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Police say a number of people were taken to hospital after a series of stabbings on a train near Cambridgeshire.

Police in the United Kingdom have arrested two suspects after several people were taken to hospital following a stabbing on a train near Cambridgeshire in eastern England.

“We are currently responding to an incident on a train to Huntingdon where multiple people have been stabbed,” the British Transport Police said in a statement on X on Saturday.

“Two people have been arrested,” it said.

Cambridgeshire police issued a separate statement, saying they were called at 19:39 GMT after reports that multiple people had been stabbed on a train.

“Armed officers attended and the train was stopped at Huntingdon, where two men were arrested. A number of people have been taken to hospital,” the police said.

The East of England Ambulance Service said it mobilised a large-scale response to Huntingdon Railway Station, which included numerous ambulances and critical care teams, including three air ambulances.

“We can confirm we have transported multiple patients to hospital,” it said.

One witness described seeing a man with a large knife, and told The Times newspaper there was “blood everywhere” as people hid in the washrooms.

Some passengers were getting “stamped [on] by others” as they tried to run, and the witness told The Times that they “heard some people shouting we love [you]”.

Another witness told Sky News that one of the suspects was tasered by police.

The appalling incident on a train near Huntingdon is deeply concerning.

My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response.

Anyone in the area should follow the advice of the police.

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) November 1, 2025

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the “appalling” incident was “deeply concerning”.

“My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response,” Starmer said in a statement on X.

“Anyone in the area should follow the advice of the police,” Starmer added.

London North Eastern Railway, or LNER, which operates the East Coast Mainline services in the UK, confirmed the incident had happened on one of its trains and said all its railway lines had been closed while emergency services dealt with the incident at Huntingdon station.

LNER, which runs trains along the east of England and Scotland, urged passengers not to travel, warning of “major disruption”.

It serves major stops, including in London, Peterborough, Cambridge, York and Edinburgh, and trains are often very busy and packed with travellers.

The mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow, said in a post on X, “Hearing reports of horrendous scenes on a train in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire”, and added that his “thoughts are with everyone affected”.

Knife crime in England and Wales has been steadily rising since 2011, according to official government data.

While the UK has some of the strictest gun controls in the world, rampant knife crime has been branded a “national crisis” by Starmer.

His Labour government has tried to rein in their use.

Nearly 60,000 blades have been either “seized or surrendered” in England and Wales as part of government efforts to halve knife crime within a decade, the Home Office said on Wednesday.

Carrying a knife in public can already get you up to four years in prison, and the government said knife murders had dropped by 18 percent in the last year.

Two people were killed – one as a result of misdirected police gunfire – and others were wounded in a stabbing spree at a synagogue in Manchester at the start of October,  an attack that shook the local Jewish community and the country.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Experts warned N Korea could launch provocative missile tests before or during the upcoming APEC summit in South Korea.

North Korea has fired multiple, short-range ballistic missiles towards waters off its eastern coast, South Korea’s military said, marking its first missile launch in months.

The launch of missiles on Wednesday morning comes a week before South Korea hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which will see Chinese President Xi Jinping, United States President Donald Trump, and other world leaders gather in the South Korean city of Gyeongju for talks.

South Korea’s military said that it “detected several projectiles, believed to be short-range ballistic missiles” fired towards the East Sea, which is also known as the Sea of Japan, the official South Korean Yonhap news agency reports.

“Our military has stepped up monitoring in preparation for (the possibility of) additional launches and is maintaining a steadfast readiness posture while sharing relevant information with the US and Japan,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, according to Yonhap.

North Korea last fired short-range ballistic and cruise missiles towards the East Sea on May 8 and May 22 , meaning the latest launch is the first under South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung, who took office in June, Yonhap said.

Experts had warned that North Korea could launch provocative missile tests before or during the APEC summit to underscore its commitment to being recognised as a nuclear-armed state, the Associated Press news agency reports.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un earlier this month displayed a new long-range Hwasong-20 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), described as the country’s “most powerful”, during a huge military parade in Pyongyang, with top Chinese, Russian and other leaders in attendance.

The parade, which marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, highlighted Kim’s strengthening diplomatic presence on a regional and global level and his consistent drive to build sophisticated weapons capable of delivering nuclear payloads.

Pyongyang has long rejected international bans on its weapons development, which it says is necessary to protect North Korea from potential attack by its enemies, the US and South Korea.

Trump met the North Korean leader during his first term in office, and said recently that he hopes to meet Kim again, possibly this year.

Pyongyang has said that Kim is open to future talks with Trump, but with the caveat that North Korea will never agree to relinquish its nuclear arsenal.

Oct. 13 (UPI) — Four people were arrested Monday in connection to a mass shooting over the weekend in Mississippi that killed six people and left 10 others wounded.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the arrests following Friday night’s deadly gunfire at a football homecoming celebration in the downtown area of Leland, a small town about 200 miles from the Arkansas-Mississippi border.

According to the FBI, Morgan Lattimore, 25, Teviyon Powell, 29, and William Bryant, 29, were charged with capital murder. A fourth suspect, Latoya Powell, 44, has been charged with attempted murder.

The FBI in Jackson said the investigation will continue with other arrests pending. A motive was not revealed.

“The FBI currently has brought agents in to assist in the canvassing, the interviewing, the evidence review, both video and physical evidence review,” Special Agent in Charge Robert Eikhoff told reporters over the weekend. “We’ve had resources available, so as we identify video evidence that we will bring to bear the resources to evaluate that video evidence.”

On Sunday, the FBI established a digital media tips website to gather information, cellphone video or photos from the public to help them investigate Friday’s shooting. That website will remain active, despite the arrests, as agents continue to request more tips.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is using DNA analysis to run shell casings through national databases. FBI Jackson is also requesting witnesses submit tips at tips.fbi.gov.

The Washington County Coroner’s Office has identified the victims as Kaslyn Johnson, 18, Calvin Plant, 19, Oreshama Johnson, 41, Shelbyona Powell, 25, Amos Brantley Jr, 18, and JaMichael Jones, 34.

“We also have victim specialists that are available and they’re working with those from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation to ensure that the victims and their families are cared for and understand what resources are available to them,” Eikhoff added, “and help them in their pursuit and their journey as they try to recover from this horrific incident.”

BROADVIEW, Ill. — Federal agents detained multiple people Friday near an immigration facility outside Chicago that has frequently been targeted by protesters during President Trump’s administration’s surge of immigration enforcement this fall.

A crowd grew over several hours, some riled by newly installed barricades to separate them from law enforcement officers stationed outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Broadview, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago.

Some protesters have aimed to block vehicles from going in or out of the area in recent weeks, part of growing pushback to a surge of immigration enforcement that begin in early September. Federal agents have repeatedly fired tear gas, pepper balls and other projectiles toward crowds and at least five people have faced federal charges after being arrested in those clashes.

Local law enforcement stepped up their own presence Friday, closing several streets around the facility and putting Illinois State Police officers wearing riot helmets and holding batons on patrol. The state police set up concrete barriers Thursday night to segregate protesters and designate spaces to demonstrate.

It was unclear how many people were detained Friday. One man was seen struggling on the ground with agents after he appeared to break through a line into the roadway and in front of a vehicle.

Mostly reporters and a handful of protesters stood within the designated protest zone in front of the ICE facility as helicopters hovered overhead.

“Every week, ICE escalates its violence against us,” said Demi Palecek, a military veteran and candidate for Congress. “With this level of escalation, it’s only a matter of time before someone is killed.”

Several demonstrators said they were frustrated by the designated protest zone, saying keeping them off public streets violated their First Amendment right to free speech. Others were angered by officers from local or state agencies standing shoulder-to-shoulder with federal officers, including Homeland Security Investigations, ICE, the Bureau of Prisons and others.

Most ignored the zone to protest on the other side of the facility, where Illinois State Police officers held them back.

Jonny Bishop, a 28-year-old former teacher from Palatine, Illinois, said attempting to designate a “free speech zone” infringes on protesters’ First Amendment rights.

“As the day went on, we were progressively pushed, not just by ICE but also by Broadview Police Department,” he said. “We’ve done these things peacefully…But our rights are being violated.”

Bishop, from a Mexican immigrant family, said he has been hit by tear gas and pepper balls at previous protests. He said the main contrast between Friday’s protests and earlier efforts is local, county and state law enforcement agencies working alongside federal agents.

“ICE acts with impunity,” he said. “They know that they can shoot at us. They can tear gas us. And Broadview Police Department is not going to do anything.”

At one point, state police officers joined Border Patrol in advancing toward protesters, forming a larger perimeter around the building. Some protesters yelled in law enforcement officers’ faces while the officers grabbed them by the shoulders and pushed them back.

Fernando and O’Connor write for the Associated Press. O’Connor reported from Springfield, Ill. AP journalists Erin Hooley and Laura Bargfeld contributed to this report.

ASHLEY Roberts has risked multiple wardrobe blunders while sunbathing in an undone bikini.

Not only did she almost go topless while on the beach, but in another snap from her summer photo dump, the Pussycat Doll posed in a dress held up by luck alone.

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In the caption of the multiple sizzling snaps, Ashley, 43, penned, “Summer on film.”

The first snap saw Ashley walking across the sand while donning a green silk minidress as she beamed for the camera.

Next up, Ashley grinned while wearing a black dress that had blue embellishments.

Going braless for the display, Ashley risked her first wardrobe blunder as she posed up a storm.

She then sqautted down while on a yacht as she wore a blue dress with a thigh-high split.

Ashley posed with her artist boyfriend George Rollinson in the next photo.

And in the next, she risked it all as she sunbathed on the beach.

Lying on her stomach as she sunned herself, Ashley wore a tiny pink bikini which she had unfastened, risking her second wardrobe blunder.

She posed in the black and blue dress again, before enjoying a night out in the green dress she also wore in an earlier photo.

The next offering then saw Ashley beaming while donning a plunging berry-colored bikini top.

Ashley also posed, seemingly braless, in a strapless dress that was held up by luck alone.

Fans were instantly stunned by the sizzling displays, with one writing, “Stunning outfits. You look amazing Ashley.”

“Always glowing and looking beautiful Ashley,” penned a second.

A third person swooned over Ashley’s “sexy figure”, while a fourth said, “What a woman!”.

“STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS,” added a fifth.

And a sixth gushed, “Omg you’re glowing.”

American girl Ashley is all loved up with British artist George Rollinson, who is 17 years her junior.

The couple have been loved up since November 2023.

Ashley previously gushed over how much she loves British men.

Speaking to MailOnline last year she said, “Yes, George is British. It’s funny because I have been here so long that when I go back to the States, I’m much more aware of the differences… 

“American men are, I feel bad saying this, but they’re overwhelming, they are too much. I’m like, you need to calm down.

“I think because I grew up in that culture, I didn’t necessarily think anything different but now I’ve lived here for so long and I’ve dated in the past, many years ago, European men… 

“But I don’t even imagine myself dating an American guy now. They have a different approach. Even in places like Vegas it’s all around you that kind of testosterone.”

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A SUSPECT has been arrested in connection with four bodies which were found mysteriously floating in the River Seine in Paris last week.

It comes after a horrified train passenger spotted a corpse in the water before police rushed to the scene and found another three bodies.

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A 24-year-old Algerian man has now been taken into custody and accused of committing several murders.

The bodies were found in the French capital on August 13 in Choisy-le-Roi.

One of the victims died from strangulation while another had suffered “violent injuries”, the local prosecutor said on Saturday.

It is currently unclear how many of the four victims the man is accused of killing.

The first body which was reportedly submerged for a shorter time than the others was identified as a man aged around 40 who lived in the local area.

More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.

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As diplomatic efforts to end the grinding war in Ukraine accelerate in Washington, there has been no let-up in the fighting as Russia launched 270 drones and 10 missiles in an overnight attack on the country, the Ukrainian air force said.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Russia had targeted energy facilities in the central Poltava region, home to Ukraine’s only oil refinery, causing big fires on Tuesday.

The attack was the largest this month, and came a day after United States President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House for talks on his peace efforts.

Russia and Ukraine also said they swapped more bodies of their fallen soldiers on Tuesday as part of deals reached during peace talks in Istanbul earlier this year.

“Today, we handed over 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers to the Ukrainian side. They gave us 19,” Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led Russia’s delegation during the three rounds of talks facilitated by Türkiye, said on Telegram.

Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed receiving the bodies of 1,000 of its servicemen, expressing gratitude to the International Committee of the Red Cross for assisting in the swap.

Moscow and Kyiv conducted three rounds of renewed peace talks in Istanbul – on May 16, June 2, and July 23 – which produced major prisoner swaps, but little else besides draft memorandums outlining positions of both sides, that the other wouldn’t accept, for a potential peace deal

Peace efforts reached an advanced stage after last week’s summit between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska, and then a follow-up between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington on Monday.

Major sticking points of the peace talks are said to be potential land swaps and security guarantees for Ukraine.

Ukraine and its European supporters have repeatedly called for a ceasefire while peace talks are held.

Putin has balked at that prospect. With his forces inching forward in Ukraine, he has little incentive to freeze their movement.

Ahead of his meeting with the Russian leader last week, Trump threatened Russia with “severe consequences” if it didn’t accept a ceasefire. Afterward, he dropped that demand and said it was best to focus on a comprehensive peace deal – as Putin has pushed for.

Security guarantees?

To agree to a peace deal with Russia, Ukraine wants assurances that it can deter any future attacks by the Kremlin’s forces. That means, Zelenskyy says, a strong Ukrainian army that is provided with weapons and training by Western partners.

It could potentially also mean offering Ukraine a guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defence mandate Article 5, which stipuilates an attack on one member of the alliance as an attack on all. How that would work is not clear.

Additionally, Kyiv’s European allies are looking to set up a force that could backstop any peace agreement in Ukraine. A  “Coalition of the Willing”,  30 countries, including European nations, Japan and Australia, have signed up to support the initiative, although the role that the US might play in such a force is still to be determined.

European leaders, fearing Moscow’s territorial ambitions won’t stop in Ukraine, are keen to lock America’s military might into the plan.

Trump said he’ll help provide protection but stopped short of committing American boots on the ground to the effort, instead promising US “coordination”.

Russia has repeatedly rejected the idea of such a force, saying that it will not accept NATO troops in Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron co-chaired an online meeting Tuesday of the coalition countries. Once officials have discussed proposals in more detail, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said, a virtual meeting will take place with Trump and European leaders.

Zelenskyy and European leaders said that Putin has demanded that Ukraine give up the Donbas, an industrial region in eastern Ukraine comprising Donetsk and Luhansk, that has seen some of the most intense fighting but that Russian forces have failed to capture completely.

Moscow’s forces also occupy Crimea as well as parts of six other regions it annexed– all adding up to about one-fifth of Ukraine. The international community broadly rejects Russian presence in these areas.

Anna Mateveya, a visiting research fellow at Kings College London, says a breakthrough in offering security guarantees to Ukraine is essential to pave the way for territorial swaps.

“Security guarantees was a way to give something to the Europeans … so that they have some kind of meat to chew while Trump is making some real progress with Zelenskyy and Putin on a separate track,” Mateveya told Al Jazeera.

“Putin, apparently, has agreed on some Western security guarantees, and I think that is a breakthrough,” she added.

Meanwhile, Trump said on Tuesday he hoped Putin would move forward on ending the war in Ukraine but conceded that the Kremlin leader may not want to make a deal at all, adding this would create a “rough situation” for Putin.

In an interview with the Fox News “Fox & Friends” programme, Trump said of Putin’s course of action: “We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks … It’s possible that he doesn’t want to make a deal,” said Trump.

Russia has made no explicit commitment to a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, something Trump projected at the talks on Monday. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow did not reject any formats for discussing the peace process in Ukraine but any meeting of national leaders “must be prepared with utmost thoroughness”.

Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javid, reporting from Moscow, also said that Russia has not ruled out the possibility of a “bilateral or trilateral meeting”, something that was discussed with European leaders and Zelenskyy.

Moscow said the White House is “sincere in its efforts”, Bin Javid said. “It appears … everybody does not want to anger the Trump White House, they all want to play along,” he added.

“Roblox” faced a wave of new lawsuits this week that allege the popular gaming platform hasn’t done enough to safeguard kids from pedophiles and sexual content.

One of the latest complaints, filed in a federal court in the Northern District of California, claims that a predator posed as a child on the platform and sexually exploited a 10-year-old in Michigan. The man, who isn’t named in the lawsuit, allegedly convinced the victim to send sexually explicit images of herself after sharing some of himself.

The 10-year-old, who is anonymous in the lawsuit, met the predator last year on “Roblox” and suffered from mental health issues including anxiety, according to the complaint filed Thursday.

“What Roblox represents as a safe, appropriate space for children is, in fact, a digital and real-life nightmare for kids,” the lawsuit, filed by Dolman Law Group, stated.

Kids and teens create, explore and socialize in virtual spaces on “Roblox,” but the gaming platform has continued to grapple with child safety concerns over as its user numbers and revenue grow. On average, 111.8 million users visit the platform daily.

The San Mateo-based company’s share price closed down more than 6% at $117.34 on Friday.

“The assertion that Roblox would intentionally put our users at risk of exploitation is categorically untrue,” Roblox spokesperson Kadia Koroma said in a statement. “While no system is perfect, Roblox has implemented rigorous safeguards—such as restrictions on sharing personal information, links, and user-to-user image sharing—to help protect our community. Unfortunately, bad actors will try to circumvent our systems to try to direct users off the platform, where safety standards and moderation practices may differ.”

In early August, the company said it’s using artificial intelligence to help detect “child endangerment communications” earlier and alert law enforcement.

The lawsuit is among a flurry of new complaints this year that accuse the gaming platform of prioritizing its profits over the safety of its users.

On Thursday, Louisiana Atty. Gen. Liz Murrill filed a lawsuit against Roblox over child safety concerns.

“Roblox” is also under political pressure. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, has been urging people on social media to sign a petition asking the company to do more to protect children on the platform.

Since July, Dolman Law Group has filed five lawsuits against “Roblox” in courts in California, Georgia and Texas. Matthew Dolman, a Florida lawyer who is a managing partner at the law firm, said a sixth lawsuit is being filed on Friday.

The lawsuits point to several steps “Roblox” could have taken to make the platform safer, such as verifying ages through facial recognition, clearly warning parents about sexual predators and putting a higher age rating for its app.

“This is just the wild west,” Dolman said in an interview. “It’s like a hunting ground for predators.”

The company, he said, misrepresents how safe the platform is to both its users and shareholders.

“Roblox” profits from transaction fees when predators offer children Robux, a digital currency used on the gaming platform, in exchange for sexually explicit photos, according to the federal lawsuit filed on Thursday.

Predators will also tell children they won’t release these photos if they hand over Robux, the lawsuit alleges.

The complaint cites a Hindenburg Research report published last year that stated there were inappropriate games on “Roblox” that researchers were able to access by registering as a child.

Some of those experiences were modeled after criminal conduct by child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Roblox” rebutted claims made in the report and said it invested heavily in its trust and safety efforts, noting that it has rules against child exploitation on its platform.

The risk of sextortion, especially among young people, is a growing problem, child advocates say. Roughly 1 in 5 teenagers experienced sextortion, according to a report from Thorn, a child safety nonprofit.

Sextortionists have used a variety of platforms, including social media and gaming platforms such as “Roblox,” “Minecraft” and “Fortnite,” to threaten victims.

RACING bosses were left with no choice but to issue mass bans after multiple rules breaches at Ascot’s Shergar Cup.

Four jockeys have been banned for a total of 32 days.

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The BHA’s official sanctions came after Maureen Haggas – wife of trainer William – questioned the standard of rider at this year’s edition.

All of the jockeys who picked up bans are based outside of Britain – and included Hugh Bowman.

The Australian is famed for his association with Winx, one of the greatest racehorses of all time who won more than £14.5million on the track.

The BHA report read: “Karis Teetan, the rider of VENTURE CAPITAL, placed third, was found to have used his whip once above the permitted level of six and without giving his mount time to respond from inside the final furlong.

“He will be suspended for eight days from Tuesday 26 August to Tuesday 02 September 2025, inclusive.

“Hugh Bowman, the rider of LA PULGA (IRE), placed second, was found to have used his whip once above the permitted level of six, without giving his mount time to respond and in the incorrect place from approximately one and a half furlongs out.

“He will be suspended for 12 days from Tuesday 26 August to Saturday 06 September 2025, inclusive.

“Sarej Narredu, the rider of CLAYMORE (FR), unplaced, was found to have used his whip without giving his mount time to respond approximately two furlongs out.

“He will be suspended for four days from Tuesday 26 to Friday 29 August 2025, inclusive.

“Dario Di Tocco, the rider of TEAM PLAYER, placed second, was found to have used his whip onceabove the permitted level of six and without giving his mount time to respond from approximately one and a half furlongs out.

“He will be suspended for 8 days from Tuesday 26 August to Tuesday 02 September 2025, inclusive.”

Haggas, daughter of Lester Piggott, didn’t hold back when saying the quality of rider needs to be improved at the team event.

Speaking last Saturday, she said: “There are some bloody good riders here today, but the general feeling among trainers is that the standard of jockey is noticeably lower than usual.

“Hugh Bowman and Karis Teetan are very good riders but, without pointing any fingers, there are one or two who maybe shouldn’t be here.”

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Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.

Aug. 13 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department on Wednesday imposed visa restrictions on foreign government officials accused of assisting the Cuban regime in a scheme exploiting medical professionals.

Officials from several African nations, Cuba Grenada were sanctioned in a State Department news release. Then later Wednesday, several Brazilian government officials and former Pan American Health Organization officials were targeted for their work with Brazil’s More Doctors program. In all situations, their family members are also affected.

“We are committed to ending this practice,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X after the African and Grenadian officials were sanctioned. “Countries who are complicit in this exploitative practice should think twice.”

After Brazilians were named, Marco wrote on X: “Mais Médicos [Spanish for More Doctors] was an unconscionable diplomatic scam of foreign ‘medical missions.'”

Cuba is accused of sending the workers to some 50 countries for little or no pay for long hours, keeping their passports, confiscating medical credentials, and subjecting them to surveillance and curfews. Many of them reported being sexually abused by their supervisors. If they left the program, they faced repercussions.

Rubio said “several” African nations were sanctioned. Marco and the news release didn’t name that continent’s countries or the officials involved there, as well as Cuba and Grenada.

But the release about Brazil named: Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and Alberto Kleiman, who worked in the nation’s Ministry of Health, played a role in planning and implementing the New Doctors program.

These officials used PAHO as an intermediary with the Cuban regime to implement the program “without following Brazilian constitutional requirements, dodging U.S. sanctions on Cuba, and knowingly paying the Cuban regime what was owed to Cuban medical workers,” according to the release.

In the described scheme, they were complicit with the Cuban government, in which medical professionals were “rented” by other countries at higher prices, with most of the revenue kept by the Cuban authorities, the State Department alleged.

They were involved in “depriving the Cubans of essential care,” the State Department said.

“The United States continues to engage governments, and will take action as needed, to bring an end to such forced labor,” the first release said. “We urge governments to pay the doctors directly for their services, not the regime slave masters.”

The federal agency urged governments to end this method of forced labor.

In June, the U.S. agency imposed visa restrictions on unspecified Central American government officials for being involved in the medical mission program.

Rubio at the time described a similar scheme in which “officials responsible for Cuban medical missions programs that include elements of forced labor and the exploitation of Cuban workers.”

In June, Havana’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said the visa restrictions were “based on falsehoods and coercion.”

In late May, the State Department suspended the applications for J-1 visas, which allow people to come to the United States for exchange visitor programs. One week later, the department resumed visa interviews, but people seeking the visas were required to make their social media accounts public.

This year, more than 6,600 non-U.S. citizen doctors were accepted into residency programs, according to the National Resident Matching Program. Many residents go into underserved communities because they are less popular among U.S. applicants.

Medical professionals comprised 75% of Cuba’s exported workforce, generating $4.9 billion of its total $7 billion in 2022, according to the State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report.

“Traffickers exploit Cuban citizens in sex trafficking and forced labor in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Latin America and the United States,” the report said.”

Simultaneously, the U.S. government has fully restricted and limited people from 12 foreign countries in June. Cuba was among seven nations with restricted and limited entry.

“These restrictions distinguish between, but apply to both, the entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants,” the order states about the two designations,” a proclamation by President Donald Trump reads.

Trump issued the ban on nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Also partial restricted were those form Burundi, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

July 25 (UPI) — One of three Ohio police officers shot in what authorities described as an ambush earlier this week has died.

The Lorain County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Thursday that officer Phillip Wagner, 35, “gave his life in service to his community, a sacrifice that words can never fully honor.”

“He was not only a dedicated officer, but a husband, father, son, brother and friend,” the sheriff’s office said. “His impact reached far beyond the badge, and his absence will be deeply felt by all who knew and served alongside him.”

Wagner and fellow officer Peter Gale, 51, had picked up pizza and were each in their individual cop cars, parked side by side, eating in an undeveloped industrial park in the northeastern Ohio city of Lorain, located on the coast of Lake Erie, when the gunman opened fire on them.

A third officer, officer Brent Payne, 47, who arrived on the scene was also shot.

The suspect, identified Thursday as 28-year-old Michael Joseph Parker, was killed in return fire.

Authorities said Wagner and Payne were shot multiple times, while Gale suffered a gunshot wound to the hand.

Wagner succumbed to his injuries Thursday, the Lorain Police Department said, while Payne was listed in critical condition.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine ordered all U.S. and Ohio flags to be flown at half-staff on all public buildings and grounds “in honor of the life and service” of Wagner, his office said in a statement, with the order to remain in effect until his funeral.

“I am devastated by this senseless attack on law enforcement,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement.

“I share this community’s grief at the loss of a hero and join in their prayers for the injured officers to make a swift recovery.”

Kou Mariya hasn’t shown her work to her family. That’s because Mariya, not her real name, is living a dual identity, and to protect her privacy, only the most sacred of confidants — or business partners — can know her true persona.

Mariya, to her more than 84,000 followers on YouTube, is a friendly, flirtatious vampire singer, as excited to chat about her digitized outfits and accessories as she is to sing a late ’90s pop song. She performs as an animated avatar using motion capture technology, which matches her facial expressions and body movements to the drawn figure.

Mariya spends a significant portion of her days as this cartoon character, at once wholly real while being completely artificial. She is a professional performer, although her stage is virtual. Instead of a glimpse into a room or a home, her surroundings are fully drawn — she could be in a beach setting one day and an ornate office the next.

As a VTuber — that is, virtual YouTuber — Mariya is part of a movement, one led by those weaned on Japanese animation who are now finding ways to make fantasy world-building feel individualized and personal. We connect via video conferencing software, her location in the U.S. a secret, and Mariya appears in her anime form, her silver-white hair occasionally obscuring her welcoming oval eyes, which blink often as she speaks. Her voice is friendly and warm, and it ever-so-slightly dips into an upper register when she laughs or needs to emphasize a point. She nervously chuckles that she’ll be aged “so bad” when she admits the first anime she fell in love with was “Speed Racer.” Whether I’m talking to Mariya the vampire character or Mariya the performer is never quite clear.

Kou Mariya, hosting a Thursday night concert in Hollywood, is a friendly vampire VTuber.

(Kou Mariya)

This weekend Mariya will be hosting a concert in Hollywood with other popular VTubers. There will be live musicians, but the VTubers will be virtual. Mariya says she’ll be performing from an off-site location to protect her identity.

Those in Los Angeles will have multiple opportunities to take part in a VTuber crash course over the Fourth of July holiday. Mariya on Thursday will host the Fantastic Reality concert at the Vermont Hollywood, a performance that makes virtual and real musicians and features Ironmouse, a horned, operatic demon who was briefly the most subscribed streamer on Twitch.

Even more mainstream, a host of VTubers associated with Japanese firm Hololive will invade Dodger Stadium for the second year in a row. Saturday evening’s Hololive Night will feature three of company’s English-speaking talents — Ninomae Ina’nis, IRyS and Koseki Bijou — virtually cheering on the team, singing the seventh-inning stretch and then leading a post-game dance party on the field. A special event ticket will include playing cards of the VTubers.

Hololive, a division of Cover Corp., is one of the largest VTuber talent agencies in the world, with almost 90 active performers across its various divisions. The company’s U.S. office is based in L.A., and its partnership with the Dodgers is to recognize, in part, that the team has a large Japanese fanbase, thanks to megastar Shohei Ohtani. Cover CEO Motoaki Tanigo, however, has a broader goal, and that’s to further bring VTubers to the masses.

“There are two reasons,” Tanigo says, via a translator, for why Cover has targeted L.A. as one of its key markets. The first, he notes, is due to the fact that a large part of the company’s fanbase resides in the L.A. region. The second, he stresses, relates to his business goals, especially the video game firms Cover hopes to partner with. “Doing events in the Los Angeles area is not only important for our user engagement, but it’s a great opportunity to show to our business clients that we have a strong following.”

VTubers have averaged 50 billion YouTube views annually over the past three years, according to a recent YouTube Culture & Trends report. A YouTube sample of 300 virtual creators found that they drove 15 billion views across the site, with 1 billion coming from the U.S. alone. Almost all of these VTubers are steeped deeply in anime lore, culture and tone. And while there are popular male VTubers, a number of the most famous are female-facing. Cover’s roster, for instance, is more than three-quarters female.

Hololive characters on the Dodger Stadium scoreboard at last year’s event. Hololive Night returns on July 5.

(Cover Corp.)

“It’s very exciting,” says Susan Napier, author of “Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art” and professor at Tufts University who specializes in Japanese culture. “It allows for an enormous amount of creativity, and a real sense of ownership over your creation, and a way of playing and melding with your creation. People have been fans and identifying with favorite stories, anime and manga for years. This is, in a way, a very old phenomena. It’s people wanting to participate in a fantasy world that they love.”

Mariya notes she decided to become a VTuber during the worst days of the global pandemic of 2020. “Everyone was in front of their computers and had a sense of loneliness,” she says. “And VTubers [had] that sense of, ‘I’m not alone. I’m not trapped. There’s a whole world out there for me.’ Being a big fan of that, I wanted to try that myself. I did not expect to be able to make this into a career, but somehow people liked me, and I thought I could keep going with this.”

And how, of course, did she land on her character, a vampire with a bat clip in her hair and an open-chested cocktail server-style outfit? “That one is tricky because technically I was born a vampire,” Mariya says. “We’re not scary. We ask permission before entering doors, which is better than a lot of people. We do bite. That’s the only downside.” Right.

The Japan-led VTtuber trend predates the pandemic. The first proper virtual artist to gain fame is widely credited as Kizuna AI in 2016, but VTubers have grown alongside other similar developments. See, for instance, virtual concert artist Hatsune Miku, who performed at Coachella in 2024. VTubers are also closely aligned with video games, often streaming them for their fans. The game medium, of course, has long been associated with virtual avatars, be it Nintendo Mii figures, the personas of “Second Life” or today’s platforms of “Fortnite,” “Roblox” and “Minecraft.” And this summer, in one of the biggest releases of 2025, VTuber Usada Pekora has a role in the PlayStation 5 game “Death Stranding 2,” with famed director and auteur Hideo Kojima admitting he is a fan.

For creator, voice-over actor and Anime Expo attendee AmaLee, the rare VTuber who, while using a stage name, does show her face, anime’s fantastical yet mature storylines reached her as a young teen when she was exploring her creativity. “It’s bridging a gap,” she says of VTubing. “Ever since I was a teenager I loved anime. It’s music, beautiful animation and acting all in one. VTubing brings it into the real world. You can do so much with your VTuber lore story. You’re kind of creating your own anime.”

VTuber Ironmouse will perform at the Fantastic Reality concert on Thursday.

(Ironmouse)

The most appealing VTubers bring a level of real-life authenticity into their work. “If you go back and watch my very first streams, I’m very cemented in this cleanly elegant actor [persona],” AmaLee says. “My voice is different. I dropped it to be cooler. I realized quickly how hard that was to keep, and I didn’t like not being authentically me. I’m a little clumsy, a little blond and I have major tech issues.”

Mariya describes herself as introvert, saying she wouldn’t be streaming — or likely even performing — if it weren’t for VTubing.

“With VTubing, there’s a sense of anonymity that I think is really good for the audience as well,” Mariya says. “Some people don’t want to see a physical person in front of a screen. They want to see anime girls. I think people latch onto the idea that it’s something that is different and bigger than me and bigger than them. It’s a new world.”

Last year’s Hololive Night at Dodger Stadium featured a drone show. Look for an on-field dance party led by the VTubers this year.

(Cover Corp. )

Author and professor Napier says it’s a modern, digitized Renaissance faire, if you will, reflecting basic human desires to dress up and play. As for why it just so happens to be so connected to anime, Napier theorizes the medium fosters the idea of fantasy creation.

“Fantasy and science fiction are very popular culture artistic venues to play and to cosplay,” Napier says. “Anime is really good at presenting you with these — it’s brilliantly expansive. Whatever you’re into, you’ll find it in anime. So if you’re looking to VTube, there’s all this anime material sitting in front of you. You can pick and choose and start playing.”

The dream for the Cover corporation, says Tanigo, is to expand VTubers beyond the world of streaming sites such as YouTube and Twitch — hence, the Dodgers collaboration. In August, Hololive will stage another U.S. concert, this time at Radio City Musical Hall in New York. Music, says Tanigo, is a gateway. “I believe that’s a way of reaching new people,” he says. “It’s an interesting thing to go see. There are also people who may not be interested in VTubing or anime at all, but they can listen to the song that’s released and enjoy it as a piece of music on its own.”

For the performers, with VTubing comes a sense of safety — and even comfort — that isn’t always present in more traditional streaming.

“I did a lot of on-camera streaming in the beginning of my streaming career, but I hated having to get ready, do my makeup, wear something nice,” AmaLee says. “Even after an hour of getting ready to do a stream, someone was still [commenting], ‘You look tired today.’ I hated that. There would be days I would cancel streams because I didn’t want to get ready. Now I have my VTuber model and can be a little gremlin in my pajamas and no one has to know because Monarch is always perfect.”

An anime character, after all, is always ready to go.

SEOUL, June 19 (UPI) — North Korea fired around 10 rounds from multiple-launcher rocket systems, Seoul’s military said Thursday, one day after South Korea held joint air drills with the United States and Japan.

The rockets were launched around 10 a.m. from the Sunan area near Pyongyang, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message sent to reporters.

“The detailed specifications are being closely analyzed by South Korean-U.S. intelligence authorities,” the JCS said. “In the current security situation, our military is closely monitoring various trends in North Korea under a strong South Korea-U.S. military posture.”

Further details were not immediately provided.

News agency Yonhap reported that the weapons appeared to be fired from 240mm multiple rocket launchers in the direction of the Yellow Sea.

Last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-firing of an updated 240mm system with new guidance and maneuverability capabilities — a demonstration that South Korean officials speculated was made in anticipation of sales to Russia.

North Korea has deployed troops, artillery and weapons to Russia to aid in Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Pyongyang is believed to be receiving much-needed financial support and advanced military technology for its own weapons programs in return.

On Tuesday, Moscow’s top security official said that North Korea would send 6,000 military workers and combat engineers to help rebuild Russia’s war-torn Kursk region.

Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu made the announcement while meeting Kim in Pyongyang for the second time this month. His visit came ahead of the one-year anniversary of the signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership by Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper celebrated the June 19 anniversary in an article touting the “absolute solidity” of its alliance with Russia.

“The traditional DPRK-Russia friendship has been upgraded to a true alliance and solid strategic partnership,” the article said, using the official acronym for North Korea.

Thursday’s weapons test came one day after South Korea, the United States and Japan conducted a combined military air exercise. The drills, which involved South Korean F-15K, U.S. F-16 and Japanese F-2 fighter jets, marked the first trilateral exercise under the administration of new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.

Lee met with his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, on the sidelines of the Group of Seven meeting in Canada on Tuesday. The two leaders vowed to strengthen three-way cooperation with the United States to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, Lee’s office said.

THIS is the moment a huge pile-up takes place on a motorway, involving multiple cars, a caravan and a huge 30-tonne heavy goods vehicle.

But while the destruction and terror brought about by the incident are all very real, not all is as it seems.

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Indeed, the high-speed crash was all part of a carefully planned experiment conducted as part of a Channel 4 documentary titled Pile Up – The World’s Biggest Crash Test.

Carried out at a former RAF base in Scotland, the experiment involved recreating a high-speed motorway pile-up with eight vehicles and a 30-tonne lorry.

The cars involved were a Toyota Prius, Porsche Boxster, Volkswagen Golf GTI, Ford F-150, Audi A8, Dodge Grand Caravan, Mercedes ML and a Vauxhall Vivaro van.

The team used an almost 2-mile-long stretch of road, which was presumably an aircraft runway, and included white lines, a hard shoulder and motorway-grade varioguard barriers to make everything as realistic as possible.

Professor James Brighton and his team from Cranfield University’s Advanced Vehicle Engineering Centre led the study, which thankfully utilised cars that were remote-controlled from ‘pods’ but driven at motorway speeds.

Four members of the public took part, each selected to represent a cross-section of road users.

To make the pile-up as realistic as possible and to capture genuine reactions, the four selected drivers had no knowledge of the true nature of the experiment.

They were revealed as 19-year-old Caitlyn, who represents inexperienced drivers aged 17 to 24; Luke, 26, a “boy racer,” reflecting young male drivers who account for 65% of serious injuries or deaths; 66-year-old Lynn, representing older drivers aged 60+; and Tito, 57, a surfer and international driver familiar with UK and US road differences.

All four believed they were taking part in an experiment to improve motorway safety and advance their driving skills and were unaware they would be involved in a high-speed multi-car pile-up.

As they drove along at speed, a lorry swerved into their lanes to simulate a pile-up.

Over 90 cameras, drones and black boxes were used to capture the moment of impact, recording crash dynamics, vehicle data and driver reactions.

The experiment provides valuable insights into crash dynamics, safety systems and human behaviour during multi-vehicle accidents, while also highlighting areas for improvement in vehicle design and accident analysis.

The aftermath of the crash replicated several intricate details, such as a car sliding under the lorry and also demonstrated crumple zones, which are effective at absorbing impacts and saving lives.

For example, despite a massive rear shunt from a van, the Prius’ electric battery remained intact.

Afterwards, Marcus Rowe, a crash investigator, was sent to the scene of the accident – having not witnessed the crash – to figure out what happened using crash forensics.

One concerning finding was that airbags might not always deploy and largely depend on where the vehicle is hit, showing that safety systems can struggle with multiple impacts.

One thing that can’t be determined is a driver’s reaction in the heat of the moment, as one panicked motorist accelerated into the lorry, despite having come to a stop safely.

Lastly, it found that the hard shoulder is a dangerous place to be, as any drivers or passengers in the cars on the mock-up hard shoulder would most likely have lost their lives.

Speaking on the experiment, David Twohig, an Automotive Engineering Consultant, said: “The beauty of a lab-based crash test is everything is controlled.

“Everything is repeatable, but unfortunately, the real world is not a laboratory, and there are many, many variables.

“It might be the weather conditions, it might be the friction of the road surface, it might be temperature, humidity, the state of the driver, the mood of the driver – so I think that’s the limitation of the lab, it’s almost too good.”

Pile Up – World’s Biggest Crash Test airs Sunday 15 June at 9pm on Channel 4.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Police say man arrested following calls to police about someone ‘setting people on fire’.

Police said a male suspect has been taken into custody after an attack that injured multiple people in Boulder, Colorado, in what the FBI director described as a “targeted terror attack”.

While stressing that the information was “very preliminary,” Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said on Sunday that the man was apprehended following calls to the police dispatch of someone with a weapon who was “setting people on fire”.

Redfearn said he was not in a position to identify the suspect yet, noting that he had been taken to the hospital. He said there were multiple injuries among the victims, ranging “from very serious to more minor”.

The Boulder attack occurred in the vicinity of a walk to remember the Israeli captives who remain in Gaza.

FBI Director Kash Patel, in a statement, described the incident as a “targeted terror attack” and said agents were on the scene.

Redfearn, however, said it was too early to speculate about a motive.

“We are not calling it a terror attack at this moment,” he said.

“This was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in downtown Boulder on Pearl Street and this act was unacceptable … I ask that you join me in thinking about the victims, the families of those victims, and everyone involved in this tragedy.”

More to follow.

A car hit multiple pedestrians during Liverpool FC’s victory parade on Monday evening in Liverpool, UK. Police say a 53-year-old British man has been arrested. The parade was to celebrate Liverpool FC winning the Premier League title.

Only a few months ago, former Irvine Vice Mayor Tammy Kim had aspirations of returning to the City Council she previously served on for four years.

Now her immediate goal is to fight off charges that could put her in prison for several years.

The Orange County district attorney’s office announced Thursday afternoon that Kim was charged with 10 felonies tied to allegedly lying about her residency during her City Council tenure and while campaigning for mayor last fall.

Kim was formally charged with three felony counts of perjury by declaration, three felony counts of filing a false document, and one felony count each of a public official aiding the illegal casting of votes, of filing false nominations papers, of knowing of the registration of someone not entitled to vote and of voter registration fraud. She was also charged with a misdemeanor of making a false statement.

She could spend up to 11 years and two months in state prison and county jail if convicted on all counts.

She is scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning.

Kim briefly responded to a call from The Times, saying she was advised not to share too much per her attorney, Caroline Hahn.

“We’re entering a not guilty plea,” Kim said.

Hahn added that she and her client “planned to launch a vigorous defense” but did not answer further questions.

Kim is accused of using two fraudulent addresses while running for mayor in the November 2024 election and then in a City Council special election in early 2025, according to the criminal complaint. She owned a condo in the city’s 3rd District, where she had lived since 2015, according to a separate lawsuit filed against Kim to get her thrown off the City Council ballot.

Kim won election to the Irvine City Council in November 2020, receiving nearly 44,000 votes a 14-person, top-three-candidate race.

At that time, city elections in Irvine used an at-large voting system, meaning candidates could live anywhere in the city.

The city moved to district elections in the fall 2024, requiring council members to live in the districts they represent. Only voters from those districts could vote for those candidates.

Kim served until November 2024 when she ran for and ultimately lost a mayoral campaign to Councilmember Larry Agran by a margin of nearly 5,000 votes.

The district attorney’s office believes Kim improperly used an address to run for mayor, no longer claiming to live in the 3rd District condo she had owned for a decade.

To run for mayor, Kim changed her California driver’s license and her voter registration to a home in the 5th District, where she never lived, according to the criminal complaint.

The home belonged to a family Kim met through a Korean teaching class, the complaint alleges. Kim did not inform the family that she was using their address, according to the complaint.

She has been charged with certifying that address as her own under the penalty of perjury.

Kim eventually finished her campaign and voted in November’s mayoral race based out of the 5th Diistrict home.

Shortly after her defeat, Kim declared her candidacy in December to fill the now- vacant 5th District seat, which Agran left after winning the mayoral election.

Kim eventually found a room in another 5th District home on Jan. 10 and changed her California driver’s registration that same day, according to the complaint. She then filed new nomination paperwork with the new 5th District address, according to the complaint.

Later that month, former mayoral candidate Ron Scolesdang sued Kim, claiming that she was fraudulently using an incorrect address. Scolesdang had hired a private investigator to monitor Kim, according to that lawsuit.

Kim eventually dropped out of the race on Feb. 7, the same day a Superior Court judge removed her name from the ballot.

Betty Franco Martinez won the special election.