lady moura yacht

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Update: representative of 105m Lady Moura releases statement following collision with Steve Jobs' yacht

A representative for the owner of the 104.6-metre Lady Moura has released a statement explaining the events that led to the collision between the yacht and the 78.2-metre Feadship superyacht Venus last month (22 July).

The statement read: " Lady Moura anchored in the Bay of Naples at a depth of 40 metres with seven shackles of chain deployed, which is the minimum required for safe anchoring under the given conditions. Several hours later, Venus arrived at the anchorage and seemingly misjudged the length of the chain that Lady Moura had in the water."

The statement continued: "Subsequently, a violent squall with winds of 50-55 knots from an unexpected direction – different from the prevailing forecasts – caused the impact. Despite numerous efforts by Lady Moura 's crew to alert the Venus ’ crew by blowing the whistle and hailing on the radio, it appears that the bridge of the Venus was unmanned. Neither vessel dragged anchor."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Katia Damborsky (@theyachtwriter)

It then concluded that damages to both yachts were minimal and cosmetic and that the situation was "amicably and professionally" resolved.

This follows an update provided by a "source close to the matter" last week (7 August) which confirmed that a sudden change of wind led to the collision. It added that "the wind changed very suddenly, picking up from a breeze to 55 knots over the course of a few minutes. Neither boat dragged anchor, though the other boat [ Lady Moura ] was on a chain double the length expected in the depth of water they were in."

Footage of the incident taken by Ricardo Salinas - Mexican businessman and Lady Moura 's owner – shows the incident take place. The video was released by Salinas on 7 August.

In the video's caption, Salinas has claimed that the crew of Venus were at fault, saying in Spanish: "I would like to know what the captain and crew were doing that they didn't see a yacht the size of mine in front of me. Good thing nothing but a scratch happened, but it's a big scratch that's going to [cost] a lot to fix."

Lady Moura was launched in 1990 and sold most recently in 2021, with a last known asking price of $125,000,000.

Venus was commissioned by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, though he never had the chance to see the yacht completed before his untimely death in 2011. She was delivered to widow Laurene Powell Jobs in 2012 and has been used privately ever since. 

BOAT International will update the story as it develops.

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Ukraine Attacks Moscow in One of Largest Ever Drone Strikes on Russian Capital

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Ukraine attacked Moscow on Wednesday with at least 11 drones that were shot down by air defences in what Russian officials called one of the biggest drone strikes on the capital since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.

The war, largely a grinding artillery and drone battle across the fields, forests and villages of eastern Ukraine, escalated on Aug. 6 when Ukraine sent thousands of soldiers over the border into Russia’s western Kursk region.

For months, Ukraine has also fought an increasingly damaging drone war against the refineries and airfields of Russia, the world’s second largest oil exporter, though major drone attacks on the Moscow region – with a population of over 21 million – have been rarer.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences destroyed a total of 45 drones over Russian territory, including 11 over the Moscow region, 23 over the border region of Bryansk, six over the Belgorod region, three over the Kaluga region and two over the Kursk region.

Some of the drones were shot down over the city of Podolsk, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The city in the Moscow region is some 38 km (24 miles) south of the Kremlin.

“This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow using drones ever,” Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app in the early hours of Wednesday. “The layered defence of Moscow that was created made it possible to successfully repel all the attacks from the enemy UAVs.”

Along Moscow’s boulevards, the cafes, restaurants and shops of the capital – which has been carefully insulated from the war – were crowded with little sign of concern, while President Vladimir Putin met Chinese premier Li Qiang in the Kremlin.

Two Russian citizens who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the foiled drone attack simply showed how well defended Moscow now was, and that Ukraine was “playing with fire” by attacking Russia both in Kursk and in Moscow.

Russia meanwhile is advancing in eastern Ukraine, where it controls about 18% of the territory, and battling to repel Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, the biggest foreign attack on Russian territory since World War Two.

Russian media showed unverified footage of drones whirring over the dawn sky of the Moscow region and then being shot down in a ball of flame by air defences.

Moscow’s airports, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky, limited flights for four hours but restarted normal operations from 0330 GMT, Russia’s aviation watchdog said.

Sobyanin said that according to preliminary information, there were no injuries or damage reported in the aftermath of the attacks. There were also no casualties or damage reported following the attack on Bryansk in Russia’s southwest, the governor of the region, Alexander Bogomaz, wrote on Telegram.

Russia’s RIA state news agency reported that two drones were destroyed over the Tula region, which borders the Moscow region to its north. Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region in Russia’s southwest, said air defence forces destroyed a Ukraine-launched missile over the region, with no injuries reported.

The Russian defence ministry did not mention either Tula or Rostov in its statement listing destroyed Ukrainian air weapons. Ukraine’s military said on Wednesday it overnight struck an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system based in the Rostov region.

The drone attack on Moscow was on a par with a May 2023 attack when at least eight drones were destroyed over the capital, a strike Putin said was a Ukrainian attempt to scare and provoke Russia.

In Kursk, Russian war bloggers said intense battles were ongoing along the front in the region where Ukraine has carved out at least 450 square km (175 square miles) of Russian territory.

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Germany Mass Stabbing: 3 Killed, 4 Injured at Festival — Police Hunt Suspect

Three people were killed and five seriously injured in a knife attack in the western German city of Solingen on Friday.

Police have launched a “major operation to find the suspect, who escaped in the turmoil and panic that initially spread after the crime.”

According to media reports, a man stabbed passers-by at random with a knife at a festival celebrating the city’s 650th anniversary.

The local newspaper Solinger Tageblatt reported that three people had been killed and others were in a life-threatening situation.

In the wake of the attack, the city of Solingen has completely canceled its 650th anniversary celebrations.

The events scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday have also been canceled, the city announced Saturday night.

Police declare a manhunt

The incident took place at Fronhof, a marketplace in the center of the city, where a stage had been set up for live music. Police were alerted shortly after 9:30 p.m. (1930 GMT).

Authorities asked residents to leave the city center following the attack. Müller took to the stage and told festivalgoers to “go calmly; please keep your eyes open, because unfortunately the perpetrator hasn’t been caught.”

The police have issued a major alert and declared a manhunt. Armed officers were on the scene and had cordoned off large areas of the city. Barriers were also set up across the city.

According to the German daily Bild, heavily armed SEK units with about 40 special vehicles from all over North Rhine-Westphalia had been deployed to Solingen.

Road junctions have been blocked and residents have been asked to stay indoors and avoid the city center, the publication said.

According to German news agency DPA, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, had arrived in Solingen and was visiting the site of the incident.

He warned against speculation. “Out of nowhere, someone is stabbing people at random. Nothing can be said about the person or the motive,” Reul said, adding that there are simply no reliable facts.

Solingen has a population of about 160,000. It is located near the larger cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf in Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Witnesses in shock

The incident left those attending the festivities in shock. One witness told the Solinger Tageblatt he had been standing in front of the stage on the Fronhof when the attack took place just a few meters away from him.

He had been watching live music when he noticed the expression on the singer’s face that something was wrong.

“And then a person fell over just a meter away from me,” Lars Breitzke told the local newspaper. At first, he thought the person was drunk.

But when he turned around, Breitzke saw other people lying on the ground in pools of blood. He himself was unharmed.

Solingen’s mayor Tim Kurzbach also expressed his shock following the deadly attack on the city’s festival. “Tonight, all of us in Solingen are in shock, horror and great sadness,” he wrote on the city’s Facebook page.

“We all wanted to celebrate our city anniversary together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured,” he said. “I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives,” Kurzbach added.

The state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, said the state was united in shock and grief after the attack in Solingen.

“In these dark hours, the hearts and minds of the people of our state and beyond are in Solingen, where an act of brutal and senseless violence has struck at the heart of our state,” he wrote in a post on X.

Jack Smith Opts Against Trump ‘Mini-Trial’ Before Election

Special Counsel Jack Smith has decided against seeking a major hearing to present evidence in the election-interference case against Donald Trump before voters go to the polls Nov. 5, Bloomberg reported.

The move means that it’s unlikely a so-called mini-trial, which would include evidence and testimony from possible blockbuster witnesses like former Vice President Mike Pence, would take place before the presidential election.

The decision is a win for Trump and his lawyers, who have fought efforts to reveal the substance of allegations against the former president. If Trump wins the election, the case would collapse as the Justice Department has a policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. Trump could also order the department to throw it out.

Instead, Smith and his team are carefully revising the case against Trump, according to the people familiar, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter. The case has no chance of going to a jury trial before the election as a result of delays stemming from the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that he has some presidential immunity from criminal charges. If Democratic nominee Kamala Harris wins the election, Smith could still proceed with prosecuting Trump.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung didn’t comment on Smith’s plan. He said Trump’s team will continue to fight the cases against him, calling them “witch hunts” that should be dismissed in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Landmark Ruling

The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling held that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution over conduct related to their official duties, but not for private acts. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, who is overseeing the case, had been expected to hold hearings before the fall to examine which alleged conduct are official acts that can’t be prosecuted and which are private acts that can still be charged following the high court’s ruling.

Separately, Trump is seeking to delay a Sept. 18 sentencing for his conviction in a New York criminal case over hush-money payments on the grounds that it amounts to “election interference.” He faces as long as four years behind bars on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal paying adult film star Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about an alleged affair before the 2016 election.

In the election inteference case, Smith may not want to “show his hand” and reveal key evidence or witnesses that might jeopardize his chances for success at an eventual trial, said Mary McCord, a former federal prosecutor who served as acting head of the Justice Department’s national security division. Smith and other Justice Department leaders also don’t want to appear “blatantly political,” she said.

In light of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling, Smith is focused on building the strongest case to persuade a jury to deliver a guilty verdict that would hold up on appeal and create a sound legal precedent, said the people.

Smith’s team and Trump’s lawyers are scheduled to file briefings Aug. 30 on how they want to proceed ahead of a Sept. 5 hearing before Chutkan. Smith is expected to propose a pathway forward in that filing and during the hearing, the people familiar said.

Chutkan could overrule Smith and order a major hearing prior to the election. More than likely, however, she will seek a middle ground in order to make factual determinations about what can and can’t be charged.

“If there’s a way forward that narrows the issues substantially that the government is proposing, and potentially even the Trump team would agree to, that’s just better for all concerned,” said McCord, executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law School. “It avoids some of the really tricky issues.”

Fast-Tracked Earlier

Earlier this year, Smith had raced to advance the case, urging the Supreme Court in April to quickly decide the issue of presidential immunity — all in an apparent effort to obtain a verdict before voters go the polls.

But the Supreme Court’s July 1 ruling that former presidents have immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office means that Smith must revise the charges against Trump, or possibly issue a new indictment.

Smith indicted Trump in Washington one year ago on charges that include conspiracy to defraud the US and obstruct the certification of the 2020 election. Smith filed a separate case against Trump in Florida for mishandling classified documents and obstructing justice. US District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed that case last month saying it was unconstitutional. Smith is appealing.

“The charges are already out there,” said Brandon Van Grack, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at the law firm Morrison & Foerster. “You can understand why the department and public would have an incentive to resolve these questions before an election, but that can’t happen now.”

Robert Kennedy Jr. Joins Trump at Arizona Rally

Robert Kennedy Jr. cemented his full devotion to Donald Trump before a raucous crowd of adoring supporters in Arizona Friday evening, finalizing his defection from the Democratic party.

The nephew of Democratic President John F. Kennedy joined the former president on stage to a barrage of raucous cheers.

The Trump campaign previously announced a ‘special guest’ would attend the rally, and the mysterious allure drew thousands to the Desert Diamond Arena – capacity nearly 20,000 – in Glendale, Arizona.

Earlier in the day in Phoenix, Kennedy pushed supporters who live in 10 swing states to back Republican nominee Donald Trump, but said his name would remain on the ballots in traditional red or blue states.

‘Tonight I am very pleased to welcome a man who has been an incredible champion, Trump said of Kennedy. ‘We’re both in this to do what’s right for the country.’

‘Bobby! Booby! Bobby!’ the crowd erupted in cheer.

‘I don’t think I have ever introduced anyone that has gotten the applause he got,’ Trump said, still in control of the audience.

He then launched some new policy ideas with Kennedy in mind.

‘In honor of Bobby .. I will establish a new independent commission on assassination attempts,’ Trump – an assassination survivor himself – said.

The panel would also investigate Trump’s July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.

‘And we will release all the documents pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.’

‘I have never had more people ask me, please, sir, release the documents on the Kennedy assassination, and we’re going to do that,’ he said.

The former president then lauded the Kennedy heir for his environmental efforts – and he said he would appoint the independent candidate to an ecological study panel to examine the effects of climate change.

Then he turned over the microphone.

Kennedy began talking about the things he and the former president both believe in.

‘We’re spending billions in Ukraine and we could use that money back here in the United States,’ Kennedy said. ‘Don’t you want a president whose going to get us out of the wars?’

He then spoke about censorship – something he has said has been a major issue for his campaign as a third party candidate, calling it ‘the first step to totalitarianism.’

The former Democrat also touched on making American foods less processed and unhealthy.’

‘President Trump is going to make America healthy again!’ Kennedy concluded his remarks.

‘Wow,’ Trump remarked regaining control of the podium, who explained that the two had long been friends.

He also floated a new policy after seeing demonstrators burn U.S. flags at protests in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention.

‘They outta make it illegal to burn the American flag,’ Trump said, before suggesting a new law.

‘You burn the American flag, you go to jail for one year,’ he said to cheers.

The ex-president also bashed Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign – ripping her border policies.

‘325,00 migrant children are missing, they are gone,’ he said. ‘She allowed them to be trafficked into this country.’

‘They will never see their homes or parents again,’ he said.

‘Kamala has set loose thousands of Venezuelan gang members.’

‘She supports deadly sanctuary cities,’ he continued on about the Biden-Harris immigration policies.

‘I look forward to the debate.’

Trump announces the creation of a Presidential Commission on Assassinations, to be led by Robert F. Kennedy, with full authority to declassify all documents related to JFK, RFK, and July 13.

President Trump announces the creation of a Presidential Commission on Assassinations, to be led by Robert F. Kennedy, with full authority to declassify all documents related to JFK, RFK, and July 13. The Deep State is finished. pic.twitter.com/YatdCT0POM — Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) August 23, 2024

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Trump-Kemp Truce: Georgia Gov Promises to Help Trump

Former President Donald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp found the perfect narrative Thursday night to upstage Vice President Kamala Harris’s nomination acceptance speech, ending their feud dating to the 2020 election with a full-throated embrace that played out on national television.

The mutual endorsement reunited two of the GOP’s most powerful figures heading into the November election, and made the road for Democrats to score a win in Georgia more difficult.

“We need to send Donald Trump back to the White House,” Kemp said on Fox News’ “Hannity” show.

Trump is leading in the polls in Georgia, and Kemp owns one of the country’s most formidable state political machines, which propelled him to a landslide win in 2022 over Democrat favorite Stacey Abrams in the Georgia governor race.

“Thank you to #BrianKempGA for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country,” Trump said minutes later on Truth Social.

“I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

The embrace ended a rift that looked intractable as recently as just a few weeks ago when Trump launched a political attack on Kemp and his wife during a stop in Georgia, raising GOP fears the two would not work together to secure a win in the Peach State.

But cooler heads prevailed as Trump signaled soon after he wanted to repair the relationship and Kemp made clear he would vote for Trump and that voters couldn’t afford a Kamala Harris presidency.

Campaign sources said several figures played a key role in nudging the two political heavyweights toward mending fences, including Sean Hannity, South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham and Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus, the dean of conservative donors and a longtime supporter of both men.

Judge Rules Breonna Taylor’s Boyfriend Caused Her Death, Throws Out Officer Charges

A federal judge has thrown out major felony charges against two former Louisville officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led police to Breonna Taylor’s door before they fatally shot her.

U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson’s ruling declared that the actions of Taylor’s boyfriend, who fired a shot at police the night of the raid, were the legal cause of her death, not a bad warrant.

Federal charges against former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany were announced by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 during a high-profile visit to Louisville. Garland accused Jaynes and Meany, who were not present at the raid, of knowing they had falsified part of the warrant and put Taylor in a dangerous situation by sending armed officers to her apartment.

But Simpson wrote in the Tuesday ruling that “there is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death.” Simpson’s ruling effectively reduced the civil rights violation charges against Jaynes and Meany, which had carried a maximum sentence of life in prison, to misdemeanors.

The judge declined to dismiss a conspiracy charge against Jaynes and another charge against Meany, who is accused of making false statements to investigators.

When police carrying a drug warrant broke down Taylor’s door in March 2020, her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot that struck an officer in the leg. Walker said he believed an intruder was bursting in. Officers returned fire, striking and killing Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in her hallway.

Simpson concluded that Walker’s “conduct became the proximate, or legal, cause of Taylor’s death.”

“While the indictment alleges that Jaynes and Meany set off a series of events that ended in Taylor’s death, it also alleges that (Walker) disrupted those events when he decided to open fire” on the police, Simpson wrote.

Walker was initially arrested and charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but that charge was later dropped after his attorneys argued Walker didn’t know he was firing at police.

A U.S. Justice Department spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that the department is reviewing the judge’s decision and assessing next steps.

A third former officer charged in the federal warrant case, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty in 2022 to a conspiracy charge and is expected to testify against Jaynes and Meany at their trials.

Federal prosecutors alleged Jaynes, who drew up the Taylor warrant, had claimed to Goodlett days before the warrant was served that he had “verified” from a postal inspector that a suspected drug dealer was receiving packages at Taylor’s apartment. But Goodlett knew that was false and told Jaynes the warrant did not yet have enough information connecting Taylor to criminal activity, prosecutors said. She added a paragraph saying the suspected drug dealer was using Taylor’s apartment as his current address, according to court records.

A fourth former officer, Brett Hankison, was also charged by federal prosecutors in 2022 with endangering the lives of Taylor, Walker and some of her neighbors when he fired into Taylor’s windows. A trial last year ended with a hung jury, but Hankison is schedule to be retried on those charges in October.

In 2022, the city of Louisville agreed to pay $2 million to settle lawsuits filed by Kenneth Walker in federal and state court.

UPDATE: Arizona Man Who Threatened to Kill Trump Arrested

A 66-year-old Arizona man, who allegedly threatened to kill former President Trump during his stop in the Grand Canyon State, was arrested Thursday, according to local authorities.

Ronald Syvrud was arrested and taken into custody in Cochise County without incident, the county sheriff’s office shared on Facebook.

A spokesperson for the Cochise County sheriff’s office, Carol Capas, told NewsNation that Syvrud made threats on social media.

Syvrud’s arrest came just a few hours after law enforcement launched a manhunt, with law enforcement stating earlier Thursday that he was “sought as an investigative lead for threats to kill a presidential candidate.”

The sheriff’s office said the 66-year-old has an outstanding warrant in Wisconsin for driving under the influence. Additionally, he was also wanted for failing to register as a sex offender and for a hit-and-run in Arizona.

During the campaign event in Cochise County, Trump went after Vice President Harris on immigration, one of the top issues this election cycle.

The former president told stories of individuals who were killed by migrants. He pledged to complete the construction of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and advocated for tougher sentences for drug traffickers.

“She will never build the wall. She doesn’t want to build the wall,” Trump said. “If she changes her mind it’s only because she wants to get elected, because who wouldn’t want to have a strong border.”

The threats against Trump come just a month after the former president survived an assassination attempt, where a 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at a Pennsylvania campaign rally. Matthew Crooks hit Trump’s right ear while also killing one attendee.

In an interview earlier Thursday with NewsNation, Trump alluded to the dangers he faced.

“Can I tell you something? We’re in danger standing here talking,” Trump said during an interview with NewsNation’s Ali Bradley at the U.S. southern border. “So let’s not talk any longer.”

“[Security] doesn’t want me standing here. They don’t want you standing here either.”

US Kills Leader of Al Qaeda-Aligned Group in Syria

U.S. Central Command announced Friday that forces in Syria had successfully killed terrorist group senior leader Abu-‘Abd al-Rahman al-Makki.

According to CENTCOM, al-Makki was killed in a “targeted kinetic strike” in Syria.

Al-Makki was a council member and senior leader with Hurras al-Din, which is ideologically aligned with Al-Qaeda in Syria.

He was responsible for overseeing terrorist operations for the group in the Middle Eastern nation.

“CENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of terrorists in the CENTCOM area of responsibility who threaten the United States, its allies and partners, and regional stability,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, Commander, U.S. Central Command.

According to CENTCOM, Hurras al-Din and organizations like it stand against the West and her allies, including the United States.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced earlier in the month that U.S. military forces would be re-positioned across the Middle East in support of ally Israel.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, CVN-72 and the fifth of the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, was one of the major resources re-allocated to the region along with its battle group.

The U.S. officially designated Hurras al-Din as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” under Executive Order 13224 in September 2019.

Chick-fil-A Is Launching a Streaming Service

Chick-Fil-A is known for its popular chicken sandwiches, strips and nuggets, but soon it could be the company behind bingeable TV shows.

The fast-food chain is reportedly developing its own streaming service, including a lineup of original shows.

Chick-Fil-A has been working with several major high-profile production companies to create family-friendly shows, according to a report by Deadline. The company is allegedly focusing on unscripted reality programming.

The brand is also working on licensing and acquiring additional content.

One show users of the new service can expect to see is a game show format produced by Glassman Media, which produces NBC game show “The Wall,” and Sugar23, which produced “13 Reasons Why” on Netflix. The fast-food chain has reportedly ordered 10 episodes of the game show.

Unscripted shows created for the new service have a budget of around $400,000 per half-hour, according to Deadline.

Chick-Fil-A is said to be looking into scripted shows and animation as well. The service could launch later this year.

The programming development is being led by Brian Gibson, who has worked on the History channel’s “Top Gear” remake and Fox’s “The X Factor.”

The new venture is not the first time the fast-food chain has experimented with content creation. The brand has previously posted original shows to its website, including the short animated film series “Stories of Evergreen Hills.”

Other popular companies have also experimented with original content in recent years. Rideshare company Lyft has created several series, including 2023 game show “Lucky Lyft” hosted by Bob The Drag Queen.

Vacation rental company Airbnb produced a documentary called “Gay Chorus Deep South” for MTV in 2019.

The first Chick-Fil-A restaurant opened in Atlanta in 1967. The chain expanded throughout suburban malls before opening its first standalone location in Atlanta in 1986. The company now operates over 3,000 locations across the U.S.

The news comes as streaming services struggle to hold onto its subscribers. While the platforms are adding more subscribers each quarter, the number of cancellations has also increased each quarter, according to a Samba TV report obtained by Deadline.

The report found that viewers typically leave a streaming service after watching the specific show or film they are interested in, with the exception of Netflix.

Multiple Secret Service Agents Put on Leave After Trump Assassination Attempt

At least five members of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) have been placed on administrative leave following the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Fox News has confirmed.

One member of Trump’s personal protective team and four members of the Secret Service’s Pittsburgh Field Office, including the special agent in charge, have been sidelined nearly six weeks after the incident.

The news comes as the elite agency investigates the colossal security failure which led to Thomas Matthew Crooks firing off several shots from the nearby AGR building.

Additionally, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Friday revealed that a Secret Service whistleblower has come forward to claim that officials at Secret Service headquarters encouraged agents in charge of the rally to not request any extra security assets in their formal planning request.

One bullet grazed Trump’s right ear, while firefighter Corey Comperatore was fatally struck. Rally-goers James Copenhaver and David Dutch were also shot and injured.

Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned less than two weeks after the shooting and after giving her initial testimony about the event before members of Congress. Various lawmakers have called on the Secret Service to make personnel changes and fire employees in the wake of the deadly incident.

Fox News has also learned that the threat to Trump from Iran was communicated internally at the Secret Service prior to the Butler, Pennsylvania, event and the investigation is likely looking into why the Butler event went forward, given the threat.

The Secret Service said in a statement that the agency is committed to investigating the decisions and actions of personnel in relation to the July 13 event.

“The U.S. Secret Service’s mission assurance review is progressing, and we are examining the processes, procedures and factors that led to this operational failure,” Anthony Guglielmi, the USSS chief of communications said in a statement.

“The U.S. Secret Service holds our personnel to the highest professional standards, and any identified and substantiated violations of policy will be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility for potential disciplinary action. Given this is a personnel matter, we are not in a position to comment further.”

The FBI has previously stated that Crooks accessed the roof of a building by climbing up HVAC equipment and piping. Crooks then traversed multiple rooftops before he found his shooting position on top of a building about 150 yards from where the former president spoke at his rally.

Text messages sent by local law enforcement responsible for monitoring the rally flagged Crooks to colleagues as suspicious at least 90 minutes before he opened fire. Despite this, he was still able to shoot at Trump and the crowd.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., welcomed the news that action has been taken on some Secret Service members.

“There must be accountability at the Secret Service for its historic failures that led to the attempted assassination of President Trump,” Comer said.

“Holding negligent employees accountable is the first step. I look forward to the Task Force’s findings of its investigation. We must ensure the Secret Service does not fail again.”

Hawley also welcomed the action taken by the agency, saying it should have happened weeks ago.

“We still need real answers about the attempt on President Trump’s life and accountability for everyone involved,” Hawley said.

Hawley also revealed on Friday whistleblower claims that officials at Secret Service headquarters informally encouraged agents in charge of the Butler rally to not request any extra security assets in their formal planning request as they would be denied because Trump was a former president and not an incumbent president or vice president.

Hawley shared on X a letter he penned to Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe asking for an explanation into who made such a call, if he knew about it and which security assets were left out of the manpower request for the event.

Hawley writes that the assets included counter-sniper teams and counter Sniper Division (CSD) personnel. He writes that counter-snipers were ultimately approved but only a day before the event and that a separate whistleblower claimed previously that CSD personal would have handcuffed the gunman after he was spotted in the parking lot with a rangefinder.

“Yet you have repeatedly suggested that no security assets had been denied for the Butler event. You must explain this apparent contradiction immediately,” Hawley writes, in part.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Merrick Garland, speaking at an unrelated event, said Friday that he could not comment on any specific suspensions.

“This was a security failure and there is both an internal and external independent investigation,” Garland said. “They will provide lessons learned to prevent such a failure from happening again.”

Furthermore, former NYPD inspector Paul Mauro tells Fox News that there were serious discrepancies in the planning and operation of the rally.

“Those discrepancies argue more things are not so much mistakes, but instead, institutional rot,” Maura said. “And what bothers me is that the executives who have been overseeing and not solving the problems that the Secret Service clearly has will likely get off scot-free. And certainly [Homeland Security Secretary] Mayorkas and Cheatle should not be able to ride off into the sunset with their reputations intact.”

RFK Jr. Drops Out, Endorses Trump

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in a court filing, endorsed former President Donald Trump, ahead of an announcement that will likely bring an end to his quixotic campaign just months before the November elections.

Kennedy filed on Friday to officially have his name withdrawn from the Pennsylvania ballot “as a result of today’s endorsement of Donald Trump for the office of President of the United States,” according to a brief filed by Kennedy’s campaign attorney. He also filed to withdraw from another swing state, Arizona, on Thursday evening.

The Pennsylvania filing came just before Kennedy held a press conference in Phoenix to announce his plans for the campaign.

The independent candidate’s exit will add yet another twist to the already chaotic 2024 presidential race. Kennedy’s unorthodox views drew support from Democrats and Republicans. Both parties worried that he would be the biggest electoral spoiler in decades.

The presidential election remains incredibly close, and if even a fraction of Kennedy’s support moves to Trump, it could be decisive in swing states.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Address to the Nation https://t.co/Wf4xt12GSX — Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 23, 2024

Takeaways from the Final Night of the DNC as Harris Accepts Nomination

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the closing speech of the Democratic National Convention Thursday night, capping off the four-day gathering of top Democrats.

The evening was packed with celebrities, with musicians such as Pink and the Chicks taking the stage on the grand finale of the DNC. The event drew so many attendees that the convention floor was completely closed off hours before Harris took the stage.

Harris took the stage immediately after Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) gave his remarks, delivering the most important speech of her career.

Here are the top takeaways from the final night of the DNC.

Harris makes policy pledges in biggest speech of political career

Harris used her keynote speech to make several policy pledges. The vice president has faced heavy criticism from the Trump campaign, and even some legacy media outlets, about her lack of a fleshed-out policy platform, coupled with flopping on some of the more progressive ideas she backed earlier in her political career.

The vice president has slowly started to leak out some policies, such as tax credits to incentivize new, starter home construction, but her remarks Thursday night painted a much clearer picture of what the Harris agenda will look like, in broad strokes at least.

On the economy, Harris doubled down on vows to address the housing crisis and pass tax cuts for the middle class while simultaneously knocking former President Donald Trump for driving up the deficit.

Abortion was front and center all week, but Harris earned, arguably, her biggest applause line of the night by forcefully committing to sign legislation codifying Roe v. Wade into law and declaring that Republicans pushing national abortion bans are “out of their damn minds.”

Harris also stood firm on a familiar tactic from President Joe Biden on immigration. The vice president blamed Trump for killing the bipartisan border security bill this past year, reaffirmed her commitment to signing it into law, and called for a legal, earned pathway to citizenship.

Most importantly, the vice president took a significant step toward addressing a major vulnerability: progressive sentiment on the war in Gaza. The vice president forcefully called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate return of hostages held by Hamas. Still, she didn’t call for an arms embargo on Israel, and the jury is still out on whether her comments will satisfy protesters here at home.

Rumors about Beyonce being a ‘surprise guest’ quashed

Hopes that Beyonce would make a surprise appearance on the closing night of the DNC were dashed after the night ended with no sign of the “Freedom” singer.

Musicians Pink and the Chicks took the stage on the final night of the DNC. The event drew so many attendees that the convention floor was completely closed off hours before Harris took the stage.

The A-lister delegates and attendees were most excited to see was Beyonce. Speculation mounted throughout the week and hit a fever pitch Thursday that Beyonce would perform on the final night of the DNC.

But the night closed without any mention or appearance of the singer.

Battleground Democratic governors help Harris close out the convention

Cooper and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), both from battleground states, were among the final speakers on Thursday night.

Whitmer’s and Cooper’s states are crucial to Harris’s 2024 campaign. She will need to win both states in November to secure a victory against Trump.

In her speech, Whitmer sought to paint Harris as a leader who understands the struggles of everyday voters, saying, “She’s lived a life like ours.”

“She knows us. Donald Trump doesn’t know you, at all,” Whitmer said. “Donald Trump doesn’t know you at all. Do you think he understands when your car breaks down and you can’t get to work? No!”

Meanwhile, Cooper sought to depict Harris as a fighter, emphasizing her time as a district attorney in California.

“America, we’ve got a lot of big fights ahead of us. And we’ve got one hell of a fighter ready to take them on. I know that because I know her,” Cooper said. “And tonight, I want the American people to know: Even if you don’t agree with her on everything, Kamala Harris will fight for you to the very end.”

DNC denies uncommitted delegates’ demand for speaker as protests continue outside

Uncommitted delegates’ demands to be given a speaker spot at the DNC remained unfulfilled as the four-day convention drew to a close.

The delegates gathered inside the United Center to protest the DNC’s refusal to permit a Palestinian American speaker, with one delegate telling the Washington Examiner that they walked around the entire United Center one time.

The delegates gathered in a circle at the end of their march and chanted, “Free free Palestine” before dispersing.

A handful of pro-Gaza protesters tried a few times to get chants going during Harris’s remarks but were either drowned out by cheers or simply silenced by other people in the arena. The vice president did call for an end to the war in Gaza and for the release of hostages still held by Hamas, but that likely won’t be enough to silence the movement.

Protesters gathered outside the security perimeter on the final night of the DNC were met with officers from the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service division, who accompanied the protest along its designated route.

DNC closes convention floor due to capacity

The convention floor was closed to attendees hours before Harris took the stage, with members of the press and attendees being told the floor was at capacity and not being granted admittance inside the arena.

Standing Committee of Correspondents Co-Chairwoman Farnoush Amiri posted on X Thursday night that the “DNC has told security at the United Center that journalists cannot be guaranteed reentrance into the arena if they leave to go use the restrooms.”

Attendees inside the United Center could be seen lining the halls of the convention center as they waited to be granted entry.

Trump Visits Border Wall in Arizona — Highlights Violent Crimes Committed by Illegal Migrants

Former President Donald Trump accused Vice President Kamala Harris of overseeing an invasion at the southern border during a news conference Thursday in southern Arizona alongside the families of murder victims allegedly killed at the hands of foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally.

Harris “has overseen a nation-wrecking border invasion,” Trump said at the Arizona-Mexico border.

Harris officially accepted the Democratic nomination for president Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. She did so after “a coup” forcing out President Joe Biden, Trump said at his news conference.

“For nearly four years, Comrade Kamala … has allowed at least 20 million people, all illegal aliens, into our country, including millions and millions of unvetted fighting age men from over 158 different countries,” Trump said. The Center Square has reported the number of illegal border crossings is more than 12.5 million.

Because of Biden-Harris policies, Border Patrol agents “are being forced to free tens of thousands of illegal aliens from custody week after week. These are the most violent criminals that you’ll ever see. Every day brings another story about innocent Americans being tortured, raped murdered and massacred by illegal aliens that Kamala Harris has set free in our country.”

Trump described the criminals released into the country and the types of crimes they committed in their home countries or in the U.S. They include a Peruvian gang leader wanted for 23 murders; “an illegal alien who approached two 13-year-olds with a machete in New York in broad daylight in front of other people and forced them into the woods, tied them together by the wrist, and raped them over and over again.”

Migrants were just arrested “for the rape of a 46-year-old woman in Coney Island who threw her to the ground and raped her with a knife to her throat,” he said. “One of them had previously been arrested for raping another woman but instead of being deported he was released into our country and told to enjoy your life.”

In Fort Wayne, Indiana, “a woman who was offered a ride home by two illegal aliens was instead kidnapped, held down and raped then driven around while the illegals discussed how they planned to kill her. They didn’t want to have a witness,” Trump said. She escaped by throwing herself out of the moving car.

Trump also described a crime in the Bronx, allegedly committed by “an illegal alien who Kamala set loose into the country, [who] approached a 36-year-old woman while pretending to ask for directions, before he wrapped his arms around her throat, pinned her down on a park bench, and raped her publicly. She said, he wasn’t trying to rape me, he was trying to kill me.’”

The former president also described the sexual assault of two young girls in Michigan by an illegal border crosser; the murder of a 54-year-old mother of four in Virginia who was killed by “an illegal alien trying to steal her car” and who “ran her down, ran her over and left her dead on the ground;” and a Venezuelan “illegal alien criminal let in by Comrade Kamala [who] shot a female police officer multiple times with a rifle” in Texas.

Trump described the murder of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was “assaulted, beaten and horrifically murdered. Kamala Harris let in the illegal alien animal who murdered Laken. This monster was in Border Patrol custody. They didn’t want to let him go but under Kamala’s policies, he was set free to kill and that’s what he did.

“Kamala let this bloodthirsty killer go free and then he murdered beautiful Laken.”

Trump also described “the heartbreaking story of Rachel Moran,” whose family members joined him at the news conference and spoke. Rachel was “brutally raped and murdered by an illegal alien who was let into America by Kamala Harris and her policies of stupidity. The savage person who committed this heinous crime first killed another woman in El Salvador before walking across our open border” before allegedly committing a home invasion in Los Angeles.

“Biden-Harris unleashed a deadly plague of migrant crime on our country” that “shattered so many families’ lives and stole so many incredible young lives,” Trump said.

“We can’t let it happen to other people. We can’t let what you’re going through happen to other families,” he said to the Angel families joining him. One was 12-year-old Houston murder victim Jocelyn Nungaray’s mother, who endorsed Trump. The victims’ lives were taken “all for no reason whatsoever” by “hardened, hardened criminals pouring into our country,” he said.

Trump refuted the claims made by some Democrats and news outlets that illegal foreign nationals “don’t commit crimes like people that live here.”

The Center Square has reported for years on Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers pursuing, arresting and removing criminals and fugitives illegally in the country. From fiscal years 2021 through 2023 alone, ICE agents arrested more than 387,000 criminal noncitizens, breaking records in fiscal 2023. The majority were from Mexico, Nicaragua, Columbia and Venezuela.

“They make our criminals look like babies,” Trump said. “Our criminals all of a sudden don’t look so tough. These are the roughest people from all over the world.”

Watch full speech:

Fed Chair: ‘Time Has Come’ to Cut Rates

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell laid the groundwork Friday for interest rate cuts ahead, though he declined to provide exact indications on timing or extent.

“The time has come for policy to adjust,” the central bank leader said in his much-awaited keynote address at the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.”

With markets awaiting direction on where monetary policy is headed, Powell focused as much on a look back at what caused the inflation that led to an aggressive series of 11 rate hikes from March 2022 through July 2023.

However, he did note the progress on inflation and said the Fed can now turn its focus equally to the other side of its dual mandate, namely to make sure the economy stays around full employment.

“Inflation has declined significantly. The labor market is no longer overheated, and conditions are now less tight than those that prevailed before the pandemic,” Powell said. “Supply constraints have normalized. And the balance of the risks to our two mandates has changed.”

He vowed that “we will do everything we can” to make sure the labor market says strong and progress on inflation continues.

Stocks added to gains as Powell began to speak while Treasury yields dropped sharply . Traders maintained a 100% chance of at least a quarter percentage point rate cut in September and raised the odds of a potential half-point reduction to about 1-in-3, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch.

“This was a valedictory of essentially Chair Powell turning the page, saying the mission, which has been focused on inflation for the last two years, has been successful,” economist Paul McCulley, a former Pimco managing director, said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”

Sees progress toward goals

The speech comes with the inflation rate consistently drifting back to the Fed’s 2% target though still not there yet. A gauge the Fed prefers to measure inflation most recently showed the rate at 2.5%, down from 3.2% a year ago and well off its peak above 7% in June 2022.

At the same time, the unemployment rate has slowly but consistently climbed higher, most recently at 4.3% and in an area that otherwise would trigger a time-tested indicator of a recession. However, Powell attributed the rise in unemployment to more individuals entering the workforce and a slower pace of hiring, rather than a rise in layoffs or a general deterioration in the labor market.

“Our objective has been to restore price stability while maintaining a strong labor market, avoiding the sharp increases in unemployment that characterized earlier disinflationary episodes when inflation expectations were less well anchored,” he said. “While the task is not complete, we have made a good deal of progress toward that outcome.”

Markets are expecting the Fed to start cutting in September, though Powell made no mention of when he thinks policy easing will begin. Minutes from the July open market committee meeting, released Wednesday, noted that a “vast majority” of officials believe a September cut will be appropriate so long as there are no data surprises.

“He’s pretty dovish. He bought the option to do whatever he needs to do next month, which is clearly an ease,” said Joseph LaVorgna, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities. “I don’t think the bar for 50 [basis points] is particularly high.”

In addition to assessing the current state of play, Powell took considerable time in the speech to evaluate what led to the surge in inflation — hitting its highest level in more than 40 years — as well as the Fed’s policy response and why price pressures have eased without a recession.

‘Good ship Transitory’

When inflation first began to rise in early 2021, he and his colleagues — as well as many Wall Street economists — dismissed it as “transitory” and caused by Covid-related factors that would abate.

“The good ship Transitory was a crowded one,” Powell quipped to laughter form attendees, “with most mainstream analysts and advanced-economy central bankers on board. I think I see some former shipmates out there today.”

When it became clear that inflation was spreading from goods to services, the Fed pivoted and began hiking, ultimately adding 5.25 percentage points to its benchmark overnight rate that had been around zero following emergency cuts in the early pandemic days.

The rise in inflation, Powell said, was “a global phenomenon,” the result of “rapid increases in the demand for goods, strained supply chains, tight labor markets, and sharp hikes in commodity prices.”

He attributed confidence in the Fed and well-anchored expectations that inflation ultimately would ease to the economy avoiding a sharp downturn during the hiking cycle.

“The FOMC did not flinch from carrying out our responsibilities, and our actions forcefully demonstrated our commitment to restoring price stability,” he said. “An important takeaway from recent experience is that anchored inflation expectations, reinforced by vigorous central bank actions, can facilitate disinflation without the need for slack.”

Powell added that there is still “much to be learned” from the experience.

“That is my assessment of events. Your mileage may differ,” he said.

Former Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy was chased out of an anti-Israel protest a few blocks away from the DNC after making a surprise appearance.

Ramaswamy was noticed by the crowd of radical activists as soon as he left his car, and was swarmed by protesters and journalists at Union Park where the protests have been organizing all week.

“You should take off. We don’t want you here,” Hatem Abudayyeh, who openly supports Hamas, told Ramaswamy. The Arab activist, who had his home raided by the FBI in 2010 for “material support of terrorism,” told Ramaswamy to leave after telling him he doesn’t have a right to be present if he does not “support the Palestinian people.”

“The good news is we are in America and so we all actually get to express ourselves,” Ramaswamy quipped back.

Abudayyeh called Ramaswamy a “racist Zionist pig,” setting off chants of, “Racist go home.” Ramaswamy was then mobbed and escorted out of the park by his security team, setting off a frenzy among local police trying to contain the crowd to the park.

We set up an interview with @VivekGRamaswamy at the anti-Israel protests in Chicago. Here’s what happened: pic.twitter.com/hlZJf0Xkri — Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 22, 2024

Immediately after the altercation, Ramaswamy told The Daily Wire that the protesters, if they really want an end to wars, should actually support former President Donald Trump.

“The irony is that if a lot of these people, if they want to stay out of war, there is a president who kept us out of war for four years,” Ramaswamy said as he was being escorted away from the scene. “There wasn’t war in the Middle East. There wasn’t war in Russia and Ukraine.”

Before the conflict started, Ramaswamy said he enjoyed his exchange with a communist who sold him a newspaper on communism for five dollars.

“I think there are a lot of people who may want to engage in thoughtful dissent, but the majority of what it has become ends up devolving into a thoughtless and quasi-physical exercise,” he said. “You got a lot of people that are rightly pissed off about the direction of the Democratic Party.”

Brawl breaks out in Chicago after anti-Israel protesters attack man carrying the American flag pic.twitter.com/3XMtxwsu0N — Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 22, 2024

Ramaswamy said he “wanted to come see” the protest for himself because he “didn’t trust” the media’s representation of it.

At the park, protesters were carrying a mix of Palestinian flags, Black Liberation flags, Communists flags, and a Hezbollah flag.

The protesters are expected to march outside the DNC Thursday night, the last night of the convention, which will feature Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris as the headliner.

Pentagon Could Sideline 17 Navy Ships Due to Manpower Shortages

Military Sealift Command has drafted a plan to remove the crews from 17 Navy support ships due to a lack of qualified mariners to operate the vessels across the Navy, USNI News reported.

The MSC “force generation reset” identified two Lewis and Clark replenishment ships, one fleet oiler, a dozen Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transports (EPF) and two forward-deployed Navy expeditionary sea bases that would enter an “extended maintenance” period and have their crews retasked to other ships in the fleet, three people familiar with the plan told USNI News Thursday.

Based on the crew requirements on the platforms, sideling all the ships could reduce the civilian mariner demand for MSC by as many as 700 billets.

A defense official confirmed the basic outline of the plan to USNI News on Thursday. Two sources identified the forward-deployed sea bases as USS Lewis Puller (ESB-3), based in Bahrain in U.S. Central Command, and USS Herschel “Woody” Williams (ESB-4), based in Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Greece, and operated in U.S. European and Africa Command.

A Navy official, when contacted by USNI News, acknowledged the service was working on a plan to retask civilian mariners but did not provide details.

The new effort, known informally as “the great reset” has yet to be adopted by the Navy and is awaiting approval from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, USNI News understands.

‘Burning Through People’

The Military Sealift Command operates a fleet of logistics ships that refuel and resupply the Navy’s ships around the world and are crewed by 5,500 civilians who are employed by the Navy.

Across the MSC there are about 4,500 billets for mariners on a wide variety of U.S. support ships ranging from resupply vessels, fleet oilers that refuel ships and aircraft, salvage ships, the Navy’s two command ships, submarine tenders and hospital ships.

For every billet on an MSC ship there are about 1.27 mariners to fill the positions, a ratio that two former MSC master mariners told USNI News on Thursday was unstainable.

“If you’re required to have 100 people on a vessel. There are only 27 more people on shore at any given time to rotate those crew members,” a former MSC mariner told USNI News.

At that ratio, a mariner would be at sea for four months and off for about a month ­and then return.

“That math just doesn’t work,” the former mariner told USNI News. “No one is able to have a healthy work-life balance and be able to get off the ship and get adequate time to go home, have time at home with their family, take leave, take care of medical requirements [in that timeframe]. There is so much training required of every billet at MSC to stay proficient with Navy requirements and training and merchant marine credentialing.”

That’s much more time at sea than commercial mariners. For example, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association union contracts requires their members to work with two mariners for every billet, which translates to a paid month off for every month at sea.

In addition to the more demanding schedule, the extra wrinkle for the MSC mariners is that they earn leave at the same rate as other DoD employees and junior mariners aren’t paid for their time off on shore if they haven’t accrued leave.

If the Navy and MSC elect to reassign the crews of all 17 ships, the so-called great reset could free up 600 to 700 sailors to the larger MSC pool, USNI News understands. That would bring the ratio closer to 1.5 mariners per billet and allow MSC mariners more time on shore and allow the Navy to crew newer support vessels like the John Lewis-class fleet oiler. Three have delivered to the Navy, but none have deployed in part due to crew availability, USNI News understands.

The punishing schedule for the mariners led to a retention issue for MSC that was accelerated by the severe “gangway up” COVID-19 prevention measures ordered by retired MSC commander Rear Adm. Michael Wettlaufer.

“[During] COVID nobody was getting off the ship, mariners were being treated poorly and so they started to quit,” a retired MSC mariner told USNI News. Since then, “mariners have been quitting at a greater rate than MSC can hire new ones… People say ‘I had to quit because it’s a terrible work-life balance. I can’t go to sea and also have a family, so I got to leave.’”

Another former MSC mariner told USNI News he enjoyed sailing with MSC, but he saw his older peers deal with divorce and estrangement from their children and didn’t want that for himself.

“I can’t say much bad about MSC, he said. “But when I left, I left because of my family.”

That pressure to retain experienced mariners led to the decision to craft the plan to sideline ships, three sources familiar with the plan told USNI News.

“This is basically the result of many years of neglect and mismanagement of their force,” Sal Mercogliano, former MSC mariner and associate professor of history at Campbell University told USNI News on Thursday.

“They are just burning through people.”

Spearheads and Seabases

Perhaps the highest visibility ships purposed to be sidelined are the two forward-deployed expeditionary sea bases. While Navy officials did not identify the hulls, two people familiar with the draft plan said the ESBs were CENTCOM’s USS Lewis Puller (ESB-3) and U.S. Europe and Africa Command’s USS Herschel “Woody” Williams (ESB-4).

Puller has been forward deployed to Bahrain since 2017 serving as host for both mine countermeasures and special operations forces in the region. For example, CENTCOM has used the ship as a platform to launch anti-smuggling operations to seize Iranian weapons bound for Yemen as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian. In 2023, it was positioned off the coast of Sudan as a platform in case U.S. citizens needed to evacuate from the country.

Puller is based on the Alaska-class tanker design and is a follow-on to a converted amphibious warship USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15). The ESB was commissioned in port in Bahrain to allow it to operate as a warship. The idea proved so popular, the Navy has bought several more of the platform. Williams has held annual patrols around Africa and been central to the Navy’s effort in the region.

The largest shares of ships proposed to be sidelined in the great reset are the 12 active Spearhead-class EPF in the service, USNI News understands. The first two EPF, USNS Spearhead (EPF-1) and USNS Choctaw County (EPF-2), have already been sidelined at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. While technically still part of MSC, the ships have a sparse crew and are listed in reduced operating status.

The EPFs, high-speed aluminum catamarans that are built at Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., are crewed by about 26 MSC mariners and have been deployed to the Pacific, Europe and Africa as part of U.S. outreach missions.

The hull form is set to be the basis for a new class of hospital ships which will enter the fleet by the end of the decade.

While the order has yet to be signed, Mercogliano has tracked EPFs beginning to return to the U.S. from aboard far from the end of their expected service lives.

“These ships have a lot of life in them,” he said.

Mayoral Candidate Plans to Let AI Bot Run Cheyenne, Wyoming

Artificial intelligence has officially run for office in what may be the country’s first election with a robot on the ballot.

Victor Miller has always been a big fan of sci-fi books, so it’s no surprise that he was also an early advocate for AI bots.

ChatGPT is his favorite AI, he says, and it is the platform he chose to build his running mate for the mayoral election in Cheyenne, Wyoming this summer.

He came up with the idea for VIC, as Miller dubbed the program, earlier this year when he had submitted a public records request to the local government that was rejected, according to The Washington Post.

He appealed the decision and ultimately received the information, but he also realized that a robot probably would not have made the mistake in the first place.

“Then I started wondering if AI would make a better mayor than any human,” he said.

His AI was quickly able to sort through and reference hundreds of public records laws and offer suggestions for funding strategies and renovation projects.

At a question and answer session this summer, Miller set up VIC to be able to directly respond to constituents’s questions.

“How would you make your decisions according to human factor, involving humans, and having to make a decision that affects so many people?” one voter asked the machine.

VIC paused before every answer, then spit out seemingly logical responses in a male voice.

“Making decisions that affect many people requires a careful balance of data-driven insights and human empathy,” VIC said.

“Here’s how I would approach it,” it added, before listing and explaining six different aspects of a plan he would use to govern fairly.

‘A brave new world’

Miller, 42, submitted the mayoral candidate application in the spring, stating that the name VIC should appear on the ballot — an acronym for Virtual Integrated Citizen.

The librarian said his plan is to take care of everything that the robot cannot — such as ribbon-cutting ceremonies and in-person events — while leaving the executive functioning up to VIC.

By June, residents of Cheyenne had begun hearing about the mayoral hopeful, running as nonpartisan, and sharing their opinions on the option.

“I’ve got an open mind,” 71-year-old local Richard Garrett told WAPO.

“It’s a brave new world,” he added, referencing the popular 1932 dystopic novel by Aldous Huxley.

Experts agreed that VIC’s candidacy was unprecedented — but said it was also dangerous.

“This incident in Wyoming seems to be testing the frontiers of local regulation,” Valerie Wirtschafter, who researches AI and democracy at the Brookings Institution, told WAPO.

“While OpenAI may have certain policies against using its model for campaigning, other companies do not, so it makes shutting down the campaign nearly impossible.”

Not this time

Despite the hype around Miller and VIC, the innovative duo did not come close to becoming mayor during this year’s race.

Cheyenne residents went to the polls on Tuesday and decisively chose not to step into the future quite yet.

With a population of about 65,000 people and about 11,000 votes cast, just 327 residents opted for VIC, according to Wyoming news site StateScoop.

The incumbent nonpartisan Mayor Patrick Collins received 6,286 votes, giving him a majority and the mayoral seat.

But this does not spell the end for VIC, Miller said.

Although ChatGPT has blocked his account multiple times due to their policy against using AI for campaigning, the sci-fi fan does not mind building new ones.

It takes him less than a day.

“They can’t stop me from doing what I’m doing,” Miller told The Washington Post.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of word games they play.”

Manhunt for Arizona Suspect Who Threatened to Shoot Trump During Border Visit Today

A manhunt is underway in Arizona for a suspect who threatened to kill former President Trump ahead of a rally in the Copper State on Thursday.

The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office has identified the suspect as 66-year-old Ronald Lee Syvrud.

The sheriff’s office said Syvrud has outstanding warrants from the state of Wisconsin for DUI, failure to appear for DUI and from Graham County, Arizona, for hit-and-run and felony failure to register as a sex offender.

The sheriff’s office said it also has an absconder hold for Syvrud for failing to register as a sex offender.

Syvrud is listed on the Wisconsin Department of Corrections sex offender registry for “second-degree sexual assault of a child” with an Arizona address.

Court records reviewed by Fox News show Syvrud was most recently charged with assault in June, but that was dropped in July.

The sheriff’s office posted on Facebook that Syvrud is being sought “as an investigative lead for threats to kill a presidential candidate,” but did not elaborate. Fox News later confirmed that the “presidential candidate” is Trump.

The threat against former President Trump’s life comes after the assassination attempt on the Republican presidential nominee during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month.

The sheriff’s office told Fox News that there are “no known ties to Pennsylvania, and we are working with local, state, and federal agencies.”

The former president held his first outdoor rally on Wednesday since the assassination attempt, speaking behind a wall of bulletproof glass at a podium in Asheboro, North Carolina.

Trump is visiting the southern border in Cochise County, Arizona, Thursday while continuing to campaign for the November election. He’s been spending the week campaigning across battleground states.

At a Thursday afternoon press conference, Trump appeared to be unaware of the manhunt when asked for comment. The former president said he was aware it might be “dangerous” for him to be there but nevertheless, “I have a job to do.”

“I haven’t heard about that. They probably want to keep it from me,” Trump said, when asked to respond to the manhunt. “Thank you for telling me. Let’s get out of here, right now!” Trump joked. He again thanked the reporter for telling him.

Trump then pivoted to remarks on the assassination attempt in Butler, saying he has “great respect for the Secret Service” who jumped “on top of me with bullets flying.”

“I have great respect. But no, I haven’t heard that,” Trump said, referring back to the manhunt underway. “But I’m not that surprised. And the reason is because I want to do things that are very bad for the bad guys.

The U.S. Secret Service told Fox News it is aware of and tracking the manhunt in Arizona and referred all further inquiries to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office for further comments, including potential ties to Butler.

Supreme Court Restores Arizona’s Voter Proof-of-Citizenship Law

The Supreme Court on Thursday partially agreed to the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) emergency request to revive an Arizona law that strengthens proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting.

In a 5-4 vote, the justices reinstated Arizona’s law mandating officials reject state voter registration forms if the person did not provide proof of citizenship.

The court’s three liberal justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — dissented alongside conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

But in voting to deny the RNC’s other request, those four found themselves in the majority, bolstered by support from at least one of Chief Justice John Roberts or Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The RNC had demanded the reinstatement of Arizona’s prohibition that prevents registered voters from casting ballots for president or in the mail if they didn’t provide citizenship proof, even if they used a federal-level form to register, where proof is not required.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, who are viewed as the Supreme Court’s three leading conservatives, voted to reinstate those provisions, too.

The ruling came just ahead of Arizona’s ballot printing deadline, enabling the provision to go into effect for this year’s elections, when Arizona is expected to be a critical swing state in the presidential race.

By not fully agreeing to the RNC’s request, the Supreme Court’s decision sides with the Biden administration.

The Justice Department has sued over the latter provision as conflicting with federal law, but it has not challenged the portion impacting only state-level forms.

“Even putting aside the merits, applicants are not entitled to a stay,” U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in court filings.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and various voting rights groups have challenged both sets of the provisions. The case revolves around claims that the changes are unconstitutional, preempted by federal law and violate a consent decree a state official signed in 2018.

After a federal district judge blocked the provisions and an appeals court refused to lift it, the RNC, joined by Arizona’s top two Republican state lawmakers, thrusted the Supreme Court into the dispute earlier this month by filing an emergency appeal.

They urged the justices to stay the lower ruling by Aug. 22, which is the state’s ballot printing deadline, arguing that the state was authorized to make the voter registration changes.

The challengers, however, urged the Supreme Court to stay out the case, insisting the RNC hadn’t cleared their high burden to receive emergency relief.

Lawyers for the DNC and other private plaintiffs told the justices the RNC “sat on their hands” after losing in a lower court.

“The tardiness is particularly inexcusable here, as applicants seek to weaponize Arizona’s forthcoming ballot-printing deadline to obtain relief,” their written response reads.

Democratic Arizona state officials, meanwhile, argued that the Supreme Court’s intervention “would be destabilizing” given the short timeframe before November’s election.

DNC Day 3: Top Takeaways

The third night of the Democratic National Convention featured a second former president, Bill Clinton, making the case for Vice President Kamala Harris‘s campaign.

Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), Harris’s running mate, gave the keynote speech Wednesday night as celebrity singers John Legend and Sheila E. staged a musical tribute to Walz’s Minnesota roots.

Stevie Wonder asked the crowd to “reach for a higher ground” in supporting Harris’s campaign before performing a medley of his songs. Kenan Thompson, of Saturday Night Live fame, appeared onstage Wednesday evening with a print-sized copy of Project 2025, a conservative proposal for a second Trump presidency.

Abortion rights activists featured prominently during the night with Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All; Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood; Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood; and Jessica Mackler, president of EMILYs List, all addressing the convention.

Oprah Winfrey made a surprise appearance at the convention, taking a jab at Sen. J.D. Vance’s (R-OH) childless cat lady comments while pushing independents to back Harris. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who is aiming to become the first black House Speaker if Democrats gain control of the lower chamber, called former President Donald Trump “an old boyfriend who you broke up with, but he just won’t go away.”

Here are the top five moments from the third night of the convention.

Tim Walz’s biggest career speech brings tears from son

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), along with Walz’s former students, including Ben Ingman and the former high school football players he coached, introduced the Minnesota governor before he spoke onstage.

The moment was a memorable Americana entrance for a man whom Harris branded as “Coach Walz” at their first campaign rally as running mates. In another emotional moment, Walz’s son Gus was seen sobbing while mouthing: “That’s my dad!”

Walz began his speech by thanking Harris and President Joe Biden for their nearly four years of leadership. “Thanks for putting your trust in me, and for inviting me to be part of this incredible campaign,” he said of Harris. “It’s the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States.”

The Minnesota governor leaned on his background as a teacher before entering politics in a speech that will likely introduce him to wide swaths of the public. “So there I was, a 40-something high school teacher with little kids, zero political experience, and no money, running in a deep-red district. But you know what? Never underestimate a public school teacher,” he said.

Walz touted several progressive policies to the delight of Democrats, including providing free breakfast and lunch for school children, fighting for affordable housing, protecting abortion rights, and mediating medical debt for families.

“So while other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” Walz said as attendees cheered in excitement.

In a reprise of his attacks against the GOP, Walz called attempts to implement Project 2025, a conservative game plan for a second Trump presidency, “weird.”

As he ended his speech, Walz pushed for Democrats to donate, vote, and knock on doors because “when we fight,” Walz said to the crowd. “We win!” they yelled back.

An aging Bill Clinton slams the Trump campaign

Clinton, who recently celebrated his 78th birthday, claimed he was the oldest person in his family, but “I’m still younger than Donald Trump,” he quipped. Clinton is just two months younger than Trump, whose birthday is in June. The former president also mentioned that he was unsure how many more conventions he would attend after this week, in a humble reflection of his mortality.

He continued to slip in more criticisms against Trump, who Clinton claimed is “about me, myself, and I.”

“The next time you hear him, don’t count the lies. Count the I’s,” said Clinton, who marked his 12th address to the DNC Thursday evening.

Harris is Trump’s complete contrast, according to Clinton. “Kamala Harris is the only candidate in this race who has the vision and the experience, the temperament and the will and yes, the sheer joy to get something done,” he said.

“If you vote for this team, if you can get them elected and let them bring in this breath of fresh air, you’ll be proud of it for the rest of your life,” Clinton later declared. “Your children will be proud. Your grandchildren will be proud of it.”

The former president also commented on the joyful convention taking place in Chicago. “After the last two days, aren’t you proud to be a Democrat?” Clinton asked earlier on before claiming he loved seeing Barack and Michelle Obama speak the previous day, as well as Hillary Clinton’s address to the convention.

“One of the reasons that president-to-be Kamala Harris is doing so well is that we’re happy,” Bill Clinton would later claim. “But you should never underestimate your adversary. These people are very good at distracting.”

Nancy Pelosi’s cements status as party godmother

The former House Speaker received a standing ovation and chants of “Nancy! Nancy!” when she first walked onstage. Before Pelosi took to the stage, Mindy Kaling, the celebrity host of Wednesday’s convention, called her the “mother of dragons” in an introduction speech.

Pelosi slammed Trump over the actions of his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in her address to the convention. “Jan. 6 was a perilous moment for our democracy,” she said. “Never before had a president of the United States so brazenly assaulted the bedrock of our democracy, so gleefully embraced political violence, so willfully betrayed his oath of office.”

“Let us not forget who assaulted democracy on Jan. 6 — he did. But let us not forget who saved democracy that day — we did,” Pelosi said. “Thank God we have a Democratic House of Representatives.”

Many Democrats have long believed that Pelosi was part of the push that finally convinced President Joe Biden to suspend his campaign, paving the way for Harris’s nomination. Biden and the former House Speaker reportedly have an icy relationship.

But at the convention, Democrats were ecstatic over Pelosi, who arguably has pulled the strings that led to an energized Democratic Party.

Former vice presidential candidates for Harris take the stage

Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg both took to the stage Thursday night. The two leaders were once on the short list to join Harris as her vice presidential pick, but that role went to Walz.

Buttigieg spent part of his speech attacking Vance as an insufficient bridge to Midwestern voters whom he has insulted many with his “childless cat ladies” comments.

“J.D. Vance is one of those guys who thinks if you don’t live the life he has in mind for you, then you don’t count,” Buttigieg said. “A guy who thinks that if you don’t have kids, you have no physical commitment to the future of this country.”

The Pennsylvania governor slammed the Trump-Vance ticket as against the freedoms of the people. “Today, we find ourselves writing the next chapter,” Shapiro said. “Will we be a nation defined by chaos and extremism? Or will we choose a path of decency, honor, and continued progress?”

Another future leader of the party, Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), addressed the crowd on Wednesday, where he called out Trump’s lack of military service. “I joined the army when I was 17. In fact, I was too young to sign the paperwork,” he said. “I had to ask my mom to sign it for me because I do not have bone spurs.”

Parents of hostage victim appeal for son’s return

Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, gave an emotional speech appealing for the return of the eight American hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 surprise attack against Israel.

Goldberg doubled over in tears when the crowd chanted, “Bring them home!” as the parents first appeared onstage. It’s been 320 days since Goldber-Polin was kidnapped, and “since then, we live on another planet,” Goldberg said. “Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can try to imagine the anguish and misery that John and I and all the hostage families are enduring.”

“This is a political convention, but bringing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home is not a political issue,” added Polin.

Convention attendees were seen crying as the parents addressed the crowd. “Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you. Stay strong, survive,” Goldberg declared. “This is a humanitarian issue.”

UPDATED: Romanian Police Raid Andrew Tate’s Home over New Allegations Involving Trafficking Minors

Romanian police on Wednesday searched four properties linked to Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan amid new minor sex and trafficking allegations. This investigation for trafficking minors started in June 2023.

According to Romania’s prosecutors for the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) police descended on four locations owned by the Tate brothers in Bucharest and Ilfov.

The searches are linked to a fresh investigation against the Tate brothers, according to the authorities.DIICOT implemented four home search warrants within Ilfov county and Bucharest municipality, in a criminal case regarding the commission of the crimes of:

• forming an organized criminal group
• trafficking minors
• human trafficking (new victims)
• sexual intercourse with a minor
• influencing statements and money laundering

A spokesperson for the Tate brothers confirmed the raids on social media. “Although the allegations in the search warrant are not yet fully clarified, they include suspicions of human trafficking and money laundering. The brothers’ legal team is present to ensure all formalities are carried out correctly,” they said.

Andrew Tate commented on X that he was the victim of conspiracies. “The Matrix is ​​real. And they have a tried and true playbook. Slander is their number one tool, and the process is the punishment,” wrote Andrew Tate.

The two are currently awaiting trial in Romania on charges of human trafficking, rape, and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. In the UK, Andrew Tate faces a civil case from four British women who claim they were raped and assaulted. The brothers are also being taken to court by police in the UK for allegedly paying zero tax on $27 million in earnings from their online businesses.

Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate were detained for 24 hours by DIICOT prosecutors on Wednesday evening, August 21, after more than 6 hours of questioning in a new case.

According to the same sources, other suspects were also detained in the same case, including Alex Stanciu, Alex Donea, and the two alleged accomplices of the Tate brothers, Georgiana Naghel and Luana Radu.

There are 34 new victims in Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate’s latest case. This includes two minors, aged 15 and 17. There are a total of 49 victims across all of their cases.

A judge in Romania has ordered Andrew Tate to house arrest for 30 days. Tristan will remain on judiciary control. This will be reviewed in 30 days with the possibility of being extended.

Full DIICOT press release:

Pursuant to communique no. 1 of 21.08.2024, the Information and Public Relations Office within the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism is empowered to inform the public of the following:

On 21.08.2024, the prosecutors of the Directorate of Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism – Central Structure ordered the detention of 6 defendants for committing the crimes of forming an organized criminal group, trafficking in persons, trafficking in minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, money laundering, influencing statements and favoring the perpetrator.

From the criminal investigation documents carried out, it emerged that, during 2015, three defendants (two of them foreign citizens) constituted an organized criminal group on the territory of Romania, to which a suspect (foreign citizen) joined in 2016 and in in September 2021, another defendant (Romanian citizen), who acted with the aim of committing the crime of human trafficking both on the territory of Romania and of other states.

Two of the defendants, using the loverboy method and taking advantage of the obvious state of vulnerability of 34 injured persons, recruited them, and with the support of the other members of the organized crime group, transported and housed them in different locations where they supervised them and coordinated by forcing them to produce pornographic materials that they later broadcast for a fee on profile platforms.

The proceeds thus obtained by the defendants from the sexual exploitation of the victims were valued at over 2,800,000 US dollars and 887,000 tokens.

It was also noted that in the period from 2014 to December 2021, one of the defendants (foreign citizen), by misleading (the loverboy method) and taking advantage of the obvious vulnerability of a minor victim (17 years old, foreign citizen), transported and sheltered her in several locations located on the territories of Great Britain and Romania, where he forced her to perform sexual acts in order to produce pornographic materials and distribute them on various websites. Material benefits valued at over 1.5 million US dollars were obtained from the criminal activity, which the defendant appropriated in full.

Also in his charge, it was noted that starting from December 2020, he repeatedly had sexual relations and acts with a minor victim, aged 15. In order to hide or dissimulate the illicit origin of the money resulting from the commission of the crime of human trafficking, between December 2023 and July 2024, the two defendants purchased and registered four luxury cars in the names of close people.

At the same time, in an attempt to prevent the discovery of the truth, they took actions of a clearly intimidating nature and acts of corruption on some injured persons and witnesses in order to induce them not to give statements or to give false statements in this file. With regard to two other defendants (Romanian citizens), from the conducted investigations, it emerged that they acted with the aim of hindering the investigations in this criminal case.

As a result of the home searches, the sums of approximately 26,000 euros, 81,000 lei, 5,800 GBP and 6,400 USD, two luxury watches, laptops, data storage units, documents and other means of evidence were identified and seized. An insurance seizure was instituted on 16 cars and a motorcycle, all from the luxury category.

Today, the judge of rights and liberties was notified with the proposal of preventive arrest of three of the detained defendants and the house arrest of another defendant.

Judicial activities are carried out together with police officers from the Ilfov Organized Crime Fighting Service.

The action benefited from the support of gendarmes from the Special Intervention Brigade of the Gendarmerie.

Everything You Need to Know About Sex-Trafficking Charges Against Andrew Tate

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