In this photograph taken on January 10, 2023 French truffle hunter Anne-Marie Pouzergues shows a basket of truffles to her dog in the Dordogne countryside near Brantome, southwestern France.

PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty Images

• Truffle foragers in Italy have long sought to get rid of competition in search of “black gold.”
• Ruthless hunters have resorted to dropping poison-laced treats to tempt truffle-sniffing dogs. 
• Police and locals are trying to crack down on the deadly poisonings, according to reports.

While truffle-sniffing dogs in the rolling hills of Italy sniff out earthy treasures worth over $4,000 per kilogram, their owners are on the lookout for something deadly lurking in the brush: poisoned treats, laced with snail bait and strychnine, intended for their specially-trained pooches. 

Laced hot dog pieces and bits of meatball are tossed into the wooded hills by competitive foragers aiming to injure or kill the trained dogs and prevent their handlers from being able to find more truffles, according to reports by The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. 

Rare Italian truffles are in short supply due to climate change and the challenges of foraging. The most sought-after varieties can cost upwards of $5,000 a pound and a trained truffle-sniffing dog with a high earnings potential can cost owners upwards of $8,500. 

“It’s all about getting rid of the competition,” The Wall Street Journal reported Saverio Dogliani, a 57-year-old truffle hunter whose dog, Floki, has been poisoned twice, said. 

French truffle hunter Anne-Marie Pouzergues (C) digs the ground after her dog found some truffles, in the Dordogne countryside near Brantome, southwestern France on January 10, 2023.

PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty Images

The poisoned treats claim the lives of multiple dogs and wildlife such as deer and foxes, each year. The Wall Street Journal reported one vet in the town of Alba treats between eight and 10 poisoned truffle dogs per year, though the actual number of cases is likely much higher and sometimes impacts family dogs — not just those in search of the truffles.

Martina Ercoli’s chocolate lab, Brando, was killed earlier this month after she said he took a “poisoned bite” from the ground. The dog died in Ercoli’s brother’s arms within half an hour. She posted on Facebook that the Italian police told her he was the third dog that week to be poisoned by “these criminals, presumably people who hunt truffles and spread poisonous morsels to kill each others’ dogs in war.” 

A group of truffle hunters wearing camouflage searched the area where Brando was poisoned, hoping to rid the brush of leftover poison. Among them was Antonio Morasca, who told The New York Times about the death of his own dog, Thor, who this month also ate a bit of poisoned hot dog that had rolled under his car. 

“I took it out of his mouth, but he ran off — he loved to run off — and got another one in his mouth,” Morasca told The New York Times. “He started trembling. We got him back to the town, and he started foaming. We made him eat salt to vomit, but the whites of his eyes had turned red. His legs stretched out, and he became rigid. He was dead before we got to the clinic. A half an hour.”

Truffle hunter Jean-Luc Monteillet shows a black truffle found by one of his dogs during a search through the oaks of the Domaine of Montine in Grignan, southern France on December 23, 2022.

OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE/AFP via Getty Images)

Italy’s national police have dispatched poison-detecting dogs to the woods of Alba in hopes of eliminating the source of the poisonings, which regularly claim the lives of truffle dogs in the region, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“It’s getting worse,” Agent Emanuele Gallo told The Wall Street Journal. “There is more competition, and unfortunately illicit means are being used more.” 

Locals, fed up with the risks to their loved ones, have taken the hunt for the poisoners into their own hands. Belardo Bravi, a truffle hunter whose dog Bella was nearly killed by poison over a decade ago, installed cameras on his truck and joined the informal group of truffle foragers hunting for those responsible.

“When I catch him and see him in the piazza,” Belardo Bravi told The New York Times. “I’ll break his little hands.”

An Indiana woman was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery for repeatedly stabbing in the head an 18-year-old student of Indiana University, an attack the university said was racially motivated.

Last week’s assault on a public transport bus and the suspect, 56-year-old Billie Davis, were reported to authorities by a witness on the bus, police have said. Media, citing court documents, have said she was stabbed because she was Asian.

“This week, Bloomington was sadly reminded that anti-Asian hate is real,” James Wimbush, the university’s vice president for diversity, said in a statement on Friday.

“No one should face harassment or violence due to their background, ethnicity, or heritage.”

Reuters could not immediately reach an attorney for the suspect, who is being held in the Monroe County jail, court records show.

The victim told police she was waiting for the bus doors to open when another passenger began hitting her in the head, law enforcement officials said in a statement. Taken to hospital, she was found to have suffered stab wounds to the head.

Video from inside the bus showed the victim and her alleged attacker had no interaction before the stabbing. Authorities did not release the student’s name.

Bloomington, a southern Indiana town of 80,000 people, deplores “any form of racism and discrimination”, its mayor, John Hamilton, said in a statement on Saturday that expressed solidarity with the Asian community.

Local ABC affiliate WRTV said the suspect told police she stabbed the woman because it “would be one less person to blow up our country.”

Harassment and violence targeting Asian communities have spiked in the United States in recent years and in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Viking Orion” cruise ship under the flag of Norway is seen anchored at Bodrum Cruise Port in Bodrum district of Mugla, Turkey on April 18, 2021.

Photo by Osman URAS/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

• Millions of Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia invaded in February.
• About 2,400 have spent the past five or six months living aboard cruise ships docked in Scotland.
• One family told the BBC they made a “small community of Ukrainians” on the boat in Glasgow.

Thousands of Ukrainians who fled the war after Russia invaded found themselves in an unusual living situation the past six months, settling into life on the water aboard two cruise ships docked in Scotland.

“It was very exciting during the first few weeks,” Andriy, who left Ukraine with his wife, Natasha, their children, and a few possessions, told BBC Scotland. “I have three kids and we have two small cabins.”

Andriy and his family are among the nearly 1,200 Ukrainians who have called the cruise ship MS Ambition home since September. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February led to a humanitarian crisis, with millions of Ukrainians displaced and seeking shelter far away from the fighting.

The Scottish government contracted two cruise ships to serve as temporary shelters for Ukrainians fleeing the war, with the MS Ambition in Glasgow and a second ship docked in Edinburgh. That ship, the MS Victoria, has housed another 1,200 or so Ukrainians.

“We have a job center on the ship, the Scottish government and city council advise us how to integrate here,” Andriy told the BBC, adding that the conditions on the ship were “good” and that his family was “grateful” for the place to stay.

“We also have English courses and on the ship we made our own community. There are people who like to sing together, it was like a small social experiment, a small community of Ukrainians,” he added. “But on a ship, you are quite isolated from society.”

The Scottish government’s contract with the MS Ambition is set to end on March 31. Authorities have said they are working with local officials in Glasgow to find more permanent housing for families like Andriy’s who have called the ship home.

“Our focus now is to secure sustainable longer-term accommodation for the Ukrainians to ensure they have the support they need to build a home in Scotland for as long as they need it,” Neil Gray, Scotland’s minister for Ukraine refugees, said this week.

The Scottish Refugee Council, an independent charity, said it has been assisting the refugees by holding information sessions on the ship every week and is ramping up to help them seek new housing. Those efforts include connecting refugees with local volunteers who are willing to host them. 

Andriy told the BBC his family was “grateful for the people of Scotland” and would like to return home to Ukraine once the fighting stops. He said he has been looking for work and wants to be able to pay for his family’s housing.

“There is uncertainty over what will happen next but Ukrainians are used to uncertainty and we will get through it somehow,” he said.

The Scottish government extended the contract for the MS Victoria until June, a decision that was met with some criticism.

“This isn’t a new life, it’s a new limbo. Ukrainian refugees deserve a long-term solution,” Alex Cole-Hamilton, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said of the extension.

Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com.

Fury isn’t a pleasant emotion. Fury often leaves one feeling out of control and helpless. It can also easily eat away at one’s soul. It’s not surprising that most people do not welcome the sound of fury and usually find solutions to life’s problems that do not involve fury. But not everybody.

And I want to talk about those people — fury’s children — because there is something the pundits — most of them — are getting wrong, and it concerns fury. As you know, a special prosecutor was appointed by Merrick Garland to look into the Biden document mixup. He won’t find anything. But what the pundits are getting wrong is the reaction to this move. They are assuming the right will welcome this move:

“Now Maga can’t say the trump investigation is a witchhunt.”

“This shows how fair Garland is being.”

WRONG.

Sorry, but I disagree. And if there is one thing I have learned about Maga, it’s the following:

Maga lives for fury. Most — not all but most — in Maga land do not know how to NOT be furious.

If pundits think the appointment of a special counsel will satisfy Maga, they’ve got another thing coming.

Do you know how Maga is reacting? By calling this new special counsel biased. “He worked with Chris Wray,” a Maga said darkly. “He’s dirty,” said another Maga. You get it. You understand that misery and Maga go hand in hand. There is nothing — absolutely nothing that can ever satisfy Maga. Nothing.

They are fury’s children. As much as we run from fury, Maga embraces it. As much as we strive for serenity, Maga pushes it away. Think about it. Have you ever SEEN Maga happy? Ever? Even when they’ve won?

Nothing that Garland or anybody does will satisfy Maga because they cannot be satisfied. Just as Trump has an unfillable hole inside him, Maga has a penchant for fury. Fury dictates their every move, and it isn’t leaving anytime soon. They are fury’s children and anger is synonymous with who they are.

The post These MAGA loons are even further gone than we thought appeared first on Palmer Report.

Russia unleashed a wave of major attacks across Ukraine on Saturday, hitting energy infrastructure and killing 14 in a missile strike on a nine-storey apartment building in Dnipro, officials said.

* Ukrainian forces are fighting to retain control of Soledar in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the regional governor said, contradicting Russian claims that Moscow’s forces had captured the small town.

* Reuters could not verify the accounts.

* Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, boasted of his forces’ prowess amid a simmering rivalry with the defence ministry over who should get credit for leading Russia’s assault on Soledar.

* Moldovan President Maia Sandu, denouncing “Russia’s brutal war”, said missile debris was found in her country near Ukraine’s western border after the latest wave of Russian attacks.

* Britain will send 14 of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks and artillery support to Ukraine, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office said, disregarding criticism from the Russian Embassy.

* Russia cancelled at the last minute a scheduled prisoner exchange, the Ukrainian body dealing with prisoners said, after Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said Russian soldiers had allegedly reported instances of extortion while in Ukrainian captivity.

* Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the G7 summit he will host in May should demonstrate a strong will to uphold the international order and rule of law after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

* Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused Kishida of shameful subservience to the United States and suggested he should ritually disembowel himself.

* Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said the coming days would be “difficult” on the energy front after a massive missile attack by Russia on Saturday hit critical infrastructure in several regions.

* “They keep sending SMS-es. We stop our work now and then to keep silence and we hear people scream from underneath the rubble,” said Mikhailo Lysenko, deputy mayor of Dnipro, of rescue efforts at the apartment building.

Related Galleries:

(NewsNation) — New reports show Idaho stabbing suspect Bryan Kohberger had posted in an online forum and in messages to friends discussing his struggles with mental health.

In messages obtained by the New York Times, a teenage Kohberger allegedly described suicidal thoughts, saying he felt “no emotion” and “little remorse.”

Former CIA and FBI agent Tracy Walder discussed Kohberger’s mental health as well as a rare neurological condition called “visual snow” during an appearance on NewsNation’s “Prime.”

“Well, I think really, what’s standing out is this is clearly someone who was struggling, you know, with their mental health, and these kind of online musings,” Walder said. “I have to wonder if they were almost sort of a cry for help.”

Watch the full interview in the video player at the top of the page.

(NewsNation) — It’s being called the Hollywood diet secret, a new medication first designed to treat diabetes that also helps you lose weight.

The drugs go by the names Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy.

Millions on social media are speculating the drugs are what the Kardashians and other celebs are taking to drop pounds fast.

The injectable medications were first designed to help those suffering from diabetes, but many without the disease are taking them to lose weight.

NewsNation spoke to one woman who says the drug has changed her life.

Kelsey said she’s lost nearly 40 pounds since September while on Mounjaro and “just knew” that she needed to make a change.

“Mounjaro helps me feel fuller longer,” she said. “It helps me do portion control on my own.”

She posted about her weight loss journey on TikTok.

The demand for these drugs is so high pharmacies all over the country are reporting they’re back ordered for months.

So how do these drugs work exactly?

According to Dr. Pounam Desai, an emergency room physician, in addition to curbing appetite, the active ingredient in the weekly shot affects the way insulin is processed in your body.

“Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are all injectable prescription medications that target and boost the production of glucagon-like peptide GLP-1. Now, GLP-1 is a hormone that targets the brain and digestive tract to help balance sugar. But it also decreases appetite and prolongs a sense of satiety,” Desai said. “So GLP-1 receptors promote fullness. So, these medications mainly work by helping you feel full quickly.”

Some are frustrated diabetics can’t get their hands on the drugs because of the number of people using them solely to lose weight.

But Desai said obesity is a health issue too and these drugs are a new weapon to help fight it.

“People who have Type 2 diabetes need the drug, and people also need the drug for the treatment of obesity. So, to be honest, I think both groups of people need the drug,” Desai said. “And from all three of those medications, currently only Wegovy is FDA-approved for the treatment of weight loss.”

Desai said these drugs have gone viral.

“When you see it on social media, talk to your doctor, talk to your doctor,” she said. “If this drug is right for you, as cliche as it sounds, talk to your doctor.”

We’ve slowly watched inflation become a non-issue as the House GOP took power – with nearly every Republican candidate reneging on their concern with inflation in favor of idiotic saber-rattling and partisan investigations. While the media’s top stories were inflation and gas prices for much of last summer, both continue to fall – and December was the sixth consecutive month in which we saw inflation drop. As this progresses, we’re likely to see a drop in interest rates continue throughout the new year, as well as falling gas prices lower rates of inflation even further.

Republicans may want to try and take credit for the thriving economy, but it’s been doing that while many of them were running – and each month provides a clear picture that they had nothing to do with the drop in prices. Right now, we’re seeing the sharpest drop in inflation since before the COVID pandemic hit back in 2020 – with a full drop of 0.1% between November and December. The Fed is expected to only raise rates by a quarter point in February and not by much higher for the rest of the year. Despite the economic emergency and recession Republicans were hoping for, things have recovered despite their strong opposition to it all the way.

The post Score one for President Joe Biden appeared first on Palmer Report.

Russian missile attacks in Dnipro kill at least 12; UK pledges to send Ukraine tanks to ‘push Russian troops back’; power outages across Ukraine

• See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage

Russia carried out two mass rocket attacks on Ukraine on Saturday, devastating an apartment block in Dnipro and leaving at least 12 people dead and many more injured, at least a dozen of them children. Rescue efforts were ongoing in the south-central city on Sunday. At least one person was also killed in a separate strike on a residential area in the nearby city of Kryvyi Rih. Ukrainian authorities said the targets were the country’s energy infrastructure.

The UK prime minister has confirmed the country will provide tanks to Ukraine to help Kyiv’s forces “push Russian troops back”. Downing Street said Rishi Sunak made the pledge during a call on Saturday morning with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and that Sunak offered Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems as a sign of the UK’s “ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine”. Russia’s embassy in Britain said the move would only “intensify” the conflict.

Emergency power outages were enacted across 11 regions of Ukraine after Russian strikes on energy infrastructure. In a post on Telegram, grid operator Ukrenegro said the consumption limits in force across the country were exceeded in 11 regions, as a result of which “emergency shutdowns have been applied”.

Four explosions were heard in central Kyiv on Saturday morning. For the first time since Russia began regular missile and drone attacks on the capital in autumn, the air raid sirens sounded after the attack. Until now, the sirens have sounded 10-90 minutes before an attack, giving residents time to seek shelter.

Air raid alerts were also issued across the country, including in the major cities of Kherson and Lviv. Alerts were also issued for the regions of Kharkiv, Donestk, Dnipropetrovsk and about a dozen others.

Ukraine has called on its allies to give it more support after its troops suffered heavy losses in fighting at Soledar and Bakhmut in recent months. Russia said on Friday its forces had taken control of Soledar in east Ukraine, its first claim of victory in months of battlefield setbacks, while Kyiv said fierce fighting was continuing in the town. “To win this war, we need more military equipment, heavy equipment,” said Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Agence France-Presse reported.

Moldovan authorities said debris from a missile had been found in its territory near the border with Ukraine. They said on Saturday the find came “after Russia’s massive bombardment of Ukraine” and that it was the third time missiles from the conflict had fallen on to Moldova’s territory.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has accused the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, of shameful subservience to the US and suggested he should ritually disembowel himself. His remarks on Saturday were the latest in a long line of shocking and provocative statements from arch-hawk Medvedev, Reuters reported. Speaking later on Saturday, a day after a summit with the US president, Joe Biden, Kishida made no mention of Medvedev’s comment

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