News From Around the Web
#10 Study Finds Heavy Metals in Many Dark Chocolate Products in the US - Michael Sainato for The Guardian, and 9News Australia, and Targeted International on X
A new study has found numerous dark chocolate products are contaminated with lead and cadmium, two highly toxic metals. The study by researchers at George Washington University was published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Nutrition. More than 70 dark chocolate products sold at stores such as Amazon, GNC, and Whole Foods were purchased to test for toxic metal contamination, though the names of the products or manufacturers were not disclosed in the study. The samplings were conducted over a period of eight years from 2014 to 2022...
#9 Olympic Officials Address Gender Eligibility as Boxers Prepare to Fight - John Peters for USA Today, and Kayla Norris/Collin Rugg on X
The case of two Olympic boxers has drawn attention to a thorny issue: Who and what determines which female athletes can compete. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan both were disqualified from the 2023 women’s boxing world championships when they reportedly failed gender eligibility tests. But this week, the International Olympic Committee confirmed the two boxers have been cleared to compete here at the Paris Games, as they both did at the Tokyo Games in 2021. The issues of so-called gender verification or sex testing have fueled discussion at the Olympics as the fighters prepare to enter the ring at North Paris Arena...
#8 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Accused as the Main Plotter of 9/11 Attacks, Agrees to Plead Guilty - AP News, and Dan Hollaway, and Rep Mary Miller on X
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the mastermind of al-Qaida’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has agreed to plead guilty, the Defense Department said Wednesday. The development points to a long-delayed resolution in an attack that killed thousands and altered the course of the United States and much of the Middle East. Mohammed and two accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, are expected to enter the pleas at the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as soon as next week. Defense lawyers have requested the men receive life sentences in exchange for the guilty pleas, according to letters from the federal government received by relatives of some of the nearly 3,000 people killed outright on the morning of Sept. 11...
#7 Rudy Giuliani Agrees to Last-Minute Deal to End Bankruptcy Case, Paying Out $400K - Kelly Rissman for Independent, and KMOX St. Louis News on X
Cash-strapped Rudy Giuliani has reached an agreement with his bankruptcy creditors on the conditions of his case dismissal, which requires the former New York City mayor to pay $400,000 in administrative expenses. The deal was announced on Wednesday after Judge Sean Lane threw out the bankruptcy case earlier this month. But the disgraced ex-mayor is still on the hook to pay two defamed election workers, whom he owes $148m. He is also required to pay administrative fees for the case, which the former Trump lawyer had refused to pay despite it being a legal requirement for dismissal. The agreement, which still has to be signed off by the judge, proposes that Giuliani transfers $100,000 to his lawyers “to be held in escrow for the purpose of paying allowed professional fees and expenses” one day after the order is entered...
#6 Speculation Rises Over Russia Prison Swap Including Paul Whelan - Nick Robertson for The Hill, and Mario Nawfal on X
Online trackers watching prisoner movements in Russia have sounded the alarm over a possible prisoner swap with the West, with the whereabouts of multiple high-profile prisoners unknown, including those of American prisoner Paul Whelan. At least seven notable Russian dissidents have been moved unexpectedly in recent days in addition to Whelan and Russian-British prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza, Reuters reported. The exact location of Whelan and Kara-Murza are unknown, their attorneys told the wire service...
#5 Trump Attended the National Association of Black Journalists Conference and Hoo Boy - Matt Vespa for Townhall, and Being Libertarian, Armstrong Williams, and Mark Weyermuller on X
Former President Donald Trump returned to his vintage, hilarious persona, attending the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago, which triggered members of this organization. Karen Attiah, an editor and columnist for The Washington Post and co-chair of the NABJ convention, resigned in protest. It got off to a rocky start, but the question was ridiculous, one of many hurled at the former president by ABC News’ Rachel Scott.
#4 Texas Rancher Sues Biden-Harris DHS for ‘Massive Flood’ of Illegals to U.S. - John Binder for Breitbart, and Matt Stringer on X
A Texas rancher, along with Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, is suing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for record-breaking levels of illegal immigration on its watch. The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has filed suit on behalf of Michael Vickers, a veterinarian who owns a 1,000-acre ranch in Brooks County, as well as Coe, Atascosa County, and Kinney County that seeks to have a federal judge halt most of the Biden-Harris administration’s policies at the United States-Mexico border...
#3 Who Funds The US Presidential Campaigns? - Tyler Durden Zero Hedge, and X
Campaign financing, whether for supporting or opposing a candidate running for public office, can be costly, even more so when the stakes are who will become the next President of the United States. Data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) collected and analyzed by the nonpartisan research group OpenSecrets shows that for this election cycle, President Joe Biden, potential Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, and former President Donald Trump have collected roughly $781 million from a variety of partisan interest groups up until June 30, 2024. Not included: the reported $100 million in funds the Harris campaign raised in just over a day after Biden dropped out of the race. While there are bipartisan groups that support more than just one candidate, the chart below, vis Statista's Florian Zandt, shows only contributions made by organizations or individuals directly supporting either Harris's or Trump's election bid. At first glance, it is already apparent that the Trump campaign relies on the funds of so-called super PACs. The prefix super stems from the fact that donations to these committees are not as tightly regulated and can exceed the donor limit of $5,000 per year...
#2 Democratic Candidate Arrested on Multiple Felony Voter Fraud Charges - Jared Harris for Western Journal, and Libs of TikTok on X
A Democratic Party candidate is being charged with a bevy of felony counts, all related to alleged voter fraud. Terry Andrew Heflin, the 45-year-old candidate for a commission seat in Clay County, Alabama, was arrested Tuesday on seven counts of unlawful use of absentee ballots, according to a news release from the Alabama Attorney General’s office. Each unlawful use of the ballots comes with a punishment ranging from one to 10 years in prison. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the arrest the day after Heflin turned himself into authorities...
#1 FBI Headquarters Selection Process Was ‘Tainted by Scandal,’ Congress Says- Ashley Oliver for Washington Examiner and House Judiciary GOP and Rep. Jim Jordan on X
House lawmakers criticized the agency responsible for selecting the FBI’s multibillion-dollar headquarters site on Wednesday, unveiling findings from their monthslong investigation into the matter and threatening to withhold funding unless corrective action was taken. The House Judiciary and Oversight Committees released a report on the General Services Administration’s process of choosing Greenbelt, Maryland, as the site of the next FBI headquarters. After reviewing thousands of pages of documents and interviewing two key figures involved in choosing Greenbelt, the committees determined that the selection process was “tainted by scandal.”
And Now for Something Special 
Ind. Officer Saves Dog Twice, Adopting Pup After Rescuing Her From a Potential Hot Car Death - Marina Watts for People and Croxxed Out on X
This dog was rescued by this public safety officer — twice! Officer S. Poe, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Public Safety Officer, rescued a German Shepherd from a hot car in June. Days after the rescue, he looked into adopting her and was ultimately able to give her a new home with him. In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Office Poe said meeting the dog, named Abby, caught him off guard. "I definitely didn’t show up to work that day expecting to adopt a dog," he explained. "I met her on that run, and it’s like we both just knew." "I immediately started to ask about adopting her, and a little over a week later I took her home. We definitely rescued each other," he added. Poe previously told local news outlet KWCH that when he "switched her collar, it was like Abby knew she was home for good."
