Te Puke's new $6.1m bridge opens after 2023 washout
The new No 4 Rd bridge in Te Puke officially opened this week, marking the return of a vital permanent link for the local community.
A dawn blessing was held to mark the occasion, two-and-a-half years after the original bridge washed away during severe weather in January 2023, a Western
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What we know about the violent Jacksonville traffic stop that went viral
William McNeil, Jr., the 22-year-old Florida man whose violent arrest by Jacksonville sheriff's deputies was caught in a viral video, is expected to speak out about the incident during a press conference outside the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office on Wednesday morning. The sheriff's office said on Sunday that the agency launched an investigation into the Feb. 19 incident after the 2-minute cell phone video captured by McNeil went viral. On Monday, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters also released body camera footage from two deputies who were present on the scene of the arrest. In the video, sheriff's deputies are seen beating and punching McNeil during the traffic stop after he repeatedly questioned why he was being pulled over and refused to exit his vehicle. What the video shows of McNeil's arrest McNeil was pulled over by a sheriff's deputy at 4:15 p.m. local time for allegedly not having his headlights on due to "inclement weather" and not wearing a seat belt, according to a police report obtained by ABC News. Body camera video shows McNeil telling the deputy that it wasn't raining and he didn't need to have his headlights turned on and asked to speak with a supervisor. After McNeil locks himself in his vehicle and repeatedly refuses to exit, the deputy threatens to break his window and calls for backup, the video shows. The body camera video and the 2-minute cell phone video both captured McNeil being punched and beaten after a deputy broke his car window. The videos show McNeil speaking with a group of deputies and appearing to explain why he was pulled over by the first deputy who arrived on the scene. "There's no rain," McNeil says in the video. "It doesn't matter," a sheriff's deputy can be heard saying as they ask him to exit his vehicle. Harry Daniels, one of the attorneys representing McNeil, told ABC News Live anchor Kyra Phillips in the interview on Monday that his client refused to exit his vehicle because he was "afraid" of police. "He is afraid. You know, in this environment, policing in America, especially young men of color, are very afraid of police," Daniels said, adding that his client decided to begin recording the incident once the deputy refused to call a supervisor so he could dispute the traffic stop. After McNeil again asks to speak with a supervisor, the videos show a deputy -- who was identified by Waters on Monday as D. Bowers -- breaking McNeil's car window and punching him in the face while McNeil is facing forward. McNeil then appears to be pulled out of his car and is punched again as he is pushed down to the ground by multiple deputies and seemingly beaten. "You're under arrest," officers can be heard saying as they push McNeil to the ground and hold him down. The charges against McNeil Court records show that McNeil was arrested and charged with "resisting arrest without violence to his or her person," possessing not more than 20 grams of marijuana with intent to use drug paraphernalia, driving while driver's license is suspended, not wearing a seatbelt and no headlights in rain/fog/or smoke. Additionally, court records show that he was sentenced to and served two days in jail for resisting arrest without violence and driving with a suspended license. "McNeil was arrested and pled guilty to resisting a police officer without violence," Waters said. "Force absolutely looks ugly, and because all force is ugly, whether or not the officer involved acted within outside [Jacksonville Sheriff's Office] policy, that's still what we're investigating." In the incident report filed by Bowers, the deputy does not mention that he punched McNeil while he was sitting in his car, but says that 'force' was used after McNeil was removed from the vehicle. The report filed by Bowers also claims that McNeil reached for a knife on the floor of his vehicle as officers opened the door. The body camera video does not show McNeil reaching for a knife on the floor of his car. The video does appear to show an object that the sheriff's office identified as a knife on the floor of McNeil's car that officers recovered after he was removed from the vehicle. A deputy can be heard pointing it out in the video. A reporter pressed Waters on the claim that McNeil reached for a knife, saying, 'I couldn't see any clear indication of that in the video. Do you see that when you're watching?'' 'No, actually, I don't see where his hands are. I can't assume, no one can assume,' Waters said. Daniels told Phillips on Monday that the claim that McNeil reached for a knife is a 'lie," and criticized the deputy for not disclosing that he punched McNeil in the incident report. What's next for McNeil and the officer Waters announced on Monday that "the State Attorney's Office has determined that none of the involved officers violated criminal law," but highlighted that the deputies' actions are now being examined in an "administrative review," which will determine if the deputies "violated [Jacksonville Sheriff's Office] policy." ABC News has reached out to the Office of the State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit serving Clay, Duval, & Nassau Counties for further comment. "Pending the outcome of this administrative review, Officer Bowers has been stripped of his law enforcement authority," Waters said. It is unclear if other deputies involved in the arrest have been placed on administrative leave. "I will neither defend nor commend officer Bowers' response to resistance until all the facts are known and the investigation is completed," Waters said. It is unclear if Bowers has retained an attorney. ABC News has reached out to Jacksonville Sheriff's Office for further comment, but have not heard back. On Monday, Daniels said that his client plans to take legal action. "This officer broke his window and just punched him in his face. Mr. McNeil suffered very significant injury," Daniels said. "We are planning to do everything we can do to secure justice," Daniels said when asked if the legal team plans to file a lawsuit. "We are seeking all options to ensure accountability."
a few seconds ago
Zelenskyy faces major anti-corruption protests as Ukraine prepares for Russia talks
LONDON -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is facing protests across the country after signing a controversial bill on Tuesday that critics say will neuter the independence of two prominent anti-corruption bodies. As Ukrainian and Russian delegations prepare to meet in Istanbul, Turkey, for a new round of ceasefire talks, Zelenskyy and his allies are facing a groundswell of opposition at home. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy signed a controversial law passed by parliament that will bring the Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and its partner organization, the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), under the direct control of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO). Both bodies were set up in the aftermath of Ukraine's pro-Western Maidan Revolution in 2014, with the intention of rooting out systemic corruption and helping Kyiv reform its democratic system with an eye on European Union accession. The passing of the new legislation this week prompted protests in Kyiv and other major cities across Ukraine, with demonstrators even violating the nighttime curfew imposed as a guard against nightly Russian drone and missile strikes. A spokesperson for the European Commission warned the move could undermine Ukraine's potential bid to join the EU. Kyiv's European funding, they added, is "conditional on progress on transparency, judicial reform and democratic government." Transparency International's Ukraine branch, meanwhile, said the move represented a "massive setback in anti-corruption reform" and a "direct threat to Ukraine's path to the EU." The passage of the bill followed dozens of raids on NABU employees by officers from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the PGO on Monday. Officers also began inspecting the handling of state secrets at SAPO. Zelenskyy and his supporters have framed the measures as necessary to root out Russian infiltration and influence within Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies. "The anti-corruption infrastructure will work," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram late on Tuesday. "Only without Russian influences -- everything needs to be cleansed of this. And there should be more justice." "Of course, NABU and SAPO will work. And it is important that the Prosecutor General is determined to ensure that in Ukraine the inevitability of punishment for those who go against the law is really ensured," he added. "And this is what is really needed for Ukraine. The cases that were pending must be investigated." "For years, officials who fled Ukraine have been living peacefully abroad for some reason -- in very nice countries and without legal consequences," Zelenskyy continued. "This is abnormal. There is no rational explanation why criminal proceedings worth billions have been 'hanging' for years. And there is no explanation why the Russians can still get the information they need." "It is important that there is an inevitability of punishment and that society really sees this," the president wrote. The bill was passed by the Ukrainian parliament -- the Rada -- by 263 representatives, having quickly moved through committee. Thirteen MPs voted against, 13 abstained and 35 did not vote. It was supported in parliament by members of Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party, as well as former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna party. The Opposition Platform – For Life party, which is widely considered pro-Russian and has had several representatives accused of treason during the war, also backed the measure. Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of Zelenskyy's party and the chair of the parliament's foreign affairs committee, told ABC News he backed the legislation though admitted he had "some doubts" about its content. "I trust the president," Merezkho said. "In such cases I normally also trust the decision of the committee." Merezhko said his concerns were over "what consequences it might have from the perspective of the negotiations with the EU on our membership." European counterparts, Merezhko continued, "are worried and they are asking questions. I think that we need better communication with our European partners on that issue." "There might be some sensitive aspects which need clear explanation to our partners by the president," he added. "I'm personally in favor of the independence of the anti-corruption bodies. But I'm also in favor of the true rule of law of the state in Ukraine." Zelenskyy's decision to sign the divisive bill has piqued concern of an anti-democratic power grab by the president and his inner circle -- chief among them Andriy Yermak, the head of the presidential office. A former Ukrainian official, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, told ABC News, "We are not losing the war because the West did not give us enough weapons. We are losing the war because of corruption, lack of professional management and because many do not see why they should fight for Zelenskyy's autocracy." "Yermak is just a good implementor of Zelenskyy's will," the former official added. Vitaliy Shabunin, a prominent Ukrainian anti-corruption activist who previously headed the first Public Oversight Council at NABU, said the bill will allow the prosecutor general -- who is appointed by the president -- to "shut down all investigations involving the president's friends." Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko -- who has repeatedly clashed with Zelenskyy's administration during Russia's full-scale war -- joined protesters in the capital on Tuesday. The new measure, he wrote on Telegram, "definitely does not bring Ukraine closer to the European Union. It certainly does not bring it closer to democracy, the rule of law, and legality -- to those values for which our soldiers are dying today in a bloody struggle against the aggressor." Proponents of the bill "are dragging Ukraine faster and faster into authoritarianism," the mayor added, "hiding behind the war, destroying anti-corruption bodies, local self-government, silencing activists and journalists." "Yes, there are many questions about the independence, impartiality, and adherence to legal procedures by all law enforcement agencies," Klitschko continued. "But the system needs to be changed, not turned into a bulldog of the authorities." "And we must not forget that sooner or later, all actions will have to be accounted for -- both politically and legally," the mayor wrote.
Filipino Times
a few seconds ago
- Filipino Times
Over 32,000 residency law violators caught in UAE from January to June 2025
More than 32,000 individuals who violated the UAE's Entry and Residency Law were caught by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) during the first half of 2025. The violations were uncovered from January to the end of June during nationwide inspection campaigns carried out under the theme 'Towards a Safer Society,' aimed at ensuring that foreigners comply with the country's residency and employment laws, WAM reported. Major General Suhail Saeed Al Khaili, Director General of the Authority, said the campaigns are meant to reduce the number of violators, while also giving residents and tourists the chance to fix their visa status or leave the country legally. Around 70 percent of the violators were deported after completing legal procedures, while others are in detention and will be referred to concerned authorities to enforce the law. Al Khaili reminded the public that penalties also apply to anyone who hires or shelters people staying in the UAE without valid documents. He added that the ICP will continue these campaigns and take legal action against violators to help maintain the country's safety and stability.
