A major international study of cannabis use found that while the drug can be effective for certain illnesses, it should be avoided by young people, pregnant women, and drivers.
Dozens of experts conducted an umbrella review of over 100 top-level meta-analyses research studies carried out over the past two decades.
“Convincing or converging evidence supports avoidance of cannabis during adolescence and early adulthood, in people prone to or with mental health disorders, in pregnancy and before and while driving,” they wrote.
The review was published last week in The British Medical Journal. It looked at previous studies of the effects of various combinations of cannabis, cannabis-based medicines, and cannabinoids that were published from 2002 to 2022.
Authors found “harmful effects were noted” for pregnancies and in relation to car crashes with outcomes in the general population including “psychotic symptoms, suicide attempt, depression, and mania, and impaired cognition in healthy cannabis users.”
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However, they noted that the evidence was “suggestive to highly suggestive,” apparently indicating there was not enough statistical data to report conclusive results.
They advised that “cannabis use should be avoided in adolescents and young adults (when neurodevelopment is still occurring), when most mental health disorders have onset and cognition is paramount for optimizing academic performance and learning, as well as in pregnant women and drivers.”
On the other hand, “cannabis based medicines are effective in people with multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, inflammatory bowel disease, and in palliative medicine but not without adverse events,” they said.
Researchers found cannabis to be effective in reducing seizures among those suffering from epilepsy, but came with the risk of increased diarrhea.
For those with chronic pain due to various conditions, cannabis-based medicines or cannabinoids reduced pain by 30 percent “but increased psychological distress,” researchers said. Cannabis-based products were also found to help improve the sleep of cancer patients.
Recreational use of marijuana is illegal in Israel, though the government partially decriminalized it in 2017, setting fines and treatment for initial offenders instead of criminal procedures.
Medical use of the drug for certain chronic illnesses for holders of Health Ministry-granted licenses has been permitted since the early 1990s.
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If the mass killings in the US have something to do with the Prigozhin’s “private Spetsnaz”, they were paid for, and paid well. Prigozhin is declared dead, and his billions are redistributed. It is likely that this line of financing will dry up. However, as Reuters reports, the news of Prigozhin’s demise might be somewhat exaggerated.
The News And Times Information Network – Blogs By Michael Novakhov – thenewsandtimes.blogspot.com
If the mass killings in the US have something to do with the Prigozhin’s “private Spetsnaz”, they were paid for, and paid well. Prigozhin is declared dead, and his billions are redistributed. It is likely that this line of financing will dry up. However, as Reuters reports, the news of Prigozhin’s demise might be somewhat exaggerated.
In October 1943, after the Nazis began a brutal occupation of their former ally, German troops hanged six Italian civilians on a hillside in southern Italy as collective punishment for the killing of a soldier, who had been foraging for food.
Eighty years later, some of the relatives of the men put to death in Fornelli are finally set to receive a share of 12 million euros ($13 million) awarded by an Italian court as compensation for their families’ trauma.
“We still mark the event every year. It hasn’t been forgotten,” said Mauro Petrarca, the great-grandson of one of those killed, Domenico Lancellotta, a 52-year-old Roman Catholic father of five daughters and a son.
All but one of the family members alive at the time of the killings are now dead, but under Italian law, damages owed to them can still be passed on to their heirs. This means Petrarca is set to receive around 130,000 euros ($142,000) under the terms of a 2020 court ruling.
In an ironic twist, it will be Italy rather than Germany that pays up, after it lost a battle in the International Court of Justice over whether Berlin could still be liable for damages tied to World War Two crimes and atrocities.
Jewish organizations in Italy believe Berlin should be paying to acknowledge their historical responsibility. But victims’ groups also fear Rome is dragging its feet in dealing with a deluge of claims that could weigh on state accounts.
“This is a very tormented issue, both from a political and a legal perspective,” said Giulio Disegni, the vice president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI), which has been following the issue on behalf of Jewish victims of Nazi horrors.
A study funded by the German government and published in 2016 estimated that 22,000 Italians were victims of Nazi war crimes, including up to 8,000 Jews deported to death camps. Thousands more Italians were forced to work as enslaved laborers in Germany, making them eligible for reparations.
The first people likely to benefit from the new government fund set up to deal with claims are descendants of the six Catholic Fornelli men, who were hanged as German soldiers played music on a gramophone stolen from a nearby house.
Their killing came a month after Italy had signed an armistice with the Allied forces, ending its participation in World War Two and abandoning the Nazis, who immediately started their occupation of the country.
‘Cupboard of shame’
In 1962, Germany signed a deal with Italy whereby it paid Rome 40 million Deutsche mark, worth just over 1 billion euros in today’s money, which the two nations agreed covered damages inflicted by Nazi forces on the Italian state and its citizens.
Italy gave pensions to those who had been politically or racially persecuted during the conflict, and to their surviving relatives. However, it did not offer reparations for war crimes.
“They didn’t look at war crimes and this was a mistake. Maybe at the time they thought everyone had committed war crimes, not just Germany, and didn’t want to go down that path,” said Lucio Olivieri, the lawyer who led the Fornelli litigation.
In 1994, a cupboard was found in the offices of Rome’s military prosecutors packed with files documenting hundreds of war crimes that had never been prosecuted.
Spurred on by the so-called “Cupboard of Shame”, Italy looked to bring Nazis to trial for their role in multiple massacres, while courts started to award victims reparations.
Germany refused to pay, arguing the 1962 accord prevented further claims. In 2012, the International Court of Justice backed Berlin, but Italian courts continued to hear compensation cases, saying no limit could be imposed on war crimes.
‘Question of pride’
The Fornelli suit, which opened in 2015, was levelled against both Germany and Italy, which tried, but failed, to shut down proceedings.
“I found it amazing that Italy took the side of Germany in the case against us. It was like they were (wartime) allies again,” said Petrarca, who is a workman in Fornelli.
With ever more cases hitting the courts, the then-prime minister Mario Draghi created a fund in April 2022 to cover the growing compensation costs, hoping to close a dark chapter in Italy’s history.
A deadline for presenting new legal claims expired on June 28 and the Italian Treasury, which is handling payouts, told Reuters that it had so far received notification of 1,228 legal suits, but said others might not yet have been forwarded to it.
Each suit is likely to involve multiple plaintiffs, meaning the 61 million euros earmarked for the reparations might not be nearly enough to cover all the expected payouts, lawyers say.
The fund has already been topped up from an original 55 million, but the Treasury said it was too soon to say if this would be sufficient.
The government also has given itself the right to review any court verdict before deciding whether to pay out – adding an additional bureaucratic hurdle to claimants, although the government denies creating obstacles for families.
“It is a mockery,” UCEI vice president Disegni said.
For Fornelli, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Under the terms of a government decree issued in July, the first disbursement should be made to locals by January, even though the town insists their case was about much more than cash.
“This wasn’t about the money. It was about seeking justice for a war crime, a question of pride,” said Fornelli mayor Giovanni Tedeschi.
The warlord insisted that “Everything is fine” in a video filmed in Africa during “the second half of August.”
Recall that Prigozhin was said to be among the passengers who died in a plane crash in the Tver region near Moscow last Thursday
Russian Wagner mercenary group chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said that reports of his death are false.
Prigozhin, who resurfaced on Thursday, dismissed the “reports of his elimination” in a new video.
The mercenary group boss said he is fine, hale and hearty, Sky News reports
The warlord insisted that “Everything is fine” in a video filmed in Africa during “the second half of August.”
Recall that Prigozhin was said to be among the passengers who died in a plane crash in the Tver region near Moscow last Thursday.
The president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, had said Prigozhin made serious mistakes.
Washington had accused Putin of masterminding the assassination of Prigozhin for staging a coup, which was later called off, against his government.
There are unverified reports that claimed that the private jet carrying him was shot down by Russian military forces.
Wagner’s burial was later held in Porokhovskoye Kladbishche, St Petersburg on Tuesday.
However, In the short video, posted on Wagner’s Grey Zone Telegram channel, Wagner said, “For those talking about whether I’m alive or not, how I’m doing, now it’s the weekend, the second half of August 2023, I’m in Africa.
“For those who like to discuss my elimination, private life, income or other things – basically I’m fine.”
Pavel Prigozhin will try to keep his father’s “assets” in working order – he has already held negotiations with an employee who, at Yevgeny Prigozhin, was responsible for the work of the Troll Factory, a number of websites and telegram channels. Director of Transparency International Russia Ilya Shumanov is on the air, we are talking about all of Prigozhin’s businesses and who will get his billions.
Under the cover of darkness, soldiers reinforce trenches and carry ammunition boxes near Bakhmut.
Air strike on high rise building kills two
A Russian air strike on a high rise residential building has killed a married couple, according to the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office.
Ukraine has opened a war crimes investigation into the attack on Vuhledar, which left the couple’s 19-year-old daughter and another resident, 53, injured.
Explosions destroyed the entrance to the building, and damaged windows and balconies.
Russia’s new ‘Satan II’ missile operational – reports
Russia has placed an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile on combat duty, according to Russian news agencies.
The Sarmat – nicknamed Satan II – is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and will make Russia’s enemies “think twice”, Vladimir Putin has previously said.
It replaces the R-36, known by the NATO reporting name Satan, and reportedly has a short initial launch phase that allows little time for surveillance systems to track it.
Around two months after invading Ukraine, Mr Putin said the Sarmat would “reliably ensure the security of Russia from external threats and make those who, in the heat of aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country, think twice”.
Soldiers fire weapons and mortars near Bakhmut
Ukrainian soldiers fire weapons and mortars near Bakhmut, while others take rest in makeshift beds.
Earlier this week, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said Kyiv’s troops were advancing near the city – the only one Russia captured in its offensive earlier this year.
Heavy battles were engulfing villages south of it, she said.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, reported a “positive dynamic” near Bakhmut
Surge in Russian demand for kamikaze drone insurance – reports
A surge in demand for kamikaze drone insurance has been reported among Russian citizens and businesses.
Some insurers have been selling terrorism packages while others have agreed to pay out for “falling flying objects”, accorded to Izvestia.
Inquiries have risen most in western Russia, where it borders Ukraine, and in Moscow, the Russian newspaper said.
One company, RESO-Garantiya, charges between 500 and 5,000 roubles (£4 to £41) for collision coverage, its deputy director general told the news outlet.
Over at insurer AlfaStrakhovanie, terrorism is not excluded, its property director Denis Titov said.
Ukrainian drone attacks in Belgorod, Kursk, Moscow and other regions have become more frequent in recent months.
Ukraine ‘attacks’ two regions of Russian
Deadly strikes have hit the Belgorod and Kursk regions of Russia, according to their governors.
Artillery killed one civilian and wounded two more, said Belgorod’s Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Ukrainian drones hit the Valuysky district, damaging one home, he said.
A woman was wounded during shelling of a village in neighboring Kursk, said governor Roman Starovoit.
He blamed Ukraine, which did not say whether they launched the attacks.
Sky News cannot independently verify these battlefield reports.
At least two civilians killed and 12 wounded in shelling
Missiles and artillery continued to wound and kill civilians across Ukraine today.
Sumy: A 32-year-old police investigator was killed and two other people were wounded when Russian shells hit the town of Seredyna-Buda.
Kherson: One person was killed and two were wounded in the south of region by shelling, according to governor Oleh Prokudin.
Donetsk: Four people were wounded in the occupied city by Ukrainian artillery, said Moscow-installed mayor Aleksei Kulemzin.
Dnipropetrovsk: Four people were wounded during artillery shelling and drone attacks in the Nikopol district, governor Serhii Lysak said.
Sky News cannot independently verify these battlefield reports.
Pupils return to school in Ukraine – underground
Under the fire of Russian bombs, one city in Ukraine has come up with a novel solution for sending pupils back to school on Monday – teaching them underground.
Approximately 1,000 students in Kharkiv will spend their lessons in a converted metro beneath the city.
“This is the first step, and when parents see the conditions created here, I am sure the number of applicants will grow,” sayid mayor Ihor Terekhov.
“No other city in the world has experience in things like this – Kharkiv is the first” said mayor Ihor Terekhov.
Russia ‘nervous of Ukrainian breakthrough’ as it redeploys troops to ‘fragile’ front
A “nervous” Russia has likely been sending its northern offensive forces to help defend the southern front from a potential Ukrainian breakthrough, a military analyst has said.
The Russian frontline is looking “increasingly fragile” as Ukraine makes “slow progress” through the village of Robotyne, south of Zaporizhzhia, Sean Bell told Sky News.
Ukraine’s progress comes despite “significant layers” of Russian defences in the region, and there is evidence Russia has responded by removing soldiers from its offensive operation in the city of Kupiansk to bolster its forces in the south, he said.
“That would imply that they are very nervous about the breakthrough that might be happening there,” said Bell.
“While we are not seeing a breakthrough as yet, there is mounting evidence that Ukrainian pressure is building on an increasingly fragile Russian frontline.”
Ukraine claimed it had taken Robotyne on Monday, and it is throught Kyiv wants to push south from the village to the Sea of Azov and split the Russian army in two.
Compounding Russia’s problems is an apparent shortage of counterbattery radar systems, Bell said.
He explained the radars allow Moscow’s troops to locate Ukrainian artillery cannons when they fire, but without them Russian forces “are facing an absolute deluge of Ukrainian artillery rounds which is causing them a great deal of difficulty on the frontline”.
Nobel’s Russia snub ‘restores justice’ at prize ceremony, says Ukraine
Ukraine has called the Nobel Foundation’s decision to bar Russia and Belarus from its Stockholm prize ceremony a restoration of justice.
If you’re just joining us, the foundation has cancelled an invitation to the two nations, and Iran, after widespread criticism.
“Thank you to everyone who demanded that justice be restored,” said Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko.
“We are convinced that a similar decision should be made regarding the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors in Oslo,” referring to celebrations that take place in Norway after the ceremony in Sweden.
The Swedish prime minister echoed Mr Nikolenko’s comments and welcomed the decision.
“The many and strong reactions show that the whole of Sweden unambiguously stand on Ukraine’s side against Russia’s appalling war of aggression.”
The leaders of several Swedish political parties threatened to boycott the prize ceremonies when the foundation initially invited Russia and Belarus on Thursday.
“It looks easy,” Oliver Hernandez said about being a sidewalk vendor. “But it’s not.” His day begins at 5 a.m.; he returns to his apartment in Ridgewood, Queens, at 9 p.m.
Immigrant street vendors have been setting up shop on Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park for decades. A pecking order loosely allocates the spaces, but the setup is not worry free.
“It looks easy,” Oliver Hernandez said about being a sidewalk vendor. “But it’s not.” His day begins at 5 a.m.; he returns to his apartment in Ridgewood, Queens, at 9 p.m.Credit…
On a recent Sunday, Oliver Hernandez jumped out of the van driven by his partner. It was 6 a.m. The mom-and-pop shops along Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, were shuttered.
A few folding tables were chained to street signs. A chair was tucked behind a gate.
“I am the first one,” Mr. Hernandez, 41, said. “Most vendors come at 8.”
From the back of the van, he started pulling out buckets of flowers, then his backpack, a chair, a table, a canopy and pots of palm trees.
In 15 minutes, he had set up a garden by the traffic light on the corner. He put the less expensive flowers — carnations and baby’s breath — on the left. Lilies and roses on the right. Then he secured the canopy, tying it to the traffic light with a string.
Image
Mr. Hernandez, who immigrated from Mexico in 2013, is a third- generation flower seller.
For decades, some people — like Mr. Hernandez — have taken a chance, and set up stands along Sunset Park’s Fifth Avenue, a vibrant commercial strip of taquerias, sneaker stores, bakeries, dress shops and fruit markets. The neighborhood has a large Latin American and Asian population.
Like 19th century homesteaders, vendors find a free spot — and make it their own. Geography is important: “A corner is a good spot,” Mr. Hernandez said. “People stop for the light.” He has occupied his corner most weekends for four years.
Once claimed, a spot needs to be occupied: Newcomers worry that if they miss a weekend, they will be pushed out.
At the turn of the 20th century, an immigrant selling lemon ices on the street could dream of opening a candy store or ice cream parlor. Many immigrants made that leap, opening small stores by cobbling together money from family and friends.
But most vendors on Fifth Avenue are not dreaming about a shop: Brick and mortar stores are struggling. And the vendors are trying to stay afloat.
At daybreak, the sidewalks are empty. By noon they are bustling with vendors.
These stands are assembled each morning during the week and on weekends. They are as simple as a blanket on the sidewalk covered with rows of bracelets. Or a shopping cart topped by a plank that holds cameras.
They can be elaborate: A woman strings cords around her truck, then hangs children’s party dresses from it.
Isai Gonzalez, 28, erects an 8- by 12-foot metal shed with a red canopy. It takes him 45 minutes. “I had a vision to make it like a house — with a roof,” he said. “I can have my business if it’s raining or cold.”
Isai Gonzalez saved $1,000 by selling masks online and decided to start a hat business.
These vendors arrive by subway, pushing shopping carts filled with wares. They walk from apartments, pulling wagons loaded with homemade food. People show up in vans, trucks and on mo-peds.
In summer, the line of vendors swells as people set up grills and sell sliced mangoes and horchata. Some children accompany their parents, sitting on crates.
By nightfall, all portable real estate is folded or taken apart, packed up — and carried away.
There are underlying tensions: Most vendors in Sunset Park do not have a permit — and a ticket can carry a fine of $1,000. Since the city capped the number of permits years ago, most of the city’s estimated 20,000 vendors operate without one.
In early April, the police and parks enforcement officers shut down the large Sunday market in Sunset Park called Plaza Tonatiuh. In late July, sanitation workers did a sweep through Corona Plaza, renowned for its lively food scene.
Vendors on Fifth Avenue can feel on edge: “We are always alert in case something happens,” said Eduardo Hernandez, 24, who sells tamales with his sister, Yoremi Hernandez, 22.
Some sellers are undocumented immigrants — and fear being deported.
And many vendors worry: Will I go home empty-handed?
Eduardo Hernandez and his sister, Yoremi, sell their mother’s tamales. They started last year with just a cooler.
Yet, it is a surprisingly stable scene: Some vendors have been there longer than the stores around them. They have raised children and bought houses. Sandy Yu, 47, a mother of four, has been repairing watches on Fifth Avenue for about 16 years.
A gregarious fruit seller, stationed near Ms. Yu, has been there 25 years; people remember buying fruit from him when they were children. A clothing vendor on the same block has been there 31 years.
Sometimes when a vendor steps away, another vendor will keep an eye out.
In recent years, Sunset Park has seen a good deal of change: The development of Industry City — an enormous multi-use complex — on its western edge has produced tensions over gentrification.
Yet, Ms. Yu, the watch repairer, and others describe a gradual economic downturn that started years ago.
“It’s been little by little,” Ms. Yu said, referring to her business drying up.
Ten years ago, on a Saturday, her customers stood in line. People wanted battery changes for their watches. “Now, there are days with no money,” she said.
Yet some young vendors have high hopes.
Mr. Gonzalez, who owns the metal shed, saved $1000 and decided to start a business. He did some thinking: “What do people need? Hats!”
“I’m excited to do promotion,” he said about his two-year-old business. He is on Instagram and is developing a website.
This summer has been slow. “I am only making $600 a week,” he said. But he is undeterred. Unlike many other vendors on street, Mr. Gonzalez wants the brick and mortar. “My ambition is to own a store.”
Ariel Huerta and his mother, Fabiola Gonzalez, are part of an entrepreneurial family. He likes being his own boss: “I don’t have to conform to expectations.”
“I’m the one who ends up pushing it,” Ariel Huerta, 22, said good-naturedly about the shopping cart loaded with 50 bottles of honey, two tables, and three chairs.
Most Sundays, Mr. Huerta, his mother, Fabiola Gonzalez, 53, and sister, Keren Huerta, 21, thread their way from their apartment in Bushwick to Fifth Avenue. It is about an hour and a half subway commute.
He is not complaining: On a good day selling honey, he makes about $400. On a bad day, $110 to $150. “It’s still substantial,” he said.
Honey is a family tradition: His grandfather kept bees on his property in Soto Y Gama, a village southeast of Mexico City. “He taught my mother and uncle because he needed help,” Mr. Huerta said. The family sold honey in the local marketplace.
His uncle, Florentino Gonzalez, 51, now lives in Albany and works full-time in a pizzeria. “The beekeeping thing is his side gig,” Mr. Huerta said. He keeps hives in Schenectady and sells honey through word of mouth.
“It was my mom’s idea to sell it here,” Mr. Huerta said. She knew a few vendors on Fifth Avenue.
“Sometimes, we argue,” Mr. Huerta said. “My mom likes setting things up one way. I do it another way.”
The honey comes from Mr. Huerta’s uncle’s hives in Schenectady.
His mother, who works as a housekeeper in Williamsburg, has her own table across the street from her children to try and catch more customers.
“Working with your mom, there’s always going to be disagreements,” he said. “But it’s not unpleasant.”
Recently, his uncle got a new idea — to brew and sell mead, which is made from fermented honey and water. “My mom’s up for that idea,” he said.
Mr. Huerta has his own plan: “I want to save up and buy a small house in Mexico.”
“I see how my uncle and relatives live,” he added, referring to their round-the-clock hours in New York. “Is that what awaits me? No thank you!”
“Take it home, try it,” Felix Vasquez can be heard telling people who are browsing. For years, he has relished his connection with customers.
A ramp on 53rd Street becomes a dollar store when Felix Vasquez, 60, shows up.
“Most vendors get six feet,” he said. “Here,” he pointed toward a long, unused ramp that runs alongside a Rite-Aid. “Unlimited!”
On a recent Sunday, children went from crate to crate, pulling out new and used Hess trucks, pop-up books and games, their parents trailing them. “Hess trucks can go for $100 online,” he said. “I don’t go past 10.”
A father came up, offering $5 for a truck. Mr. Vasquez took it. “I use discretion,” he said. “If they don’t have it, I change the price.”
“Thirty percent of my customers know me,” he added. “Seventy percent are new.” He started on that corner in 2014; he took a three-year break when he had cancer.
A ramp displays new and used toys.
“It’s fun,” Mr. Vasquez says, explaining why he keeps working his corner.
Another Sunday, his 81-year-old father-in-law helped him put out drills, leaf blowers and power cords. Within two minutes, half a dozen men were rooting in the bins.
“They’re mostly laborers, young guys,” said Mr. Vasquez, who lives on Staten Island and works as a super in Brooklyn. “They generally don’t have their own tools and can’t get ahead.”
Mr. Vasquez buys pallets — bins of closed-out merchandise — from stores for $200.
“If I buy one pallet, the other one is free,” he explained.
On his best days, he makes a profit of $200.
His four grown children don’t understand what draws him. They say, “You’re crazy staying there all day!”
Jaquelin Paola Herrera Chaclan, right, fled Guatemala about seven years ago and now sells crocheted flowers on the street.Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York Times
For months, Jaquelin Paola Herrera Chaclan felt torn.
She wanted to sell her colorful crocheted flowers on Fifth Avenue. “But I was afraid to be deported,” said Ms. Paola. About seven years ago, she fled Guatemala with her 3-year-old daughter.
She worried about not having a permit. “I was also afraid — what if I don’t sell anything?”
But last December, Ms. Paola her husband, Adolfo Tzoc, their daughter, and toddler son stepped out of a cab. They unloaded a table and baskets of her tall sunflowers.
“We go all together,” her husband, 34, had told her. He works in a lamp store in Manhattan. “If people say we need to leave, we’ll leave. But we’ll try.”
Since then, Ms. Paola, 31, has been vending most weekends, accompanied by her daughter, Alejandra, 11. Two flowers cost $15. There are tough days — but also times when she glimpses possibilities: A woman recently ordered a dozen vases — filled with her flowers — for a birthday party.
Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York Times
A young woman and her son admire Ms. Paola’s bracelets.
Ms. Paola is passionate about her flowers. At the stand, her hands rarely stop moving as she crochets red roses.
Alejandra is also devoted: “I want to help my mom,” she said. “I don’t want her to be alone.”
As a child, Ms. Paola helped her parents.
She comes from a long line of weavers. On weekends, her parents drove to a town three hours from their village in Guatemala. “They had a stand, same as on Fifth,” she said.
On a recent Sunday, the avenue was crowded: Three girls stood admiring Ms. Paola’s flowers. Both mother and daughter looked flushed, happy; they had sold five flowers and three bracelets. Her husband looked on, holding their son.
At 7 p.m., Ms. Paola and her husband lifted the heavy container packed with her wares. Their children hurrying after them, they practically flew down the street toward their car.
A version of this article appears in print on , Section RE, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Future Staked On the Sidewalk. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
WASHINGTON – A former member of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group who smashed a window at the U.S. Capitol in the building’s first breach of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison — and then defiantly declared as he walked out of the courtroom, “Trump won!”
The sentence for Dominic Pezzola, among the longest for Jan. 6 offenses, is the latest handed down after leaders of the group were convicted of spearheading an attack aimed at preventing the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election. The highest profile defendant in the monthslong trial, former top Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.
Pezzola, 46, took a police officer’s riot shield and used it to smash the window, allowing rioters to make the first breach into the Capitol, and he later filmed a “celebratory video” with a cigar inside the building, prosecutors said. He was a recent Proud Boys recruit, however, and a jury acquitted him of the most high-profile charge, seditious conspiracy, a rarely brought Civil War-era offense. He was convicted of other serious charges, and prosecutors had asked for 20 years in prison.
“He was an enthusiastic foot soldier,” prosecutor Erik Kenerson said.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly noted that Pezzola, of Rochester, New York, was a newcomer to the group who didn’t write the kind of increasingly violent online messages that his co-defendants did leading up to the Jan. 6 attack. Still, he was in some ways a “tip of the spear” in allowing rioters to get into the Capitol, said the judge, who decided to apply a terrorism enhancement to the sentence.
“The reality is you smashed that window in and let people begin to stream into the Capitol building and threaten the lives of our lawmakers,” the judge told Pezzola. “It’s not something that I ever dreamed I would have seen in our country.”
Defense attorneys had asked for five years for Pezzola, saying that he got “caught up in the craziness” that day.
Pezzola testified at trial that he originally grabbed the officer’s shield to protect himself from police riot control measures, and his lawyers argued that he broke only one pane of glass and that it was other rioters who smashed out the rest of the window.
He told the judge that he wished he’d never crossed into a restricted area on Jan. 6, and he apologized to the officer whose shield he took. “There is no place in my future for groups or politics whatsoever,” he said.
But later, as he left the courtroom, he raised a fist and said, “Trump won!”
A former organizer of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Thursday to 17 years in prison for spearheading an attack on the U.S. Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election.
Another Proud Boy, former chapter president Ethan Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, is also set to be sentenced Friday. Prosecutor are asking the judge to sentence him to 27 years.
Two of their co-defendants were sentenced Thursday to a couple of the longest prison terms handed down yet in the Jan. 6 attack. Joseph Biggs, an organizer from Ormond Beach, Florida, got 17 years, and Zachary Rehl, a leader of the Philadelphia chapter, got 15 years.
The Proud Boys’ trial laid bare far-right extremists’ embrace of lies by Trump, a Republican, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
More than 1,100 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 600 of them have been convicted and sentenced.
The longest Jan. 6-related prison sentence so far is 18 years for Stewart Rhodes, founder of another far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers. Six members of that anti-government group also were convicted of seditious conspiracy after a separate trial last year.
UKRAINIAN’S spy chief has claimed the “real” Vladimir Putin has not been seen in public for over a year, adding fire to rumours that the leader uses one or more doppelgangers in his place.
Major-General Kyrylo Budanov – who is in charge of drone strikes and undercover ops against Russia – said he’s unsure if the mad leader is still living.
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General Kyrylo Budanov has revealed he is unsure if Putin is still aliveCredit: Getty
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Many have wondered if the iron fist leader has resorted to body doublesCredit: East2West
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Variations of his jawline have also been noted by manyCredit: East2West
In an interview with Anzhelika Rudenko of Radio Svoboda, the spy chief said: “The one who everyone used to know, was last seen around June 26, 2022.”
Rudenko then asked: “So he is either not alive, or else he is in a really bad health state?”
Budanov replied: “Or he doesn’t want to appear. There might be so many different reasons.”
Putin glanced at his left wrist and looked baffled after realising his timepiece was not there.
But the warlord has always infamously worn his watches on his right wrist – leaving many questioning why he would be unsure of its place.
Later in the meeting, the Kremlin leader was seen taking off his watch – believed to be a £12,500 Russian-made Raketa – and fidgeting with it in his hands.
Budanov was asked by Rudenko: “Is this a real Putin?”
Budanov replied: “Let’s leave it to everyone to decide, so everyone leaves it to their own fantasy.”
The Radio Svoboda presenter mentioned she thought it was a body double posing for Putin, to which Budanov agreed.
When asked directly if Putin was alive or not, the intelligence chief coolly responded: “I don’t know what to answer you.”
Putin is known to be highly paranoid about his security, a fear which has only increased since he sent Russian forces into Ukraine.
Telegram channel General SVR has long claimed that a sickly Putin now permanently uses a doppelgangers and lookalike actors who have undergone plastic surgery for his public appearances.
Russia, whether or not taking any action in the South Caucasus, is moving away from this region. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, which was broadcast by the Public Television of Armenia on Saturday, September 2.
According to Pashinyan, Russian partners accuse Western countries of pushing the Armenian government “to take measures aimed at ousting Russia” from the region. “On the contrary, we see that Russia itself is leaving the region due to the steps that it takes or does not take. For what reasons is this happening? We don’t know. We can have our own observations on this matter, but I can’t assert,” Armenpress quoted him as saying .
Pashinyan noted that “there are processes” that lead to the idea that “one day we will just wake up and see that Russia is not here.”
The situation with the Lachin corridor
As an example of such processes, the Armenian prime minister cited the situation with the Lachin corridor, reproaching the Russian peacekeeping forces for failing to fulfill their obligations to ensure the security of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh .
Pashinyan recalled that, according to the agreements between Moscow, Yerevan and Baku, concluded after the end of hostilities in 2020, Russian peacekeepers in the unrecognized republic should control the Lachin corridor, but in fact this does not happen. “Why? There can be two reasons: either the Russian Federation cannot or does not want to maintain control over the Lachin corridor. Both, in our opinion, are problematic,” he said.
Armenia’s dependence on Russia
The head of the Armenian government also called the complete dependence of the republic on Russia in the field of security a strategic mistake.
“Armenia’s security architecture was 99.999 percent connected with Russia, including in the logic of acquiring weapons and ammunition. However, today, when Russia itself needs weapons, weapons and ammunition, in this situation it is clear that even if the Russian Federation wanted to, it could not ensure the security needs of Armenia … That is, this example should show us that in the field of security, depending on or being tied to only one place is in itself a strategic mistake,” Pashinyan said.
According to him, only after the fact, when Armenia “tasted the bitter fruits of this mistake,” Yerevan began to make attempts to diversify its security policy.
Dominic Pezzola was convicted of smashing a window at the US Capitol in the building’s first breach on January 6, 2021. He defiantly raised a fist and …
The warlord insisted that “Everything is fine” in a video filmed in Africa during “the second half of August.”
Recall that Prigozhin was said to be among the passengers who died in a plane crash in the Tver region near Moscow last Thursday
Russian Wagner mercenary group chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said that reports of his death are false.
Prigozhin, who resurfaced on Thursday, dismissed the “reports of his elimination” in a new video.
The mercenary group boss said he is fine, hale and hearty, Sky News reports
The warlord insisted that “Everything is fine” in a video filmed in Africa during “the second half of August.”
Recall that Prigozhin was said to be among the passengers who died in a plane crash in the Tver region near Moscow last Thursday.
The president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, had said Prigozhin made serious mistakes.
Washington had accused Putin of masterminding the assassination of Prigozhin for staging a coup, which was later called off, against his government.
There are unverified reports that claimed that the private jet carrying him was shot down by Russian military forces.
Wagner’s burial was later held in Porokhovskoye Kladbishche, St Petersburg on Tuesday.
However, In the short video, posted on Wagner’s Grey Zone Telegram channel, Wagner said, “For those talking about whether I’m alive or not, how I’m doing, now it’s the weekend, the second half of August 2023, I’m in Africa.
“For those who like to discuss my elimination, private life, income or other things – basically I’m fine.”
Pavel Prigozhin will try to keep his father’s “assets” in working order – he has already held negotiations with an employee who, at Yevgeny Prigozhin, was responsible for the work of the Troll Factory, a number of websites and telegram channels. Director of Transparency International Russia Ilya Shumanov is on the air, we are talking about all of Prigozhin’s businesses and who will get his billions.
Under the cover of darkness, soldiers reinforce trenches and carry ammunition boxes near Bakhmut.
Air strike on high rise building kills two
A Russian air strike on a high rise residential building has killed a married couple, according to the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office.
Ukraine has opened a war crimes investigation into the attack on Vuhledar, which left the couple’s 19-year-old daughter and another resident, 53, injured.
Explosions destroyed the entrance to the building, and damaged windows and balconies.
Russia’s new ‘Satan II’ missile operational – reports
Russia has placed an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile on combat duty, according to Russian news agencies.
The Sarmat – nicknamed Satan II – is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and will make Russia’s enemies “think twice”, Vladimir Putin has previously said.
It replaces the R-36, known by the NATO reporting name Satan, and reportedly has a short initial launch phase that allows little time for surveillance systems to track it.
Around two months after invading Ukraine, Mr Putin said the Sarmat would “reliably ensure the security of Russia from external threats and make those who, in the heat of aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country, think twice”.
Soldiers fire weapons and mortars near Bakhmut
Ukrainian soldiers fire weapons and mortars near Bakhmut, while others take rest in makeshift beds.
Earlier this week, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said Kyiv’s troops were advancing near the city – the only one Russia captured in its offensive earlier this year.
Heavy battles were engulfing villages south of it, she said.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, reported a “positive dynamic” near Bakhmut
Surge in Russian demand for kamikaze drone insurance – reports
A surge in demand for kamikaze drone insurance has been reported among Russian citizens and businesses.
Some insurers have been selling terrorism packages while others have agreed to pay out for “falling flying objects”, accorded to Izvestia.
Inquiries have risen most in western Russia, where it borders Ukraine, and in Moscow, the Russian newspaper said.
One company, RESO-Garantiya, charges between 500 and 5,000 roubles (£4 to £41) for collision coverage, its deputy director general told the news outlet.
Over at insurer AlfaStrakhovanie, terrorism is not excluded, its property director Denis Titov said.
Ukrainian drone attacks in Belgorod, Kursk, Moscow and other regions have become more frequent in recent months.
Ukraine ‘attacks’ two regions of Russian
Deadly strikes have hit the Belgorod and Kursk regions of Russia, according to their governors.
Artillery killed one civilian and wounded two more, said Belgorod’s Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Ukrainian drones hit the Valuysky district, damaging one home, he said.
A woman was wounded during shelling of a village in neighboring Kursk, said governor Roman Starovoit.
He blamed Ukraine, which did not say whether they launched the attacks.
Sky News cannot independently verify these battlefield reports.
At least two civilians killed and 12 wounded in shelling
Missiles and artillery continued to wound and kill civilians across Ukraine today.
Sumy: A 32-year-old police investigator was killed and two other people were wounded when Russian shells hit the town of Seredyna-Buda.
Kherson: One person was killed and two were wounded in the south of region by shelling, according to governor Oleh Prokudin.
Donetsk: Four people were wounded in the occupied city by Ukrainian artillery, said Moscow-installed mayor Aleksei Kulemzin.
Dnipropetrovsk: Four people were wounded during artillery shelling and drone attacks in the Nikopol district, governor Serhii Lysak said.
Sky News cannot independently verify these battlefield reports.
Pupils return to school in Ukraine – underground
Under the fire of Russian bombs, one city in Ukraine has come up with a novel solution for sending pupils back to school on Monday – teaching them underground.
Approximately 1,000 students in Kharkiv will spend their lessons in a converted metro beneath the city.
“This is the first step, and when parents see the conditions created here, I am sure the number of applicants will grow,” sayid mayor Ihor Terekhov.
“No other city in the world has experience in things like this – Kharkiv is the first” said mayor Ihor Terekhov.
Russia ‘nervous of Ukrainian breakthrough’ as it redeploys troops to ‘fragile’ front
A “nervous” Russia has likely been sending its northern offensive forces to help defend the southern front from a potential Ukrainian breakthrough, a military analyst has said.
The Russian frontline is looking “increasingly fragile” as Ukraine makes “slow progress” through the village of Robotyne, south of Zaporizhzhia, Sean Bell told Sky News.
Ukraine’s progress comes despite “significant layers” of Russian defences in the region, and there is evidence Russia has responded by removing soldiers from its offensive operation in the city of Kupiansk to bolster its forces in the south, he said.
“That would imply that they are very nervous about the breakthrough that might be happening there,” said Bell.
“While we are not seeing a breakthrough as yet, there is mounting evidence that Ukrainian pressure is building on an increasingly fragile Russian frontline.”
Ukraine claimed it had taken Robotyne on Monday, and it is throught Kyiv wants to push south from the village to the Sea of Azov and split the Russian army in two.
Compounding Russia’s problems is an apparent shortage of counterbattery radar systems, Bell said.
He explained the radars allow Moscow’s troops to locate Ukrainian artillery cannons when they fire, but without them Russian forces “are facing an absolute deluge of Ukrainian artillery rounds which is causing them a great deal of difficulty on the frontline”.
Nobel’s Russia snub ‘restores justice’ at prize ceremony, says Ukraine
Ukraine has called the Nobel Foundation’s decision to bar Russia and Belarus from its Stockholm prize ceremony a restoration of justice.
If you’re just joining us, the foundation has cancelled an invitation to the two nations, and Iran, after widespread criticism.
“Thank you to everyone who demanded that justice be restored,” said Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko.
“We are convinced that a similar decision should be made regarding the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors in Oslo,” referring to celebrations that take place in Norway after the ceremony in Sweden.
The Swedish prime minister echoed Mr Nikolenko’s comments and welcomed the decision.
“The many and strong reactions show that the whole of Sweden unambiguously stand on Ukraine’s side against Russia’s appalling war of aggression.”
The leaders of several Swedish political parties threatened to boycott the prize ceremonies when the foundation initially invited Russia and Belarus on Thursday.
“It looks easy,” Oliver Hernandez said about being a sidewalk vendor. “But it’s not.” His day begins at 5 a.m.; he returns to his apartment in Ridgewood, Queens, at 9 p.m.
Immigrant street vendors have been setting up shop on Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park for decades. A pecking order loosely allocates the spaces, but the setup is not worry free.
“It looks easy,” Oliver Hernandez said about being a sidewalk vendor. “But it’s not.” His day begins at 5 a.m.; he returns to his apartment in Ridgewood, Queens, at 9 p.m.Credit…
On a recent Sunday, Oliver Hernandez jumped out of the van driven by his partner. It was 6 a.m. The mom-and-pop shops along Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, were shuttered.
A few folding tables were chained to street signs. A chair was tucked behind a gate.
“I am the first one,” Mr. Hernandez, 41, said. “Most vendors come at 8.”
From the back of the van, he started pulling out buckets of flowers, then his backpack, a chair, a table, a canopy and pots of palm trees.
In 15 minutes, he had set up a garden by the traffic light on the corner. He put the less expensive flowers — carnations and baby’s breath — on the left. Lilies and roses on the right. Then he secured the canopy, tying it to the traffic light with a string.
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Mr. Hernandez, who immigrated from Mexico in 2013, is a third- generation flower seller.
For decades, some people — like Mr. Hernandez — have taken a chance, and set up stands along Sunset Park’s Fifth Avenue, a vibrant commercial strip of taquerias, sneaker stores, bakeries, dress shops and fruit markets. The neighborhood has a large Latin American and Asian population.
Like 19th century homesteaders, vendors find a free spot — and make it their own. Geography is important: “A corner is a good spot,” Mr. Hernandez said. “People stop for the light.” He has occupied his corner most weekends for four years.
Once claimed, a spot needs to be occupied: Newcomers worry that if they miss a weekend, they will be pushed out.
At the turn of the 20th century, an immigrant selling lemon ices on the street could dream of opening a candy store or ice cream parlor. Many immigrants made that leap, opening small stores by cobbling together money from family and friends.
But most vendors on Fifth Avenue are not dreaming about a shop: Brick and mortar stores are struggling. And the vendors are trying to stay afloat.
At daybreak, the sidewalks are empty. By noon they are bustling with vendors.
These stands are assembled each morning during the week and on weekends. They are as simple as a blanket on the sidewalk covered with rows of bracelets. Or a shopping cart topped by a plank that holds cameras.
They can be elaborate: A woman strings cords around her truck, then hangs children’s party dresses from it.
Isai Gonzalez, 28, erects an 8- by 12-foot metal shed with a red canopy. It takes him 45 minutes. “I had a vision to make it like a house — with a roof,” he said. “I can have my business if it’s raining or cold.”
Isai Gonzalez saved $1,000 by selling masks online and decided to start a hat business.
These vendors arrive by subway, pushing shopping carts filled with wares. They walk from apartments, pulling wagons loaded with homemade food. People show up in vans, trucks and on mo-peds.
In summer, the line of vendors swells as people set up grills and sell sliced mangoes and horchata. Some children accompany their parents, sitting on crates.
By nightfall, all portable real estate is folded or taken apart, packed up — and carried away.
There are underlying tensions: Most vendors in Sunset Park do not have a permit — and a ticket can carry a fine of $1,000. Since the city capped the number of permits years ago, most of the city’s estimated 20,000 vendors operate without one.
In early April, the police and parks enforcement officers shut down the large Sunday market in Sunset Park called Plaza Tonatiuh. In late July, sanitation workers did a sweep through Corona Plaza, renowned for its lively food scene.
Vendors on Fifth Avenue can feel on edge: “We are always alert in case something happens,” said Eduardo Hernandez, 24, who sells tamales with his sister, Yoremi Hernandez, 22.
Some sellers are undocumented immigrants — and fear being deported.
And many vendors worry: Will I go home empty-handed?
Eduardo Hernandez and his sister, Yoremi, sell their mother’s tamales. They started last year with just a cooler.
Yet, it is a surprisingly stable scene: Some vendors have been there longer than the stores around them. They have raised children and bought houses. Sandy Yu, 47, a mother of four, has been repairing watches on Fifth Avenue for about 16 years.
A gregarious fruit seller, stationed near Ms. Yu, has been there 25 years; people remember buying fruit from him when they were children. A clothing vendor on the same block has been there 31 years.
Sometimes when a vendor steps away, another vendor will keep an eye out.
In recent years, Sunset Park has seen a good deal of change: The development of Industry City — an enormous multi-use complex — on its western edge has produced tensions over gentrification.
Yet, Ms. Yu, the watch repairer, and others describe a gradual economic downturn that started years ago.
“It’s been little by little,” Ms. Yu said, referring to her business drying up.
Ten years ago, on a Saturday, her customers stood in line. People wanted battery changes for their watches. “Now, there are days with no money,” she said.
Yet some young vendors have high hopes.
Mr. Gonzalez, who owns the metal shed, saved $1000 and decided to start a business. He did some thinking: “What do people need? Hats!”
“I’m excited to do promotion,” he said about his two-year-old business. He is on Instagram and is developing a website.
This summer has been slow. “I am only making $600 a week,” he said. But he is undeterred. Unlike many other vendors on street, Mr. Gonzalez wants the brick and mortar. “My ambition is to own a store.”
Ariel Huerta and his mother, Fabiola Gonzalez, are part of an entrepreneurial family. He likes being his own boss: “I don’t have to conform to expectations.”
“I’m the one who ends up pushing it,” Ariel Huerta, 22, said good-naturedly about the shopping cart loaded with 50 bottles of honey, two tables, and three chairs.
Most Sundays, Mr. Huerta, his mother, Fabiola Gonzalez, 53, and sister, Keren Huerta, 21, thread their way from their apartment in Bushwick to Fifth Avenue. It is about an hour and a half subway commute.
He is not complaining: On a good day selling honey, he makes about $400. On a bad day, $110 to $150. “It’s still substantial,” he said.
Honey is a family tradition: His grandfather kept bees on his property in Soto Y Gama, a village southeast of Mexico City. “He taught my mother and uncle because he needed help,” Mr. Huerta said. The family sold honey in the local marketplace.
His uncle, Florentino Gonzalez, 51, now lives in Albany and works full-time in a pizzeria. “The beekeeping thing is his side gig,” Mr. Huerta said. He keeps hives in Schenectady and sells honey through word of mouth.
“It was my mom’s idea to sell it here,” Mr. Huerta said. She knew a few vendors on Fifth Avenue.
“Sometimes, we argue,” Mr. Huerta said. “My mom likes setting things up one way. I do it another way.”
The honey comes from Mr. Huerta’s uncle’s hives in Schenectady.
His mother, who works as a housekeeper in Williamsburg, has her own table across the street from her children to try and catch more customers.
“Working with your mom, there’s always going to be disagreements,” he said. “But it’s not unpleasant.”
Recently, his uncle got a new idea — to brew and sell mead, which is made from fermented honey and water. “My mom’s up for that idea,” he said.
Mr. Huerta has his own plan: “I want to save up and buy a small house in Mexico.”
“I see how my uncle and relatives live,” he added, referring to their round-the-clock hours in New York. “Is that what awaits me? No thank you!”
“Take it home, try it,” Felix Vasquez can be heard telling people who are browsing. For years, he has relished his connection with customers.
A ramp on 53rd Street becomes a dollar store when Felix Vasquez, 60, shows up.
“Most vendors get six feet,” he said. “Here,” he pointed toward a long, unused ramp that runs alongside a Rite-Aid. “Unlimited!”
On a recent Sunday, children went from crate to crate, pulling out new and used Hess trucks, pop-up books and games, their parents trailing them. “Hess trucks can go for $100 online,” he said. “I don’t go past 10.”
A father came up, offering $5 for a truck. Mr. Vasquez took it. “I use discretion,” he said. “If they don’t have it, I change the price.”
“Thirty percent of my customers know me,” he added. “Seventy percent are new.” He started on that corner in 2014; he took a three-year break when he had cancer.
A ramp displays new and used toys.
“It’s fun,” Mr. Vasquez says, explaining why he keeps working his corner.
Another Sunday, his 81-year-old father-in-law helped him put out drills, leaf blowers and power cords. Within two minutes, half a dozen men were rooting in the bins.
“They’re mostly laborers, young guys,” said Mr. Vasquez, who lives on Staten Island and works as a super in Brooklyn. “They generally don’t have their own tools and can’t get ahead.”
Mr. Vasquez buys pallets — bins of closed-out merchandise — from stores for $200.
“If I buy one pallet, the other one is free,” he explained.
On his best days, he makes a profit of $200.
His four grown children don’t understand what draws him. They say, “You’re crazy staying there all day!”
Jaquelin Paola Herrera Chaclan, right, fled Guatemala about seven years ago and now sells crocheted flowers on the street.Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York Times
For months, Jaquelin Paola Herrera Chaclan felt torn.
She wanted to sell her colorful crocheted flowers on Fifth Avenue. “But I was afraid to be deported,” said Ms. Paola. About seven years ago, she fled Guatemala with her 3-year-old daughter.
She worried about not having a permit. “I was also afraid — what if I don’t sell anything?”
But last December, Ms. Paola her husband, Adolfo Tzoc, their daughter, and toddler son stepped out of a cab. They unloaded a table and baskets of her tall sunflowers.
“We go all together,” her husband, 34, had told her. He works in a lamp store in Manhattan. “If people say we need to leave, we’ll leave. But we’ll try.”
Since then, Ms. Paola, 31, has been vending most weekends, accompanied by her daughter, Alejandra, 11. Two flowers cost $15. There are tough days — but also times when she glimpses possibilities: A woman recently ordered a dozen vases — filled with her flowers — for a birthday party.
Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York Times
A young woman and her son admire Ms. Paola’s bracelets.
Ms. Paola is passionate about her flowers. At the stand, her hands rarely stop moving as she crochets red roses.
Alejandra is also devoted: “I want to help my mom,” she said. “I don’t want her to be alone.”
As a child, Ms. Paola helped her parents.
She comes from a long line of weavers. On weekends, her parents drove to a town three hours from their village in Guatemala. “They had a stand, same as on Fifth,” she said.
On a recent Sunday, the avenue was crowded: Three girls stood admiring Ms. Paola’s flowers. Both mother and daughter looked flushed, happy; they had sold five flowers and three bracelets. Her husband looked on, holding their son.
At 7 p.m., Ms. Paola and her husband lifted the heavy container packed with her wares. Their children hurrying after them, they practically flew down the street toward their car.
A version of this article appears in print on , Section RE, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Future Staked On the Sidewalk. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
WASHINGTON – A former member of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group who smashed a window at the U.S. Capitol in the building’s first breach of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison — and then defiantly declared as he walked out of the courtroom, “Trump won!”
The sentence for Dominic Pezzola, among the longest for Jan. 6 offenses, is the latest handed down after leaders of the group were convicted of spearheading an attack aimed at preventing the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election. The highest profile defendant in the monthslong trial, former top Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.
Pezzola, 46, took a police officer’s riot shield and used it to smash the window, allowing rioters to make the first breach into the Capitol, and he later filmed a “celebratory video” with a cigar inside the building, prosecutors said. He was a recent Proud Boys recruit, however, and a jury acquitted him of the most high-profile charge, seditious conspiracy, a rarely brought Civil War-era offense. He was convicted of other serious charges, and prosecutors had asked for 20 years in prison.
“He was an enthusiastic foot soldier,” prosecutor Erik Kenerson said.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly noted that Pezzola, of Rochester, New York, was a newcomer to the group who didn’t write the kind of increasingly violent online messages that his co-defendants did leading up to the Jan. 6 attack. Still, he was in some ways a “tip of the spear” in allowing rioters to get into the Capitol, said the judge, who decided to apply a terrorism enhancement to the sentence.
“The reality is you smashed that window in and let people begin to stream into the Capitol building and threaten the lives of our lawmakers,” the judge told Pezzola. “It’s not something that I ever dreamed I would have seen in our country.”
Defense attorneys had asked for five years for Pezzola, saying that he got “caught up in the craziness” that day.
Pezzola testified at trial that he originally grabbed the officer’s shield to protect himself from police riot control measures, and his lawyers argued that he broke only one pane of glass and that it was other rioters who smashed out the rest of the window.
He told the judge that he wished he’d never crossed into a restricted area on Jan. 6, and he apologized to the officer whose shield he took. “There is no place in my future for groups or politics whatsoever,” he said.
But later, as he left the courtroom, he raised a fist and said, “Trump won!”
A former organizer of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Thursday to 17 years in prison for spearheading an attack on the U.S. Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election.
Another Proud Boy, former chapter president Ethan Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, is also set to be sentenced Friday. Prosecutor are asking the judge to sentence him to 27 years.
Two of their co-defendants were sentenced Thursday to a couple of the longest prison terms handed down yet in the Jan. 6 attack. Joseph Biggs, an organizer from Ormond Beach, Florida, got 17 years, and Zachary Rehl, a leader of the Philadelphia chapter, got 15 years.
The Proud Boys’ trial laid bare far-right extremists’ embrace of lies by Trump, a Republican, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
More than 1,100 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 600 of them have been convicted and sentenced.
The longest Jan. 6-related prison sentence so far is 18 years for Stewart Rhodes, founder of another far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers. Six members of that anti-government group also were convicted of seditious conspiracy after a separate trial last year.
UKRAINIAN’S spy chief has claimed the “real” Vladimir Putin has not been seen in public for over a year, adding fire to rumours that the leader uses one or more doppelgangers in his place.
Major-General Kyrylo Budanov – who is in charge of drone strikes and undercover ops against Russia – said he’s unsure if the mad leader is still living.
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General Kyrylo Budanov has revealed he is unsure if Putin is still aliveCredit: Getty
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Many have wondered if the iron fist leader has resorted to body doublesCredit: East2West
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Variations of his jawline have also been noted by manyCredit: East2West
In an interview with Anzhelika Rudenko of Radio Svoboda, the spy chief said: “The one who everyone used to know, was last seen around June 26, 2022.”
Rudenko then asked: “So he is either not alive, or else he is in a really bad health state?”
Budanov replied: “Or he doesn’t want to appear. There might be so many different reasons.”
Putin glanced at his left wrist and looked baffled after realising his timepiece was not there.
But the warlord has always infamously worn his watches on his right wrist – leaving many questioning why he would be unsure of its place.
Later in the meeting, the Kremlin leader was seen taking off his watch – believed to be a £12,500 Russian-made Raketa – and fidgeting with it in his hands.
Budanov was asked by Rudenko: “Is this a real Putin?”
Budanov replied: “Let’s leave it to everyone to decide, so everyone leaves it to their own fantasy.”
The Radio Svoboda presenter mentioned she thought it was a body double posing for Putin, to which Budanov agreed.
When asked directly if Putin was alive or not, the intelligence chief coolly responded: “I don’t know what to answer you.”
Putin is known to be highly paranoid about his security, a fear which has only increased since he sent Russian forces into Ukraine.
Telegram channel General SVR has long claimed that a sickly Putin now permanently uses a doppelgangers and lookalike actors who have undergone plastic surgery for his public appearances.
Russia, whether or not taking any action in the South Caucasus, is moving away from this region. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, which was broadcast by the Public Television of Armenia on Saturday, September 2.
According to Pashinyan, Russian partners accuse Western countries of pushing the Armenian government “to take measures aimed at ousting Russia” from the region. “On the contrary, we see that Russia itself is leaving the region due to the steps that it takes or does not take. For what reasons is this happening? We don’t know. We can have our own observations on this matter, but I can’t assert,” Armenpress quoted him as saying .
Pashinyan noted that “there are processes” that lead to the idea that “one day we will just wake up and see that Russia is not here.”
The situation with the Lachin corridor
As an example of such processes, the Armenian prime minister cited the situation with the Lachin corridor, reproaching the Russian peacekeeping forces for failing to fulfill their obligations to ensure the security of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh .
Pashinyan recalled that, according to the agreements between Moscow, Yerevan and Baku, concluded after the end of hostilities in 2020, Russian peacekeepers in the unrecognized republic should control the Lachin corridor, but in fact this does not happen. “Why? There can be two reasons: either the Russian Federation cannot or does not want to maintain control over the Lachin corridor. Both, in our opinion, are problematic,” he said.
Armenia’s dependence on Russia
The head of the Armenian government also called the complete dependence of the republic on Russia in the field of security a strategic mistake.
“Armenia’s security architecture was 99.999 percent connected with Russia, including in the logic of acquiring weapons and ammunition. However, today, when Russia itself needs weapons, weapons and ammunition, in this situation it is clear that even if the Russian Federation wanted to, it could not ensure the security needs of Armenia … That is, this example should show us that in the field of security, depending on or being tied to only one place is in itself a strategic mistake,” Pashinyan said.
According to him, only after the fact, when Armenia “tasted the bitter fruits of this mistake,” Yerevan began to make attempts to diversify its security policy.
Dominic Pezzola was convicted of smashing a window at the US Capitol in the building’s first breach on January 6, 2021. He defiantly raised a fist and …
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Who do the world’s most powerful CEOs turn to when they need advice? Dominique Turpin would be high on the list.
From 2010 until 2016, Turpin served as president of Switzerland’s International Institute for Management Development (IMD), whose MBA program regularly ranks among the world’s best. The French-born—“OK, nobody’s perfect,” he shrugs—consultant and management educator has worked with many of the world’s top companies, including Coca-Cola, Danone, Jardine Matheson, Nestlé, Novo Nordisk, Philips and Uponor.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]
In September 2022, Turpin accepted a new post as president of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), based in Shanghai. For Turpin, it’s a welcome return to a continent that has long fascinated him; he earned a doctorate in economics from Sophia University in Tokyo in 1986 and has written several books on Japanese business culture.
CEIBS was established in 1994 as a joint venture between the Chinese government and E.U. to foster business ties and understanding between Asia and Europe. Yet in recent years geopolitics and the pandemic have rendered that laudable mission statement even more challenging. TIME sat down with Turpin in Singapore to talk about his goals for the school, frictions between the East and West, the health of China’s economy, and the future of marketing.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
You’ve just returned from the U.S. where you met with the deans of Harvard, Wharton, and MIT among several other top schools. What were your aims and takeaways from that trip?
We used to have good connections with U.S. schools [before the pandemic]. Our students would have one module in Africa, one in Europe, and one in the U.S. So we want to rebuild that. But what was interesting [was] when I talked to some of these deans in the United States, one of them said, ‘you know, we’re under pressure from the American government to reduce activities in China. But we’re not going to do that. On the contrary, when you have this tension, it’s our role to bring more mutual understanding.’ So I think this is a role that business has to play.
You taught at IMD for 30 years. How does its mission statement differ from your role at CEIBS?
IMD was started by industry to serve industry. At CEIBS, what I think we can offer to the world is a different perspective. What is interesting is that when I was in the United States last week, compared with when I visited a private bank a few days ago in Geneva, or here [in Singapore], you get a different perspective on China. And I was amazed by the very negative feeling toward China in the United States. But when you’re in China, and you hear different arguments, such as: how many military bases do the Americans have around the world? So we must try to have a better balance.
I imagine that CEIBS is not just about teaching Chinese executives Western business strategy. Presumably there’s lots that American executives can also learn from their Chinese peers?
There are a lot of interesting things happening in China, even though there is a rebalancing to the public sector from the private sector. I’ve met a lot of super interesting companies with great global growth potential. For example, I was in Shenzhen last month and visited a company called Hofan. To me, this is the ultimate marketing company. Because the purpose of marketing is to create, communicate, and deliver value to customers. And you do this by solving problems. Now, this company goes on social media and reads all the comments by consumers. They take this feedback to some Chinese company and say, ‘hey, you need to solve this problem.’ They even have a venture capital firm to help the company fund the development and then they market these products. To me, this is your ultimate marketing machine. So when it comes to understanding customer needs, yes, as a marketing professor there’s some interesting things to look at [in China].
Is it fair to say that Chinese companies are more paternalistic, more top down, and don’t take advice as much from outside? For instance, they’re more reluctant to bring in consultants like PWC or Deloitte compared with American firms.
This part of the world is driven by Confucian values. I went to Japan for the very first time in 1978 and the economic development of China is not very different from what we have seen in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. There is a certain pattern moving from low value, adding products and services to [higher-value]. The difference with China is scale.
China is facing some economic turbulence right now. How concerned are you?
The big issue right now is unemployment and also the real estate issue. And what is interesting is that the Chinese middle class sacrifice a lot to do two things: to buy an apartment, because it’s a kind of safety net, and to educate their children. This phenomenon is quite worrying because … as long as the economy goes well people are less inclined to speak politics. But if it doesn’t, this could be very worrying for China. At the same time, 2022 was the best year ever for Chinese exports. So you have to put everything into perspective.
CEIBS is a joint venture between the E.U. and the Chinese government. But in 2019 the E.U. declared China a “systemic rival.” That must make your job harder?
For me, ‘Europe’ does not exist. Germany has bet heavily on both China and Russia. If you look at a company like BMW, or Volkswagen, I think [33% in fiscal year 2022] of BMW’s global sales were in China. If you look at the French, they are less dependent on China. And this is why Europe is somewhat divided—because the German Chancellor is saying, ‘let’s not be too hard on the Chinese,’ because they have their own interests. The French sell wines and cosmetics and Louis Vuitton bags, but they are less dependent on the Chinese market than the Germans.
The other thing, of course, is that China represents 40% of global trade. So imagine, a slowdown on the Chinese economy today will have repercussions on Africa, for example, because they are buying raw materials. You know, 5% of the growth of Africa today is coming from trade with China. So, China is important to the world.
When you first came to CEIBS you talked about opening a U.S. campus. Is that still the plan?
Well, it’s sensitive. Because it’s a [joint-venture] I cannot take a decision alone. And the Chinese tend to be very prudent, want a low profile. It’s political. If you follow what happened in Hungary, where [Fudan] University wanted to open a campus, it went into the newspapers, and then the citizens [protested]. Losing face could be another factor.
Your specialty is marketing. But how do businesses stay ahead when digital marketing—like the recent advances by AI and TikTok—evolve so quickly? At the same time, you’ve got marketing professors teaching the same lectures year after year. It seems like the value of the business school is almost diminished?
You have a point. When I was at IMD, Coca-Cola got in touch about creating a chair and some research on digital marketing. In Lausanne, Switzerland, I’m 500 miles away from Philip Morris International quarters and 10 km away from Nestle. So I went to see the global CMO of Nestle and the CEO of Philip Morris. They laughed at me and said, “you guys are too slow! By the time you do your research and you polish your papers” [because things have moved on]. So the ones who are eating our lunch are the consultants when you look at digital transformation.
On the other hand, the mission of marketing has not changed: create value for customers. Marketing professors really don’t talk so much about the needs and wants of customers, because in modern economies people don’t know what they want. Nobody wrote an email to Steve Jobs [saying]: “I want an iPhone or an iPad.” The word I personally use is: what are your customers’ headaches? The world is not short of headaches, but what has changed dramatically are the [marketing] tools.
What are some business challenges that might not get sufficient attention?
I was talking to a top guy at Nestle about diversity, which is another big buzzword these days. And he said there is one element of diversity that is critical to us but nobody talks about: the age pyramid. Today, 20-year-olds when they join Nestle go straight into the job. I mean, 20 years ago you would send them to sell ice cream in Brazil for six months. Today, you have a 20-year-old who is highly specialized in all these digital tools. And you won’t find the global chief marketing officer in a big corporation who is under 45—and we want to push for later retirements! So how do you bring all these generations of people in the company together? That’s another challenge.
Вашингтон обвинил Путина в организации убийства Пригожина за организацию государственного переворота против его правительства, который позже был отменен.
По непроверенным данным, частный самолет, на борту которого он находился, был сбит российскими вооруженными силами.
Похороны Вагнера позже состоялись во вторник в Пороховском кладбище Санкт-Петербурга.
Однако в коротком видео, опубликованном на Telegram-канале Вагнера «Серая зона», Вагнер сказал: «Для тех, кто говорит о том, жив я или нет, как у меня дела, сейчас выходные, вторая половина августа 2023 года, я я в Африке.
«Для тех, кто любит обсуждать мое отстранение, личную жизнь, доходы или другие вещи – в принципе со мной все в порядке».
posted at 09:28:16 UTC by Популярная политикаviaШтаб Навального
Павел Пригожин попытается сохранить в рабочем состоянии «активы» отца — он уже провёл переговоры с сотрудником, который у Евгения Пригожина отвечал за работу Фабрики троллей, ряда сайтов и телеграм-каналов. Директор Трансперенси Интернешнл Россия Илья Шуманов у нас в эфире, говорим про все бизнесы Пригожина и о том, кому достанутся его миллиарды.
Под покровом темноты солдаты укрепляют окопы и несут ящики с боеприпасами возле Бахмута.
В результате авиаудара по высотному зданию погибли двое
По данным прокуратуры Донецкой области, в результате авиаудара российской авиации по высотному жилому дому погибла семейная пара.
Украина начала расследование военных преступлений по факту нападения на Угледар, в результате которого 19-летняя дочь пары и еще один 53-летний житель получили ранения.
Взрывы разрушили вход в здание, повредили окна и балконы.
Новая российская ракета «Сатана-2» введена в эксплуатацию – сообщается
По данным российских информационных агентств, Россия поставила на боевое дежурство перспективную межконтинентальную баллистическую ракету.
«Сармат», получивший прозвище «Сатана II», способен нести несколько ядерных боеголовок и заставит врагов России «подумать дважды», заявил ранее Владимир Путин.
Он заменяет Р-36, известный в отчетах НАТО под названием «Сатана», и, как сообщается, имеет короткую начальную фазу запуска, что оставляет мало времени системам наблюдения для его отслеживания.
Примерно через два месяца после вторжения на Украину г-н Путин заявил, что «Сармат» «надежно обеспечит безопасность России от внешних угроз и заставит тех, кто в пылу агрессивной риторики пытается угрожать нашей стране, дважды подумать».
Солдаты ведут огонь из оружия и минометов возле Бахмута
Украинские солдаты стреляют из оружия и минометов возле Бахмута, а другие отдыхают на импровизированных кроватях.
Ранее на этой неделе заместитель министра обороны Ханна Маляр заявила, что киевские войска продвигаются возле города – единственного города, который Россия захватила в ходе своего наступления в начале этого года.
По ее словам, тяжелые бои охватили деревни к югу от него.
Командующий Сухопутными войсками Украины Александр Сирский сообщил о “положительной динамике” под Бахмутом
Всплеск спроса в России на страхование дронов-камикадзе – отчеты
Сообщается о всплеске спроса на страхование дронов-камикадзе среди российских граждан и бизнеса.
Некоторые страховщики продавали террористические пакеты, другие согласились выплатить компенсацию за “падающие летающие объекты”, сообщают “Известия”.
По данным российской газеты, больше всего запросов возросло на западе России, где она граничит с Украиной, и в Москве.
Одна компания, «РЕСО-Гарантия», взимает от 500 до 5000 рублей (от 4 до 41 фунта стерлингов) за страховку ДТП, рассказал изданию ее заместитель генерального директора.
В страховой компании “АльфаСтрахование” терроризм не исключен, сообщил директор по управлению имуществом Денис Титов.
Атаки украинских дронов в Белгороде, Курске, Москве и других регионах в последние месяцы участились.
Украина «атакует» два региона России
По словам их губернаторов, смертоносные удары произошли в Белгородской и Курской областях России.
Артиллерия убила одного мирного жителя и ранила еще двоих, сообщил белгородец Вячеслав Гладков.
По его словам, украинские дроны нанесли удар по Валуйскому району, повредив один дом.
Женщина была ранена во время обстрела села в соседнем Курске, сообщил губернатор Роман Старовойт.
Он обвинил Украину, которая не сообщила, начали ли они нападения.
Sky News не может независимо проверить эти сообщения с поля боя.
В результате обстрела погибли как минимум два мирных жителя и 12 получили ранения
Ракеты и артиллерия сегодня продолжали ранить и убивать мирных жителей по всей Украине.
Сумы: В результате попадания российских снарядов в город Середина-Буда 32-летний следователь полиции погиб и еще два человека получили ранения.
Херсон: В результате обстрела на юге области один человек погиб и двое получили ранения, сообщил губернатор Олег Прокудин.
Донецк: Четыре человека были ранены в оккупированном городе украинской артиллерией, заявил назначенный Москвой мэр Алексей Кулемзин.
Днепропетровск: В результате артобстрелов и атак беспилотников в Никопольском районе четыре человека получили ранения, сообщил губернатор Сергей Лысак.
Sky News не может независимо проверить эти сообщения с поля боя.
В Украине школьники возвращаются в школы – подполье
Под обстрелом российских бомб один город в Украине придумал новое решение, позволяющее отправить учеников обратно в школу в понедельник – обучение их под землей.
Около 1000 харьковских студентов будут проводить уроки в переоборудованном метро под городом.
“Это первый шаг, и когда родители увидят созданные здесь условия, я уверен, что число абитуриентов будет расти”, – сказал городской голова Игорь Терехов.
“Ни один другой город в мире не имеет такого опыта – Харьков – первый”, – заявил мэр Игорь Терехов.
Россия «нервничает из-за украинского прорыва» и перебрасывает войска на «хрупкий» фронт
«Нервная» Россия, вероятно, направила свои северные наступательные силы, чтобы помочь защитить южный фронт от потенциального украинского прорыва, сказал военный аналитик.
Российская линия фронта выглядит «все более хрупкой», поскольку Украина «медленно продвигается» через село Роботайн, к югу от Запорожья, сказал Шон Белл Sky News.
Прогресс Украины происходит, несмотря на «значительные уровни» российской обороны в регионе, и есть свидетельства того, что Россия отреагировала, отозвав солдат из своей наступательной операции в городе Купянск, чтобы поддержать свои силы на юге, сказал он.
«Это будет означать, что они очень нервничают по поводу прорыва, который может там произойти», — сказал Белл.
«Хотя мы пока не видим прорыва, появляется все больше свидетельств того, что давление Украины усиливается на все более хрупкой линии фронта в России».
Украина заявила, что захватила Роботайн в понедельник, и именно поэтому Киев хочет продвинуться на юг от села к Азовскому морю и разделить российскую армию на две части.
Проблемы России усугубляет очевидная нехватка радиолокационных систем контрбатарейной борьбы, сказал Белл.
Он пояснил, что радары позволяют московским войскам обнаруживать украинские артиллерийские пушки во время их стрельбы, но без них российские войска “сталкиваются с абсолютным потоком украинских артиллерийских снарядов, что создает им большие трудности на линии фронта”.
Пренебрежение Нобеля к России «восстанавливает справедливость» на церемонии вручения премии, заявляет Украина
Украина назвала решение Нобелевского фонда не допустить Россию и Беларусь на Стокгольмскую церемонию вручения премии восстановлением справедливости.
Если вы только присоединились к нам, фонд отменил приглашение двум странам и Ирану после широкой критики.
“Спасибо всем, кто требовал восстановления справедливости”, – заявил официальный представитель МИД Украины Олег Николенко.
“Убеждены, что аналогичное решение должно быть принято в отношении послов России и Беларуси в Осло”, – имея в виду торжества, которые пройдут в Норвегии после церемонии в Швеции.
Премьер-министр Швеции поддержал комментарии Николенко и приветствовал это решение.
«Многочисленные и сильные реакции показывают, что вся Швеция однозначно стоит на стороне Украины против ужасающей агрессивной войны России».
Лидеры нескольких шведских политических партий пригрозили бойкотировать церемонии награждения, когда в четверг фонд первоначально пригласил Россию и Беларусь.
«Это выглядит просто», — сказал Оливер Эрнандес о работе уличного торговца. «Но это не так». Его день начинается в 5 утра; он возвращается в свою квартиру в Риджвуде, Квинс, в 9 часов вечера.
Уличные торговцы-иммигранты уже несколько десятилетий открывают магазины на Пятой авеню в Сансет-парке. Пространства распределяются в иерархии свободно, но с настройкой не стоит беспокоиться.
«Это выглядит просто», — сказал Оливер Эрнандес о работе уличного торговца. «Но это не так». Его день начинается в 5 утра; он возвращается в свою квартиру в Риджвуде, Квинс, в 9 часов вечера. Кредит…
В минувшее воскресенье Оливер Эрнандес выпрыгнул из фургона, которым управлял его партнер. Было 6 часов утра. Семейные магазины на Пятой авеню в Сансет-парке в Бруклине были закрыты ставнями.
Несколько складных столиков были прикованы цепями к уличным знакам. Стул был спрятан за воротами.
«Я первый», — сказал 41-летний г-н Эрнандес. «Большинство продавцов приходят на 8».
Из задней части фургона он начал вытаскивать ведра с цветами, затем свой рюкзак, стул, стол, навес и горшки с пальмами.
За 15 минут он разбил сад возле светофора на углу. Менее дорогие цветы — гвоздики и гипсофилу — он положил слева. Лилии и розы справа. Затем закрепил навес, привязав его веревкой к светофору.
Изображение
Г-н Эрнандес, иммигрировавший из Мексики в 2013 году, является продавцом цветов в третьем поколении.
На протяжении десятилетий некоторые люди, такие как г-н Эрнандес, рисковали и устанавливали стенды вдоль Пятой авеню Сансет-парка, оживленной торговой улицы с такериями, магазинами кроссовок, пекарнями, магазинами одежды и фруктовыми рынками. В этом районе проживает большое количество населения Латинской Америки и Азии.
Подобно поселенцам XIX века, продавцы находят свободное место и делают его своим. География важна: «Угол — хорошее место», — сказал г-н Эрнандес. «Люди останавливаются ради света». Он занимал свой угол большую часть выходных в течение четырех лет.
После того, как заявлено, место необходимо занять: новички беспокоятся, что, если они пропустят выходные, их вытеснят.
На рубеже 20-го века иммигрант, продающий на улице лимонное мороженое, мог мечтать об открытии кондитерской или кафе-мороженого. Многие иммигранты совершили этот скачок, открыв небольшие магазины, собирая деньги от семьи и друзей.
Но большинство продавцов на Пятой авеню не мечтают о магазине: обычные магазины переживают трудности. И продавцы стараются остаться на плаву.
На рассвете тротуары пусты. К полудню они кишат продавцами.
Эти стенды собираются каждое утро в будние и выходные дни. Они так же просты, как одеяло на тротуаре, покрытое рядами браслетов. Или тележку для покупок, на которой стоит доска с камерами.
Они могут быть сложными: женщина обвязывает свой грузовик веревками, а затем вешает на него детские праздничные платья.
28-летний Исаи Гонсалес возводит металлический сарай размером 8 на 12 футов с красным навесом. Это занимает у него 45 минут. «У меня было видение сделать его похожим на дом — с крышей», — сказал он. «Я могу заниматься своими делами, даже если идет дождь или холодно».
Исаи Гонсалес сэкономил 1000 долларов, продавая маски через Интернет, и решил начать шляпный бизнес.
Эти продавцы приезжают на метро, толкая тележки с товарами. Они идут из квартир, таща за собой телеги с домашней едой. Люди приезжают в фургонах, грузовиках и на мопедах.
Летом очередь продавцов увеличивается: люди готовят грили и продают нарезанное манго и орчату. Некоторые дети сопровождают своих родителей, сидя на ящиках.
К ночи всю переносную недвижимость складывают или разбирают, упаковывают — и уносят.
Существует основная напряженность: у большинства продавцов в Сансет-парке нет разрешения, а за билет можно заплатить штраф в размере 1000 долларов. Поскольку город несколько лет назад ограничил количество разрешений, большинство из примерно 20 000 городских торговцев работают без них.
В начале апреля полиция и сотрудники правоохранительных органов закрыли большой воскресный рынок в Сансет-парке под названием Plaza Tonatiuh. В конце июля санитарные работники прочесали Корона Плаза, известную своей оживленной гастрономической сценой.
Продавцы на Пятой авеню могут чувствовать себя на грани: «Мы всегда начеку, если что-то случится», — сказал 24-летний Эдуардо Эрнандес, который продает тамале вместе со своей сестрой Йореми Эрнандес, 22 года.
Некоторые продавцы являются иммигрантами без документов и боятся депортации.
И многие продавцы беспокоятся: пойду ли я домой с пустыми руками?
Эдуардо Эрнандес и его сестра Йореми продают тамале своей матери. Прошлый год они начали с просто кулера.
Тем не менее, это удивительно стабильная ситуация: некоторые продавцы существуют там дольше, чем магазины вокруг них. Они вырастили детей и купили дома. Сэнди Ю, 47 лет, мать четверых детей, занимается ремонтом часов на Пятой авеню около 16 лет.
Стайный продавец фруктов, живущий рядом с госпожой Юй, проработал там 25 лет; люди помнят, как покупали у него фрукты, когда были детьми. Продавец одежды из того же квартала работает там 31 год.
Иногда, когда продавец уходит, другой продавец будет следить за ним.
За последние годы в Сансет-парке произошли большие перемены: развитие Индустри-Сити — огромного многофункционального комплекса — на его западной окраине породило напряженность по поводу джентрификации.
Тем не менее, г-жа Ю, мастер по ремонту часов, и другие описывают постепенный экономический спад, который начался много лет назад.
«Это происходило постепенно», — сказала г-жа Юй, имея в виду, что ее бизнес приходит в упадок.
Десять лет назад в субботу ее клиенты стояли в очереди. Люди хотели заменить батарейки в своих часах. «Сейчас бывают дни, когда денег нет», — сказала она.
Однако некоторые молодые вендоры возлагают большие надежды.
Г-н Гонсалес, которому принадлежит металлический сарай, накопил 1000 долларов и решил начать бизнес. Он немного подумал: «Что нужно людям? Головные уборы!”
«Я очень рад заняться продвижением», — сказал он о своем двухлетнем бизнесе. Он есть в Инстаграме и занимается разработкой сайта.
Это лето было медленным. «Я зарабатываю всего 600 долларов в неделю», — сказал он. Но его это не пугает. В отличие от многих других уличных торговцев, г-ну Гонсалесу нужен кирпич и раствор. «Моя цель — владеть магазином».
Ариэль Уэрта и его мать Фабиола Гонсалес — члены предпринимательской семьи. Ему нравится быть самим себе начальником: «Мне не нужно соответствовать ожиданиям».
«Я тот, кто в конечном итоге продвигает это», – добродушно сказал 22-летний Ариэль Уэрта о тележке для покупок, загруженной 50 бутылками меда, двумя столами и тремя стульями.
Большую часть воскресенья г-н Уэрта, его мать, 53-летняя Фабиола Гонсалес, и сестра Керен Уэрта, 21 год, пробираются из своей квартиры в Бушвике на Пятую авеню. Ехать на метро около полутора часов.
Он не жалуется: в удачный день продажи меда он зарабатывает около 400 долларов. В плохой день от 110 до 150 долларов. «Она по-прежнему существенна», — сказал он.
Мед — это семейная традиция: его дедушка держал пчел на своем участке в Сото-и-Гама, деревне к юго-востоку от Мехико. «Он обучал мою мать и дядю, потому что ему нужна была помощь», — сказал г-н Уэрта. Семья продавала мед на местном рынке.
Его дядя, Флорентино Гонсалес, 51 год, сейчас живет в Олбани и работает полный рабочий день в пиццерии. «Пчеловодство — его подработка», — сказал г-н Уэрта. Он держит ульи в Скенектади и продает мед через сарафанное радио.
«Продать его здесь была идея моей мамы», — сказал г-н Уэрта. Она знала нескольких торговцев на Пятой авеню.
«Иногда мы спорим», — сказал г-н Уэрта. «Моей маме нравится устраивать все по-одному. Я делаю это по-другому».
Мед добывается из ульев дяди г-на Уэрты в Скенектади.
Его мать, которая работает домработницей в Вильямсбурге, имеет собственный столик через дорогу от своих детей, чтобы попытаться поймать больше клиентов.
«Работая с твоей мамой, всегда будут разногласия», — сказал он. — Но это не неприятно.
Недавно у его дяди появилась новая идея — варить и продавать медовуху, приготовленную из сброженного меда и воды. «Моя мама поддерживает эту идею», — сказал он.
У господина Уэрты есть свой план: «Я хочу накопить и купить небольшой дом в Мексике».
«Я вижу, как живут мой дядя и родственники», — добавил он, имея в виду их круглосуточный режим работы в Нью-Йорке. «Это то, что меня ждет? Нет, спасибо!”
«Возьмите это домой, попробуйте», — слышно, как Феликс Васкес говорит людям, которые просматривают сайт. В течение многих лет он наслаждался общением с клиентами.
Пандус на 53-й улице превращается в долларовый магазин, когда появляется 60-летний Феликс Васкес.
«Большинство продавцов достигают шести футов», — сказал он. «Вот», он указал на длинный неиспользуемый пандус, который проходит рядом с «Ритуальной помощью». «Безлимитно!»
В последнее воскресенье дети ходили от ящика к ящику, вытаскивая новые и подержанные грузовики Hess, всплывающие книги и игры, а их родители следовали за ними. «Грузовики Hess можно купить онлайн за 100 долларов», — сказал он. «Я не превышаю 10».
Подошел отец и предложил 5 долларов за грузовик. Мистер Васкес взял его. «Я пользуюсь осмотрительностью», — сказал он. «Если у них его нет, я меняю цену».
«Тридцать процентов моих клиентов знают меня», — добавил он. «Семьдесят процентов — новые». Он начал на этом углу в 2014 году; он взял трехлетний перерыв, когда заболел раком.
На рампе выставлены новые и бывшие в употреблении игрушки.
«Это весело», — говорит г-н Васкес, объясняя, почему он продолжает работать в своем направлении.
В другое воскресенье его 81-летний тесть помог ему разобрать дрели, воздуходувки и шнуры питания. В течение двух минут полдюжины мужчин копались в мусорных баках.
«В основном это чернорабочие, молодые ребята», — сказал г-н Васкес, который живет на Стейтен-Айленде и работает супервайзером в Бруклине. «Как правило, у них нет собственных инструментов, и они не могут добиться успеха».
Г-н Васкес покупает поддоны — контейнеры с закрытыми товарами — в магазинах за 200 долларов.
«Если я куплю один поддон, второй бесплатно», — пояснил он.
В свои лучшие дни он получает прибыль в размере 200 долларов.
Четверо его взрослых детей не понимают, что его влечет. Они говорят: «Ты сумасшедший, оставаясь там весь день!»
Жаклин Паола Эррера Чаклан (справа) сбежала из Гватемалы около семи лет назад и теперь продает на улице цветы, связанные крючком. Кредит… Тодд Хейслер/The New York Times
В течение нескольких месяцев Жаклин Паола Эррера Чаклан чувствовала себя разорванной.
Она хотела продать свои яркие цветы, связанные крючком, на Пятой авеню. «Но я боялась, что меня депортируют», — сказала г-жа Паола. Около семи лет назад она сбежала из Гватемалы со своей трехлетней дочерью.
Она беспокоилась о том, что у нее нет разрешения. «Я тоже боялась — а вдруг я ничего не продам?»
Но в декабре прошлого года г-жа Паола, ее муж Адольфо Цок, их дочь и маленький сын вышли из такси. Они выгрузили стол и корзины с ее высокими подсолнухами.
«Мы идем все вместе», — сказал ей ее 34-летний муж. Он работает в магазине ламп на Манхэттене. «Если люди скажут, что нам нужно уйти, мы уйдем. Но мы попробуем ».
С тех пор 31-летняя Паола занимается торговлей почти по выходным в сопровождении своей 11-летней дочери Алехандры. Два цветка стоят 15 долларов. Бывают трудные дни, но бывают и времена, когда она видит возможности: недавно женщина заказала дюжину ваз, наполненных ее цветами, на вечеринку по случаю дня рождения.
Кредит… Тодд Хейслер/The New York Times
Молодая женщина и ее сын восхищаются браслетами г-жи Паолы.
Г-жа Паола обожает свои цветы. На стенде ее руки редко перестают двигаться, когда она вяжет красные розы крючком.
Алехандра тоже предана своему делу: «Я хочу помочь своей маме», — сказала она. — Я не хочу, чтобы она оставалась одна.
В детстве г-жа Паола помогала своим родителям.
Она происходит из длинного рода ткачей. По выходным ее родители ездили в город в трех часах езды от своей деревни в Гватемале. «У них была такая же позиция, как и на Пятой улице», — сказала она.
В последнее воскресенье проспект был переполнен: три девушки стояли, любуясь цветами г-жи Паолы. И мать, и дочь выглядели раскрасневшимися и счастливыми; они продали пять цветов и три браслета. Ее муж смотрел, держа на руках сына.
В 19:00 г-жа Паола и ее муж подняли тяжелый контейнер с ее товарами. Их дети спешили за ними, они практически летели по улице к своей машине.
Версия этой статьи опубликована в разделе RE на странице 1 нью-йоркского издания под заголовком: «Будущее, поставленное на тротуар» . Заказать репринты | Сегодняшняя газета | Подписаться
ВАШИНГТОН – Бывший член крайне правой экстремистской группировки Proud Boys, который разбил окно в Капитолии США во время первого нарушения здания во время беспорядков 6 января 2021 года, был приговорен в пятницу к 10 годам тюремного заключения, а затем демонстративно заявил когда он выходил из зала суда, «Трамп победил!»
Приговор Доминику Пеццоле, один из самых длительных за преступления, совершенные 6 января, является последним, вынесенным после того, как лидеры группировки были признаны виновными в организации нападения, направленного на предотвращение мирной передачи власти от Дональда Трампа к Джо Байдену после президентских выборов 2020 года. . Во вторник должен быть вынесен приговор самому известному обвиняемому в этом многомесячном суде, бывшему лидеру Proud Boys Энрике Таррио.
46-летний Пеццола взял щит полицейского и разбил им окно, позволив участникам беспорядков первыми прорваться в Капитолий, а позже он снял “праздничное видео” с сигарой внутри здания, заявили прокуроры. Однако он недавно был завербован в «Гордые мальчики», и присяжные оправдали его по самому громкому обвинению — подстрекательству к мятежу — редкому преступлению времен Гражданской войны. Он был признан виновным и по другим серьезным обвинениям, и прокуратура запросила 20 лет тюремного заключения.
«Он был энтузиастом пехоты», – сказал прокурор Эрик Кенерсон.
Окружной судья США Тимоти Келли отметил, что Пеццола из Рочестера, штат Нью-Йорк, был новичком в группе и не писал таких все более жестоких онлайн-сообщений, как его сообвиняемые перед нападением 6 января. Тем не менее, в некотором смысле он был «наконечником копья», позволив участникам беспорядков проникнуть в Капитолий, сказал судья, который решил применить к приговору ужесточение терроризма.
«Реальность такова, что вы разбили это окно и позволили людям начать хлынуть в здание Капитолия и угрожать жизни наших законодателей», — сказал судья Пеццоле. «Это не то, о чем я когда-либо мечтал увидеть в нашей стране».
Адвокаты защиты просили для Пеццолы пять лет, заявив, что в тот день он «впал в безумие».
Пеццола показал на суде, что первоначально он схватил щит офицера, чтобы защитить себя от мер полиции по борьбе с беспорядками, а его адвокаты утверждали, что он разбил только одно оконное стекло, а остальную часть окна выбили другие участники беспорядков.
Он сказал судье, что хотел бы никогда не пересекать запретную зону 6 января, и извинился перед офицером, чей щит он взял. «В моем будущем нет места ни группам, ни политике», – сказал он.
Но позже, выходя из зала суда, он поднял кулак и сказал: «Трамп победил!»
Бывший организатор крайне правой экстремистской группировки Proud Boys был приговорен в четверг к 17 годам тюремного заключения за организацию нападения на Капитолий США с целью предотвратить мирную передачу власти от Дональда Трампа к Джо Байдену после президентских выборов 2020 года.
Еще один гордый мальчик, бывший президент отделения Итан Нордин из Оберна, штат Вашингтон, также должен быть приговорен в пятницу. Прокурор просит судью приговорить его к 27 годам лишения свободы.
Двое из их сообвиняемых были приговорены в четверг к нескольким самым длительным срокам тюремного заключения, когда-либо вынесенным за нападение 6 января. Джозеф Биггс, организатор из Ормонд-Бич, Флорида, получил 17 лет, а Закари Рел, лидер Филадельфийского отделения, получил 15 лет.
Суд над «Гордыми мальчиками» обнажил приверженность крайне правых экстремистов лжи Трампа, республиканца, о том, что выборы 2020 года были украдены у него.
Более 1100 человек были обвинены в федеральных преступлениях, связанных с беспорядками в Капитолии. Более 600 из них были осуждены и приговорены.
Самый длительный тюремный срок, связанный с событиями 6 января, на данный момент составляет 18 лет для Стюарта Роудса, основателя другой крайне правой экстремистской группы, «Хранители присяги». Шесть членов этой антиправительственной группы также были осуждены за участие в подстрекательстве к мятежу после отдельного судебного разбирательства в прошлом году.
Агентство Associated Press внесло свой вклад в подготовку этого отчета.
Глава украинской разведки заявил, что «настоящего» Владимира Путина не видели на публике уже больше года, что усилило слухи о том, что лидер использует вместо себя одного или нескольких двойников.
Генерал-майор Кирилл Буданов , отвечающий за удары беспилотников и тайные операции против России, заявил, что не уверен, жив ли еще безумный лидер.
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Генерал Кирилл Буданов заявил, что не уверен, жив ли Путин. Фото: Getty.
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Многие задавались вопросом, прибегал ли лидер «железного кулака» к дублёрам. Фото: East2West
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Изменения в линии его подбородка также были отмечены многими . Фото: East2West.
В интервью Анжелике Руденко «Радио Свобода» глава разведки заявил: «Того, кого все знали, последний раз видели где-то 26 июня 2022 года».
Руденко тогда спросил: «Так его либо нет в живых, либо у него совсем плохое состояние здоровья?»
Буданов ответил: «Или он не хочет выступать. Может быть очень много разных причин».
Путин взглянул на свое левое запястье и выглядел озадаченным, осознав, что его часов там нет.
Но военачальник всегда позорно носил свои часы на правом запястье, заставляя многих задаваться вопросом, почему он не уверен в их месте.
Позже во время встречи было замечено, как кремлевский лидер снял свои часы (предположительно, это была «Ракета» российского производства стоимостью 12 500 фунтов стерлингов) и возился с ними в руках.
Руденко спросил Буданова: «Это настоящий Путин?»
Буданов ответил: «Давайте оставим это на усмотрение каждого, чтобы каждый предоставил свою фантазию».
Ведущая Радио Свобода отметила, что, по ее мнению, это дублер, позирующий Путину, с чем Буданов согласился.
На прямой вопрос, жив Путин или нет, глава разведки хладнокровно ответил: «Я не знаю, что вам ответить».
Путин, как известно, очень параноидально относится к своей безопасности, и этот страх только усилился с тех пор, как он отправил российские войска в Украину.
Telegram-канал «Генерал СВР» уже давно утверждает, что болезненный Путин теперь постоянно использует для своих публичных выступлений двойников и актеров-двойников, перенесших пластические операции.
Ходят слухи, что теперь он во многом полагается на своих «дублеров», которые заменяют его, когда он изо всех сил пытается скрыть свое слабое здоровье .
Шпионские документы, попавшие в The Sun, по-видимому, подтверждают, что у него рак поджелудочной железы и ранняя стадия болезни Паркинсона.
Россия, предпринимая или не предпринимая какие-либо действия на Южном Кавказе, отдаляется от этого региона. Об этом заявил премьер-министр Армении Никол Пашинян в интервью итальянской газете La Repubblica, которое транслировало Общественное телевидение Армении в субботу, 2 сентября.
По словам Пашиняна, российские партнеры обвиняют западные страны в том, что они подталкивают правительство Армении “к принятию мер, направленных на вытеснение России” из региона. “Наоборот, мы видим, что Россия сама уходит из региона в силу тех шагов, которые она предпринимает или не предпринимает. По каким причинам это происходит? Мы не знаем. Мы можем иметь свои наблюдения на этот счет, но я не могу что-то утверждать”, – цитирует его агентство Armenpress.
Пашинян отметил, что “есть процессы”, которые приводят к мысли, что “однажды мы просто проснемся и увидим, что России здесь нет”.
Ситуация с Лачинским коридором
В качестве примера таких процессов армянский премьер привел ситуацию с Лачинским коридором, упрекнув российские миротворческие силы в невыполнении обязательств по обеспечению безопасности населения Нагорного Карабаха.
Пашинян напомнил, что, согласно договоренностям Москвы, Еревана и Баку, заключенным после окончания боевых действий в 2020 году, российские миротворцы в непризнанной республике должны контролировать Лачинский коридор, но по факту этого не происходит. “Почему? Причин может быть две: либо Российская Федерация не может, либо не желает сохранять контроль над Лачинским коридором. И то, и другое, на наш взгляд, проблематично”, – сказал он.
Зависимость Армении от России
Глава правительства Армении также назвал стратегической ошибкой полную зависимость республики от России в сфере безопасности.
“Архитектура безопасности Армении на 99,999 процента была связана с Россией, в том числе и в логике приобретения оружия и боеприпасов. Однако сегодня, когда Россия сама нуждается в оружии, вооружении и боеприпасах, в этой ситуации понятно, что даже при желании РФ не смогла бы обеспечить потребности безопасности Армении. То есть этот пример должен показать нам, что в сфере безопасности зависеть или быть привязанным только к одному месту само по себе является стратегической ошибкой”, – заявил Пашинян.
По его словам, только постфактум, когда Армения “вкусила горькие плоды этой ошибки”, Ереван стал предпринимать попытки диверсифицировать политику безопасности.
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