List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. hired Josh Maio from SMBC Nikko Securities America Inc., adding to its consumer banking

China has ample tools to stabilize the foreign-exchange market even if the yuan enters a “panic” slide, according

Over 150 books have been removed from a large, Orlando-area Florida school district, including classics like The Scarlet Letter, Paradise Lost, and The Invisible Man, as school officials review materials for sexual content under the state’s restrictive book ban laws. According to a teacher keeping track of books that have been temporarily pulled for review by the Orange County government, titles by Shakespeare have been restricted to only 10th through 12 graders, while other popular works like The Fault in Our Stars, Into the Wild, and Catch-22 have been put on the restricted list because of sexual material. One teacher told The Orlando Sentinel she was “gobsmacked” when she saw Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was among the restricted works. She said she chooses works to study in class “to engage my students, to offer them literature that makes them think,” and that an accurate version of “the adolescent experience” in literature may contain some sexual themes, but still be valid for the classroom. “It’s just so frustrating and disheartening,” she said. The state’s book ban laws, passed under Republican governor Ron DeSantis, have caused empty shelves across Florida. “The books are sitting out on tables, they’re being boxed up and discarded,” Florida school librarian Keri Clark told The Independent earlier this year. “It’s just it’s a really sad sight. A lot of the kids keep looking through the window and it’s just it’s awful that I can’t let them come in and get books.” The Florida policyies are part of a nationwide surge of book bans. During the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, school officials tried to restrict at least 874 individual book titles, according to PEN America, a nearly 30 per cent spike from book challenges over the previous year. Overwhelmingly, the book ban attempts singled out works by and about people of colour and LGBT+ people, PEN found. At least 30 per cent of the impacted titles are books about race, racism, or feature characters of colour, and more than a quarter of all titles include LGBT+ characters or themes. Read More Biden condemns ‘hysterical’ threats to LGBT+ Americans as White House pushes back on book bans As conservatives target schools, LGBTQ+ kids and students of color feel less safe Florida mom who tried to ban Amanda Gorman’s book has ties to far-right groups

Former President Donald Trump launched an unhinged rant after cocaine was found at the White House. “Does anybody really believe that the COCAINE found in the West Wing of the White House, very close to the Oval Office, is for the use of anyone other than Hunter & Joe Biden,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. “But watch, the Fake News Media will soon start saying that the amount found was ‘very small,’ & it wasn’t really COCAINE, but rather common ground up Aspirin, & the story will vanish. Has Deranged Jack Smith, the crazy, Trump hating Special Prosecutor, been seen in the area of the COCAINE? He looks like a crackhead to me!” he added. The Independent previously reported that prosecutors under the leadership of the special counsel could bring 30 to 45 additional criminal charges against the former president in the coming weeks after the 37 counts that Mr Trump is already facing following his alleged mishandling of national security information after leaving office. “Whatever happened to the 1,850 BOXES of Documents that Biden won’t show to anybody? What about the Docs found in Chinatown, D.C., and those in his unsecured garage, where Hunter stayed as China was sending Biden millions and millions of dollars for doing absolutely ‘nothing?’ Maybe the nothing was ‘for doing plenty!’” Mr Trump added in a subsequent post on Wednesday without providing evidence for his claims. “Where are the White House SECURITY TAPES, like the ones I openly and happily gave to Deranged Jack Smith, which will quickly show where the Cocaine in the White House came from??? They already know the answer, but probably don’t like it!” he added. There were classified documents found in President Joe Biden’s home and an office he occupied before becoming president, but his attorneys alerted the government about the files and cooperated in efforts to hand them back. The white, powdery substance that prompted the brief evacuation of the White House over the weekend was confirmed to be cocaine by laboratory testing. A spokesperson for the US Secret Service, which by law is responsible for security in and around the 18-acre White House campus, confirmed the laboratory result in an email on Wednesday. The spokesperson, Anthony Gugliemi, previously said the agency was standing up “an investigation into the cause and manner” of how the cocaine came to be in a public waiting area in the West Wing, where it was discovered late Sunday by officers with the Secret Service Uniformed Division. According to DC Fire and EMS Department radio transmissions archived by OpenMHZ, firefighters with the department’s hazardous materials unit who were called to investigate the then-unidentified powder used a field test to analyse a small sample, which returned a presumptive result for cocaine hydrochloride. Neither President Joe Biden nor any other members of his family were present at the White House during the incident, as the Biden family spent the holiday weekend at Camp David, the US Navy-operated presidential retreat in Thurmont, Maryland. Mr Biden and several family members departed the White House on Friday and returned late on Monday to participate in several Independence Day events. Read More Tests show white powder found at White House is cocaine Judge's order limits government contact with social media operators, raises disinformation questions Trump news - live: Trump calls special prosecutor a ‘crackhead’ in response to White House cocaine discovery Judge's order limits government contact with social media operators, raises disinformation questions Trump will report raising more than $35 million in second quarter, campaign says Watch as Karine Jean-Pierre holds briefing

The UK-based tourist who triggered widespread outrage for carving his name into Rome’s Colosseum has claimed he was not aware of the monument’s age. Fitness instructor Ivan Dimitrov, 27, was caught by a fuming sightseer engraving “Ivan + Hayley 23” into the 2,000-year-old structure last month. The Bristol resident could now face a fine of up to $15,000 and five years in prison. In an apology letter published in Rome’s Il Messaggero newspaper, addressed to the prosecutor’s office and Rome’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, Mr Dimitrov said he was not aware of the ancient monument’s age or the “seriousness of the deed committed”. “Through these lines, I would like to address my heartfelt and honest apologies to the Italians and to the whole world for the damage caused to an asset which, in fact, is the heritage of all humanity,” he wrote. “It is with deep embarrassment that only after what regrettably happened did I learn of the antiquity of the monument.” Mr Dimitrov’s lawyer, Alexandro Maria Tirelli, told Il Messaggero that his client was “the prototype of the foreigner who frivolously believes that anything is allowed in Italy, even the type of act which in their own countries would be severely punished”. Italy’s Carabinieri tracked Mr Dimitrov and his girlfriend down in Bulgaria five days after the incident sparked international outrage. Italian police officer Major Roberto Martina said the 27-year-old expressed “sincere remorse” for his actions. “He told us he was very upset by what he had done, and he kept apologising for it. I think he was worried about the consequences of any trial,” Mr Martina told the Mail Online. A report of the investigation will be sent to Mr Dimitrov’s home address in the UK before any potential trial proceeds. The fitness trainer and his girlfriend were said to be holidaying in Rome on a three-week European tour when the incident took place. The Italian culture minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, said the act “offended those around the world who appreciate the value of archaeology, monuments and history”, and thanked the police for identifying the alleged suspect. The minister said the government was considering a law that would impose stringent punishment on those found guilty of defacing or damaging the country’s historical and cultural heritage sites. Rome’s Colosseum, a protected Unesco World Heritage site, was constructed during the reigns of the emperors Vespasian and Titus in the first century AD. It attracted the Roman public to see spectacular gladiatorial bouts, historical reenactments and parades of exotic wild animals imported from Africa and the Middle East, including elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, lions, leopards, panthers and ostriches. In 2014, a Russian tourist was given a suspended four-year jail sentence and fined €20,000 (£17,000) for engraving a “K” on the walls of the Colosseum. The following year, two American tourists were also cited for aggravated damage after they likewise carved their names into its stones. Read More British tourist who carved name into Colosseum begs for forgiveness Tourist accused of vandalising Colosseum in Rome could face trial and up to five years in prison What happened to the tourist accused of carving his name into Rome Colosseum wall? What happened to the tourist accused of carving his name into Rome’s Colosseum? Tourist who carved name into Colosseum begs for forgiveness Tourist who carved name into Rome’s Colosseum ‘is British fitness trainer’

The Canadian government is suspending its advertisements on Facebook and Instagram in response to Meta Platforms Inc.’s plan

Rishi Sunak’s government urged the UK financial regulator to step up its review into how banks treat customers

Federal Reserve officials were less united at their June meeting than their unanimous decision suggested, as some favored

Valkyrie is the latest issuer to refile an application for an exchange-traded fund that invests directly in Bitcoin

Ukraine and Russia traded accusations over the danger of an attack on a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant as

UK retail billionaire Mike Ashley has shifted more of his money into a company he set up to

Absolute scenes.