Tag Archives: Violent

US

‘Reminiscent of Jan. 6’: Violent protesters arrested after storming Interior Department, injuring officers

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Dozens of activists protesting fossil fuel projects were arrested Thursday after they staged a sit-in at the Interior Department, a move which led to “multiple injuries” and one officer being transported to a hospital.

Demanding that President Biden declare climate change an emergency, People vs. Fossil Fuels, the group responsible for the protest, organized a week-long series of demonstrations against the president as he approves different fossil fuel projects.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DEMS DISTANCING FROM BIDEN ADMIN ON SUPPLY CHAIN CRISIS, OIL SPILL DISASTER

Following the protest, Interior Department spokesperson Melissa Schwartz released a statement through a series of tweets.

“Early this afternoon, a group of protestors entered the Stewart Lee Udall Main Interior Building,” Schwartz said. “Federal Protective Service personnel responded to the area to mitigate the situation. Multiple injuries were sustained by security personnel, and one officer has been transported to a nearby hospital. Medics representing both the Department and the protesters were present.”

Schwartz also noted that Interior Sec. Deb Haaland was not in Washington during the protest and insisted that leadership at the department “believes strongly in respecting and upholding the right to free speech and peaceful protest.”

According to video footage from the Washington Post‘s Ellie Silverman, activists could be seen climbing up doors and pushing officers back as they tried to force their way into the Interior Department.

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Andy Ngô, a conservative journalist who often covers events related to Antifa, shared one of Silverman’s videos. He described the scene at the federal building as “reminiscent of Jan. 6,” noting that officers were forced to draw their tasers as “extreme environmentalist protesters” attempted to make their way inside.

Event organizers allege that “police tased and hit multiple people with batons” and “55 people were arrested and taken away to DC Metro police stations.”

“Police acted aggressively with the water protectors and indigenous leaders, tasing at least two people and hitting others with batons,” the group claimed. “An independent indigenous media person was assaulted by the police and had his equipment broken.”

Fox News reached out to the Federal Protective Service (FPS) and received the following statement:

“Yesterday, officers from the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service (FPS) responded to a demonstration at the Stewart L. Udall Building. FPS is committed to the safety of demonstrators participating in lawful protests and fully supports the peaceful expression of all people. FPS will continue to pursue our mission of ensuring the safety and security of federal employees and facilities, consistent with the law.”

In the statement, FPS also offered appreciation for U.S. Park Police and Washington Metropolitan Police Department who assisted in efforts “to detain, prosecute or take action against anyone who caused harm and attempted to disrupt the business of the federal government yesterday.”

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Entertainment

Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ receives warning from parents council for being ‘incredibly violent’

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“Squid Game” might be a huge success for Netflix given the fact it shot up to the No. 1 spot in the U.S. on the streaming platform just four days after its release. However, the series has also drawn criticism for its violence, and one organization is cautioning parents to be on high alert in case their children find themselves perusing their feeds and pressing play.

The Parents Television and Media Council (PTC) told Fox News its hoping to “alert parents” to the bevy of “Squid Game”-inspired content being uploaded across various media “so that they can take appropriate measures, whether by applying parental controls or more closely supervising their children on social media and gaming platforms, where content about or inspired by the series is being shared.”

In an op-ed published on the organization’s website Wednesday, the PTC’s program director, Melissa Henson, wrote that despite the mature rating attached to the “incredibly violent” show, an even greater concern “is the way ‘Squid Game’ is being promoted to viewers too young to watch the TV-MA-rated series on social media platforms.”

NETFLIX TO EDIT ‘SQUID GAME’ PHONE NUMBERS OUT OF SCENES AFTER OWNERS COMPLAIN OF PRANK CALLS, TEXTS

‘Squid Game’ follows a group of adults who compete in deadly games to win prize money.
(Netflix)

“Netflix should be acting as a gatekeeper to ensure content that is harmful to minors is not being distributed on their platform,” she told Fox News, “and that also includes highly sexualized content like ‘Big Mouth’ and content that might inspire self-harm, like ‘13 Reasons Why.’” 

“Squid Game” centers on a group of 456 people from all walks of life. Each of them has one thing in common: they are all in dire financial situations. As a result, they are all invited to participate in a series of children’s games such as “Red Light, Green Light” in the hopes of winning a massive cash prize. 

NETFLIX’S ‘SQUID GAME’: ACTORS, TRANSLATOR WEIGH IN ON SUBTITLE DEBATE

However, it quickly becomes apparent that the consequences for losing at any of these kids’ games is a brutal and untimely death. 

The “Squid Game” hashtag has been viewed more than 22.8 billion times on TikTok, according to an NBC News report, and Henson maintained that minors, including “young teens and tweens are watching the series through online gaming platforms like Roblox and Minecraft.”

‘Squid Game’ is Netflix’s biggest non-English language hit and is on track to become the platform’s biggest show ever.
(Netflix)

According to Fortune, “Squid Game” catapulted to No. 1 in the U.S. just four days after its release. It is expected to be seen by more than 82 million subscribers worldwide in its first 28 days. 

SQUID GAME HALLOWEEN COSTUMES ARE GOING TO BE BIG THIS YEAR

The outlet notes that, when compared to traditional TV, that’s more than the number of 18- to 49-year-olds estimated by Nielsen to have watched the 40 highest-rated broadcast and cable shows of the past year combined. 

“Netflix needs to recognize that if it fails to self-regulate, it is inviting regulation from government agencies, and that may lead to worse outcomes for Netflix and for families,” Henson said.

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A rep for Netflix did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

FOX Business’ Tyler McCarthy contributed to this report.

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Science

Violent explosion rips open a giant cavity in space and births new stars

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https://www.cnet.com/a/img/7cd413dNau39jnKjhGUXcQd6To8=/1092x0/filters:gifv()/2021/07/08/427d23af-78e6-4a6a-a8b3-533eab49a726/snovae1a2.gif

A supernova explosion may have given rise to a hole in the universe.


ESO/SpaceEngine/L. Calçada

There’s a monstrous hole in the universe. Long ago, a star blew up with extreme force and obliterated everything in its path. It even swept minuscule particles of space dust out of its way — but in a surprising turn of events, that space dust collected, collapsed and eventually gave birth to a bunch of baby stars. 

As the saying goes, it’s the circle of life.

“That is something that has been suggested in theory, and also seen in numerical simulations, but now we think we see it for the first time in observations,” said lead author Shmuel Bialy, an astrophysicist at the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

The story starts with a many-million-years-old, 500-light-year-wide spherical void lurking in outer space. To be clear, this completely vacant cavity is absolutely huge. One light-year is about 6 trillion miles (9 trillion kilometers), which means the void could fit 150,000 versions of our solar system within it.

Mysterious, seemingly abrupt cavities like this one are sometimes detected in the cosmos. They’re just sudden holes of empty space. But because astronomers typically study space in two dimensions — with spectrum data, or even photographs — three-dimensional structures can be tricky to find. Even when astronomers do locate them, it can be rather difficult to understand what’s going on.

“There’s a lot of confusion along the line of sight,” Bialy said. “You don’t know the distance, so sometimes we see different structures and they just look like one structure — or the opposite.”

Bialy’s team solved the problem by harnessing a new power: augmented reality. 

They re-created a mini-version of the gigantic space-borne cavity, as well as the stuff that surrounds it. Then they toyed with their model in real time to unlock the elusive void’s secrets. A QR code to the masterpiece is included in their paper, published Wednesday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. There’s also a demo on YouTube.

Basically, you can download their reconstructed piece of space onto your phone and feel as though it’s in your room. “It’s almost like in the movies where you have a hologram,” Bialy said.

While surveying their digital sculpture for research purposes — as opposed to the frivolous fun I had while spinning the projection around on my coffee table — the team saw an unusual “shell” of material around a symmetrical, abandoned area: the giant cavity. 

They concluded that a nearly 10-million-year-old star explosion — or multiple star explosions over the timespan — pushed away particles in the vicinity, thus making a capsule of space dust encircling an uninhabited region of space. 

“Imagine … you have lots of dust from the floor,” Bialy explained. “You have a big room, and you just sweep up some of the dust into one region — now, in this region … you have a much higher density of dust.”

When space dust clumps together, it’s known to collapse and compact itself more easily. But perhaps the most surprising discovery is that two famous clouds, Perseus and Taurus, which pop out baby stars like a stellar factory, live in that shell of dust.

“They were traditionally thought to be just two independent clouds,” Bialy said. “Now with this three-dimensional view and the discovery of this cavity, we understand that they probably formed together by the action of a supernova explosion that preceded them.”

That means star explosions might be setting off a chain reaction that ultimately leads to the creation of their own descendants. 

“I wouldn’t say this is the only way to form clouds that form stars, but this is a viable way,” Bialy said.

A zoomed in view of the cavity (left) shows the Perseus and Taurus molecular clouds in blue and red, respectively. 


Alyssa Goodman/Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

Bialy’s entire project initially began as an examination of the Perseus molecular cloud alone. The researchers were trying to understand star formation and gaps within the small region of space in 2D. While looking at the images, they started noticing little “shells” within Perseus. 

So, they started zooming out… then again… and again.

“We enlarged the map,” Bialy explained. “We started seeing larger and larger shells until, finally, this huge shell.” 

On top of encouraging the public to see the magic for themselves, by scanning the QR code and exploring the model, Bialy says, the team also released their numerical data in its entirety to the public. That ensures transparency so anyone can attempt to draw the same conclusions the team arrived at, but from scratch, if they so desire.

Beyond the remarkable findings about how stars, and star clouds, could be produced, Bialy stresses that the use of new perspectives and methodologies in astrophysics could be paving the way for the subject’s future.

“I used to just do the science,” Bialy said. “Suddenly, I’m working with this augmented reality company and an animator and different people.”

AR, specifically, promises a much richer library of scientific literature. Instead of a thick set of encyclopedias, we’d turn to digital holograms that can be called on at will.

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Science

NASA Confirms Thousands of Massive, Violent Volcanic “Super Eruptions” on Mars

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Photo of volcanic ash taken in Hawaii on April 8, 2008. Credit: United States Geological Survey

Scientists found evidence that a region of northern

This image shows several craters in Arabia Terra that are filled with layered rock, often exposed in rounded mounds. The bright layers are roughly the same thickness, giving a stair-step appearance. The process that formed these sedimentary rocks is not yet well understood. They could have formed from sand or volcanic ash that was blown into the crater, or in water if the crater hosted a lake. The image was taken by a camera, the High Resolution Imaging Experiment, on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

After blasting the equivalent of 400 million Olympic-size swimming pools of molten rock and gas through the surface and spreading a thick blanket of ash up to thousands of miles from the eruption site, a volcano of this magnitude collapses into a giant hole called a “caldera.” Calderas, which also exist on Earth, can be dozens of miles wide. Seven calderas in Arabia Terra were the first giveaways that the region may once have hosted volcanoes capable of super eruptions.

Once thought to be depressions left by asteroid impacts to the Martian surface billions of years ago, scientists first proposed in a 2013 study that these basins were volcanic calderas. They noticed that they weren’t perfectly round like craters, and they had some signs of collapse, such as very deep floors and benches of rock near the walls.

“We read that paper and were interested in following up, but instead of looking for volcanoes themselves, we looked for the ash, because you can’t hide that evidence,” Whelley said.


Credit: Madison Dean/NASA Goddard

Whelley and his colleagues got the idea to look for evidence of ash after meeting Alexandra Matiella Novak, a volcanologist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. Matiella Novak already had been using data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to find ash elsewhere on Mars, so she partnered with Whelley and his team to look specifically in Arabia Terra.

The team’s analysis followed up on the work of other scientists who earlier suggested that the minerals on the surface of Arabia Terra were volcanic in origin. Another research group, upon learning that the Arabia Terra basins could be calderas, had calculated where ash from possible super eruptions in that region would have settled: traveling downwind, to the east, it would thin out away from the center of the volcanoes, or in this case, what’s left of them – the calderas.

“So we picked it up at that point and said, ‘OK, well, these are minerals that are associated with altered volcanic ash, which has already been documented, so now we’re going to look at how the minerals are distributed to see if they follow the pattern we would expect to see from super eruptions,” Matiella Novak said.

NASA Goddard scientist, and Arabia Terra study lead author, Patrick Whelley, preparing for a 3D laser scan survey at the site of the 1875 explosive eruption of the Askja Volcano, Iceland, August 2, 2019. Credit: Jacob Richardson / NASA Goddard

The team used images from MRO’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars to identify the minerals in the surface. Looking in the walls of canyons and craters from hundreds to thousands of miles from the calderas, where the ash would have been carried by wind, they identified volcanic minerals turned to clay by water, including montmorillonite, imogolite, and allophane. Then, using images from MRO cameras, the team made three-dimensional topographic maps of Arabia Terra. By laying the mineral data over the topographic maps of the canyons and craters analyzed, the researchers could see in the mineral-rich deposits that the layers of ash were very well preserved – instead of getting jumbled by winds and water, the ash was layered in the same way it would have been when it was fresh.

“That’s when I realized this isn’t a fluke, this is a real signal,” said Jacob Richardson, a geologist at NASA Goddard who worked with Whelley and Novak. “We’re actually seeing what was predicted and that was the most exciting moment for me.”

The same scientists who originally identified the calderas in 2013 also calculated how much material would have exploded from the volcanoes, based on the volume of each caldera. This information allowed Whelley and his colleagues to calculate the number of eruptions needed to produce the thickness of ash they found. It turned out there were thousands of eruptions, Whelley said.

One remaining question is how a planet can have only one type of volcano littering a region. On Earth volcanoes capable of super eruptions – the most recent erupted 76,000 years ago in Sumatra, Indonesia – are dispersed around the globe and exist in the same areas as other volcano types. Mars, too, has many other types of volcanoes, including the biggest volcano in the solar system, called Olympus Mons. Olympus Mons is 100 times larger by volume than Earth’s largest volcano of Mauna Loa in Hawaii, and is known as a “shield volcano,” which drains lava down a gently sloping mountain. Arabia Terra so far has the only evidence of explosive volcanoes on Mars.

It’s possible that super-eruptive volcanoes were concentrated in regions on Earth but have been eroded physically and chemically or moved around the globe as continents shifted due to plate tectonics. These types of explosive volcanoes also could exist in regions of (function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.6"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

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World

IDF strikes Gaza after violent border riots, airborne arson attack

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The Israel Defense Forces launched airstrikes in the Gaza Strip late Saturday night in retaliation for airborne arson attacks from the coastal enclave and renewed riots along the border.

The raids on Hamas targets south of Gaza City came hours after two fires were sparked in southern Israel by balloon-borne incendiary devices launched from the Gaza Strip. Hours later, Palestinians resumed clashes with Israeli forces along the Gaza border, as Hamas threatened to step up the cross-border arson attacks from Sunday.

The military said the airstrikes targeted a Hamas military compound used for training and weapon production, and the opening of a “terror tunnel.”

“The IDF will continue to respond forcefully against Hamas’s terror attempts,” the army said, underlining that its raids were in response to both the fires and border violence.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza on Saturday night said 11 Palestinians were wounded in the border clashes with Israeli troops. According to the ministry, three of those wounded were hit by live fire and are in moderate condition. The other eight are said to have been lightly hurt from rubber bullets or shock grenades. It was not immediately clear if the Israeli airstrikes on Saturday night caused injury or damage.

The “night confusion units” behind the border riots do not officially tie themselves to Hamas, though their activities could not take place without the approval of the terror group that rules the Strip.

In the past, Gazans involved in such activities have burned tires, hurled explosive devices, and played fake rocket alert noises in an attempt to confuse Israeli residents living near the border and harass soldiers guarding the border.

The clashes comes despite Israel on Thursday easing some of its restrictions on trade and movement, allowing additional goods and materials to enter Gaza. It also allowed another 1,000 Gazan businessmen to leave through the Erez Crossing with Israel to travel to the West Bank.

A fireball rises following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip in response to arson attacks from the enclave on August 23, 2021. (Said KHATIB / AFP)

Gaza has seen two border protests in the past week — a major violent rally last Saturday and a second, relatively calmer one on Wednesday.

On Saturday the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry announced that a 13-year-old boy who was critically injured in last Saturday’s clashes with Israeli soldiers has succumbed to his wounds.

Omar Abu Nil, a resident of Gaza City’s Al-Tuffah neighborhood, was shot in the head by Israeli fire, according to Hamas health officials. Abu Nil was treated for a week in a Gaza hospital before passing away.

Abu Nil was allegedly shot by Israeli forces during the violent protest that saw hundreds of Palestinian protesters approach the fence, throw stones and burn tires. Israeli troops responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and a form of live fire.

Besides Abu Nil, one other Palestinian and one Israeli police officer were critically wounded during the clashes. The other Palestinian, Osama Dueij, passed away on Thursday; Hamas claimed Dueij as a member of its armed wing.

The Israeli police officer, Barel Shmueli, 21, remains in serious condition in Soroka Hospital in Beersheba. Shmueli was shot at point-blank range when a Palestinian man approached a slit in a barrier where Shmueli was stationed and fired a pistol at him.

Gazans held another border protest last Wednesday as part of a series of activities to pressure Israel into lifting restrictions on the tightly blockaded enclave. The Israeli military geared up for a serious confrontation along the border, but the protest passed without any deaths or serious injuries on either side.

Israel and Egypt have blockaded Gaza for over a decade, saying the restrictions are necessary to prevent Hamas from arming itself and presenting an even greater threat.

Since May’s 11-day battle between Israel and Hamas, Israel has imposed even tighter restrictions on goods entering and leaving the Strip. It has also blocked Qatari subsidies from entering Gaza, a key element of the status quo ante. The two sides are still conducting indirect negotiations to reach new understandings.

But Israeli officials have vowed that there will be no significant reconstruction of Gaza — which sustained heavy damage during the recent escalation — without a prisoner exchange deal between the two sides. Hamas currently holds captive two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, as well as the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.

The past few weeks have seen apparent progress in some aspects of the talks. Earlier this month, Israel, Qatar and the United Nations agreed on a new mechanism to transfer Qatari cash into Gaza. Israel also reduced some restrictions, allowing some cement, cars and computers to enter, and for around 1,250 Gazan businessmen to leave.

A deal between the two sides for a more comprehensive ceasefire, however, has yet to materialize.

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US

Antifa members throw explosives, disperse chemical spray in violent Portland riots

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Members of Antifa clashed with right-wing protesters in Portland Sunday evening, according to reports.

“People are lighting fireworks and dispersing chemical spray,” Portland authorities tweeted. “Those crossing line into criminal activity are subject to arrest. Some traffic lanes are being periodically affected.”

In a separate tweet, officials warned drivers to avoid the area and told those engaged to leave the area and be peaceful.

MEDIA PORTRAYS AMERICANS AS HATING THEIR COUNTRY: THE TRUTH IS MORE COMPLICATED

Independent journalist Andy Ngo identified one of the two groups as Antifa and shared video footage of explosives being thrown and a van being crashed. 

Fox 12 Oregon reported that there were approximately 50 Antifa members and 100 right-wing protesters in the area. 

In addition to setting off fireworks, Antifa members were seen throwing smoke bombs and firing paintballs.

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The “Summer of Love: Patriots Spreading Love not Hate” event was scheduled to start at 2 p.m. at Waterfront Park but was later moved to the parking lot of an abandoned K-Mart.  

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who held a virtual “Choose Love” event with Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell and other city leaders ahead of the planned events, denounced hate and violence.

“Anyone who comes into our community and is spreading their hate, their racism, their xenophobia, their white supremacist predilections, all of that is very intimidating to people who are here, particularly people of color,” Wheeler said.

The rioting came on the one-year anniversary of clashes between right-wing and Antifa members outside of the Multnomah County Justice Center. 

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World

Israel strikes Gaza after violent protests along border

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Israel’s military bombed Palestinian militant weapons sites in the Gaza Strip early Sunday in response to a violent demonstration on the perimeter fence that left an Israeli police officer critically injured, the army said.

Saturday’s violence erupted after hundreds of Palestinians took part in a demonstration organized by Gaza’s Hamas rulers to draw attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory. The demonstration grew violent after dozens of people approached the fortified border fence and threw rocks and explosives toward Israeli soldiers from behind a black smoke screen billowing from burning tires.

At least 24 Palestinians, including a 13-year-old, were injured by Israeli gunfire, according to the Gaza health ministry. An Israeli Border Police officer was shot and critically injured.

AIR RAID SIRENS SOUND IN ISRAEL AFTER ROCKET FIRED FROM GAZA 

The army said in a statement that in response to the violent demonstrations, fighter planes hit “four weapons and storage manufacturing sites” belonging to Gaza’s Hamas rulers, and that the military deployed additional troops to the region near the border with the Palestinian enclave. There were no immediate reports of injuries in the airstrikes.

Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies that have fought four wars and countless skirmishes since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza in a 2007 coup, a year after winning a Palestinian election.

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May’s most recent round of fighting, an 11-day war fought to an inconclusive cease-fire, killed at least 254 people in Gaza, including 67 children and 39 women, according to the Gaza health ministry. Hamas has acknowledged the deaths of 80 militants. Twelve civilians, including two children, were killed in Israel, along with one soldier.

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World

Dozens of Palestinians injured in violent rioting along Gaza fence

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Over two dozen Palestinians were injured, including two in serious condition, during riots along the border fence on Saturday night.

The Gaza health ministry reported over 24 Palestinians including 10 children were injured during the demonstrations of hundreds of rioters along the perimeter fence with Israel.

A 13-year-old boy was hit in the head east of Gaza City, another was hit in the neck with a rubber bullet. A woman and journalist were also injured.

Snipers and rubber bullets were used by Israeli soldiers after some 100 Palestinians approached the fence and threw explosive devices towards troops. There were clashes in other locations, including near Khan Younis, where Palestinians threw stones at the fence and tried to climb it.

In one video shared online, a dozen Palestinian youth were seen trying to grab the weapon of an IDF soldier stationed along the border fence.

Palestinians were reported to have also launched incendiary balloons towards southern Israel during the riot

The Gazans rioted along the fence after Palestinian factions decided Wednesday to hold a mass rally to mark the “day of the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque”, near one of the protest hotspots in the northern Gaza Strip.

In 1969 Denis Michal Rohan, a Christian Australian citizen, set fire to the pulpit of the al-Aqsa Mosque, destroying it. Rohan, who was in Israel on a tourist visa, was arrested two days later.

A Palestinian woman shouts slogans during a March of Return protest at the border fence between Israel and Gaza, east of Gaza City August 31, 2018. (credit: MOHAMMED SALEM/ REUTERS)

During the rally on Saturday Suhail al-Hindi, a member of Hamas Political Bureau said that the message of the rally was that the Gazans were “with al-Aqsa and the West Bank.”

”We will not forget our prisoners and our families, and we will not be patient with the siege of Gaza, which suffers from hunger and pain,” he was quoted by Wafa News as saying. “We are proceeding with all our strength and capabilities to lift the siege on the Palestinian people and we use the memory of the al-Aqsa fire and its meaning to achieve victory and liberate the homeland soon.”

Hamas spokesman Abd al-Latif al-Qanou said that those who took part in the protests “affirmed that our battle with the occupation is open. We have the power to defend al-Aqsa Mosque and break the siege of Gaza.”

al-Qadou added, “that the continuation of the siege cannot be accepted and will not accept the occupation’s sluggishness and procrastination.”

Following the 11-day fighting between Israel and Gaza in May, Israel has withheld the hundreds of millions of dollars provided by Qatar in aid to poor families in Gaza as well as salaries to Hamas clerks.

Hamas has threatened to reignite the violence on the border if the money was blocked and Israel on Thursday reached a deal for the funds to make it to the poor. But the agreement did not include the millions of dollars in salaries provided to the Hamas clerks.

Palestinians in Gaza used to stage weekly March of Return border protests, organized by Hamas, that often turned extremely violent to end the blockade of the coastal enclave.

The demonstrations, which began in 2018, saw thousands of Gazans participate every Friday at five locations along the perimeter fence. Other smaller protests were held during the week at the beach as well as during the night at various locations.

According to the UN, 214 Palestinians including 46 children were killed during the protests which lasted two years. Another 36,000 were injured.

Simcha Pasko contributed to this report. 



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Entertainment

Tiffany Haddish Says Shark Sex is Violent, Gets Closer Look for ‘Shark Week’

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TMZ.com

Tiffany Haddish got an up close look at tiger sharks mating for “Shark Week,” and she says the experience is gonna stick with her for a long time … and she might need therapy.

Tiff joined us on “TMZ Live” Friday and told us about her deep dive into shark reproduction … with a fun lesson on why female sharks have two uteruses and male sharks have two penises.

There’s a future in marine biology for Tiffany if she wants it — she says she was hardly afraid as she swam with the man-eating sharks, performing ultrasounds to look for babies. She tried to blow off the fear, telling us it was no worse than anything she faced growing up.

It’s pretty interesting, and graphic … Tiffany says she got to see the sharks having sex. There’s lots of thrashing and wrestling moves involved, and Tiffany says she sympathized with the female sharks.

Tiffany’s shark adventure airs Sunday at 9 PM ET on Discovery and Discovery+ and she’s not the only celeb getting in on the “Shark Week” fun … Brad Paisley, William Shatner, Snoop Dogg, Eli Roth, Ian Zeiring, Tara Reid and the ‘Jackass’ stars are also involved.

Lucky for Tiffany, she’s the only one who got to see sharks mate!!!

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US

3 law enforcement officers shot in Chicago on heels of violent holiday weekend

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“Our police officers are under siege. They’re outmanned and they’re outgunned.”

July 7, 2021, 7:43 PM

6 min read

Three law enforcement officers in Chicago were shot on the city’s South Side on the heels of a violent holiday weekend that racked up shootings in the triple digits.

The officers, two ATF Chicago agents and one Chicago Police Department officer, were driving in the Morgan Park neighborhood, near an on-ramp to Interstate 57, just before 6 a.m. when they were fired upon by another vehicle, Chicago Police Superintendent David O’Neal Brown told reporters Wednesday morning. The officers were undercover and in an unmarked car, Brown said.

The officers’ injuries are not life-threatening. One of the ATF agents was struck in the hand, the other was hit on the side of the torso and the police officer was grazed in the back of the head, Brown said. They were taken to Christ Medical Center and last reported in stable condition, said Tom Ahern, deputy director of the police department’s news affairs and communications,

One of the ATF agents is female, while the other two officers are male, and all three are senior officers, he added.

The suspect’s vehicle has been located, but investigators are still searching for the suspect, Brown said.

Brown declined to provide details on the case the officers were working to avoid compromising the investigation.

The attack marks brings the tally of officers shot in Chicago this year to 36, Brown said. The shooting comes after a deadly Fourth of July weekend in the city, when 100 people were shot, 18 of whom died, including a 15-year-old boy, ABC Chicago station WLS reported. Two Chicago Police officers and five children 13 and younger were among the injured.

Brown said Tuesday that Chicago officers were “performing at the highest level” and are “risking everything to protect the people of Chicago.”

“They are doing their part, and no one would do what these officers are doing right now,” Brown said. “This is a very challenging time to be in law enforcement right now. They are rising to the challenge, doing all they can. The work they do is extremely dangerous.”

Speaking from outside the hospital, Chicago Alderman Matt O’Shea urged President Joe Biden to come to Chicago and offer additional assistance to the city, saying that 100,000 armed gang members who “have absolutely no fear, no respect for life” are wreaking havoc on the city. Residents are scared to let their children play outside, he said.

“Our communities are under siege,” he said. “Our police officers are under siege. They’re outmanned and they’re outgunned.”

Biden was met by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot upon landing in Chicago Wednesday afternoon. During the greeting, Biden expressed his personal support for the law enforcement officers that were injured and reiterated his commitment to working with the city in the fight against gun violence, said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

Biden was scheduled to visit Crystal Lake, a city about 45 miles northwest of Chicago, in the afternoon.

ABC News’ Cheryl Gendron, Rachel Katz and Alex Perez contributed to this report.

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