Cincunri Sakia

Kamis, 03 Agustus 2023

Chinese sun bear waves in new footage as expert says animals aren’t humans in costumes - The Independent

New footage has emerged of a sun bear waving in a Chinese zoo, amid claims the animal is actually a human in disguise.

Speculation began when an initial clip from Hangzhou Zoo in China’s east showed the bear standing on her hind legs and gazing at visitors.

The zoo put out a statement from the perspective of four-year-old Angela denying she was a human in a bear suit after the interactions went viral.

The infamous Chinese sun bear waves at visitors

Now, a new clip has further brought into question the seemingly unusual way the bear engages with humans.

In the footage, Angela is seen standing up straight on slender legs and waving to the hoards of visitors who have come to see her since going viral.

Some social media users were prompted to point out the appearance of what seemed to be skin bagging around the bear’s hips.

“Those are definitely human gestures,” one person wrote online. “Bears can’t stand up for that long. Definitely not in place like that,” another added.

However, the zoo’s statement was quick to offer a solid explanation, from Angela’s perspective.

“Some people think I stand like a person... It seems you don’t understand me very well,” the statement read.

Onlookers were perplexed at the bear on its hind legs

“When it comes to bears, the first thing that comes to mind is a huge figure and astonishing power… But not all bears are behemoths and danger personified.”

The latest clip comes as Dr Ashleigh Marshall, from Chester Zoo, told the BBC the animal in previous footage was “definitely” a real bear. However, she added the breed often “look a lot like people in their costumes”.

Dr Mashall went on to explain the loose skin allows sun bears to “turn around in their skin” if they come into contact with violent predators.

One expert said the breed often “look a lot like people in their costumes”

Another wildlife park in the UK also shared footage of a sun bear standing on its hind legs in a bid to showcase the “natural behaviour”.

Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire said standing allows the bears “a greater view of their surroundings or [to] smell far-off objects”.

The park’s statement added that the stance can also be used to “try to intimidate their enemies by displaying the chest patch if threatened”.

Sun bears are among the smallest bears in the world and stand at just 1.3m when they reach full height.

Hangzhou Zoo has reported a 30 per cent spike in visitors since the first sun bear video went viral.

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2023-08-03 03:15:32Z
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Trump to face charges of election conspiracy in court hearing - bbc.co.uk

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By Max Matza & Sarah Smith

BBC News

Former US President Donald Trump will be formally charged at a court hearing on Thursday on charges of plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

On the eve of the arraignment he slammed the case as proof of the "corruption, scandal, & failure" of the US under Joe Biden's presidency.

Mr Trump already faces two other criminal cases as he campaigns for the White House next year.

Security is being ramped up in Washington DC for Thursday's hearing.

Metal barriers have been put up outside the federal courthouse where the charges against Mr Trump will be formally read.

Similar structures have been erected around the US Capitol buildings, where Trump supporters rioted in January 2021, angry at the election result.

The Secret Service, which provides protection to presidents and ex-presidents, released a statement warning the public of "short-term traffic implications" in central Washington DC.

On Wednesday, an apparent hoax 911 call about an active shooting at the Capitol triggered a lockdown in three Senate office buildings and a major police emergency response.

Speaking to reporters during the alert, US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said the police force that battled rioters two-and-a-half years ago was well-trained and prepared for active-shooter drills.

Protection for judges involved in the case has also reportedly been increased.

That includes District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who told an attorney in an unrelated case that she had not slept since being assigned to Mr Trump's case, to which the lawyer replied: "Please be safe".

"I'll try," Ms Chutkan said before an open court, later joking that she wanted to keep her calendar open "in case I can get out of town, which is increasingly looking like a good idea".

Mr Trump, 77, is due to appear at a federal courthouse in Washington DC on Thursday at 16:00 EDT (20:00 BST). He is expected to plead not guilty. Although he has the option of appearing remotely via video feed, it is understood he will attend in person.

Mr Trump has visited the city only once since leaving the White House. A queue was already forming on Wednesday evening outside the building.

Donald Trump looks on as he holds a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 29, 2023

In an all-capital-letters post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, the former president, who was at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, thanked his followers and said: "I never had so much support on anything before."

In other posts he attacked rival Republican presidential hopefuls, including his former Vice-President Mike Pence and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

He repeated his argument that Mr Pence had had the legal authority to stop Congress from certifying Mr Biden's election victory on 6 January 2021, proceedings that were disrupted as Trump supporters rioted at the US Capitol.

According to the indictment, Mr Trump faces four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the US, tampering with a witness and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.

The deprivation of rights statute was enacted in the aftermath of the US Civil War to provide legal protections for freed slaves as they integrated into society.

The charge was key to a 1967 trial of Ku Klux Klan members that inspired the 1988 film Mississippi Burning. Legal analysts say it has been included in the case against Mr Trump because his alleged efforts to subvert the vote targeted urban areas with large populations of African-American voters.

Mr Trump's lawyers have hinted at their defence strategy.

Attorney John Lauro appeared on NBC's Today show on Wednesday and said he planned to argue that Mr Trump was protected by the right to free speech enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

"[The indictment] is criminalising speech," Mr Lauro said.

Tourists atop the National Gallery of Art look out over the news trucks in front of the federal courthouse where former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is expected to answer charges after a grand jury returned an indictment of Trump in the special counsel's investigation of efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat In Washington, U.S. August 2, 2023.

Mr Trump's legal team are also resisting the prosecutors' desire for a speedy trial - saying they need time to organise their client's defence.

A spokesman for the US Marshals Service, a federal law enforcement agency that guards courts, told Reuters news agency Mr Trump would be fingerprinted and asked to provide basic information, such as his date of birth and Social Security ID number.

Several other suspects accused of involvement in the US Capitol riot have had hearings that were scheduled for Thursday postponed.

Mr Trump is currently the clear front-runner in the Republican Party's contest to pick its next presidential candidate.

Congressional Republicans have been rallying round him, arguing that the latest indictment shows the US has become a "banana republic" and echoing the former president's claim that the prosecutions amount to election interference.

President Biden is spending the week at his holiday home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Mr Pence, who has been struggling to gain traction in the 2024 White House race, maintained on Wednesday during a campaign stop at the Indiana State Fair that he had "done his duty" on January 6 2021.

"Sadly the president was surrounded by a group of crackpot lawyers that kept telling him what his itching ears wanted to hear," he said. "The president ultimately continued to demand that I choose him over the Constitution."

The 45-page election-related indictment against Mr Trump is based partly on contemporaneous notes that Mr Pence kept of their conversations in the days leading up to US Capitol riot.

Mr Trump has already been charged in two other cases: with mishandling classified files and falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to a porn star.

Prosecutors in Georgia may bring a criminal case against Mr Trump this month over alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election result in that state.

Rabu, 02 Agustus 2023

Niger: Getting UK nationals out of the country is priority, minister says - BBC

Citizens of European countries are seen outside the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger, on 2 August

By Becky Morton

BBC political reporter

Getting British nationals out of Niger and to safety is a priority of the UK government, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has said.

Violence has broken out in the west African country following last week's military coup.

France and Italy have already started evacuating their citizens on flights from Niger.

Labour has urged the government to do the same, but no plans for Britons have yet been announced.

The government has so far advised British nationals to register their whereabouts and stay indoors.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said: "The situation in Niger is deteriorating rapidly following the recent coup, while the closure of Niger's airspace is preventing British nationals from leaving by their own means.

"British nationals who want to get out of the country should now be supported by the government to evacuate."

Mr Cleverly, who is currently in Nigeria as part of a three-country tour of Africa, said: "The UK government's priority remains the safety of British nationals and helping them get out of the country to safety."

The coup has prompted demonstrations against France, the former colonial power in Niger, with the French embassy coming under attack.

Early on Wednesday 262 people arrived in Paris from Niger, while Italy has also organised a flight, which arrived in Rome with 87 evacuees.

The plane was carrying 36 Italians, 21 Americans and one Briton, according to Reuters news agency.

Niger, which is rich in uranium, has been a key Western ally in the fight against jihadist extremism in the Sahel region. Both France and the US have military bases there.

There are an estimated 600 French nationals and 500 Italians - mostly in the military - in Niger but there are believed to be fewer than 100 British nationals. The Foreign Office is also advising any other Britons against travelling to Niger.

German citizens in Niger - who are thought to number fewer than 100 - have been urged to leave the country aboard planes organised by France, while the Spanish government said it was preparing to evacuate around 70 of its citizens.

President Mohamed Bazoum, Niger's first democratically elected leader since the country's independence in 1960, was detained by his presidential guards last week.

The West African regional bloc Ecowas has said it would use force unless the president was released and reinstated within a week.

But juntas in neighbouring Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, also former French colonies, warned any forcible intervention would be seen as a declaration of war.

There are concerns Niger's new leadership could now move away from its Western allies and closer to Russia, like Burkina Faso and Mali, which have both pivoted towards Moscow since their own military coups.

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2023-08-02 17:51:35Z
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Niger coup: Evacuated European nationals arrive in Paris and Rome - BBC

People evacuated from Niger arrived into Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning

By Chris Ewokor & Thomas Mackintosh

BBC News

Flights evacuating Europeans from Niger have arrived in France and Italy.

France began evacuating its citizens from Niger amid anti-French sentiment following last week's coup - 262 people arrived in Paris early on Wednesday.

The coup has prompted demonstrations against the former colonial power, with the French embassy coming under attack.

However, France says it has no plans to repatriate about 1,000 French soldiers stationed there as part of efforts to counter Islamist militants.

Germany has urged its nationals to take up France's offer to help other Europeans as Italy organised a flight which arrived in Rome just after 05:00 local time on Wednesday with 87 evacuees.

The plane was carrying 36 Italians, 21 Americans and one Briton, according to Reuters news agency.

Juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali have warned that any forcible attempt to restore the ousted president would be seen as a declaration of war.

The two neighbours, also former French colonies, have both moved away from France and towards Russia, after staging their own coups in recent years.

Their warning marks a significant twist that could escalate the volatile situation in a region battling an Islamist militant insurgency.

West African military chiefs are meeting in Nigeria on Wednesday to discuss possible intervention in Niger.

Niger's military government has announced the re-opening of its borders with Algeria, Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali and Chad. However, the land border with Nigeria remains closed.

Niger, which is rich in uranium, has been a key Western ally in the fight against jihadist extremism in the Sahel. Both France and the US have military bases there.

After Mali's military leaders chose to partner up with the Russian Wagner mercenaries in 2021, France moved the centre of its regional counter-terror operations to Niger.

On Sunday, protesters outside the French embassy in the capital Niamey chanted "Long live Russia", "Long live Putin" and "Down with France".

They also set fire to the walls of the embassy compound.

France sent planes because the closure of Niger's airspace has made it impossible for people to leave by their own means.

There are an estimated 600 French nationals in Niger and fewer than 100 Germans.

Protesters hold a sign taken from the French Embassy in Niamey during a demonstration that followed a rally in support of Niger's junta - 30 July 2023

Italy's foreign ministry says there are about 90 Italians in Niamey out of a total of just under 500 countrywide, most of whom are in the military, the AFP news agency reports.

According to the Reuters news agency, Spain is also preparing to evacuate more than 70 Spaniards by air.

The UK is not organising an evacuation and has urged its nationals in Niger to stay indoors, while the European Union said it was not planning to remove its staff for the time being.

The US also said it was not evacuating its citizens, seeing no immediate threat to them or its facilities, AFP reports.

The situation in Niamey was reported to be calm.

One of the French evacuees, Anthony Garcia, said he was packing as little as possible for the journey: "We were asked to take just a small bag with essentials, because we can't take the suitcase."

Earlier, France had welcomed the ultimatum issued on Sunday by the West African bloc Ecowas, giving Niger's junta a week to reinstate elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been confined to the presidential palace in Niamey.

Chad's President Mahamat Idris Déby was in Niger the following day, leading mediation efforts on behalf of the Ecowas and was pictured with Mr Bazoum.

These diplomatic moves prompted Burkina Faso and Mali to issue a joint statement threatening that if Ecowas intervened militarily, they would withdraw from the bloc and go to the defence of their eastern neighbour.

They said such an intervention would be disastrous and destabilising.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea are all currently suspended from Ecowas following coups in recent years.

Ecowas's last major military intervention was in The Gambia in 2017, when Yahya Jammeh refused to step down as president after losing elections to Adama Barrow. After West African troops deployed, Mr Jammeh went into exile in Equatorial Guinea.

The regional body also sent troops to support Guinea-Bissau's government last year following a failed coup attempt there.

Algeria, Niger's neighbour to the north, has also urged caution over any possible military intervention, saying it "would lead to an escalation of the current crisis".

Niger's junta has not commented on the Ecowas demand, but vowed to defend the country from any "aggression" by regional or Western powers. It accused France of planning military intervention.

But on Monday evening, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told French channel BFMTV the allegation was not true.

She suggested the coup, which has been welcomed by the shadowy Wagner group, could be an seen as an opportunity for Russia: "I am not sure that everyone in Niger sleeps with a Russian flag under their pillow.

"But it is possible that Russia tries to take advantage of the situation. It does it in other countries of the region. It's an hypothesis."

At a briefing on Tuesday, the White House's National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US had no evidence that Russia was behind the coup.

According to Reuters, the evacuation plans will not affect operations of French nuclear fuel company Orano in Niger, as it said most of its staff were Nigerien nationals.

Analysis box by Frank Gardner, security correspondent

There are no good options in Niger. The West looks set to lose its strategic counter-terror bases there and military intervention by Ecowas would almost certainly lead to a civil war.

The current evacuation of French nationals is quite likely to be followed by the abandonment of US and French military bases and the departure of their 2,500 troops that have been engaged in helping Niger fight jihadist insurgents.

So who benefits from all this? Certainly not the population of Niger. The presence of Western forces was far from universally popular, but the country was receiving hundreds of millions of euros in annual financial aid and military assistance. That has now stopped.

Russian flags have appeared on the streets suspiciously quickly, so it is likely that Russia's Wagner group will be looking to fill in behind the departing troops.

And for the jihadists of Boko Haram and the al-Qaeda and Islamic State groups active across the Sahel, all this disruption and uncertainty is a strategic gift.

Around the BBC

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2023-08-02 07:58:38Z
2284205708

Russia launches drone strike on Odesa port and grain silos - Financial Times

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2023-08-02 08:19:12Z
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Donald Trump indictment: Ex-president charged with bid to overturn 2020 election - BBC

By Max Matza

BBC News

Former US President Donald Trump has been charged with plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

He is accused of four counts including conspiracy to defraud the US, tampering with a witness and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.

The indictment caps an inquiry into events surrounding the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol.

Mr Trump, 77, who is again running for president, denies wrongdoing. On social media he called the case "ridiculous".

The Republican politician has already been charged in two other cases: with mishandling classified files and falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to a porn star.

The election investigation has focused on Mr Trump's actions in the two-month period between his loss to Joe Biden and the riot in Washington DC, where his supporters stormed Congress as lawmakers certified the Democrat's victory.

The man leading the inquiry, special counsel Jack Smith, said: "The attack on our nation's capital on January 6 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.

"As described in the indictment it was fuelled by lies."

Mr Smith wrapped up his brief statement by pledging to seek "a speedy trial", while emphasising that the former president "must be assumed innocent until proven guilty".

Mr Trump is due to appear in court on Thursday in Washington DC.

The 45-page indictment lists six unnamed co-conspirators: four lawyers, a justice department official and a political consultant.

The court document accuses Mr Trump of a "conspiracy to impair, obstruct, and defeat the federal government function through dishonesty, fraud and deceit".

Rioters clash with police trying to enter Capitol building through the front doors - 6 January 2021

Addressing Mr Trump's allegations of voter fraud in 2020, prosecutors say: "These claims were false and the defendant knew that they were false."

They also say Mr Trump tried and failed to convince Vice-President Mike Pence to attempt to block Mr Biden's certification as president on January 6, 2021.

"As violence ensued, the Defendant and co-conspirators exploited the disruption by redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince members of Congress to further delay the certification based on those claims."

The indictment also lists the numerous US officials and senior Trump campaign workers who, it says, informed the outgoing president that he had lost and that there was no evidence of voter fraud.

Mr Trump, who now faces 78 criminal counts overall in three different cases, is currently the frontrunner in the Republican Party's contest to pick its next presidential candidate.

Whoever wins will challenge the Democratic nominee, expected to be President Biden, in November 2024.

These latest charges mean Mr Trump will have three criminal trials to attend in the next 12 to 18 months, complicating his second run for the White House.

The BBC's North America editor Sarah Smith said these are the most serious charges he has faced so far.

Trump's support thrives despite his legal woes

But the Trump campaign said in a statement that Tuesday's indictment amounted to election interference.

"The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes," said the campaign.

It added: "These un-American witch hunts will fail."

His 2024 Republican rivals were quick to respond. While Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the charges showed the "weaponisation of the federal government", Mr Pence said anyone who put themselves over the Constitution should never be president.

Democratic leaders in Congress gave a joint statement which said: "This indictment is the most serious and most consequential thus far and will stand as a stark reminder to generations of Americans that no one, including a president of the United States, is above the law."

Dozens of top Trump administration officials and advisers were interviewed as part of the investigation, including Mr Pence and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Prosecutors in the state of Georgia are also investigating the former president on similar grounds, focusing on whether he illegally pressured officials there to discard Mr Biden's poll victory.

A decision by prosecutors in Atlanta on whether to indict Mr Trump is expected this month.

Republicans in other states are being investigated for allegedly helping Mr Trump's push to stop Mr Biden from taking office.

State prosecutors in Michigan charged a former Republican attorney general candidate and another Trump supporter with tampering with voting machines in an effort to prove that Mr Trump had lost due to widespread voter fraud.

The riot at Congress led to Mr Trump's second impeachment in the House of Representatives - making him the first US president ever to be impeached twice.