Uttar Pradesh: 27 dead, including 3 children, in stampede at religious event in Hathras
A stampede broke out at a religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras on Tuesday which led to dead of 27 people. Etah SSP Rajesh Kumar Singh said, “A religious event was going on in Mughalgarhi village of Hathras district when the stampede occurred. So far 27 dead bodies have been received in the Etah Hospital, including 23 women, 3 children, and 1 man. The injured have not reached the hospital… Further investigation is being carried out. Identification of these 27 bodies is being carried out…”
Truckers hope protest over unpaid hours and lack of restrooms will spark a Permian Basin labor movement
Truckers say they can wait up to 18 hours without pay to load or unload fracking sand. The drilling sites often lack restrooms.
Again and again, U.S. Supreme Court slaps down 5th Circuit
The New Orleans-based court, which hears Texas cases, is pushing the federal judiciary to the right, even when it gets overturned by a higher court.
Rio Grande Valley leaders hope to rebrand region as “RioPlex” to attract investment
After years of competing with each other for new businesses, Valley cities want to present a united front to highlight the region’s assets.
Delhi HC asks CBI to reply to CM Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against arrest within…
The high court has listed the matter for arguments on July 17.
Legal experts say Trump immunity ruling likely pushes election interference trial beyond Election Day
Legal experts say it is unlikely that former President Trump will face trial in his Washington election interference case before election day, given the Supreme Court’s new ruling on the issue. The Court on Monday ruled that Trump and all former presidents enjoy presumptive immunity for “official acts” made while in office. The ruling sends Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment back to lower courts, where they will battle over whether Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were “official acts.” Jonathan Turley, a law professor and Fox News contributor, says the Supreme Court gave clear instructions to lower courts on how to separate official and private actions. “The opinion was not the vague remand that some expected. It states clearly that the motivations of a president are not matters for litigation. It also states that presidents are expected to speak to the public on matters of great importance and specifically cited Trump’s Jan. 6th speech. It also said that conversations with executive branch officials like former Vice President Pence are part of official functions, Turley told Fox News Digital. TRUMP ATTORNEY, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CLASH ON WHETHER A PRESIDENT WHO ‘ORDERED’ A ‘COUP’ COULD BE PROSECUTED “The court’s descriptions of official functions and the penumbra around those functions will heavily impact these cases. Special Counsel Jack Smith has benefited from a highly favorable trial court judge. However, Judge Chutkan is no longer writing on a blank slate. The Court followed the right hook in the Fischer case with an absolute haymaker in the Trump case,” he added. JUSTICE ALITO QUESTIONS WHETHER PRESIDENTS WILL HAVE TO FEAR ‘BITTER POLITICAL OPPONENT’ THROWING THEM IN JAIL Still, debate over Trump’s actions following the 2020 election will take time. Attorney and legal commentator John Shu says a trial before Election Day is almost certainly off the table. “Logistically, I don’t see how Jack Smith and the DOJ can start either the D.C. or Florida trials against former president Trump before November, let alone finish them by then,” he told Fox, referencing the D.C. election interference case and Florida classified documents case. “Jack Smith has a well-earned reputation of being hyper-aggressive, however, and so it is possible that he and the DOJ now feel pressure to push [Southern District of Florida] Judge Cannon even harder, which will likely backfire on them.” SCOTUS WEIGHS MONUMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL FIGHT OVER TRUMP IMMUNITY CLAIM Turley agreed that the Court’s ruling will likely push Trump’s trial past November, saying Smith may be forced to retrace his steps and create another superseding indictment. “It is unlikely that a trial can occur before the election. There was a halt on pre-trial motions during the appeal. Now the court must also address the Fischer and Trump rulings,” he said. “[D.C. District] Judge Chutkan undermined the case by yielding to Smith and pursuing a rushed calendar. The court found little record to answer these questions. To rush this again would invite a similar result.” Trump and his allies in Congress cheered the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on Monday. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the No. 3 House GOP leader, said, “The Democrats have proven they will do everything in their power … to destroy [Trump]. Today’s Supreme Court decision is a positive step in the right direction of ending their senseless lawfare.” Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report
How Israel destroyed Gaza’s ability to feed itself
At the start of summer, Gaza’s fields are usually bursting with ripening crops and fruits of all colours, scents and sizes. But, nearly nine months into Israel’s war on Gaza, abundant harvests have given way to devastation and a dire humanitarian crisis. A UN report says 96 percent of Gaza’s population is food insecure and one in five Palestinians, or about 495,000 people, is facing starvation. Satellite images analysed by Al Jazeera’s digital investigation team, Sanad show that more than half (60 percent) of Gaza’s farmland, crucial for feeding the war-ravaged territory’s hungry population, has been damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks. Israel has killed at least 37,900 people and injured 87,000 others in bombings, by destroying healthcare that could have saved them, and by starvation. North to south, nowhere and nobody has been spared. North Gaza In Beit Lahiya, once known for plump, juicy strawberries that locals fondly called “red gold”, Israeli bulldozers and heavy machinery have systematically razed fields, reducing them to dirt. Before the war, Gaza’s strawberry industry employed thousands of people. Seeding and planting began in September, with harvesting from December through March. A Palestinian farmer carries a box of strawberries on a farm in north Gaza [File: Getty Images] Before and after satellite images show vehicle tracks over the once-fertile regions of Beit Lahiya. Defying Israel’s ongoing attacks, farmers like Youssef Abu Rabieh figured out ways to grow food between bombed-out buildings – makeshift gardens of repurposed containers. Palestinian farmer Youssef Abu Rabieh launched his agricultural initiative despite ongoing Israeli attacks in Beit Lahiya, on April 28, 2024 [Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images] Gaza City Thriving garden patches and back-yard fruit trees once dotted Gaza City, home to about a third (750,000) of Gaza’s 2.3 million population before the war. South of Gaza City is Zeitoun, a neighbourhood named after the Arabic word for olive. Before and after satellite images show southern Zeitoun where nearly every last bit of greenery has been wiped out. The olive tree is deeply beloved in Palestine, symbolic of Palestinian resilience against Israeli occupation. During one short pause in fighting from November 22 to December 1, Palestinian farmers ran to harvest their olives and extract oil, because they do not know any other way to live, and because they needed the harvest. Olive cultivation is crucial in the Palestinian economy and is used for everything from oil to table olives to soap. Palestinian farmers work to press the olive crop for oil during the one-week pause in Gaza City, November 27, 2023 [Doaa Albaz/Anadolu via Getty Images] Deir el-Balah Its very name meaning “House of Dates”, the central governorate of Deir el-Balah is one of Gaza’s largest agricultural producers, known for its oranges, olives and – of course – dates. The date harvest typically begins in late September and continues through the end of October. Palestinian farm workers collect dates in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, September 30, 2021 [AP Photo/Adel Hana] The satellite images below show the widespread destruction of farms, roads and homes in eastern Maghazi in the centre of Deir el-Balah. Khan Younis Khan Younis in the south used to produce the bulk of Gaza’s citrus, including oranges and grapefruits. With its fertile soil and long hours of Mediterranean sunshine, it has the ideal climate as well as lots of space, being Gaza’s largest governorate – about 30 percent of the Strip’s 365sq km (141 sq miles). Farmers pick citrus fruits in Khan Younis on November 7, 2022 [Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images] The satellite images below show how Israeli forces have decimated Khan Younis’s orchards and farmlands. Rafah Rafah is Gaza’s southernmost district, with a pre-war population of about 275,000 people. Rafah is also the name of the crossing with Egypt which used to be a vital link between Gaza and the rest of the world before it was destroyed by Israel in May. In the southeast of Rafah is the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing where goods grown or produced in Gaza were shipped out of the territory. Before and after satellite imagery shows how Israeli forces have flattened vital fields in eastern Rafah Adblock test (Why?)
Hurricane Beryl strengthens into ‘potentially catastrophic’ storm
Beryl, the earliest Category 4 storm ever reported, is moving towards Jamaica after hitting the island of Carriacou in Grenada. Hurricane Beryl has intensified into a “potentially catastrophic” Category 5 storm, the United States’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, as it headed towards Jamaica after bringing down power lines, damaging houses and flooding streets on other southeastern Caribbean islands. Beryl, the earliest Category 4 storm ever reported, made landfall earlier on Monday on the island of Carriacou in Grenada. “Beryl is now a potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane,” the NHS said in a bulletin at 11.00pm (03:00 GMT). “Fluctuations in strength are likely… but Beryl is expected to still be near major hurricane intensity” as it moves across the Caribbean. Carriacou took a direct hit early in the day from the storm’s “extremely dangerous eyewall,” with sustained winds at upwards of 240km per hour (150 mph), the NHC said. Nearby islands, including Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines, also experienced “catastrophic winds and life-threatening storm surge”, the hurricane centre said. “In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened,” Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told a news conference. He said one person had died, but authorities had not yet been able to assess the situation on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, where communications had been largely cut off. “We do hope there aren’t any other fatalities or any injuries,” he said. “But bear in mind the challenge we have in Carriacou and Petite Martinique.” Mitchell added that the government will send people early on Tuesday to evaluate the situation on the islands. The storm brought seawater surges that inundated some coastal communities in Barbados [Chandan Khanna/AFP] Streets from St Lucia island south to Grenada were strewn with shoes, trees, downed power lines and other debris. Some banana trees were snapped in half by the force of the wind. “Right now, I’m real heartbroken,” said Vichelle Clark King as she surveyed her sand and water-filled shop in the Barbadian capital of Bridgetown. The storm is expected to pass near Jamaica on Wednesday, the Miami-based hurricane centre said. Jamaica’s government issued a hurricane warning for the country, while tropical storm warnings were in effect for parts of the southern coasts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Climate change effect The last strong hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada. Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season on Saturday and quickly strengthened to Category 4. Experts say that such a powerful storm forming this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November, is extremely rare and that climate change probably contributed to its rapid formation. Global warming has helped push temperatures in the North Atlantic to all-time highs, causing more surface water to evaporate, which in turn provides additional fuel for more intense hurricanes with higher wind speeds. “Climate change is loading the dice for more intense hurricanes to form,” said Christopher Rozoff, an atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the US state of Colorado. Andra Garner, a New Jersey-based meteorologist, noted that Beryl jumped from a Category 1 to a Category 4 storm in less than 10 hours. Her research has shown that as water temperatures have risen over the last five decades, it has become more than twice as likely for storms to jump from weak storms to major hurricanes in less than 24 hours. In May, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic this year, also pointing to unseasonably high ocean temperatures. At the Chillin’ restaurant in Kingston, waiter Welton Anderson said he felt calm despite the hurricane’s approach. “Jamaicans wait until the last minute. The night before or in the morning, the panic sets in. It’s because we’re used to this,” he said. Across other islands in the eastern Caribbean, residents had boarded up windows, stocked up on food and filled their cars with fuel as the storm drew closer. Officials in Mexico also began to prepare for Beryl’s arrival later this week, with the federal government issuing a statement urging authorities and the population to exercise “extreme caution”. Adblock test (Why?)
Will Pakistan ever be able to eradicate polio?
Health workers have begun a campaign to vaccinate 9.5 million children against polio in 41 districts in Pakistan this week. This latest round of a national vaccination drive will include Islamabad and focus particularly on areas where polio-positive sewage samples have been found. The anti-polio drive will be launched in 16 districts of Balochistan, 11 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eight districts of Sindh, and five districts of Punjab, according to local media. Despite major efforts to eradicate the disease in Pakistan, six cases of the highly infectious virus have already been reported this year. Further hampering the drive, vaccination teams and medical professionals have faced harassment and even physical attacks in some parts of Pakistan. Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif, however, said the government “remains steadfast” in its aim to eradicate polio after a meeting with American billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates in Islamabad last week. How serious a problem is polio in Pakistan? Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world where polio is still endemic, the other being neighbouring Afghanistan, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The highly contagious viral disease largely affects children under the age of five. Children infected by poliovirus can suffer paralysis and in some cases death. The South Asian nation launched a vaccination programme as part of its Polio Eradication Programme in 1994. Officials say the country used to report more than 20,000 cases annually. Despite administering more than 300 million doses of the oral vaccine annually and spending billions of dollars, the disease is still rife across Pakistan. This year, four vaccination campaigns targeting more than 43 million children have already been undertaken as authorities claim they are in the “last mile” of their fight against polio in the country of 235 million people. How many cases have been reported in Pakistan? Since 2015, Pakistan has reported 357 polio cases, including six this year. One of the victims, a two-year-old boy, died in May. Officials said all of this year’s cases belong to the YB3A cluster, which they said originated in Afghanistan, where four cases have been reported this year. In addition to human cases, wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) has frequently been detected in environmental samples taken across the country. This year, WPV1 has been found in 45 of Pakistan’s 166 districts. How does Pakistan run its polio immunisation campaigns? Nationwide immunisation campaigns involving more than 350,000 health workers are run in phases with vaccine desks set up at health centres and health workers going door to door. The campaigns are organised by the government-run National Emergencies Operation Center (NEOC), which has been tasked with running Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Programme. Field workers go door to door over the course of a specified number of days, vaccinating children under the age of five. Vaccines are also administered at land and air borders, including to adults, and on motorways connecting major cities across the country. What are the issues facing the polio campaign? Resistance to the polio immunisation drive grew in Pakistan after the CIA, a United States spy agency, organised a fake hepatitis vaccination drive to track al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in 2011 in Pakistan by US special forces. Misinformation linked to religious beliefs has also been spread, claiming that the vaccine contains traces of pork and alcohol, which are forbidden in Islam. Disinformation, agenda-driven campaigns, myths, community boycotts and mistrust in the government have also been factors behind refusals. But officials said government campaigns are helping change bad perceptions. Health authorities in Pakistan have listed seven districts where polio is “endemic”. All seven are in the northwest, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Officials said the security situation has been the biggest obstacle in reaching the target population in the province bordering Afghanistan. In addition to the security situation, health officials say a target population that moves from one place to another, which may be carrying the YB3A variant, has proven to be a challenge. Why have health workers and security officials been targeted? Health workers and security officials accompanying them have been harassed, ridiculed, taunted, threatened and even targeted physically. At least 102 polio field workers, officials and security personnel have been killed, including at least six in campaigns carried out this year. In recent years, the Pakistan Taliban has killed dozens of health workers and members of the security forces involved in polio campaigns. But officials believe the reason for the violence is not the polio programme alone. “Over the last few years, it is not the polio programme that is targeted, but unfortunately, the targets are the security personnel guarding the teams because, given the security situation in some parts of the country, they become soft targets when they are in the community,” Dr Hamid Jafari, the WHO’s director of polio eradication, told Al Jazeera. What other issues affect the health workers? Low pay, salary delays, lack of assistance and compassion, and tough working conditions are some of the other issues facing the field workers. Some health workers told Al Jazeera they get paid as little as 1,360 rupees per day (about $5) for at least eight hours of work. Catch-up days when they go out in the field after the end of the campaign to vaccinate children who were missed are not paid, they said. In addition, some polio survivors now working on the campaign do not receive help with transport or health benefits despite their conditions, leaving them to walk in poor weather and tough terrain to carry out their work. Some staff lamented the lack of pay parity, saying people working with international organisations involved in the campaign are paid much more. What is the outlook for the polio eradication campaign? Dr Shahzad Baig, who was the NEOC chief until May, told Al Jazeera that the aim was to make Pakistan polio-free by 2026. “That is our target at the moment,” he said before he was replaced. However, after a Technical Advisory Group meeting organised by the WHO that took place in
Biden campaign spotlights massive June fundraising haul in 2024 election rematch with Trump
President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee combined brought in over a quarter of a billion dollars in fundraising the past three months, Biden’s team announced early Tuesday. And the campaign, in showcasing the $264 million raked in during the April-June second quarter of 2024 fundraising, noted that it pulled in $127 million in June alone, which it touted was the president’s best month of fundraising since he launched his re-election bid over a year ago. The announcement comes as the Biden campaign tries to flip the script on a negative narrative coming out of last week’s first debate with former President Trump. Biden’s June fundraising was up from the roughly $85 million the campaign and the DNC brought in during May. And the campaign spotlighted that their second quarter haul was $75 million more than they brought in during the first three months of the year. BIDEN TRIES TO FLIP THE SCRIPT ON DISASTROUS NARRATIVE COMING OUT OF FIRST DEBATE They also touted that they had a whopping $240 million cash-on-hand as of the end of June, up from $212 million a month earlier. A sizable chunk of June’s haul was raked in at a star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles with former President Obama, Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and late night TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. The campaign said after the event that it set a new Democratic Party fundraising record with a $30 million haul. DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION OF BIDEN IN VIRTUAL ROLL CALL COULD COME AS EARLY AS THIS MONTH The president also brought in over $8 million a few days later at a fundraiser at the Northern Virginia home of former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, where Biden was also joined by former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and former Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was the Democrats’ 2016 standard-bearer. But boosting the June fundraising to higher heights was the $33 million the campaign says was raised last Thursday through Saturday, the day of the first presidential debate and the following two days. And the Biden campaign showcased that their single best hour of fundraising this cycle came during the 11pm to midnight eastern hour on Thursday, immediately after the end of the debate with Trump in Atlanta, Georgia. The Biden campaign has been spotlighting its pre- and post-debate fundraising as it aims to alter the brutal conversation coming out of last week’s showdown. This, after the 81-year-old president’s halting delivery and stumbling answers at the debate sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and spurred calls from political pundits, editorial writers, and some party politicians and donors, for Biden to step aside as the party’s 2024 nominee. The campaign also showcased its grassroots appeal, noting that nearly two-thirds of June’s haul came from small-dollar donors and that more than $30 million of the $38 million raised during the final few days of the month came from grassroots contributors. “Our Q2 fundraising haul is a testament to the committed and growing base of supporters standing firmly behind the President and Vice President and clear evidence that our voters understand the choice in this election between President Biden fighting for the American people and Donald Trump fighting for himself as a convicted felon,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. DNC chair Jaime Harrison noted that “grassroots donors across the country are chipping in every day because they know that this election will determine the course of history.” In announcing their May fundraising figures, the Biden campaign waited until June 20, the final day the presidential campaigns had to file their monthly fundraising figures with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). But when it came to announcing their June and second quarter figures, the Biden campaign wasted no time in showcasing their numbers, announcing them just two days after the fundraising period ended. Biden and the DNC enjoyed a large fundraising lead over Trump and the Republican National Committee earlier this year. But Trump and the RNC topped Biden and the DNC in fundraising for the first time in April. And in May, the Trump campaign and the RNC, fueled in part by a fundraising surge following the former president’s history-making guilty verdicts in his criminal trial, combined hauled in a stunning $141 million, easily besting Biden and the DNC. The Trump campaign has until later this month to file its fundraising figures with the FEC and has yet to announce its June and second quarter hauls. Fundraising, along with public opinion polling, is a key metric used to measure the strength of a candidate and their campaign. Money raised can be used to build up grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote operations, staffing, travel and ads, among other things. The Biden campaign has been using its funds to build up what appears to be a very formidable ground operation in the key battleground states and announced two weeks ago that they had hired their 1,000th staffer and had opened over 200 coordinated offices in the swing states. The Biden campaign enjoys a large organizational advantage over the Trump campaign when it comes to grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote ground game efforts in the states that will likely decide the outcome of the election rematch. “Team Biden-Harris grew its historic war chest while also significantly expanding its footprint and operations both in HQ and across the key states – the resources needed to win a close election,” the campaign highlighted in a release. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.