A local man has been arrested after he allegedly left his dogs - two of which would later be found dead - in a van while he went to get intoxicated, according to official reports.

Jason Matthew Reece, 39, appeared in court Wednesday on charges of disorderly conduct and animal cruelty resulting in death. The Bay County Sheriff's Office reported arresting him Sunday night at a Beach condo only to learn the next morning that dogs found dead inside a nearby van belonged to him. Reece is currently being held at the Bay County Jail on a combined bond of $10,000, court records stated.

Reece recently had pleaded no contest to a disorderly conduct charge officers believe occurred June 2, the night he left the dogs in the van. But during his arrest, Reece did not mention the dogs, BCSO reported.

"At no time did Reece tell deputies he had left his vehicle nearly a half mile away parked in front of a Dollar General Store," officers wrote. "Reece also did not inform the deputy he had left three small dogs locked inside the vehicle."

According to BCSO reports, deputies responded June 3 to a complaint about a man who appeared intoxicated and was pulling on handles of vehicles at condo complex. Deputies approached Reece in the nearby parking lot, and he claimed he thought the vehicle belonged to a friend of his, officers reported.

The Israel Defense Forces' attempt to smear medic Razan al-Najjar, the 21-year-old killed last week, backfired when a video it shared on social media was swiftly debunked.

The IDF shared an edited video of Najjar on both its English and Arabic spokesperson Twitter accounts on Thursday.

The Silence of Others, backed by Pedro Almodóvar, seeks to end amnesia over dictator's victims

Chato Galante, who was stripped of his youth in the prison cells and torture rooms of Franco's Spain, likes to joke that he is an "unrepentant optimist". He has had to be.

Almost half a century has passed since he was beaten and jailed for his efforts to fight the dictatorship, but he remains confident that justice will be done, that his torturers will answer publicly for their crimes and that his convictions will be overturned.

Equally optimistic is Paqui Maqueda. Sooner or later, she says, Spain will find the courage to confront the Franco years and their insidious legacy.

Perhaps then she will establish what happened to her elder brother, who is thought to have been one of the thousands of children secretly and systematically stolen from their mothers at birth to be placed with less "degenerate" families.

A press vest did not protect an AFP photographer from Israeli bullets fired during protests in Gaza. He was taking a picture of a wounded protester when a bullet hit his leg.

On Friday, Mohammed Abed al-Baba was shot below the knee while wearing a clearly identifiable press vest and helmet around 200 meters from the border east of Jabalia in northern Gaza, according to AFP, citing the photographer. He was trying to photograph a protester who was injured earlier, when he himself was shot. Baba has been working for the agency in Gaza for nearly 18 years.

His colleague posted a photo on Twitter showing the injured man in bandages in what appears to be a hospital. In a post on Facebook, Baba said that he had undergone an operation on his right leg and is currently recovering.

The share of Russians who describe themselves as patriots is now at 92 percent, the highest number in 18 years, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the state-run agency VTSIOM.

"In 2018 the share of Russian citizens who see themselves as patriots... was 92 percent, which is the highest in 18 years," according to the report released by VTSIOM in connection with Russia Day, which is celebrated on June 12.

In 2000, 84 percent of Russians considered themselves patriots, after which the figure fluctuated between 80 and 88 percent, researchers noted in their report.

The citizens of the village of Green Island have been held liable for $375,000 to settle a federal lawsuit after police arrested a man so violently that he lost his leg.

Kevin T. Kavanaugh filed a civil rights lawsuit after a violent arrest that started when state troopers smelled marijuana. After police smelled the plant, Kavanaugh made the poor decision of fleeing in his vehicle and led police on a high speed chase.

According to the lawsuit, after Kavanaugh finally surrendered, he was brutally beaten for no reason, handcuffed and then an officer violently and unnecessarily began twisting his lower leg until the bones snapped apart.

"This wasn't just a broken ankle. Kevin had pins and screws in his ankle (from a prior injury) and they basically twisted his ankle until they popped out of the bone," said his attorney, Lee Kindlon. "They actually killed his leg, and it was dying from the toe up."

After the violent arrest, Kavanaugh was denied proper medical care leading to severe complications. Multiple other parties outside of the arresting officers were complicit in his abuse, according to the suit.

The following press release was sent to Mondoweiss regarding two actions in support of the right of return that were taken by Jewish groups in Israel today:

At 6 AM today, an anonymous group of Israeli-Jewish activists, calling themselves "RETURN" hung photos of the martyrs of the Great Return March on the Gaza Apartheid Fence. The protest was done against Israel's extrajudicial killings of protesters during the Great Return March, including journalists, medics and unarmed demonstrators.

The action was inspired by a call from the #GreatReturnMarch in Gaza for international solidarity. The RETURN activists hung portraits of Gazans murdered by Israeli forces, including the now-iconic portrait of the young medic, Razan Al Najjar. Earlier this week, Gazan professor Haider Eid wrote, "the slogan of the Great March of Return is "I want to go home." Seventy percent of Palestinians in Gaza are refugees from cities and towns in Israel... It's time for the world to stand up and act- to impose sanctions on Israeli industries until Palestinians are granted freedom, civil rights, and justice."

One of the activists of RETURN stated, "The Palestinians besieged in Gaza are marching home, back to the villages and cities from which they were expelled. They are marching out of the desert that Israel has transformed Gaza into and because of this, the Israeli Occupying army is murdering them in cold blood. The courage and sacrifice of these people demand of us all to stand up and ensure an end to Israeli impunity. Apartheid must end and we are the ones who must end it."

Later this morning "Israeli Jews in Support of Palestinian Return" posted posters of Akhmad Al-'Adinie whos family was expelled from Bir As-Saba and 'Abd Al-Qadr Al-Khawajry whos family was expelled from Bureir - Both were murdered by Israeli soldiers as they tried to return to their homes. The posters where posted near the Mosque of Bir AsSaba, in honor of their persistence and devotion. The group calls for the return of all the Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere.

Suicide rates are rising in the US, with some states seeing an increase of more than 30 percent in recent years, new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show. The top causes are guns, opioids and poverty.

Between 1999 and 2016, suicide increased across 49 states, with 25 of those seeing an increase by almost a third, the CDC's Vital Signs report shows. The only state to experience a decrease in suicides was Nevada, which saw its rate fall by one percent.

The official news bulletins on the economy are positive. Officially, unemployment is at 3.8 percent, a low not seen in two decades. The big picture looks great as companies are making record profits and consumers are spending again. But for some people, a 9 to 5 job is still a dream. Many have become too dejected to continue looking. Others are earning a few dollars here and there whenever possible.

Close to 80 million Americans are scrambling to survive in our booming economy. According to the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, 31 percent of adults have become a part of the "gig economy," working a few hours each month and hustling for whatever work can be had. This includes picking up extra cash babysitting or pet sitting, selling products online, or offering other services. Lyft and Uber drivers earn $11.77 per hour after overhead and taxes. Many work less than 20 hours each week. The online site TaskRabbit offers local handyman, shopping, or other needed services on a demand basis.

The gig economy is a daily struggle and hardly meant to provide comfort and riches. For those unable to pay the rent with low-paying full-time jobs, additional sideline gigs provide a few extras. Three-quarters of gig workers add 10 percent or less to their household's income, but they still need the additional money to meet expenses.

Gig work provides flexibility. You work when you want to - assuming the work is there. Most workers work predictable and preset hours, but 16 percent of workers work irregular schedules which depend on need, especially those in the food, retail, and entertainment industries. Many of these jobs are part-time, and the hours can be erratic. These jobs are usually held by vulnerable workers with a high school diploma. Some of these workers get a day or so notice, others are on call, tied to the phone without any idea of when they will work next. Predictably, these jobs have a high rate of turnover.

Moscow and Beijing have agreed to raise the share of ruble-yuan trade settlements, in a joint agreement signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday.

The document envisages "further strengthening of the Russian-Chinese cooperation in the financial sector, promoting increase of the share of national currencies in trade payments, investments and financing, expanding collaboration in such fields as payment systems and insurance."

The two leaders agreed to raise trade turnover and further improvement of its structure, searching for new growth areas and collaboration in trade and economic cooperation. President Putin said Russia-China trade turnover could hit $100 billion by the end of this year.

According to the document, the sides also plan to "boost efforts aimed at harmonizing strategies, programs and measures to develop national economies and particular sectors."