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The man behind the wheel of the car that barreled through crowds of pedestrians in Times Square five years ago, killing a woman and injuring 22 other people, was cleared of responsibility Wednesday because of mental illness. The Manhattan jury accepted an insanity defense claiming Richard Rojas was so psychologically disturbed he didn’t know what he was doing.

Jussie Smollett starved himself in prison. The 40-year-old actor - who was convicted of lying about being a victim of a racist and homophobic attack back in 2019 and initially sentenced to 150 days in jail in 2021 but was freed after just six days behind bars - admitted that during his brief time behind bars he "fasted" for almost a week in order to achieve a "clear mind." He said: "I was there for six and a half days. I fasted for six and a half days. I was fasting because that's what we do in my family. Like...

The government of the Republic of Mali in West Africa confirmed that as many as 132 civilians have been killed in recent attacks by Islamic terrorists in the country (Source: CGTN) The government of the Republic of Mali in West Africa confirmed on Monday that as many as 132 civilians have been killed in recent attacks by Islamic terrorists in the country. According to authorities, the killings occurred when numerous villages in the Bankass area in Mali’s central Mopti region were attacked on Saturday and Sunday. The attacks were carried out by Islamic terrorists belonging to the Katiba Macina armed...

Andrew Gillum came within 38,000 votes of winning the gubernatorial election when he ran against Gov. Ron DeSantis. He was under investigation at the time. We included the filing posted by attorney Harmeet Dhillon. Basically, Gillum lied, cheated, stole, committed fraud, and was generally corrupt according to the indictment. After he lost the gubernatorial, he was caught in a drug-fueled sex orgy with a male escort who almost died from overdosing on drugs. He had an alibi that blew up and appeared very corrupt.Sadly, he has three very young children.He ran on the anti-police, anti-prison platform as most corrupt people...

In this excerpt from the just-published “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words” by Michael Pack and Mark Paoletta, the Supreme Court justice reflects on changes in his hometown, Savannah, Ga. The book is based on more than 30 hours of interviews Pack conducted with Thomas and his wife Ginni for the film of the same name; 95% of the book’s material is new, including this excerpt. Michael Pack: You have talked a little today about how life in the black community has not been improved by many well-intentioned social programs. Do you think, in some sense, it is...

The authorities of the National System of Conservation Areas have reported that many hikers take tours in areas that are not permitted in several of the country’s national parks. Some even charge high sums of money to locals and foreigners, taking them to areas where these activities are prohibited. For example, in June, at the Poás Volcano National Park, 71 people were detained and expelled from the facilities. “Faced with the increase of illegal entries into protected wildlife areas through clandestine or illegal trails, the National System of Conservation Areas has made a call to stop this immediately,” said Rafael...

A woman who goes dumpster diving for wasted food has revealed how her impressive hauls are ensuring she can save for a housing deposit while living in an expensive city A woman has slashed her food bill to less than £100 a MONTH for her and her boyfriend by dumpster diving - which is helping save for a housing deposit. Marketing manager Caitlin Weich, 29, decided to root through supermarket dumpsters for discarded goods in a bid to slash her outgoings and help her protect the planet. She also collects unwanted food from neighbours and friends during her lunch break...

Legislation that could make Pennsylvania more of a player in deciding the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees moved out of the House State Government Committee on Wednesday. The Senate-passed bill would move the commonwealth’s primary date to the third Tuesday of March in presidential election years rather than the fourth Tuesday of April, when it is currently held. That would have Pennsylvania’s primary coincide with those in Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Arizona, starting in 2024. “Right now Pennsylvania’s primary really doesn’t matter in the scheme of national politics” for the most part, said House State Government Committee Chairman Seth Grove,...

A massive sunspot has been spotted on our sun that looks directly at Earth The sunspot doubled in size over just a 24-hour period Experts say it could possibly send out medium-class flares in the near future. A dark sunspot that is facing directly toward Earth doubled in size in just a 24-hour period and could possibly send out medium-class flares in the near future. Tony Phillips, the author of SpaceWeather.com, wrote on Wednesday: ‘Yesterday, sunspot AR3038 was big. Today, it's enormous.’ And it is now said to measure three times the size of Earth.

The Mouse that squeaked.Get woke, go broke.According to Bounding Into Comics, the new Ms. Marvel show on Disney+ has been released with the lowest viewership numbers the streaming service has seen yet. A total of 775,000 households tuned in to watch the new Marvel outing in its first five days, but that's dangerously low compared to other shows such as Moon Knight (1.8 million), Hawkeye (1.5 million), Loki (2.5 million), and WandaVision (1.6 million). This isn't to mention the flops that were the live-action "Mulan" and "Eternals" movies, the former of which was greeted with mass controversy since it literally...

Eight House Republicans on Tuesday joined their Senate counterparts in proposing legislation aimed at curbing left-wing political bias in email services’ spam filters. The House bill, like its Senate companion, would require email companies like Gmail to release quarterly transparency reports.

Rupert Murdoch, the media titan, and Jerry Hall, the model and actress, are getting divorced, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. The people would speak only anonymously to discuss a personal matter.

TRUE THE VOTE AND PROTECT AMERICA NOW LAUNCH PROTECTAMERICA.VOTE New partnership will equip sheriffs, inform citizens, and protect our elections True the Vote and Protect America Now have joined forces in a new partnership to help protect American elections. ProtectAmerica.vote is an initiative that will provide local sheriffs with information, resources, and tools to support election integrity in their county. Today, ProtectAmerica.vote released the following Action Plan: 1. CONNECT CITIZENS AND SHERIFFS Voters are understandably confused by constantly changing election rules and increasingly frustrated by lack of leadership. Put simply, they don’t know where to turn should the election processes...

JP Morgan Chase is laying off hundreds of employees in its home-lending business and reassigning hundreds more this week, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. More than 1,000 employees will be affected, the report said, and about half of them will be moved to different divisions with the bank. “Our staffing decision this week was a result of cyclical changes in the mortgage market,” a spokesperson for the bank said. JP Morgan has 273,948 employees worldwide, according to its latest quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The House Jan. 6 committee is extending the timetable for its public hearings into July. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters that Thursday's hearing, focused on former President Donald Trump's pressure on the Department of Justice, will be the last for the month of June with more hearings to come after Congress' July 4th recess. The House will reconvene the week of July 11, and Thompson indicated that's the earliest hearings would likely resume. A committee aide tells NPR's Claudia Grisales: "The Select Committee continues to receive additional evidence relevant to our investigation into the violence of January 6th and...

Disney’s next animated feature film, “Strange World,” will include the first openly gay teen romance in a children’s movie from the entertainment company.Production Designer for Animation Matthieu Saghezchi tweeted about catching a glimpse of the new film, which was shown recently at the Annecy 2022 International Film Festival in southeast France. It appears to be proof that Walt Disney Animation Studio is planning to once again insert LGBTQ content in its products. (snip) It features the voices of such celebrities as Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Gabrielle Union, Lucy Liu, and others.

Hundreds of dogs have been rescued from a truck in China that was taking them to be slaughtered at the highly controversial Yulin dog meat “festival”. Activists said the “truck from hell” was carrying 386 dogs in crampt conditions when it was spotted in Shaanxi city on Sunday and pulled over with the help of the police. Shaanxi is about 800km away from the city of Yulin, where the so-called “festival” of dog meat takes place every year despite efforts to ban it. Video and photos taken by the activists and released to global animal protection group Humane Society International...

Buddhist and Catholic, priests and theologians practice ‘double belonging’‘Religions need each other to understand themselves,’ said one Buddhist-Catholic practitioner.(RNS) — In a dimly lit Roman Catholic church in Manhattan, a dozen or so congregants sit as the Rev. Michael Holleran leads them in contemplative prayer. There is some singing, and some prayers said aloud throughout the hour-and-a-half-long worship service. Every so often Holleran rings a bell three times, meant to awaken worshippers from “sleep and into a consciousness of God’s presence.”But the core of the session is the repetition of a word of each participant’s own choosing — many choose...

Google is adding a label to Maps that lets people identify their business as being LGBTQ-plus-owned, joining Yelp, which has a similar label. While Google Maps has had labels like LGBTQ-friendly and Transgender Safe Space for years, the company says that the new business identity attribute will help people who choose to support diverse businesses and could help queer people find nearby communities.

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