© Gareth Morgan on Twitter
Hundreds were photographed this evening crowded outside the Welsh Parliament and the Pierhead Building.
Videos posted on Twitter show people singing and dancing, with some saying the gathering is akin to a rave.
Society's Child
Hundreds were photographed this evening crowded outside the Welsh Parliament and the Pierhead Building.
Videos posted on Twitter show people singing and dancing, with some saying the gathering is akin to a rave.
Donetsk
From around 7am (local time) Ukrainian armed forces have started shelling in, and around the region of Donetsk airport.
Several Russian high ranking Generals from Moscow arrived #Sevastopol in Crimea on-board this Tu-204-100V of Russia State Transport Company following to the rise of security tensions in the region.
A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon is currently monitoring Russia Army activities in the coast of Crimea as Russia has deployed significant number of troops.
Comment: See also:
- Seven years after the Maidan coup divided Ukraine, shelling of Donbass intensifies with a deafening silence from Western media
- New Ukrainian Special Forces Commander previously attempted to defect to Donetsk
- Under fire from a Western-backed Ukraine: The people of the DPR share their stories
© AP
Most of the state's 58 counties will be permitted to allow at least some indoor seating because they fall into the lower three levels of California's four-tiered COVID-19 restriction plan.
Most of the state's 58 counties will be permitted to allow at least some indoor seating because they fall into the lower three levels of California's four-tiered COVID-19 restriction plan.
After a year-long ban on most indoor seating, the state Friday set the stage for a literal stage-setting that could see resumption of NBA games and live entertainment performances in most counties beginning April 15.
Most of the state's 58 counties will be permitted to allow at least some indoor seating because they fall into the lower three levels of California's four-tiered COVID-19 restriction plan. Big population centers like San Francisco, Santa Clara County and Los Angeles County are in the second-least restrictive orange tier. Only three counties — San Joaquin, Merced and Inyo — remain in the highest purple tier, indicating "widespread" COVID-19 risk.
The others will be permitted some indoor seating "with capacity limits and modifications including physical distancing, advance ticket purchases, designated areas for eating and drinking, and attendance limited to in-state visitors," according to a state public health announcement.
© Getty Images / Artystarty
"The digital ruble is currently the highest form of money," the official said in an interview to RT. He said that the central bank is set to publish the roadmap for development of the digital currency soon and its prototype should be ready by autumn.
"The tests of this form of money may start at the end of 2021 or at the beginning of 2022," he went on, adding that the digital currency may be used for domestic transactions in two to three years.
The concept of the digital ruble was revealed by the Russian financial watchdog in October 2020. The new form of money will coexist with cash and non-cash rubles. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, the digital ruble has minimal risks as it will be issued by the central back and backed by traditional money, Russian officials say.
In February, the Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina announced that the regulator had held consultations with the banking community on the launch of the digital ruble. She promised that a more detailed concept would be presented by summer, and after that the plan would be open for further discussions with the public, market participants, and banks.
© REUTERS/Erin Scott
Scene of ramming incident in Washington, DC April 2, 2021
Scene of ramming incident in Washington, DC April 2, 2021
Update 4/2/2021, 3:02 p.m. ET: Acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Depart Robert Contee noted that the attack does not appear to be "terrorism-related."
He added, "[O]bviously we'll continue to investigate to see if there is some type of nexus along those lines."
Update 4/2/2021, 2:45 p.m. ET: Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman says that the suspect rammed his vehicle into two officers and hit the barricade. At that time, the suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand. The officer engaged the suspect, who did not respond to verbal commands, but instead began lunging toward the officers. The officers fired on the suspect. One officer is dead, according to Pittman.
Robert Contee, acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said that the department is investigating the incident. Conti does not believe that there are any ongoing threats related to the attack at the time of this reporting.
Comment: More information:
The Capitol went into lockdown over the incident. Journalists at the complex filmed both the scene of the crash and a US Park Police helicopter touching down on the lawn outside the east entrance.RT follows up with eye-witness media:
"It is with a very very heavy heart, that I announce one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries," Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters at a press conference on Friday afternoon, asking the public to keep his family and Capitol Police in their prayers.
"The suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand," Pittman said. He "did not respond to verbal commands" and "started to lunge" towards the officers, at which time they shot him.
The incident "does not appear to be terrorism-related", but remains under investigation, said DC Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee. Capitol Police did not have a previous record of the suspect, suggesting there was no "nexus" with any member of Congress.
Law enforcement and first responders have swarmed the gates of the US Capitol after a car rammed a security barrier, injuring two officers. Footage shows the chaotic aftermath with police swooping in and a helicopter landing.UPDATE: A local NBC news station reports the lockdown of the area has been lifted:
"Someone rammed a vehicle into two" officers at the checkpoint on Constitution Avenue shortly after 1pm on Friday, Capitol Police said, adding that "a suspect is in custody." The two officers are injured, and all three have been transported to the hospital, according to police.
Media reports suggest that the suspect may have been wielding a knife, and was shot and critically injured by the officers. Multiple reports say he has since died.
(Warning: graphic)
Video footage shows the injured suspect being led away on a stretcher, while alternate shots show someone who appears to be a police officer being wheeled away by medics.
The response by law enforcement was swift and heavy. A helicopter was seen swooping down onto Capitol grounds, and National Guard soldiers - deployed in Washington, DC, since the pro-Trump riot on Capitol Hill in January - could be seen running to the scene of the incident.
Streets around the Capitol have been sealed off by police, and the building itself placed on lockdown.
Security around the Capitol has remained elevated since the January riot, with Democrats insisting that the installation of a high-security fence around the building was necessary to thwart would-be "domestic terrorists." However, the motive of Friday's attacker remains unknown for the moment.
Congress is currently on recess, and few lawmakers were likely in the building at the time. President Joe Biden departed Washington earlier on Friday, en route to Camp David for the weekend.
Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said there no longer appeared to be an ongoing threat.
"It does not appear to be terrorism-related, but obviously we'll continue to investigate to see if there is some type of nexus along those lines," Contee said.Several streets in the area were shut down:© NBC News/OpenStreetMap
Location of the Washington DC car ramming incidentA lockdown of the U.S. Capitol complex has been lifted.
- Constitution Avenue between Second Street NE and First Street NW
- First Street between Constitution Avenue NE and Independence Avenue SE
- East Capitol Street between First Street and Second Street
During the lockdown, those outside were told to "seek cover," according to an email from U.S. Capitol Police. Those inside were permitted to move around within the buildings and underground between buildings.
© CNN
Cuomo stunned Wen didn't get the memo to keep quiet
Cuomo stunned Wen didn't get the memo to keep quiet
Dr. told Chris Cuomo that the Biden administration needs to tie reopening to vaccination status. While the administration has already begun discussing the possibility of a so-called "vaccine passport" with business leaders, Wen seems to believe that the government should go even further to secure their aim of sticking a shot into the arms of every American.
What she wants is to find a way to get more people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Her big idea, however, is to hold Americans' freedoms hostage to their vaccination status. Wen proposes that those who are vaccinated be given their freedoms and rights to move freely back, in order to convince other people to get vaccinated so that they, in turn, can have their rights back.
© Blagoveschensk emergency service
Answering if he was scared or if his hands trembled as smoke and flames engulfed the hospital, chief surgeon Valentin Filatov said: ‘Of course we were scared. We are human.’
Answering if he was scared or if his hands trembled as smoke and flames engulfed the hospital, chief surgeon Valentin Filatov said: ‘Of course we were scared. We are human.’
A medical team successfully completed heart surgery as fire brigades fought a blaze on the hospital roof, and rescuers evacuated patients and medical staff.
Sixty seven patients were taken to safety, and all but eight of the staff who were at the operation theatre were ordered to leave.
© C.B. Schmelter/Chattanooga Times Free Press/AP
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene
Ms. Greene detailed her two proposals — the "Fire Fauci Act" and the "We Will Not Comply Act" — during a morning interview while railing against Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, over his handling of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic under both President Biden and his predecessor.
"Dr. Fauci has been running the show in this country, and that is not his role," the first-year congresswoman said to Republican strategist Stephen K. Bannon during an appearance on his War Room: Pandemic podcast:
"He is not supposed to run our country. Dr. Fauci has been running our country, and he hasn't been running it, he has been shutting it down with his ever-changing advice."
Comment: See also:
- Marjorie Taylor Greene blasts COVID-19 vaccine passports: 'Biden's mark of the beast'
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files impeachment articles on Biden
- House Dems seek to strip Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of committee assignments
- 'Loud & unmasked': Democratic rep moves office citing 'safety' concerns after accusing GOP upstart Taylor Greene of 'berating' her
© Reuters/Clement Rossignol
Belgian police forces use water cannon to disperse revelers at Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos park in Brussels, April 1, 2021.
Belgian police forces use water cannon to disperse revelers at Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos park in Brussels, April 1, 2021.
Around 5,000 mainly young people showed up at the forest park just south of Brussels on Thursday, for an event called "La Boum" (a reference to a 1980s French teen rom-com) even though it was obviously an April 1 prank.
After using drones to repeatedly call on the partygoers to disperse, police sent a shield wall of riot police around 5pm local time.
© REUTERS/Stephen Lam
School buses are seen in San Francisco, California, U.S. April 7, 2020.
School buses are seen in San Francisco, California, U.S. April 7, 2020.
"UTLA has been holding the children of Los Angeles hostage as the price of advancing a political agenda," civil rights attorney with the Freedom Foundation, Timothy Snowball, wrote in an announcement.
The four families, represented by the Freedom Foundation pro bono, filed the suit on Tuesday and named the Los Angeles Unified School District, United Teachers Los Angeles union, and UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz as defendants.
"Since the beginning of the pandemic, UTLA has been more interested in scoring political points it couldn't achieve without holding Los Angeles children and parents hostage. While state and local officials try desperately to come up with a way to satisfy UTLA and other teacher union demands, it is the children of Los Angeles that continue to suffer," Snowball wrote.
Comment: Note that many of these gatherings, technically banned under lockdown restrictions, are on the increase. Some are protest related but it would appear that a rising number are actually just young people meeting friends in parks to enjoy the warm weather.
London:
Leeds:
Nottingham:
The above scenes bring to mind the theory that, following lockdowns, people are anxious to find some outlet to relieve the tension that they've been under. The UK has been suffering harsh, rolling lockdown restrictions for over a year now and so one can imagine the tension that has built up is significant. One just hopes that there won't be a repeat of last years events with this energy being channeled into pointless and divisive avenues, such as with the BLM riots: History and psychology predict protests and riots after lockdowns