Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters

 

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy addresses reporters about efforts to pass appropriations bills and avert a looming government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, 29 September 2023.  

Photograph: J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Kyiv's Cadets Corp dance

 

Young Ukrainian cadets of Kyiv’s “Cadets Corp” military school dance after the graduation ceremony at the Monument to Prince Volodymyr in Kyiv amid Russian invasion of Ukraine.  AFP

Doctors Without Borders

 

A migrant looks out to sea on the Geo Barents migrant rescue ship operated by Doctors Without Borders as it makes its way to Italy after recuing 61 migrants on a wooden boat off the coast of Libya.

Photograph:  Reuters/Darrinf Zammit Lupi

Clooney Foundation for Justice

 

New York

Amal and George Clooney arrive for an awards ceremony hosted by the Clooney Foundation for Justice at the New York public library. 

Photograph:  Nina Westervelt/Variety/Getty

Michelangelo's statue of David

 

Restorer Eleonora Pucci cleans dust and debris off Michelangelo’s statue of David at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy, 25 September 2023. 

Reuters/Yasra Nardi

 

Frank Rubio lands in Kazakhstan

 

In this handout photograph taken and released by Roscosmos Expedition 69, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio (C) of the International Space Station (ISS) crew is helped by specialists after his landing in the Soyuz MS-23 capsule in a remote area near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

The trio returned to Earth after logging 371 days in space as members of Expeditions 68-69 aboard the International Space Station. For Rubio, his mission is the longest single spaceflight by a US astronaut in history.

HANDOUT, ROSCOSMOS/AFP Via Getty Images

Corrupt Senator Bob Menendez arrives is court

 

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey arrives to the federal courthouse in New York. 

Menendez is accused of using his powerful post to secretly advance Egyptian interests and carry out favors for local businessmen in exchange for bribes of cash and gold bars. 

Russian Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev returns from ISS

 

International Space Station (ISS) crew member and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev rests in a chair after landing in the Soyuz MS-23 space capsule in a remote area near Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. (NASA/Bill Ingalls/Handout via Reuters)

 

Storm Daniel hits Greece

 

Anastasia Tsagkarakaki 60, stands by her belongings, removed from her flooded house in the aftermath of Storm Daniel in the village of Koskinas, Greece.  She lost her crops and 120 chickens in the storm.  Reuters.

Jerusalem

 

A man walks across a deserted street on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement and the holiest day in the Jewish calendar in Jerusalem.  

Photograph: Reuters/Ammar Awad

Eagle Pass, US

 

Venezuelans crawl through a hole in razor wire to cross into Texas at the US-Mexico border. 

Photograph:  Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Pristina, Kosovo

 

Members of a special unit escort an arrested Serb gunman out of court after shooting on Sunday, one of the worst since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.  

Photograph: Visar Kryeziu/AP

 

KFC goes cashless

KFC lovers are threatening to boycott the fried chicken brand after some stores went cashless, despite saying it's within their right to refuse cash. 

President Biden joins striking autoworkers

 

26 September 2023. President Biden joined a picket line with striking autoworkers in Michigan, supporting their call for a 40% pay raise.

In 2009 a government bailout of American automakers included wage cuts. "You deserve what you've earned. And you've earned a hell of a lot more than what you're getting paid now," he said.

 Elon Musk said on X that the 40% ask and shorter work hours are a "sure way" to drive the companies "bankrupt." Tesla's factories are not unionized.

Michelangelo's David

 

Restorer Eleonora Pucci cleans dust and debris off Michelangelo’s statue using a backpack vacuum and synthetic fibre brush at the Galleria dell’Accademia, in Florence, Italy.  Reuters

 

 

Senator Robert Menendez

 

US Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, delivers remarks after he and his wife Nadine Menendez were indicted on bribery offenses in connection with their relationship with three New Jersey businessmen in Union City, New Jersey.  Reuters

If only we could get them all.

 

Oktoberfest 2023

 

Oktoberfest has its origins in a horse race that took place in 1810 to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen.

Comfort Town in Kyiv

 

Comfort Town is a residential area of Kyiv built on a former industrial area.  It was designed to brighten up the former grey Soviet buildings from the 1950s and 60s. More than 20,000 people live in Comfort Town. 

Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 

People cool off on Macumba beach in the west zone of Rio during a heatwave that hit 39.9C.  

Photograph:  Tercio Teixeira/AFP/Getty Images

Russian schools preparing children for war

 

In schools across Russia the national curriculum is being changed to emphasize defence of the Motherland.

Sam Bankman-Fried held in custody until trial

An appeals court in the United States has upheld a decision to revoke former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried's bail and hold him in custody pending trial. He is accused of fraud stemming from the November 2022 collapse of his now-bankrupt FTX exchange and is due to go on trial on October 3.

Vincent and Sien, a novel by Silvia Kwon

 

Although Vincent Van Gogh fell in love several times, he only ever lived with one woman. 

Sien Hoornik, whom he met in The Hague, was working as a prostitute when Van Gogh approached her to model for his drawings. 

They quickly developed a relationship. Sien and her young daughter moved into his modest apartment, creating a family life for Vincent.

                             Van Gogh’s lover Sien committed suicide.

General Motors Strike continues

 

General Motors Corporation Davison Road Processing Centre employee Ladonia Robbs of Flint stands with co-workers while on strike outside of General Motors Corporation Davison Road Processing Centre in Burton on Friday, 22 September 2023. Ryan Garza/USA Today

Migrants risk death in walk for a better life

 

Aerial view of migrants walking by the jungle near Bajo Chiquito village, the first border control of the Darien Province in Panama. The clandestine journey through the Darien Gap usually lasts five or six days. More than 390,000 migrants have entered Panama through this jungle this year, far more than in all of 2022, when there were 248,000.

Luis Acosta, AFP/Getty Images

Migrants risk death  https://tinyurl.com/bzdv8tuz

 

 

Dictator on the run

 

Israelis take part in a demonstration against Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government’s judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv 23 September 2023.  Reuters

Ultra-Orthodox symbolic punishment for sins

 

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man whips a member of his Hasidic dynasty with a leather strap as a symbolic punishment for his sins last year during the traditional Malkot (whipping in Hebrew) ceremony in the city of Beit Shemesh, Israel.

 

Climate activists disrupt Berlin Marathon

 

Police remove people from the track before the start of the Berlin Marathon.  Activists from the “Last Generation” blocked the track in protest against the climate policies of the German government.  AP

El Paso at breaking point

 

Migrants sleep on the street after being released from U.S. Border Patrol custody in downtown El Paso, Texas.  REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

The dramatic increase in migrants crossing the U.S. border from Mexico has pushed the city of El Paso to "a breaking point," with more than 2,000 people per day seeking asylum.

 

Rejoin European Union supporters in London

 

Thousands of pro-EU supporters gather in central London for the first national Rejoin EU march. 

Photograph:  Krisztian Elek/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

 

Rupert Murdoch's son Lachlan, the reluctant heir

 

 

....................During a confrontation with his father in LA in 2005, Murdoch tried to talk him out of quitting, offering him promotions and perks to tempt him to stay.

"Look, that's not going to work," Lachlan tearfully said over lunch, according to Manning's book The Successor.

"I have to do my own thing. I have to be my own man" he said.................

https://tinyurl.

com/w5yf3n8x

The New Middle East

 

Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 78^th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City.  Reuters.

Tehran, Iran

 

An anti-US banner is carried on a truck in an annual military parade marking the anniversary of the beginning of war against Iran by former Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein, in front of the shrine of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside of Tehran, Iran.  AP

Donetsk region, Ukraine

 

A Ukrainian serviceman sits inside a M109 self-propelled howitzer as he prepares to fire towards Russian troops in Donetsk region on 22nd September 2023. 

Reuters/Oleksandr Ratushniak

Chan Lake Park, Canada

 

A small herd of wood bison near the Chan Lake Park on Northwest Territories Highway 3 in Canada.  Unfazed by weeks of smoke and wildfire, the animals are a common sight along the highway.  Photograph:  Canadian Press/Shutterstock

El Carmen, Mexico

 

Asylum seekers heading to the US on a train.  Thousands of people have crossed into the US in recent days.  

Photograph: Daniel Becerril/Reuters

London, UK

 

Sleepwalker by Tony Matelli, part of Frieze Sculpture, a free outdoor exhibition in Regent’s Park.  Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

Druskininkai, Lithuania

 

Propaganda sculptures from the Soviet period.  They were removed after Lithuania’s independence.

Lithuania is a developed country with a high income, advanced economy, ranking 35th in the Human Development Index and is a member of the European Union. 

No more English tests for Chinese students

 

The Xi’an Jiaotong University in the capital city of Shaanxi province said students will no longer need to pass a nationwide standardized English test – nor any other English exams – to be able to graduate with bachelor’s degrees. 

Many on social media praised the decision and called for more universities to do the same.

Join the Army poster in Kyiv

 

School-aged boys walk past a poster calling on people to sign up for the army in Kyiv.  Reuters.

Combat helicopters in Taiwan

 

Two US-made Apache attack helicopters from Taiwan’s Army Airborne Special Forces, demonstrate their combat skills during a military open house event in Hsinchu, Taiwan.  AFP

 

King Charles addresses French Senate

 

Paris, France

King Charles addresses senators and members of the national assembly at the French Senate, the first time a member of the British royal family has spoken in the Senate chamber.  Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Toddler dies during afternoon nap in the Bronx

 

Nicholas Dominici died during an afternoon nap after inhaling fentanyl at ‘Divino Nino’ a day care centre in the Bronx.  Three other children were saved by a Narcan injection. It was an open secret that the centre was operating as a drug front.

 

Rupert Murdoch finally steps down

 

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch says he is stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp, with his son Lachlan to head both companies.

 

Josh Frydenberg new Chairman of Goldman Sachs Australia

 

Former Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has been appointed Chairman of investment bank Goldman Sachs' Australian business.

He joined the firm as an adviser last year after losing his blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Kooyong in Melbourne to teal independent Monique Ryan.

The Australian Ballet: Swan Lake review – a beguiling triumph

 

The Australian Ballet’s captivating production of Swan Lake, showing at the State Theatre in Melbourne, makes a convincing argument for the classic’s continued relevance. Photograph: Kate Longley  

https://tinyurl.com/4umysrm2

 

Australian MPs plead with Washington to bring Julian Assange home

 

Monique Ryan, Barnaby Joyce and other members of a delegation to secure the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are in Washington DC this week. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AP

 

Neuralink brain implants

 

After receiving approval from an independent review board, Neuralink is set to begin offering brain implants to paralysis patients as part of the PRIME Study, the company said. 

PRIME, short for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface, is being carried out to evaluate both the safety and functionality of the implant.

The new Alexa

 

The new Alexa will be able to resume conversations without a wake word, respond more quickly, learn user preferences, field follow-up questions and change its tone based on the topic. 

Which means that she will know you better than you know yourself.  https://tinyurl.com/56hxh8ru