All the celebrities who have lost homes in devastating Los Angeles fires
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14264179/A-listers-left-California-wildfires-Destroyed-homes-Adam-Brody-Anna-Faris-James-Woods.html
Peachy Keenan
@KeenanPeachy
A couple I know in Malibu who lost their Malibu house in fires six or seven years ago had to wait 5+ years to rebuild. they were in a rental waiting for years.
And in that fire, only a few dozen homes were lost.
If they don't disband the city permit offices and coastal commission commissars rebuilding Pacpal and Malibu will take 15-20 yrs.
https://x.com/KeenanPeachy/status/1877801526883946563
Matthew Seedorff
@MattSeedorff
California National Guard is setting up and organizing along PCH in Pacific Palisades. They’ll be tasked with looking for looters and traffic control in the fire zone. #PalisadesFire
https://x.com/MattSeedorff/status/1877822871944442355
Comedian Whitney Cummings slowly moving towards MAGA
https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1877949095714644461
Leaked memo reveals LA Mayor Karen Bass demanded her fire department cut an extra $49 million just ONE WEEK before wildfires broke out
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14271021/los-angeles-mayor-karen-bass-fires-department-budget-cuts.html
Ukrainian drone hits large oil refinery in Russia’s Tatarstan
A Ukrainian drone hit the Taneko oil refinery in Tatarstan, Russian Telegram channel ASTRA reported on Jan. 11.
The refinery is one of the country's largest oil-processing facilities.
Workers at the refinery in Nizhnekamsk were evacuated amid the attack, and local footage showed smoke rising from the site.
Andrii Kovalenko, Head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, confirmed the strike, and emphasized its strategic importance.
"The refinery plays a key role in providing fuel to the Russian military. Taking out refineries and oil depots directly affects Russia's ability to wage an intensive war," he said.
The refinery, which processes over 16 million tons of oil annually, was previously targeted in a drone attack in spring 2024, causing damage to its primary processing unit.
Taneko refinery is located in the city of Nizhnekamsk, around 1,300 kilometers from the country's border with Ukraine.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukrainian-drone-hits-large-oil-211155813.html
Medieval Crowns and Scepters Discovered Hidden Inside the Walls of a Crypt Beneath a Lithuanian Cathedral
The royal treasures were stashed away at the beginning of World War II. Experts knew the trove existed, but previous attempts to find it had failed.
In the crypts of a Lithuanian cathedral, researchers have discovered a trove of royal treasure: crowns, jewelry and a scepter that belonged to several Lithuanian-Polish monarchs from the 15th and 16th centuries. The regalia had been hidden for 85 years—since it was stowed for safekeeping beneath the Vilnius Cathedral in southeastern Lithuania.
Last fall, experts were invited to explore Vilnius Cathedral’s subterranean level, where they used an endoscopic camera to look into cracks and holes in the crypt’s walls. In December, the researchers opened “a secret hiding place” in the church’s crypts, “where the royal regalia was hidden at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939,” as Vilnius Archbishop Gintaras Grušas told reporters earlier this week, per the Polish news network TVP World.
“The discovered insignia are priceless historical treasures: symbols of Lithuania’s long tradition of statehood, symbols of Vilnius as the capital city and magnificent works of goldsmithing and jewelry,” says Grušas.
The collection includes a crown of Alexander Jagiellon, the king of Poland between 1501 and 1506. It also features crowns, chains, medallions, scepters, orbs and rings belonging to Elisabeth of Austria (also known as Elżbieta Habsburżanka) and Barbara Radziwiłł—the first and second wives of Sigismund II Augustus, who served as king of Poland in the mid-1500s.
The Jagiellon and Habsburg dynasties are two of European history’s most powerful families, as Mykolas Sotincenka, a spokesperson for the Vilnius Archdiocese, tells Live Science’s Kristina Killgrove. These rulers set in motion Poland’s golden age.
Each of these kings acted also as grand dukes of Lithuania, as Poland and Lithuania were united between the 14th and 18th centuries.
Found among the royal accessories were insignia made for these rulers’ burial chambers. As Grušas said, “These crowns were not worn while the rulers were alive but were made after their deaths and were intended to be part of their tombs,” per TVP World.
In 1931, a flood damaged the cathedral’s crypt, exposing the three rulers’ coffins. The funerary regalia was then gathered from the burials, as Sotincenka tells Live Science. The researchers found the accessories wrapped in newspaper dated 1939, tucked in a cavity beneath a staircase in the crypt. Historians knew from records that the cache of regalia existed, but attempts to find it hadn’t been successful—until now.
According to a statement from Vilnius’ official development agency, the artifacts connected to Radziwiłł add “a romantic and legendary dimension to this discovery.” Born in 1520, the famously beautiful and witty Radziwiłł was already a widow by the 1540s, when she became the king’s mistress. Their subsequent marriage caused a scandal: Nobles thought Radziwiłł promiscuous and unfit. In time, she became “one of the most celebrated figures in Lithuanian history,” per the statement.
The trove has been cataloged and will now undergo restoration before being publicly displayed later this year. As Rita Pauliukevičiūtė, director of the Church Heritage Museum, says in a statement shared with CNN’s Jack Guy, “These symbols are important both for the state and for each of us, as signs of European identity, as a reclaimed identity of the old state, as a sign of the strength of our roots.”
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/medieval-crowns-and-scepters-discovered-hidden-inside-the-walls-of-a-crypt-beneath-a-lithuanian-cathedral-180985807/
An Iraqi couple is charged in Germany with keeping and abusing Yazidi girls as slaves
Germany’s federal prosecutor has charged an Iraqi couple with enslavement, torture and war crimes, alleging they kept two young Yazidi girls as slaves and sexually and physically abused them.
BERLIN – Germany's federal prosecutor on Monday charged an Iraqi couple with enslavement, torture and war crimes, alleging they kept two young Yazidi girls as slaves and sexually and physically abused them.
The man and the woman, identified only as Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. in line with German privacy rules, were arrested in Bavaria in April.
The were members of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria between October 2015 and December 2017, the prosecutor said in a statement. They allegedly kept a 5-year-old Yazidi girl as a slave starting in late 2015, and a 12-year-old from October 2017.
Prosecutors alleged that the man raped both girls repeatedly and that the woman prepared the room and put makeup on one of the girls.
The couple also exerted “harsh physical violence” on the girls, who were prevented from practicing their own religion and coerced into household work and childcare, prosecutors said.
The man on one occasion allegedly hit the older girl with a broomstick, the woman is accused of scalding the younger girl’s hand with hot water and both children were repeatedly forced to stand on one leg for half an hour as punishment.
Before they left Syria in November 2017, the suspects handed the girls over to other members of IS, the prosecutor's statement said.
“All of this served the organization’s objective to destroy the Yazidi religion,” the statement said.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraqi-couple-charged-germany-keeping-abusing-yazidi-girls-117193508
Meta and Amazon axe diversity initiatives joining US corporate rollback
Meta and Amazon are axing their diversity programmes, joining firms across corporate America that are rolling back hiring and training initiatives criticised by conservatives, citing legal and political risks.
The move comes just days after Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it was ending a fact-checking programme criticised by President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans.
In a memo to staff about its decision, which affects, hiring, supplier and training efforts, Meta cited a "shifting legal and policy landscape".
Walmart and McDonalds are among the other companies to have made similar decisions regarding diversity efforts since Trump won re-election.
In its memo to staff, which was first reported by Axios and confirmed by the BBC, Meta cited a Supreme Court ruling concerning race in college admissions, while also noting that the term "DEI" (diversity, equity and inclusion) had become "charged".
The tech giant said it would continue to look for diverse staff, but end its current approach, which seeks to make selections from a pool of diverse candidates.
In a December memo to employees, Amazon said it was "winding down outdated programs and materials" related to representation and inclusion, aiming to complete the process by the end of 2024.
"Rather than have individual groups build programs, we are focusing on programs with proven outcomes — and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture," Candi Castleberry, Amazon's VP of inclusive experiences and technology, wrote in the note which was first reported by Bloomberg on Friday.
Financial firms JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock, also pulled out of groups focused on risks from climate change this week.
The moves are a sign of the acceleration of a retreat that started two years ago, as Republicans ramped up attacks on firms such as BlackRock and Disney, accusing them of "woke" progressive activism and threatening political punishment.
Big brands such as Bud Light and Target also faced backlash and boycotts related to their efforts to appeal to LGBTQ customers.
Many of the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives were put in place after the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted in 2020 following George Floyd's murder at the hands of police.
Recent court decisions have bolstered critics of the programmes, who said that they were discriminatory.
The Supreme Court in 2023 struck down the right for private universities to consider race in admissions decisions.
Another court of appeals ruling invalidated a Nasdaq policy that would have required companies listed on that stock exchange to have at least one woman, racial minority or LGBTQ person on their board or explain why not.
Meta said it was also ending its efforts to work with suppliers who are "diverse" but will instead focus on small and medium-sized companies.
It also plans to stop offering "equity and inclusion" training and instead offer programmes that "mitigate bias for all, no matter your background".
Meta declined to comment on the memo, news of which was immediately met with both criticism and celebration.
"I'm sitting back and enjoying every second of this," said conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who has taken credit for successfully campaigning against the policies at companies such as Ford, John Deere and Harley-Davidson.
LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign said workplace inclusion policies help to attract and retain top staff and had been "directly tied to long-term business growth".
"Those who abandon these commitments are shirking their responsibility to their employees, consumers, and shareholders" RaShawn "Shawnie" Hawkins, the senior director of the HRC Foundation's Workplace Equality Program said.
Meta's move comes just days after the tech giant said it was ending a fact-checking programme criticised by Trump and Republicans and elevated conservatives to key leadership positions.
In a nearly three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said he had always been concerned about being the arbiter of "truth" and was "ill-prepared" when the issue first heated up after the 2016 election.
He said the demands to take down information became unreasonable under the Biden administration. For example, he said the company faced pressure during the pandemic to remove content like statements about vaccine side effects.
That helped to generate a wider political backlash, he said, including his own.
"I feel like I have much greater command now of what I think the policies should be," he said, adding that he felt the US government "should be defending its companies … not be the tip of the spear attacking".
"When the US does that to its tech industry, it's basically just open season around the rest of the world," he added.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgmy7xpw3pyo
Biden: Sucks you lost your houses, but I got good news on my end tho
Looters in LA are wearing fake fire department and utility company uniforms
Germany says Russian 'shadow' ship stuck in Baltic Sea
German authorities have said an oil tanker stuck in German waters belongs to Russia's "shadow fleet", which Berlin says is used to avoid sanctions.
Germany's maritime authorities (CCME) said on Friday that the Panamanian-flagged ship, known as Eventin, had lost power and steering, meaning tugboats were deployed to secure the vessel.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock blamed Moscow, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of "circumventing" sanctions and threatening European security by "ruthlessly deploying a fleet of rusty tankers".
Russia, which previously declined to respond to accusations that it uses a shadow fleet, has not yet commented on this incident.
The US, UK and the EU have imposed sanctions on Russia's oil industry following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In its first report of the tanker drifting in German waters, the CCME said the vessel was 274m (898ft) long and 48m (157ft) wide, carrying about 99,000 tonnes of oil.
German maritime authorities said the oil tanker was drifting at a low speed in the coastal waters of the Baltic Sea, north of the German island of Rügen.
A four-person team of specialists was lowered onto the vessel by helicopter on Friday night to establish towing connections, which were secured. Three tugboats took control of the "stricken vessel" that is "unable to manoeuvre".
Maritime authorities said on Friday night that no oil leaks had been detected.
In its latest update on Saturday evening, German maritime authorities said the towing convoy around the tanker was headed to Sassnitz, a town on the island of Rügen, and would arrive early on Sunday.
Earlier, authorities said the convoy of tugboats working to rescue Eventin remained north of Rügen and was moving eastwards "slowly", at about 2.5 km per hour (1.5mph).
CCME said they had taken safety measures given the rough seas, as the area where the vessel is located was experiencing 2.5m-high (8ft) waves and strengthening wind gusts.
Although the vessel sports the Panamanian flag, German authorities have blamed Russia for the incident.
"Russia is endangering our European security not only with its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, but also with severed cables, displaced border buoys, disinformation campaigns, GPS jammers and, as we have seen, dilapidated oil tankers," the German foreign minister said in a statement.
Last December, the European Union said it was working on measures including sanctions to target "Russia's shadow fleet, which threatens security and the environment, while funding Russia's war budget".
The European bloc's remarks came after undersea cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged by a suspected vessel, which the EU believes was part of Russia's shadow fleet.
The move was a further step taken by Western countries to hit the Kremlin's oil industry in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Since tougher embargo measures were put in place to halt Russia from exporting oil, Moscow is believed to be using ships with unclear ownership to transport goods - namely oil - across the globe.
As reported by the Atlantic Council, a US-based think tank, Russia is "instrumentalising the dark fleet, using it especially as a primary conveyor of oil exports".
The shadow fleet, or dark fleet, is the name given to ageing ships that sail "without the industry's standard Western insurance, have opaque ownership, frequently change their names and flag registrations, and generally operate outside maritime regulations", according to the Atlantic Council.
The latest incident in the Baltic Sea comes as Washington and London joined efforts to directly sanction energy companies Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the move to weaken Russian oil companies would "drain Russia's war chest," adding that funds taken "from Putin's hands helps save Ukrainian lives".
But Gazprom Neft slammed the sanctions as "baseless" and "illegitimate", as reported by Russian state news agencies.
Also on Friday, the US Department of the Treasury said it had sanctioned 183 vessels that are "part of the shadow fleet as well as oil tankers owned by Russia-based fleet operators".
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czdlp67rvd1o
It's real, you stupid idiot.