Top Stories
TOP STORY
TOP STORY
Putin hosts BRICS summit in shadow of war
While Russia showcases the BRICS summit, members are urging President Vladimir Putin to seek peace with Ukraine.
Putin, who the West casts as a war criminal, told reporters from BRICS nations that “BRICS does not put itself into opposition to anyone” and that the shift in the drivers of global growth was simply a fact.
The BRICS group, which denotes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (there are other members), accounts for 45% of the world's population and 35% of its economy, based on purchasing power parity. However, China accounts for over half of its economic might.
Putin said Moscow would not trade away the four regions of eastern Ukraine that he says are now part of Russia, even though parts remain outside its control. He said Russia wanted its long-term security interests taken into account in Europe.
Putin praised United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for their mediation efforts over Ukraine. Sheikh Mohammed said: “We are ready to make any efforts to resolve crises in the interests of peace.”
Running Stories
Middle East
Blinken arrives in Israel as US looks to renew cease-fire efforts after the killing of Hamas leader.Philippines
US missile deployment to Philippines 'incredibly important' for combat readiness, US general says.Men's World Conker
Champion Jakins cleared of cheating after claims he used one ‘made of steel.’SOCIETY
SOCIETY
Archbishop of Canterbury’s links to slavery
Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, has revealed that his ancestor owned enslaved people on a plantation in Jamaica.
The archbishop, the leader of the global Anglican church, said he discovered that his late biological father “had an ancestral connection to the enslavement of people in Jamaica and Tobago” and was compensated by the British government when slavery was abolished.
In 2016, Welby learned that he had been conceived as the result of a brief fling between his mother and Sir Anthony Montague Browne and that Gavin Welby, whom she married shortly afterward, was not his biological father. Justin Welby had no relationship with Browne, who died in 2013.
The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery says the plantation linked to Welby had about 200 enslaved people at its height, and the Fergusson family shared compensation of £3,591 ($4663) in 1836 – estimated at more than £3m ($3.9 million) today.
The archbishop has been at the forefront of the Church of England's public acknowledgment of its historical benefit from transatlantic slavery. It pledged £100m to address the legacy of enslavement and said later it aimed to increase that to £1bn with contributions from co-investors.
Bubbling Under
Five killed in shooting
Teen in custody after 5 found dead at home in Washington state, police say.Peru
Ex-president Toledo gets more than 20 years in prison in case linked to corruption scandal.EA-18G Growler jet crash
Navy aviators killed in Growler crash near Mount Rainier were decorated combat veterans.Subscribe to our newsletter
Everything you need to know about today's news — in your inbox each morning.
It’s free
US POLITICS
US POLITICS
Man charged with threatening party worker
A Pennsylvania man has been charged with threatening to kill a state political party worker, federal prosecutors said.
John Pollard, 62, of Philadelphia, was charged with one count of transmitting interstate threats in an indictment unsealed Monday, the Justice Department said in a statement.
The case was investigated under Attorney General Merrick Garland's (pictured) Election Threats Task Force, launched in June 2021 to address violent threats directed at election officials following former President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss. If convicted, Pollard faces a maximum of five years' imprisonment.
Court documents say the employee of the unnamed political party had posted online that it was recruiting volunteers to observe polls on Nov. 5. Prosecutors said Pollard responded to the post, texting the worker he was “interested” in volunteering.
Pollard allegedly texted the worker three more times, stating, “I will kill you if you don't answer me,” warning that “your days are numbered” and that he was going to “[expletive] find you and skin you alive and use your skin for [expletive] toilet paper.”
WORLD
WORLD
Moldova backs joining EU by thin margin
Near-complete results Monday showed Moldovans have voted by the thinnest of margins in favor of joining the European Union.
President Maia Sandu (pictured) condemned an “unprecedented assault” by foreign actors on the country’s democracy. With over 99% of votes counted, 50.4% had voted “yes” on whether to enshrine in the country’s constitution a path towards joining the EU.
Sandu, who framed the vote as a choice between a European future or remaining lodged within the Kremlin’s orbit, said Moldova had won its first difficult battle in its push to join the EU.
Sandu failed to secure enough votes to win outright in the presidential election on the same day. She received 42.3% of the vote, and her closest challenger, Alexandr Stoianoglo – running for the pro-Russian Party of Socialists – collected 26.1%. Before the vote, he had been polling at just over 10%.
The two will now face off in the second round. If other pro-Russian parties and voters support Stoianoglo, the November 3 election could be extremely tight.
Sandu accused foreign groups of attempting to undermine Moldova’s democratic process and “using the most disgraceful means to keep our nation trapped in uncertainty and "instability." She said authorities had “clear evidence” criminal groups aimed to buy 300,000 votes – “a fraud of unprecedented scale.”
HEALTH
HEALTH
Infant mortality grew after Rowe overturned
Infant deaths have grown since the Supreme Court overturned
Roe vs. Wade
, allowing states to make abortion illegal, researchers say.
The findings are seen as a clear sign that the
Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
decision has prevented some women from terminating pregnancies that otherwise would have ended in abortion.
The research is in line with a study published in June that documented a nearly 13% increase in infant mortality in Texas in the wake of a 2021 state law that banned abortions after about the sixth week of pregnancy. Deaths due to congenital anomalies rose by 23% while falling in the rest of the country.
Another study using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention live births and infant deaths data calculated monthly infant mortality rates increased by 7% 1.5 years after Dobbs, mostly from congenital abnormalities.
However, infant mortality rates were back within the normal range a year after the ruling, which may indicate that the pool of people willing to become pregnant had changed in response to the newly restrictive landscape.
The researchers said the increase in infant mortality would probably be more pronounced if they had focused on changes in states with abortion restrictions instead of looking at the country as a whole.
OTHER NEWS
OTHER NEWS
Cancer patients often go bankrupt
Cancer patients often pay a heavy financial toll following treatment — lower credit scores and bankruptcy.
Researchers analyzed Experian credit bureau data of patients diagnosed with cancer in the Massachusetts Cancer Registry in 2010–2019. They compared the financial outcomes of the patients to similarly matched people without cancer.
Cancer patients were almost five times more likely to declare bankruptcy, and their average credit score was roughly 80 points lower than those without cancer.
In another study, researchers examined colorectal cancer patients to identify risk factors affecting their financial hardship. They found that patients receiving only radiation had credit scores 62 points lower than those with only surgery. Both combined resulted in slightly better financial outcomes than surgery alone.
Patients with bladder, liver, lung, and colorectal cancers experienced significant declines in credit scores, lasting up to 9.5 years. The study is purported to be the first “to provide numerical evidence of financial toxicity among cancer survivors.” Previous studies relied primarily on subjective survey reviews.
OFFBEAT
OFFBEAT
'Anal beads’ cheating dispute in chess settled
Chess grandmaster Hans Niemann settled a defamation lawsuit after accusations he cheated in a match using “anal beads.”
The American chess grandmaster beat Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen in September last year. Neimann, the lowest-ranked player in the competition, ended Carlsen’s 53-game, two-year winning streak.
Carlsen accused Neimann, 19, of cheating by using “wireless vibrating anal beads.” Carlsen later withdrew from the tournament and made a statement with his accusations.
Niemann admitted to having previously cheated in online matches on Chess.com, leading to his private removal from the site. But he said he never cheated in live on-site matches.
It’s unclear where the rumor Niemann had used vibrating anal beads to cheat first appeared, but it spread across the internet.
The parties negotiated a private settlement. Chess.com said, “We found no determinative evidence that [Niemann] cheated in any in-person games.” Carlsen said he is “willing to play Niemann in future events, should we be paired together.”
Otherweb Editorial Staff
Alex FinkTechie in Chief
David WilliamsEditor in Chief
Angela PalmerContent Manager
Dan KriegerTechnical Director