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Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will be on a campaign tour of Georgia when they speak to CNN [Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP] Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz will sit down with CNN on Thursday in their first formal interview of the United States election campaign. Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate for the White House after he dropped out of the race in July. CNN anchor and chief political correspondent Dana Bash will conduct the interview from the battleground state of Georgia, CNN said. It will air at 9pm (01:00 GMT on Friday). “This is the first time she’s going to take questions in a concerted effort like this, in an interview format, since Joe Biden upended this entire race six weeks ago,” CNN Political Director David Chalian said in an interview on the channel. While Harris has occasionally taken questions from journalists on foreign and economic policies on the campaign trail, she has yet to do a one-on-one media interview or hold a formal news conference, prompting attacks from rival Donald Trump and his Republican Party. On Tuesday, Trump’s campaign reacted to the interview announcement by noting that Harris would be doing the interview with Walz. “She’s not competent enough to do it on her own,” the campaign claimed. Trump has held news conferences and done media interviews in recent weeks but they have mostly focused on criticising the Biden administration’s record instead of detailing his own policy proposals. Harris laid out some broad policy agendas at the Democratic National Convention last week, promising a middle-class tax cut at home and a muscular foreign policy of standing up to Russia and North Korea while backing a ceasefire in Gaza and a two-state solution in the Middle East. During her more than three years as vice president, Harris has done on-camera and print interviews with The Associated Press news agency and many other outlets, often at a pace more frequent than Biden. Harris travels with members of the media on Air Force Two for all trips and nearly always comes to the back of the plane to speak to reporters for a few minutes before takeoff. Her office insists that those conversations are off the record, though, so what she says cannot be shared publicly. The CNN interview will be recorded during a campaign bus tour by the Democratic candidates. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/28/harris-and-walz-to-sit-down-with-cnn-for-first-formal-interview-of-campaign

Mourners grieve at the funeral of Palestinians killed in an Israeli air strike on Nur Shams near Tulkarem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on August 27, 2024 [Mohammed Torokman/Reuters] Hundreds of Israeli soldiers are conducting a major assault in the occupied West Bank in Jenin, Tulkarem and the Far’a refugee camp near Tubas. Israeli forces have killed at least 10 Palestinians in what is said to be Israel’s largest assault there in 20 years as they claimed they are targeting “armed terrorists who posed a threat to security forces”. The Palestinian Authority (PA) presidency condemned Israel’s assault and warned it could usher in “dire and dangerous” results. PA President Mahmoud Abbas returned early from a visit to Saudi Arabia. Israeli assaults on refugee camps and towns in the West Bank are a near-daily occurrence and have intensified since October 7. The scale of the current attack raises questions about its timing and motives. October 7 is the date when Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which killed 1,139 people in southern Israel and saw about 240 taken captive. Since then, Israel has killed at least 40,534 people and wounded another 93,778 in Gaza. It has killed 662 Palestinians and injured about 5,400 in the West Bank during that same period. Pinning the resistance on Iran In the West Bank, new Palestinian movements have arisen, affiliated with established ones but developing their own strategies against the Israeli occupation after losing patience with the status quo. On August 19, a suicide attack in Tel Aviv claimed by Hamas seemed to raise concerns in the Israeli security establishment. “This was a signal that Palestinian groups in the West Bank in clandestine cells are moving toward more offensive action,” Ramallah-based political analyst Abdaljawad Omar said. He added that the PA “is slowly losing hold over social classes, particularly in the north of the West Bank, coupled with the rise of a new generation of Palestinians that are taking the struggle up on their own terms”. This may have led Israeli forces to feel the need for “a more proactive offensive strategy”, Omar said. “Now there is an invasion and offensive action, including arrests, and to reach dense urban areas in the north of the West Bank.” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the assault is “to dismantle Iranian Islamic terror infrastructures” in the areas under attack. “[Katz] is … not to be taken seriously at all,” political analyst Ori Goldberg told Al Jazeera. “The great thing about [connecting these groups to] the Iran threat is it lets Israel off all hooks.” Omar dismissed the idea of links between groups in the West Bank and Iran as peripheral at best. “There are elements of logistical support [for these groups] coming from outside of Palestine,” Omar said, but there are “a lot of indigenous factors behind the rise of these movements”. Palestinian women stand near the site of a drone strike in Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 27, 2024 [Mohammed Torokman/Reuters] Why now and who for? The recent assault comes as things calm down on another front for Israel. On Sunday, Israel hit Hezbollah in what it declared a preemptive strike while Hezbollah said it had launched 340 rockets at 11 Israeli military bases. The two have traded attacks regularly across the Lebanon-Israel border since October 8, which have led to the evacuation of residents of southern Lebanon and Israeli border villages, a situation their inhabitants are growing increasingly frustrated with. The situation on the Lebanon border has calmed, according to Israel’s allies, but Israel’s war on Gaza continues, even as talks to reach a ceasefire are ongoing. Observers do not hold out much hope for them. Some analysts believe the assault in the West Bank has been spurred on by right-wing politicians who have increasing power and influence in Israeli society. Led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, this faction is pushing for Israel to go further on the West Bank in what analysts said are efforts to completely annex the land and displace Palestinians. A statement by Katz on Wednesday that Israel should displace Palestinians living in the northern West Bank just as it does regularly to the people in Gaza has raised fears further on that front. In recent months, the far right has been vocal about its desire to annex all of the West Bank as it grows stronger under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose coalition relies on Smotrich’s and Ben-Gvir’s support. Netanyahu has faced several domestic obstacles in recent months, including widespread protests against his rule, scathing criticism from the captives’ families over his lack of action to return their loved ones and increasing frustration from displaced Israelis. Despite this growing burden and his giving the far right increasing influence, Netanyahu still holds a slight lead in national polls over his main rival for the premiership, Benny Gantz. “Netanyahu is not a madman,” Goldberg said. “He knows his constituency and his supporters. He knows most Israelis are at a loss in front of the unfolding of events over the past year, … but you will not find a single Jewish Zionist politician who has come up with an alternative political or military vision.” Israel’s continued fight on multiple fronts is likely to continue, analysts said. Ongoing ceasefire talks over Gaza have hit multiple snags, Israel continues to hit Hezbollah targets and this latest assault is an intensification in an already simmering West Bank. “There is a continuation to a genocidal logic unfolding in Gaza since October when there is no accountability and impunity is not just a likelihood or a possibility but virtually guaranteed because of the United States’s very specific role in this and to a lesser but still significant extent the EU’s role in all of this,” Elia Ayoub – a postdoctoral researcher, writer and host of the Fire These Times podcast – told Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/28/israel-launched-a-massive-assault-on-the-west-bank-why-and-why-now

Music title: جلسات بيلبورد عربية مع سانت ليفانت | Jalsat Billboard Arabia with Saint Levant Signer: Saint Levant Release date: 2024/07/10 Official YouTube link:

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VOTED✔️

The Genesis G80—the entire Genesis brand, really—owes much of its early success to what was originally called the Hyundai Genesis. Built as a Korean interpretation of a modern sports sedan, the Genesis was the start of Hyundai's determination to prove that it could build a solid luxury car. That continued into its second generation, when the Genesis planted a Korean flag at the intersection of quality and value. It also gave Hyundai the kick it needed to finally commit to breaking Genesis off into its own luxury marque. Fast-forward to today, and the G80 continues the traditions laid forth by the predecessor that gave its name to the whole business operation. Its pricing may not be as aggressive—the 2025 model starts a little more than $5000 below a Mercedes-Benz E-class—but this sedan, which just underwent a mid-cycle refresh, continues to ramp up the plushness and give buyers a strong alternative to the typical Teutonic triumvirate. What's New? There is perhaps no more predictable mid-cycle refresh than one that involves a mild rhinoplasty and an ever-growing contingent of ever-widening interior screens. And hey, what do you know, that's exactly what we're staring down in the 2025 Genesis G80—although, we'll admit we were growing tired of the G70-style cabin layout, which felt more than a half-step behind the drastically more opulent G90. But that gulf is narrowing, and the G80 is quickly closing in on its larger sibling. The G80's interior is richly appointed, especially as you wander into higher trims that introduce bits like diamond-stitched nappa leather and flashy cabin trim. The overall design is much closer now too; the G80's dual screens have merged into a 27-inch OLED behemoth that covers both gauge-display and infotainment-touchscreen duties. There's a redundant physical knob if you prefer to avoid smudges, and the whole shebang remains just as easy to use as any other Korean tech. The climate controls also receive a big update. Their position below the infotainment screen remains the same, but they're much more cleanly integrated into the dashboard now, spilling over from the upper section in a sort of waterfall design. It looks good, the touch display is easy to get used to, and switchgear fans can rejoice at the continued presence of some physical controls. Outside, changes are more limited. The G80 sports a larger grille, with some mild adjustments to the headlights, bumpers, and wheels. Sport models at the higher echelons of the lineup get a unique bumper that looks a little angrier and has more pronounced intakes to gobble up air. Powertrains, however, are untouched for 2025. The entry-level engine is a turbocharged 2.5-liter I-4 producing 300 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque. Reach a little deeper into your wallet and you can swap that out for a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 making 375 horses and 391 pound-feet. All variants utilize standard all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission. If you're wondering about the status of the Electrified G80 EV, it's on a slightly different cadence and is being treated as distinctly separate model. The E-G80 should be receiving a refresh for the 2026 model year, which we expect will include many of the same updates, in addition to a longer wheelbase. Driving the G80 Our time was spent in a single variant—the range-topping G80 Sport Prestige, which carries every single appointment possible, including some unique sporty bits such as a limited-slip differential and rear-wheel steering. It also packs a Sport+ mode that adjusts shift points, disables some of the e-nannies, and sharpens up the steering and suspension. The twin-turbo V-6 provides more than enough thrust to get up to speed; it won't blow any barn doors off, but it feels quick—a mechanically identical 2022 model posted a 4.7-second 60-mph time in our testing—and the engine soundtrack isn't half bad. Fake sound can be piped through the speakers, but thankfully, Genesis had the foresight to allow it to be fully disabled. The eight-speed automatic is a deft shifter, and even in the car's sharper modes, upshifts and downshifts never became so immediate as to feel uncomfortable. In its calmest modes, the electronically controlled suspension (which uses cameras to scan the road ahead and adjust for humps and potholes and such) kept the G80 serene. A little bit of body motion makes its way into the stiffer tunes, a good reminder that this car is about luxury first and sporting premise second. The steering is a bit too artificially heavy in its sportier modes for our tastes. The brake pedal can be set to one of two levels of responsiveness via the infotainment system, but its default mode is just fine. The sportier setting adds a lot of head bob and not much else, so, best to leave that one be. Genesis continues to nail its take on luxury. The cabin is simply delightful; the nappa leather seats are comfortable and supportive, with the massage function kicking in automatically to stimulate the driver as the runtime moves past the hour mark. Visibility is solid, sound isolation is commendable—the whole thing just feels nice. It's a fine bit of evolution for a car we already enjoyed. One thing, though: Sport models should offer cabin-trim materials that aren't aluminum or (sigh) carbon fiber. It's tired. Pack it up. Oh, yeah, and one of our favorite new additions: There's a small pass-through from the center armrest cubby that allows you to snake a phone cable through, preventing said cable from having to sprout up from the middle of the clamshell opening like a weed growing through a crack in the sidewalk. It's a small touch that keeps the overall look a little cleaner. Summing It Up It's no surprise that as the G80 pushes its way into ever-fancier territory, its price would climb as well. Prices are up between $2700 and $4400 for 2025. A base 2.5T now sets you back $58,350. If you want fancier trim, larger wheels, a panoramic roof, and a Bang & Olufsen audio system, move up to the $63,150 2.5T Advanced. The 2.5T Sport Prestige adds an electronically controlled suspension, a wireless device charger, a host of driver-assist tech, and power-closing doors for $69,600. And then we finally reach the 3.5T models. The cheapest V-6 model is the $70,850 Sport Advanced, which gets the aforementioned niceties minus a couple of the driver assists and the power-closing doors. At the top of the lineup is the $78,250 Sport Prestige we drove, which has everything but the kitchen sink—the nappa leather, rear limited-slip differential, and rear-wheel steering, plus a heated armrest and that special Sport+ mode. Sporting pretensions aside—since it almost feels like everyone has to include something like that these days—the 2025 Genesis G80 continues its streak of excellence. It's a damned solid luxury car that, while it may not provide the insane value it once did, continues to make a very appealing counterpoint to all the established players out there. Then again, after nearly 20 years of existence, the G80 (née Hyundai Genesis) is becoming a stalwart in its own right. https://caranddriver.com/reviews/a61956472/2025-genesis-g80-drive/

The Eiffel Tower Stadium will host blind football at the Paralympics. ‘What made a success of the Olympics was the atmosphere,’ says Paris 2024 president, Tony Estanguet. ‘We will do exactly same thing in the Paralympic Games.’ Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA ‘A true fervour’: Organisers rally locals to get behind Paris 2024 Paralympics Exhilarating sport is guaranteed even if scepticism remains about scheduling the Games at the end of Les Vacances Paul MacInnes Paul MacInnes in Paris Tue 27 Aug 2024 20.00 BST Share Plastered on the walls of every Métro station in Paris this week are adverts boasting some boundary-pushing Franglais. Alongside images of Paralympic athletes running, leaping and wheeling is a slogan directed at residents of the French capital. It reads: “Game [is not] over”. For those unfamiliar with 1980s video arcade jargon, “game over” was the message that heralded the moment a machine ate your money. The grammatically tortuous “is not” has been overlaid by organisers of Paris 2024 to remind locals that the summer of sporting excellence will continue. The Paralympic Games begin on Wednesday night, and every Parisian is welcome. Zakia Khudadadi of the Paralympic Refugee Team Khudadadi fights for Refugee Team at Paralympics after escaping Taliban Read more After months of anxiety over low ticket sales and concerns over whether a French audience would embrace disability sport, the news in recent days has been good. More than 2m tickets have now been sold, out of 2.5m, with a number of events sold out. The Île de France regional government has announced an ambition to make the Paris Métro accessible to wheelchair users at last, one of the abiding concerns around the Games. And on Wednesday night comes an opening ceremony that will once again take place in the heart of the city and organisers say it will act as a “gigantic hug” to the 44,000 athletes competing over the following 11 days. Starting on the Champs Élysées, the opening parade will move along “the world’s most beautiful avenue” before a more traditional ceremony takes place in the open air at the Place de la Concorde. Continuing Paris’s key theme of being open to everyone, organisers say they want to extend the general message of welcome and inclusion to one specific to people with disabilities. According to the president of Paris 2024, Tony Estanguet: “This ceremony at the heart of the city is a strong symbol illustrating our ambition … to position the issue of inclusion for people with disabilities at the heart of our society.” The president of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons, promises an incredible ceremony. “I like the French expression ‘la fête continue’ and tomorrow’s opening ceremony is going to be fantastic, it’s going to be incredible, no doubt,” he said. “The concept was always that [by staging the event] in the Champs Élysées and the Place de la Concorde it’s like the city’s embracing the Paralympic athletes, the Paralympic movement. We are seeing it as a gigantic hug for our athletes and this cannot be more positive.” Estanguet emphasises that the job of engaging French and Parisian people with disability sport has been ongoing. Official estimates predict 300,000 visitors for the Games, about half the number that travelled for the Olympics. Engaging locals becomes more important as a result, especially in helping to fill out the 80,000-capacity Stade de France, which will once again play host to the track and field programme. An uptick in ticket sales means organisers are now working to create extra space at the Eiffel Tower arena and the Château de Versailles, with events at seven locations now sold out. Carine Hall and Lora Fachi of ParalympicsGB during a training session at the velodrome. The team are aiming to match or surpass Tokyo’s 124 medals. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images “What made a success of the Olympics was the atmosphere,” Estanguet said. “The fans sang the Marseillaise more than ever before and this is the fruit of work we did to have a square at each venue which held very proactive supporters. We found it worked very well and we will do exactly same thing in the Paralympic Games.” Some local scepticism remains, particularly with the Games coinciding with the end of Les Vacances and the return to school. But Estanguet says the scheduling is deliberate. “We decided on purpose to position the games during back to school in France because we want to take advantage of the opportunities it offers,” he said. “Back to school is a good time to send messages to students, to show inclusion and accessibility, to provide an opportunity for education. “I believe French people are going to be able to make a difference, to make these Paralympics their own. We went beyond what we dreamed of with the Olympics, creating a true fervour, and I believe it’s going to be the case with the Paralympics as well.” Jonnie Peacock in the 100m at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games ‘I’m not the hunted, I’m the hunter’: Peacock lays down challenge Read more Another reason for optimism is that exhilarating elite sport is guaranteed. New fans will be introduced to compelling events unique to disability sport, the pace and aggression of wheelchair rugby and the precision and strategy of boccia, for example. They will also come to the various arenas at a time when performance in parasport is improving almost exponentially. There will be a record number of countries in competition, 182, and as Parsons put it, “world records are going to be smashed”. ParalympicsGB hope to match the a towering performance in Tokyo three years ago. Finishing second in the medal table and winning 124 medals overall, it was one of the best British performances at a Paralympics, especially given the challenges of Covid. With a target of 100 to 140 medals this time, and with 215 athletes and guides in the team, ParalympicsGB will be intent on maintaining the record of never finishing outside the top five nations. On Tuesday, Terry Bywater and Lucy Shukur were announced as the British flag bearers for the opening ceremony. Shukur, a wheelchair tennis athlete, will be competing at her fifth Games, while Terry Bywater will be adding to six previous appearances in wheelchair basketball. “I feel quite emotional,” said Bywater. “This is my seventh Games, I actually wear the No 7 vest too – so this is all a bit crazy right now. I’m just super-, super-proud. “This is not just about me, this is for the 215 athletes that are here, all the staff, my family, my wife, my son, my family that have passed away that always followed me – I’ll be doing it for everyone.” https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/27/paralympics-2024-paris-opening-ceremony

Noel and Liam Gallagher in 2008. Photograph: Zak Hussein/PA For most of the 1990s and 2000s, the Gallagher brothers clashed on stage and traded high-profile insults in newspaper interviews and on social media. So rumours of an Oasis reunion tour in 2025 have prompted furious speculation about how the pair repaired a rift that for decades appeared intractable. Family therapists told the Guardian that although sibling rifts are common and often reparable, reunions like the Gallaghers’ only succeed if both warring parties are ready to bury the hatchet. Janet Reibstein, a family therapist, emeritus professor at Exeter University and author of Good Relations: Cracking the Code of How to Get On Better, said such reconciliation events could “become explosive” if both sides aren’t ready, and people must enter into them aiming for a collaborative peace-making process, not a battleground. “It isn’t usually a one-step heal but gingerly going forward,” she said, adding that reunions “can often be healing episodes in themselves, because people can have the experience of having been in an anodyne situation where you can not have anger around and often you can see each other again anew”. Reibstein said family rifts were common because family is the “cauldron of most intense emotions”, with sibling relationships particularly “intense and problematic and rewarding”. “The sibling has at its heart a dilemma, a sort of bipolar bit to it: you feel loyal and identified with each other, you’ve been through the same things, but at the same time you’re competing for the limited resources any family has – physical space, food, but particularly for the attention, admiration, care of the most important people to you, which are your parents,” she said. She said transition points such as such as marriage or career achievements could be “potentially fragile times”, highlighting “who was first, who gets what”. Reibstein said conflicts often take time to resolve, and the first step is processing and validating feelings of anger, which are “always a kind of defence against some sense of hurt or injustice”. “The rifts can’t be healed until the pain is addressed,” she said, adding that once hurt feelings are validated, anger often dissipates since there is a feeling that justice has been done. Often it can take a third party to recognise the underlying issue, point out that there are other perspectives and encourage the person to reflect on the role they may have played in driving the conflict. “Anger is blinding, hurt is blinding, you can’t really see the other person’s side until you can get rid of those two things. That’s why it often takes somebody outside to go ‘how about this perspective?’ – take the blinders off and you can see,” Reibstein said. This is usually a therapist but it can be a trusted friend or relative who can reflect on what may be happening on both sides while also acknowledging and validating the feelings. Reibstein said one misconception that fuels much conflict is that people deliberately set out to hurt. “Often it doesn’t start out with malevolent intention, it’s misunderstandings,” she said. Dr Anu Sayal-Bennett, a consultant clinical psychologist at the London Child and Family Therapy Centre, said siblings could be “competitive, jealous and angry”, and this was often linked to childhood where they are affected by parental preference, and their approval or disapproval. “There may be transgenerational patterns of communication which are characterised by estrangement and distancing. Sometimes this is protective: a person may feel hurt and wounded and need to retreat. They may not have the words to express their emotional pain,” she said. As a result, some individuals are able to reconnect after a long separation as though nothing happened in the interim. Other relationships may play out as a “continuous cycle of reconnection and separation”. She said family therapy could often provide an important space to work through difficult feelings. “Separations and feeling stuck can be very painful. We need to be compassionate and nonjudgmental to all those who experience or have experienced family rifts.” https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/aug/27/anger-is-blinding-family-therapists-on-how-to-resolve-sibling-feuds

A humpback whale breaching among icebergs at Ilulissat Icefjord, a Unesco world heritage site, in Greenland. Photograph: Juan Maria Coy Vergara/Getty Images Peter Bridgewater has a clear message for the International Whaling Commission (IWC) that he once led. The organisation – which played a critical role in ending whale hunting in the 1980s – has become a zombie institution that should vote to disband itself at its meeting next month. “The commission did great work, but that was last century,” Bridgewater told the Observer last week. “Today it has – like so many other international conventions or organisations – outlived its useful life and should be quietly disbanded.” This point was stressed by Bridgewater – who chaired the IWC from 1994 to 1997 – in a comment article published in Nature last week and which was written with several other conservationists including Rakhyun Kim, of the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University, and Robert Blasiak of the Stockholm Resilience Centre. Norwegian whalers at a whaling station in South Georgia in 1932. Photograph: Liborio Justo/Getty Images “The IWC will hold its 69th meeting in Lima in September,” they state in their article. “We propose that it hands over several pending issues to other conventions and national governments and then closes up shop.” It is an extraordinarily robust demand. Nevertheless, the group states that such a move is urgently needed – to set an example over the futures of the thousands of other international environmental organisations that exist today. Many of these bodies have had little impact collectively, but expend millions of dollars annually on secretariats and meeting and use up time and resources from governments, state Bridgewater and his colleagues. Examples include the Montreal ­protocol, which monitors ozone depletion. Its residual tasks could easily be carried out by other UN bodies, they say. “Proud legacies and historical achievements are important, but allowing institutions to become zombies serves no one,” say Bridgewater and colleagues. The International Whaling Commission was originally set up to “provide for the proper development of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry”. However, as environmental concerns grew and numbers of the great whales – including the gray, humpback, right, sperm, bowhead and minke whales – plummeted as their slaughter, in their tens of thousands a year, was allowed to continue, the commission decided in 1982 that all commercial whaling should cease by the 1985-6 season. Those accomplishments are laudable but lie four decades in the past, say the group. “IWC meetings since have been a source of acrimonious and fruitless dialogue among member nations. By exiting with dignity, the IWC would set a powerful example for the international environmental community.” A minke whale. Photograph: Kerstin Meyer/Getty Images Studies of whale po[CENSORED]tions make it clear that virtually all species are now increasing. Humpback numbers have risen sharply, along with blue and minke whales. The main exception is the North Atlantic right whale, which has suffered badly from vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. However, the rest of the world’s whales are doing well, said Bridgewater. “Species numbers have bounced back since the moratorium to varying degrees levels. And that is the point of our message to the IWC: ‘You have done your job. It’s been really good work. You have got a result. Now it is time to hang up things and go with dignity.’” Only three countries currently carry out whaling: Norway, Iceland and Japan. “These involve just a small number of catches,” added Bridgewater. “Crucially, the IWC has made no impact in halting whaling by these nations.” A fishing net on the tail of a whale The kindest cut: the Australians fighting to save humpback whales tangled in fishing nets Read more Instead, the commission’s work could easily be handled by the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), it is argued. As the group points out, whaling is not the main threat to whales today. “These are ship strikes, pollution and climate change.” In response to the article in Nature, a spokesman for the IWC last week defended the commission and pointed out that it had evolved to address a range of important cetacean science, conservation and management issues since its creation. “These include – but are not limited to – entanglement and bycatch in fishing gear (which is the biggest threat, estimated to kill more than 300,000 cetaceans every year), collisions with vessels, strandings, marine debris, and of course the world-leading and wide-ranging programme of the IWC Scientific Committee, which includes assessments of whale po[CENSORED]tions around the world.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/25/whales-are-doing-well-so-its-time-to-scrap-the-body-that-once-protected-them-says-former-head

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the National Guard Association on August 26 in Detroit [Paul Sancya/AP Photo] Federal prosecutors accusing former United States President Donald Trump of election interference have released a newly revised indictment, in response to a recent Supreme Court ruling. Tuesday’s indictment narrows the focus of the case, trimming away interactions Trump had with the Department of Justice. Still, the central charge remains the same: that Trump attempted to subvert the 2020 presidential election and overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He has long claimed, without evidence, that widespread voter fraud has marred the 2020 race. The reworked case, unfolding in Washington, DC, is one of four indictments Trump faces. He is the first US president to face and be convicted of criminal charges. Only one of the four cases, however, has culminated in a conviction: In May, Trump was found guilty of 34 charges of falsifying business records in New York. And even that verdict has been thrown into potential legal limbo by a recent Supreme Court decision granting broad immunity to presidential actions. On July 1, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Trump v United States that all “official” presidential acts are entitled to “presumptive immunity” against prosecution. What counts as “official” acts, the court explained, goes beyond what falls within a president’s constitutional authority, marking a significant widening of executive power. The court’s decision made explicit reference to the events of January 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the Electoral College vote. Referring to the Washington, DC, indictment, the court’s majority pointed to an example where Trump was accused of “attempting to enlist the Vice President” to “alter the election results”. Since interacting with a vice president is part of a president’s official duties, the court explained, “Trump is at least presumptively immune from prosecution for such conduct”. The Supreme Court currently has a conservative supermajority, with three of the judges appointed by Trump himself. The decision was issued along ideological lines, with the three left-leaning justices dissenting. The court’s decision had an immediate impact on the Washington case, as well as the other indictments against Trump. Tuesday’s revised indictment shows how federal prosecutors, led by special counsel Jack Smith, intend to react to the ruling. The indictment has been slimmed down from 45 pages to 36, removing the references the Supreme Court singled out in its July decision. It also emphasises that the interactions detailed in the new version were with people who lie outside of the president’s official orbit. In naming Trump’s co-conspirators, for instance, the revised indictment explains none “were government officials during the conspiracies and all of whom were acting in a private capacity”. However, the central charges remain identical to the first version of the indictment: that Trump entered into a conspiracy to defraud the United States; to obstruct and impede an official proceeding; and to prevent legitimate votes from being counted. Trump faces four criminal counts related to those criminal charges. “Each of these conspiracies — which build on the widespread mistrust the Defendant was creating through pervasive and destabilizing lies about election fraud — targeted a bedrock function of the United States government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election,” the indictment reads. The reworked indictment triggered a flurry of reaction from Trump on his Truth Social account. “In an effort to resurrect a ‘dead’ Witch Hunt in Washington, D.C., in an act of desperation, and in order to save face, the illegally appointed “Special Counsel” Deranged Jack Smith, has brought a ridiculous new Indictment against me,” Trump wrote. He said the new version had “all the problems of the old Indictment”. He called for it to be “dismissed IMMEDIATELY”. The former Republican president is in the midst of a second re-election campaign, ahead of the November 5 presidential vote. He has repeatedly denounced the criminal charges against him as an attempt to derail his latest White House bid, an allegation he repeated again on Tuesday. “PERSECUTION OF A POLITICAL OPPONENT!” he wrote in all capital letters in a separate post. In a later missive, he referenced a 2022 decision from the Biden Justice Department that bars political appointees in the agency from participating in an election-related activities within 60 days of an upcoming vote. “It is DOJ policy that the Department of Justice should not take any action that will influence an election within 60 days of that election — but they just have taken such action,” Trump alleged, referencing the early-voting date in some states, instead of the official November 5 election day. For his part, Smith — the special counsel appointed to independently lead the Justice Department’s investigations into Trump — said that the newly revamped indictment was offered to reflect “the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions”. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to rule in the case, which is unlikely to reach trial before the November election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the criminal charges he faces. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/27/special-counsel-jack-smith-issues-revised-indictment-in-trump-election-case

Displaced Palestinians shelter in a UN-run school in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza [Ramadan Abed/Reuters] United Nations aid operations in the besieged Gaza Strip continue a day after a senior UN official said humanitarian efforts had ground to a halt because new Israeli evacuation orders forced the shutdown of the main UN operations centre. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday appeared to temper the remarks by the UN official, who spoke on Monday on condition of anonymity. When asked if conditions in Gaza had caused a halt to UN aid deliveries, Dujarric told reporters: “The conditions in Gaza yesterday [Monday] made it extremely, extremely difficult for us to do our work.” “We are doing what we can with what we have,” he said. “We’ve been saying from the beginning – this is aid delivery by seizing every opportunity, seizing every crack that we can fill. So every situation is assessed day by day, hour by hour.” The UN has had to evacuate its humanitarian aid hub in the Gaza Strip for a second time since the start of the war on the orders of the Israeli military, according to an official. The hub, with warehouses and accommodation for staff, had already been relocated before due to the Israeli ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza at the start of May. The new hub – with accommodation, offices and storage rooms for humanitarian – goods was set up in Deir el-Balah in the central part of the enclave, but an evacuation order on Sunday also included the new headquarters. A spokesperson for the UN emergency aid organisation OCHA said in Geneva that since Friday, evacuation orders have been issued for 19 neighbourhoods in the northern Gaza Strip and Deir el-Balah, with 15 premises in which UN and NGO staff and their families lived affected. Four UN warehouses for relief supplies, a water reservoir, a desalination plant, three wells, two smaller health facilities and a hospital were also affected. There were 29 emergency shelters for displaced people in those areas. UN safety and security chief Gilles Michaud said on Tuesday that over the weekend, the Israeli military only gave a few hours’ notice for more than 200 UN personnel to move out of offices and living spaces in Deir el-Balah. He said “the timing could hardly be worse”, with a huge polio vaccination campaign due to start shortly which requires large numbers of UN staff to enter Gaza. “The United Nations is determined to stay in Gaza,” he said in a statement. “Humanitarian aid delivery continues – a tremendous feat given that we are operating at the upper-most peripheries of tolerable risk. “Mass evacuation orders are the latest in a long list of unbearable threats to UN and humanitarian personnel.” The International Rescue Committee said on Tuesday that Israel’s new evacuation orders had forced the charity and other humanitarian groups to “halt aid operations, during what is already a dire situation for civilians”. “It’s urgent that humanitarian actors can continue their work, without threat from displacement or military operations. We urge all parties to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access at all times,” the organisation posted on X. On October 7 last year, Hamas fighters stormed Israeli communities, killing about 1,100 people and abducting about 250 captives, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s military has levelled swaths of the Palestinian enclave, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/27/un-doing-what-it-can-to-deliver-gaza-aid-amid-israeli-evacuation-orders

Music title: جلسات بيلبورد عربية مع سيلاوي | Jalsat Billboard Arabia with Siilawy Signer: Siilawy Release date: 2024/04/24 Official YouTube link:

DH1 Ofc, I love this song

Video title: Funny Reactions and Moments🤣 Content creator ( Youtuber ) : FailArmy Official YT video:

yes @El Máster Edwin?

VOTED✔️

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The 2025 Ford Bronco Sport adds an off-road-focused Sasquatch package like the bigger Bronco. The 'Squatch kit includes chunkier all-terrain tires, steel bumpers with hearty tow hooks, and better rear dampers on the Badlands model. The Bronco Sport Sasquatch models will go on sale early next year, with the Outer Banks starting around $41K and the Badlands approaching $45K. The Ford Bronco Sport is known as the baby Bronco, as it's the smaller unibody version of the larger body-on-frame Bronco. For 2025, Ford bequeaths the little one a Sasquatch off-road package inspired by its big brother's kit. So we're just going to go ahead and call the new Bronco Sport Sasquatch the baby 'Squatch. Ain't that cute? Honey, I Shrunk the Sasquatch Since it debuted a few years back, the Bronco Sport has existed as the more rugged alternative to the Ford Escape. Both play in the compact-SUV segment, with the Bronco Sport featuring standard all-wheel drive and an appearance that apes the big Bronco's retro look. Most models have a 180-hp turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder with an eight-speed automatic. The Badlands has the same transmission, albeit with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters, but it alone has the 2.0-liter turbo four that now makes 238 horsepower (down from last year's 245 ponies). Its towing capacity also rises from 2200 to 2700 pounds, with the three-pot engine now capable of tugging 2200 pounds (up 200). Bronco Sport shoppers who want the best chance of making it through (relatively) tough terrain will gravitate toward the top-of-the-line Badlands. Its standard equipment includes a 1.0-inch lift, all-terrain tires, a torque-vectoring twin-clutch rear differential, underbody skid plates, and upgraded suspension bits. Adding the new Sasquatch package takes its toughness up a notch, and that upgraded setup is available on the Outer Banks too. Every baby Squatch rolls on a set of Goodyear Territory all-terrain tires. Measuring 265/35R-17, they stand 29 inches tall and have a reinforced sidewall and a knobby tread pattern. These new tires replace the similarly sized Falken Wildpeaks that previously came on the Badlands; it now comes standard with 28.5-inch-tall Continental all-terrains. Also, its monotube rear dampers are swapped for a beefier pair of position-sensitive Bilstein units with remote reservoirs that provide better cushioning at high speeds. Only the Badlands Sasquatch has those shocks, not the Outer Banks version. The top 'Squatch also has a higher approach angle (31.2 vs 24.1 degrees) and a slightly higher breakover angle of 21.7 degrees; its 8.7 inches of ground clearance is virtually identical. The Bronco Sport with the 'Squatch setup gets new steel front and rear bumpers with sturdy recovery points. The front tow hooks are higher up than before, and that's where the new bull bar is mounted. Previously, the Bronco Sport didn't have dedicated recovery points in the back, relying on a screw-in hook or the receiver hitch. Now there's a pair of cast D-rings on the back bumper. The Black Diamond package, available on the entry-level Big Bend trim, adds the four tow hooks and extra underbody protection. Unlike the Outer Banks, the Badlands has a steel bash plate protecting its chin, but each has other steel plates underneath. Another Badlands exclusive is the new Rally drive mode (one of several G.O.A.T. modes) that holds gears longer and sharpens the steering response. All '25 Bronco Sport models get the new Off-Road mode and Trail One-Pedal Drive that lets drivers stop and go using only the gas pedal. Perhaps our favorite new feature is the set of available tie-downs that pop out of the front fenders, providing an easier way to secure roof-mounted cargo. More 2025 Bronco Sport Updates The new Sasquatch models are getting all the attention, but the 2025 Bronco Sport sees improvements across the board. Its dashboard has been redesigned to incorporate two large displays, both of which are standard. There's the new 12.3-inch gauge cluster that replaces the old analog instruments and the huge 13.2-inch center touchscreen. Gone is the comparatively puny 8.0-inch unit with its Ford Sync 3 software, replaced by the bigger screen and its new Sync 4 interface that allows over-the-air updates and the introduction of wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The new dashboard layout also has updated HVAC controls, and the useful cubby has been relocated atop the dash and has two USB-C ports. The cabin can also be fitted with a grab handle on the passenger's side of the center console as on the bigger Bronco. Likewise, a row of toggle switches for auxiliary components like exterior lights is available on the overhead console. The 2025 model year also brings more standard driver-assistance tech, such as adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go functionality. There are more options too, including a 360-degree camera system with "Trail" and "Split" views as well as rear automated emergency braking. The 2025 Ford Bronco Sport lineup is now available to order. The Sasquatch models won't be available until early next year, with the Outer Banks starting at around $41K and the Badlands closer to $45K. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a61959321/2025-ford-bronco-sport-sasquatch-revealed/

After the WSL clubs ended US tours with a Washington friendly we look at big talking points on and off the pitch Chelsea’s 18-year-old Wieke Kaptein, battling here with Arsenal’s Steph Catley, gave a mature performance in Washington. Photograph: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images Chelsea depth Sonia Bompastor made six changes at the break and a further five just past the hour, ensuring the XI that finished was different from the XI that started the 1-0 friendly win over Arsenal in Washington. The fact that Chelsea did not at any point look significantly weakened tells you everything about the players at their disposal and the level they are operating at. Consider that they are still without the long-term absentees Mia Fishel and Sam Kerr, that Erin Cuthbert picked up a knock against Gotham FC, Lauren James was rested as a precaution and Catarina Macario isn’t expected back until the start of the season at best, and Chelsea’s squad is scarily good. Nine-day deadline Arsenal have nine days until they welcome Rangers to Borehamwood for a Champions League qualifier. Win that and they play Atlético Madrid or Rosenborg three days later for a place in the second round of qualifying towards the end of September. The side were bitterly disappointed to crash out at the first qualifying stage last year, months after dramatically securing third in the league to get there. Avoiding a repeat is critical. They have had more time to prepare and games against Washington Spirit and Chelsea have been important preparation. However, while it is unfair to take too much from a pre-season friendly, it was clear from the loss to Chelsea that there is plenty to be worked on. “We still lack a bit of clarity on when to change the point of the attack and to recognise where the free player is,” said Jonas Eidevall. “We lacked consistency in giving those passes and making those decisions. Sometimes we did it really well and sometimes we took the wrong decisions, and we need to learn from that.” The starting XI was light of a few expected regular starters, with the new goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar and forward Stina Blackstenius not expected to be ready until the UWCL qualifiers and Victoria Pelova a long-term absentee. The newly recruited Mariona Caldentey and midfielder Lia Walti featured in the second half, Emily Fox remained on the bench and Lotte Wubben-Moy and Beth Mead were omitted as a precaution. But, when you consider Chelsea’s absences, the gap is clear. Jonas Eidevall believes Arsenal can improve their decision-making when attacking. Photograph: David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty Images New signings solid Lucy Bronze appears to have slotted into the Chelsea backline with ease after her move from Barcelona. The right-back looked comfortable before she was withdrawn at half-time, troubling the Arsenal defence and not being hugely tested defensively. Her fellow new recruit Sandy Baltimore, who joined from Paris Saint-Germain, got her first Chelsea goal within three minutes of entering the fray and brimmed with confidence. For Arsenal, Sweden’s Rosa Kafaji was handed a start in a strong, albeit not full-strength, lineup and we saw glimpses of her creative potential in a solid first 45 minutes. Caldentey didn’t look out of place after her entry on 60 minutes and could have had a goal had she not seemed a little surprised by the arrival of the ball at her feet on the edge of the area. Kaptein leads way for young talent In a superstar-packed Chelsea squad the mature performances of the 18-year-old Dutch midfielder Wieke Kaptein and 20-year-old Japanese forward Maika Hamano were big highlights. Both showed flashes of creative brilliance, Kaptein in a curving defence-splitting pass and Hamano when she leapt in to dispossess an off-guard Kim Little before providing the assist for Baltimore’s goal. For Arsenal, Kafaji showed why she is so highly rated in Sweden, and the 17-year-old centre-back Katie Reid continued to look incredibly assured in pre-season. Bompastor takes first blood Any concerns about the transition from Emma Hayes to Bompastor will not have been allayed by a pre-season defeat of Arsenal, but taking first blood in the tetchy rivalry will have helped to build excitement about the future under the new manager. “We worked really hard as a team,” said Bompastor. “The result is good, even if we know we still need to work. These two games [against Gotham FC and then Arsenal] have been good to help us progress.” Hayes did a brilliant job at preparing the squad for this period. Her commitment to getting competitive minutes into the legs of Chelsea’s future stars before the end of the season is paying dividends for Bompastor. Aggie Beever-Jones is among the young players who were well prepared by Emma Hayes for this new Chelsea era. Photograph: Harriet Lander/Chelsea FC/Getty Images Overseas tours From basketball games and community projects to history tours and trips to the White House and New York Stock Exchange, these tours in the US have been jam-packed. How commercially successful they have been for Arsenal and Chelsea will likely take a bit of time to determine, but with broadcast rights picked up by DAZN and exposure to the lucrative US marketplace maximised, they are likely to be regular presence. A crowd of 15,062 watched Arsenal’s game against Washington Spirit but that was topped by the 17,130 who came to Chelsea v Arsenal, demonstrating the overseas appeal of the WSL. https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/aug/26/chelsea-arsenal-women-talking-points-us-tours-young-talent

‘Even the way she bit her claws filled me with delight’ … Nala. Photograph: Courtesy of Sophie Walsh The pet I’ll never forget: Nala the tabby, who terrorised other cats and had to be hidden from the landlord She stole my heart – and the food from my plate. I still miss her mischief and her tenderness It was September 2016 when my parter and I walked into our local Cats Protection shelter looking to adopt our first pet together. There were young families buzzing around the last remaining kittens, but my attention was immediately drawn to a two-year-old grey tabby with her peach nose edged in black. I scooped her up into my arms and knew instantly it could only be her. She oozed affection; her purr radiated through my soul. She’d just been returned to the shelter following a failed adoption because she didn’t get on with the family’s other cat. The sanctuary volunteers were hesitant to let her go, but finally decided she could come home with us. Nala had found her forever home. It didn’t take long to understand exactly what Nala’s previous family meant when they said she didn’t get on with other cats. After tentatively exploring her new home, Nala spotted Aslan, a big ginger tom, through the patio windows. Her tail puffed up, her fur stood on end, and she launched herself at the window again and again, howling and shrieking. Even for someone who had grown up with cats, this was something new. And it didn’t stop there. Nala hated other cats, especially toms. Next door’s cat once found himself cornered in our living room and wet himself in a panic as he ducked and dived to get past Nala. He learned not to come around after that. For our first couple of years together we were living in rental accommodation; we’d adopted Nala without the landlord’s permission. We had asked, and she said no – but we got Nala anyway. The lack of consent made for some interesting inspections. All traces of Nala had to be removed: bowls, beds and toys were shoved in the boot of the car, Nala was let out into the garden. The only trouble was, she’d sit at the patio doors for hours, silently mewing as strangers inspected her home. “No, she’s not ours,” we’d insist. “I think she must live next door … Who knows what she wants?” It had nothing to do with the fact it was 5pm and she was ready for her tea. Whether she was stealing aloo gobi straight from my plate (yes, really) or stalking pasta she’d caught from the pan, she was full of mischief. Everything about her was joyous, every moment precious. I loved everything about her. I still do. Her leopard print belly and her humongous panther paws … even the way she bit her claws filled me with delight. And God, did she love us back. There were head boops in abundance, and the frequency of her purr was a tonic to the struggles of everyday life. Every ounce of her being was full to the brim with this immeasurable tenderness. For someone like me, who often finds the world too overwhelming to navigate, Nala made existing feel possible. When my gran passed away – the first bereavement I’d experienced – Nala comforted me for days. As I laid in bed, she laid by my side, her head in my hand, my heart in hers. Losing Nala in 2019 was the most traumatic experience I have been through – a loss I am still unable to describe. A whole chunk of my being gone. I recently learned that I am autistic, and I’ve been reflecting a lot on my visceral connection with Nala. She was more than just the pet I’ll never forget; she was a part of me. ‘Her purr was a tonic to the struggles of everyday life.’ Photograph: Courtesy of Sophie Walsh https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/aug/26/the-pet-ill-never-forget-nala-the-tabby-who-terrorised-other-cats-and-had-to-be-hidden-from-the-landlord