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The Alabama band director who was arrested after refusing to stop his band's performance at a high school football game is grappling with the aftermath of being tased by police, which his attorney says was unacceptable and left students traumatized.

Bats could hold the key to unlocking new ways to combat cancer, a new study suggests. A paper published by Oxford University Press, looks at the rapid evolution of bats for their abilities to both host and survive infections such as Covid-19 as well as cancer. The animals are known to have a strong immune system which helps fight off many viruses and diseases. These mammals are also thought to have played a role in the emergence of Covid-19 and scientists say such characteristics are interesting to investigate due to the implications it might have on human health. According to the research, understanding the mechanisms of the bat’s immune system that allows these animals to fight off viral infections – may pave the way to understanding how to prevent disease outbreaks from animals to people. To conduct the study, researchers sequenced the genomes of two bat species - the Jamaican fruit bat and the Mesoamerican mustached bat. The team used advanced technology from Oxford Nanopore Technologies and bat samples collected by the American Museum of Natural History in Belize. They then compared the bat genomes to those of other mammals. The results revealed that bats possessed genetic adaptations in proteins which are related to DNA repair and cancer suppression. It was found that bats had adaptations in six DNA repair-related proteins and 46 cancer-related proteins. The study also found that bats had more than double the number of altered cancer-related genes compared to other mammals, which provided further evidence that they have the ability to suppress cancer. “By generating these new bat genomes and comparing them to other mammals we continue to find extraordinary new adaptations in antiviral and anticancer genes,” said the paper’s lead author, Armin Scheben. “These investigations are the first step towards translating research on the unique biology of bats into insights relevant to understanding and treating ageing and diseases, such as cancer, in humans.” The results open up new paths for understanding and studying the links between cancer and immunity, which offers hope that these insights from bats might possibly lead to new treatments for human illnesses. According to the United States Department of the Interior, there are over 1,400 species of bats worldwide and are mostly found in extreme deserts and polar regions. In the US and Canada, there are about 45 species of bats. Read More British bats ‘can help identify coronaviruses with potential to infect humans’ Coronavirus origins still a mystery 3 years into pandemic Groundbreaking migraine treatment offers ‘new hope’ for patients World Sepsis Day: What is the condition and its symptoms? Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor says he’s ‘asymptomatic’ after end-of-life diagnosis

A sheriff’s deputy in Texas who left his infant child in a hot car for three hours has been fired and arrested. Antonio Almaraz, 31, left his two-month-old baby alone in his car on Monday, as temperatures in San Antonio reached around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, Mr Almaraz had taken his child to a routine pediatrics appointment at 9am. He returned home an hour later and left his child in the car parked outside. At about 1pm, the baby was found unresponsive in the car. She was rushed to Methodist Hospital and their condition remains critical. The hospital reported the incident to authorities, but according to the sheriff’s office, Mr Almazaz initially gave a different narrative when he was questioned about what happened. Mr Almaraz had been charged with injury to a child, endangering a child and abandoning a child, with a bail set at $80,000. The deputy had only started his job in February and has now since been fired due to the treatment of his child. He will not be allowed to appeal his dismissal nor be eligible for rehire, no matter what the outcome of his case is, the sheriff’s office said. “Given the amount of awareness in the community regarding leaving children unattended in vehicles, there is absolutely no valid excuse for this to have occurred,” Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a statement. “My family and I are praying for the best possible outcome for this precious baby.” The inside of a vehicle can increase over 20 degrees within ten minutes, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states. It was only in late July that another infant was stuck in a hot car in San Antonio, Texas. The baby was accidentally locked inside the car and the parents took to smashing in the windows before it was too late. Read More Video captures father smashing windshield to rescue baby from hot car Suspected serial killer Billy Chemirmir killed in Texas prison Black student suspended again after punishment over his hairstyle

Noelia Gutierrez was at home having dinner with her mother one evening in March of 2017 when she suddenly felt an agonizing headache. Then her body began shaking uncontrollably.

Curtis “Cousin Eddie” Smith has claimed that Alex Murdaugh made a bombshell confession about his wife and son’s murders before orchestrating the now-infamous botched hitman plot. Mr Smith – a former law firm client, distant cousin and alleged drug dealer of Murdaugh – is facing a string of charges over the 4 September 2021 incident where he allegedly shot the double murderer in the head along the side of a road in Hampton County. Now, in the new series of Netflix’s “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal”, released on Wednesday, the 62-year-old revealed never-before-heard details about the bizarre encounter. Mr Smith claimed that Murdaugh begged him to shoot him in an assisted suicide scheme – a shocking request that he said he refused. When he asked Murdaugh why he wanted him to kill him, Mr Smith revealed that Murdaugh had given a chilling response where he all but confessed to murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul three months earlier. “Because they’re going to be able to prove that I’m responsible for Maggie and Paul,” Murdaugh allegedly said. Murdaugh was convicted of Maggie and Paul’s murders this March and sentenced to life in prison but continues to insist his innocence. He is currently in the midst of a legal fight to be granted a new trial. Mr Smith’s account comes as both he and Murdaugh are facing charges over the bizarre botched hitman plot which unfolded on 4 September 2021 – three months on from the 7 June 2021 double murders and one day after Murdaugh was ousted from his law firm for stealing millions of dollars in funds from clients. Mr Smith said in the show that he had known Murdaugh since the late 80s or early 90s as he knew the legal dynasty heir’s father Randolph. “I’m half Murdaugh – dont tell them that,” he said, laughing. Mr Smith said that he was friends with Murdaugh and he had also done “a bit of work” for him over the years such as running errands or “general land clearing work”. That morning on 4 September 2021, Mr Smith said Murdaugh had called him about 10am or 10.30am and asked what he was doing. “He said can you run over this way in a minute. He told me to meet him at the funeral home in Varnville,” he said. Mr Smith said that he drove to meet Murdaugh and looked up and saw the now-convicted killer driving down the road towards him. He had his sun visor pulled round his windshield and windows rolled up so as to keep his face hidden, Mr Smith said. When Mr Smith asked him what he was doing, he said Murdaugh replied that “I don’t need to be seen in town”. Murdaugh told him that he believed he was being watched by SLED. “And I said ‘why they watching you?’” said Mr Smith. Murdaugh allegedly replied: “Well he said, ‘well you know about what happened.’” “I said ‘what out in Moselle?’” said Mr Smith, about the family home where Maggie and Paul had been gunned down. When Murdaugh confirmed that was what he was referring to, Mr Smith said he asked him “what did happen” that fateful night. Murdaugh is said to have given the damning response: “Things just got all f***ed up.” After that, Mr Smith said Murdaugh asked him if he loved him. “Yeah, I love you like a brother you know that, do ’most anything for you,” said Mr Smith. It was at that moment that Mr Smith said Murdaugh asked him to shoot and kill him. Mr Smith said he refused, insisting that he told him that “ain’t happening, not today, not tomorrow”. When he refused, Murdaugh allegedly told him that he would have to “do it myself” and “took off”. Mr Smith said he went after him in his vehicle out of “pure concern” – not just for Murdaugh but for the family who had just lost Maggie and Paul and Murdaugh’s father (who died just three days after the murders). After catching up with him, Mr Smith said Murdaugh confronted him with a gun – prompting him to try to “scare some sense into him”. “When I pulled up there and I rolled the window down he’s coming up to my window with a gun. I figured I’d scare some sense into him,” he said. Mr Smith claimed he fired his own gun up into the air and Murdaugh threw himself onto the ground. The alleged co-conspirator insisted that he didn’t shoot Murdaugh and that there was “no blood on him” so he just “went home”. But Murdaugh called 911, claiming he was ambushed in a drive-by shooting while changing a tire on his vehicle. He was taken to hospital where he was treated for what police called a “superficial gunshot wound to the head”. Mr Smith said in the Netflix show that the scratches on Murdaugh’s head came “not from a bullet” but from rocks at the side of the road from when Murdaugh leaped onto the ground when he fired his gun. For several days on from the incident, Murdaugh kept up the lie about being ambushed, and even spent hours constructing an imaginary assailant with a police sketch artist. But, Murdaugh’s story quickly unravelled. One week later on 13 September, he confessed to law enforcement that he had orchestrated the whole saga, claiming that he asked Mr Smith to shoot and kill him in an assisted suicide plot so that his surviving son Buster could get a $12m life insurance windfall. Both he and Mr Smith were arrested and charged over the incident. Mr Smith said that he was surprised and “didn’t take it seriously” when police began asking him questions about what happened. “I didn’t ask for an attorney – I had nothing to hide from them,” he said in the Netflix show. “I really didn’t take it seriously to be honest with you. I knew I hadn’t shot his ass but he damn sure tried to tell everybody I did or he told everybody I did.” Read More Murdaugh Netflix show airs new bombshell claims as Alex strikes plea deal for financial crimes – live Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to committing crime for first time Alex Murdaugh’s request for a new trial complicated by angry husband’s Facebook rant

A quiet community just outside of Chicago was turned upside down when a couple, their two young sons and three dogs were found shot dead inside their home. Police were called in for a welfare check at the home in Romeoville, Illinois, on Sunday morning. Officers arrived to find the bodies of Alberto Rolon, 38, Zoraida Bartolomei, 32, their two boys, aged 7 and 10, and their dogs. Investigators determined that the victims died by homicide - with the killer still at large days later. “I want to know what happened to my nephews, my sister, her husband and WHY?” Bartolomei’s sister Bryana wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post. Here is everything we know about the Rolon-Bartolomei family case: ‘Not a murder suicide’ Romeoville police were dispatched on Sunday (17 September) to check on the Rolon-Bartolomei family after relatives shared concern that one of the parents didn’t turn up for work that day. In a press conference on Monday, police said family members called several times throughout the day to check on the adult, but there was no response. Just before 9pm Sunday, officers carried out a welfare check at the family’s home on the residential 500 block of Concord Avenue. The family of four were found dead of gunshot wounds – along with their three dogs. Authorities believe the murders took place between 9pm Saturday and 5am Sunday. “We do not believe the offender is among the victims. It is not a murder-suicide,” Deputy Chief Burne said during the press conference. The killer is not yet known, but police have said they do not feel the need to lock down the area. Deputy Chief Burne added: “Due to the timeframe that has gone by – more than 18 hours from the time we were contacted – we are not asking anybody to shelter in place, we are not actively looking for anybody in the area.” However, authorities have advised residents to “have a good sense of self-awareness” and have asked them to report anything they might see as suspicious. Deputy Chief Burne said that the investigation is in the early stages, so further details will not yet be released due to the sensitivity of the case. ‘Their kids were the sweetest most innocent angels’ The loss of the Rolon-Bartolomei family has shocked many friends and family members – with Bartolomei’s sister Bryana stepping forward and sharing her heartache with the community. In the description of a GoFundMe, Bryana wrote: “This fundraiser has been created with the aim of helping the Rolon-Bartolomei family with funeral expenses, as well as to create awareness of this ongoing case. Zoraida Bartolomei, Alberto Rolon, their kids Adriel & Diego (ages 10 & 7) were involved in a horrific crime that took their lives and shattered countless others.” Bryana said her sister and brother-in-law had just brought their first home together and described the children as “the sweetest most innocent angels who could hug your worries away.” “The world is going to be a much dimmer place without them,” she added. She also pleaded for anyone with information on the killings to contact police. The post was met with comments from the community sharing their condolences. “We know her and your parents from church, we are so saddened by this horrible news. Prayers for you all,” one user said. Another wrote: “My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.” Neighbours were also grappling with the death of the family. Lynn Phillips, who lives one door down from the home, told The Chicago Sun Times on Monday: “I’ve been crying on and off all day.” Although she said she didn’t know the family well, Ms Phillips said they still had a good relationship. “It was a mom and dad and a couple of kids. The parents would be outside working the yard, and we’d wave hi and bye, that kind of thing,” Ms Phillips said. “Nothing unusual. We all keep to ourselves.” Read More Murder of family of four with their three dogs was not murder-suicide but was not ‘random’, police say Ex-NFL star Sergio Brown and his mother went missing. Police say she was murdered and he has yet to be found Delphi murders suspect makes bombshell claim that victims were ‘sacrificed’ by white nationalist cult

A former beauty pageant queen has made new allegations in a federal lawsuit claiming she was sex trafficked and raped on the orders of an infamous pornography producer. Kirsty Althaus was the runner-up in the Miss Teen Colorado USA Pageant in 2013, but was forced to give up the title when she was found to be in online pornography videos, with her name in the title. A copy of the lawsuit, filed on 8 September, was obtained by The Daily Beast, which said she made allegations against a series of inter-related companies, such as Aylo (formerly known as MindGeek, the parent company of sites like PornHub), and Ethical Capital Partners, a private equity firm that acquired Aylo back in March. She is suing Aylo and Ethical Capital Partners for aiding and abetting sex trafficking, profiting from sex trafficking and advertising a victim of sex trafficking. Ms Althaus is setting her claims against Michael Pratt, the owner of Girls Do Porn, a shut-down company, who was arrested back in December 2022 for allegedly coercing hundreds of women into making sex tapes and then distributing them without their consent, the Daily Beast reports. Girls Do Porn was set up in 2006 by Mr Pratt, from New Zealand, which specialised in producing pornography of only younger women between 18 and 22. Ms Althaus, from Colorado, wanted to have a professional modelling career. She posed for companies such as Kohl’s and Champion, as well as competing and being runner-up in the Miss Teen Colorado pageant in 2012, reports Daily Beast. A year later, she left school at 18, wanting to focus on her modelling career. She saw an advertisement on Craigslist offering a paid modelling opportunity, with expenses paid such as flying her out to San Diego. "Rather than the mere headshots and clothing photoshoot (sic) that she had agreed to fly to San Diego to do, Pratt began demanding that Plaintiff film nude and sexually explicit videos. When Plaintiff refused, Pratt, now 41, and his conspirators immediately pressured her and plied her with booze and pills to soften her reluctance," the lawsuit states. The lawsuit stated she endured “protracted filming”, where Ms Althaus had to endure approximately nine hours of non-consensual sex, to the point she started to bleed. In one shoot, Mr Pratt was so infuriated with Ms Althaus and her pleas to stop that he broke a hotel lamp and got out his gun, according to the lawsuit. Ms Althaus describes in the lawsuit as being harassed over text by Mr Pratt, after she returned to college, to make more videos and threatened to make her original video public if she refused, as screenshots obtained by Fox News show. “You better be here by noon shoot 2tomorrow or your graveyard,” one text included in the lawsuit read. The lawsuit stated that in January 2014 a text from an anonymous number came up on Ms Althaus’ phone while she was sitting in class, it said: “Told you b****.” Ms Atlhuas then saw that all her videos became live on Twitter, PornHub and other pornography websites, Daily Beast reports. In the lawsuit, she said that she started to suffer “severe distress and anxiety;” she found it hard to keep strong relationships, people would recognise her on the street and students at her college would harass her. She goes on to say that she would lose jobs once her employers discovered she had appeared in a pornography video. She claimed she tried to report how she was sex trafficked and raped to MindGeek, where the video was being distributed, but said she was ignored due to their focus on making “millions of dollars” off the content, the lawsuit reads. Although she changed her name, and the video is now ten years old, she is still harassed due to what happened in her past, Ms Althaus said in the lawsuit. “Unidentified men continue to approach Plaintiff’s home at all hours of the day and night,” her lawsuit reads, “As recently as May-June 2023, Plaintiff was assaulted at her home by a self-described PornHub subscriber who confronted her about the recent removal of the subject videos from Defendants’ websites.” Mr Pratt was included on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2022 for three months until he was captured in Spain. Pratt was charged in a 19-count indictment with sex trafficking, production of child pornography, sex trafficking of a minor, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments in connection with the operation of the GirlsDoPorn adult website, according to the FBI. He was on the run for years, fleeing in 2019 after 22 women filed a lawsuit in 2017 claiming he and his co-conspirators for conning the women into making pornography videos and then lying about distributing the footage. He said the videos would only be sold to private collectors solely on DVDs and small video stores not located in the US, but the videos ended up on famous pornography websites, sometimes putting their names in the title. Ms Althaus’ lawsuit also names GirlsDoPorn co-conspirators, Michael Isaac Wolfe and Andre Garcia. Garcia is currently serving a 20-year sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of sex trafficking in November 2020, according to the United States Attorney’s Office. Wolfe was sentenced in October 2022 for admitting to coercing prospective models into filming videos for Girls Do Porn, then lying to them saying the videos would not be distributed in the United States, says the Attorney’s Office. According to the Daily Beast, Ms Althaus is now another woman coming forward to relay the alleged abhorrent crimes committed against her. She claims she was deceived into filming nonconsensual sex scenes by Mr Pratt, saying she was raped, drugged, physically abused and blackmailed by both Pratt and his associates. The lawsuit that was brought forward by the 22 women in 2017 included similar harrowing stories, such as being “assaulted”. This previous lawsuit resulted in Girls Do Porn being ordered to pay $12.8m in damages as well as ownership rights to the videos they featured in. Between October and November 2019, six people were charged on counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, with a further two people charged in December with obstruction of sex trafficking enforcement. MindGeek, now Aylo, was also under fire in 2021 when 40 women sued the company for knowingly profiting from Girls Do Porn content. The judge ordered a “discovery into its corporate structure, finances, operations, and ownership to determine which entities and persons should remain in the case,” says law firm Brown Rudnick LLP. In a statement to The Daily Beast, Aylo declined to comment on the lawsuit but said they looked forward to “the facts being fully and fairly aired” in court. “The safety of our community is our number one priority, so we are proud to have instituted Trust and Safety policies that surpass those of any other major user-generated platform on the internet,” Aylo said in a statement. “Our compliance program has helped us set the standard for the tech industry, and we are committed to remaining at the forefront of this important area.” The Independent has contacted both Aylo and Ethical Capital Partners for comment. We have also asked if they have filed a position statement or defences, as it is not clear at this time. Read More Reddit users post pornography and switch forums to ‘NSFW’ in latest protest against site’s management We’re not being taught enough about sex ed and porn in class, say children Rise of the post-truth sex tape: Deepfake pornography is making women’s online lives even more frightening

President Paul Kagame, who has been in office since 2000, has faced criticism from rights groups.

Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on a string of financial fraud charges – admitting that he stole millions of dollars from law firm clients. In Monday’s agreement, he will plead guilty to 22 federal charges including wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. He will appear in court on Thursday to enter his plea – marking the first time he has ever pleaded guilty to a crime. This comes as the new series of Netflix’s “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal” was released on Wednesday, revealing Curtis Eddie Smith – Murdaugh’s alleged co-conspirator in the bizarre hitman plot – making a bombshell claim. When he asked Murdaugh why he wanted him to fatally shoot him, Mr Smith claims he told him: “Because they’re going to be able to prove that I’m responsible for Maggie and Paul.” The show also hears from Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill – who is now at the centre of jury tampering accusations brought by Murdaugh’s attorneys in their bid for a new murder trial. A random Georgia man’s now-deleted Facebook rant about his wife’s aunt is at the centre of the bid. Read More Alex Murdaugh’s request for a new trial complicated by angry husband’s Facebook rant Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to committing crime for first time

The actress and singer became the most-followed woman on Instagram earlier this year.

Lina Mukherjee, who identifies as Muslim, said an Islamic phrase before eating crispy pork skin.

Israeli forces killed five men during raids in Jenin and Jericho, while one died at a protest in Gaza.