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<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Onion, the satirical news site, bought Alex Jones's Infowars at an auction.</li><li>Jones had been found liable for defaming the Sandy Hook families and ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion.</li></ul>Conspiracy theorist <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/infowars-sandy-hook-ex-staffers-describe-alex-jones-unhinged-workplace-2023-6">Alex Jones's Infowars</a> has a new home — and it's not the one he wanted.The Onion, the satirical publication, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://theonion.com/heres-why-i-decided-to-buy-infowars/">announced on Thursday</a> that it had purchased the disgraced far-right commentator's company at auction. The terms of the sale weren't disclosed.The purchase of Infowars has the support of the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre, and a revamped version of the site will feature advertisements from Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that aims to end gun violence, according to a statement from the gun-safety group.Jones had been found liable for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alex-jones-conspiracy-theorist-sandy-hook-massacre-hoax-allegations-2022-7">defaming the Sandy Hook families in four lawsuits</a> after he spent years spreading lies that the deadly 2012 school shooting was a hoax. Many of those lies were touted on his Infowars platform, which was put up for auction this year as part of an agreement that Jones would liquidate his assets to help pay a fraction of the nearly <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alex-jones-must-pay-473-million-punitive-damages-sandy-hook-2022-11">$1.5 billion he was ordered to pay the Sandy Hook victims' families</a>.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alex-jones-infowars-free-speech-systems-auction-sandy-hook-bankruptcy-2024-9">Jones had previously expressed his hopes</a> that one of his "patriot" allies would buy his company so that he could continue to broadcast on the platform.

The Onion buys Alex Jones's Infowars — and that's not a joke

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Iran is believed to have weaponized pharmaceutical agents to kill or incapacitate.</li><li>These chemical weapons affect a victim's central nervous system.</li></ul>Iran has developed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nerve-agents-chemical-weapons-how-they-work-2018-3">chemical weapons</a> based on synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, warns a US expert, powerful agents that could incapacitate soldiers or civilians when added to grenades or artillery.Pharmaceutical-based agents, or PBA, are essentially weaponized medicines that incapacitate or kill their victims depending on the exposure. Iran may have given PBA to its proxies such as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-naim-qassem-longtime-deputy-now-leading-hezbollah-2024-10">Hezbollah</a>, which could use them to kidnap Israeli troops and civilians."At a time of growing regional instability in the Middle East, largely the result of the militancy of Iranian proxies, the threats posed by Iran's weaponized PBA program can no longer be overlooked," wrote Matthew Levitt in an <a target="_blank" href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/tehrans-tactical-knockout-weaponized-pharmaceutical-based-agents/">article</a> for the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point.The U.S. Government Accountability Office defines PBAs as "chemicals based on pharmaceutical compounds, which may or may not have legitimate medical uses, and can cause severe illness or death when misused." They include opioids such as fentanyl and tranquilizers for animals.These drugs affect a victim's central nervous system. "Once inhaled, these agents cause victims to lose full consciousness and enable the forces deploying them to advance quickly and quietly and/or take captive the unconscious victims," Levitt wrote.Iran was a victim of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-uses-chemical-weapons-against-ukraine-cause-panic-war-report-2024-4">chemical warfare</a> during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, when Iraqi chemical attacks — including <a target="_blank" href="https://thebulletin.org/2024/07/iraq-once-devasted-iran-with-chemical-weapons-as-the-world-stood-by-governments-still-struggle-to-respond-to-chemical-warfare/">nerve gases</a> such as Sarin, and mustard gas — contributed to as many as 1 million Iranian casualties. But Iran employed its own mustard gas on a few occasions during the war. Israel believes Iran used PBAs against rebels in the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/drones-usher-in-a-brutal-new-phase-syrian-civil-war-2024-3">Syrian Civil War</a>, while there are reports that pro-Iranian militias in Iraq may have unleashed them against anti-government protestors."The problem is that Iran is right when they said they've been victims of chemical weapons in terrible ways during the Iran-Iraq war," Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute think tank, told Business Insider. "But the reality is they themselves have been using these as well."The US and its allies have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.elysee.fr/admin/upload/default/0001/05/2ffa826926cd72354b90a05f7de765bfcc9908b6.pdf">warned</a> for years that Iran is developing pharmaceutical-based weapons in breach of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the manufacture and use of "toxic chemicals," defined as "chemical action on life processes [that] can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to humans or animals." Treaty signatories — including Iran — are obligated to destroy existing stockpiles.Still, evidence suggests Iran is pursuing PBAs. "In 2014, Iran's Chemistry Department of IHU [Imam Hossein University] sought kilogram quantities of medetomidine — a [veterinary] sedative it has researched as an aerosolized incapacitant — from Chinese exporters, according to a 2023 US State Department's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.state.gov/2023-condition-10c-annual-report-on-compliance-with-the-chemical-weapons-convention-cwc/">report</a>. "The Chemistry Department has little history of veterinary or even medical research, and the quantities sought (over 10,000 effective doses) were inconsistent with the reported end use of research."In September 2023, Iranian anti-government hackers "posted confidential documents detailing an Iranian military university's development of grenades meant to disseminate medetomidine," the State Department said.Of particular concern were references in Iranian literature to the 2002 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.history.com/news/opioid-chemical-weapons-moscow-theater-hostage-crisis">Dubrovka incident</a>, when Russian security forces pumped pharmaceutical-based gas — probably fentanyl or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-07/hq092216_attach.pdf">carfentanyl</a>, another synthetic opioid vastly more potent — into a crowded Moscow theater to subdue Chechen rebels who had taken almost a thousand hostages. Commandos then stormed the building and killed the incapacitated rebels — but the gas also killed more than 130 hostages.Yet restricting PBAs is difficult because they overlap with products used for legitimate law enforcement and medical purposes. For example, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/3/21277995/police-tear-gas-protests-history-effects-violence">tear gas</a> has been used by law enforcement as a riot control agent since the First World War, while US troops used it in the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thenmusa.org/articles/tunnel-rats-of-the-vietnam-war/">Vietnam War</a> to smoke out enemy tunnels. Tear gas is still legal when employed for riot control, but not as a battlefield weapon.Stopping nations from manufacturing PBAs is " very, very difficult, which is why you've seen such a focus on diplomatic efforts, sanctions and some law enforcement actions," said Levitt.Iranian PBAs are a particular problem if Tehran has supplied them to proxies such as Hezbollah. "Deploying weapons produced with dual-use items, and then providing said weapons to proxies, provides Iran with multiple layers of cover and reasonable deniability for having done so at all," the CTC article noted.Israel feared that Hezbollah would use PBA weapons as part of an alleged plan to seize the Galilee region of northern Israel and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gaza-israels-special-forces-rescue-woman-on-a-motorbike-hostage-and-3-others-2024-6">kidnap Israeli citizens</a>. "Maybe you just use them to incapacitate the border guards and reach the now unprotected civilians," Levitt said. "Or, you actually target and incapacitate the soldiers so you can kidnap or capture them."Israel's recent military <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-launches-ground-offensive-into-lebanon-destroy-hezbollah-targets-2024-9">offensives in Lebanon</a> have badly hurt Hezbollah, including its huge arsenal of missiles. But PBAs can be added to hand grenades and mortar shells, of which Hezbollah still has ample stocks. And there remains a possibility that US forces could clash with Iran and its allies and encounter pharmaceutical-based agents. (The US, in contrast, completed the destruction of its chemical weapons in 2023.)However, Levitt emphasizes that PBAs are not in the same league as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rangers-are-training-to-neutralize-enemy-nuclear-sites-2024-11">weapons of mass destruction</a> such as nerve gas, which is potent enough to kill widely across exposure areas. "This is not a strategic threat. It is a tactical weapon."Nonetheless, chemical weapons do have a frightening aura, even if fentanyl gas is nowhere near as deadly as nerve gas. "I think that many, many people would see it that way because you're talking about chemical weapons," Levitt said.Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.twitter.com/@mipeck1">Twitter</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mipeck/">LinkedIn</a>.

Iran has developed fentanyl-based chemical weapons

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Spain's eastern province of Valencia was hit hard by intense flooding last week.</li><li>The government has pledged $11 billion to help it recover, but local authorities want $34 billion.</li></ul>Spain said it will give about $11 billion to help restore Valencia after flash floods hammered the province last week — but local authorities there want three times that amount.Historic, deadly flash floods — brought about by torrential rainfall — hit the area last week, killing at least 211, regional emergency services <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/GVA112/status/1853698255730942163">said</a> on Wednesday.Spain's State Meteorological <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spain-flooding-51-dead-in-valencia-region-economic-hub-2024-10">Agency</a> said last week that it was the province's most severe storm since 1987.During a press conference on Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his government had <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/sanchezcastejon/status/1853796678265938374">approved</a> $11.55 billion in loans and grants to help storm and flood victims.However, a day earlier, the province's president, Carlos Mazón, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/carlos_mazon_/status/1853555363678728545">said</a> local authorities had asked for an initial package equivalent to about $34 billion."The measures will serve to rebuild, relaunch, and mitigate the effects" of the storm, Mazón told reporters.<div type="image" title="Satellite images of the Valencia province before and after flash floods on October 25, 2022 (left), and October 30, 2024 (right)." height="480" width="640" msid="114986283" hostid="261" sizebytes="62758"></div>On Saturday, Valencia's Chamber of Commerce <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.camaravalencia.com/noticias/informe-sobre-danos-provocados-por-la-dana-en-los-municipios-mas-afectados-y-consecuencias-sobre-la-actividad-economica/">estimated</a> that up to 4,500 businesses had suffered notable damage, with potentially 1,800 severely impacted.The floods affected many economic sectors, including agriculture, industry, and services, it said.Automaking remains Valencia's most <a target="_blank" href="https://www.investinspain.org/en/regions/comunidad-valenciana/industrias-destacadas?#nameRegion">important industry</a>.Cristina del Rey, the communications director for Ford Spain, told BI last week that her company's Valencia plant had not suffered direct damage from the floods but was shut on Wednesday and Thursday.According to a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://fundacionaon.es/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/BAROMETRO-DE-CATASTROFES-2021.pdf">report</a> from the Aon Spain Foundation, a private foundation that works to prevent and assist with natural disasters, the annual cost of natural disasters in Spain between 2016 and 2021, including floods, was between $940 million and $2.5 billion.Local authorities on Sunday <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/GVA112/status/1853692672327721128/photo/1">said</a> that the heavy rains — part of a phenomenon known as "cold drops" — had caused "unprecedented" damage to infrastructure and human life.The provisional death toll put it among the most serious natural disasters in Western Europe in recent years. Widespread flooding in July 2021 killed more than 200 people in Belgium, Germany, and surrounding countries.At a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1ynJODVpRdXxR">press conference</a> on Tuesday, Sánchez declared Valencia a disaster area, paving the way for extra funding for local authorities.He said about 15,000 soldiers and police officers had been dispatched to the province, as well as 287 forest brigaders, around a hundred customs officers, 44 forensic physicians, and 600 specialized vehicles for pumping, cleaning, and supplying the affected areas.Sánchez added that 98% of affected households now had power, and about 25 miles of roads and 46 miles of railway tracks had been repaired."We must continue working with more resources, more coordination, and greater effort until normality returns to all the municipalities and to all the homes affected by this tragedy," he said.

Counting the cost of Spain's hellish floods, the government pledged $11B, local officials want $34B

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Netflix's new thriller "Don't Move" is top of the streamer's charts.</li><li>The film follows a woman who is injected with a paralyzing drug and pursued by a serial killer.</li></ul>Warning: major spoilers ahead for "Don't Move."Netflix is doubling down on nerve-racking films about serial killers with its latest thriller, "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-shows-movies-streaming-netflix-max-hulu-october-25-24">Don't Move</a>."Last week, "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anna-kendrick-beyond-terrified-direct-netflix-woman-of-the-hour-2024-10">Woman of the Hour</a>" was the most-watched film on Netflix film in the US, but it has since been dethroned by "Don't Move," which premiered on Friday.Both films are about serial killers, a topic that explored in Hollywood films for decades, and which Netflix has found success with in recent years thanks to hits like "You" and "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-dahmer-netflix-monster-families-victims-emmy-nominations-2023-7">Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story</a>.""Don't Move" does not have the same star power to attract audiences as "Woman of the Hour," but the premise does the heavy lifting.In the film, Iris (Kelsey Asbille) grieves the death of her child and plans to die by suicide by jumping off a cliff in the middle of a forest.But she meets Richard (Finn Wittrock), a handsome, charismatic man who persuades her off the ledge before kidnapping her.When Iris attempts to escape, Richard reveals that he has injected her with a drug that will paralyze her entire body in an hour. Thus starts a tense chase as Iris tries to escape Richard before she can no longer move her body.<h2 id="e8e7f68e-bf5f-44c4-8655-5a6dfb89af0c">In 'Don't Move' Iris must save herself</h2><div type="image" title="A still from &quot;Don't Move&quot; featuring a man wearing brown hiking boots, green jeans, a brown belt, a teal shirt, and a green jacket, and having a cut on his head, standing in a forest area. A woman in pink jacket and muddy jeans hides below a tree near the man." height="3000" width="2000" msid="114735525" hostid="261" sizebytes="552806"></div>The paralyzing drug works quickly, incapacitating Iris within the film's first hour. Then, Iris is at the mercy of other people who find her paralyzed body.A hermit finds her, then a mother and a child, and a cop notices Iris while she is stuck in a truck with Richard. None of them immediately realize she's in danger, and by the time they do, it is too late to save her.The hermit and the cop also nearly hand Iris over to Richard, believing his story that she is his mentally unstable or alcoholic wife. They only realize Richard is lying after he makes a dumb slip-up, but he kills both men before they can help Iris escape.These scenes echo society-wide conversations about believing victims brought to the fore by the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/me-too-movement-founder-tarana-burke-says-it-needs-a-narrative-shift-2019-4">#MeToo movement</a>, and the role that men can play in supporting women and stopping behaviors that enable abuse.In "Don't Move," Iris saves herself. In the film's last scenes, Richard takes Iris to the lake to kill her and bury her in the water.By the time Richard rows a boat to the center, the drug is wearing off, and Iris can move her body in short bursts.She tricks Richard into coming close to her, steals his knife, and stabs him in the neck. Iris forces Richard out of the boat and shoots him with a gun that he took from the cop.Richard starts swimming to shore, and Iris' boat starts sinking due to a leak from the gunshots. But she somehow regains her full body movement just in time to swim.<h2 id="6f66dd8d-0600-4396-b77f-b3cbede1bb21">Iris saying "thank You" to Richard has two meanings</h2><div type="image" title="A still of a brunette man wearing a blue top with a cut on his head." height="1333" width="2000" msid="114735526" hostid="261" sizebytes="131192"></div>After returning to shore, Iris finds Richard bleeding out by the lake. She kneels and says, "Thank you," before walking away.Some fans may have missed what that scene is referencing.While Iris is still paralyzed, Richard tells her of his ex-lover, Chloe, who died in front of him after a car crash.As Chloe dies, Richard realizes that he likes the feeling of seeing women die. He says it makes him feel like God, and thus, he starts luring women to the woods to kill them and recreate that feeling.Richard told Iris his last words to Chloe as she died was, "Thank you." So Iris says it back to him at the end as payback. Asbille and the film's directors, Brian Netto and Adam Schindler, told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/dont-move-ending-explained">Tudum</a> that Iris also genuinely thanked Richard for inspiring her to live. Her grief emotionally paralyzed her, but now she is free and determined to stay alive."It's double-edged, because she's sticking it to him on one end, but there is some genuine realization on her part of, 'Whoa, OK, I do owe this man my life because I didn't want to fight for my life before I met him,'" Netto said.

'Don't Move' ends with the victim thanking a serial killer. Here's why.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Scammers are targeting voters with fake registrations, surveys, and donation requests.</li><li>The scams often involve pressure tactics and requests for personal financial information.</li></ul>It's almost time for the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-donald-trump-15-days-swing-states-polling-2024-10">2024 presidential election</a>, and scammers are out in force.The three most common scams around elections are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-avoid-election-scams-stay-safe-from-voter-registration-fraud-2024-8">voter registration scams</a>, fake surveys and polls, and political donation scams, experts say.In all of these scams, the National Association of Secretaries of State says that scammers generally contact potential victims by phone or email, pretending to be a legitimate entity, like a political action committee or a state agency.The best way to spot an election scam in any of these instances is to stop and see if the person reaching out to you is asking for personal financial information. If they are, it's likely a scam.Other signs that a donation request from a PAC could be fake are if they push you to donate quickly or if the website doesn't provide any contact information, NASS says.According to the Federal Trade Commission, scammers commonly use "pressure" to get victims into uncomfortable situations. They will use phrases such as "act now!" to introduce a time element so that you don't have time to think about your actions."Pressuring you to act now is always a sign of a scam," the FTC says.Fake surveys and polls that prey on people's heightened emotions during election seasons are also common, NASS says. Signs that a survey or poll could be fake are if they offer compensation or prizes for participation or if they ask about controversial topics "to rile you up."To spot a fake voter registration message, check to make sure that the information you are receiving is coming from your official state or local election official, the agency says. Another common sign that a voter registration message could be a scam is if the messenger says you must pay to complete your voter registration.The FTC recommends reporting any unsolicited texts or calls from someone who says they need your Social Security Number or financial information to register you to vote. If you think you may be the victim of a scam, you can visit the <a target="_blank" href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/identity-theft">FTC's identity theft recovery page</a> to report the fraud.To register to vote, or to find out if your Social Security Number is required for voter registration in your state, the FTC says to contact your local election office or check the US Election Assistance Commission's National Voter <a target="_blank" href="https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/eac_assets/1/6/Federal_Voter_Registration_ENG.pdf">Registration Form</a>.

Here are the most common election scams and how to keep yourself safe

The <keyword id="19895346" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Calcutta-High-Court" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Calcutta High Court" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Calcutta High Court">Calcutta High Court</keyword> on Thursday directed the <keyword id="19896633" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CBI" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="CBI" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="CBI">CBI</keyword> to file a report by September 18 on detestable posts being made on social media regarding the <keyword id="22813393" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rape-murder-victim" source="keywords">rape-murder victim</keyword> of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. The body of the on-duty trainee doctor was found in the seminar room of the state-run hospital on August 9, triggering nationwide outrage. The CBI is investigating the case from the second week of August on an order of the high court. The petitioner prayed in the PIL that the CBI be directed to investigate the <keyword id="22008077" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cyber-offences" source="keywords">cyber offences</keyword> in connection with the "unfortunate and brutal incident." The court asked the Additional Solicitor General Asok Kumar Chakrabarti, representing the central agency, whether it could find a way to block these types of posts. The division bench, presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam, directed the joint director, CBI, Kolkata, to look into the grievance expressed by the petitioner with regard to the issue of such abominable <keyword id="20074678" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-media-posts" source="keywords">social media posts</keyword>. The bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, directed the CBI joint director or any other competent officer to file a report in this regard by September 18, when the PIL will come up for hearing again along with other petitions relating to the August 9 rape-murder of the doctor. After the order was dictated, Chakrabarti submitted before the court that the CBI does not have any separate wing to investigate such cyber crimes. Maintaining that the state police has a special unit to monitor such matters, he prayed that the <keyword id="20054502" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-Bengal-government" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="West Bengal government" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="West Bengal government">West Bengal government</keyword>'s cyber crime branch be also directed to file a separate report. The court said that it would consider the prayer on the next date of hearing.

Calcutta High Court seeks CBI report on nasty social media posts on RG Kar hospital rape-murder victim

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Chrysler Building, a renowned gem of NYC, is the latest victim of the office apocalypse.</li><li>Cooper Union, the property owner, told the Journal that RFR Holding owed $21 million in rent.</li></ul>The Chrysler Building, a long-admired gem of New York City's skyline, could be the latest victim of the nationwide office collapse.The lease between Cooper Union, which owns the land on which the building sits, and RFR Holding LLC was terminated last week, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/commercial/chrysler-building-owner-is-poised-to-lose-control-of-iconic-skyscraper-74c61ab7">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported.Cooper Union, a private college in the city, told the Journal that RFR Holding had not paid its rent since May and owed it $21 million.The website for RFR Holding, a private real estate management company, still features the Chrysler Building. The firm says it is "known for owning and managing some of Manhattan's most prestigious signature office properties, including 375 Park Avenue (The Seagram Building) and 405 Lexington (The Chrysler Building)." The firm says it has a "proven track record of adding significant value to acquired properties."Business Insider could not immediately reach RFR Holding, Cooper Union, or their respective attorneys for comment on Thursday. But attorneys representing RFR told the Journal it intends to hold onto the building and is prepared to go to court if needed."While RFR prefers to resolve this matter amicably, and privately, if possible, it is also prepared for the alternative, if necessary," the lawyers, Terrence Oved and Darren Oved, told the Journal.Commercial foreclosures have soared since the COVID-19 pandemic, which ushered in a monumental shift in workplace culture, launching the work-from-home and hybrid work era. The commercial office market has struggled to recover since. ATTOM, a real estate data provider, found <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/office-market-collapse-outlook-commercial-real-estate-foreclosures-default-debt-2024-4">foreclosures jumped 117%</a> year-over-year from March 2023 to the same time this year.The picture isn't any prettier if you zoom out. In May 2020, there were 141 commercial foreclosures. In June 2024, there were 647, a recent ATTOM <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.attomdata.com/news/most-recent/attom-special-report-june-2024-commercial-foreclosure-report/">report</a> found. New York, along with California, Texas, New Jersey, and Florida, saw the most commercial foreclosures in June 2024, the report said. Morgan Stanley warned in February that office buildings were facing a 30% peak-to-trough correction in office prices.Experts predicted the drop in office values could be as bad or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/office-commercial-real-estate-cre-crash-2008-gfc-delinquency-vacancy-2024-3">worse than the 2008 crash</a>. What that means for the iconic Chrysler Building — and the rest of the New York City skyline — remains to be seen.

An iconic gem of New York City's skyline is the latest victim of the office collapse

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Allie Rae chronicled her family's experience sheltering in place during Hurricane Milton.</li><li>The 40-year-old content creator and mother of three called it the scariest night of her life.</li></ul>Allie Rae is a mother, entrepreneur, and OnlyFans creator who said she had to endure Hurricane Milton with her family in their high-rise condominium in Clearwater Beach, Florida.She chronicled the experience on TikTok as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@allieraeofficial/video/7423883364186213675">tens of millions of viewers tuned in</a>. This essay is based on a conversation with Rae, 40, and has been edited for length and clarity.We moved to Florida about four years ago, wanting to get away from the Minnesota cold. We wanted a different life and it's beautiful down here.My husband and I were actually in London last week when Milton was developing, but we learned how serious the storm was going to be the day we flew back.We were supposed to fly straight to Vegas after touching down in Florida for a hockey game, but our tickets got canceled. So while we were in the air, I panic-bought five tickets to Houston — for my husband and our three sons — which is where my sister lives.But one hour before we landed on Monday, we got a notification that all of the airports were shutting down.It was never our intention to try to stay and ride out the storm. But when we got back, everyone was already evacuating, and there was no gas or supplies.We live in a two-story penthouse in Clearwater Beach in a mandatory evacuation zone. But ultimately, we felt like our best bet was to stock up on food and water, and stay in the high-rise as a family.<h2 id="5a46a97b-9219-4720-b3cb-eaae6d26b961">It was terrifying knowing there's a wind tunnel in your living room</h2>On Wednesday night, things started picking up quickly.Our building was constructed in the seventies, and our unit has a lot of windows — only about half of which were shuttered. We didn't have time to board them up and we were worried they would shatter.Our initial plan was to hole up in the master bedroom. Then we moved to the master closet and eventually to my office because everything was shaking, and the office didn't touch any exterior windows or walls.Two windows shattered on the main floor, which ended up getting flooded with an inch or two of rain.I can't even describe the sounds of those roars. It was terrifying knowing there was a wind tunnel in your living room.The building kept swaying, and we were getting a little dizzy — and scared it might collapse. We even packed up and went downstairs to the trash room on the ground floor of the building temporarily, but ultimately decided we'd be safer upstairs.It was the scariest night of our lives. I was in tears and just wanted it to end. It was like being on a Ferris wheel where you're sick and want to get off, but it just won't stop.<h2 id="9d4caab2-7afd-4d42-9297-77d4897bf1df">This experience hasn't shaken our love for Florida</h2>Once things finally died down in the middle of the night, we all took our air mattresses to the master bedroom and went to sleep.Waking up Thursday was daunting, but there are parts that are not as bad as we thought.The windows probably needed to be replaced anyway, and water damage is never cheap. I'm sure we have a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of damage, but we have insurance.We plan to stay here unless we're advised it's not safe. It's a large condo and there are still portions where we feel safe. We don't have power, but there's plenty of water and food.Still, this experience hasn't shaken our love for Florida. I love this state, and I know that this comes with it. And I'm not a victim-type gal. You don't live on the beach and have paradise 360 days a year and then complain when this happens.I was very well aware before moving here that these storms come with the package, and you have to be prepared for that. You become better at preparing over time.You could live out in the suburbs of Tampa, but I choose to live on the water and the beach. I've seen people who have to rebuild their houses constantly. For now, I take the emotional and financial risk and I'm comfortable with that.

My family endured a terrifying night when Hurricane Milton hit, but we won't move out of Florida

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The father of a woman killed by Hamas has defended an award-winning image of her.</li><li>The Associated Press photo showed Shani Louk half naked and face down in the back of a Hamas pickup.</li></ul>The father of a woman who was killed during Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel has defended the decision to present a prestigious journalism award to a freelancer who photographed his daughter's dead body.The Associated Press freelancer Ali Mahmud won the <a target="_blank" href="https://poy.org/81/14.html">Reynolds Journalism Institute's award for the team picture story of the year</a> for the image, which showed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mother-german-tattoo-artist-pleads-for-information-about-her-death-2023-10">Shani Louk's</a> lifeless body splayed in the back of a pickup truck and surrounded by Hamas militants.Louk, a German tattoo artist, had been attending an outdoor "festival for peace" party near the Urim kibbutz when Hamas fighters targeted the area in a terrorist attack.<div type="image" title="Hamas militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk." height="683" width="1024" msid="108902996" hostid="261"></div>The decision to award the prize for Mahmud's photo received fierce backlash on social media and from some Jewish commentators.The official X, formerly Twitter, profile for the <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Israel/status/1773687121628262861">state of Israel</a> appeared to react to the news of the award by sharing several images of Louk alive and smiling, writing: "This is how we want Shani Louk to be remembered."Hen Mazzig, an Israeli writer, hit out on X at the decision, saying that the image "dehumanizes" Louk."The biggest photojournalism competition in the world decided to trample on the family's wishes in favor of giving a photo of Shani's mutilated body a prestigious award," he wrote."Photos showing violence and death can be newsworthy or important when they humanize the dead or galvanize the public," he added. "The 'winning' photo does neither; it only further dehumanizes Shani, retraumatizes her family and legitimizes Hamas's actions under the guise of journalistic neutrality."<h2>'This is one of the most important photos in the last 50 years'</h2>But Louk's father, Nissim Louk, told the Israeli news outlet <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/s1q11211z1c#autoplay">Ynet</a> that he was glad the photo won the award."It's good that the photo won the prize," he said. "This is one of the most important photos in the last 50 years. These are some of the photos that shape human memory."Nissim added that the image of his daughter and those of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-kidnapped-woman-begs-hamas-fighters-not-to-kill-her-2023-10">Noa Argamani being taken hostage by Hamas militants on a motorcycle</a> were images that "symbolize this era.""I think it's a good thing to use it to inform the future," he said. "If I start crying, what will come of it? This is history. In 100 years, they will look and know what happened here. I travel the world, and everyone knows who Shani is."It is now six months since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, which broke out after Hamas' October 7 attacks that killed about 1,200 people and saw around 240 others kidnapped and taken hostage in Gaza.Israel responded to the attacks with relentless airstrikes and a ground invasion of the territory. More than 32,000 Palestinians have so far been killed, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/30/israels-war-on-gaza-live-fears-grow-of-wider-conflict-after-deadly-strike#:~:text=Death%20toll%20in%20Gaza%20rises,been%20injured%20since%20October%207.">Al Jazeera</a> reported.Israel announced on Sunday that it had reduced the number of troops in the south of Gaza, with just one brigade remaining there. A military spokesperson gave no details on the reasoning for the move, per <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-withdraws-most-ground-troops-southern-gaza-spokesperson-says-2024-04-07/">Reuters</a>.It comes as Israel faces mounting international pressure over the killing of seven World Central Kitchen workers on Monday.

Shani Louk: Hamas victim's father defends award-winning photo of her body as 'symbol' of an era      

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Netflix's documentary "Sweet Bobby" follows a woman deceived into a fake online relationship.</li><li>Kirat Assi said she didn't find out her lover's true identity for eight years into the relationship.</li></ul>Warning: Spoilers ahead for Netflix's "Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare" and the earlier podcast "Sweet Bobby."Kirat Assi, the subject of "Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare," is still hoping that police will pursue her <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-being-catfished-2018-9">catfisher</a> after reporting them six years ago.Officers in London told Business Insider that they were again investigating her case after initially dropping it. (Sky News was first to report the development.)The Netflix show plays on two recent hot topics in streaming: true crime and scams, where extra publicity can shed new light on the cases.Here are some of the twists not captured in the show.<h2 id="f4d9cf3f-72bc-4cd7-81cc-8432e90fe0d1">An 8-year deception</h2>In 2010, Assi, a radio presenter from London, began a friendship over Facebook with a man she believed was Bobby Jandu, a wealthy heart doctor.She later thought she met his family on Facebook after the relationship turned romantic and the pair got engaged without ever meeting.Assi was deceived. In 2018 she found that Simran Bhogal, her second cousin, created the elaborate fiction with a web of accounts in a particularly sophisticated example of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-catfished-online-fake-identities">catfishing</a>.By then, Assi had found and confronted the real Jandu, who had no idea who she was.Jandu and Assi reported Bhogal to the police in the UK. But catfishing is not a crime under UK law, and Bhogal was not charged or prosecuted.Assi sued Bhogal in English courts in a 2020 civil case. The pair settled a year later, with Assi getting financial compensation and an apology letter that could be shown to a limited set of people.Here's what the documentary missed out on Assi's journey for justice.<h2 id="318f63e5-1862-4210-9b4f-feaa4f224c39">Bhogal's attorneys made their own allegations</h2><div type="image" title="A picture of a South Asian woman wearing headphones and a pink top sitting in a radio booth." height="844" width="1125" msid="114426711" hostid="261" sizebytes="41290"></div>In episode five of the 2021 podcast series "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tortoisemedia.com/listen/sweet-bobby/">Sweet Bobby</a>," which publicized Assi's story before the Netflix release, host Alexi Mostrous said that Assi hired two lawyers.Amrit Maan and Yair Cohen helped her pursue legal action against Bhogal in the months following her first interactions with London's Metropolitan Police.While Maan tried to help Assi get the police to investigate, Cohen represented Assi in the UK's civil courts.Mostrous said Assi then sent a letter threatening legal action against Boghal, accusing her of harassment, misusing Assi's private information, and breaching data protection laws.Bhogal's attorney responded by accusing Assi of grooming Bhogal because the online relationship began when Bhogal was a child and Assi was 32, Mostrous reported. The attorneys also claimed that Assi always knew Bhogal was pretending to be Bobby and threatened to go public with the allegation if the lawsuit wasn't dropped.Assi said in the podcast: "It's outrageous. I just thought that's so low and so disgusting of you. You've already confessed."Assi did not back down.In episode six of the podcast, Mostrous said Bhogal offered a payout and a semi-private apology letter to settle the case in the spring of 2021. Mostrous said Assi wanted a public apology but accepted the settlement after speaking to her lawyers.<h2 id="005b259f-792f-4621-8298-48e134af4c39">Assi has appealed to the police to investigate the crime</h2><div type="image" title="A still from &quot;Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare&quot; featuring an image of a south Asian man in a t-shirt in a frame." height="844" width="1125" msid="114426715" hostid="261" sizebytes="19582"></div>In the Netflix documentary, Assi said the police in London did not take her claim seriously and thought that Jandu and his wife were the real victims of the catfishing case.The Metropolitan Police dropped the case in 2019, citing a lack of evidence.But on Friday, a spokesperson told Business Insider that it was again investigating, and was "actively working with" Assi.It followed Assi complaining about the handling of her case to the UK's Independent Office for Police Conduct.The IOPC told BI that it found fault with the initial response and asked the Met to review its investigation process.It wasn't clear precisely when or why the Met reopened its case.

Netflix's 'Sweet Bobby' follows an 8-year catfishing. Here's what happened after the victim learned the truth.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>New satellite imagery shows how Russia has continued to add defenses to protect the Kerch Bridge.</li><li>Russia has placed additional barriers nearby to protect it from Ukraine's naval drones.</li></ul>New satellite imagery shows how Russia has stepped up its efforts to protect a key bridge from Ukrainian attacks, including its exploding naval drones.The images, captured last weekend by Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider, reveal a growing build-up of defenses around the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia with the occupied Crimean peninsula.The 12-mile-long bridge was once an important supply route for the Russian military, but it is primarily a symbol of Russia's grip on Crimea. It has fallen victim to several <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-russia-fail-stop-ukrainian-drone-boat-hit-key-bridge-2023-8">high-profile Ukrainian attacks</a>, including a naval drone strike.Russia <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-protecting-crimean-bridge-with-barges-2024-6">started placing barges</a> on the southern side of the bridge in early May to defend the structure and the shipping channel from future Ukrainian naval drone attacks. Previously installed barriers had been damaged by storms, according to Western intelligence.By June, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-ships-not-enough-protect-kerch-bridge-ukraine-naval-drones-2024-6">the protective measures had increased</a> to include additional barges and floating boom defenses running parallel to the bridge. But the new images captured on Saturday reveal a significant increase in the number of barges protecting the bridge.<div type="image" title="Overview of barriers near the Kerch Bridge on September 28." height="5526" width="6500" msid="113859098" hostid="261" sizebytes="3782210"></div>Ukraine has used its fleet of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-made-naval-drones-deadlier-larger-warheads-general-says-2024-3">domestically produced naval drones</a> to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/satellite-images-show-black-sea-fleet-running-away-crimea-ukraine-2024-6">wreak havoc on Russian warships</a> and other Black Sea Fleet assets. The threat has prompted Moscow to add defenses like the ones at the Kerch Bridge <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/satellite-images-show-russia-protect-black-sea-fleet-warships-ukraine-2024-4">to the key ports</a> of Sevastopol and Novorossiysk.Brady Africk, an open-source-intelligence analyst and associate at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, first pointed out the added barrier defenses in a Sunday <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/bradyafr/status/1840399885717078302">post on X</a> and noted the drastic change between early May and late September.The new barriers are not the only <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-smoke-screens-sunken-ships-defend-bridge-ukraine-drone-boats-2023-9">protective measures</a> Russia has taken to shield the bridge. Satellite images captured on Saturday show two Pantsir air-defense systems near the structure.Maxar said the towers for these systems were being built between August 18 and 23. Their construction suggests Russia is not just concerned about maritime threats to the bridge from below. It also wants to protect the structure from above.<div type="image" title="A Pantsir air-defense system on a tower near the Kerch Bridge on September 28." height="5475" width="7134" msid="113859100" hostid="261" sizebytes="812494"></div><div type="image" title="A second Pantsir air-defense system on a tower near the Kerch Bridge on September 28." height="1436" width="1840" msid="113859099" hostid="261" sizebytes="199756"></div>The bridge was previously hit by a truck bomb. Russia has claimed Ukraine <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://kyivindependent.com/russia-claims-ukraine-used-atacms-to-attack-crimean-bridge/">targeted the bridge</a> with US-provided ballistic missiles but said the attack was unsuccessful. Kyiv has also armed its naval drones with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-drone-boats-heat-seeking-missiles-scare-russian-aircraft-commander-2024-6">missiles and rockets</a>, extending the threat beyond the water's surface, creating further challenges.Moscow began construction on the Kerch Bridge after it illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. The bridge is a prized accomplishment of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is a symbol of the Kremlin's desire to maintain its occupation of Crimea forever.Ukraine previously <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-commander-vows-destroy-key-russia-crimea-bridge-this-year-2024-2">vowed to destroy the bridge</a> because of its role as a key supply and logistics route to support Russian military activities in Crimea after the 2022 invasion, and Kyiv has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-zelenskyy-says-kerch-bridge-to-crimea-must-be-neutralized-2023-7">shown its desire</a> through its multiple attacks on the site.However, taking out the bridge now would be less militarily effective and more symbolic because Russia relies on it less frequently to support its troops in Crimea than it did earlier in the war.A Ukrainian Navy spokesperson said in June that most of the cargo is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://kyivindependent.com/destruction-of-kerch-bridge-wont-be-as-effective-anymore-military-says/">transported by ferry</a>. Kyiv has also targeted these operations.

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