List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

Rudy Farias returned home the day after he went missing in 2015, and despite “numerous” false statements being made to police no charges are planned, the Houston police say. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner told a press conference on Thursday that police interviews with Mr Farias and his mother Janie Santana on Wednesday had found no evidence of sexual or abuse during the eight years he was supposedly missing. Mr Farias, 25, was reported missing in March 2015, and an open police investigation into his disappearance continued until his mother Ms Santana said he had been discovered outside a church in Houston, Texas on 29 June. However, Houston police said he was not in fact missing, and had given false names and date of births to avoid detection when spoken to by police. “Both Janie, Rudy’s mother, and Rudy himself gave fictitious names while interacting with various patrol officers,” Lieutenant Christopher Zamora, a detective with Houston Police Department (HPD)’s missing persons unit, told reporters. “After investigators talked with him yesterday, it was discovered that Rudy returned home the following day on March 8 2015. “Mother Janie continued to deceive police by remaining adamant that Rudy was still missing. She alleged her nephew was the person friends and family were coming and going.” Mr Zamora said the district attorney had declined to lay charges “at this time” for making fictitious reports to police. “Being missing is not a crime,” Mr Zamora told the press conference. Mr Farias, who was 17 when he was first reported missing, was considered an adult under Texas state law. Mr Zamora also contradicted claims made by Houston activist and counsellor Quanell X, who alleged that Mr Farias had suffered sexual and physical abuse during. “We do take all allegations seriously and any new information or facts that we receive will be investigated.” Read More Houston police deny Rudy Farias was abused by mother but confirm he was never missing - latest update Rudy Farias’ mother says she expects to be arrested amid bombshell claims she hid and abused him for years An eight-year search for Rudy Farias came to a miracle conclusion. But was he actually missing?

Mexico’s central bankers remained cautious and avoided discussing a timeline for interest rate cuts at their last meeting,

London’s Gatwick Airport Ltd. is seeking planning permission to bring its second runway into full-time use, potentially raising

USWNT star forward, Mallory Swanson teamed up with Gatorade to distribute the 2022-23 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year to Kennedy Fuller of Southlake Carroll High School. FanSided caught up with Swanson to hear more about the award, her rehab, and her thoughts on the World Cup.Sin...

Just days after failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake said she was considering a Senate run, Donald Trump’s advisers revealed that the former president has become disenchanted with her in recent months. Ms Lake announced on Saturday that she was weighing a Senate run, despite repeatedly losing legal challenges to her election loss. “Politics is gross. It’s a slimy business, but I think we need real people to be in it. And so I am contemplating running for office again,” she told Breitbart. According to The Daily Beast, the former president specifically found Ms Lake’s attempts to get attention distasteful. “She’s a shameless, ruthless demagogue who wants power and will do whatever she has to do to get it,” a Trump adviser told the publication. Ms Lake has tried to position herself as a potential contender to become Mr Trump’s pick for vice president—a tactic the former president also apparently did not appreciate. The former president doesn’t like how Ms Lake is “running around saying she should be VP,” an adviser told the outlet. “Tells you all you need to know that he did not make her his national spokeswoman,” they added. “She was an obvious choice.” Another adviser told The Daily Beast that the former president “sees through her gambit for the vice presidency.” An operative close to the Trump campaign also chimed in, telling the outlet: “I think she is an effective surrogate, but I’m not sure she will be a VP pick,” also suggesting that the Arizona Republican could serve as the former president’s press secretary if elected again. Despite the criticisms coming from Mr Trump’s orbit, a spokesperson for Ms Lake told the publication that the rumors were “pathetic attempts from Team DeSantis.” “MAGA world is more United [sic] than ever and ready to win big in 2024,” the spokesperson said. In June, reports emerged that the Arizona Republican was “couch-surfing” at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. “Kari Lake is there all the time,” a source told PEOPLE Magazine. “There’s a suite there that she practically lives in.” Ms Lake’s adviser responded to the news, telling The Independent: “This is a ridiculous story from a gossip tabloid that frankly we thought went out of business in the early 2000’s. Kari Lake often speaks at events all over the country in support of America First candidates and organizations; and when she does have the honor of being invited to speak at the beautiful Mar-a-Lago, she overnights at Hilton properties in Palm Beach with her loving husband of 25 years.” Read More Arizona election denier Kari Lake ‘couch-surfing like a bum’ at Mar-a-Lago, ex-Trump lawyer says Arizona Republican election official sues Kari Lake for defamation ‘This will escalate’: Kari Lake called out over incendiary threat to Biden admin after Trump indictment

A raid by Russian security services has revealed the colourful inside of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s lavish mansion in St Petersburg. A wardrobe full of wigs, gold bars and a stuffed alligator were among the many bizarre finds in photos and footage published by pro-Kremlin media outlet Izvestia. Officials are also said to have found assault weapons, ammunition and even a photograph allegedly showing the severed heads of the Wagner leader’s enemies. A lengthy indoor swimming pool complete with a bathing area, slides and even a jacuzzi can also be seen in the photographs, with the rooms lit up with what appear to be glass chandeliers. Elsewhere, the contents of a wardrobe show an array of wigs with colours ranging from grey to a mousy brown, with photos purportedly showing the Wagner chief wearing them as a disguise leaked to state-backed Russian Telegram channels. The photographs, apparently taken from Mr Prigozhin’s personal photo albums, appear to have been taken during trips to various African and Middle Eastern countries where Wagner have had a presence in recent years. Wagner was founded in 2014 and was involved in operations in Ukraine’s eastern regions. In subsequent years, it has fought in countries such as Syria, Libya, and the Central African Republic. In a programme called 60 Minutes, broadcast on the state-run Rossiya-1 TV channel, it was claimed that cash worth 600 million roubles (£5m) had been found in the Wagner chief’s properties. Mr Prigozhin has previously said that Wagner only dealt in cash, with Russian president Vladimir Putin recently admitting that the group was financed by the state. With the Russian president saying Wagner had received more than 86 billion rubles (£790bn) between May 2022 and May 2023 for wages and additional items. That had come out of the defence ministry and state budgets. For years prior to Mr Putin’s speech late last month the Kremlin had denied any links to the Wagner group. The programme also showed multiple passports under different names. “A normal person can’t have so many passports,” Petrov said. “Why did this person have such strange powers like the serious leader of some kind of criminal group.” On Thursday, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said that Prigozhin was no longer in Belarus, having brokered a deal last month to end an armed mutiny in Russia. His Wagner troops have remained at the camps they stayed in before an attempted mutiny against Moscow. “As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus”, Lukashenko told reporters, having said last week that Prigozhin was still in Belarus. Mr Prigozhin took control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on 24 June, seizing the command centre there and then taking a column of fighters towards Moscow before standing down after striking a deal broked by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Mr Putin. The agreement was meant to see Mr Prigozhin relocate to Belarus that criminal charges against him and Wagner over the attempted mutiny would be dropped. However, it was stated during the Rossiya-1 broadcast that “nobody planned to close this case... The investigation is ongoing.” Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Putin claims Russia is united than ever just days after Wagner troops march on Moscow Ukraine war – live: Exiled Wagner boss Prigozhin ‘back in Russia weeks after failed mutiny’ How many casualties has Russia suffered in Ukraine? Russian missile attack on Lviv, Ukraine, kills 3 people and wounds more, mayor says Devastating aftermath of deadly Lviv attack captured in drone footage

Crypto exchange Bitfinex said it worked with authorities to recover about $315,000 in cash and cryptocurrencies stolen in

Wisconsin Gov Tony Evers, a Democrat, used his line-item veto power to enact a state budget that increases spending for public schools for the next 400 years, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Mr Evers used the broad powers given to Wisconsin governors to strike a hyphen and the “20” from a reference to the 2024-2025 school year. The line-item veto will make sure that the limits that the state imposes on school districts on how much they are allowed to raise per student will increase by $325 until 2425. The line-item veto will table debates between the two parties during the budget-writing season. Republicans control the state legislature in Wisconsin. Mr Evers said that the move would “provide school districts with predictable long-term increases for the foreseeable future.” Mr Evers also used his line-item veto to nullify much of Republicans’ proposed $3.5m tax cut that would have mostly slashed taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents. But Robin Vos, the speaker of the state House, decried the move. “Legislative Republicans worked tirelessly over the last few months to block Governor Evers’ liberal tax and spending agenda. Unfortunately, because of his powerful veto authority, he reinstated some of it today,” he said in a statement. Dan Rossmiller, who represents the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, said that while the permanent annual funding was “certainly appreciated,” the additional funding could vary depending on the school district and that the rate might not meet or exceed inflation rates in some districts. “I wish the amount would have been higher,” he said. “With inflation at 40-year highs, it's really important to be able to attract and retain teachers and staff, and to be able to pay the increased costs of everything in a school district's budget.” Republicans likely could not override Mr Evers’s action since they lack a veto-proof majority in the state legislature. Read More Watch live: Trump aide Walt Nauta attends court on charges related to classified documents DeSantis doubles down on ‘homophobic’ anti-Trump ad: ‘Totally fair game’

In addition to supercharging the US solar, wind and EV industries in the near term, incentives in President

The UK government must comply with an inquiry panel’s demand to disclose all of former Prime Minister Boris

In the opening episode of Season 2 of And Just Like That …, there’s a scene stealer, and

Voters in Ohio will likely decide if the state’s constitution should enshrine the right to abortion care, after abortion rights advocates collected tens of thousands of signatures on a petition to put the issue on ballots this fall. If certified, those 710,000 signatures – roughly 300,000 more than required by state law – will place a proposed constitutional amendment asking whether “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s reproductive decisions.” A statewide vote for abortion protections follows a wave of anti-abortion laws in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a constitutional right to care last year. More than a dozen states, mostly across the entire US South, have effectively outlawed most abortions. But the Supreme Court decision to overturn the half-century precedent under Roe v Wade also fuelled efforts to protect abortion rights across the country, including in neighboring Michigan and Kentucky, where voters in both states voted to support abortion rights in ballot measures last year. After the Supreme Court’s ruling, Ohio lawmakers swiftly outlawed most abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy, a law that is currently suspended by a state court injunction but could be reinstated by the Ohio Supreme Court. A vote to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution would effectively overrule any such law. Abortion rights advocates and providers have warned that Ohio’s ban, which does not include exceptions for pregnancies from rape or incest, ignited a healthcare crisis that endangered patients and their families across the state, forcing people to seek care hundreds of miles out of state and navigate complicated legal and medical minefields while experiencing pregnancy complications. The petition launched by Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights will head to the secretary of state, which has until 25 July to determine the validity of the signatures. The campaign launched with an open letter on 7 July of last year signed by hundreds of physicians rejecting the state’s anti-abortion law. “Over the past year, support for the amendment has grown exponentially thanks to our partners at [Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom], the thousands of volunteers who gathered signatures in communities across the state, and the hundreds of thousands of people who added their names to our petitions,” according to a statement from Dr Lauren Beene and Dr Marcela Azevedo, co-founders of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights. “Today, the message we and they are sending is loud and clear: ‘let the people decide,’” they said. The campaign will magnify the role of Ohio – a state that voted for Donald Trump by more than 8 percentage points over Joe Biden in 2020 – in the 2024 presidential campaign and the renewed battle for abortion rights surrounding it, as Republican candidates and members of Congress weigh federal legislation that would outlaw or severely restrict abortion access nationwide. President Biden and Democratic candidates have signalled the central role that abortion rights protections will play in upcoming campaigns, alongside their warnings of a GOP-controlled White House and Congress legislating on abortion at the national level. Last year, a record number of voters in Kansas – a state that Mr Biden lost by more than 15 percentage points in 2020 – turned out for an election to reject a Republican-drafted amendment that would strip abortion rights from the state’s constitution, the first test for abortion rights put directly to voters after the ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That measure was shot down by nearly 20 percentage points, sending a resounding message that underscored the immense unpopularity of the Supreme Court’s decision. The president has repeatedly invoked that election victory in remarks supporting abortion rights in the months that followed, stating that the Supreme Court “practically dared women in this country to go to the ballot box and restore the right to choose,” and that anti-abortion lawmakers vastly underestimated how Americans would respond. Following the outcome in Kansas, Mr Biden pointed to the justices’ own writing in the Dobbs decision: “Women are not without electoral or political power.” “They don’t have a clue about the power of American women,” he said. “In Kansas, they found out women and men did exercise their electoral political power with a record turnout.” Read More Man sentenced to life in prison for rape of 10-year-old girl in Ohio abortion case that drew national attention Senator who once worked at a Planned Parenthood warns that Republicans are planning a national abortion ban One year after Roe v Wade fell, anti-abortion laws threaten millions. The battle for access is far from over