MTA Reports Rise In Graffiti-Related Incidents On NYC Subway Trains

Associated Press
Poles seek safety in gold investments during troubled times across their eastern borders
Then came Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering another rush for gold in the neighboring country. Piotr Kozik, the manager of a Warsaw shop selling gold bars and coins produced by the Mint of Poland, remembers how the day of Russia's invasion, Feb. 24, 2022, was Fat Thursday, when Poles gorge themselves on paczki, jam-filled donuts.
Associated Press
Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly lower ahead of key US inflation report
Shares fell Thursday in most Asian markets ahead of a key U.S. inflation report due Friday that might point the way ahead for interest rates. Benchmarks dipped more than 1% in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney. The markets' big focus this week is on a U.S. government inflation report due Friday.
Associated Press
Stella Assange thanks Australian lawmakers for WikiLeaks founder's freedom
Stella Assange thanked the spectrum of lawmakers who campaigned for her husband, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, to be freed during her visit Thursday to Australia’s Parliament House, where political leaders differed over how welcome the convicted felon was in his homeland. “Julian is overjoyed and so grateful to the Australian people, to the members of Parliament and to the government and also the opposition who came together to voice the need for his release,” Stella Assange said. Assange has made no public comment since he arrived in Australia on Wednesday after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with U.S. Justice Department prosecutors that ended his 14-year legal battle for freedom.
CNN
Attempted coup in Bolivia fails after president calls on country to mobilize in defense of democracy
Bolivian President Luis Arce stared down a short-lived attempted coup, after calling on the public to “organize and mobilize” in defense of democracy.
Reuters
Kenya braces for fresh protests despite president's tax climbdown
NAIROBI (Reuters) -Kenyan police put up roadblocks on streets leading to the presidential palace on Thursday as some protesters vowed to "occupy State House", despite the president's climbdown on proposed tax hikes that sparked a week of demonstrations. It was not clear how far protesters would be mollified by President William Ruto's Wednesday decision to withdraw the finance bill a day after clashes killed at least 23 people and saw parliament being stormed briefly. Ruto is grappling with the most serious crisis of his two-year-old presidency as the youth-led protest movement has grown rapidly from online condemnations of the tax hikes into mass rallies demanding a political overhaul.
Associated Press
Who is Keir Starmer, the Labour leader favored to win Britain’s July 4 election?
Dutiful, managerial, a bit dull — Keir Starmer is no one’s idea of a firebrand politician. The Labour Party hopes that is just what Britain wants and needs after 14 turbulent years of Conservative rule. Starmer, the center-left party’s 61-year-old leader, is the current favorite to win the country’s July 4 election.
CNN
Why an Israel-Hezbollah war would be far more dangerous today than the last time around
Fears are growing that tension between Israel and Lebanon could lead to a regional war involving Iran in the Middle East.
Associated Press
Britain's Rishi Sunak struggles with missteps while trying to lift Conservatives ahead of elections
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has portrayed himself as thorough and evidence-led throughout his relatively brief political career, but there's always been a nagging question over the keenness of his political antenna. The general election campaign over the past five weeks has clearly shown that he hasn't got the instinctive touch of some of his predecessors, such as Tony Blair or even Boris Johnson. Sunak's campaign has seen several missteps since he announced the July 4 election date in the pouring rain in late May, including his suspension of candidates mired in a scandal over betting on the date of the election — a week after Labour Party leader Keir Starmer pressed him to do so.
CNN
She managed to leave Gaza after half of her family was killed in Israeli strike. She blames Hamas for what happened
Roba Abu Jibba looked shell-shocked as the doctor delivered his news: She couldn’t have the operation she desperately wanted. She nervously scrunched the fabric of her dress, fighting off the tears that began flooding her one remaining eye.
Associated Press
Maui officials highlight steps toward rebuilding as 1-year mark of deadly wildfire approaches
Nearly a year after wind-whipped flames raced through Kim Ball’s Hawaii community, the empty lot where his house once stood is a symbol of some of the progress being made toward rebuilding after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than century destroyed thousands of homes and killed 102 people in Lahaina. “Welcome to the neighborhood,” Ball said Wednesday as he greeted a van full of Hawaii reporters invited by Maui County officials to tour certain fire-ravaged sites. The gravel covering lots on his street in Lahaina indicate which properties have been cleared of debris and toxic ash in the months since the Aug. 8, 2023, blaze.
AFP
Autonomous car rules advancing faster than the vehicles themselves: UN
Fully autonomous cars are still years away from hitting the streets, but internationally-agreed rules on their use could be ready by mid-2026, the United Nations has said.Furthermore, "we are planning to have a globally harmonised regulation on Automated Driving Systems (ADS) ready for mid-2026", he said.
AFP
'Dead city': Russia swoops on Ukraine's once-calm Toretsk
Compared to others in war-scarred east Ukraine, Galyna Poroshyna had been lucky to live in Toretsk, a mining town nestled in a relatively sleepy sector of the front line.Poroshyna's husband Oleskandr described it as a quiet industrial settlment -- mines below ground, roses above and where around 12,000 regular people lived regular lives.
Associated Press
Red Cross envoy: Congo conflict has worsened with sharp increases in sexual violence and wounded
The decades-old conflict in Congo’s mineral-rich east has “drastically deteriorated” since early 2022, and gotten even worse since last October, with sharp increases in sexual violence, the number of wounded, and child recruitment, the top Red Cross official in the country said Wednesday. Francois Moreillon called Congo a “double-edged crisis,” with the last 30 years of conflict weakening the capacity of government, including at local levels, to deliver basic services such as water, education and food. When it came to protecting civilians, Moreillon said the crisis was “extremely acute.”
AFP
Israel says it can send Lebanon 'back to Stone Age' as UN warns against war
Israel said it does not want war in Lebanon but could send its neighbour "back to the Stone Age", as the UN's humanitarian chief warned such a conflict would be "potentially apocalyptic".It's potentially apocalyptic," warned Griffiths, whose term ends this week.
CNN
An unprecedented debate could shake up a White House race like no other
The confrontation in Atlanta between Joe Biden and Donald Trump Thursday night has a good chance of becoming the most fateful presidential debate in US history.
NBC News
California judge awards over $1 million to 2 U.S. citizen children held in CBP custody
A federal judge in California awarded over $1 million to two child siblings who were held by Customs and Border Protection in 2019 even though they are U.S. citizens, court records show.
Associated Press
Analysis: No matter who wins Iran's presidential election, much may hinge on the 'Great Satan' US
In the waning moments of Iran's final televised presidential debate, one of the top candidates to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi invoked the name of the one person who perhaps has done more than anyone to change the trajectory of the Islamic Republic's relationship with the wider world in recent years. The next president could be "forced to either sell Iran to Trump or spark a dangerous tension in the country” if economic problems aren't solved, warned Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and a candidate in Friday’s election. President Donald Trump's decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw America from the Iran nuclear deal saw crushing sanctions reimposed and largely cut Tehran out of the world's economy.
Associated Press
Family that lost home to flooded river vows to keep store open as floodwaters devastate Midwest
A family that watched their home collapse into a flooded river near an at risk Minnesota dam is vowing to reopen their nearby store to sell its homemade pie and burgers as soon as its safe to do so. The Rapidan Dam Store remained standing Wednesday, but after the house where its owners, Jenny Barnes and brother David Hruska, grew up toppled into the Blue Earth River near Mankato the day before, they aren't entirely sure what's next. “We don’t know what will happen,” a post on the store's Facebook page said Wednesday night, adding that it's been a hard experience.
Reuters
Haj deaths show challenge of shielding pilgrims from scorching climate
Hundreds of the pilgrims who died in fierce heat at this year's haj were not officially registered with the Saudi authorities, with the result that many had no access to vital services like air-conditioned buses and cool-off tents. The deaths highlight a looming challenge for organisers as climate change takes hold in the region: the practice of requiring official permits for such services is stirring concern that unregistered pilgrims could increasingly be exposed to life-threatening temperatures. The unregistered pilgrims' lack of a permit made it difficult to provide them with services and care, the security spokesman for Saudi's Ministry of Interior, Colonel Talal bin Shalhoub, said in an interview on Saudi TV channel al-Arabiya.
Associated Press
Back to Woodstock, with Wi-Fi: Women return after 55 years to glamp and relive the famous festival
Beverly “Cookie” Grant hitchhiked to the Woodstock music festival in 1969 without a ticket and slept on straw. Ellen Shelburne arrived in a VW microbus and pitched a pup tent. The women, now 76, were recently treated to a two-bedroom glamping tent at the upstate New York site equipped with comfy beds, a shower, a coffee maker and Wi-Fi.

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