List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

Nearly 40 years after an infant was found wrapped in a towel, inside plastic bag and left to die on a cold December morning in a wooded area of Mendham Township, New Jersey, investigators have solved the case. The baby girl’s body was discovered by two young boys who were fishing at Woodland Lake in the Dismal Harmony Natural Area on the morning of Christmas Eve in 1984. She was baptized by Rev. Michael Drury of St. Joseph Church, who gave her the name “Baby Mary.” But her identity remained a mystery until this year. After a multiyear investigation and new DNA analysis, the baby’s mother was arrested in South Carolina and charged with manslaughter, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll announced at a press conference on Thursday. Prosecutors declined to share the mom’s name because she was a minor at the time of the alleged crime. The man who authorities identified as the baby’s father has since passed away. There is no evidence that he was aware of the pregnancy or the birth. The baby was found around 10.35am on the morning of Christmas Eve near Mt. Pleasant Road in Mendham Township, New Jersey. Her body was wrapped in a towel, inside a plastic bag. Her umbilical cord was still attached. The Medical Examiner determined the infant had been alive at the time of her birth. Her death was ruled a homicide. On April 24, 2023, a juvenile delinquency complaint was filed against Baby Mary’s mother. She was charged with one count of manslaughter, an offense which would be a second-degree crime if committed by an adult. “This arrest is the culmination of decades of effort, across multiple generations of law enforcement,” Mr Carroll said. “It is a tribute to the tenacity and dedication of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, our Major Crimes Unit, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, and the Mendham Township Police Department. “The death and abandonment of this baby girl is a tragic loss and even after nearly 40 years, remains just as heartbreaking. Justice may not take the form the public has imagined all these years, but we believe with this juvenile delinquency complaint, justice is being served for Baby Mary. Nothing can right this terrible wrong. Thanks to the men and women who worked so diligently on this case, we hope the community is given a sense of closure.” Read More Date set for retrial decision on serial killer nurse Lucy Letby Stepfather who murdered 10-month-old baby will not have sentence increased Lucy Letby: Mum demands fresh probe into baby’s death after finding picture of her with killer

For five days, expert cave explorer Mark Dickey has been stuck 3,400 feet below the surface in a cave in the Taurus Moutain region of Turkey. Mr Dickey, 40, is an experienced caver who embarked on an expedition mission to map one of the deepest caves in the world – the Morca cave system in southern Turkey. But the expedition was suddenly cut short after Mr Dickey fell ill with gastrointestinal bleeding. Now, a rescue team of over 150 personnel from several international organisations have combined their efforts to try to retrieve Mr Dickey, who cannot leave the cave due to the emergency medical situation. As of Thursday, officials in the Speleological Federation of Turkey said that Mr Dickey’s situation had improved but that he would require a stretcher, making the rescue mission even more complicated. An expert caver Hailing from Croton-on-Hudson, New York, Mr Dickey is a highly-trained caver, cave rescuer himself and well-known in the international speleological (cave expert) community, according to the European Cave Rescue Association (ECRA). His resume of cave explorations and expert status is endless: secretary of the ECRA medical committee, lead instructor for Caving Academy, a US-based organisation that prepares other cavers for exploration and a national instructor for the National Cave Rescue Commission. He also volunteers with the New Jersey Initial Response Team, a nonprofit search-and-rescue team. Having participated in many cave explorations in karst areas around the world for many years, Mr Dickey is knowledgeable and skilled – the kind of person you’d want on complicated cave exploration like the Morca mission. Mr Dickey was on an expedition to map the 4,186-foot-deep cave system in southern Turkey for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association. Photos from a Facebook page that seemingly belongs to Mr Dickey show him happily preparing for the mission by inspecting all the necessary gear before embarking. But what Mr Dickey, and others, could not prepare for was the sudden emergency medical situation he found himself in during the journey. On 2 September, Mr Dickey fell ill with severe gastric pain that was escalating quickly. Though there was initial hope that Mr Dickey could exit the cave on his own, the pain turned into gastrointestinal bleeding and it was clear he needed medical attention quickly. The Speleological Federation of Turkey sent a medical team and six units of blood in the following days in the hopes of stabilising Mr Dickey’s medical situation. On Thursday, Mr Dickey appeared in a video for the first time, obtained by The Associated Press, where he thanked Turkish authorities for responding quickly to his medical needs. “I don’t quite know what’s happened, but I do know that the quick response of the Turkish government to get the medical supplies that I need, in my opinion, saved my life,” Mr Dickey said. “I was very close to the edge.” While doctors worked to assist Mr Dickey, cave experts began putting their teams together to figure out how to rescue Mr Dickey through one of the deepest, and very complicated, cave systems. “A long and challenging rescue operation is initiated to carry Mark out on a stretcher,” the ECRA said in a statement. A complicated route Teams from Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy and Poland are working to create a path out of the cave system. The Morca cave system descends through various, very narrow, twists, turns and rappels – making it a difficult exploration for any person in good health. The underground equivalent of the cave is like climbing Mount Everest. “It takes a full 15 hours for an experienced caver to reach the surface in ideal conditions,” the Speleological Federation of Turkey said. To tackle the issue, the team of international experts has divided up the depths of the cave and assigned it to a specific team to figure out a solution for that specific area. At multiple very narrow spots, a demolition team will need to widen them so Mr Dickey can pass through on a stretcher. They will also need to set up several camp spots on the way up to continuously monitor Mr Dickey and give him and his team sections to rest in. To make the matter more complicated, communication between the underground team and the surface team is limited. Runners are being used to travel from the camp where Mr Dickey is to the surface where a telephone line is to speak with officials, according to AP. Hungarian Cave Rescue Service member, Marton Kovacs, told CBS News that they were also addressing the danger of falling rocks in several places. The Hungarian team is working between the 590 to 1180-feet depths Mr Kovacs said Mr Dickey’s exit will take several days and they hope to begin on Saturday or Sunday depending on Mr Dickey’s condition. Read More Trapped American explorer says he was ‘very close to the edge’ in emotional first video from Turkish cave American explorer trapped 3,400 feet in Turkey cave shares emotional video as rescue effort drags on - latest Dramatic rescue underway for renowned American caver stuck 3,700 feet underground Trapped American explorer releases emotional video from deep in Turkish cave Explorer Mark Dickey trapped 3,400 feet in Turkey cave shares emotional video Peter Navarro found guilty of contempt of Congress for defying Jan 6 committee

Danny Masterson, star of That 70s Show, has been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for the rapes of two women two decades ago. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo handed down the sentence to the 47-year-old actor after ruling on a defence motion for a new trial that she rejected, and having heard impact statements from the victims. A jury of seven women and five men found Masterson guilty of two counts on 31 May after seven days of deliberations. Both attacks took place in Masterson’s Hollywood Hills home in 2003, when he was at the height of his fame on the Fox network sitcom. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a third count, an allegation that Masterson also raped a longtime girlfriend. The verdict came in a second trial after a jury failed to reach verdicts on three counts of forcible rape in December 2022 and a mistrial was declared. Prosecutors alleged that Masterson used his prominence in the Church of Scientology — where all three women were also members at the time — to avoid consequences for decades after the attacks.

Actor Danny Masterson remained unmoved as his two rape victims gave powerful impact statements to a judge before the That ‘70s Show star was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the attacks. “When you raped me, you stole from me,” said one woman who Masterson, 47, was convicted of raping in 2003. “That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit.” “You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent,” she added. “The world is better off with you in prison.” The other victim told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo that the actor “has not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused.” “I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with. I am so sorry, and I’m so upset. I wish I’d reported him sooner to the police,” she told the court. Masterson, who has been in custody since May, showed no visible reaction to the statements as he sat in court, reported The Associated Press. Masterson was found guilty by a jury of two counts of rape on 31 May after seven days of deliberations. The court was told that both attacks took place at Masterson’s home in the Hollywood area of the city in 2003 when he was a member of the cast of the hit Fox sitcom. Masterson did not testify, and his defence team called no witnesses, arguing that the acts were consensual. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a third count, an allegation that Masterson had raped a longtime girlfriend. A mistrial was declared in Masterson’s first trial in December 2022 after a jury failed to reach verdicts on three counts of forcible rape. “Mr Masterson, I know that you’re sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence, and thus no doubt feeling victimized by a justice system that has failed you,” Judge Olmedo told Masterson before handing down the sentence. “But Mr Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person’s voice, and choice. One way or another you will have to come to terms with your prior actions, and their consequences.” The Associated Press contributed to this report. Read More ‘That ’70s Show’ actor Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for rapes Danny Masterson sentencing - live: ‘That 70s Show’ actor given 30 years to life in prison for raping two women Danny Masterson’s wife breaks down at rape sentencing: Who is Bijou Phillips?

Elon Musk ordered SpaceX engineers to cut off Ukrainian access to Starlink satellites near the Crimean coast to prevent a surprise drone attack on Russian warships, a new biography claims. The drones packed with explosives “lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly” during the thwarted attack some time last year, Walter Isaacson writes in his upcoming book Elon Musk, according to an excerpt obtained by CNN. Mr Musk told the author that he feared a strike on occupied Crimea would amount to a “mini-Pearl Harbour” and lead to a Russian nuclear retaliation, Mr Isaacson writes. The decision led Ukrainian officials to beg the world’s richest person to reinstate the satellites. The account highlights how Mr Musk unwittingly found himself thrust into the frontlines of the the 18-month-old conflict. “How am I in this war?” Mr Musk reportedly asked the writer, who has previously published biographies of Steve Jobs and Henry Kissinger. “Starlink was not meant to be involved in wars. It was so people can watch Netflix and chill and get online for school and do good peaceful things, not drone strikes.” The world’s richest man found himself thrust into the world of high-stakes diplomacy, and reportedly spoke to US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, joint chiefs chairman Mark Milley and the Russian ambassador to the US. Ukraine’s former deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov also contacted Mr Musk to beg him to switch the satellites back on, according to the book. The SpaceX CEO replied that the drone attack was “going too far and inviting strategic defeat,” and declined to restore access. SpaceX has donated more than 20,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine after Russia destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure in the beginning of the war in February 2022. Last October, Mr Musk wrote to the Pentagon to say that it could no longer afford to continue funding the service, which he estimated had cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars, CNN revealed at the time. After the story broke, Mr Musk wrote on Twitter, now known as X: “The hell with it … we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.” According to Mr Isaacson, US Defense officials had been about to hand over a $145m check before his reversal. “Elon succumbed to the bulls*** on Twitter and to the haters at the Pentagon who leaked the story,” SpaceX’s president Gwynne Shotwell reportedly told Mr Isaacson. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Independent. In a promotional blurb, publishers Simon & Schuster say that Mr Isaacson shadowed Mr Musk for two years to gain an insight into every aspect of the billionaire’s world. The author “attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries”. “The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?” * Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson is set to be realeased by Simon & Schuster on 12 September Read More First photo emerges of Elon Musk and his baby twins with Neuralink director How Ukraine’s month-long drone assault has brought the war home for Russians Elon Musk vows to sue ADL for calling him antisemitic after he promoted antisemitic campaign on X The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

By David Lawder WASHINGTON The International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Thursday issued a rare joint statement

The depleted uranium anti-tank rounds soon to be in Ukraine’s military stockpiles have kicked up a debate over its use in the continuing Russian invasion. Announced by the Pentagon in the latest military tranche on Wednesday, the controversial rounds have spread alarm among Vladimir Putin’s ministers who have warned against the escalation yet again. Britain has already promised armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium to Ukraine in March. Prime minister Rishi Sunak had backed drawing out the rounds from the UK military’s stockpiles ultimately “to degrade and deter – primarily – Russian aggression”. But what are these depleted uranium munitions? The 120mm anti-tank shells made of depleted uranium are self-sharpening and flammable penetrator in munitions. They are made of naturally occurring Uranium which has been stripped of mostly – not all – of its radioactive matter. So while it is not a nuclear weapon in itself, it acts as a fuel and also as a great explosive that can be used in tank armour, pressed between sheets of steel armour plate. They can be paired with top-tier tanks Western nations have already provided to Ukraine, and are particularly expected to boost the performance of 31 M1A1 Abram tanks set to be sent to the war-hit nation this fall. These rounds first emerged in the 1970s when the US army started making the armour-piercing rounds and has since used it along with tank armour to multiply the firing effect. Incredibly dense, more than lead, depleted uranium is considered a top-tier choice for projectiles. When fired, it becomes “essentially an exotic metal dart fired at an extraordinarily high speed”, RAND senior defence analyst Scott Boston said. “It’s so dense and it’s got so much momentum that it just keeps going through the armour – and it heats it up so much that it catches on fire,” Edward Geist, a nuclear expert at research organisation RAND said. The depleted uranium has also been added to the US ammunition fired by the Air Force’s A-10 close air support attack plane, known as the tank killer. Depleted uranium munitions, as well as depleted uranium-enhanced armour, have been previously used by US tanks in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq’s T-72 tanks and again in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, as well as in Serbia and in Kosovo. Is the risk alarming? The UN nuclear watchdog has warned of the emissions of low levels of radiation from depleted uranium when handling and also warned of possible dangers of explosion. This is a bug, not a feature of the munition, says Mr Geist. Categorically, depleted uranium is not marked as a nuclear weapon. It is mainly a toxic chemical, as opposed to a radiation hazard. Particles in aerosols can be inhaled or ingested, and while most would be excreted again, some can enter the bloodstream and cause kidney damage. “High concentrations in the kidney can cause damage and, in extreme cases, renal failure,” the International Atomic Energy Agency has said. The US troops have questioned whether some of the ailments they now face were caused by inhaling or being exposed to fragments after a munition was fired or their tanks were struck, damaging uranium-enhanced armour. Experts have said that if the US military could find another material with the same density but without the radioactivity, it would likely switch. The IAEA has warned that handling of depleted uranium “should be kept to a minimum and protective apparel (gloves) should be worn” and “a public information campaign may, therefore, be required to ensure that people avoid handling the projectiles”. Initial signs of radioactivity from the Ukraine war have started trickling in. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had recently claimed that the use of these munitions has already led to radioactive contamination. How has Russia reacted? In March, Russia was fuming after the Rishi Sunak administration announced it will give depleted uranium rounds to Ukraine, prompting them to issue nuclear threats. This time, after the US joined Britain in sending the depleted uranium shells, Moscow snapped and called the latest military aid of depleted uranium a “criminal act” beyond just escalation. “It is a reflection of Washington’s outrageous disregard for the environmental consequences of using this kind of ammunition in a combat zone. This is, in fact, a criminal act, I cannot give any other assessment,” Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said. He also reiterated previous warnings by Russia about the risk of a nuclear war, because of what he called Western “pressure” on Moscow. “Now this pressure is dangerously balancing on the brink of direct armed conflict between nuclear powers,” he said. In March, Vladimir Putin had warned that Moscow would "respond accordingly, given that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a ‘nuclear component.’” Several days later, Putin said Russia’s response will see Moscow stationing tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus, action to which effect was announced in July as Putin and the Belarusian president said they had already shipped some of the weapons. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary US sends Ukraine controversial depleted uranium weapons that can pierce tank armour UN nuclear watchdog report seen by AP says Iran slows its enrichment of near-weapons-grade uranium Kyiv drones explode near Moscow and military HQ as Russia on defensive – live

As drone strikes continue to rain down on Russian soil, Vladimir Putin’s bloody war has reached his own doorstep. The strikes are now daily and on Tuesday the Russian defence ministry said its air defence systems destroyed two drones over the Kaluga and Tver regions, which border the Moscow region, as well as one closer to the capital, over the Istra district. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that the drones “were trying to carry out an attack on Moscow“ and that a consumer services facility was damaged in the Istra district, which is located some 65 km (40 miles) northwest of the Kremlin. Attacks on Russia have increased sharply, with the largest such strikes hitting six regions on one night last week. That assault included two Russian military transport planes being destroyed – and two more damaged – at an airbase in the city of Pskov. Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the drones were launched from inside Russia. However, in speaking to the War Zone website, Mr Budanov did not say whether the attack – about 400 miles (700km) from the Ukraine border – was carried out by Ukrainian or Russian operatives. “We are working from the territory of Russia,” he said. Officials confirmed attacks on six targets in the Pskov, Bryansk, Kaluga, Orlov, Ryazan and Moscow regions. Meanwhile, Moscow has continued to carry out drone attacks on Ukrainian targets including port infrastructure. On Monday, 32 Russian kamikaze drones struck the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, damaging civilian and industrial buildings. The assault on the military airfield in Pskov that damaged aircraft has been deemed the most significant attack, situated more than 600km (400 miles) from Ukraine, it was where a number of elite paratroopers are stationed. The state-run Tass news agency reported at least four giant Il-76 transport planes were damaged in the four-hour wave of drones, two of which had “burst into flames”. Moscow retaliated on Wednesday by launching a “massive combined attack” on the Ukrainian capital using drones and missiles, that killed two people and injured another. Kyiv officials normally neither claim nor deny responsibility for attacks on Russian soil, though they sometimes refer obliquely to them. The apparent Ukrainian drones reaching deep into Russia and cross-border sabotage missions are part of Kyiv’s efforts to heap domestic pressure on the Kremlin, militarily and politically. Meantime, a Ukrainian counteroffensive launched in June is chipping away at some parts of the front line, Kyiv officials claim. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Ukraine war – live: Putin accused of trafficking Cubans to fight for Russia in his invasion The three reasons Putin will be terrified of Ukraine’s counteroffensive win Kim Jong-un to hold weapons talks with Putin after ‘travelling to Russia in armoured train’

Ukraine’s offensive against Russian forces is making slow progress, and there may not be a major breakthrough of Russian lines in the next two months as had previously been envisaged, according to Western officials. However, “focusing on such tactical issues” is counterproductive and there is a need to look at the bigger picture, the officials said, adding that this shows that Vladimir Putin is losing the war, as Ukraine has retaken a sizeable amount of territory overall since Russia’s invasion began. Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that Ukraine is making progress in its efforts to regain territory that began in June, contradicting Mr Putin’s claims this week that the counteroffensive “has failed, not stalled”. “The Ukrainians are gradually gaining ground... They have been able to breach the defensive lines of the Russian forces, and they are moving forward,” Mr Stoltenberg said in an update to MEPs at the European Parliament on Thursday. “The Ukrainian offensive is slower than we anticipated a couple of months ago,” one Western official said. “That is an acknowledgement of Russian defences. And it’s also an acknowledgement of how Ukraine is having to pull together a force that is a mixed fleet of both old equipment and donated equipment ... and a civilian population that has been thrown to the fore and doing some of the toughest things in land warfare, which is getting through a minefield.” Mines form a layer of Russia’s defences. “Russia has lost either killed or wounded over 270,000 people and [destroyed] over a couple of thousand tanks, and if you add that to armoured fighting vehicles [then it is] over 4,000 fighting vehicles,” the official added. “There has been an enormous drain on Russia, and particularly its army and its combat effectiveness,” the official said. “And then in the broadest base, you’re seeing Russia under economic pressure and under diplomatic pressure.” Armour supplied by the West, including German Leopard tanks, has been damaged or destroyed in the prolonged battles continuing in the east and south across the last three months. The first of 14 Challenger II tanks provided by Britain was put out of action near Zaporizhzhia this week. According to defence sources, it was immobilised by a mine and then targeted by a Russian Lancet loitering drone. There are no plans, sources say, to replace it at present from within the 145 Challenger IIs currently available for deployment. The Western officials said that arms supplies to Kyiv will continue, and denied that “war fatigue” will begin to spread unless Volodymyr Zelensky’s government can show significant success in the near future. That is something that has been suggested by a number of European politicians. It has also been argued that the Kremlin is banking on American support for Ukraine starting to fray as the US presidential campaign gets under way next year. The possibility of Donald Trump – who was accused of being the “Muscovian candidate” when he was previously in the White House – winning the election greatly adds to this concern. “Russia thinks time is on its side; we think time is on our side,” another official said. “It has been put that if you’re Putin, you’re gambling that Donald Trump wins the next [US] election. But that is quite a long way away.” Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

“That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson could get as much as 30 years to life in prison at his sentencing Thursday for the rapes of two women two decades ago. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo is set to sentence the 47-year-old actor after ruling on a defense motion for a new trial that she’s very likely to reject, and after hearing impact statements from the victims. A jury of seven women and five men found Masterson guilty of two counts on May 31 after seven days of deliberations. Both attacks took place in Masterson’s Hollywood-area home in 2003, when he was at the height of his fame on the Fox network sitcom “That ’70s Show.” The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a third count, an allegation that Masterson also raped a longtime girlfriend. The verdict came in a second trial after a jury failed to reach verdicts on three counts of forcible rape in December and a mistrial was declared. Prosecutors alleged that Masterson used his prominence in the Church of Scientology — where all three women were also members at the time — to avoid consequences for decades after the attacks. The women blamed the church for their hesitancy in going to police about Masterson. They testified that when they reported him to Scientology officials, they were told they were not raped, were put through ethics programs themselves, and were warned against going to law enforcement to report a member of such high standing. “They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against,” Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told jurors at the trial. “Scientology told them there’s no justice for them.” The church said in a statement after the verdict that the “testimony and descriptions of Scientology beliefs” during the trial were “uniformly false.” “The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement,” the statement said. Masterson did not testify, and his lawyers called no witnesses. The defense argued that the acts were consensual, and attempted to discredit the women’s stories by highlighting changes and inconsistencies over time, which they said showed signs of coordination between them. The women whose testimony led to Masterson’s conviction said that in 2003, he gave them drinks and that they then became woozy or passed out before he violently raped them. Olmedo allowed prosecutors and accusers to say directly in the second trial that Masterson drugged the women, while only allowing the women to describe their condition in the first. Masterson was not charged with any counts of drugging, and there was no toxicology evidence to back up the assertion. The issue could be a factor in a planned appeal from the defense of Masterson’s conviction. The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they’ve been sexually abused. Masterson starred with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace in “That ’70s Show” from 1998 until 2006. He had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy “The Ranch,” but was written off the show when an LAPD investigation was revealed the following year. While that investigation began before a wave of women shook Hollywood with stories about Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, the conviction and sentencing of Masterson still represents a major #MeToo era success for Los Angeles prosecutors, along with the conviction of Weinstein himself last year.

The manhunt for convicted killer Danelo Cavalcante has now entered its eighth day with details beginning to emerge about how he managed to escape from prison in Pennsylvania. Cavalcante, 34, escaped from Chester County Prison days after he was sentenced to life without parole for stabbing his ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao, 31, to death in front of her two small children. He is also wanted for a 2017 murder in Brazil. Authorities said during a press conference on Wednesday that he broke out by climbing onto a prison building roof from one of the exercise yards. Newly released surveillance video shows Cavalcante crawling up a wall at the prison before he disappears from the frame. Police said that he later managed to jump down to an area of the prison that had less surveillance. A tower officer tasked with observing the site failed to report the incident and Cavalcante’s escape was only noticed later during a head count. He was last spotted near Chandler Road, Pennsbury Township, on Tuesday evening. Local and federal law enforcement searched the area for hours but did not locate the fugitive. Members of the public are urged to secure their homes from the dangerous killer. Read More Danelo Cavalcante’s escape from Pennsylvania prison captured in newly released video How did Danelo Cavalcante manage to slip past Pennsylvania authorities twice? Father reveals terrifying moment escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante broke into his home Danelo Cavalcante killed his girlfriend in front of her children. Now he’s on the run after a prison break

The depleted uranium anti-tank rounds soon to be in Ukraine’s military stockpiles have kicked up a debate over its use in the continuing Russian invasion. Announced by the Pentagon in the latest military tranche on Wednesday, the controversial rounds have spread alarm among Vladimir Putin’s ministers who have warned against the escalation yet again. Britain has already promised armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium to Ukraine in March. Prime minister Rishi Sunak had backed drawing out the rounds from the UK military’s stockpiles ultimately “to degrade and deter – primarily – Russian aggression”. But what are these depleted uranium munitions? The 120mm anti-tank shells made of depleted uranium are self-sharpening and flammable penetrator in munitions. They are made of naturally occurring Uranium which has been stripped of mostly – not all – of its radioactive matter. So while it is not a nuclear weapon in itself, it acts as a fuel and also as a great explosive that can be used in tank armour, pressed between sheets of steel armour plate. They can be paired with top-tier tanks Western nations have already provided to Ukraine, and are particularly expected to boost the performance of 31 M1A1 Abram tanks set to be sent to the war-hit nation this fall. These rounds first emerged in the 1970s when the US army started making the armour-piercing rounds and has since used it along with tank armour to multiply the firing effect. Incredibly dense, more than lead, depleted uranium is considered a top-tier choice for projectiles. When fired, it becomes “essentially an exotic metal dart fired at an extraordinarily high speed”, RAND senior defence analyst Scott Boston said. “It’s so dense and it’s got so much momentum that it just keeps going through the armour – and it heats it up so much that it catches on fire,” Edward Geist, a nuclear expert at research organisation RAND said. The depleted uranium has also been added to the US ammunition fired by the Air Force’s A-10 close air support attack plane, known as the tank killer. Depleted uranium munitions, as well as depleted uranium-enhanced armour, have been previously used by US tanks in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq’s T-72 tanks and again in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, as well as in Serbia and in Kosovo. Is the risk alarming? The UN nuclear watchdog has warned of the emissions of low levels of radiation from depleted uranium when handling and also warned of possible dangers of explosion. This is a bug, not a feature of the munition, says Mr Geist. Categorically, depleted uranium is not marked as a nuclear weapon. It is mainly a toxic chemical, as opposed to a radiation hazard. Particles in aerosols can be inhaled or ingested, and while most would be excreted again, some can enter the bloodstream and cause kidney damage. “High concentrations in the kidney can cause damage and, in extreme cases, renal failure,” the International Atomic Energy Agency has said. The US troops have questioned whether some of the ailments they now face were caused by inhaling or being exposed to fragments after a munition was fired or their tanks were struck, damaging uranium-enhanced armour. Experts have said that if the US military could find another material with the same density but without the radioactivity, it would likely switch. The IAEA has warned that handling of depleted uranium “should be kept to a minimum and protective apparel (gloves) should be worn” and “a public information campaign may, therefore, be required to ensure that people avoid handling the projectiles”. Initial signs of radioactivity from the Ukraine war have started trickling in. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had recently claimed that the use of these munitions has already led to radioactive contamination. How has Russia reacted? In March, Russia was fuming after the Rishi Sunak administration announced it will give depleted uranium rounds to Ukraine, prompting them to issue nuclear threats. This time, after the US joined Britain in sending the depleted uranium shells, Moscow snapped and called the latest military aid of depleted uranium a “criminal act” beyond just escalation. “It is a reflection of Washington’s outrageous disregard for the environmental consequences of using this kind of ammunition in a combat zone. This is, in fact, a criminal act, I cannot give any other assessment,” Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said. He also reiterated previous warnings by Russia about the risk of a nuclear war, because of what he called Western “pressure” on Moscow. “Now this pressure is dangerously balancing on the brink of direct armed conflict between nuclear powers,” he said. In March, Vladimir Putin had warned that Moscow would "respond accordingly, given that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a ‘nuclear component.’” Several days later, Putin said Russia’s response will see Moscow stationing tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus, action to which effect was announced in July as Putin and the Belarusian president said they had already shipped some of the weapons. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary US sends Ukraine controversial depleted uranium weapons that can pierce tank armour UN nuclear watchdog report seen by AP says Iran slows its enrichment of near-weapons-grade uranium Ukraine Russia war: Izmail port under attack as Kyiv drones downed near Moscow