The US State Department is preparing to issue an ordered departure of some personnel and family members from US embassies across the Gulf region, three US officials said on Wednesday.
The move was due to a possible resumption of hostilities, particularly with Iran-aligned Houthi militia in Yemen, two of the US officials said.
The US Embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, after recent deadly strikes including on Riyadh’s airport.
Two of the US officials said the ordered departures would potentially involve the evacuation of all personnel and their families from the US Mission to Saudi Arabia.
Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired US schoolteacher in custody since 2022, from prison on Wednesday and took him to St Petersburg to fly back to the United States, after talks that Washington said were a step toward ending the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement at a meeting in St Petersburg with US envoy Steve Witkoff, who later said the talks will continue toward planned technical-level discussions involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.
Witkoff thanked Putin for Hubbard’s release and called the Russian leader a “humanitarian”, in footage of the exchange, a remark that drew sharp rebuke from Republican and Democratic lawmakers given Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Putin had freed Hubbard at the request of US President Donald Trump, and had also taken into account the American’s poor health.
“The president sends his thanks, our whole nation sends their thanks, because of Stephen Hubbard,” Witkoff told Putin in a meeting shown on state TV. “Because of you he’s going home to his family.”
A video shared with Reuters showed Witkoff and Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev meeting Hubbard, who wore a dark fleece and was clean-shaven, in an undisclosed location. He shook Witkoff’s hand and said: “Thank you very much for all your efforts.”
Hubbard’s son, Joseph Coleman, told Reuters in a voice message that he spoke briefly by phone with his father before he boarded the airplane in Russia.
“Today he seemed light in his step, a sense of happiness in his voice”, Coleman said.
Witkoff called the talks with Putin “constructive” and said in a post on X that he had also met Ukrainian and European leaders in Oslo to advance Trump’s mission to end the war.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, who met Witkoff, told public broadcaster NRK that the agreement to hold another “high-level tripartite meeting” between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv will likely happen in mid-November and focus on a potential post-conflict security structure.
Witkoff’s praise for Putin over Hubbard’s release was scorned by some in Washington. Republican US Senator Thom Tillis said in an X post directed at the US envoy: “Look up the definition of ‘humanitarian.’ What an embarrassing and outrageous thing to say.”
In a statement, Hubbard’s US-based lawyer, Martin De Luca, thanked Trump, Witkoff and other US officials for securing Hubbard’s release, calling it “a dividend earned along the hard road to peace”.
Trump said in a Truth Social post that the US had not been required to give anything in return for the release.
“The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return — an unprecedented situation for Russia. There was no ‘swap’ necessary for this release. This major return should have taken place long ago through the Biden Administration, which got nowhere in its negotiations with the Kremlin,” the post said.
“Welcome home Stephen, it’s great to have you back,” wrote Trump, who later also posted a picture of Hubbard appearing inside a plane with others and holding an American flag.
Hubbard, a native of Michigan, had been serving a prison sentence of six years and 10 months in Russia following a conviction for mercenary activity in a closed-door trial.
He was arrested in April 2022 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum, where Russian prosecutors alleged he had been manning a Ukrainian military checkpoint.
Prosecutors said Hubbard had joined a Ukrainian territorial defence unit, received training, weapons and ammunition, and was promised $1,000 a month.
Russian state media reported he pleaded guilty to the charges. But De Luca previously told Reuters that Hubbard had told him the charges against him were false and that he was not in any combat or military unit.
In a 2024 interview with Reuters, Hubbard’s sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, also disputed the idea that her brother took up arms for any government, calling him “so non-military” and pointing out his advanced age.
As of Wednesday, Hubbard was the only US prisoner held by Russia who was designated by Washington as “wrongfully detained”.
The Trump administration secured the release last year of another American jailed in Russia, schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who had been serving a 14-year prison term for drug smuggling.
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wednesday on Karnakis & Karnakis, a law firm based in Greece and Panama, saying it had for years provided legal assistance to Iranian shipping networks.
The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also issued an administrative subpoena to advance an investigation into a Greek bank over potential ties to Iran, according to a Treasury statement, which did not name the bank.
FINCEN also issued requests for information to six other European banks that it did not name over relationships with Iranian financial institutions under US sanctions.
“Whether you are conducting illegal oil transfers at sea or sitting in the corner office of a law firm, if you are supporting the Iranian regime, we will find you and sanction you,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessentsaid in a release.
Karnakis & Karnakis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Treasury also imposed sanctions on Singapore- and UAE-based shipping agents that it said directly aid Iranian shadow fleet operations.
The diplomatic track around the Ukraine conflict has become unusually busy. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is touring Europe, and a new round of contacts is unfolding just as Moscow and Kyiv weigh very different assumptions about who holds the stronger hand.
On October 20, talks took place in Oslo between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and representatives of the United States and several European countries. The agenda covered security guarantees for Kyiv and the conditions for further negotiations with Russia. Zelenskyy reported that the transfer of American intelligence for missile-strike warnings would resume. Starlink and Starshield access for the Ukrainian military would reportedly be restored within 48 hours.
Moscow, however, used the eve of Witkoff’s visit to set out its position. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke on October 20 and kept expectations low. “Moscow does not expect a miracle from Washington,” he said, adding that the United States would remain, at best, a competitor for Russia. His main points were consistent. Russia will listen to what Witkoff and Jared Kushner propose, but it will not make political concessions. It is ready for economic deals, but not for political compromise. Relations with the West may resume, but not on the pre-2022 terms. Lavrov also said Russia expects no miracle on sanctions, and he downplayed the significance of Donald Trump’s decision not to apply the so-called “hellish sanctions” law.
The confidence in that tone has a source. Russia is negotiating from a position of battlefield momentum. Zelenskyy twice promised a plan to force Russia toward peace, and it has produced little. Ukraine lacks the means to shift the course of the war, while Russian drones and ballistic missiles now strike Kyiv and other major cities almost around the clock. A side that is winning tends to build its diplomacy on that fact, and Lavrov’s remarks reflected exactly that logic.
Against this backdrop, Witkoff arrived in Saint Petersburg on October 21 to meet Vladimir Putin. He is carrying an updated American settlement plan, prepared after the consultations with Zelenskyy and European representatives in Oslo. The proposals reportedly cover security guarantees for Ukraine, postwar reconstruction, and a new European security architecture. Washington hopes to lay the groundwork for direct three-way talks.
One issue remains unresolved: Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries. Kushner again demanded that they stop. Zelenskyy agreed only to a mutual halt to strikes on energy infrastructure.
Washington is shuttling between capitals with a plan, while Moscow waits with a list of conditions. Kyiv, under nightly bombardment, is asked to compromise first. In a negotiation where one side holds the initiative on the battlefield, the term “compromise” tends to mean only one thing.
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A empresária Mila Seidl, 41, viúva do influenciador Lito Sousa (1967-2026), surpreendeu os fãs na manhã desta quarta-feira (21) ao gravar um vídeo com o mesmo formato dos que o marido postava antes de falecer.
“Se você tem medo de voar, como eu já tive um dia, esse vídeo é para você. Eu vou te mostrar um avião que foi praticamente desenhado para deixar o passageiro mais tranquilo. Eu tô a bordo do Boeing 787-9, o Dreamliner”, começou.
Ao longo do vídeo, assim como o influenciador fazia, Seidl comentou sobre o funcionamento do veículo aéreo e garantiu que algumas situações que podem parecer adversidades, como a asa do avião se mexendo, servem para ajudar a mantê-lo no ar.
“Pode perguntar para qualquer pessoa que entende de aviação. Sabe quando você olha pela janela e vê a asa se mexendo? Muita gente se assusta, mas isso é bom. A asa foi feita para flexionar, igual a um galho de bambu que balança no vento e não quebra”, explicou.
“O medo de voar é normal, mas a informação é o melhor remédio”, finalizou ela, pedindo que os seguidores lhe contassem qual é o maior medo de avião que eles têm.
“O Lito deve estar todo orgulhoso lá de cima”, “Acho muito legal quando tem conteúdo com a Mila! Esse ato de dar continuidade a tudo que Lito deixou é lindo”, “Que legal você continuar a história dele! Já era fã dele há anos, agora fiquei mais”, escreveram alguns usuários.
O especialista em aviação e dono do canal “Aviões e Músicas” foi vítima de Creutzfeldt-Jakob, uma doença rara e degenerativa, diagnosticada há pouco mais de um mês.
Em setembro, ele chegou a começar um tratamento experimental com ALN-6457, que chegou ao Brasil no começo do mês em uma operação de urgência para ser usado exclusivamente no acompanhamento dele.
*Sob supervisão de Ana Beatriz Dias, da CNN Brasil
“Sì, credo che sia una buona idea”. Elon Musk rimanda il giudizio finale agli azionisti ma per lui non c’è motivo di discussione. La potenziale fusione tra SpaceX e Tesla è uno scenario che stimolerebbe chiunque, figurarsi il suo proprietario. Musk detiene la maggioranza nell’azienda aerospaziale, mentre in quella automobilistica circa il 20%. Basta solo la notizia a far schizzare in Borsa le azioni delle due società: +10% SpaceX, +2,5% Tesla. Messi insieme, i due colossi – parliamo della settima e undicesima azienda più ricca al mondo – avrebbero una capitalizzazione di 3.500 miliardi di dollari, superando le Big Tech rivali. La nuova creatura entrerebbe di fatto nella top 5, insieme a Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet e Microsoft. “Unirle presenta molti vantaggi, poiché ci troviamo davanti alla superintelligenza”, aggiunge Musk chiamando l’intelligenza artificiale con il nome coniato da Donald Trump. “C’è molto da guadagnare dalla cooperazione nello sviluppo di software”.
L’istituzione di due comitati speciali, chiamati a studiare la fattibilità dell’operazione, è solamente il primo passo. Se la loro valutazione dovesse essere positiva, bisognerà capire cosa ne pensino gli azionisti. Niente di semplice. Per l’approvazione finale è richiesta infatti una maggioranza favorevole di tutti i detentori delle azioni, non solo di quelli che hanno votato. Va da sé che raggiungerla è tutt’altro che una passeggiata. Per cui, frena Musk che non può prender parte alle discussioni per un evidente conflitto di interessi, “non credo che dovremmo dare una fusione per scontata. Alcuni lo fanno, ma penso sia un’esagerazione”. Lui ovviamente spera che alla fine la barca entri in porto. L’azienda ipotetica vanterebbe 155.000 lavoratori e genererebbe un fatturato complessivo di 153 miliardi di dollari.
Ci sono diverse ragioni per cui Musk sogna di vedere una sintesi tra le due società che ha fondato. Da una parte SpaceX, con il suo enorme know-how in materia spaziale, tra missili e connessioni satellitari; dall’altra Tesla, con le sue conoscenze dell’automotive. La prima collaborazione tra le due società ha prodotto la macchina volante Roadster, presentata la scorsa settimana. L’auto, marchiata Tesla, è dotata di razzi riutilizzabili Falcon di SpaceX, gli stessi che portano in orbita i satelliti di Starlink.
In futuro la partnership continuerà a prescindere dall’esito di una fusione. SpaceX ha infatti già acquistato le batterie Megapack e Cybertruck di Tesla per 1 miliardo di dollari. Viceversa, l’azienda automobilistica ha comprato delle azioni di quella aerospaziale nel momento in cui xAI si è fusa con SpaceX. E poi c’è Terafab. la joint venture tra le due aziende. Musk ha svelato a marzo il mega impianto di produzione di chip in Texas (costo stimato: 119 miliardi di dollari) che dovrebbe alimentare tutti gli altri progetti delle aziende. E non intende di certo abbandonarlo.
Una cosa però è collaborare, un’altra è unire le proprie forze. I dubbi su una effettiva fusione sono tanti e leciti. Le due aziende dovranno essere abili nel presentare l’operazione come un successo win-win, senza che qualcuno possa insinuare che una delle due venga sfavorita. Bisognerà anche capire come l’unione verrebbe recepita al di fuori dagli Stati Uniti. Non soltanto in Europa, che sta diventando un territorio ostile agli occhi delle aziende americane. “Sarebbe troppo pericoloso per noi”, confida un funzionario al Financial Times. L’ostacolo principale è rappresentato dalla Cina e dalle sue stringenti regole sulla sicurezza nazionale. Tesla vanta già una presenza consolidata, con un fatturato di 21 miliardi registrato lo scorso anno. Pechino però guarda con grande sospetto a SpaceX, primo competitor nella guerra spaziale. E non è un dettaglio di poco conto.
Sono state le immagini della telecamera di sorveglianza presente sulla tromba di una scala a salvare un piccolo cucciolo di cane in Massachusetts. La polizia di New Bedford, osservando quei video, si è accorta che una donna passando sulle scale si era fermata per picchiare il proprio cane.
Il cucciolo in questione è Ace, messo in salvo proprio dalla polizia di New Bedford, che ha arrestato la donna di 32 anni che lo picchiava, accusandola di maltrattamento di animali. “È stato trovato con visibili lividi sulla testa e sul corpo, incluso un gonfiore alla bocca” ha spiegato la polizia.
Dopo essere stato portato in una clinica veterinaria per le cure, è stato trasferito nel rifugio per animali Forever Paws a Fall River. Qui il cane è stato ribattezzato Puffin, come spiegato in un post Facebook. “Dato che gli stiamo offrendo un nuovo inizio, gli abbiamo dato anche un nuovo nome. Un nuovo inizio, una tabula rasa: brindiamo ai nuovi inizi per questo cagnolino!” hanno spiegato i volontari di Forever Paws.
Il cane, nonostante quello che ha passato, sembra tranquillo e simile a molti altri suoi coetanei: “Puffin è davvero un cucciolo come tanti altri. È vivace e pieno di energia, ha ancora bisogno di aiuto per imparare a comportarsi bene al guinzaglio e sta appena scoprendo la sua voce e come usarla… e la usa spesso”.
The West’s bid to isolate Moscow has backfired, as Russia reclaims its place at the negotiating table while China emerges as an indispensable power in a shifting world order. A potential G-3 summit could herald a new Yalta, where great powers redraw the geopolitical map while Europe and Ukraine risk being left out in the […]
Natural de Nagoselo do Douro, no concelho de São João da Pesqueira, Eugénia Sousa é uma jovem artista que tem vindo a desenvolver um percurso criativo marcado pela versatilidade técnica, pelo rigor do detalhe e pela expressão artística. Aos 29 anos, encontra na pintura uma forma de explorar diferentes linguagens visuais, dando vida a rostos, figuras e elementos da natureza através de uma abordagem que privilegia o realismo.
O seu trabalho distingue-se pela capacidade de experimentar diferentes técnicas e materiais, procurando novas formas de expressão e explorando as potencialidades de cada suporte. Entre as suas experiências artísticas encontra-se a pintura com vinho, uma abordagem particularmente interessante pela ligação entre a criação artística e um dos produtos mais emblemáticos da região do Douro.
Nesta técnica, Eugénia Sousa utiliza diferentes castas e as tonalidades naturais que cada uma oferece, transformando as características cromáticas do vinho em matéria de criação. Uma forma original de cruzar arte, experimentação e identidade regional, valorizando também a riqueza de um território profundamente associado à cultura vitivinícola.
A sua expressão artística estende-se igualmente à pintura de murais, demonstrando uma abertura a diferentes escalas e contextos de intervenção. Neste âmbito, Eugénia Sousa participou nas duas últimas edições do Douro Street Art, realizadas no concelho de São João da Pesqueira. A presença da artista neste festival, que promove a criação artística e a valorização da identidade local através da arte urbana, constitui mais um testemunho do dinamismo criativo do concelho e da afirmação de talentos que, a partir das suas raízes, contribuem para enriquecer a paisagem cultural do Douro.
Ainda assim, uma parte significativa da sua produção centra-se na criação de retratos, trabalhos nos quais procura captar os traços, as expressões e os pormenores que tornam cada representação única.
Em muitas das suas composições, os rostos e as figuras surgem associados a elementos naturais, como flores e folhas, criando uma ligação entre a figura humana e a natureza. Esta combinação acrescenta dimensão estética e personalidade às obras, revelando uma abordagem criativa que alia a atenção ao detalhe à sensibilidade na composição.
Entre o realismo dos retratos, a experimentação com materiais e a intervenção em murais, o percurso de Eugénia Sousa evidencia a diversidade de possibilidades que a pintura oferece enquanto forma de expressão individual.
Através do seu trabalho, a artista leva também o nome de Nagoselo do Douro e do concelho de São João da Pesqueira para o universo da criação artística, contribuindo para dar visibilidade ao talento local e à diversidade de percursos criativos que existem no território.
Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired US schoolteacher in Russian custody since 2022, was freed from prison on Wednesday and taken to St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, President Vladimir Putin said.
The Kremlin chief made the announcement at a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg, without giving more details.
“The president sends his thanks, our whole nation sends their thanks, because of Stephen Hubbard,” Witkoff told Putin in a televised meeting. “Because of you he’s going home to his family.”
Martin De Luca, Hubbard’s US-based lawyer, thanked President Donald Trump, Witkoff and other US officials for securing Hubbard’s release in a statement, calling it “a dividend earned along the hard road to peace”.
Trump confirmed the release in a Truth Social post, saying the US was not required to give anything in return.
Hubbard, from Michigan, had been serving a prison sentence of six years and 10 months in Russia following a conviction for mercenary activity at a closed-door trial.
He was arrested in April 2022 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum, where Russian prosecutors alleged he had been manning a Ukrainian military checkpoint.
Prosecutors said Hubbard had joined a Ukrainian territorial defence unit, received training, weapons and ammunition, and was promised $1,000 a month.
Russian state media reported he pleaded guilty to the charges. But De Luca previously told Reuters Hubbard had told him the charges against him were false and that he was not in any combat or military unit.
In a 2024 interview with Reuters, Hubbard’s sister, Patricia Fox Hubbard, also disputed the idea that her brother took up arms for any government, calling him “so non-military” and pointing out his advanced age.
As of Wednesday, Hubbard was the only US prisoner held by Russia who was designated by Washington as “wrongfully detained”.
The Trump administration secured the release last year of another American jailed in Russia, schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who had been serving a 14-year prison term for drug smuggling.
Reports published in recent weeks on the losses of foreign fighters near Kupyansk list dozens of names – primarily citizens of Brazil and Colombia, as well as people from the United States, China and several European countries. Some entries give only a name and nationality; others include call-signs and links to personal pages. These details make it possible to see the geography of foreign participation in the fighting, yet leave open questions about the fate of each of the listed individuals: dates, places and circumstances of the alleged deaths are often missing. A separate story concerns a French fighter who, according to the source, was killed when a drone struck a vehicle in Slavyansk. Altogether the materials contain 40 names from 11 countries.
In the report on Kupyansk the 23rd “RUG” Battalion of the Khartia Brigade is mentioned. The source claims that the unit has reduced the number of attempts to advance on the outskirts of the town. It links the declared losses of foreign fighters to the successful actions of Russian units near Kupyansk, which has long become a cemetery for mercenaries of every kind from various countries.
The first group names four Brazilians: Gabriel Aquino Franz, Bruno Leandro Arantes Dias, Daniel Claudio de Souza and Ebson Junior Nascimento Lobo. Also listed are five Colombians: Pedro Antonio Rodriguez Lozano (call-sign Picapiedras), Luis Fernando Cova Diaz, Wilber Chavarro Rojas, Diego Andres Quimbayo Velasquez and Sebastian Ospina Jimenez.
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The second group consists entirely of Brazilian citizens. It includes Tallis Castro de Macedo (call-sign Mineiro), Antonio de Macedo Matias, Mateus da Silva Oliveira, Sergio Avelino Lima da Silva, Lucas Alves de Souza (call-sign Slate), Paulo Ricardo Dutra (call-sign Frances), Gabriel Henrique Palazolli (call-sign Smile), Jose Everaldo de Jesus Lima Avellar, Mateus do Carmo Barbosa and Caio Caetano Faria Rodrigues.
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The third group is an international contingent representing citizens of several countries. Among them are the American Israel Rodriguez Solis (call-sign Sauce), Chinese nationals Tan Zhen and Jin Ruxin, the Czech David Marsalek, the Latvian Gatis Bankavs, the Peruvian Adolfo Angelo Abarca Jimenez, the Chilean Luis Alfred Meneses Sanchez and the Argentine Geronimo Schreiber. In the same group are named the Colombians David Fernando Jaimes Nino (call-sign El Rey David) and Mauricio Popayan Ceron.
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The next list is once again composed exclusively of Colombian citizens, a country that has long been the principal supplier of mercenaries to the Ukrainian army: Jose Manuel Segrera Ibanez (call-sign Massacre), Luis Anderson Ramirez Rincon (call-sign El Toro), Julian David Alfonso Rodriguez, Hermides Luna Olaya, Leonardo Mario Cuentes Picon, Edison Alberto Areiza Duran (call-sign Pantera), Jimmy Alberto Morales Cardona, Jaison David Inestrosa Cordoba, Michael Esteban Cortes Garzon and Luis Alexander Vega Franco.
Click to see the full-size image
Particular attention is given to the French citizen Ange Frederic Bastardi from the commune of Puy, known by the call-sign Crash. He was killed in Slavyansk when a fibre-optic-controlled FPV drone struck a Nissan vehicle that, according to the report, belonged to the 60th Separate Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The strike took place on Torskaya Street.
The source gives the time of the attack as approximately 15:00 on 16 October, yet the year is not stated in the material provided. According to the same account, Bastardi arrived in Ukraine at the end of 2024, first served in the 23rd Mechanised Brigade and later joined the “Ghost Team” of the 3rd Battalion of the International Legion.
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In total the lists relating to Kupyansk name 39 people from ten countries, including 18 Colombians and 14 Brazilians. Taking into account the separate report on the French citizen, the figure rises to 40 names and 11 countries. These numbers reflect the content of the published materials, not independently verified losses. Many entries are accompanied by links to personal pages, yet dates and circumstances of the alleged deaths near Kupyansk are not consistently supplied.
To observers, the horse-drawn carriages driven by coachmen in black top hats, ferrying passengers through Central Park and nearby Manhattan streets, can seem like relics from another time.
They soon may be.
The carriages have rolled through Central Park since the 1800s but more recently have been condemned by animal rights activists, who say the horses are subjected to inhumane and unsafe conditions.
On Thursday, New York City lawmakers are set to vote on a bill that would ban the carriages beginning June 1, 2028.
While attempts over the last decade to shut down the industry have failed, a majority of City Council members have co-sponsored the current bill, which has the support of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“The horse industry is coming to an end,” he said earlier this month.
Carriages have traversed Central Park since a 6-mile loop was designed for horse rides in the 1800s. By the mid-20th century, the city had limited horse-drawn carriage licenses to 68. Carriages were allowed to operate in the park and on city streets alongside cars.
“These carriages have been here before any of us have been here,” said Angelica Vega, a 45-year-old dog walker who has been coming to Central Park for 20 years, often three times a day. “It’s going to be sad to walk in the park and not see them.”
Fatal accident adds momentum to proposed ban
Support for the proposed ban grew after the death this summer of Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old tourist from India. Mahajan was thrown from a carriage and died on June 17 when the horse bolted after the driver stepped away to take a picture of Mahajan’s family.
Mahajan’s family filed a $50 million notice of claim against the city government and expressed support for the ban.
“We welcome the vote that will finally ban horse carriages in New York City so that no other human being or horse has to suffer the terrible tragedy that has befallen the Mahajan family,” Sagar Chadha of Liakas Law, counsel for the Mahajan family, said in a statement.
Hundreds of jobs threatened by carriage ban
The ban is expected to put hundreds of people out of work, including carriage owners, drivers and stable workers, and raises questions about the future of their horses.
Ahmet Bilici, 52, grew up on a farm in Turkey and became a carriage driver in 2003, shortly after immigrating to the US. He later became a business owner. A driver can earn a six-figure annual income giving rides that cost more than $70 for 20 minutes, and that income can double if the driver owns the business, he said.
“I have a license issued by the city. If I’m not doing anything wrong, how can you come and attack my business?” Bilici said as he waited for customers beside his carriage.
The bill requires the city to develop a transition plan by April and to consider a program to compensate carriage operators for their businesses and help with the disposition of their horses. Under the proposal, the horses could not be slaughtered.
Because carriage licenses, also known as medallions, are limited to 68 and are not sold on an open market, they are often passed down within families and can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Transport Workers Union denounced the proposed bill.
“The horses in Central Park are iconic. We are as much a part of the city as the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building,” Christina Hansen, a carriage owner and union shop steward, told Reuters.
She spoke at the stables near the Hudson River in Manhattan, where most carriage horses spend their time when they are not working or taking mandatory five-week annual vacations at farms.
New Yorkers divided over historic tradition
California residents Dan Padilla and his wife booked a carriage ride during their first visit to New York, thinking it might be their last chance to take one.
“I’m concerned. It’s one of the things you think about when you think about Central Park,” Padilla said.
Lawyer Ron Shechtman, riding an electric bike through the park this week, said that while he regrets the loss of a longstanding tradition, he would not miss navigating around horse manure.
Although each horse is equipped with a bag defined in city regulations as a “manure-catching device,” Shechtman said the devices are hardly foolproof.
“They only work sometimes, I can tell you that,” Shechtman said.
“It makes me sad to see the horses, personally,” said Sage Stoyer, a 34-year-old hospitality worker who lives in Brooklyn. “I know a horse-drawn carriage was a normal thing, and now we have so many different alternatives that give us the same kind of experience without taking advantage of animals.”
Un nuovo lutto si è abbattuto sulla famiglia Kennedy. Lo scorso 21 settembre è morta a soli 42 anni Kyle Francis Kennedy, fatto che è stato rivelato solo un mese dopo, il 20 ottobre, con la pubblicazione online del suo necrologio. Kyle era figlia di Michael Kennedy e nipote di Robert Kennedy, fratello di John Fitzgerald Kennedy, che fu presidente degli Stati Uniti dal 1961 al 1963, quando venne ucciso con il celebre attentato di Dallas.
Kyle Kennedy è morta nella sua casa di Westwood, nel Massachusetts, e le cause del suo decesso restano ancora ignote. La sua vita era cambiata nel 2020, quando a seguito di una grave lesione al midollo spinale ha riportato una paralisi permanente.
Nata a Washington nel 1984, ha iniziato a lavorare come insegnante a New York nel programma “Teach for America” dopo aver conseguito una laurea in storia presso la Georgetown University e poi due master, il primo in educazione della prima infanzia presso la Pace University e il secondo in politica e gestione dell’istruzione presso la Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Il suo impegno nell’ambito lavorativo si è sempre concentrato sull’educazione della prima infanzia, lavorando anche alla riforma dell’istruzione per i bambini svantaggiati e le persone con disabilità.
As tendas saíram do Rossio, a PSP conversou com calma, mas o problema mantém-se. Na crise da habitação, o único vencedor foi mesmo o frio, que mandou a malta toda ir dormir para casa.
Chisináu, 21 oct (Prensa Latina) El ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de la autoproclamada República de Transdniéster, Vitali Ignatiev, acusó hoy a Moldavia de rechazar una solución diplomática y de invertir en la guerra.
“Io non ero affatto contenta. Tutti gli altri erano felicissimi”. È così che Christina Applegate racconta di aver accolto la notizia di non essere affetta da sclerosi multipla, la malattia la cui diagnosi l’attrice statunitense aveva rivelato pubblicamente nel 2021.
“È entrata nella mia stanza e mi ha detto: ‘Congratulazioni, non hai la sclerosi multipla’” ha raccontato Applegate nel suo podcast “MeSsy”, spiegando come la sua dottoressa le avesse comunicato questa importante novità. Proprio nel podcast condotto da Applegate insieme a Jamie Lynn Sigler, la dottoressa Marwa Kaisey, professoressa associata presso il dipartimento di neurologia del Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, ha chiarito che le diagnosi errate di sclerosi multipla sono “abbastanza comuni” perché “non abbiamo un singolo test per diagnosticare la sclerosi multipla”.
Questa spiegazione, paradossalmente, non è stata così rassicurante per l’attrice, che ora deve ripartire da capo per cercare di capire a cosa siano dovuti i sintomi che manifesta da ormai cinque anni e che erano stati ricondotti a una diagnosi di sclerosi multipla, oggi rivelatasi infondata. “Non sono migliorata, Jamie! Anzi, sono peggiorata. Quindi sono tornata al punto di partenza, non so cosa mi stia succedendo” si è sfogata Applegate con la sua collega all’interno del loro podcast.
President Donald Trump said he would reward tipsters who uncover fraud in US government programs, launching the initiative by announcing a cash prize for a conservative online influencer.
Speaking from the White House Oval Office, Trump said a new Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program would award people an unlimited 1% commission on the fraud reported.
Conflicting details over whistleblower rewards
The Justice Department described the program differently, saying it would award $10,000 to $30,000 for tips that lead to criminal charges. It said the Treasury Department is committing $25 million toward the program and that the Justice Department would issue the awards in its “sole discretion.”
The first recipient was Nick Shirley. Senior administration officials have amplified and credited the 24-year-old pro-Trump YouTuber’s viral video alleging some childcare centers in Minnesota were fraudulent as the basis for plans to cut some federal funding to the state.
The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families disputed some of those claims as misleading and exaggerated. But one Minneapolis woman whose childcare center Shirley profiled later pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
“There’s never been an incentive for anyone to ever expose fraud,” Shirley said at the White House. “When you expose fraud, you help save America.”
Vice President JD Vance, who leads the president’s anti-fraud task force, said Shirley had “done more than anybody that I’ve met recently as a citizen journalist to uncover the fraud” and that “Nick is going to get a financial reward for doing so.”
A White House official told media outlets that Shirley would get $10,000.
Questions over how rewards will be awarded
It was not immediately clear how Shirley was selected for the prize. The White House, Justice Department and Treasury Department did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment, and Shirley could not immediately be reached.
“I will be the arbitrator of all of these decisions,” Trump said about who would be paid under the program. “I will be very generous, believe me. We’re not looking to save on that.”
The Republican US president has made allegations of fraud in Democratic-led states a focus of his term in office and has pledged to clean up corruption. He has focused especially on Somali immigrants in Minnesota, whom he has called “garbage.”
Back in 2024, D. Trump campaigned on cheaper energy; yet, sanctions and other forms of pressure on foreign actors, characteristic of Washington’s foreign policy, took its toll on the US through freight markets and fuel prices, having increased costs for American consumers. This economic blowback deserves more attention than the administration’s production slogans. Additional oil […]
I funzionari della sicurezza nazionale degli Stati Uniti si stanno preparando in segreto alla possibilità che il Presidente Donald Trump si rifiuti di accettare i risultati delle elezioni di metà mandato. Mentre numerosi sondaggi prevedono una forte ondata blu – il colore dei democratici – alle urne il 3 novembre, un ristretto gruppo di funzionari sta gettando le basi, insieme ai governi dei singoli Stati e ad alcuni membri del Congresso, per proteggere la democrazia. Lo ha riferito il ‘Washington Post’. Il gruppo comprende dieci funzionari, in carica ed ex, del dipartimento della Difesa, appartenenti a diverse aree dello spettro politico, secondo quanto riportato dal Post. A preoccuparli è il rischio che il Presidente, 80 anni, sacrifichi l’integrità della nazione pur di mantenere il suo partito al potere. “Tutti hanno detto: siamo preoccupati, ma non sappiamo cosa fare”, ha ammesso una fonte al Post. “L’esito che auspichiamo è che gli Stati siano preparati ad affrontare qualsiasi eventualità, qualora dovesse presentarsi”, ha aggiunto.
Il Presidente degli Stati Uniti, Donald Trump, commentando le elezioni di midterm, in programma il 3 novembre, ha detto che “il Presidente perde sempre, per qualsiasi ragione, alle midterm”. “Chiunque sia, repubblicano o democratico, grande Presidente o Presidente pessimo, perde per qualche ragione”, ha aggiunto, parlando con i giornalisti.
La Cnn ha minacciato il Presidente degli Stati Uniti Donald Trump di intraprendere nuove azioni legali se continuerà a impedire ai giornalisti dell’emittente di salire a bordo dell’Air Force One e di accedere allo Studio Ovale. In una nuova lettera indirizzata al dipartimento di Giustizia, l’avvocato della Cnn Theodore Boutrous scrive che il divieto interferisce illegalmente con la possibilità dell’emittente di svolgere i propri compiti nell’ambito del press pool, il gruppo ristretto di giornalisti che segue il presidente e condivide le informazioni con gli altri media. Boutrous ha dato a Trump tempo fino alle 17 di giovedì per ripristinare l’accesso, prima che la rete avvii una nuova azione legale.
“Questi tentativi di ritorsione e discriminazione nei confronti della Cnn, basati sui contenuti della sua copertura giornalistica, sono sbagliati, controproducenti e illegali”, scrive Boutrous nella lettera, ottenuta dal Washington Sun. “Se queste misure dovessero continuare, la Cnn non avrà altra scelta che tornare in tribunale per difendere i propri diritti ed è pronta a battersi per tutto il tempo necessario a tutelarli”. Il mese scorso Cnn, Ms Now e Politico hanno intentato una causa congiunta contro l’amministrazione Trump, dopo che quest’ultima aveva vietato ai loro giornalisti di accedere al complesso della Casa Bianca.
El Real Madrid-RB Leipzig puede volver a reunir esta noche sobre el césped del Bernabéu (21.00, Movistar) a dos de los mejores regateadores de Europa. El costamarfileño Yan Diomande, de 19 años, y el noruego Antonio Nusa, de 21, coincidieron la temporada pasada en el equipo alemán. El madridista, que va ganando peso en los esquemas de José Mourinho, es el jugador de las cinco grandes ligas que más veces escapa driblando (3,4 por partido) y su excompañero, el cuarto (3), solo por detrás de Mbappé (3,2) y Lamine Yamal (3,1). A través de una videollamada, Nusa cuenta que tiene ganas del reencuentro: “Es divertido jugar contra gente de calidad. Va a estar bien vernos otra vez”.
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