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Yacht Brinkmanship: Owners of Tech’s Biggest Pleasure Craft Compete to the Ends of the Earth

For some, a superyacht isn’t enough—you also need submersibles, remotely operated vehicles, a starlink or two, and a support vessel with a landing pad and extra crew..

If you’re Sergey Brin, Evan Spiegel, Jan Koum, Jeff Bezos, Laurene Powell Jobs, Eric Schmidt, Yuri Milner or any one of dozens of other modern-day tech moguls, it’s not enough to just own a yacht. Now you might need two—one for you and your guests to ride on, and one to act as a “support vessel,” tailing you around the seven seas while towing submersibles, seaplanes, helicopters or just some extra deckhands.

It’s the maritime version of keeping up with the Joneses. When it comes to accumulating pleasure craft, tech’s billionaire elite are sparing no expense—and that includes on submarines, the newest must-have add-on to the luxury superyacht, Titanic disasters be damned. Executives seem to bring the same cutthroat ambition to yachting that they do to business, sizing up each other’s yacht lengths, hiring the same small cadre of designers and tradespeople, and filling them with the same toys and tech.

“If you’re a billionaire, you want to have the nicest things because you can,” said superyacht designer Jonathan Quinn Barnett. “I think it’s actually a pleasure to know that if there’s anything out there, you own the finest.”

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MOGAMBO Yacht – Stunning $75M Superyacht

MOGAMBO yacht is a 73.55-meter yacht capable of hosting up to 12 guests in her seven cabins and can fit 17 qualified onboard crew members.

She was custom-built back in 2012 by Nobiskrug and was refitted four years after her completion. She weighs 1,682 gross tons and can cruise at speeds of 14 knots and caps out at 17 knots.

	Mogambo
	73 m (241 ft)
	12 in 6 cabins
	19 in 9 cabins
	Nobiskrug
	Reymond Langton Design
	Reymond Langton Design
	2012
	17 knots
	MTU
	1,692 ton
	9560780
	US$ 75 million
	US$ 5 – 7 million

MOGAMBO yacht interior

MOGAMBO yacht’s interior was designed by Reymond Langton Design , a design studio founded by Pascale Reymond and Andrew Langton in 2001.

They are an international award-winning design studio with decades of experience in the yacht design industry.

They have tons of design experience with their involvement in over ten yachts. One of these is the AVIVA yacht , a 98.4-meter yacht capable of welcoming up to 16 guests in her eight cabins and fitting 35 qualified crew members.

She weighs 4,999 tons, can cruise at speeds of 14 knots, and can go up to 20 knots.

Another is the KISMET yach t, a 95.2-meter superyacht capable of welcoming up to 12 guests in her seven cabins, which can be attended to by 28 qualified crew members.

She weighs 2,928 tons and can cruise at speeds of 12 knots and go to speeds of 17 knots. Aboard the MOGAMBO yacht, guests can have full access to the yacht’s amenities.

These include her tender garage, a beach club, a spa room, a jacuzzi, a gym, exercise equipment, an elevator, and several dining areas. She has wifi access and has complete air conditioning.

Hosting guests is also not a problem as she has seven cabins with specifications of 1 Master, 1 VIP, 2 Doubles, 2 Doubles /Twins, and 1 Pullman. She can also board 17 qualified crew members.

Specifications

MOGAMBO yacht spans an overall length of 241.4 feet or 73.55 meters, a beam of 41 feet or 12.5 meters, and a draft of 12.2 feet or 3.7 meters.

She was built by Nobiskrug and completed in 2012 and was both exteriorly and interiorly designed by Reymond Langton Design.

She was engineered to have a teak deck, a steel hull, and an aluminum structure.

She weighs 1,682 tons and is powered by 2 x MTU 16V 4000 M60 engines, which power her twin-screw propulsion system allowing her to cruise at speeds of 14 knots and can go to a top speed of 17 knots.

She can carry 43,600 liters of fresh water, and 182,000 liters of fuel and cover over 5,000 nautical miles.

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The superyachts owned by tech moguls

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is set to join the exclusive club of yacht-owning tech tycoons as the rumoured owner of Oceanco's mighty 127m sailing yacht . Though it should come as no surprise - other big names in tech such as the late Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison and Paul Allen have been responsible for some of the biggest and most ground-breaking superyachts in the world...

The 127-metre Oceanco sailing yacht Koru, formerly Y721, was launched and reportedly delivered to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in April 2023. This three-masted schooner, meaning “new beginnings” in Maori, with an expected 33000 GT and a steel hull and aluminium superstructure, is the largest in the world and the longest built in the Netherlands at Oceanco. Knocking Lürssen's Eos , owned by Biller and Diane von Furstenburg, off the top spot, Koru harnesses design similarities with her black hull, white superstructure and classic lines. However, the intricate gold paintwork, scarlet bootstrap and elaborate figurehead on the bow particularly set her apart.

Larry Ellison

American business magnate Larry Ellison is the co-founder of the billion-dollar computer tech corporation Oracle. In 2004, he commissioned the 138-metre Lürssen superyacht Rising Sun (pictured), which stands today as the 15th largest yacht in the world. It was also the last yacht that ever came from the drawing boards of legendary designed Jon Bannenberg, sporting a military-esque profile with a lean destroyer-type hull and extensive use of structural glass . Rising Sun boasts 8,000m² of living space including a wine cellar and basketball court, with a crew of 45. One of her tenders, a catamaran, even carries the yacht’s 4x4 vehicle ashore. 

Ellison later sold the yacht to media mogul David Geffen and has since hosted a parade of Hollywood's glitterati on board including Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg, Bruce Springsteen and Oprah Winfrey – to name a few. 

In 2011, Ellison appeared to downsize and took delivery of the 88-metre Feadship Musashi . Not unlike Rising Sun in its appearance, structural glass features heavily throughout with a central glass lift, surrounded by a stainless steel and glass staircase that passes through every deck.

More about this yacht

The late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is responsible for two of the most iconic superyachts in the world. At 126-metres in length, Octopus is perhaps his most famous. Built by Lürssen in 2003, this ice-classed superyacht was designed for extended cruising to the most remote locations on earth with a range of 12,500 nautical miles. Home to a helicopter garage, drive-in tender garage, six tenders, and a submarine, she packs a serious punch within her 9,932GT – not to mention the cinema, swimming pool, recording studio, basketball court and spa. At the end of 2019, she joined the market for the very first time , having completed an eight-month refit at Blohm+Voss, and remains the benchmark for exploration yachting.

Tatoosh is another honourable mention and was built by German shipyard Nobiskrug in 2000, three years prior to the delivery of Octopus . At 92-metres, she's smaller than her successor, but to describe Tatoosh as "small" would be a severe understatement. Highlights include a six-foot-deep swimming pool, a pair of helipads, a crew of 30, and a custom 12-metre Hinckley powerboat that she carries on her top deck. Tatoosh is also listed for sale following a refit earlier this year. 

Yachts for charter

The 78-metre Feadship Venus was built for the late Apple boss and founder Steve Jobs. Built under the codename Project Aqua, Venus was launched to international fanfare in 2012, heralded for its extensive use of glass and pared-back design courtesy of Philippe Starck . Innovative features include a false top deck that conceals the communication and television receivers from view and a passarelle that, when opened, looks like the charging port of an iPhone. Venus ’s interior details have been closely guarded since its launch. Sadly, Jobs died a year before the yacht was delivered.

Charles Simonyi

Charles Simonyi led the team that built the first edition of the Microsoft Office software suite and was rumoured to have previously owned Lürssen’s iconic 71-metre SKAT .  Nearly two decades after her launch in 2002, she joined the market for the first time and now Simonyi is thought to have upgraded to the 89-metre Lürssen Norn . Both yachts, penned by Espen Onion, share similar design features. Standout features include an alfresco cinema and adapted depth pool floor with dance floor. Norn was delivered in May 2023.

Sergey Brin

Google co-founder Sergey Brin reportedly owns the high-speed SilverYachts superyacht named Dragonfly , after Google’s once-secret project to launch a censored search engine in China. Delivered in 2009, the 73.3-metre Dragonfly was hailed as the fastest, most fuel-efficient long-range cruising superyacht on the water with a transatlantic range at 22 knots and a fuel consumption of only 360 litres per hour at 18 knots, extending her range to 4,500 nautical miles. Dragonfly is said to have a dance floor and open-air movie theatre on board. The vessel was applauded for its contribution to the disaster relief effort in Vanuatu after Hurricane Pam devastated the island in 2015. The crew reportedly moved 62 metric tons of freshwater ashore, treated over 250 patients, facilitated three medical evacuations, and built shelters in multiple villages and cleared numerous helicopter landing zones for ongoing support.

Yachts for sale

Google’s billionaire co-founder Larry Page purchased the 60-metre explorer yacht conversion Senses from a New Zealand businessman Sir Douglas Myers back in 2011. The globe-trotting superyacht features interiors by Philippe Starck and can accommodate a total of 12 guests on board, with primary guests reaping the benefits of the master suite's gyro-stabilised bed. Senses also houses an exceptional toy box with three high-speed tenders, six wave runners, a jet board and a JetLev. According to the New Zealand Herald, Senses is currently undergoing a refit in Whangārei, New Zealand, after being sold to an unknown buyer in 2020. 

Barry Diller

The world’s largest three-masted schooner – also the third largest sailing yacht in the world – is owned by fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg and her husband Barry Diller, chairman and senior executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and Expedia Group. The 92.92-metre sailing yacht, named Eos , was built in Germany by Lürssen and delivered in 2006 with a trio of masts that stand 61-metres tall. The sailing yacht has hosted the couple's star-studded group of friends including Andy Cohen, Gayle King, Bradley Cooper, Harry Styles and Karlie Kloss. The interiors were designed by Francois Catroux, who Vanity Fair named as “the super-rich's favourite interior designer" in 2016.

Mark Zuckerburg

The 107-metre Kleven superyacht Andromeda was built for serial superyacht owner Graeme Hart and delivered under the name Ulysses . In 2017, a year after its launch, rumours began circulating that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg had purchased the rugged, six-deck explorer (although a Facebook spokesperson was quick to stamp out the rumours and released a statement denying the claims). Andromeda can carry 36 guests and is equipped with an impressive inventory of toys and tenders, including six motorbikes, two ATVs, a helicopter and an amphibious rib. Five years after her launch, Andromeda still ranks among the largest explorer yachts in the world . 

Eric Schmidt

The former Google ceo Eric Schmidt backed out of the purchase of the abandoned 81.3-metre Oceanco Alfa Nero but has been said to have moved onto become the new owner of a 95-metre Lürssen. Kismet was sold in September 2023 to the billionaire as part of one of the biggest brokerage deal of the year. With the details shrouded in secrecy the yacht is now aptly known as Whisper . Espen Onio was responsible for her iconic exterior while inside was thanks to  Reymond Langton , achieving the original brief from the previous commissioning owner Shahid Khan of “caviar and champagne.” Standout details include the hi-tech, art deco saloon, a private observation platform and the Persian-inspired spa area.

The co-founder and former ceo of WhatsApp, Jan Koum, has been rumoured to own the 99.9-metre Feadship , Moonrise. The yacht’s clean and strong lines, penned by Chris Bottoms from Studio de Voogt , won the highly competitive class of best displacement motor yachts above 3,000 GT in the World Superyacht Awards 2021. Features include the helicopter landing deck and modern interiors by Remi Tessier . Accommodation is for up to 16 guests, and there are 32 crew members onboard Moonrise to attend to the guests' every need. The Ukrainian-American mogul is also said to own the accompanying support vessel Nebula.

Evan Speigel

The Silicone Valley ceo, Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel has been reportedly said to own the 94.8-metre Feadship Bliss. Delivered in 2021 the motor yacht penned by Feadship's Studio De Voogt Naval Architects has most recently been spotted cruising Auckland in September 2023. Spiegel is rumoured to be Feadship's younger client. Bliss can accommodate up to 18 guests across nine staterooms; however little else is known about the 2983 GT yacht.

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Is this WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum’s secretive 331-foot-long Feadship superyacht? It bears a striking resemblance to his $220 million Moonrise motoryacht, which is built by the same shipyard. Could this be the fifth addition to his magnificent fleet of vessels?

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WhatsApp’s reclusive founder has quietly become a megadonor to Jewish causes

( JTA ) – The fighting in Ukraine has been called “a WhatsApp war” amid widespread reliance on messaging apps by  journalists ,  soldiers  and  ordinary civilians , and their central role in  spreading propaganda . 

Meanwhile, WhatsApp’s inventor, a Ukrainian-born Jew whose creation made him one of the wealthiest people in the world, has kept conspicuously quiet throughout the conflict. Jan Koum, who controls a multi-billion-dollar charitable foundation, has not uttered a public word even as many other wealthy Ukrainians and Russians announce donations toward humanitarian relief efforts. 

But based on an examination of tax returns filed by Koum’s foundation before the war, the publicity-shy WhatsApp founder, who arrived in California as a teenager, is more entwined than meets the eye with the events rocking the country he left behind as a 16-year-old. His donations, only a sliver of which have been previously reported, include tens of millions of dollars to Jewish organizations now involved in relief efforts in Eastern Europe. 

For example, from 2019 to 2020, the latest year for which there is a tax return, the Koum Family Foundation donated about $17 million to the European Jewish Association, an organization headquartered in Brussels that  launched a campaign  in March to provide housing, food and clothing to refugees from the war. Nearly all of the group’s 2019 budget came from Koum. 

With $10.6 million in gifts over that same period, Koum’s foundation is also one of the most significant donors to another group involved in relief efforts: the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS. The group, whose name refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States, an association of former Soviet territories,  announced the establishment of an ambulance fleet  to evacuate patients throughout Ukraine. 

It is unknown whether Koum continued to make donations in 2021 and afterward because his foundation and all of the past grantees contacted by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency have either ignored requests for comment or declined to speak on the record. JTA contacted more than a dozen of the nonprofits, several of which said they were prohibited from publicly acknowledging Koum’s giving as a condition of their gift. 

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Due to the secrecy marking his charitable giving, as well as his personal life, Koum’s profile as a philanthropist over the past several years has gone almost unnoticed. However, tax returns reveal that Koum, with a fortune estimated between $9.8 billion and $13.7 billion, has quietly become one of the largest donors to Jewish causes in the world. 

His foundation gave nearly $140 million from 2019 to 2020 to about 70 Jewish charities working in the United States, Eastern Europe and Israel. That’s on par with the rate of giving by the biggest and best-known donors in the Jewish world, such as Tulsa-based Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, whose imprint is on hundreds of Jewish organizations, including JTA. 

At this level of giving, Koum has an outsized impact on Jewish communal life but without any of the public awareness that often accompanies major philanthropy. 

That Koum has been able to operate under the radar isn’t surprising to Lila Corwin Berman, a professor of American Jewish history at Temple University, who writes about philanthropy . 

“We have a system in place that guards the privacy of donors and requires minimal forms of reporting and oversight,” she said. ”Only by knowing the Koum name can I excavate tax records to see the list of grantees — and this assumes that the foundation disburses all of its gifts directly, without using community foundations as pass-throughs. The rules as they exist appear to value the donor’s privacy and autonomy above the public’s knowledge.”

Transparency about funding should be particularly important when it comes to Jewish nonprofits because of their goal of “stitchi[ing] together the broad diversity of Jewish life,” according to Corwin Berman.

“The Jewish public should care because such a large funder can inevitably sculpt and set communal priorities,” she said. 

The European Jewish Association, for example, is led by a Chabad-affiliated rabbi, and the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS counts Berel Lazar, a major Chabad rabbi who leads Russia’s Jewish community, as a director. Koum has also given to several Chabad congregations in California and other organs of the movement.

One of Koum’s top Chabad-linked grantees is a nonprofit known as the Jewish Community Center of Moscow, whose address leads to a brown-brick residential building in Brooklyn, a few minutes’ walk away from Chabad’s global headquarters in Crown Heights. 

The organization has no website, and since it is classified as a religious organization, the Jewish Community Center of Moscow is exempt from filing paperwork detailing its mission, leadership or financial activity, as is required of other types of nonprofits. But  a review of IRS records  suggests that a typical donation to the organization ranged from $15,000-$55,000 for a number of years until, in 2019, the pattern changed. That’s when the Koum foundation gave the nonprofit $3.3 million. In 2020, it gave $5.7 million. 

No one reached by JTA would speak on the record about Koum’s motivations, but Chabad is popular among Jews who grew up in the former Soviet Union.

“In their outreach, mode of operations and philosophy Chabad have been very welcoming and helpful to Russian-speaking Jews,” said Misha Galperin, a consultant to donors and charities and the president of the National Museum of American Jewish History, who grew up in the Soviet Union. 

Galperin said this affinity exists despite the lack of religious observance among many Jews from the former Soviet Union. 

“Most Jews from the former Soviet Union are not observant, and they’re not particularly interested in following the commandments in the way that Chabad understands them,” he said. “But they [Chabad] look like Jews — in other religions, you might think of priests and imams as having a uniform. In Judaism, it’s [Chabad] Lubavitch and other Hasidim who have a look. So many Russian-speaking Jews think of Chabad as ‘my synagogue that I won’t go to.’”

Joshua Tapper, a historian of Soviet Jewry who has written about Chabad’s success with this demographic, said the movement offers an appealing message for people whose Jewish identity was suppressed by Soviet authorities. 

“Chabad’s rhetoric is that ‘our movement was born here, we survived many decades underground, in the Soviet wilderness, getting by on our wits and our religious fervor and belief in God, and now we’ve reclaimed our rightful place as the leader of Russian-speaking Jewry,’” said Tapper, who is a graduate student at Stanford University and former reporter for JTA. 

Koum’s donations are not limited to Chabad or even to religious groups. He is also a major supporter of the Israeli healthcare system with gifts to Hadassah and to the U.S. fundraising affiliates of various Israeli hospitals. 

He also donates millions to Jewish institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area, such as the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Silicon Valley. Tax records also reveal that he is the  previously anonymous donor  behind a new $3.5 million center for the Russian-speaking Jewish community of San Francisco.

At least a few of his donations reflect his right-wing political views on Israel. Donations of $600,000 went to the Maccabee Task Force Foundation, an organization founded by the late Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson to support Israel advocacy on college campuses. The foundation has also given $6 million to Friends of Ir David, the American fundraising arm of Elad,  a group trying to expand Jewish settlement in parts of largely Arab East Jerusalem , and $175,000 to the  Central Fund of Israel, which has been accused  of supporting violent extremists in Israel.

The Koum foundation’s only major non-Jewish gifts have gone to two universities: $1 million to Fordham in 2020 and some $41 million to Stanford since 2017. His affinity for these institutions is somewhat surprising considering that the only university Koum has attended is San Jose State University, from which he dropped out to focus on his first major job in tech, at Yahoo. 

Koum’s story is a real-life rags-to-riches tale of an immigrant who came to the United States with nothing, sought to improve his lot, worked hard and became fabulously wealthy as he developed a product used by billions of people every day. Since he has granted very few interviews, most of what’s known about his life can be gleaned from only a few sources, most notably  a profile by Forbes  penned as he and his partners sold WhatsApp to Facebook for $22 billion in 2014.

A previously unreported lawsuit filed against Koum in Los Angeles by a former employee at one of his mega-mansions last year helps fill in the years since the acquisition and following Koum’s departure from Facebook in 2018. It reflects an account of Koum as a hoarder of some of the most expensive homes in California and a zealous protector of his own privacy. 

Koum was raised on the outskirts of Kyiv in the town Fastiv, which happened to be shelled by Russian forces early in the current war. 

In 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union and amid political turmoil and antisemitic tension, a teen-aged Koum his mother immigrated to Mountain View, California, and began living in a two-bedroom apartment made available through public assistance. His father stayed behind and died in 1997. 

They relied on food stamps as his mom earned money babysitting and Koum swept the floors of a grocery store for work. His mom was soon diagnosed with cancer, entitling the family to disability payments for a while. She died in 2000, leaving Koum an orphan at 24.

His self-education in computer networking brought him into contact with the emerging startup world in Silicon Valley, and he eventually went to work for Yahoo with his future WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton. The two bonded over their shared no-nonsense attitude. “Neither of us has an ability to bullshit,” Acton told Forbes. 

The duo left Yahoo in 2007 to take a sabbatical, which was spent traveling South America and playing Ultimate Frisbee. In a twist that would prove ironic, they each applied to work at Facebook but were rejected.

In 2009, the iPhone had only recently been launched, and the App Store was only seven months old. Koum saw opportunity in this new mobile frontier and he began brainstorming ideas with members of the Russian-speaking community of San Jose. Forbes  describes  long conversations about WhatsApp over tea between Koum and Alex Fishman, a graduate of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, who played host to the community at his apartment in San Jose. 

Within two years of WhatsApp’s launch, it was among the most downloaded apps in the still-nascent world of apps, offering free, encrypted texts, phone calls, videos and other content. The company remained on a steep growth curve and by early 2013, WhatsApp had 200 million active users and a staff of 50.

The scrappy startup, operating out of a low-profile building without so much as a logo in sight, caught the attention of Mark Zuckerberg. After a protracted courtship, Zuckerberg got Koum and Acton to agree to a sale, and Facebook bought WhatsApp for $22 billion in cash and stock in 2014. On Koum’s initiative, the three signed the deal while standing outside the building that formerly housed the welfare agency where Koum received food stamps. 

Koum stayed on with the company, joining Facebook’s board of directors, but in 2018 he announced he was stepping down. The Washington Post  reported  that Koum left over Facebook’s increasingly lax privacy practices.

The window into Koum’s thinking narrowed at this time because of his lack of engagement with the press, but the billionaire did communicate some of his thoughts on Facebook to roughly 90,000 people following his posts. He was sharing links to pro-Trump and anti-immigration articles and expressed a hardline pro-Israel stance. Eventually, he all but stopped posting to social media. 

It’s largely a mystery how Koum spends his time nowadays. For a campaign donation made last year, the 46-year-old Koum declared his occupation as “retired.” 

He is known to own six enormous mansions in the Silicon Valley enclave of Atherton and in Malibu, at least two of which are worth something close to $100 million.

He established a company for the sole purpose of operating these properties, according to a lawsuit by a former employee of the company named Carina Walker. In 2019, she was hired at an annual salary of $100,000 to maintain the landscaping at just one of these properties, in Malibu. About three months later, she was fired. Walker soon sued Koum, claiming he dismissed her because her disability and medical condition in violation of anti-discriminatory protections.

According to the lawsuit, Koum is averse to the sight of hired help. “[W]henever it was determined that Koum would arrive at one of his properties, his employees were forced to scramble off whichever property Koum was visiting in order to avoid being seen by him,” the lawsuit says. 

The year Koum sold WhatsApp he transferred $556 million to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a charity that distributes money on behalf of donors. It’s unknown where this money may have gone. But the following year, Koum established his own foundation, and a small view into Koum’s affairs opened up. 

He seeded the foundation with hundreds of millions of dollars in Facebook stock, building toward an endowment that was valued at more than $2 billion in 2020. Although tax returns detailing his giving are not yet available past that year, the legal requirement that a foundation dispense at least 5% of its assets each year suggests that his charitable donations have only ramped up since. 

Koum’s devotion to funding Chabad and other Jewish groups became increasingly apparent starting in the foundation’s 2018 tax returns. 

Aside from the earlier pro-Israel statements, he didn’t have much of a public Jewish identity, so the disclosure of these donations would seem to come out of nowhere. 

But Koum’s adventures in philanthropy continue a tradition of giving by Jews from the former Soviet Union, as well as a recent wave of philanthropy driven by new wealth in the community. 

Lena Katsnelson, the director of UJA FSU, the division of UJA-Federation of New York focused on Jews of the former Soviet Union, noted there’s a history of more than 30 years of charitable giving by this community. 

Galperin, meanwhile, noted that Koum isn’t the only donor in what he characterizes as a wave of Russian-speaking Jews who have become wealthy in tech and other sectors. He gave the examples of Russian-born Eugene Fooksman, who joined WhatsApp early to work as a software engineer, and founded a foundation that made some $1.1 million in donations in 2020, and Max Levchin, a co-founder of PayPal, who was born in Ukraine and makes donations to various Jewish causes but not through a dedicated foundation. 

“This generation took its time to settle down, develop the means and the interests to become philanthropists,” Galperin said, 

He added that among all Jews, this group has a particular history that primes many to donate to Jewish causes above all else. 

“That’s because for many of them, the act of leaving the Soviet Union and coming to whether it’s Israel or the United States or Canada, have a lot to do with their Jewish identity,” he said.

Jacob Henry contributed reporting to this story. 

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Jan Koum: Astrological Article and Chart

You will find below the horoscope of Jan Koum with his interactive chart, an excerpt of his astrological portrait and his planetary dominants.

NB This chart is arbitrarily calculated for noon. If you know the time of birth of Jan Koum, please send us your information with your source, at [email protected] . To thank you, we shall be glad to send you the portrait (34 pages) of this celebrity, on demand.

Horoscopes having the same aspect Venus square Uranus (orb 1°18'): Angelina Jolie , Diana, Princess of Wales , Elvis Presley , Prince (musician) , Robbie Williams , Tyra Banks , Soeur Emmanuelle , Hailey Baldwin , Russell Brand , Andrew Garfield , Pope Francis , Jean-Claude Van Damme ... Find all the celebrities having this aspect .

Horoscopes having the same aspect Mercury trine Pluto (orb 1°30'): Brad Pitt , Renée Zellweger , Drew Barrymore , Tyler, The Creator , Serge Gainsbourg , Enrique Iglesias , Lenny Kravitz , Mark Wahlberg , Johann Sebastian Bach , Christy Turlington , Harvey Weinstein , Michael B. Jordan ... Find all the celebrities having this aspect .

Celebrities born the same day: Steve Jobs , Floyd Mayweather Jr. , Laurent Ruquier , Kristin Davis , Billy Zane , Earl Sweatshirt , Alain Prost , Michel Legrand , Amandine (IVF) , Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , Giovanni Pico della Mirandola , Priscilla Chan ... List of all the celebrities born on February 24 .

Horoscopes having the Moon in 0° Capricorn : Amy Winehouse , Jennifer Love Hewitt , Anaïs Nin , Gilbert Montagné , Eve Ruggieri , Andrew McCarthy , Colorado , Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero , Alberto Gilardino , John Fogerty , Camille Cottin (comedian) , Rémi Gaillard ... List of all the celebrities having the Moon in 0° Capricorn .

Horoscope and chart of Jan Koum

Select an object to display more information

1st Fire sign - 1st Cardinal sign (spring equinox) - Masculine

In analogy with Mars, his ruler, and the 1st House

Aries governs the head.

His colour is red, his stone is the heliotrope, his day is Tuesday, and his professions are businessman, policeman, sportsman, surgeon...

If your sign is Aries or your Ascendant is Aries: you are courageous, frank, enthusiastic, dynamic, fast, bold, expansive, warm, impulsive, adventurous, intrepid, warlike, competitive, but also naive, domineering, self-centred, impatient, rash, thoughtless, blundering, childish, quick-tempered, daring or primitive.

Some traditional associations with Aries: Countries: England, France, Germany, Denmark. Cities: Marseille, Florence, Naples, Birmingham, Wroclaw, Leicester, Capua, Verona. Animals: Rams and sheeps. Food: Leeks, hops, onions, shallots, spices. Herbs and aromatics: mustard, capers, Cayenne pepper, chilli peppers. Flowers and plants: thistles, mint, bryonies, honeysuckles. Trees: hawthorns, thorny trees and bushes. Stones, Metals and Salts: diamonds, iron, potassium phosphate.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Aries .

1st Earth sign - 1st Fixed sign - Feminine

In analogy with Venus, his ruler, and the 2nd House

Taurus governs the neck and the throat.

Her colour is green or brown, her stone is the emerald, her day is Friday, her professions are cook, artist, estate agent, banker, singer...

If your sign is Taurus or your Ascendant is Taurus: you are faithful, constant, sturdy, patient, tough, persevering, strong, focused, sensual, stable, concrete, realistic, steady, loyal, robust, constructive, tenacious. You need security, but you are also stubborn, rigid, possessive, spiteful, materialistic, fixed or slow.

Some traditional associations with Taurus: Countries: Switzerland, Greek islands, Ireland, Cyprus, Iran. Cities: Dublin, Palermo, Parma, Luzern, Mantua, Leipzig, Saint Louis, Ischia, Capri. Animals: bovines. Food: apples, pears, berries, corn and other cereals, grapes, artichokes, asparagus, beans. Herbs and aromatics: sorrels, spearmint, cloves. Flowers and plants: poppies, roses, digitales, violets, primroses, aquilegia, daisies. Trees: apple trees, pear trees, fig-trees, cypresses, ash trees. Stones, Metals and Salts: copper, calcium and potassium sulphate, emeralds.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Taurus .

1st Air sign - 1st Mutable sign - Masculine

In analogy with Mercury, his ruler, and the 3rd House

Gemini governs the arms, the lungs and the thorax.

His colour is green or silver, his stone is the crystal, his day is Wednesday, his professions are journalist, lawyer, presenter, dancer, salesman, travel agent, teacher...

If your sign is Gemini or if your Ascendant is Gemini: you are expressive, lively, adaptable, quick-witted, humorous, sparkling, playful, sociable, clever, curious, whimsical, independent, polyvalent, brainy, flexible, ingenious, imaginative, charming, fanciful but also capricious, scattered, moody, shallow, inquisitive, opportunistic, unconcerned, selfish, fragile, ironical or changeable.

Some traditional associations with Gemini: Countries: Belgium, Wales, United-States, Lower Egypt, Sardinia, Armenia. Cities: London, Plymouth, Cardiff, Melbourne, San Francisco, Nuremberg, Bruges, Versailles. Animals: monkeys, butterflies, parrots, budgerigars. Food: dried fruits, chestnuts, ground-level vegetables: peas, broad beans, etc. Herbs and aromatics: aniseed, marjoram, lemon balm, cumin. Flowers and plants: lilies of the valley, lavenders, myrtle, ferns, Venus-hair-ferns, bittersweets. Trees: nut trees such as chestnut trees. Stones, Metals and Salts: agates, mercury, silicas and potashes.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Gemini .

1st Water sign - 2nd Cardinal sign (summer solstice) - Feminine

In analogy with the Moon, her ruler, and the 4th House

Cancer governs the stomach and the breast.

Her colour is white or black, her stone is the moonstone, her day is Monday, her professions are catering, the hotel trade, property, antique dealer, archaeologist...

If your sign is Cancer or your Ascendant is Cancer: you are emotional, sentimental, peaceful, imaginative, sensitive, faithful, resistant, protective, vulnerable, generous, romantic, nostalgic, tender, poetic-minded, motherly or fatherly, dreamy, indolent, greedy, devoted but also timorous, unrealistic, evasive, passive, anxious, dependent, stubborn, moody, passive, lazy, touchy, stay-at-home or inaccessible.

Some traditional associations with Cancer: Countries: Holland, Scotland, North and West Africa, New-Zealand, Paraguay, Algeria. Cities: Amsterdam, Manchester, Tokyo, New York, Istanbul, Stockholm, Milan, Venice, Genoa, Cadix, Alger, Tunis, Bern, Magdeburg. Animals: crabs, animals with shells. Food: milk, fishes, watery fruits and vegetables, turnips, white and red cabbages. Herbs and aromatics: tarragon, verbena, saxifrage. Flowers and plants: geraniums, white roses and white flowers in general, water lilies, morning glory, bear's breeches, and lilies. Trees: all trees full of sap. Stones, Metals and Salts: pearls, silver, lime and calcium phosphate.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Cancer .

2nd Fire sign - 2nd Fixed sign - Masculine

In analogy with the Sun, his ruler, and the 5th House

Leo governs the heart and the spine, and the eyes, according to some authors.

His colour is gold or orange, his stone is the diamond, his day is Sunday, his professions are actor, manager, jeweller, fashion and arts, and action (e.g. fireman)...

If your sign is Leo or your Ascendant is Leo: you are proud, determined, strong-willed, loyal, solemn, generous, ambitious, courageous, heroic, conquering, creative, confident, seductive, happy, daring, fiery, majestic, honest, magnanimous, charismatic, responsible, noble, dramatic but also domineering, vain, susceptible, bossy, stubborn, intolerant, self-centred, violent, quick-tempered, nonchalant.

Some traditional associations with Leo: Countries: Italy, Romania, Sicily, Czechoslovakia, Iraq, Lebanon, Southern France. Cities: Rome, Prague, Bombay, Madrid, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Bath, Bristol, Portsmouth, Syracuse, Damas. Animals: lions and felines in general. Food: meat and especially red meat, rice, honey, cereals, grapes, iron-rich vegetables: watercress, spinach etc. Herbs and aromatics: saffron, mint, rosemary, common rue (Ruta graveolens). Flowers and plants: marigolds, sunflowers, celandines, passion flowers. Trees: palm trees, laurel, walnuts, olive trees, lemon and orange trees. Stones, Metals and Salts: gold, rubies, magnesium and sodium phosphate.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Leo .

2nd Earth sign - 2nd Mutable sign - Feminine

In analogy with Mercury, her ruler, and the 6th house

Virgo governs the intestine.

Her colour is green or yellow, her stone is the agate, her day is Wednesday, her professions are accountant, secretary, writer, computer scientist, nurse, doctor...

If your sign is Virgo or your Ascendant is Virgo: you are brainy, perspicacious, attentive to detail and numbers, analytical, serious, competent, scrupulous, sensible, modest, logical, tidy, well-organized, clean, hard-working, provident, honest, faithful, reserved, shy, helpful, a perfectionist, but also narrow-minded, calculating, irritating, petty, anxious, cold, repressed or caustic.

Some traditional associations with Virgo: Countries: Brazil, Greece, Turkey, West Indies, United-States (the same as Gemini), Yugoslavia, Crete, Mesopotamia, Lower Silesia, State of Virginia. Cities: Paris, Boston, Athens, Lyon, Corinthia, Heidelberg, spa towns in general. Animals: dogs, cats and all pets. Food: root vegetables: carrots, celeriac, kohlrabies, potatoes etc... Also dried fruits such as chestnuts. Herbs and aromatics: the same as Gemini whose ruler is Mercury too, lilies of the valley, lavenders, myrtles, ferns, Venus-hair-ferns, bittersweets, clovers. Flowers and plants: small bright-coloured flowers, especially blue and yellow, such as dandelions, buttercups, yellow dead-nettles, buglosses, forget-me-nots ; cardamoms, oak leaves, acorns. Trees: all nut trees, e.g. the hazelnut tree... Stones, Metals and Salts: sards (red agate), mercury, nickel, potassium sulphate and iron phosphate.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Virgo .

2nd Air sign - 3rd Cardinal sign (autumn equinox) - Masculine

In analogy with Venus, his ruler and the 7th House

Libra governs the kidneys and the bladder.

His colour is blue or red (not too bright), his stone is the opal, his day is Friday, his professions are in the beauty, luxury or fashion industry, musician, artistic creator, lawyer, mediator...

If your sign is Libra or your Ascendant is Libra: you are sentimental, charming, polite, refined, loyal, a pacifist, fair, distinguished, light-hearted, romantic, learned, ethereal, nice, well-groomed, a perfectionist, calm, sweet, tolerant, sociable, elegant, considerate, seductive, aesthetic, indulgent, but also hesitant, weak, indecisive, selfish, fragile, fearful, indolent, cool or even insensitive.

Some traditional associations with Libra: Countries: Japan, Canada, Indo-China, South Pacific Islands, Burma, Argentina, Upper Egypt, Tibet. Cities: Lisbon, Vienna, Frankfurt, Leeds, Nottingham, Johannesburg, Antwerp, Fribourg. Animals: lizards and small reptiles. Food: berries, apples, pears, grapes, artichokes, asparagus, beans, spices, corn and other cereals. Herbs and aromatics: mint, Cayenne pepper. Flowers and plants: hydrangea, big roses, blue flowers and those associated with Taurus also ruled by Venus, namely, poppies, digitales, violets, primroses, aquilegia, and daisies. Trees: ash trees, poplars, apple trees, pear trees, fig-trees, cypresses. Stones, Metals and Salts: sapphires, jade, copper, potassium and sodium phosphate.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Libra .

2nd Water sign - 3rd Fixed sign - Feminine

In analogy with Pluto, her ruler with Mars, and the 8th House

Scorpio governs the sexual organs and the anus.

Her colour is black or dark red, her stone is the malachite, her day is Tuesday, her professions are gynaecologist, psychiatrist, detective, the military, army, stockbroker, asset managemer...

If your sign is Scorpio or your Ascendant is Scorpio: you are secretive, powerful, domineering, resistant, intuitive, asserted, charismatic, magnetic, strong-willed, perspicacious, passionate, creative, independent, vigorous, generous, loyal, hard-working, persevering, untameable, possessive, cunning, ambitious, sexual, proud, intense, competitive but also aggressive, destructive, stubborn, anxious, tyrannical, perverse, sadistic, violent, self-centred, complex, jealous.

Some traditional associations with Scorpio: Countries: Morocco, Norway, Algeria, Syria, Korea, Uruguay, Transvaal. Cities: Washington, New Orleans, Valencia, Liverpool, Milwaukee, Fes, Halifax, Hull, Cincinnati. Animals: insects and other invertebrates. Food: the same strong tasting food as for Aries: red meat, garlic, onions, leeks, spices. Herbs and aromatics: aloes, witch hazels, nepeta, mustard, capers, peppers. Flowers and plants: geraniums, rhododendrons, thistles, mint, honeysuckles. Trees: blackthorns, bushes. Stones, Metals and Salts: opals, steel and iron, calcium and sodium sulphate.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Scorpio .

3rd Fire sign - 3rd Mutable sign - Masculine

In analogy with Jupiter, his ruler, and the 9th House

Sagittarius governs the thighs and the liver.

His colour is indigo, orange or red, his stone is the carbuncle, his day is Thursday, his professions are explorer, commercial traveller, pilot, philosopher, writer, clergyman...

If your sign is Sagittarius or your Ascendant is Sagittarius: you are charismatic, fiery, energetic, likeable, benevolent, tidy, jovial, optimistic, extraverted, amusing, straightforward, demonstrative, charming, independent, adventurous, straightforward, bold, exuberant, freedom-loving, but also angry, egotistical, authoritarian, inconstant, unfaithful, brutal, unreliable, unconscious, tactless, or derogatory.

Some traditional associations with Sagittarius: Countries: Spain, Australia, Hungary, South Africa, Arabia, Yugoslavia. Cities: Stuttgart, Toledo, Budapest, Cologne, Avignon, Sheffield, Naples, Toronto. Animals: fallow deers, hinds, and the family Cervidae. Food: grapefruits, raisins, onions, leeks, bulb vegetables. Herbs and aromatics: aniseeds, sage, bilberries, cinnamon, borage, mosses, sage, blueberry, patience, balsam. Flowers and plants: dandelions, carnations, thistles. Trees: mulberry trees, chestnut trees, ash trees, lemon trees, oaks. Stones, Metals and Salts: topaz, tin, silica, potassium chloride.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Sagittarius .

3rd Earth sign - 4th Cardinal sign (winter solstice) - Feminine

In analogy with Saturn, her ruler, and the 10th House

Capricorn governs the knees, the bones and the skin.

Her colour is black, or grey, green or brown, her stone is the jade, her day is Saturday, her professions are politician, researcher, jurist, scientist, engineer, administrator...

If your sign is Capricorn or your Ascendant is Capricorn: you are serious, cold, disciplined, patient, focused, thoughtful, ambitious, indomitable, cautious, lucid, persistent, provident, steady, introverted, stern, wilful, hard-working, responsible, persevering, honest, realistic, loyal, reserved, resolute, moralistic, quiet, rigorous, attached and reliable. But you may also be curt, withdrawn, calculating, petty, cruel, unpleasant, ruthless, selfish, dull, rigid, slow or sceptical.

Some traditional associations with Capricorn: Countries: India, Mexico, Afghanistan, Macedonia, Thrace, the Yugoslavian coast, the Orkneys and Shetland Islands, Albania, Bulgaria, Saxony. Cities: Delhi, Oxford, Brussels, Mexico, Port-Saïd, Gent, Constance, Mecklenburg, all the administrative centres of capital cities. Animals: goats, pigs and animals with split hooves. Food: meat, potatoes, barley, beets, spinach, medlars, onions, quinces, flour and starchy food in general. Herbs and aromatics: indian hemp, comfreys, centaureas, hemlocks, henbanes. Flowers and plants: ivies, wild pansies, amaranths, pansies. Trees: pines, willows, flowering ashes, aspens, poplars, alders. Stones, Metals and Salts: turquoises, amethysts, silver, lead, calcium phosphate, calcium fluorine.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Capricorn .

3rd Air sign - 4th Fixed sign - Masculine

In analogy with Uranus his ruler, with Saturn, and the 11th House

Aquarius governs the ankles and the legs.

His colour is navy blue or indigo, his stone is the sapphire, his day is Saturday, his professions are astrologer, high technologies, scientist, astronaut, psychiatrist, actor, electrician...

If your sign is Aquarius or your Ascendant is Aquarius: you are idealistic, altruistic, detached, independent, original, surprising, gifted, contradictory, innovative, humanistic, likeable, friendly, self-confident, impassive, quiet, intuitive, creative, charitable, elusive, disconcerting, generous, tolerant, paradoxical, and you cannot stand any kind of constraint. But you may also be marginal, resigned, distant, utopian, maladjusted, eccentric and cold.

Some traditional associations with Aquarius: Countries: Russia, Sweden, Poland, Israel, Iran, Abyssinia. Cities: Moscow, Salzburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Saint Petersburg. Animals: long distance big birds such as the albatross. Food: citrus fruits, apples, limes, dried fruits and easily preserved food. Herbs and aromatics: peppers, hot red peppers, star-fruits, and generally herbs that are spicy or with an unusual flavour. Flowers and plants: orchids, dancing ladies, polygonatum. Trees: fruit trees. Stones, Metals and Salts: aquamarines, aluminium, sodium chloride and magnesium phosphate.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Aquarius .

3rd Water sign - 4th Mutable sign - Feminine

In analogy with Neptune her ruler with Jupiter, and the 12th House

Pisces governs the feet and the blood circulation.

Her colour is green or purple or turquoise blue, her stone is the amethyst, her day is Thursday, her professions are seamanship and and faraway travels, musician, social and emergency worker, doctor, writer and jobs in remote places...

If your sign is Pisces or your Ascendant is Pisces: you are emotional, sensitive, dedicated, adaptable, nice, wild, compassionate, romantic, imaginative, flexible, opportunist, intuitive, impossible to categorized, irrational, seductive, placid, secretive, introverted, pleasant, artistic, and charming. But you may also be indecisive, moody, confused, wavering, lazy, scatterbrained, vulnerable, unpredictable and gullible.

Some traditional associations with Pisces: Countries: Portugal, Scandinavia, small Mediterranean islands, Gobi desert, Sahara. Cities: Jerusalem, Warsaw, Alexandria, Seville, Santiago de Compostela. Animals: fishes, aquatic mammals and all animals living in the water. Food: melons, cucumbers, lettuces, vegemite sugar, pumpkins. Herbs and aromatics: lemon, chicory, limes, mosses. Flowers and plants: water lilies, willows, aquatic plants. Trees: fig-trees, willows, aquatic trees. Stones, Metals and Salts: heliotropes, moonstone, platinum, tin, iron phosphate and potassium sulphate.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the sign of Pisces .

The Sun represents vitality, individuality, will-power and creative energy and honours. For a woman, it also represents her father, and later her husband. The Sun is one of the most important symbols in the birth chart, as much as the Ascendant, then the Moon (a bit less for a man), the ruler of the Ascendant and the fast-moving planets.

It's element is fire; it is hot and dry, it governs Leo, is in exaltation in Aries and is in analogy with the heart. It represents the boss, authority, beside the father and the husband ; the age of the Sun goes from 20 years old to about 40, following the Venus age when one is aware of his seductive power.

Temperament : Bilious

Characterology : Emotive, Active, Secondary, passionate type.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the Sun .

Sun in Pisces

Your deep intuition and your extreme sensitivity allow you to perceive naturally what others understand through analysis. You do not follow the norms in use, societal or educational models and you prefer to create a moral for yourself. A feeling of isolation may come from your ability to live emotions that are unknown to your entourage. This strong impressionability endows you with a sixth sense and acute feelings. In some circumstances, distance and detachment are needed in order not to get bogged down in the necessities of the moment, in useless transient struggles and in barren conflicts. Pisces work wonders. Your strength: a sharp intuition of underlying stakes, a sensitivity that turns "the spirit of the times" into a real compass. All activities requiring stepping back are suitable for you. Before anyone else, you pick up the dangers of an adventure, the risks of defeats or of suspension... with your clear-sightedness more than due to pessimism. Therefore, you may abandon an objective that is not yet obsolete. It is important that you protect yourself against unnecessary disenchantments. Pisces hide a perceptiveness that many claim to possess. But your low-key advices are formulated in a peculiar language. The person who can understand your dazzling intuitions is very lucky.

Sun Dominant

If the Sun is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Solarian: you loathe pettiness and Machiavellian manoeuvre, and you are fond of natural nobleness as well as of direct and honest attitudes. You endeavour to get out of muddled or dark situations as quickly as possible. Your need for transparency may lead you to make cut-and-dried judgments such as yes or no, and black or white. However, your honesty commands your entourage's consideration. At times, you come across as authoritarian. It is true that you never want to be thought of the notable absentee, and that you manage to make people pay attention to you, as well as to your plans and your assessments. To this end, the Solarian sometimes develops a great talent for placing himself under the spotlight without missing a single opportunity to arouse interest. Some other Solarians, although more discreet, still manage to be the focus of any debate, even in situations of exclusion. It is your way of being present even though you are actually not there... More than other people, you appreciate the esteem extended to you. It is useless to cheat with you, since in all areas you consider establishing enduring relationships only with those who love you, admire you, respect you, or express some degree of affection to you. Your will to straighten out your inter-personal relationships is your strength and sometimes, your Achilles' heel. You cannot achieve anything behind the scenes. Therefore, your comportment is marked with heroism, and your stands are devoid of ambiguity, in the sense that your commitments are unfailing, and your rebuffs, final.

Interpretation of the 4° Pisces symbolic degree

"a man flanked by two young women walks towards a nice buffet where an older couple is waiting." ( janduz version).

Sociable, fickle, and sincere character. There is an overwhelming need to be understood and appreciated by the numerous friends one attracts. Success can be achieved in all occupations requiring good oratorical and negotiating skills, for instance in education, mediation, television, etc. One must think thoroughly before getting involved in any serious partnership because the first moments of exhilaration might be followed by disenchantment and bitterness.

N.B.: symbolic degrees belong to a branch of fatalistic astrology. Their interpretation must be regarded with the utmost caution, especially given the fact that different authors give different meanings to symbolic degrees. This is the reason why they are not included in our Astrotheme reports.

If you wish, you can receive immediately in your mailbox your detailed astrological portrait , a nice gift for yourself or for your close friends and relatives, who will deeply appreciate it.

The Moon represents instinctive reaction, unconscious predestination, everyday mood, sensitivity, emotions, the feminine side of the personality, intuition, imagination. For a man, she represents his mother and later his wife, and his relationship with women in general. For a woman, the Moon is almost as important as the Sun and the Ascendant. Her element is water, she is cold and moist, she rules Cancer, is in exaltation in Taurus and is in analogy with the stomach.

She symbolizes the mother, wife, the crowd, the Moon is associated with birth and childhood. Tradition also matches her with the end of life, after Saturn the old age, it is thus customary to go back to one's place of birth to die: the end of life meets the very beginning.

Temperament : Lymphatic

Characterology : Emotive, non Active and Primary type or Non-Emotive, non Active and Primary, Nervous or Amorphous type.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the Moon .

Moon in Capricorn

On the day and at the time of your birth, the Moon was in the sign of Capricorn. In your private sphere and your daily rhythms, you give precedence to moderation and reserve over the untimely excesses of your imagination. Your nature is more contemplative than excited and your deep sensitivity is controlled. It is probably the reason why you are sometimes criticized for your coldness. An ivory tower protects your fragile sensitivity. Your lunar sign belongs to a zodiacal axis (Cancer-Capricorn) that is particularly selective and self-protective: your close friends are handpicked and carefully chosen for their natural affinities with your personal realm. The external world is often disturbing. Therefore, you must create an enclosed environment where your fragile sensitivity can freely blossom. The only danger may be that you imprison your life rhythms in immutable rites and in a simplistic daily ceremonial. With more flexible intimate behaviours, your sensitivity can be fully expressed and the absolute harmony you dream of can be achieved.

Moon Dominant

If the Moon is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Lunarian: the driving force behind your actions is mainly the pursuit of well-being and tranquillity. Your sensitive and romantic self lives on those periods of rest during which you let your imagination wander at will. This is your way of finding inspiration and balance. Nothing is allowed to disturb your feeling of fulfilment and security within a harmonious cell, be it a family or a clan. More than other people, the Lunarian is attached to those moments during which one forgets one's worries and lets oneself cast adrift aimlessly, with no other goal than to be lulled into an ambiance, a situation, or a perfect moment. Many people do not understand such absences and their meaning, which is to regain strength. These people readily describe you with such unflattering terms as apathy and nonchalance. Never mind! Some inspirations require surrendering as well as striking a balance derived from alternate action and passivity. Your qualities are expressed to the fullest in situations which demand familiarity and privacy. Your capacities to respect and blend into your environment is at least as valuable as some other people's aggressive dispositions. However, you are well-advised to avoid indolence and renunciation out of laziness or indifference.

Interpretation of the 0° Capricorn symbolic degree

"a boy and a girl hold hands but look in opposite directions." ( janduz version).

Insightful, clever, and dual character endowed with above average deductive abilities and the gift to accurately perceive people's true feelings and motivations. Success can be achieved in diplomacy, espionage, the cinema, or the management of human resources. One may have two simultaneous occupations or lead a double life.

Mercury represents communication, logical and rational mind, intellectual skills. Earth is its element, it is cold and dry, and it rules Virgo and Gemini, is in exaltation in Virgo and is in analogy with the arms, hands, nervous system.

It represents tradesmen, lawyers, messengers; the age of Mercury goes from 8 or 10 years old to about 15..

Temperament : Nervous

Characterology : Emotive, non Active and Primary type or Non-Emotive, Active and Primary, Nervous or Sanguine type.

For more information, see the page dedicated to Mercury .

Mercury in Aquarius

Mercury describes your relations, your communication skills and the way you relate to the external world. However, other astrological elements also influence these areas. The sign Mercury occupies is significant only if Mercury is part of your planetary dominantes. In your chart, Mercury is in Aquarius. Everything with a human tint catches your attention. You are sensitive to the specificities and the uniqueness of each individual and you feel you learn a lot whenever you meet with an open-minded and curious person. You do not get along well with stay-at-home and conservative people. As each relationship is constantly evolving, with time, it can, and it must, grow and offer surprises and potentials. On the human plane, you are very idealistic - sometimes even utopian - readily trusting and valuing persons who may not always be worth it. This is the drawback inherent to your highly commendable open-mindedness and your tolerance. Your ideas are original and liberal. In your communication, you display consideration and leniency and you acknowledge your interlocutor's differences. However, your understanding is not unconditional and you detach yourself from disappointing people whose values are incompatible with yours. To each, his own!

Mercury Dominant

If Mercury is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Mercurian: the tradition points out the importance of communication. From idle but enriching chatters to observation gift, such a dominant endows you with a wide range of expression. Human beings have one thousand facets and one thousand masks they wear according to circumstances and the fortunes of the game of life. You take the role of an observer who is avid for novelties, discoveries, and surprises. Everything catches your attention and becomes an opportunity for new encounters, relationships, and learning. The world amazes you, amuses you sometimes, and stimulates your curiosity. Because the most important thing is to discover, and because you consider that each new situation is packed with potentialities, you try to fill the gaps in your knowledge. Although your open-mindedness may scatter your centres of interest, it also enables you to carefully avoid sticking to only one immutable and rigid view. The slightest sign enables you to perceive the other side of the coin, as well as the infinite complexity of people and of situations. On the human plane, you seek the dialogue and the information without which you know that you are not able to fully grasp the nature of your interlocutor. This keen interest in the Unknown sharpens your inter-relational skills. All these qualities are traditionally associated with Mercury.

Interpretation of the 9° Aquarius symbolic degree

"a man walks normally although his head and one of his hands seem separated from his body." ( janduz version).

Immature and irresponsible character. A sudden separation from the parents during childhood is probably at the root of psychomotor and coordination problems, as well as of difficulties in taking charge of one's life properly. The presence of a devoted partner is necessary.

Venus represents the way one loves, relationships, sharing, affectivity, seductive ability. For men, she also corresponds to the kind of woman he's attracted to (but not especially in marriage which is more symbolized by the Moon, Venus is the lover and not the wife). Her element is the Air, she is moist, rules Taurus and Libra, is in exaltation in Pisces and is in analogy with the kidneys, the venous system, the bladder, the neck.

She represents the artists, tradesmen, occupations linked to beauty and charm; the age of Venus goes from 15 to about 25 years old.

Temperament : Sanguine and Lymphatic

Characterology : Emotive, non Active and Primary type or Emotive, non Active and Secondary type.

For more information, see the page dedicated to Venus .

Venus in Aquarius

Venus describes your affective life. On the day of your birth, she is found in Aquarius. Your affectivity is expressed in an original form. You are sensitive to human matters and, at the same time, your need for independence prompts you to transform and to reinvent your sentimental life. In love, your attitude may surprise and disconcert your partner. But your capacity to amaze is also part of your charm. The ideal couple... All couples! For you, love can be but ideal, pure, elevated to the rank of a conniving, friendly and angelic relationship... You do not dream of a prodigious union based on a natural, cerebral, affective or sexual harmony. Therefore, you are an idealist. It is fine, but are you able to forgive the shortcomings that are inherent to all relationships? You possibly can, if you close your eyes and dream... Intransigence harms your affectivity. You need to admire your beloved one and to feel that you are close to each other, at the same time friends and lovers, and that you form a whole. You often forgive, until the day you open your eyes on your partner's flaws - but who has none? You do not accept imperfections in your couple and delusions that are part of lasting loves. You have to face it: an angel cannot be angelic each and every moment!

Venus Dominant

If Venus is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Venusian: you are a sensual and emotional person particularly receptive to the natural likes and dislikes aroused by your contact with people. You are prone to frequent instinctive aversions and true passions which are exclusively driven by the feeling of love. The heart has its reasons which Reason knows nothing of... Your balance is based on the richness of your affective life. Without love, the Venusian is resourceless, lost, and deprived of any reason for living. You have an obvious and strong will to charm and to arouse the attachments without which you cannot properly function. Every area of your life is thus marked by your affectivity. The danger is that you may "be taken in" by charm. In such cases, you would prefer to keep your emotions under better control. Thus, hyper-sensitivity has its own inconveniences. Nevertheless, better than anyone else, you know how to play with feelings and attractions. Although you are sometimes caught in the traps of an over sensitive emotionalism, feelings remain your best assets in many circumstances. There is another aspect to the Venusian dominant. According to the Tradition, this planet rules the Arts, and you are endowed with some degree of artistic dispositions, ranging from good to excellent.

Interpretation of the 5° Aquarius symbolic degree

"an archer standing in a meadow aims his arrow at the sun without paying attention to the flames burning the grass near him." ( janduz version).

Fiery, shrewd, and idealistic character endowed with great intellectual capacities and persuasion powers. Success can be achieved in activities requiring physical and mental deftness such as archery, skating, acrobatics, advertising, education, etc. One can also be an excellent spiritual guide.

Mars represents the desire for action and physical energy, sexuality, strength. For a woman, Mars corresponds to the kind of man she's attracted to (but not especially in marriage which is rather symbolized by the Sun, Mars is the lover, not the husband). Fire is its element, it is hot and dry, and it rules Aries and Scorpio (along with Pluto), is in exaltation with Capricorn and is in analogy with the muscles and the spleen.

It represents the soldiers, sportsmen, warriors, surgeons, blacksmiths... ; the age of Mars goes from 42 to 50 years old.

Characterology : Emotive, Active, Primary type. It is a Choleric.

For more information, see the page dedicated to Mars .

Mars in Gemini

The planet Mars indicates how you react to life concrete stimulations. It also describes your fighting spirit, your abilities to stand for yourself and to take action. With Mars in Gemini, for you, action is an on-going movement. Your decisions are quick and usually well adapted to the situation. There is an element of unpredictability in your behaviours. When you have an idea, you must implement it straight away. Language is your favourite weapon and talks are your principal means of action. They are followed by hypothetical experiments: you do not hesitate "to do, just to see" and to respond to the whims of your curiosity. You react very quickly to any stimulation. However, you may lack tenacity and you don't see it useful to focus on a hurdle. You prefer to look for another solution and to try a new approach. In any case, no one can blame you for your stubbornness.

Mars Dominant

If Mars is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Marsian: in your hand-to-hand struggle for life, you demonstrate an acute and active sense of confrontation with the world, with other people, and with your own destiny. You need to take action and to fight for your projects and your desires. You perceive all situations with deep intensity, and you react to the here and now without bothering to step back in order to ensure that events are under your control. You take up challenges with excessive foolhardiness as a consequence of your impulsiveness. However, better than anyone else, you know how to mobilise your resources in case of crisis. You take action whenever it is necessary to do so, and you are present in a timely manner. With Mars, your attitudes are dictated by the realities of the moment, by your emotions, and by everything which proved to have worked in the past. When this dominant is not well integrated, it may bring about an aggressive or impulsive behaviour. Therefore, you must learn to control your hyper-sensitivity and your fits of temper. You are also endowed with Marsian qualities: the fighting spirit and the taste for duel without which one may find oneself overwhelmed by events. When this willpower is well channelled, its precious energy enables to cope with all sorts of contingencies. There are a thousand ways to win, and a thousand challenges to take up with the enthusiasm and the dynamism which make life so worthy. A certain idea of life which is wild, passionate, and in tune with events.

Interpretation of the 21° Gemini symbolic degree

"a young woman reclining on the grass under a tree feeds the birds coming up to her." ( janduz version).

Contemplative, refined, and generous character endowed with a strong fondness for nature and aesthetics. Success can be achieved in the arts, and particularly in poetry, singing and music, or painting. Marriage and family life are blessed with good luck. However, the body is sensitive to humidity, and one must try to live in dry locations. In solar revolution charts, this degree on the Midheaven heralds a big inheritance.

Jupiter represents expansion and power, benevolence, large vision and generosity. Its element is Air, it is hot and moist, and it rules Sagittarius and Pisces (along with Neptune), is in exaltation with Cancer and is in analogy with the hips and endocrinal system.

It represents the governors, magistrates, professors, religious men too; the age of Jupiter goes from 50 to 55 or even 70 years old.

Temperament : Sanguine

Characterology : Emotive, Active, Primary type; it is an extrovert Choleric. Actually the humid version of Mars, inclined to action like him.

For more information, see the page dedicated to Jupiter .

Jupiter in Aries

The planet Jupiter symbolizes expansion, broadness and generosity. Jupiter is associated with the functions of synthesis, enthusiasm and optimism. In your natal chart, his house position is more important than his sign position because, like Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, he is a slow planet. Many people born in the same period have Jupiter in the same sign. This is the reason why the sign occupied here is less meaningful than when it is occupied by the so-called fast planets, i.e. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Therefore, some caution is to be exercised as you read what follows. Jupiter in Aries amplifies your tendency to charge ahead and your self-assertiveness. You have leadership qualities, you are optimistic and you can mix the boldness with the will to succeed that are specific to Aries. Management ability, leadership and independence: your enthusiasm is a real asset for your life and for your charm!

Jupiter Dominant

If Jupiter is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Jupiterian: because this planet brings about a keen interest in social and professional success, the Tradition considers it to be beneficial. Indeed, you know how to adjust to events and to jump at the chance when it arises. The members of your entourage gladly entrust you with high responsibilities because they are often impressed by your learning skills and your adaptation abilities as you deal with new structures and new languages. What is the secret of your good star? It is your self-confidence which wins public support. Now, what is the secret of your charm? Definitely, enthusiasm, euphoria, and exaltation. Exaggeration also. When this dominant is well integrated, it is a factor of affluence and optimism, and a certain degree of joviality enables you to easily fit into various spheres. It constitutes your main asset to manage your life. However, you must at times curb your desire for integration, lest your sense of opportunity turns into extreme opportunism. Here also, the key to success lies in a correct estimate of everyone's chances and possibilities. Although management is one of your forte, and you can adjust your objectives to current realities better than other people, you lack the hindsight which enables you to avoid short-term vagaries and daily fluctuations. If you strive too much to adapt, you run a risk of betraying yourself. This is the other traditional side of the coin with "The Greater Benefic"!

Interpretation of the 23° Aries symbolic degree

"a man lazily reclining on a carpet plays with shiny balls of different colours. a half-naked woman standing behind him stares at him with a scornful and domineering look." ( janduz version).

Cheerful, weak-willed and carefree character. One has no ambition other than indulging in meaningless activities, and one lets other people run the show, probably the spouse, a sibling, or a business partner. One does not mind their contempt because one is aware that outside the family and work circles, one is very much appreciated for one's talents when it comes to organising parties and fashionable gatherings. This degree indicates that one is endowed with intense sensuality, and that attraction to persons of the opposite gender is a source of troubles.

Saturn represents concentration, effort, perseverance, time, the hard reality, inevitable consequences. Earth is its element, it is cold and dry, and it rules Capricorn and Aquarius (along with Uranus), is in exaltation in Libra and is in analogy with the bones (skeleton) and the skin.

It represents the grandparents, old people, scientists, knowledgeable men, Saturn corresponds to old age; it goes from 70 years old until death.

Characterology : Non-Emotive, Active and Secondary type or Emotive, non Active and Secondary type or sometimes Non-Emotive, non Active and Secondary type; it is a Phlegmatic, a Sentimental or an Empathic type

For more information, see the page dedicated to Saturn .

Saturn in Cancer

The planet Saturn symbolizes contraction, effort, time, limitation and concentration. Saturn eliminates anything that is not authentic, sooner or later. It is impossible to cheat him as he gives an irresistible desire to form a coherent whole with oneself, in responsible and wise ways. He is the great purifier. He represents our limitations but also our truth. In your natal chart, the house position where Saturn is posited is more important than his sign position because, like Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, he is a slow planet. Many people born in the same period have Saturn in the same sign. This is the reason why the sign occupied here is less meaningful than when it is occupied by the so-called fast planets, i.e. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Therefore, some caution is to be exercised as you read what follows. Saturn in Cancer decreases your emotionalism. You are less vulnerable as you build a protective carapace, with all the good and the bad consequences that may be implied. You are provident and wise in the family and real estate areas, may be a bit too much.

Saturn Dominant

If Saturn is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Saturnian: you gladly leave to other people the decision to take life as it comes. As far as you are concerned, you prefer to take advantage of your experiences in order to discover, to grow, and to question yourself.

Interpretation of the 26° Cancer symbolic degree

"a man bridles his horse while a heifer bows its head to a woman." ( janduz version).

Intelligent, obliging, and docile character. Under the guidance of a good employer or a mentor, one's perseverance, helpfulness, and flexibility prove to be formidable assets for success. This degree often describes patient and devoted servants. If the natal chart concurs, one may land a high-ranking job in the administration or the government.

Uranus represents individual freedom, originality, independence, marginality, avant guard inspiration, ultra modernism. Fire is its element, it is dry, and it rules Aquarius, is in exaltation with Scorpio and is in analogy with the brain and the nerves.

It represents inventors, odd characters, revolutionaries.

Temperament : Nervous to the extreme

Characterology : Emotive, Active, Secondary type; it is a Passionate type.

For more information, see the page dedicated to Uranus .

Uranus in Scorpio

The planet Uranus symbolizes originality, independence and cerebral energy bursting suddenly. Uranus triggers the irresistible need for freedom that we have in ourselves. Uranus tends to break the constraints that have become unbearable and gives us the courage and the will to get rid of what has become a burden; when he is well aspected, he also indicates genius. In your natal chart, Uranus' house position is more important than his sign position because, like Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto, he is a slow planet. Many people born in the same period have Uranus in the same sign. This is the reason why the sign occupied here is less meaningful than when it is occupied by the so-called fast planets, i.e. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Therefore, some caution is to be exercised as you read what follows. The sign positions of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto have a collective meaning. They do not influence your personality, unless they are involved in numerous aspects or when they emphasize a personal point of your natal chart such as your Ascendant's ruler, an angular planet, i.e. a planet near the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Nadir or the Descendant. In such cases, the activity of the slow planet is very highlighted. Uranus in Scorpio reinforces your sexuality in cerebral and erotic ways, detached from all affectivity. Your passions and your emotions may have such a strong mental nature that you may be criticized for your cruelty.

Uranus Dominant

If Uranus is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Uranian: personal values are prevailing. Inner certainties fuel an inflexible will and a desire to call attention on yourself as well as to follow your beliefs through. This planet prompts you to behave with determination, to put forward your own truth, and to start your personal revolution. More than other people, you are willing to keep some degree of autonomy in all circumstances, and you often display an individualistic nature. In order to achieve your ideal of freedom and independence, you may act like a despot as you try to convince and to impose your views, whether smoothly or forcefully. Regardless of the flexibility of your comportment, some situations demand an absolute firmness as well as uncompromising, frank and straightforward attitudes. People may criticise you for your intransigence and say that you are a hardliner. Outsider's opinions don't matter! The most important thing is that you act in all conscience and reach your primary objectives. More than anyone else, you know how to use your willpower and to focus your energy on a precise aim, relentlessly, whatever the consequences might be. In the chapter of qualities, let's mention a definite sense of responsibility, an innovative mind open to techniques and modern ideas, as well as a natural self-discipline which overcomes many an obstacle. Therefore, people are well-advised not to hound you into a corner.

Interpretation of the 7° Scorpio symbolic degree

"a beautiful rooster flaps its wings near several hens which are pecking around while an archer shoots at a flock of birds." ( janduz version).

Proud, vigilant, and courageous character endowed with numerous talents. One's competences are put at the service of the affairs of the country, probably in the field of justice and diplomacy. Rewards come in the guise of fame, honours, and a rich marriage. However, one must not heed one's jealous instincts and must refrain from being unfaithful in love.

Neptune represents escapism, impressionability, daydreaming, delusions, carelessness, deception or intuition, dishonesty or inspiration, telepathy. Water is its element, it is moist, it rules Pisces, is in exaltation in Cancer, though some authors say it is Leo, and is in analogy with the vegetative system.

It represents dreamers, mediums, magicians, merchants of illusion, drug addicts.

Temperament : rather Lymphatic

Characterology : Emotive, non Active, Primary or Secondary type; it is a Sentimental, or sometimes Amorphous type.

For more information, see the page dedicated to Neptune .

Neptune in Sagittarius

The planet Neptune symbolizes extreme receptivity, intense emotional sharpness, impressionability and inspiration; it is the planet of mediums, mystics and religious faith. In an astrological chart, it indicates dilution, vagueness, understanding one's environment through emotions and the absence of clear and determined limits and structures. In your natal chart, Neptune's house position is more important than his sign position because, like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto, he is a slow planet. Many people born in the same period have Neptune in the same sign. This is the reason why the sign occupied here is less meaningful than when it is occupied by the so-called fast planets, i.e. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Therefore, some caution is to be exercised as you read what follows. The sign positions of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto have a collective meaning. They do not influence your personality, unless they are involved in numerous aspects or when they emphasize a personal point of your natal chart such as your Ascendant's ruler, an angular planet, i.e. a planet near the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Nadir or the Descendant. In such cases, the activity of the slow planet is very highlighted in many regards. Neptune in Sagittarius may turn you into a monk, a visionary, or an active idealist willing to change the world. Rebellion and inspiration at the service of a sacred cause: here is an example that could describe accurately this planetary configuration.

Neptune Dominant

If Neptune is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Neptunian: your intuition is highly developed. You are of a contemplative nature, and you are particularly receptive to ambiances, places, and people. You gladly cultivate the art of letting-go, and you allow the natural unfolding of events to construct your world. You follow your inspirations, for better or for worse. At times, you display an extraordinary clairvoyance gift. You seem to be able to read your subconscious like a book, and you track down subtle underlying mechanisms, flaws, or open breaches. This innate intuition might explain the strokes of good luck which the Neptunian is sometimes credited with. However, you may also be the victim of illusions and misleading intuitions. You are an idealist, and you let your deepest aspirations prevail over the realities of the moment. Then, you set off in quest of some quixotic objective, living like a Don Quixote who relentlessly pursues an impossible dream. You have a great talent for psychology and the mysteries of the human soul. Since you instinctively perceive people's intents and motivations, as you swim in the complexity of human nature, you feel in your element. The subtlety of your perceptiveness is the source of both special affections and irrevocable rejections. What is the danger of such a dominant? If it is not offset by other influences in your natal chart, you may not have an iron will. Your trump card is your instinct, which may be developed to the extent that it becomes clairvoyance.

Interpretation of the 13° Sagittarius symbolic degree

"after having shot an arrow, a horse rider clings to the neck of his mount in panic." ( janduz version).

Intelligent, enterprising, and pleasant character. Although good ideas abound, they require thorough analysis and organisation. Projects are nicely put forward, but their implementation is handicapped by unpreparedness, and solutions to cropping problems seem to be adopted at random. One must seek the advice of a friend or of one's spouse. Partnerships and teamwork are the key which opens the door to success, honours, and fame.

Pluto represents deep transformations, mutations and eliminations, sexuality and magnetism, power and secrets, destruction with a view to regeneration, the phoenix rising from the ashes. Its element is indefinite; burning (like lava in fusion ?), it rules Scorpio, is in exaltation in Pisces and is in analogy with the sexual organs and excretion.

It represents dictators, sadistic people, violent characters, is instinctive and powerful but also mysterious with hidden strengths.

Temperament : rather Bilious

Characterology : Emotive or non-Emotive, Active, Primary type; it is a Passionate Choleric type.

For more information, see the page dedicated to Pluto .

Pluto in Libra

The planet Pluto symbolizes deep disruptions and upheavals, domination and sexual instincts, and the inner power we have in ourselves. Pluto destroys in order to reconstruct and he provokes painful crises that are needed in metamorphosis. Pluto is our deepest instincts' brutal force. It is the hidden and unconscious violence that can explode in us with incredible intensity before being projected in our actions; in itself, the planet is not negative: the might and the intensity of its energy are beyond the conceivable but it can be funnelled. Pluto is the only possibility we have at our disposal to overcome our inner blocks and to eliminate outgrown situations that have become inextricable. Pluto's energy is valuable because of its usefulness for the irreversible destruction of what constitutes a problem and not because of its negative side and its perversity. Pluto allows to reconstruct and to regenerate parts of our personality or whole stretches of our life, provided that we manage to funnel his wild energy and to step back. It is impossible to tame this energy, given its essence. However, it is possible to take advantage of it for a precise aim, through a temporary identification of some parts of us with this energy. In such a case, the outcome is our final evolution and even, our transformation. In your natal chart, Pluto's house position is more important than his sign position because, like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, Pluto is a slow planet. Many people born in the same period have Pluto in the same sign. This is the reason why the sign occupied here is less meaningful than when it is occupied by the so-called fast planets, i.e. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Therefore, some caution is to be exercised as you read what follows. The sign positions of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto have a collective meaning. They do not influence your personality and they are not to be really taken into account, unless they are involved in numerous aspects or when they emphasize a personal point of your natal chart such as your Ascendant's ruler, an angular planet, i.e. a planet near the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Nadir or the Descendant. In such cases, the activity of the slow planet is very highlighted. Pluto in Libra intensifies your charisma and... your domination. Yet, you influence your entourage in charming and magnetic ways.

Pluto Dominant

If Pluto is part of your natal chart's planetary dominants, in astrology, you are said to be a Plutonian: you sometimes feel like a foreigner who does not belong to the world, to its laws, and its concerns. The rules of life in society are not necessarily yours. You are interested in what is unknown and in the subtle laws of a hidden order. So, you take malicious pleasure in ridiculing the patterns you find too simplistic or too rigid. You also revel in underlining the limits of explanations you deem too common. There is something unconventional about the way you are, the way you think, and the way you act. What is your specificity made of? Is it an extraordinary partner? A life off the beaten path? Or do you only distance yourself from conventional morals? In any case, you have the feeling, sometimes quite vague, that you come from nowhere, and that you do not belong to any definite group... In short, it means that you cannot be simplified in order to conform to existing models. The gap between you and ordinary mortals is also an element of your strength. Your deep clear-sightedness, firstly, enables you to put things into perspective and to grant them only the attention they deserve. Your other remarkable asset is your capacity to intervene from behind the scenes, to secretly organise events, and to bring about the desirable outcome without seeming to impose or to dictate anything. However, you must still overcome one of the major difficulties of this dominant, which is to get people to accept your difference and to smoothly fit into your environment.

Interpretation of the 11° Libra symbolic degree

"two women are standing on both edges of the ravine which separates them. one of them is looking behind her, and the other one gazes at herself in a mirror. none of them is aware that they may fall in the precipice." ( janduz version).

Carefree, self-centred, and frivolous character. One is unable to learn the lessons from the past. Dangers of failure and reversal of fortune stem from neglect and superficiality. However, should the natal chart concur, particularly if Venus is strong and protective, sheer luck and devoted friends prevent the disaster from happening.

Chiron is almost renowned and used everywhere. Most astrologers consider it as a kind of "mediator" between Saturn and outer planets. Consequently, Chiron is of Saturn's nature and at the same time is influenced by Uranus, the first slow-moving planet. Astrologically, it symbolizes wisdom, patience and the faculty to reduce others' sufferings: it is said to be the "great healer" of the zodiac. Like all the secondary bodies, it must be in close conjunction with planets or angles in order to fully express its action.

Ceres , the biggest of the four minor asteroids used besides Chiron, is associated with the mythological goddess of growing plants and harvest and also symbolizes physical constitution, vitality and fertility. She's also known as Demeter, according to the astrologer Zipporah Dobyns, linked to the symbolism of the mother but in a less emotive and more physical way than the Moon. Ceres is thought to be the ruler of Virgo, in exaltation in Gemini, in exile in Pisces and in fall in Sagittarius. Keywords associated with Ceres could be order, practical sense, worry, precision, modesty, method, sobriety, motherhood, fertility, the Earth: a kind of a more cerebral Moon...

Pallas is sometimes used in modern Astrology: she represents intelligence, abstract and global thinking talents. It is usually considered to be a determining element in political strategy.

Juno is the asteroid corresponding to the adaptation to the marital partner and to the defence of individual rights; it is thus used in the field of marriage.

Vesta is rarely used and brings the ability to efficiently devote oneself to a cause.

The North Node (True Node here) represents the goals that must be achieved during life, in the karmic sense according to some traditions. Its position in house indicates in what field an effort is necessary in order to evolve. The North Node is often called the Dragon's head, it is usually considered beneficial, a bit like Jupiter with the planets. The Lunar nodes are fictional points and not actual heavenly bodies: they are the intersections of the Moon with the Ecliptic (the path made by the Sun in its orbit as seen from the Earth). The axis of the Lunar nodes moves 19 degrees each year, namely a bit more than three minutes each day.

The South Node is diametrically opposed to the North Node, therefore it faces it (it's not drawn here, it's the same symbol but upside down). It symbolizes what has already been achieved or acquired, in a karmic sense: it's the past from which it's advised to move on in order to progress. The South Node is rather negative, of a Saturnian nature: the experience through suffering.

Interpretation of the 15° Scorpio symbolic degree

"on the seashore, birds of prey chase away a wolf which tries to get near a carcass." ( janduz version).

Independent, scheming, and quarrelsome character. One does not hesitate to embark on dangerous adventures, which brings about in failure and ruin.

Lilith or the Dark Moon (True Lilith here) represents the uncrossable threshold, taboos, the individual's provocative and fascinating side, including on a sexual level. She symbolizes violence and "untameability", the radical and deep-seated refusal to submit. The keywords for Lilith can be sterility, sadism, perversity, castration, sadomasochism, eroticism, orgasm, forbidden fantasies, marginality, cruelty; redemption, illumination, rebelliousness... Lilith's opposite point is called Priapus; it is the Lunar perigee, the position where the Moon is closest to the Earth. It symbolizes man's primitive nature, the horror hidden in our deepest self; masochism, extreme sensuality, impulsiveness, irrationality and excess. Physically speaking, the Dark Moon is the focal point unoccupied by the Earth: it is not a concrete body but a mathematical point.

Interpretation of the 17° Pisces symbolic degree

"a man falls off as he jumps his horse over a fence. in a meadow, three wild horses fight each other." ( janduz version).

Daring, violent, and improvident character. It is necessary to avoid all forms of conflicts, learn to exercise some patience, and carefully ponder over the situation before taking action. Success can be achieved in sports, provided that one receives a good training. This degree portends dangers linked to horses and transportation in general. Expatriation or working abroad is strongly advised against.

The Part of Fortune is an ancient concept, used by Ptolemy and other astrologers before him. Firstly, it has nothing to do with fortune! In modern astrology, it is actually used to enhance a planet or angle when in close conjunction with it: it thus amplifies the meaning associated to the point affected by its presence. It is calculated in the following way:

Part of Fortune = AS + Moon - Sun (it is the Moons position when the Sun rises)

The classical Part of Fortune, of which the calculus method is unchanged whether in a diurnal or nocturnal chart, is usually distinguished from the diurnal/nocturnal Part of Fortune which is calculated by the formula AS + Sun - Moon for a nocturnal chart, and AS + Moon - Sun in a diurnal chart.

We currently use the latter formula for our astrological programmes.

For more information, see the page dedicated to the Arabian parts .

The First House or Ascendant represents one's behaviour in the eyes of others, and also one's health. It corresponds to the way the individual acts in the world. It is the image of the personality seen by others and the person's visible behaviour expressed outwardly. The 1st House is in analogy with Aries and thus Mars too, and then the Sun. It is an angular house, the most important one with the Midheaven, maybe even more so due to its link with the body and health.

The Tenth House still called the Midheaven , is the highest point amidst the houses, at the top of the chart, in the South, and relates to destiny in general and career (and not daily work as meant by the Sixth House). The Midheaven represents our achievements and goals in the social sphere, our social position in society, and becomes more and more important as we get older. It is in analogy with Capricorn and Saturn. The Tenth House is the most important angular house along with the Ascendant.

The First House or Ascendant represents one's behaviour in the eyes of others and also one's health. It corresponds to the way the individual acts in the world. It is the image of the personality as seen by others and the person's visible behaviour expressed outwardly. The 1st House is in analogy with Aries and thus Mars too and then the Sun. It is an angular house, the most important one with the Midheaven, maybe even more so due to its link with the body and health; the Ascendant is as important as the Sun in a natal chart.

The Second House is the sphere of material security, the money we earn, our possessions, also in a symbolic meaning (close people etc). It is in analogy with Taurus and Venus. It is a succedent house, quite important.

The Third House is the sphere of social and intellectual apprenticeship, studies, relationships with close people and surroundings, short trips, light-hearted and quick contacts, correspondences. It is in analogy with Gemini and Mercury. It's a cadent house, less important than the angular and succedent ones.

The Fourth House also called Immum Coeli is the sphere of inner emotions, family, the father, home and roots, but also the home one creates. It's Home Sweet Home, security and cocoon. It is in analogy with Cancer and the Moon. It's an angular and important house.

The Fifth House is the sphere of pleasures and love affairs (but not commitment or marriage), creations and entertainments, children, arts and game. It is in analogy with Leo and the Sun. It's a succedent and quite important house.

The Sixth House is the sphere of apprenticeship and effort in the work environment, daily life, health on a daily basis and not operations or long-term diseases, relationships with co-workers or subordinates, desire for improvement, analysis and detail. It is in analogy with Virgo and Mercury. It is a cadent house, less important than the angular and succedent ones.

The Seventh House also called the Descendant (in front of the Ascendant) is the sphere of partnership, marriage, contracts, relationships with others, the outer world. It is in analogy with Libra and Venus, and Saturn to a lesser extent. It is an angular and important house.

The Eighth House is the sphere of emotional security, the depths of the self, secrets and paranormal, transcendence, sexuality, mysteries, upheavals, surgical operations, others' money (investments, inheritances), crises, transformation after evolution, death. It is in analogy with Scorpio and Pluto, and Mars to a lesser extent. It is a succedent and quite important house.

The Ninth House is the sphere of high studies, both physical and mental journeys (philosophy, spirituality), rebelliousness, changes of scenery, desire for dealing with the unknown. It is in analogy with Sagittarius and Jupiter. It is a cadent house, less important than the angular and succedent ones.

The Eleventh House is the sphere of friendship and protection, projects, search for social acceptance and security, collective and humanitarian actions. It is in analogy with Aquarius and Uranus, and Saturn to a lesser extent. It's a succedent and quite important house.

The Twelfth House is the sphere of hidden things, enemies, closed or remote places (hospital, prison, convent etc.), ordeals, secrecy, solitude, long-term illnesses but also sincere devotion and genuine compassion. It is in analogy with Pisces and Neptune.

The Vertex , sometimes called counter-Ascendant, is a fictitious point which is at the intersection of two great circles, the Ecliptic and the great vertical circle (Prime Vertical) in the West of the birthplace, linking the East, the Zenith, the West, and the Nadir. It is always located in the West of the chart around the Descendant. It is the chart's fifth angle, so to speak, less important than the other angles. Its interpretation is controversial, because certain astrologers pay no attention to it.

The Vertex is sometimes considered to be the second Descendant because, like the latter, it is related to communication and exchanges. It has to do with associations and fated encounters, those that are not chosen, and reveals the type of sensitivity and reactivity we have in our dealings with other people: a refined and tolerant way in Libra, straightforward and spontaneous in Aries, etc.

The East Point is a fictitious point at the intersection of two great circles, the Ecliptic and the great vertical circle (Prime Vertical) in the East of the birthplace, linking the East, the Zenith, the West, and the Nadir. It is always located in the East of the chart, around the Ascendant.

The East Point is sometimes considered to be a second Ascendant, less important, but also related to how one is seen by other people, and to how one expresses one's personality.

Cupido is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Cupido, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points.

On the upside, Cupido is related to socialisation, the arts, and marital life. On the downside, it indicates vanity, addiction to pleasures, and being strongly influenced by groups of people.

Hades is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Hades, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points.

Hades corresponds to intellectual rigour, service rendered to people, the purpose of being useful. On the downside; it leads to carelessness, indifference, apathy, and mess.

Zeus is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Zeus, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points.

Zeus is related to creativity, as well as to organisational and leadership capacities. On the downside, it may lead to aggressiveness and to excessive militancy.

Kronos is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Kronos, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points.

Kronos is related to authority and cleverness. In tough aspect, it may make the person conceited, presumptuous, or elitist.

Apollon is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Apollon, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points.

Apollon is related to the ability to synthesise, as well as to broad-mindedness, and fame. In difficult aspect, it may bring about superficiality or extravagance.

Admetos is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Admetos, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points.

Admetos is related to the deepness of the mind, asceticism, simplicity, and analytical mind. In tough aspect, it may make the person nit-picking, inflexible, and narrow-minded.

Vulcanus is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Vulcanus, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points.

Vulcanus, sometimes said to be the higher octave of Saturn, provides strength to improve collective relations, to structure things, to be efficient, and to get straight to the point. On the downside, he may bring about arrogance and scattered efforts.

Poseidon is a hypothetical trans-Neptunian planet, the existence of which is not proven. It was invented by Alfred Witte, founder of the famous Hamburg School, and by his student, Friedrich Sieggrün. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Poseidon, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points.

Poseidon brings about wisdom, a clear mind, and sometimes spirituality. On the downside, it may make the person dogmatic, manipulative, or out of touch with reality.

Proserpina , sometimes referred to as Persephone, is a trans-Plutonian hypothetical planet. N.B.: numerous astrologers believe neither in the influence of Proserpina, nor in that of all hypothetical planets, asteroids, Arabic parts or other fictitious points.

Proserpina is related to mysteries, revival and reconstruction, as well as cycles. She enriches the unconscious, and gives the possibility to combine modern life with spirituality, the East with the West, and mysticism with concrete life.

Biography of Jan Koum (excerpt)

Jan Koum (born February 24, 1976) is CEO and founder of WhatsApp, a mobile messaging application which was acquired by Facebook Inc. in February 2014. Koum is Jewish and grew up in a village outside Kiev in Ukraine. He moved to California with his mother and grandmother in 1992. External link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/02/19/exclusive-inside-story-how-jan-koum-built-whatsapp-into-facebooks-new-19-billion-baby/ ---> Jan Koum picked a meaningful spot to sign the $19 billion deal to sell his company WhatsApp to Facebook earlier today. Koum, cofounder Brian Acton and venture capitalist Jim Goetz of Sequoia drove a few blocks from WhatsApp’s discreet headquarters in Mountain View to a disused white building across the railroad tracks, the former North County Social Services office where Koum, 37, once stood in line to collect food stamps.

Astrological portrait of Jan Koum (excerpt)

Disclaimer : these short excerpts of astrological charts are computer processed. They are, by no means, of a personal nature. This principle is valid for the 68,809 celebrities included in our database. These texts provide the meanings of planets, or combination of planets, in signs and in houses, as well as the interpretations of planetary dominants in line with modern Western astrology rules. Moreover, since Astrotheme is not a polemic website, no negative aspect which may damage the good reputation of a celebrity is posted here, unlike in the comprehensive astrological portrait.

Introduction

Here are some character traits from Jan Koum's birth chart. This description is far from being comprehensive but it can shed light on his/her personality, which is still interesting for professional astrologers or astrology lovers.

In a matter of minutes, you can get at your email address your astrological portrait (approximately 32 pages), a much more comprehensive report than this portrait of Jan Koum.

N.B.: as this celebrity's birth time is unknown, the chart is arbitrarily calculated for 12:00 PM - the legal time for his/her place of birth; since astrological houses are not taken into account, this astrological profile excerpt is less detailed than those for which the birth time is known.

The dominant planets of Jan Koum

When interpreting a natal chart, the best method is to start gradually from general features to specific ones. Thus, there is usually a plan to be followed, from the overall analysis of the chart and its structure, to the description of its different character traits.

In the first part, an overall analysis of the chart enables us to figure out the personality's main features and to emphasize several points that are confirmed or not in the detailed analysis: in any case, those general traits are taken into account. Human personality is an infinitely intricate entity and describing it is a complex task. Claiming to rapidly summarize it is illusory, although it does not mean that it is an impossible challenge. It is essential to read a natal chart several times in order to absorb all its different meanings and to grasp all this complexity. But the exercise is worthwhile.

In brief, a natal chart is composed of ten planets: two luminaries, the Sun and the Moon, three fast-moving or individual planets, Mercury, Venus and Mars, two slow-moving planets, Jupiter and Saturn, and three very slow-moving planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Additional secondary elements are: the Lunar Nodes, the Dark Moon or Lilith, Chiron and other minor objects. They are all posited on the Zodiac wheel consisting of twelve signs, from Aries to Pisces, and divided into twelve astrological houses.

The first step is to evaluate the importance of each planet. This is what we call identifying the dominant planets. This process obeys rules that depend on the astrologer's sensitivity and experience but it also has precise and steady bases: thus, we can take into account the parameters of a planet's activity (the number of active aspects a planet forms, the importance of each aspect according to its nature and its exactness), angularity parameters; (proximity to the four angles, Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant and Imum Coeli or Nadir, all of them being evaluated numerically, according to the kind of angle and the planet-angle distance) and quality parameters (rulership, exaltation, exile and fall). Finally, other criteria such as the rulership of the Ascendant and the Midheaven etc. are important.

These different criteria allow a planet to be highlighted and lead to useful conclusions when interpreting the chart.

The overall chart analysis begins with the observation of three sorts of planetary distributions in the chart: Eastern or Western hemisphere, Northern or Southern hemisphere, and quadrants (North-eastern, North-western, South-eastern and South-western). These three distributions give a general tone in terms of introversion and extraversion, willpower, sociability, and behavioural predispositions.

Then, there are three additional distributions: elements (called triplicity since there are three groups of signs for each one) - Fire, Air, Earth and Water - corresponding to a character typology, modality (or quadruplicity with four groups of signs for each one) - Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable - and polarity (Yin and Yang).

There are three types of dominants: dominant planets, dominant signs and dominant houses. The novice thinks astrology means only "to be Aries" or sometimes, for example, "to be Aries Ascendant Virgo". It is actually far more complex. Although the Sun and the Ascendant alone may reveal a large part of the character - approximately a third or a half of your psychological signature, a person is neither "just the Sun" (called the sign) nor just "the first house" (the Ascendant). Thus, a particular planet's influence may be significantly increased; a particular sign or house may contain a group of planets that will bring nuances and sometimes weaken the role of the Ascendant, of the Sun sign etc.

Lastly, there are two other criteria: accentuations (angular, succedent and cadent) which are a classification of astrological houses and types of decanates that are occupied (each sign is divided into three decanates of ten degrees each). They provide some additional informations.

These general character traits must not be taken literally; they are, somehow, preparing for the chart reading. They allow to understand the second part of the analysis, which is more detailed and precise. It focuses on every area of the personality and provides a synthesis of all the above-mentioned parameters according to sound hierarchical rules.

Warning: when the birth time is unknown, which is the case for Jan Koum, a few paragraphs become irrelevant; distributions in hemispheres and quadrants are meaningless, so are dominant houses and houses' accentuations. Therefore, some chapters are removed from this part.

For all paragraphs, the criteria for valuation are calculated without taking into account angles and rulerships of the Ascendant and of the Midheaven. The methodology retains its validity, but it is less precise without a time of birth.

Elements and Modes for Jan Koum

Cheers for communication and mobility, Jan Koum! The predominance of Air signs in your chart favours and amplifies your taste for relations and for all kinds of short trips, whether real (travels) or symbolic (new ideas, mind speculations). You gain in flexibility and adaptability what you lose in self-assertion or in pragmatism.

The predominance of Water signs indicates high sensitivity and elevation through feelings, Jan Koum. Your heart and your emotions are your driving forces, and you can't do anything on Earth if you don't feel a strong affective charge (as a matter of fact, the word "feeling" is essential in your psychology). You need to love in order to understand, and to feel in order to take action, which causes a certain vulnerability which you should fight against.

The twelve zodiacal signs are split up into three groups or modes, called quadruplicities, a learned word meaning only that these three groups include four signs. The Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable modes are more or less represented in your natal chart, depending on planets' positions and importance, and on angles in the twelve signs.

The Mutable mode is the most emphasized one in your natal chart, Jan Koum, which indicates a mobile character that is curious and thirsty for new experiences and evolution. You are lively and flexible, and you like to react quickly to solicitations, but don't confuse mobility with agitation, since this is the danger with this configuration - and with you, stagnation is out of the question. Security doesn't matter as long as you are not bored. You optimize, you change things, you change yourself... all this in a speedy way.

Dominants: Planets, Signs and Houses for Jan Koum

The issue of dominant planets has existed since the mists of time in astrology: how nice it would be if a person could be described with a few words and one or several planets that would represent their character, without having to analyse such elements as rulerships, angularities, houses, etc!

The ten planets - the Sun throughout Pluto - are a bit like ten characters in a role-play, each one has its own personality, its own way of acting, its own strengths and weaknesses. They actually represent a classification into ten distinct personalities, and astrologers have always tried to associate one or several dominant planets to a natal chart as well as dominant signs and houses.

Indeed, it is quite the same situation with signs and houses. If planets symbolize characters, signs represent hues - the mental, emotional and physical structures of an individual. The sign in which a planet is posited is like a character whose features are modified according to the place where he lives. In a chart, there are usually one, two or three highlighted signs that allow to rapidly describe its owner.

Regarding astrological houses, the principle is even simpler: the twelve houses correspond to twelve fields of life, and planets tenanting any given house increase that house's importance and highlight all relevant life departments: it may be marriage, work, friendship etc.

In your natal chart, Jan Koum, the ten main planets are distributed as follows:

The three most important planets in your chart are Neptune, Venus and Mars.

With Neptune as one of your three dominant planets, you are a secretive and ambiguous person, often confused or unclear about your own motivations! Indeed, you are endowed with unlimited imagination and inspiration, as well as with an extreme sensibility that may turn you into a psychic or a clairvoyant. On the other hand, your impressionability is such that you may have difficulties in separating what is concrete and solid from illusions or dreams.

A mystic, a visionary or a poet, you daydream, like any Neptunian, and you see what few people only can see, all of this being shrouded in aesthetic mists when you are fired with enthusiasm.

A boundless, infinity-loving man like you is inevitably likely to be more vulnerable and easily hurt because of your acute perception of events. In such cases, you are hit full in the face, and you may sink into gloomy daydreamings and dark melancholy.

That said, this mysterious aura definitely gives you an indefinable charm in the eyes of your close friends who are often fascinated by your unique ability to feel and to see what ordinary people can never see!

With Venus among your dominant planets, one of your first reflexes is... to please! Your look, your charm, and your seduction are omnipresent elements in your behaviour.

Your approach to things is connected to your heart, and for you, no real communication can flow if your interlocutors exude no sympathy or warmth. Cold and logical reasoning, clear thoughts and good sense are not important to you: if there is no affective bond with your environment, no connection can be established with the Venusian that you are, and nothing happens.

You have a strong artistic side, and you never neglect subjective but clear concepts such as pleasure, beauty, and also sensuality. However, sometimes to the detriment of efficiency, durability, logic, and... detachment.

Mars is one of your dominant planets and provides you with its efficient energy and enthusiasm: with a powerful Mars in your chart, action - but also will and ability to undertake - is not an empty word for you. You are active, dynamic, willing to fight, courageous, and you are never afraid to move mountains, even though risks are part of the adventures that you start with determination.

However, your patience is not always up to your boldness and a kind of feverishness, or even anger, can tarnish the quality of your achievements. That would be a pity since the Marsian is a champion in matters of efficiency! Mars symbolizes display of action, conquering spirit that favours discipline and order - beware of not being fussy - and lies at the frontier between action and brutality, between conquest and potential aggressiveness.

In your natal chart, the three most important signs - according to criteria mentioned above - are in decreasing order of strength Aquarius, Pisces and Capricorn. In general, these signs are important because your Ascendant or your Sun is located there. But this is not always the case: there may be a cluster of planets, or a planet may be near an angle other than the Midheaven or Ascendant. It may also be because two or three planets are considered to be very active because they form numerous aspects from these signs.

Thus, you display some of the three signs' characteristics, a bit like a superposition of features on the rest of your chart, and it is all the more so if the sign is emphasized.

Aquarius is one of the most important signs in your natal chart: it endows your personality - at least one of its facets - with originality, to the point of eccentricity, in spite of a sometimes distant and humane side. Likeable and impassive at the same time, you are a paradoxical man, very hard to define because the two planets Uranus and Saturn blend their qualities to create the so complicated and endearing sign that inspires your character. Saturn's seriousness and impassivity is added to Uranus' rebellion, talent, individualism, charisma, extravagance, and unpredictability! One of your main characteristics is that you never open up on a personal basis, but you tend to do so easily in public. You are actually quite strange. Sexy and charming in public, despite your nice and sociable character, you could frustrate many of your admirers in private because of your impossibility to show deep and warm affection, emotions, tears... But appearance and reality are two different things anyway - you are a kind of a genius, or you have at least a tremendous charm with this sign. You have many friends and an active social life. If you are detached in your love life - only in this aspect, since the rest of chart will confirm it or not - this is no big deal!

Pisces is among your dominant signs and endows your personality with unlimited sources of emotions, dreams, imagination, and sensitivity, to the extent that you literally swim in a cloudy ocean of delightful impressions. These impressions are so intense and overwhelming that you don't really need to take action concretely, to show your dynamism or your willpower, since you already live so intensely with your feelings - you are as keen as a radar, always on the alert! That is why some people may not like your carelessness, and the lack of clarity in your opinions or actions; however they quickly notice your artistic talents, your poetic or artistic side, and your total lack of wickedness. Besides, you feel compassion for people in pain - empathy is one of your great qualities. Thanks to your flexibility, your intuition, and your generosity, you may spend an important part of your life helping others. And if you are creative or if you have well-known artistic talents, everybody will forgive your little flaws: absent-mindedness, lack of energy or of will, too dreamy temperament...

Capricorn is one of your dominant signs and endows you with a grave and serious style that seems to stick to you constantly. But if you have that reserved and cold side - as some extrovert people may think - on the other hand, you possess sturdy qualities: you are strong-willed and tough. Your long-term vision, your sense of duty, and your ambition are not affected by the derisory and erratic motions that seem to upset most mortals less steady than you. Besides, you are like a good wine, you age well and your natural solemnity or serious side paradoxically turns into an almost cheerful appearance, as you grow older. You are actually very sensitive when it comes to love. Faithful, caring, sweet, and sensitive, your behaviour is very different in your everyday, sentimental life. A golden heart beats under your tough and austere appearance...

After this paragraph about dominant planets, of Jan Koum, here are the character traits that you must read more carefully than the previous texts since they are very specific: the texts about dominant planets only give background information about the personality and remain quite general: they emphasize or, on the contrary, mitigate different particularities or facets of a personality. A human being is a complex whole and only bodies of texts can attempt to successfully figure out all the finer points.

The Moon in Capricorn: his sensitivity

Your sensitivity is withdrawn, Jan Koum: more than anyone, you tend to lock yourself in your ivory tower, as you are aware of a kind of superiority that may be real, though overrated. Your moods are not perceptible because you control them with a tight fist. It is difficult to know if you are happy or upset because you show nothing. You avoid situations which compel you to reveal your emotions because you are not demonstrative. Please, be aware that it is not your amorous behaviour that is being analyzed, but the daily expression of your sensitivity. You dread the crowd and you need calm, and even solitude, to feel comfortable. You are well-equipped to remain balanced in all circumstances, but it may prove beneficial if you progressively take a relaxed attitude and show more dedication, as you are worth it; it is easier for you to exteriorize your feelings when your projects or your ambitions justify that you do so. You do not practice gratuitous outpourings, particularly when your are with a group, because you are afraid to open up, as if you were on the defensive, without any reason most of the times.

Mercury in Aquarius: his intellect and social life

You are a “free-thinker”, Jan Koum, and you tackle problems with a swift and efficient mind. Freedom, progress and originality are your driving forces. You are resolutely future-oriented and with ingenuity and inventiveness, you reform what is outgrown and you constantly innovate: psychology, computer sciences, new technologies... have almost no secret for you. Your human and idealist qualities are obvious, you are a very pleasant and interesting interlocutor, even though your rebellious and revolutionary side may be criticized. Indeed, you seem to be driven by a strong argumentativeness: you seldom share your friends' views and, although you may come across as obstinate, intransigent and unpleasant, you do not hesitate to speak the truth! Instead of causing sudden break-ups with your friends, it is advisable that you express your creative potential more persistently whenever your nervous tension is too high.

Venus in Aquarius and the Sun in Pisces: his affectivity and seductiveness

In your chart, the Sun is in Pisces and Venus, in Aquarius. Between the subtle detachment of the Sun in Pisces and the excitement of Venus in Aquarius, the contrast is striking: more than anyone, you are aware that one shifts quickly from fascination to disenchantment or from indifference to amazement. These two consecutive signs react in an antinomical way: while Venus in Aquarius readily gives free rein to her heart or her senses' impulses, the Sun in Pisces does not follow these fleeting stimulations and remains impervious, unyielding and selective. Aquarius is optimistic because the relationship is constantly evolving (tomorrow is another day…). Pisces knows or feels the limits of the relationship (the end is for tomorrow…). You may be criticized for these inconsistencies: I love you madly today and not any more tomorrow. I don't love you but when you leave me, I am hurting! Your affectivity lives on all these paradoxes. More than others, you need to be amazed and to be seduced… Indifference occurs so rapidly! You give a lot to those who deserve your esteem because of their qualities or their shortcomings. Indeed, you may find certain flaws quite seductive because they extol your compassion and your taste for strangeness at the same time.

In love, you are more cerebral and friendly than really passionate, Jan Koum. You are made for amorous friendships, for refined and light feelings where each partner retains one's freedom, and almost detachment, without getting really committed. Sometimes, you may be distant from, and indifferent to, love matters for a while, because you can be completely engrossed in original intellectual pursuits and the collective atmosphere which you are so fond of. You substitute a great number of friendly and light contacts to amorous relationships and it is fair to say that they satisfy you. To fall in love, you need spice and a partner who is original, who amazes you and whom you admire; under such conditions, you can freely express your feelings in an ambiance devoid of constraint, where freedom is perfectly respected and shared within the couple.

The Sun in Pisces: his will and inner motivations

Psychologically speaking, your nature is adaptable and receptive, exactly the opposite of the sign of Virgo whose very essence is to analyze every detail, thus creating a definite duality between the self and the outside world: conversely, Pisces absorbs and erases all forms of differentiation they face. With Pisces, there is no opposition, no conflict and no individual reaction. There is only fusion, non-separation, a perpetual and mobile spreading of the self over some blurred and huge sensation of sympathy with the environment. It is the absolute reign of feelings and emotions over the intellect and its separative logics.

As you are born under this sign, you are emotional, sensitive, dedicated, adaptable, nice, wild, compassionate, romantic, imaginative, flexible, opportunist, intuitive, impossible to categorized, irrational, seductive, placid, secretive, introverted, pleasant, artistic, and charming. But you may also be indecisive, moody, passive, confused, wavering, lazy, scatterbrained, vulnerable, unpredictable and gullible.

In love, Sir, you are the very type of the sentimental romantic in the highest meaning of the term. You live your love affairs in your mind. You upkeep the weft of your endless daydreamings just to exacerbate your emotions and your feelings, over and over again.

You fall in love frequently and according to how your encounters develop. You adjust to the person you set your heart on and you may harbour illusions because your imagination and your capacity to intensely live a virtual life are very strong. You are utopian and you are so gentle that you usually achieve your aims in spite of your boundless passivity: you seldom take the first step, except when you are thrown a line, which is as big as a tree trunk…

You live for love and through love. Your only weakness may be your lack of determination at the early stage of a relationship. However, once you get started, if there is any compatibility, you trap your prey with your overflowing affectivity and your unlimited sensuality.

Pisces’ waters are shifting and changeable. When other opportunities appeal to you, you are able to handle two relationships simultaneously. You achieve an alternate osmosis with your partners and you see no harm in doing so, because you live the instant with plasticity and in communion.

You loathe solitude and you prefer to be caught in the nets of a woman even though she does not match your personality. If, by lack of chance, your partner belongs to the domineering and unscrupulous type, you may be trapped and wake up bitter and disappointed that you extended for too long the illusion of a marvellous story.

Once you find your soul mate, your home is usually harmonious. In your couple, love is immense, even mystical. Like a wave, it bathes the shores of your emotions, which range from the noblest feelings to the wildest physical passions. Since you merely live in concrete life, it is necessary that your partner be well grounded, so that your home is well up kept and your children are properly reared!

Mars in Gemini: his ability to take action

Jan Koum, your mental activity is exuberant. Ideas are buzzing at high speed and you have the ability to think of several different things and to simultaneously process them. You are less interested in actions on the concrete or physical plane, because once you “see” a solution, its implementation is not that important any more since the crucial thing is that your mind remains bubbling with excitement. You are cerebral and curious and your sexuality is filled with fantasies, where pleasant ideas are mixed up with amplifying and enriching desires. Therefore, you are not simple but if your partner follows you, the stake is really worth it. Verbal jousting, the pleasure to debate and to discuss are continuous, with you. The only danger is to irritate people who may not have your swiftness or your sense of humour.

This text is only an excerpt from of Jan Koum's portrait. If you want to get your own astrological portrait, much more comprehensive that this present excerpt, you can order it at this page . Do you belong to the Jupiterian type, benevolent and generous? The Martian type, active and a go-getter? The Venusian type, charming and seductive? The Lunar type, imaginative and sensitive? The Solar type, noble and charismatic? The Uranian type, original, uncompromising and a freedom-lover? The Plutonian type, domineering and secretive? The Mercurian type, cerebral, inquiring and quick? The Neptunian type, visionary, capable of empathy and impressionable? The Saturnian type, profound, persevering and responsible? Are you more of the Fire type, energetic and intuitive? The Water type, sentimental and receptive? The Earth type, realistic and efficient? Or the Air type, gifted in communication and highly intellectual? 11 planetary dominants and 57 characteristics are reviewed, quantified, and interpreted; then, your psychological portrait is described in detail, in a comprehensive document of approximately 32-36 pages, full of engrossing and original pieces of information about yourself.

Astrological reports describe many of the character traits and they sometimes go deeper into the understanding of a personality. Please, always keep in mind that human beings are continuously evolving and that many parts of our psychological structures are likely to be expressed later, after having undergone significant life's experiences. It is advised to read a portrait with hindsight in order to appreciate its astrological content. Under this condition, you will be able to take full advantage of this type of study.

The analysis of an astrological portrait consists in understanding four types of elements which interact with one another: ten planets, twelve zodiacal signs, twelve houses, and what are called aspects between planets (the 11 aspects most commonly used are: conjunction, opposition, square, trine, sextile, quincunx, semi-sextile, sesqui-quadrate, quintile and bi-quintile. The first 5 aspects enumerated are called major aspects).

Planets represent typologies of our human psychology: sensitivity, affectivity, ability to undertake, will-power, mental process, aptitude, and taste for communication etc., all independent character facets are divided here for practical reasons. The twelve signs forming the space where planets move will "colour", so to speak, these typologies with each planet being located in its particular sign. They will then enrich the quality of these typologies, as expressed by the planets. The Zodiac is also divided into twelve astrological houses. This makes sense only if the birth time is known because within a few minutes, the twelve houses (including the 1st one, the Ascendant) change significantly. They correspond to twelve specific spheres of life: external behaviour, material, social and family life, relationship, home, love life, daily work, partnership, etc. Each planet located in any given house will then act according to the meaning of its house, and a second colouration again enriches those active forces that the planets symbolize. Finally, relations will settle among planets, creating a third structure, which completes the planets' basic meanings. A set of ancient rules, which has stood the test of experience over hundreds of years (although astrology is in evolution, only reliable elements are integrated into classical studies), are applied to organize the whole chart into a hierarchy and to allow your personality to be interpreted by texts. The planets usually analysed are the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, which means two luminaries (the Sun and the Moon) and 8 planets, a total of 10 planets. Additional secondary elements may be taken into account, such as asteroids Chiron, Vesta, Pallas, Ceres (especially Chiron, more well-known), the Lunar nodes, the Dark Moon or Lilith, and even other bodies: astrology is a discipline on the move. Astrological studies, including astrological portrait, compatibility of couples, predictive work, and horoscopes evolve and become more accurate or deeper, as time goes by.

Precision : concerning the horoscopes with a known time of birth, according to the Tradition, we consider that a planet near the beginning (called cuspide) of the next house (less than 2 degrees for the Ascendant and the Midheaven, and less than 1 degree for all other houses) belongs to this house: our texts and dominants take this rule into account. You can also choose not to take this shift into account in the form, and also tick the option Koch or Equal houses system instead of Placidus, the default houses system.

Warning : In order to avoid any confusion and any possible controversy, we want to draw your attention upon the fact that this sample of celebrities is very complete and therefore, it also includes undesirable people, since every category is represented: beside artists, musicians, politicians, lawyers, professional soldiers, poets, writers, singers, explorers, scientists, academics, religious figures, saints, philosophers, sages, astrologers, mediums, sportsmen, chess champions, famous victims, historical characters, members of royal families, models, painters, sculptors, and comics authors or other actual celebrities, there are also famous murderers, tyrants and dictators, serial-killers, or other characters whose image is very negative, often rightly so.

Regarding the latter, it must be remembered that even a monster or at least a person who perpetrated odious crimes, has some human qualities, often noticed by his/her close entourage: these excerpts come from computer programmes devoid of polemical intentions and may seem too soft or lenient. The positive side of each personality is deliberately stressed. Negative sides have been erased here - it is not the same in our comprehensive reports on sale - because it could hurt the families of such people. We are hoping that it will not rebound on the victims' side.

Numerology: Birth Path of Jan Koum

Testimonies to numerology are found in the most ancient civilizations and show that numerology pre-dates astrology. This discipline considers the name, the surname, and the date of birth, and ascribes a meaning to alphabetic letters according to the numbers which symbolise them.

The path of life, based on the date of birth, provides indications on the kind of destiny which one is meant to experience. It is one of the elements that must reckoned with, along with the expression number, the active number, the intimacy number, the achievement number, the hereditary number, the dominant numbers or the lacking numbers, or also the area of expression, etc.

Your Life Path is influenced by the number 4, Jan, and your destiny implies sustained efforts, long-drawn-out works, and concrete achievements. The path may seem a bit tedious, but it is very promising, provided that you demonstrate some tenacity, loyalty, and patience. You are often invited to display orderly and methodical qualities, and step-by-step, you go through all the stages which may lead you to success, if you do not let hurdles dishearten you throughout your life. Persistence is among your major qualities. You see life as a challenge, and, far from falling into the trap of picking the easy way out, you face problems with calm and lucidity, and you choose the work and steady effort which open the door to success, although evolution requires quite a long time. Your personal path is based on continuous efforts and on maintaining the same immutable direction.

Jan Koum was born under the sign of the Dragon, element Fire

Chinese astrology is brought to us as a legacy of age-old wisdom and invites us to develop an awareness of our inner potential. It is believed that the wise man is not subjected to stellar influences. However, we must gain the lucidity and the distance without which we remain locked up in an implacable destiny. According to the legend of the Circle of Animals, Buddha summoned all the animals to bid them farewell before he left our world. Only twelve species answered Buddha's call. They form the Chinese Zodiac and symbolize the twelve paths of wisdom that are still valid nowadays.

The Asian wise man considers that a path is neither good nor bad. One can and must develop one's potentialities. The first step is to thoroughly know oneself.

At first sight, your personality is outstanding: in situations where other people would prefer the security and the tranquillity of a life devoid of risk, you choose challenges, even though there is some degree of uncertainty and latent conflicts.

You do not pay much attention to your life's limitations, therefore, you may be unrealistic and you do not hesitate to fully express your intentions and ambitions. Of course, the danger is that you think big, too big. You may attempt to conquer a chimera and show an excessive idealism.

Nevertheless, your energy is attractive and your infectious enthusiasm can overcome many a hurdle. As we all know, faith can move mountains! It seems difficult to stand up to you because you determination is very strong and your will, inflexible. There is a propensity to think little of other people's opinion but it is important that you control this natural tendency...

On the interpersonal plane, you often seek attention and you want to play a central role. You willingly give pieces of advice and instructions but you may forget to show diplomacy. Your prevailing strength of character can take you a long way. You brush aside obstacles, one after the other and better than anyone else, you reach your aims and you achieve exceptional success. Actually, wrongly or rightly, you can imagine your destiny only with brilliant and spectacular colours, in a word... grandiose!

Chinese astrology has five elements, which are referred to as agents: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.

You have a deep affinity with the agent Fire. In China, this element corresponds to the planet Mars, the red colour and the number 7.

Fire implies dynamism and contagious warmth. You are a passionate person who gives a touch of intensity and unrelenting tension to every element of your life. One can only praise your energy and notice your presence. .

You belong to the category of people who never give up when they are facing hurdles. On the contrary, challenges stimulate you. You are particularly exhilarated whenever a new element emerges or when you are dealing with an unprecedented context.

Obviously, the danger is that you may rush headlong against a wall of insurmountable difficulties and act impulsively or thoughtlessly. It is important that you moderate your natural impetuosity as often as possible. Beware of untimely fits of anger!

However, your undeniable frankness prevails and your straightforward and honest character appeals to a good many interlocutors.

N. B. : when the birth time is unknown, (12:00 PM (unknown)), these portrait excerpts do not take into account the parameters derived from the time, which means, the domification (Ascendant, astrological houses, etc.). Nonetheless, these analyses remain accurate in any case. Regarding the sources of the birth data in our possession, kindly note that the pages we publish constitute a starting point for more detailed research, even though they seem useful to us. When the sources are contradictory, which occurs rarely, after having analysed them, we choose the most reliable one. Sometimes, we publish a birth date just because it is made available, but we do not claim that is it the best one, by no means.

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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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