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Minneapolis police arrested a 10-year-old boy for allegedly driving a stolen vehicle near a school playground last month — and it's not the boy's first brush with the law, police said.

Ukraine could potentially join NATO even if parts of its territory remained occupied by Russia, the alliance's former Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview on Oct. 4.

One of the main arguments against granting Ukraine membership at the current time is that NATO's Article 5 mutual defense clause would immediately draw the alliance into a direct war with Russia.

But speaking to the Financial Times, Stoltenberg suggested there could be ways to get around this if the Ukrainian territory considered part of NATO was "not necessarily the internationally recognized border."

National police chief Viorel Cernautanu revealed that over 130,000 Moldovans were bribed by a Russian network to promote pro-Kremlin candidates, raising concerns about malign influence.

Moldova has accused Moscow of interfering in the upcoming referendum on the country's European Union membership bid, alleging it has poured significant funds to turn people against it and influence the vote. 

Speaking to the press on Thursday, National police chief Viorel Cernautanu said more than 130,000 Moldovans had been bribed by a Russian network pushing pro-Kremlin candidates in a bid to derail attempts to grow closer to the EU.

With presidential elections set to be held on 20 October, alongside a referendum on whether the country should pursue its bid for EU membership, the news has raised concerns about corruption.

Several people, including a small child, died when overcrowded boats were trying to cross the Channel to the UK, French authorities said. The interior minister said the child was trampled to death on board.

France's interior minister said that several people, including a small child, died on Saturday trying to cross the English Channel in overcrowded boats.

"Today several people died trying to cross the English Channel," Bruno Retailleau said. "A child was trampled to death in a small boat." 

Retailleau said the "tragedy" again highlighted the need to crack down on people smuggling groups organizing the dangerous crossings. 

"The people smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will intensify the fight against these mafias who are getting rich by organizing these crossings of death," he wrote.

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines accused Chinese maritime officials on Friday of carrying out an "unjustified assault" on Vietnamese fishermen in the contested waters of the South China Sea, adding its voice to a fraught dispute over the confrontation.

Vietnam said this week that Chinese law enforcement officers had beaten 10 fishermen and seized their gear while they were working last Sunday near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands, which Hanoi also claims and calls Hoang Sa.

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State’s bid cites requirements that $60 Trump-endorsed God Bless the USA Bible appears to be tailor-made to meet

Oklahoma’s top education official is seeking to buy 55,000 Bibles for public schools and specifying that each copy contain the Declaration of Independence and US constitution, which are not commonly found in Bibles but are included in one endorsed by former president Donald Trump.

The request is part of Republican state superintendent Ryan Walters’ ongoing efforts to require Bibles in every classroom, which has been met with resistance by some of Oklahoma’s largest school districts.

Walters is seeking to spend $3m in state funds for Bibles that fit a certain criteria, including that the pages are supplemented with US historical materials. The Bibles must also be “bound in leather or leather-like material for durability”, according to state bidding documents posted this week.

• U.S. broadband providers had their networks breached in a cyberattack tied to the Chinese government that targeted wiretap requests, The Wall Street Journal reports.
• It’s possible the hackers had access for months or longer to networks the U.S. uses to make lawful requests for communications data, the newspaper wrote.

Like many Americans, Carolina Giuliani was paralyzed over the prospect that Donald Trump — the man she blames for ruining her father and damaging her family — could be close to returning to the White House.

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“It’s a hard phenomenon to understand. It definitely is,” Carolina Giuliani said. “I view Trump as a disease, and I think it’s really important to remember that with every disease, prevention is a much more effective strategy than treatment. ... I thought we had cured ourselves of it the first time, but it doesn’t seem like we have.

“And I think if he becomes the president again, we may have a terminal illness in our country. And that really, really scares me.”

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When Sarah Harris went in for surgery to remove her wisdom teeth in the summer of 2020, she must have thought she was in good hands. The oral surgeon she chose, Dr. James Ryan, had years of training, a good reputation and a thriving practice near her Washington, D.C.-area home. As a new patient at 23, she may never have dreamed he'd allegedly watched her when she was just 14. And Ryan would do more than take out Sarah's teeth. Her family says he would take her self-control and eventually take her life.

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Her story raises questions about the state of reproductive rights in this country, disparities in health care, and pregnancy criminalization, especially for Black women like Marsh. More than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which allowed states to outlaw abortion, the climate around these topics remains highly charged.

Marsh’s case also highlights what’s at stake in November. Sixty-one percent of voters want Congress to pass a federal law restoring a nationwide right to abortion, according to a recent poll by KFF, the health policy research, polling, and news organization that includes KFF Health News. These issues could shape who wins the White House and controls Congress, and will come to a head for voters in the 10 states where ballot initiatives about abortion will be decided.

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Tensions rose during a bipartisan forum this week after an audience question about discrimination reportedly led an Idaho state senator to angrily tell a Native American candidate to “go back where you came from.” 

Republican Sen. Dan Foreman left the event early after the outburst and later denied making any racist comments in a Facebook post. He did not respond to a voice message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

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Deadly flooding from Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina has also disrupted the underground nests of yellow jackets, bees and other insects, causing them to swarm and sting people struggling to recover from the storm.

It’s caused such a surge in requests for medication to protect people allergic to stings that the the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is buying Benadryl and epinephrine injections to help fill requests through hospitals, emergency medical personnel and doctors. And the humanitarian aid group Direct Relief says it has sent more than 2,000 EpiPen injections to community health centers, clinics and pharmacies across western North Carolina.