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Sept. 4 (UPI) — The body of man found in a pool of blood Saturday in Nevada’s Black Rock City during the Burning Man alternative art scene festival has been identified, authorities said, as they continue to search for a suspect.

The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that the Washoe Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victim of the Burning Man homicide as Vadim Kruglov, 37, of Washington State.

“Our sincerest condolences form the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office go out to Vadim Kruglov’s family for this tragic loss,” it said in a statement, adding the deceased’s family have been notified.

Police were notified at about 9:14 p.m. PDT Saturday of “a male subject lying in a pool of blood” at a Black Rock City campsite, according to the sheriff’s office, which said that when deputies arrived to the scene they “found a single White adult male lying on the ground, obviously deceased.”

Black Rock City is a temporary settlement in the Back Rock Desert area in northwest Nevada, about 90 miles north of Reno, which exists for only one week during the Burning Man festival. Tens of thousands attend every year.

Authorities continue to search for Kruglov’s killer, and has called on the public for assistance, asking anyone with information regarding the homicide to contact them immediately.

“At this time, no information is too small to disregard, so do not hesitate to contact my office,” Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said in a statement.

Burning Man said Kruglov was a Russian national, and that it is doing everything it can to help the sheriff’s office investigation.

“Burning Man Project extends our deepest condolences to Mr. Kruglov’s loved ones as they prepare to return him home to Russia,” Marian Goodell, CEO of the Burning Man Project, said in a statement.

“We also extend our compassion to our wider community of participants, volunteers and staff alike. Together, we strive to uphold the values at the heart of the Burning Man community.”

THE Government has confirmed when it’s planning to bring in controversial new powers aimed at cracking down on benefits fraudsters.

Banks will be drafted in to help identify benefits cheats and convicted fraudsters could be stripped of their driving licences under the new Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans.

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New Government documents have revealed it’s planning to bring the measures under the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill in April 2026.

The DWP has said it will be the “biggest fraud crackdown in a generation”.

It’s estimated the new powers could save taxpayers £1.5billion over five years.

Last year, an estimated £7.4billion was lost to benefits fraud – around 2.8% of total welfare spending.

A further £1.6bn (0.6%) was overpaid due to unintentional errors by claimants, while £0.8bn (0.3%) was overpaid because of errors by the DWP.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been trying to boost the public purse after it was revealed she needs to plug a £50billion hole in public finances.

The new measures mean banks will help to identify customers who might have breached benefit eligibility rules, such as exceeding the £16,000 savings limit for Universal Credit.

They will share limited data with the DWP but can’t provide transaction details, so officials won’t be able to see how benefit claimants spend their money.

The DWP also won’t gain direct access to claimants’ bank accounts, but it will receive cases flagged for investigation.

Financial institutions face penalties if they overshare information beyond what’s permitted.

Airlines and other third-party organisations might also have to provide information to help detect benefit claims made from abroad that could violate eligibility rules.

According to the Government documents, any information “will not be shared on the presumption or suspicion that anyone is guilty of any offence”.

However officials will gain authority to recover money directly from fraudsters’ bank accounts.

As well as this, persistent benefit fraudsters who fail to repay their debts could face driving bans lasting up to two years.

DWP minister Liz Kendall has pledged to clamp down on benefit cheats, saying back in March: “The social security system that we inherited from the Conservatives is failing the very people that it is supposed to help and is holding our country back.

“The facts speak for themselves. One in 10 people of working age are now claiming a sickness or disability benefit. Almost one million young people are not in education, employment or training – one in eight of all our young people.”

The DWP has said it will have strong safeguards in place, including new inspection and reporting mechanisms.

DWP staff will also receive comprehensive training before using the new powers.

However campaign groups have warned the powers could invade claimants’ rights to financial privacy and it could also lead to legitimate claimants being wrongly investigated.

In a letter to Kendall last year, the directors of Big Brother Watch and Age UK described the plans as “mass financial surveillance powers” which they said would “represent a severe and disproportionate intrusion into the nation’s privacy”.

Aug. 9 (UPI) — The suspected gunman in the attack that killed a police officer near the Emory University campus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s headquarters was identified Saturday morning.

One day after the shooting on Friday night, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that Patrick Joseph White, 30, of Kennesaw, Ga., was the killer.

WXIA-TV posted video from outside the home of the suspected shooter on Friday night where there was crime scene tape.

GBI is the lead investigator, and has been working with the Atlanta, DeKalb County and Emory police, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Emory, with an enrollment of 5,727, was on lockdown for a few hours, while the CDC had a shelter in place order at its Roybal Campus until the late evening. The school said Saturday there will be increased police presence throughout the weekend.

David Rose, a 33-year-old police officer for the DeKalb department, died while responding to the shooting. Rose, who joined the department in September and was a retired U.S. Marine, had two children with his wife, who is pregnant.

“This officer responded to the call as he did, as he was trained to do, and during that incident he received gunfire and he lost his life in this incident,” interim Police Chief Gregory Padrick said. “He was committed to serving the community. It’s a noble profession we all do. We answer the call to serve our community and he gave his life with a commitment to serve others.”

Rose was the only person shot during the attack, which started just before 5 p.m. at the Emory Point CVS drugstore on Clifton Road. White was found dead from a gunshot wound on the second floor. It wasn’t disclosed whether he was shot by law enforcement or whether it was self-inflicted.

The shooting occurred across the street from the CDC campus, where there were bullet holes in windows and shattered glass on the floor. Some rounds of ammunition also flew just above office cubicles.

CDC Director Susan Monerez told employees to work remotely while a “security assessment” is conducted at the campus.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Friday the suspect was “known to have some interest in certain things that I can’t reiterate right now with any confidence until the investigation is fully conducted.”

CNN reported the shooter was upset about health problems blamed on the Covid-19 vaccine recommended by the CDC and approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 2020 with Emergency Use Authorization and full approval for certain ages in 2021 for Pfizer-BioNTech and in 2022 for Moderna.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said she no longer identifies as Nigerian and has not renewed her passport since the early 2000s.

Badenoch, who was born in the UK, grew up in both Nigeria and the US. She returned to England aged 16 because of Nigeria’s worsening political and economic climate, as well as to continue her education.

Speaking on former MP and television presenter Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast, she said she was “Nigerian through ancestry” but “by identity, I’m not really”.

Last year, Badenoch faced criticism from Nigeria’s vice-president, who said she had “denigrated” the West African country.

Badenoch, who previously lived in Lagos, spoke at length about her upbringing on the podcast.

“I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I’m very interested in what happens there,” she said. “But home is where my now family is.”

On not renewing her passport, she said: “I don’t identify with it anymore. Most of my life has been in the UK and I’ve just never felt the need to.”

She added: “I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents… but by identity, I’m not really.”

Badenoch said that when she had visited the country when her father died, she had to get a visa, which was “a big fandango”.

She said her early experiences in Nigeria shaped her political outlook, including “why I don’t like socialism”.

As a child, “I remember never quite feeling that I belonged there”, she went on, adding that she recalled “coming back to the UK in 1996 thinking: this is home”.

The Tory leader added the reason she returned to the UK was “a very sad one”.

“It was that my parents thought: ‘There is no future for you in this country’.”

She said she had not experienced racial prejudice in the UK “in any meaningful form”, adding: “I knew I was going to a place where I would look different to everybody, and I didn’t think that that was odd.

“What I found actually quite interesting was that people didn’t treat me differently, and it’s why I’m so quick to defend the UK whenever there are accusations of racism.”

At the end of last year, Badenoch was criticised for saying she had grown up in fear and insecurity in Nigeria at a time it was plagued by corruption.

The country’s vice-president Kashim Shettima responded that his government was “proud” of Badenoch “in spite of her efforts at denigrating her nation of origin”. A spokesperson for Badenoch rebuffed the criticism.

HEALTH officials have warned a surge of a “nasty disease” could be on the way if vaccination isn’t prioritised.

Cases still remain high, particularly in two areas of the UK.

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The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is urging patients to prioritise vaccine catch-up appointments this summer, with the latest data showing continued high levels of measles cases.

Fears have now been raised over a further surge once the new school term begins.

Measles activity has increased since April 2025, says the UKHSA.

The most recent figures show an additional 145 measles cases have been reported since the last report was published on July 3.

Cases continue to predominantly be in children under the age of 10 years, and London and the North West have been driving the increase most.

Since January 1, there have been 674 laboratory confirmed measles cases reported in England, with 48 per cent of these cases in London, 16 per cent in the North West, and 10 per cent in the East of England.

There’s also been a global increase in measles cases, including Europe, over the last year. 

The UKHSA has also stressed holiday travel and international visits to see family this summer could lead to rising measles cases in England when the new school term begins.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, UKHSA Consultant Epidemiologist, said: “The summer months offer parents an important opportunity to ensure their children’s vaccinations are up to date, giving them the best possible protection when the new school term begins.

“It is never too late to catch up. Do not put it off and regret it later.

“Measles spreads very easily and can be a nasty disease, leading to complications like ear and chest infections and inflammation of the brain with some children tragically ending up in hospital and suffering life-long consequences.

“Two doses of the MMR vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and your family from measles.

“Babies under the age of 1 and some people who have weakened immune systems cannot have the vaccine and are at risk of more serious complications if they get measles.

“They rely on the rest of us getting the vaccine to protect them.”

The first MMR vaccine is offered to infants when they turn one year old and the second dose to pre-school children when they are around three years and four months old. 

Around 99 per cent of those who have two doses will be protected against measles and rubella.

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Although mumps protection is slightly lower, cases in vaccinated people are much less severe. 

Anyone, whatever age, who has not had two doses can contact their GP surgery to book an appointment.

Dr Amanda Doyle, National Director for Primary Care and Community Services at NHS England, said: “The MMR vaccine is provided free by the NHS and I would urge all parents to check their child’s vaccination records before the new school year or summer travel, particularly as Europe is reporting the highest number of measles cases in 25 years.

“While the NHS delivered tens of thousands of additional MMR vaccinations last year, too many eligible children remain unvaccinated, and we are working with local authorities and the UK Health Security Agency to reach more youngsters, with enhanced vaccination offers in areas with higher cases, including vaccination buses and community catch-up sessions.”