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Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Health
- Scottish Sun
Girl, 9, recalls moment she ‘picked up hand' & ‘started screaming' in horror shark attack as dad says ‘miracle' happened
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE nine-year-old girl has recalled the moment her hand was almost torn off in a savage shark attack while snorkeling with her mom. Leah Lendel underwent a six-hour surgery to repair her hand that was left "hanging by skin" after she was mauled by an eight-foot shark off Boca Grande beach in Florida on June 11. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 9 Leah Lendel spoke out about the horror shark attack on June 11 Credit: ABC NEWS 9 She had been snorkeling off a Boca Grande beach with her mom Credit: ABC News 9 A 9-year-old girl in Florida is recovering from surgery after a shark nearly bit her hand off while she was snorkeling off a Boca Grande beach last week. Credit: ABC News 9 Leah's mom said her daughter's 'instincts kicked in' and she ran out of the bloody water Credit: ABC NEWS "Something hard bit me and then tried to tug me away," she said at a news conference at Tampa General Hospital. While flanked by her parents and doctors, Leah recalled how she and her mom started screaming when they realized what happened. "I didn't see anything. I was just snorkeling," she said. "I went up to breathe. And then, something hard bit me and tried to take me away. "Then I pick up my hand and is all in blood. I start screaming with my mom". Nadia, Leah's mom, told reporters how she thought her daughter had lost a limb, saying "It was really, really bad" and that she didn't think her daughter "was going to have a hand." "It's some sort of miracle that now she has a hand," she added. "There was so much blood in the water right next to me, in an instant I knew it's a shark attack," Nadia said, adding that her daughter's "instincts kicked in". Leah ran out of the water where she was picked up by her dad and taken to the road where people rushed to help. "We [saw] that little girl come out from the water with no hand, it was... like everybody was in shock," eyewitness Alfonso Tello who was on a lunch break at the beach told NBC-affiliate WBBH. Shark attack reported at popular US beach as victim rushed to hospital just weeks after 1,600lb beast spotted in state One horrified beach goer who ran to Leah told CBS-affiliate WINK that her hand "was hanging but this whole thing was completely hanging out. You can see bones all completely red". A frantic 911 call revealed how those nearby wrapped towels around Leah's hand that was "completely destroyed" and put her arm in a tourniquet to stem the bleeding. Within four minutes, responders from the Boca Grande Fire Department were on scene and she was flown two hours to Tampa General. MIRACLE WORKERS Leah's doctors told reporters how there was a six-hour window for them to save her hand from the moment she was mauled by the shark. Statement from Leah Lendel's family following the shark attack Nine-year-old Leah experienced a terrifying and life-altering event. Her family has issued the following statement following the suspected bull shark attack in Boca Grande, Florida: "We want to say Thank You to everyone that is praying for our sweet Leah. "We are thankful for the quick response of everyone that was on scene, the construction workers, residents that ran out to help and the first responders and to all the Doctors/Nurses that are doing everything to help our girl. "Yesterday Leah had an extensive surgery on her hand (wrist & fingers). "The Doctors, were able to get blood flow to her hand and fingers. "She is showing some movement in two fingers but can't feel the rest. "The doctors will be doing another procedure tomorrow to see if there is anything else that needs to be done. "The fact that Leah has all her fingers attached is already a testimony. "From witnessing her wrist hanging on by just the skin, to have blood flow in all of her hand and fingers is truly a miracle. "Please keep praying for our family, our God is a miracle worker." Less than an hour after she arrived at the hospital, she was in surgery where they had to stabilize the bone and take blood vessels from her leg to help restore blood flow to her hand. "I was trying to hold myself together, Leah's dad Jay said. "I think I was crying more than she was." An x-ray of her hand shows how the skin, muscles, and bones in her hand were severed almost all the way across the middle. Doctors called the fact it was a shark bite a "curse and a blessing". 9 A 9-year-old girl in Florida is recovering from surgery after a shark nearly bit her hand off while she was snorkeling off a Boca Grande beach last week., Leah Lendel's hand following the shark attack Credit: Tampa General Hospital 9 Emergency services attended the 911 call before Leah was flown to Tampa General Credit: Lee County Sheriff's Office 9 Leah underwent an initial six-hour surgery in which blood vessels from her leg were put into her hand to help restore blood flow Credit: Instagram/ Their sharp teeth mean the cut was clean and not jagged, meaning there was "good tissue to work with and put back together in a timely fashion," Dr Alfred Hess said. Leah will still need physical therapy and to have the pins in her hand removed but her parents say they are "just thankful for everybody". "I didn't think it was possible because I was holding her hand in my hand and I didn't think there was any chance at all of saving it," he said. "I'm so thankful to the surgeons for making such a miracle." "I'm just very thankful she's alive," Jay added. Leah said could not wait to start "playing with all my siblings" once her wounds healed. Her family launched a GoFundMe page to help with her recovery which has received over $47,700 at the time of writing. This week, another shark attack was reported at a popular US beach and a 12-year-old girl was mauled by a 12ft alligator while playing in shallow water with her friends. 9 The nine-year-old emerged from the water with what looked like a bloody stump Credit: GoFundMe
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Before social media, Barbara Walters said ‘Tell Me Everything.' And many did
There is no single figure in television history whose longevity and influence match Barbara Walters'. She became a star on NBC's 'Today' in the early 1960s, raising the stature of the morning franchise. She opened doors for women as a network anchor and turned newsmaker interviews into major television events — 74 million tuned into her 1999 sit-down with Monica Lewinsky. She created one of daytime TV's longest-running hits with 'The View,' which evolved into a major forum for the country's political discourse. 'The audience size that Barbara was able to capture and harness is unmatched in today's world,' said Jackie Jesko, director of the new documentary 'Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything,' debuting Monday on Hulu after its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month. 'Everything she did sort of made a difference.' Jesko's feature — produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Documentaries and ABC News Studios — is the first in-depth look into Walters' storied career. The film also serves as a sweeping historical review of the decades-long dominance of network news that made figures such as Walters a gatekeeper of the culture, as Jesko describes her. Before the advent of social media and podcasts that allowed celebrities to control their messages, going through the X-ray machine of a Barbara Walters interview delivered exposure on a massive scale. David Sloan, a longtime ABC News producer who worked with Walters, recalls how the screen images of her specials flickered through the windows of Manhattan apartment towers. 'Tell Me Everything' came together not long after Walters died at the age of 93 in 2022. Sara Bernstein, president of Imagine Documentaries, approached Betsy West, executive producer and co-director of the Julia Child documentary 'Julia,' about taking on a Walters project. Sloan, who oversaw an Emmy-winning tribute after Walters' death, also wanted a deeper exploration into the impact of her career. West, also a former Walters colleague, and Sloan became executive producers on the film. 'Tell Me Everything' taps deeply into the ABC News archives, which contain thousands of hours of interviews Walters conducted over her 40 years at the network. Imagine not only gained access to program content but also outtakes that give parts of the film a cinema vérité-like look at Walters on the job. The newly unearthed footage provides some surreal moments, such as Walters — in a pink Chanel suit — exploring the damaged palace of Libya's deposed leader Moammar Kadafi. 'The archive gave us a the perfect canvas to relive her scenes and her moments,' Bernstein said. Walters' story also gives a guided tour of the obstacle-ridden path women faced in the early days of TV news when it was dominated by patriarchy and self-importance. Female reporters were relegated to writing soft features and kept at a distance from hard news. But Walters shattered those barriers through her grit and wits. She toiled as a writer in local TV and a failed CBS morning program before landing at NBC's 'Today' in 1961. ('They needed someone they could hire cheap,' she said.) Walters went from churning out copy for the program's 'Today Girl' to doing her own on-air segments, including a famously beguiling report on a Paris fashion show and a day-in-the-life look at being a Playboy bunny. More serious assignments came her way. The morning viewing audience loved Walters even though she didn't believe she was attractive enough to be on camera. Her career trajectory was slowed down only by male executives unwilling to embrace the idea that a woman could be the face of a network news operation. By 1971, Walters was the main attraction on 'Today' when she sat alongside host Frank McGee every morning. But she was denied equal status. A respected journalist with the demeanor of an undertaker, McGee insisted to management that he ask the first three questions of any hard news subject who appeared on 'Today' before Walters could have a chance. The restriction led to Walters going outside the NBC studios to conduct interviews where her subjects lived or worked. The approach not only gave her control of the conversations but added a level of intimacy that audiences were not getting elsewhere on television. Walters also had written into her contract that if McGee ever left 'Today,' she would be promoted to the title of co-host. NBC brass agreed to the provision, believing McGee was not going anywhere. But McGee was suffering from bone cancer, which he had kept secret. He died in 1974 and Walters was elevated to co-host, making her the first woman to lead a daily network news program. (Or as Katie Couric candidly puts it in the film, 'She got it literally over Frank McGee's dead body.') Walters made history again when she was poached by ABC News in 1976. She was given a record-high $1-million annual salary to be the first woman co-anchor of a network evening newscast, paired with Harry Reasoner, a crusty and unwelcoming veteran. Walters was mistreated by her colleague and roasted by critics and competitors such as CBS News commentator Eric Sevareid, who, with disgust in his voice, described her as 'a lady reading the news.' The evening news experiment with Reasoner was a short-lived disaster, but Walters found a supporter in Roone Arledge, the ABC Sports impresario who took over the news division and had an appreciation for showmanship. He recognized Walters' strengths and made her a roving correspondent. Walters scored a major coup in 1977 when she was the first TV journalist to speak jointly with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during Sadat's historic visit to Jerusalem. 'She was a household name in the Mideast,' Sloan said. Over time, Walters would become known for her prime-time specials, where lengthy interviews with world leaders aired adjacent to conversations with movie stars. She could be a blunt questioner in both realms, asking Barbra Streisand why she chose not to get her nose fixed and former President Richard M. Nixon if he wished he had burned the White House tapes that undid his presidency ('I probably should have'). News purists clutched their pearls, but the audience welcomed it. 'She had a vision back then that celebrities are news,' said Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger in the film. 'She was practicing the art of journalism when she was interviewing them.' The film explains how Walters developed an understanding of celebrities after growing up around her father's nightclub, the Latin Quarter, a hot spot in Boston. Sitting in the rafters above the floor show, she observed how audiences responded as well. Even though Walters' programs earned significant revenue for ABC News, she still had detractors, including the network's star anchor Peter Jennings. A clip from the network's political convention coverage in 1992 shows Jennings surreptitiously flipping his middle finger at her following an on-air exchange. But Walters was unstoppable, and as the 1980s and 1990s progressed, she became a mother confessor for perpetrators and victims of scandal. During a memorable jailhouse meeting with the Menendez brothers in which Eric describes himself and Lyle as 'normal kids,' a stunned Walters replies, 'Eric, you're a normal kid who murdered his parents!' As always, she was speaking for the person watching at home. 'She always wanted to ask the question that was percolating in the brain of someone who didn't have the opportunity or was too afraid to ask,' said Meredith Kaulfers, an executive vice president at Imagine Documentaries. Walters became a pioneer for women broadcasters out of necessity. While in her 20s, her father's nightclub business collapsed and she became the sole source of financial support for her family, which included her mentally disabled older sister. The terror of the insecurity she felt during that period never left. 'There was a survival instinct in her that drove her,' said Marcella Steingart, a producer on the film. 'Not necessarily on purpose, but in her wake, she opened doors for people.' 'Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything' is not a hagiography. The film explores her fraught relationship with her adopted daughter Jacqueline, who did not sit for an interview. Walters' unhealthy obsession with colleague and rival Diane Sawyer is covered, too, as is her willingness to use the social connections she developed through her career, and not just to land big interviews. Walters had a friendship with unsavory lawyer Roy Cohn, who pulled strings to make her father's tax problems go away. She carried on a secret romance in the 1970s with a married U.S. senator — Edward Brooke — while she was a fixture in national political coverage. While the film draws on interviews where Walters laments not being able to have both a successful career and a family life, Jesko sensed no regrets. 'I think if she could live her life over again, she wouldn't change anything,' Jesko said.
9 hours ago
- Politics
How Black conservative leaders aim to build the next generation in Washington
Seeking to harness what it sees as the momentum of the 2024 presidential election, the Black Conservative Federation is launching a two-day summit in Washington, D.C., next month aimed at bringing together Black conservatives and cultivating the next generation of leaders. The inaugural Black Conservative Federation Solution Summit will be held July 11-12, bringing together elected officials, influencers, policy experts and strategists for what organizers hope will be a series of "bold, solution-driven conversations" on the most urgent issues facing Black America today. "In this spirit of forward momentum during the Trump Administration, we are investing in the next generation of Black leaders who will define the future of our communities, our culture, and our country," Diante Johnson, the group's president and founder, said in a statement to ABC News. Johnson previously served as the Trump campaign's North Carolina regional field director in 2016 and was a member of the Black Voices for Trump Advisory Board during the 2020 campaign. The summit comes after President Donald Trump made modest gains with Black voters nationwide in 2024, especially among young Black men, a key demographic for Democrats, according to the Associated Press. Black voters made up about 1 in 10 voters nationally in the last 2024 presidential election. Although roughly 8 in 10 Black voters supported Vice President Kamala Harris, that marked a dip from the roughly 9 in 10 who backed President Joe Biden just four years earlier. Trump, meanwhile, nearly doubled his support from 2020 among Black men under the age of 45 -- with about 3 in 10 backing him in 2024, compared to just 1 in 10 in 2020. The summit will focus on six key topics: artificial intelligence and its role in shaping the future; criminal justice reform and policy transformation; cryptocurrency and Black economic empowerment; strengthening the Black family; navigating modern cultural debates; and Gen Z's influence in politics and media. While several members of the Black Conservative Federation have gone on to work in the Trump administration and the broader conservative movement, organizers say the event is about more than short-term wins. It is designed to foster long-term talent and leadership development across the country, they say. "We are not only honoring the legacy of freedom, we're building on it. By mentoring emerging voices and expanding access to civic engagement, we're carrying the torch of progress with purpose," Johnson said. Among the featured speakers at the summit are Lynne Patton, deputy assistant to the president and director of minority outreach at the White House; Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas; Anne Marie Wiley, former cast member of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"; Alex Smith, deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department; and Janiyah Thomas, former Black media director for the Trump campaign. The Trump "pardon czar" Alice Johnson will also be speaking to the group as will Death Row Records founder Michael Harris. Several high-profile Black conservative influencers are also slated to participate, including CJ Pearson, Xavier DuRousseau and members of The Carter Family, who stream videos on YouTube. The Black Conservative Federation was initially founded as a political networking group for Black conservatives but has since expanded its mission to focus on diversifying the conservative movement and promoting conservative principles. The group emphasizes its work in political advocacy, outreach and civic engagement. Trump addressed the group during a Black History Month event in 2024, signaling a rise in the group's visibility within MAGA-era Republican circles. Its leadership includes Rep. Byron Donalds, who serves as chairman, and former NFL player Jack Brewer, the organization's current co-chairman.
Indian Express
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Who is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran?
Israel Katz, the Israeli Defence Minister, on Thursday said that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 'can no longer be allowed to exist.' This is the clearest declaration yet of what Israel — and the US — have both hinted at in recent days: that taking out Khamenei, now 85 and reportedly ailing, is one of their ultimate war goals. In an interview to ABC News on Monday, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that striking Khamenei would not escalate the conflict, but 'end it.' A day later, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he knew exactly where Khamenei was hiding, warning 'we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now… (but) our patience is growing thin.' Khamenei, on his part, has refused to bow down to external pressure. 'Intelligent people who know Iran, the nation and the history of Iran, will never speak to this nation in the language of threats,' he said, 'because the Iranian nation cannot be surrendered.' Here's a look at the man, his politics, and the nation that he has led for the past three-and-a-half decades. First, what power does the Supreme Leader have in Iran? In Iran's theocratic system, the Supreme Leader is the most powerful figure in the country ranking above the president, parliament, and judiciary. Khamenei commands the armed forces, appoints heads of the judiciary, state media, and key security agencies, and holds the power to dismiss elected officials, countermand legislation, and declare war or peace. His control also extends to foreign and military policy through his oversight of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Force (IRGC) and the Quds Force, which orchestrates Iran's regional operations. His position is established on the doctrine of velayat-e faqih, or 'guardianship of the jurist', which gives a cleric ultimate sovereignty over an Islamic state. The ideology was developed by his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and enshrined in the constitution of 1979. Ali Khamenei was born in 1939, in the northern Iranian city of Mashhad. He was the second of eight children in a modest family headed by his father, a religious cleric. Khamenei followed his father's footsteps, pursuing clerical studies in Qom from 1958 to 1964, before joining Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's movement against the Shah of Iran in 1962. After being imprisoned multiple times by the Shah's regime, Khamenei emerged as a key figure in the 1979 revolution. He served as president from 1981 to 1989, steering Iran through the Iran-Iraq War, before succeeding Khomeini as Supreme Leader. Khamenei's early years reveal a man of eclectic tastes. He engaged with Iranian intellectuals, absorbing both secular and Islamist ideas. A lover of literature, he has lauded Victor Hugo's Les Misérables as 'the best novel that has been written in history,' telling state television officials in 2004, 'Go read Les Misérables once. This… is a miracle in the world of novel writing.' What does Khaminei believe in? Khamenei views liberal democracy and capitalism as flawed, and sees the West as materialistic and Islamophobic. Yet, he is not wholly anti-Western. 'Western culture is a combination of beautiful and ugly things,' he told a group of young Iranians in 1999. 'A sensible nation… will take the good and add it to their own culture… and reject the bad.' His fundamental critique of western civilisation is that it is overly materialistic. 'The West looks at only one dimension — the material,' he said in a meeting on development. In contrast, Islamic civilisation includes justice, prayer, independence, and 'approaching the exalted God.' His ideal, thus, is not simply a strong Iran, but a spiritually superior one. Khamenei's influences include Islamist thinkers like the Egyptian Islamic theorist Sayyid Qutb, who wrote 'Islam without government and a Muslim nation without Islam are meaningless' and, of course, Ayatollah Khomeini, the fountainhead of the Islamic Revolution. And like Khomeini, who referred to the US as 'Great Satan' and Israel as 'Little Satan', Khamenei is known for his unabated hostility towards these two countries. After a Florida pastor threatened to burn the Quran in 2010, Khamenei insinuated there was a larger plot at play. 'The operational command of these acts are in the hands of the system of hegemony and Zionist planning centres,' he said at the time. What has Khamenei done? Iranian analyst Mohsen Milani wrote in the Foreign Affairs magazine: 'Khamenei has made it his mission to preserve the revolutionary identity of the state, particularly that it remains devoted to Islamic principles and opposed to the West.' Under Khamenei, Iran has become a regional power through asymmetric means. The Islamic Republic has funded, trained, and armed a network of proxies from Lebanon to Yemen, enabling Tehran to confront its enemies in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, without risking direct war. Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and various militias in Iraq and Syria have all been recipients of Iranian support. Khamenei has also reshaped Iran's economy through what he calls the 'resistance' doctrine, a strategy aimed at making the country less vulnerable to international sanctions. This includes reducing reliance on oil, expanding trade with China and Russia, and cutting state subsidies. The efficacy of this doctrine is another matter altogether — the Iranian economy still leans heavily on oil, and subsidy cuts have sparked protests across the country. Khamenei sees nuclear science as a marker of national pride and progress. For Khamenei, Iran's right to enrich uranium is about not just energy but sovereignty. He has however claimed that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons and he permitted negotiations over the 2015 nuclear deal before criticising the US for pulling out. At home, Khamenei has orchestrated a political system designed to preserve his rule. He has stacked every avenue of government with loyalists making it difficult for moderates or reformists to gain influence. He has proven ruthless in suppressing dissent, as was evident in 2023 during the Mahsa Amini protests, or in 2009 during what came to be known as the Green Movement. What comes next? Khamenei is an 85-year-old cancer survivor. But despite years of speculation, he has not publicly named a successor. Officially, the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics vetted by the regime, will choose the next Supreme Leader once the office is vacant. But the process is secretive and tightly controlled. Akbar Ganji wrote in Foreign Affairs that most contenders have already been sidelined, and Khamenei's 56-year-old son, Mojtaba, is a frontrunner. According to Ganji, 'the elder Khamenei's allies have been touting Mojtaba as the leader the country needs,' praising his juristic credentials. Once dismissive of dynastic succession, mocking it in 1990 as akin to passing a 'a man passing a copper wash basin to his heir,' Khamenei now appears to favour Mojtaba's rise. But factional rivalries and public unrest could disrupt this plan — especially if Khamenei goes on the back of Israeli or American intervention. While the Islamic regime in Iran has been remarkably resilient, it is yet to be seen whether it can survive its latest, arguably greatest ever, challenge.
Perth Now
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Tech speedbumps may frustrate social media ban for kids
There is no guarantee that technologies aimed at blocking young kids from social media will always work, according to early trial results. A ban on children younger than 16 from accessing platforms like Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram is expected to commence in six months, and yet, there are glaring questions about how and whether the plan will work. While the early findings of a federal government-commissioned trial found age assurance technologies are available, there's no silver bullet. "Age assurance can be done in Australia and can be private, robust and effective," the report found. "We found a plethora of approaches that fit use cases in different ways. "But we did not find a single ubiquitous solution that would suit all use cases, nor did we find solutions that were guaranteed to be effective in all deployments." Under the social media ban, platforms will have to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from creating new accounts and could face millions in fines for systemic breaches of the new rules. Cabinet minister Murray Watt maintained the need for restrictions around social media. "The Australian people believe that we do need to see some restrictions around social media use when it comes to young people," he told ABC News on Friday. "Unfortunately, it has become an insidious force, both for young people and more widely." Australia's ban is world-leading and, in the aftermath of the November passage of federal laws, other nations indicated a desire to emulate the measure. However, the legislation does not indicate how exactly the ban will be executed. The report found parental control and consent systems could be effective when first introduced. But there is "limited evidence" that they would be effective as children grow up or allow kids the right to participate in the breadth of digital experiences. Even after the coalition helped secure an amendment to ensure Australians wouldn't have to provide any form of government identification to verify their age, the trial found there was a risk of privacy breaches. Some age assurance service providers had over-anticipated the needs of regulators and built tools that led to an "unnecessary and disproportionate collection and retention of data". Opposition communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh has urged Labor to confirm what technology or verification tools will be used to protect kids online. "No more young lives can be lost or families destroyed because of the toxicity of social media," she said in a statement. The Age Assurance Technology Trial's final report is expected to be published later in 2025.
