Month: April 2023

Wagner Raises Russian Flag In Center Of Bakhmut, But Fighting Still Rages

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– Wagner Raises Russian Flag In Center Of Bakhmut, But Fighting Still Rages:

Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group in the overnight hours on Monday has claimed victory (or at least a partial victory) over Bakhmut by raising the Russian flag as well as its own PMC Wanger Group flag over central government administration buildings of Bakhmut.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin described that the key city in Donetsk is “ours” but only in a “legal sense”. He wrote on Telegram: “The commanders of the units that took city hall and the whole center will go and put up this flag,” he said in reference to a Russian flag being raised in the accompanying video. “This is the Wagner private military company, these are the guys who took Bakhmut. In a legal sense, it’s ours.”

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Federal Judge Blocks Tennessee Law Banning Drag Shows With Minors Present

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– Federal Judge Blocks Tennessee Law Banning Drag Shows With Minors Present:

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A U.S. judge on March 31 blocked a Tennessee law that forbids drag shows being held while minors are present.

“At this point, the court finds that the statute is likely both vague and overly-broad,” U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker, a Trump appointee, said in a 15-page ruling.

Parker imposed a temporary restraining order that blocks the law from taking effect.

The law (pdf), signed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, on March 2 after being approved by GOP legislators, had been set to take effect on April 1.

The law makes it a criminal offense for a person to “perform adult cabaret entertainment” on public property or in a place where it could be viewed by a minor. Adult cabaret entertainment is defined in the law as shows featuring strippers, men dressed as women, and similar entertainers.

Read moreFederal Judge Blocks Tennessee Law Banning Drag Shows With Minors Present

Manhattan Office Vacancy Hits Record As Marquee LA Office Tower Sells At 50% Loss

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– Manhattan Office Vacancy Hits Record As Marquee LA Office Tower Sells At 50% Loss:

It’s not as if the trade we defined as the “Big Short 3.0″ needed help to plumb fresh record lows (as it has been doing virtually every day in the past month, see “New “Big Short” Hits Record Low As Focus Turns To $400 Billion CRE Debt Maturity Wall“), but it’s getting it anyway courtesy of an unexpected source.

While it is common knowledge by now that lower-tier and suburban office markets as entering the nine circles of hell…

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Third Night Of Israeli Airstrikes On Syria Target Homs

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– Third Night Of Israeli Airstrikes On Syria Target Homs:

Israeli warplanes launched yet another attack on Syria early on Sunday, striking a number of targets in the central Syrian city of Homs from Lebanese airspace, Syrian state-news outlet SANA reported.

The strikes resulted in the wounding of five Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers and the infliction of some material damages. “At around 00:35 a.m. on Sunday, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial act of aggression from the direction of northeastern Beirut, targeting some sites in the city of Homs and its countryside… Our air defenses intercepted the missiles and shot some of them down, and the aggression resulted in the injury of five army personnel and some material damages,” a Syrian military source was quoted as saying by SANA.

According to Persian media, an Iranian advisor who had been injured during Friday’s Israeli attack on Damascus died after succumbing to his injuries.

“Meqdad Mehghani was wounded during the Zionist attack on Friday dawn and was martyred,” Iran’s Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.

This is Israel’s sixth attack on Syria since the devastating February 6 earthquake struck the country, and the ninth Israeli attack on Syria since the beginning of the new year. This is also the third Israeli attack on Syria in just four days.

Read moreThird Night Of Israeli Airstrikes On Syria Target Homs

Prominent Pro-Kremlin Blogger Killed In St. Petersburg Cafe Bombing, 15 Injured

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– Prominent Pro-Kremlin Blogger Killed In St. Petersburg Cafe Bombing, 15 Injured:

Russian state media is reporting that prominent pro-Kremlin blogger and war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky has been killed in blast at a St. Petersburg cafe, which wounded at least six others. The number of injured soon climbed to 15 as emergency services flooded the scene.

Tass news was the first to report the explosion, after which multiple videos purporting to show the moment of the blast began circulating on social media. The location has been identified as the ‘Street Bar’ café in the historical city center on the Neva River bank, just across from the well-known Admiralty building.

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Southern California Sweatshop Workers Make As Little As $1.58 Per Hour

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– SoCal Sweatshop Workers Make As Little As $1.58 Per Hour:

A survey of garment-sewing contractors in Southern California reveals that sweatshop workers are paid as little as $1.58 per hour.

The survey, conducted by the US Department of Labor, found that workers making garments sold by some of the world’s largest fashion retailers are victims of wage theft and other illegal pay practices, Fashion United reports.

Contractors and manufacturers included in the survey include Bombshell Sportswear, Dillard’s, Lulus, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Socialite, Stitch Fix and Von Maur.

There more more than 45,000 workers in the Los Angeles-area garment manufacturing industry, with many working an average of 55 hours per week with no overtime pay, according to the report.

Based on data from more than 50 contractors and manufacturers, the 2022 Southern California Garment Survey released by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 80 percent of its investigations. More than 50 percent of the time, the division found employers illegally paying workers part or all their wages off the books, with payroll records either deliberately forged or not provided. -Fashion United

The survey also found that 32% of contractors are paying workers piece-rate wages, which has been prohibited by the state of California since last year.

Read moreSouthern California Sweatshop Workers Make As Little As $1.58 Per Hour