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President Trump Commutes Roger Stone’s Prison Sentence

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Leading Democrats have condemned President Donald Trump’s decision to commute the prison sentence of his former adviser and friend Roger Stone.

Joe Biden’s spokesman accused President Trump of abuse of power and “laying waste” to US values.

The move – sparing Roger Stone from jail but not a pardon – came just after a court denied Stone’s request to delay the start date of his 40-month prison term.

Roger Stone, 67, was convicted of lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering.

He was the sixth Trump aide found guilty on charges linked to a justice department probe that alleged Russia tried to boost the Trump 2016 campaign.

Roger Stone had been due to report to a federal prison in Jesup, Georgia, on July 14.

The White House said Roger Stone was the victim of an attempt by opponents to undermine the presidency.

President Trump has been accused by political critics of undermining the justice system by criticizing criminal cases against Roger Stone and other former aides.

The president has also publicly complained about the prosecutions of onetime campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

“Donald Trump” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Gage Skidmore

Joe Biden’s spokesman Bill Russo said President Trump could not be shamed and could only be stopped at the ballot box.

“President Trump has once again abused his power, releasing this commutation on a Friday night, hoping to yet again avoid scrutiny as he lays waste to the norms and the values that make our country a shining beacon to the rest of the world,” he said.

House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff condemned President Trump’s clemency.

He said: “With this commutation, Trump makes clear that there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, and one for everyone else.”

Donald Trump Fires Campaign Adviser Roger Stone

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said it showed Donald Trump was the most corrupt president in history.

However, President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, welcomed the news, saying Roger Stone’s sentence was draconian.

Roger Stone himself told reporters that under the terms of the commutation he could now appeal against his sentence, and was confident that he could expose “an enormous amount of corruption” at his trial.

The White House said in a statement: “Roger Stone is a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.”

It said that Department of Justice prosecutors under special counsel Robert Mueller only charged Roger Stone out of frustration after failing to prove the “fantasy” that the Trump campaign had colluded with the Kremlin.

The White House also suggested that the FBI had tipped off CNN about their pre-dawn raid on Roger Stone’s house, noting that a camera crew for the cable network was on the scene to record the arrest.

President Trump had been hinting about a reprieve for Roger Stone for months, including on July 9 in an interview with a Fox News host.

Coronavirus: Protest Rally in Pasadena to Demand the Reopening of Texas Bars

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Press release

Sunday, July 12, 2020 at 4:00 pm

Chuters Dance Hall and Saloon

7337 Spencer Highway

Pasadena, TX 77505

Image source: The Texas Tribune

Tee Allen Parker, the Kilgore bar owner leading the legal fight to reopen Texas bars will be on hand to support Chuters owner James Kopeck and his employees.

Bar owners and employees from all over the Houston area will gather Sunday afternoon to demand the freedom to reopen before any more lives are destroyed.

The Facebook page Texas Bars Fight Back already has 15,000 members.

Here’s Why You Should Use a Storage Unit for Your Next Move

Storage units are for stashing out-of-season clothes, family heirlooms, and holiday decorations during the off-season — they’re not for moving, are they? Actually, renting a storage unit can make your move much easier, because it can give you the extra space you need to store clutter during the staging process, find wiggle room in your moving timeline, and even save on a moving truck.

Stage Your Home                                                                              

Is staging your home the worst part of moving? Maybe not, but it sure is a pain. You have to make your home look streamlined, spotless, and well-appointed — despite the fact that you still live there and so do your kids, pets, and belongings. Where are you supposed to put all of your stuff while you’re staging your home for potential buyers to come in and poke around in your closets? Whether you’re looking for storage units in Spokane or Sarasota, it’s easy to find a cheap unit that’s big enough to store all of your clutter during the staging process.

Adjust Your Moving Timeline

When you have a short window to move out of your old place and into the new, moving can get hectic. But you don’t need to pressure yourself to move all at once. When you rent a storage unit, you can move your stuff a little at a time, so you don’t have to cram your whole move into a few days.

Or maybe you’re working with the opposite timeline, where you have to wait a while after moving out of your old house before you can move into your new house. That’s common when you have to sell your previous home before you can close on your new home, and lots of people use storage units to store their things while they’re waiting to get the keys to their next abode. A storage unit lets you stop stressing out about where you’re going to put your stuff so you can focus on figuring out where you’re going to put yourself.

Save Money on a Moving Truck

Few things can be as tiring as moving day — loading everything you own onto a truck, driving it across town or across the country, and unloading it again. If you have even a modest-sized home, you’re going to need a big truck to fit all of your stuff, and that’s going to cost more, as well as being more work on moving day.

You can space out the effort by packing up your smaller stuff into boxes and moving it into a storage unit with your car, saving the truck for just the big stuff. You’ll be able to get by with a smaller truck — and you might even be able to avoid paying for a truck at all, because lots of storage unit facilities will give a free moving truck rental to unit leaseholders. Clean out your closets, garage, basement, attic, and spare bedroom early. Pack up that spare set of pots and pans. Move a little at a time and save your back and sanity.

Simplify Moving Day

Having all your stuff packed up in boxes in one place can help you stay organized while moving, allowing you to get a big picture view of your possessions so you can better plan your move. You won’t have to worry about packing your stuff on the truck in the right order so you can get it out at the right moment when you’re unpacking into your new place. You can organize your storage unit with the stuff you need most at the front, where it’s accessible, and settle into your new home at your own pace, without having to live amongst towers of boxes for weeks while you try to fit unpacking everything into your schedule.

Scale Up or Down Easily

Downsizing? You can harness the extra space provided by a storage unit to organize your stuff while you figure out what fits in your new place and what you want there. You can even hang on to the unit to stash stuff you need to keep but don’t have room for in the new place.

Are you moving into a bigger place? You’ll probably need some new furniture and decor, but you don’t have to wait until you’re moved in an unpacked to go shopping. You can use a storage unit to stash your new stuff while you wait to upgrade your living situation.

Moving is hard enough without expecting yourself to do it all at once in one marathon of packing and carrying everything in your home. Move a little at a time with a storage unit. As you settle into your new home with less stress and less clutter, you’ll be glad you bought yourself the gift of a little extra space.

Trump Taxes: Supreme Court Says Manhattan District Attorney Can Get President’s Tax Records

President Donald Trump’s financial records can be examined by New York prosecutors, the Supreme Court has ruled on July 9.

In a related case, the court ruled that this information did not have to be shared with Congress.

Donald Trump is the first president since Richard Nixon in the 1970s not to have made his tax returns public.

The president’s lawyers had argued that he enjoyed total immunity while in office and that Congress had no valid justification to seek the records.

Two Democrat-controlled House of Representatives committees and New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance – also a Democrat – had demanded several years’ worth of President Trump’s taxes in order to determine whether current conflict-of-interest laws on a US president were tough enough.

President Trump, a Republican, denies wrongdoing and has called the investigation into his tax affairs a “witch hunt”.

He wrote in a series of tweets following the court rulings: “The Supreme Court sends case back to Lower Court, arguments to continue. This is all a political prosecution.”

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In the case regarding the request from the New York prosecutors, the Supreme Court ruled by a majority of seven to two that President Trump did not have absolute immunity from criminal investigation.

“Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding,” the court said.

“We reaffirm that principle today.”

However, the two cases regarding Congressional committees were closely watched, as they could have had implications on how far US lawmakers could scrutinize the activities of a sitting president.

The Supreme Court ruled that Congress had significant, but not limitless, power to request the president’s personal information. In this case, the court returned the case to the lower courts.

Two of the cases centered on the ability of the House intelligence, oversight and financial services committees to compel Deutsche Bank and Mazars USA, President Trump’s long-time accounting firm, to turn over his tax and financial documents. The committees argued that they needed this information to determine whether current conflict-of-interest laws on a US president were sufficiently rigorous.

The case of Trump v Vance was based on Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s criminal subpoena – an order to hand over evidence.

Cyrus Vance argued Donald Trump’s documents were needed to determine if financial records had been doctored to cover up hush-money payments to two women in 2016 who say they had affairs with President Trump.

Following the ruling Cyrus Vance said the investigation into President Trump’s financial affairs would resume.

It is not clear whether this will happen. Even if President Trump’s financial records are turned over to prosecutors, they may remain hidden from public view until charges are filed.

Naya Rivera Missing after Boating on Lake Piru

Actress Naya Rivera is reportedly missing after her four-year-old son was found alone in a boat on a lake in Southern California.

The Glee star rented the boat on July 8 at Lake Piru, north-west of Los Angeles, the Ventura County Sheriff’s office said.

It said a search and rescue operation was suspended overnight and “will continue at first light”.

Naya Rivera, 33, is best known for playing cheerleader Santana Lopez in Glee.

The musical comedy TV series ran on the Fox network from 2009 to 2015.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

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Naya Rivera’s child was spotted by another boater three hours after the actress had taken the boat, CBS Los Angeles reports, quoting the sheriff’s office.

It says the boy told investigators that he and his mother were swimming – but she never got back into the boat.

The missing person was later formally identified as Naya Rivera, a Los Angeles resident.

The sheriff’s department said the lake would be closed to the public as the search resumed on July 9, with dive teams from across the region taking part.

On July 7, Naya Rivera posted on tweeted a picture of herself and her son with a caption “just the two of us”.

Naya Rivera began her career as a child actress and model, appearing in TV commercials in the US.

As a four-year-old she starred in the Royal Family sitcom, and had a number of other TV appearances.

It was playing cold-hearted Santana Lopez in Glee that made Naya Rivera a star in America.

In 2014, Naya Rivera starred in the horror film At the Devil’s Door.

The same year she married fellow actor Ryan Dorsey – who is the father of her son.

Naya Rivera and Ryan Dorsey divorced in 2018 and have joint custody of the boy.

Melania Trump Statue Set on Fire in Slovenia

A statue of First Lady Melania Trump is reported to have been set on fire near her hometown in Slovenia, prompting its removal.

Brad Downey, the American artist who commissioned the statue, said it was targeted on the Independence Day.

The Berlin-based artist arranged for the charred statue to be removed the next day.

Police told Reuters they had launched an investigation.

The wooden sculpture of Melania Trump, which could be described as only bearing a crude likeness to the US first lady, was carved out of a tree trunk on the outskirts of Sevnica, her hometown in central Slovenia.

The statue, which depicts the first lady dressed in a blue coat similar to one she wore to President Donald Trump’s inauguration and with a club-like hand gesturing to the sky, received mixed reviews when it was erected in July 2019.

Some residents branded the statue a “disgrace”, complaining it looked more like the Smurfs character Smurfette than the first lady.

Brad Downey told Reuters he wanted to understand who targeted the statue and why.

The artist said he had hoped the statue would open a dialogue about the political situation in the US, including the fractious debate on immigration.

Melania Trump, a model who grew up in Slovenia when it was part of Yugoslavia, moved to the US in the 1990s.

The statue in Slovenia was targeted at a time when monuments of US leaders with links to slavery are being re-evaluated as a result of national reflection prompted by anti-racism protests.

Image source Wikimedia

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In recent speeches, including his Independence Day address, President Donald Trump has taken a hard-line against those who vandalize or tear down statues.

Since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, Sevnica has become a tourist magnet, as visitors search for an insight into Melania Trump’s early years.

Residents have brought out ranges of Melania-branded merchandise, including slippers, cakes, and Trump-like burgers with fly-away cheese “hair”.

In August 2019, a wooden statue of President Trump was constructed in Slovenia, east of the capital Ljubljana. Like the rendering of Melania Trump, the statue of her husband divided opinion.

Standing nearly 26ft tall, the statue was burnt to the ground by unknown arsonists in January 2020.

Coronavirus: Melbourne Begins Second Lockdown

Imagine de Pete Linforth de la Pixabay

Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, has begun a second lockdown in response to a spike in new coronavirus infections.

The five million Melbourne’s residents will be barred from leaving home for six weeks, except for essential reasons.

Police say they are setting up a “ring of steel” around the city, with “checkpoints anytime and anywhere” to enforce the measures.

Borders between Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital, and neighboring states closed on July 7.

PM Scott Morrison paid tribute to Melbournians’ resilience on July 8.

“The rest of the country knows that the sacrifice that you’re going through right now is not just for you and your own family, but it’s for the broader Australian community,” the prime minister said during a news conference.

Scott Morrison also said he was proposing measures to slow the return of Australian nationals from overseas.

Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews announced the Melbourne lockdown on July 7 after the state saw 191 new infections, its highest daily number since the pandemic began.

The July 8 figure was down to 134, but still much higher than numbers in the rest of the country.

Australia has recorded almost 9,000 cases and 106 deaths from the virus.

Meanwhile, Australian media reported that passengers on a flight from Melbourne to Sydney disembarked on July 7 without being screened.

New South Wales state has banned travel from the greater Melbourne area except under exceptional circumstances, and the passengers should have been required to self-isolate for two weeks.

People will be kept to their homes and will only be able to leave for essential reasons, such as for work, exercise and shopping for food and other necessities.

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Schools will largely return to distance learning and restaurants will, once again, only be permitted to serve takeaway food.

However, shops and hairdressers will remain open.

The lockdown covers only Melbourne and an area to the north called the Mitchell Shire, but the state as a whole has been sealed off from the neighboring states of New South Wales and South Australia.

Police and troops have been stationed at border crossings and patrol the vast borders with drones and other aircraft.

As of July 9, they will also be doing random checks on vehicles in and around the city.

For months Australia had felt optimistic about containing Covid-19 then came the resurgence of the virus in Melbourne.

Ed Bosarge: Pay It Back

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Press release

Texas billionaire Ed Bosarge is accused of hiding up to twelve billion dollars from the grasp of the Internal Revenue Service, but now we know one of Houston’s richest men just took taxpayer money from the government’s small business bailout.

Three businesses owned by controversial Houston billionaire Ed Bosarge were given up to 1.7 million dollars according to documents released by the Small Business Administration.

Houston Health Span, a life sciences company, received up to 350,000 dollars for five jobs. Sola, a sugar substitute venture, also received up to 350,000 dollars. The biggest chunk of the money went to Capitol Technologies, doing business as The Bosarge Family Office. That is the administrative arm of family investments and business.  Capital Technologies received up to 1 million dollars.

Ed Bosarge is locked in a nasty divorce case playing out in courts in Houston and South Dakota. He is also facing fraud allegations in at least two other lawsuits. 

Image source: edbosarge.com

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In the divorce case, his longtime wife, Marie Bosarge, claims the Houston billionaire is trying to hide up to 12 billion dollars in assets in trusts spread around the world to evade taxes. 

Court documents allege up to 2. 3 billion is being hid in South Dakota trusts. Publicity around the case is putting a spotlight on South Dakota’s reputation as a “little Switzerland” where as much as 3.2 trillion dollars are evading the tax man.

“Ed Bosarge has mansions and yachts spread around the world and he hides his riches from the IRS, yet he’s more than willing to ask taxpayers for help instead of selling one of his toys,” says  Wayne Dolcefino, President of the Houston based investigative media consulting firm probing the growing fraud allegations around Bosarge.

“He ought to pay every penny back.”

Ennio Morricone Dies in Rome Aged 91

Italian film composer Ennio Morricone has died in Rome at the age of 91.

He was renowned for composing film scores for popular Spaghetti Westerns that made Clint Eastwood a star.

According to this family, Ennio Morricone died in a clinic after complications from a fall. His femur was fractured in a fall some days ago, Italian news agency reported.

The prolific composer also wrote music for Once Upon a Time in America, The Untouchables and Cinema Paradiso.

Having received an honorary Oscar in 2007, Ennio Morricone went on to win one in 2016 for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight.

Ennio Morricone, who was simply known as “Maestro” in his home town of Rome, scored more than 500 films over seven decades.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

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Yet he remains best known for the haunting melodies he wrote for the trilogy of 1960s westerns Sergio Leone made with the then little-known Clint Eastwood.

A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly centered around Clint Eastwood’s taciturn gunslinger, known as “The Man With No Name”.

Sergio Leone called Ennio Morricone’s contributions “indispensable” and would have him write the score before shooting so he could design his shots around Morricone’s contributions.

Clint Eastwood went on to direct Westerns himself, including the Oscar-winning Unforgiven, but Ennio Morricone did not write music for them out of loyalty to Sergio Leone.

Before his win for The Hateful Eight, Ennio Morricone received Oscar nominations for Days of Heaven, The Mission, The Untouchables, Bugsy and Malena.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59QPhYKjO7w

4 Things You Need to Start Sleeping Better

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Sleep deprivation is way more common than most people realize, yet it is easily avoidable. If you are one of the many people struggling to get a good night’s sleep, here are the 4 essential components you need to focus on.

A Sleep Schedule

The most important thing that you can do in order to ensure that you are always getting a good night’s sleep is to establish a regular sleep schedule. Going to sleep at the same time every night and getting up at the same time every morning will help to improve the quality of your sleep enormously. There is nothing wrong with having the occasional lie in if you have the day off, but if you are going to bed and getting up at random times every day, then your body doesn’t stand a chance of establishing a healthy sleep pattern.

Going from having no sleep schedule at all to maintaining a constant schedule is not easy. Most people will find it easier to make a gradual change in their sleeping habits instead of trying to implement a strict regime from the word go. However, once you have established a consistent sleeping routine, you will find it much easier to get to sleep every night, and you will find that the quality of your sleep improves as well.

A Suitable Sleeping Environment

Getting a good night’s sleep is very difficult if you don’t have a suitable sleeping environment. There are two things in particular that are the enemy of a good night’s sleep – light and sound. It doesn’t matter if you completely eliminate caffeine from your life and invest in the most comfortable bed imaginable; if your sleeping environment is polluted by excessive light and noise, then you are never going to be able to achieve deep and restful sleep.

It is also difficult to overstate the role of psychology in sleep. Keeping your room decluttered and free of any potential distractions such as tablets, smartphones, or laptops, will make it considerably easier for you to get to sleep, even if you don’t have those devices switched on.

In short, try to make your sleeping environment all about sleeping. Unless you absolutely have to use your bedroom for something other than sleeping, you should aim to turn it into a sleep sanctuary.

A Comfortable Bed

As well as ensuring that you have a suitable sleeping environment to sleep in, you also need to have a comfortable bed. You don’t have to go out and buy the most expensive mattress and sheets that you can find to get a good night’s sleep, but at the very least, you do need a mattress that is comfortable to lie on for several hours non-stop.

With Labor Day approaching, there are numerous sales taking place, and you have the ideal opportunity to find your dream mattress at a dream price. Buying a mattress during the Labor Day mattress sales enables you to get the best mattress available at the best possible price. Having the right mattress to sleep on could make all the difference to the quality of your sleep.

A Calm Mind

Let’s say that you have a well-established sleep schedule and the perfect sleep environment – what could possibly keep you from getting a good night’s sleep? The most common culprit is good old-fashioned stress. If your mind is racing and your heart rate is rising because you are anxious, then getting to sleep is going to be very difficult. Wherever possible, try not to calm your mind and resolve any pressing issues before you try to go to sleep.

Getting a good night’s sleep isn’t exactly rocket science, but it is something that lots of us struggle with. The 4 things we have outlined above are the essential components of a good night’s sleep. If you want to sleep better, these are what you should focus on.

Judge Acknowledges Woman at Center of International Divorce Battle “May Have Had a Good Case”

Press release

A judge in the international kidnapping case making headlines for nearly a decade has finally acknowledged that the mother at the center of the Texas divorce may have had a good case.

So then why did former 308th District Court Judge James Lombardino find that there was “no credible evidence” that Houston based Dr. Christopher Brann abused his ex-wife, Marcelle Guimaraes, or committed family violence?

Image source: dolcefino.com

During his interview with Dolcefino Consulting, Judge Lombardino stated that “she may have had a good case, but she wouldn’t come and plead her case.” But Marcelle Guimaraes did plead her case. She plead her case before she ever fled for Brazil with her son Nico. Medical records documenting the abuse were reviewed by Lombardino, along with pictures  of walls that were broken and cracked in a fight, as well as an affidavit from Marcelle Guimaraes herself, detailing the abuse that she was subjected to at the hands of Brann.

Judge Lombardino even issued a temporary restraining order in December of 2012, requiring Brann to stay 200 feet away from Marcelle and their child, Nico. But just four days later, Brann hired infamous Houston divorce lawyer, Bobby Newman. It was at this point that Marcelle says everything changed.

“Once Bobby Newman was hired, everything changed. There was nothing that I could do to convince the judge to accept, even to look at everything that I had to give to him. Things would just become more difficult for me,” says Guimaraes.

“It was about life saving really. There was no protection anymore. There was no justice anymore,” says Guimaraes about her decision to flee to Brazil with her son. On the same day that Newman became Dr. Brann’s lawyer, Judge Lombardino issued a ruling allowing Dr. Brann to see his son and removing the protections of the temporary restraining order.

In 2016, Judge Lombardino ruled that there was “no credible evidence” that Brann abused Marcelle Guimaraes or committed family violence. In 2020, Lombardino says that Marcelle Guimaraes “may have had a good case.” Which is it, Judge?

Judge Lombardino was ousted in the 2018 judicial elections but is now seeking to sit on a higher bench: The First Court of Appeals of Texas. Judge Lombardino faces a run-off with Houston area attorney Terry Adams. Early voting has already begun, and the election is on July 14, 2020. Over the years, when Harris County lawyers have been asked about Lombardino’s bias and impartiality, he has consistently received low ratings. If Judge Lombardino can’t protect a victim of domestic violence and won’t talk publicly about the broken family court system or his ethical problems, then why would voters reward him with a higher court?

4th of July: President Trump Vows to Defeat “Radical Left” in Fiery Mount Rushmore Speech

Image source Flickr

President Donald Trump has used his Independence Day speech to tout America’s “progress” against Covid-19, despite a nationwide spike in cases.

Amid criticism of his handling of the pandemic, the president said China – where the new coronavirus originated – must be “held fully accountable”.

President Trump also berated protesters who toppled monuments of historical figures in recent anti-racism protests.

“Their goal is demolition,” he said.

In a combative tone that echoed his Friday night speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, President Trump pledged to defeat the “radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters”.

He spoke from the White House lawn, flanked by First Lady Melania Trump, to a crowd that included soldiers and frontline medical staff.

Praising “our nation’s scientific brilliance,” President Trump said the US “will likely have a therapeutic and/or vaccine solution long before the end of the year”.

The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned in June that scientists may never be able to create an effective vaccine against the coronavirus, observing: “The estimate is we may have a vaccine within one year. If accelerated, it could be even less than that, but by a couple of months. That’s what scientists are saying.”

The US has the world’s highest number of Covid-19 deaths and infections, and confirmed more than 43,000 new cases in 24 hours on July 4, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. Florida, where the outbreak is especially acute, saw 11,458 new cases.

President Trump made no reference to the nearly 130,000 US deaths linked to the pandemic. He said the US had tested almost 40 million people, adding that 99% of coronavirus cases were “totally harmless” – a claim for which he gave no evidence.

His comments were followed by a military flyover involving various aircraft, including B-52 bombers and F-35 fighter jets.

A massive firework display was later held in Washington DC, watched by spectators who gathered on the National Mall.

Ahead of President Trump’s speech, Black Lives Matter protesters gathered outside the White House – the scene of many recent anti-racism demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in police custody.

Addressing America’s coronavirus battle, President Trump said his administration had “made a lot of progress” and “our strategy is moving along well”, despite the nationwide surge in infections.

Donald Trump, who faces re-election this year and appears keen to fire up his conservative base with appeals to nationalism, accused China of trying to conceal the virus outbreak – a charge Beijing denies.

He alleged: “China’s secrecy, deceptions and cover-up allowed [the virus] to spread all over the world.”

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Elaborating on his plan to create a “National Garden of American Heroes” featuring statues of renowned Americans, President Trump said the country’s rich heritage belongs to citizens of all races.

“The patriots who built our country were not villains,” he said.

“They were heroes.”

Many 4th of July events were canceled on public health grounds, with beaches in Florida and California closed, city parades canceled and firework displays curtailed.

Joe Biden tweeted that “this Fourth of July, one of the most patriotic things you can do is wear a mask”.

Firework displays are a traditional highlight of 4th of July, but an estimated 80% of cities and towns have canceled their shows.

New York City usually holds an hour-long extravaganza, but this year it was replaced by five-minute displays through the week, organized by Macy’s department store, with a final televised one on July 4 – all at undisclosed locations.

Major League Baseball canceled its 2020 All-Star Game for the first time since World War Two.

4th of July: Fireworks in The Bosarge Divorce Case

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The Freedom Over Texas fireworks show will still take place on July 4th but there are fireworks today in the highly publicized divorce fight between Houston billionaire Ed Bosarge and his wife of more than 30 years, Marie.

Dolcefino Consulting has learned Marie Bosarge alerted the Internal Revenue Service to where they can look for Ed’s secret money stashes in a rather unique way.

We have now obtained a part of Marie’s solo tax return from 2017 — the year that Ed Bosarge filed for divorce. The numbers are not so important but at the end of her tax return Marie added “Exhibit A” — a document from financial services powerhouse BDO. The document lists all of the trusts and entities that BDO had discovered that were connected to Ed Bosarge.

Image source: edbosarge.com

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Bosarge Divorce: Billions at Stake in High Stakes Houston Divorce Ruling

Some of the trusts and entities have some pretty unique names. Spotted Leopard. New Ostrich. Big Bird Partners. Black Rhino. Mountain Song. Last Samurai. Dangerous Beauty. More than 150 trusts and entities listed over five pages.

Marie claims that after thirty years of marriage, Ed left her dead broke and that he is hiding billions of dollars in secretive trusts in South Dakota and around the world. The jury trial in the Bosarge divorce is delayed by the Coronavirus pandemic.

In recent documents filed in the divorce case, Marie’s lawyers claim that Ed is refusing to turn over necessary financial records that can help her prove the fraud and other key elements of her case.

The highly publicized Bosarge case may pit Texas courts against South Dakota courts. If a Texas jury finds that Ed committed fraud, will South Dakota allow Marie to get what is hers out of the South Dakota trusts or will South Dakota simply ignore the rulings and the will of courts in Texas? Stay tuned.

Jamal Khashoggi Murder Trial Begins in Turkey

The trial of 20 Saudi nationals accused of killing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has begun in absentia in Turkey.

Jamal Khashoggi, 59, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.

Those being tried include two former top aides to Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Jamal Khashoggi was a vocal critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia carried out a separate trial over the killing that was heavily criticized as incomplete.

The trial in Istanbul follows an international outcry over the murder, which tarnished the prince’s reputation.

Turkish prosecutors accuse the former deputy head of Saudi intelligence, Ahmed al-Asiri, and the royal court’s media adviser Saud al-Qahtani of having led the operation and instructed a Saudi hit team.

The other 18 defendants are accused of having suffocated Jamal Khashoggi, whose remains have not been found. Turkish officials say his body was dismembered and removed to an unknown site.

Jamal Khashoggi, who was resident in the US, had entered the consulate seeking papers for his impending wedding.

The journalist’s fiancee Hatice Cengiz is attending the trial alongside the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Callamard, who has directly linked the crown prince to the killing, AFP news agency reports.

The Saudi authorities initially denied any involvement in the case, but later called it a “rogue operation”.

In December 2019, a court in Saudi Arabia sentenced five people to death and three to jail for Jamal Khashoggi’s killing, but the trial was secretive and the defendants were not named.

Image source www.alaraby.co.uk

Jamal Khashoggi Murder: Five Sentenced to Death in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Crown Prince Admits Responsibility for Jamal Kashoggi Murder

Jamal Khashoggi Murder Recordings Revealed by Turkish Newspaper

The CIA and some Western governments believe the murder was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – something he denies. The crown prince is de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.

UN special rapporteur Callamard says Jamal Khashoggi was “the victim of a deliberate, premeditated execution, an extrajudicial killing for which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible”.

At the time of his death Jamal Khashoggi worked for the Washington Post.

The prosecutors have charged Ahmed al-Asiri and Saud al-Qahtani with “instigating the deliberate and monstrous killing, causing torment”.

Hatice Cengiz is hoping that the trial will reveal significant new evidence and finally reveal what happened to Jamal Khashoggi’s remains.

5 Great Career Options for Fashion Lovers

Most people picture models or fashion designers when they think of the fashion industry. While these are two of the most prominent career options in the fashion world, they are not the only ones. Just like any creative field, the word of fashion is highly competitive, with lots of different career paths fashion lovers can follow. Luckily for fashion lovers, getting into this industry does not have to be hard if you position yourself well. That said, getting to the very top will depend on your efforts. Below, we will look at some options you could consider if you love fashion and would like to work in the fashion industry.

Image source Pexels

Design Assistant

The fashion industry more or less runs on design assistants’ efforts. Design assistants work with fashion designers, and even though fashion designers come up with the creative vision of a show or brand, it is the design assistants who bring it all together. Design assistants are responsible for checking garments before fitting models. They also attend trade shows, coordinate schedules, track clothing samples, and manage studios.

Fashion Designers

Fashion designers are the creative engine of the fashion world. They come up with the designs for new clothing styles or brands. Depending on the companies that hire them, these designers can work in any specialization, including childrenswear, adult fashion, or sportswear. If this is a career option you long for, you can start by being a freelance fashion designer. Here, you can come up with designs and tailor them so that fashion houses and retailers can see them. A pro tip here is to always check any designs using a dress form. These are available for personal or business use. These dress forms let you see the garments on a body and allow you to make the necessary alterations before showcasing your creations in front of other people.

Image source Pixabay

Buyers

Buyers are the people responsible for bringing the greatest and latest designs to retail shelves and racks. Their job is to ensure the stores are always stocked with products that people want to buy. In some cases, they might have to dig deep to get clothes that people would love but do not know they want yet.

To become a fashion buyer, you need to have a solid understanding of how retail works. You also need to be able to take pressure and stress well because the success of a store will often be up to you. This career path is for people who can predict what customers will want in the future, which makes it very challenging.

Fashion Journalist or Writer

Fashion journalists and writers are responsible for covering the fashion industry. For you to be successful here, you must love fashion and have a hunger to learn everything you can about fashion. You must also have great writing and oratory skills if you want to be hired by a fashion powerhouse. Lastly, you should have a likable personality because you will meet a lot of people, and if you do not have this type of personality, they might never want to work with you again.

Fashion Publicist

Fashion publicists are responsible for maintaining a positive image of a brand or business. Their primary job is to build relationships with people who can help them help their clients stay in people’s minds and be viewed positively. Because of that last point, fashion publicists can sometimes take on public relations or crisis management roles.

Publicists are also responsible for ensuring their clients, companies or businesses get a lot of publicity for as little as possible. For this, they might have to convince a celebrity to wear a certain dress or carry a certain handbag.

If you are a fashion lover and want to get into the fashion industry, there are lots of career options available to you. You have an added advantage if you have an eye for design, a likable personality, and can work with different types of people.

Russia Referendum: Vladimir Putin Now Able to Stay President until 2036

The majority of Russian voters backed constitutional reforms that could keep President Vladimir Putin in power until 2036, election officials say.

According to electoral commission, with all the ballots counted, 77.9% voted for the reform package and 21.3% against.

The reforms will reset Vladimir Putin’s term limits to zero in 2024, allowing him to serve two more six-year terms.

Opposition figures denounced the vote, saying Vladimir Putin was aiming to be “president for life”, a claim the Russian president denies.

Vladimir Putin is already the longest-serving leader in modern Russian history since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

There was no independent scrutiny of the seven-day vote, and copies of the new constitution appeared in bookshops during the week.

By spreading out the vote, because of the coronavirus infection risk, the authorities made any monitoring of it more difficult.

Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny described the results as a “big lie” which did not reflect real public opinion in the country.

Golos, an independent Russian election monitoring group, has castigated the vote, alleging there were many violations of democracy.

Its criticisms include: opponents were barred from campaigning in the media; remote electronic voting was organized on an illegal basis; election monitors were appointed by the Civic Chamber – a government body.

Golos describes it as “just a PR exercise from the very start” and says “there was no legal need for it”. The vote “will go down in history as an attack on the sovereignty of the people”.

The reforms include a ban on same-sex marriage – by defining marriage as between a man and a woman – and introducing a reference to Russia’s ancestral “faith in God”.

Image source Wikimedia

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According to election officials, turnout was 65%. The highest levels of support – above 90% – were in Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, in Chechnya in the North Caucasus, and Tuva, in Siberia.

Vladimir Putin, aged 67, has not said he will run again for the presidency when his latest term runs out in 2024 – but has said it is vital he has the option to do so.

He has been in power in Russia, either as president or prime minister, for 20 years.

Vladimir Putin and his supporters say the reforms – more than 200 changes – are needed to ensure national stability.

In New York, 816 voted at the Russian consulate and 505 rejected the reforms, while 310 voted for. The other voting district where a majority were against was Nenets, in Russia’s remote Arctic.

Preliminary results were released hours before the last polling stations closed at 18:00 GMT in the western enclave of Kaliningrad, in the vast country spanning 11 time zones.

Before the vote had ended, the internal affairs ministry said there had been no violations that could affect the result, Interfax reported. However, Golos said it had received some 2,100 reports of possible violations.

Several hundred opponents of the constitutional changes staged protests in Moscow and St Petersburg.

The final results show 65% voted yes to the reforms in Moscow, and 77.6% in St Petersburg.

Both Russia’s houses of parliament have already adopted the changes, but President Putin ordered a public vote in a bid to legitimize the reforms. The vote was delayed from April due to the coronavirus outbreak.

PenelopeGate: French Ex-PM Francois Fillon Sentenced to Prison over Fake Jobs Scandal

Former French PM François Fillon and his Welsh wife, Penelope Fillon, have received jail sentences in a fake jobs case.

Francois Fillon, 66, was found guilty of paying his wife €1.156 million ($1.3 million) for work she never did as a parliamentary aide.

The conservative politician was sentenced to five years in prison, three of them suspended. Penelope Fillon was given a three-year suspended term.

The scandal ruined Francois Fillon’s presidential bid in 2017. Both have appealed, blocking an immediate detention.

Francois Fillon is the most senior French political figure to receive a custodial sentence since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958.

Delivering the decision in a Paris courthouse, the presiding judge said: “The payment was disproportionate to the work done. Mrs. Fillon was hired for a position that was without use.”

Penelope Fillon was found guilty of complicity to embezzle and conceal public funds.

Both were given fines of €375,000 ($423,000). In addition, the Fillons were ordered to return more than €1 million to the National Assembly, which employed Penelope Fillon from 1998 to 2013.

Francois Fillon was also banned from public office for 10 years.

The terms matched the prosecutors’ sentence requests.

Image source Wikimedia

Penelope Fillon Insists She Did Carry Out Parliamentary Work for Francois Fillon

PenelopeGate: Francois Fillon Vows to Continue Election Campaign Despite Investigation

Francois Fillon has been in politics for decades. After serving as a lawmaker, senator, and in a number of ministerial roles, he became France’s prime minister between 2007 and 2012 under then-President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Ahead of the 2017 presidential election, Francois Fillon won the center-right Republican party’s presidential primary, and in January 2017 was the clear front-runner in the polls.

However, his bid for the top job fell apart later that month.

Le Canard Enchaîné, a satirical magazine, alleged that Penelope Fillon – formally employed as the politician’s parliamentary assistant for about six years in the 1990s and 2000s – never actually did her job. What is more, she was paid €831,400 in the role.

Francois Fillon denied the allegations. He said his opponents were trying to sabotage his campaign, and vowed to press on with the election.

As the scandal grew he apologized “profusely” for employing family members, saying that though legal the practice had caused “mistrust”.

His poll ratings dropped sharply, Francois Fillon coming third in the first round of voting, missing out on the second-round run-off.

Le Canard Enchaîné published numerous allegations against the couple.

The magazine revealed that Penelope Fillon had made €100,000 writing just a handful of articles for a literary publication, La Revue des Deux Mondes.

La Revue des Deux Mondes is owned by a billionaire friend of the family, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière. In her ruling, the judge described that payment as an illegal gift.

From 2002 to 2007, Penelope Fillon worked for her husband’s successor as lawmaker, Marc Joulaud. He too was convicted of paying her for little or no work and has been given a three-year suspended sentence.

Other French politicians who have been convicted include late President Jacques Chirac, who in 2011 received a suspended sentence over malpractice when he was mayor of Paris.

Chirac’s one-time Prime Minister, Alain Juppé, also got a suspended sentence in a related case in 2004.

In the mid-1990s, businessman and former Socialist minister Bernard Tapie served an eight-month jail term over a football match-fixing scandal.

Jacques Chirac’s successor, Nicolas Sarkozy, is currently facing two trials, for alleged corruption and illicit campaign funding.

Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Invalidate ObamaCare

The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to invalidate Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which has provided health insurance to millions of Americans.

According to government lawyers, Obamacare became invalid when the previous Republican-led Congress axed parts of it.

Democratic challenger Joe Biden attacked the move, saying President Donald Trump had put millions of lives at risk during the coronavirus pandemic.

Health care will be a key battleground in this year’s presidential election.

Some 20 million Americans could lose their health coverage if the court overturns the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was introduced by President Barack Obama.

Obamacare’s popular provisions include banning insurers from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions and allowing children to stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26. Millions of low-income Americans were able to obtain insurance due to the act.

President Trump says the scheme costs too much and has promised a different plan to replace it, preserving some popular elements of the existing law but covering fewer people.

Under Obamacare, millions of people in the US must purchase health insurance or face a tax penalty.

In 2017, Congress removed a key plank of the policy, eliminating the federal fine for those who did not sign up, known as the “individual mandate”.

In its filing to the Supreme Court on June 25, the justice department argued “the individual mandate is not severable from the rest of the act”.

As a result, it said: “The mandate is now unconstitutional as a result of Congress’s elimination… of the penalty for non-compliance.”

President Trump cannot rely on Congress to complete the dismantling of Obamacare because the Democrats took control of the lower house in 2019.

Image source Wikimedia

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Joe Biden, who wants to rally the public behind an expanded Affordable Care Act, said some coronavirus survivors could lose their comprehensive healthcare coverage if the act was overturned.

He said: “They would live their lives caught in a vice between Donald Trump’s twin legacies: his failure to protect the American people from the coronavirus, and his heartless crusade to take healthcare protections away from American families.”

In a statement on June 26, White House spokesman Judd Deere said Obamacare was “an unlawful failure”.

The statement said: “It limits choice, forces Americans to purchase unaffordable plans, and restricts patients with high-risk preexisting conditions from accessing the doctors and hospitals they need.”

The US has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, recording 2.4 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and 122,370 deaths – more than any other country.

However, the true number of infections is likely to be 10 times higher than the reported figure, according to the latest estimate by health officials.

The Supreme Court is unlikely to hear the case before voters go to the polls in November, media report.

NASA Names HQ After First African American Female Engineer, Mary W Jackson

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NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has announced on June 24 that the agency’s headquarters buildings in Washington DC will be named after its first African American female engineer, Mary W. Jackson.

He said Hidden Figure Mary Jackson had helped to break down barriers for African Americans and women in engineering and technology.

The story of Mary W. Jackson was told in the 2016 film Hidden Figures. Born in Hampton, Virginia, she died in 2005.

In 2019, NASA renamed the street outside its headquarters as Hidden Figures Way.

“Hidden no more, we will continue to recognize the contributions of women, African Americans, and people of all backgrounds who have made NASA’s successful history of exploration possible,” Jim Bridestine said in a statement.

“Mary W. Jackson was part of a group of very important women who helped NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space,” he added.

“Mary never accepted the status quo, she helped break barriers and open opportunities for African Americans and women in the field of engineering and technology.”

Image source: Wikipedia

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The move comes at a time of introspection across the US about historical injustices suffered by African Americans.

The recent death in police custody of George Floyd triggered protests around the world and renewed demands for an end to institutional racism.

NASA began recruiting some college-educated African American women in the 1940s as “human computers”, but they experienced both racial and gender discrimination at work.

Mary W. Jackson was recruited in 1951 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics which was succeeded by NASA in 1958. She worked under Dorothy Vaughan – whose story was also told in Hidden Figures – in the segregated West Area Computing Unit at Langley, Virginia.

Mary Jackson died in 2005 and in 2019 she was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Her daughter, Carolyn Lewis, said the family was honored that NASA was continuing to celebrate Mary Jackson’s legacy.

Carolyn Lewis said: “She was a scientist, humanitarian, wife, mother, and trailblazer who paved the way for thousands of others to succeed, not only at NASA, but throughout this nation.”

Stop Hate For Profit: Ben and Jerry’s Joins Facebook Ad Boycott

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Ben & Jerry’s has joined a growing list of companies pulling advertising from Facebook platforms throughout July.

The move is part of the Stop Hate For Profit campaign, which calls on Facebook to have stricter measures against racist and hateful content.

Ben and Jerry’s tweeted: “We will pause all paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the US in support of the #StopHateForProfit campaign. Facebook, Inc. must take the clear and unequivocal actions to stop its platform from being used to spread and amplify racism and hate. >>>https://benjerrys.co/2CtB2WE

Earlier this week outdoor brands The North Face, Patagonia and REI joined the campaign.

Ben & Jerry’s said it is standing with the campaign and “all those calling for Facebook to take stronger action to stop its platforms from being used to divide our nation, suppress voters, foment and fan the flames of racism and violence, and undermine our democracy.”

Ben & Jerry’s is the first corporate that is backing the Occupy Wall Street movement
Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry’s, The First Corporate that Is Backing Occupy Wall Street Movement

George Floyd Memorial Held in Minneapolis

After the death of African-American George Floyd in police custody, Ben & Jerry’s chief executive Matthew McCarthy said “business should be held accountable” as he set out plans to increase diversity.

Earlier this week the freelance job listing platform Upwork and the open-source software developer Mozilla also joined the campaign.

Facebook has said it was committed to “advancing equity and racial justice”.

The social network said in a statement on June 21: “We’re taking steps to review our policies, ensure diversity and transparency when making decisions on how we apply our policies, and advance racial justice and voter engagement on our platform.”

Ben & Jerry’s statement also pointed to the company’s Community Standards, which include the recognition of the platform’s importance as a “place where people feel empowered to communicate, and we take seriously our role in keeping abuse off our service”.

The Stop Hate for Profit campaign was launched last week by advocacy groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Color Of Change.

The movement has said it is a “response to Facebook’s long history of allowing racist, violent and verifiably false content to run rampant on its platform”.

Stop Hate for Profit has called on advertisers to pressure Facebook to adopt stricter measures against racist and hateful content on its platforms by stopping all spending on advertising with it throughout July.

In 2019, Facebook attracted advertising revenue of almost $70 billion.

The company and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg have often been criticized for the handling of controversial subjects.

This month Facebook’s staff spoke out against the tech giant’s decision not to remove or flag a post by President Donald Trump.

The same message was shared on Twitter, where it was hidden behind a warning label on the grounds that it “glorified violence”.

Lee Yong-soo, Former Comfort Woman, Takes Lead In Trying To Stop The Deception Of South Korean Government

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Former South Korean comfort woman Lee Yong-soo has taken on a new role in the campaign for the rights of her peers. For so many years, Lee Yong-soo has been the face of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, literally walking the streets to seek recompense for comfort women who suffered during World War II. In spite of her age, the 92-year-old woman had been very much involved in the activities of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance.

It thus came as a shock to the South Koreans as a nation when Lee Yong-soo announced in a press conference in early May that she was going to put a stop to her campaigning and that she would no longer be joining the weekly rallies held by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance.

In the press conference, Lee Yong-soo shared her observation that, instead of promoting goodwill, the rallies have only been serving to incite animosity between the involved parties, especially with the youth. She continued to say that, moving forward, healing and reconciliation is what is necessary, and that the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance’s activities are not contributing to this.

“Students spend their own precious money and time to attend these rallies, but the rallies only teach hatred and suffering. Korean and Japanese youths with historically accurate education must befriend each other and communicate with each other to solve problems,” Lee said.

The former comfort woman and strong advocate for the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance had more to say, particularly with regard to how the organization has been operating. The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance was founded in 1990 and since its inception, it has been working on two levels – internationally and transnationally. It receives funding from private donors as well as in the form of government subsidies.

According to Lee Yong-soo, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance has been remiss in carrying out its mission. She specifically hit out at Yoon Mee-hyang, the former head of the Council who is now an elected official under the party of incumbent president Moon Jae-in.

Lee Yong-soo

Lee Yong-soo accused Yoon Mee-hyang of misappropriation of funds, using them for private purposes such as buying property and paying for her daughter’s American education. Lee Yong-soo further accused the Council of disregard for the former comfort women. She asserted that the Council happily took the funds but also took advantage of the very people they were supposed to take care of by putting them on public display akin to “bears doing tricks”.

With Yoon Mee-hyang being a government official and having close ties to the ruling party, the nation is seeing this as a betrayal from the government itself.

The victims of the War have placed their trust in their leaders and yet once again they find themselves with the short end of the stick.

It is upon this premise that Lee Yong-soo is building her new role.

In her charge to expose this deeply-rooted deception, Lee Yong-soo also said that while donations did come in, only a small portion was actually distributed to the comfort women. In fact, it was only after the 2015 Japan-South Korea agreement that the comfort women actually received a considerable sum. Each one received 100 million KRW (almost USD 83,000).

So far, she has been effective in that Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol ordered the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office to conduct an investigation speedily on the Council and its activities. She has stated her belief that the prosecutors would find the truth and reveal it. However, it has been about a month since then, and no concrete results have been shared.

Even more concerning is the President’s reaction to the issue. During a meeting held with his advisors on the 8th of June, President Moon Jae-in reportedly said that he was bewildered by the controversy in which Yoon Mee-hyang and the Council is embroiled. He emphasized the role Yoon Mee-hyang played in raising awareness for the South Korean former comfort women on the international state, citing her testimony in front of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Lee Yong-soo is not to be deterred, inspiring her peers and their families to make their voices heard. Hwang Sun-hee, son of former comfort woman Gil Won-ok, says “The families of [former comfort women] will take this matter into our own hands, such that we are no longer pushed around by other organizations.” That is, they are forming their own committee in order to ensure that the victims get what they deserve and are not taken advantage of.

North Korea Suspends “Military Action” Against South Korea

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has suspended plans for “military action” against South Korea, state news agency KCNA reported.

Recent weeks saw a rising tide of angry rhetoric from North Korea over activist plans to send leaflets with anti-North Korean messages over the border.

Last week, North Korea blew up the joint liaison office with South Korea and also threatened to send troops to the border area.

At a meeting chaired by leader Kim Jong-un, state media said the decision was taken to suspend military action.

The Central Military Commission made its decision after taking what it called the “prevailing situation” into consideration.

Image source Wikimedia

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North Korea also began to dismantle loudspeakers it had erected only last week, traditionally used to blast anti-South Korean messages over the border, Yonhap reported.

The move represents a notable de-escalation in rhetoric after Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong’s orders to the army to “decisively carry out the next action” – in part because of what Pyongyang said was Seoul’s failure to stop activists floating balloons with anti-regime leaflets over the border.

The meeting also discussed documents outlining measures for “further bolstering the war deterrent of the country,” KCNA reported.

Tensions between North and South Korea appeared to be on the mend when in 2018, leaders of both countries met for the first time at the border.

The historic summit saw both sides pledge to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons – and in the months that followed, there were efforts to improve ties and maintain dialogue.

However, the relationship has been on a downward spiral after a failed summit between Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump.

And the past few weeks saw relations deteriorate especially rapidly – prompted by defector groups in South Korea sending propaganda across the border,

South Korean activists typically send balloons that carry objects like leaflets, USB sticks or DVDs with criticism of the Pyongyang regime, as well as South Korean news reports or even Korean dramas.

All of this is aimed at breaking North Korea’s control on domestic information with the hope that people might eventually topple the regime from within.

The South Korean government has already tried to stop groups sending leaflets across the border, arguing their actions put residents near the border at risk. The move prompted North Korea to renew threats of military action – and shortly afterwards it blew up a joint liaison office that it had established with South Korea in 2018.

Coronavirus: Novak Djokovic Tests Positive for Covid-19

Novak Djokovic has become the latest tennis player to test positive for the new coronavirus.

Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki all revealed they have tested positive for Covid-19 after playing at Djokovic’s Adria Tour competition.

The 33-year-old world’s No 1 played fellow Serb Troicki in the first event in Belgrade.

In a post on Twitter, Novak Djokovic said it had been “too soon” to stage the tournament.

“I am so deeply sorry our tournament has caused harm,” he said.

He said the tournament had been organized with “a pure heart”, “good intentions” and a belief that they had “met all health protocols”.

“We were wrong and it was too soon,” he said.

The remaining Adria Tour events in Banja Luka and Sarajevo have now been canceled Novak Djokovic’s brother Djordje, who is a director of the tournament, has confirmed.

“Unfortunately, due to all the events that happened in the last few days, we have decided that the most important thing right now is to stabilize the epidemiological situation, as well as for everyone to recover,” he said.

A statement on Novak Djokovic’s website said: “Immediately upon his arrival in Belgrade [after the second event] Novak was tested along with all members of the family and the team with whom he was in Belgrade and Zadar. He is not showing any symptoms.”

There have been no ATP Tour events since February because of the global pandemic and the Adria Tour, which is not an ATP Tour event, was one of the first competitions to be staged since then.

The first leg in Serbia attracted 4,000 fans, and players were later pictured dancing close together in a Belgrade nightclub.

Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov played Croatia’s Borna Coric on June 20 in the second leg in Zadar, Croatia.

With Croatia easing lockdown measures, players were not obliged to observe social distancing rules and were seen embracing at the net at the end of their matches.

Photo Getty Images

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Pictures on the tournament’s social media site from June 19 showed Grigor Dimitrov playing basketball with Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic, while he also put his arm around Borna Coric before their match.

Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic and Andrey Rublev, who also played in the Adria Tour, have tested negative, but suggested they will all now self-isolate for up to 14 days.

The ATP Tour season is set to restart on August 14 and the US Open will be held without fans from August 31 to September 13, despite some players voicing concerns about travelling to New York.

The Coolsculpting Essentials

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Fat reduction is something we’ve had to deal with at some point in our lives. Whether it’s through natural means, such as exercising or properly dieting, or cosmetic fat reduction treatments, we’ve all been there at some point. Excess fat can cause a lot of problems, both physically and mentally, so it’s natural for everyone to have to deal with it at some point.

All kinds of fat reduction treatments exist, but one of the most unique ones is Coolsculpting, which, as the name implies, utilizes the power of the cold to tone or “sculpt” specific areas of the body to the absolute satisfaction of the client. MiracleFace MedSpa and Coolsculpting LA are two of the major cities’ new favorite treatment plans and are a perfect procedure for a hot summer when we simply want to do everything to get away from the heat.

With Coolsculpting becoming so popular in modern clinics, it’s important to know the most crucial aspects of the procedure and understand what happens and why.

Before the Treatment

Not much preparation is needed for Coolsculpting. Unlike other fat reduction procedures, this form of treatment has many fewer factors to consider. For example, more traditional forms of fat reduction, such as chemical-based compounds, need many more factors to be taken into account to determine the safety and effectiveness of the procedure.

With Coolsculpting, there are only a few factors that need to be taken into consideration: the area you’re treating and the sensitivity of your skin. Different parts of the body build up fat in their special ways, not to mention the fact that everyone’s body is built differently. So treating specific areas requires the kind of precision that only well trained and qualified specialists can handle. The sensitivity of the skin is also something very important for the procedure, as there are types of skin that simply don’t have the ability to handle the cold as long as others.

But both of these will very rarely keep someone from getting treated since Coolsculpting is a very casual procedure. The cold temperatures that you’ll be experiencing are around 4 degrees Celsius (39 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit), which is around the same temperature as a typical fridge. And we’ve all spent enough time staring at food deciding what to eat to know that it’s not particularly cold. But cold is still cold, so you can expect that uneasy sensation of the skin going numb as your body is being administered a constant stream of cool air.

If you’re not a fan of this sensation, then I’m sure you’ve been through enough cold winters to know that after some time, the skin goes numb and you don’t feel the cold anymore. The skin just feels stiff, which is great, since it makes the procedure that much more pleasant as you don’t have to worry about any uncomfortable sensations from the cold air.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Time Is Very Important

Coolsculpting is one of those treatments that rewards patience and dedication. While the procedure itself lasts around 40 minutes, the full results don’t become fully visible for some time. This can put a lot of people off, but for many people, this is a much better option.

When it comes to natural means of losing fat, much like dieting or exercising, it takes time for Coolsculpting to take full effect, as it is a more natural fat reduction treatment than most others on the market. It takes time for your body to properly get rid of the extra fat, but your patience is rewarded with the fact that Coolsculpting doesn’t come with the harsh side effects and recovery time that other treatments tend to have.

There are also no threats of allergic reaction since no chemicals are involved in the treatment. Most people, with only a small margin of exception, will go through the procedure without any complications. So while you must understand the amount of time it takes for the treatment to take effect, you need to know that this is all in favor of safety and the convenience of not having to wait weeks for your body to fully recover after treatment.

But as with any other treatment, you need to keep in touch with your clinic specialists to make sure that everything is as it should be. And while Coolsculpting is a very safe treatment, clinics like MiracleFace MedSpa, for example, keep in contact with all their clients who’ve gone through their Coolsculpting NYC treatment package, to ensure that everything is going smoothly, without any unwanted results, even if they barely ever happen.

While there isn’t much to keep track of, it’s still important to keep in contact with your clinics and make sure that they are as much aware of what you’re feeling as you are.

The Recovery

If you’re wondering what you’ll need to do after the treatment, then there’s not much I can tell you, since, much like the procedure itself, the recovery time is very short and you barely have to do anything. All you need to do is avoid putting unnecessary strain and pressure on your skin for a couple of days after the procedure, especially the treated area.

While the cold that’s used during the Coolsculpting treatment doesn’t cause any damage to the skin and barely even weakens it, you should still give it ample time to restore its strength and get back to normal before going in for any other treatment, cosmetic or otherwise.

And within a couple of weeks, you should already start to see some difference in how toned certain parts of your body are. Within months, the effects will be more apparent than ever before and you’ll slowly see your body sculpting itself as the fat is evicted from your body, leaving behind the beautiful contours and angles you’ve been striving for.

Don’t hesitate to try Coolsculpting for yourself to see why so many people are fascinated with this amazing unique fat reduction treatment.

Judge Denies President Trump’s Bid to Block John Bolton’s Book

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President Donald Trump’s request to stop the publication of a memoir by his former National Security Adviser John Bolton has been rejected by Washington DC District Court Judge Royce Lamberth.

The justice department argued that the book had not been properly vetted.

The judge said the government had “failed to establish that an injunction would prevent irreparable harm”.

John Bolton had “gambled” with US national security and already “exposed his country to harm”, the judge said.

Hundreds of thousands of copies of the book – The Room Where It Happened – have been printed and distributed, and are due to go on sale on June 23.

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In the memoir, John Bolton paints an unflattering picture of a president whose decision-making was dominated by a desire to be re-elected in November.

President Trump has said the book is “made up of lies and fake stories”.

The justice department’s lawyers argued that John Bolton had breached an obligation to complete a pre-publication review of his manuscript to ensure that it contained no classified information.

John Bolton’s lawyers dismissed the claim. They insisted that the manuscript was thoroughly examined and that President Trump simply did not like the contents.

In his 10-page ruling, Judge Lamberth wrote that John Bolton had opted out of the pre-publication review process before its conclusion and that he “likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his non-disclosure agreement obligations”.

John Bolton nevertheless denied the government’s injunction request.

He wrote: “In taking it upon himself to publish his book without securing final approval from national intelligence authorities, Bolton may indeed have caused the country irreparable harm.

“But in the internet age, even a handful of copies in circulation could irrevocably destroy confidentiality. A single dedicated individual with a book in hand could publish its contents far and wide from his local coffee shop. With hundreds of thousands of copies around the globe – many in newsrooms – the damage is done. There is no restoring the status quo.”

Shortly after the decision, President Trump alleged on Twitter that John Bolton “broke the law by releasing Classified Information (in massive amounts)”.

“He must pay a very big price for this, as others have before him. This should never to happen again!!!” the president added.

Later, President Trump tweeted: “BIG COURT WIN against Bolton. Obviously, with the book already given out and leaked to many people and the media, nothing the highly respected Judge could have done about stopping it…BUT, strong & powerful statements & rulings on MONEY & on BREAKING CLASSIFICATION were made….”

A lawyer for John Bolton, Charles Cooper, welcomed the judge’s decision to deny the injunction request.

However, he took issue with the conclusion that his client did not comply fully with his contractual pre-publication obligation to the government.

“The full story of these events has yet to be told – but it will be,” John Bolton added.

His publisher, Simon & Schuster, said: “We are grateful that the Court has vindicated the strong First Amendment protections against censorship and prior restraint of publication.”

John Bolton became President Trump’s national security adviser in April 2018.

He left his post in September 2019, after disagreeing strongly with the president over how to handle major challenges like Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan.

In The Room Where It Happened, John Bolton portrays President Trump as an “erratic”, “impulsive” and “stunningly uninformed” leader.

Among the allegations, which are based on private conversations and are impossible to verify, are:

  • President Trump sought help from Chinese President Xi Jinping to win the 2020 vote, stressing the “importance of farmers and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome”;
  • John Bolton also said China’s construction of internment camps in the Xinjiang region was the “right thing to do”;
  • President Trump was willing to intervene in criminal investigations “to, in effect, give personal favors to dictators he liked”. John Bolton said President Trump was willing to assist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over a case involving a Turkish company;
  • President Trump said invading Venezuela would be “cool” and that the South American nation was “really part of the United States”;
  • President Trump was unaware the UK was a nuclear power and once asked a senior aide if Finland was part of Russia.