "We're still heterosexual," despite Flyysoulja "coming out" during a TikTok Live. According to Dexerto, the viral star turned to TikTok Live where he said: "I’m a top, I’m never a bottom, I’m a top you understand what I’m saying?" "I’m like that, for real. You gotta support me because you feel me: I like men and it is what it is. I’m a top, but I’m a top at the end of the day that’s just what’s going on." "You guys support me, because you feel me," he continued. "I like men. It is what it is. I’m a top. I’m a top at the end of the day. That’s what’s going on." 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.
1970-01-01 08:00
Who are Trump’s six alleged co-conspirators in the 2020 election probe case?
Donald Trump has been hit with his third indictment – this time for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election in an attempt to thwart the vote of the American people. A grand jury, which has spent months hearing evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, returned a federal indictment on Tuesday. The former president was charged with four counts of: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. While the former president is the only person charged, the indictment refers to six co-conspirators who worked with him to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The six individuals – four attorneys, one Justice Department official and one political consultant – have not been named in the charging documents because they have not yet been charged with any crimes. However, based on the details in the indictment and records already known about the events leading up to the Capitol riot, the identities of five of the six co-conspirators are clear. Co-conspirator 1: Former New York City Mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani The individual known as co-conspirator number one appears to be former New York City Mayor and Mr Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani – who is widely-known to be a key player in Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The indictment refers to co-conspirator 1 as an “attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the Defendant’s 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not”. Multiple quotes attributed to co-conspirator 1 match those previously attributed to the former New York City mayor. On 6 January 2021, co-conspirator 1 left a voicemail for a US senator, according to the indictment. “We need you, our Republican friends, to try to just slow it down so we can get these legislatures to get more information to you,” he said. “I know they’re reconvening at 8 tonight, but it … the only strategy we can follow is to object to numerous states and raise issues so that we get ourselves into tomorrow – ideally until the end of tomorrow.” The quotes match a previously-obtained transcript of a call made by Mr Guiliani to Senator Tommy Tuberville that day. Mr Giuliani’s attorney Robert Costelllo acknowledged to The New York Times that it “appears that Mayor Giuliani is alleged to be co-conspirator No. 1”. He went on to denounce the indictment as “election interference” and a violation of the first amendment. Mr Giuliani railed against the historic indictment in an appearance on Newsmax on Tuesday night. “The people lying are the people bringing this… They should be indicted for conspiracy against rights,” he fumed. Co-conspirator 2: Former Trump lawyer John Eastman Co-conspirator 2 – described in the indictment as an “attorney who devised and attempted to implement a strategy to leverage the Vice President’s ceremonial role overseeing the certification proceeding to obstruct the certification of the presidential election” – appears to be Mr Trump’s former lawyer John Eastman. Mr Eastman can be identified through the mention of co-conspirator 2 writing a “two-page memorandum” falsely outlining how then-vice president Mike Pence could overturn the 2020 presidential election on January 6. This memo was first reported in Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s book “Peril” before Mr Eastman himself released a longer six-page memo to the media laying out his claims. Beyond the memo, quotes cited to co-conspirator 2 match quotes of Mr Eastman previously revealed in court in Georgia, including an email which read:“Although the President signed a verification for... back on Dec. 1, he has since been made aware that some of the allegations... has been inaccurate,” the email read. “For him to sign a new verification with that knowledge... would not be accurate.” Mr Eastman’s lawyer released a statement on Tuesday night where he slammed the indictment and ruled out any possibility that he could take a plea deal. The indictment is “a misleading presentation of the record to contrive criminal charges against Presidential candidate Trump and to cast ominous aspersions on his close advisors,” attorney Charles Burnham said in a statement. “If Dr. Eastman is indicted, he will go to trial. If convicted, he will appeal.” Co-conspirator 3: Former Trump “Kraken” lawyer Sidney Powell Co-conspirator 3 is described in the indictment as “an attorney whose unfounded claims of election fraud the Defendant privately acknowledged to others sounded ‘crazy’” – a description that appears to match Sidney Powell. Former Mr Trump lawyer Ms Powell mounted what she claimed to be a “Kraken” case against the election results – a case which would blow up the case that President Joe Biden won. However, her case did no such thing and was actually filled with conspiracy theories. The indictment alleges that co-conspirator 3 filed a lawsuit against Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on 25 November 2020 alleging that there was “massive election fraud”. The lawsuit was then dismissed on 7 December 2021. The dates and details of this lawsuit matches the federal lawsuit Ms Powell filed against Mr Kemp. Co-conspirator 4: Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark Jeffrey Clark, a former top Justice Department official under Donald Trump, appears to be the individual named only as co-conspirator 4. The indictment describes co-conspirator 4 as “a Justice Department official who worked on civil matters and who, with the Defendant, attempted to use the Justice Department to open sham election crime investigations and influence state legislatures with knowingly false claims of election fraud”. In the charging document, prosecutors describe several encounters and documents involving Mr Clark which were previously detailed in the final report released by the House Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot. One of these was a meeting between Mr Trump and co-conspirator 4 at the White House on 22 December 2020. This meeting – which was allegedly a violation of DOJ policy “restricting contacts with the White House to guard against improper political influence”. The charging document and the Jan 6 report also refer to the same letter sent by co-conspirator 4 claiming that the DOJ had identified “significant concerns” that may have impacted the outcome of the election. Co-conspirator 5: Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro Co-conspirator 5 is described in the indictment as “an attorney who assisted in devising and attempting to implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding”. That attorney appears to be attorney and Mr Trump ally Kenneth Chesebro. Mr Chesebro’s actions as well as specific quotes from documents from the January 6 committee report match up precisely with that of co-conspirator 5. On 13 December 2020, Mr Chesebro sent an email to Mr Giuliani outlining the fake electors plot. That same email was detailed in the January 6 report and cited as being sent by Mr Chesebro. Co-conspirator 6: Mystery political consultant Co-conspirator 6 is the only individual whose identity remains a mystery. The indictment describes them as a “political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding”. It states that back on 7 December 2020, the political consultant spoke with co-conspirator 1 – identified as Rudy Giuliani – and handed him a list of attorneys in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin who he believed could help with the fake elector scheme in their respective states. Read More Trump indictment – live: Trump hit with 2020 election probe charges as he likens it to ‘Nazi persecution’ ‘Our country is more important than one man’, says Mike Pence as Trump indicted Criminal conspiracies and civil rights abuses: Trump charges to overturn 2020 election, explained Republicans rage against Jack Smith after latest indictment of Donald Trump Trump called Pence ‘too honest’ after vice president refused to join 2020 scheme Jesse Watters calls latest Trump indictment ‘political war crime’ on Fox News
1970-01-01 08:00
Talks resume with aim to end strike by writers unions
Hollywood studios on Tuesday asked the Writers Guild back to the negotiating table in the first known talks since the nearly 100-day strike brought production of most television shows and movies to a halt.
1970-01-01 08:00
Vermont man cited for negligence in crash that killed actor Treat Williams, police say
A Vermont man has been cited for negligence in the June vehicle crash that killed actor Treat Williams, state police said.
1970-01-01 08:00
BofA Joins Fed in Reversing Recession Call Amid Growing Optimism
Economists at Bank of America Corp. revoked their forecast for a recession in the US, becoming the first
1970-01-01 08:00
Carlyle Profit Slides 26% as New CEO Seeks Rebound
Carlyle Group Inc. reported a decline in second-quarter profit, underscoring the challenge facing new Chief Executive Officer Harvey
1970-01-01 08:00
Kraft Heinz misses quarterly forecasts as higher prices dent volumes
(Reuters) -Kraft Heinz missed quarterly sales and profit estimates on Wednesday as inflation-hit customers bought fewer packaged meals and condiments,
1970-01-01 08:00
