List of All Articles with Tag 'rl'

A small amount of white powder which authorities now believe is cocaine was found in the White House on Sunday, according to multiple media reports. The US Secret Service began an investigation after the substance was discovered Sunday evening. A source familiar told the newspaper that preliminary testing revealed the powder to be cocaine. Separately, The Daily Mail reported that the powder had been found in the library of the White House — an area frequented by many staffers as well as some tours. A source with knowledge of the situation characterised the area where it was found as a work area of the West Wing. Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service’s chief spokesman, told The Independent on Monday that agents were beginning “an investigation into the cause and manner” of how the powder entered the White House. He added that it was discovered during a routine sweep of the room. “On Sunday evening, the White House complex went into a precautionary closure as officers from the Secret Service Uniformed Division investigated an unknown item found inside a work area. The DC Fire Department was called to evaluate and quickly determined the item to be non-hazardous. The item was sent for further evaluation and an investigation into the cause and manner of how it entered the White House is pending,” said Mr Guglielmi said. The president was not in the residence at the time of the investigation, according to the spokesman. Mr Biden spent the weekend at the Camp David residence, returning to Washington on Monday for an event with the National Education Association. Read More Watch live: Joe Biden addresses teachers and representatives of National Education Association Trump marks Independence Day by sharing vulgar attack on Biden and ominous 2024 warning Rudy Giuliani grilled by prosecutors about 'shouting match' in fight to overturn election

Jazz Chisholm is facing another extended absence, and the second of the season for the Miami Marlins is quickly turning sour.If someone had told you on April 1 that the Miami Marlins would be in second place in the NL East on July 4, you wouldn't have believed them. But here they are, at 49...

Spain is confident Sweden and Turkey will break an impasse for the Nordic country to join the North

Global temperatures hit a record on Monday, underscoring the dangers of ever-increasing carbon emissions generated from burning fossil

ONGC Videsh Ltd. is reconsidering taking a stake in Tullow Oil Plc’s Kenya assets following the exit of

Troubled Swedish landlord Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB sold its entire stake in sector peer Heba Fastighets AB in

Erling Haaland has equalled the record for the most expensive player on Fantasy Premier League at the start of a season. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie have been worth such an amount at the beginning of a campaign before.

Bahrain plans to invest £1 billion in the UK and will strengthen ties related to financial services as

A financial firm linked to Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform has reached an $18m settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to bring an end to the investigation into its merger with the company. Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) announced the tentative settlement on Monday, saying that the payment would “remove the cloud of uncertainty lingering over DWAC and would allow DWAC to move forward in achieving its objective of delivering a strategic merger”. The SEC had been looking into whether DWAC held talks with Truth Social’s parent company before going public, which would be a violation of certain antifraud provisions of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. The settlement means once DWAC has paid the civil penalty it can move forward with the merger, which would see Truth Social become a public company. News of the settlement comes after three people involved in the merger were indicted for insider trading last week. Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman and Bruce Garelick were named in a federal indictment unsealed last Thursday (29 June) in Manhattan federal court. All three were charged with trading in securities of Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC) based on non-public information about the company’s planned business combination with Trump Media & Technology Group — founded by former president Mr Trump — the parent company of social media platform Truth Social. They were arrested on Thursday morning in Florida. In 2021, the three investors were invited to invest in DWAC and another SPAC. After signing non-disclosure agreements, they were provided with confidential information, including the planned deal with Trump Media. They were prohibited from using this knowledge in the open market. According to the indictment, after making initial investments into DWAC through the initial public offering process, Mr Garelick was given a seat on the board of directors, which gave him access to valuable non-public information about the planned merger. He provided these updates to his co-conspirators, calling it “intelligence”. The defendants bought millions of dollars of DWAC securities on the open market before the news of the Trump Media business combination was public. In addition to their own purchases, they also passed the information to their friends on a trip to Las Vegas, to Michael Shvartsman’s neighbours, and to Gerald Shvartsman’s employees at a furniture supply store. After DWAC’s merger with Trump Media was announced publicly on 20 October 2021, the stock and warrant holdings significantly increased in value. The defendants and the individuals they tipped then sold their DWAC securities for a significant profit. Michael Shvartsman and Bruce Garelick have been charged with five counts of securities fraud under Title 15, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; Gerald Shvartsman has been charged with three counts. All three defendants have also been charged with one count of securities fraud under Title 18, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison; and one count of conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Read More Trump news – live: Truth Social SPAC agrees to SEC settlement as Trump’s past comments on indictment resurface Why isn’t Twitter working? How Elon Musk finally broke his site – and why the internet might be about to get worse Trump mocked for ‘weird apocalyptic’ campaign video Trump marks Independence Day by sharing vulgar attack on Biden Truth Social SPAC reaches SEC settlement as Trump indictment comments reemerge – live Trump sparks speculation by ranting about ‘charges against me’ in Georgia

Russians are “united as never before,” Vladimir Putin said at his first international summit since an armed revolt that briefly triggered fears of a coup. “Solidarity and responsibility for the fate of the fatherland was clearly shown,” he said, “by the entire society by standing as a united front against the attempted armed rebellion.” He was speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting, hosted via videoconference by India and one of the few remaining global platforms where he can get a sympathetic hearing. It was founded by Russia and China to counter western alliances, and also welcomed Iran as a new member, bringing its membership to nine. On a video link from the Kremlin, Mr Putin thanked the SCO for supporting Moscow during the short-lived mutiny mounted by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, and said the West has turned Ukraine into “a virtually hostile state - anti-Russia.” It came as Russia's military claimed to have fended off a Ukrainian drone attack that briefly forced the closure of one of Moscow’s airports. Four out of the five drones were downed by air defences and the fifth was jammed and forced down, the defence ministry said. Flights were disrupted at Moscow's Vnukovo airport and arrivals diverted to others in the city. Ukrainian forces continue to probe Russian defences in the south and the east of the country in the initial stages of a counteroffensive. They are up against minefields, anti-tank ditches and other obstacles, as well as layered defensive lines reportedly up to 12 miles deep in some places as they try to dislodge Russian occupiers. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's Security and Defence Council, claimed that the last few days of fighting have been particularly “fruitful,” though he provided no evidence for his claim. Western analysts say the counteroffensive, even if it prospers, will not end the war which started with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russia, meanwhile, has continued its missile and drone barrage deep behind the frontline. Shelling of Pervomaiskyi, in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, wounded 31 civilians. Nine children, including two babies, were among the wounded. Meanwhile, tearful mourners filled one of Kyiv's main cathedrals to honour a prominent Ukrainian writer and war-crimes researcher killed in a Russian missile strike on a cafe. Victoria Amelina, 37, died from injuries in a 27 June attack on a restaurant packed with civilians in Kramatorsk. "She was a real crusader for truth. She was extraordinarily persistent," Roman Avramenko, executive director of Truth Hounds, an NGO that documents Russian war crimes, told reporters after the service. A wide array of writers, journalists and other public intellectuals streamed into the golden-domed St. Michael's Cathedral to pay tribute. Relatives and friends broke down as they filed past Amelina's coffin. It came as armed masked men attacked and seriously injured a prominent female Russian journalist. Yelena Milashina, a journalist for Novaya Gazeta, was travelling to Grozny, Chechnya from the local airport with a lawyer when they were attacked. "It was a classic kidnapping... They pinned (our driver) down, threw him out of his car, got in, bent our heads down, tied my hands, knelt me down there, and put a gun to my head," Milashina told Mansur Soltayev, a Chechen human rights official. Memorial, a rights group outlawed in Russia, said the pair had been “brutally kicked, including in the face, threatened with death, had a gun held to their heads, and had their equipment taken away and smashed.” Separately, the Kremlin has opened the door for talks with the US over a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich - but said they must be held away from the public eye. “We have said that there have been certain contacts on the subject but we don't want them to be discussed in public,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Mr Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip and is being held at Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary He was the CIA whiz kid in 'Charlie Wilson's War.' His new book offers advice for the US in Ukraine. Putin claims Russia more united than ever just days after Wagner’s failed mutiny AP News Digest 7 am

The head of Britain’s water regulator said Thames Water is likely to need “substantial” funds to turn itself

Usually, my best MLB prop bets are all about pitchers, but today we’re taking a different approach in one game, looking at a team total in the Houston Astros-Colorado Rockies matchup.For those looking for pitcher props, don’t worry, I have a plus-money prop from DraftKings Sportsbook...