Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained by Russia on bogus espionage charges since March of 2023, but former President Donald Trump is confident that the journalist will be freed immediately if he wins the election in November. Trump posted about Gershkovich on Wednesday morning as the 32-year-old journalist appeared in a Russian court for the start of his trial. The U.S. government has designated Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained,” and the WSJ holds that the accusations against its reporter are completely false. “EVAN GERSHKOVICH, the young Wall Street Journal reporter who is being harshly detained in Russia as his ESPIONAGE TRIAL is about to begin, will be released prior to my taking office if I WIN the Election on NOVEMBER 5th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Crooked Joe can’t do anything right, although it is likely that he will pay $BILLIONS, which continues a very bad ‘Biden Precedent,’ to get Evan home. I got a record 58 hostages brought home, paying next to nothing. Putin has no respect for Biden – and that’s the way it goes!!! Fear not, Evan, I will get you home soon, and you will be safe while there!!!” A senior Kremlin official told reporters on Wednesday that the Russian government is still open to a prisoner swap for the U.S. to get Gershkovich back home, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Biden administration previously negotiated a deal for the release of WNBA star Britney Griner from a Russian prison after she was arrested for allegedly entering the country with marijuana vaping materials. Griner was freed in December 2022 after President Joe Biden agreed to hand over Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is known as the “merchant of death.” The WNBA player had been held in a Russian prison for nearly 10 months. Gershkovich’s Russian imprisonment passed the one-year mark in March. He was on assignment for the WSJ in Russia when he was arrested by Russia’s Federal Security Service. The reporter’s family released a statement on Wednesday, saying, “These past 15 months have been extraordinarily painful for Evan and for our family. We miss our son and just want him home. We’re deeply disappointed that he will have to endure further attempts to discredit him.” Gershkovich’s next hearing is scheduled for August 13, according to Russian state news agency TASS. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Biden is also facing pressure to secure the release of other Americans, including Marine veteran Paul Whelan, who is being held in a Russian prison; humanitarian Ryan Corbett, who is in the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan; and five American hostages believed to be alive and in Hamas captivity after the terrorist organization’s October 7 attack on Israel.

The original photo shows Sheinbaum with an empty fist. 

It was not the Palestinian flag, the Pride flag was raised.

'The image, originally published in an April 2022 RTBF article, shows the Xelo oil tanker, which sank off the coast of southeastern Tunisia'

'Folks coming through here the way they shouldn’t'

‘First of all, I’m rethinking this morning beverage choice here,’ Lemire said

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when young Jaxon Carter delivered a speech as he graduated from Kindergarten, dedicating his hard work, good grades, and spelling bee victory to his deceased mother. The 6-year-old lost his “beautiful mommy” Taryn Marie Gainey in an apartment fire in 2022, and was enrolled in a STEM-focused […] The post Kindergarten Student Brings Audience to Tears Remembering Late Mom in Graduation Speech appeared first on Good News Network.

The post Microchip Now: To Prevent Apocalypse Now by Dr. Lauren Demos DVM (Veterinarian) appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com. Hi, I’m Dr. Lauren! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller. As a veterinarian, I tell people that one of the most important things you can do for a cat, is to ensure that they are microchipped. In fact, one of my cats once escaped while in the wilds of Alaska, and the only way I got her back, months later, was via her microchip. Miles away, cities away- the chip was her saving grace. She’d navigated the rugged Alaskan wilderness on her own, and without the microchip (or chip, as we often refer to it), would have had no way to communicate who she was, or where she belonged. These days, many shelters won’t adopt cats out until they are spayed/neutered and microchipped. But those that come by cats through other means, such as finding a stray or adopting a kitten from a friend, know that chips are a key part of pet ownership. And with modern technology, they can now have multiple uses. Let’s take a look. Microchips: What, How & Why? Microchips are generally placed in the scruff of a cat, under the skin, but not in muscle. Arguably the best time to do this is under sedation or general anesthesia during the time they are being de-sexed, as the needle gauge (size) is rather large, and can be uncomfortable. The microchip itself is about the size and shape of a grain of rice, and often cannot be felt once implanted. Microchips work passively: a handheld, battery-powered reader can scan a chip within a few inches of the chip, and read out a several-digit number. This number is then linked via a database to the cat owner’s information. Microchips help keep cats like Pancake and Tiller safe In clinics, I’ve had many stray cats brought in, with finders desperately wanting to reunite the stray cat with its family. The majority of these cats don’t have microchips, and those that do, often have chips that haven’t been registered, or the contact information is out of date. So, if you do get a cat with a chip, always remember to complete the additional registration steps, to link the microchip number to your contact information. And if you move or change any of your contact information, don’t forget to update the microchip, as well. And, if you ever need to look up a chip, know that there are various databases that the chip can be registered with- it’s not like a car where each car is registered to a single state. Rather, it’s like deciding to order a pizza: multiple different restaurants, each with their own menu. The American Animal Hospital Association is making things easier, as they’ve compiled a database of all the microchip registries, which is a good starting point. Legally, microchips are becoming compulsory, or required, in many places, which is a good turn of law. Recently, all of England now requires cats to be microchipped and gives owners a 30-day window to adhere. For the cats out there that cannot speak for themselves, I think this type of legislation speaks volumes: microchip your cat, so they can find their way home. The post Microchip Now: To Prevent Apocalypse Now by Dr. Lauren Demos DVM (Veterinarian) appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Books book recommendations Five SFF Works Featuring Nameless Protagonists In each of these stories, we never learn the main character’s name, for any number of intriguing reasons… By James Davis Nicoll | Published on June 26, 2024 Photo by Gahan N Rao [via Unsplash] Comment 0 Share New Share Photo by Gahan N Rao [via Unsplash] All the best protagonists have names, or so one might expect. However, from time to time one encounters protagonists that are never named in the course of their particular story, a choice made for reasons other than “the author forgot1”. Perhaps the protagonist relates the story in first-person mode, and knowing who they are, has no need to name themselves. Perhaps other purposes are served…. Consider these five works with no-name protagonists. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892) Although she herself believes herself to be unwell, the unnamed protagonist’s physician husband John knows better. All that’s wrong is a mild depression, easily cured with involuntary confinement, total isolation in an unfamiliar house, and enforced inactivity. Is this an effective cure for depression? It’s certainly an effective way to get the protagonist to pay close attention to her prison’s yellow wallpaper. The protagonist becomes increasingly convinced that the sickly yellow paper has an eldritch nature. There is, she is sure, a woman somehow creeping beyond the wallpaper. Skeptical John will be of no help in the matter—therefore it falls to the nameless woman to take proper action. John only refers to his wife by endearments, possibly not considering that she has an identity of her own. As for the wallpaper: perhaps it’s just yellow wallpaper, and the narrator has become deranged by isolation. Perhaps the paper really is a supernatural horror2. Perhaps John has inadvertently selected for his wife’s cell a room whose yellow wallpaper is as toxic as arsenical green. Or perhaps the truth incorporates all three possibilities. Drinking Sapphire Wine by Tanith Lee (1977) The protagonist briefly tasted freedom in a previous book, Don’t Bite the Sun3. This experience brings home to the protagonist the many ways in which life in the supposed utopia of four-BEE fails to please. Luxuries abound, but the quasi-robots who run four-BEE methodically deny their human charges any meaningful activity. Rebellion and escape both appear impossible. There is one transgression for which the quasi-robots are not prepared. When the protagonist duels and (temporarily) kills another human, the baffled quasi-robots exile the protagonist to the desert. This is a misstep. Bored youths flock to join the exile. The quasi-robots have maintained stasis for six thousand years. Alternatives are intolerable. Something…final…will have to be done about the non-conformists. You may wonder how useful pampered youths are to the business of creating a new society in a seemingly barren wasteland. Surprisingly, the answer is “not very.” There was supposed to be a third book in the series, and Lee reportedly had an idea what it would be about: I had wished … to write a third book in which I would try to set out an alternative life-style, adventurous and stretching to mind and heart, but still, and importantly, free of the retributions of unprotected life. I did and do think a world would be feasible which gives pleasure and safety alongside excitement and development. The conclusion does not appear to have been written. If it was, it was certainly not published. Shadow by K. J. Parker (2001) Waking on a battlefield, the battered survivor cannot recall who he is, or for which army he fought. Leaving the field of bodies behind, he encounters old acquaintances. These persons prove of little help, as their first reaction on recognizing the survivor is to try to kill him. The survivor comes to three conclusions. First: he has an astonishing talent for killing would-be killers. Second: the frequency with which people try to kill him suggests he might not have been a nice person. Third, while he cannot change the past, he can try to be a better person in the future. The first two conclusions are correct. The third is, very unfortunately for many people, not. In the survivor’s defense, Shadow is a black comedy by an author who loves to write narratives in which virtues are transformed into vices. Regardless of how noble the intentions, the results generally involve carnage or worse, on a biblical scale. But at least the survivor meant well. A Nameless Witch by A. Lee Martinez (2007) The protagonist is from birth a thing of horror and dread: supernaturally beautiful, Undead, and subject to anthropophagous urges entwined with her libido. Her relatives prudently confine the Undead beauty. Older witch Ghastly Edna frees her and trains her as a fellow witch. An unnaturally beautiful witch compelled to consume those with whom she is smitten is an unlikely savior. Nevertheless, when normally solitary goblings are somehow inspired to form an aggressive horde, the nameless witch and her companions become the world’s bulwark. Saving the world is a tremendous challenge but at the very least, it might distract the nameless witch from how very much she wishes to eat her one true love. As so often happens in books like these (Shadow and To Your Eternity both being examples), other characters eventually provide the nameless witch with a name. But the reader never finds out what that name is. To Your Eternity by Yoshitoki Ōima (2016—onward) The entity that falls to earth has no name because it has no identity. Instead, it is endlessly mutable, taking its shape and form from the objects and animals around it. The latter provide the entity with its first sense of self, if not actual intelligence. The boy has no need of a name. Left behind by his migrating tribe, he lives alone in an arctic wilderness. The boy welcomes the entity, which is clad in the borrowed form of a now-dead wolf. Together, perhaps, the pair can follow the boy’s tribe to the paradise that the boy is sure waits for him. At the very least, the boy can inadvertently set the entity on the path towards personhood. The convention in Western fiction is that children, no matter how misguided the child or how dire their circumstances, enjoy plot immunity. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how not true that is for the supporting characters in To Your Eternity. Indeed, the more adorable a child is, the more likely it is that they will suffer a tragic death. There are other examples I could have named. Park Seolyeon’s 2022 A Magical Girl Retires, for example, was omitted because it was mentioned in a recent essay. Feel free to regale us with your favourite nameless protagonists in comments below.[end-mark] The authors might have wanted to vex future reviewers who might start their reviews with the name of the protagonist. But really, how likely is that? ︎It is unlikely that the yellow wallpaper is some supernatural horror, but that slim possibility is enough for me to categorize the story as fantasy horror and thus mention the story here. ︎So, titles. Lee published two books in this series, Don’t Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine. On occasion, they have been offered together in omnibus form. These omnibuses have had at least three titles: Drinking Sapphire Wine (Hamlyn, 1979), Het Jang Fenomeen (Meulenhoff, 1989), and Biting the Sun (Bantam Spectra, 1999). Yes, it is confusing that one omnibus title is identical to the title of one of the component novels and it is also confusing that another omnibus title is a variation on the title of one of the component books. Nevertheless, please do not helpfully offer me a title correction in this matter. ︎The post Five SFF Works Featuring Nameless Protagonists appeared first on Reactor.

Just How Bad Was the Bowman Loss?