#nine dead so far and around 40 injured

[swimmingferret]

mass shooting at two mosques in christchurch :(

#sigh #mass shooting #they've caught one (and what a shock hes a white supremacist) but they dunno where the other is #central Christchurch is basically on lock down #no one is allowed anywhere #nine dead so far and around 40 injured

[dangerousconnoisseurdonut]

Magical Thieves AU

In a Gotham where about 40% of the population have some sort or magical ability and only something like 13% have two abilities, Bruce is a street rat with his honourary sister, Selina, and the two are excellent cat burglars, known as the Cat and the Bat. Selina is a Shadow Magic user; she can blend into the shadows as well as bring her shadow to life in extreme circumstances. She is called a Night Stalker, and is not trusted by many of those gifted with Light Arts. Bruce though, if anyone knew what his real abilities were, he would be locked up in the interest of public safety; he is often referred to as simply a Chaos Courtesan, despite not being a Chaos Mage.

Bruce is one of the 13% that has two abilities; the first one alone would have him be monitored for the rest of his life, Technomagic, an ability that allows him access to computer files, all kinds of electrical data, and possess mechanical devices, and those are only the surface of his abilities, but they are enough to warrant the government being worried about him. His other, arguably stronger ability, however, would have Bruce either locked up in a special facility where he never saw another living person ever again, or killed; Blood Magic. An ability that is hard to regulate as the user can literally use their own blood or that of their attackers/victims against them. They can turn a person’s blood into acid so they are eaten away from the inside out, they can track a person as well as those with Animal Magic, and they can supposedly even control people by binding their blood.

Selina and Bruce have been siblings since they were nine-years-old and Selina found Bruce wandering around, looking for something to eat. Bruce’s parents were from feuding families and when they fell in love, they were both disowned, and they became rather good thieves themselves, until the police caught up with them and killed them in a shoot-out. Selina and Bruce have stuck with each other and managed to become two of the most sought after professional thieves around, and they have been saving for the chance to get out of Gotham for the chance of a normal life. They need just one more good payday and they ca leave for good; unfortunately, that opportunity comes in the form of Roland Daggett and Rupert Thorne (Sofia and Theo work as well, I just thought something different). They are offering the pair a huge payout, in return for what others would call a suicide mission; rip-off the King and Queen of Gotham themselves, Oswald Cobblepot and Barbara Kean. Bruce is all for ignoring this job as this is beyond dangerous, but the pair are also offering papers that will identify the pair as harmless, low-level White Magic users; papers that would cost upwards of $50,000 a piece.

Selina talks Bruce into taking the job and they stake out the place to prepare for Gotham’s social event of the year; The King and Queen’s Masquerade Ball. Selina poses as someone called to do a repair job to get access to the house and they learn the layout of the house, particularly the room that holds their prizes; two beautiful rings that identify Oswald and Barbara as the King and Queen. The night of the ball, Selina attends as a low level socialite and Bruce is a waiter, both wearing one of his blood glamors to help add to their anonymity. Soon, however, a hush falls over the crowd as the King and Queen make their entrance with their respective courts. Barbara enters with her consort Tabitha, her botanist, Ivy Pepper, and her two bodyguards, Bridgit Pike and Ecco Valeska.

Then there’s Oswald with his consort, Captain James Gordon of the GCPD, his engineer, Jeremiah Valeska (Ecco’s half brother), his advisor, Jervis Tetch, chemist, Jonathan Crane, his own bodyguards Jerome Valeska and Victor Fries, his informant (and not-so-secret assassin), Victor Zsasz, and his Chief of Staff, Alfred Pennyworth. Each of them have dangerous magical abilities and none were meant to be trifled with but, if Selina and Bruce want that big payday and those papers, then trifle they must. Some time passes and the pair actually find themselves talking to members of the courts; Bridgit hates these things and enjoys talking to those who feel as uncomfortable as she does, and Bruce finds himself saving Jonathan from an embarrassing situation. Still though, once the Ball really gets going, Bruce and Selina break away to the room where the rings are housed and just as they grab the rings, Bruce feels a frisson of unease shoot up his back; they’ve been caught.

The two Courts enter the room, and Oswald reveals he’s actually flattered that Gotham’s infamous Cat and Bat Thieves have not only targeted him, but gotten so far, though he was suspicious when a random repair worker appeared at the house, given that Jeremiah always takes care of such problems. Still, as he’s an admirer of their skills and he’s in such a good mood from the party, all they have to do is put the rings back and tell him who hired them, they can leave peacefully. Bruce and Selina both know, however, if they show up empty handed, let alone give up who hired them, they will be a pair of dead ducks. When Bridgit throws a small fireball at the pair to scare them,  Bruce and Selina show their magic to protect themselves, and now Barbara finds them very interesting, offering them a fair percentage of what they would have made if they pulled off the heist. The pair still refuse to give up so easily as not having to buy those papers themselves, would save a large chunk of their savings.

Things go from bad to worse however when Jim and Alfred notice the blood charms and there’s just something too homey about them not to be handmade, and they realize that one of the pair is a Blood Mage. Once Oswald is informed of this, he’s ecstatic and informs Jerome to test the pair as the psychotic ginger is a chaos mage, and the only thing that can stand up to them are those of Order magic and Blood magic. Thanks to Jerome, they quickly figure out that Bruce is a Chaos Courtesan, and Oswald and Barbara know they need these two in their Courts. Not knowing this, Bruce and Selina make a break for it, which is helped by the fact Bruce managed to get a small sample of everyone’s blood, giving him a slight edge.

The two are about to take the staircase heading to the front door when Ivy manages to trip Selina, sending her careening down the stairs, thankfully only knocking her out. As Bruce reaches the bottom of the stairs to grab Selina, he instead is grabbed by the two Victor’s, Jim, and Jervis, who are quick to hide him in a small alcove as the other guests come to investigate Selina’s scream from her fall. Oswald and Barbara are quick to act as concerned hosts over the ‘poor dear who had a touch too much champagne and lost her balance’, a story corroborated by Bridgit and Ivy. When no one comes forward to claim her, Tabitha is quick to suggest they look after her, so they move her to a secure room.

Oswald meanwhile joins the other males, and Jervis tries to compel the truth from Bruce, but Bruce still has a vial of Jervis’ blood, and smashes it so that he can temporarily be immune to Jervis’ power. Zsasz and Fries however are quick to point out that Selina is very vulnerable at the moment and it wouldn’t be hard to...

Bruce is quick to reveal everything and give the rings back, not willing to let anything happen to Selina. Oswald orders some of his men to go to the meeting spot where Bruce and Selina were to meet Daggett and Thorne and take care of things. Bruce hopes to be able to leave with Selina once she regains consciousness, but Oswald naturally has other ideas;

Oswald: Let an injured kitten and obviously malnourished bat go wondering off into the night?! The ASPCA would have my head on a platter! Not to mention Barbara would have a separate one for my balls.

Jim: She is an avid animal lover, especially when it comes to cats. Same with Tabitha.

Oswald: Yeah, and I do not want that woman coming after me with her whip.

Bruce, starting to struggle between the two Victor’s: I will look after her; she’s survived worse falls than that! We both have!

Oswald: You see?! The kitten and no doubt baby bat, uh, what do you call a baby bat, anyways?

Jervis, enjoying himself: A pup.

Oswald: Thank you, Jervis; a kitten and a pup who are constantly being abused on the streets of Gotham?! Obviously they need someone to look after them! Do you like bats, Victors?

Victor Z: I think they’re adorable.

Victor F: Yeah, and this one is a real cutie.

Bruce: You can’t do this! Selina and I are people, not pets! We can look after ourselves!

Jim: And I’m the Captain of the GCPD, and I don’t think you can!

Alfred appears: Oswald, Ms. Kean has seen to it that her new kitten is properly situated in her new room, and I have prepared one for our bat whenever you’re ready.

Oswald: Thank you Alfred, if you would please? I wonder how much harder it is to train bats than birds?

Victor F: We’ll figure it out; besides, you always did love a challenge.

Bruce tries to cast one last spell, only to feel a sharp pain in his neck, and know no more.

For all those who liked my Underwater Gotham AU, I thank you and hope you’ll like this one just as much. Please leave a comment if you do!

#Gotham #kings and queens and thieves #oh my #bruce wayne #selina kyle #oswald cobblepot #barbara kean #tabitha galavan #jim gordon #jerome valeska #jeremiah valeska #ecco #ivy pepper #bridgit pike #victor fries #victor zsasz #jervis tetch #jonathan crane #alfred pennyworth

[newstfionline]

Friday, November 13, 2020

A thought experiment (Washington Post) The political scientist Brendan Nyhan has often responded to events by asking a question: What would you say if you saw it in another country? Imagine that a president of another country lost an election and refused to concede defeat. Instead, he lied about the vote count. He then filed lawsuits to have ballots thrown out, put pressure on other officials to back him up and used the power of government to prevent a transition of power from starting. How would you describe this behavior? It’s certainly anti-democratic. It is an attempt to overrule the will of the people, ignore a country’s laws and illegitimately grab political power. President Trump’s efforts will probably fail, but they are unlike anything that living Americans have experienced. “What we have seen in the last week from the president more closely resembles the tactics of the kind of authoritarian leaders we follow,” Michael Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House, which tracks democracy, told The Times. “I never would have imagined seeing something like this in America.”

Biden’s Policy Agenda Rests Heavily on Senate Outcome (NYT) President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s transition team is preparing multiple sets of policy proposals for the economy, health care, climate change and other domestic issues, including the ambitious agenda Mr. Biden laid out in his winning campaign, while acknowledging it may have to be pared back in recognition of divided government. Where the incoming administration lands depends heavily on two Senate runoffs in Georgia in early January. If Democrats win both races, close aides to Mr. Biden and economists who helped advise his campaign say the president-elect will try to push through a large stimulus plan for the flagging economic recovery—most likely along the lines of the $2.2 trillion that House Democrats approved this fall. His stimulus plan under such a scenario would include hundreds of billions of dollars for state and local governments that have lost tax revenue amid the pandemic recession, extended unemployment benefits for people who lost jobs during the crisis and a new round of aid for small businesses. A narrow majority in the Senate would also give Mr. Biden the chance to push through his proposed tax increases on corporations and the rich—tax hikes that would be used to fund the president-elect’s more ambitious plans like rebuilding roads and bridges, speeding the transition to a carbon-free energy sector and helping Americans afford health care. But if Republicans win even one of the Georgia seats, Mr. Biden will most likely need to settle for a wave of executive actions that would bring more incremental progress toward his policy goals, while trying to cut compromise deals with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader.

Millions Face Loss of Jobless Aid: ‘Without It, I’m Dead in the Water’ (NYT) Two critical unemployment programs are set to expire at the end of the year, potentially leaving millions of Americans vulnerable to eviction and hunger and threatening to short-circuit an economic recovery that has already lost momentum. As many as 13 million people are receiving payments under the programs, which Congress created last spring to expand and extend the regular unemployment system during the coronavirus pandemic. Leaders of both major parties have expressed support for renewing the programs in some form, but Congress has been unable to reach a deal to do so. It remains unclear how the results of last week’s election will affect prospects for an agreement. That means that for now at least, people like Randy Williams must prepare for the possibility that they are weeks away from losing their only income. Mr. Williams, 56, lost his job as a manager at a Memphis-area Cracker Barrel in the first weeks of the pandemic. His state jobless benefits ran out last month, leaving him to rely on a 13-week extension under the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which ends in late December. Already, Mr. Williams is struggling to get by on his $275 weekly benefit check, the maximum allowed in Tennessee. He has fallen behind on rent, racked up thousands of dollars in credit card debt and turned to a food pantry run by a church. Even with the benefits, “I may have got behind on this or that, robbing Peter to pay Paul this month,” he said. “But without it, I’m dead in the water.”

Hospitals brace for problems (Washington Post) The number of new daily coronavirus cases in the United States jumped from 104,000 a week earlier to more than 145,000 yesterday, an all-time high. Nearly every metric is trending in the wrong direction, prompting states to add new restrictions and hospitals to prepare for a potentially dark future. “We’re at a fairly critical juncture,” said Dave Dillon, a spokesman for the Missouri Hospital Association. The day will soon come when hospital staffing will fall below standards that are normally required, he said.

Police crackdown rocks top Mexican tourist resort (AFP) Images of terrified protesters fleeing police and gunfire have shaken one of Mexico’s top beach resorts and dealt another blow to a tourism industry already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. The crackdown on Monday in front of Cancun city hall, where hundreds were demonstrating against the murder of a local woman, sparked national outcry and protests in Mexico City. Three people were injured when police fired in the air for several minutes and chased the mostly female demonstrators through a budget hotel district after property was vandalized. Live fire by police against protesters is unprecedented in Cancun and rare across Mexico, where security forces usually limit themselves to using shields and sometimes pepper spray. It was criticized by authorities at the regional and national level, cost the local police chief his job and led to the suspension of Quintana Roo’s head of security.

Evo Morales makes gleeful return to town he fled (Guardian) Tens of thousands of jubilant followers have welcomed Evo Morales back to the coca-growing region from which he fled into exile exactly one year ago after what they branded a racist rightwing coup. “Evo, Evo, Evo,” chanted the people who had travelled from all over Bolivia to witness their leader’s triumphant return home in the jungle-flanked town of Chimoré. Bolivia’s first indigenous president resigned and abandoned the South American country on 11 November 2019, making his escape on a Mexican air force jet that whisked him out of Chimoré’s airport. Morales decided to bolt when security forces withdrew their support after later questioned claims of electoral fraud in the presidential election sparked street protests and deadly unrest. But on Wednesday, two days after re-entering Bolivia at the start of an emotional, politically-charged homecoming, he made a gleeful return to the same town—to a rapturous reception.

Italian hospitals face breaking point in fall virus surge (AP) Dr. Luca Cabrini was certain his hospital in the heart of Lombardy’s lake district would reach its breaking point caring for 300 COVID-19 patients. So far, virus patients fill 500 beds and counting. Italy, which shocked the world and itself when hospitals in the wealthy north were overwhelmed with coronavirus cases last spring, is again facing a systemic crisis, as confirmed positives pass the symbolic threshold of 1 million. “We are very close to not keeping up. I cannot say when we will reach the limit, but that day is not far off,” said Cabrini, who runs the intensive care ward at Varese’s Circolo hospital, the largest in the province of 1 million people northwest of Milan. The Italian doctors federation called this week for a nationwide lockdown to forestall a collapse of the medical system, marked by the closure of non-emergency procedures. The government is facing tougher criticism than in the spring, when the health crisis was met with an outpouring of solidarity. As of Wednesday, 52% of Italy’s hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients, above the 40% warning threshold set by the Health Ministry. Nine of Italy’s 21 regions and autonomous provinces are already securely in the red-alert zone, above 50% virus occupancy, with Lombardy at 75%, Piedmont at 92% and South Tyrol at an astonishing 99%.

Azerbaijan’s drones owned the battlefield in Nagorno-Karabakh (Washington Post) The drone’s-eye view over Nagorno-Karabakh defined much of the six-week war in the mountainous enclave within Azerbaijan: The video first showed soldiers below in trenches, then came blasts and smoke, then nothing. Drone strikes—targeting Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh soldiers and destroying tanks, artillery and air defense systems—provided a huge advantage for Azerbaijan in the 44-day war and offered the clearest evidence yet of how battlefields are being transformed by unmanned attack drones rolling off assembly lines around the world. The expanding array of relatively low-cost drones can offer countries air power at a fraction of the cost of maintaining a traditional air force. The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh also underscored how drones can suddenly shift a long-standing conflict and leave ground forces highly exposed. “Drones offer small countries very cheap access to tactical aviation and precision guided weapons, enabling them to destroy an opponent’s much-costlier equipment such as tanks and air defense systems,” said Michael Kofman, military analyst and director of Russia studies at CNA, a defense think tank in Arlington, Va. “An air force is a very expensive thing,” he added. “And they permit the utility of air power to smaller, much poorer nations.”

Wolf sentinels (Foreign Policy) The Japanese town of Takikawa on the northern island of Hokkaido has found a novel solution to its growing bear problem: wolf robots. More like mechanized scarecrows, the fake wolves come equipped with loudspeakers producing wolf howls once bears come within range. Sightings of bears in Japan are at their highest levels in five years, and two fatal bear attacks have already taken place in 2020. Takikawa officials say they have not encountered any more bears since the lupine sentinels were deployed.

Biden vows to defend Japan as China asserts power in Asia (Washington Post) As China flexes its muscles, President-elect Joe Biden is offering assurances to America’s top allies in the Asia-Pacific region that he’s not going to be a soft touch. Biden spoke with the leaders of Australia, Japan and South Korea on Wednesday night in Washington, underlining in each call his commitment to “strengthen” their bilateral alliance. “The president-elect underscored his deep commitment to the defense of Japan and U.S. commitments under Article 5,” Biden’s team said, referring to the two countries’ joint security treaty that commits the United States to respond to any attack on Japan. Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga went further, saying that Biden had given “a commitment” that Article 5 would cover an attack on the Senkaku islands, a chain of five rocky outcrops administered by Japan but claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu. With the world struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic, and the United States distracted by its marathon electoral process, China has been seizing the moment to assert itself. On Wednesday, China dramatically intensified its clampdown on Hong Kong, a subject of bitter dispute between Beijing and Washington. Chinese coast guard ships, meanwhile, have been ratcheting up the pressure around the Senkaku islands, appearing in the nearby waters almost every day this year, more than ever before.

Typhoon Vamco batters the Philippines, leaving millions without power (Washington Post) A week and a half after suffering a deadly hit from a super typhoon, another storm battered the Philippines overnight into Thursday, cutting power to millions and leaving at least one person dead and countless others stranded. Typhoon Vamco, the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane, struck the northern island of Luzon, the third typhoon and fifth tropical cyclone to affect the Philippines in less than three weeks. Super Typhoon Goni narrowly sidestepped the capital region of more than 12 million this month, but Vamco brought rain and winds of up to 105 mph Wednesday night into Thursday. On Thursday, houses were submerged and Filipinos were stranded on rooftops. The hashtag #RescuePH trended on social media, with people posting their whereabouts and contact details, begging for help. Many were stranded with the elderly, children and pets. Some were rescued on rubber life boats; in one video, a child was floated out in a basin. The Manila Electric Company said almost two million households—a fifth of its base—were still without electricity at midday Thursday.

In ruins, Syria marks 50 years of Assad family rule (AP) On Nov. 13, 1970, a young air force officer from the coastal hills of Syria launched a bloodless coup. It was the latest in a succession of military takeovers since independence from France in 1946, and there was no reason to think it would be the last. Yet 50 years later, Hafez Assad’s family still rules Syria. The country is in ruins from a decade of civil war that killed a half million people, displaced half the population and wiped out the economy. Entire regions are lost from government control. But Hafez’s son, Bashar Assad, has an unquestioned grip on what remains. It wasn’t clear whether the government intended to mark the 50-year milestone this year. While the anniversary has been marked with fanfare in previous years, it has been a more subdued celebration during the war. “There can be no doubt that 50 years of Assad family rule ... has left the country what can only be described as broken, failed and almost forgotten,” said Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program.

Trump may be headed out the door, but Saudi Arabia’s global enablers remain (Washington Post) In November 2017, Jamal Khashoggi told me “In Saudi Arabia, we cannot choose our leaders. We can only hope they get it right.” Less than a year later, the Post contributing columnist would be murdered by agents of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a leader he did not choose. Throughout his bloodstained rise to and consolidation of power, MBS, as the crown prince is generally known, placed his hopes in President Trump and Jared Kushner. Trump and Kushner, almost from the very beginning of the Trump administration, signaled that Saudi Arabia would be given extra special treatment. “We put our man on top,” Trump reportedly bragged when Mohammed bin Salman became crown prince after wrenching power from his older cousin in 2017. Saudi Arabia was the first country that the then-freshly elected and notoriously travel-averse Trump flew to early in 2017, to an extravagant fete put on by the regime, which is said to have spent as much as $68 million on the summit. MBS would go on to say, “Trump was the right person at the right time” for Saudi Arabia. The Saudi and Emirati governments reportedly offered the Trump campaign help to win the 2016 election, according to the New York Times. In 2018, MBS reportedly bragged that he had Kushner “in his pocket,” according to the Intercept. While Trump has been in office, Saudi Arabia has arrested influential personalities and activists, including women’s rights advocates. It also tried to pursue an impulsive war against Qatar, and imposed a blockade on the country. Kushner reportedly gave advice to Mohammed bin Salman on how to weather the storm after Jamal’s gruesome murder, and Trump later bragged to Bob Woodward about shielding MBS from congressional scrutiny.

Jamal’s assassination was personal and devastating. But the entire country of Yemen has been bludgeoned by Saudi Arabia and its partners in the gulf coalition that has orchestrated airstrikes against it since 2015. The United States has been one of the main suppliers of bombs to the Saudis in a quagmire of a blood-soaked and unwinnable war; some 13,500 Yemeni civilians have died from targeted attacks. Even after Jamal’s murder, when mounting political pressure was aimed at the United States to stop arming the Saudis, the Trump administration not only refused to budge but also Trump himself used the arms deals and the price of oil as a reason to justify continuing to engage with the Saudis. The situation is so bad that U.S. officials are reportedly now worried that they could face prosecution for war crimes for continuing to sell arms to the Saudis despite the mounting body count. But Trump is not the only enabler of Saudi Arabia. The focus on Trump, ironically, seems to glide over the fact that the Group of 20 countries have largely gone on with business as usual with Saudi Arabia. And as long as the international community continues to turn a blind eye to Saudi Arabia’s worst impulses, the so-called guardians of the liberal world order have blood on their hands, too.

Ethiopia claims ‘liberation’ of west Tigray, humanitarian crisis looms (Reuters) Ethiopia’s military has defeated local forces in the west of Tigray state, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday, accusing his foes of atrocities during a week of fighting that threatens to destabilise the Horn of Africa. Air strikes and ground combat have killed hundreds, sent refugees flooding into Sudan, stirred Ethiopia’s ethnic divisions and raised questions over the credentials of Abiy, Africa’s youngest leader who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. With communications down, transport blocked and media barred, independent verification of the status of the conflict was impossible. There was no immediate response from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which rules the mountainous northern state of more than 5 million people. More than 10,000 Ethiopian refugees have crossed into Sudan since fighting started and aid agencies say the situation in Tigray is becoming dire. Even before the conflict, 600,000 people there were reliant on food aid. The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said aid agencies were unable to restock food, health and other emergency supplies due to lack of access.

#headlines #news

[white-fire]

《In a dream we walked as if in reality》

Chapter 6

The Five was standing near his house. Ruined house. Everything was destroyed. His home, shops, restaurants and offices. Even the sky was gray. He called everyone. Even his father. But nobody responded, nobody came. His heart began to beat much, much faster. For the first time, the Five was scared. He doesn't know what happened. He can't come back - power limit. And even at such a huge distance. It was the end. End of the world. The Five was walking down the street: buildings were collapsed, cars were destroyed, children's toys were lying on the road. Catastrophe. And suddenly, the Five stopped. He knew. He knew he would see their lifeless bodies. And it was a terrible sight. His family is under the stones. They were seriously injured. They are dead. The Five is now one. He sat down on his knees. Tears flowed from his eyes. He lost loved ones again. The first was Ben. His heart was squeezing so hard it hurt. He recalled all those moments associated with relatives. How he swore with them, rejoiced with them and grieved. The Five shouted. Screamed in pain. It would seem that they are not all blood relatives for him, but he felt a connection. For the first time, the Five cried out in grief. For the first time, Five did not know what to do.

***

" Diego, get out of my office " said a man of 40 years. He had brown hair, brown, stern eyes. He took off his coat and hung it on a hanger. Diego rolled his eyes but didn't leave. Charles Hopkins. A famous detective who solved many cases, from bank robbery to murder. He is married and has two children. Diego gave him a folder containing a statement from a woman. She wrote that her daughter was missing. Charles knew about this statement, and did not want to show it to Diego, but he somehow managed to find it " You’re fired, you forgot? "

" We still need to find her " Diego said, pointing at the folder. Charles sat down in his chair and looked into his friend's eyes. Diego does not look away. The detective sighed, gave him a piece of paper with the coordinates of the last time the girl was. Hargreaves smiled triumphantly and left the office, not forgetting to thank his friend. Charles sighed again. Whatever one may say, but Diego has not changed: he always wants to help people. Yes, it's great, even good. But, he does this only in order to annoy his deceased father. Charles knows what Reginald Hargreaves was doing. And he felt sorry for them all.

Diego walked to a cafe, but stopped abruptly when the Five appeared. The second was about to leave, but his brother held him on his elbow.

" You need to return to the academy " said the Fifth, to which Diego just clicked his tongue and shoved the Fifth's hand away, went to the cafe " Oh, Second, are you still mad at your father !? "

" Five, leave me alone, okay? I have a job " he said, opening the door.

" Is this business more important than the apocalypse? " Diego said nothing. He went into the cafe, heading to the waiter. The fifth rolled his eyes and followed his brother. The second asked the waiter about the girl, he only said that the girl was with some kind of man. The Five looked around. The cafe was very ordinary, large, with pictures of the landscape. And right now, the Hargreaves don't realize that there are some people watching them. Diego left the cafe. Behind him the Five " Well, now to the academy "

" No " Diego said and walked toward the bank, for the waiter said the alleged culprit had gone there. The Five frowned and pursed his lip, took his brother by the elbow and teleported to the academy street. And he was far from the bank where Diego was heading. He hissed, pulling back his hand " Are you kidding me ?! I worked! "

" Work will wait " said the Fifth, and teleported with Diego to the house.

***

" Where did he go? " The man asked the black woman. She was holding in her hands a black, warped device, where a green dot was flashing. The dot pointed to the street where Umbrella Academy was located.

The man's name was Hazel, and the woman's name was Chacha. They are assassins working for the Chronology Defense Corp. And they were given the task: to kill the Five.

They left that cafe, taking their briefcase with them. But, they could not even move a meter away from the cafe, as they ran into a man holding a girl in her arms, whose arms and legs were tied with white threads, and her mouth was sealed with tape. Two girls walked next to the man, who pretended that nothing was happening. Of course, Hazel and Chacha know these four ...

***

Diego and Vanya stared at the "kidnappers" while sitting tied up on the couch. They could have said something, but their mouth was sealed with duct tape. They took away the knives from the Second, and there were 72 of them. They were already very angry with their relatives. Especially Diego. After all, he was working, looking for a girl, and the Five came and took him away with him! Aruzhan sighed, opened the diary and began to read aloud about the Seven. She still thought it was some kind of joke, and tried not to listen to Eight's words. Klaus was in the shower, Shynarim was thinking how to prove to Vanya about her strength, Diego tried to get out of the threads, but Aruzhan was not in a good mood, and the threads broke into the skin. Vanya's is exactly the same. The Five was in the room where the monitors were.

Pogo brought papers with a printout of each criminal released from prison. Shynarym showed her Harold, but Vanya, like a stubborn ram, denied all this. But Diego could have confirmed, but his mouth was sealed. Eight and Nine were ready to pounce on Vanya, but Nine was doing well, but Eight was so irritated by such a situation that Diego and Vanya's wounds were bleeding with renewed vigor.

" So ... " Shynarym clapped her hand, and the threads for a moment ceased to be sharp, and Aruzhan breathed out through her teeth " Let's do this ... " Shynarym looked into Vanya's eyes, she tried to look away, but The eighth did not let her do it. The brown-haired woman got up from the sofa, took a crystal glass and a spoon from the kitchen. She put three glasses on the table, and held the fourth in her left hand and a spoon on her right. Aruzhan realized what she was going to do. Shynarim exhaled, and lightly hit the glass with a spoon. He made a ringing for a moment. This moment was enough for the brown-haired woman to be able to turn this sound into a wave, because of which all three glasses shattered. Aruzhan turned to Vanya and asked through her teeth:

" DO YOU BELIEVE THAT? " Vanya quickly nodded and Aruzhan sighed with relief. They spent an hour repeating to Vanya who she really was, and she finally believed them. Shynarym read in her eyes that the Seven did not believe that Leonard was Harold. Nevertheless, the main task of the girls has been solved. Diego was shocked. VERY shocked. Vanya, who was the most ordinary girl in the academies, one might even say ... useless, rescuing for IT! Because of the shock, number Two even forgot about the missing girl. Aruzhan saw that Diego was no longer trying to escape, and released both of them. Vanya peeled off the skoch from her mouth and looked at Aruzhan.

" Did you two know about this? " She asked in a sad tone. The girls shook their heads "Then ... where? "

" It doesn't matter anymore " said Aruzhan, giving the diary to Shynarym. She nodded in support of Eight's words. Vanya's strength was something indescribable to her. It seems to reproduce the sound in some kind of wave, but you also have to restrain yourself. Fortunately, Shynarym knew how to do it well.

" Not important? Doesn't matter ?! :" Vanya jumped up from the sofa, taking Aruzhan by the collar, and held it to her " This is very important. You two knew that I had the strength, but kept silent for over 30 years! "

" Technical 23 " Shynarim said in a calm voice, but her eyes were frowned, and Vanya let go of Aruzhan, again sitting down on the sofa. The seventh tried to make sense of the fact that she was special. She could have thought for another hour, but the sudden opening of the door distracted her and turned to face the door. In less than a second, shots rang out, because of which everyone in the living room had to fall to the floor and hide behind the sofa. Shynarym looked around everyone, as if the bullet hadn't hit anyone. But no. The top of Vanya's head was bleeding.

" Where are my knives? " Asked Diego to Aruzhan, she nodded towards the kitchen. The shots stopped, because Shynarym had their weapons in his hands. She came out of cover and wanted to shoot, but the machine gun did not work : the bullets ran out. Chacha quickly approached her and hit her on the nose. Shynarim grinned and struck with a machine gun, and the woman fell on the floor. Diego fought with Hazel, he was inferior in reaction and speed, but the force of his blow easily numbered Number Two. Aruzhan wanted to run up to help Diego, but Hazel grabbed her by the throat and lifted her to the top.

***

The Five, barely heard the sounds of the battle, for the door of the room with monitors could deafen the sound. He left the room, and immediately teleported next to Hazel as soon as he saw that he was strangling Aruzhan. The Five was ready to hit the man in the stomach, but he abruptly let go of the Eight, holding on to the bloody hands: she used her strength. The Five smiled at her, saying that now he can handle it. Hazel struck, and the Five dodged them. As soon as the killer stood with his back to Aruzhan, she wrapped around his legs with a thread, and he fell on his face. Hargreaves was about to hit the enemy in the carotid arteries, but he threw the guy's hands back, and pulling a knife from his pocket, hit them in the kidney cavity. Seeing this, Eight squeezed the threads to such an extent that the man's tendons nearly broke. He was able to reach and threw a knife at Aruzhan, she dodged and got up from the floor, kicked the man's face. Another blow, but Hazel grabbed her leg and threw it on the table (he was on his knees before throwing it).

Shynarym's affairs were also not in the best condition. Not only did Chacha move quickly, but she was also very tired when she borrowed Vanya's power and stole their weapons. It is a pity that she can use someone's power once. Chacha grabbed the vase and threw it at Shynarym, she dodged, and the vase flew on Diego's head when he tried to get up. There was no time for sympathy or surprise, so Shynarim hit Chacha on the stomach, then hit him in the groin. That one was in pain, but held up well. The killer made a series of punches, and the Eight dodged well, but her legs slowly got tired.

" I need to knock her out " Shynarym thought, trying to go behind the enemy's back.

Klaus got out of the shower, and standing in a white coat saw two strangers fighting with his family. He widened his eyes, and was about to rush to help, but someone dragged him into another room.

The Five was able to get up, overpowering the pain, and teleported in front of Hazel, who was approaching Aruzhan, who had a shard of glass on her hand, for the table was obviously glass. The Five was ready to strike the killer, but suddenly shots were heard, and Hazel and Chacha fell dead. There was no limit to the surprise of the three when Pogo was holding a submachine gun, and Grace was holding two pistols. Aruzhan got up from the floor and ran to Vanya, whose blood stopped flowing. Shynarym also ran up to her and felt a weak pulse on her neck. The Five checked Diego, he was just unconscious.

" We must get started quickly " Pogo said. Grace nodded, and lifting Vanya, ran to the first-aid post. Shynarym did not have a lot of mutilation, like the rest, so she went to her room in order to rest. However, the rest was canceled when she saw a note in Five's room lying on his bed. Doubtfully, she went to the bed and looked at the letter. As soon as Shynarim read the letter, she rolled her eyes, and having closed the paper, tore it into several parts, then threw it into the trash.

Klaus was stolen.

She would have to save him.

#tua #the umbrella academy #tua fanfic #tua ocs #five #klaus hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #diego hargreeves

[bountyofbeads]

Death Toll in West Texas Shooting Climbs to 7 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/01/us/death-toll-texas-shooting.html

Death Toll in West Texas Shooting Climbs to 7

By Lucinda Holt and Manny Fernandez |

Published Sept. 1, 2019Updated 12:17 p.m. ET | New York Times | Posted September 1, 2019 12:52 PM ET |

ODESSA, Tex. — The death toll from a shooting spree Saturday afternoon in the West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa increased overnight from five to seven, as investigators continued to piece together the bizarre and violent chain of events that had led a gunman to open fire on motorists and officers while driving on highways and alongside shopping centers.

Devin Sanchez, a spokesman for the City of Odessa, said seven people had been killed, in addition to the gunman. At least 21 others were wounded, including three law enforcement officers and a 17-month-old toddler who remained in serious condition Sunday morning.

[Read more about how the Odessa shooting unfolded.]

The gunman has not been identified, but authorities described him as a man in his mid-30s who fled from state troopers who had tried to pull him over. The gunman then hijacked a United States postal van and indiscriminately fired from a rifle at people before the authorities shot and killed him outside a movie theater in Odessa.

The attack on Saturday spread panic and fear for hours across West Texas, hundreds of miles from the border city of El Paso, where just 28 days earlier a gunman had killed 22 people at a Walmart in an anti-Hispanic attack. The motive behind Saturday’s shooting remained unclear.

Local and state officials said the shooting began with an attempted traffic stop on Interstate 20, a busy artery connecting Midland to Odessa.

At 3:13 p.m. Saturday, state troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety tried to pull over a man driving a gold car for failing to signal a left turn, the authorities said. The car was headed west and was near the Midland airport. Before it came to a complete stop, the driver pointed a rifle toward the rear window and fired several shots at the state troopers, injuring one, the Department of Public Safety said in a statement.

The gunman then drove west toward Odessa, shooting a person as he sped away on I-20 and east Loop 338.

He then began what officials called a shooting spree in Odessa. At some point, the gunman hijacked a postal van in Odessa and drove to the Cinergy movie theater on Highway 191. He shot an Odessa police officer and a Midland police officer. Officers returned fire, killing the suspect, the authorities said.

Cellphone video from witnesses captured the final moments of the attack on the back side of the movie theater.

The videos show police vehicles appearing to block a street outside the theater, around the corner from the entrances and in front of the building’s barren and beige side walls. The postal van speeds into view and the driver turns the van so its side slams into a police cruiser. A burst of gunfire follows as officers who have been chasing the van rush out of their vehicles to shoot at the gunman, who appears to remain inside the van.

On Sunday morning, the white postal van and the Odessa police vehicle remained in the same spot where the shooting had ended. Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were among the officers examining the crime scene on Sunday.

More than a dozen people were being treated at hospitals Saturday and Sunday. The wounded state trooper was in serious but stable condition, and the two officers were in stable condition, the authorities said.

The injured Midland officer, Zack Owens, was shot several times in an arm and hand, but relatives said his most serious injury had resulted from having glass shards in one eye.

Officer Owens’ brother, Jake Owens, is also an officer with the Midland Police Department. Abigail McCullough, the wife of Mr. Owens’ cousin, set up a donation page on GoFundMe, a crowdfunding site, to help pay the medical expenses for Zack Owens. By Sunday, more than $47,000 had been raised.

The 17-month-old girl who was shot was identified by family friends as Anderson Davis. A GoFundMe page for Anderson said the toddler had been wounded by a bullet fragment. The page was created by Haylee Wilkerson, a friend of Anderson’s mother, and had raised more than $119,000 by Sunday morning.

A note from Anderson’s mother on the page said her daughter was alive, which was “a prayer answered bigger than I’ve ever had to pray.” Her mother wrote that Anderson’s vitals were good and that she had shrapnel in her chest, her front teeth had been knocked out, and she had a hole through her bottom lip and tongue.

Residents in Odessa, a city of 120,000, remained on edge Sunday. Though Odessa and El Paso are separated by nearly 300 miles, the cities share some ties and a Western sensibility.

On Saturday night, at the University of Texas Permian Basin in Odessa, Stephanie Stonecliffe watched as her children played with rocks. She said her friend had been shopping at the Walmart in El Paso when the gunman there opened fire.

“Eventually I knew it was going to happen closer to home, especially with what’s going on in the world,” said Ms. Stonecliffe, who moved to the area recently from College Station, Tex. “This just tells me the world’s getting a little bit more dangerous.”

53 People Died in Mass Shootings in August Alone in the U.S.

So far this year, there have been at least 38 shootings with three or more fatalities, data shows.

By Neil Vigdor | Published August 31, 2019 Updated Sept. 1, 2019, 12:11 p.m. ET | New York Times | Posted September 1, 2019 12:55 PM ET |

The month of August ended as it began: with a shooting rampage and a significant death toll.

Seven people were killed near Odessa, Tex., on Saturday as a gunman started shooting indiscriminately at cars, bringing the number of victims of mass killings by firearms to 53 for the month. The authorities on Sunday revised the death toll from the shooting in Odessa to seven from five, excluding the gunman.

The term mass killings is defined by the Justice Department as three or more killings in a single episode, excluding the death of a gunman. There is no legal definition for the term mass shooting, despite its frequent use by gun control groups and the news media.

This month’s loss of life was most acute in Texas, where four of the eight deadliest shootings occurred, including an Aug. 3 massacre at a Walmart in El Paso that killed 22 people.

The spate of gun violence has left the country on edge and catalyzed a more intense debate over gun control.

The carnage in West Texas on Saturday was the 38th mass killing by firearms in the United States this year.

Here are some of the deadliest shootings so far in 2019 based on figures from the website Mass Shooting Tracker and local news media accounts. The death tolls do not include the people who carried out the attacks, and not every episode of 2019 is listed.

AUG. 4 — 9 KILLED

Dayton, Ohio

Nine people were killed and 27 others were wounded after a gunman wearing a mask and body armor opened fire in a busy entertainment district. The gunman’s sister was among the dead, according to the police.

AUG. 3 — 22 KILLED

El Paso

Twenty-two people were killed and 26 others wounded in a shooting that targeted shoppers in a Walmart store in El Paso, a predominantly Hispanic border city. The suspect, a white man in his 20s who was taken into custody, wrote an anti-immigrant manifesto that was posted online shortly before the attack, the authorities said.

JULY 28 — 3 KILLED

Gilroy, Calif.

An annual garlic festival in an agricultural community south of San Jose turned deadly when a 19-year-old man opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle that he had bought legally in Nevada. The gunman killed himself in the attack. The victims included a 13-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy.

JULY 6 — 5 FOUND DEAD

St. Louis County, Mo.

The bodies of five men who had been fatally shot were discovered in an apartment building by police officers in north St. Louis County, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The victims ranged in age from 37 to 65. Two men were arrested in the killings, which the police said were connected to “drug activity,” The Post-Dispatch reported.

JUNE 8 — 5 KILLED

White Swan, Wash.

Five members of the Yakama Nation were killed in White Swan, a remote community on the Yakama Indian Reservation in central Washington State. Four people were arrested in the shootings, the latest act in a cycle of criminal activity on the reservation, which is between the Cascade mountains and the Columbia River. Two of the men charged in the killings took a child hostage at gunpoint, the authorities said.

MAY 31 — 12 KILLED

Virginia Beach, Va.

A city engineer quit his job and then went on a shooting rampage at Building No. 2 of the Virginia Beach Municipal Center. The gunman, a former soldier, was armed with two handguns and a cache of ammunition as he targeted his former co-workers in offices and hallways, according to the authorities. His victims were civil servants in the public works and public utilities departments and a contractor who was at the offices to discuss a permit.

FEB. 15 — 5 KILLED

Aurora, Ill.

A disgruntled employee who had been fired from his job returned to a suburban Chicago factory with a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun with a laser sight, which the authorities said he used to kill five of his former co-workers. The gunman was not supposed to have a weapon, as his gun permit had been revoked a year earlier because of a felony assault conviction. The victims included an intern who was on his first day of work and a grandfather of eight.

JAN. 23 — 5 KILLED

Sebring, Fla.

Five women were fatally shot while they were lying on the ground in a SunTrust Bank branch by a 21-year-old man, who called an emergency dispatcher and said, “I have shot five people.” The suspect, who was charged with five counts of first-degree premeditated murder, was wearing a T-shirt that bore the image of four scythe-wielding grim reapers on horseback.

#gun violence #gun control #guns #mass shooting #mass murder #u.s. news #the nra is a terrorist organization #boycott nra #nra #us politics #politics #world news #worldpolitics #Odessa

[blackfreethinkers]

Sunday service had just ended, but Noah Tillman-Young called his small congregation back for another prayer. Shots had been fired at a rural church just down the road — a church a lot like theirs.

As his 30-some parishioners stood in a circle asking God for protection, something changed for the pastor of Joyful Heart. An act of mass violence in his Stockdale, Tex., church was no longer unthinkable. Ten miles away, 26 people were dead at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, the deadliest shooting at a house of worship in the country’s modern history.

That night, Tillman-Young and parish leaders held a vigil for their neighbor church. The next day, they decided to arm their own.

“It’s nothing you ever imagine could happen, but when it hits so close to home, you have no choice — you can’t ignore it and you have to prepare,” Tillman-Young said. “It’s the reality that houses of worship are increasingly becoming targets.”

With a new team of private security officers and an armed corps of volunteers, Joyful Heart joined the wave of small and midsize places of worship adopting security measures to gird against the rising threat of violent attacks.

'This community will heal': A small town mourns an enormous loss Residents of Sutherland Springs, Tex., grappled with the mass shooting that took 26 lives from the community in November 2017. (Alice Li/The Washington Post) While there is no definitive tracking of shootings or other attacks on houses of worship, several researchers and the federal government have documented a significant rise in targeted acts — particularly those with high death tolls.

FBI statistics show a 35 percent increase in hate crimes at churches, synagogues, temples and mosques from 2014 to 2018, the most recent year for which data is available. The nonprofit Faith Based Security Network found a 60 percent increase in “non-accidental deaths” at such sites from 2014 to 2017. And of the 88 people killed in mass shootings at places of worship since 1966 — defined as incidents in which four or more people were killed — more than half the deaths came in the last five years, according to The Washington Post’s mass shootings database.

This spike has prompted several state legislatures to write or revise firearm laws to make it easier for people to carry guns in houses of worship.

Since the Sutherland Springs shooting in November 2017, lawmakers in 14 states have introduced 40 bills, according to a Post analysis using Quorum, a database of state and federal legislation. Several are still being debated and six have been enacted, from Louisiana to North Dakota.

In the first weeks of 2020, legislators, most of them Republicans, have introduced 13 bills allowing armed security in places of worship. The flurry of lawmaking began just days after a gunman killed two people in late December at a church in White Settlement, Tex., before an armed volunteer shot and killed him. The volunteer’s action won praise for a state law that allows parishioners to carry firearms.

Laws under consideration in Florida and Missouri would allow anyone with a concealed-carry permit to bring a firearm into a religious building. In New Jersey, a proposed law would allow houses of worship to select one person to carry a handgun for security. And in Virginia, Republicans have introduced four bills to repeal a law that bars the carrying of weapons in a place of worship “without good and sufficient reason.”

Experts say that churches, synagogues and mosques, with their typically welcoming environments and looser safety measures, can make for easier targets, especially as businesses and schools ramp up security. But more places of worship are turning to surveillance equipment and armed guards, especially volunteers from the congregation, who blend in and save the parish money, said Carl Chinn, president of the Faith Based Security Network.

Chinn and other security consultants said they’re getting more inquiries from nervous congregations. Business is always busier after a shooting, and Chinn said recent incidents were “a wake-up call.”

“Churches are waking up to the fact that the way to stop a bad person with a dangerous weapon is a good person with a weapon and training,” he said.

Gun-control advocates balk at the idea that more weapons will create safer spaces, and others suggest that armed security — especially volunteers — may actually bring more risk.

“Whenever firearms are present, there’s always room for error and the possibility that the guns which are intended to protect become liable to endanger,” said James Densley, a criminal justice professor at Metropolitan State University in Minnesota. “Arming parishioners so they can make the kind of split-second decisions that police get wrong worries me a little bit.”

But Chinn, who has tracked the use of deadly force in churches since 1999, said he hasn’t seen an instance in which innocent people were hit by a volunteer’s gunfire.

“There’s risks anytime you have defenders,” he said. “Of course, the risk is that innocent people might get hurt. But here’s what I tell people: That has not happened. We shouldn’t get wrapped around the axle of ‘what ifs.’ It’s not even comparable to the number of times people were hurt and nobody was there to protect them.”

Security teams can minimize the risks by training often and schooling themselves in more than firearm marksmanship, said Steve Padin, a retired police officer who is a chief consultant for the Watchman’s Academy, a church security firm.

The volunteers that Padin sees, mostly men, often have a background in the military or law enforcement. And when they don’t, Padin said, they need to learn to think like those who do.

A well-trained security guard should be versed in de-escalation and disarming tactics, be able to recognize suspicious behavior and be ready to act quickly, said Padin, who travels the country training security teams at churches and synagogues.

“You should not get to the point where you have to use a firearm,” he said.

At Beth Tikkun Messianic Fellowship in Akron, Ohio, Vic Agosta and his small team of volunteer security guards huddle outside the sanctuary before Saturday service. They all carry guns, and every weekend they pray they won’t need to use them.

Agosta helped form the team eight years ago, when the congregation of 200 was growing quickly. Agosta, who is a lineman for a power company, doesn’t have a background in law enforcement or the military like some of his fellow volunteers. But he does have family in the pews, including a daughter with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair.

“Just the thought of someone coming into a service of ours and opening fire on us,” he said. “My daughter couldn’t run for cover.”

In Ohio, places of worship must give permission before attendees can bring in concealed handguns — a restriction that Agosta, a Second Amendment advocate, supports.

“I think you should be able to carry a weapon, but I like the control that private entities have, like churches or places of business, to say who can and cannot carry,” Agosta said.

His church asks congregants to leave their guns at home and trust in the security team.

“We don’t want you to carry,” Agosta said. “But we’ll protect you the best we can.”

At Grace Fellowship, a small born-again Christian church in suburban Omaha, Greg Eckert runs a volunteer team with four other men. He’s recruiting more volunteers from the church’s 97 members, but some have trouble passing his test. It has two questions: Will you give up your life for the congregation, and will you kill for it?

“It sounds like a silly thing to ask for a Christian believer, but God doesn’t lay down for that stuff,” Eckert said. “There were people in the Bible who had to kill at God’s command. If they can’t answer yes to that, I don’t want them.”

He requires his team to practice shooting once a month, and he tests their accuracy four times a year, keeping their bullet-pocked targets on file and dated. In Nebraska, only designated security personnel are permitted to carry concealed handguns in houses of worship — and only if the leadership has given permission and informed the congregation.

“I don’t believe any church should be just an open-carry-type situation,” Eckert said. “But I don’t think it would be prudent to have a law that you could never carry in church, either.”

Outside New York City, which has its own gun laws, New York state has no laws prohibiting firearms in places of worship. And parishioners are better off for it, said Jim Woods, the head of security at the nondenominational Niagara Frontier Bible Church, not far from the famous falls. He’s one of 10 volunteers who greet newcomers at the door, keep an eye on the parking lot and carry a weapon.

“Years ago, it wouldn’t even have crossed my mind [that] you would need to defend yourself in church,” Woods said.

One of the most notorious attacks at a place of worship was the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., where Ku Klux Klan members detonated dynamite, killing four children and injuring 22 people.

Since then, attacks at places of worship have been divided into two categories: hate-fueled assaults and those related to domestic violence. Both types are increasing in frequency and deadliness, said Densley, who also co-founded the Violence Project, which tracks mass shootings.

In 2012, a neo-Nazi killed six people at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, south of Milwaukee. Three years later, a white supremacist hoping to start a race war killed nine at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church. And in 2018, anti-Semitic online screeds were connected to the man accussed of bursting into the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and killing 11.

These were some of the deadliest and most high-profile shootings at American houses of worshipBut more common are shootings that are extensions of intimate-partner violence or domestic disputes, like the massacre in Sutherland Springs. In those cases, Densley said, the shooter is usually a member of the congregation.

“We’re often afraid of the stuff we don’t know and don’t understand that’s outside of us, when really the biggest risk is right in front of us,” he said.

At Joyful Heart Church, the new security measures have also inspired Tillman-Young and his wife and fellow pastor, Allison, to look inward. They’ve spent more time getting to know their members and their families.

“When you’re in the community, you see those red flags, and you see them before they come to a head and get ugly,” he said. “That kind of intentional connection, that relationship, showing people love — it helps to prevent that kind of stuff.”

But more than looser gun laws and armed guards, Tillman-Young said it’s his faith that makes him feel safe.

“We’re packing,” he said, “but we’re also packing the power of God and trusting in God to keep us protected.”

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 040: Deku VS Todoroki (Conclusion)

Previously on BnHA: Oh god. Shouto flashed back repeatedly to his horrific childhood. Deku decimated basically his entire body in his quest to get Todoroki to finally use his left side. Like, he literally chose the most perverse and insane possible way to do this. For reasons I can’t begin to fathom, none of the adults bothered to intervene in this bloodbath. My god it pissed me off so much. Anyway, Todoroki finally did realize that his power is his own and he can use it without it automatically meaning that he’s giving in to his evil father. It made him very happy and was a very powerful moment tbh. BUT AT WHAT COST.

Today on BnHA: Deku and Todoroki nearly blow up the stadium and each other before the U.A. faculty FINALLY steps in. Deku is blown out of bounds and the fight ends. Endeavor is all, YESSSSS, JOIN ME AND TOGETHER WE CAN RULE THE GALAXY AS FATHER AND SON but Shouto is just, WHATEVER, I DON’T EVEN CARE ABOUT YOU and it’s the best. All Might and Deku have an emotional moment in the nurse’s office while Recovery Girl is just like, “smdh.” Basically the manga shyly offers me an apology and a bouquet of flowers for putting me through all of that bullshit in the last chapter, and LIKE A FOOL I fall for it hook, line and sinker.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 94 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

so here we are at chapter 40. officially about 20% of the way through the story so far. a lot has happened! Deku has learned to control his powers! somehow it’s made absolutely no difference in terms of how frequently he’s been gravely injured! in fact if anything it’s all gotten much, much worse!

oh my god Endeavor is jumping up in the stands and fucking SCREAMING about how Shouto’s finally accepted his blood and now he can finally fulfill his (Endeavor’s) ambitions

someone push him down these stairs

oh my god the chapter is titled “Emancipation.” lol I assume it’s metaphorical, but what I wouldn’t fucking give for Shouto to somehow legally tell his dad to just fuck off forever

Mic calls Endeavor a “doting parent.” that’s... a take. possibly the most ironic fucking thing anyone has ever said

Aizawa seems to know a little bit more about Shouto’s history with his dad though, since he’s thinking to himself that they’re not on good terms. but maybe he just figured that out from Shouto’s insistence on not using his left side

Todoroki is completely thawed out now and on fucking fire and Deku is grinning and Shouto asks him what the fuck he’s smiling about lol. he’s smiling because he helped you, silly! but yes you’re right he is totally fucking screwed

can we get this match ended at last please?? can we get a fucking mercy rule implemented into this fucking tournament

please help me out here, U.A. as unfathomably badass as Todoroki is at full power, I really don’t want to sit through another whole fucking chapter of Deku doing insane things he really shouldn’t be able to do

you know what I would enjoy, though? a quick cut to show how the villains are reacting to all of this. or Deku’s mom, for that matter! assuming she hasn’t passed out or anything. but even if she did, she said she was recording it, so

(ETA: lol are you guys sick of me speculating about Deku’s mom every five paragraphs yet)

DEKU YOUR SECRET IS FUCKING OUT NOW. IT’S WHAT YOU DESERVE, QUITE HONESTLY

and finally Cementoss is springing into action. JESUS CHRIST. TAKE YOUR TIME WHY DON’T YOU. honestly, both he and Midnight -- and really the entire faculty -- are lucky if they’re not charged with child endangerment after all of this

(ETA: well I’m glad U.A.’s student safety record does actually become a plot point later. but slightly annoyed that no one had any problem with this particular spectacle and that it only became an issue after the second villain attack)

having no self-preservation instincts isn’t a fucking superpower and it isn’t something children should be aspiring to

fucking look at these idiots

DON’T EXPECT A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FROM ME NOW, CEMENTOSS

jesus there was like a fucking shockwave. that was all Deku, I’m sure. the giant fire tornado erupting from the stadium is all Todoroki, though!

I’m pretty sure everyone in the stadium just collectively shat their pants

lol forever if a single one of the heroes in the stands even thinks about having the audacity to think they could ever claim either of these two as a sidekick after this. no matter who it is, THEY’RE THE ONES WHO WOULD BE THE FUCKING SIDEKICK

fucking I don’t even know, Mic

so who fucking won. was it a tie?

there’s so much fucking steam from all of the suddenly-melted ice

that shit should be scalding Deku and Shouto both. but we’ve long since torpedoed past the boundaries of realism within this particular fight

there’s a panel of Deku’s shoe but not showing the rest of him...

HE’S OUT OF BOUNDS. OH MY GOD. PRAISE ALL MIGHT. FUCKING FINALLY THIS FIGHT IS FUCKING OVER

so Todoroki moves on to round three

no matter who wins in the Shiozaki/Iida match, they should just fucking forfeit afterward lmao

the audience can’t understand what Deku’s strategy was. there’s no point in trying to understand it, he was basically just trying to make his friend feel better to the point that he became near-suicidal in that pursuit

still, would anyone in this crowd actually want to fuck with him after witnessing that??

YOU DON’T COUNT

lol do you still want these two as your rivals though. and Deku went and made your job even harder for you

and he overheard that conversation earlier, so he understands the significance of what just went down better than anyone else in this audience

oh look, Shouto is being confronted by a walking piece of flaming shit. what an interesting sight

he says Shouto is finally ready to replace him. fucking get over yourself. I’m trying to think of truly awful things to compare you to but I’m so mad I can’t even come up with any

but he seems to think that this means Shouto is done “rebelling” and has anyone ever been so wrong before I wonder

FUCKING YESS

YESSSS RIGHT IN HIS PRIDE

AND NOW HE’S WALKING AWAY

SHOUTO STAY RIGHT THERE!! I’M COMING AROUND!! GOT A BIG HIGH FIVE WITH YOUR NAME ON IT

aaaaand the nurse’s office again!!

so just how dead is Deku this time

shit

shit. I hope they maxed out his painkillers, this poor stupid fucking kid

WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE GOING TO TELL HIS MOTHER GODDAMMIT

and okay but, can you please stop putting it on All Might though. yes he put pressure on Deku, but Deku’s inner fire has like a psychotic edge to it that even he couldn’t have ever anticipated. All Might told him to go out there with a smile, not screaming like a madman and methodically breaking all of his bones one by one

also, he didn’t anticipate Shouto’s involvement in all this and just how far Deku would go for him

which, by the way, I know there’s a sizable chunk of the fandom that ships TodoDeku (or really it’d probably be the other way round wouldn’t it), and like, it’s hard not to see why. you know I’m all about that BakuDeku ship, but Deku clearly has a lot of love to go around. lots of terrifying, violent love

anyway, the point is this wasn’t All Might’s doing. he’s not fucking Dumbledore manipulating the poor kid left and right. he’s still new to being a mentor and he vastly underestimated his protege’s propensity for getting himself deep into the shit

Recovery Girl says All Might better not praise him for what he did. okay, yeah, that I can 100% agree with. it wasn’t healthy or sane or smart by any stretch, and it accomplished absolutely nothing that a couple of sessions with a halfway decent therapist couldn’t have done. though from what I’ve seen, I’m not sure if this school believes in things like therapists

and here comes the fam

oh shit I just realized All Might is still in Skinny Steve form

um

-- DEKU IS CONSCIOUS???!

HELLO NICE TO MEET YOU

DEKU IS FUCKING CONSCIOUS THOUGH??!

I HOPE HE’S DOPED UP TO THE NINES

apparently they took a break to repair the arena

this piece of shit is expressing an opinion I happen to agree with. it happens

but that’s okay because Deku doesn’t need to be some stupid shitty so-called pro’s shitty sidekick. I hate like 90 percent of the pros outside of the U.A. faculty anyway

well. but Best Jeanist though...

now Recovery Girl is chasing them all out and saying he’s about to have surgery

they’re all like “SURGERY?!” YES, SURGERY. WERE YOU NOT WATCHING THE SAME FIGHT THAT I WAS

sdlfkhl damn it and Deku’s apologizing now

he’s so fucking out of it, I can’t be mad at him even though I was so fucking mad at him!!! you idiot!!

All Might, hey, hold it. wait up. dude. you don’t get openly emotional and you never have up till this point so don’t start now when it’s so late and I’m not prepared. if you lose it even the slightest degree I will literally be a mess

and now All Might is realizing Deku was trying to get Todoroki to get over his hangups

and Deku’s saying yes, because “it was just too sad...”

does All Might know what he’s talking about? he can probably guess some of it, but he doesn’t know just how bad it was with Todoroki and Endeavor

Deku says he tried to mind his own business, but he couldn’t take it

“it was so frustrating.” kid, I 100% agree. but like, you and I have different approaches to solving problems like this oh my god

anyways so he completely forgot about his goal of winning the tournament and “lost himself”

well at least this exonerates All Might from having had anything to do with this outcome. just in case he was prepared to blame himself

Deku hasn’t cried once during any of this, incidentally. is he just too exhausted

he needs huuuuuuugs. surgery and then hugs!!

you know what could have changed what happened. literally anyone intervening at any point before the match actually ended

ooooh just like that I’m starting to get mad all over again lol. but not at you, All Might. and not at Deku, who was clearly out of his mind, just totally off the rails with his psychotic good intentions

“however, giving help that’s not asked for... is part of what makes a true hero.” awww ;_;

look, again, I don’t deny that Shouto needed help in some shape or form

and I guess all’s well that ends... sort of... okay

just. wow, what a fucking outcome. what a train wreck of a battle. that was something, all right

“Midoriya Izuku... finished in the top eight”

and the chapter ends

bonus

looks like we’re done with character profiles for the time being! NOW IT’S COSTUME COMMENTARY OH GOODY :D :D :D

how much of this did Bakugou design himself, I wonder? he probably just explained how his quirk worked and what he wanted the gauntlet thing to do and that he wanted it to look cool (by his weird definition of cool)

I really love Bakugou’s quirk. I don’t know if I’ve said this. but it’s probably my second or third favorite, after Ochako’s and possibly Aizawa’s. just something about explosions. I’ve been a Gokudera fangirl for too long lol. and I also love his fighting style and his blasting all over the place

look at the thought that went into even the fucking grenade pin design

Bakugou can fucking blow shit up with his knees?? holy shit. I thought those were just weird Mad Max style knee pads lmao

(ETA: I think maybe by “kill with his knees” they just mean he could like. crush some poor dude or something. just bludgeon them or some shit. how violent)

and he can put his explosive sweat into the grenades on his belt too. “what’s the point?” well, you never know. plus it looks cool to have the grenades there on his belt

“all in all: heartless” this guy never stops shitting on my favorite character lol

#bnha #boku no hero academia #makeste reads bnha #midoriya izuku #todoroki shouto #endeavor #all might #bakugou katsuki #I forgot all about bakugou's knee pads #fucking kill somebody with your knees already bakugou #are you just going to leave us all hanging or what

[orbemnews]

Anguish in Myanmar after weekend of 'outrageous' bloodshed Images posted on social media showed the coup leader dressed in a bow tie and a white, medal-laiden jacket walking a red carpet, greeting attendees and sitting down to a meal to mark Armed Forces Day. The annual holiday commemorates the beginning of the army’s resistance against Japanese occupation in World War II and the junta staged a show of force with a military parade. Saturday was also the full moon day of Tabaung, the end of Myanmar’s lunar calendar and an important time in Buddhism that should have been celebrated with festivals and visits to pagodas. United States President Joe Biden joined a chorus of international condemnation Sunday, saying the situation in Myanmar was “terrible,” and described the actions of the military as “absolutely outrageous.” The US has imposed sanctions on several of the generals, including Min Aung Hlaing, and two military-owned conglomerates. On Monday, the Biden administration announced the suspension of all diplomatic trade engagement with Myanmar. Throughout Monday, crackdowns and shootings continued across the country and at least 14 people were shot dead, the Advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said. At least 510 people have been killed since the coup, according to AAPP. “Amidst crackdowns in Kyauk Myaung, Tamwe township, Yangon Region, people banged pots and pans in protest,” AAPP reported. “At that time, the junta forces told people they will arson neighborhoods if people continue.” CNN obtained video showing military personnel coming into neighborhoods to stop the banging of pots and pans, which have become a common form of protest. Meanwhile, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said his government has prepared for a potential influx of refugees from neighboring Myanmar. “We have prepared the areas if the influx happens (so we know) where to keep them,” Prayut said during a press briefing. “We don’t want to have any influx into our area, but we certainly have to take human rights issues into our consideration.” Thailand has hosted tens of thousands of refugees in nine main camps along its border with Myanmar for three decades, following armed conflicts, human rights abuses and persecution of ethnic minorities by the Myanmar military. About 3,000 people fled from Myanmar’s southeastern Karen state over the border to Thailand Sunday, after military jets carried out a bombing raid, according to the Karen Women’s Organization (KWO), which operates within Karen state and refugee camps in Thailand. As well as indiscriminate killing of unarmed people, brutal acts were widely reported over the weekend. A 40-year-old Mandalay resident was shot and burned alive by military troops, according to Myanmar Now, which quoted residents and a night guard in the victim’s neighborhood. There were also reports of security forces shooting into residential buildings, nighttime raids and arrests, and looting and destruction of private property. In a speech during a parade in the capital Naypyidaw Saturday, Min Aung Hlaing said that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy. As citizens tried to mourn their dead on Sunday, the killings and acts of violence continued, however. Reuters reported that security forces opened fire at the funeral service of 20-year-old student Thae Maung Maung in Bago near the commercial capital Yangon. Mourners were forced to flee, three people in the town told the news agency. Children were not spared from the carnage. At least six children between the ages of 10 and 16 were among those killed on Saturday, according to news reports and witnesses, Reuters reported. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said 35 children have been killed by junta forces since the coup. “An 11-year-old boy, an 11-year-old girl, two 13-year-old boys, a 13-year-old girl, three 16-year-old boys and two seventeen-year old boys, all reportedly shot and killed. A one-year-old baby girl gravely injured after being struck in the eye with a rubber bullet. These were the latest child casualties on the bloodiest day in Myanmar since the military takeover,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore in a statement. “Millions of children and young people have been directly or indirectly exposed to traumatizing scenes of violence, threatening their mental health and emotional wellbeing.” The AAPP said 13 people died on Sunday as junta forces used live ammunition and grenades against civilians and opened fire outside a hospital in the biggest city Yangon, injuring one staff member on Sunday. “The junta is using grenades, not just live rounds but machine-guns in urban areas, to create a combat zone of peaceful residential homes,” AAPP said. CNN cannot independently verify the reports. In the country’s borderlands, three civilians were killed and 10,000 were forced to flee their homes and go into hiding in the jungle, the KWO said in a statement on its official Twitter page. “Many villagers are now hiding in terror in the jungle and more than 3,000 have crossed into Thailand to take refuge,” the KWO said, adding that it feared more attacks on villages in the state. The Karen National Union (KNU), the armed ethnic group that controls parts of the southeastern region in Myanmar, told CNN that more airstrikes were conducted by the junta Sunday. Padoh Saw Taw Nee, a spokesperson for KNU, said the air strikes happened around 4 p.m., local time Sunday near the Thai border. Armed rebel groups have been fighting the military on and off for the past 70 years in the country’s ethnic states but fighting in some areas has increased since the coup. Military jets killed at least two members of the KNU’s militia, said David Eubank, founder of the relief organization Free Burma Rangers, adding that it was the first time in 20 years that airstrikes had been carried out. The weekend’s bloodshed drew renewed Western condemnation, with countries including the US, Britain and the European Union speaking out. The military’s actions were described as a “massacre,” “mass murder” and “shameful, cowardly, brutal” attacks, by various UN officials. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Myanmar’s military to “immediately stop killing the very people it has the duty to serve and protect.” The officials also “strongly condemned the Myanmar military’s widespread, lethal, increasingly systematic attacks against peaceful protesters, as well as other serious violations of human rights since it seized power on 1 February 2021.” But foreign criticism and the sanctions imposed by some Western nations have failed so far to sway the military leaders, as have almost daily protests around the country since the junta took power and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said it was time for the world to take action — if not through the UN Security Council then through an international emergency summit. He said the junta should be cut off from funding, such as oil and gas revenues, and from access to weapons. “Words of condemnation or concern are frankly ringing hollow to the people of Myanmar while the military junta commits mass murder against them,” he said in a statement. CNN’s Kocha Olarn, Ivan Watson, Akanksha Sharma, Richard Roth, DJ Judd, Hira Humayun, Paula Hancocks and Sarah Faidell contributed reporting. Source link Orbem News #Anguish #bloodshed #Myanmar #outrageous #Weekend

[reddithublogic]

Trump’s Only Hope Is the 12th Amendment, and He Knows It

Trump’s Only Hope Is the 12th Amendment, and He Knows It WASHINGTON — The lame duck is stirring. President Donald Trump has stayed mostly out of public view in the two weeks since his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. On nine of the 14 days since the Nov. 3 election, his daily schedule has been summed up in a single sentence: “The president has no public events scheduled” — the longest he has been out of public view since taking office in January 2017. site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-after-we-collided-2020-online-free-hd “But then I started getting more alerts, as well as texts from friends, talking about shootings in several different areas in the city,” he recalls. The coordinated jihadist attacks began with three suicide bombers detonating their explosive vests by the Stade de France sports arena in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis. France was playing a friendly football match against Germany and had drawn a crowd of at least 80,000, including then president François Hollande. All three suicide bombers and a bystander were killed in that attack. site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-come-away-2020-online-free-hd The blasts were followed by gunmen opening fire on several bars and restaurants — Le Carillon bar, Le Petit Cambodge restaurant, Café Bonne Bière and Italian restaurant Casa Nostra — all located near the busy Canal Saint Martin neighbourhood in Paris’s 10th and 11th arrondissements (districts). Blaring sirens Lili Rathipanya, 40, who lives just 50 metres from Le Petit Cambodge, recalls how she started hearing “never-ending” sirens blaring outside her window. site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-greenland-2020-online-free-hd “I remember thinking how odd it was that the sirens just never seemed to stop. There were ambulances, police cars, everything.” Moments later, she logged into her Facebook account and found her newsfeed inundated with posts about the ongoing attacks. “The media were sending live reports, and friends were posting warnings about what was going on. It was really frightening.” Facebook had, for the first time, activated its “Safety Check” feature for an event that did not involve a natural disaster, allowing Parisian users to mark themselves as “safe”. site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-his-house-2020-online-free-hd “It was unreal that it was happening just outside my home,” she says, explaining that she quickly posted a message on her account, telling people her door was open for anyone seeking refuge. In the streets by Rathipanya’s home alone, 18 people were killed that night. WATCH>> In memoriam: A look at some of the Paris attack victims site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-holidate-2020-online-free-hd But the attacks were far from over. The gunmen, who were later confirmed to be associated with the Islamic State (IS) group, had also opened fire further into the 11th arrondissement, targeting Parisians having dinner and drinks at the Comptoir Voltaire Café restaurant and La Belle Équipe bar, leaving 21 people dead at the latter. site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-let-him-go-2020-online-free-hd The deadliest assault of the night, however, almost simultaneously took place at the Bataclan concert hall — also in the 11th — where the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal were playing. Ninety people died and more than 200 were injured, many of them seriously, after three gunmen wearing explosive belts stormed the premises and attacked the band’s 1,500-strong audience with machine guns. Hundreds of survivors were also held hostage until police raided the theatre a few hours later. ‘Funk music saved my life’ site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-ludo-2020-online-free-hd Sam Davies, 38, who lives just a stone’s throw away from Le Carillon and who had attended a concert at the Bataclan just the night before, was on his way home after a quick drink with friends when he, on a whim, decided to finish his Friday night by supporting a friend who was singing at a nearby bar. “So instead of turning right that night, which would have taken me past Le Carillon, I turned left,” he recalls. “So funk music quite literally saved my life.” While listening to the concert he received a text message from a friend, saying there had been a shooting at Le Carillon. site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-operation-christmas-drop-2020-online-free-hd “At first I thought it was just a drug thing, like a random shooting thing, so I didn’t think about it too much. But then I started getting texts from other friends, checking I was OK.” Everyone in the audience started checking their phones, he says. “And about halfway through, everyone just burst into tears, when it dawned on everyone how serious it really was.” site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-rebecca-2020-online-free-hd Davies, who sometimes works as a freelancer at FRANCE 24, and everyone else attending the concert were locked inside the bar for at least two hours to ensure their safety. After spending the night on a friend’s couch he returned to his neighbourhood the next day. “One of the images that have really stuck with me since then is that of a street cleaner who was sweeping the blood from the zebra crossing. It was deeply unsettling.” site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-superintelligence-2020-online-free-hd ‘People’s faces changed’ For Kavita Brahmbatt, 41, the night of November 13, 2015 was similar. She was celebrating her boyfriend Ben’s 43rd birthday with friends at a gallery in the Marais neighbourhood when she went to get her phone from her handbag to check why one of her friends hadn’t turned up yet. site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-tenet-2020-online-free-hd “I looked at my phone and I had like 25 missed calls,” Brahmbatt says. “Then Ben came over and told me: ‘There’s been a terror attack. Don’t freak out’.” When Kavita looked up from her phone, she saw that the friend she’d been talking to had also just learned the news after looking at her own phone. “All three of us found out at the exact same time,” she says. “Then, one by one, you could see how people’s faces changed as they found out what was going on.” site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-the-trial-of-the-chicago-7-2020-online-free-hd The friend she had been waiting for had been warned to turn back. “She called me later and told me how, just when she stepped out into the street to leave her place, her neighbour had pushed her back into the door, saying there had been shooting in their street. She was totally freaked out.” READ MORE>> French judges order trial for 20 suspects linked to 2015 Paris attacks site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-the-witches-2020-online-free-hd site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-wild-mountain-thyme-2020-online-free-hd Brahmbatt, along with around a dozen other people attending the party, stayed locked inside the gallery until 6am the following morning. “It was like being inside a timeless bubble,” she says. Daily newsletter Receive essential international news every morning Subscribe site : https://hcde.instructure.com/courses/91105/pages/watch-%3E-the-new-mutants-2020-free-hd-online “We locked the doors and pulled down the shutters,” she says. In the following few days, her boyfriend was told a friend of his who had been missing had been killed in the attacks. Eerie atmosphere Nabères and his date did not end up having the night they had hoped for either. Despite all the alerts on their phones, they decided to try to continue with their evening anyway. site : https://paiza.io/projects/nmLNNjEFuv75Egcw25fkLQ “We went to Pigalle (in northern Paris) to have a last drink, but bar after bar [was] closed. We probably tried five or six, and when we finally found one that was open, we were told we had to leave after just five minutes.” Site : https://onlinegdb.com/SkBmVRz5v https://onlinegdb.com/B1gKNCz5D He remembers how they walked into the street, and how an eerie atmosphere suddenly enveloped them. “The street was totally empty of people, and then we just started running.”

[newstfionline]

Monday, June 28, 2021

Northwest heat wave builds, all-time records fall (AP) Oregon’s largest city broke its all-time heat record on Saturday. It could beat the new mark on Sunday. Forecasters say many Pacific Northwest communities may sweat through the hottest days in their histories as temperatures soar during a heat wave that has sent residents scrambling for relief. Stores sold out of portable air conditioners and fans, hospitals canceled outdoor vaccination clinics, cities opened cooling centers, baseball teams canceled or moved up weekend games, and utilities braced for possible power outages. Portland, Oregon, reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 degrees Celsius) Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. The previous heat record for Oregon’s largest city was 107 F (41.7 C), a mark hit in 1965 and 1981. Seattle reached 101 F (38.3 C) Saturday, making it the hottest June day on record and only the fourth time in recorded history the usually temperate city had topped 100 degrees.

Rattlesnakes everywhere: the odd consequences of California’s drought (The Guardian) Len Ramirez stalked through the dried landscape, scanning the ground ahead searching for movement. Called out to an estate in Napa Valley, the owner of Ramirez Rattlesnake Removal company was finishing up his last job of another busy day wrangling, removing and relocating snakes from homes across northern California. He’d found three in just this yard, including one nestled roughly 1,000 yards from the pool. Rattlesnakes are everywhere these days, he says—on front porches, in potted plants, and under children’s play equipment. Ramirez believes the drought may be partly to blame. Snakes are increasingly finding their way into urban environments in search of refuge from the rising temperatures and relief from the drying landscape. And it’s not just snakes. “Bears are showing up in areas where they’ve never seen before,” Rebecca Barboza, a wildlife biologist who studies the trend for the California department of fish and wildlife, told ABC News this month. Smaller animals and insects are also coming closer in search of water. Less perilous pests may also pose more problems during drought conditions. Ants, cockroaches and rodents and other visitors also need water to survive and human homes are typically where they go to find it when it’s absent in outdoor environments.

1st post-pandemic cruise ship from US sails away (AP) The first cruise ship to leave a U.S. port since the coronavirus pandemic brought the industry to a 15-month standstill sailed away on Saturday with nearly all vaccinated passengers on board. Celebrity Edge departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at 6 p.m. with the number of passengers limited to about 40% capacity, and with nearly all 1,100 passengers vaccinated against COVID-19. Celebrity Cruises, one of Royal Caribbean Cruise’s brands, says 99% of the passengers are vaccinated. Saturday’s sailing kicks off the cruise lines’ return to business with Carnival vessels already scheduled to depart from other ports next month. Industry officials are hoping all goes smooth to move past a chapter last year of deadly outbreaks on cruise ships that prompted ships to be rejected at ports and passengers to be forced into quarantine. Some passengers died of COVID-19 at sea while others fell so ill they had to be carried out of the vessels on stretchers.

Drug Gang Shootout Leaves 18 Dead In Mexico (AFP) A shootout between suspected drug cartels left 18 people dead Friday in Mexico, a government official said. The gunfight happened in a remote area of Zacatecas state in the country’s north, said Rocio Aguilar, a spokeswoman for the state government. Drug-related violence has claimed more than 300,000 lives in Mexico since 2006, when the government started deploying federal troops to fight the cartels. “There were 18 dead, and the confrontation occurred in the community of San Juan Capistrano, in the municipality of Valparaiso,” Aguilar added. Valparaiso borders Jalisco state, a stronghold of a powerful cartel called Jalisco Nueva Generacion.

Latin America Confronts a Pandemic Education Crisis (NYT) SOACHA, Colombia—Already, two of Gloria Vásquez’s children had dropped out of school during the pandemic, including her 8-year-old, Ximena, who had fallen so far behind that she struggled with the most basic arithmetic. “One plus one?” Ms. Vásquez quizzed her daughter one afternoon. “Four?” the little girl guessed helplessly. Deep into the second year of the pandemic, Latin America is facing an education crisis. It has suffered the longest school shutdowns of any region in the world, according to UNICEF, nearly 16 months in some areas. While many students in wealthy countries have returned to the classroom, 100 million children in Latin America are still in full or partial distance learning. The consequences are alarming, officials and education experts say: With economies in the region pummeled by the pandemic and connections to the classroom so badly frayed, children in primary and secondary school are dropping out in large numbers, sometimes to work wherever they can. Millions of children in Latin America may have already left the school system, the World Bank estimates. In Mexico, 1.8 million children and young people abandoned their educations this school year because of the pandemic or economic hardship, according to the national statistics agency.

Bangkok, 9 provinces restrict movements to curb rising cases (AP) Faced with a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, the Thai capital on Sunday announced a ban on indoor dining and gatherings of more than 20 people, in addition to the closure of construction sites and the sealing off of workers’ quarters in Bangkok and nine other provinces. The measures will remain for 30 days. The situation has become critical as the number of hospital beds in Bangkok for seriously ill COVID-19 patients is running short despite the creation of several field hospitals. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Friday that a proposal for a seven-day curfew for all of Bangkok has been rejected for the time being.

Singapore’s new plan to ‘live with covid’ revealed (news.com.au) A country that has been one of the world’s most successful at combating Covid-19 has announced it will soon fundamentally change how it manages the pandemic. The city state of Singapore has stated covid will be treated like other endemic diseases such as flu. There will be no goals of zero transmission. Quarantine will be dumped for travellers and close contact of cases will not have to isolate. It also plans to no longer announce daily case numbers. But you may need to take tests to head to the shops or go to work. Senior Singaporean ministers have said it is the “new normal” of “living with covid”. “The bad news is that Covid-19 may never go away. The good news is that it is possible to live normally with it in our midst,” wrote Singapore’s trade Minister Gan Kim Yong, finance minister Lawrence Wong and health minister Ong Ye Kung said in an editorial in the Straits Times this week.

Riots in Lebanon over economy injure 10 soldiers, protesters (AP) Lebanese troops deployed in the northern city of Tripoli early Sunday taking positions around major state institutions after a night of protests and riots against worsening living conditions left several protesters and 10 soldiers injured. Sporadic protests were reported throughout Lebanon on Saturday as the country’s 20-month economic crisis worsened. The World Bank described the crisis as one of the worst the world has witnessed in 150 years. It is coupled with a political deadlock that has left Lebanon without a government since August. Lebanon has been suffering severe shortages of vital products including fuel, medicine and medical products, angering the public.

Blinken, Lapid meet in Rome amid reset US-Israel relations (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will meet in Rome on Sunday as their new governments look to turn the page on former President Donald Trump and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose close alliance aggravated partisan divisions within both countries. Now, with Trump sidelined in Florida and Netanyahu leading the opposition, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are focused on pragmatic diplomacy rather than dramatic initiatives that risk fomenting opposition at home or distracting from other priorities. That approach—of managing the conflict rather than trying to solve it—may succeed in papering over domestic divisions. But it also maintains a status quo that the Palestinians find increasingly oppressive and hopeless, and which has fueled countless cycles of unrest. Officials expect there will be little settlement expansion beyond so-called “natural growth.” But that’s a vaguely defined term that could allow for considerable construction, as well as moving ahead with major infrastructure projects that pave the way for explosive future growth.

Ethiopia airstrike survivors recall massacre (AP) Maerg was serving customers at his cafe in Ethiopia’s Tigray village of Togoga when the military airstrike occurred, filling the room with dust and bringing down debris that struck him on the head. “Everything was covered in black smoke, it was like a hell,” he told The Associated Press by phone, recounting one of the deadliest attacks in the Tigray conflict. “There was so much blood.” Seven people were killed in his cafe alone, and some 30 were wounded, including his sister-in-law, who suffered burns on her face, hands and legs. Outside, he said, he saw dozens more bodies. As time passed, he watched in horror as survivors realized that Ethiopian soldiers were blocking medical aid from arriving. Such witness accounts are emerging after Ethiopia’s military has said it was responsible for the airstrike that struck Togoga’s busy marketplace on Tuesday, which health officials said killed at least 64 people and injured dozens more. Many died when soldiers blocked medical teams from reaching them, or from taking them to hospitals in the regional capital, Mekele, just 60 kilometers (37 miles) away, health workers said. Most of the victims were women and children, said a doctor who treated people at the scene.

South Africa resumes restrictions to fight surge (AP) South Africa has reintroduced tough restrictions including a ban on alcohol sales and an extended nightly curfew as it fights a fast-increasing surge of COVID-19 cases. President Cyril Ramaphosa says the delta variant that was first discovered in India appears to be driving South Africa’s new increase.

#headlines #news

[kansascityhappenings]

Officials now say 9 people are dead after tornado ripped through Nashville

NASHVILLE — Middle Tennessee was hit by tornado overnight Monday into Tuesday morning after severe storms moved through the area.

The tornado passed through downtown Nashville around 1 a.m. The path of the storm traveled almost exactly to a 1998 tornado that hit East Nashville.

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Some of the hardest-hit areas in the storm include Centennial Blvd and Briley Parkway in West Nashville, where there were reports of heavy damage to planes at John C. Tune Airport. Several hangars have been destroyed and power lines are down. The public is advised to say away from John C. Tune until further notice.

Overturned tractor-trailers littered the interstates on Interstate 24 near Antioch and Interstate 40 near Mt. Juliet.

Metro Nashville Public Schools are closed Tuesday.

Metro Schools will be closed on Tuesday, March 3 due to the tornado damage throughout Nashville. District offices will remain open and 12 month employees should report. More information on school closures available at https://t.co/JYTaiJb2ph

— Metro Schools (@MetroSchools) March 3, 2020

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Longtime businesses such as Basement East in East Nashville and Jack Brown’s in Germantown were flattened. Five Points neighborhood in East Nashville is reportedly half-destroyed.

WKRN confirmed nine people have so far been killed in the storms including one in Benton County when a mobile home was picked up and thrown into a field. Two of the other victims were in Nashville. Four of the victims were in Putnam County and two addition victims were in Wilson County.

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Stones River Bridge in Hermitage (Source: Elbert Tucker)

9th Avenue North (Source: Julia Palazzo)

9th Avenue North (Source: Julia Palazzo)

9th Avenue North (Source: Julia Palazzo)

9th Avenue North (Source: Julia Palazzo)

9th Avenue North (Source: Julia Palazzo)

9th Avenue North (Source: Julia Palazzo)

9th Avenue North (Source: Julia Palazzo)

9th Avenue North (Source: Julia Palazzo)

9th Avenue North (Source: Julia Palazzo)

Funnel Cloud (Source: Zak Delaney)

Five Points / North 10th Street (Source: Stassy Olmos)

Jack Browns in Germantown (Source: Stassy Olmos

Camden Hail (Source: Susan Davis)

Basement East in East Nashville (Source: Stassy Olmos)

Donelson Christian Elementary (Source: Megan Armstrong)

Mt. Juliet (Source: Larry Walker)

Mt. Juliet (Source: Larry Walker)

East Nashville YMCA (Source: Colleen Hoy)

East Nashville High Garden on Woodland (Source: Colleen Hoy)

Boom Bozz Patio in East Nashville (Source: Colleen Hoy)

East Nashville / Five Points (Source: Colleen Hoy)

Monroe and 10th

East Nashville damage

East Nashville damage

East Nashville damage

Camden Hail (Source: Susan Davis)

Jack Browns in Germantown (Source: Stassy Olmos)

Five Points / North 10th Street (Source: Stassy Olmos)

Funnel Cloud (Source: Zak Delaney)

Nashville EOC was partially activated Tuesday morning to respond to emergency calls and damage following the severe weather. Representatives from OEM, Nashville Fire Department, Mayor’s Office, Metropolitan Police Department, Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, Metro Water Services, Metro Storm Water, Metro Public Works, Emergency Communications, Metro Nashville Public Schools, Metro ITS, Planning/GIS Department, Metro Codes, Engineers as well as NES are gathering in the EOC to monitor damage reports and respond to emergency calls around the county.

SEE ALSO: Super Tuesday polling locations impacted by severe weather

Mt. Juliet was also hard hit with multiple people reportedly injured and multiple homes damaged.

We have deputies across the county on foot checking multiple residences and businesses that have been damaged. We ask everyone to stay in your homes and not venture out at the moment to see the damage to allow roadways free to all first responders.

— Wilson Co Sheriff (@wilsonsheriff) March 3, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

An emergency shelter with running water is open for residents displaced by the storms at Nashville Farmer’s Market on 900 Rosa L. Parks Blvd in Nashville.

The @RedCrossTN has been notified and is responding to help displaced residents. A shelter is open at the Nashville Farmers 900 Rosa Parks.

— Nashville EOC/OEM (@NashvilleEOC) March 3, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton reports multiple homes were damaged and several people were injured in that area.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/news/at-least-6-dead-after-tornado-rips-through-nashville/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2020/03/03/officials-now-say-9-people-are-dead-after-tornado-ripped-through-nashville/

[azeeshanfan]

30 killed in triple suicide bombing in northeast Nigeria

Thirty people were killed late on Sunday in a triple suicide bombing in northeast Nigeria, emergency services reported, in an attack bearing the hallmarks of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

Three bombers detonated their explosives outside a hall in Konduga, 38 kilometres from the Borno state capital Maiduguri, where football fans were watching a match on TV.

“The death toll from the attack has so far increased to 30. We have over 40 people injured,” Usman Kachalla, head of operations at the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), said on Monday.

An earlier toll from the blasts, the bloodiest in months, gave 17 dead and 17 wounded.

The attack happened around 9pm (local time), Ali Hassan, the leader of a self-defence group in the town, said.

The owner of hall prevented one of the bombers from entering the packed venue.

“There was a heated argument between the operator and the bomber who blew himself up,” Hassan said by phone.

Two other bombers who had mingled among the crowd at a tea stall nearby also detonated their suicide vests. Hassan said most of the victims were from outside the soccer viewing centre.

“Nine people died on the spot, including the operator, and 48 were injured,” Hassan said.

Kachala said the high number of fatalities was because emergency responders had been unable to reach the site of the blast quickly. Nor were they equipped to deal with large numbers of wounded.

“Lack of an appropriate health facility to handle such huge emergency situation and the delay in obtaining security clearance to enable us deploy from Maiduguri in good time led to the high death toll,” he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack bore the imprint of Boko Haram, which has led a decade-long campaign to establish a hardline extremist state in northeast Nigeria.

The last suicide attack was in April this year when two female suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the garrison town of Monguno, killing a soldier and a vigilante and injuring another soldier.

Konduga has been repeatedly targeted by suicide bombers from a Boko Haram faction loyal to longtime leader Abubakar Shekau.

The faction typically carries out suicide attacks against soft civilian targets such as mosques, markets and bus stations, often using young women and girls as bombers.

The terrorists are believed to sneak into the town from the group’s haven in nearby Sambisa forest.

Eight worshippers were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in the town last July.

Boko Haram insurgency has claimed 27,000 lives and forced some two million to flee their homes.

The violence has spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting the formation of a regional military coalition to battle the insurgents.

The post 30 killed in triple suicide bombing in northeast Nigeria appeared first on ARYNEWS.

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[turkiyeecom]

Two teen boys murdered in south London 12 minutes apart

A man in his 30s has been stabbed to death in broad daylight on a London street, marking the third murder to hang over the capital in a blood-soaked 24 hours.  Just before 5pm yesterday an 18-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man were killed in separate attacks just 12 minutes apart, within 12 miles of each other, in south London. Three men were also found stabbed and slashed in Clapham around 3am this morning, but managed to escape with their lives. Police are yet to make any arrests following this afternoon's murder on Alton Street, Poplar, the 59th to rock the capital, but 14 people - including nine males aged between 16 and 19, and a girl aged 17 - were arrested last night in connection with the attacks.  Police and forensics officers at the scene in Tower Hamlets, East London after a man suffered stab injuries this afternoon and was pronounced dead A fleet of police cars pull up following this afternoon's murder on Alton Street, Poplar, the 59th to rock the capital Police are yet to make any arrests but forensics officers are working on the crime scene An air ambulance in attendance after a man in his 30s was stabbed in Tower Hamlets, London, this afternoon. He died 40 minutes after being attacked An ambulance and police car in attendance at the stabbing in Tower Hamlets, the third to rock the capital in 24 hours The body of a teenage boy after he was stabbed to death in Wandsworth shortly before 4pm yesterday. He was attacked just 12 minutes before a second victim was shot in a car park in Plumstead, just 12 miles away

Jan 1: Charlotte Huggins, 32, CamberwellJan 1: Tudor Simionov, 33, MayfairJan 4: Simbiso Aretha Moula, 39, RainhamJan 6: Sarah Ashraf, 35, Isle of DogsJan 7: Jayden Moody, 14, Waltham ForestJan 11: Asma Begum, 31, Canning TownJan 27: Kamil Malysz, 34, ActonJan 29: Nedim Bilgin, 17, IslingtonFeb 4: Carl Thorpe, 46, HighgateFeb 5: Lejean Richards, 19, BatterseaFeb 10: Dennis Anderson, 39, East DulwichFeb 18: Bright Akinlele, 22, CamdenFeb 19: Brian Wieland, 69, ChingfordFeb 21: Glendon Spence, 23, BrixtonFeb 22: Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, 19, Wood GreenFeb 25: David Lopez-Fernandez, 38, Tower HamletsFeb 26: Che Morrison, 20, IlfordMar 1: Jodie Chesney, 17, Harold HillMar 2: Elize Linda Stevens, 50, HendonMar 2: Jolia Bogdan, 3 months, CroydonMar 3: Unnamed man, 37, SohoMar 6: Laureline Garcia-Bertaux, 34, KewMar 6: David Martinez, 26, LeytonMar 7: Antoinette Donnegan, 52, BatterseaMar 7: Ayub Hassan, 17, West KensingtonMar 16: Nathaniel Armstrong, 29, FulhamMar 22: Abdirashid Mohamoud, 17, IsleworthMar 24: Ravi Katharkamar, 54, PinnerMar 27: Ramane Richard Wiggan, 25, West NorwoodMar 28: Zahir Visiter, 25, Regents ParkMar 29: Gavin Garraway, 40, ClaphamApr 1: Calvin Bungisa, 22, Kentish TownApr 2: Hubert Hall, 60, WalthamstowApr 7: Annabelle Lancaster, 22, EnfieldApr 8: Noore Bashir Salad, 22, Manor ParkApr 16: Gopinath Kasivisuwanathan, 27, WembleyApr 17: Steven Brown, 47, Stoke NewingtonApr 23: Meshak Williams, 21, HarlesdenApr 26: Mihrican Mustafa, 38, Canning TownApr 26: Henriett Szucs, 34, Canning TownApr 26: Amy Parsons, 35, WhitechapelApr 26: Joshua White, 29, HackneyMay 1: Tashaun Aird, 15, HackneyMay 5: Constantin Sin, 51, LeytonstoneMay 5: Junior Urugbezi-Edwards, 18, SouthwarkMay 11: Erik San-Filippo, 23, IslingtonMay 16: Barrington Davis, 54, LewishamMay 23: Vladimir Koudriavtsev, 69, KensingtonMay 23: Tatiana Koudriavtsev, 68, KensingtonMay 25: Iderval da Silva, 46, BatterseaMay 26: Alimal Islam, 23, Tower HamletsMay 28: Ismaila Ceesay, 33, Forest GateMay 30: Steven Kennedy, 61, Plaistow ParkMay 30: Graham Howe, 52, HarrowJune 1: Baris Kucuk, 33, HaringeyJune 4: Adrian Murphy, 43, BatterseaJune 14: Unnamed boy, WandsworthJune 14: Unnamed boy, PlumsteadJune 15: Unnamed man, Tower Hamlets Crime officers were then seen searching for evidence in Plumstead, south east London, following the fatal shooting Medical equipment was photographed today at the scene of the attack in Deeside Road, Wandsworth, where police continue to investigate The man in his 30s was pronounced dead at the scene, some 40 minutes after he was stabbed at 2pm. A crime scene is now in place and officers have said they are planning to notify his next of kin. A spokesman said they are keeping an 'open mind' as to the motive for the stabbings.  Some 90 minutes later, a man in his 40s was stabbed in the chest in Edmonton, north London.   The victim suffered a single stab wound to the chest and was airlifted to hospital where he is in a critical but stable condition.  The incident happened at 3.30pm in North Square, Edmonton, north London.  Officers from Enfield are investigating the incident.  So far there have not been any arrests.  Scotland Yard confirmed they are seeking to speak with anyone who may have witnessed the attack.  Anyone with information is asked to call Enfield police station on 101 quoting CAD5047/15JUN, Tweet @MetCC or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.  A man in his 40s was stabbed and critically injured in an attack in Edmonton, north London at 3.30pm today. The victim was taken to hospital where he is being treated for his injuries The first victim in 24 hours of blood-letting was stabbed on Deeside Road, Wandsworth, at 4.42pm on Friday, and died a short time later. Emergency services battled to save the boy's life but he succumbed to his wounds at the scene. The second boy was shot dead in a car park on Hartville Road, Plumstead at 4.54pm, some 12 miles away. A police tent has been erected near the scene in Deeside road. A teenager was stabbed to death just before 5pm last night Flowers were left at the scene in Deeside road this morning following the murder Three men and a woman have been arrested in connection with yesterday's Plumstead murder Then three men were found with stab and slash injuries at 3.22am on Bedford Road, Clapham. The condition of two of the men is unknown, but a third man has been reported as having non-life threatening injuries.  Murdered schoolboy's father says young people 'have not learned their lessons' The father of murdered schoolboy Damilola Taylor has said young people still have not learned lessons from his son's death. Speaking at a conference in central London on gun and knife crime, Mr Taylor said: 'Young people have taken life as if it's something to play with'. 'In our work in the past 15 years at the Damilola Taylor Trust, we have found that the problem that underpins the continuous surge in knife crime in the city of London is based on issues around family neglect. Damilola Taylor was found bleeding to death in a stairwell near his home in Peckham, south London, in 2000 'The family issue has often contributed to young people being neglected from home as a result of a dysfunctional home. 'Secondly, part of the discussion that has been emphasised here is that the problem starts in schools as a result of the schools not understanding the background of these children.' He also criticised Boris Johnson during his time as London Mayor. 'Boris Johnson at City Hall, he did his best and what he didn't understand, how to deal with the black community. 'He didn't know the difference between African and Caribbean, he didn't understand what is called the postcode community. He was asking, 'What is the postcode?' - because he wasn't on the ground. Damilola was found bleeding to death in a stairwell near his home in Peckham, south London, after being stabbed in the leg with a broken beer bottle by a gang of youths in 2000.  Flowers were left by members of the public at the scene in Deeside road this morning.  Last night's murders were the 57th and 58th to hit the capital since 43-year-old Adrian Murphy was stabbed in a block of flats in Battersea 11 days ago. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been criticised for failing to get London's knife crime under control. The city already looks set to meet last year's killing record, where 132 people were killed in 2018.  It exceeded the count for the year before in early November 2018.  Police said that eight males, aged between 16 and 19, have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the Wandsworth stabbing and Plumstead shooting, and remain in custody at west London police stations. Two boys aged 16 and a 17-year-old boy were arrested following the Plumstead shooting alongside a 17-year-old girl.   They were taken to separate police stations for questioning.  In the early hours of this morning an additional four men were arrested in relation to the Clapham stabbing.  Two were taken into custody for violent disorder while one was arrested for carrying a bladed instrument and a fourth for possession of a taser. Police have been trying to notify both murder victims' next of kin. A post mortem will be carried out in each case.  Marina Paget, 22, who lives near the crime scene in Deeside road, Wandsworth, said: 'I walked past at 2.30pm and I didn't see anything, but when I came back from work at 5.30pm it was all going on. 'I walked past I saw what looked like the body on the floor covered in a bag and there were 50 people around, loads of people, two or three ambulances.' London Mayor has been under pressure to get attacks under control as the capital heads for another record year of deaths on its streets. During his state visit, Donald Trump criticised Khan's handling of the situation. Lashing out after the Mayor wrote a piece in The Guardian accusing the US President of using the tactics of a 20th century fascist, Trump said Khan should 'focus on crime in London, not me'. He also said: 'Khan reminds me very much of our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of New York City, de Blasio, who has also done a terrible job - only half his height.'  Officers pictured at the scene where three men were stabbed on Bedford road, Clapham, at 3.22am this morning during another night of bloodshed in the capital Four men were arrested in relation to the Clapham stabbing - two for violent disorder, one after being accused of carrying a bladed instrument and another for possession of a taser. A teenage boy was stabbed to death in Deeside Road, Wandsworth at 16.42 yesterday. A second teenage boy was shot dead at 16.54 in a car park on Hartville Road, Plumstead. On Saturday, three men were stabbed in the early hours of the morning, while a man was murdered at 2pm in Poplar. A man in his 40s was stabbed in the chest 90 minutes later in Edmonton Forensic teams examine evidence at the stabbing scene in Deeside road, Wandsworth A police tent near the scene in Deeside road, Wandsworth, after a teenager was fatally stabbed on Friday evening This morning TfL re-routed buses away from Bedford road in Clapham after it was closed due to the stabbing of three men A police officer climbs out of a van on Hartville Road, Plumstead. A teenage boy was shot in a car park just before 5pm yesterday afternoon, 12 minutes after the first attack in Wandsworth Just 12 minutes after the fatal stabbing a teenage boy was shot dead in a car park in Hartville Road, Plumstead, shortly before 5pm Speaking about the Wandsworth attack, superintendent Richard Smith said the events are a 'stark reminder' that carrying a knife can 'easily result in the taking of someone's life'.  'A young man died in the most tragic of circumstances and our thoughts remain with his family', he said. 'Officers will be patrolling the area throughout the weekend and are available to speak to residents if they have any concerns.' Appealing for information in relation to the Plumstead attack, detective inspector John Marriot said: 'The shooting took place not far from Plumstead railway station and I would urge anyone who was commuting to or from this station to speak with us. 'It was also sunny at the time and a number of people would have been enjoying the weather in the area of Plumstead gardens; I need you to come forward.'  A Met spokesman said: 'Police were called to Deeside Road, SW17 at 1642hrs on Friday, June 14 following reports of a stabbing. Officers and London Ambulance Service attended and found a male, believed to be aged in his late teens in a critical condition. 'He died at the scene a short while later. 'A crime scene remains in place and police are appealing for anyone with information on what happened to call them urgently on 101 quoting CAD reference 5877/14June.' Detectives confirmed they are following a number of leads.  Scotland Yard warned local residents in Wandsworth and Plumstead that they will see a heavy police presence as a result of both crimes. Police told ITV News that a cordon will remain in place on Bedford road, Clapham, until it becomes clear whether the stabbings were fatal. A large crime scene has been established around the scene of yesterday's fatal shooting Forensic officers worked through the night at the scene of yesterday's fatal stabbing on Deeside Road, Wandsworth. A teenage boy was attacked at 4.42pm and died a short time later The Metropolitan police have warned that there will be a large police presence in the area following the attack Six men were arrested by officers in connection to the stabbing last night in Wandsworth Mayor of London Sadiq Khan released a statement condemning the murders.  He said: 'I am sickened to hear that two young lives have been ended within minutes of each other in Wandsworth and Greenwich. 'Our overstretched police are working around the clock to keep Londoners safe. They need our support to end this scourge of violence. 'I am in close contact with the Metropolitan Police and locally elected representatives. 'Anybody who has information about what happened either in Wandsworth or Greenwich should do the right thing and call the police, either on 101 or anonymously, through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.' Tooting MP Rosena Allin-Khan said the murder on Deeside road was 'heartbreaking' and 'absolutely tragic'.  'My heart goes out to the family of this victim after this absolutely tragic incident," she wrote on Twitter. 'I spoke at length with people on the Aboyne Estate tonight, anyone with concerns can contact me - I'm here to listen. 'Sending love to the Tooting family tonight - this is heartbreaking.' Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, pictured yesterday at a service of remembrance for Grenfell condemned the murders and called on anyone with information on the killings to contact police or Crimestoppers immediately Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. Read More Read the full article

#breakingnews #murdered #news #south

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/world/libya-crisis-un-warns-attacks-on-civilians-may-amount-to-war-crimes/

Libya crisis: UN warns attacks on civilians may amount to war crimes

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption Forces loyal to the UN-backed government prepare to go to the front line

The UN’s human rights commissioner has warned attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Libya could amount to war crimes.

Michelle Bachelet said all parties to the conflict must make every effort to protect civilians.

Some 47 people, including civilians, have been killed over the past three days, says the WHO, as rebel forces seek to take the capital, Tripoli.

On Monday, an air strike closed the city’s only functioning airport.

Why is Libya so lawless?

Who is military strongman Khalifa Haftar?

Libya has been torn by violence, political instability and power struggles since long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011.

What has Ms Bachelet said?

The rights commissioner said that the people of Libya “have long been caught between numerous warring parties, with some of the most vulnerable suffering some of the gravest violations of their human rights”.

She said: “The attack near Mitiga airport [on Monday] that left many civilians in Tripoli stranded brought into stark focus the imperative for all parties to respect international humanitarian law, and to take all possible measures to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and prisons.”

What are the latest casualties?

As well as the 47 deaths, 181 people were said to have been injured in recent clashes, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

That was a higher toll than numbers given by either side, and appeared to be mainly fighters, it said.

Nine of the dead were civilians, including two doctors who it said had been “providing critically needed services to civilians in Tripoli. One doctor was reportedly killed while working as part of a field ambulance service”.

The WHO said it had documented more than 40 attacks on health services in Libya over the course of 2018 and 2019. Targeted attacks on health services were a violation of international law, the organisation said.

At least 2,800 people have so far fled fighting around Tripoli, the UN says.

It also warns that those who remain risk being cut off from vital services because of the clashes.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionNo casualties were reported in the air strike on Mitiga airport

Much of the international community, including the US, has called for a ceasefire.

The US military is among those to withdraw its supporting forces based in the country, blaming the “complex and unpredictable” situation and “increased unrest” on the ground.

The UN is also due to pull out non-essential staff.

Who is fighting?

Gen Khalifa Haftar, who leads the Libyan National Army (LNA) from a stronghold in the east, declared an offensive to take control of Tripoli from Libya’s UN-backed government last week.

Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, the head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), has accused him of attempting to carry out a coup.

The GNA was created from peace talks in 2015 but has struggled to take control of the country.

Gen Haftar helped Gaddafi seize power in 1969 before falling out with him and going into exile in the US.

Image copyright AFP

Image caption Gen Haftar has ordered his forces to advance on Tripoli

He then returned when the uprising against Gaddafi began and became a rebel commander.

His LNA troops have continued to make advances, seizing the south of Libya and its oil fields earlier this year.

UN-backed talks between the rival governments had been scheduled for 14-16 April to discuss a roadmap for new elections, but it is now unclear if these will still take place.

Mr Serraj said he had offered concessions to Gen Haftar to avoid bloodshed, only to be “stabbed in the back”.

[everyonesomething]

Session Nine

The Lich turns and stares at the car. Then back at Grim. Then back at the car.

The Lich: "Well."

Pepper: "I think you just broke about the only thing it cared about."

Edith Runekill makes a face like :D

The Lich: "That's extremely irritating."

Edith Runekill: And then: >:D

Malkas: "Nice shot. Now we all die?"

In this session we make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's mold...y. Moldy. Because it's a lich.

The set-up: We head downtown and under downtown looking for hints about the lich's whereabouts in Waterdeep.

The Game: Everyone enjoys a leisurely breakfast at the Steele household, then it's off to the local dispatch office to check in on the lich situation. The lichuation. The lich situation. The office is in a bit of a panic—dealing with a lich is not high on anybody's list. They figure they've got him contained to a building downtown and are hoping someone can take him by surprise going in under it through the sewer system.

Grim knows from experience that there is Always goddamn sewer access

Pepper motions at Grim, "Might wanna find a locker for your things, I think."

Grim completely and blatantly ignores Pepper.

Rude.

The office informs us they only managed to find the lich while scrying for a missing employee—he went down into the sewer a few days before and hasn't been seen since. Also he had their only map of the labyrinthine Waterdeep sewer system.

Grim: "You had one map"

Helia (GM): "We normally don't have ANY map."

Grim: "Public funds at work, huh."

Edith Runekill laughs. A bit too loudly.

Helia (GM): "Listen hat, this ain't the sanitation department. Now do you want to shoot a lich in the face or don't ya?"

Grim looks at Edith and then at Mal like is she ok

Grim: "You're lucky I do, pencil-neck."

Malkas just smirks at Edith and gives kind of a shrug at Grim.

Grim cannot believe the incompetence of public officials in the city

Sydney Gaydos: "Not to worry Gumshoes! You have the Great Detective, and she does not need any map for directions."

Pepper looks impressed, "You've got the whole sewer system memorized?"

Sydney Gaydos proudly. "Yes she does!" no she doesn't.

This is gonna go great.

We get into the sewer—luckily it's the storm overflow kind and not the sewage kind—and Grim spots a mystery light down one of the access tunnels. Before we can investigate, we hear a voice calling for help. The voice identifies himself as Steven, the missing city worker the dispatch office was talking about. He's injured and trapped behind a locked gate. While we follow his voice, the light keeps dancing in and out of view—once it phases through a wall it's clear that whatever it is has nothing to do with Steven.

We find Steven, who is indeed trapped behind a gate in a dead-end tunnel. Also he's a Beholder. But it's 1933 and they aren't all so terrifying anymore, depending on how you feel about bureaucratic nerds.

He tells us he was chasing off some undead (40 ghouls! Regrettably, Steven does not join the party) in the sewers when bad luck shut the gate behind him and he doesn't have the key. Mal picks the lock and lets him out, then we fill him in on the situation. He agrees to help us—unlike Sydney he does have the sewer system memorized—and off we go again.

We enter a small antechamber and find our mystery light hovering in the center of the room. Edith identifies it as a will o' wisp.

Then it electrocutes Grim. Then we murder it. Then some group bonding!

Grim lights a cigarette, her fingers still shaking a little from that cool electric shock

Malkas: "Do you need a breather?"

Grim looks at Edith like Mal must be talking to her

Malkas is looking at Grim. "That looked like it hurt."

Grim takes a moment to realise she is the one being addressed

Edith Runekill: "That thing got you pretty bad..."

Edith Runekill looks concerned.

Grim: "Takes more than that to put a dent in me. Let's not waste time down here."

In response, there's a sudden feeling of Wrong that hits our spellcasters—that's Edith, Sydney, and Pepper. Being a paladin, Sydney clarifies that it's Evil and Wrong and just up the stairs above us. Grim, having the most initiative and cunning of us all, goes to check it out.

Grim drops the grate hatch on the floor with a spectacular clang.

And now the lich knows we're there.

We find ourselves in a garage with it, some undead, and the missing car.

The Lich: "Ohh, looks like you have some customers."

The Lich: "You'll have to turn them away. You're busy."

Edith Runekill mumbles a half-remembered prayer to Auril under her breath. Maybe praying to a neutral evil goddess won't help much, though.

Grim: "Reckon our business is with you, actually"

Edith Runekill: "Y... yeah!"

"We got a bone to pick with you!"

Pepper: "This. Is not. The time for jokes."

Grim just looks at Edith

Edith Runekill: "What did I just... oh."

Edith Runekill just wanted to look cool and brave.

The lich fires off an attack at Edith, but it's neutralized by the anti magic field Steven puts up around us. Bless you, Steven.

Grim, our party diplomat, takes point.

Grim addresses the lich

Grim: "You got a name?"

The Lich: "Oh, I imagine so."

Grim: "You wanna share it?"

The Lich approaches, "Not particularly."

Grim: "If we're gonna do this cat and mouse bullshit, seems polite to get acquainted."

The Lich: "Why don't you call me ... Lord Nasher?"

The Lich laughs.

Grim: "Couple reasons, but I guess you know 'em."

Edith Runekill: "S-somehow I can't quite believe that."

The Lich: "And you say you're Grim. Ha. You wasteland dregs never did have much imagination."

Grim pulls the trigger at the Lich, but her shot goes wild.

Our uh. Diplomat.

Hm.

To be fair, having a lich read your mind and then insult you based on what he finds would throw anyone off their game. Which is why Grim just goes to punch his gross skeleton face, next. As luck would have it, she slips in a pool of oil before she gets to him and just settles for spitting insults and just spitting.

The Lich: "Oh! And here I thought the future would be dull. What funny little children you are!"

Grim: "Motherfucker, I am gonna put you so far in the ground the gods couldn't raise you."

The Lich: "The gods couldn't kill me, Little Grim."

Grim: "That's why they sent me."

The Lich: "Oh you had THAT one in the chamber, didn't you?"

Edith Runekill: "You're... you're gonna regret hurting those people back in Neverwinter, you... you..."

The Lich: "You know, that really was just bad luck. I would have much preferred them in one piece.” He turns to Pepper. “But... you know how magic is, sometimes."

Pepper grins wide. "Can't make a pizza without splattering some tomatoes right?"

The Lich laughs genially at Pepper, "Oh, but we do our best. Don't we?"

Edith Runekill: "We're... gonna put you deeper underground than a... a Waterdeep pizza???"

Sydney Gaydos "...!" She puts herself between Pepper and the Lich's line of sight.

Edith Runekill: "Help me out here, Pepper," she hisses, "You always make this look so easy."

Malkas: "Its fine babe that was good i love you its fine"

Grim: "What do you want, bones?"

The Lich: "I'm just hear to get this wonderful mechanical beast fixed."

The Lich: "And the living proved ... less than agreeable."

"So."

Grim looks towards the car and suddenly perks up

Grim then neatly and spectacularly puts a bullet into the car's engine block. For diplomatic purposes.

Now the lich has to talk to us. Ha ha! He taunts us in that usual “I'm hundreds and hundreds of years old and supremely evil” sort of way and Edith takes some wild stabs at who he really is. We're not exactly sure if she's right, but he seems impressed by her all the same.

Edith Runekill: "What's your angle? Trying to bring back the good ol' days? Zulkirs bossing everyone around? Gonna be the next Szass Tam?"

The Lich: "The next?"

Edith Runekill: "Oh."

"i think"

"we might be in trouble"

"more so, i mean"

The Lich: "You have a good head on your shoulders, Edith Runekill. I'd hate to remove it."

Edith Runekill touches her neck, without really noticing.

Edith Runekill: "You were so bad even the Zulkirs wouldn't fall in line, Tam. Five to six were against making you regent, was it?"

"Even Old Thay was disgusted with you."

"And Old Thay was pretty awful!"

Szass Tam: "Lovely to know my legacy is still known."

Szass Tam: "You're a clever girl, aren't you?"

Szass Tam is utterly focused on Edith, "You know, the gift of Undeath...."

Szass Tam: "It is nothing to fear."

Malkas steps fully in front of Edith now.

Edith Runekill looks him right in the eye.

Edith Runekill: "Fuck you."

Grim smirks

Szass Tam cackles.

You could've had a friend and an exciting new career path, Edith!

Szass Tam, our lich buddy, tells us he's off to Baldur's Gate and gets some of his helpful ghouls to push the now non-functional car through a portal. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

Until some of the undead mechanics left behind attack us. They really give us a good wallop this time around, but ever-faithful Millicent is there to help us not die.

Canned Cleric: "holy shit"

Grim would not admit it but that actually feels Considerably less terrible

Edith Runekill: "Millicent!"

"We love you!"

Canned Cleric: "yeah!"

Pepper: "I'm getting you a whole can of oil when we're done."

After a rough start, we get our footing back in the back half of the fight with the usual: Sydney smashing, Mal and Grim shooting, and Pepper and Edith blowing them up with magic. We make it through to the end, though Edith's hat is a casualty of being burnt to cinders. We nearly died, but Edith and Mal offer us a soothing balm in the form of a history lesson.

Malkas: "Szass Tam was the regent Lord of Thay."

Malkas: "Did a whole Coup of it during the spellplague. Marched his undead armies across the land."

Edith Runekill: "After a protracted power struggle with the zuliks, who were a council of wizards who ruled Thay."

Edith Runekill: "And, I mean, they were still Thay wizards? They were still really, really powerful, and really, really evil. But... less so than Tam."

"Hm, would his phylactery be in Thay, still? Whaddaya think, Mal?"

Malkas: "That's who that guy is. Ancient, evil and basically undefeated."

Edith Runekill: "All this happened a few centuries after my usual period."

Malkas nods, "Yeah but ... Thay's not like it used to be. Who even knows what happened to it. It could be interred in the basement of Carnival Carnival."

Edith Runekill: "Late 1300s, or thereabouts."

"The end of his reign is a bit murky."

Back at the office the city clerics patch us up and we make plans for what to do next. Edith and Mal are going to call their museum colleagues for any information on Thay and possible lich or phylactery findings. Then some more group bonding? Some more group bonding!

Grim: "Been a while since I had backs between me 'n trouble."

Edith Runekill: "Ah," Edith says.

Edith Runekill: "Must be hard runnin' around with... well, with a bunch of chatterboxes like us, huh?"

Malkas untucks his pants from his boots.

Grim: "Yep."

Malkas looks 80% less dorky.

Pepper: "You don't talk THAT much, Edith."

Edith Runekill rolls her eyes, laughing.

Malkas snags her cigarette.

Edith Runekill: "You talk soooo much!! I kinda admire it, really. Like, even in fights and stuff, you're just making jokes? You keep your cool."

"I tried to calm myself down like that and look how it turned out."

Pepper sniffs, it was meant to be a compliment.

Malkas: "Maybe it's a panic response."

Edith Runekill: "'We've got a bone to pick with you?' What was that, Edith? What were you thinking?"

Pepper grins "If I'm talking, I'm not dead right?"

Grim: "Train will get us to Baldur's Gate. Next direct one leaves tomorrow."

Malkas: "Well. That'll be the next stop."

Edith Runekill: "So we got some time to catch our breath."

Grim: "Best supply up while we can."

Edith Runekill: "I need new clothes. Don't really... don't want Ocila to see me looking like this."

Malkas: "Want to go look at hats? If we go back home without, like, shopping bags, my parents will ask what the hell we did."

Edith Runekill: "She'd worry."

Pepper: "I'm all for lying to Mal's mother."

Malkas: "And then they'd ground their twenty four year old son."

Grim looks at Pepper. The one person she has not warmed up to whatsoever.

Bonding!

Here's some more lich quotes that didn't fit in above but I couldn't leave them out.

The Lich: "Whatever a Pizza is."

Szass Tam: "Oh. I'm jumping the crossbow anyway, aren't I?"

Edith Runekill: From behind Mal.

"Come on, you know what a gun is."

Szass Tam leans against the car and picks up a discarded pair of sunglasses off a shelf.

Szass Tam puts them on.

Szass Tam: B)

#previously on #summary #neverwinter 1933