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Wheat prices have risen sharply on global markets after Russia said it would treat ships heading for Ukrainian ports as potential military targets. Moscow pulled out of a UN deal on Monday that ensured safe passage for grain shipments crossing the Black Sea. For the past three nights Russia has bombarded Ukraine's grain facilities in Odesa and other cities. Moscow also warned that from Thursday any ships going there would be seen as siding with "the Kyiv regime". White House spokesman Adam Hodge suggested Russia was planning to hit civilian ships and blame Ukraine. Russia had laid more sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports, he said, as part of a co-ordinated Russian effort to justify attacking civilian ships. The Kremlin did not immediately respond to the allegation. Wheat prices on the European stock exchange soared by 8.2% on Wednesday from the previous day, to €253.75 (£220; $284) per tonne, while corn prices were up 5.4%. US wheat futures jumped 8.5% - their highest daily rise since just after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. FULL STORY

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves, who contributed to President Biden's 2020 campaign, "refused to bring charges" on Hunter Biden for tax evasion, according to IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, who confirmed this on Wednesday. During the contentious House Oversight Committee hearing into claims the Department of Justice politically interfered with an investigation into Hunter Biden, Shapley stated, "The Justice Department allowed the president's political appointees to weigh in on whether to charge the president's son." "I watched U.S. Attorney [David] Weiss tell a room full of senior FBI and IRS senior leaders on October 7, 2022, that he was not the deciding person on whether charges were filed," he wrote. "After U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves, appointed by President Biden, refused to bring charges in March 2022." U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves contributed to Biden's 2020 campaign while employed at the law firm DLA Piper prior to his nomination and confirmation to the job in 2021, according to Federal Election Commission documents originally published by the Daily Caller. The $1,500 in donations was given during the Democratic presidential primaries in April 2020 and May 2020. The focus of the House investigation has been on the allegations made by whistleblowers Shapley and Joseph Ziegler that there was a pattern of "slow-walking investigative steps" into Hunter Biden, including directives not to speak with him at his home, informing the president's son and staff about the ongoing investigations, and postponing enforcement actions in the months leading up to the 2020 election. Copyright 07.20.23

A new indictment of former President Trump in connection to his actions surrounding Jan. 6 could pose a real problem for his 2024 White House campaign as he faces potential criminal charges for the third time this year, some Republicans say. Trump said Tuesday that he’s a target of a federal investigation, which generally signals an indictment is on the way. His legal issues so far appear to have helped more than hurt him with GOP primary voters, but the piling up of legal cases could cause real problems in a general election, Republicans say. And that could lead to the reelection of President Biden, despite his troubles. “It’s hard to think this does anything to improve his numbers in a general election,” said Brian Seitchik, a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign staffer. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted nearly two years after the riots at the Capitol found more than 60 percent of Americans believed Trump bore a lot or some responsibility for the events on Jan. 6. That includes many independent and moderate voters who Trump will need to win over from Biden next November. FULL STORY

More than 4 in 10 Americans believe the Supreme Court has become too conservative, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. The poll, published Wednesday, found that 43 percent of respondents believe that the Supreme Court is too conservative, while 13 percent of those surveyed think that the court is too liberal and 33 percent believe that the current ideology of the Supreme Court is just about right. This is a change from a September 2021 Quinnipiac University poll, in which 34 percent thought the Supreme Court was too conservative, 34 percent thought it was about right and 19 percent thought it was too liberal. Along political party lines, 80 percent of Democrat respondents now believe that the Supreme Court is too conservative, compared with 38 percent of independent respondents and 8 percent of Republicans. In contrast, 25 percent of Republican respondents believe that the Supreme Court is too liberal, compared with 12 percent of independent respondents and 5 percent of Democrats. FULL STORY

Republicans and Democrats sparred over the significance of the tax crimes investigation into Hunter Biden at a House Oversight Committee hearing that featured two IRS whistleblowers, with the GOP arguing the president’s son was spared from true justice while Democrats argued he was thoroughly investigated by a team formed under the former president and led by a Trump-appointed attorney. IRS special agent Joseph Ziegler and his supervisor Gary Shapley, who investigated Biden, expressed frustration over how U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss and other prosecutors handled the investigation, alleging authorities slow-walked the case and showed preferential treatment to the president’s son. The House Ways and Means Committee had first privately interviewed the two whistleblowers, releasing transcripts just days after prosecutors reached an agreement with Biden to plead guilty to two charges of willful failure to pay taxes. The nearly six-hour hearing relayed little information not already covered in the nearly 400 pages of testimony from the two men, with the whistleblowers saying they could not answer questions outside the scope of that testimony. FULL STORY

Russian missile attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea coast have destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain and damaged storage infrastructure, officials say. Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said a "considerable amount" of export infrastructure was out of operation. Russia has pulled out of a deal guaranteeing safe passage for exports across the Black Sea. Later on Wednesday Russia's President Putin accused the West of using the grain deal as "political blackmail". He added he would consider rejoining the international agreement, in place since last summer, only "if all principles under which Russia agreed to participate in the deal are fully taken into account and fulfilled". His comments came shortly after Russia's defence ministry declared that from midnight on Wednesday night (21:00 GMT), any ships heading to Ukrainian ports would be viewed as potential carriers of military cargo and party to the conflict. Some north-western and south-eastern areas of the Black Sea would be temporarily dangerous for shipping, it added. Russia began targeting Ukraine's ports in the early hours of Tuesday within hours of its withdrawal from the grain deal. FULL STORY

A shooting has left two people dead in the centre of Auckland, New Zealand, hours before the city is due to open the Fifa Women's World Cup. Six other people, including police officers, were injured and the gunman is also dead after the incident at 07:22 (19:22 GMT) on a construction site in the central business district. PM Chris Hipkins said the attack was not being seen as an act of terrorism. The tournament would go ahead as planned, he said. The public, he added, could be assured police had neutralised the threat and there was no ongoing risk after the incident on Queen Street. No political or ideological motive for the attack had been identified, the prime minister said. The gunman, he said, had been armed with a pump-action shotgun. Mr Hipkins thanked "the brave men and women of the New Zealand police who ran into the gunfire, straight into harm's way, in order to save the lives of others". "These kinds of situations move fast and the actions of those who risk their lives to save others are nothing short of heroic," he added. FULL STORY

A landmark referendum backed by the government would give Indigenous people constitutional recognition and greater say on legislation and policy affecting them. A proposal by the Australian government to recognize the country’s Indigenous people in the constitution has inflamed a culture war and set off divisive debates — including among Indigenous people themselves. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor government is backing a landmark referendum to enshrine in the Australian Constitution an Indigenous body — known as a “Voice to Parliament” — to advise the government on legislation and policy affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who make up almost 4% of Australia’s population of 26 million. Unlike other former British colonies such as the United States, Canada and New Zealand, Australia has no treaty with its Indigenous people, who are not mentioned in the 1901 constitution. Like Indigenous peoples in the United States and elsewhere, Indigenous Australians fare much worse than their fellow countrymen on life expectancy, incarceration rates and other measures of socioeconomic well-being. FULL STORY dum backed by the government would give Indigenous people constitutional recognition and greater say on legislation and policy affecting them.

NAIROBI, Kenya — The number of people who died in connection with Kenya’s doomsday cult has crossed the 400 mark as detectives exhumed 12 more bodies on Monday believed to be followers of a pastor who ordered them to fast to death in order to meet Jesus. Pastor Paul Mackenzie, who is linked to the cult based in a forested area in Malindi, coastal Kenya, is in police custody, along with 36 other suspects. All have yet to be charged. Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha on Monday said the number of those who died has risen to 403, with 95 people rescued. Last month, some suspects and people rescued started a hunger strike in prison and at the rescue center, prompting the prosecutor to take them to court for attempting to kill themselves. Most of them agreed to resume eating, but one suspect died in custody. Some 613 people have so far been reported missing to Kenya Red Cross officers stationed in Malindi town. Detectives are still finding mass graves. FULL STORY

North Korea hasn't been much of a foreign policy priority for Joe Biden's administration since he took office in January 2021, but recent escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula are moving it up the list. Now, with the detention of a US soldier who crossed the border in the demilitarised zone (DMZ), the situation could be turning into a full-blown crisis, the type of which the Biden administration has been trying to avoid. The incident comes on the day that a US nuclear missile submarine, the USS Kentucky, arrived in the South Korean port of Busan - a visible demonstration of US military strength that had angered the North Koreans. The move was a US response to more than a hundred new North Korean missile tests over the past few years that suggest the nation's nuclear-delivery technologies continue to advance - possibly putting the US mainland well within range of a North Korean strike. North Korea is also reportedly considering a new nuclear weapons test, which would be the first since a 140 kiloton blast in September 2017. FULL STORY

Donald Trump has said he expects to be arrested by a federal inquiry into the US Capitol riot and efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. The ex-president said in a social media post he had been informed by special counsel Jack Smith on Sunday night that he was a target of their investigation. Mr Trump posted that he was told to report to a grand jury, "which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment". The special counsel did not immediately respond to media inquiries. Such an indictment would be Mr Trump's third for alleged criminal offences, including 37 counts brought by Mr Smith's team in June accusing the president of mishandling classified documents. Mr Trump has also been charged in New York City with falsifying business records in 2016 hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He is due to stand trial in that case next March, while a date for the classified documents case is still being contested by the president's lawyers. Michigan charges 16 in fake elector scheme What charges might Trump face in January 6 probe? In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump claimed that he had been sent a letter "stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment." FULL STORY

Summary A US soldier is being held in North Korea after crossing the border from South Korea without authorisation Private 2nd Class Travis King was being escorted back to the US for disciplinary reasons before he apparently gave his escort the slip at Incheon Airport He joined a tour group at the border where he was seen laughing before running into the North "I thought it was a bad joke at first, but when he didn't come back, I realised it wasn't a joke," a witness said later The incident is being investigated by US Forces Korea, a senior American commander said The US military has had no contact with the soldier since he crossed the border, the commander confirmed FULL STORY

From a single toaster evolved a world of more than eight billion connected ‘things’ – the Internet of Things. In 1990, the information and telecommunications industry was in its infancy. Only three million people, sharing 300,000 computers, had access to the internet. The first, brick-sized mobile phones stored a handful of numbers: they might have enabled an hour’s conversation, but offered neither colour, motion or information. Mark Zuckerberg was six years old; Sergey Brin was still in high school; Tim Berners-Lee had just laid out his vision for a worldwide web. Then at a networking conference named Interop, in San Jose, California, engineers John Romkey and Simon Hackett demonstrated a slice of the future: a Sunbeam toaster hooked up to the new-fangled internet. For all its unsightly tangle of wire, it had just one control that switched the power on and off – a year later the engineers would add a miniature crane to manoeuvre the bread into place. FULL ARTICLE

Laura Ingraham discussed how a declining President Biden has led to a declining America and how the Democratic party is "stuck" with him on "The Ingraham Angle.' BIDEN'S NIBBLES ON YOUNG GIRL JUST HIS LATEST WEIRD INTERACTION WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S KIDS LAURA INGRAHAM: Now, it seems to me that the Democrats know they're in one big ol' hole. Now, first, having Joe Biden as their nominee, it's very risky. And at the same time, not having him as their nominee, maybe even riskier. Now, how did this happen? Well, during the 2020 campaign, when everyone in the press already knew Biden was failing. Well, they propped him up in a full weekend at Biden-style production. They and the DNC knew then what they know now. They could market him, though, as kind of an older and more stable than the new far-left Democrats. And they would reassure seniors and minorities and independents. But now what? He's only gotten worse. And America knows it. And now the country and the party is stuck with someone who literally everyone knows is a figurehead president. Joe's not calling the shots on any major question other than maybe whether it'll have Jell-O or pudding for dessert. FULL STORY

Taiwan’s vice president will transit through the U.S. next month, travel likely to draw intense pushback from China and further strain relations with Washington. Vice President Lai Ching-te, who is also a presidential candidate, will stop in the U.S. on his way to attend the inauguration of Paraguay’s president in mid-August, the island’s presidential office said at a news conference Monday. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Tah-ray Yui, speaking at the press conference, did not say which city Lai will transit through but that the trip will be “planned according to precedent set by previous trips to South and Central America, for which transit stops in the U.S. were arranged.” Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen transited through the U.S. in April on her way to official meetings in Guatemala and Belize. While Tsai met with U.S. lawmakers in New York and California, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the “transit” description gives it the veneer of an unofficial and private visit. FULL STORY

The Georgia Supreme Court Monday declined to take up an effort from former President Donald Trump to quash an investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. The unanimous decision from the court’s nine justices was swiftly delivered just days after Trump’s legal team asked the court Friday to block an investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D). Trump in March filed a motion to block Willis’s investigation, a matter that has not yet been decided by a lower court. The court called out Trump’s efforts as procedurally dubious, dismissing his team’s legal argument at every turn. “The Court has made clear that a petitioner cannot invoke this Court’s original jurisdiction as a way to circumvent the ordinary channels for obtaining the relief,” the justices wrote in the five-page opinion. “Petitioner has not shown that this case presents one of those extremely rare circumstances in which this Court’s original jurisdiction should be invoked, and therefore, the petition is dismissed.” FULL STORY

Millions of US military emails have been mistakenly sent to Mali, a Russian ally, because of a minor typing error. Emails intended for the US military's ".mil" domain have, for years, been sent to the west African country which ends with the ".ml" suffix. Some of the emails reportedly contained sensitive information such as passwords, medical records and the itineraries of top officers. The Pentagon said it had taken steps to address the issue. According to the Financial Times, which first reported the story, Dutch internet entrepreneur Johannes Zuurbier identified the problem more than 10 years ago. Since 2013, he has had a contract to manage Mali's country domain and, in recent months, has reportedly collected tens of thousands of misdirected emails. None were marked as classified, but, according to the newspaper, they included medical data, maps of US military facilities, financial records and the planning documents for official trips as well as some diplomatic messages. FULL STORY

The deal allowing Ukraine to safely export grain via the Black Sea has officially expired after Russia pulled out of the crucial agreement. Moscow notified the UN, Turkey and Ukraine on Monday that it would not renew the deal, accusing the West of not keeping its side of the bargain. The decision has been condemned by world leaders, who say it will affect some of the planet's poorest people. Russia said it would return to the agreement if its conditions were met. The deal formally came to an end at midnight Tuesday Istanbul time (2100 GMT). It had let cargo ships pass through the Black Sea from the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi. Russian President Vladimir Putin had long complained that parts of the deal allowing the export of Russian food and fertilisers had not been honoured. In particular, he said grain had not been supplied to poorer countries, which was a condition of the agreement. FULL STORY

Southern and eastern Europe is expected to get even hotter this week, with 46C (115F) forecast in Sardinia In Greece, 1,200 children were evacuated from holiday camps as wildfires broke out, while Italian authorities have issued red alerts for 16 cities The hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe was 48.8C (120F) in Sicily in August 2021 The UN weather agency has said the European heatwave could continue into August and such weather was happening more due to global warming China provisionally recorded its highest temperature ever on Sunday - 52.2C in Xinjiang, the UK Met Office says In the US, a heat dome over the south-west has left tens of millions of people under extreme heat warnings Death Valley in California hit 53.9C (128F ) on Sunday - the hottest temperature ever reliably recorded on Earth is 56.7C (134F) FULL STORY

As hundreds of rescue workers comb the muddied waters of a South Korean underpass, the stagnant rainwater, once up to the ceiling, now only covers their knees. They will not give up. There is one person still missing. It's been more than 48 hours since extreme rainfall caused a riverbank to break, and water suddenly and forcefully filled the major underpass, stopping vehicles dead. Thirteen bodies have so far been brought out of the tunnel in the central, mountainous region of Chongju. Rescuers have CCTV footage of a terrified missing driver trying to escape their submerged car, but there is no sign of their body yet. As they search on, another car is winched out, its back window smashed out by the force of the water. This scene, akin to one from a horror film, is a wake up call for South Korea. Climate change is starting to take its toll on this country, that until recently has been spared some of the extreme weather events experienced by other, hotter countries. But only halfway through its monsoon season, and it has already received more than the total amount of rainfall typical for the period. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has said he will "completely overhaul" the country's approach to extreme weather, as "these events will become more commonplace". "We must accept climate change is happening, and deal with it," Mr Yoon said. FULL STORY

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing accusations of antisemitism and racism after reportedly repeating unsubstantiated conspiracy theories linking COVID-19 to Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. According to audio obtained by the New York Post, Kennedy claimed during a press event at an Upper East Side restaurant last week that COVID-19 was a genetically engineered bioweapon that could have been “ethnically targeted” to prevent deaths of Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. “There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,” Kennedy reportedly said. “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” “We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact,” Kennedy added, according to the Post. Kennedy’s remarks met fierce backlash from members of his party. FULL STORY

What to do after a British person dies in Thailand This guide gives advice about the death of a British person in Thailand, including information on burial, cremation and repatriation. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-to-do-after-a-british-person-dies-in-thailand If you are dealing with the death of a child, multiple deaths, a suspicious death or a case of murder or manslaughter, call +66 (0) 2 305 8333.

What is a "woman"? That question, the title of a now well-known documentary, has stumped Supreme Court justices and prime ministers alike. The reason for the confusion stems, perhaps, from society's conflation of the terms "sex" and "gender." Sex is a biological trait. Like other mammals, humans fall into one of two sex categories—male and female—that are built for distinct reproductive roles. Each cell in a human being's body is clearly and irreversibly either male or female from the moment of conception. A minute percentage of the population are born with sex-related chromosomal anomalies or reproductive organs or genitals that present or develop atypically. But these differences of sex development do not contradict the sex binary. They are the exception that prove the rule. To put it another way, writer Andrew Sullivan has noted that some people may be born with only one arm, but that doesn't change the scientific fact that human beings are two-armed mammals. Although many people today use the word "gender" when referring to biological sex, the terms have distinct origins and meanings. "Gender" is a sociological term used by 1970s feminists to distinguish biology from cultural expectations about men and women. The statement "only females can birth children" is a biological fact. By contrast, the statement "women are the primary caregivers of children" is a cultural norm based on a "gender stereotype."A person can challenge "gender stereotypes" and alter the way that he or she expresses "gender" by adopting behaviors, mannerisms, or styles that society regards as either masculine or feminine. But a person can never change his or her biological sex, even with surgery or hormone therapy. FULL ARTICLE

A tsunami advisory issued after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska late Saturday has since been canceled, officials said. The earthquake hit offshore about 55 miles southwest from Sand Point, Alaska, at a depth of 13 mi. on Saturday around 10:48 p.m. local (2:48  a.m. ET), according to the US Tsunami Warning Center. The quake prompted a brief tsunami warning for parts of Alaska near the Aleutian islands, extending from Unimak Pass to Kennedy Entrance, before being revised to a tsunami advisory. A small tsunami was later observed up to 0.5 feet in elevation at Sand Point and King Cove, Alaska. There is no tsunami threat for other Pacific coasts in the US and Canada, the advisory said .FULL STORY

Russia has a stockpile of cluster munitions and will consider using them against Ukraine “if they are used against us,” President Vladimir Putin said. Putin’s comments come just days after Ukraine received a delivery of American-made cluster munitions, though a top Ukrainian military official told CNN they had not yet been used. “Russia has a sufficient supply of various types of cluster munitions,” the Russian leader said during an interview with a pro-Kremlin journalist. “If they are used against us, we reserve the right to mirror actions.” Washington’s decision to send cluster bombs to Kyiv was controversial and criticized by human rights groups. The weapons are particularly dangerous to civilians and noncombattants when fired near populated areas because they scatter explosive material, so-called “bomblets,” across large areas. Those that fail to explode on impact can detonate years later, posing a long-term risk to anyone who encounters them, similar to landmines. FULL STORY