Auckland Airport to Double Airline Charges to Fund New Terminal
New Zealand’s busiest airport plans to double the fees it charges airlines over the next four years as
1970-01-01 08:00
Texas AG Paxton’s Impeachment Trial Draws Top Lawyers
Some of the most prominent legal minds in Texas have been recruited to argue in the impeachment trial
1970-01-01 08:00
Messi Move to Inter Miami Has MLS Tickets Soaring at Resale Site
Ticket prices to attend Inter Miami’s road matches are soaring since Lionel Messi announced plans to join the
1970-01-01 08:00
William Spriggs, Who Took Economists to Task on Race, Dies at 68
William Spriggs, the AFL-CIO chief economist and outspoken critic of how the profession has addressed racial disparities in
1970-01-01 08:00
World Bank to conduct rapid assessment of damages after destruction of Ukraine dam
WASHINGTON The World Bank will support Ukraine by conducting a rapid assessment of damages and needs after the
1970-01-01 08:00
Trump’s ex-adviser Steve Bannon subpoenaed by Jack Smith’s Jan 6 probe, says report
Donald Trump’s former White House adviser Steve Bannon has been subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith as part of a grand jury in his investigation into the January 6 insurrection, says a report. The Washington DC grand jury is separate from the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home after he left the White House. The subpoena is for both documents and testimony and was sent out in late May, sources told NBC News. Bannon was convicted in July 2022 on two charges of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the congressional January 6 committee. In October US District Judge Carl Nichols sentenced Bannon to four months in federal prison, but the sentence was suspended while he appeals his conviction. The former chairman of Breitbart News served in the Trump administration for its first seven months before leaving. Read More Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement
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Mapped: The damage caused by Ukraine’s devastated dam
War-torn Ukraine is reeling from the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which saw its reservoir burst causing chaos for miles around. The catastrophe on Tuesday forced thousands of residents of nearby towns and villages to evacuate their homes as the floodwater barrelled towards them and left some climbing onto rooftops or into trees to escape the raging torrents. Hundreds of thousands more have been left without access to clean drinking water in the region as a result of the eco-disaster on the Dnipro River, prompting relief workers to rush fresh supplies to the area as they struggle with the problems of mass resettlement. While the official tallies report that over 2,700 people have fled from flooded areas on both the Ukrainian and Russian-controlled sides of the river, a true picture of the disaster has yet to emerge given that more than 60,000 people live in the vicinity. Kyiv has blamed Russia for deliberately destroying the Soviet-era infrastructure, with Moscow, inevitably, protesting its innocence and contemptuously suggesting that Ukrainian saboteurs are responsible. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has called the incident “a war crime” and the “largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades”. Russia would certainly appear to have the most to gain from the disaster and President Zelensky did warn as long ago as last November that he believed enemy soldiers had mined the dam and were plotting its destruction. He reiterated that stance in a tweet on Tuesday: “It is physically impossible to blow it up somehow from the outside, by shelling. It was mined by the Russian occupiers. And they blew it up.” For now though, the priority remains coming to the aid of the stricken people of Kherson. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov has warned of the threat to their wellbeing posed by hazardous chemicals and infectious diseases carried by the water as well as from landmines previously placed near the war’s frontline, which have been disturbed by the floods and are now likely to explode. The water in the reservoir feeds a wide area of southern Ukrainian farmland, including the annexed peninsula of Crimea, as well as providing all-important cooling water to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, lying nearby as indicated on the map below. A United Nations nuclear watchdog has attempted to reassure the public by saying that there is “no immediate risk” to the plant, even if it were to run out of water for its cooling systems. There is no such good news for the region’s farmers, however, with the flooding expected to spell instant disaster for this year’s harvest: crops are likely to be washed away, fields left waterlogged and livestock drowned in water that is at serious risk of being contaminated by machine oil, already seen gushing into the Dnipro. The depleted reservoir is also considered unlikely to be able to supply adequate irrigation to the surrounding fields for several years to come, a huge setback for Ukraine’s eventual hopes of economic recovery. All of which is also likely to have consequences for a global food market that has increasingly relied upon Ukraine for the supply of agricultural produce since the end of the Cold War. “There is no doubt that this will lead to large-scale environmental, economic and human consequences,” Mykhailo Podolyak, a chief adviser to President Zelenksy, told The Independent. “The instantaneous death of a large number of fish and animals, the waterlogging of drained lands, and the change in the climatic regime of the region, will later be reflected in the food security of the world. “A one-time reduction of water in a huge reservoir will lead to unpredictable ecological consequences.” Mr Podolyak warned that he expected the floodwaters to reach Mykolaiv, lying 56 miles from the dam and decried the drowning of the entire population of animals at the Kazkova Dibrova zoo on the Russian-held eastern bank of the river as particularly tragic. President Zelensky has already rebuked the officials installed by Moscow to run occupied territories along that bank for failing to respond adequately to the emergency. The Russian authorities he criticised have conceded that they have evacuated fewer than 1,300 people so far in an area where as many as 40,000 people were said to be affected. That compared unfavourably with the estimated 1,700 evacuated on the Ukrainian side to the west, where the population was reportedly around 42,000. According to the independent Russian news outlet Vyorstka, residents of the Moscow-run village of Oleshky, for one, remain stranded, the publisher quoting one woman as saying that her mother, who could not make it to the roof, was in the water clutching a ladder. A volunteer confirmed to Vyorstka that those still awaiting evacuation included children and disabled people. Civilians in Kherson itself were seen clutching personal belongings as they waded through knee-deep water in the streets and rode rubber rafts. Video on social media showed rescuers carrying others to safety and what looked like the triangular roof of a building floating downstream. Aerial footage showed flooded streets in the Russian-controlled city of Nova Kakhovska itself, where Mayor Vladimir Leontyev said seven people were missing, although they were believed to be alive. But perhaps most striking of all has been the aerial shots of the region captured by Maxar Technologies, which give the fullest picture of the damage done seen so far. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Ukraine-Russia war news – live: Exploding mines float through floodwater after Kherson dam attack Massive destruction after Ukraine dam collapse revealed in new satellite images Watch view of flooding in Kherson after destruction of Dnipro river dam The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
1970-01-01 08:00
Container Ships See Widespread Delays at California’s Main Ports
Almost every container ship at the biggest import gateway in the US is seeing delayed departures or is
1970-01-01 08:00
NYC Smoke Upends Outdoor Fun From Central Park to Yankee Stadium
The smoke has ruined a perfectly good night for outdoor activities in New York City. There won’t be
1970-01-01 08:00
Flood of US Renewable Projects Risks ‘Breaking’ Power Markets
The potential for a flood of US renewable projects driven by new tax incentives is at risk of
1970-01-01 08:00
Trump reacts with fury at news of possible indictment in classified documents case: ‘I’ve done NOTHING wrong’
Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to share his furious reaction to the news that prosecutors are ready to ask a Washington, DC grand jury to indict him for violating the Espionage Act and for obstruction of justice. The charges may drop as soon as tomorrow, further complicating Mr Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House. “No one has told me I’m being indicted, and I shouldn’t be because I’ve done NOTHING wrong, but I have assumed for years that I am a Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI, starting with the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX, the ‘No Collusion’ Mueller Report, Impeachment HOAX #1, Impeachment HOAX #2, the PERFECT Ukraine phone call, and various other SCAMS & WITCH HUNTS. A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE & ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE. REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS MUST MAKE THIS THEIR # 1 ISSUE!!!” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday afternoon. The Independent reported earlier on Wednesday that prosecutors are ready to ask grand jurors to approve an indictment against Mr Trump for violating a portion of the US criminal code known as Section 793, which prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defence”. It is understood that prosecutors intend to ask grand jurors to vote on the indictment on Thursday, but that vote could be delayed as much as a week until the next meeting of the grand jury to allow for a complete presentation of evidence, or to allow investigators to gather more evidence for presentation if necessary. Mr Trump also quoted a line from a report by Trump ally John Solomon of Just The News: “An American Bar Association report in 2022 seemed to agree with Trump’s assertion that ‘guidelines support his contention that presidents have broad authority to formally declassify.’” On 5 June, Mr Trump went on an all-capitalised rant about the classified documents case, writing: “HOW CAN DOJ POSSIBLY CHARGE ME, WHO DID NOTHING WRONG, WHEN NO OTHER PRESIDENT’S WERE CHARGED, WHEN JOE BIDEN WON’T BE CHARGED FOR ANYTHING, INCLUDING THE FACT THAT HE HAS 1,850 BOXES, MUCH OF IT CLASSIFIED, AND SOME DATING BACK TO HIS SENATE DAY WHEN EVEN DEMOCRAT SENATORS ARE SHOCKED.” “ALSO, PRESIDENT CLINTON HAD DOCUMENTS, AND WON IN COURT. CROOKED HILLARY DELETED 33,000 EMAILS, MANY CLASSIFIED, AND WASN’T EVEN CLOSE TO BEING CHARGED! ONLY TRUMP - THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!” he added in the post on Monday. More follows...
1970-01-01 08:00
GameStop Fires Its CEO, Names Ryan Cohen Executive Chairman
GameStop Corp. fired Matt Furlong, its chief executive officer of the past two years, and said Chairman Ryan
1970-01-01 08:00
