Top News
Trump arrest full recap: Mugshot, surrender, what's next in Georgia election case.
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Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump was booked at the Fulton County jail Thursday night on state charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Trump was fingerprinted and a booking photo, commonly known as a mugshot, was taken of the former president and later released to the public. Trump is facing charges in four separate criminal cases, but this is the first time he had a mugshot taken. Trump is facing 13 separate counts in Georgia, including a racketeering charge and several fraud and false statement counts. The deadline for Trump and his 18 co-defendants in the case to turn themselves in is Friday.
Former President Donald Trump said he feels some sympathy for his co-defendants in the Georgia elections case, saying their "lives are destroyed" by the criminal charges. "Those people that have been so unfairly dragged into this, these are high-quality people who don't even know why they were brought in," Trump said in an interview with Newsmax several hours after he was booked in a Georgia county jail. "Those people have to be released. They have to be released from this horrible thing that they're going through," he added. Trump is one of 19 defendants charged in a sprawling RICO indictment that accuses them of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 Georgia presidential election.
Trump also noted that some of his co-defendants "don't have a lot of money, and some of them have almost nothing." The former president dodged a question about whether he sees his co-defendants as a "team."
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WORLD
Greece wildfires: 79 people arrested for arson.
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A plane drops water over wildfires spreading in Dadia forest, one of the most important areas in Europe for birds of prey
Greece has called out "arsonist scum" after police made 79 arson arrests over wildfires ravaging the country. Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said there had been several attempts by arsonists to start new fires on Mount Parnitha, north-west of Athens. The blaze is one of hundreds in the nation where wildfires have already killed at least 20 people this week. "You are committing a crime against the country," Mr Kikilias said. "Arsonist scum are setting fires that threaten forests, property and, most of all, human lives," Mr Kikilias told Greeks during a televised emergency briefing on Thursday. "You will not get away with it, we will find you, you will be held accountable."Summer wildfires are common in Greece and scientists have linked the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including heatwaves, to climate change.
Police and Greek intelligence service EYP are investigating the incidents, AFP reported.Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis told Greek public broadcaster ERT that of 140 wildfire-related arrests, 79 were related to arson. Hundreds of firefighters across Greece have been battling deadly wildfires. The large fire front which erupted on Saturday near the port city of Alexandroupolis has become the EU's largest on record, according to European commissioner Janez Lenarcic.
Meanwhile, on Mount Parnitha near Athens, fires have been raging in a forest adjoining the capital, threatening a national park. Earlier this week, the bodies of 19 people believed to be migrants, with children among them, were found near the Evros region of north-eastern Greece.A shepherd also lost his life in the fires in the Boeotia region on Monday.
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SPACE
'India is on the moon': Pride and joy as lunar landing burnishes country's image
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ISRO/Handout/Reuters A view of the moon as viewed by the Chandrayaan-3 lander during Lunar Orbit Insertion on August 5, 2023.
Indians around the world have united with pride and excitement after the South Asian nation on Wednesday became the first country to soft land a spacecraft on the moon's unexplored South Pole, and only the fourth country to reach the lunar surface.
A lander named Vikram and a rover called Pragyan, robots from India's Chandrayaan-3 mission, touched down on the moon just after 6 p.m. local time – a moment watched by 70 million people on the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)'s YouTube page. "We have achieved soft landing on the moon," said ISRO chairman S. Somanath to thunderous applause in the control room. 'India is on the moon.'
The history-making event has become an immense source of pride for the country of 1.4 billion as it takes challenging steps to become a space pioneer and cement its status as a global power. Chandrayaan-3's success has brought together a nation struggling at a time of deep communal strife, with deadly sectarian violence flaring in pockets of the country. It presents a moment of hope and unity to millions who are reveling in ISRO's achievement.
Worshipers were seen praying at Hindu temples, mosques and Sikh gurdwaras ahead of its landing. Several schools around the country organized live viewings of the mission and children fervently waved the Indian flag when Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the moon's surface. Locals burst fire crackers, distributed sweets in the streets and danced enthusiastically to celebrate the achievement. Chants of "victory to India!" thundered outside the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in capital New Delhi. "I'm very excited," said Ashish Kumar Verma, who was watching the live stream. "It was a very great moment to witness." Another viewer, Charvi Katare, said the moment was "inspirational" for India.
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SPORTS
Serena Williams welcomes second daughter, Adira River: "My beautiful angel"
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Serena Williams
Tennis legend Serena Williams and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, have welcomed their second daughter. On Tuesday, the couple took to social media to announce the arrival of their baby girl, Adira River Ohanian. "I'm grateful to report our house is teaming with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama," Ohanian wrote on Instagram. "Feeling grateful. Serena Williams, you've now given me another incomparable gift - you're the GMOAT."
"Thanks to all the amazing medical staff who took care of my wife & our daughter 🙏 I'll never forget the moment I introduced @olympiaohanian to her baby sister," he added. He finished his caption with a quote that is seemingly an ode to his daughter's middle name: "Your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea." Williams also announced her daughter's birth in an adorable TikTok video simply captioned: "Welcome my beautiful angel." In the clip, Williams cuddles with her husband, and then is joined by 5-year-old daughter, Alexis Olympia. She gets up and signals that she'll be right back and returns with the newborn, and the family of four embrace.
In February, Williams opened up to CBS Mornings about stepping away from tennis and expanding her family.
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TECH
Europe's sweeping rules for tech giants have kicked in. Here's how they work
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The instagramm logo is seen on a cell phone
The European Union's groundbreaking new digital rules took effect Friday for the biggest platforms. The Digital Services Act is part of a suite of tech-focused regulations crafted by the 27-nation bloc - long a global leader in cracking down on tech giants. The DSA is designed to keep users safe online and stop the spread of harmful content that's either illegal or violates a platform's terms of service, such as promotion of genocide or anorexia. It also looks to protect Europeans' fundamental rights like privacy and free speech. Some online platforms, which could face billions in fines if they don't comply, already have made changes.
WHAT ABOUT OTHER ONLINE COMPANIES? The EU's list is based on numbers submitted by the platforms. Those with 45 million or more users - or 10% of the EU's population - face the DSA's highest level of regulation. Brussels insiders, however, have pointed to some notable omissions, like eBay, Airbnb, Netflix. The list isn't definitive, and it's possible other platforms may be added later on. Any business providing digital services to Europeans will eventually have to comply with the DSA. They will face fewer obligations than the biggest platforms, however, and have another six months before they must fall in line.
WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD? Europe's changes could have global impact. Wikipedia is tweaking some policies and modifying its terms of use to provide more information on "problematic users and content." Those alterations won't be limited to Europe and "will be implemented globally," said the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, which hosts the community-powered encyclopedia. "The rules and processes that govern Wikimedia projects worldwide, including any changes in response to the DSA, are as universal as possible," it said in a statement. Snapchat said its new reporting and appeal process for flagging illegal content or accounts that break its rules will be rolled out first in the EU and then globally in the coming months. It's going to be hard for tech companies to limit DSA-related changes, said Broughton Micova, adding that digital ad networks aren't isolated to Europe and that social media influencers can have global reach. The regulations are "dealing with multichannel networks that operate globally. So there is going to be a ripple effect once you have kind of mitigations that get taken into place," she said.
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