Mitch McConnell’s daughter deletes her X account as questions swirl over health after his hospitalization

The daughter of Senator Mitch McConnell has deleted her X account amid widespread speculation over the former Senate majority leader’s health, following a sudden June hospitalization.
It is unclear when or why Porter McConnell, a progressive-leaning political activist who previously directed the Take On Wall Street campaign, deleted her account.
The Independent has contacted Porter McConnell for comment.
Porter McConnell is one of three daughters the senator had with his first wife, Sherrill Redmon. She frequently posted criticism of the Republican Party on the now-deactivated account, TMZ noted.
Her social media activity comes as McConnell was found unconscious on June 14 and received CPR after suffering an apparent heart attack in his Washington, D.C., home, according to emergency records obtained by a variety of news outlets.
open image in galleryPorter McConnell, the daughter of Senator Mitch McConnell, pictured hugging her father in 2008, has deleted her X account amid widesprea..

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Maine senate race thrown into turmoil as woman accuses Democrat Graham Platner of sexual assault

Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner released a video message Monday denying a new allegation of sexual assault from a woman he previously dated, minutes after the release of an article detailing the woman’s accusations.
Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident, dated Platner in 2021 and told Politico that he entered her home uninvited while heavily intoxicated and repeatedly forced himself on her. She claimed that Platner, running for a U.S. Senate seat, grabbed her and was “being really forceful” during the encounter.
Platner flatly denied the allegations in a video posted to X after canceling a number of planned campaign appearances. He called the woman’s accusations “troubling, serious, and false.”
“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” said Platner, facing directly to camera.
The latest report from Politico follows a line of reporting into the Maine Senate candidate’s past that has slowly eroded his popularity and favorable image among voters ..

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Lebanon says Israeli strike on south kills 4, including 3 women

Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country’s south on Monday killed four people, including three women, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their car as they returned from inspecting their family home in Nabatieh al-Fawqa.
The Israeli military said on Monday that it identified…

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Canadian proverb of the day: ‘No snowflake lands the same twice’

No snowflake lands the same twice: When snow begins to fall, it rarely feels like a pattern. It feels like interruption, softness, and silence arriving in countless forms at once. In that quiet chaos sits a familiar winter idea often repeated in folk storytelling and popular reflection: no snowflake lands the same twice. It is not a formally recorded scientific law or a traceable ancient proverb with a single author. Instead, it belongs to a wider family of modern folk sayings that borrow from nature to express something deeply human: repetition is an illusion, and every moment carries its own shape.Origins and folk developmentThe phrase no two snowflakes are alike is more widely documented in scientific communication than the exact wording “no snowflake lands the same twice.” The latter appears to be a poetic extension of that idea, often circulated in contemporary winter storytelling, reflective writing, and informal cultural commentary rather than a single canonical text.The scienti..

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Spanish proverb of the day: ‘Don’t look at the teeth of a gifted horse’

Don’t look at the teeth of a gifted horse You are handed a gift, something you did not ask for, did not bargain for, and did not earn in that moment. You unwrap it, pause, and then start inspecting its flaws. That quiet pause is exactly what the old Spanish proverb warns against: “A caballo regalado no le mires el diente.” In simple English, it translates to “Don’t look at the teeth of a gifted horse.” The idea is straightforward but deeply human: when something is given freely, it is better to receive it with gratitude than to criticise its imperfections.Meaning and literal interpretationThe proverb comes from a literal practice in horse trading. In older societies, especially before modern veterinary science, a horse’s age and health were often judged by examining its teeth. Wear and condition could reveal how old or strong the animal was. So, inspecting a horse’s teeth was a way of evaluating its value.The proverb flips that logic. If the horse is a gift, the act of inspecting its t..

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Former CDC official says RFK Jr. has done ‘irreparable harm’ to his agency: ‘Really difficult to recover from’

Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s former chief medical officer, said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done “irreparable harm” since taking office.
Houry argued that Americans’ trust in public health has “decreased dramatically” in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan. She was one of several CDC leaders who resigned from the agency last summer over concerns about Kennedy’s leadership.
“I think the secretary has caused a lot of irreparable harm, and when you look at many of the polls out there, the trust in public health, specifically CDC, has decreased dramatically over 20 points in many polls,” Houry said.
“That's really difficult to recover from, and when states are removing links to the CDC website and following other medical organizations, I don't know how you build back that trust overnight,” she continued.
Only 50 percent of U.S. adults trust CDC recommendations, according to a survey of 2,205 people cond..

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Trump goes on manic 105-post Truth Social free-for-all hours after his July 4 MAGA-fest is beset by weather chaos

President Donald Trump went on a day-long social media spree Sunday, posting at least 105 times on Truth Social, a day after his July 4 speech was beset by weather problems.
Late on Saturday night Trump gave a partisan speech to thousands of supporters in Washington, D.C., who had been waiting more than an hour in the rain. While the speech started at 11 p.m., he had earlier warned he would wait until 2 a.m. to start if necessary.
The next day he returned to his usual Truth Social activities with a vengeance, with posts attacking his opponents, showing off photos of his father and uncle, and boasting about his accomplishments.
Throughout the day Sunday, Trump rattled off more than 100 Truth Social posts, with at least half a dozen related to attacks on a federal judge who recently ruled against his administration’s attempts to use a database of U.S. citizen’s private information to screen voter rolls.
The president posted screenshots of X posts from allies attacking Judge Sparkle Sook..

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Philippines’ record capital wage rise leaves workers hungry for more

In the Philippine capital, 85 pesos (US$1.40) is barely enough to buy a meal for one, let alone a family of five.
Yet that modest sum, roughly the price of 1½kg of premium imported rice, is the largest single wage increase ever approved for Metro Manila’s minimum-wage earners.
The government called it “historic”. Labour groups called it an insult.
The increase, to be rolled out in two stages, was confirmed by the Department of Labour and Employment on Tuesday.
Non-agricultural workers will see…

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