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IMPORTANT
| | | Unrelenting | Putin Fights Dirty as Ukraine Heaps Pressure on Retreating Russians According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Ukrainian troops have pushed Russian forces all the way back to their own border in some parts of northeastern Ukraine. “From the beginning of September until today, our soldiers have already liberated more than 6,000 square kilometers of the territory of Ukraine,” he said late Monday. “The movement of our troops continues.” While many of Zelenskyy’s claims could not be independently verified, British intelligence said that “it will likely take years for Russia to rebuild” its much-vaunted 1st Guards Tank Army. The Kremlin retaliated in characteristic fashion by shelling civilian infrastructure and power supplies. (Source: AP) |
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| | | | | Climate Calamity | Pakistan Hurries to Protect Critical Power Station From Floodwaters Troops are frantically trying to strengthen a dike built around a power station in Dadu, Sindh province, that supplies electricity to millions of people across six provincial districts. Pakistan’s meteorological department forecast more rain, posing further risk to those already displaced by flooding. Sindh has received 466% more rainfall than average and experts warn that the resulting education and health crisis will put children at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, as infrastructure is washed away. “If rains come where would we go?” asked Muhammad Hasan. “We are sitting under open sky, we don’t know what to eat, what to cook.” (Sources: The Guardian, Al Jazeera) |
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| | | Special Master | Justice Dept. Says it Would Accept Trump Nominee, Ball in Judge’s Court The Justice Department indicated Monday that it would agree to former chief federal judge Raymond Dearie being named the special master tasked with reviewing documents seized from Mar-a-Lago. He’s the first candidate the government and former President Donald Trump’s team have agreed on. Now it’s up to Judge Aileen Cannon to approve the appointment — and to decide what duties the special master will have and who’ll pay for his services. How she rules will likely determine whether the case gets embroiled in further appeals. The department wants the special master to wrap up in five weeks. Trump’s proposed 90 days. (Sources: WaPo, CNN) |
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| | | Meaningless? | Spotlight on US News as Columbia Drops 16 Spots in College Rankings Last year Columbia University ranked second in the influential U.S. News & World Report college rankings. Now it’s dropped to 18th after one of its professors, Michael Thaddeus, accused his employer of submitting stats that were “inaccurate, dubious or highly misleading.” The school’s admitted to miscalculating some data, leading many to question the trustworthiness of a ranking system that relies on numbers submitted by universities with skin in the game. When asked which ranking Columbia deserved, Thaddeus urged people to focus on the fact “that U.S. News has shown its operations are so shoddy that both of them are meaningless.” (Source: NYT) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Public outpouring. Thousands waited through the night to see the Queen’s coffin at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh. It will remain there until 5 p.m. local time before being flown to London. (Source: BBC) Au revoir. Jean-Luc Godard, the acclaimed director of French New Wave films including Breathless and Alphaville, has died at 91. In 2010 he received an honorary Oscar: “For passion. For confrontation. For a new kind of cinema.” (Source: The Guardian) Monkeypox. The U.S. confirmed its first death attributed to the disease — a severely immunocompromised Los Angeles County resident. There’ve been almost 22,000 confirmed or suspected cases this year. (Source: CNN) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | | | The Emmys | HBO Reasserts its Dominance as ‘White Lotus’ Cleans Up After Netflix’s record-tying performance last year, HBO reclaimed top spot with a strong showing from The White Lotus, which scooped five awards — including best limited series — Monday night to go with the five it claimed at the earlier Creative Arts ceremonies. Other top performers included Apple’s Ted Lasso, a rare back-to-back best comedy winner, and HBO’s Succession, awarded outstanding drama for the second year running. In perhaps the night’s biggest news Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae became the first Asian to win the statuette for best male actor in a drama. All told HBO claimed 38 Emmys, well ahead of Netflix’s 26. (Sources: CNN, BBC) |
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| | | ‘Breach of the Peace’ | Man Arrested for Heckling Prince Andrew at Edinburgh Procession Thousands cheered as Queen Elizabeth II’s hearse made its way down the Royal Mile. But the lone naysayer who shouted “You’re a sick old man,” at Prince Andrew as he strolled behind the vehicle was dragged to the ground by a mourner and arrested. As the heckler was being led away by police he shouted “I’ve done nothing wrong.” On Saturday a woman was arrested for brandishing a sign that read “f--- imperialism, abolish monarchy” before King Charles III’s proclamation. The prime minister’s spokesman told reporters that “the fundamental right to protest remains. It is a keystone of our democracy.” (Source: The Telegraph) |
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| | | What a Way to Go | Australian Man Killed by His Pet Kangaroo The 77-year-old was found with serious injuries at his home in Redmond, Western Australia, Monday. When the kangaroo prevented paramedics from treating the man, police were left with no choice but to shoot the marsupial. The man also died at the scene — the first fatal attack in Australia since 1936. Kangaroos have “a lot of weapons” including powerful legs and sharp teeth and claws, explained animal behavior expert Graeme Coulson. “The problem with kangaroos and people is we’re both upright animals,” he added. “An upright stance like that is a challenge to the male kangaroo.” (Source: BBC) |
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| | | Higher Calling | Meet the Japanese Man Who Gets Paid to Do Nothing Shoji Morimoto used to work at a publishing company. But after being frequently told off for “doing nothing” he started wondering if this might be his true calling. Since 2018 Morimoto has handled 4,000 sessions at $70 a pop. He’s played on a see-saw for cash and waved goodbye to a complete stranger in a departing train. But he declines all requests of a sexual nature and he once refused to move a fridge. “With my friends I feel I have to entertain them, but with the rental guy I don’t feel the need to be chatty,” said client Aruna Chida. (Source: Reuters) |
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| | | DUI | Britt Reid Pleads Guilty in Crash, Victims Outraged by Plea Deal The former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach crashed into two stopped cars on an interstate entrance ramp last year. Ariel Young, a five-year-old girl whose mother had stopped to help a driver with a dead battery, suffered a traumatic brain injury and faces a long road to recovery. Reid’s blood-alcohol level was above the limit two hours after the crash. While he could still serve a short prison sentence, the victims opposed the plea deal. “The defendant is a prior offender whose actions caused a 5-year-old girl to be in a coma and seriously injured three others,” said attorney Tom Porto. (Source: AP) |
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